What I Have Learned In German 110

Throughout this class I have learned a lot about the country of Germany. I took four years of German in high school, but I never really learned much about the country. I learned a lot about the history, and how Germany got to be how it is today. The only topic I knew much about before attending this class was the Berlin Wall period. I learned a lot about the beauty of Germany. I liked the topic on the natural beauties of the country. I learned about the breathtaking forests, mountains, and waterfalls as well as the always changing landscape as you travel from city to city. I also learned a lot about the states of Germany. I never knew how different they are all from each other. I thought they were more like American cities, but I have now learned that they are more like the states here in their uniqueness. I have learned not only about the country, but the people that live there. I learned that men dominated the media scene until pretty recently, but that the women would do whatever they had to in order to be heard. The topic that I think will really stick with me though is the RAF. I think that one got my attention the most. I’ve never heard of the group, or what they did, but they really caught my interest. I was surprised that something like this occurred in a country that I spent many years learning the language of, but I had never heard about the group. I learned a lot of very interesting things taking this class, and I’m very glad that I decided to take it. I hope to someday get the chance to travel to Germany and see many of these things for myself.

Red Army Faction

The group can be traced back to the student protest movement in West Germany. The maturing of the baby boomers that were born following WWI was related to social upheavals in industrialized nations. Racism, women’s liberation, and anti-imperialism were at the forefront of left-wing politics. The group categorized itself as a communist group fighting fascism.

The three stages of the RAF:

1.       Baader and his associates

2.       The original group plus some former members of the Socialist Patients’ Collective

3.       Created a decade after the first generation, existing from 1980s to the 1990s

When the Soviet Union collapsed, it left a serious blow to left-wing groups. Attacks continued to be committed by the RAF well into the 1990s. In 1992 it was confirmed that the RAF had been given financial and logistic support from the Stasi. In order to weaken the organization even more the government released some RAF inmates in exchange for the promise that the RAF would refrain from violent attacks in the future. The final attack by the RAF took place in 1993 with the bombing of a newly built prison.

Similarities between the RAF and current terrorist attacks

·         Are willing to go as far as possible to fight for what they think is right

·         Kidnapping of important people is involved

·         There is civilian loss

Differences between the RAF and current terrorist attacks

·         The RAF stayed in their own country, today’s attacks are international

·         Current terrorists are more ready to die in attacks

Baader-Meinhoff Complex

Movie Response:
I was really shocked by many parts of the movie. I couldn't believe how real some parts seemed, how much emotion they provoked, and how intense the entire film was. The scene that stuck in my mind was the beginning protestors that were beaten almost to death, and one shot. I can't believe how the people were treated just for voicing their opinions. I was also shocked by how comfortable everyone seemed to be with each other. It was like there were no boundaries between any of them if they were fighting for the same thing. The movie made it seem like you were right there with the protestors. That group of young people was actually really inspiring in some ways. They were not willing to stop fighting for what they believed was right, even if that meant risking their own lives. It showed how they would not stop until their voices were heard, or their lives were ended. They were all about being in control of their own lives. The character of Gudrun stuck out the most to me. She gave up everything she had, even her son just to fight for what she believed in. I’m not sure that I would be able to do what she did, or that it was the right thing to do, but she really showed a lot of heart for what she was doing. The movie appeared to show what happened very well. I think it was a very good representation of what really happened.

Roles of Men and Women in the 20th Century

Matt

Kevin A.

Lexi

Lacey

Kayla

Danielle

Shelby

Andrew

The Military

Auxiliary Units

• Served in the auxiliary units in the navy (Kriegshelferinnen), air force (Luftnachrichtenhelferinnen) and army (Nachrichtenhelferin)
• Hundreds of women auxiliaries served for the SS in the concentration camp

Mata Hari 

• Dutch exotic dancer and prostitute
• Accused of being a double agent for France and Germany during WWI
• Was offered cash from a German consul for information the next time she visited France.  Hari passed on old, outdated information to the German officer.  Arrested in France and executed the same year by firing squad.

