So we have two very different images of Augusta to consider. First of all, she is a Berliner of limited means. But she is also a member of the landed aristocracy. Augusta's present situation is easier to "present" so to speak, but the formative years of the past need to be integrated into her behaviors as well.
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| Augusta ready to attend the Eldorado. |
A case study that outlines the status and concerns of this social group comes from the volume Royals and the Reich: The Princes of Hessen in Nazi Germany, written by Jonathan Petropolous.* Coincidentally, and the reason why I purchased this book, Hessen is the region where I lived and the region where I placed Augusta. I am not going to be directly connecting her to this family in any way, but using the information in the book to give Augusta context.
German nobility floundered in the era following the First World War. Technically, the aristocracy was abolished during the Weimar Republic, but in practical terms, it remained very much intact. The traditional role of the aristocracy in German society reflected the feudal past to a degree, as the figure of the local noble still held a great deal of social status.