Thank You for Flying Royal Dutch Airlines

Dear KLM airlines (royal Dutch airlines),

Thank you for doing a wonderful job getting me to Amsterdam and then Berlin. The Amsterdam flight had a bit better landing than the Berlin flight, but that is okay :). 

Love,

Allison. 

Right now, I am sitting in a Berlin Internet cafe drinking a beer, as the hotel does not have free WiFi and why not drink a beer while enjoying Germany? 

Today, after the flight, we went to the bank, ate at a delicious Italian type restaurant, and finally got the lasagna I had been craving for the past week. 

After eating something that was not airplane or airport food, the group walked around as a short (long) tour of the city, just to try and get a feel for direction and the train system. 

We rode the S-Bahn a ways, before getting off and walking around a few government buildings, like the chancellor's office. We then continued to walk as the professor pointed out interesting features of the city. After walking through a park for the Soviet Union, we walked towards the Brandenburg Gate. Before we got to the gate, the professor asked how they remember the wall, and looking down, there was a line 2 bricks deep of where the wall used to be in the ground. After we walked to the "East Germany" side, we wandered through the memorial for the Holocaust victims. 

We then took a short break to warm up and drink something warm (or beer) before we headed off to a Christmas Market. The professor surprised us with tickets to ride down an ice slide for "Penguins of Madagascar". I did not ride on the slide, but everyone else surely enjoyed it. 

After the market, we had free time, so some people decided to stay at the market, while others went to eat, and others still tried to make it back to the hotel. Our challenge was to make it back to our hotel on our own, or in a small group. I went back to the hotel, which is how I ended up here, at this Internet cafe drinking a lovely beer. 

Part of the beer I had at lunch. I do not know what kind it is, but it was good :)

A picture of a classmate going down the ice slide. 

A photo of the beer I am drinking now, which was taken at the beginning of the article, so now it is empty. 

Berlin: 1/18 done

German Governmental Unrest

The Germans had a massive amount of governmental unrest following WWI. It became so extreme that if the party in power had any sort of misstep, the voters would change their decision and vote for another party to be in power, and this occurred so often that there would be a new party in power every 8.5 months (p207). Because Germany had many different parties in power very quickly, it was hard for Germany to gain much of an identity of their own, and that put the people under stress and uncertainty, not really having pride in themselves or their country.

The Weimar Republic was in power for the longest time, of 14 years, but they were under the constant stress of possibly being replaced for a more authoritative government. This was a problem for the Weimar Republic because that meant they were unable actually govern, and only do things that the people would be happy with, or else they would be voted out. Since no one was actually able to govern the country, nothing got better, and most things got worse, which brought the country morale down even further.

Because the country was so low on morale, high in poor leadership, and high in involvement from other countries, it was hard to keep the economic system balanced. During the 10 years after the war, French armies were in German towns to keep political unrest to a minimum, and because of their involvement, it pushed the value of the Mark down, driving prices up. In 1923, the exchange rate of the Mark to US Dollars was 240 million Marks for 1 dollar (p.210). In comparison, the price of bread at the end of WW1 was 2.80 Marks, and in December 1923 it was 399,000,000,000 Marks. Once the French left the country, the price then dropped back down to 30 Marks.

German Inflation after WWI

Gustav Stresemann, one of the greatest leaders after WWI

Once their leader, Stresemann, died of a heart attack, it was hard to bring another person into power. There were many fights over what goals the country had, and where they should go with their new government. Because goals were not known, many of the people chose to follow Hitler, as he had plans on where to go for the future. He described his future as the “national socialism” (p231). He used it so that everyone would enjoy the term, and think of it as the best way to turn the economy around in the country.

The first of Hitler’s plans was to get rid of the treaty of Versailles, as it was a suffocating plan to keep German forces low and powerless; getting rid of the treaty was strongly influenced by the public in both social classes and political parties (p231). His next goal was to create an all-powerful race, which he considered his own as the most successful race. He planned to move into eastern countries and rid them of the inferior races.

Hitler is very well known for his powerful speaking skills, speaking the minds of the people

Hitler was a powerful leader due to his speaking skills; he was able to communicate straight to the people, often bringing up topics that the people had not thought about directly, but was a worry all the same. He listened to peoples’ fears, and promised to face them to make their lives better. Hitler played the emotional card with the people, and using this, he gathered more people in to follow his leadership.

Hitler’s party was exactly what Germany was wanting: a party of the people, for the people, listening to the people. The party welcomed everyone and anyone as long as they were of the Aryan race; the party even pushed for the young people to take part in the government. Because Hitler was for the people, he put Germany back on its feet to become a strong political power.

Hitler had a very strong influence over the young people, pushing for them to take part in their future.

