Imperial Culture in Germany, 1871-1918

'This book succeeds admirably in making a valuable point: that Imperial German culture was as provocative and at times contentious as its more celebrated successor, Weimar culture. Combining analysis and synthesis, Mathew Jefferies covers a range of topics, including literature, music, life reform, historical monuments, and the Expressionist movement. Whereas he focuses on high culture, he pays due attention to popular and commercial culture, and he does a marvelous job locating his subject in its social and political contexts. Scholars will find the book useful for its comprehensive bibliography and focused discussions of the literature on the Imperial period, while students will find the narrative engaging and accessible. Jefferies' book is an indispensable introduction to German cultural history before the rise of Hitler.' - Rudy Koshar, University of University of Wisconsin-Madison 'This book fills a huge and long-standing gap in the scholarly literature available for teaching the Second Reich. It has been worth the wait. The author convincingly makes the case that this is not an esoteric or peripheral field of enquiry. Culture was an essential component of middle-class identity. For bourgeois Germans, and others, too, culture was prominent -perhaps even ascendant - in developing the very idea of Germany.' - James Retallack, The University of Toronto

This illustrated title provides an introduction to the principal movements in German high culture between 1871 and 1918, in the context of imperial society and politics.It has often ben suggested that artists and writers in Germany's imperial era shunned social engagement, preferring instead apolitical introspection. However, as Matthew Jefferies reveals, whether one looks at the painters, poets and architects who helped to create an official imperial identity after 1871; the cultural critics and reformers of the later nineteenth century; or the new generation of cultural producers that emerged in the years around 1900, the social, political and cultural were never far apart.

In this attractively illustrated book, Jefferies provides a lively introduction to the principal movements in German high culture between 1871 and 1918, in the context of imperial society and politics. He not only demonstrates that Germany's 'Imperial culture' was every bit as fascinating as the much better known 'Weimar culture' of the 1920s, but argues that much of what came later has origins in the imperial period.

Filling a significant gap in the current historiography, this study will appeal to all those with an interest in the rich and diverse culture of Imperial Germany.