Public transportation and propaganda
Mobility, modernity, and ideology in Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe 's employee periodical Die Fahrt (1929–1945)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10248940 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mikael Olsson Berggren (0009-0007-7699-8742, Lafayette College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-10 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Transport History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-5266 • E-ISSN: 1759-3999 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00225266261417898 |
| OpenAlex | W7128531752 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 19 |
This article examines how the Berlin Transport Authority's (BVG) employee periodical Die Fahrt , published between 1929 and 1945, shaped discussions and representations of urban mobility and the BVG's company identity around the historical shift of 1932/33. Specifically, the essay looks at how the new National Socialist editorial board appropriated one of the most significant technological transformations of the German Empire and Weimar Republic, namely Berlin's public transit network, into broader discussions that reinforced both their vision of modernisation and ideological agenda. The close readings trace how the periodical's representations of mobility, labour, and leisure supported competing mobility regimes across the Weimar and National Socialist eras. Rather than passively documenting political and ideological shifts, I argue, Die Fahrt actively contributed to the reframing of public transit as a site of ideological performance under National Socialism
Cognitive reframing · Empire · German · Identity (music · Ideology · Modernization theory · National identity · Politics · Cultural History and Identity Formation · European history and politics · German Colonialism and Identity Studies
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |