The Devil's Wheels: Men and Motorcycling in the Weimar Republic

During the unprecedented modernization of Germany's Weimar Republic, motorcycle culture instantiated the new link between consumption and identity. Motorcycles became symbols of masculinity and freedom that exposed the problems and allures of mass-consumption and modern values.

During the high days of modernization fever, among the many disorienting changes Germans experienced in the Weimar Republic was an unprecedented mingling of consumption and identity: increasingly, what one bought signaled who one was. Exemplary of this volatile dynamic was the era’s burgeoning motorcycle culture. With automobiles largely a luxury of the upper classes, motorcycles complexly symbolized masculinity and freedom, embodying a widespread desire to embrace progress as well as profound anxieties over the course of social transformation. Through its richly textured account of the motorcycle as both icon and commodity, The Devil’s Wheels teases out the intricacies of gender and class in the Weimar years.

• | Author: Sasha Disko
• | Publisher: Berghahn Books
• | Publication Date: Jul 12, 2019
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781789205237
• | ISBN-10: 1789205239