World War II

• Germany’s men that weren’t in war were afraid to intervene when Russians were raping German women for the fear of being shot. 
• The women of Berlin braved the artillery fire to forage for food and water in the streets. It was they who fed the family, cleaned what mess they could, looked after the sick, hid their young girls and took the brunt of Russian brutality. Some women in Berlin were now looking down on their men as the weaker sex and felt disappointed in them and even sorry for them.

Women

·         “For centuries, a woman's role in German society was summed up and circumscribed by the three "K" words: Kinder (children), Kirche (church), and Küche (kitchen)” (4)

·         During the first world war women helped by entering into industrial style jobs while the men were off fighting in the war (1)

o   Approximately 700,000 had begun working by the end of the war

o   After WWI women won the right to vote (1919)

o   Some women kept their jobs after the male soldiers returned

·         During the Third Reich, women were meant to bear “Aryan” children and were taught to do so through aggressive propaganda. During WWII, Adolf Hitler wanted women to focus on the three Ks mentioned earlier and to not take place in war. (3)

·         In 1975, German women were sought out to join the military (2)

Men

·         All men age 18-23 have to attend a nine month training before going into war (2)

·         There are approximately 200,000 soldiers that are considered professional and 300,000 that are more civilian, but are on reserve and are able to become active at any given time

·         Many men were forced into war often through guilt and shame of their family and friends during the first two world wars

·         All major German military and political leaders in the 20th century were men

  

Politics

1919 - women recieved the right to vote

Nazi Germany - Hitler wanted women to just have children to grow Germany's population. It was thier duty to ensure the future of the German race. Women were even given medals for having large families

1949 - Basic law declared men and women equal

1977 - Women gained rights to equal marriage

1980 - National office for women affairs set up in west germany to help work towards women quality

1988 - East germany, women made up almost 1/3 of Socialist unity party of germany (SED) while in west germany, women only made up abour 4.5% of the political party members.

1990 - Sabine Bergmann-Pohl was the president of the people's chamber of the GDR from april to october before the GDR ended

 



Domestic Life

Roles

• In 1919 women received the right to vote
• During World War II women took on some of the traditional jobs that the men left behind when they were fighting.
• When the World War II was over women tended the wounded, buried the dead, salvaged belongings, and began rebuilding war-torn Germany by clearing away the rubble
• In 1977 women got equal rights in marriage.

In West Germany                                                                              

• In the early 1980s women qualified for admission to universities in the same numbers as men.
• The Basic Law of 1949 declared that men and women were equal.
• But it was not until 1957 that the civil code was amended.

·         After World War II women became homemakers and mothers again and largely withdrew from employment outside the home.

In East Germany

·         Mid 1960s women accounted for half of all secondary school graduates.

·         By 1975-76 they were the majority (53%)

·         In the east, however, women remained in the workforce.

·         As early as 1950, marriage and family laws also had been rewritten to accommodate working mothers.

·         Abortion was legalized and funded by the state in the first trimester of pregnancy.

·          An extensive system of social supports, such as a highly developed day-care network for children, was also put in place to permit women to be both mothers and workers.

·         East Germany had to rely on women because of its declining population; the situation was made more critical by the fact that most of those fleeing to West Germany were men.

·         90% of the women worked outside of the home.

Business

Business in the German world is primarily made up of men. Women are not seen much in the business world. According to Wikipedia.com “Women are noticeably absent in the top tiers of German businesses. They only hold 9.2% of jobs in Germany's upper and middle management positions.” Although the Chancellor is a Woman it is still very difficult for woman to rise to management. There have been some issues in creating a law in Germany that would look at the quotas in companies so that woman have a chance to succeed. “ In 2001, the Justice Ministry established a governmental commission to develop a Corporate Governance Codex,.” quoted by Spiegel online. This is a document that was recently amended that could call on companies to increase the number of female managers. “Some companies in Germany such as Deutsche Telekom back in March and energy giant E., have recognized that incorporating more woman into their hierarchies is beneficial to their organization as a whole. Deutsche Telekom was the first DAX company to pledge to raise the percentage of women at mid to high level management to 30 percent.” Spiegel online. This does show us that there are some people who feel that woman can benefit their company, they are climbing the corporate ladder and there are ways that is making this happen either with the government help or by recognizing the good that both genders can play in a company. Stated by German information centre, “The business newspaper Handelsblatt was searching for tomorrow’s top women for Germany, the Financial Times Deutschland then proclaimed the “Age of Women”, and the magazine Capital even carried a cover story entitled “Der Chef trägt Prada” (The boss wears Prada)…. Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller has been managing the machine tool company Trumpf for a number of years now. Simone Bagel-Trah, a representative of the Henkel family, has been chair of the supervisory board of the Düsseldorf washing power and consumer goods company since last year and thus one of Germany’s most powerful women.” This just goes to show that woman can and are ready to make it to the top in the business world.

