Walking in Berlin

Franz Hessel was an observer par excellence of the increasingly hectic metropolis that was Berlin in the late 1920s. In "Walking in Berlin", a collection of 23 essays originally published in German in 1929, he captures the rhythm of Weimar-era Berlin, recording evidence of the seismic shifts shaking German culture at the time. Nearly all of the pieces take the form of a walk or an outing, focusing either on a theme or part of the city, and many end at a theatre, cinema or club. Hessel effortlessly weaves historical information into his observations, displaying his extensive knowledge of the city