Kapitel 1 Kultur, Spencer Seaman

Hallo! Ich heiße Spencer. Wei heißt du? I am very excited for our first blog! I hope it isn’t …Beschissen! Verzeihung! I decided to take German (even though I had never said a full sentence in German before) after I took History 322, The Origins of Nazism. Surprisingly, the class was barely about Nazi’s or the Holocaust at all! Instead it focused mostly on German culture in Weimar Germany and the social changes into the Third Reich. The concept I found most interesting in History 322 was how much Germany actually influenced the United States. Reading How German is America reminded me of how abundant German culture is in American. I also learned interesting things I was never aware of.

The first thing that was new to me and I found some what funny was, German culture influenced the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile. It is something that everybody knows of, but I would never associate it with German culture. I think of hot dogs and hamburgers to be a traditional American food when really the frankfurter stems back to German cuisine. Hotdogs and bratz have become so Americanized it is easy to forget where its roots are. This intertwining of cultures reminded me of how Detroit used to have distinct ethnic communities. For example, Greek town would be one block and a couple blocks away there would be a community that would consist of only Polish individuals. Although our ancestry plays an immense part of who we are today, it is easy to see different cultures sharing ideas and blending together.

Being a huge Disney fan, it was news to me that Bambi was written by a German author. I was under the impression the Walt Disney was the mastermind behind of all his animations. I also was unaware that one, the Brother’s Grimm fairytales was also written by a German authors and two, that Walt Disney did an animated film for those as well. Some of the most timeless American films aren’t even written by an American. I remember learning that Germans loved cinema and even during the start of inflation Germans were still going to the movies religiously. Weimar Germany, being in a cultural revolution, had a substantial impact on American Culture; like films, music and art. Also under the “Shaping Culture” section the article talks about famous authors and musicians who came to America during WWI. It reminded me of a German author, Hans Fallada. He wrote a book called Kleiner Mann, was nun? (Little man, What now?) It is very good I highly recommend it. It tells the story of a couple during the transition from Weimar to the Third Reich.

German history can sometimes have a tendency to carry a negative stigma or be taboo People seem to remember the bad more than the good. German culture has played a prominent role in shaping our own culture for a hundred years now and reading this article reminded me how America is a single culture is a melting pot of cultures and being so rich in culture is what makes the United States such a great place. I also learned a new verb; “kehren” which means to sweep!

Tschüss!