tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27589316534550230722024-03-14T07:07:18.727-07:00All Sinks ChermanHow an American expat sees life in Germany.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-18393658113861193542013-09-18T09:09:00.001-07:002013-09-19T02:35:42.060-07:00Duelling Fraternities: the German Studentenverbindung vs. the American Frat<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNmKyNOE1C6lDYojNW2lUqTdZNBAG18YoIRbeTbOUABKk1hWjDq21GkgJr0Erbu0LMeZKQk_U7r-DxCKxKlP9_xmD-HbefZB44tEkVVnQ4v0euyIjNREu9rpLFS9Onuzfb_CfssjX1DQ/s1600/Bierduell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNmKyNOE1C6lDYojNW2lUqTdZNBAG18YoIRbeTbOUABKk1hWjDq21GkgJr0Erbu0LMeZKQk_U7r-DxCKxKlP9_xmD-HbefZB44tEkVVnQ4v0euyIjNREu9rpLFS9Onuzfb_CfssjX1DQ/s1600/Bierduell.jpg" height="206" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">German <i>Burschen</i>, or frat boys, doing some extremely<br />
organized competitive drinking. (Wikipedia Commons)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At first glance, the German <i>Studentenverbindung</i> (or <i>Burschenschaft</i>)<i> </i>couldn't look any more different from the American Fraternity: they wear funny little caps with team colors, sing traditional patriotic songs, use Latin instead of Greek to invoke an air of "tradition," and in some cases perform awkward-looking and ritualistic fencing matches to affirm their membership in the group and "build character." However, a closer look reveals many of the same über-masculine, friend-purchasing, elitist, nepotistic and binge-drinking characteristics that have made fraternities and <i>Verbindungen</i> the object of criticism and curiosity in both the U.S. and Germany. Though they perhaps don't represent mainstream college culture in Germany the way frats arguably still do in the U.S., the <i>Burschenschaft</i> still offers an interesting window into how young Germans continue to try to express "tradition" and find membership in adult society and the working world.<i> </i>This is how I experienced it first hand, as an outsider looking in...<br />
<br />
I knew next to nothing about the <i>Studentenverbindung </i>when a German friend invited me and my American buddy to our first event on a cool, grey evening in the former East Germany. As we entered the surprisingly tidy house, we realized we were in for something a little bit different from the typical American frat party. First of all, there were only males present, and all active members either wore a little cap with house colors and/or a monochromatic polo sweater with a house sash. This stood in direct contrast to my experiences at American frat parties, where I was greeted by scantily clad females, ear-splitting hip-hop and sticky floors. Everyone was immaculately clean-shaven, <i>Haupthaar</i> neatly gelled and often slicked back a la the formerly-esteemed <a href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/guettenbergs-erklaerung-im-wortlaut-ich-habe-die-grenzen-meiner-kraefte-erreicht-1.1066386" target="_blank">Herr Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg</a>. Rimless rectangular glasses of course also abounded. After meeting a few <i>Füchse</i> - the moniker given to the newest uninitiated members of the house - I noticed that many of these younger members seemed to have bandages over their ears or on their foreheads. Though I had heard through the grapevine about the <i>Schlagende Verbindung </i>(literally "battling fraternity" or "hitting fraternity") and their penchant for fencing, I hadn't realized that the point was to wear real injuries as a badge of honor to mark your initiation into the group. These <i>Mensuren</i>, as they are called, are also supposed to augment your maturity, self-assurance, and bravery, as this <a href="http://www.abendblatt.de/hamburg/article1708151/Schwerter-Schmisse-und-scharfe-Mensuren.html" target="_blank">Hamburger Abendblatt article</a> quite aptly describes. Before the battle ensues, though, first a brief excursus back into German frat history...<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvs8-2vRQTBsbERby-ZDKe8_IMhx98zXxUmUESb6czfh36YT_seMzDTW2DIsw-Xf3GSgti6S8jmvDVOl19GD5_v578oL2j-TBVsatRfEzh8diumMN-YpB4I9jRWhYG8PGePTk8I6R5w2g/s1600/Mensur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvs8-2vRQTBsbERby-ZDKe8_IMhx98zXxUmUESb6czfh36YT_seMzDTW2DIsw-Xf3GSgti6S8jmvDVOl19GD5_v578oL2j-TBVsatRfEzh8diumMN-YpB4I9jRWhYG8PGePTk8I6R5w2g/s1600/Mensur.jpg" height="237" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wouldn't call it "fencing" so much as "waving a blade around <br />
like a flyswatter until you or your opponent's ear is bleeding."<br />
(Wikipedia Commons)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<u>From Yesterday's "Liberal Ideals" to Today's Traditional "<i>Parallelwelt"</i></u><br />
<br />
The traditions of the German <i>Studentenverbindung </i>reaches back as far as the late Middle Ages for its styles and traditions; mottos of many <i>Corps</i> <i>Verbindungen</i> invoke dramatic, archaic, and sometimes misogynistic concepts like <i>Ritterlichkeit</i>, <i>Vaterland,</i> and the "proper" traditional role of the woman. The German institution as such actually postdates the first Greek fraternities in the U.S., though: the Phi Beta Kappa Society was founded in Pennsylvania at the College of William and Mary in 1776, while the first "modern" <i>Studendenverbindungen</i>, according to the always-correct Wikipedia, appeared around the turn of the 19th century. The incorporation of fencing as a method of initiation, settling of scores, and proof of dedication came around 1850 or so. I was surprised to find out that the founding principles of the <i>Verbindung </i>and its members were actually quite liberal at that time: dedication to democratic ideals including equal voting rights (for men, of course), promoting political engagement and individual initiative, and <i>duzen</i> (use of the informal 'you') among all members regardless of age or social standing. Though the latter may sound insignificant in a modern Germany where use of <i>Sie</i> is limited to fewer and fewer situations, this practice was a major break from social norms of the time.<br />
<br />
So these liberal ideals led to the <i>Verbindungen </i>coming to blows with the establishment at several key points throughout German history. The often-authoritarian Kaiserreich, and later the National Socialists, took issue with the independent streak of the fraternities, thus leading to the banning of fraternities during the 1940s, into the 1950s and beyond. The Nazis didn't like the fraternities' opposition to the Aryan Laws, and later, the Allied Powers forbade all clubs founded before 1945 for understandable reasons. This drove the student clubs into the underground for several decades. They never disappeared, though, and they've emerged in modern Germany as institutions who no longer look as liberal as they may have been at their inception. Now, they exist in a sort of tradition-obsessed <i>Parallelwelt</i> ("alternate reality"), as the above-mentioned Hamburger Abendblatt piece asserts.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXLSMJJgiHG7ebsG1nW55wVH1yeEze_BKXbB2tpMI_jDi8H2hj3hRNnE3-xohYGuubLlrYpcCwq8HynoQZyd1BNWOujdJ_N1Z7CIscVn7qDN0CdRh90qR-60l_9gbd9JgPRmDukcscKs/s1600/wappen_ltmd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXLSMJJgiHG7ebsG1nW55wVH1yeEze_BKXbB2tpMI_jDi8H2hj3hRNnE3-xohYGuubLlrYpcCwq8HynoQZyd1BNWOujdJ_N1Z7CIscVn7qDN0CdRh90qR-60l_9gbd9JgPRmDukcscKs/s1600/wappen_ltmd.jpg" height="200" width="163" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A typical <i>Wappen</i> for a<br />
German <i>Studentenverbindung.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<u><i>Scharfe Mensur, </i>Traditionalist Tunes and the Notorious <i>Bierjunge</i></u><br />
<br />
...meanwhile, back to our <i>Kneipe – </i>which is what many of the organized parties are called – in present-day Leipzig, where we were beginning to learn a little more about Cherman frat life. Our curiosity about the fencing was finally sated when one of the senior <i>Burschen</i> granted us entry into a "<i>Pauktraining</i>" – or practice fencing session – where the "combatants" wear protective helmets over their entire head and neck in preparation for the real deal, the <i>"Scharfe Mensur."</i> In the latter, only the nose, neck and eyes are protected, leaving the scalp, forehead and ears exposed.<i> </i>Standing erect and still an arm's length apart, the two young males jerked into action, mechanically swinging the blades in an arc above their heads, clanging together about a dozen times in more or less the same spot each time. It was all over in less than 10 seconds, and neither had moved an inch in any direction. Standing one's ground is in fact a key part of the <i>Mensur</i>: if the combatant retreats even one step, they must complete a penalty session, or <i>Strafpartie</i>, for their lack of bravery.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggYUecOGwWce3-cIBaU54Ys1N6G_fkQ_vXwb8_QjDypy1go772olPRBWAGHuh328eHGDu14Hu0WTYdBWfjs2WYP2aF-xBkfb4U2HNxFdtkIrLsEb6uNdbOgK9If3HXBA8kBXXLtZN5CW0/s1600/Menzura-Korporacja_Sarmatia_2004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggYUecOGwWce3-cIBaU54Ys1N6G_fkQ_vXwb8_QjDypy1go772olPRBWAGHuh328eHGDu14Hu0WTYdBWfjs2WYP2aF-xBkfb4U2HNxFdtkIrLsEb6uNdbOgK9If3HXBA8kBXXLtZN5CW0/s1600/Menzura-Korporacja_Sarmatia_2004.jpg" height="320" width="202" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pristine forehead and set of ears ready<br />
to prove his bravery.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The whole scene all seemed very serious to us visitors with all the protective equipment and build-up and whatnot, but we still found ourselves chuckling (inwardly) at the mechanistic nature of the "fencing" and the anticlimax of the whole thing. There didn't seem to be too much athleticism required, and dumb luck seemed to determine whether or not you came out with some mangled cartilage or a marked face. In the end we figured out that the marking bit was really the whole point of the thing: it's the "tattoo" of membership for <i>Burschen</i>, the sign that you've done the <i>Mensur </i>and purchased your way into the club. We would later learn that former members that become doctors are brought in for the <i>Scharfe Mensur</i> so that wounds sustained are treated promptly, but also so that a scar will be left behind.<br />
<br />
So while my American friend and I further pondered the curious sporting spectacle we had just witnessed, we filed together with all the <i>Füchse</i> and <i>Burschen</i> into a narrow room containing a long, rectangular hardwood table and dark, wood-panelled walls. Lining those walls were a series of 18th and 19th-century maps of the German Empire, along with various old flags and fancy gilded crests of mysterious origin. It was all very impressive to us young American chaps. A silver-haired <i>Alte Herr</i> (or non-active senior member) then arose to speak. My German wasn't as strong then as it is today, but there were plenty of archaisms and invocations uttered about honor, loyalty, traditional German values and so on. There were also plenty of references to <i>Reinheit</i> (cleanliness), <i>Ritterlichkeit </i>(chivalry) and <i>Vaterland</i> (Fatherland); though quite general in nature, these concepts aren't exactly devoid of troublesome historical associations. But just as I had slipped off into a quiet peaceful place to ponder these things, my repose was broken as all members suddenly broke into song about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusatia" target="_blank">Lusatia</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silesia" target="_blank">Silesia</a> and a bunch of other former German territories that now at least in part belong to the Czech Republic and Poland. This all but confirmed my suspicions that the modern <i>Burschenschaft</i> was now really more about traditionalism, conservatism and preserving "Old Germany," and less about supporting the liberal ideals it had originally espoused – that it truly does exist in a <i>Parallelwelt</i> as the Hamburger Abendblatt article suggested.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCp4h9old_J2k7cXcaOIsDhJY0ovfzwWFHJO3heo65X7xpLakX6TjPcVUobveYFiwP77H4pTEM6gpbwHa_xPO36P4ooOQIq-4KDZKggnaFSN4XbzMsGnGfGpLKAxFcV46oBzcI1Ro-niU/s1600/octablong1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCp4h9old_J2k7cXcaOIsDhJY0ovfzwWFHJO3heo65X7xpLakX6TjPcVUobveYFiwP77H4pTEM6gpbwHa_xPO36P4ooOQIq-4KDZKggnaFSN4XbzMsGnGfGpLKAxFcV46oBzcI1Ro-niU/s1600/octablong1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The American <i>Bierjunge</i> is comparatively chaotic and<br />
unregulated. It is carried out by using the "Octabong".</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
With the sporting and singing portions of the evening concluded, all members dispersed to grease the proverbial social cogs with liquid libations, and engage in what I in hindsight like to call "formalized informal socializing."<i> </i>The beer began to flow freely, and I quickly realized that German frats don't differ so much from the Americans in their love of...er, infatuation with fermented beverages. Junior members stood out as they proudly displayed their bandages and fresh blade wounds. I observed quietly, Beck's in hand, as the young 'uns were deliberately incorporated into the conversations of the older members. We two Americans, equally identifiable as foreign visitors, were also a curiosity for the <i>Burschen.</i> It wasn't long before we were introduced to the concept of the <i>Bierjunge</i>, the alcoholic counterpart to the <i>Mensur</i> described above. Conflicts or personal scores – real or manufactured – can also be settled<i> </i>at the frat with a little competitive drinking. The Germans were jumping at the opportunity to challenge the inexperienced North Americans in their midst.<br />
<br />
In true German fashion, this institution has a complex and meticulously laid-out set of rules (<a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bierjunge" target="_blank">see the Wikipedia page</a> for the complete and convoluted rules list). I was confused at first when a member I hadn't even met yet approached me and rattled off some prescribed phrase to challenge me to one of these so-called <i>Bierjungen. </i>After a few awkward moments of silence and me giving this guy a very confused look, an onlooker explained to me that I had to respond with some other phrase to accept the challenge. Next, an <i>Unparteiische </i>(disinterested party) would preside over the duel, rattle off some more prescribed phrases and announce the start of the duel and judge who won the race. There are obviously rules in place to break the tie as well: residual beer left in the glass or spilled onto the duellist's clothing or the floor are measured by the <i>Unparteiische.</i><i> </i>In the end, I lost my first <i>Bierjunge</i>, but I'm proud to say the American upstarts swept the following five. My companion even vanquished their 'ringer' – a 6-foot-6, 250 pound beast of a man – decisively. We may not have proven our bravery in the <i>Mensur, </i>but at least our ears were intact and we had a decent buzz.<br />
<br />
By the end of the evening we had learned a whole lot about how fraternities in Germany work, and I think the most striking thing I realized once I had time to step back and see the big picture is that the German <i>Verbindung</i> and the American fraternity have uncanny similarities in their cultures, events, and behaviors; but they also differ in very specific ways that reflect the countries' respective national characters. Below are four big ways in which German and American frats are simultaneously alike and different:<br />
<br />
