The Salaried Masses Duty and Distraction in Weimar Germany

A fascinating study of Germany society on the eve of Nazism. First published in 1930, Siegfried Kracauer's work was greeted with great acclaim and soon attained the status of a classic. The object of his inquiry was the new class of salaried employees who populated the cities of Weimar Germany. Spiritually homeless, divorced from all custom and tradition, these white-collar workers sought refuge in entertainment -- or the "distraction of industries," as Kracauer put it -- but, only three years late, were to flee into the arms of Adolf Hitler. Eschewing the instruments of traditional sociological scholarship, but without collapsing into mere journalistic reportage, Kracauer explores the contradictions of this caste. Drawing on conversations, newspapers, adverts and personal correspondence, he charts the bland horror of the everyday. In the process, Kracauer succeeds in writing not just a prescient account of the decline days of the Weimar Republic, but also a path-breaking exercise in the sociology of culture which has sharp relevance for today.

Siegfried Kracauer (1889–1966) was one of Germany’s leading cultural commentators and essayists.

Quintin Hoare is the director of the Bosnian Institute and has translated numerous works by Sartre, Antonio Gramsci, and other French authors. He lives in the United Kingdom.