Weimar

Britain’s favourite German historian… Hoyer has been beavering away in the archives to tell the story of the crack-up of democracy in interwar Germany, through a vivid cast of characters * Sunday Times *
A bright, young historian… Strap in to watch the slow collapse of a society, amid a throng of fascists, socialists, artists and politicians * Telegraph, Books to Look Forward to in 2026 *
From literary and artistic gem to Nazi stronghold, how a quaint town encapsulated the best and worst in German history … Weimar is an excellent read * Financial Times *
Hoyer’s book confronts us with troubling ambiguities … Understanding why ordinary, even likeable, people turned away from democracy is, she argues, essential to safeguarding freedom … that task could scarcely be more urgent * Guardian *
Superb… Katja Hoyer finds the town of Weimar a perfect microcosm for a country teetering into darkness… intelligent, original and well-researched… an exemplary insight into a grim chapter in German history – Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph *
Weimar is populated not by abstractions but by people… Hoyer writes with verve and a keen eye for telling detail… She shows with quiet acuity how ordinary, self-respecting Weimarers succumbed to the siren call of Nazism * The Times *
Lucid, lively… Entirely to her credit, Hoyer describes the vices, vanities, fears, cowardice, heroism, naivety, cynicism, opportunism and the very human instinct to protect one’s loved ones without indulging in self-righteous moralising – Ian Buruma * New Statesman *
Humane history-writing at its best * Literary Review *
Such an important book * The Independent *
Its writing is gripping, Hoyer’s command of existent histories is clear, and her primary research is thorough and inventive… Reading Hoyer’s book, I recalled Svetlana Alexievich’s stated aim in Voices from Chernobyl: to tell the stories of ‘little, great people’ who voice their ‘own, little histories’ while ‘big history is told along the way’. This is where Weimar excels * History Today *
A fascinating history of Germany from 1914 to the Second World War * Daily Mail *
A nuanced account of the spiritual and cultural heart of Germany … Hoyer serves up history with a human heart * Irish Times *
The autopsy of a liberal democracy, told in the words of its own citizens. Katja Hoyer tracks the everyday acts of omission and concession in the face of ruthless wrong, showing how the compliant and the complacent ultimately undermine the brave. A book about a hundred years ago— without question a book for now – Neil MacGregor
A fresh and gripping account of the interwar years seen through the lens of Germany’s most legendary town. By skilfully weaving into the political narrative the stories of ordinary people, Katja Hoyer gives readers a vivid sense of what it was like to be alive then and there. Brilliantly researched, this is history at its very best – Julia Boyd

Katja Hoyer

Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian, journalist, and the author of the international bestsellers Beyond the Wall and Blood and Iron.

She is a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Hoyer writes for Bloomberg and Berliner Zeitung and is a commentator on German current affairs for many British newspapers.

She was born in Germany and is now based in the UK.

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