-- while the Germans hark back on the Middle Ages and Latin symbolism to justify their rites, the Americans paste Greek letters on their houses but retain few of the rites and practices of centuries past<br />
<br />
-- while the Americans are competitive drinking among the complete chaos of the beer pong and flip-cup tables, the Germans are formally initiating, performing, and assessing their competitive drinking in the form of the <i>Bierjunge</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>-- </i>while the German fraternities are singing about more chivalrous times and many now-ceded German territories in wood-panelled rooms, the Americans are belting out profane chants and fight songs at a football stadium<br />
<br />
-- while new German members are undergoing the meticulous process of initiation via <i>Pauktraining</i> and eventually a series of <i>Mensuren</i> which often results in members' permanent 'marking', the Americans are undergoing any number of disgusting and often dangerous initiation rites that I thankfully know very little about<br />
<br />
All of these points aside, the two institutions remain 100% congruous in at least one respect as far as I can see: they both make use of oaths of loyalty and lifetime membership to exploit advantageous relationships in the academic and working worlds. This is really the true essence of the international fraternity; if you're headed for college, you (or your parents) have some cash to spare, and you're willing to endure some mildly to seriously painful initiation rites, then the German/American fraternity is the place for you.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-88607603683002427292013-08-07T06:02:00.002-07:002013-08-07T06:02:40.710-07:00The Germans are Coming!...to Mallorca<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3hv5LgwYVfnWo49OSk8-bRCmaJPmcx4uxE6Sy2Hr3LgWnsjXkAKR5_z3fRsDkvhMKqRxNaMyka-jcdDNINPJWJvUdtQXf2jjf3oUOBSH3znAVH0oEKP97Z9C5d6bAnA4qiqa62h7ALQA/s1600/Greg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3hv5LgwYVfnWo49OSk8-bRCmaJPmcx4uxE6Sy2Hr3LgWnsjXkAKR5_z3fRsDkvhMKqRxNaMyka-jcdDNINPJWJvUdtQXf2jjf3oUOBSH3znAVH0oEKP97Z9C5d6bAnA4qiqa62h7ALQA/s1600/Greg.png" height="284" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Intrepid Balearic Island traveler Greg Gottsacker breaking<br />
the all-inclusive mold. Photo: G. Gottsacker.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Though <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/05/travel/china-tourists-spend" target="_blank">the Chinese recently dethroned the Germans</a> as top cumulative spenders on tourism, they remain the top per capita spenders on the planet when it comes to travel. In true German fashion, their vacations also tend to be extremely organized, and often pre-packaged. So with 2013's <i>Urlaubsaison</i> in full swing, there is no better time for us to go on a blog-cation and take a journey to perhaps the most Cherman place outside of central Europe: Mallorca and the Balearic Islands (they even have a site-specific newspaper called <i><a href="http://www.mallorcazeitung.es/" target="_blank">Mallorca Zeitung</a>!)</i>. As much as I wanted to write an assumption and stereotype-filled post based solely on second-hand experiences and hearsay, I decided it would be a much wiser (and funnier) idea to invite the first guest writer to <i>All Sinks Cherman.</i> The esteemed Greg Gottsacker is a long-time friend, a fellow German enthusiast, and has been living and working in France for well over a half decade. He has also experienced first-hand the beauty – but also the Teutonic resortification – of Mallorca and the Balearics. So without further ado...<br />
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(enter stage right, Herr Gottsacker)</div>
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My first experience with Germany and its fascination with proximate travel destinations like the Balearic Islands came when I first arrived in Germany in February 1999. I had already studied German for 3 years in high school, and I turned up in Stuttgart at the age of 16 with a language tool box full of adjective endings, limited vocabulary and pretty decent grammar. My host family immediately began discussing the ensuing months of my stay and clearly stated that we needed to decide very quickly on our May holidays. They asked for my input and asked where I would like to go. The options all started with 'M' and were less than 1000 km away from each other as the crow flies. They were Mallorca, Minorca, or Morocco. As if a 16 year old from the States knew any of these? Without sounding too overly stereotypical and like a naïve American, I think I was able to figure out that Morocco was a country of some kind in Africa, but that Spain had mini-holiday colonies planted in the Mediterranean...I was frantically looking at a map. It is honestly not every day that Ami teens are planning two-week holidays in exotic places, or that we are even aware of Spanish islands. Spain is like Mexico right? “Greg, you don’t know Mallorca?? – it is ze 17th state of Chermany!” joked my host brother. It’s funny how you can study German language and culture in a classroom in Wisconsin for three years, but you lack the cultural reference points that are ever so pertinent to becoming a functioning human in that host country. We opted for Morocco on this trip and spent two weeks driving around the desert in a coach bus with diarrhea, listening to our guide Mohamed speak flawless German to a pack of culture-hungry Swabians and Bavarians. Oh the imagery. Ever since that trip, I was determined to discover our other travel options in the Balearics. <br />
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That entire semester, I became fascinated by these not-so-mysterious Spanish islands. Further “Mallorca” cultural references spilled out during the course of the year. The release of the film <a href="http://www.ballermann6.de/" target="_blank">“Ballermann 6”</a> in 1997 continued to have its effects on the German nation, and no doubt on my classy demographic—the 17-year-old boy. Cheap booze, sun, bikinis, beach-party, and freedom were the eye-popping themes of the movie, not to mention a major critique of the German and <i>allgemein</i> – or mass – tourism boom of the Balearic Islands. Hordes of graduation groups flocked to Palma de Mallorca each year to celebrate their hard-earned <i>Abi </i>(high school graduation), and party one last time with the boys or schoolmates before the ambitious youth ran off to their obligatory <i>Zivildienst</i> or Military Service. However, it was not only high school seniors traveling for their class graduation trip, but young families, college students, people on package tours, and sport tourists that inundated the Spanish islands. The accessibility of the islands was and still is astonishing. Direct flights from Stuttgart to Palma, twice daily? (Think Milwaukee-Cancun-direct!) These images of party, party, party stayed in my mind for many years and it became, unfortunately, yet another stereotype that you can group in with Hasselhof, Bier, Lederhosen, and fancy Autos. Germans love Mallorca. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBkME3KakTX-UjZIyr6cKYoLhpttlI7DlYoyv0Cz5OPatmaRGqN7jiU-EHM_hNJpf7cnIuRwgvsP6dIcsQ9il4PX4bK3WQlBgCvBPnc0FVoGnHmdiCfbg_DniID6PdaJ5z0oScvB8wD8/s1600/Animator.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBkME3KakTX-UjZIyr6cKYoLhpttlI7DlYoyv0Cz5OPatmaRGqN7jiU-EHM_hNJpf7cnIuRwgvsP6dIcsQ9il4PX4bK3WQlBgCvBPnc0FVoGnHmdiCfbg_DniID6PdaJ5z0oScvB8wD8/s1600/Animator.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Germans awaiting their morning Animator to tell them what<br />
activities they have to do. Photo: G. Gottsacker.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It is evident that Germans love to travel, and there certainly was a boom in the late 90s. I returned again to Germany in 2002 for another year of studies, and the destinations hadn’t changed dramatically. The proof was in the newspaper promotions, travel agency windows, and the then-growing Internet sites. The Balearics were still the #1 hot-spot, and the centerpiece of sub-cultural jokes and references of Bild-Zeitung-reading Germans going to “Spain” on holiday. My curiosity and desire for a week-long, sun-soaked German-Spanish jag continued to heighten. In fact it probably peaked as I was 20 years old, however that nasty cultural voice inside me told me to avoid Mallorca and engage in a more rounded and enlightening experience. I went to Amsterdam instead.<br />
<br />
Finally, 13 years after finding out about Mallorca, I made it down there. Ultimately, I didn’t go down there with the “lads on tour” for a giant piss-up and the hopes of frivolity, but rather by myself with a desire for serenity. In 2011, I booked a 5-night, 6-day trip (hotel, flight, and transfers included) to Mallorca for 389 Euros. To be fair, I was neither in the heart of the party scene in Palma nor the famous beaches of Ballermann, but rather chose a quieter, northern bay called Alcudia. The hotel was still packed with Germans (and Brits), but the region was much more family-focused than the stereotype to which I had become accustomed. In fact, this hotel was probably filled with more Brits than Germans; however, I must note that every staff member’s first foreign language was German if they were not already German themselves. I had found some kind of compromise between the single inebriated party-life and the calm, organized family vacation. The peace and quiet was there if I needed it, yet there were bars and restaurants at a stone’s throw for social interaction. The bars and restaurants offered “English Breakfast, German Frühstück,” and several thousand menu items to satisfy any Anglo traveler. No Tapas here my friend: only burgers, pizza, nuggets, and pommes frites.<br />
<br />
The hotel was even staffed with real live Germans. The Animators and organizers – <a href="http://www.work-and-fun.com/leisure-time-animation,d12.html" target="_blank">tasked with doing all of the strenuous activity planning the Germans and Brits had paid good money to escape</a> – were all German (see photo above). I decided not to partake in Pool-Aerobics taught daily by the sun-burnt animator Lydia from Köln, but managed to fill my days autonomously by exploring the northern coast and some of the interior villages. I even managed to golf 36 holes that week, all by myself in the hot Mallorca sun. I brushed up on my Spanish with a short-hand cook from Morocco (Spanish Morocco, so my French failed me here) while watching Barcelona and Madrid battle in 3 Classicos in one week. After all this exploring, I realized that Mallorca offers a lot more than the stereotype story shows its viewers. However, I was the hotel rebel, the guest who refused the breakfast buffets, open bar, and daily events organized by the staff animators. In fact, the only time I took full advantage of the hotel’s amenities was daily at about 8pm, when I hit the open bar for a full hour before picking up Lydia the sun-burnt animator to go to a British bar and meet Mohamed.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZMFgjh31s3ux76kwXr7DLUBlX2r3BnbBxMhtnB_cERVjZ3MfGV1-V5Ax2IumUiYBKIsPnHCCDkoBVuTJdNGsM0j2BzywNfRAoi3WuFGVoTslDO_2gkNk4AtAodMbyqN99SmTMZQpyQ0/s1600/GermansLiegestuhl1.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZMFgjh31s3ux76kwXr7DLUBlX2r3BnbBxMhtnB_cERVjZ3MfGV1-V5Ax2IumUiYBKIsPnHCCDkoBVuTJdNGsM0j2BzywNfRAoi3WuFGVoTslDO_2gkNk4AtAodMbyqN99SmTMZQpyQ0/s1600/GermansLiegestuhl1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8 am poolside, just before the "Towel Drop"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So maybe I was not the standard guest at the hotel, taking advantage of every item detailed in the all-inclusive package. I mean, I already got a flight and hotel room for 389 Euros—can’t I splurge a bit and try some local cuisine and cross the threshold of the gates of Hotel Lagotel? There is indeed some comfort provided for the masses that wish to remain safe within the confines of Lagotel, however. The fact that you don’t even have to reflect each morning on what activities to undertake is already half the battle. Already at 8am you can see little zombie families lining up at the animator table as if to say: “Tell us what we have to do today.” This process seems automated and sans emotion. “Why don’t you just tell me what I am doing today?” I admit, I couldn’t refuse the 9am pistol shooting with the English dads (with pints of course).<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwD_pN9GdcGqqCrOWadwm21J6miWhuLrnYUvZItWu17vtHQwjaeuhkAG_iDbJ2c8m-Q8xDAVISOyXTV2cfCtELRkjPem_1ekCrZERIVYkXtCVG6yb27-RGxm3OBTy1ZVFRsRnlXOnIgE/s1600/GermansLiegestuhl.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwD_pN9GdcGqqCrOWadwm21J6miWhuLrnYUvZItWu17vtHQwjaeuhkAG_iDbJ2c8m-Q8xDAVISOyXTV2cfCtELRkjPem_1ekCrZERIVYkXtCVG6yb27-RGxm3OBTy1ZVFRsRnlXOnIgE/s1600/GermansLiegestuhl.png" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8 am poolside: breakfast finished and the chaise<br />
lounge safely reserved for a strenuous day of<br />
German news in the shade. Photo: G. Gottsacker.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For those that wish to just lounge and read by the pool without leaving the hotel or…well moving, there is the now famous process which I call the “Towel Drop”. After observing Brits and Germans at this hotel in Mallorca and another in Ibiza, I can now empirically say that this phenomenon has its origins in the Germanic peoples. In order to reserve your chaise lounge poolside, hotel guests will actually skip the snooze on the alarm clock, go drop off their towels and Bild Zeitung on a chaise lounge, all before they go eat breakfast. I heard more than one argument “<i>Nein, Ich war hier zuerst, schau mal meine Zeitung da, Handtuch ist da</i>!” ("No, I was here first, look at the newspaper there, and my towel!").<br />
<br />
After visiting Mallorca and Ibiza, it is obvious that these islands have been developed by German tourist developers. It is however more interesting to ask the question why the Germans, and why the Balearics? Why had not the French, the English, Dutch, or even the Spanish developed these islands? One particular argument is the fact the Germany has no colonies (or fewer comparatively to other said countries) to exploit. History students can attest to the fact that Germany was never a colonial powerhouse due largely to an undeveloped Navy in the 1800’s and a very consuming occupation with unifying its own nation. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrnPo4pyVFtBvnogERS6CPNP0bOpCkSNkeXORy3cLBdPzehY0LPfsz5uOmpdJ-rsYlZlYgvYXP5CNvo7EiSjgEWlVasL41XKMKJ5_ENfpLKNiRl4z_KvJ9NXzxhW2KwMWjeoIcZAqGcI/s1600/GermanColonial.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrnPo4pyVFtBvnogERS6CPNP0bOpCkSNkeXORy3cLBdPzehY0LPfsz5uOmpdJ-rsYlZlYgvYXP5CNvo7EiSjgEWlVasL41XKMKJ5_ENfpLKNiRl4z_KvJ9NXzxhW2KwMWjeoIcZAqGcI/s1600/GermanColonial.png" width="259" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Indian Ocean is the Mediterranean Sea<br />
of the future, says Herr Bismarck.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Also, the infrastructure in the airline industry of West Germany was ripe for export. Dozens of small, yet operational and busy airports litter Germany close to clusters of large populations with disposable income, for example Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Köln, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Bonn, München, Berlin, Basel. R.J. Buswell's <a hl="en&sa=X&ei=C8r8UbjRL8vMswbj0ICIBQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=germany%20in%20mallorca%201970's&f=false'" href="http://books.google.bg/books?id=m38TvRYi2HcC&pg=PA81&dq=germany+in+mallorca+1970" s="">"Mallorca and Tourism: History, Economy and Environment"</a> traces this Germanification of the Balearics.<br />
