The Last Post!

What I have learned in German Studies:

I thought this class was incredibly interesting because it wasn't taught like a normal class. I like that when we went there we didn't have to take a bunch of tests or do a million assignments, we just got to learn about Germany and learn about the parts that were actually interesting. If we had to learn about the uninteresting parts, Professor Roland made them interesting by telling us what we actually wanted to hear. I learned about the history of medicine, women’s rights, and business of Germany. We learned about the German states and what they are best known for along with some of the festivals and events that go on in them. Most interestingly to me however is that we learned about the Youth of Germany and German culture at a whole. Those were the things that I found really interesting and I’m glad that I know more about them now.

What I will take with me from this class:

                A part from being relatively interesting, taking German Studies has really driven me to want to visit Germany. I really want to see the things that we talked about in class and I just think it would be interesting to visit a place with so much history.  I also really want to visit Oktoberfest, as cliché as that is. It sounds awesome and I want to go at least once in my life to experience it. I also think it would be cool to see the wine festivals up by the Rhine River. Overall I really enjoyed this class and I like that I know more about another countries culture rather than just being informed on American culture.

Mostly I really enjoyed the fact that you didn't think we needed to be graded by a test score. I liked that the class was about getting the information rather than being tested on what we know. It was refreshing to just learn and not worry about being graded on how much of it you could memorize.

RAF

/This movie was incredibly interesting to me because I was so completely opposed to what the RAF was doing, but I could understand what they stood for at the same time. It was unnerving to see the movement start and then get completely out of hand. While I know it was there goal to make a point I don’t think any of them knew that it would escalate so much that they would all end up dying in jail cells. I especially cringed a little bit when they went over to the Middle East to ask for help. It just seemed like they opened up Pandora’s Box and it was too much to handle.

On the other hand, I found it really impressive and interesting that the individuals of the RAF were so committed to their cause. I believe that it was the reason why they were so strong at what they did. It did seem unnecessary to kill them in jail though because they already had too many followers to be stopped. The movement spread like wildfire and soon enough the original members didn’t even know the people working for the RAF by the end of the movie.

I honestly don’t even know what to take from this movie. It was interesting and informative, but I don’t know that I learned anything from it other than just being informed of the situation. Is some terrorism okay? Is the government right in what they do? There are a lot of questions left unanswered.

The RAF (Red Army Faction) is an urban guerilla group resisting against what they called the German fascist state. It was started byAndreas Baader, Gundrun Ensslin, Horst Mahler, and Ulrike Meinhof.  The group was started in 1970. This group was the main cause of what is called the “German Autumn” which is what was seen in the movie. The group disbanded in 198 and is said to have had no further activity since.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Faction 12/19/2012

Berlin Calling

1.     I believe that drugs are what Ickarus thinks his inspiration comes from so he needs to take them in order to produce music. I also think he just enjoys them, and he is so addicted that that point that he just takes them. It also comes with the career that he has, because everyone that goes to his shows are also taking those drugs.

2.        His fans take drugs when they go to his show and they take ecstasy, cocaine, and other weird prescription pills. They mostly take pills but you have to snort ecstasy… so they snort that.

3.       The subculture that Ickarus is in is all about the drugs and hallucinating and the bright lights and such. They are very harmful but he doesn’t see that because it is his lifestyle. All of his friends do them, and he is probably encouraged to take those things because they think it will make his music better.

4.       Well I don’t do drugs, so it’s a little hard to find a lot of similarities here but there is an event that happens every year in Las Vegas, NV call Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC). This carnival is a 3 day long festival of house music similar to the music that Ickarus makes. Every year a bunch of youth go and take a ton of drugs and listen to the music. It’s the only thing that I could compare to being like the subculture that Ickarus is a part of.

5.      If you are looking at the youth in this movie I don’t think there is much hope for the future of Germany. While Ickarus positively benefitted from rehab, all of the people that went to Ickarus’s concerts didn’t go to rehab and they still probably have a huge drug problem. Doing that hardcore of drugs isn’t something that you just stop doing because it’s time to get your life together. Ickarus suffered and had to work hard to get over his addiction. I don’t think everyone is going to do that well. These drugs ruin your life.

6.     No I have not seen any other movies like this mostly because it’s not really the type of movie that I enjoy watching. While it was interesting (and definitely way better to watch than an educational video), I just don’t like how self-destructive everyone was in the movie.

