About this website & Blog
This blog discusses the life of the middle class in the period from about 1900 to 1913.
Perhaps history was not your favourite subject in school (mine neither), but you might be interested in:
How did the middle class people cook during this time, what did they read, and how were the now ‘old’ apartment buildings (which at that time were still new flats) furnished?
What was fashionable back then?
What beauty and household tips existed?
How did people celebrate (carnival, for example)?
What did the daily life of our great-grandparents and grandparents look like?
Additionally, there is background information about this time:
In the monthly section “What happened 110 years ago” (link), I recount events from politics to society to sports, which happened in the respective month – and also share curious things that were reported at the time.
In the section, “Where does my family come from?”, all the states that existed at the time (including the cities) will be presented one after the other, some have already appeared. The articles of this column are available in English. We offer a ‘state finder’, which allows you to find the corresponding federal state based on your location.
And every now and then, I get crafty and publish a DIY article with a nostalgic reference, for example for Easter and Christmas. Since, at the time, the people already enjoyed crafts, just a little differently than today …
In addition to the blog articles, there are tips (links) to books, museums, events, exhibitions and other links to relevant topics on the website.
I am often asked why I choose this specific period:
The period from 1900 to 1913 can be regarded as a snapshot of the early 20th century, even though some things in society and technology developed rapidly in the course of time.
If we compare the time span of 14 years with today’s time:
14 years ago, around 2005, society was not so different from today. Back then, there were changes and technical advancements we can compare to the current digitization and the growing importance of the Internet. In the epoch we consider the imperial era, there was the development of the automobile as a new vehicle and women’s education and vocational training, which previously were virtually non-existent.
During this period, one read similar books, heard similar music and the social system, whether at that time in the German Empire or today in the whole German Republic, was the same apart from different government coalitions.
Thus, if an alien visited Germany first in 2005 and then 14 years later, he would not notice any significant differences – and that is also my assumption for that time.
The facts presented in the articles are predominantly results from research in books, journals, documents and texts of this time, all of which are verifiable. It’s a way to narrate history through storytelling.
So far, only “Where does my family come from – former states”, exists in English. If you are interested in other topics or articles that are currently only available in German – contact me! We will try to offer more articles in English.
Have fun reading!
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