<br />
This might be oversimplistic; however, there is much truth to Germany being late to the colonial game. Bismarck was notorious for having little colonial drive and allowing other nations to occupy themselves “down there” in Africa and Asia while his idea of nation-building and reform remained internal within the geographic territory of a (finally) unified Germany. Other eco-political reasons behind the development of the Balearic Islands stems from the 1970s during the economic crisis that brought increasing oil prices, a weak stock market, and the death of El Generalisimo Franciso Franco in 1975. All of these factors shocked Spain with declining tourist numbers and some serious concerns about their English tourist investors, forcing hotels and travel agencies to hedge their risks and turn to West Germany as a second option. It wasn’t actually until the 1990s that German visitors actually surpassed the English in Mallorca.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiqSXVDUsZSo327_8nDcqPzoDM7IXU16z63rzMSN2Xuh0An-ZUJ3MBzMul2dY04zpvz73ChnBOZlUxp13trL5R1VkbuRmfK6iTg2P818Hew74nEggOYGFLcc46frFjFJ4Z2VWR2NeA0DU/s1600/MallorcaBeach.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiqSXVDUsZSo327_8nDcqPzoDM7IXU16z63rzMSN2Xuh0An-ZUJ3MBzMul2dY04zpvz73ChnBOZlUxp13trL5R1VkbuRmfK6iTg2P818Hew74nEggOYGFLcc46frFjFJ4Z2VWR2NeA0DU/s1600/MallorcaBeach.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Whatever German recipe worked in the Balaeric Islands seems to be working elsewhere as well. A newer, secondary wave of the German mass tourism formula has proven successful in Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. (I have personally been to all). There are German speaking animators at all destinations to greet you and organize your day, as well as cheap booze and sun to help you forget the long, gray springs of the Ruhr. But if you decide to escape from Lagotel and explore on your own, you certainly won’t be disappointed in Mallorca or [insert destination here]. One important piece of advice: never trust clichés. One tirelessly repeated cliché </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXK1FSfJ2yOtrtF88YMyatUI_Lc9QUbIK5a7vayNWUIWwxK9HFtmrJi6RZY_s6Y9yrcD3raijqCu4DZXtEdo3EfIGp-jPR1T-VJzrS9hpzodp7h-QjOF7XfOMy7aO1KHmJGzyfxWRNoE4/s1600/MallorcaGolf.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXK1FSfJ2yOtrtF88YMyatUI_Lc9QUbIK5a7vayNWUIWwxK9HFtmrJi6RZY_s6Y9yrcD3raijqCu4DZXtEdo3EfIGp-jPR1T-VJzrS9hpzodp7h-QjOF7XfOMy7aO1KHmJGzyfxWRNoE4/s1600/MallorcaGolf.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These activities weren't on the Animators' lists, but they<br />
were still enjoyable. Photos: G. Gottsacker.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
about the “Ballermann 6” beach is that it is an exaggerated party on a concrete beach; a swirling meeting point for sun-burnt Lydias and Fabians to drown themselves in cheap booze and dance to David Guetta. Some of these aspects are true of course, but do not forget that Mallorca is attractive in its own right. I climbed a mountain, golfed, and learned Spanish from a Moroccan man all while being surrounded by fifteen years of presumptions and bias. So drop your towel on the beach, but make sure you do it before breakfast.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<i>Story by Greg Gottsacker</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCa-1VxhBT6v7TOxB68o7028zyGezDU19aMLj1NQuBpWq0u4RsZfghC0bLK4cBrkM5ZnRqlGd8vwUC2IO1HnHuWSoRUCfK4toC80NLos4RAkWVj9UvRaUNpJ8IljDqgvi-QkBF_iDvp6I/s1600/20130705_202654.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCa-1VxhBT6v7TOxB68o7028zyGezDU19aMLj1NQuBpWq0u4RsZfghC0bLK4cBrkM5ZnRqlGd8vwUC2IO1HnHuWSoRUCfK4toC80NLos4RAkWVj9UvRaUNpJ8IljDqgvi-QkBF_iDvp6I/s1600/20130705_202654.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of Berlin's many <i>Kleingartenanlagen</i> (allotment garden complex). You<br />
might find peace and quiet, but only if you follow the myriad rules and<br />
regulations! (Photo: Christoph Diepes)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
She (or he) who seeks the quintessence of Germanic<i> </i>order and practicality, but also wishes to savor the flavors of its bureaucracy and bourgeois culture, need look no further than the over 1 million <i><a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleingarten" target="_blank">Kleingärten</a></i> (allotment gardens; literally "small gardens"). They dot the landscapes of Germany's city outskirts, line large thoroughfares and stretch along the parcels of land abutting railroads and airports<i>. </i>Their history begins in the 19th century, and their use has evolved from beginnings as children's exercise areas, later became crucial vehicles of food production for the urban poor, and now mostly serve as mini weekend homes for older middle-class Germans looking for a weekend escape.<br />
<br />
The history of the <i>Kleingarten</i> in Germany stretches back to the age of Industrialization in the 19th century. As rural populations flooded to burgeoning urban centers, newly bloated cityscapes housed increasingly poor, crowded and unhealthy citizens. Air pollution, malnutrition and poor working conditions were just a few of the factors contributing to the ample suffering of the German city dweller of the 1800s. Enter <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moritz_Schreber" target="_blank">Dr. Daniel Gottlob Moritz Schreber</a>, who observed the deteriorating health of young Germans and proposed that the government set aside parcels of land as "green oases" where children could exercise, cultivate gardens, and generally profit from some time away from the soot and pollution of the cities.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKAukg6bkKx4Ius_3I-Dg-WMgnUNykKCUY2gopbKsTLjMOSc0MuMGJubF6mJcvgWGuUpWXRQdtWSy1k-shmaQqnD56UfOwq2QWLpObDfp1ii6Q21-smh1awnKTfxvZVztJwolJhFMoEY/s1600/370px-Heilgymnastik_an_Zanderschen_Apparaten.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKAukg6bkKx4Ius_3I-Dg-WMgnUNykKCUY2gopbKsTLjMOSc0MuMGJubF6mJcvgWGuUpWXRQdtWSy1k-shmaQqnD56UfOwq2QWLpObDfp1ii6Q21-smh1awnKTfxvZVztJwolJhFMoEY/s1600/370px-Heilgymnastik_an_Zanderschen_Apparaten.jpg" height="400" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A collection of Dr. Schreber's curious<br />
anti-masturbatory exercise machines.<br />
(Graphic: Wikipedia Commons)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This all seems very positive and well-intentioned from the Herr Doktor S. aus Leipzig, but beneath the surface was a much less benevolent philosophy: Schreber was also a big proponent of the strict repression of sexual desires. He vehemently opposed the idea of masturbation (not to speak of its frequent practice), and believed that his oases – in combination with a series of machines he had invented – could help "purge" the excess energy that he thought drove the urge to pleasure oneself, and thus (re)form the child into a productive, hard-working German citizen (see graphic). We probably shouldn't be surprised that his own unfortunate son ended up writing memoirs about his substantial psychological illnesses which, according to Sigmund Freud and several of his colleagues, stemmed from his father's draconian parenting style. Perhaps unsurprisingly, children outside of Schreber's domain went on masturbating at approximately the same rate they did before, and also showed less interest than he had intended in mindfully cultivating these "small gardens". Maybe they were too busy putting in their 80 hours a week in soot-filled factories.<br />
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So of course it ended up that adults were actually more interested in caring for the garden plots, at which point the so-called <i>Schrebergarten</i> developed into an important means of food security for the urban poor, perhaps the most useful and positive consequence of Schreber's master plan. Other urbanizing countries in Europe also developed some form of allotment gardening with this goal (London famously set aside allotments in the aftermath of World War II), but Germany led the pack then and now in terms of organization and prevalence of these plots.<br />
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Some 150 years later, today's <i>Schrebergarten</i> really has nothing to do with the health of German youth, and little to do with feeding the poor. In fact, the current average age of the <i>Schrebergärtner</i> sits at 60 years of age. Today, aside from providing the originally-intended escape from urban concrete jungles, the million-plus German <i>Schrebergärten </i>(70,000 of which can be found in Berlin) now serve in large part as an outlet for the well-known German penchant to over-organize, over-regulate, and over-tidy anything and everything they can get their Teutonic hands on. The typical plot consists of a small, immaculately stained wooden shelter, a nice little section of perfectly groomed lawn, a few lounge chairs of varying quality, and of course a garden with neatly arranged rows of vegetables and flowers. Weeds are nowhere to be found, as they are meticulously exterminated well before they are able to spread. File all of this under "irony" that Schreber's original plan for allotments to help purge children's sexual urges has now resulted in an outlet for old people to be super <i>ordentlich </i>and <i>spießig</i> (and we of course know nothing of <i>their </i>sexual urges)<i>.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>Speaking of <i>spießig, </i>this concept<i> </i>is actually one of my favorite German words, and it is of those concepts that is nearly impossible to translate into English. "Bourgeois" is the most common translation but doesn't quite work, and "square," as in "be there or be square," isn't a very useful translation either, especially now that the 50s are over. In a way, the <i>Kleingärtner </i>might just be a living, breathing translation of the word <i>spießig</i>: the following video (in German) from the <a href="http://www.dw.de/" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a> series "<i>Die Wahrheit über Deutschland" </i>("The Truth about Germany") does an amazing job of investigating a typical German <i>Kleingärtnerkolonie</i> to give us a little taste of what <i>spießig </i>really means. A small dose of perfectionism, a spoonful of nerdiness, and a healthy swallow of being extremely tidy. This is <i>spießig:</i><br />
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The particular <i>Kolonie</i> featured in the video has a 73-page booklet (!) of rules and regulations, including the<i> </i>4-chapter, 22-legal-paragraph long <i><a href="http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bkleingg/index.html" target="_blank">Bundeskleingartengesetz</a>. </i>Lovely summer reading, I assure you (feel free to take my word for it). For the top three examples of <i>Spießigkeit</i> in the allotment gardens, skip forward to 2:35!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFilmwQ-Bxv0Biz55yZRasYIObVgkSmSLTbkNgoOQMl7jgpCMFs3YIhcAJtItYyYe7AwBQ0aFZ5ldE3dfEon-mvnoj2sgGKIUy0cR9dWPqAauaqB_an6Xw6aj-9UdpMA4U9Cq-3MeWhew/s1600/2013-07-09+09.23.36+HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFilmwQ-Bxv0Biz55yZRasYIObVgkSmSLTbkNgoOQMl7jgpCMFs3YIhcAJtItYyYe7AwBQ0aFZ5ldE3dfEon-mvnoj2sgGKIUy0cR9dWPqAauaqB_an6Xw6aj-9UdpMA4U9Cq-3MeWhew/s1600/2013-07-09+09.23.36+HDR.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our own little backyard <i>Schrebergarten</i>, complete with <br />
improperly spaced veggies, not-so-straight crop rows and <br />
an inadequate flower-to-vegetable ratio.</td></tr>
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All of this is quite amusing, but the <i>Schrebergarten</i> is actually a real and practical way for modern city-dwellers to obtain some semblance of balance in their lives, grow healthy food, and also make very good use of land that would often otherwise lie vacant or unused (such as the area near train stations and tracks). We Americans have been reading articles for several years now about how <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/garden/finding-the-potential-in-vacant-lots-in-the-garden.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=urbanagriculture" target="_blank">urban gardens are booming in U.S. cities</a>, but it still remains a niche activity reserved for hipsters and environmental activists who want to eat brown eggs and a whole lot of kale and Swiss chard. I think American city centers that have experienced urban decline and have large tracts of dilapidated and unused land – such as Detroit or Cleveland – could really benefit from a<i> </i>healthy dose of the aforementioned German regulation and land-use laws (perhaps 20 pages instead of 73). Vacant or degraded lots could be set aside for use as <i>Kleingärten, </i>with set lot prices much like they were in post-war Britain. They could even be used by inner city schools to introduce kids to foods that don't glow bright orange, contain mysterious animal parts or stay fresh on the shelf for upwards of a decade. The benefits would be many-fold: a happier, healthier populace, green gardens instead of scrap heaps, eroding buildings and weeds, and generally a more attractive cityscape.<br />
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Whether or not such a plan is a realistic undertaking in the U.S. is another question. For one, Americans as a rule aren't afforded nearly as much time off to spend working on a garden (nor would they necessarily spend it there if they had it!). I also think fast food and processed food culture is much more deeply seated in the States than in Germany. In the end though, we don't have to copy Germany's model exactly (in fact, I think we'd be well-advised not to). I think the simple idea of setting aside urban land for gardens is a no-brainer, especially in U.S. cities where that land is already lying fallow.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-2810540086576637512013-06-04T05:52:00.001-07:002013-06-04T05:56:01.625-07:00Solstice-to-Solstice with the Berlin Fernsehturm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Some would point to the Brandenburg Gate as the most prominent <i>Wahrzeichen</i> (emblem or symbol) of Berlin, but in the post-Berlin Wall period, I think more and more people would point to the fantastically pointy <i>Fernsehturm</i> – or TV tower. Love it or hate it (I love it), this icon of the <i>DDR</i>-<i>Zeit</i> reigns supreme over Berlin's otherwise-modest skyline; like nearly every aspect of Berlin's landscape, it has an interesting history that begins with a 300-million-dollar mistake about 20 miles to the southeast. I decided last December that a little <i>Ode an den Fernsehturm</i> was in order, and over the past six months I had the perfect office window to compose it.<br />
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Starting in mid-December, with the sun merely skirting the horizon over the course of a day, I decided to take a picture from the same spot in my office window each work day (with a barely-noticeable move one room to the east about halfway through) between 11:30 AM and noon – admittedly I did take a few shots up to an hour late when I was forgetful. As it turns out, this winter was also one of Berlin's (and Germany's) greyest on record, with a grand total of <a href="http://www.wetterkontor.de/de/deutschland_monatswerte.asp?y=2013&m=13&p=2" target="_blank">67.5 <i>hours</i> of sun for the entire winter season</a>. April got a lot sunnier, and those trees absolutely exploded with green at the first opportunity. I particularly like to watch the sun migrate <i>upward</i> over the course of the video as we pass through the equinox toward the summer solstice. I first loop through slowly, then again much more quickly, and finally I end with those precious few days of sun between December and late May. There are 95 photos in total, and the music is "Murs Beat" from RJD2. You can also find the video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyq_dHZMNf4" target="_blank">here on YouTube</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcW1UEbAhqzGZF4ybdk0aGVI3oYpW8odaglkLstDBMf9R9-B3_FbwO6mB-fJv8D8sh86tj-mWphvCKb9SmTLIeuCxSgxwX4HgGDW4St1jIq2yTU9D78UsC5Pivya4t7W3BCARwfeXcX74/s1600/IMG_5917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcW1UEbAhqzGZF4ybdk0aGVI3oYpW8odaglkLstDBMf9R9-B3_FbwO6mB-fJv8D8sh86tj-mWphvCKb9SmTLIeuCxSgxwX4HgGDW4St1jIq2yTU9D78UsC5Pivya4t7W3BCARwfeXcX74/s1600/IMG_5917.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's a strange beauty in the simplicity of<br />