Simone Bagel-Trah

Education

During the early part of the twentieth century predominantly men went to school with intentions of going to university. By the mid-1960s women accounted for nearly half of all secondary school graduates with intentions on studying at institutes of higher learning in the GDR. Just fifteen years later they made up the majority with fifty-three percent. Supplementary payments and child care were provided to assist women in completing their studies. Women in west Germany did not qualify for admission into universities until the early 1980's. Therefore, west German women had more traditional familial relations, and did not have great ambitions for admission into particular academic departments, and for professional employment after graduation.
Sources

http://womenshistory.about.com/library/ency/blwh_germany_women.htm http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/aa080601c.htm
http://www.warandgender.com/wgwomwwi.htm
http://www.mygermancity.com/german-military
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005205
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/ency/blwh_germany_women.htm
http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/g-wm.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_roles_in_the_World_Wars
http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/matahari.htm
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/ency/blwh_germany_women.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_issues_in_Germany#Gender_roles_and_demographics
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,702895,00.html
http://www.germanyandafrica.diplo.de/Vertretung/pretoria__dz/en/03__BD/New__women__managment.html

Pictures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mutterkreuz1940.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-0813-302,_Sabine_Bergmann-Pohl.jpg http://www.tridentmilitary.com/New-Photos14/393.jpg
http://tisores.net/imagenes/hari.jpghttp://www.faz.net/s/RubF36E5361491F4CD9953863A0D5A760BC/Doc~E3635B2EB070E44DFB79CF2AD63692108~ATpl~Ecommon~SMed.html

Top Three Blogs

1. David Grow
Great writing and use of pictures. Very appealing to the eye, and great job citing sources.

2. Daniel Ostendorf
Very eye appealing background, and nice writing. Should have had more pictures in the blog, and not just the links to the picutes.

3. Alexia Ball
Very good writing, but blog is not very appealing. Needs more pictures and maybe a few more personal touches.

All Quiet on the Western Front Discussion

To start the discussion of All Quiet on the Western Front, Kemmerich was brought up and how he overuses his power in the military, because he has no power back home in his job as a postman. Then we each wrote a short summary of the book. My summary talked about how in the beginning of the book the men have been decreased from 150 to 80. Then one of the men dies from having his leg amputated and his boots are given to Mueller who had previously asked for them. As the book goes on new recruits come in that are younger than the original men, and have had little training. When the fighting starts up again, the young men start dropping like flies, and once again new recruits must be brought in. These ones are even younger than the previous, and have had even less training. Paul goes home on leave, to discover that his mom is sick with cancer, and that he no longer feels like he belongs at home. The war prgresses, and eventually none of the men from the original class survive. Then we spent time discussing why the book was so successful, and why it took 10 years after the war was over to be published. There are a few reasons for each. We then discussed the loss of identity that the returning soldiers felt. Most of them only had their schooling, and the war, and that was all they knew. It was difficult for some to find their own identities as they returned home. We also discussed what it takes to regain your own identity, unltimately deciding that you need to find something new to cling to.

Hamburg

As you can see, the city state of Hambuurg is located in the northern part of Germany. According to Wikipedia.com, Hamburg has a population of over 1.8 million people, making it the second largest city in Germany. The official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Hamburg was a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire.  Hamburg is approximately 1/5 the size of Rhode Island. Hamburg is named after the first castle to be built on site. It is the center of the north, both culturally and economically, being a center for trade. The city of Hamburg is unique in that there is a lack of skyscrappers. It is also the city with the number of the most bridges having 2302 of them. Hamburg is also often called Germany's capital of sport because it has more first-league teams and international sports events than any other city.

