GERMANNESS E-Book

Gerd Wange

• Herausgeber: novum pro Verlag
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

"How far have the Germans distanced themselves from their history? The word 'fatherland' no longer crosses anyone's lips today. Not only because it was perverted and stained with blood during the Nazi era, but also because it is assigned to a world that no longer exists for us." (Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, publicist) Gerd Wange gets to the bottom of these and other questions about Germany, Germans and Germanness, starting with Wilhelm II's empire, continuing through the Weimar Republic, the Roaring Twenties, Hitler's dictatorship, the GDR, neo-Nazism, and ending with the technical achievements of today - passionately, critically, excellently researched, and scientifically well-founded, with numerous quotations from well-known authors and publications.

Leseprobe

Gerd Wange

GERMANNESS

BEING GERMAN IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Table of contents

Preface

Germanness

"And the world may once again be healed by the German way of life.

"Germany is and will forever remain the true fatherland of my mind and heart" (J.W. von Goethe)

The Empire under Wilhelm II

The face of the empire

The End of the German Empire and the Primal Catastrophe

Birth of the Weimar Republic

The Golden Twenties

The beginning of the end

How did Hitler manage to come to power in 1933?

The spread of the dictatorship at home

The Olympic Games 1936

The Condor Legion

Concrete megalomania

The use of forced laborers

The persecution of the Jews

The concentration camp system

The "Final Solution

The annexation of Austria to the Third Reich - invasion of Czechoslovakia

The road to the Second World War

The resistance

The end - zero hour

Germany after 1945

Two state foundations on German soil

The 1950s and the German Economic Miracle

Slipper cinema

Life, youth, morality and sexuality in the 50s

Historical crimes

Thalidomide scandal

Germany is the travel world champion

Germany wants to oven

Setbacks

Unresolved past

Germany is changing

Bundestag debates

Television II

Honecker's sinister plans

Generational conflict and the '68 "revolution

Change - Transformation - Renewal

Neo-Nazis in Germany

A virus changes the world

Germany at the end of the 20th century

The Historian Controversy

New technical achievements

Fall of the Wall / Reunification / Emigration

Poor, rich Germany

"The 20th century has led us into extreme situations of human existence."

Richard von Weizsäcker

1984-1994 President of the Federal Republic of Germany

"What the present government prescribes as national sentiment is not myGermanness. The centralization, the coercion, the brutal methods, the defamation of dissenters, the boastful self-praise, I consider to be un-German and unholy."

The German writer, philosopher and historian Ricarda Huch in April 1933 to the Prussian Academy of Arts

 

 

 

"How far have the Germans moved away from their history? The word fatherland no longer crosses anyone's lips today. Not only because it was perverted and stained with blood during the Nazi era, but also because it is assigned to a world that no longer exists for us."

Marion Countess Dönhoff

Publicist

"You can only love Germany with a broken heart."

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the 75th anniversary of the end of the war

Preface

Some readers will undoubtedly find the explanations given in this book about the two inhumane world wars and their consequences too detailed. But there is a reason for this. In the course of my research, which lasted many years, I found that the majority of Germans often reacted with weariness and discomfort to the topics of the Third Reich, the persecution of the Jews and the chaos of the post-war period - especially with regard to the inexhaustible reports in the mass media. Nowhere was this more evident than in the treatment and discussion of the Holocaust. Thissometimescame intosharp contrast with the memories of parents and grandparents, who told of the fear in the bomb shelter, while they mentioned the Jewish neighbors who had suddenly disappeared at best in passing. The history of the perpetrators and the history of the victims stood unbearably unconnected next to each other.

As far as 20th century German history is concerned, numerous studies show a worrying lack of knowledge among members of thepost-war generations, i.e. among children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. This is especially true in the new German states, which is astonishing considering the aggressively advocated anti-fascism - a central aspect of the ideological-political legitimation system of the GDR regime. According to their findings, one-fifth of young people aged 14-17 can no longer relate to the term "Auschwitz" or "Treblinka" - epitomes of the murder of European Jews. After more than 75 years of the liberation of the inmates from the concentration camps, countless people no longer want to hear about the shameful past. The truth about the Holocaust is a statement against those who to this day suppress, relativize or even deny the annihilation of European Jewry. Today, Israeli flags are burning again, memorials to the Holocaust and gravestones in Jewish cemeteries are desecrated, and "Jew" is present as a swear word in many schoolyards."Nothing belongs to the past, everything is still present and can become the future again"(Fritz Bauer, 1903-1968, former Hessian Attorney General and campaigner for democracy).

A large proportion of young people know regrettably little about historical backgrounds.According to one study, many cannot distinguish between democracy and dictatorship - and also have a moderate knowledge of political and historical events in Germany in other respects. For decades, the generations that experienced and suffered war and persecution of the Jews passed on their experiences, albeit late in the day - in their families, in biographical accounts, as contemporary witnesses in the media. But this reference to the catastrophes of humanity in the 20th century is increasingly receding into the background. It is becoming increasingly difficult for future generations to find authentic voices from that time. After all, the grandparents of today's teenagers are already "post-war children.

For some people, history is a more or less dry matter, an accumulation of names and dates learned in school and then quickly forgotten. But history is not just lifeless dates and sober facts, history comes alive when it is told, history is always and primarily the story of people, history was once life with all that goes with it, with hopes and fears, with passion and dreams, illnesses and human misery, history was once everyday life and the very personal experience of a nameless number of women, men and children, all this will be discussed in this book.

The 20th century hascatapulted humanity forward like no century before. But progress and competition also show their dark side. No generation was as battered as those born at the turn of the century. The course of German history only gave them time to breathe a sigh of relief at a late stage: World War I, inflation, the Great Depression, the Nazi era, World War II, the post-war period, currency reform, reconstruction. Events that left deep traces in many families. After the barbarity of two world wars, man first developed global instruments to help prevent wars and secure peace more than ever before - such as the founding of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Regrettably, few expectations have been fulfilled to date.

