Vertigo - The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany. Chapter 5: Precarious Balance: The Death of Ebert, the Arrival of Hindenburg
发布时间 2025-02-23 12:40:30 来源
第五章“岌岌可危的平衡”探讨了魏玛共和国在第一任总统弗里德里希·艾伯特去世以及随后保罗·冯·兴登堡当选后的动荡时期。艾伯特于1925年2月因阑尾炎并发症去世，而一场诽谤案件的压力加剧了他的病情。他的去世引发了一股令人惊讶的全国哀悼浪潮。即使是保守派报纸也承认了他的稳定作用，将他描绘成一位“强大的父亲”，将共和国维系在一起。由艺术守护者埃德温·雷兹洛普精心组织的国葬旨在展现尊严和团结的形象，成功地模仿了帝国时代的宏伟，而没有其固有的庸俗。参加葬礼的大批人群表明共和国的支持基础比以前认为的更为广泛。
然而，团结感是短暂的。77岁的“坦能堡英雄”兴登堡当选为艾伯特的继任者，重新燃起了人们对可能回归专制主义的焦虑。兴登堡具有威廉敏时代的风貌和军事背景，被许多人视为替代凯撒。右翼庆祝他的胜利，而共和党人则哀叹这是民主的挫折，指出由于反民族主义选票的分裂，他只代表了少数选民。选举还因右翼暴徒对选民的暴力行为而受到破坏。
尽管最初感到担忧，但兴登堡在很大程度上证明了自己对民主制度的忠诚。他很享受担任全国总统的角色，并没有完全认同其顾问的极端反动信念。有些人甚至希望他的总统任期能够导致右翼保守派与共和国之间的和解。在他宣誓就职仪式上悬挂的共和国黑、红、金三色旗成为一个备受争议的形象：对一些人来说是融合的象征，对另一些人来说则是“黑红芥末”的嘲讽。
1928年的帝国议会选举显示，政治重心重新转向左翼，社会民主党成为最强大的政党，并组建了联合政府。忠于共和国的政党力量增强，而反犹太民族主义者遭受了损失。民主制度从选举中得到确认。尽管结果是积极的，但联合政府面临着内部纷争，特别是社会民主党与其资产阶级伙伴之间。在诸如建造装甲巡洋舰等问题上的争端暴露了联盟的脆弱性。
政治僵局为民主的反对者提供了弹药，他们认为共和国受到一个自私自利的政治阶层的困扰。政治气氛日益两极分化，波罗的海海滩上的“国旗争端”就是例证，在那里，共和国的支持者和德国民族主义者竖立相互竞争的标志，营造了一种怀疑和敌对的气氛。斯帕政府收到了关于海滩上插满帝国战争旗的投诉。
除了政治之外，冲突还转移到文化、时尚和生活方式，人们利用这些途径来表达他们的政治倾向。虽然德国在1920年代经历了文化大爆炸，但这种多样性也伴随着日益严重的隔阂和分裂。尽管通信技术取得了进步，但不同的政治阵营仍然相互孤立和敌对。许多人感到与共和国的理想格格不入，当时的文学作品反映出一种无助和缺乏归属感。
本章最后强调了在相互冲突的态度和对城市生活快速现代化带来的焦虑中寻找共同点。协调的交通方式和人群的运动模式都是检验现代时代未来可行性的试验案例。交通成为人们对未来充满期望和焦虑的焦点。复杂的规则和不成文的安排象征着魏玛共和国时期现代化的希望和危险。
Chapter 5, "Precarious Balance," explores the tumultuous period in the Weimar Republic following the death of its first president, Friedrich Ebert, and the subsequent election of Paul von Hindenburg. Ebert's death in February 1925, due to complications from appendicitis exacerbated by the stress of a libel case, triggered a surprising wave of national mourning. Even conservative newspapers acknowledged his stabilizing influence, casting him as a "mighty father" who had held the Republic together. The state funeral, meticulously organized by art guardian Edven Rätzlop, aimed to project an image of dignity and unity, successfully mimicking imperial grandeur without its inherent tackiness. The large crowds attending the funeral suggested a broader base of support for the Republic than previously perceived.
However, the sense of unity was short-lived. The election of Hindenburg, the 77-year-old "Hero of Tannenberg," as Ebert's successor rekindled anxieties about a potential return to authoritarianism. Hindenburg, with his Wilhelmine appearance and military background, was seen by many as a substitute Kaiser. While the right-wing celebrated his victory, Republicans lamented it as a setback for democracy, noting that he only represented a minority of voters due to the fractured anti-nationalist vote. The election was also marred by violence perpetrated by right-wing thugs against voters.
Despite initial fears, Hindenburg proved to be largely loyal to the democratic system. He enjoyed his role as president of the entire nation and did not fully align with the reactionary convictions of his advisors. Some even hoped that his presidency could lead to a reconciliation between right-wing conservatives and the Republic. The black, red, and gold flags of the republic during his swearing-in ceremony became a contested image: a symbol of integration to some, and "black red mustard" mockery to others.
