Berlin Electropolis: Shock, Nerves, and German Modernity
Jan 2006 · Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism Book 38 · Univ of California Press
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Berlin Electropolis ties the German discourse on nervousness in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to Berlin's transformation into a capital of the second industrial revolution. Focusing on three key groups—railway personnel, soldiers, and telephone operators—Andreas Killen traces the emergence in the 1880s and then later decline of the belief that modernity caused nervous illness. During this period, Killen explains, Berlin became arguably the most advanced metropolis in Europe. A host of changes, many associated with breakthroughs in technologies of transportation, communication, and leisure, combined to radically alter the shape and tempo of everyday life in Berlin. The resulting consciousness of accelerated social change and the shocks and afflictions that accompanied it found their consummate expression in the discourse about nervousness.
Wonderfully researched and clearly written, this book offers a wealth of new insights into the nature of the modern metropolis, the psychological aftermath of World War I, and the operations of the German welfare state. Killen also explores cultural attitudes toward electricity, the evolution of psychiatric thought and practice, and the status of women workers in Germany's rapidly industrializing economy. Ultimately, he argues that the backlash against the welfare state that occurred during the late Weimar Republic brought about the final decoupling of modernity and nervous illness.
Wonderfully researched and clearly written, this book offers a wealth of new insights into the nature of the modern metropolis, the psychological aftermath of World War I, and the operations of the German welfare state. Killen also explores cultural attitudes toward electricity, the evolution of psychiatric thought and practice, and the status of women workers in Germany's rapidly industrializing economy. Ultimately, he argues that the backlash against the welfare state that occurred during the late Weimar Republic brought about the final decoupling of modernity and nervous illness.
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5.0
2 reviews
A Google user
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January 30, 2012
As someone who was looking for a book about the history of psychiatry, I was most impressed by this book. With a subtitle like "shock and nerves," it's shocking to think that someone would not expect information about psychiatry, neurology, or "nerves," as they were called. Killen does an impressive job of weaving information from varied fields into a lovely tapestry.
Sharon Packer, MD
Marie S
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April 6, 2024
Really changed the way I see German history! Very readable
About the author
Andreas Killen is Assistant Professor of History at City College of New York, CUNY, and is the author of 1973: A Cultural History (2005).
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