The term"Deutschtum," which is rather seldom used today, stands for the essence of German nationality, thebeing andcharacter of the Germans, and as a designation for the incomparable peculiarities which, in addition to the common language, have developed through the interaction of physical, geographical and historical causes. It refers to the whole of German spiritual and material culture, includes all members of the German tongue living within Germany, Austria, and most of Switzerland, as well as those spread throughout the rest of Europe and the world. Volksdeutsche was a term used during the Nazi period to refer to persons of German ethnicity living outside the German Reich within the borders of 1937 and Austria, especially in Eastern and Southern Europe. Before that, it was customary to refer to them as "Auslandsdeutsche" (Germans living abroad).

Deutschtum,first used ironically at the beginning of the 19th century, replaced the olderDeutschheit. For the representatives of the"Alldeutscher Verband," "all-German"meant that its members should be more German than the Germans, i.e., very German. Thus, one had to show a special national attitude in order to be recognized as an"Alldeutscher." "All-German"was, so to speak, an intensified form of"German". Many members of this association came from the educated middle class, were teachers and professors, and thus also had great influence on the youth. For them,Germannessand the"German essence" wereregarded as a model for all, and the worst thing about this thinking was the feeling of superiority over everything they themselves regarded as"non-German". The"All-Germans"wanted to promote Germanness and act against the minorities in the German Reich - especially the Poles who lived in West Prussia and Upper Silesia, and the French in Alsace. TheAll-GermanAssociation became more and more radical as time went on. Even the nationally minded policies of Wilhelm II were still not enough for the association, and they even opposed the emperor and the Reich leadership. The belief in the right of the strongest shaped the thinking of the association. The desire for"living space in the East"and the expansion of the Germans towards the East was one of the main goals. Among the prominent founding members of the association was the entrepreneurAlfred Hugenberg, who supported right-wing parties during the Weimar Republic and later became a pioneer of National Socialism. The first Chancellor of the German Empire, Count Otto von Bismarck, was even an honorary member of theAll-GermanAssociation. Due to their presumed dominance, some members often distinguished themselves with pithy sayings that were later often copied by the National Socialists. In 1935, the SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler founded the ForschungsgemeinschaftAhnenerbe e. V.as a study society for German intellectual history. The focus was on archaeological, anthropological and historical research. By contrast, during the Nazi era, theAhnenerbeparticipated in the systematic theft of art and carried out criminal and cruel human experiments.

This book is explicitly limited to Germannessor Deutschsein in the 20th century, because in these ten decades Germany's development was shaped in particular by events to which there were no parallels before. The century was shaped by aggressive nationalism, warlike conflicts, the hell of two world wars and the accompanying profound changes, ethnic disputes and territorial disputes, class and generational conflicts, lines of development in politics, economics, and culture and society. At the same time, we Germans must not forget that the history of our neighboring peoples (no other country in Europe borders on so many neighboring states) and their culture are closely connected with ours and that in part there is a painful and bloody linkage that obliges us Germans more than other peoples to engage in dialogue.

Each decade brought groundbreaking changes as well as technical achievements, but also social and political change. Where would we be today if many had not taken to the streets in thesixties and seventies for women's rights, the environment and peace? Every generation associates a certain attitude to life with its youth, closely linked to fashion, music and political milestones of that time. When we remember them, we like to lapse into nostalgic raptures:"Everything used to be better," "Everything used to be cheaper,""You used to have more free time,"or"Young people used to be more politically engaged. There was less pressure to perform and things had more permanence. Are we just talking ourselves into the past? What is nostalgia and what does it do to us? As a rule, it's the positive that sticks with us. Memories give us a warm feeling of security and at the same time the bittersweet aftertaste that the past is irretrievably lost.

Generations of women and men have shaped Germany's history. A period that has seen the transition from horse-drawn carriages to space travel, from the first telephone to the information superhighway. Inventiveness and the ambition of its inhabitants have made the country great and enticed more and more people to move from the countryside to the city. No country in Europe has as many cities as Germany. But for a long time there was no all-superior capital like London or Paris. The reason: Until the end of the 18th century, Germany was the land of small states. There were over 300 almost independent states, most of them in miniature. And each ruler afforded his own royal seat. Until after World War I,authoritywas very important to most people. They admired titles, revered the nobility and the military. Many Germans - unlike citizens of other countries - always saw themselves first and foremost as subjects of their state, their nation. One conformed and was very afraid of any - usually self-aggrandizing - official. The writer Heinrich Mann created a monument to this figure of the German subject in his remarkable novel "Der Untertan". He unsurpassably satirizes the times and impressively analyzes the Wilhelmine era. Heinrich Mann's protagonist Diederich Heßling is a child of his time, a man of power who humps up and kicks down. Heßling is obedient to authority, cowardly and without civil courage. He is a follower and conformist.With ironic distance, the author tells Heßling's life story from his childhood to the securing of his position in Wilhelmine society.

History is a fascinating subject, because it has to do with ourselves. Knowing our past history helps us to master today and to reach tomorrow. Those who search for their roots will only find them in history. Questions arise. From the whence comes the whither, the why. Why did history happen that way? What alternatives were there? With an awareness of our own history, we can better understand the present and master the future. It is an enormous challenge to tell history, because we only get what has been handed down, sometimes only written down from hearsay.

Nevertheless, I donot want younger generations to one day end up with historical revisionist charlatans who have recently been reviving memories of 1933, denying gas chambers in concentration camps, insulting Holocaust survivors, propagating for a "Fourth Reich" with their extreme right-wing ideas, and thus increasingly giving rise to the worst fears. There are frightening parallels to the Weimar Republic, in which slander, hatred and perfidy became hopeful. The burgeoning neo-Nazism is now taking place not only in the streets, but also in parliaments, where a creeping decay of our political culture can be observed and where some of the people's representatives are currently making anti-Semitic and racist statements on a weekly basis. Often one has the impression that anti-Semitism is once again officially legalized in this country.

I would like to see the youth of Germany todayreading exclusively about the two world wars of the 20th century in the future, but never having to go through a third.

