Historical Background
The Weimar Republic
The new political structure that formed in Germany after the First World War, often called the Weimar Republic, lasted only fourteen years. During its short-lived existence, it faced several crises, like hyperinflation, political extremism and conflicts with the allied victors of the war.
But in between these periods of struggle, from around 1924 to around 1929, there was a time that was later called the Golden Era of Weimar. The situation in Germany calmed down again. People recovered from the horrors of war, famine and revolution. New jobs were created and new money was flowing. Incredible breakthroughs in science took place. Art, culture and architecture also experienced a new heyday.
Immertreu is set right in the middle of this era!
Gender and Sexuality
Berlin of the 1920s was a place, where for a short period of time people who did not fit into the rigid pattern most of the German society requested for gender and sexuality could experience some freedom (at least compared to the decades before and after this time). We will exaggerate this even more for the purpose of Immertreu.
Most of the characters can be played as male, female, or non-binary. All participants are free to choose which gender they want their characters to be.
The Ring Clubs
The 1920s Ring Clubs in Germany are a fascinating topic. All over the world and during all times criminals have been forming gangs to support each other and enhance their "business". But seldom did organized crime act such open and as much respected by authorities and society as in interwar Berlin.
For a brief period in time, these "guilds of gentleman criminals" (as they would think of themselves) ruled the underworld of the city. Nowadays the Ring Clubs and their members are almost forgotten, as are their - often brutal and horrible, non-gentleman-like - crimes. But in their heydays, they gathered great fame and inspired numerous works of fiction, glorifying or condemning them.
M
One of the most well-known early depictions of the Ring Clubs of Berlin might be the 1931 film "M" by Fritz Lang, about a child murderer, hunted by police and gangsters. It is based on a true story and has several real-life Ring Club members as extras.
Lang was also “convinced” by the leader of the Ring Club Immertreu to hire him and other Immertreu members as “bodyguards and advisers”, to make sure “nothing bad happens to the production”.