Pop Culture
Germany used to be a thriving society that could create all different sorts of movies and tv shows that were above all else, and now it has fallen into a state of dismay as it attempts to regain control over the crippled entertainment creation. The movies and tv shows that used to be created and influential in the world, and were considered world-class and the country could be considered as "the movies and tv show headquarters". The film industry in Germany has taken a turn for the worse and is lacking quality entertainment and uninteresting. Moveis such as Trace of Stones was an extremely influential movie that helped shape the way movies are made today and put a start to the creation of movies. Music, just like moveis and TV, has a similarly sad story. It has never been very popular throughout the world, and as a matter of fact is greatly influenced by other countries. As of now, Mid-December of 2016, the third most popular song is by The Weeknd, which is an English song, that has no origin in Germany. The top songs in Germany are mostly dominated by people from other countries, and they only appear in Germany because of diffusion.
Trace of Stones (1966) was an influential movie that was created within Germany and dispersed throughout the world and would form the way as to how movies should be created, and what a finished product should look like.
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The Weeknd is a singer, songwriter, and record producer that has roots within the Canadian borders, but has hold at the top of Germany's billboards. This a prime example of how Germany has become more acustomed to music from outside their borders,, and refusing music from their own nationality.
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Folk Culture
Due to the old age of folk culture, movies and TV shows were non-existent within the borders of Germany, but music was still present during this time. German folk music was extremely influential during this time, as it consisted of world-class performers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven. Both of these composers had extremely high amounts of influence within the American culture during this time. Bach has created high-quality works that were extremely appreciated by the German people, and he created interpretations of the bible, Brandenburg Concertos, The Well-Tempered Claiver, the Mass in B Minor and many other works that became well known around the world as the best, as he is still recognized as one of the best composers of all time. Beethoven also had a similar success story. Some of his most popular works were Septet, Moonlight Sonata, Pathetique Sonata, Adleaide, and the list continues. Beethoven, just like Bach, has recieved extremely high amounts of praise. Beethoven has also been recognized around the world by more than an astronomical amount of people.
The picture above is of Ludwig van Beethoven, and he has a major influence on German folk music because he was largely popular in his music, and is still regarded as one of the best composers worldwide. Other than being a worldwide star, he is also a person with roots in Germany, which makes Germany look like a "hearth of music".
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The picture above is of Johann Sebastion Bach, and he has a major influence on German folk music because he was largely popular in his music, and is still regarded as one of the best composers worldwide, but he is not as popular as the world-renown Beethoven. Bach is influential becuase he has German roots.
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Architecture and Housing
Architechtural design in Germany is very different from other parts of the world. All different types of builidings such as churches, museums, and some universitites all featuTre some intricate designs that make them stand apart from other places in the world. During the Caroligian Era (800 AD), architecture was based on mosaics, who would showcase fancy and high quality works on doors, walls, and ceilings of churches and chapels. Gothic architecture later introduced itself into Germany, and there soon was an increase in architects in Germany. These influences shaped some of the extremely-thoughtout designs that we see in some of Germany's buildings that are still standing. In the 19th century, realism and expressionism ideas were brought to architecture styles in Germany, and occurred until the middle of World War II. Realism and Expressionism were brought into architecture and it yielded some great results of structural design and architectural design, but as mentioned before it ended in the middle of World War II, becuase of the Nazi's rule to take down anything that didn't reflect the idea of the "unique race".
- This first picture is an example of early Caroligian architecture in Germany
- The lower picture is of a gothic building that is still standing today within Germany's borders
The picture above is a representation of an early Caroligian architecture in Germany. It still stands today, and is a great representation of the architectural style that was common in the Caroligian Era.
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The picture above is a representation of a Gothic structure and it still stands today. This is a prime example of the style of buildings in the Gothic era.
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Clothing
Clothing in Germany is far from the American standard of wearing whatever feels comfortable for the climate that day. The clothes that Germans have worn throughout their life is consistently different forms of clothes that make up their wardrobe. The Trachten is a traditional costume that most citizens would wear during the day. Trachtens were used throughout Germany, and many other-german speaking countries. But, not all Trachtens are the same, as they would specifically vary to whichever country or region of a country that they were born in. An alternate form of the traditional costume is a known as a Dirndl, which is just the female version of the Trachten, and it was primarily worn by maids and servents. The dirndl is made up of a tight waistcoat, a wide-sleeved blouse, and then a long skirt with an apron tied over all of that. During the 19th century, the Dirndl was later adopted into becoming an outfit that would be worn on vacation and other events as it was more comfortable than other clothes worn previously. Dirndls were originally made out of llinen and wool (which were cheap materials), until they began to be used by upper class citizens and they started the use of higher quality materials within their dirndls.
This is an example of a Trachten, and it is what most people would wear around the streets of Germany and other places where the German language was spoken. These are also most often worn during Oktoberfest.
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This is an example of a Dirndl, and it is what maids and servents would wear. They later became worn by a lot of people as a popular trend.
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Food
German food has undergone a large set of changes that have adapted it into what we now know it as. German food was initially a very bland food thats sole purpose was to provide nutrients necessary to survival. There was only early wheat, barley, and livestock were harvested for milk and such, rather than obtaining the meat that they posses. Meat was rarely harvested from animals. Romans introduced their ideals of picking off of trees and grapevines to obtain a more variety of food. Their way of producing and achieveing food has improved dramatically. They now have greater amounts of sources in which to obtain their food. Their foods still have traditional roots, but they also have newer and better ways to prepare their food, along with an increased number of spices available at command to use. The Germans also use their access to water efficiently, as they eat herring fish and still serve it all around the country. Almost all areas of Germany have specialties that include herring in their cuisine. Salting and then smoking the herring is a technique that is used to make the fish able to store and save for whenever it needed to be cooked.
This picture depicts a farm pasture full of animals that would be harvested for milk, wool, and other materials, but rarely harvested for meat, unless it was for a feast.
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This picture depicts some herring that were caught and would be used as cuisine throughout Germany. These fish are often salted and smoked to make them stay fresh for long amounts of time.
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Religion
Religion is a prominent part of German culture, but the whole country isn't devoted to just one religion. There are around 65% - 70% of the German population the believe in the Christian faith. The Christians are still split up among the most popular denominations of the religion. The large majority of Christians are either Lutheran-Protestant or Calvinist. The Thirty Years War caused religion to be heirarchially diffused upon the German people and that was choesn based upon the wants of the leaders in that area, and this caused areas in the South and the West to become Catholic, and the North and East became Protesetant. However, the Communists didn't like religion in the Eastern part of Germany, and that is one of the reason's why there is a high amount of Atheists in this area. Judaism and Islam comprise of about 4% of the population in Germany. Germany has been home to Jews since 321 AD, and there was around 600,000 in 1933. As a result of the Holocaust, many of the Jews were killed and those who weren't mostly emigrated. Germany is home to around 200,000 Jews today. There are much less Muslims in Germany, than there are Jews. Islam is fairly new to Germany, as it was only introduced around the post World War II era.
This map depicts the amount of Jews that are in Germany today. Despite popular belief, there is still around 200,000 Jews within the German border. They are centered arond the country in groups of around 17,000, with 160,000 in Berlin
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This picture depicts the placement of Catholics within the German borders. Most are located within the Southern section of Germany, and there are very few located within the top North to North Eastern Section.
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