The 1928 Reichstag elections saw a shift back towards the left, with the Social Democrats becoming the strongest party and forming a coalition government. Parties loyal to the republic gained strength, while the anti-Semitic Nationalists suffered losses. While Democracy emerged from the election confirmed. Despite this positive outcome, the coalition government faced internal divisions, particularly between the Social Democrats and their bourgeois partners. Disputes over issues like the construction of an armored cruiser exposed the fragility of the alliance.
The political gridlock provided ammunition for opponents of democracy, who argued that the Republic was plagued by a self-serving political caste. The political mood grew increasingly polarized, exemplified by the "flag dispute" on Baltic beaches, where supporters of the Republic and German nationalists erected competing symbols, creating a climate of suspicion and hostility. The spar administration had received complaints that the beach was defined with Reich war flags.
Beyond politics, conflicts shifted to culture, fashion, and lifestyle, as people used these avenues to express their political leanings. While Germany experienced a cultural explosion during the 1920s, this diversity was accompanied by increased separation and division. Despite advancements in communication technology, different political camps remained isolated and hostile towards one another. Many felt alienated from the Republics ideals, with the literature of the time reflecting a sense of helplessness and lack of belonging.
The chapter concludes by highlighting the search for common ground amidst conflicting attitudes and the anxieties surrounding the rapid modernization of urban life. The coordinated modes of transport and the crowds' patterns of motion were both test cases for the future viability of the modern age. Traffic became a focus for high-flying expectations and anxiety. The complex rules and unspoken arrangements are symbollic of the promise and peril of modernization during the Weimar Republic.
中英文字稿 
Chapter 5 – Precarious Balance – The Death of Ebert – The Arrival of Hintonbork Politics and the many ideas that are proclaimed these days, everyone is allowed to speak his mind and it is bad to stand so far apart as I do. Zekefrid Karkar, Georg. The President sits a posthumous test, and so does the Republic. At the end of February 1925, Friedrich Ebert died at the age of only 54. The medical diagnosis cited protracted appendicitis leading to peritonitis. The protraction in turn was the consequence of a deep insult that the President had experienced at the hands of a Mark de Bogh Court, which had been processing a libel action that Ebert had brought against a journalist from the Mitter Doychepresse. And so often it concerned an accusation of treason, frequently brought by the political right. The journalist was found guilty, but in its summing up, the court established that as a member of the January strike in 1917, Ebert had himself committed treason, because the strike had weakened the defensive power of the German Reich.
第五章 – 危险的平衡 – 埃伯特之死 – 欣顿博克的崛起
如今，各种观点被提出，每个人都可以畅所欲言，这让我这个与众不同的人感到有些不安。泽克弗里德·卡尔卡尔，乔治。总统和共和国都面临着考验。
1925年2月底，年仅54岁的弗里德里希·埃伯特去世。医学诊断指出，他的死亡原因是拖延已久的阑尾炎引发的腹膜炎。这种拖延是因为埃伯特在马克·德·博格法院面前遭受了一次深刻的侮辱，当时他正在起诉《米特尔多伊彻出版社》的一名记者对他进行的诽谤。而这又是一次关于叛国罪的指控，这种指控常常由政治右翼人士提出。尽管记者被判有罪，但法院在总结中指出，作为1917年1月罢工的参与者，埃伯特自己也犯有叛国罪，因为罢工削弱了德意志帝国的防御力量。
The strikes in the munitions industry, called by the Spartacist Alliance, had been directed above all against the poor food situation and the continuation of the war. At the urging of the workers, Ebert and his Chancellor Philip Scheiderman had led the strike, but had then called for moderation, in line with the views of the SPD, which had not supported the strike. Ebert was enraged by the court's ruling. It placed an extraordinary amount of responsibility on his shoulders, whole-hearted status that he was. A more frivolous character would have dismissed the judge as a far-right lunatic, but Ebert had a nagging sense of dishonour. Depressed and bitter, he neglected the treatment of his inflamed appendix and ultimately failed to survive it. As soon as the news of his death had reached the outside world, something strange happened. The Republic held its breath. Ebert, who had been granted only emergency rations of recognition while in office, received it in abundance after his death. All of a sudden, he struck those left behind as a mighty father without whom the future would have been even more uncertain. Even conservative newspapers saw their country as orphaned.
