An edition of Berlin's Forgotten Future (2003)
Berlin's forgotten future
city, history, and enlightenment in eighteenth-century Germany
By Matt Erlin
Publish Date
2004
Publisher
University of North Carolina Press,The University of North Carolina Press
Language
eng
Pages
235
Description:
"Through an analysis of the works of the Berlin Aufklarer Friedrich Gedike, Friedrich Nicolai, G. E. Lessing, and Moses Mendelssohn, Matt Erlin shows how the rapid changes occurring in Prussia's newly minted metropolis challenged these intellectuals to engage in precisely the kind of nuanced thinking about history that has come to be seen as characteristic of the German Enlightenment. The author's demonstration of Berlin's historical-theoretical significance also provides a fresh perspective on the larger question of the city's impact on eighteenth-century German culture. Challenging the widespread idea that German intellectuals were antiurban, the study reveals the extent to which urban sociability came to be seen be some as a problematic but crucial factor in the realization of their Enlightenment aims."--BOOK JACKET.
subjects: Enlightenment, History, Intellectual life, Berlin (germany), history, Germany, intellectual life
Places: Berlin, Berlin (Germany), Germany
Times: 18th century