I liked the film, but there were things about it that I just didn’t always agree with. This is fine, because I don’t have to agree with it. I did not like how self-destructive all of the characters were and I did not like the amount of drugs that they did. It was a movie to depict the youth of Germany, however, so it depicted that well and it showed that one person could come out of using all of those drugs and lead a normal life without them. It also showed the dangerous side of addiction and what drugs can do to you if you use them. While listening to that type of music and doing drugs is present in the United States, I think it is more common in Germany and more popular amongst the youth. 

German Drinks

Apart from the obvious generalization that Germans drink beer all the time, they also have an interesting drink called Apfelschorle. It is sparkling water mixed with apple juice. Its so common that its even on restaurant menus next to the usual Coca-Cola products. Coca-Cola actually has a brand of it called Lift. You can buy it in a bottle from the grocery store but in most restaurants they just make it themselves with the sparkling mineral water and apple juice. It tends to be less sweet than just plain apple juice which is why it is so popular.

http://countryskipper.com/2012/04/15/popular-drinks-in-germany/ 12/12/12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apfelschorle 12/12/12
http://www.coca-cola-gmbh.de/markenvielfalt/index.do?brand=lift 12/12/12

18th Century Medicine by Cara Lamers, Nicole Nelson, and Matt Bliss

This presentation was really interesting to me because it showed the amount that Germany contributed to what modern science is today. I was interesting (and slightly gross) to see what they did back then in comparison to what they do now with medicine. Let's be honest, the part about masturbation was pretty interesting also, along with being funny. I was particularly interested in William Harvey because he discovered essentially the main things that are used in science and medicine today.

William Harvey was a physician the explained, in detail,  the way blood circulates and how the heart pumps the blood. This was incredibly important because it was the building blocks to working out more of the ways systems work in the body. William Harvey was actually an English man but he is important to German culture because he went to the University of Padua and earned his degree from there. He just goes to show how great German education was.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Harvey, 11/6/12

Industry and Business 20th Century by David Colbert

The blog post that caught my attention was David Colbert’s Industry and Business of the 20^th century. Essentially it was David’s presentation that really made me interested in it because she seemed to be very knowledgeable about his topic. In my opinion, when a presenter knows what he or she is talking about it makes it a lot easier for the audience to learn about the thing that they are presenting. To be honest, I find business and industry to be a little boring but I paid attention and was actually interested in it by the way that it was presented to me. The overall presentation was done really well and David definitely knew what he was talking about.

The topic that I would like to expand on from the presentation is the Marshall Plan and what affect it had on Germany. The marshal Plan was aide program set in place to help rebuild European economies after World War ll. It is also said that the plan was put in place to prevent communist expansionism throughout Europe. Under the Marshall Plan West German manufacturing recovered and many other European nations became stable after the economic crisis. The Marshall Plan is credited with opening up Europe to the free-market. Germany of course had a lot more to go through after the Marshall Plan was put in place but it is said that the plan got the ball rolling towards reconstruction. Productivity skyrocketed with the plan and Germany, along with the other European countries all benefited.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan#German_level_of_industry_restrictions

http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/Ritschl.Marshall.Plan

The Role of Women in the 20th Century

Role of Women

Talking Points for All Quiet on the Western Front

Some thoughts that I had while reading the novel:

• A generation of men that went from high school to the war and completely lost out on many things in between
• The idea that one must detach themselves from their feeling in the war because the feeling would overcome them if they allowed it to.
• Paul felt weird when he was on leave because all he knew was the trenches and he did not feel normal being around civilians.
• No happy ending, everyone dies in the end. -idea that there is no happy ending in any war, whether you win or lose.
• The concept that the soldiers weren't fighting for their country, but they were fighting war itself. Both sides could relate to each other because they both were in the same harsh conditions. The soldiers in the trenches had more in common with their enemies than the people that they were supposedly fighting for.

Character Analysis of Corporal Himmelstoss from All Quiet on the Western Front

Corporal Himmelstoss is a character from All Quiet on the Western Front. He is not the main character, however in my opinion he plays a very important role in portraying a flaw that many people have. Corporal Himmelstoss was a post-man before the war and led a rather ordinary life. Once he was recruited into the army and was put in a position of power everything about him changed. He was a cruel, relentless leader who took pleasure in the punishment of those beneath him. His power and rank meant everything to him.

In a way, Himmelstoss’s harsh leadership reflects his own insecurities as a person. Clearly he felt the need to embarrass and torture his soldiers to make himself feel better.  Nevertheless, the things that he subjects his men to somewhat help them when they are put out on the front line. For example when Himmelstoss made the boys stand outside with no gloves on when it was really cold out; it was cruel and mean to do that, but the men were also more prepared and appreciated their gloves after that point.

