Regensburg, Germany - Danube River
CultureShock! Germany : A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette by
CultureShock! Germany dispels the stereotypes and explores the realities of unified Germany, giving readers an insight into its varied people and customs. Find out how a makler can help you locate the right accommodation, be aware of the importance of health insurance and prepare yourself for the short German work week that comes complete with an annual 30 days of holiday. Understand what it is to be an Ausländer and take advantage of the practical information on how to fit in and settle into a country that is still recovering from the scars of World War II and the separation of east and west. Learn to appreciate the various versions of wurst and the different types of beer. CultureShock! Germany is the definitive guide for anyone who wants to settle well into German society.
The Greenest Nation? by
An account of German environmentalism that shows the influence of the past on today's environmental decisions.
Germany enjoys an enviably green reputation. Environmentalists in other countries applaud its strict environmental laws, its world-class green technology firms, its phase-out of nuclear power, and its influential Green Party. Germans are proud of these achievements, and environmentalism has become part of the German national identity. In The Greenest Nation? Frank Uekötter offers an overview of the evolution of German environmentalism since the late nineteenth century. He discusses, among other things, early efforts at nature protection and urban sanitation, the Nazi experience, and civic mobilization in the postwar years. He shows that much of Germany's green reputation rests on accomplishments of the 1980s, and emphasizes the mutually supportive roles of environmental nongovernmental organizations, corporations, and the state.
Uekötter looks at environmentalism in terms of civic activism, government policy, and culture and life, eschewing the usual focus on politics, prophets, and NGOs. He also views German environmentalism in an international context, tracing transnational networks of environmental issues and actions and discussing German achievements in relation to global trends. Bringing his discussion up to the present, he shows the influence of the past on today's environmental decisions. As environmentalism is wrestling with the challenges of the twenty-first century, Germany could provide a laboratory for the rest of the world.
Martin Luther by
Martin Luther nailed his treatise to the doors of the Wittenberg Cathedral and forever changed the Christian world. This previously obscure German monk unleashed forces that would plunge Europe into war and chaos. He offered the Christian world a new vision of man's relationship with God and, in turn, redefined man's relationship with authority in general, bringing the collapse of the medieval world and the birth of the modern age.
A Brief History of Germany by
The story of Germany, a key player in global diplomatic and economic affairs, is crucial to our understanding of global history and the contemporary world. Covering more than 2,000 years of history, A Brief History of Germany provides a concise account of the events, people, and special customs and traditions that have shaped Germany from ancient times to the present. This new resource provides the key background information readers need to put current global events in historical perspective.
The Collapse by
The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 to end all traffic between the city’s two halves: the democratic west and the communist east. The iconic symbol of a divided Europe, the Wall became a focus of western political pressure on East Germany; as Ronald Reagan’s famously said in a 1987 speech in Berlin, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” But as award-winning historian Mary Sarotte shows in [Title TK] , the opening of the Wall on November 9, 1989 was not, as is commonly believed, the East German government’s deliberate concession to outside influence. It was an accident. A carelessly worded memo written by mid-level bureaucrats, a bumbling press conference given by an inept member of the East German Politburo, the negligence of government leaders, the bravery of ordinary people in East and West Berlinthese combined to bring about the end of nearly forty years of oppression, fear, and enmity in divided Berlin. When the news broke, Washington and Moscow could only stand by and watch as Tom Brokaw and other journalists narrated the televised broadcast of this critical moment in the thawing of the cold war. Sarotte opens her story in the months leading up to that fateful day. Following East German dissidents, she shows how their efforts coalesced around opposition to the regime’s restrictions on foreign travel. The city of Leipzig, close to the border with Czechoslovakia, became a hothouse of activism, and protests there quickly grew into massive demonstrations. The East German Politburo hoped to limit its citizens’ knowledge of these marches, but two daring dissidents, East Berliners Aram Radomski and Siegbert Schefke, managed to evade the Stasi and film the largest of them from a church tower. They then smuggled their tape to West Germany; broadcast in both nations, the footage galvanized activists across East Germany, and precipitated the stunning developments on November 9. Facing mounting pressure from its own citizens, the East German Politburo planned to put off enacting any meaningful change to its travel policy by issuing a deceptive ruling that would appear to offer more freedom, but which in fact would allow the state to maintain strict control over its citizen’s movements. But the bureaucrats tasked with preparing the new” regulations misunderstood their task, and instead drafted a declaration that said East Germans could freely leave the country. This declaration ended up in the hands of regime spokesman Günter Schabowski, who announced the rules at a press conference without understanding their import. Stunned reporters were soon broadcasting the news around the world. Crowds of East Germans began streaming to the Wall, prompting a showdown with border guards, who received no support or direction from East German leadership as the throngs multiplied. By 11:30, Harald Jäger, a second-tier passport control officer, had had enough and finally opened the wall to the mob gathering outside his gate. Even though East German forces successfully regained control by the morning, it was too latefor the wall, for the regime, and for Communism in Eastern Europe. Drawing on evidence from archives in multiple countries and languages, along with dozens of interviews with key actors, including Harald Jäger, [Title TK] is the definitive account of the event that brought down the East German Politburo and came to represent the final collapse of the Cold War order.
Forbidden Music by
With National Socialism's arrival in Germany in 1933, Jews dominated music more than virtually any other sector, making it the most important cultural front in the Nazi fight for German identity. This groundbreaking book looks at the Jewish composers and musicians banned by the Third Reich and the consequences for music throughout the rest of the twentieth century. Because Jewish musicians and composers were, by 1933, the principal conveyors of Germany's historic traditions and the ideals of German culture, the isolation, exile and persecution of Jewish musicians by the Nazis became an act of musical self-mutilation.Michael Haas looks at the actual contribution of Jewish composers in Germany and Austria before 1933, at their increasingly precarious position in Nazi Europe, their forced emigration before and during the war, their ambivalent relationships with their countries of refuge, such as Britain and the United States and their contributions within the radically changed post-war music environment.
The People's Car by
Bernhard Rieger reveals how a car commissioned by Hitler and designed by Ferdinand Porsche became a global commodity on a par with Coca-Cola. The Beetle's success hinged on its uncanny ability to capture the imaginations of executives, engineers, advertisers, car collectors, suburbanites, hippies, and everyday drivers aross nations and cultures.
German Pop Music by
The development of German pop music represents a fascinating cultural mirror to the history of post-war Germany, reflecting sociological changes and political developments. While film studies is an already established discipline, German pop music is currently emerging as a new and exciting field of academic study. This pioneering companion is the first volume to provide a comprehensive overview of the subject, charting the development of German pop music from the post-war period 'Schlager' to the present 'Diskursrock'. Written by acknowledged experts from Germany, the UK and the US, the various chapters provide overviews of pertinent genres as well as focusing on major bands such as CAN, Kraftwerk or Rammstein. While these acts have shaped the international profile of German pop music, the volume also undertakes in-depth examinations of the specific German contributions to genres such as punk, industrial, rap and techno. The survey is concluded by an interview with the leading German pop theorist Diedrich Diederichsen. The volume constitutes an indispensible companion for any student, teacher and scholar in the area of German studies interested in contemporary popular culture.
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