Techno-Cultural Rivalry

Transatlantic Competition between the United States and Germany, 1890-1930

Frank Trommler

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Year: 2026
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781836952756
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• Index: History

At the turn of the twentieth century, the United States and Germany were seen as rivals in a "race for modernity," each pursuing distinct visions of the future. America's image as a technological pioneer reshaped European self-perception, while Germany asserted its own path through science, engineering, and a far-reaching reform of design, architecture, and applied arts. This book explores the cultural encounters and confrontations between 1880 and the 1930s, moving beyond familiar narratives of Fordism and Taylorism to reveal technology as a dynamic cultural force. By tracing the adoption of German science in the United States, the American endeavors of conceptualizing technology in the search for a genuine American culture, and the German fascination and critique of "Americanism" in the Weimar republic, it offers new perspectives on transatlantic modernity.

Table of contents

• Techno-Cultural Rivalry
• Contents
• Figures
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. From Stingy Peasants and Romantic Dreamers to the German Industrial State
• Chapter 2. America and German Science
• Chapter 3. Culture as a Catch-up Process
• Chapter 4. Technology and Culture
• Chapter 5. French Enthusiasm for Technology and the Deliberations on American Culture
• Chapter 6. The Kaiser, the Engineers, and the Roots of Modernist Functionalism
• Chapter 7. German Arts and Crafts and American Consumer Culture
• Chapter 8. The Architects’ Encounter with Technology
• Chapter 9. From Modernity to Modernism
• Chapter 10. The Military , the Engineers, and the Abysses of Sachlichkeit in War
• Chapter 11. Weimar Culture
• Chapter 12. Weimar
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index