The Final Post

German 110 was a pleasant surprise. I will admit that the class hours got to be long but I was use to night classes and the time would sometimes pass faster than normal. I had a great interest in each of the topics we covered. I also thought it was very interesting to have the class divided into groups to teach the rest of the class about the topic and subtopics we were assigned. I loved all of the movies we watched or were given to watch. Professor Roland chose to take a very unique approach to the learning with blogging, which I have never done before.

Throughout this semester, I have learned way more about Germany, it's culture, politics, and history, than I was expecting. This course caught my eye, not only because it was a general elective, but the fact that most of my heritage is German. My mother is 100% German and my father about half German. We have different German traditions we do in our household (more so around Christmas). My mom also likes to bake and eat some traditional German food. My favorite part of the course was when we focused on the youth and culture, especially that of Berlin. It was very interesting to watch the movie, Berlin Calling, and get a glimpse into the fast lifestyle of Berlin. Comparing Berlin to the United States was very different. The culture in Berlin is much more relaxed and open. Things are more culturally excepted there than in the U.S. Berlin would be a very fun and interesting place to visit.

Some of the other topics that we covered were; All Quiet on the Western Front, German political parties, Baader-Meinhof, the 16 German states, German fine arts, media, literature, and etc. Each topic proved to gain more interest from the class. All Quiet on the Western Front, proved to be a very good book too. I sometimes am a little skeptical when professors tell me that I will like their books assigned, but this book did exceed my expectations. Never judge a book by it's cover, right? All in all, this class was very fun and made me have the itch to travel to Germany sometime in the near future. Professor Roland is so knowledgable, not only about Germany, but many other topics. It was great to hear his opinions and facts during class. I am so glad that I decided to sign up for German 112 for one of my general electives. It was an awesome class and took a new refreshing approach to learning in the classroom.

Lebkuchen (For Christmas!)

Lebkuchen (or Pfefferkuchen) is a baked traditional German Christmas treat.

Some facts:

• Lebkuchen was invented in the 13th Century by medieval monks in Fraconia, Germany.
• Due to some historical and ingredient differences, Lebkuchen can be known as honey cake (honigkuchen) or pepper cake (pfefferkuchen).
• Lebkuchen can range from being sweet to spicy. It also varies in shapes and sizes but is generally soft.
• Sometimes the packaging of Lebkuchen is distributed in richly decorated tins, boxes, or chests. These make nostalgic collectors items. 

There can be different recipes and ingredients added to make these cookies. Some people use different types of nuts and glaze. Below is a link to a recipe I found online for Lebkuchen cookies. This recipe received a 4.5 out of 5 stars review.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/german-lebkuchen/

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebkuchen

Class Discussion Questions

1.  The first generation of the Baader-Meinhof group was more organized and thorough with their planning, strategies, and tactics. They had different plans and strategies to follow when it came to the assassinations of government officials, bombing of buildings, kidnapping, or robberies. The first generation wanted to avoid as little harm to the general public as possible. Andreas Baader was the first leader of the Baader-Meinhof group. This is where they first organized the group with more peaceful strategies like, protests, articles, and staged demonstrations. When the second and third generations of the Baader-Meinhof came to be, their planning, strategies, and tactics changed so much from the first's. These generation's attacks were less sought out and more brutal in nature.

2.  The way that I felt about the Baader-Meinhof group changed drastically from the beginning to the end of the movie. In the beginning, I thought the group's efforts and ideas were all easy to associate with and understand. As the movie continued though, my feelings shifted because of all the violence the group was resorting to. I felt the group was losing control and beginning to sink with all of their plans. At the end, there was way too much violence. This lead me to view the group as only a bunch of terrorists.

3.  Andreas Baader was such a powerful member of the group. This leads me to believe that through his determination and rudeness, it made him the group leader. If Andreas Baader would have been shy and polite, he would not have gotten his status and respect compared to his original superior ways. Through his rudeness, determination, and strong leadership qualities, it provided an excellent base for persuading the group members for doing things in his favor.

Rote Armee Fraktion/Red Army Faction

The Rote Armee Fraktion/Red Army Faction was caused because of their political disagreement with the rest of German society. These people felt that their country was heading in a bad direction because the political structure of Germany was like that of a fascist state. They wanted to protest the oppression in Germany and the Vietnam War.