斯巴达联盟号召的军火工业罢工，主要是反对糟糕的粮食状况和战争的继续。在工人们的推动下，埃伯特和他的总理菲利普·谢德曼领导了这次罢工，但后来呼吁保持克制，这与未支持罢工的社会民主党的观点一致。法院的判决让埃伯特十分愤怒。这判决给了埃伯特极大的责任，而他本身是个全心全意的人。一个更不负责任的人可能会把法官斥为极右翼的疯子，但埃伯特心中却有一种挥之不去的耻辱感。他又沮丧又痛苦，忽视了对发炎阑尾的治疗，最终没有挺过这场病。当他的死讯传到外界时，发生了一些奇怪的事情。共和国屏住了呼吸。埃伯特在任时只能获得有限的认同，但在去世后却得到了充足的认可。突然之间，人们觉得他就像一个伟大的父亲，没有他，未来可能更加不确定。甚至保守派报纸也认为国家失去了依靠。
Now that he was gone, the former working-class pub landlord, the Stocky Little Sadler, mocked as a miscast undistinguished president impersonator, was seen as a stabilising anchor, who had held the Republic together with superhuman powers. The newspapers wove him page-long obituary wreaths, stressing the uncommonly fortunate worthiness, a worthiness that was not exaggerated, that he had added to his natural tact, his innate calm. Knowing that a task lay in his hands had always provided a feeling of complete reassurance, the Fosse-Schutz Seitung wrote. The writer Gerhard Hauptmann called for a lying in state in the Neuier-Kierchien Berlin in order to underline the venerability of the deceased. However, the Kunstwadt Art Guardian of the Republic, Edven Rätzlop, who is responsible for the memorial service, had other ideas. On the 4th of March the coffin was carried in solemn procession from Ebert's house via the Reichstag to Potstama Plutz, with several stops, celebrations and addresses along the way. It then carried on to Heidelberg, his place of birth.
现在他已经离世，这位曾是工人阶级酒吧老板的“小个子萨德勒”，从前被嘲讽为不适合当总统的模仿者，如今却被视为稳固共和国的锚，他凭借超人的能力将共和国维系在一起。报纸为他撰写了长篇的讣告，强调他不寻常的幸运与价值，这些价值并没有被夸大，而是得益于他天生的机智和冷静。《福塞舒茨报》写道：之所以对他充满信心，是因为知道任务在他手中让人完全放心。作家格哈特·豪普特曼呼吁在柏林的新教堂为他举办国葬，以彰显他的可敬。然而，负责纪念仪式的共和国艺术监护人埃德文·拉茨洛普则另有想法。3月4日，灵柩从艾伯特的住所出发，经过国会大厦到达波茨坦广场，沿途多次停留，举行庆祝和致辞。随后，灵柩被运往他的出生地海德堡。
Unexpectedly large crowds lined the streets to bid farewell to Ebert and file past his coffin. At each stop, Rätzlop had organised speeches of extreme simplicity and at the same time of extreme size and weight, a worthy celebration of the Republic for its late saviour and defender, the Berliner Tagablad wrote. For this moment, in which such huge crowds participated, the Republic appeared to have much more support among the population than one might have imagined from normal everyday life. The impressive moving funeral, which added an effective closing touch to the less than brilliant office of the late President, was a quiet triumph for a man who provided the aesthetic accoutrements of the short-lived Weimar Republic from start to finish. Not many people had survived all the confusions and changes of government as intact as Edven Rätzlop, Reichst und Stvard and trained art historian.
意想不到的大批人群沿街排列，向埃伯特告别，并依次经过他的灵柩。拉措普(Rätzlop)在每个停留点都组织了极为简朴却又深刻的演讲，这是对这位已故的共和国救星和捍卫者的值得敬仰的致敬。正如《柏林日报》所写的那样，这一刻，因为如此众多的人群参与其中，共和国显示出比平时想象中更广泛的民众支持。这场令人印象深刻的葬礼为已故总统不甚辉煌的任期画上了一个有效的句号，对于那位从开始到结束都为短暂的魏玛共和国提供了美学装饰的人来说，这是一个宁静的胜利。很少有人能像爱德文·拉措普这样在政府的种种混乱和变更中保持如此完整，他是国会大厦的宫廷管理员，也是受过训练的艺术史学家。
The curious-sounding office of art guardian chiefly served the look of the Republic, from the design of the Reich Eagle and the stamps via flags and orders to the organisation of the annual celebrations of the constitution and state funerals. We might mock this today, but for the Young Republic, the aesthetic of the state was not to be underestimated, because it had to provide something that would come even close to gripping the minds of the nation in the way that the pageantry of the German Empire, impelled by Kaiser Wilhelm's hunger for prestige, had done. This was a nearly impossible task. Unlike the German Empire, the sober Republic lacked the transcendent component of God's mercy, the inelogic of which had justified the ceremonial grandeur. But in the case of Ibots Funeral, as with the previous memorial service for the murdered foreign minister Artenau, it was successful. Here Retzlop was able to achieve a gravity that stood comparison with imperial spectacles without sharing their often ludicrous tackiness.
