Germany's Other Modernity. Munich and the Making of Metropolis, 1895-1930

摘要

For students of German culture, the coupling of 'modernity' and 'metropolis' generally indicates Berlin. Leif Jerram corrects the bias towards the capital of the lately arrived Reich by redirecting attention to Munich. His study has various axes to grind. One is to de-centre Berlin by considering cities not as national or even provincial capitals but as moving towards competitive yet collaborative inter-city engagement as planners and experts confronting rapid growth looked elsewhere for ideas. Thus officials in Munich sent questionnaires to town halls all over Germany and increasingly visited not only Berlin, Hamburg or Frankfurt but also London, Birmingham, or Paris. A second aim is to shift attention away from the iconic buildings that constitute the Modernist canon towards mundane provision of hospitals, schools, old people's homes, and housing estates. English distinguishes between 'Modernist' and 'modern' as the German term 'die Moderne' does not.