Separated & united

The question of the roots and threats to democracy in Germany inevitably leads to the Weimar Republic. This republic - often referred to as the republic without republicans - is usually viewed and evaluated from the perspective of its downfall, which has caused its beginning to fade into the background. The long "forgotten revolution" of 1918/19, however, sparked a new debate in view of the centenary. With its current exhibition, the "Archiv der Münchner Arbeiterbewegung e.V." (Archive of the Munich Workers' Movement) takes up the bloody events that took place in the state capital at the beginning of May 1919. Civil war and a legal and mental state of emergency formed the starting point for the young Free State, whose orientation remained highly controversial.

The exhibition focuses on the three workers' parties - MSPD, USPD (both reunited in the end) and KPD - as well as the trade unions. They tried to defend the political and social achievements of the revolution under the most difficult circumstances. Progressive concerns and all attempts to improve the lot of the working population living in highly precarious living conditions met with fierce and well-organised resistance. The elites already established in the monarchy retained their positions of power, while new movements such as various Wehverbände or National Socialism established a climate of violence as early as the early 1920s. An overhang of pre-modern mentalities did the rest to restore the dominance of conservative forces. The republic thus remained acutely threatened for years, lurching from one crisis to the next. There was never any question of a democratic-legal "normality" in Bavaria during the period described. The enemies of the Republic saw to that with every means at their disposal.

Last edited on 28.10.2023