这个听起来颇为奇特的艺术守护官一职，主要为共和国的形象服务，从国徽鹰的设计、邮票、旗帜和勋章，到宪法周年庆典和国葬的组织。虽然今天我们可能会对此感到好笑，但对年轻的共和国而言，国家的美学不容小觑，因为它必须提供一些东西，能够接近于以往德国帝国通过威廉皇帝对声望的渴望而触动国家心灵的那种震撼效果。这几乎是一项不可能的任务。与德国帝国不同，严肃的共和国缺乏上帝慈悲的超越成分，正是这种超然的成分支撑了仪式的庄严。然而，在伊博特葬礼中，就像此前为被暗杀的外交部长阿滕瑙举行的纪念活动一样，取得了成功。在这里，雷茨洛普能够达到一种庄重，与帝国的盛典相媲美，而没有沾染上那些常见的滑稽庸俗。
The appraisal of the Schpandau art siteon shows how important it was for the Republic to radiate dignity as well. For the first time, and surprisingly quickly, the German Republic has had to elaborate a ceremony for the burial of the imperial head of state, the task of preserving the dignity of the Reich and the Republic while at the same time avoiding excessive pomp was solved with taste and joy. Anyone who witnessed the preparation of the funeral route, the Reichstag Four Stage, the decoration of the House of Morning and Potstom Station, must admit that the uniform direction by the Reich Künstvärd, Dr. Retzlop, was a great success. The row of large laurel trees all the way down Wilhelm Strasse, the dull black obelisks in front of the House of Morning and in Parisa Plutz, the green-swathed advertising pillars, the black draped candelabras, the forest of black banners by the entrance to the Tjogarten, it all looked serious and solemn without seeming overdone.
对施潘道艺术现场的评价显示出，彰显尊严对于共和国来说有多么重要。这是德国共和国首次（并且出乎意料地迅速）需要为皇帝国家元首的葬礼制定仪式。这个任务要求在保持帝国和共和国尊严的同时避免过于奢华，而这一任务被以品位和愉悦的方式解决。任何目睹葬礼路线、国会大厦四个平台、晨曦之家和波茨坦车站装饰准备工作的人，都必须承认，由帝国艺术总监雷茨洛普博士统筹的这些布置是一个巨大成功。从威廉大街整排的大月桂树，到晨曦之家前和巴黎广场上的黯淡黑色方尖碑，再到绿色缠绕的广告柱，披上黑色绸布的烛台，以及通往动物园入口处的黑色旗帜森林，一切都显得庄重而不失严肃，并没有显得过于奢华。
At the death of its first president, almost the whole Republic seemed unusually to be at peace. Thanks to its master of ceremony, Retzlop, the young Republic had passed a test of dignity. At the stroke of eleven on the morning of the funeral, public and private traffic was halted for five minutes. The workforces of the big companies also gathered in the streets for a brief reflection. Only Munich University did not comply with the ministerial decree to close for the day, justifying this with reference to the negative response from the student body, which was even less well disposed towards the Republic than was usual among scholarly young people.
在首任总统去世时，几乎整个共和国显得异常平静。在典礼主持人雷茨洛普的努力下，年轻的共和国通过了一次庄重的考验。葬礼当天上午十一点整，公共和私人交通暂停五分钟。各大公司的员工也在街头集会，进行了短暂的反思。只有慕尼黑大学没有遵守关闭一天的部长令，理由是学生团体的反对意见，学生们对共和国的接受度甚至比一般学术青年的还要低。
The Hero of Tannenberg in Black Red Mustard How would things continue now? The extensive unanimity of those days did not last for long. The greatest concern was to be found abroad. The German newspapers were surprised to quote the obituaries by their British, French and American colleagues. The Americans in particular were concerned that the Horns solens might try to return to power, and Crown Prince Wilhelm might stand for election as Ibert's successor before going on to reintroduce the monarchy. What happened next could easily have been mistaken for this horrific vision.
《塔能堡英雄身着黑红芥末色》接下来会如何发展呢？那些日子里广泛的共识并没有持续太久。最大的担忧来自海外。德国的报纸惊讶地引用了英国、法国和美国同行发表的悼文。特别是美国人担心，霍恩索伦家族可能试图重新掌权，而威廉王储可能会作为艾伯特的继任者参选，然后重新引入君主制。接下来发生的事情很容易被误认为这种可怕的预想变成了现实。
77-year-old Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, close victor on the second round of presidential elections on the 26th of April 1925, actually looked like a substitute Kaiser. Hindenburg, the Hero of Tannenberg, liked to appear in a spiked helmet, picker-howber, and with rows of medals on his chest. His wavy mustache stuck out powerfully over his wide cheeks and gave him the appearance of the perfect Wilhelmine edition of the President. Griseled Hindenburg's career extended deep into Prussia's glorious past. In 1866 he had taken part in the battle of König Kreitz. And in 1888 he had sat vigil by Wilhelm I's body.
77岁的冯·兴登堡元帅在1925年4月26日的总统选举第二轮中险胜，实际上看起来像是一位代替的皇帝。兴登堡，作为坦能堡之战的英雄，喜欢戴着尖顶头盔（“挑刺”头盔），胸前挂满奖章。他波浪状的胡须在宽阔的面颊上显得格外显眼，给人一种威廉时代总统的完美形象。老练的兴登堡的职业生涯深入普鲁士的光辉历史。他在1866年参加了柯尼格雷茨战役，并在1888年为威廉一世守灵。
The grotesque claim of having lost the war, undefeated in the field, sounded best coming from him. Now he had been democratically elected President, beating the decent lawyer Wilhelm Marx, member of the Catholic Centre Party and candidate of the Republican-inclined Folks' Block, People's Block. The fact that a small, relative majority of citizens had decided in favour of the former head of the Supreme Military Command, an inventor of the stab-in-the-back legend dismayed the Republicans, who had just interpreted the broad sympathy over Ibert's death as an indication of trust in democracy.
