Kultur 11 - Gabrielle Spickard

     The articles for this chapter's Kultur readings were very interesting to read, and I learned a lot that I didn't previously know about German culture. I also especially enjoyed this week that (some) of the articles had a unified theme of the differences between different regions of Germany.
     For the first article "Breaking Down the Wall in the Head," I was very surprised to learn that there is still apparently a lot of tension between the regions that were formerly East and West Germany. I can kind of see where some of the stereotypes or mindsets might come from, going off of the information provided in the article, though. It was also interesting to learn that some older Germans who lived in the DDR during the time when the Berlin Wall was still up feel that they had more freedom under the socialist government than under the new united German government. They made good points, though, since I can see how some elements of the older government would be appealing (ex. full employment, free education, nationalized health care, etc.).
     For the second article, the Wikipedia article on "Ostalgie," I thought it was interesting to read as well. I can see how there would be nostalgia for certain products from another time in your life. I'm also curious if there's a huge difference between the DDR products and the Western products that took their place in the market post-unification.
     I also read the article "Backwards Southerners, Frigid Northerners." Relations between different parts of Germany seem so complicated: the East and the West dislike each other, and the north and south apparently dislike each other as well. It's also interesting that despite their reputation for being conservative and kind of ignorant, the southern part of Germany has better schools than the northern part. The stereotypes of north vs. south Germany also seems (to me) to kind of parallel the stereotypes of the northern and southern parts of the United States, although they don't seem to be as widespread in my experience. I lived in the south for my whole life until I came up to Michigan for college, and there was never really an overt sentiment of negativity towards the north, just certain stereotypes about cultural differences (being less friendly, kind of snobby, more liberal, etc.).

Kultur 11 - Jenna Malzahn

For Kultur 11, I proceeded by reading "Breaking Down the Wall in the Head" which depicts the existence of of stereotypes between Eastern and Western Germans and that there persistence in society displays the continued impact that the Berlin Wall still has even after reunification. I was extremely surprised to learn that based on recent poll conducted by the Forsa research institute that a quarter of West Germans wished that the Berlin Wall would be rebuilt. I believe that this is a really drastic approach because even if the reunification was deemed a failure and the two halves were to split, a wall, essentially creating a barrier between the two, is not necessary. It would be like France and Spain constructing a wall along their border over a small disagreement in order to verify and emphasis the fact that they were two different countries. All of this tension stems from the miscommunication that followed the falling of the Wall as Easterners were disillusioned to the extent of wealth in the West and as the Westerners believed that the East was receiving an excessive amount of money. The demeaning stereotypes soon followed in order to categorize and emphasize any differences that existed and the continuation of them throughout the years just illustrates how a solution of reconstructed of the Berlin Wall could be reached because members of the population is being swayed by these persisting preconceived notions. As the article described the extent of differences it also shares a solution other than merely calling it quits. It calls on the youth of the nation to overcome these stereotypes and to knock down the Wall that exists in the head because they are the future and are not as influenced by these notions as older generations who lived through the falling of the Berlin Wall. I think that overall this displays how the youth are necessary in all countries in order to fix and learn from past mistakes since the problem that persists in Germany isn't an exclusive event and occurs in cultures all over the world and throughout history.

I also read the article "Backward Southerners, Frigid Northerners: Germany's Real Divide" which displayed the opposite feelings that were presented in the first article. Instead it seemed that a Wall should have been constructed between the North and South regions of Germany rather than the East and West because the differences and prejudice that exists is even more drastic. The interesting thing that I discovered though was that the differences between the two seemed to parallel those that occur in American society. In both cases the North is considered more industrial while the South is overwhelmingly deemed to be more conservative by comparison. However considering how America is able to function properly I think that the differences in Germany may have been over exaggerated in this article. All countries are composed of a numerous amount of differences so these merely assist in defining the country as it's own.

Kultur 11 Amanda Victory

Before reading "Breaking Down the Wall" I  would have thought that all Germans supported the wall coming down and would have been happy about the reunification, but for some that is not the case. From what the article said some westerners felt that the wall being down forced them to be less outspoken when it came to issues other than the government. One example was the man who said he used to be able to tell his boss when he didn't like something, now if he did that he would fear losing his job. Unless Germans from the east came in and became his new boss I'm not sure I understand this, if he had the same boss and his boss felt the same way I'm not sure why that would change. What I didn't find surprising was the stereotypes each side placed on one another, the east assuming the west was rich and snobby and the west assuming the east was lazy and unmotivated. I think anytime a country bounces back from large issues like this, like America with the revolutionary war, you are going to get continued arguments. Just like how here some northerners call the south dumb and some southerners think the north is nothing but corrupt rich people.
On that note, almost that exact assumption is stated in "Backward Southerners, Frigid Northerners," in that the German south is perceived as dumb, and I guess they don't speak high German. The north is stereotyped as boring snobs. This is no shock because it happens everywhere, but I did think it was funny that they don't trust each others food or dialect.

Michael Weathers Kultur 11

Ich fand diese Kultur sehr interessant. I admire the fact that Germans look back on the history of their country and see how things happened. Es ist sehr lustig that east and west Germans have funny opinions on each other. It is great that the younger Germans have the ability to turn things around by taking the initiative. Ostalgie ist auch sehr interessant. The word nostalgia has a positive meaning so it is great that Germans have derived a word with a positive meaning. Ich hasse that the northerners and southerners quarrel. But in order for things to get better, arguements, and disputes must happen first.

