Berlin's Forgotten Future
Subtitle: City, History, and Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century Germany
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Chapel Hill
Number of pages: 238
ISBN-13: 9781469657486
Subjects: European history
Description: Through an analysis of the works of the Berlin Aufklärer Friedrich Gedike, Friedrich Nicolai, G. E. Lessing, and Moses Mendelssohn, Matt Erlin shows how the rapid changes occurring in Prussia's newly minted metropolis challenged these intellectuals to engage in precisely the kind of nuanced thinking about history that has come to be seen as characteristic of the German Enlightenment. The author's demonstration of Berlin's historical-theoretical significance also provides perspective on the larger question of the city's impact on eighteenth-century German culture. Challenging the widespread idea that German intellectuals were anti-urban, the study reveals the extent to which urban sociability came to be seen by some as a problematic but crucial factor in the realization of their Enlightenment aims.
Notes: Open Access Unrestricted online access

National Endowment for the Humanities

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

English