Final Report

To be honest I came into German 110 having no idea what to really expect to learn from the class.  I came in with an open mind and willingness to learn about a people and place that I have been quite curious about for some time now.  I don’t know what it is but Germany has always stood out to me as one of the more interesting countries in Europe and now that the semester is over I must admit I was not disappointed by what I’ve learned.   I went in not even knowing the basic setup of the country but soon learned about its sixteen different statesand the way that the country is broken up into.  I’ve learned interesting things like the fact that Bavarians are apparently full of themselves and that North Rhine Westphalia is the best state in the country most likely only because our professor is from there.  I bet if he was Bavarian it would be a different story.  I personally had the chance to learn about and present the state of Mecklengburg –Vorpommern.   It seemed like a lovely little state to visit but not really on the top of my list to visit if I ever manage to take a trip to Germany.  I've learned that most people live in the city and very little people actually drive cars and that west Germany or more developed than the East.  I’ve learned more about the actual people living in the West and East than I ever had before.  In history class’s we’ve always talked about the reason for the separation but never have we talked about what the actual people were like or how they felt.  I did a presentation on literature on the 21^st century and from that alone I’ve learned that East German literature actually has some interesting value to add and isn’t just garbage like many people believed.  Ive learned quite a bit about the actual history of the country and its culture including learning about people like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe whom many consider to be the German William Shakespeare.  That’s a pretty big claim to make and something that German people should be proud of.  I’ve learned of Germany’s modern pharmaceutical industry as well as more about German cars than had ever known.  One thing that found extremely interesting is that when we talked about people we really talked about them on a personal level.  I’ve learned more about German figures on a personal level than a history book could ever teach me and for that I am thankful.    Other interesting things I’ve learned about is what the current day youth culture is like in Germany today.  We watched the movie Berlin Calling and it definitely did have this rebellious European youth feel to it which I feel is the current attitude most youth have in Germany today or anywhere for that matter.  I learned about groups like Baader-Meinhof and how in a way they started modern day terrorism.  That’s pretty crazy to think about.  I found Germany’s political system to be quite interesting and while maybe a little rough around the edges groups like the pirate party actually appeal to me.  They’re a modern group that just couldn’t exist in America today.  Lastly we ended the class talking about the many different foods that Germans like to partake in.  I personally chose to research Black Forest Cake as it’s a personal favorite but I learned that they put liquor on their version.  Other foods including blood sausage or a dish we discussed that included sausage and applesauce seemed odd but certainly interesting and unique.  The German people are one I would definitely be interested in learning more about and I hope that one day I may be able to visit and experience their one of a kind culture and country.

German Food- Black Forest Cake

The cake is named literally after the Black Forest in Germany. Called  Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte in Germany.  The cake is usually made of several layers of chocolate cake, whipped cream and cherries between each layer.  The cake is usually decorated with more whipped cream, maraschino cherries and chocolate shavings.  Traditionally the cake has Kirschwasser added to it which is a clear liquor distilled form tart cherries.  Josef Keller claims he invented the cakein its present form in 1915 at Cafe Agner.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Black_Forest_gateau.jpg

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzw%C3%A4lder_Kirschtorte

Baader- Meinhof Questions

1. They resolved to protesting through violence,.  This resulted in them resorting to kidnapping, bombings and robbing banks. 

2.  Right away when I saw them resort to bombing violence as a form a protest no I no longer sympathized with their cause.  They had a decent cause but when you start using violence in situations that dont call for it I no longer sympathize with you but will instead find you to be a terrorist which is exactly what they were.  Their violence only escalated as time went on making them less appealing as a group and really just making them terrorists.

3.  Andreas Baader was definitely a driving force in the group and really the reason the group escalated the way it did.  He took a violent approach straight from the beginning and I think if he wasn't a part of the group I believe the group would have taken a different approach in protesting.  I think people wanted follow just because he seemed like he was in charge and had a plan but really he was just committing terrorist acts.