他说自己在战场上未被击败，却声称输掉了战争，这种荒谬的说法最合适由他口中说出。现在，他通过民主选举成为总统，击败了正直的律师威尔赫姆·马克思。马克思是天主教中央党的成员，也是共和倾向的人民党候选人。尽管许多公民对这位前最高军事指挥官投了赞成票，但这位前指挥官曾提出“背后插刀”传说，这一结果令共和派感到失望。他们刚刚把大众对伊贝尔特去世的广泛同情解读为对民主的信任。
Now more than ever, long live the Republic, was the defiant headline on the front of the liberal Bellina Folks' item after the vote count. They tried to console their readers with the calculation that the victor Hindenburg still only represented a minority, since the Communists had split the anti-nationalist front with a candidate of their own, Ernst Tiedemann. Conversely, the right-wing Bellina Berzensaitung was triumphant. The national idea is on the march. Hindenburg is Reich President. Stressing that the campaign, the battle for our nation's soul, had by no means been won. And in passing, the Berzensaitung made it clear what it thought of democracy. It was not about majorities, but about unity. The important thing is to win back not only the majority, not only the two-thirds majority for the nationalist idea, but the unity behind the fatherland that made our nation a giant in 1914.
此刻比以往任何时候都更坚定，《贝利纳民众报》在计票结束后的头版上以挑衅的标题写道：“共和国万岁”。他们试图以一种计算来安慰读者，即胜利者兴登堡其实仍然只代表了少数，因为共产党推出自己的候选人恩斯特·蒂德曼，分裂了反民族主义阵线。与之相对的右翼《贝利纳日报》则显得非常得意：“民族理念正在崛起，兴登堡当选共和国总统。”强调说，这场争夺国家灵魂的战斗绝没有结束。《贝利纳日报》顺带明确指出他们对民主的看法：这不是关于多数，而是关于统一。重要的是要重新赢得对民族主义理念的支持，不仅是简单的多数支持，不仅仅是三分之二的多数支持，而是要恢复1914年让我们国家成为巨人的国家团结。
How nationalists implemented the struggle for the soul of the nation if their powers of persuasion were not sufficient was made apparent on the election day. With cudgels, iron bars, and pistols, their thugs outside voting stations left many people injured and several dead. For his friends on the far right, however, Paul von Hindenburg proved at first to be a disappointment. He did obstruct a number of laws aimed at the partial expropriation of the princely houses, but by and large, the new president was loyal to the democracy that had brought him to power. Hindenburg enjoyed playing the role of president of the entire nation, and to that degree did not act according to his reactionary convictions as the favorites around him had hoped.
在选举日，民族主义者如何实现他们的国家灵魂斗争，如果他们的说服力不足，这一点变得显而易见。在投票站外，他们的打手拿着棍棒、铁棒和手枪，导致许多人受伤，数人死亡。然而，对于极右翼的朋友们来说，保罗·冯·兴登堡最初被证明是一个令人失望的人。他确实阻止了许多旨在部分征用王室财产的法律，但总体而言，这位新总统忠于将他带上权力的民主制度。兴登堡喜欢扮演整个国家总统的角色，因此在一定程度上没有按照他身边人的反动信念行事。
The monarchy seemed clearly to be a thing of the past, even for the monarchist Hindenburg. Many contemporaries even associated him with the hope that right-wing conservatives might in due course come to terms with democracy and integrate with the republic. Was it not a good sign that in his swearing-in ceremony Hindenburg was wedged in among the black, red and gold flags of the republic? Black red mustered as the opponents of the republic mocked? A representative of the good old days at the head of the modern republic, Germans in search of harmony interpreted this as a big step in the direction of inner peace and unity.
君主制度显然已成为过去的事情，即使对君主主义者兴登堡来说也是如此。许多同时代的人甚至将他与一种希望联系在一起，即右翼保守派可能终将与民主和解，并融入共和国。在他的宣誓就职仪式中，兴登堡夹在共和国的黑红金三色旗之间，这难道不是一个好兆头吗？当反对共和国的人嘲笑这面旗帜时，代表“美好旧时代”的人物成为现代共和国的领袖，寻求和谐的德国人将其解读为朝内心和平与团结迈出的一大步。
In the 1928 Reichstag elections, the mood in the country swung back towards the left. The social democrats became the strongest party in government again, and under Chancellor Haman Miller formed a four-party coalition government. From left to right on the political spectrum, these parties were the Social Democratic Party, SPD, German Democratic Party, Deutsche Demokartes-Chapartai, DDP, Centre Bavarian Peoples Party, Eilrich-Chapartai, BVP and German Peoples Party, Deutsche-Folkz-Bartai, DVP. Almost a new addition of the big coalitions of the earliest years. Overall those parties that were loyal to the republic were strengthened, and the German Communist Party, the KPD, had been too. But the most important thing was the anti-Semitic Nationalist German National Peoples Party, the DNVP, had sustained heavy losses, and the still tiny National Socialist German Workers Party, the NSDAP, registered losses as well.
