I have learned a lot this semester and not just about the
German culture. I learned that while we
may be thousands of miles away, they are not that much different than we
are. They have differences in
generations, some not so great aspects of their past, and an unknown future
where anything can happen. I am glad
that we researched the different states in Germany because most of my previous
classes focused on Germany as a whole and not on the contributions of the specific
states. I really enjoyed learning about
Bremen, especially about the Bremen Town Musicians. I wish we would have learned a little bit
more about the fairytales recorded by the Grimm Brothers because it does add to
the history and appeal of Germany to younger generations. While researching Turnvater Jahn, I learned a
lot about how gymnastics became popular.
I didn’t know that it was first used to help boost the moral after
Napoleon defeated Prussia. I also didn’t
realize that there are so many different political parties in Germany. In the U.S., we normally only hear about
Democrats and Republicans and occasionally an Independent party. Knowing that there are six parties that are
popular in Germany in outstanding and to me, it would seem a lot harder to
identify with a particular party. I
think making us read All Quiet on the Western Front was a good
idea. It gives us an idea of what it was
like to be a soldier in WWI. Our
generation has a hard time realizing how far we have come in such a short time. Previous wars would be a lot different if we
still fought using trench warfare. The
only thing that I would change about the class would be to have more of an idea
of what we will be doing and when. I
would have more of an outline of the class instead of updating the syllabus
every week. The students would have more
of an idea of what to expect in the class and when everything will be due. Overall,
I really enjoyed class this semester. I
am glad I decided to take Intro to German Culture because it not only increased
my knowledge of Germany and its people, but I also met people who enjoy German
as much as I do.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Dance in the 20th and 21st Centuries
21st Century
Throughout all of Germany, there is a wide variety of dancing happening. There are many styles of dances from all genres. Dance is rooted deep within German Culture. Modern dance is widely embraced in Germany, but also traditional. Some of the main types of traditional dance in Germany are polka and waltz. There are many different dance styles, and usually depending on the age group of who dances to that style. Younger age groups usually dance to modern dance style like Techno and Hip Hop, while the older generations stick with more traditional dance styles like Folk. Ballet is another important dance in the German Culture. There are many ballet companies located in Germany.
Famous German Dancers/Companies
Philippina “Pina” Bausch is a famous German dancer, choreographer, dance teacher and ballet director. She also created the company Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch that performs internationally.
Susanna Linke is another famous German dancer and choreographer. She started dancing at the age of 20. She started taking dance lessons at the Mary Wigman Studio in Berlin. She also worked Pina Bausch.
Popstars Dance Company is a dance team. It consists of five members, and all the members achieved success as an individual dancer before joining together. Some of the genres they preform to are pop and hip hop. The members of the group are, Aziz Kruezi, Raik Preetz, Vika Ljascenko, Darren Drake Baldric, and Armin Nezirevic.
20th Century
German dance took a very different turn in the twentieth century. It is now looked highly upon by the world as a good example of modern art form. People even look at it as a good expression or World War II. German dance has also incorporated politics and their modern ways of living into their dance styles.
The dance started to change in the 1920's and 1930's. It was not just an experiment anymore, it was now becoming very independent and its own way of living. However, during the World War II it completely disappeared. Even after the second World War it took awhile for German music to return to its independence, or even to come back into existence. The dance did not return until about the 1970's and 1980's. When dance returned to the German culture it was now taking place in dance theater.
There was a very big significance between the art of dance before World War II and after World War II. Mary Wigman and Pina Bausch were two of Germany's main choreographers who helped change the way of dance in the late twentieth century. They focused on the difference between movement and concepts and had their dancers do the same as them.
Dance has come a very long way in Germany and is looked on as an excellent art for not just by the country of Germany, but by the entire world.
Sources:
http://bezalel.secured.co.il/zope/home/en/1275256707/1275784948
The dance started to change in the 1920's and 1930's. It was not just an experiment anymore, it was now becoming very independent and its own way of living. However, during the World War II it completely disappeared. Even after the second World War it took awhile for German music to return to its independence, or even to come back into existence. The dance did not return until about the 1970's and 1980's. When dance returned to the German culture it was now taking place in dance theater.