Group 2 Trivia Q and A

Life in Germany

1.       When and where did German scientists recently discover a new species of ape?Answer: In Asia on Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Source: http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-world/german-scientists-discover-rare-ape-species-in-asia-20100921-15lkn.html

2.       What city is known as the salt capital of Germany? When did the salt production end?
Answer: Lüneburg, a German city in the state of Lower Saxony, is known as the salt capital of Germany.  It was not until 1980 that the production of salt in the Lüneburg Saline finally closed.
Source: http://worthgem.blogspot.com/2010/09/german-salt-museum-at-luneburg.html

3.       What type of schooling is forbidden?
Answer: Homeschooling
Source: www.german-way.com/educ.html

German History

1.       What was the difference in population in Germany from 1939 to 1946?
Answer: 4 million less people from 1939 to 1946

2.       In the early and middle eleventh century the Saxon kings were able to defeat which Germanic tribes thus strengthening the Elbe Saale frontier?
Answer: The Magyars and the Slavs

3.       What Germanic tribe held onto their tradition of worshiping heathen gods the longest?Answer: The Saxons

German Media

1.       What date did the "television contract" (Fernsehvertrag) get signed?
Answer: March 27, 1953
Source: pg 91 of "The Mass Media of the German Speaking Country" by John Sandford

2.       The Deutsche Welle first began broadcasting is what year?
Answer: 1953
Source: pg 39 of "The Mass Media of the German Speaking Country" by John Sandford

3.       What German newsmagazine is on the rise while its predecessor is on the decline?
Answer: The Focus is on the rise while Der Spiegel is on the decline.
Source: http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/facts/bl_newspapers.htm

German States: Bavaria

1.       Who are the three primary Germanic tribes to inhabit Bavaria in history?
Answer: Bavarians, Franks, and Nordgau

2.       Pope Benedict was born in town of Marktl Bavaria. Where did he live his adolescence?
Answer: Traunstein
Source: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/biography/documents/hf_ben-xvi_bio_20050419_short-biography_en.html

3.       The Hofbrauhaus is a famous beer hall in Munich Bavaria. What family still owns and operates this historic site?
Answer: The Gerdas
Source: http://www.aviewoncities.com/munich/hofbrauhaus.htm

German States: Schleswig-Holstein

1.       Where was the chief base for the Third Reich's navy operations?
Answer: Kiel
Source: pg 259-260 of “Discover Germany” by Jack Altman

2.       Schleswig-Holstein was part of Denmark until what year?
Answer: 1866
Source: pg 259-260 of “Discover Germany” by Jack Altman

3.       What is the world famous annual rock fest that takes place in Schleswig-Holstein?
Answer: Wacken Open Air
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Rhine-Westphalia

German Print Media Reviewed

The German newspapers seem to have many similarities to American newspapers. There are articles on current events, politics, sports and many other things that would also be typical to be seen in American newspapers. There were, however, also some articles that you would not commonly find in an American newspaper. This includes an entire section on the Berliner Zeitung about love and dating. The German newspapers seem to be an important part of daily life in Germany.

Wimbachklamm

Powerpoint on Wimbachklamm

List of Topics on Berlin

1. Berlin Structures
2. Brandenburg Gate
3. Reichstag
4. Tourism
5. Berlin during WWII
6. The U-Bahn and the S-Bahn
7. Berlin in the 1920's and Today
8. Berlin Buildings
9. Berlin then and Now
10. Berlin's Music Today and Past
11. Berlin Tram
12. Sports
13. Popular Sights and Activites in Luebech, Germany

Berlin's Nightlife.

Berlin is not only Germany's capital but it is also the capital of nightlife. Berlin is arguable the hippest city in the world. The diverse scene of nightlife is what young adults look for when it comes to having a good time. Throughout the 1990's twentysomethings from surrounding countries mostly those in Eastern and Central Europe made Berlin's club scene the premium destination. Whether you like techno, rock, alternative, to just sitting in a pub you can find that in Berlin. Berlin is right next to Amsterdamn when it comes to nightlife.


