Home › Glossary › Letter W

Weimar Republic Period

Historical And Literary Periods
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The 1919-1933 period of the German Weimar Republic between World War I and the Nazi rise to power, characterized by cultural efflorescence and political instability. Produced distinctive modernist artistic movements.

Detailed Definition
The Weimar Republic Period inspired poetry engaging with modernism, political crisis, and artistic innovation. Poets participated in distinctive Weimar culture. This period appears in poetry through modernist formal innovation, engagement with political crisis and instability, cabaret and performative aesthetics, references to Weimar culture and figures, expressions of anxiety about future, and establishment of Weimar poetry as crucial to understanding modernism and the interwar period's precarious culture.
Example
Example in poetry:
The Weimar Republic Period (1918-1933 German) saw a burst of artistic and social experimentation, often characterized by a grim cynicism, Expressionist angst, and a stark critique of political instability and social inequality; Bertolt Brecht’s early poetry often employed a harsh, journalistic style and savage irony to expose the rampant corruption, poverty, and political extremism of the Weimar Republic Period; A poet could use Expressionist techniques—distorted, exaggerated imagery and emotional intensity—to convey the psychological stress and urban decay present in the Weimar Republic Period cities; The poem might focus on the figure of the 'veteran-turned-beggar' or the 'cabaret singer' to symbolize the lost hope and decadent escapism that defined the end of the Weimar Republic Period; Themes of hyperinflation, political street violence, and the desperate search for pleasure could be captured through a rapid-fire, montage-like poetic structure; A poem could adopt a detached, cabaret-MC-like voice to narrate the social chaos, a technique that embodies the sardonic disillusionment of the Weimar Republic Period.
Additional Notes
The Weimar Republic Period (1918–1933) in Germany produced a vibrant mix of artistic experimentation and political commentary. Poets like Bertolt Brecht and Gottfried Benn responded to post-war disillusionment, urban alienation, and ideological struggle. The period’s poetry oscillates between avant-garde innovation and moral urgency, prefiguring the rise of totalitarianism and the existential concerns of later modernism.
Also Known As
Weimar Period Weimar Era Weimar Age
Skip to main content