There was a very big significance between the art of dance before World War II and after World War II. Mary Wigman and Pina Bausch were two of Germany's main choreographers who helped change the way of dance in the late twentieth century. They focused on the difference between movement and concepts and had their dancers do the same as them.
Dance has come a very long way in Germany and is looked on as an excellent art for not just by the country of Germany, but by the entire world.
Sources:
http://bezalel.secured.co.il/zope/home/en/1275256707/1275784948
Theater in the 20th and 21st Centuries
20th Century Theater in Germany
Bertolt Brecht . He is a very famous theater contribution from the 20th century. There is a statue in Berlin of him.
There are over 180 public theaters, and 190 private, independent theaters in Germany as well as 30 festival stages.
Opera
Cabaret
Passion Plays
Ballet Suites
Comedy
Musical Productions
Kabarett or Kleinkunst which is a form of stand-up comedy-driven by children and teens.
Drama;
Festivals
Take place all over Germany; 73 drama festivals, 143 state, municipal and regional theatres and 218 private theatres.
Theatertreffen in Berlin awards the best annual theatrical performances from the entire country.
Open-air theater is especially popular in summer.
Meandering of Wonderland, one of the oldest Open-Air Theatres.
Foreign-Language Performances
Foreign languages are being spoken on the German stage.
The theatre is becoming more European.(Michalzik).
http://www.research-in-germany.de/dachportal/en/Discover-Germany/Culture-and-the-Arts/Theatre-in-Germany.html
In the early decades of the 20th century, Expressionism developed in Europe. Most of it originally came from Germany. Expressionism Theater often dramatizes the suffering of the protagonists. Also the main trait that people know about Expressionism that the way it can radically distort the emotional effect on the audience. It did this to change the moods or ideas. They are also referred to as station dramas. The most famous playwrights are from Georg Kaiser and Ernst Toller. Expressionism stayed popular throughout the Weimar Republic.
Today there are hundreds theaters throughout Germany, in big and small towns. Peter Stein, is a special figure in German theater, and he is world-class director. German theater puts on spectacular shows and small ones. There are many genres to German theater. Some of them are comedy, puppet shows, magic shows, chansons, and cabaret. Also, Epic theater is popular. This is where the performance stops and the actors address the audience directly.
Bertolt Brecht . He is a very famous theater contribution from the 20th century. There is a statue in Berlin of him.
21st Century Theater Germany
Theatre is conceived as a ritual rather than theater in the modern sense.
It is a distinct theater world, a well-established network of state, municipal, traveling, and private theaters. In Germany a lot goes into this system: in terms of stimulus, attention and money.
Box-office sales cover only 15% of an average public theater’s expenses which is why many German theaters receive financial support from the government. Every taxpayer in Germany does their part to preserve this cultural pillar.
Theatre is conceived as a ritual rather than theater in the modern sense.
Box-office sales cover only 15% of an average public theater’s expenses which is why many German theaters receive financial support from the government. Every taxpayer in Germany does their part to preserve this cultural pillar.
There are over 180 public theaters, and 190 private, independent theaters in Germany as well as 30 festival stages.
Over 35 million visitors, theatre in Germany has almost three times more viewers than do concerts or football games
Types and Genres
Types and Genres
Opera
Cabaret
Passion Plays
Ballet Suites
Comedy
Musical Productions
Kabarett or Kleinkunst which is a form of stand-up comedy-driven by children and teens.
Drama;
- Emotional - Classics, Family, and Relationships
- Suburban - The excesses of global capitalism, Social problems and life under global capitalism
- Female Playwrights - plays written by women.
Foreign-Language Performances
Sourceshttp://www.internations.org/germany-expats/guide/16030-culture-shopping-recreation/german-theater-16029?ah01_enabled
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Germany#Cinema
http://www.goethe.de/kue/the/tst/en10229547.htm
http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/culture-and-media/main-content-09/theater.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Germany#Cinema
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Music in the 20th and 21st Centuries
Music
After World War II Germany was no longer one of the lead music countries. The NAZI's did something to make it fall, it is still questioned as to how they made it fall. It is to peoples opinions that musicians who were trained before World War II were better musicians than musicians that came after the first era of music in the 20th century. Pop music was also greatly influenced by the United States and Great Britain. The English pop music was more looked at by Western Germany than by Eastern Germany. Rock also became important in Western Germany as well.