Most of the clubs in Berlin are not happening until 11 p.m. Young adults will go to the local watering hole or known as pubs and will "pregame" so to speak until it's time to dance and have a good time. There are no fixed closing hours so you can pretty much dance until the sun comes up. Most clubs in Berlin don't have dress codes, follow their motto of "anything goes." There are club listings in Berlin's weekly magazine called Zitty and Tip to list current events. But half of the adventure is finding these clubs because most are not advertised. If you heard of underground clubs and bars they are usually there for one weekend and will disappear forever the next. You'll often find these clubs in backyards, old warehouses, and even basements of residential buildings. So pretty much you need to keep an ear open and be in the right place to get a flyer for these parties.
Pubs
Start the night off with going to a pub. Deponie No. 3 is Deutsch for Deposit no. 3. It is so called because it used to be a tank depo for the Nationale Volksarmee. This pub is lively and fun with regular live music as in jazzy, piano blues variety. It has a beer garden and a great selection of ales. It is located by the trains of the S-Bahn and adds character to the place. A lively place to kick of the party.
You can't go anywhere without finding an Irish pub, the Oscar Wilde Pub is in a great location just short from Oranienburger Tor U-bahnhof which is the underground station/subway and around the corner from one of Berlins busiest streets for nightlife, the Oranienburger Strasse. As in most Irish pubs you will find a great variety of Irish food and drink. They are known for the best bacon butty in Berlin.

Clubs
The Weekend club is situated on the upper floors of an old office building on Alexanderplatz. The signature of this club has the breathtaking view of Berlins cityscape on the rooftop as well as dancefloors and bars. The dj's spin electronic, pop, and house music from Thursday till Saturday and will keep you dancing till daybreak. The Weekend Club is one of the hottest places to go to have a good time as stated by Berlin-life.com, "Dirty sounds, wild times, a night at the Weekend Club is rarely a dead duck."

Watergate club is located in the heart of Kreuzberg. This club has two levels, the lower dance floor called waterfloor has the feeling of the name itself. It has a wide floor to ceiling glass that overlooks the river Spree and makes you feel like your dancing on water. It is famous for its LED lighting system that runs throughout the length of the club. This club regularaly invites very talented Dj's. The music there is mostly house, techno, drum and bass music.
Tango
The tango craze is growing in Berlin. Berlin is known as Germany's tango metropolis. Training courses, introductions, and ball nights are suddenly being offered and many clubs and dancing schools. During the summer even many public places have been turned into ball rooms.

Casinos
Casninos are also quite popular in Berlin. The age to gamble, however, is 18 years old. The same age that it is in the United States. There are a total of 3 casinos in Berlin. Potsdamer Platz is home to the most modern and largest gambling house of Germany. The casino is equiped with many slot machines as well as Poker, Black Jack, and Roulette.



Sights visited

http://www.berlin-life.com/berlin/nightlife Sept. 2, 2010

http://gogermany.about.com/od/nightlife/tp/bestclubsberlin.htm Sept. 2, 2010

http://www.europe-trips.eu/Germany/tourist-information-German-resorts-hotels-accommodation.html Sept. 7, 2010
http://www.visitberlin.de/english/berlin-erleben/e_be_nachtleben.php Sept. 4 2010
http://www.taz.de/uploads/hp_taz_img/norm/tip.jpg Sept. 7, 2010
http://ascii.pdp10.org/images/Ruins-in-ASCII_berlin-exhibition-zitty.jpg Sept. 7, 2010
http://www.berlin-life.com/pictures/m.007.jpg Sept. 7, 2010
http://www.oscholarship.com/TO/Archive/Forty-seven/Main/editorial_files/image057.jpg Sept. 7, 2010
http://www.johnnyjet.com/image/PicForNewsletterBerlinJune2008338.JPG Sept. 7, 2010
http://static3.unlike.net/system/photos/0000/1103/watergate4.jpg?1209992918 Sept. 7, 2010

http://www.beisheim-center.de/images/basic/potsdamer_platz_sunset.jpg Sept. 7 2010

16 German States

Baden-Wurttemberg: This state has a population of nearly 11 million people. The Minister-President is Gunther Oettinger, and the the capital is Stuttgart. This is the third biggest state in Germany, and is in the southwest of Germany.