4.  When we did the activity it was about half and half on both sides with a small minority.  As for my personal view I sided with violence in certain situations but if there was a peaceful approach I would obviously want that to be the first approach taken.

Baader-Meinhof Complex Reaction

As far as movies go I have to say I’ve been pretty interested by Baader-Meinhoff Complex.  I’m usually not a big fan of older movies but I think it’s the content the movie focuses on that keeps it interesting throughout.  The movie definitely keeps the pace up the entire time and just when you think you have seen everything that it has to offer it escalates itself even higher.  As for the actual group and characters, well my feeling is there all pretty much mentally insane.  They are complete psychopaths, some of which got what was coming to them and others who maybe got off too easy by simply being put away in prison. I am not sure how the prison system works in Germany but it seems like some of the groups early crimes while awful hardly went punished.  When they were wanted criminals I believe they guy said he didn’t want to go back to prison because he had ten months left on his sentence.  They were blowing up buildings, how did they get such a small sentence?  That’s a pretty clear act of terror.  I definitely don’t sympathize with the group and they amount to nothing more than mass murderers.  They took countless innocent lives in the name of their cause but all they were doing was committing awful acts of terror.  What did they actually manage to accomplish besides becoming murderers and bank robbers?  In the end they definitely became worse than anything they could have possibly trying to stop.  They were the true terror.  

RAF Research

The Baader-Meinhof group also known as the RAF or Rote Armee Faction officially started as group in 1970 in Germany.  The killing of a young activist by the police in 1967 led Andreas Baader to form the group.  The groups founding members were Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Horst Mahler and Ulrike Meinhoff.  The groups cause was a fight against post-war authorities; they felt this new authority was no better than the fascist state under the Third Reich.  The groups used violent militant tactics to get their message across and beginning in 1968 they bombed two department stores in Frankfurt, Germany.  In 1970 several members of the groups went off to Jordan where they learned to use Kalashnikov s    Over the next two years they went back to Germany robbing banks and bombing buildings.  By the summer of 1972 all of the founding members had been captured.  The second generation of the RAF members fought for the sole purpose of having the founding members released from prison.  This led to some of the bloodiest and most high-profile attacks from the group.  In September of 1977 the groups capture Hans Martin Schleyer, the head of the German Association of Employers and a former SS Member.  This led to the crisis know as German Autumn.  After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet unions the group took a massive blow.  The third generation continued on still maintaining attacks and bombing but the main assessment of the groups of objectives was the releasing of former RAF members.  In 1992 the government offered to release members of the RAF if they refrained from violent attacks to which the RAF intended to follow.  The last action taken by the RAF was a bombing in 1993.  The group dissolved in 1998 releasing the statement “The revolution says: I was, I am, I will be again”.  Like the RAF many modern terrorists use weapon assaults and bombing as their way of committing acts of terror.  Unlike the RAF I think modern day terrorist attacks are on a grander scale such as the US 9/11 attacks.

Sources:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b1OWAYIebtl8kuTGTFnwjkvlROFDkbMDQldu-WXz66U/edit?pli=1

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

Berlin Calling Reaction and Questions

Questions

1.  Drugs to Ickarus means relaxation and stress relief.  Its freedom from his mind and his life and a chance to just escape his troubles.

2.  Most of his fans are most likely taking drugs at the clubs while listening to his music.  They most likely take the drugs as a way of expanding their minds and it makes the music that much better.  They take drugs such as cocaine, Ecstasy, MDM, MDA, Ketamine.

3.  The culture hes in focuses a lot on music and sex and I believe they take drugs because it makes the music they are listening/dancing to better and I'm sure it increases their sexual desires.

4.  I think the youth culture depicted in Berlin Calling is more heavily involved in a party and drug type culture and while its certainly a part of the youth in America it seemed to play a bigger part in Germany.  I would say the youth culture of America is more alcohol driven while the scenes in Berlin Calling made European youth seem more drug/ dance party centered.

