Christina Lipke (Univ. of Hamburg/Germany); Dr. Björn Siegel (Institute for the History of the German Jews, Hamburg/Germany)

Time: 04.-06.11.2020
Venue: Hamburg
Proposals by: 15.03.2020

Out of the ashes of the First World War, a new political landscape of Europe arose with numerous challenges for every European. In the streets of the metropolises people came together, struggling to revive their former lives, but also demonstrating for a better future or even finding their way to other places after being uprooted or disillusioned by the contemporary political and social realities.

European metropolises and their lifelines, the streets, emerged as influential spaces in which Europeans voiced their dreams and hopes, but also found ways to express their frustration and anger. Here, Europeans (re-)created local identities, articulated inclusive or exclusive world views, lobbied for a violent revolution or the reestablishment of an old world order. In pubs and dance halls, clubs and theatres as well as leisure and work places they discussed their visions and lobbied for their understanding of a better future.

In such private or semi-private spaces they raised questions of participation and integration or segregation and exclusion and offered different answers to current problems of daily life. Moreover, they began to create a vision of their life after the First World War and by doing so, not only influenced the private, but also the public sphere of the European metropolises. Read more and source … (Web).