Fine Arts of the 18th Century

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19th Century Rulers and Government

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0ARa4ArcJ66pBZGRrYm5rdGpfMGdxdDdibmdx&hl=en&authkey=CIDP_oIE

18th Century Literature

Fredrich Gottlieb Klopstock-

Fredrich Gottlieb Klopstock was a German epic poet. He was born July 2nd 1724 in Quedlinburg, Saxony. He attended Schulpforta, a prestigious Protestant boarding school. While at school he read Paradise Lost by John Milton, which influenced him to write a great religious epic poem. This poem was titled Der Messias and became his most famous work. It contained 20 cantos, the first three of which were published in 1748. The first five cantos were added together and created the first volume in 1751. The second volume contained 6-10 and was released in 1755. The third volume contained  11-15 and was released in 1768. The poem was not finished until the fourth volume was released in 1773. The first half of the poem led up to the death of Jesus Christ, and the second half told about his redemption and resurrection. The poem was translated in to 17 languages and is still read during religious practices. After school he became a tutor for a close relative. He ended up falling in love with his cousin, and had to move away. Klopstock got married to Margareta Moller  in 1754. She died four years later. To get over his heartbreak, he married his late wife's niece (lol). His later writings became vague and did not find the same success he had with Der Messias. He moved to Hamburg and died in 1803.

 

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/320137/Friedrich-Gottlieb-Klopstock

http://www.answers.com/topic/der-messias

French Revolution: Female Gender Roles

Before the French Revolution women were thought of as "passive" citizens and they had no political influence. They were unable to vote or hold office. Women were thought of as "failed man," and that the fetus was not fully developed while in the womb. They were considered servants to men and their education reflected that. During the French Revolution however, women were not able to be kept out of politics.

The Revolutionary era of women wanted equality of rights within their marriage. They wanted the right to divorce, more rights for widows over their property, and rights for widowed women over their minor children. They wanted publicly guaranteed educational opportunities for women, like what were available for men, training, licensing and support for midwives, rights to employment, and the exclusion of men from certain woman-dominated trades, such as dress-making.

On October 5th, 1789 the Women's March on Versailles occurred. It consisted of around 7,000 angry working class women marching to Versailles to demand lower bread prices. They brought with them weapons and sang songs about killing Queen Marie Antoinette. The women broke in to the palace and killed two guards, and stuck their heads on pikes. The Queen escaped through a secret passage before they ransacked her room. The mob gathered in the courtyard demanding the Queen come to the balcony. Even though there were muskets pointed at her she did appear. Her bravery did a lot to calm the crowd. The women still demanded bread and that the royal family move back to Paris. The King reluctantly agreed and the family made their way back to Paris.

Many reforms before this time were extremely discriminatory toward the working and peasant classes – male suffrage was limited to men who paid at least three days of wages as taxes, and female suffrage of course did not exist. Public aid was restricted even for able-bodied men and women who could not find employment because much of the aristocracy had fled.

There were other non-violent, yet still active, women who expressed their feelings through writing. Although women did not gain the right to vote and little was done to improve equality towards women, this was one of the first times that women were participating and involved in politics. They were protesting and acting out in the same ways as men and this led to the ability of generations to come to advance on what these women accomplished.

Because Germany is a neighbor of France, many of the policies and reforms made in France slowly leaked their way into Germany and German politics, especially when the western states of Germany were occupied by France. The French Revolution was arguably the beginning of the women’s rights movement in Germany.

Middle Rhine Valley

Facts about the Rhine River –

1230km (~764miles)

Countries - Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany, France, Netherlands

Many castles, cities, and vineyards on the river make up the main attractions. In the earliest history of Europe, small settlements developed around this river and grew into the towns that still exist today. During the middle ages, rich land owners built up castles along the banks mostly as strategic fortified strongholds. The owners put up tolls on the roads and river in exchange they would protect travelers from robbers. It was also difficult to maneuver with the many different currents. The biggest current was the Binger Loch which, at one point, took 40 horses to pull a ship through it. In the Thirty Years War between 1618 and 1648, the Rhine was a main amphitheatre for battles and several castles were destroyed. New lords and landowners rebuilt many of the castles in later centuries.

Well Known Areas

Lorelei Rock – This rock is 120 meters tall and is the source of myths and folklore. Most famously is a story about a siren who would lure sailors in with her singing, sending them crashing into the rock cliff.

Really Big City - Cologne

City in North Rhine-Wesphalia with a population of 998,105

Big City – Bonn

City in North Rhine-Westphalia with a population of 319,841

Small City - Monheim am Rhein

City in North Rhine-Westphalia with a population of 43,065

Smaller City - Bacharach

City in Rhineland-Palatinate with a population of 1,990

Vineyards

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/uppermiddlerhinevalley.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine_Gorge

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100327-26161.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine_river#cite_note-kurzerRhein-1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monheim_am_Rhein

Life in Berlin: Then and Now

The Contrasts of Berlin After WWII and Berlin Today, by Kyle L. and Steve




Berlin in Ruins



Streets filled with rubble



Berlin, 1943-45

Berlin's 200-year history as a capital city has been fraught with war and rebuilding. Toward the end of WW II, British air strikes pummeled the city, while Soviet ground troops further damaged the capital's historic buildings with rocket launchers and hand grenades.



Berlin, December 1948: With German cities in ruins after World War II and the country's male population decimated, it fell to the women to clean up the rubble. The so-called "trummerfrauen," or "rubble women," worked with their bare hands and whatever tools they could find.