Bavaria: This is the largest of all the states in Germany. Around 12.5 million people live in it, with 1.3 people living in the capital, Munich. Bavaria is split into seven parts.

Berlin: This is the capital of Germany, and the biggest city in Germany. As of November, 2008 around 3,400,000 people lived there. This city lies in the eastern part of Germany.

Brandenburg: The population here is around 2.6 million people. This has been a state since 1990. The capital is Postdam. Up until 1945 Brandenburg was the biggest province in Prussia.

Bremen: This is the smallest state in Germany. The population is 664,000 people. The official name is “Freie Hansestadt Bremen.”

Hamburg: This is a city in northern Germany. The population is around 1.73 million people. It is the second biggest city in Germany.

Hesse: The capital is Wiesbaden. There are three rivers in the northern part of Hesse, Werra, Fulda, and Lahn. It is divided into 21 districts.

Mecklenburg-West Pomerania: The capital is Schwerin. It is the smallest state capital in Germany. Normally it would be called a city. It has 6 major cities inside of the state.

Lower Saxony: The capital is Hannover, and there are 38 districts. The minister-president is David McAllister. The population is 8,002,916.

North Rhine-Westphalia: This state has the highest population in Germany. It is located in the western part of Germany. The capital is Dusseldorf, and the population is 18,033,000.

Rhineland-Palatinate: The capital is Mainz. The population is 3.88 million. This state was created on August 30, 1946.

Saarland: The capital is Saarbrucken. The population is 1,065,000. This state lies in the south-west of Germany.

Saxony: This state is located in the south-east of Germany. The biggest city is Leipzig, but the capital is Dresden. Saxony was founded in 1990.

Saxony-Anhalt: The capital is Magdeburg. The population is 2,580.626. The minister-president is Wolfgang Bohmer.

Schleswig-Holstein: This is the northernmost of all the states in Germany. The capital is Kiel. The minister-president is Peter Harry Carstensen.

Thuringia: This state is located in central Germany. The population is 2.45 million people. The capital is Erfurt. This is the fifth smallest state in Germany.

The Cologne Cathedral

The Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic Church in Cologne, Germany. Construction of the Cathedral started in 1248 and wasn’t completely finished until 1880, with a few interruptions of course. The Cathedral is known as one of the world’s largest churches, and it is in fact the largest church in Northern Europe. Over a span of four years from 1880 to 1884 it was the largest tallest structure in the world.


The Cathedral was built extremely well. During WWI it was hit by seventy aerial bombs. The Cathedral, however, did not collapse. It has been said that the two twin spires of the church were used as an easily recognizable landmark for Allied aircraft, so the church was left standing in a flattened city. In 1956 repairs to the church were completed. There is, of course some sort of repair or maintenance being done constantly in some part of the Cathedral. A new stained glass window was put in on August 25, 2007 in the south transept window.

The Cathedral design was quite closely based on the design of Amiens Cathedral. The ground plan, style, and width to height proportion of the central nave were all similar to that of the Amiens Cathedral. As is common in Gothic cathedrals, the plan is in the shape of a Latin Cross. Inside of the church are two aisles on either side. These contribute to the support of an extremely high Gothic vault.

There are eleven church bells in the Cathedral, with four of them being medieval. The first was cast in 1418, and installed in 1437, then was later recast in 1880. Two of the other bells were installed in 1448 and are still there today. Nearing the completion of the Cathedral there was a growing desire to increase the number of bells.

All together the Cologne Cathedral is a remarkable place. The size and design of the building alone are amazing. I hope to someday get the chance to visit it.

Timeline of Major Events in Germany in the last 100 Years

1914-1918 WW1. WWI – Battle in Europe between the Allies (U.S., France, UK and Russia) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungry, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria). The war erupted due to power tensions in Europe that caused different kingdoms and countries to form alliances with and against one another, with the end result being the Allies and the Central Powers. When a Serbian (Serbia was part of the Allies) assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Heir to the throne of Austria, Germany, obligated in their alliance with Austria-Hungry, attacked France and Belgium, while Austria invaded Serbia. This power shift dragged all the other countries into the war, which became known as the Great War, lasting from 1914 to 1918. The war ended in an Allied victory and several peace treaties, most renowned being the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty set restrictions on German military power and required Germany to forfeit land (mainly to France) and make war reparations to the Allied Powers. The heavy war debt from this treaty along with the restrictions on Germany’s government and military are some of the factors that lead up to the beginnings of WWII.