Finally, Corporal Himmelstoss was put on the front line, where his authority meant nothing and he was subjected to the same things the men under him were subjected to. He began to understand the horror of the trenches and how normal human things don’t matter when you teetering between life and death. He tried to make amends for the torture that he put his men through but many of the grudges were too deep. The men actually ended up beating and whipping Corporal Himmelstoss to express how unwelcome he was among them and how they were not quick to forget the punishment that he put them through.

Himmelstoss is a perfect example of a man overcome with power and petty insecurities. The way that he acts once put on the front line is also an example of how postitions and rank don’t matter on the battle field and one doesn’t even have their humanity to govern things. He let his power get to his head and he became an cruel, power-hungry leader.

Summary of Chapter Three of All Quiet on the Western Front

     Chapter three of All Quiet on the Western Front begins with new recruits piling into the war camp. Now with the younger “infants” as referred to by Kropp, make Paul and his friends feel like seasoned veterans. Kat then gives some of the new soldier’s beans he got from the cook. He then tells the new soldier that if he wants more food from Kat he needs to bring him tobacco. Kat then goes on to express the idea that if everyone in the army was given equal pay the war would end shortly. Paul and his friends then go on to make fun of their old drill sergeant Himmelstoss and talk about humanity and its beast nature. They toss around the idea that if a man is pushed far enough he will become an animal, no longer civilized.

              They then go on to say that the army is just a man in power over another man. Kat feels commanders have too much power in war.  Himmelstoss is a postman back home yet in time of war the power gets to him making him a relentless jerk. The men in conversation, Haie, Paul, Kropp, and Tjaden have a grudge against Kimmelstoss and so plan some vengeance on him. One night they all get together and corner Himmelstoss covering his head with bed blankets and start to beat him. They take his pants off and whip him. After this they all ran away and Himmelstoss never found out who were apart of the attack on him.

                This is the first chapter of the novel to begin to develop characters. Because of this I began to develop a sense of empathy for the characters eventual deaths. Kat is also seen as a hero type bribing for extra food and plotting against Himmelstoss. He is a tragic character being he is eventually killed. He is symbolic of a free spirit. He is a self-aware person despite being changed by war. He is characterized as resistant to being dehumanized through the war effort. He is raising questions for why the men are fighting and offers solutions for these problems. Then the beating at the end of Himmelstoss suggests that these men although disgusted by this mistreatment by their superiors, are also capable of terrible things such as beating Himmelstoss. This chapter’s essence shows these men slowly breaking down. Slowly becoming dehumanized.

German Political Parties

political party

Rhineland-Palatinate

• Founded 30 Aug 1946
• Located west of Hesse and south of North Rhine-Westphalia
• Population of roughly 4 million
• Area of 19,847 sqkm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhineland-Palatinate,31 Aug 12

Mainz is the capitol and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate
 image resource,31 Aug 12

 

 

 

 

 

Trier is the oldest German city dating back to 16BC.  

It became part of the German Empire in 1871.

image resource,31 Aug 12

 

Cathedral of St. Peter in Trier

image resource,31 Aug 12

 

Porta Nigra located in Trier

image resource,31 Aug 12

 

 

 

 

The Wine Industry

 

The banks of the Rhine river, which flows through the northern part of Rhineland-Palatinate, are the ideal location for wine vineyards which contribute to the state being Germany's largest producer of wine in terms of grape cultivation and wine export.  

image resource,31 Aug 12

 

The Wine Route officially opened on 19 Oct 35.

The route is marked by a yellow sign. 

image resource, 31 Aug 12

 

The Wine Route starts on the french border at a ceremonial gate and ends at the house of the German Wine Route.

The Wine Route is closed the last Sunday in August to motorized vehicles so that people can enjoy the wine festivals.

info resource,31 Aug 12

image resource,31 Aug 12

Annual wine festivals from August-October celebrate the importance of the industry to the local villages.

image resource,31 Aug 12
 

The Important Ones.....

 

Johannes Gutenberg, the first European to use movable type printing in around 1439,  was born in Mainz around the start of the 15th century.  His invention paved the way for the learning of the masses through the Printing Revolution.  Gutenberg is accredited with mass producing one of the first printed bibles.  

info resource, 31 Aug 12

image resource,31 Aug 12