Streets of Excitement

In 1870s Berlin, the debate on emotions shifted. While morality remained an important referent for a number of groups in the city, new claims about the “pathology” of emotions rose to prominence. The issue of sick “nerves” began to occupy a central role in various actors’ statements including doctors, prostitutes, philosophers, and journalists, when they wrote about the impact of urban change on emotions. According to many of these descriptions, the recently created entertainment district around Friedrichstraße produced ambiguous emotions in city dwellers, ranging from love to disgust and anger. The ambiguity of these emotions, grouped together under the concept of “excitement,” risked making city dwellers lose hold of their emotions and render them “nervous.” While this pathology of emotions provided a new way to “naturalize” middle-class ideals of emotional restraint, police and court records demonstrate the conflicts surrounding claims about emotions in Berlin’s entertainment district.