Weimar
Life on the Edge of Catastrophe
Published on 7. May 2026
Book
Hardback
496 pages
978-0-241-68124-4 (ISBN)
Description
*Sunday Times Bestseller*
'Britain's favourite German historian' Sunday Times
'Superb... Hoyer finds the town of Weimar a perfect microcosm for a country teetering into darkness... intelligent, original and well-researched' Daily Telegraph
From bestselling historian Katja Hoyer comes a gripping story of life during the rise and reign of Hitler through the eyes of the people of Weimar
*One of the most anticipated books of 2026 according to the Sunday Times, Financial Times and The Telegraph*
Weimar looms large in German history: a crucible of democracy and dictatorship. This ancient town nestled in the heart of the country was home to some of Europe's greatest thinkers, Goethe and Schiller, Liszt and Nietzsche among them. It gave its name to the ambitious Weimar Republic crafted in the aftermath of the First World War. But it was also where fascism took hold. Where Bauhaus architects first experimented with new ways of living, Buchenwald was dug out of a beech forest.
Weimar shows us a town and its people on the edge of catastrophe. Drawing on a wealth of new archival research, acclaimed historian Katja Hoyer takes us from 1919 to 1939 as she tells the stories of the men and women who lived through the new republic and Hitler's regime. We encounter a vividly drawn cast of characters, from bookbinder Carl Weirich and hotel owners Rosa and Arthur Schmidt, to Friedrich Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth. Here are fascists and socialists, artists and workers, politicians and citizens, who, as the events of history swept them up, became witnesses, perpetrators, victims and bystanders.
An unforgettable picture of lives and choices in extraordinary circumstances, Weimar takes us deep into the heart of the storm - to the town that dreamt of a better world, and woke up to tyranny.
'Britain's favourite German historian' Sunday Times
'Superb... Hoyer finds the town of Weimar a perfect microcosm for a country teetering into darkness... intelligent, original and well-researched' Daily Telegraph
From bestselling historian Katja Hoyer comes a gripping story of life during the rise and reign of Hitler through the eyes of the people of Weimar
*One of the most anticipated books of 2026 according to the Sunday Times, Financial Times and The Telegraph*
Weimar looms large in German history: a crucible of democracy and dictatorship. This ancient town nestled in the heart of the country was home to some of Europe's greatest thinkers, Goethe and Schiller, Liszt and Nietzsche among them. It gave its name to the ambitious Weimar Republic crafted in the aftermath of the First World War. But it was also where fascism took hold. Where Bauhaus architects first experimented with new ways of living, Buchenwald was dug out of a beech forest.
Weimar shows us a town and its people on the edge of catastrophe. Drawing on a wealth of new archival research, acclaimed historian Katja Hoyer takes us from 1919 to 1939 as she tells the stories of the men and women who lived through the new republic and Hitler's regime. We encounter a vividly drawn cast of characters, from bookbinder Carl Weirich and hotel owners Rosa and Arthur Schmidt, to Friedrich Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth. Here are fascists and socialists, artists and workers, politicians and citizens, who, as the events of history swept them up, became witnesses, perpetrators, victims and bystanders.
An unforgettable picture of lives and choices in extraordinary circumstances, Weimar takes us deep into the heart of the storm - to the town that dreamt of a better world, and woke up to tyranny.
Reviews / Votes
Britain's favourite German historian... Hoyer has been beavering away in the archives to tell the story of the crack-up of democracy in interwar Germany, through a vivid cast of characters * Sunday Times * A bright, young historian... Strap in to watch the slow collapse of a society, amid a throng of fascists, socialists, artists and politicians * Telegraph, Books to Look Forward to in 2026 * From literary and artistic gem to Nazi stronghold, how a quaint town encapsulated the best and worst in German history ... Weimar is an excellent read * Financial Times * Hoyer's book confronts us with troubling ambiguities ... Understanding why ordinary, even likeable, people turned away from democracy is, she argues, essential to safeguarding freedom ... that task could scarcely be more urgent * Guardian * Superb... Katja Hoyer finds the town of Weimar a perfect microcosm for a country teetering into darkness... intelligent, original and well-researched... an exemplary insight into a grim chapter in German history -- Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph * Weimar is populated not by abstractions but by people... Hoyer writes with verve and a keen eye for telling detail... She shows with quiet acuity how ordinary, self-respecting Weimarers succumbed to the siren call of Nazism * The Times * Lucid, lively... Entirely to her credit, Hoyer describes the vices, vanities, fears, cowardice, heroism, naivety, cynicism, opportunism and the very human instinct to protect one's loved ones without indulging in self-righteous moralising -- Ian Buruma * New Statesman * Humane history-writing at its best * Literary Review * Such an important book * The Independent * Its writing is gripping, Hoyer's command of existent histories is clear, and her primary research is thorough and inventive... Reading Hoyer's book, I recalled Svetlana Alexievich's stated aim in Voices from Chernobyl: to tell the stories of 'little, great people' who voice their 'own, little histories' while 'big history is told along the way'. This is where Weimar excels * History Today * A fascinating history of Germany from 1914 to the Second World War * Daily Mail * A nuanced account of the spiritual and cultural heart of Germany ... Hoyer serves up history with a human heart * Irish Times * The autopsy of a liberal democracy, told in the words of its own citizens. Katja Hoyer tracks the everyday acts of omission and concession in the face of ruthless wrong, showing how the compliant and the complacent ultimately undermine the brave. A book about a hundred years ago- without question a book for now -- Neil MacGregor A fresh and gripping account of the interwar years seen through the lens of Germany's most legendary town. By skilfully weaving into the political narrative the stories of ordinary people, Katja Hoyer gives readers a vivid sense of what it was like to be alive then and there. Brilliantly researched, this is history at its very best -- Julia BoydMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 242 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 44 mm
Weight
714 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-68124-4 (9780241681244)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian, journalist and the author of the international bestseller Beyond the Wall as well as Blood and Iron. A visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she writes for Bloomberg and Berliner Zeitung and is a commentator on German current affairs for many British newspapers. She was born in Germany and is now based in the UK.