The Birth of Modern Germany

When Germany was in separate pieces, it was difficult to travel, share resources, and even go from one end of the river to the other, as every 6 or 7 miles, the boats had to stop and pay a fee in order to continue down the river (p.70). Germany also had unrest among the empires, as they were all different sizes and wanted more land, so wars occurred frequently, along with the exchanging of cities.

There are a large number of rivers in Germany, which made it easy to transport goods, but also allowed the kings to charge a fee for passing through their kingdom.

When one of the empires was expected to collapse due to the death of a leader with no heir, the empire surprisingly had been built up enough to start a war with all surrounding empires and countries, which then triggered a European war that caused many countries to swap major cities as the borders changed.

The German identity evolved through the changing hands of major cities and borders. After the Diet of Regensburg, which was forced upon Germany by France and Russia after one of the many wars, Germany was broken into 30 territories and states, down from 314, and that does not include the 300 imperial knights (p.97). This caused many cities and cultural centers to disappear while many other cities grew in size just due to the minimizing of empires. The identity also evolved due to the addition of French and Russian government pushing to help Germany become a stable, unified country.

I find it interesting that in order to unify Germany; the leaders did not pick themselves or other great leaders to push for the unification. Instead, they used great writers, musicians, and artists, along with other, more creative people that did not have any role in the strength of the country. The book, on page 124, mentions that in the 1848 German National Assembly there were two poets voted into the assembly, Ludwig Uhland and Friedrich Theodor Vischer, along with other leaders that were helpful with the unification.

Friedrich Theodor Vischer, poet

Ludwig Uhland, poet

To me, France and Russia helped push for this because of all of the separation in kingdoms, and they knew that having present or past kings or leaders would make the newly consolidated country go into unrest. Using art, music, and writings were helpful for unification because it brought in something that anyone could enjoy, and show that good things can happen if you work together in a positive manner.

This method may have also caused problems, because once the Assembly went to vote for a leader and a type of government, they all had separate ideas. They all wanted it to be their way, or that their area of Empire would have the capital and the head of the government. Even after the country had formed a constitution based off of America and France, many people did not recognize the government, nor paid attention to the constitution.

The German Constitution in 1871. Many people were unhappy and did not listen to the constitution.

Since the government had no power, and the constitution was viewed as if it was a blank sheet of paper, it appears as though Germany had gone about the wrong way to create a stable government. However, in order to make government decisions, they must be in the correct mindset for the public, even if they do not agree at the time, and eventually Germany settled down and was able to correctly function under their government. Germany did something hard, and that was trying to stop the unsettlement of the country that had been very comfortable in how the kingdoms were constantly battling for more land. Germany had also been able to unify 314 territories into a consolidated country of 30 or so territories that are still under the government rule.

Germany before and after the unification.

(Word Count: 596) 

Before and After World War II

On New Years of 1919, a bloody uprising of the communists occurred, and by January 5, 1919, the Communists had won over the Brandenburg gate and Berlin.

Friedrich Ebert, the Chancellor at the time, brought a volunteer army into the city to regain control of Berlin, and by January 11, Berlin had become a blood bath in battle. All of the buildings in central Berlin had become fortresses and the volunteer army, called Freikorps, regained control of the Brandenburg Gate and, essentially, Berlin.

Authorities began to put a poem in a poster campaign all over the city, reading “Berlin, your dancing partner is death” The prophecy would last almost a century.

The Chancellor’s army then went to look for the leaders of the Communist group, Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht, and after they get questioned, they are hit on the back of the head with a rifle butt, and then transported via car to the Landwehr Canal in Berlin. The army blew her brains out and tossed her over the bridge into the canal. She crashed through the thin ice, as it was January, and then she disappeared. As the century continued, the canal slowly became the bloodiest channel in Berlin. It flooded underground tunnels during the war and gathering dead bodies into the channel. It later got nicknamed the “death strip”, separating East and West Berlin. It had always been a dumping ground for the many killings and political assassinations. At the time, the deaths of Rosa and Karl named the end of the Communist uprising, but they have since become martyrs of Berlin.

After WWII, East and West Berlin raced to see who could build a better Berlin. But while they were building, they were also tearing down. The ruined royal palace of Berlin, the Schloss, was on East Berlin. The Communist authorities felt that it brought the wrong history to their side of Berlin. It was demolished in 1950. All of East Berlin were upset that it was destroyed, because to the rest of Berlin, the palace was a huge symbol of their past. The Schloss was Berlin’s most historic building, and the Communists destroyed it. Where the Schloss once stood, now sits a sandy pit, as nothing was ever put there, at the heart of the city. For 10 years after the demolition of the Schloss, East and West Germany became more divided.