Folk music was also very popular in the 20th century. Folk songs were taught to young children, but had little relation to authentic German traditions. New songs featuring political activism and realistic joy, passion, and sadness were composed and performed after 1968 in West Germany and the mid 1970s in East Germany.
During the 1990's German music was still out there, but very few artists were played on the radio. In 2002 that changed because of the success of Wir sind Helden. They had a new level of confidence and after their confidence, several bands followed in success. Hip hop also came into play in the 1990's and hit a high peak in the early 2000's.
Jazz also became very big in the 20th century in Germany as well as folk music.
The Scorpions, a heavy metal band that originated in Germany.
References
http://www.amazon.com/German-Bands-During-World-Recordings/dp/B003KXW1L0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Germany
http://histclo.com/country/ger/act/music/hist/gamhc20.html
In the beginning of the 20th century, music in Germany was divided between German and Austrian music. Berlin composers took a populist route with a cabaret-like socialist operas of Kurt Weill and the Gebrauchsmusik of Paul Hindemith. Munich had the music of Carl Orff whose opera Carmen Burana remains popular today. Germany played one of the key roles that would have a completely different turn to the music world. Germany played such a key role in the arts, such as music, that even after World War I Germany's music was still looked at very highly in the continent of Europe. However, things took a complete turn when the Nazi's came into power for twelve years. Many composers fled Germany during the Nazi years. The Nazis wanted to get rid of "so-called degenerate art." This was any music associated with Jews, Communists, and jazz.
When new music came around in the early 20th century, it was Germany who played a huge role in the new change that would impact the music world. Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian Jew who created a new style of music where there was no repetition or melody, but it was mainly timbre. Schoenberg also invented a new kind of music where the singer would talk during the song instead of listening. Because of his nationality the Nazi's and Hitler hated him, but other musicians had different opinions of Schoenberg. In fact, after Hitler took over Germany, many of Germany's musicians that were Jewish fled to the United States. Hitler demolished the uprising of music in Germany. Richard Wagner was the leader of music according to Hitler.
When new music came around in the early 20th century, it was Germany who played a huge role in the new change that would impact the music world. Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian Jew who created a new style of music where there was no repetition or melody, but it was mainly timbre. Schoenberg also invented a new kind of music where the singer would talk during the song instead of listening. Because of his nationality the Nazi's and Hitler hated him, but other musicians had different opinions of Schoenberg. In fact, after Hitler took over Germany, many of Germany's musicians that were Jewish fled to the United States. Hitler demolished the uprising of music in Germany. Richard Wagner was the leader of music according to Hitler.
In the second half of the 20th century, composers in West Germany focused on avant-garde, which was music that was thought to be ahead of its time that is challenges social and artistic values by provoking its audience. Composers in East Germany were encouraged to keep more with Socialist Realism and to avoid avant-garde. Music in the style was supposed to further political parties and be more accessible to all.
After World War II Germany was no longer one of the lead music countries. The NAZI's did something to make it fall, it is still questioned as to how they made it fall. It is to peoples opinions that musicians who were trained before World War II were better musicians than musicians that came after the first era of music in the 20th century. Pop music was also greatly influenced by the United States and Great Britain. The English pop music was more looked at by Western Germany than by Eastern Germany. Rock also became important in Western Germany as well.
Folk music was also very popular in the 20th century. Folk songs were taught to young children, but had little relation to authentic German traditions. New songs featuring political activism and realistic joy, passion, and sadness were composed and performed after 1968 in West Germany and the mid 1970s in East Germany.
Other popular music in Germany in the 20th and 21st centuries include Neue Deustche Welle, Metal/Rock, Punk, Pop Rock, Indie and Hip-hop. Germany hosts many rock festivals annually, including Rock am Ring festival, which is the largest music festival in Germany, and among the largest in the world. It also holds some of the largest goth festivals in the world, with some easily attracting 30,000 people. Wacken Open Air festival is also the biggest open air heavy metal festival in the world. 80,000 people attended this festival in 2011, and all 75,000 tickets were sold 8 months before the festival was to take place in 2012. 137 bands performed on 7 different stages.