The RAF had three generations. It started with the first generation the original founders such as; Andreas Baader and his followers. The second generation of RAF held power until the 1970's, due to high terroristic actions taking place. The third and final generation was in existence from the 1980's to the 90's. Many of the terroristic actions were gone but the RAF still remained strong.

The end of the RAF came when the government was no longer able to compete against the group. The RAF began to lose credibility and their foundations when the Soviet Union was starting to dissipate. The May Offensive was probably another factor to the end of the RAF since many of the members were discovered and detained that day.

Some of the similarities from then and now is that the terrorism is still of a Guerilla type. This kind of terrorism was found in Germany during the RAF. Both groups thought it was necessary to take the drastic measures of a human life. In return though, each member was committed enough to take their own lives for the cause. The terrorism caused by the group then and now is still considered some of the worst.

http://terrorism.about.com/od/groupsleader1/p/RedArmyFaction.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Faction

Baader-Meinhof Complex

After viewing the movie in class, I felt that my reaction from it was what many other viewers had as well. In the beginning, I was quick to side with the extremists. The extremists faced much abuse from others and the authorities and their voices were all unheard. As the movie progressed though, I then was finding myself to side with the others. I felt this way because the extremists were so organized and had things well planned out in the beginning. Near the end, the extremists seemed to have lost complete control and everything was becoming sloppy and becoming out of their reach. It was also interesting to watch the once strong German government in the beginning of the movie, start to slip once the extremists were becoming a strong group and had well thought-out plans. Towards the end, the extremists' group begins to fall apart and one-by-one members of the group are discovered and either killed or sent to prison. I thought the movie was very interesting. It isn't the type of movie that I would pick out for myself to watch but I thought it was good. The movie has a good image of how the revolt and uprising occurred in Germany. This movie has me very curious to see the ending, since we left class at such a dramatic note in the film.

Berlin Calling

In the movie Berlin Calling, we watch the main character, Ickarus, deal with an incredible addiction to drugs and how he is consumed by the fast-paced Berlin night life. This is partly due to his career of being a famous DJ. Ickarus's drug use is his way of having fun and dealing with his issues of stress, problems, or strained relationships. 

Ickarus's drug use is influenced by the atmosphere of his job and many of his fans. Through the movie you see many of his fans taking drugs while they are out partying or in the clubs. The drugs range from ecstasy, cocaine, LSD, PCP, Ketamine, to even meth. The drugs are so easily available to the club-goers and helps them to have higher levels of sensations, "more fun," and to help them stay up all night to party. The drugs can be snorted, ingested, injected, etc.

Compared to my standards and how I was raised, to the lives of the party-goers and Ickarus's, is very different. I am from a very small northern Minnesotan town where there are no clubs and not an abundance and array of drugs like in the movie. It is very unacceptable in my town, where it is very common in the culture in the movie. 

In the movie it makes it seem that much of Berlin's youth is lost in the partying and drug scenes but through Mathilde's character you are able to see that there is still youth with work ethic and level-headedness. Alice is also hard-working and does decide to give Ickarus a second chance with the label once she sees his change and listens to his new work on his album. There are some movies that I can think of from the U.S. that are somewhat similar to that of Berlin Calling. One is the movie Thirteen. The movie is different in the sense that the characters are younger and it doesn't revolve around the fast paced club life but the girls' characters are experimenting with drugs, risky addictions, and other unhealthy relationships. In the end, one of the characters pushes for a better lifestyle. 

My reaction to the movie Berlin Calling was that it was sad to watch Ickarus struggle with such a deep addiction and that it was also shocking. It was shocking to see how much of the youth was partying and using drugs as if they were just candy. I know in the U.S. there is much partying and drug use as well but I know that the club scene is much more different in the U.S. compared to Berlin. Berlin's clubs are more trendier and play music that is house and techno. The U.S. will combine techno with more rap. The movie was very good and I was so happy in the end to see that Ickarus could change his dangerous lifestyle and still continue to do what he loved. 

