Today: Headlines from April 27, 1925

A Century in a Day

On this day in 1925 the world was catching its breath between wars, falling in love with streamlined style, and casting votes that would echo through the rest of the twentieth century. Below, we time-travel to two headline moments from 26–28 April 1925—close enough to feel the same sunrise—then hold them up against the mirror of 2025.

1️⃣ Hindenburg Wins the Weimar Presidency (26 April 1925)

[STORY_1_IMAGE]

Germany awoke on Monday, 27 April to discover that Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg—hero of Tannenberg, monarchist symbol, and reluctant candidate—had triumphed in the previous day’s runoff election. Berlin newspapers crackled with extra editions; cafés hummed with speculation. Many liberals feared the aging general would steer the young Weimar Republic toward authoritarian waters, while conservatives toasted a “strong hand” in unstable times.

Key details:

• Voter turnout smashed records at 77%, evidence of a society still invested in ballots over bullets.
• Hindenburg, 77, defeated Centre-party statesman Wilhelm Marx by roughly 900,000 votes.
• Though promising to uphold the constitution, Hindenburg privately longed for a return of the Kaiser—an ambivalence that would haunt Germany when he appointed Adolf Hitler eight years later.

🕰️ 2025 Lens
Today’s European politics again wrestle with the push-pull between security and pluralism. Yet 2025’s Germany enjoys a constitutional bulwark that Weimar never fully had: an embedded culture of federal checks, EU oversight, and instant media transparency. Hindenburg campaigned by rail; 2025 candidates live-stream town halls to holographic rooms.

2️⃣ Paris Throws Open the Art Deco Exposition (28 April 1925)

[STORY_2_IMAGE]

The following day, the French capital flung wide the gilded gates of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes—a six-month design carnival that would give the world a new phrase: Art Deco. More than 15,000 exhibitors lined the Seine with zig-zag facades, sunburst motifs, and lacquered dreams of modernity.

What made headlines:

• The Soviet pavilion—designed by Konstantin Melnikov—shocked visitors with its red hammer-shaped tower, while America’s jazz-filled bar convinced skeptics that skyscraper chic could be elegant.
• Fashion houses from Jeanne Lanvin to Coco Chanel debuted dropped-waist dresses that whispered freedom in every pleat.
• An estimated 16 million people would stroll the fair before it closed in October, carrying the Deco gospel back to Mumbai, Melbourne, and Mexico City.

🕰️ 2025 Lens
A century later, Art Deco’s geometry still sells luxury condos and NFT backgrounds alike. Yet the 2025 design buzzword is circularity—buildings that deconstruct themselves for reuse instead of celebrating endless newness. Where 1925 worshipped chrome, 2025 prizes carbon-negative concrete. Even so, step into many metaverse lounges and you’ll notice sleek fan-shaped lighting cues lifted straight from those Paris pavilions.

Echoes That Still Resonate

From Berlin’s ballot boxes to Paris’ glittering quays, late April 1925 balanced hope and uncertainty—much like our own era. A century on, we’re reminded that style cycles, politics pivot, and every ordinary Tuesday might quietly tilt the axis of history.