About this episode

The episode discusses the life and impact of Paul von Hindenburg in early 20th Century Germany.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and role of one of the most significant figures in early 20th Century German history. Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) had been famous since 1914 as the victorious commander at the Battle of Tannenberg against Russian invaders, soon burnishing this fame on the Western Front and Hindenburg was to claim he would have won there too, if enemies at home had not 'stabbed Germany in the back'. He won Germany’s Presidential election twice during the Weimar Republic, as a candidate of national unity and, while he gained his second term as a ‘stop Hitler’ candidate, President Hindenburg was to appoint Hitler as Chancellor and transfer some of his charisma onto him – a move so disastrous that Germans were later to ask if the myth of Hindenburg had always been an illusion. With Anna von der Goltz Professor of History at Georgetown University, Washington DC Chris Clark Regius Professor of History at the University of Cambridge And Colin Storer Associate Professor in Modern European History at the University of Warwick Producer: Simon Tillotson Reading list: William J. Astore and Dennis E. Showalter, Hindenburg: Icon of German Militarism (Potomac Books…

More episodes of In Our Time: History

• Margaret Beaufort · April 2, 2026 · 54 min
• The Columbian Exchange · March 26, 2026 · 53 min
• The Code of Hammurabi · March 12, 2026 · 50 min
• The Roman Arena · February 26, 2026 · 50 min
• The Korean Empire · May 29, 2025 · 48 min
• The Battle of Clontarf · May 8, 2025 · 52 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the In Our Time: History podcast page.