the <i>Fernsehturm</i>. Maybe it's more beautiful<br />
because of all the hideousness surrounding it.</td></tr>
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<u><i>Das Fehlgeburt auf dem Müggelberg</i></u></div>
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There is a subtle irony in the story of how the <i>Fernsehturm </i>ended up being built in the center of Alexanderplatz in the former East Berlin, and how it later became the icon of a modern and united Berlin. The DDR party leaders wanted to trumpet the architectural prowess and power of their Communist utopia, but also wanted to improve their miserable radio and television broadcasting reach (something something two birds, something something stones). They chose the highest point in East Berlin, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin-M%C3%BCggelberge_TV_Tower" target="_blank">Müggelberg</a> near the southeast corner of <i>Groß-Berlin</i>, so that their new tower would imposingly lord over the plains of Brandenburg and the plebs obediently working the sandy soil. At the same time, though, they wanted to bite their collective thumbs at the capitalist naysayers of the West. Alas, only after they had laid a 300 million dollar foundation did they think to consider whether the planned 160-meter spire might interfere with air traffic. Sure enough, it did. And it's a wonder they didn't think of it sooner given that Schönefeld Airport is well under 10 km away (as the <i>plane</i> flies) from Müggelberg. Apparently, foresight was about as abundant as luxury consumer goods in the DDR. So before anyone noticed, Walter Ulbricht and Co. dreamt up a much more grandiose plan...</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5W_peRuCLbCIelcfWjWfzNlxqffQir2Y_S-tfitbWdFXBimNgTZs1Zn4uQ4fJwAgt55EK74YcsZaLAXFHifUi7HMqMl6UPbbSpWThxWcq2NYmYczriCGRXhOqrNOJSzHSzEDfOgVycNg/s1600/IMG_5953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5W_peRuCLbCIelcfWjWfzNlxqffQir2Y_S-tfitbWdFXBimNgTZs1Zn4uQ4fJwAgt55EK74YcsZaLAXFHifUi7HMqMl6UPbbSpWThxWcq2NYmYczriCGRXhOqrNOJSzHSzEDfOgVycNg/s1600/IMG_5953.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A more typical, and greyer, view of the tower.</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline;"><u>Berlin's Third City Center, and a Thumbed Nose to the West</u></span></div>
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The tower was to be placed at the center of Alexanderplatz, thus putting the finishing touch on the new center of East Berlin. As far as I'm aware, Berlin is the only world metropolis that has three distinct city centers pointing to three very distinct aspects of its history: the 800-odd-year-old city center in and around the <i>Nikolaiviertel </i>(which is now little more than a curiosity and secondary tourist destination), the center of the East at Alex, and the epicenter of West Berlin that was artificially established around Kurfürstendamm and the Gedächtniskirche. So Ulbricht's tower plans grew from 160 to over 300 meters, and they even threw in a rotating restaurant to impress the Muscovite Comrades during state visits. The West had the consumer mecca at the KaDeWe, but Ulbricht one-upped them with a massive silver ball that was visible to all Berliners, East and West. The game was far from over though, as the West soon thought it would have the last laugh: the <i>Fernsehturm's</i> architects formed the tower's sphere such that it reflected the sunlight perfectly into the <a href="http://titelmagazin.com/data/images/20_overlay_15276_0.jpg" target="_blank">sign of the cross</a>, and it didn't take long before the more pious Westerners named it the <i>Rache des Papstes</i> ("the Pope's Revenge"), referencing the godlessness of the Eastern and Soviet regimes. Before Reagan single-handedly brought down the Wall with one simple turn of phrase in his famous speech, he jeered the East and their massive 'becrossed' sphere. Piety, however, was not destined to define the future <i>Hauptstadt</i>, though. Today, the <i>Fernsehturm</i> has become the symbol of a re-united, modern, increasingly cosmopolitan, and very much secular Berlin; in the end, the last laugh goes to the <i>Fernsehturm</i> itself, because it managed to transcend its builders, and later its detractors to represent a much better version of Berlin.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-56608472905351992182013-05-28T06:02:00.001-07:002013-06-04T02:34:56.271-07:00Dubbing Trouble and the German Kino<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihqCfAhzsAFTYCXlsz9trGymfXioC-2TU3EipvVJGhMBe7dExmX0TBL2FqX4atvPr0eaNA23XKTneQI76FZ-anyveplKgR_vnOheFqVr7fIUmmI4A3NCreFks2XyhdYu-9I21eMx9eWfY/s1600/2013-04-18+09.07.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihqCfAhzsAFTYCXlsz9trGymfXioC-2TU3EipvVJGhMBe7dExmX0TBL2FqX4atvPr0eaNA23XKTneQI76FZ-anyveplKgR_vnOheFqVr7fIUmmI4A3NCreFks2XyhdYu-9I21eMx9eWfY/s1600/2013-04-18+09.07.30.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Das Kino, Berlin style.</td></tr>
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When I moved in Berlin for the first time in 2010, I met a guy who had set the lofty goal of visiting every <i>Kino</i> (movie theater) in Berlin at least once. An ambitious and time-intensive undertaking to say the least, given that there are no fewer than 275 movie theaters within the city limits (about 1 in 7 movie theaters in all of Germany is located in Berlin!). With this high number of theaters, along with the increasingly popular <a href="http://www.berlinale.de/en/HomePage.html" target="_blank">Berlinale Film Festival</a>, the film business is alive and well in Berlin, and indeed in Germany at large.<br />
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I haven't had a chance to meet up with my <i>Kino </i>enthusiast acquaintance since 2010, so I have no idea whether he's on the home stretch or whether he's given up on his Kino-quest (if I remember correctly he was working on his 40s when I met him), but I have had the chance to poke my head into a few of Berlin's many interesting film houses myself. Being a major European capital, Berlin of course has the typical massive and sterile theaters located at Potsdamerplatz and the Sony Center. These 15-plus screen behemoths often host major premiers and shamelessly bombard you with up to 45 minutes (!) of advertisements. This might be the one rare case where Germany actually trumps the U.S. in unabashed consumer capitalism – though the U.S. has ads at movies as well, they've never exceeded 15-20 minutes in my experience. Apparently the ad men and women at the Cinemaxx think that everyone who watches 007 films is obsessed with cars as well, because they were hawking everything from Fiat 500s to Fords to Porsche 911s until we were almost ready to walk out and waste our 12,50 entry fee and purchase any kind of transportation vehicle that wasn't a car. The most painful thing of all, though, is that you can generally forget about seeing an American or non-German movie in Germany without subtitles or dubbing, unless of course you want to support one of these behemoth cinemas.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbk4UFlREPQjPn-_tMStff3qq0rV6j2fxPdGMoiGUlJmsyD0l7UaHweCcWYLVhL2E6nI7IHOncRXHt57nxKGmJf8yIhyphenhyphenLfBiKiEW_WdGmMfYdLroopWMfafGo2xR-egtAn1YaeBeGbIuE/s1600/2013-04-18+09.07.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbk4UFlREPQjPn-_tMStff3qq0rV6j2fxPdGMoiGUlJmsyD0l7UaHweCcWYLVhL2E6nI7IHOncRXHt57nxKGmJf8yIhyphenhyphenLfBiKiEW_WdGmMfYdLroopWMfafGo2xR-egtAn1YaeBeGbIuE/s1600/2013-04-18+09.07.17.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Despite appearances and the prominent signage<br />
suggesting otherwise, this <i>is</i> in fact a <a href="http://ladenkino.de/" target="_blank">Kino</a>.</td></tr>
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<u>Hippies and History in Berlin's Small Kinos</u><br />
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So once you've developed the advanced skill – as I have – to resist the temptation to verbally abuse the distracting subtitles gracing the bottom of the screen at your favorite film, you can begin to discover the best side of Berlin's film scene: the host of small venues that have fewer than 100 seats (and often fewer than 50) and fewer than 5 screens – places where Hollywood blockbusters live peacefully next to art-house and independent films in an interesting and organic environment. I remember in particular one of my earlier experiences with Berlin's small movie theaters. We cycled down to the self-styled "oldest Kino in Germany," <i><a href="http://www.moviemento.de/" target="_blank">Moviemento</a></i> in Neukölln, to see Gaspar Noe's <i>Into the Void </i>(which ultimately turned out to be about 2 hours too long and a tick heavy on the gratuitous porn scenes but that's beside the point). The foyer and ticket counter reminded me more of my grandma's living room than a movie theater, and the pierced, tattooed and moderately medicated cashier sold us our organic colas and <i><a href="http://img.fotocommunity.com/Stillleben/Tabletop/Gummibaerchen-a18279037.jpg" target="_blank">Gummibärchen</a> </i>with a subdued smile. The screens aren't all that much bigger than the biggest flatscreens at your local electronics store, the plush 70's-style seats are bolted into carpeted concrete floors with a .003% grade, and I think my home speaker system just might be better than theirs. But I can say with full confidence that I enjoyed the experience far more than the impersonal, cavernous atmosphere at the commercial-happy Cinemaxx. You can find these little gems in virtually every district in Berlin if you're willing to wait a bit for the latest releases to come out. One of my other favorites is <i><a href="http://www.kino-central.de/" target="_blank">Central-Kino</a>, </i>nestled into a grungy alley near the otherwise-posh Hackescher Markt.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The DDR's Kino International, lording over the pavement<br />
desert that is Karl-Marx Allee.</td></tr>
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For a more palpable sense of history, though, <i><a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kino_International" target="_blank">Kino International</a></i> might be the most interesting theater in Germany for my money. It was <i>the</i> movie theater of the GDR that hosted all of the glorious premiers <i>jenseits der Mauer </i>(although one would imagine famous east-of-the-Iron-Curtain stars strutting along a <i>red</i> carpet to be particularly fitting at <i>Kino International</i>, I personally imagine a more spartan and egalitarian <i>grey </i>one). All of these interesting old theaters in Berlin – and their continued success – just confirm for me though that the newest, most advanced theater technology (I'm looking at you, disappointing 3D-tech) isn't necessarily what movie-goers are always looking for. These quirky spots offer much more of a movie experience.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAlKy1vzmq3brgboV-Pc1QiiyF1TZfxV5oVxKDfhKScK7ZnK_OuH9FgmkeiQH_Xm9KdJ5wtSn0a15m9pK2MqXNihn60NFMaG0bdYCucW2k_hf9DpJEMEWag9P7_R2Z-tSjOy9oMvKJIk/s1600/BlockbusterSouthParknewEpvidtsr2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAlKy1vzmq3brgboV-Pc1QiiyF1TZfxV5oVxKDfhKScK7ZnK_OuH9FgmkeiQH_Xm9KdJ5wtSn0a15m9pK2MqXNihn60NFMaG0bdYCucW2k_hf9DpJEMEWag9P7_R2Z-tSjOy9oMvKJIk/s1600/BlockbusterSouthParknewEpvidtsr2.jpg" height="153" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Randy Marsh, video rental entrepreneur.</td></tr>
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<u>Death of a German Movie Salesman?</u><br />
<br />
At first glance, the home movie experience also seems to be alive and well in Germany, or at least in Berlin. As far as I'm aware there is no equivalent to Netflix or Blockbuster's online service in Germany that is killing the brick-and-mortar establishments. I've also heard from many that torrents and illegal downloading is pretty strictly monitored on German networks. As we strolled around the city, we also couldn't help but notice that <i>Videotheke</i> seemed to be on every corner and were often full of customers. This is starkly different from the U.S., where independent movie shops, Blockbusters, Hollywood Videos and Family Videos disappeared in a matter of months after online services and downloading exploded. Just ask Randy Marsh from Southpark: he bought a Blockbuster franchise in hopes of making it big, and instead promptly went insane while pacing the empty aisles in his rental shop. While Germany's shops seem to be hanging on a little longer than those in the States, a closer look at Berlin's video scene reveals that there really is only one major player (Video Center) in the city's rental market, and that the larger market is also <a href="http://www.dw.de/videotheken-k%C3%A4mpfen-ums-%C3%BCberleben/a-15086549" target="_blank">experiencing an inexorable decline</a>. In other words, I'm not looking to pull a Randy Marsh here in the <i>Hauptstadt </i>anytime soon.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzbF8rTVmzcTra88gqy6uGA4ywhxYIsKk8HxjywCxsUDMnnNJFsZv6t7YdgsNihhvSor9lXOUI6QZVsc5aNC9XVZR75tAQ3IlZTRQUVumHu9veHoQhVgD2Q9DGVcVsJZbShUjkInbLt4/s1600/2013-05-14+20.28.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzbF8rTVmzcTra88gqy6uGA4ywhxYIsKk8HxjywCxsUDMnnNJFsZv6t7YdgsNihhvSor9lXOUI6QZVsc5aNC9XVZR75tAQ3IlZTRQUVumHu9veHoQhVgD2Q9DGVcVsJZbShUjkInbLt4/s1600/2013-05-14+20.28.14.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Video rental is still hanging on – for now – in Berlin.</td></tr>
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<u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none;"><u>Rub-a-dub Dub, Dubbing is Rubbish</u></span></u><br />
<u><br /></u>
Though I've really enjoyed exploring some of these unique spots to see movies and am happy to see that rental shops are at least giving it the old college try at surviving, I don't view all aspects of the German Kino experience through rose-colored 3D glasses. The continuing scourge of movies (and television!) in Germany is <i>Synchronisierung</i>, or dubbing, whereby the original actors' voices are replaced with ill-fitting and vanilla German voice-overs. While I'm sure these are all very talented individuals, it is enormously frustrating to hear the same voices, accents, expressions applied to the vast variety of amazingly talented actors in world television and film. My latest scream of frustration came when watching the trailer for the latest Star Trek film, where the venerable Benedict Cumberbatch is reduced to an insipid <i>Hochdeutsch </i>(see video) that I swear I heard on the Simpsons at some point<i>.</i> I grew up thinking of dubbing as something of a joke, having been exposed to some of the classic kung fu films and their hilarious sound-video mismatches. However, when I saw my first television shows in Germany, I realized it was actually a serious way of watching foreign shows. In fact, most of the countries in central Europe – with the exception of the Netherlands and Scandanavia – still dub a large portion of their video entertainment, and Germany is king of them all.<br />