During the 1990's German music was still out there, but very few artists were played on the radio. In 2002 that changed because of the success of Wir sind Helden. They had a new level of confidence and after their confidence, several bands followed in success. Hip hop also came into play in the 1990's and hit a high peak in the early 2000's.
The Scorpions, a heavy metal band that originated in Germany.
References
http://www.amazon.com/German-Bands-During-World-Recordings/dp/B003KXW1L0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Germany
http://histclo.com/country/ger/act/music/hist/gamhc20.html
Role of the German Military in the 20th and 21st Century
World War I
- Germany's plan to deal with Franco-Russian alliance was called the Schlieffen plan.
- Planned to take out the French army before moving on the Russian army.
- Germany attacked France through Belgium to avoid defenses.
- Germans were defeated.
- 3 years of trench warfare
- Lead to the deaths of millions (about 1/3 of soldiers)
- Germany's navy was mostly bottled up by the more powerful British navy
- Germany starts using U-boats to sink merchant ships
- As a result America declares war in 1917
- Spring of 1918 brought the Spring Offensive
- Germans had four offensives code-named Michael, Georgette, Gneisenau, and Bluecher-Yorck
- Allies push backed against Germans
- Reinvigorated by additional American troops, supplies, and money
- Germany signs armistice in November 1918
1918-1939
- Treaty of Versilles restricted Germany's military
- 150,000 men (50,000 in Navy)
- 24 ships
- Tanks and heavy artillery were forbidden and the air force was disbanded
- Followed treaty but were training soldiers secretly in the Soviet Union
- In 1933 the Nazi party came to power
- Immediately began strengthening the military
- Heavy military spending strengthened the economy
- The Army was encouraged to experiment with tanks and motorized artillery units
- Hitler established the Luftwaffe, a new air force
- No force used except for Spanish Civil War
WWII
- Germany begins with blitzkrieg invasions of Poland in 1939 and Norway and Denmark in 1940
- Stunningly quick invasion and conquering of France in 1940
- Germany invades Soviet Union in 1941
- Hilter tried to maintain living standards, put off full mobilization of economy until 1942
- Great Britain, United States, and Russia were already fully mobilized by this time
- Luftwaffe raged air war against Britain from August-September in 1940
- Last day time air raid was on Sept. 30
- Germans lost 1733 planes, while Britain lost only 915
- 1942 proved to be turning point
- 1943 brought a loss to Germany at Stalingrad
- North Africa, Sicily, and southern Italy were taken by Allies
- Hitler refused to surrender as both Allied forces and Russians pushed into Germany
- He committed suicide as the last of his forces were defeated
Cold War (1945-1989)
- Nuremberg Trials of 1945-1949
- During the cold war Germany is split into occupation zones
- Allies in the West, Soviet Union in the East
- Allied zones of Berlin joined the Federal Republic of Germany, creating a special situation
- Lasted until the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and reunification in 1990
- Bundeswehr established in 1955 and grew to a strength of 495,000 military and 170,000 civilians
- Cooperation between each military resulted in new tactics and technology for both sides
- East Germany saw the introduction of the Nationale Volksarmee in 1956
- Was volunteer army until 1962
- At its peak in 1987 it had 175,300 troops
- 1989 the NVA rejected communism and led to the Collapse of East Germany
Current Military
- The "Treaty on the final settlement with respect to Germany led to reducing forces to 370,000
- Bundeswehr took on parts of the NVA after reunification
- First offensive conflict since WWII came in 1999, the war on Yugoslavia in Kosovo
- In 2000 women were allowed to join the Bundeswehr
- Mostly involved in peace keeping missions
- Deployed around 2250 troops to Afghanistan
- In 2011/12 a reform of the military was announced, as of 2012 personal was down to 192,000
Sources :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Germany#Naval_race
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Germany#Naval_race
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Berlin Calling
1. What do drugs mean to Ickarus?
The drugs help him relax and he believes that drugs will help him
produce better music. In the end he
makes better music when he starts recovering than he ever did while on drugs. If he hadn’t gone through rehab, his career
would have most likely been over and he would have ruined his relationship with
Mathilde.
