The Fortress Shop: Consumer Culture, Violence, and Security in Weimar Berlin

Abstract

Antisemitic attacks on shops are a well-known facet of the history of National Socialism. But patterns of violence against commercial targets during the Weimar Republic are less familiar. Widespread theft and vandalism initially corresponded with periods of emergency, such as the Spartacist Revolt or Hyperinflation. By the early 1930s, looting became a regular rather than an exceptional part of urban commercial life. Shopkeepers and police officials struggled to comprehend and categorize these crimes and to implement effective responses. By 1931, in the context of a general breakdown in public security, the police promoted a fortified shop as the best means for crime prevention. In contrast to ‘invisible’ security measures invented by department stores to deter crime without inhibiting consumption, these measures made explicit a defensive posture of the shop toward the street. Violence against shops shaped commercial practices and policing tactics not only during the Weimar Republic but also during the National Socialist era. As evidenced by the April 1933 Boycott, Nazi officials strategically unleashed and contained public violence. In response, shopkeepers struggled to comprehend and adapt old protections to new threats. More broadly, I argue that attacks on shops reveal the precariousness of modern consumer culture and how easily domestic unrest can destabilize its fundamental assumptions and practices.