The German Literature Expansion on the 18/19th Century

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had many famous titles to his name, such as: poet, lyricist, and writer, to name a few. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is considered, in the field of literature, as one of the most influential Germans. He lived to be an old man (82 years old) and carried his success in the later half of the 18th century and into the beginning of the 19th century.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had a nice upbringing. He came from a wealthy family and had private tutors for his education. He was well-rounded with activities such as: fencing, horseback riding, and dancing as well. One thing that I found surprising was that Goethe had a persistent dislike of the Roman Catholic Church. He also had interests in drawing and theater. He then developed his great interest in literature and reading later on. He did have a former career in law but when that did not turn out as successful as planned, he continued his writing.

Goethe was a very diverse individual whose many interests went beyond literature, law, and fine arts. I found this out while doing a little extra research on him. I came across that he had done some scientific work. It was some standard scientific work but it did involve research with prisms and light.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a very influential individual and unique non-the-less. His personality and writings prove to have set a new mold in history and to his German name. His literary ways were bold (such as his erotic pieces of work) and yet significant. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was clearly more than just a historic German writer but also a name to go down in history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe

Women in Nazi Germany

After listening to all of the presentations in class, my reaction to the women in Nazi Germany was that they differed from the roles of women in the United States during the era but also had some similarities.

Hitler had specific ideas for the roles of women. He wanted the women to stay home with the children, since it was a man's work to provide for the family. Hitler had also passed a law in 1933, The Encouragement of Marriage Law, which had many aims for the German civilians. His goal was for German couples to produce as many children as possible and newlyweds receiving a salary. The lifestyle for women was very strict in Germany. The Marriage Law was not similar to the US but the idea of women to stay home and take care of the children was more similar to the US.

During Nazi Germany the women had many rules to follow. They were only allowed to wear flat shoes. The women were also expected to be more "plump" and to not wear make up or trousers. There was more rules and laws for women in Germany.

The presentations made me realize that Germany during the Nazi era was very different from the US but did have some similarities at the same time. Under the Nazi rule, the German women were more restricted to rules and freedoms than women in the US.

German 19th Century Composers

I chose to write my blog on the 19th Century German Composers. I chose this topic because this era was very famous in music for the style and the famous composers. The group that has the slideshow on the 19th Century Fine Arts, did a very well job on providing facts and making an appealing presentation. I was familiar with many of the composers that were listed but I still wanted to know more about the fine arts of the 19th century. 

Previous Presenters:
     John Beuning
     Mari Navarro
     Joe Albers

1. Who were some famous 19th century German composers?

• Some of the famous German composers of the 19th century were; Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Johann Strauss, Franz Schubert, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven was the most famous composer of the 19th century. He was mostly famous for creating unusual and brave rhythms and harmonies for many different instruments. Franz Shubert was famous in the 19th century for creating a new field of romantic and artistic poetry, titled, lied. All of these composers made an impact, not only in German music and composition during the 19th century, but world wide.  

2. Why was Ludwig van Beethoven so famously known world-wide?

• Ludwig Van Beethoven was so nationally accredited due to his immense amounts of talent. Beethoven is famous for his compositions of 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for piano, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets. He has composed other pieces of choral, chamber, and songs as well. Beethoven had published his first piece of work by the age of 12. Beethoven even continued to conduct after he had lost his hearing which contributed to his success even more. 

3. How did German Composers in the 19th century change from composers in the 18th century? 

• All fine arts and music began to change in the 19th century. This period was known as the Romantic Era or period. This was because composers, artists, and writers were all trying to break from the traditionalist mold of the previous eras and create more emotions into their work. Richard Wagner was one of the composers that hated the traditional styles of music. Other composers began to mix romantic elements with some classicalness.

4. What is Romanticism?

• The 19th century was also known as the Romantic Era. Romanticism was referred to as the era of intellectual, artistic, and literary movement. This period was partly due to the Industrial Revolution and a revolt against some of the social and political norms. The Romantic movement placed new emphasis on emotions such as horror, awe, and apprehension. Romanticism was like a revival to the fine arts.

5. How did composers fit into the Romantic Era or 19th century?

• Romanticism musically was a German sensation. Other countries sought to take after German composers. Composers would transition into this style by taking emotions and creating gorgeous symphonies from them. In the Romantic Era, much of the symphonies were "darker" or more melancholy. They expressed an array of emotions.   

