Kultur 11

This chapter’s culture reading dealt with the interesting impact of East and West German reunification, as well as the formation of the German nation from principalities, to monarchy, and it’s turbulent periods of democracy and dictatorship. While certain parts dealt with the lingering divisions between East and West, what were most interesting to me were the multiple directions of German division.

While brief, the article on north-south division illustrated the subtle internal cultural divides often overlooked in countries. As it noted, the north and south can be antagonistic to one another over issues like religious differences, accent (or dialect, depending on how thick the accent is), way of life, and standard of living, among others reasons. The piece jokingly mentions that if the Allies had divided Germany north from south, the wall may still be standing.

In contrast to the north-south article, the Deutsche Welle piece on lingering reunification issues shows a different form of division. Here the author notes that sizable proportion of Germans would prefer to have never been reunited (10-14% isn’t a whole lot, but surprising considering the widespread discontent under the communist government). Similarly, the author notes dissatisfaction between the two regions over income and wealth redistribution.

What’s interesting between these two articles is that German cultural divides cannot be definitively articulated along one geographic axis, but instead among several. The readings also touched on youth protest movements as well as various socio-economic issues affecting Germans that further illustrate cultural splits beyond simply regional. In all, these were some of the most interesting culture articles so far I have read in German (Weil ich ein Geographie-Nerd bin).