Berlin after WWII was not a good place to live, especially if you were a woman. With a large portion of the male population gone, women had to work to clear the streets of rubble and debris. After WWII the USSR wanted reprimands from Germany to be made. A blockade was made and western Berlin was cut off from the rest of the world. Without an easy supply line living in Berlin at this time meant having hardships. However, soon after the blockade was built allied forces began flying supplies to West Berlin, as much as 8,000 tons a day. Life in Berlin at this time was very boring for children. After the war lots of buildings and parks and other places you would expect to find children had been destroyed, giving the children of the war not much to do.

http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/9raw-berlin-wall-looking-back/xyujsqb?fg=rss











Berlin is a much different place to live today as opposed to the post World War II era. After reunification Berlin became a metropolis with nearly 4 million in population. Living conditions are much improved and everyday life is much easier and simplistic. It is a very inexpensive place to live and property is very affordable.



Klaus Wowereit, the Mayor of Berlin, explained it well with his quote “Berlin is poor, but sexy.” A day in the life in Berlin is much like life in other western cities. The main sources of income are services instead of manufacturing. Seimens and Bayer Schering Pharma are headquartered in Berlin and are the main manufacturing business in Berlin. Seimens is the largest engineering conglomerate in Europe. Bayer Schering Pharma is a pharmaceutical company best known for their contraceptive pills. Unemployment rate was at 20% in 2005 it has since decreased to 14%. Berlin is a laid back place to live despite its large population. The economy is going through slow times much like most of the world. However, it is still a much better quality of life than immediately following the Second World War


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miR9KHK1Eig&feature=related


Sources of Information

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-56829.html

http://newamericatoday.com/na/2010/03/rebuilding-destroyed-cities.html

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Berlin

http://www.berlin-life.com/



Pictures from google images

1st Presentation:German Holidays and Celebrations

German Holidays & Celebrations
Karneval
°Karneval, also known as the “fifth season,” begins on November 11th at 11:11 am.  The eleventh minute of the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. In this hour the “Council of Eleven” comes together to plan the events of the upcoming festival.
° Carnival traditions started in the 19th century. Many of the Carnivals around Germany have elected Carnival Kings, Queens, or Princes
° Though the Council congregates on November 11th, the festivities do not begin until 40 days before Easter. Carnival signifies the last parties before Ash Wednesday.
° Celebrations kick-off with “Women’s Carnival” on the Thursday preceding Ash Wednesday. This day is a day for the Women of Germany.  They may kiss any man they wish after first cutting off his tie.
° Rose Monday is where marching bands, dancers, and floats parade through the streets of the cities. They throw confetti, sweets, and toys into the crowds. Most of the floats are adorned with carved caricatures of politicians and other characters.
° On Shrove Tuesday, costume balls are held all throughout Germany, and  they hold the burning of the Carnival Spirit, when life-size straw effigies are burned.
° Quiet Ash Wednesday marks the end of the festival.
Oktoberfest
° Oktoberfest is Munich’s largest fair and highlight of the years events in Germany. A Bavarian tradition originally started in 1810 in Munich, Germany. It all started with the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess  Therese on October 12th and a celebratory horse race held on October 17th.
° Many events take place during the 16-day event, including horse races, plays and socker games.
   
° The festival is held on the field/meadow named the Theresienwiese, for princess Therese.
° Oktoberfest takes place during the 16 days up to and including the first Sunday in October. The festival schedule was modified in 1994 to include German Unity Day in the festivities. In the event that it is a Jubilee year the festivities go until the first Monday in October.
° The festival follows a set schedule of activities over the course of the 16 days. This includes family days, Italian weekend, a costume parade, firecracker shooting and of course the tapping of the first keg.
° Over the years they have had to cancel 24 years of Oktoberfest celebrations
° There are 14 main large tents that can seat anywhere from 1,000 and 9,000 people inside with even more room outside of the tents.
° Oktoberfest accommodates as many as 6 million people each year that come from all over the world to celebrate the German tradition.
German Unity Day
° German Unity Day, Tag der Deutschen Einheit, is celebrated on October 3rd, the date when the reunification treaty was signed between the two Germanys in 1990, following the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, 1989
° It was originally going to be celebrated on November the 9th, the day the Berlin wall fell, however this is also the date of the Nazis infamous Kristallnacht. This was found to be inappropriate for a holiday so they used the formal date when everything became official on October 3rd 1990.
° Before 1990 West Germany's national holiday was on May 23rd and October 7th in East Germany.
° Each year a different city hosts a large celebration for the day. These celebrations include food, fireworks, concerts, and speeches by political leaders.
Erntedankfest
° Erntedanktag is an official German holiday. Harvest Festivals (Erntefests) are celebrated in churches and market places, in homes and dance halls. While the German-speaking countries also observe the principle of separation of church and state "politically", public displays of religious holiday traditions are a part of the local culture. The mostly Protestant German Erntedankfest observance dates back to around 1770.
° Since the Reformation the 29th of September has been considered the end of the harvest season, and Erntedankfest with a special church service is celebrated on the first Sunday of October.
° Erntedanktag literally  means “Harvest-Thanksgiving-Day“
° Erntedankfest literally means "harvest festival of thanks”
° It is not a national holiday, but more of a religious celebration with roots in the rural harvest festivals. When it is celebrated in larger cities, it is usually part of a church service.