On a Sunday in 1961, the Communists decided to start working on a structure that would affect the lives of all Berliners for nearly 3 decades. The day is known as “Barbed Wire Sunday” in English. The barbed wire would soon be replaced by reinforced concrete and guard towers. The wall cut everything in its path apart, including buildings, communities, and even cemeteries. The building of this wall was the most grotesque thing anyone had seen in the 20^th century. All new buildings were now based off of the wall, instead of the Schloss like they used to reflect on.

After the wall was built, East and West Germany now competed on who could build the taller building. West Berlin even built a political building right next to the wall. East Germany then built 4 apartment buildings that put the political building to shame. The East was also working on building a TV tower, which was over 360 meters tall. Nothing could compete with the replacement palace that East Berlin was building. It became the symbolic building of the people, as many parties were held there. East Berlin was separated on how to feel about the new palace, as it displayed a new beginning to East Berlin, but it also ground in the fact that the old palace was destroyed. When the Berlin Wall finally fell in 1989, the new Palace was viewed as something that would not stay in the unified city, and in 2006, demolition on the building began. It was claimed that the building had asbestos, but many of the East Berliners claim that it was because it did not belong in their history. Plans to rebuild the Schloss in the same location are in place, but not finalized due to disagreement among the people.

The Landwehr Canal, which now runs clear, used to be tinted red with all of the blood and dead bodies flowing through the water between World War I and II.

The Schloss Palace, which was the most symbolic building of Berlin, which ended up being torn down by the Communists. It is still undecided whether or not to rebuild the Palace.

The Brandenburg Gate is the primary building to have control of to have control of the city. During the time of war, whoever was in control of the Gate had control over Berlin.

After the building of the Berlin Wall, there was barbed wire which separated the two sides of Berlin from each other. This is the new view that East Berliners had of the Brandenburg Gate.

When the tearing down of the Berlin Wall occurred in 1989, both sides cheered, especially because many families were torn apart during the time it was built, and had not seen each other in 3 decades.

Martin Luther and Reformation

King Frederick the Wise agreed with the views of Martin Luther, as Frederick wanted to limit the rule of the Church, and Luther backed his ideas. Because King Frederick the Wise agreed with Luther, it created a big political backing to Luther’s ideas, and Frederick ended up saving Luther from convicted of heresy. Since Luther was not convicted of heresy, Luther was not burned at the stake for his ideas and writings, and was able to continue his work. King Frederick even nabbed Luther after this happened so that Luther could be moved to a safe place while the Pope got word of the information, as Frederick did not want Luther to be killed by the Pope in rage. King Frederick also wanted Luther to continue spreading his ideas.

Martin Luther believed he was dealing with the Anti-Christ, which was why he felt so strongly about his ideas, and never turned his back on them, even in the face of death. He felt that he was facing the start of an apocalypse, especially because he found that the Catholic Church and the Pope had been lying to the people. The bible stated nothing that dealt with the way the Church was teaching people to achieve salvation. Luther believed that the Church had too much corruption and the people can cut out the middle man and repent on their own instead of having to go through the church. He also believed that the people do not need to follow only the Catholic Church and they can follow the faith in their own way. While Luther was kept away safe from the Pope, he translated the Bible into German so the people can read it for themselves instead of relying on the Pope or Priests to tell them what the Bible reads.

Once Martin Luther’s German version of the Bible was published to the people, revolutions began. The people started to read the Bible and find out that the Pope and the Catholic Church were not telling the truth about what the Bible reads, and the people became upset about the corruption. Even the monks, nuns, and young priests started leaving the monasteries and convents, choosing to get married and live a conventional life once they learned that they will still be able to achieve salvation without living a life to only the church. Then the peasants began to revolt against their Lords as they took Luther’s words the wrong way. Luther had said that the people should be free, but he meant from the Church. In order to gain control back over the peasants, over 100,000 rebels were slaughtered.

Martin Luther was very important to the German-speaking lands as he had translated the first Bible into something other than Latin. He began the revolution to the creation of Protestantism, which then changed the religion of the world.

In the Wartburg Church basement is where Martin Luther was held while hiding from the Catholic Pope. Luther translated the first Bible at this location. After the revolution began, Martin Luther left the Church, as he was no longer a target causing problems. Martin Luther became angry with how everyone was responding to his new Bible, as he only wanted the people to be aware of the corruption; he was not wanting a revolution.

This is the German Bible that Martin Luther translated. It was written in a Church basement while Martin Luther was kept safe by King Frederick the Wise. This Bible led to the Empire-wide revolt and started the breaking off of the Catholic Church.

King Frederick the Wise protected Martin Luther from excommunication from the church and from being convicted of heresy. Frederick believed in Luther's writings and protected him from the Pope in the time of need and pushed him to continue writing. 