Kapital 11 Kultur, Yuntao Chen

For this week's Kultur, I read through several interesting articles. The first one was the Wikipedia page of "Ostalgie", which refers to nostalgia for East Germany. I found this very interesting, because this also happens in my country, China. Nowadays the old communism era is fading away from people's lives, but certain parts of it is gradually finding its way back to the pop culture. You can easily get souvenirs, T-shirts, and mugs that commemorate the old time. I think this has more to do with the mysterious nature of fashion than with people actually longing for the past.

I then read an article about the differences between Southern and Northern Germany. Since Germany does not cover a very large land mass, I was not expecting such a huge difference in terms of customs and languages between to two parts of Germany. I heard from my German friends before about the south-north division in Germany. This article just confirmed these "rumors". It was funny that some people would joke about these differences -- "had the allied power decided to divide Germany North-South, the Berlin wall would probably still stand today."

The last article I read was about the influences of the reunification on today's German society. The article talked about the differences in mentality of people from the east and west. I was very surprised to know that even today such differences are till present, and today the states in west Germany are still paying a large sum to the states in the east. However, I think the benefits of a unified Germany probably still largely outweigh these drawbacks. After all, the German National football team now has one less opponent in the FIFA world cup!

Kultur Kapitel 11 - Alex Gamso

While I learned of the previous rarity of having national pride in German, it came to no surprise that a separation exists between Germans. I mean America even has clear divisions between northerners and southerners (excluding Florida of course). While it seems odd that such Ostalgie fads exist as people usually try to forget dark times in history, it does also make sense. For example, the confederate flag, once a symbol of the Confederate States in the Civil War now represents the south and those that call themselves "country." Similarly symbols from the DDR have lost their meaning and have vintage feel. These artifacts are comparable to anything that has "Keep calm and carry on" as this was a phrase used in World War II as encouragement of possible air attacks. While the DDR symbols have lost their meaning, they represent a different state of mind with people creating division of where they are from rather than their beliefs.

Kultur 11-- Callie Chappell

Breaking Down the Wall in the Head: Mauer im Kopf klingt mir richtig.Wann ich wär in Ost-Deutschland, viele Leute wären nicht glücklich über Ost v. West Deutschland. In Ost-Deutschland, Leute wären eifersüchtig über West-Deutschland. In West-Detschland, Leute wären sich über Ost-Deutschland geärgen. 
Ostalgie: Diese Arikel (reminded) mich of zwei Dinge. 1. Musik von Regina Spektor (Russin und Amerikanish). Ihren Album "soviet kitsch" ist über Ostalogie. Du könnst ihren Album hier hören: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Kitsch 
2. Ostolalgie ist in die USA. Jay Carney (US Press Secretary) und seine Frau Clare Shipman haben viele Kommunist (propoganda) in die Küche. Sie haben Ostalgie?
Du könnst diese Artikel hier lesen: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/04/11/what-do-white-house-press-secretary-jay-carney-and-soviet-era-propaganda-have-in-common-they-both-live-in-the-same-house/
Backward Southerners, Frigid Northerners: Germany's Real Divide: Diese Nord/Sud divide erinnent mich of the Nord/Sud divide in die USA. Wir haben similar Ideen über the "Deep South" and the North. Additionally, we have ideas about racism, which I am not sure is present in Germany.  

Kultur 11, Michael Nizinski

The Breaking Down the Wall article was very interesting because one would never assume that some of the German populi wouldn't want the wall to be taken down. They do have good reasons but as a nation it would create separation and frustration between the two sides which I believe might turn into a civil war between them.
Germans Real Divide article seemed very petty to me. The fact they are fighting for no reason seems like they don't have enough to do with their time.
Brennpunkt Kultur was also an interesting read. Saxony has a lot of history with WW2, companies based there and some important invention that came from there for example the washing machine and toothpaste. If I ever have the chance I would like to visit in see the church that was rebuilt after the war and Der Zwinger in Dresden.

Kultur 11, Carolyn Kodis

When I went to Germany, I definitely noticed a difference between North and South, just like the author of "Backward Southerners, Frigid Northerners: Germany's Real Divide."  On my tour, we went straight from Berlin to Munich.  While Berlin was very similar to an American city--very modern, very artsy, very cool--Munich was more like what I pictured Germany to be: lederhosens, heavy beer drinking, and polka music.  And although both were so different, I loved them both in their own ways.  Berlin reminded me of home and was absolutely beautiful.  While in Munich, I was able to dive into the culture of my ancestors by trying on dirndls and dining in beer gardens.  I see a similarity here in the states.  While I prefer living my northern lifestyle, when I do go to the south I try to dive into the culture down there (grits, anyone?).  I know I would probably do the same if I were to live in Germany: I'd live in Berlin but vacation down in Munich and become one with the people.  Maybe the Germans should do that too.

Kultur 11 by Josh Crane

Kultur 11 

The first article for Kultur 11 was about the psychological wall that lingers today. There is a significant amount of hate between East and West Berlin residents. In fact, a survey showed that many West and East Germans dislike the united country. Germans play the part of the stuck up, while Easterners are the whiners and hecklers of the bunch. Westerners feel like they lose too much money to the East, while the East feels it is entitled to more. These attitudes will fade as the open minded youth grow up to make up a higher percentage of the population.

Then I learned about the North and South. They do not share much. The North is largely Protestant, while the North is greatly Catholic. The North is always busy, and never resting, industrial and fast. The South is quite the opposite.

Lastly, I found out about Berlin and the Arts. The authoring band moved to Berlin for a short stint because they could meet other bands and musicians, hangout with artists, and live comfortably for quite some time. It was also a great place to live. But nothing gets done, and the band did not make much music, because too many distractions abounded. In fact, some creative folks are being pushed out. So the author returned home and got back to work on his music. The author learned creativity is not found in a place.