The term modernity is a volatile and multifaceted term, which is used in different chronologies and meanings. Researchers not only disagree on a specific date, but also on the content of the term. In general, the concept of modernity could be seen as a designation of an epoch of upheaval, which is reflected in the cultural spheres of the visual arts, music, literature and architecture, as well as in philosophy. A specific date for the beginning of this era varies between the beginnings of the Enlightenment and the end of the Gründerzeit. Nevertheless, one constant is evident within the various timelines: the intellectual and cultural development of a society, perpetuated by political and social instability and the accompanying disillusionment of a previously prevailing optimism. In particular, the realization of society in the Enlightenment that the order surrounding it, the general human well-being, is not something completely natural and fated, but that the order of the world is man-made and so is its destruction. This awareness of one’s own responsibility is essential for the new projection of an idea of unity.
The end of the 19th century in particular is characterized by society’s extreme emotional ambivalence, existential fear coupled with a never-ending glimmer of hope, perpetual doubt and yet the certainty of salvation – society is tearing itself apart. The world view of irrefutable security is beginning to crumble. Social, political and cultural changes in the late 19th century, such as the end of the initially unbridled optimism about progress of the Wilhelminian era, the desire for spiritual and cultural change and the upheavals in political structures, show the clear signs of such a turning point.
The ambivalences of humanity and the individual awareness of the need to prevent them with one’s own power are a rich breeding ground for prejudice. The newly experienced right to define for oneself what order can and should mean and the associated suppression and “salvation” of the disorderly, the non-conformist, the chaos show the problems of this policy: “Intolerance is therefore the natural tendency of modern practice.