Gerd Wange, May 2022

Germanness

Germanness is a deeply rooted foundation of one's own identity, althoughfor centuries therewere no Germans in the true sense of theword. In thesame way, the Germanic peoples never existed as a unified people. Behind the designation are numerous clans and tribes that lived in Central and Northern Europe from the middle of the 6th century B.C. and that could not have been more different. There is hardly a European country that cannot look back on Germanic ancestors."Wild looking blue eyes, reddish hair and tall figures, but only good for attacking."This is how the Romans disparagingly described the barbarians east of the Rhine. The Germanic tribes were meant, who themselves owed their name to a Roman. Julius Caesar is said to have called them so in his treatise on the Gallic War, after he is said to have run across certain prototypes during his forays into Germania. He found them muscular and warlike, yet disciplined. Moreover, they seemed to live in a kind of communist-nudist family unit and to keep strict paleo diet (Stone Age diet). At least that's how Caesar sold it to his Romans, who he thought could take a cue from the Nordic lifestyle. (Did this term already exist at that time?) However, the rulers from the Tiber did not leave a good hair on this cultureless Nordic race in their homeland. The historian Tacitus (to whom only the"bared breasts"of Germanic womanhood did it) otherwise describes them as a horrifying rabble roaming through forests and swamps. The historian Johannes Fried claims that it is complete nonsense to equate Teutons and Germans. A German people, he says, emerged only in the course of the Middle Ages - from a multicultural, multiethnic mixture composed of Celtic and Germanic tribes, Romans and Slavs, among others. Hesitantly, unnoticed by themselves and without intention, the inhabitants of large parts of Central Europe finally developed the consciousness of being German."Certainly there is no such thing as a German being that goes back in time and can be delimited from the outside,"the researcher adds. The German language, for a long time crude and dumb, only developed to cultural flowering in confrontation with Latin.

We all carry the heritage of other cultures within us. Only some of us are closer in time to that culture than others. But we all come from a different root.So every German is actually also a bit Turkish, Iraqi, Iranian or Russian - and African anyway. Everyone carries a mixture of three genetic components: the genes of former native hunter-gatherers, former farmers from the area of today's Anatolia and the Middle East, and people from eastern steppe regions.

The human ancestor"Homo erectus" migrated from Africa to Europe about 1.8 million years ago. He was, so to speak, the first migrant, even if not purposefully, but rather involuntarily following the hunting prey.Thus, in passing, the usual distinction between people with or without a"migration background" in Germany is also challenged."Actually, we all have a migration background,"says the deputy director of the Neandertal Museum in Mettmann near Düsseldorf, Bärbel Auffermann:"We are all Africans."The path from Africa also led the subsequent anatomically modern humans, "Homo sapiens," to Europe - via the Balkan route, by the way. He met the Neanderthal man, who had developed in Europe from the "Homo erectus" who had migrated from Africa. While the Neanderthal died out about 40,000 years ago, "Homo sapiens" survived with difficulty, but a bit of theNeanderthal is preservedin each of us to this day, because he and anatomically modern humans fathered children together. However, the latest bone finds show that a man-ape was already walking on two legs in today's Allgäu region about twelve million years ago. Does the history of mankind have to be rewritten once again?

Until a few decades before the beginning of the 20th century, there were Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony, the very tribes that were united in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Unlike Britain or France, for example, the Holy Roman Empire was not a nation state, but a conglomerate of kingdoms and principalities, including a number of small states, which at the end of the 16th century was given the suffix"German Nation" because themajority of the population spoke dialects that had grown out of West Germanic. German was whoever spoke"German"- even if a Frisian and a Bavarian peasant could not understand each other at that time. And to this day, even die-hard Bavarians still have trouble classifying Bavarian words like Gruamzinsler, Huisnblasi or duddade Dirn. Instead, there is an endless number of words in New German that cause difficulties not only for foreigners but also for natives,such as Wohngeldbewilligungsbescheidsungültigkeitserklärung, Klimaschutzumsetzungsgerätfestmachstelle or Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft. In international usage, meanwhile, simpler words such as kindergarten, blitzkrieg, Gemütlichkeit, Blasmusik or Wanderlust are often used.

The"Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation"went well for a long time. It must also be said: On the whole, the Germans have actually proved to be a useful invention over the centuries; we owe them not only Kant with his categorical imperative, but also other wonderful individuals such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller or Albert Einstein. Although the Thirty Years' War had turned many German lands into wastelands, when it finally ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, kings and princes saw no reason not to continue to fight each other zealously in the future. But at some point the Germans started dreaming; when everyone else around them already had nation states, they felt they needed one too. But it was Otto von Bismarck who united Germany into a nation-state, at a time when Germans were said to be overly nationalistic, excessively fond of militarism, death-minded, and pathologically averse to any kind of democracy. Thus, the German Empire was founded in 1871 after the joint victory of the German states in the Franco-Prussian War with the Kaiser Proclamation of Versailles.

In view of the experiences of violence since 1914, the fractured relationship to nation and nation-state was to come to a head. In the ideological exaggeration of nation and empire,the year 1945 finally marked the end of the classical German nation-state. In 1949, Thomas Mann took stock. In his speech on"Germany and the Germans,"he formulated from the perspective of exile what had become of the German nation-state after two world wars, dictatorship and the Holocaust. Thomas Mann referred to a fateful continuity in Germany's history, which he derived from the connection between nation-statehood, war and violence:"Created by wars, the unholy German Empire of the Prussian nation could only ever be a war empire. As such it has lived, a stake in the flesh of the world, and as such it is perishing." [...] In the Third Reich, many people, especially artists, have been powerfully denied their Germanness." Thewriter's scathing judgment was due to the logic of retrospection, it arose from the deep inner shock about the National Socialist unjust state. After accepting American citizenship, Thomas Mann wrote to his son Klaus that his"Germanness" wasbest accommodated in this large cosmopolitan community, because"where I am, is Germany.

Deutschtumrefers to the expressions of life of the Germanpeopleas well as theirethnic minorityas an expression of a common"Volkscharakter".The term was deliberately coined by German nationalists in the context of the Wars of Liberation as a contrast to the ideals of theFrench Revolution, universal human rights, and was used by the National Socialists as a justification for aggressive Volkstumspolitik.This form of nationalism permeated not only politics but also people's everyday lives. On the one hand, Germany was developing into an advanced and modernindustrial state; on the other hand, people glorified German history and especially the German past. Famous rulers were revered. The heroic deeds of the Germans became significant, self-confidence -being German- and what one considered to be German, grew and one was proud of being a German and saw oneself as a part of German history. Even after the end of the second great catastrophe in the 20th century, people wanted to defend and take possession of a "spiritual Germanness" that the National Socialists had robbed and claimed forever with their contempt for humanity and their indescribable bestialities.