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Dubbing is a huge industry employing thousands, but the actual number of voice actors is surprisingly limited. The more prolific voices can be heard voicing a host of famous actors from all over the English-speaking world. For example, Gert Günther Hoffmann dubs <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Connery" title="Sean Connery">Sean Connery</a>, <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Newman" title="Paul Newman">Paul Newman</a>, <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Hudson" title="Rock Hudson">Rock Hudson</a>, <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_Barker" title="Lex Barker">Lex Barker</a> and <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shatner" title="William Shatner">William Shatner</a>. Even more ridiculously, Thomas Danneberg plays <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Stallone" title="Sylvester Stallone">Sylvester Stallone</a> (American), <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schwarzenegger" title="Arnold Schwarzenegger">Arnold Schwarzenegger</a> (Austrian-American), <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Aykroyd" title="Dan Aykroyd">Dan Aykroyd</a> (Canadian) and <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cleese" title="John Cleese">John Cleese</a> (British). My immediate question was, what happens when two of these people happen to play in the same film, but fact is, I don't think people would necessarily even notice. Second thought is, how the hell do they choose the same guy to play the quintessentially American actor Paul Newman <i>and</i> the quintessentially <i>Scottish</i> actor Sean Connery?! John Cleese and Arnold Schwarzenegger, seriously?<br />
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I asked a German friend at one point how people can tolerate the mismatched mouth movements, poor translations and lack of variety in the voices. They replied that because they grew up with it, they barely even notice it. I've also met people who say they heard Bruce Willis' real voice and were quite disappointed because they had grown used to his German doppelgänger's voice. I'm no huge Bruce Willis fan, but it's all pretty sad, really. To boot, all this dubbing means that Germans always have to wait months before new releases make it to market. Seems like a lose-lose-lose-lose to me. Maybe I'm just being a selfish English native speaker by demanding less interference in my movie experience in a foreign country, but I think the case for subtitles over dubbing even for non-English-speaking Germans is a pretty strong one. The good news is that younger generations have had far more exposure to international languages and original versions of film and television via the Internet, so original versions (OV) and versions just with subtitles (Original mit Untertitel, OmU) are becoming more and more popular. Maybe those German-dubbed English language films will eventually be the jokes that dubbed kung fu movies have become in the U.S. <br />
<br />
<u>Update:</u> Another topic that I consciously left out for brevity's sake – but had to tack on to the end here after stumbling across this great little movie blog – is the ridiculous translation and renaming of movies in the German market. I'll let the <a href="http://www.madmind.de/2009/06/14/stupid-german-additional-movie-titles/" target="_blank">"Madmind" blog</a> speak for itself, but basically, the Germans are obsessed with the "Title: this is a pointless phrase" movie title format. My favorite: American movie "Signs" becomes "Signs – Zeichen". In other words, "Signs – Signs" (!). Doing this in virtually every case results in some pretty solid (and tragic) comedy. Enjoy.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-89575419058346667922013-05-07T05:11:00.001-07:002013-05-07T11:13:59.204-07:00Spargelzeitgeist: the German Penchant for Seasonal Food and Drink<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj11z296H09yCYnIWwdvxHW5T_Q_rQlMtDl6h2Js-7YQU_OG6oobjHKx9nRQmDjcx-TV_NXvwyTqSGsQ6RhBFS3LkRlaXlBvWjEN3IAdMpO2lZpVQYJecLEuA0axRIW-STmSKXgA_jw45U/s1600/2013-04-16+19.40.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj11z296H09yCYnIWwdvxHW5T_Q_rQlMtDl6h2Js-7YQU_OG6oobjHKx9nRQmDjcx-TV_NXvwyTqSGsQ6RhBFS3LkRlaXlBvWjEN3IAdMpO2lZpVQYJecLEuA0axRIW-STmSKXgA_jw45U/s1600/2013-04-16+19.40.33.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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The sun is shining in Berlin, winter jackets are being stowed away, city park lawns will soon be trampled into dirt, and all that means it's <i>Spargelzeit </i>in Germany! I can still remember my very first <i>Spargelzeit</i> as if it were yesterday. As Spring sprang in Freiburg im Breisgau, I heard whispers of the beloved <i>Spargelzeit</i> among the public, and soon I started spotting small stands throughout the city selling bundles of the thick, phallic white stalks stacked precariously high on foldable tables. Then, I noticed that every restaurant in town that wasn't hawking <i>Döner</i> was making appetizers, main courses, soups – and yes, desserts – using what appeared at the time to me as unripe or poor quality asparagus that had been allowed to grow for far too long. As far as I was concerned, asparagus was green, the best ones having a very tender quality and being only about a half centimeter thick. How much I had to learn about the world of asparagus. This is the obsession that is <a href="http://www.spargelzeit.de/derspargel-pflanze1.html" target="_blank"><i>Spargelzeit</i></a> in Germany (which could be translated as "asparagus season", but I think "asparagus-time" better encompasses the child-like excitement surrounding it), and it turns out it's actually just one of many seasonal food and drink "events" in Germany throughout the year.<br />
<br />
Aside from being a bit put off by this different brand of asparagus that's exceedingly rare in the States, and reportedly had to be peeled before consuming, I was flummoxed at the sheer enthusiasm the Germans had for the vegetable. Many even religiously adjust their schedules and eating habits in the Spring to maximize <i>Spargel</i> consumption, and I'd bet big money that there's an annual hollandaise bubble around late April-early May, as it is the <i>Spargel </i>sauce of choice. Many lands tout their scenic wine or beer routes, but I reckon few can say that have a designated <a href="http://www.paderborner-land.de/eng/radfahren/delbruecker-spargelroute.php" target="_blank"><i>Spargel-route</i></a>; Delbrück in northeastern Germany can make this proud claim, and they advertise their veg-specific cycle tour route on the Internets with the slogan "Pure cycle and asparagus pleasure." If I loved white <i>Spargel</i> as much as I love cycling, this would be a dream come true for my inner hedonist...but I don't, so it really isn't (to boot, there is nary a hill in the region, rendering the cycling equally marginal). Although my home province of Berlin/Brandenburg doesn't have its own Asparagus Pleasure Route as far as I'm aware, it does have its own epicenter of asparagus production located in and around the town of Beelitz, just southeast of city limits. In other words, if you're in Berlin and your asparagus didn't come from Beelitz, you've been had.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFiJ6zICnS1K4MEzcOVAJ10gsUqLUqm9QjvJQHH9o_-MR3yaqvGSiE5KPvofndIhCEuc-lm5X2n7bC0o-_cuQ7Me1c10h_0024-f1soAOBfprtk_xNHV0P2Y8MrHfqSv9Ml23ZEZNmS1Y/s1600/2013-04-15+09.38.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFiJ6zICnS1K4MEzcOVAJ10gsUqLUqm9QjvJQHH9o_-MR3yaqvGSiE5KPvofndIhCEuc-lm5X2n7bC0o-_cuQ7Me1c10h_0024-f1soAOBfprtk_xNHV0P2Y8MrHfqSv9Ml23ZEZNmS1Y/s1600/2013-04-15+09.38.10.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After 50 total hours of sunshine all Winter, <i>Spargelzeit </i>finally<br />
shines its light on Berlin.</td></tr>
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For those hard-to-convince readers needing more evidence of just how serious (or rather, giddy) the Germans are about the mighty asparagus stalk, the <i>Spargelzeit</i> phenomenon has also reached into the realm of television: one of the longest-running and most popular series in Germany was and is the crime show <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatort" target="_blank"><i>Tatort</i></a>, and the 2010 episode called <i>Spargelzeit</i> (if you love <i>Tatort</i> <u>and</u> <i>Spargel</i> and have an hour to burn, you can watch the whole episode on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybmY9Uo39GE" target="_blank">YouTube</a>) racked up the highest ratings for a <i>Tatort</i> show in 13 years (about 10.5 million viewers and a 29% share!), which puts it high in the running for the most watched show Germany-wide.<br />
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In search of some sort of concrete reasons behind this Teuton-Vegetable love affair, I found some information at <a href="http://www.germanfoods.org/consumer/facts/spargelzeit.cfm" target="_blank">germanfoods.org</a> that points to the history of asparagus as a "luxury vegetable." Back in the day, it was almost exclusively available to the medieval rich and famous, and was therefore a rare treat for the humble plebs, who were drinking chunky-style beer and living in the otherwise-monotone culinary world north of the Alps. I think there could be something to this history playing a role on modern <i>Spargel-</i>eating habits, but I can think of two possible additional factors: first, <i>Spargelzeit </i>comes right at the glorious moment when the cold, grey winter of northern Germany gives way to blossoming flowers and trees and chirping birds. Asparagus, in other words, is just another happy indication that winter has come to a close. Second, and probably more importantly, I think <i>Spargelzeit</i> is really just the most popular example of the larger phenomenon of ingrained seasonal eating and drinking habits in Germany that emphasize the beginnings of a particular food or drink's harvesting season.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfpdMp0gcOXk-fQNVSiFvZJHHk_yF-28Ch7rNSS6CWt-zs0-wS-S0XuTuV31kTXnPujxOfAgwe8Jqz__AG085kNnE3PuJeNBO3pkZLJK07Z-bzU7NBJC2oAj9mWsM2XqBW6gA0iKzxISQ/s1600/erdbeerzeit-buch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfpdMp0gcOXk-fQNVSiFvZJHHk_yF-28Ch7rNSS6CWt-zs0-wS-S0XuTuV31kTXnPujxOfAgwe8Jqz__AG085kNnE3PuJeNBO3pkZLJK07Z-bzU7NBJC2oAj9mWsM2XqBW6gA0iKzxISQ/s1600/erdbeerzeit-buch.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Erdbeerzeit</i> is still the best <i>Zeit</i> of them all<br />
as far as I'm concerned. (Photo: Hölker Verlag)</td></tr>
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Case in point: On the heels of <i>Spargelzeit</i> comes <i>Erdbeerzeit</i> (Strawberry-time), and then as summer hits its peak (that is, if summer hits any kind of peak at all, which is far from a sure thing in Berlin lately), out come the <i><a href="http://www.ferienhotel-muehlleithen.de/neuigkeiten/pfifferlingszeit/" target="_blank">Pfifferlinge</a> </i>for <i>Pfifferlingszeit </i>(chanterelle mushrooms), and of course any imaginable dish that involves mushroom cream sauce. In other words, lots of deliciousness. These seasonal events also stretch down to the southern reaches of the German-speaking world: When I first arrived in Styria, Austria, I quickly learned about <i>Sturmzeit</i>, which is centered around the grape harvest and the production of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federweisser" target="_blank"><i>Sturm</i></a>, a young and cloudy wine often drunk at the famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heuriger" target="_blank"><i>Heuriger</i></a> (farm-to-table operations that serve meats, cheeses, wines, and vegetables that are all legally required to be produced on the premises). Along with producing prodigious hangovers, the drink represents a sort of a swan song for the friendly Fall weather in Austria. In the words of the Austrian, "<i>Sturmzeit ist Herbstzeit!"</i><br />
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All of these <i>Zeiten</i> underline the much more prevalent tendency of Germans to eat seasonally. This tendency is part by choice, part out of habit, and part by general availability of produce. Any American who has lived in Germany or wandered into a German supermarket on vacation has probably noticed that the breadth of produce is far narrower than that found in its American counterparts (I've also read blogs complaining about the barren supermarkets of Germany). For many years in the U.S., I grew used to year-round strawberries, avocados, grapefruits and almost any other seasonal fare that was flown in from opposite hemispheres, so it took me a while to get used to the comparably sparse selection at the typical Rewe, Edeka and especially the increasingly numerous <i>Bioläden</i> (organic grocery stores). But when I got beyond this initial frustration, I realized that seasonal eating and the Germans' various food obsessions are actually one of my favorite aspects of German (and really, European) culture: it really is a wonderful way to enjoy the passing of the seasons and forces you to enjoy those foods even more when they're available and fresh. It also minimizes the shipping of food across hemispheres and oceans (see this <a href="http://www.thelocal.de/opinion/20110926-37831.html#.UW_FyGbk6PI" target="_blank">article from the Local</a> on this topic) or inefficient production in giant greenhouses. So enjoy your <i>Spargel</i> thoroughly (for now), and the strawberries will be here in no time flat.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-12324312296139099752013-04-15T06:54:00.000-07:002013-08-03T17:39:09.022-07:00German Beer: Past, Present and Future (Part 2)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTMawzLa7DchHQveIyqHDR_MykbTZ1yjNTf3bLatlhViR4uJMcYzaI34i7uWrbZfJQEVdFindTGE-ZwgcJ_I0ehHBONgIDGBaKOikNYWr8ryknSCPhDdJ9GC1ZzKUB267PTxHrm-LbcI/s1600/Foto-4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTMawzLa7DchHQveIyqHDR_MykbTZ1yjNTf3bLatlhViR4uJMcYzaI34i7uWrbZfJQEVdFindTGE-ZwgcJ_I0ehHBONgIDGBaKOikNYWr8ryknSCPhDdJ9GC1ZzKUB267PTxHrm-LbcI/s1600/Foto-4.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ludger Berges' <i>Hopfen & Malz </i>shop in Berlin-Wedding.<br />
(Photo: Philip Husemann)</td></tr>
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"Berlin was waiting for good beer" – this was shop owner Ludger Berges' reply upon being asked why he decided to open his Berlin-Wedding beer shop <i><a href="http://hopfenmalz.de/" target="_blank">Hopfen & Malz</a> </i>in February 2012. Before exiting the pharmaceutical industry that was failing to float Berges proverbial boat, he began researching the German beer market and sifting out the best brews across the country (see <a href="http://aktiongutesbier.de/" target="_blank"><i>Aktion Gutes Bier</i></a>). Today, his shop carries about 300 different brews, and his selection mainly comes from within Germany, but he also stocks beers from the U.S., Belgium and a few other countries. I think the above quote from Mr. Berges – and the success of his shop – is symbolic of a nascent change going on in Berlin's (and maybe Germany's) beer world. I think it's also a development that has the potential to affect all stages of the life cycle of German beer – how it's produced, distributed, sold and consumed. Much like the United States during the mid-20th century, the German beer market has seen a consolidation and monopolization of the beer production, distribution and sales processes, resulting in less variety, less choice, and less quality in a country where beer is a cultural – and of course a nutritional – staple. The question: Can Germany reverse this development and rediscover the great variety that's always been present in its beer culture? And perhaps more importantly, how? <br />
