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

Reaction To the Topic of Health in Germany

I found the health topic to be really fascinating.  It was really interesting to look and the pioneers of medicine many of which come from Germany or some of the more extreme methods that were used for helping people like blood-draining.  I can understand why they would think it makes sense during the time but at the same time its crazy to know that some countries still practice blood-letting.   Other things I found interesting was the topic of Pharmaceuticals in Germany.  I never really knew they were so dominant in Pharmaceuticals.  I thought that the presentation on the 18^th century was the most interesting because I enjoy looking at some of the pioneers of modern medicine and also looking at what they did for medical techniques.  I never knew that the microscope was invented in Germany or that people like Edward Jenner laid the foundation for most of today’s medical advances or the fact that he invented the vaccine for small pox.  The thing that I took away from all the health presentations was that Germany had in important role in medical advances and to this day continues to make medical breakthroughs.

            The topic I decided to expand on is Bismarck’s health care system. In 1883 he established the world’s first universal health care system. Bismarck’s viewed this as the least important bill of his social legislation and the least troublesome to pass. It was established to provide health care to the largest segment of workers in Germany. The cost was divided between the employers and the employees with 1/3 covered by the employer and 2/3 covered by the employees. Minimum payments for medical treatment and sick pay up to 13 weeks were legally fixed. The local health bureaus were administered by a committee elected by members of the bureau.   This led to an unintended effect in which all the workers had a majority of the representation because they contributed the most.  Today Germany’s health care system is 77% government funded and 23% private sector.  In 2005 Germany spent 11% of its GDP on health care.  Certain groups of people can opt out of the insurance and switch to a private insurance contract.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany#Health
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck#Bismarck.27s_social_legislation

 

               

Business Topic- Krupp Family

-I decided to expand on the Krupp Family and their impact on Germany and German business in the the 18th, 19th, and 20th century

-Beginning of family

•  First historical record of the family appearing in 1578 when Ardnt Krupp joined the merchants guild in Essen
• Ardnt died in 1624, his son Anton took over
• Began a gunsmithing operation, first instance of the families arms producing legacy
• Over the next century family kept acquiring property
• During the mid 18th century Friedrich Jodocus Krupp headed the family, married Helene Ascherfeld
• Jodocus died 6 years later, left business to his widow (first time in the family) she continued acquiring property, acquiring a filling mill, shares in 4 local mines and an iron forge.

-Friedrich Krupp

• Begin his career at 19 when his mother appointed him manager of the forge
• Inherited everything when his mother died
• Wanted discover secrets of cast steel
• Found Krupp Gusstahlfabrik in 1811, built a mill and foundry to power the facility on the Ruhr River
• Able to produce smelted steel in 1816
• Died Oct. 8 1826 in Essen

-Alfred Krupp

• Began working at 14 and quite school
• 1841 patented the spoon roller which gave him enough money to enlarge the factory
• began working on his first cast steel cannon in 1847 and in 1855 showed off his best cannon yet causing excitement in the engineering world and making factory famous
• In 1851 began selling railroad tyres which become the company's primary source of revenue
• Sold his first cannons to Prussia, after that continued expanding buying Spanish mines and Dutch shipping, making it the biggest company in Europe
• Died in 1887, had 75,000 employees and manufactured 24,576 guns

-Friedrich Alfred Krupp

• Skilled businessman
• 1890 developed nickel steel
• 1982 brought Grunson, became Krupp-Panzer and manufactured armored plate and ship turrets
• Rudolph Diesel brought his engine to him in 1893
• Bought Germaniawerft in 1896, became Germany's main warship builder and built the first U-boat in 1906 

-Gustav Krupp

• 1911 bough Hamm Wireworks and began manufacturing barbed wire. !912 began manufacturing stainless steel
• Was selling 50% of its armaments to Germany and the rest to 52 other nations, the company was now invested worldwide and headquartered in Essen
• led the company through WW1
• After WW1 much of the company was dismantled as part of war reparations.
• Continued selling arms secretly for much of the beginning of  the 20th Century
• Joined with the Nazis and expanded his employees from 35,000 to 112,000 employees