Deutschtümler, i.e. thosewho emphasized the German character in an obtrusive, exaggerated manner, existed (and still exist today) en masse. It was precisely in this "Deutschtümler milieu" that the Burschenschaften were formed at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. From now on theSchmisse swelled on the cheeks. Until the end of the Second World War, a repressive authoritarian regime prevailed, which suppressed its opponents and relied primarily on the military."Be subject to the authorities."Orders and obedience were all that was known. At the beginning of the 20th century, Prussian virtues still prevailed, a pronounced sense of duty, self-control and striving, rugged self-confidence, punctuality, discipline and a love of order. It was and still is one of our vices that one may only enjoy life with a guilty conscience.

The belief that, as a German, one was better than others, that one had to defend one's Germanness at all costs, and even that one had to spread it, created the best conditions for the success of the National Socialists. In theirpropaganda, they repeatedly emphasized that everything had to be sacrificed for Germany. The"Germany, Germany above all"was not an idea of the National Socialists, but a conception that had been working in the minds of the Germans for a very long time and was finally to experience its most fateful manifestation during the period of National Socialism.

Associations promoted"the German". Thus, in the course of time, more and more so-called associations such as the"Altdeutsche Verband" (Old German Association), the"Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft" (German Colonial Society) or the"Deutsche Flottenverein" (German Fleet Association)came into being.

And in all of them we incessantly encounter the affirmation of the word "patriotism". The Konversationslexikon translates patriotism as "love of one's fatherland" and defines it as"the devotion to the supra-personal state whole that is rooted in the civic ethos, is at the same time emotional, and is often passionately heightened".Not only in Germany - but also and especially here - this increased devotion to the supra-personal state whole has a disastrous tradition. After Bismarck's dismissal, Emperor Wilhelm II issued a decree referring to the new ethos that wasto take holdespecially in the elementary schools for the commonpeople and in the high schools for the upper middle classes. The sentiment clearly went toward patriotism, patriotic sentiment, and enthusiasm for war. This was supported by annual celebrations of the emperor's birthday, marches, parades, military music and war clubs. The military authorities could not save themselves from war-volunteer high school students. Separate student companies had to be set up to handle the large number of applicants.

For Heinrich Heine, in the early1930s, the patriotism of the German consisted of"his heart becoming tighter, contracting like leather in the cold, hating the foreign, no longer wanting to be a citizen of the world, no longer wanting to be a European, but only a close German."His poem "Nachtgedanken," written about a decade later, where the first stanza reads,"Denk ich an Deutschland in der Nacht, // dann bin ich um den Schlaf gebracht,"does not so much contain his worries about Germany; rather, Heine is concerned with his old beloved mother living in Germany, whom he had not seen for twelve years and with whom he was only in correspondence.

Gustav Heinemann,President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1969 to 1974, answered a reporter when asked if he loved Germany:"I love my wife."To some ears, his answer may have sounded privatistic or even cynical. It is therefore worth remembering that Heinemann co-founded the "All-German Party" in the 1950s. He was one of the few politicians who opposed Adenauer's course of Westward integration because, as a "patriot," it was clear to him that this would cement the division of Germany for decades to come.

Today, the term patriotism seems increasingly obsolete in its old, nation-state meaning.In practice, patriotism was abolished after the Second World War. Today it bears paradoxical, even bizarre features. Just think of how, until the 20th century, economic interests were costumed patriotically, according to the motto: "What's good for Krupp, AEG, Siemens or Deutsche Bank is also good for Germany." Or how democrats of all stripes could be stigmatized as"fatherless journeymen."Today, the "fatherless journeymen" are the large corporations that pay taxes on their profits in Bermuda or Luxembourg, while they ruin the social security system in their actual home country through massive job cuts and threaten to relocate the remaining jobs to foreign countries if politicians nevertheless think of taking them to task. Fatherless journeymen could also be described in retrospect as those companies that favored the "Third Reich" under Hitler's reign of terror. The overwhelming majority of renowned corporations that still have a big name today threw their weight behind the dictator's policies and more or less used the connection for their business. The old-style German patriot seems as anachronistic as the Bavarian who still mourns the "Kini" or nurtures hatred against the "Saupreußen.

"And the world may once again be healed by the German way of life.  

This was already the poet Emanuel Geibel's poem in 1861. This quote was already misused in the times of Kaiser Wilhelm I and Wilhelm II and later by the National Socialists. Germans felt superior to other peoples, believed in the German cultural nation and its achievements, and consciously set themselves apart from other nations. Prussian authoritarianism, pride and sobriety, self-conceit, pomposity, know-it-allism and philistinism characterized the German character at that time. People were proud of being German and subordinated everything possible to this feeling. Unfortunately, this was also accompanied by the idea that people who possessed a different nationality were regarded as inferior. The result was a rise inracismandanti-Semitism. The term"anti-Semitism" was used togive the dislike and hatred of Judaism a quasi"scientific"coating. They tried to justify the prejudice against the Jews scientifically, which was, of course, complete nonsense. Nevertheless, many educated people, scientists and professors were anti-Semites. The Jews were given equal legal status in the German Empire, which also did not suit the anti-Semites and they wanted to reverse this equality. Thus, there were many inflammatory writings against people of Jewish faith. They wanted to deny them immigration to the German Reich, they should pay higher taxes and not exercise some professions. They were considered to be members of a foreign people. This was also complete nonsense, because most of the Jews were Germans, they had been born in the German Reich, had lived there for generations and spoke German as their mother tongue. They simply practiced a different faith. And some not even that, they were baptized as Jews, but very often not devout Jews at all who actually lived Jewish customs and traditions. Many people in the Empire were envious of the Jewish population because many were often very successful socially, working in prestigious professions as doctors, bankers and lawyers, and not infrequently also had considerable funds at their disposal. And success often attracts envy.Numerous people flocked to the North Sea island of Borkum for a seaside vacation around 1900. Only one group of people was excluded."Borkum, der Nordsee schönste Zier, bleib du von Juden rein" ("Borkum,the North Sea's most beautiful ornament, stay clean of Jews") was theanti-Semitic "Borkum Song. A travel guide emphasized the "special advantage" of the island: In contrast to nearby Norderney, Borkum was "pure of Jews." The "children of Israel" were always mobbed by the spa guests. Which shows that the ideal postcard idyll on the photochrome pictures was romantically dressed up.Even though during the imperial era the legal equality of the Jews - although they were hostile and discriminated against - was ultimately not abolished, the anti-Semiticpropagandahad influenced the population. In the end, the National Socialists only had to pick up on the existing hatred of Jews and turn it to their advantage.