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<b>The U.S. Beer Renaissance</b><br />
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I'd like to start by having a look at how America's beer world has changed, and is changing. The number of breweries in the U.S. steadily declined well into the 1980s as conglomerates swallowed up smaller brewers, which resulted in a boring beer "monoculture" – beer drinkers basically had the choice between regular or light lagers (Miller/Miller Lite; Bud/Bud Light; Coors/Coors Light, Busch/Busch Light etc.). A more apt description of this choice: high-calorie dishwater versus low-calorie dishwater. In the late 1970s, the number of breweries bottomed out at 89 nationwide, which had a number of fundamental effects on beer culture and business in the U.S., many of which persist today: <br />
<br />
1. <u>The business of brewing is only about the bottom line, and quality inevitably suffers</u>: <br />
For example, Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B InBev) brews with cheaper grains (such as rice) to save money, and fewer or poor quality hops are used because the plant is expensive. Much more recently, A-B InBev has been fighting <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/03/anhueser-busch-ads_n_2802588.html" target="_blank">claims they've been watering down their beer</a> to save money. The way I see it, it makes zero difference whether they watered their beer down or not; their beer still tastes like rubbish (or in the best case, nothing) to anyone who knows anything about beer, and it's because all they really care about is a better bottom line and a growing market share.<br />
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2. <u>Brewing conglomerates move to control distribution and shelf space in stores</u>:<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtR3FMC6M-Rk-QiuI4aNb4wB3AtgkhYBLmz9-9b3_XrYbiPjx7QdpNv-ZXt4a6WOt_V1pnSlJZOqi6FUlS01paxmXI5zz2NliWNCnYfkN6fipra9EjqiziT3aHxfduhItqxU8wAAkD-xg/s1600/125-Brewery-Count_hr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtR3FMC6M-Rk-QiuI4aNb4wB3AtgkhYBLmz9-9b3_XrYbiPjx7QdpNv-ZXt4a6WOt_V1pnSlJZOqi6FUlS01paxmXI5zz2NliWNCnYfkN6fipra9EjqiziT3aHxfduhItqxU8wAAkD-xg/s1600/125-Brewery-Count_hr.jpg" height="155" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The American brewery 'pinch' in the 70s, and the subsequent<br />
explosion of microbrews. (Graphic<span id="goog_503549670"></span><span id="goog_503549671"></span>: Brewer's Association)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This issue is crucial, and as we shall see, it's also crucial in Germany's beer market. As in any business, more market share means more control over the means of distribution, and it also means you can impose more pressure on the retailers to prominently display your product. In <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1326194/" target="_blank"><i>Beer Wars</i></a>, a 2009 documentary about the beer business in the U.S., we learn about the so-called three-tier system in the U.S. (Brewers, Distributors, Retailers), which successfully helps to curb vertical integration, which allows the corporation to control all stages of production. But in doing so, the three-tier system actually encourages <i>horizontal</i> integration (acquisition of, and/or merging with competitors to form huge conglomerates). In short, the big boys can muscle out the runts by: a.) getting distributors to not deliver for the competitor, and b.) providing retailers with dozens of 'brands', thus occupying more and more shelf space (Check out this fantastic overview from <a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/november_december_2012/features/last_call041131.php?page=1" target="_blank">the Washingtonian</a>).<br />
<br />
3. <u>An ignorant consumer is a good consumer for the brewing juggernauts</u>: <br />
In creating a beer market where there is little difference between competitors' products, the battle is shifted away from the arena of product quality toward the marketing arena, and this is exactly where the big fellas want to fight their war (A-B InBev spent $1.42 billion in 2011). If consumers spend their lives in a market dominated by boring swill, they'll be less likely to notice or develop a taste for a higher quality product if it does manage to enter the market.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVvapgUSm0I_gDYb3LfEtd5oy_7p8MN_7Np714Tp83ADaFRa8aj1oYcOC5T4A-w3C2pP32JeWWn-jgCYszvyu9VxJEJovVNh0aW5btft2Wc47IfD37sMWxMpV9Idl7EPESf9R3gdtywU/s1600/USBreweries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVvapgUSm0I_gDYb3LfEtd5oy_7p8MN_7Np714Tp83ADaFRa8aj1oYcOC5T4A-w3C2pP32JeWWn-jgCYszvyu9VxJEJovVNh0aW5btft2Wc47IfD37sMWxMpV9Idl7EPESf9R3gdtywU/s1600/USBreweries.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the pesky little flies in AB-InBev's soup (Graphic: <a href="http://aleheads.com/">Aleheads.com</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here's the good news: Americans <i>are</i> developing a taste for higher quality beers and a more diverse product; the result is more choice for the consumer, the emergence of American brewers as some of the best in the world, and a "democratization" of the beer-brewing market. As Herr Berges at <i>Hopfen und Malz</i> informed me, home-brewing was actually not even legal in the U.S. until Jimmy Carter legalized it in 1979 (it still isn't legal in Alabama, and will finally be legal in Mississippi as of this summer), and if you cast another glance up to the Brewer's Association chart, it's no coincidence that this legalization lines up nicely with the explosion of craft breweries after 1980. Today, there are over a million homebrewers in the U.S. and over a thousand homebrew clubs. In the past decade, new U.S. breweries have consistently competed at the World Beer Awards, and often won, against the "traditional" country of origin for a given beer type. Since 1980, over 2,000 new craft breweries have been established, and although the U.S. beer market overall is declining – a development that is now mirrored in Germany – craft breweries producing fewer than 700,000 L per year saw a robust 13% increase in sales (U.S. Brewer's Association). As shown in this <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/03/17/174571197/craft-brews-slowly-chipping-away-at-big-beers-dominance?utm_source=npr&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=20130318" target="_blank">NPR piece</a>, they continue to chip away at their total share of the market. All stats aside, I think the development of the American beer market is part of a more general and growing movement of buying local, avoiding chains and conglomerates, and being more aware of the source of one's food and drink. Although craft brewers still only account for a small fraction of the overall market, they've succeeded in greatly widening the horizons of beer drinkers in the states and reminding people what beer <i>can</i> and <i>should</i> taste like.<br />
<br />
(Update: I was unaware of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21541887" target="_blank">this recent story from BBC</a> about how the British beer scene has been influenced by America's craft beer boom. <br />
<br />
<b>A Similar Story in Germany – with a similar outcome?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
When I sat down to talk with <i>Hopfen und Malz</i> owner Mr. Berges last month, I was curious if the state or development of the German beer market in any way resembled that of the U.S. I was vaguely aware of a similar consolidation of brewers in Germany (i.e. that Becks, Spaten and several other big German names had been snapped up by InBev back in the day, and German companies responded in kind), but I had no idea how similar the picture actually looked...<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx58aK6mJOxPBIm1VTYdHa9S1DLW_Xia7HFJudRGF1jU8OBB0KIIen8CIrhyphenhyphenEcFdYtm8c3dZ9kdF4vY5kNKrMrRVitqhlNiwLh_Bgu0IS9UNvN2IOw2HVgl2kt-D-gV1SaHgymP3C0-OA/s1600/IMG_7040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx58aK6mJOxPBIm1VTYdHa9S1DLW_Xia7HFJudRGF1jU8OBB0KIIen8CIrhyphenhyphenEcFdYtm8c3dZ9kdF4vY5kNKrMrRVitqhlNiwLh_Bgu0IS9UNvN2IOw2HVgl2kt-D-gV1SaHgymP3C0-OA/s1600/IMG_7040.JPG" height="318" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was probably one hill-climb away from the<br />
Schwarzer Keller in this photo.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Mr. Berges discovered the true variety of German beer in the same place I did: in the rolling hills of the east central region of <a href="http://www.braufranken.de/html/braufranken.html" target="_blank"><i>Franken</i></a> (Franconia). This area boasts the densest collection of breweries in the world, with nearly 300 of Germany's 1,400 or so breweries. Berges assured me when I listed the breweries we had visited on our beer/bike tour that we had missed the best place in all of Germany to drink a beer: the <i><a href="http://www.bamberg-guide.de/bamberg/bierundbierkultur/location.php?loc=562" target="_blank">Schwarzer Keller</a></i> in Weigelshofen. Most of Franconia's breweries are located in small towns, and are small-production <i>Privatbrauereien</i> with long histories. <i>Helles</i>, <i>Dunkles</i>, <i>Kellerbier</i>, and <i>Rauchbier</i> are the leading varieties in <i>Franken</i>. But Germany's beer diversity isn't just robust in Franconia: there are hundreds more small breweries from Bavaria in the south, to the Danish border in the north, where some of the world's best pilseners, <i>Weizens, </i>and <i>Kölschs</i> in the world are made. So why is it that so many of us beer-lovers – despite our appreciation for the superiority of the German <i>Pils </i>and <i>Weizen</i> – find ourselves growing bored in a country with so much good beer? Three words, according to Mr. Berges: "Distribution, distribution, distribution"... <br />
<br />
<u>Why German Beer is so Damned Cheap</u><br />
<u></u><br />
<u></u>
Much like the U.S. companies, German brewing companies began swallowing up smaller breweries one by one in order to gain more market share. The largest brewery in Germany, the Radeberger Group, owns some 40 different brands and controls about 15% of the beer market by itself. A company called Brau Holdings International (BHI) and AB-InBev round out the top three. Though it's perhaps not as extreme as in the U.S. in the 1980s, the top 8 companies in Germany controlled 52% of the market in 2009 (see <a href="http://aktiongutesbier.de/statistik-bier-und-brauereien/konzerne/" target="_blank">Aktion Gutes Bier</a>).<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uijoFzS9uH0sKcA8gJ3coT2AJqCsK_wTYYp8L7NajPl30bVNeRxzq9RqmE3T7lH2U1U0wqkBLNSZ25ycLDwVq3lItP8zQZDUMxSRJlyc1UYW213kXLqdi_pUVmeJWFPlL9VBiwo4u8k/s1600/Bier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uijoFzS9uH0sKcA8gJ3coT2AJqCsK_wTYYp8L7NajPl30bVNeRxzq9RqmE3T7lH2U1U0wqkBLNSZ25ycLDwVq3lItP8zQZDUMxSRJlyc1UYW213kXLqdi_pUVmeJWFPlL9VBiwo4u8k/s1600/Bier.jpg" height="174" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the names you'll see in <i>Getränkeläden </i>and <i>Spätis.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
But here's the real kicker: Germany doesn't have a three-tier system to stop these conglomerates from vertically integrating, and thus controlling all steps in the process. For example, the Radeberger Group brews the beer from its 35+ brands, distributes them, and then sells them in warehouse-like <i>Getränkeläden</i> or <i>Märkte </i>(drink stores – see also my earlier post <a href="http://allsinkscherman.blogspot.de/2012/10/into-drink.html" target="_blank">"Into the Drink"</a>). This kind of vertical <i>and</i> horizontal integration has the positive effect of reduced production and distribution costs, such that beer is quite a bit cheaper than most water in Germany. I always thought it was just because Germany likes beer more than a friend, but it's really all about capitalism: the conglomerates can produce, distribute and sell beer extremely cheaply while still profiting, and want to keep it cheap, but not too cheap (either legally, or <a href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/ermittlungen-gegen-zwoelf-brauereien-kartellamt-vermutet-illegale-absprachen-beim-bierpreis-1.1631365" target="_blank">illegally by means of price collusion</a>) to maintain their dominance. The end result, as Mr. Berges put it: "If you go to Getraenke Hoffmann (owned by Radeberger Group), they have 200 <i>Getränkemärkte</i> in Berlin and Brandenburg. And they all belong to this [Radeberger] Group. So if you go there and look at the variety, 50% comes from the same brewery. You do not see it because of all the different labels, the colors of the boxes, but it's all the same company...that is why people think it all tastes the same." The real clever bit on the part of the conglomerates was keeping all the regional labels they had swallowed up so that the vast majority of consumers would remain ignorant to the fact that all the variety is in fact illusory. I imagine most have no idea that their beloved local brand they grew up with has been bought out by a multinational corporation. In cities like Berlin, this means that the hundreds of small <i>Spätis</i> (convenience stores) can source all of their beer from two or three distributors (i.e. Radeberger, AB-InBev and BHI) and still offer what appears to be a wide selection of beers for rock-bottom prices. And the same goes for the supermarkets.<br />
<br />
<u>The Plight of the Beer-Lover's Beer Shop in Germany, and the Light at the End of the Tunnel</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXI9JOHdbRgn-o5xDkPvw_UB68G9yBhnDwQVJ8Bp5_9FBIFLpKeY7KQQHnUSuJchyphenhyphen1D86rWMrLu1-Lydz9-U1zznD8tL1AnbGGs4U9ATmD8ga2aArixf3ISBBB66XjyRcQWx7F52ZI3q8/s1600/Foto-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXI9JOHdbRgn-o5xDkPvw_UB68G9yBhnDwQVJ8Bp5_9FBIFLpKeY7KQQHnUSuJchyphenhyphen1D86rWMrLu1-Lydz9-U1zznD8tL1AnbGGs4U9ATmD8ga2aArixf3ISBBB66XjyRcQWx7F52ZI3q8/s1600/Foto-1.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You'll have a clear sense of Germany's<br />
beer variety at <i>Hopfen und Malz.</i> (Photo: Philip Husemann)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So because of all of this, as Mr. Berges explained, "Germans have only three major sources from which to buy beer: the Getränkemarkt, Supermarkt, and the Kiosk/Späti, and none of them focus on small-production brewers." This of course was the impetus for Berges' <i>Hopfen und Malz</i>, but unlike liquor stores in the States, he has no eas<span id="goog_503549631"></span><span id="goog_503549632"></span>y method of getting beer to his store. He had to laboriously establish personal contact with dozens of breweries and distributors one by one, and currently works with 30 (!) different distributors in order to maintain his current stock. He focuses only on the top-rated smaller suppliers and displays them clearly by beer type, the best of the best residing at eye level. It's a refreshing new way to experience and shop the <i>Vielfalt</i> (diversity) of German beers. But Berges doesn't just carry the traditional German beer types from Franconia and Bavaria: he also stocks the newest pilsners, porters, and yes, IPAs, APAs, and XPAs (!) from Germany's newest microbrews, which are popping up at an increasing rate all over Germany.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP4wPvYKucKqFQL92u4gDu1J73rVn7Rktlh9nErJg5cgyPxG2Gu5QTgtyt2bOzf7OzsQBZI1NDWmc-DXvQp4j8zcy4zVO_Vd6E6lu-OLgZhU4XM1ZW4oLjH7hDZXdY9lVVKLb-5SxeivU/s1600/Foto.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP4wPvYKucKqFQL92u4gDu1J73rVn7Rktlh9nErJg5cgyPxG2Gu5QTgtyt2bOzf7OzsQBZI1NDWmc-DXvQp4j8zcy4zVO_Vd6E6lu-OLgZhU4XM1ZW4oLjH7hDZXdY9lVVKLb-5SxeivU/s1600/Foto.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An IPA and a Märzen from <a href="http://www.pax-braeu.de/" target="_blank">Pax Bräu</a>, one<br />