2. Why, when, and how are his fans taking drugs,
and which drugs do they take?
Most people seem to be taking drugs to enhance
their pleasure and to make their lives more exciting and entertaining. When Ickarus asks Jenny about her job she
explains that it is boring and not what she wants to do. Many of Ickarus’s fans were taking Cocaine and
were snorting it through their nose in the bathroom stales of the club. They also take pills that contain Ketamine,
MADA, Crystal Meth, and PMA.
3. While we can see that his drug habits get him
ill and into a psychosis, and while we witness his relapse and inability to
work successfully, why does the subculture Ickarus belongs to focus on drugs?
I believe
the subculture focuses on drugs because, for a little while, it enhances their
senses and they feel the beat of the music more intensely. It also makes them stand apart from a lot of
music groups and people in general. Most
people don’t understand techno music and therefore think it isn’t really music,
but to those who know and enjoy it, drugs are away to escape from the constant
battery of people telling them its wrong.
4. Compare the standards you know from your home
society with the people you see depicted in this movie. Which are the stark
differences and contrasts?
In my home society, drugs are not as common. Obviously, there are people who do them, but
it isn’t as well know or done as commonly.
In the movie, people are doing drugs all the time and the lean more
towards cocaine and crystal meth. In my
home society, not very many people are into the hard core drugs like
cocaine. They tend to smoke
marijuana. To the people in the movie,
life seems to be one big party until something goes wrong. That is not so in my home society for most
people.
5. Germany is considered a strong industrial
nation the world over. Do you think that the youth culture as depicted here
could change that? How about work ethics of Ickarus and of Alice, the label
director who fires and then re-signs him?
I do not believe the youth culture depicted here could change very
much. This seems like such a small part
of Germany’s youth and not everyone has the same standards. While they might change how people interact
with each other, it doesn’t seem possible that they would change Germany into
something other than a strong industrial nation. The only way I see that happening is if they
all decided not to work and to just do music and party for the rest of their
lives. Even if this happened, I do not
believe it would make a big enough dent in the economy to change anything. Ickarus is passionate about his music and
just wants to keep doing what he loves.
The amount of effort he puts into this is great, but other than that he
doesn’t seem to have much work ethic.
Alice has been in the business for a long time and seems to know what
will sell and what won’t. She is from a
seemingly different world than Ickarus.
She does what she does to make money and when she hears Ickarus’ new
music, she hires him back.
6. Which similar "cult movies" of US
origin have you seen, if any?
I have not
seen any similar “cult movies”.
My personal reaction to the movie was not what I was
expecting. When I first read what the
plot of the movie, I didn’t believe that I would like it, but I did. All Ickarus wants to do is make music and he
believes that the drugs are helping to inspire him. He can’t see the real effect it is having on
what he produces and what everyone else see and extraordinary music that would
make his album sell. I am normally not a
big fan of movies involving drugs because nothing good ever seems to come out
of their use. People become dependent on
them and it changes who they are and how they treat other people. I liked this movie because, while it wasn’t
necessarily voluntary but it wasn’t forced, Ickarus stays in the psychiatric
hospital and tries to get clean. He has
a huge setback that puts him in the hospital, and I believe that truly helped
him. He wasn’t allowed to come and go
like before and he puts an effort into staying clean and taking his pills when
he is released. It is hard for most
hard-core drug users to admit they have a problem and even harder to get them
to stop. Mathilde did what she could to
help Ickarus and, even when they were no longer together, convinced Alice to
listen to the new music Ickarus was producing and to give him another
chance. There are not a lot of cultural
differences that popped out at me. Most
people get into drugs to make them feel better and to help them forget about
what is happening in their own lives. The
one difference that did pop out to me was that the police were never
involved. In the U.S. any kind of
illegal drugs use, such as crystal meth or cocaine, would be punishable by law
and they would be sent to rehab and possibly even have to serve prison time,
but that never happened to Ickarus. He
seemed to get off scot free, other than the psychiatric hospital.
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