Is the German restless and"constantly on the go"or deep down a romantic soul and a"brooding worrier"? Does he belong to the much-invoked"people of poets and thinkers", i.e. to the people of Goethe and Nietzsche, is he obedient to authority, workaholic, order-loving and thrifty? Or does he ultimately belong to the"barbarian tribes"as a descendant of the Huns? Literary scholar Dieter Borchmeyer asks these and other profound questions in his heavyweight but also profound book"Was ist deutsch?" (What is German?). A sober, uncomfortable reality check of a folk character that is difficult for many to grasp and on which philosophers, poets and politicians have been"working away" forages. One of Friedrich Nietzsche's most famous aphorisms reads,"It characterizes the Germans that with them the question 'What is German?" never dies out."He also wrote that the Germans, more than the other European peoples, were"a people of the most monstrous mixture and agitation of races."For Nietzsche, beer was even a metaphor for a national stultification of Germans("How much beer is in the German intelligentsia?"). The philologist poured out the full bowl of his anger and derision at Germanness. He stated, among other things:"For the German Reich to inspire us, we are simply not stupid enough."Or,"'Germany, Germany above all' is perhaps the most stupid slogan ever given."Germans showed"peasant indifference to taste."In a"German city," "everything is colorless, used up, badly copied."As early as 1810, the French writer Madame de Staël reflected in her famous book"De l'Allemagne"that the "educated of Germany" argue animatedly in the field of theory,"but are quite happy to leave the whole reality of life to the earthly rulers,"who thus have nothing to fear from the intellectuals. Typically German is also a too high respect for power and an inertia when it comes to taking action. For the American historian of Scottish origin Gordon A. Craig (1913-2005), too, an ethic of obedience to the authorities characterized the Germans well into the 20th century. As Kurt Tucholsky said,"The German dream is to sit behind a counter. The German nightmare is to stand in front of a counter."Goethe, in turn, was particularly disgusted by the"watchfulness and forbiddingness"of everything and everyone in public life. The Weimar poet prince and privy councilor also disliked smoking and beer drinking: In a few generations, he said,"we will see what the beer bellies and the smokers have made of Germany."Richard Wagner, on the other hand, praised "holy German art"as asalvationagainst stultification in his"Meistersinger von Nürnberg. The Hölderlin rediscoverer Norbert von Hellingrath said in 1915, i.e. in the middle of the First World War (in which he was killed at Verdun in 1916), even if the Germans are repeatedly called barbarians and successors of the Huns, it must be pointed out to foreign countries"that we are actually Goethe's people".Even if afflicted with the "Faust" syndrome - striving as a principle of life, also called the"German restlessness,"doomed, like Germany's very capital,"to become perpetual."Richard von Weizsäcker, President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1984 to 1994, notes in his autobiography "Four Times: Memories":"The German is by nature ill-suited to be a revolutionary. Respect for state authority is inborn in him. Riots and civil wars, which are frequent in other countries, almost never occur in German history. Whoever undertakes to stab the authorities in the arm must expect strong opposition from the outset, regardless of whether he is factually right or not."

Actually, one should not try to define the word German. In our turbulent recent history, it has often been misused. In the Kaiserreich, it was German to be subservient, deferential, and cowering. In the Third Reich, it was German to be wicked, stubborn, and abusive. But then, in a reality of rubble and ruins, the phrase was coined,"Human dignity is inviolable."How daring, fabulous and utopian this sentence must have seemed in 1949 in the Basic Law for the new state of the Federal Republic of Germany is no longer imaginable today. Formulated as a consequence of the experiences of injustice under the Nazi dictatorship, it guaranteed civil rights comprehensively for the first time - and became a guarantor of political stability in West Germany.

"Germany is and will forever remain the true fatherland of my mind and heart."

(J. W. von Goethe)

Is it the "German virtues" such as punctuality, order and diligence, or rather peculiarities such as the magic of the evening meal (a fixed institution in German households - the transition from work to private life), the complicated bottle deposit return system, the sweeping week, the chip stands, doner kebab and curry sausage, or the love of brown bread that shape the image of the Germans? Not to mention the waste separation in at least four different colored garbage cans, which requires a certain amount of expertise. When it comes to garbage - or the disposal of it - the Germans are regularly at their best. There is probably no other country where people separate, collect, sort and recycle as eagerly as in Germany - and above all no country where there is such a passionate debate about the advantages and disadvantages of this or that disposal system, this or that packaging method.

Germans love their cars and traffic rules and hand out punishing looks at red pedestrian lights.It is one of the many clichés about Germans that they are more likely to starve in front of a broken traffic light at 3:00 in the morning than to run a red light. In return, cyclists seem to find the red signal more of a noncommittal recommendation. And it is not uncommon for retired couples with fleshy forearms - the men in undershirts, the women in smock aprons - to spend their days in the narrow window frames of their rented apartments, writing down parking violations or exhorting the dog owner to defecate in the ditch instead of on the sidewalk.

Germans let the checkout staff set the pace in the supermarket and get sweaty palms if there is no separator on the checkout belt between their purchase and the one in front of them. During sex, they favor the traditional missionary position and otherwise plan the procedure spatially and meticulously. Allegedly,82 percent of Germans change their underpants daily and 96 percent shower or bathe at least every three days. There has apparently been a major change in body shaving. 71 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds shave their genital areas, while 23 percent of those over 55 still do so. German men like to pee standing up, but two-thirds of them have been successfully domesticated and sit down at home. On vacation, we already put our towel on a lounger by the pool the night before so that no one steals our spot the next morning. This is one of the reasons why an English tour operator advertises with an oiled-up blond back in black-red-gold swimming trunks, touting the perfectly organized beach vacation with a reserved sun lounger to the British.

