KIND OF GOLDEN – The Friedrichstadt

Jazz Tour of the twenties

City walk to historic Berlin jazz venues from the twenties, passing the former Metropol Theater andheading towards the Moka Efti.

  • meeting in front of the Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin ; the city walk ends around 120 Minutes later close to the metro station Stadtmitte.
  • please register: +491715483492 or anja@jazzgeschichten.de 
  • A city walk can be arranged any time, please contact me!
  • € 15 / person.

Right into the sinful Berlin – the notorious demimonde: City walk back to the Friedrichstadt. The infamous entertainment center of Berlin was still famous from the Empire! The Wilhelminian splendor persisted, now affordable for everyone. A turbulent social chaos!

A prelude to Sex, Drugs and Rock’n’Roll!

In 1918, jazz sounded like industrialization, mechanization. so it was absolutely contemporary. For the workers, its hectic pace and nervousness meant revolution and stood for modern times. In their optimism, the sounds could inspire many people. They reached the progressive artists in their eccentricity. Then jazz served as the dance music in times of dance craze. Cakewalk and Shimmy were framing the first half of the Twenties, Charleston the second one.

From a technical point of view, however, the music was so extraordinary that many trained musicians preferred to continue playing classical or light music. That’s why spontaneously formed Jazzbänder, as they were called, amateur bands  took on this task.   Jazz developed rapidly. Each new jazz style opened the music again to other social circles.

Inevitably, we are in the midst of the issues of those days, such as modernity, gender and drug consumption.

Some places in the Friedrichstadt mirrored these conflicts in a special way. This City walk reminds of it locally.

MUSIC
Also see: KIND OF GOLDEN – New West
Jazz stories

 

The Twenties in Berlin
The Twenties in Berlin – Paul Abraham