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Germany
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven

20th Century German Fine Arts, Music, & Theatre

Copy of Arts of Germany on Prezi

By Tess Hamre, Cody Kvamme, Haitam Aldaij

My 5 Talking Points on "All Quiet on the Western Front"

• A key theme in the novel is isolation.
• Through Paul Bäumer's character, the novel shows the perspective of how young boys personalities and characters where changed and negatively affected by war.
• A novel that demonstrates the "Lost Generation."
• The novel has a melancholy plot and fate, the movie follows the book's plot and chapters very well. 
• There are parts in the novel that illustrate how the young boys have lost parts of their youth by being in the war. For example, the chapter where they meet the French girls. These young men haven't gotten the chance to experience dating and the thrill of being with a girl.

All Quiet on the Western Front

In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Bäumer is the main character and narrator. Prior to the war, Paul was close to his family, thoughtful, sensitive, and enjoyed writing poetry. But during the war, Paul’s personality and emotions changed with the trauma of the war. He is unable to cope with the death of his fellow friends/soldiers and feel the same way  as he once did at home. Paul finds it hard to express his negative experiences associated with the war and think about his future. Through fighting in the war, Paul’s character endures hardship and the loss of many people who were close to him.

Paul’s character changes more towards the end of the book. An example of this is when Paul gives away the jam and potato cakes his mother made for him to the Russian prisoners. This is because the cakes remind Paul of his mother’s pain and suffering. Paul’s views on death start to change as the war goes on. Paul has to kill a French soldier who jumped in his shell. He describes the experience as agonizing, since the soldier didn’t pass away until several hours later. Paul had bandaged the soldier and given him water. After the soldier passed away, Paul talks with the dead soldier, explaining that he didn’t want to kill him. Later on, Paul then witnesses the death of one of his closest friends, Kat, while Paul was trying to save him.

Throughout the novel, Paul’s character changes from being a content guy before the war to a lost and haunted soldier after the war. Paul is the only survivor of the original group of classmates. He feels he is left with a bleak future after he receives leave from the war from inhaling poison gas. While Paul’s on leave, he thinks about his fellow soldiers and what their generation will face. Paul has basically lost all hope in himself and his generation. Paul is killed on a peaceful October day. His face seemed to express relief as if it was alright for himself to let go.

Chapter 7

                  In chapter seven, the narrator of the story, Paul, reveals some of the most powerful moments of the book. Two distinct events occur in this chapter: Paul and his friends chase French girls, and Paul goes on a leave of absence. Many of Paul’s friends have died; in fact 120 men had died up to this point in the book.
                  After gawking over a poster of a pretty young girl, Paul and his friends hang out near the canal. They see a few French girls across the canal, and begin yelling in broken French. Throughout the book, the boys talk about women quite a bit. They make up stories of sexual experience to impress the other soldiers. Because the boys had only limited access to women for such long periods of time, it was an outlet for their budding adolescent sensations. Tjaden even offered the girls some bread as a bribe to get them to come across the canal. Food is another recurring theme in the book. As young men, the soldiers are desperate for more food each day that the war runs on. They are even willing to barter rations out for equipment or clothing when they become extremely desperate. The boys decide to visit the girls at night, and end up getting Tjaden so drunk that he can not walk. After meeting up with the girls, Paul realizes that he will not be able to hold on to the girl that he is with, and his mood turns grim. He can not take his mind off of the horror of the war.
                  Paul gets seventeen days for his leave of absence. He goes home for the few days of travel time that he receives. His mother is very sick, but his family is happy to see him. Paul gets angry at the way some of the civilians treat him. He doesn’t enjoy the fact that they feel a sense of honor when serving him, especially when one train tenant refers to him as her ‘comrade.’ Paul is extremely happy to be eating food that differs from the plain, tasteless military food. Basically, everyone is who is not involved with the war continues to ask Paul questions, and he gets upset. His mother is the only one who refrains from these questions. Paul explains that he would like to please the civilians with heroic battle stories, but he simply can not put it all into words. And if he did find a way to word it, he feels he would lose control completely. The civilians perceive the war front completely different. They believe its better fighting the battles than it is at home. Paul brushes off many of the upsetting comments. Surprisingly, Paul states that he wished he’d never come home on leave. He felt that he was hopeless, and that he was a man of war, nothing else.


