A historical study of modern German advertising, from the Imperial period through the 1970s, that explores mass consumption in modern society and the relationship between business mentalities, artistic creation, consumer behavior, and ideology.

The sheer intensity and violence of Germany's twentieth century--through the end of an empire, two world wars, two democracies, and two dictatorships--provide a unique opportunity to assess the power and endurance of commercial imagery in the most extreme circumstances. "Selling Modernity" places advertising and advertisements in this tumultuous historical setting, exploring such themes as the relationship between advertising and propaganda in Nazi Germany, the influence of the United States on German advertising, the use of advertising to promote mass consumption in West Germany, and the...

There is perhaps nothing so commonplace and yet so mystifying as money. But to European communists, money was clearly an instrument of economic exploitation and spiritual alienation. In this groundbreaking study, Jonathan R. Zatlin explores the East German attempt to create a perfect society by eliminating money and explains the reasons for its failure. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including unpublished communist reports, secret police files, literature, jokes, letters written by ordinary people, and conversations with key German politicians, this book shows how the communist regime...