5.  I think the youth depicted in the movie could change that.  They seemed to care less about school or your typical industrial job and instead seemed more interested in being care free and having fun, probably doing odd jobs here and there and just getting by.  Ickarus was going to parties in the daytime so it doesn't seem like the youth is working too hard.  Ickarus and and the label director were definitely dedicated to the music and had a strong work ethic.  They both wanted to put out the best music they could.

6.  I don't think I've ever seen a movie quite like Berlin Culture that focuses solely on looking at the lives of a younger generation like it did.

I thought Berlin Calling was a fascinating choice for a movie.  Centering a movie on a guy who is viewed as a young member of society who isn't really producing anything kind of seems like a boring choice for a movie but it actually works out quite well in the end.  I wanted to know what was going to happen to Ickarus next as you could see him slowly slip away from reality using drugs to fill the darkness in his mind.  The movie does a good job of making you feel something for the character, he’s not just some young guy but instead a person who is destroying his life and everything he has.  It made for a pretty darn good story.  I think the movie delivers a pretty good message to younger kids that drugs really are something that shouldn't be taken and that can have some pretty terrible consequences.  As for cultural differences that I noticed one thing is that dancing or partying, going to raves or wherever they were seemed to be pretty common.  Another thing was the use of drugs seemed to be more acceptable or people were just more open about it.  Everyone in the movie seemed pretty cool about people taking drugs that were considered “soft” or drugs that didn't really do any harm to the body.  The club owner even seemed cool with that guy selling drugs and even to encourage it most likely.  It’s not that people don’t takes drug in America because they most certainly do but it’s not such an open event and definitely more secretive.  Another thing I noticed is young kids who weren’t in school or weren’t working and that seemed to be natural and ok.  In America that would be considered lazy, most youth I would say choose to pursue college if they can afford it.   Overall I thought Berlin calling was an enjoyable experience watching Ickarus ruin his life and pick it back up again.  The music was also pretty good too.  

Reaction to the topic of literature in Germany

The topic I decided to expand on was the famous German Friedrich Schiller.  The reason I decided to research him was because he was mentioned less in class but he seemed to still be a pretty influential and well-known figure so I decided it would be interesting to shed some light on him.  He was known as a poet, playwright, historian and philosopher.  During the latter part of his life he struck up a friendship with the famous Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  One thing I found interesting was that together the two of them wrote the Xenien in which the two basically challenged critics opposed to their ideas.  In his early years his father wanted him to become a cleric, Friedrich himself would often dress up and pretend to preach as well.  His family eventually moved to Ludwigsburg where he came to the attention of Karl Eugen the duke of Wurttemberg. There he entered Karlsschule Stuttgart where he studied medicine.  He suffered much from illness himself and that was part of the reason he studied medicine as he was often trying to cure himself.  In school he wrote his first play The Robbers.  After school he got a job in Stuttgart as a doctor.  He left his regiment to see the first of his play, The Robbers.  He was arrested, sentenced to 14 days in jail and the Duke Karl Eugen forbid him from publishing any more works.  He fled and moved from place to place for some time until in 1789 in Jena.  There he had a job as a professor of history and philosophy.  He married in 1790 and had 4 children.  In 1799 he returned his family to Weimar where his friend Goethe convinced him to return to writing.  He found the Weimar Theater with Goethe which became the leading theater in Germany.  In 1802 he was ennobled by the Duke of Weimar.  He remained in Weimar where he died at 45 from tuberculosis.  His philosophical works focused on ethics and aesthetics.  He was also interested in the idea of human freedom.  He is considered by many Germans to be Germany’s most important classic playwright.   Lastly some interesting things I found is that there is some controversy around if he was a freemason.  Another thing I found interesting is the skull buried with his body is not his skull.

sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Schiller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Schiller%27s_skull