Tess Hamre, Cody Kvamme, Will Wacholz, Mustafa Al-Abbad

My Work on the SPD Topic

When I saw I was assigned to the group studying Germany's Social Democratic Party, I thought to myself, that I knew nothing about the party. The first thing I did was Google it and came across the political party on Wikipedia. Right away it informed me that the SPD is a social-democratic political party in Germany. It also is one of the two major political parties in Germany and is led by chairman Sigmar Gabriel. This was the brief information that I looked at on Wikipedia. I then ventured to Britannica.com to view more information on the SPD of Germany. This site informed me that the SPD is the oldest political party in Germany. Sadly, this is about as much as I learned until I had to sign up for a free 7 day trial and decided to look elsewhere. I then waited until my group met up to learn more about the SPD and to see what topic I was assigned to talk about.

My group was very prompt and we all wanted to be given a good grade on the presentation. Within my group, I was assigned to look at the SPD's political platforms. I went searching on the internet to find more about the party's platforms. I liked how the present aim of the SPD is towards the working class. I came across a site with the article, Where Do They Stand, that said in 2003, former SPD Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, made very unpopular cuts to welfare. This costed the SPD's status of Germany's largest party to CDU. I did not agree with how the chancellor had made unfair cuts to welfare. It also stated that the SPD was looking to decommission all of Germany's nuclear power stations by 2020. I thought this could be good, especially concerning the environment. It was hard to find sites that talked about the political platform for the SPD that was currently updated. For most of the stuff that I read on the SPD, I can agree with a good amount and see why they would make certain decisions based upon other articles I have read. 

All together, Germany's Social Democratic Party was very interesting to learn about. I had not even heard about them prior to taking German 110 but then I had not known much about Germany either. Like any political party there is stuff that I agree on and then a few things I might not entirely see eye-to-eye with. The SPD party I could see eye-to-eye on a few topics. This was an interesting topic and I had a very good group that knew how to evenly divide the work and was going to be hard workers to learn more about the SPD to inform the class on Wednesday when we will present our Powerpoint.

Here is a link to our group presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1igAFBeu2S4hYtyugOA9J9WwstRHz3OybNAXFBhe1Oz0/present#slide=id.p

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/where-do-they-stand-a-quick-guide-to-germany-s-political-parties-a-651388.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/551135/Social-Democratic-Party-of-Germany-SPD

North Rhine-Westphalia

• Capital Düsseldorf
• Located in Western Germany, bordering Belgium and the Netherlands.
• Population total was 17,845,154 as of 2010.
• This makes the North Rhine-Westphalia the most populous state of Germany.
• North Rhine-Westphalia can claim that it has the most foreign direct investments than any other state in Germany.
• Rhine-Ruhr region is the primary mining and energy-producing area in Germany.
• Heavy industry has been the staple for the state's economy.
• Chemical, textiles, glass, heavy machinery, electrical equipment, precision instruments, and beer are all produced in Rhine-Ruhr. 
• In the southern part of the Rhine-Ruhr region, in the Berg area, iron and metallurgical textiles and industries play a huge role.
• The North Rhine-Westphalia has business deals within Germany and other companies abroad.
• It contains 30 out of Germany's 80 largest cities. 
• Some small cities in the state include: Bielefeld, Bonn, and Münster.
• Outside of the Ruhr, much of the state's land is committed to gardens, orchards, and commercial farmland. 
• The state was created in 1946 by the process of the former Prussian providence of Westphalia and the northern part of the Prussian Rhine providence. Then the former state of the Lippe was incorporated in 1947.
• GamesCon is hosted in Cologne. GamesCon is the largest video game convention in the world.
• North Rhine-Westphalia is home to 14 universities and 50 partly post graduate colleges.
• North Rhine-Westphalia has hosted the 1974 and 2006 FIFA World Cups and the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Rhine-Westphalia

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/419381/North-Rhine-Westphalia