Certain TV dramas allow vievers to indulge in that unfullfilled longing for a perilous, reckless and glamorous life they never had, while  educating them about a historically significant time period. Based on a series of novels written by Volker Kutscher, the series Babylon Berlin offers a didactive escape from reality. 

Set against the political turmoil of the Weimar Republic, the story has all the ingredients of a great noir. An intense, damaged police detective is introduced to Berlin though his encounters with rampant corruption, political conspiracies, conniving Russian revolutionaries, ruthless criminal gangs, beguiling widows, feminist flappers, and one very determined femme fatale. 
 

Clad in fedoras, cloche hats, and trenchcoats, unflinching  characters  continuously betray each other while escaping death by drowing , poison gas, and explosives. When not plotting the next assasination, revolutionaries and detectives attend wild Jazz Age parties. 

Co-written and co-directed by Tom Tykwer, Henk Handloegten and Achim von Borries, the show features 5,000 extras, 300 shooting locations, and is made for a budget of $40 million. While the  nonstop action and beautiful cinematography will secure your space on the the edge of your couch, the titles below will provide factual information on this fascinating historical period. 

For a full German immersion experience, check out some of our cookbooks and travel guides, too. If you can't get to the library, you can always borrow our ebooks, while chewing on a brawurtst . This blog would not be complete without mentioning one very special item in ourcollections, a book titled Schottenfreude: German Words for the Human Condition .

Berlin In History 

Before the Deluge; A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920's by Otto Friedrich 

Berlin Metropolis 1918-1933 edited by Olaf Peters

Berlin Calling : A Story of Anarchy  Music, the Wall, and the Birth of the New Berlin by Paul Hoskenos

Berlin in Fiction

Weimar Republic

German History

New Titles in German History