Darkness Falling: The Strange Death of the Weimar Republic, 1930-33

by Peter Walther

An enthralling narrative history of Weimar Berlin in the three years before the Nazi takeover and a dramatic account of Germany's slide from parliamentary democracy to dictatorship.

Combining meticulously researched historical writing on the one hand with gripping storytelling on the other, Peter Walther examines the mounting crisis during the dying years of the Weimar Republic through the prism of nine principal protagonists, whose lives are profiled deftly and in fascinating detail; they include leading Weimar politicians of the right, left, and centre and prominent émigrés resident in this most cosmopolitan of capital cities. The louche and febrile nightlife of early 1930s Berlin – 'a playground for charlatans and prophets, madmen and crooks' – is memorably and atmospherically evoked.

Peter Walther pulls together the threads of these nine lives to chart the demise of German parliamentary democracy and the rise of National Socialist tyranny, the story ending with the terrifying 'Finale furioso' of Hitler's seizure of power in January 1933. Along the way, we gain remarkable insights into the machinations in the corridors of power to try to keep the 'Bohemian corporal' from the chancellorship and the venality of the Nazi elite and its fellow travellers from the demi-monde of early 1930s Berlin.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, European History

416 pages, Hardcover

First published February 18, 2020

About the author

Peter Walther is a German scholar and literary historian.

Reviews

[Edward Champion · Rating 3 out of 5]

The collapse of the Weimar Republic is certainly a subject of vital importance, particularly here in March 2025 America -- in which we are presently seeing a slow burn repeat of the early months of 1933. But this book lacks the pith and range of Eric D. Weitz's WEIMAR GERMANY, the care of Rudiger Barth & Hauke Frederichs's THE LAST WINTER OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC, or the pith of Benjamin Carter Hett's THE DEATH OF DEMOCRACY (which is probably the most succinct book on the subject: no small feat that). The failings here are with Peter Walther, who is not an especially good storyteller. While I will give him serious props for dredging up the backstories of Maud von Ossietzky and Otto Braun (who are usually neglected by historians), his approach here is to present a number of biographical portraits and awkwardly place them on stage without really zeroing in on the important personality points. So one inevitably reads this very clumsy book from what I like to call the "info scoop" approach. It's not a particularly well written or well conceived book, but there are a lot of rare German sources here in the endnotes that are helpful. If only Walther were capable of telling a story, as pretty much any decent historian can do on a baseline level.

[Emmanuel Gustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unusual perspective on the final years of the Weimar Republic and Hitler's rise to power. Walther opts to follow people who are, so to say, in the second circle. They are not the names most people remember as the key players of the period, though some of them were very influential or powerful at the time. May of them became victims of the Nazi regime, but they were not necessarily all nice people, to put it mildly. Of course they have in common that their lives are still well described.

That concept dictates the structure of the book: A slow start, as the people who stories Walther wants to tell are introduced one by one; an intensive central period in which the events of 1933 unfold; and a fairly abrupt ending in which the final fate of these people is decided. Which varied from exile over years over imprisonment to three bullets in the head.

So this isn't the story of the end of the Weimar Republic, but the story of people who lived through it and perhaps died by it. The concept may disappoint you. But if you roll with it, it has an emotional impact that isn't so much present in the standard histories. It does feel a little overconfident, perhaps: This is a literary approach to history that leaves rather little room for doubt and uncertainty.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The death throes of the Weimar Republic. The author has an unusual approach. The bulk of the book is taken up by short biographies of the major players and a few obscure, minor players such as a magician and con-artist who was extremely popular during this period.

I think this approach works provided the reader already has a fair knowledge of the Weimar era, otherwise it would be difficult to fit all the pieces together. I found that the biography approach was useful because it gave you a much better feel for the atmosphere of the period.

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely interesting way to relate the death of the Weimar Republic through the lens of different major figures in the Weimar period. The writing was engaging and accessible, and while I think this wasn't the most clear with explaining WHY the Weimar Republic fell, potentially due to the author subscribing to the 'great man' theory of history, this is a fantastic book to explain the key events and engage with the period in more detail.

[Anders Wernberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I read the Swedish translation, the review, brief as it is, will be in English. In my opinion Germany from 1918 to 1933, the so called Weimar Republic, is a fascinating piece of 20th century history. In a mere fifteen years the state of Germany went from a conservative monarchy to a fascist/national socialist dictatorship which ended with mankind's darkest hour. After reading Hralad Jähner's "Höhenrausch" which paints a broader picture of the period it seemed fitting to dig into the last years of the first democratic German republic as depicted by Peter Walther. The book focuses on a select number of people; journalists, polticians, villains and charlatans from all corners of society.
Peter Walther succeeds in telling the story of the death of democratic Germany in 1933 on a personal level, but I think you will have to have at least a basic understanding of the period to be able to fully appreciate the book. However, well written and an easy read, if names lika von Papen, von Ossietzky, von Schleicher and Brüning are known to you I really recommend the book.

[Malin Näfstadius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ungefär som att lyssna på politiska kommentatorer på nyheterna när de ändlöst talar om hur partierna försöker sy ihop möjliga och omöjliga konstellationer för att bilda regering. Ja minus SA-trupperna då som skulle få folk att känna sig otrygga, men SDs retorik om kaos som bara de kan stoppa har precis samma syfte.

[Frans Andersson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skickligt vävd skildring av Weimarrepublikens sista tid, med utgångspunkt i ett antal personer som på olika sätt hade roller i maktkampen innan Tredje riket. Spoiler: det slutar sällan lyckligt för de som inte står på nazisternas sida i 30-talets Berlin.

Bra läsning för alla som gillar Babylon Berlin som bok eller tv-serie!

[Johan Kaluza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Om Berlin 1930-1933. Nio personers liv flätas samman i en skildring av denna historiskt viktiga period. För att förstå sin samtid måste man först förstå sin historia. Om regeringskriser, socialdemokrater som pragmatiskt bryter sina löften och om nazisterna som gör exakt det de säger att de vill göra.

[Mona Marko · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling and lively account of the transition from the Weimar Republic to Nazi Germany. Walther writes detailed biographical portraits of influential people like Dorothy Thompson, Kurt von Schleicher or Heinrich Brüning and hence offers a multi-perspective account of the years 1930 to 1933.

[Zita Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich fand die Herangehensweise, die Charaktere zu beschreiben und später den weiteren Verlauf zu erklären sehr interessant und angenehm. Für meinen Geschmack hätte es noch ein paar Jahre länger gehen können :)