Chapter 8, "Self-Optimization: Perfecting Leisure and the Body," explores leisure, entertainment, and the burgeoning obsession with physical fitness in Weimar Germany (1918-1933). It begins by highlighting the hard-won achievement of an eight-hour workday/leisure/sleep split, a key demand of the labor movement. However, employers resisted the idea of a work-free weekend, fearing workers wouldn't know how to use their leisure productively, despite unions arguing it was vital for restoring performance through sport and education.
The text highlights a middle-class anxiety about the moral use of leisure time by the working class. It contrasts Germany with England, where the art of conserving energy during leisure was supposedly more developed. The chapter suggests that, on the contrary, the 1920s were a time of great self-improvement.
The chapter then zooms in on amusement parks like Lünepark in Berlin, a "world exposition of enjoyment" where Berliners could experience a wide array of entertainment, from shooting ranges to modern roller coasters. Despite its popularity, Lünepark faced challenges. It represented the optimistic spirit of the pre-war era, which now seemed naive. As social stratification increased, different classes began to segregate themselves by lifestyle. Lünepark, which attracted all of Berlin, became less desirable. Sustaining such large amusement parks required constant innovation and huge sums of money, exhausting managers and leading to the closure of some, like Ulap.
Cinema emerged as the dominant paid leisure activity. Moviegoing transformed from a chaotic, unregulated experience in the early 1920s to a more structured event in grand "movie palaces." Silent films relied on musical accompaniment to enhance the emotional impact. The chapter notes how silent film relied on a repertoire of human gesture than in normal everday life with its attendant sounds. The rise of talkies in 1927 initially met resistance. People were so used to the intense physicality of silent film that they didn’t want to experience sound in their films. However, films like "The Blue Angel" (1930), starring Marlene Dietrich, demonstrated the potential of sound to create a new kind of understated performance, even though many silent film stars struggled to make the transition.
The chapter also analyses the film "People on Sunday", a film about a group of young people spending a Sunday together on the shore of the Vanzi.
The film is a loving look at the simple life and what people hope to get from their free time, a bit of joy.
Alongside entertainment, the era saw a surge in fitness culture. The film "Ways to Strength and Beauty" (1925) showcased fitness training and gymnastic displays, becoming wildly popular. The conviction that exercise was essential for a "whole person" became widespread across political divides. This was driven by the need to counteract the unhealthy lifestyles associated with urban work and smoky cities. This obsession with the body, the text argues, was heightened by the trauma of World War I, which left many physically injured.
The text shows that there was an intense focus on both injured and healthy bodies. This concern soon made its way into philosophy.
The chapter then analyzes modern photography and the new way it presented the body. This was a time where one had to be thin, supple, and quick to react.
The chapter also analyses sports. The text argues that sport was a booming business during the Weimar Republic.
The chapter then looks at associations, particularly the 6-day race, as they were the source of warmth and sustenance for many Germans. These associations provided community. But politics came to play a part in these associations.
Finally, the chapter analyses extreme militarism and combat units, that were created out of sheer hatred.