of Germany's new promising microbrews.<br />
(Photo: Philip Husemann)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So despite all of the aforementioned factors working against them, these new microbrews and brewpubs are beginning to breathe new life into the German beer market. Berlin now has 20 breweries and brew pubs, only 1 of which is large-production (unsurprisingly owned by Radeberger Group). Berges believes this number will grow to 30-40 in a few years, including the first American-owned brewery to open in 2013, called <a href="http://www.vagabundbrauerei.com/about.php" target="_blank">Vagabund-Brauerei</a>. Founders Tom, Matt and David started as humble home-brewers, but are now crafting a set of ambitious beers in hopes of broadening German beer taste and bringing some much-needed variety to Berlin's beer market. It's interesting that the homebrewing craze that helped kick-start the U.S. microbrew market is not quite as prominent in Germany (Berges reckons there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 people who are homebrewing in Germany); one of my theories is that even the mass-produced pilseners are still top-quality products compared to the Buds and Millers of the U.S., so perhaps there was less impetus for exploration. But maybe it was also just that something that was long forbidden in the U.S. had suddenly become legal, so people went hog-wild on it.<br />
<br />
In the end, it's clear to me that there are two big keys to Germany (re)discovering the quality and variety of it's brewers: until shop owners like Berges have a less burdensome method of stocking products from quality, small-production breweries, they will remain needles in the haystack of <i>Spätis,</i> <i>Getränkemärkte</i>, and <i>Supermärkte</i>. The big players will definitely fight this tooth and nail, but I think craft brewers in the States and the new ones cropping up in Germany have shown that if you brew it, they will come. However, I think the demand side might be even more important: The German consumer must wake up, smell the hops, and realize that they've been duped by the beer behemoths. Nobody expects the majority to drop everything and never buy an AB-InBev beer again, but some of the energy Germans put into buying organic foods can certainly be shifted over to more conscientious beer shopping. Hopefully they can also overcome their often rigidly traditional mindsets to explore some of the plethora of wonderful beer types that didn't originate in or near Germany. I, for one, am optimistic.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaF6EgSG3iU5Zoi8gXWVsVp8-qpwA_xu7pZA52A3Dkds4_2B4bI5slKVNt0jr4TxTWOQOM_ZiQc1xtFGoBk7exywQyIPnDlHj7K9Affrl8P6pvSWWe9_Tx2MAURG48PjSh74JCy24gb4o/s1600/Foto%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaF6EgSG3iU5Zoi8gXWVsVp8-qpwA_xu7pZA52A3Dkds4_2B4bI5slKVNt0jr4TxTWOQOM_ZiQc1xtFGoBk7exywQyIPnDlHj7K9Affrl8P6pvSWWe9_Tx2MAURG48PjSh74JCy24gb4o/s1600/Foto%25281%2529.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Germans are still serious about brewing: <br />
give it a few years and Germany will also be <br />
crafting top-notch pales. (Photo: P. Husemann)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u></u><br />
<u></u>
(If you'd like to travel back in time to beer's past, have a look at <a href="http://allsinkscherman.blogspot.de/2013/03/german-beer-past-present-and-future.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a>. Also, another big thanks to Ludger Berges and <i>Hopfen und Malz</i> for his insight into this blog post. Also, if you're interested in getting updates on the newest promising pilsners, pale ales, and porters in Germany and beyond, the Hopfen und Malz Facebook feed is a great resource!) <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-28335126144173652702013-03-21T04:01:00.001-07:002013-04-14T15:48:06.504-07:00German Beer: Past, Present, and Future (Part 1)<br />
"We can better conquer Germania with beer than with weaponry." These choice words from Roman historian Tacitus in the 1st century give an indication of just how far back in time the Germans' love for beer reaches. In the many generations and centuries following, beer remained an irreplaceable staple in Germanic society – indeed, as basic as food itself – and still today, it's impossible to think about Germany without thinking about its beloved <i>Volksnahrungsmittel</i> (literally "people's food"). Here, I take a look at beer's long history in "Germania", its roots in the culture of the populace, but also at the beverage's present and possible future(s) – in two parts. The second half will include some first-hand input from the owner of a Berlin beer shop called <i>Hopfen und Malz</i> that's breaking the city's <i>Späti</i> (late-night convenience store) mold. I'll also examine what I think has to happen for Berlin and Germany to best cultivate its rich beer history in the coming years and decades. The world of beer is changing again – as it always has – and I think Germany would do well to ride the wave.<br />
<br />
<b>The Ancient Roots of Beer Brewing</b><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTvxWoZcF5lF3rzpFWpxwIX9VxY8-fzPDLGpIbe8T3eKxYZ08Pcfhy1q9-08PcxLQOehfO5SHGihlyYBr7ikf4ylmtKEkWRn0uE5x1pdDTwYwOtLTUU1fuHF5bJK9upOv_hoOsHECTQQ/s1600/s_orms_11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTvxWoZcF5lF3rzpFWpxwIX9VxY8-fzPDLGpIbe8T3eKxYZ08Pcfhy1q9-08PcxLQOehfO5SHGihlyYBr7ikf4ylmtKEkWRn0uE5x1pdDTwYwOtLTUU1fuHF5bJK9upOv_hoOsHECTQQ/s1600/s_orms_11.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hugubert enjoying some swill from the horn.<br />
(Photo: <a href="http://www.ormsheim.org.uk/" target="_blank">Ormsheim Re-enactment Group</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The history of beer goes much further back than the Germanic tribes of Central Europe. Many centuries before Aldegund and Hugubert were brandishing battle axes and sculling beers out of animal horns in the longhouse, the Sumerians, Egyptians and Chinese sipped a very chunky version of the drink through filtered straws and made from a variety of grains. In fact, a recent New York Times article <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html?_r=0" target="_blank">"How beer gave us civilization"</a> claims that as early as 10,000 years ago, beer – and not bread – may have actually been the first product rendered from cultivated wheat. The author goes on to claim that beer, and the light intoxication it brought on (early beer had quite a bit less alcohol than today's brews), was likely a key step on man's road toward complex societies and innovation. In a sense, the author claims that beer acted as a sort of social "lubricant" for humans, allowing them to get beyond their basest animal instincts and societal restraints. I have to say I'm a bit skeptical that beer was a necessary prerequisite for novel human creativity, not to mention the fact that alcohol also probably played a pretty hefty role in ramping up interpersonal aggression. But there is no doubt that beer has played a fundamental role in a host of world cultures – none more, of course, than the Germans.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK0xq3pBEPrRGQNy_Tk5719KldI8nffxJ3HKSiN0Y2pOr-uVv6zRf_AAWOuW-D9JFI5BiAuT5gdFYr0Ejt1_ypBJmg9b7cgx1WUfHw2lzja8pD-VZ252R2wFnY3jw_sl6Y7cMIx1GkXgs/s1600/StGall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK0xq3pBEPrRGQNy_Tk5719KldI8nffxJ3HKSiN0Y2pOr-uVv6zRf_AAWOuW-D9JFI5BiAuT5gdFYr0Ejt1_ypBJmg9b7cgx1WUfHw2lzja8pD-VZ252R2wFnY3jw_sl6Y7cMIx1GkXgs/s1600/StGall.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swiss cloister St. Gall brewed<br />
three different beers in 820 AD.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At the risk of seeming presumptuous or misogynistic, I think most of us today would identify beer brewing as a masculine enterprise; however, the production of beer was in fact a household duty in early Germania, and therefore a woman's job. The brew bore little resemblance to the drink we know and love today; it was also chunky, sour, and probably had less than 3% alcohol, so you'd have to choke down a half dozen pints of the swill if you wanted to get your medieval buzz on. Beer was the drink of choice – or rather, the drink of necessity – in all of the areas of Europe where grapes could not be cultivated, and this beer/wine division remains pretty robust today; try a beer that's actually brewed in 'winophilic' Spain, Italy or Greece and you'll believe me. The big advantage with beer in the Dark and Middle Ages was that, aside from it's wonderful intoxicating properties, the water had to be boiled and was therefore guaranteed to be safe to drink.<br />
<br />
<b>The Tipsy Monks</b><br />
<br />
Just as literacy, scientific knowledge, and wealth were centered around the cloisters and monasteries dotting the European landscape, the business of brewing was mainly the domain of the monks of medieval Germany and Europe. Some of the oldest continuously operating breweries in Europe are in abbeys and cloisters. Beer was also a convenient work-around for monks during those pesky fasting periods; because beer was a liquid, monks could still consume it during this time. The way I see it, it wasn't all that bad being a monk during this time, at least compared to the poor sots outside the monastery walls: stable food supply, comfortable and airy robes with optional hood for chilly nights, and although the church made you fast for a while, it actually meant you got to tie one on on an otherwise empty stomach.<br />
<br />
One of the earliest proper breweries we have on record is the St. Gall brewery located in modern Switzerland, and it gives us a tantalizing description of its brewing complex that confirms the above. What's fascinating about the St. Gall brewery is that it produced three different grades of beer: <i>prima melior</i> for the monks, <i>secunda</i> for lay brothers, and <i>tertia</i> for pilgrims, beggars, etc. (for more detail see Ian Hornsey's <a href="http://books.google.de/books/about/History_of_Beer_and_Brewing.html?id=QqnvNsgas20C&redir_esc=y" target="_blank"><i>History of Beer and Brewing</i></a>). Now, the details of exactly how these brews were crafted isn't explicitly laid out in the description, and some even dispute that three distinct beers were produced, but as far as I've read, the general consensus is that they comprised three levels of decreasing quality, where some of the raw materials (malt, hops, etc.) from the previous "level" would be reused to make the inferior brews. Imagine brewing three pots of coffee using the same grounds each time – in a cruel ironic twist, it was the poor and destitute that were given the weakest and sourest brew, thus hindering their ability to drown their collective sorrows. Viewing St. Gall from a more global perspective, <i>Klosterbrauen</i> ("abbey ales") perhaps represent the first clear evidence of top-down control of beer and brewing, and as we shall see, this system of controlling production and distribution continues through to the present day.<br />
<br />
<b>German Stadt- and Hofbräuhäuser</b><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlt2eAAsyiayf1VetxFf8I4gY9baVcVqha1tIzKkZq6QRRs5ZajTPdiw8p005BdkxZRogF5vwANu8pfR6-Zu7QSGkC3bh2d8Wm1O1q3MFiRW9h6ehnXugl43jsh1byOERzdyukZu6Uze8/s1600/beerLaw.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlt2eAAsyiayf1VetxFf8I4gY9baVcVqha1tIzKkZq6QRRs5ZajTPdiw8p005BdkxZRogF5vwANu8pfR6-Zu7QSGkC3bh2d8Wm1O1q3MFiRW9h6ehnXugl43jsh1byOERzdyukZu6Uze8/s1600/beerLaw.gif" height="400" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The German Purity Law of 1516</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Eventually, the populace and nobility noticed that they were being shut out of a lucrative business; as a result, myriad <i>Stadt- </i>and <i>Hofbräuhäuser</i> (city and court breweries)<i> </i>were established, in effect democratizing the beer-making process. Sounds great on the surface, but this development also led to a rapid decline in beer quality. Many producers began using strong spices and herbs such as stinging nettles, cloves and juniper to mask poor taste, and materials such as soot – and even the psychoactive <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_muscaria#Culinary_use" target="_blank">fly agaric mushroom</a> of Alice in Wonderland fame – were used as preservatives. In addition, wheat and grain supplies were being increasingly depleted as brewers and bakers competed for often-scarce ingredients, especially wheat. These were the two main factors that led to the world-famous <i>Reinheitsgebot</i> of 1516 (German purity law), stating that only barley, water and hops could be used in the production of beer. To this day, it stands as the oldest continuously implemented food regulation (and I think it's fitting that this title belongs to the Germans).<br />
<br />
An interesting consequence of the adoption of the at first only Bavarian <i>Reinheitsgebot</i> – especially after it was adopted by all of Germany upon the 1871 unification of Germany – was that, along with curbing poor and tainted products, it also reined in a lot of the variety in German beer and cleared the way for the pilsner beer to dominate the German beer market. The <i>Pils</i> is a bottom-fermenting lager that became possible and gained in popularity in the 19th century as refrigeration became more available. It also had the added advantage of being more transportable because of its higher hops content. Today, bottom-fermenters (mainly pilsner and export, the latter of which is a higher alcohol version of the former) account for over 73% of beer sales in Germany. Though dark beers, Franconian-style <i>Helles</i>, and others are gaining in popularity, you can basically say that Germany is a two-type beer market: the <i>Pils</i>, which is popular basically everywhere, and the <i>Weizen</i>, which is particularly popular in the south (see figure below).<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGprB_p1t_gGv3qcnjzuLPe4J8ux-Yn1v0AAdNj018ZVRYQxZdzcX0Rfy7nmrHJW0oKOYWSdeTdqW181_eJe5biSDmZ_M_Yz6I9T0rmDqCbHDbMCQc3KzCaTOJ7ptJQY18WSSa01dJDk/s1600/pils.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGprB_p1t_gGv3qcnjzuLPe4J8ux-Yn1v0AAdNj018ZVRYQxZdzcX0Rfy7nmrHJW0oKOYWSdeTdqW181_eJe5biSDmZ_M_Yz6I9T0rmDqCbHDbMCQc3KzCaTOJ7ptJQY18WSSa01dJDk/s1600/pils.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Market shares of various beer types<br />
(source: Aktion Gutes Bier)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>A Decline in German Beer Culture?</b><br />
<br />
