Red Vienna Sourcebook

<p>The current blockbuster German TV series <em>Babylon Berlin</em> introduces viewers to the tumultuous period in German history known as the Weimar Republic. Critics have praised the series for its relevance to the present: it shows dark populist forces undermining a fragile democracy. While Weimar Germany makes a fascinating backdrop its story does not inspire much hope for our present-day political and cultural woes.<br />A fascinating contrast is the Austrian capital Vienna. After the First World War the former imperial city elected a Social Democratic majority that persisted into the 1930s. "Red Vienna" undertook large-scale experiments in public housing hygiene and education while maintaining a world-class presence in music literature art culture and science. Though Red Vienna eventually fell victim to fascist violence it left a rich legacy with potential to inform our own tumultuous times.<br />The <em>Red Vienna Sourcebook</em> provides scholars and students with an encyclopedic selection of key documents from the period carefully translated and introduced. The thirty-six chapters include primary works from canonical names such as Sigmund Freud and Arthur Schnitzler but also introductions to lesser-known figures such as sociologist Käthe Leichter and health-policy pioneer Julius Tandler. The documents will be of interest to such diverse disciplines as economics architecture music film history philosophy women's studies sports and body culture and Jewish studies.<br /><br />Rob McFarland is Professor of German Literature Film and Culture at Brigham Young University. Georg Spitaler is a researcher at the Austrian Labor History Society. Ingo Zechner is Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital History.</p>