-Alfried Krupp

• Son of Gustav Krupp
• Joined the SS in 1931
• Took over tons of industries in occupied countires
• Used slave labor during the war
• After the war many of Krupps holdings were dismantled
• Eventually seen as vital to Germany's economy, Krupp was re-instituted
• Continued to acquire businesses and by 1959 had over 125,000 employees and was the fourth largest company in Europe and 12th in the world
• Improved public relations and took back the companies taken away from him as well as becoming the richest man in Europe

-After Alfrieds death

• Early in the 70's much of company was bought by the Iranian monarchy
• Restructured as a holding company in 1980's
• 1993 the company became publicly traded for the first time in its history
• In 1999 Krupp and Thyssen fully merged forming ThyssenKrupp AG.
• Company now specializes in steel. capital good and services.

                The topic I chose to write about was business.  It was the only topic we were allowed to choose from but i believe I would have picked it anyway.  The main reason I think i would have picked the topic of business is because I myself am a business major and the topic is quite fascinating to me, especially comparing how business was previously done and how it is now done.  As for the presentations I thought they were quite interesting and I feel that I learned a lot of fun and interesting things.

                 The specific topic of business I chose to expand on was the Krupp family and their business empire that they had created.  The families dynasty began in 1587 when Arndt Krupp began purchasing many properties and becoming one the wealthiest merchants in Essen.  After a couple centuries the family began its steel working roots in 1810 and from there continued purchasing companies, selling different steels as well as beginning to manufacture weapons.  The Krupp company during both WW1 and WW2 were the main sellers of weapons to Germany.  After both wars much of the company's assets were dismantled both times leaving the company to be rebuilt.  Sadly the company did become involved in Nazi crimes during WW2 including using slave labor. By 1959 the comapny was quite huge again.  In 70's much of the company was bought up, became publicly traded in 1993 and in 1993 merged with Thyssen forming ThyssenKrupp AG.  The Krupp's were incredible businessmen and innovators who forged and incredible empire the likes of which few could ever replicate.

Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krupp

Previous "specialists"
1.Jacob Mackedanz Jessica Hall jon wegeleben
2. Robert Backes Will Wacholz  
3. Tom louiselle Scott Reid David Colbert

Talking Points

-Unnecessary sacrifice of human life.
-The war caused an entire generation to be lost.
-The difference between the old and young in terms of the war.
-The way we all adapt to war and how some are made for it while other cannot handle it.
-The simpler pleasures that we learn to enjoy when forced into war or things that no longer appeal to us.

20th Century Literature Presentation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FjIFxaMw97RWHXqf4oEqG5OfqLm47-_B-bRpoDipfAo/edit?pli=1#slide=id.p

Main Character Role

Paul Baumer is the narrator of the book, All Quiet On The Western Front. The book is narrated in 1st person and set up to be like a diary of Paul’s experiences during war.

When we start the story, he is a 19-year-old boy just graduated from high school with a mother, father, and older sister. Due to intense pressure from society (namely one of his school teachers), Paul enlists in the German army along with 27 of his other classmates. Paul begins the story with several friends, still a little green around the gills and optimistic about life. Most of the book is filled with Paul’s philosophical thinking, reflecting on the war and what it has done to him and the other men in his platoon. He talks about not only the physical limits he is pushed to, but also the psychological limits he experiences. Paul struggles with trying to keep his sanity while battling in a war he is losing, as well as dealing with the brutal situations which come with trench warfare.

"Just as we turn into animals when we go up to the line . . . so we turn into wags and loafers
when we are resting. . . . We want to live at any price; so we cannot burden ourselves with
feelings which, though they may be ornamental enough in peacetime, would be out of place
here.” (Chapter 7, All Quiet on the Western Front)

Paul speaks of how the war turned him into an animal during battle, because he could only rely
on his most basic instincts, or else he would surely die.

Paul Baumer is a kind and gentle young man, but because of the war and the pain it
induces, Paul learns how to disconnect his mind from his heart. By doing this, Paul becomes
unable to feel the heartache of his comrades’ deaths, as well as the ability to conjure the idea of
a future without war. The most disheartening thing that Paul loses because of the war was his
capacity to feel at home among his family and town that he once loved so much.



