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Any comparable cities to Paris in the 1920's?

BiffTannen said:
It's comparable. It's probably the best answer right now. It's also possible that Paris in the 1920's is highly romanticized beyond what it really was.
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As far as the night life, you're probably right. But there are tangible works of literature and art that came out of Paris that still have cultural relevance even today.
 
Y'all are forgetting about Kaboom and Youngblood.
 
TownieDeac said:
What made Paris in the 1920s so special was a confluence of cultural, economic, and political forces after the war. Seems like you'd need a pretty unique set of circumstances to get something similar to a time of postwar positivism/progressivism, roaring economic prosperity, the rise of new media (radio, cinema, theater revival), etc. I think a lot of what made Paris in the 20s so special was novelty.
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i'm living it townie
 
A true local bar. HB's Cheer's. The staff is great and everyone knows your name. Their daily lunch specials are incredible and are only $4.50. On weekends it's the place to watch sports. Kinda hesitant to write this, don't want it to get too crowed.
 
Berlin is the answer I was most expecting to hear and glad to see that confirmed. I was blown away by it when I visited for just a few days but didnt even scratch the surface. Seemed way too expensive though. The expats thing is interesting. I didnt seem to run into many American's while in Berlin versus other big European cities.
 
Full-blown global capitalism has comodified everything such that 1920's cannot exist again, barring revolution.
 
WakeForestRanger said:
I won't deny that it's the closest thing to Paris in 1920's going on in the world today. But I'm not really aware of any literature, music, etc... coming from Berlin that is having the big cultural impact on America that Paris had in the 20's. Granted I can't tell you anything that came out of Brooklyn in 90's/00's that did either other than the hipster movement.
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Indie Rock, bro. AnCo. Vampy Wknd. LCD. Yeasayer.
 
WakeForestRanger said:
What's going on in Berlin now that makes it comparable to Paris in the 1920's?
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WakeForestRanger said:
I won't deny that it's the closest thing to Paris in 1920's going on in the world today. But I'm not really aware of any literature, music, etc... coming from Berlin that is having the big cultural impact on America that Paris had in the 20's. Granted I can't tell you anything that came out of Brooklyn in 90's/00's that did either other than the hipster movement.
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TownieDeac said:
I'd defer to vad or others, but I'm guessing one reason Berlin is so sweet right now is the mix of postwar culture that split the city in half. The revitalization of the town center, that specific urban development probably led to it being the cool city it is today.

Crazy how much boring shit like zoning and municipal planning goes into cities becoming sweet.
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Berlin rose to prominence in European culture in large part because it represents the direct divide between east and west that came crashing down in a flash. It's a really odd city in that way - you have rooms in the former eastern half you can rent for 100 euros a month for artists, students, writers, etc - and you have the wealthy western half that rich benefactors want to be in. It was a "comfortable" and affordable place for the young rebellious youth from central Europe to come to and begin to live the western dream, and the euphoria of a reunified Germany fed into it as well (as well as Berlin's euphoria of returning to it's rightful place as the capital of the German people). Just a huge confluence of things that created an explosive and exciting melting pot over the past 20 years or so.

I think Paris of the 20s is probably impossible to match just because the end of the Cold War wasn't quite as dramatic and life changing as the end of WW1 for the continent (though it was still a tremendous event), and because English speakers have an affection for France and French that they do not have for Germany and German. There are English writers living in Berlin currently (quite a number in fact) - CJ Hopkins and Clare Wigfall might be the most prominent - and it's head and shoulders above any other city in the world in terms of contemporary art. The best of the German language literature (and Slavic language works, many of whose writers live in Berlin) will slowly make their west in the form of English translations over the years - but that doesn't change the impact they are having now in their targeted communities. Herta Müller has won a Nobel Prize in literature while writing based in Berlin and a nearly every prominent European author of the past 20 years has spent at least some time there. I don't know if we'll have a full grip on the impact of "Berlin of the 90s and 00s" until other decade or two passes, but at a minimum it's been the most influential city on the continent of Europe in terms of arts and culture during that period.
 
P.S - if you're planning a European vacation, you should really make sure to spend some time in Berlin right now. It's kind of a time and place thing (though we are clearly on the tail end of the "peak" if you will), and you won't regret it.
 
Can you really recreate anything like 1920s Paris when we have a globally integrated world that allows for collaboration across continents?
 
vadimivich said:
P.S - if you're planning a European vacation, you should really make sure to spend some time in Berlin right now. It's kind of a time and place thing (though we are clearly on the tail end of the "peak" if you will), and you won't regret it.
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Great write up on Berlin. I definitely want to get back in the next calendar year. Im looking at you brasky.

Vad, have you ever met up with anyone off the boards in Europe?
 
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