TY - BOOK AU - Bisno,Adam TI - Big business and the crisis of German democracy: liberalism and the grand hotels of Berlin, 1875-1933 T2 - Publications of the German Historical Institute SN - 9781009026154 (ebook) AV - TX910.G4 B57 2024 U1 - 647.940943 23/eng/20230602 PY - 2024/// CY - Cambridge ; New York, NY PB - Cambridge University Press KW - Hospitality industry KW - Political aspects KW - Germany KW - Berlin KW - Hotelkeepers KW - Political activity KW - Business and politics KW - History KW - 20th century KW - Berlin (Germany) KW - 1918-1945 KW - Economic conditions KW - Politics and government KW - 1871-1933 N1 - Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 23 Oct 2023); Hospitality incorporated -- Managing heterogeneity -- Grand hotels at war -- Hoteliers against the republic -- Abdication of the liberals; Open Access N2 - Through the colorful world of Berlin's grand hotels, this book charts a new history of German liberalism and explores the changing relationships among big business, society, and politics. Behind imposing facades, managers and workers were often the picture of orderly and harmonious service, despite living in sometimes uncomfortable proximity. Then, during World War I, class tensions rose to the surface and failed to resolve in the following years. Doubting the ability of the Weimar Republic to contain these conflicts, a group of hotel owners, some of the most prominent Jewish industrialists and financiers in the country, chose to let Adolf Hitler use their hotel, the Kaiserhof, as his Berlin headquarters in 1932. From a splendid suite opposite the chancellery, Hitler and his henchmen engineered the assumption of power, the death of the Weimar Republic, and the ruin of their hosts, the Kaiserhof's owners: Jewish liberals now fleeing for their lives. Big Business and the Crisis of German Democracy asks how this came about and explores the decision-making processes that produced such catastrophic consequences. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core UR - https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009026154 ER -