Six percent ofGermans are vegetarian, two percent vegan. In our country, 93 percent of the population owns a barbecue. That makes us the European barbecue champions. Germans and their grills - that's pretty close to a love affair.Barbecuing is one of the most popular leisure activities in summer-whether in your own garden or on the terrace, whether in the park or at the swimming lake, asuitable place for the barbecuecan be found almost everywhere. According to aStatista survey, a summer without barbecuing is not a real summer for a large proportion of Germans.The sizzling boxes are state and status symbols. Grillers spend an incredible 1,200 euros on average for steel monsters with gas operation.At the same time, frying and roasting is apparently still a male domain; the woman merely acts as a "supplier." The men's conversations around the fireplace usually revolve around grill manufacturers, construction and equipment, waterproof smoker box, infrared sizzle zone and XXL vaporization system. Somepeople spend as much on a grill as they would on a used compact car - and then put 99-cent sausages or chicken legs from Aldi, Penny or the nearest gas station on the grill for 2.50 euros a kilo. Germany has gone from being a cultural nation to a consumer nation.

Abroad, we are known for our folk festivals. The dirndl, lederhosen and dozing beer corpses are not to be missed at the Oktoberfest. The annoying habit of clapping sternly in time as soon as the first notes are played during a public musical performance is a widespread fad in the country. I wonder if this is due to the culture of the schlager? The same goes for clapping after a successful landing of a vacation plane. As far as membership in a sports club, bowling club, pigeon fancier's club, race rabbit breeder's club, allotment garden club or shooting club is concerned, we are the undisputed world champions. There is, so to speak, a "club culture"; after all, 40 percent of Germans are members of one of the nearly 600,000 clubs. An estimated seven million are active in one of the approximately 27,000 soccer clubs. This sporting activity is only surpassed by far by the non-active, the spectators in the stadiums or at home in front of the TV with beer and nibbles. Great emotions around a small ball, whose national mania is also carried by more and more women.

Hiking is the Germans' leisure activity par excellence. More than half of Germany's citizens use this simple way to do something for their bodies while experiencing nature.And a small piece of regimented German soil with an oversized black, red and gold flag on it and colorful garden gnomes on the neatly trimmed lawn is what we call an allotment garden, an arbor, a home garden or a plot. In the narrow retreats of German orderly thieves, managed by allotment gardenassociationsand leased cheaply to members,allotment garden life is regulated by the respective allotment garden rules of each association. The neatly trimmed hedges between the plots are reminiscent of fortress walls, and wicked tongues claim that the expanse of an allotment garden roughly corresponds to the expanse of the horizon of its owners. Nevertheless, millions of us toil as allotment gardeners or arborists during our free time. For the city dweller, the allotment garden is a small, personal recreation area. A green state of emergency, complete with beer, barbecue, and s'mores.

If a tree protrudes intoanother's property or the minimum distance from a hut, fences or hedges is not observed, peace between neighbors is often quickly over. Then the district court, the regional court, the higher regional court, the civil senate, the administrative court, the higher administrative court and ultimately the Federal Supreme Court are called upon to pass judgment. The rights and obligations of neighbors are roughly regulated in the Civil Code from Section 903. Examples of some court rulings:"A 'foliage rent' can be demanded for the removal of other people's foliage." "Shade from large trees is to be tolerated." "Neighbors are allowed to cut overhanging branches after the deadline (?) has passed." "Tree spacing guidelines do not count for tall elephant grass." "Trash cans on property line must be tolerated." "Two-foot tall firewood piles count as buildings."The list could be completed over at least three more pages of books. But that would undoubtedly cost some readers their indispensable night's rest. Apparently, Germany, which is mutating into a banana republic, has no more serious problems.

Clichés abound,and if there is anywhere where cliché and reality coincide, it is at the kiosks of the Metropole Ruhr. At the time of industrialization, the first so-called drinking halls were built, where hungry and, above all, thirsty workers would make a brief stop on their way to "work" or on their way home.Originally, they were set up to supply workers in the Ruhr area with mineral water. They developed into small stores, especially after the Second World War, where many everyday items were also on sale. In the Ruhr area, there is a Büdchen"around the corner" almost everywhere; it is an integral part of life in the entire area. Whether you call them Büdchen, booths, kiosks or drinking halls: the small sales outlets for newspapers, tobacco products, sweets, beer and much more are the meeting place in the district. Hardly any other place like the"village square of the big city" is as closely connected with the history and the people of the Ruhr area as the Trinkhalle.In the sixties, the collieries died - the stalls remained. According to rough estimates, there are still 18,000 kiosks in the Ruhr today, but about 250 have to close every year. For many, the kiosks are an anchor for social contacts. The kiosk as a social meeting place. Here you can pour out your heart, discuss world politics, here you know about free apartments and missing cats. You meet acquaintances and exchange ideas with the owner of the booth. Trinkhallen are part of the Ruhr region. It has a cult following, is still a source of identity for the region, and is a piece of home for many people. In spring 2021, North Rhine-Westphalia recognized the drinking hall culture in the Ruhr region as a cultural heritage site.

Keyword homeland. What does home actually mean? A question that hasoccupiedgenerations: Fatherland, family, language, circle of friends, security, familiarity, warmth, roast pork with dumplings, Maultaschen or Labskaus? Or simply the place where our heart is and the people we love?"For most people, home is something that lies before all reason and cannot be described. Something so closely connected to the life and being of every adolescent that the standards for life are set there."(Marion Gräfin Dönhoff)

Homeland has many faces, homeland has many stories. Some people think of traditional folk costume groups or Heimat films with Luis Trenker, others of SA marches and concentration camps. During the First World War, Heimat was indeedexploited for propaganda purposes. While the material battles with the most modern war technology inflicted wounds on people and landscapes, postcards and posters were emblazoned with rural idylls of home. Paradoxically, feelings of home sometimes only arise through mobility options or through the sense of loss: Often, it is only during longer stays abroad that one realizes what connects one to home, even if it is only that one is perceived by the environment as German.We are not always free to decide how and where we want to live. But no matter where we go, we carry our homeland within ourselves. We create it anew with every memory in every place.

