William Cook

A brief glimpse of utopia

During a brief lull in Germany at the end of the first world war, a group of idealistic young writers planned a brave new world

issue 17 November 2018

Today Munich is a prosperous and peaceful place — Germany’s most affluent, attractive city. Wandering its leafy avenues, lined with handsome apartments and shiny new BMWs, it’s hard to picture anything remotely revolutionary happening here. However, exactly 100 years ago this cosy bastion of conservatism was overrun by one of Europe’s most unlikely revolutions, led by an idealistic theatre critic called Kurt Eisner.

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