Word Count (minus annotations): 476 

Simply Wed

Germany had one family, the Habsburgs, which held the empire from Frederick III in 1440, all the way through the dissolution of the empire in 1806. The empire had started with Austria, and slowly gained Bohemia, Hungary, and Burgundy, at which point the empire was named the Holy Roman Empire. The major feat about the Holy Roman Empire is that all of the land was gained without the use of war; only marriage was used to expand the Holy Roman Empire. Schulze used a great quote about this feat, which read, "Others must fight wars; you, O fortunate Austria, simply wed" (Schulze 32). 

I find this very intriguing, as it is very rare for an empire to grow via any other means than war, and the Habsburgs use marriage. If the empire had grown that much via only marriage and inheritance, then the family must have been very large, and the wives must have borne many sons for the royal family. I also find it strange that many people notice how they are different than all other empires.

With the Habsburgs using marriage and inheritance to gain land, it most likely had a hand in the peaceful empire that was the Holy Roman Empire. As one that tries to avoid war, this use to grow the empire makes me wonder why more people have not tried to grow their empires in the peaceful way instead of jumping straight to war and fighting.

With the use of war, it destroys buildings and cities and things that may be useful in the future, but then the country that ends up on the winning side of the battle has to spend the extra money on rebuilding and repairing so the hurt or destroyed villages do not revolt against the new form of government.

The use of peaceful growth in the empire helped the country grow in pride and unity, and the people I know with a German heritage are proud to let people know that they are German. The peaceful growth also helped the empire grow in an inexpensive way, which then allowed the country spread the culture, language, architecture, religion, and more.

Germany seemed to have the correct path of growth in their empire, as the empire lasted from the early 900s through 1806, and left a huge impact on Europe.

This church, Karlkirche, was funded by Charles II as a remembrance for his namesake, who was a revered as a healer for plague sufferers. The church was built at the beginning of the 1700s, towards the end of the Holy Roman Empire and a few years after the plague raged through Europe.

The above map displays the land the Habsburg family had ruled at its greatest. The yellow are the possessions and countries within the influences of the Habsburgs. The red are the possessions and influences of Spain. This picture does a great job showing how much land the Holy Roman Empire covered, and how great of a feat it is to gain all of that via marriage or inheritance.

(Word Count, minus captions: 389)

To Germany I Go

In the fall, I will be a junior studying Marketing and Psychology. My immediate family has never been out of the country and my parents push for me to explore the world while I can and am able to afford it. I have also traveled to France on a D-term trip during my freshman year and I went on a service trip to Guatemala during the summer before my sophomore year. Germany has always been on the list of countries I want to visit. My mother, sister, and I have talked about visiting for several years, wanting to take a trip down the autobahn.

I have chosen to study in Germany and Berlin over D-term because I enjoyed traveling abroad two winters ago. I enjoyed learning about the different cultures that surrounded me, especially the architecture of buildings. I enjoyed seeing all of the cathedrals and castles. I have learned very quickly that I enjoy the speed of Europe and the atmosphere with the culture. My Guenther heritage has been traced back to Döbra, Germany, which is just west of Hof, Germany. My heritage contains many Germanic roots, with my mother’s maiden name being Hauger and her mother’s maiden name as Kaiser. My great-great-great grandfather Kaiser moved from Pfalz in eastern Germany to Russia in 1807 after Catherine the Great sent a manifesto to many Germans to relocate. They stayed in Russia for a century before immigrating to the United States.

Last spring (Spring 2013), in Concert Winds played Symphony #1 (In Memoriam Dresden) by Daniel Bukvich. In the piece, we created the sounds and feelings of the civilians through music with our horns, and then in the final movement, all of the sounds were made with vocals, screaming and shouting. We played the piece in the dark, sending both the musicians and the audience back in time to feel how the actually bombing occurred. I am very excited to see Dresden because of playing this piece. Dresden has risen from the ashes, and has become a very beautiful city that is a major attraction around the world.

Garnisonkirche in Dresden

The Garnisonkirche St. Martin is a double church located in Dresden. The church was finished sometime between 1893 and 1900. The church is divided into two rooms, for both Protestant and Roman Catholic denominations. The church was not targeted during the Dresden bombings, but the surrounding areas were. After the war, the church lost its function and another church that was ruined took over.

Pfaueninsel Castle near Potsdam

Peacock Island is southwest of Berlin, an island that is about 76 hectares. The small palace on the island was built in 1795 in the span of one year. It was built to look romantically in ruin. The island was named after the peacocks that roam freely on the island, and the peacocks are still roaming the island today. The palace is open April through October, but the ferry runs between the mainland and the island year-round.

(Word Count: 487, less captions)