The 20ies in Berlin were truly golden. If I could choose a past era to experience, it would be the roaring 20ies in Berlin. Apart from art, music and self-confident women, also new drugs made this era a pinnacle of entertainment, amusement and excess. However, it was also a time, when criminality waited for you just around the corner.
After the terrors of the First World War, the Berlin youth set out to indulge in some fun again just to take their minds off the pain of the past decade. Thus, it is truly not surprising that the parties were anything but a child’s birthday. New music styles from America hit the clubs and brought hot dance moves to the dance floor. Fashion was a way to express the people’s lust for adventure and party. The dresses were light, women wore fancy bob haircuts and men liked to slick their short hair back. During this time, Art Deco, a very floral, romantic design philosophy celebrating pure decorative aesthetics, emerged and determined the appearance of each and every design. Art Deco was even the essence of many architectural works.
Nevertheless, despite all the beautiful things, Berlin was also characterized by a high rate of crime. You could even say that Berlin was a dangerous city. Friedrichstraße, today known as one of the top touristic destinations, was called Spree Chicago because its location is defined by the Spree river that is running through Berlin and because it was far away from being called paradise. Here, crime was on the daily agenda. Shootings took place in the streets involving criminal gangs. Heroin as a new drug was available almost everywhere at ridiculously low prices. On top of that, serial killers were roaming the city looking for easy girls and prostitutes to slaughter. Poverty was everywhere. Crippled war veterans begging in the streets and entire families that were starving. The 20ies truly were an era riddled with contrasts.
And as if crime and poverty weren’t enough, political unstableness determined the daily life here. Militia groups or freikorps of different political mindsets fought against each other in street battles for sovereignty. Communists, fascists, anarchists, monarchists and many more movements that emerged due to the Monarchy’s breakdown tried to incorporate their opinions and philosophy into the governmental system. Well, all this didn’t end well as we all know….