For the most part, the average German does not live in the home of his dreams, but in a 3.5-room rented apartment. An average household owns around 15,000 items. Not surprisingly, we don't need most of them, but we hang on to them because they hold memories and give us a sense of security. After all, in many families the losses of belongings in the wars and crises of the 20th century are still very present. Our home, our forest, our castles, our breathtaking palaces against an impressive mountain backdrop - we Germans regard all of these as an important part of our lives that must be protected and preserved. Germany can be so beautiful. Sometimes it's enough to drive a few kilometers to discover new worlds.

Nature is particularly important to the Germans, especially the forest.They love the trees, which even the ancient Germanic tribes revered. For the Germans, the forest is like a landscape of the mind; it has something sacred for them. The German forest wasdescribed and exaggeratedas ametaphorand landscape of longing even before the 20th century in poems, fairy tales and sagas of theRomanticperiod. Historical and folkloric treatises declared it to be a symbol of Germanic-Germanic nature and culture. Reference was also made to historical or legendary events in German forests, such asTacitus' description of theBattle oftheTeutoburg Forestor the nature mysticism of the Song of the Nibelungs, which was stylized into a German national myth, as its diverse reception history shows. The early nature conservation andenvironmental movement, the incipient tourism, the youth movement, hikers and hiking clubs as well as the right-wing völkische movement saw forests as an important element of German cultural landscape.

The Jewishwriter and aphorist of German language Elias Canettiemphasizes in his main work "Mass and Power" the effect of the early and intensively cultivated romanticism of the German forest on the Germans. Canetti relates the German forest to the army as a German mass symbol, literally:"The mass symbol of the Germans was the army. But the army was more than the army: it was the marching forest. In no modern country in the world has the forest feeling remained so alive as in Germany. The rigidity and parallelism of the upright trees, their density and their number, fills the heart of the German with deep and mysterious joy. He still likes to seek out the forest where his ancestors lived and feels at one with trees."

The much-cited"German Angst,"a term used to ridicule Germans who are afraid of wars and environmental catastrophes, is often ridiculed abroad as melancholy and pessimism. Historians and psychologists, however, see the real reasons for this in the many wars that have marked German history - beginning with the Thirty Years' War and ending with the two great world conflagrations of the 20th century. Fear of retaliation in the immediate post-war period, fear ofnuclear threatsand communist infiltration in the 1950s, and then of unemployment due to automation and of authoritarian political tendencies,environmental pollution and even pandemics. Fearalso of individual strokes of fate, the misfortune of a family member or the fear of a serious accident. Fear of terror, rape, refugee flows, mosques and "no-go areas".

In his speech at the Berlin Meeting for the Promotion of Peace in December 1981, the writer Günter Grassexpressed his fear of an apocalyptic inferno, which was shared by many people at the beginning of the eighties. And it was, of course, above all the youth who publicly articulated this fear.

Empirically, however, the hypothesis of an increase in anxiety and a high level of anxiety has not yet been confirmed, at least for the period between the1980s and the end of the millennium in Germany.

And yet, for years now, one fear debate has been chasing the next,and it is claimed that Germans have developed a masochistic lust for the end of the world, which sometimes turns into frustration, hatred and violence. And for the most part, the protagonists of this alleged "Apocalypse Now" movement are said to be rather older citizens who nurse a deep-seated resentment of the system.

Other"typically German"characteristics, such as the much-cited thriftiness, are also said to be a consequence of times of crisis."Save in time, and you will have in time of need" is awell-known proverb. And Martin Luther already admonished,"The penny saved is more honest than the penny earned." Itis understandable, therefore, if many consumers study the offers in the supermarket advertising leaflets like a bible. Many a citizen of the republic is horrified by the way animals are kept, that hormones and pesticides are sprayed and artificial fertilizers are spread, but then as a consumer to run to the discounter and buy a chicken for 2.39 euros. Buy cheap and get upset. The Germans are among the richest people in Europe and have the cheapest food.

Speaking ofsaving: The building savings contract is one of the most popular forms of investment among Germans - usually with the aim of financing a property. Depending on the type of tariff, however, a building savings contract can also be used as a savings investment. Although building savings is often regarded as something typically "German" and can look back on a success story of over a hundred years in this country, the origin of the collective savings idea is thought to be in China. At the time of the Han Dynasty (approx. 200 BC to 200 AD), the first mutual savings societies are said to have been founded there.

After the Second World War, building savings experienced a strong and sustained boom in Germany due to the extreme housing shortage. Bausparen helped fuel the "construction industry" economic locomotive and thus made a significant contribution to the German "economic miracle".

Why, according to a 2013 poll by the British television station BBC, did people from 25 different nations vote Germany, with its small-state mentality, the"most popular country in the world"? And how can it be explained that, nevertheless, Germans are repeatedly portrayed by cartoonists abroad as angry aggressors with Hitler's little beard or as busty Germanies with pimple caps? By the way, the Pickelhaube was considered a symbol of subservience, drill and militarism. It was introduced in 1842 not for romantic reasons, but because it offered ultra-modern protection. In the winter of 1843/44, Heinrich Heine left his exile in Paris and visited Aachen. What he saw there, he immediately processed in his poem: "Germany: A Winter's Tale". -"Yes, yes, I like the helmet, it bears witness // To the very highest joke! // A royal idea it was! // The punch line is not missing, the point! // Only I fear, when a thunderstorm arises, // Easily draw such a lace // Down on your romantic head // Of heaven's modern lightnings!"

