Walter Benjamin
When
one thinks of the Berlin of the 1920s, the Berlin that survived the
German defeat in the Great War and has not yet experienced the
Hitlerian nightmare, one thinks often
of cabarets, revue theaters,
in short, of the
nightlife of those years.
We also think of art, and first and foremost of painters like George Grosz, with his ruthless portraits, as well as of Otto Dix. Of literature perhaps: Alfred Döblin, Bertolt Brecht.
But one thinks more seldom, perhaps, of the intellectual life of the German capital. And yet, there is so much to say about it. There was Hannah Arendt, Gershom Scholem, Georg Lukács, Theodor Adorno. And Walter Benjamin, literary critic and philosopher.
Benjamin was born in Berlin in 1892. A Berliner, therefore, but a universal Berliner, who spent much of his life in Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Israel.
Benjamin wrote an autobiographical book about his childhood in Berlin, but I find it difficult to find testimonials about his life in Berlin. There are, however, many texts by him on Paris, on its covered passages, on Charles Baudelaire.
Benjamin suffered a tragic death in 1940 while trying to escape the Nazis. It is in the Spanish border town of Port Bou that he finished his days. There is a beautiful monument dedicated to his memory in this Catalan city.
Here is the link to a program about Walter Benjamin, in French:
We also think of art, and first and foremost of painters like George Grosz, with his ruthless portraits, as well as of Otto Dix. Of literature perhaps: Alfred Döblin, Bertolt Brecht.
But one thinks more seldom, perhaps, of the intellectual life of the German capital. And yet, there is so much to say about it. There was Hannah Arendt, Gershom Scholem, Georg Lukács, Theodor Adorno. And Walter Benjamin, literary critic and philosopher.
Benjamin was born in Berlin in 1892. A Berliner, therefore, but a universal Berliner, who spent much of his life in Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Israel.
Benjamin wrote an autobiographical book about his childhood in Berlin, but I find it difficult to find testimonials about his life in Berlin. There are, however, many texts by him on Paris, on its covered passages, on Charles Baudelaire.
Benjamin suffered a tragic death in 1940 while trying to escape the Nazis. It is in the Spanish border town of Port Bou that he finished his days. There is a beautiful monument dedicated to his memory in this Catalan city.
Here is the link to a program about Walter Benjamin, in French:
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