在1928年的国会选举中，国家的情绪再次转向左翼。社会民主党再次成为政府中的最强政党，并在总理哈曼·米勒的领导下，组建了一个由四个政党组成的联合政府。这些政党在政治光谱上从左到右依次是社会民主党（SPD）、德国民主党（DDP）、中央巴伐利亚人民党（BVP）和德国人民党（DVP）。这个联合政府几乎是早年大联合政府的重现。总体上，那些忠于共和国的政党得到了加强，德国共产党（KPD）也同样如此。但最重要的是，反犹太的民族主义德国国家人民党（DNVP）遭受了重大的损失，而仍然很小的国家社会主义德国工人党（NSDAP）也记录了损失。
Democracy emerged from the elections, confirmed and re-established. Gustav Strazemann remained foreign minister and visibly continued to ensure continuity. The right-wing menace seemed to have been banished, but the bourgeois Fausichet Saitong, under the headline, the leftward march of the voters summed up the situation with only partial relief. Everywhere in the Reich, voters have opted against the former right-wing government. In the zeal of conflict, they shot beyond the target. They marched leftwards to the cry, never again German Nationalist. And overlapped the centre. Things would become difficult in the longer term, the Fausichet Saitong continued, if the centre was missing.
民主在选举中出现，得到了确认和重新确立。古斯塔夫·施特雷泽曼继续担任外交部长，并显然继续确保政策的连贯性。右翼的威胁似乎已经消失，但《法西赫日报》在头版以“选民的左倾”总结了这一情况，表达了有限的释然。整个共和国的选民都投票反对前右翼政府。在激烈的冲突中，他们超过了目标，向左倾斜，高喊“再也不要德国民族主义”。他们也超越了中间立场。《法西赫日报》继续指出，如果中间派缺失，长期来看，情况将变得困难。
The Berliner Tagerblatt was more optimistic. The significance of the election for domestic politics lies in the German people's thorough rejection of German Nationalist Demogorgery and ambivalence in a strong new affirmation of the German Republic, whose opponents have been roundly defeated. The struggles to form a government, however, revealed the almost unbridgeable differences between the SPD and its bourgeois coalition partners. When ministers got their act together quite quickly, their parties persistently thwarted their desire for compromise.
《柏林日报》的观点更为乐观。此次选举对于国内政治的重要性在于，德国人民彻底拒绝了德国民族主义者的煽动行为，并明确坚定地支持了德国共和国，其反对者已被彻底击败。然而，组建政府的过程中暴露出社会民主党（SPD）与其资产阶级联盟伙伴之间几乎无法弥合的分歧。尽管部长们迅速达成了一致，但其所在的政党却不断阻挠他们达成妥协的意愿。
The SPD was particularly adept at doing harm to the members of its government. In the dispute over the construction of an armored cruiser in November 1928, SPD MPs required their ministers to vote against a cabinet ruling that they had approved two months previously. The whip made it possible to force ministers to toe the party line and thus sacrifice their credibility and dependability. A similar game developed in the centre, which out of concern for its Catholic profile, shifted further to the right, then was bearable for the viability of the coalition. Schriezmann also had his work cut out, moderating the industrial magnets in his DVP and moving them away from their most worker unfriendly demands. The fragile balance of power in the Reichstag held as long as things were looking economically rosy, but the mood was growing more irritable, the tone more vitriolic and attempts to find common ground were abandoned.
社会民主党（SPD）特别擅长对其政府成员造成伤害。在1928年11月关于建造装甲巡洋舰的争议中，SPD的议员要求其部长们投票反对两个月前他们曾批准的内阁决议。党鞭使他们能够迫使部长们遵循党的路线，从而牺牲了他们的信誉和可靠性。类似的情况也在中央党出现，出于对其天主教形象的关注，该党进一步向右偏移，以维持联盟的生存能力。史克里兹曼也面临挑战，必须调解他所在的德国人民党（DVP）中的工业大亨，并让他们放弃对工人最不友好的要求。只要经济状况良好，国会中的脆弱权力平衡就能维持下去，但随着情绪变得愈发急躁，言辞愈加尖刻，共同寻找解决方案的努力也被放弃。
For far too many players in the Republic, the following applied, principles were upheld and compromise scorned. Flag dispute on a Baltic beach The blockades between the government and the parties that constituted it provided welcome arguments for the opponents of democracy. These disagreements illustrated their assertion that the state was the prey of a feuding political caste that was fighting over it like a pack of wild dogs. Prime examples of this are the words that the sculptor Karl Dondorf wrote for the illustrated volume, Germany's Heads of the Present Day on Germany's Future. Which is not quality, but the majority of votes that decides things in Germany. The feud runs deep through parties and hence the parasitical red tape bureaucracy that has settled upon party forces, out of excessive caution. The rise of Germany, which lacks a reckless dictator, is suffering from this fruitless overload.