The 20th century began with the Wilhelminian era, marked by military pomp, the staging and execution of two inhuman, tyrannical world wars, in which millions and millions lost their lives and their existence, not only in senseless slaughter during countless battles, but also in pitiful concentration camps, combined with the Holocaust, a dehumanizing killing machine never before known in terms of scale and perfidy. After the end of Nazi crimes and mass extermination, deprivation, which ended in a catastrophe of starvation and again left millions dead. This was followed by an unprecedented resurrection from ruins and the"German economic miracle" thatis still incomprehensible today. Then came theEast-West conflict, whichkept Germany in particular in suspense and went down in recent historyas the"Cold War"and wasfought from1947 to 1989 by theWestern powers under the leadership of the United States of America and the so-called Eastern Bloc under the leadership of the then Soviet Union.Separationand reunification of the twodivergent German states.Political, social and cultural aspects came to the fore and paved the way for a new world order.

Inventiveness and a thirst for research fundamentally changed the world of work in the 19th century and beyond in the 20th century. Machines took over the tasks of humans.The former agricultural state developed into an industrial nation. Blast furnaces and winding towers shaped the image of an entire region. Belief in progress and technical development led to unimagined achievements. "Made in Germany" became a hallmark of quality throughout the world. For decades, German scientists have shared first place with competitors from the USA, Japan and, more recently, China. In the "third industrial revolution", Germans were the godfathers of the major developments in communications technology - the telephone, radio, television and computer. Physicists and chemists made groundbreaking inventions - for example in quantum physics or nuclear fission.The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, on the anniversary of the death of Swedish founder Alfred Nobel.The firstNobel Prize in physicswas awarded to Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen of Germany"in recognition of the extraordinary merit he has gained by the discovery of the rays named after him."Many Nobel Prizes went to German scientists during this perioduntil National Socialism brought a break here. Between 1901 and 1933, a quarter of all Nobel Prizes for science went to Germany. Brilliant researchers, such as the pope of physics, Albert Einstein, emigrated to the USA. The golden age of science was over, and the United States took the lead. Others submitted to the will and dictates of the inhuman regime. Werner von Braun, for example, got involved with the devil and built so-called "retaliatory weapons" for Hitler. He designed the cruel V2 rocket for the Nazis, 1,400 of which were fired at England alone during World War II. After the war, Braun let himself be hired by the Americans. His goal at the time was to build a moon rocket. 24 years later, his dream came true. On July 16, 1969, an Apollo rocket rose into the morning sky from Cape Canaveral in Florida and sent three astronauts toward the moon. Von Braun became a myth. But, like Faust, he had sold his soul to the devil at the beginning of his career. Without Hitler and without membership in the SS, he could hardly have achieved the foundations for his later successes.

Science, medicine, new technologies, plastics,technological and electronic devices, as well as the modernization of means of transport by road, rail, air and water,significantly changed the country.Mechanical devices were replaced by digital or electrical innovations in more and more areas. Electricity and the automobile had already accompanied generations since the beginning of the century, and air transport developed into a means of mass transportation. The world was turning faster and faster, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to conceal innovations or prevent their spread. The change from the industrial age to the data age was more significant than the change from an agrarian society to an industrial society.

Of course, it remains a mystery why so many inventionsthat have changed the world were made in Germany, from the combustion engine to aspirin to nuclear fission; from toothpaste to the thermos flask and the dowel to the coffee filter, the washing machine and the refrigerator. The passenger elevator is just as much a German invention as the brassiere, the latex condom, the pacifier and the MP3 player.

The Empire under Wilhelm II

"He's good for representation, otherwise he can't do anything [...] He should have been a machinist."

(Wilhelm's educator Hinzpeter)

In the affluent, mostly commercial middle class, political sentiment at the beginning of the 20th century was mostly conservative-liberal and national. The Wilhelminian era - an outwardly glamorous epoch of German history - also shaped many people's attitude to life with its interplay of Prussian tradition and modern belief in progress, its openness to science and technology, and its exaltation by a monarchist glory.

Toosmall to rule over others and too big for the balance of power in Europe. Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted to be a world power, and many of the people thought he was the ideal representative. It was the time of parades, smart uniforms and pimple caps. The emperor turned out to be a self-absorbed, pompous monarch. For the majority of the German bourgeoisie, however, he became a symbol of their own striving for splendor and greatness."We are still destined for great things, and I lead you toward glorious days,"proclaimed the young Hohenzollern Emperor Wilhelm II at the beginning of the era. Many were proud to bear the coveted imperial name and cultivated their mustaches with the tips twisted upward, à la Wilhelm II.

"Hail, O William, Emperor

Hail, glorious Prince of Peace

You are the Germans' great sage

Who leads the people to happiness."

His Majesty was sometimes under the illusion that he was a ruler by "the grace of God. His ill-considered incendiary speeches, his narcissism, his penchant for self-stylization occasionally made him a "ticking time bomb" on the stage of European diplomacy. Not only under Hitler, but already the beginning of the century under Kaiser Wilhelm II meant a departure into the boundless, without political imagination, without moral maxims - only power-political ambitions. Wilhelm wanted to play in the concert of world powers. The German upper middle classes in particular speculated on an imperial empire and profitable colonies. They agreed with their emperor that Germany had to become a world power. The latter saw himself as an autocrat in the empire, although there was a chancellor and a parliament. For him, any German who criticized him and thus the nation was a bad patriot. His relationship with labor was divided. Industrial workers began to organize and demanded political representation. This is what the SPD stood for. However, for Wilhelm II, the Social Democrats were"a pack of men, not worthy to bear the name of German."Domestically, the empire was threatened with division, even though Wilhelm managed to mask the major problems brought on by the industrial age, such as hunger, poverty, lack of housing, the wide gap between rich and poor, and social hardship, by believing in the German nation. After all, industrialization had made the nation state rich.

In the race with the other major European powers, Germanydemanded its place in the sun. Politically and economically. Berlin, the capital, was a boomtown and the center of an unprecedented spirit of optimism. The magnificent buildings on the flagship boulevard "Unter den Linden" represented Prussia's glory. And just a stone's throw away, modern Berlin was already pulsating. The metropolis never stood still. Large factories dominated the cityscape. The influx of job seekers from Silesia, Brandenburg and Pomerania did not stop. In the countryside, the grouping was firmly established: Landlord, manor lord, tenant farmer and farm laborer. For the newcomers, the capital was a place of longing; a magnet for hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Golo Mann notes in his "German History":