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Weekend Tips: What to Do This Weekend in Berlin
August 28 to 30, 2026: Events, festivals, exhibitions and more things to do for your perfect weekend in Berlin. more
Thrill Machine
Cinematheque – Art House Theater
Buchcover "Nervenkitzelmaschine" ›Nervenkitzelmaschine‹, 2026, Cover, © Schüren – Buchcover "Nervenkitzelmaschine": schwarz-weiß, grüner Hintergrund, zwei Personen im Profil.
© Schüren
Book Presentation & Short Film Program
Dr. Stephanie Werder: “Thrill Machine: Early Cinema and the Discourse on Nervousness in Germany”
How did early cinema affect people’s nerves? And why was it regarded at the beginning of the 20th century as both a danger and an exciting attraction?
In her book *Thrill Machine*, Stephanie Werder examines how closely the public perception of the new medium of cinema was linked to the discourse on nervousness at the time. Around 1900, technological progress, big-city life, and an ever-faster pace of daily life were changing people’s perceptions. Neurasthenia was considered a typical “fashionable illness” of the time—and it was amid this nervous atmosphere that cinema established itself.
Focusing on Germany, Werder shows how notions of nervousness shaped debates about film beginning around 1907. Especially in the 1910s, cinema was regarded as a medium with a powerful effect on the nerves. Opposing positions clashed: The cinema reform movement criticized commercial cinema as a dangerous “thrill machine.” Industry journals, on the other hand, specifically promoted the intense impact of films.
The study combines perspectives from film studies, the history of medicine and science, and the history of discourse, and draws on numerous sources that have received little attention to date.
A short film program complements the book presentation and brings the film culture of the era to life on the screen.
Guest
Dr. Stephanie Werder studied German language and literature, film studies, and English language and literature at the University of Zurich. Her book is based on her dissertation at the Department of Film Studies at the University of Zurich, which was written as part of the Swiss National Research Priority “Mediality.” Today she works as an assistant manager at the Cameo art house cinema in Winterthur.
Moderator: Karin Herbst-Meßlinger (Deutsche Kinemathek)Translated with DeepL
Dr. Stephanie Werder: “Thrill Machine: Early Cinema and the Discourse on Nervousness in Germany”
How did early cinema affect people’s nerves? And why was it regarded at the beginning of the 20th century as both a danger and an exciting attraction?
In her book *Thrill Machine*, Stephanie Werder examines how closely the public perception of the new medium of cinema was linked to the discourse on nervousness at the time. Around 1900, technological progress, big-city life, and an ever-faster pace of daily life were changing people’s perceptions. Neurasthenia was considered a typical “fashionable illness” of the time—and it was amid this nervous atmosphere that cinema established itself.
Focusing on Germany, Werder shows how notions of nervousness shaped debates about film beginning around 1907. Especially in the 1910s, cinema was regarded as a medium with a powerful effect on the nerves. Opposing positions clashed: The cinema reform movement criticized commercial cinema as a dangerous “thrill machine.” Industry journals, on the other hand, specifically promoted the intense impact of films.
The study combines perspectives from film studies, the history of medicine and science, and the history of discourse, and draws on numerous sources that have received little attention to date.
A short film program complements the book presentation and brings the film culture of the era to life on the screen.
Guest
Dr. Stephanie Werder studied German language and literature, film studies, and English language and literature at the University of Zurich. Her book is based on her dissertation at the Department of Film Studies at the University of Zurich, which was written as part of the Swiss National Research Priority “Mediality.” Today she works as an assistant manager at the Cameo art house cinema in Winterthur.
Moderator: Karin Herbst-Meßlinger (Deutsche Kinemathek)Translated with DeepL
Price info: Free with a ticket
Next date:
Public transportation
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Train (S-Bahn)
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S Anhalter Bahnhof
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S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
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S Anhalter Bahnhof
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Underground
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Bus
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U Stadtmitte
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U Kochstr. (Checkpoint Charlie)
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Leipziger Str./Wilhelmstr.
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Wilhelmstr./Kochstr.
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U Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Str.
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Charlottenstr.
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Abgeordnetenhaus
- M41
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S Anhalter Bahnhof
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- M29
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S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
- 200
- N2
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- M48
- M85
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Behrenstr./Wilhelmstr.
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Jerusalemer Str.
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Französische Str.
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S Potsdamer Platz Bhf/Voßstr.
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Berlin, Lindenstr./Oranienstr.
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Jüdisches Museum
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U Stadtmitte
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Train
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S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
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S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
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