在共和国中，对于太多的玩家来说，以下情况都适用：原则得到了坚持，而妥协却被蔑视。波罗的海海滩上的国旗争端在政府和组成政府的各方之间形成了封锁，这给反对民主的人提供了有力的论据。这些分歧说明了反对者的观点，即国家是争斗的政治阶层的猎物，像一群野狗一样在争夺它。一个典型的例子是雕刻家卡尔·东多夫在图文集《当今德国的领导者关于德国的未来》中写的话。在德国，不是质量，而是多数票决定了一切。党派之间的争斗根深蒂固，因此导致了寄生般的官僚主义，这种官僚作风是由于过分谨慎而形成的，影响了党派力量。没有鲁莽独裁者的德国的崛起正因为这种无益的负担而受阻。
A telling picture of the political mood was played out on the beaches of the Baltic. The party-dwellers travelled there in the summer and tranched themselves beside their sand castles and demonstrated their political attitudes. They hoisted flags. The adherents of democracy flew the black, red and gold banner. The black, white and red flag in the colours of the old Kaiser Reich were planted by the German nationalists. The two groups viewed each other suspiciously from sand castle to sand castle. All it took was a spark for hatred to explode. Many locals found this awkward. The Reich war flag was too much of a defining presence on the beach. The spar administration of the resort of Arrenshorpe complained in the summer of 1928. Everywhere one looked, black, white and red flapped in the wind. There was clearly a greater need for affirmation on the far right than on the Republican side, which also flew flags in neutral colours for the sake of a peaceful holiday.
在波罗的海的海滩上，一幅生动的政治景象展现了出来。夏天，聚会者前往那里，在沙堡旁驻足，展示他们的政治态度。他们升起了旗帜。民主支持者升起黑红金三色旗，而德国民族主义者则插上了旧德意志帝国的黑白红旗。这两组人之间从一个沙堡到另一个沙堡，互相警惕地观察。只需要一个火花，仇恨便会爆发。许多当地人对此感到尴尬。在海滩上，德意志帝国的战旗显得过于显眼。阿伦斯霍普度假胜地的管理部门在1928年夏天抱怨说，放眼望去，到处都是迎风飘扬的黑白红旗。显然，在极右翼与共和派相比，他们对标志表现出更大的需求，而共和派为了一个平和的假期，也使用中性色的旗帜。
The right-wing vacationers were also inclined to steal the black, red and gold flags of the Republic to keep the beach clean. An exasperated Arrenshorpe spar administration complained to one newspaper about the charge of lunatics who fell upon the village with their political petulance in the summer. While for the rest of the year one would find a social democrat sitting next to a German nationalist in the local card game club and neither could understand why on earth they shouldn't be the best of friends. There were opportunities for political feuds everywhere, but there was little dialogue. People limited themselves to flag waving, to the use of symbols and styles, hair, clothes, musical preferences and the choice of daily newspaper were outstanding ways of demonstrating political attitudes.
右翼度假者也倾向于为了保持海滩的整洁，偷走了共和国的黑、红、金色旗帜。心烦意乱的阿伦肖普温泉管理部门向一家报纸抱怨道，这些疯子在夏天带着他们的政治任性来到村庄。然而，在其他季节里，通常可以看到一个社会民主党人与一个德国民族主义者坐在当地的纸牌俱乐部里，他们都不明白为什么不能成为最好的朋友。政治争执的机会随处可见，但几乎没有对话。人们只限于挥舞旗帜，通过使用符号和风格、发型、衣服、音乐偏好以及所选的日报来突出表达政治态度。
Conflicts shifted from solid political issues to culture, fashion, lifestyle, all of which also betrayed political attitudes, but which had less obvious connotations and stopped short of making an overt statement. This aspiration to artistic distinction was among the things that made the 1920s into one of the most creative decades of history. The cultural life of the time could be considered as a communicative laboratory of togetherness and opposition, a laboratory of multiplicity which prompted a heyday of diversity but also one of separation and division. While on the one hand Germans were communicating to an unfamiliar degree via phone calls, newspapers and the radio, at the same time the different camps were gruff and silent in their treatment of one another and only eloquent within their own bubbles cut off like the holiday makers behind their sand castles.
冲突从坚实的政治问题转向文化、时尚和生活方式，这些同样透露了政治态度，但其含义不那么明显，也没有形成明确的声明。这种对艺术特色的追求是促成1920年代成为历史上最具创造力的十年之一的因素之一。那时的文化生活可以被视为一种交流实验室，充满了团结与对立，以及多样性的实验室。这促进了多样性的繁荣，同时也带来了分离与分裂。在一方面，德国人通过电话、报纸和广播以前所未有的程度进行交流，但与此同时，不同阵营之间的交往却粗鲁而沉默，仅在各自的封闭圈子内才显得热情洋溢，就像被沙堡隔开的度假者一样。
The left in so far as it was aware that there were intellectuals outside its own camp, the American historian Walter Lachur wrote, regarded there the rights outpourings as mere gibberish on which no sensible man would waste much time. Conversely the German right regarded the left-wing intelligentsia as a noxious element, more dangerous than gangsters because they were helping to bring about the spiritual murder of an entire nation.
