This study documents for the first time the scientific and cultural-historical significance of the Gesellschaft fur deutsche Literatur (1888) in Berlin, with which the educated middle classes contributed both to the creation of the German literary studies in more recent times and to the urban culture of the city. The authors convey a vivid picture of the prolific lecture activities of the Society, the members of which included a number of Jewish academics who were barred from success at the universities as a consequence of academic anti-Semitism.