Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann (1875-1955) was one of the best known and influential German writers. Born in Lübeck, he spent most of his life living in Munich until he left Germany in 1933. Two of Mann's most famous works are the novels Buddenbrooks and Der Zauberberg, the first of which won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929. Buddenbrooks tells the story of a wealthy German family in the late 19th century, and Mann based it heavily on the history of his own family. Der Zauberberg deals with a young man's extended stay in a sanatorium and his experiences there. Mann also wrote in various other genres, publishing the novella Der Tod in Venedig in 1912, which has been highly regarded.

In addition to his accomplished literary life, Mann was also a key figure of German-American relations leading up to and during World War II. In the years leading up to World War II, Mann spoke out fervently against National Socialism. In 1933, upon Hitler's rise to power, Mann left Germany for Switzerland, and obtained Czech citizenship. In 1939 he emigrated to the United States and eventually taught at Princeton. While in America, Mann was still very active in trying to resist the Nazis. He was pivotal in denouncing the Nazis to an American audience and emphasizing humanistic values. He also recorded a radio show during the war that was broadcast from England in the hopes that Germans might hear it.

-Alex

Seattle Sport Icons

Sounders!

There is no lack of German speakers on the Seattle Sounders! The new addition of Christian Tiffert makes the third Seattle Sounder to have a German speaking background, the other two being coach Sigi Schmidt, and Austrian goalkeeper Michael Gspurning. Germany is a breeding ground for top soccer players and it is impressive that Seattle has such a large interest in these players, but Seattle is not the only city to do so. There are seven other teams that have German players on their roster! In 2012 alone four new additions have been made! If we look at American players in Germany the numbers are much higher with a total of 16 players! Let's hope this trend continues and the German/American exchange of strong soccer players lasts for a long time!

The Love Parade

The Love Parade, which began as a protest in Berlin, grew into what was likely one of the largest parades, and electronic music events in the world. With it’s beginnings as a protest for international understanding through love and peace, it grew and became just a celebration of love and peace, eventually losing its status as a demonstration and becoming a commercial event. As the event grew it spread to other countries with similar celebrations taking place in cities around the world. In particular the Love Parade was well received in the United States, taking place in San Francisco.

Though it hasn’t received heavy media attention in the US, the San Francisco love parade, now called LovEvolution has grown. It has made a return to similar ideas of the original German parade, that being to celebrate understanding and love through music. This being more evident with the event’s decommercialization, in being a non-profit, utilizing all funds not going into the next years event to help support local charities and music education.

-Stuart

"American Food"

When people think of American cuisine the first thing that pops into their heads are hotdogs and hamburgers. The origin of the hamburger and hotdog actually started in Germany! This uncommonly known tidbit of information is one of the examples of how Americans claim certain cultural items that are not in fact American. We might have made both of these staple food items popular, but we surely did not start the trend of eating burgers and hotdogs for all occasions, especially those summer barbecues us Americans could not live without! Things like this show how deeply German is imbedded in our nations roots. We do not even realize that these ideas are not our own, just another example of how much of a melting pot the USA truly is. All of our native cultures, and ideas from many different places eventually turn into one giant American icon/image.

-Amanda

Christmas Trees!

O Tannenbaum!

The Christmas tree tradition found in most American households was actually developed in 16th century Germany. The first records of the Christmas tree being used for it's modern purpose was in the Renaissance era guild houses. The trees would be set up on Christmas day and covered with sweets for the apprentices and children. After the Reformation the Christmas tree began to appear in the houses of upper class Protestant families. From here the tradition disseminated to the masses. During the 18th century candles were introduced to illuminate the tree. The biggest factor to the spread of the Christmas tree in Germany was the decision of the German army to put one in every barracks during the 1870-1871 war. In the 19th century the tree was generally accepted as an expression of German "Gemütlichkeit," or comfort. When Germans immigrated to the United States, they brought this beautiful tradition with them, where it rapidly spread throughout the country.

-Erik

US Olympian Skier

One of the members of the USA Ski team, Lindsey Vonn is also a fluent German speaker! Here in this video she shows her ability to speak with a German reporter about one of her runs during a big competition.

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is perhaps Germany's most well known cultural tradition. Celebrated for over two weeks every year, from the end of September until the beginning of October, it was first celebrated in Munich in 1810. The festival began to honor the wedding of crown prince Ludwig, who later became King Ludwig I, and the tradition was maintained yearly thereafter.

Despite being intimately bound up with Bavarian culture, Oktoberfest has become known worldwide, and is in fact now a major cultural export, evidenced by the numerous Oktoberfests held in various countries throughout the world. The Oktoberfest with the greatest attendance outside of Germany is held in Canada, in the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, where between 750,000 and 1,000,000 people come to participate in German culture. The Oktoberfest in Blumenau, Brazil also draws some 700,000 visitors, due in large part to its German ties--the city was founded in 1850 by German immigrants. The American Oktoberfests in Cincinnati and Denver are also extremely popular, as well as countless other ones in the United States ranging in size.

Oktoberfests have also spread to even more diverse and unexpected regions, such as India and the town of Taybeh, in the West Bank, which began holding their own celebrations in 2005. The growth of Oktoberfests far beyond Germany's borders can be attributed not only to the global German diaspora, but also to the community engaging cultural values that it promotes.

-Alex

Blending of Cultures!

Over the past couple decades immigration into Germany has greatly increased. As a result of this development, many new cultural aspects and ideas are being introduced to and assimilated by Germans at large. One of the new additions to German culture is shisha. Shisha is a mixture of tobacco, molasses, and often fruit. The tobacco is smoked through a water pipe, which in America is frequently called by the Indian name of "Hooka." The hooka was most probably founded in India or Persia, but it quickly spread throughout the Near East and Asia. In Turkey it is know as Nargile and is frequently used as a means of socializing. The group will pass the Nargile hoses around the circle, smoke, chat, and experience a mild high or light-headedness. The Turkish immigrants brought their Nargiles with them to Germany, where they were quickly assimilated into the youth and student culture. Now you can find a shisha bar in any student or nightlife district in Germany, replete with lounging students and discotechers.

-Erik

Hello!

Hey everyone!

Welcome to the start of an awesome blog! We will be updating this every weekday for seven weeks. We hope you enjoy the topics we discuss and feel free to leave questions in the comment box. We will hopefully answer all of these questions promptly. Our contributors to this blog are Erik, Stuart, Yasmin, Alex, Dane and Amanda. We are a smaller group within an entire class focusing on the transatlantic connection between Germany and the USA. Our posts will relate to common topics between both countries, including; current events, important people, and past relations.

Check back on Tuesday for our first real post! 

Have a great weekend!