美国历史学家沃尔特·拉克尔写道，左派如果意识到在他们阵营之外还有知识分子存在，就认为右派的言论不过是一堆废话，没有一个理智的人会浪费时间去理会。相反，德国右派却把左翼知识分子视为一种有害因素，认为他们比匪徒更危险，因为他们正在帮助实施对整个民族的精神谋杀。
There were however countless people who did not want to be assigned to either of the camps into which the Republic, if they interpreted the signs correctly, had divided itself. They went dancing, strolled around in the crowd and felt lonely. The helpless, thoughtful person who could find no place for himself in the excitable collectives was one of the most common figures in the literature of the time. Not knowing where one belongs, simply going on living, became a burden in view of the many people inspired by the flourishing visions of salvation, politics and the many ideas that are proclaimed these days.
然而，有无数的人并不愿意被归到共和国划分的两个阵营中的任何一个。如果他们解读的迹象正确，这些人开始跳舞，在人群中漫步，但感到孤独。在当时的文学作品中，那些无法在激动的集体中找到自己位置的无助、深思熟虑的人是最常见的形象之一。在无数人被繁荣的救赎愿景、政治和各种被宣扬的理念所激励的情况下，不知道自己属于哪里，只是继续生活，也成为了一种负担。
Everyone is allowed to speak his mind, and it is bad to stand so far apart as I do. Zeke Friedrich Krakauer's Dithering Hero Georg complains in the novel of the same name and can still find no refuge for his troubled mind. And in Erech Kestner's novel Fabian, published in 1931, Fabian's friend Labouda writes in his farewell letter, we are standing at a historical turning point, where a new vision of the world must be constituted, everything else is pointless.
每个人都可以畅所欲言，而像我这样相距太远是不好的。在齐克·弗里德里希·克拉考尔的小说《犹豫的英雄乔治》中，乔治抱怨道，却仍找不到让他烦恼的心灵安顿之处。而在埃雷克·凯斯特纳1931年出版的小说《法比安》中，法比安的朋友拉布达在告别信中写道，我们正站在一个历史转折点上，一个新的世界观必须被建立，否则一切都毫无意义。
As a melancholic, he was armed against everything he claimed, but now he felt like a ridiculous figure, small in a great age that was becoming greater by the day. Since debates around hard political themes were becoming increasingly fruitless, the desire for discussion found release in less clearly occupied territories. There were certainly people who read both the right winger Ernst Junga and the communist Bertolt Brecht, the reactionary elitist Stefan Georga and the left-wing commentator Kour Tohulski, the variety of Weimar culture was enormous, and there were many omnivorous consumers among the public.
作为一名忧郁的人，他曾坚称对一切都有准备，但如今他觉得自己像个可笑的角色，在一个日益伟大的时代中显得渺小。由于围绕严肃政治主题的辩论变得越来越无效，讨论的欲望则在不那么明确的领域中得到了释放。确实有人同时阅读右派的恩斯特·荣格和共产主义者贝托尔特·布莱希特，反动精英斯特凡·乔治和左翼评论家库尔特·图霍尔斯基，魏玛文化的多样性极其丰富，公众中有许多兼收并蓄的读者。
Many people were preoccupied with the question of what could bind together a great variety of conflicting attitudes to life. Only recently liberated from the authoritarian order of the Kaiser Reich, they became mystified by the issue of what it is that actually holds free individuals together, what reliably regulates their coexistence and keeps them from constant clashes and collisions.
许多人对于什么能够将各种不同的生活态度凝聚在一起这个问题感到困惑。在刚刚从德意志帝国的专制统治中解放出来后，人们开始对自由个体之间的联系感到迷惑，不知道到底是什么因素能够稳固地规范他们的共存，并防止他们频繁发生冲突和碰撞。
The city in particular, with its coordinated modes of transport, its opportunities for individualistic self-development on the one hand and the crowd's patterns of motion on the other became a test case for the future viability of the modern age. Traffic, the most important medium of this newly accelerated life, became the focus for people's anxieties and high-flying expectations. With its whirling spirit of cooperation, its written and unwritten rules and its wordless, intuitive accommodations, it became the training ground of modern society, and also its symbol.
这座城市尤其如此，它有着协调运作的交通方式，一方面提供了个人发展的机会，另一方面表现了人群的流动模式，这使其成为现代社会未来可持续性的一个试验案例。交通作为这种快速生活中最重要的媒介，成了人们焦虑和高期望的焦点。交通的合作精神既具有旋转般的活力，又有书面和不成文的规则以及无言的、直观的适应，它成为了现代社会的训练场，也是其象征。