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Die halbierte Moderne: Amerikanismusdebatten und Amerikanisierungsängste im Augsburg der Weimarer Zeit

This chapter examines German debates about ‘Americanization’ in the Weimar Republic. Taking Augsburg as a case study, it shows controversial debates about American technology, rationalization and popular culture were not confined to Berlin, the quintessential ‘Americanized’ city in interwar Europe, but can be found in public debates outside the German capital. Based on new evidence from local press in Augsburg, the chapter explains the position of ‘reactionary modernists’ who championed the partial Americanization of Germany as a means of national revival. Close reading of these sources shows the ambivalence of German attitudes towards ‘Americanism’, which escape a characterization as ‘anti-American’