Weimar on the Pacific - (Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism) by Ehrhard Bahr (Paperback)

About the Book

"Ehrhard Bahr's sophisticated introduction to the Los Angeles of the emigres from Nazi Germany is a quintessential 'Hollywood' book: brilliant in casting, sunny in disposition, with hidden film noir touches. Bahr's reading of the central books of this world, by Bert Brecht, Thomas Mann, Alfred Doblin, his insights into Fritz Lang's films and Arnold Schoenberg's operas, make this a major contribution to American, German and world culture."--Sander L. Gilman, author of "Bertolt Brecht's Berlin"
"At long last, emigre Los Angeles has been interpreted from the inside by an accomplished scholar of modern German culture. "Weimar on the Pacific" is a study of relevance to California, the nation, and contemporary Europe."--Kevin Starr, Professor of History, University of Southern California

Book Synopsis

In the 1930s and 40s, Los Angeles became an unlikely cultural sanctuary for a distinguished group of German artists and intellectuals--including Thomas Mann, Theodore W. Adorno, Bertolt Brecht, Fritz Lang, and Arnold Schoenberg--who had fled Nazi Germany. During their years in exile, they would produce a substantial body of major works to address the crisis of modernism that resulted from the rise of National Socialism. Weimar Germany and its culture, with its meld of eighteenth-century German classicism and twentieth-century modernism, served as a touchstone for this group of diverse talents and opinions.

Weimar on the Pacific is the first book to examine these artists and intellectuals as a group. Ehrhard Bahr studies selected works of Adorno, Horkheimer, Brecht, Lang, Neutra, Schindler, Döblin, Mann, and Schoenberg, weighing Los Angeles's influence on them and their impact on German modernism. Touching on such examples as film noir and Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus, Bahr shows how this community of exiles reconstituted modernism in the face of the traumatic political and historical changes they were living through.

From the Back Cover

"Ehrhard Bahr's sophisticated introduction to the Los Angeles of the émigrés from Nazi Germany is a quintessential 'Hollywood' book: brilliant in casting, sunny in disposition, with hidden film noir touches. Bahr's reading of the central books of this world, by Bert Brecht, Thomas Mann, Alfred Döblin, his insights into Fritz Lang's films and Arnold Schoenberg's operas, make this a major contribution to American, German and world culture."--Sander L. Gilman, author of Bertolt Brecht's Berlin

"At long last, émigré Los Angeles has been interpreted from the inside by an accomplished scholar of modern German culture. Weimar on the Pacific is a study of relevance to California, the nation, and contemporary Europe."--Kevin Starr, Professor of History, University of Southern California

Review Quotes

"[Bahr] demonstrates superb research and communicates great affection for this odd gaggle of talent."-- "National Post"

"An excellent study . . . that will broaden our understanding of German exile culture in North America."-- "Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies"

"Each chapter in Bahr's book is capable of standing alone, but the author also invokes ideas, incidents and personalities in each chapter that strike sparks off the material in other chapters. . . . Weimar on the Pacific is a brilliant tour de force of intellectual history and cultural criticism, both audacious and accomplished."-- "Los Angeles Times Book Review"

"Erhard Bahr's Weimar on the Pacific provides a fascinating portrait of the German exiles who took refuge in Los Angeles during World War II."-- "German Studies Review"

"This important book--of meticulous and impressive research, refined analysis, and lucid organization and writing--is demanding, a challenge to the author's peers and yet rewarding also for the generally educated reader."-- "Register of the Kentucky Historical Society"

"This is a wonderful book. . . . The writing is distinguished by a profound knowledge of its many subjects, an infectious interest, and a sharp eye for telling details, all of which bring the material alive."-- "Modern Language Review"

"Thoroughly researched . . . engaging chapters."-- "Bookforum"

About the Author

Ehrhard Bahr is distinguished professor emeritus of German at UCLA.