1918-1933 Weimar Republic. The Weimar Republic was when Germany was known as a Democratic Republic and governed by a constitution that was created in the city of Weimar. The Weimar Republic collapsed when Hitler was elected Chancellor and started the third Reich. The Weimar republic lasted until 1933, during the huge recession that Germany was facing at the time. The recession made the German people very angry and restless, and also making them doubt their government.



1925- League of Nations. In 1925 Germany joins the League of Nations. The League of Nations was formed as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919-1920. This was the precursor to the United Nations. At the time period of Sept. 1934 to Feb. 1935 it had the highest of 58 members. The main goals as stated by the covenant was to prevent war, settle disputes through negotiation, labor conditions, arms control, arms trade, prisoners of war and the protection of minorities in Europe.



1933-1945 Third Reich. The Third Reich started with the rise in power of the Nazis. Hitler became the president of the Third reich after the death of the original president, Paul von hindenberg. Propaganda was highly used and was encouraged. Law, education, culture and economy all went under Hitler's power. The military even swore to an oath personally honoring him. Nazi foreign policy was centered around the belief that Germans were racially superior compared to all other peoples. The third reich ended in 1945 at the end of World War Two.



1939-1945 WW2. European war between the Allies (UK, France, Russia, U.S.) and the Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan) powers. Many other countries were brought into the war on both sides. WWII started in 1939, when Hitler, after resurrecting Germany from the ashes of the first world war, sought to gain greater control over Europe and extend its empire. Threatening war, Hitler was basically given several demands from the UK and France which included large sums of land that were lost in WWI by Germany. Hitler’s aggressive policies led to the German invasion of Poland and the declaration of war on Germany by the UK and France. WWII became a war not only against military power but also against civilians, such as the London Bombings by German aircrafts, the holocaust, and the nuclear weapons dropped in Japan. The war ended in 1945 when Russian troops captured Berlin, and Russian and the U.S. basically took control over Japan.





1950's Wirtschaftswunder. In the 1950's Wirtschaftswunder that is german for "economic miracle" was described as the rapid reconstruction of economies of West Germany and Austria after ww2. What they did in the beginning was the replacement of the Reichmark with the Deutsche Mark as currency. This was provided by the help of the United states and the Marshal Plan which is the European Recovery Program (ERP); which in turn helped the rehibilitation of the currency in Germany because of the high inflation of the Reichmark. The Volkswagen Beetle was the icon of West German reconstruction as well.



1961 Berlin Wall construction. Construction of the Berlin Wall began on August 13, 1961 by the German Democratic Republic (GDR). .The wall was built as a way to seperate West Berlin from East Germany. There were also guard towers along the wall. Along with the wall was a large area known as the death strip that included anti-vehicle trenches. According to the GDR the wall was built to protect its citizens against outside elements working against the socialist state in East Germany. The wall was actually built to prevent people from fleeing from East Germany into West Germany. 2.6 million East Germans escaped to West Germany from 1949-1961. There was no other way to stop the emerging East Germans or West Germans other than to build the wall. A major reason for the build was because of two different currencies in Germany. For every 1 DM West Germany equalled 4 DM East Germany. People in the West could get very cheap goods in the East



1989 The fall of the Berlin Wall. November 9, 1989 is known as the date the Wall fell. In actuality the Wall was not torn down completely on that day. Beginning that night, and continuing for weeks to come many people came to the Wall with chisels and hammers to create their own souvenirs. This created many unofficial border crossings and greatly contributed to the deconstruction of the Wall. The following weekend the creation of ten new border crossings was announced

World Heritage List

1.  Cologne Cathedral
2. Maulbronn Monastery Complex
3. Pilgrimage Church of Wies
4. The Wadden Sea
5. Wartburg Castle