Mackenzie Branch
James Kreiman
Amanda Goedeke
Jake Mueller

Chapter 12 Summary

By Chapter Twelve of All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer is disillusioned with his role in life and the role of his life as it used to be. All his adult life he has been entrenched in a war that has basically consumed everything about the world as he knew it and destroyed his perception of what everyone else would see as a normal and functioning society. As seen in the chapter where he visits home, Paul actually misses the battlefield when he is gone. He can no longer function under the normal pressures of society as his body has gotten used to being in high pressure situations all the time.

“Everyone talks of peace and armistice. All wait. If it again proves an illusion, then they will break up; hope is high, it cannot be taken away again without upheaval. If there is not peace, then there will be revolution.” (Chapter 12, All Quiet on the Western Front)

            And even though he’d miss the battlefield, it has grown old. Watching people die and living in constant fear that he could be the next to go.

“It cannot be that it has gone, the yearning that made our blood unquiet, the unknown, the perplexing, the oncoming things, the thousand faces of the future, the melodies from dreams and from books, the whispers and divinations of women; it cannot be that this has vanished in bombardment, in despair, in brothels.” (Chapter 12, All Quiet on the Western Front)

            It is possible though, that he still believes in the innocence of youth. That even though his classmates and other soldiers his age and younger have had to live and die on the battlefield, they still contain traces of the young men that they were. Hope for the future and hope of a future love still being held close to their hearts.

“There are not many of the old hands left. I am the last of the seven fellows from our class.” (Chapter 12, All Quiet on the Western Front)

            He is the last surviving character that was introduced at the beginning of the novel, which makes sense he being the narrator and all. Of course that all changes on the backside of the last page when we learn he died on the quietest day of the year in what is possibly the least descript death of a main character ever. What killed him? A sniper? Too much gas inhalation? A ninja? Maybe even a bee sting? It is unlikely however, that it was as is shown in the movie. There were no birds or drawings involved.

Amanda Goedeke
Mackenzie Branch
James Kreiman
Jake Mueller

 

SPD Party Presentation and Thoughts

Presentaion https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1igAFBeu2S4hYtyugOA9J9WwstRHz3OybNAXFBhe1Oz0/present#slide=id.p

I’ve never been the biggest fan of doing group projects.  In most cases I prefer to work solo or at most I would prefer to work someone else that I know or a group of people that I’m fairly comfortable with if the group must be a certain size.  I will admit this group project went quite well and in the end was pretty smooth.  I enjoyed all my group members which isn’t always the case when working with other people.  Everyone managed to pull their weight which is always fantastic because no one wants to be stuck doing their part and someone else’s.  The toughest thing about working with a large group in this case was simply coordination between all the members.  When you have a large group such as ours of 8 people everyone has different schedules and it’s almost impossible to get everyone together, at most we were only to get 4 people together at a time.  In the end this didn’t seem to be much of a problem at all and everyone got done what they needed to do.  The benefit I can see in large groups is once everything is coordinated it can make the project much smoother because it allows tasks to be divided more easily and the task becomes less daunting as opposed to working by yourself or in a smaller team.  Also it allows more opportunity to help group members out if someone doesn’t quite understand their task or couldn’t quite grasp a subject.  At the end of the day I’m still mostly opposed to having to work in large groups but I did enjoy the ability to divide the work up easily which takes the load off on trying to get all the info for a large party which wouldn’t be quite so easy in a smaller group.  I would be more than happy to work with the same group of individuals again.  As for the resources I used it was mainly Wikipedia as the information I had to find was quite basic so Wikipedia was a more than credible source for my task.   What were my thoughts on my party?  I would certainly vote for the Social Democratic Party.  I like their push towards renewable energy and creation of jobs and for closing more hazardous energy sources like nuclear power plants.  I like their stands for welfare but having a market economy being a driving factor and how they stand up for civil and political rights.  I also find that being the oldest party gives them experience that other parties just can’t match.  All in all I think it’s a solid party choice for many people and it would certainly have my vote.

 

Group members

Al Abbad, Mustafa M Goedeke, Amanda R Mueller, Jacob J Hamre, Tess K Louiselle, Thomas J Wacholz, William L Pfaff, Kindra K Branch, Mackenzie J

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Presentation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gZSTVvRBOZSctVsSEcHbhWJ8UB2LGWbJBkP8winfNtk/edit#slide=id.p13