This fact brings me to the article that actually spurred me to write these two posts: namely, a Slate article by Christian DeBenedetti entitled <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/41872277/ns/slatecom/#.UTW1B7tKhO0" target="_blank">"Buzz kill: Why German Beer Culture is in Decline"</a>, which reports that overall German beer consumption is in decline for the first time in a very long time. DeBenedetti claims further that German beer <i>culture </i>is declining along with it. I wanted to know whether this was true, and if so, why it was happening. The author first cites the exodus of talented young German brewing school graduates to the United States that are looking to become part of the craft brew market boom there. I'll elaborate more on this in the following post, but the U.S. beer market is now in the midst of a pretty big renaissance; craft breweries are popping up left and right and offering a wide range of products of superior quality. Over the past several years, beer consumption in the U.S. has also stagnated, but craft breweries have shown strong growth and consistently chipped away at the market share of the big three (Anheuser-Busch InBev, Miller and Coors). In short, despite flagging overall consumption, U.S. beer culture is as lively as ever. Jumping back to Germany, DeBenedetti later cites the decline in the number of breweries in Germany, and Berlin in particular, as an indicator of Germany's beer culture slump. The city did once house over 700 local and regional brews, but now has a total of just 20 (19 of which are brew pubs or very small production). The author paints a decidedly dour picture for German beer culture, but given the depth of Germany's relationship with its <i>Volksgetränk</i> outlined above, I don't think the Germans need to fear the long-term decline of their beer culture. Indeed, I think what I've observed and heard confirms that German beer culture may well be in transition, but I don't think it's in decline.<br />
<br />
Correction: der Staubsauger has informed me correctly that Miller and Coors are MillerCoors since 2007. I guess they couldn't just stand around idle while Anheuser Busch got even bigger by teaming up with InBev. So it's now the "Big 2".<br />
<br />
(to be continued in part 2 of "German Beer: Past, Present, and Future") <br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-4317242088284210282013-03-12T06:43:00.000-07:002013-03-15T02:45:49.095-07:00Atomkraft? Nein Danke. Energiewende? Ja bitte.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI0KsfPGo2qL9uXFXcUg93iFD26AWz0HPMDiv9eITcOkL7PNR5q6E6ZraV4e1lFiBocdVMePaF8uE3PxjTEu-z0ovRd0p3p0VpJDHbkrnhdJ3P5CsxGBlRbmOTbfbUyUtCcMgmry8939w/s1600/Atomkraft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI0KsfPGo2qL9uXFXcUg93iFD26AWz0HPMDiv9eITcOkL7PNR5q6E6ZraV4e1lFiBocdVMePaF8uE3PxjTEu-z0ovRd0p3p0VpJDHbkrnhdJ3P5CsxGBlRbmOTbfbUyUtCcMgmry8939w/s1600/Atomkraft.jpg" /></a></div>
In June of 2011, Germany made perhaps the most significant and gutsy move made by any nation to date in order to boost renewable energy production and (eventually) reduce emissions. In the wake of the Fukushima disaster (which marked its 2-year anniversary just the other day – have a look at this <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/03/japan-earthquake-2-years-later-before-and-after/100469/" target="_blank">amazing before/after photo series</a> from the Atlantic), and under significant pressure from the German people and rival parties, Merkel's administration pledged to shut down all nuclear power plants in Germany by the year 2022. This move represents a huge step in the so-called <i>Energiewende</i> ("energy transition"), whereby all non-renewable energy sources will be phased out in favor of renewables. In Germany's case, the latter have consisted largely of photovoltaic and wind energy, which at their peak now account for more than 20% of Germany's total energy use. More than any other Western nation, Germany has acknowledged the energy problems ahead of us, and the world will certainly be watching closely as they try to tackle the challenges of rapidly ramping up renewable energy production. They'll also watch Germany take a big lead in implementing these technologies.<br />
<br />
In the following, I'd like to take a look at how Germany got here, and why they in particular have stepped away from the status quo in this case. In doing so, I'm hoping to avoid the whole debate on the merits or weaknesses of nuclear power; instead, I'd like to focus on how German culture and politics led to these developments.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Orr6ts3XmxXLbDJAY1Q6I6He5JfykGNDmaYDTQcGMgYE0fsgkGYyX09RqomHgzjZ6wH6lyAtfkrbiwt7XuRTImvaVYIubroqzGfybYZNJou8BdSu6dA6yD_LXJuNR86PHRKnN9JCe-I/s1600/Erneubar_ISET_centrothermphotovoltaicsAG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Orr6ts3XmxXLbDJAY1Q6I6He5JfykGNDmaYDTQcGMgYE0fsgkGYyX09RqomHgzjZ6wH6lyAtfkrbiwt7XuRTImvaVYIubroqzGfybYZNJou8BdSu6dA6yD_LXJuNR86PHRKnN9JCe-I/s1600/Erneubar_ISET_centrothermphotovoltaicsAG.jpg" height="241" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monthly wind and solar power production in Germany</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although the Fukushima event was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, the recent political push toward the <i>Energiewende </i>is actually the end product of decades of activism going back to the <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Atomkraft-Bewegung" target="_blank">1970s</a>, when Germany' aversion to nuclear power began. As the <i><a href="http://www.dw.de/german-economic-miracle-thanks-to-debt-relief/a-16630511" target="_blank">Wirtschaftswunder</a> </i>(the "economic miracle") rolled on in the West during the 50s and 60s, demand for power rose, and the relatively new technology offered by nuclear science filled the gap. But of course it wasn't long before the first (big) problems arose, and the German people rose up along with them. Back in those days, the spectres of nuclear power gone wrong were the Three Mile Island disaster in the U.S. and the Chernobyl explosion in the Soviet Union. If that didn't hit close enough to home for many Germans, then the proximity of planned nuclear waste storage facilities to people's towns and homes was enough to drum up popular support for the <a href="http://www.rp-online.de/politik/geschichte-der-atomkraft-in-deutschland-1.2257405" target="_blank"><i>Anti-Atomkraft</i> movement</a>. To this day, this German movement against nuclear power has been stronger, more widespread, and more sustained than anywhere else in the world.<br />
<br />
More importantly, however, the <i>Anti-Atomkraft</i> movement was part of a much broader and more fundamental environmentalist movement in Germany that continues to define the country's politics and the psyche of the populace to this day. Though I think many would agree that the environmentalist movement in the United States began much earlier, with conservationist pioneers such as Aldo Leopold (who, incidentally, was just profiled <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/03/10/173949498/remembering-aldo-leopold-visionary-conservationist-and-writer" target="_blank">today on NPR</a>) or looking even further back to John Muir, there isn't a shadow of a doubt that environmentalism in policy and practice is far more advanced in Germany than in the States today. There is a significant chunk of the U.S. populace that doesn't see any reason to change daily habits, conserve energy, or modify public energy policy in the face of environmental change.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWqar2QR7KZJCvqTO4lL2OlXDORPP47PaKy-_hv4FGbsNbfSF4ij26tgq0XHmbaz4xBc-04FaJkEqr_k5COoETJRFYNQQZtHukYTOToy4ltbSVntXA1QQX7WzzWs2yufx3wwCrPZLKzEg/s1600/CastorProtest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWqar2QR7KZJCvqTO4lL2OlXDORPP47PaKy-_hv4FGbsNbfSF4ij26tgq0XHmbaz4xBc-04FaJkEqr_k5COoETJRFYNQQZtHukYTOToy4ltbSVntXA1QQX7WzzWs2yufx3wwCrPZLKzEg/s1600/CastorProtest.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Anti-Atomkraft</i> protesters</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Setting aside the obvious reasons for this development that are certainly rooted in our very different political systems, I think one of the big reasons for this disconnect in public opinion and behavior is the vast difference between the post-war worlds experienced by the Germans and Americans. Before the <i>Wirtschaftswunder </i>really had a chance to take hold in Germany – and of course during the latter part of World War II – an entire generation of Germans grew up in an environment of heavy rationing and shortages that left no other option besides adopting a lifestyle of <i>Sparsamkeit</i> (thriftiness). Nothing was wasted, everything used, reused, recycled and repaired. I think many also forget that much of this generation is still living today, and their offspring undoubtedly retain many of these characteristics in their daily lives simply because it's the way they were brought up.<br />
<br />
By contrast, the U.S. came out of World War II as rich as ever, with a young population just beginning to realize the scale of vast natural resources at their fingertips. Combined with a pretty liberal capitalist/expansionist economic model, consumerism boomed, and the conservationist/environmentalist movement that had such strong roots in the U.S. fell into the background. Though books such as Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" found a broad readership, a real movement never gained significant political traction. What the Germans call the <i>Wegwerfgesellschaft</i> (literally "throw-away culture") had been born, flourished, and spread out of the U.S. during this period. My favorite statistic in this vein is average per capita water consumption: although Germany is far from the being the best in the world, they still use about 1/3 the amount of water as the average American. Some of this is simple personal awareness of waste, but a lot of it is the availability of products such as water-saving toilets and fixtures, which have only just begun to be commonplace in the States. <br />
<br />
Bringing this back to the issue of nuclear energy, the <i>Energiewende</i> and the environment, I think the social climate of the late 1960s and 70s in Germany provided the perfect environment for all of these factors to come together: the confluence of anti-consumerism, anti-materialism, the cult of growth and corresponding disregard for nature, and finally, the nuclear accidents, all served to fuel the movement that resulted in Germany's giant step forward in the <i>Energiewende</i>. I think that one of the most interesting aspects of the phase-out of nuclear in Germany is that it came from the Conservatives. Granted, Merkel's CDU party prior to Fukushima was singing a different tune about nuclear power, but in Germany (in contrast to the U.S.), conservatism is not automatically associated with a reduced interest in pursuing renewable energy. Furthermore, the flexibility and willingness of a politician to change a political standpoint based on relevant events is a place where the U.S. can learn a lot from the Germans.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjBbkqBvbzztKEfzkFbxJTZmMcLTCGji9Ox5cbOeJXbPJ5HbLSQWEHb453PU20edmI1PWO4S7i1AZSPa5ThztrCX5Mn8lZY0kVxAvi_Jtvb51vtwIdnKwikJ-R0JKkLRLCcfSQDZbdqJ4/s1600/800px-MittlererSchlossgartenKundgebung_2010-10-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjBbkqBvbzztKEfzkFbxJTZmMcLTCGji9Ox5cbOeJXbPJ5HbLSQWEHb453PU20edmI1PWO4S7i1AZSPa5ThztrCX5Mn8lZY0kVxAvi_Jtvb51vtwIdnKwikJ-R0JKkLRLCcfSQDZbdqJ4/s1600/800px-MittlererSchlossgartenKundgebung_2010-10-01.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wutbürger</i> protesting Stuttgart 21<br />
(Wikipedia Commons)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
One final point in connection with this issue is that public demonstration and public opinion are heeded in a much more real sense in Germany than in the states. It's not that protest is dead in the U.S. – quite the contrary, and on both sides of the political spectrum – both the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street are strong evidence that Americans are as actively political as ever. The problem is that politicians in the states don't answer to the public any more. The German word of the year in 2010, "Wutbürger" (angry citizen), was coined to describe people acting in response to controversial public projects and initiatives, and in many cases their actions have led to real change (see <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttgart_21" target="_blank">Stuttgart 21</a>, the <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flughafen_Berlin_Brandenburg" target="_blank">Berlin-Brandenburg Airport</a>, and the <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomm%C3%BClllager_Gorleben" target="_blank">Gorleben nuclear waste</a> storage facility). Although these demonstrations can become tiresome at times, and their efficacy is far from perfect, they are a sign of a healthy democracy, where a real interface exists between public opinion and the actions of politicians. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-3298123206712059772013-03-01T07:16:00.001-08:002013-03-12T04:32:20.053-07:00Notes from the German Underground<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUSS6GnWgmI4O1KyV1wDPI0lKSsGn6tOxhL2sxJ9NQ_Jmf6c0yEqBXFzoussa-Np-uaRVmF1a0ESIiPhRVdxU4-86WNTu4jGJ9GN256_WbZ_YwX5m675lGuGCbeYbL0H9u3Htm_yRM8o/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUSS6GnWgmI4O1KyV1wDPI0lKSsGn6tOxhL2sxJ9NQ_Jmf6c0yEqBXFzoussa-Np-uaRVmF1a0ESIiPhRVdxU4-86WNTu4jGJ9GN256_WbZ_YwX5m675lGuGCbeYbL0H9u3Htm_yRM8o/s1600/3.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Chermans love David Hasslehoff...and Alf. <br />
(Photo: Notes of Berlin)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are many fascinating written genres in the German language, but one of the most fleeting and briefest also happens to be the most amusing and informative of them all: the <i>Zettel</i>, or <i>Zettelbotschaft – </i>in English, the posted note, announcement or sign. These little notes appear in countless different places ranging from an apartment building foyer to the walls of a shared flat to street lampposts. If you take a moment to consider their content, they actually say a lot about German culture, and I have come to discover that the <i>Zettel</i> serves as a rare outlet for an even rarer form of expression in Germany: sarcasm. I'd venture to say that I've read more sarcastic commentary in the several hundred notes I've seen than I've heard in my 15 or so years of German conversation. Needless to say, the sarcasm often comes in the form of passive-aggression, but that's beside the point.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mYHeggwHaORXuqJ_XxionFNeYA6vSnCAEOWErnD4-PnpoZhPrOw1Gdu9lY1HE1Vb-gI-ai8KX93gsfUZNrxuRDIArkxfUI4ZLCkapvwtKJLeKWwEsYV6A4BgBJeSn_bDUHpuSUQHz6M/s1600/1962022783.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mYHeggwHaORXuqJ_XxionFNeYA6vSnCAEOWErnD4-PnpoZhPrOw1Gdu9lY1HE1Vb-gI-ai8KX93gsfUZNrxuRDIArkxfUI4ZLCkapvwtKJLeKWwEsYV6A4BgBJeSn_bDUHpuSUQHz6M/s1600/1962022783.jpg" height="216" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classic passive-aggression: "You know, that I know, that you<br />
know, that I know, that you took <u>the thing</u> once again...<br />
so cough it up!!" (Photo: Oonagh O'Hagan)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So without further ado, I'd like to take a little journey through Berlin's<i> </i>"World of Notes", paying particular attention to what they might tell us about German interpersonal interaction (notable in this case is the fact that the interaction is <i>not</i> face-to-face) but also just appreciating the hilarity of the subject matter and style of language. Like many other things in Berlin, the world of notes here has taken on a life of its own to become the most interesting and colorful in all of Germany. This reality is evident in the rising popularity of a newish website with the goal of spotting these fleeting little notes in the wild and recording them for posterity. It's called <a href="http://www.notesofberlin.com/" target="_blank">"Notes of Berlin"</a> (also on my "All Links Cherman" list to the right), and has recently eclipsed 5 million page views; the site founder was also kind enough to let me use some of his content, so thanks to Notes of Berlin!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6p-cciRQqsZyGXmAA_0GzoeIB3iR6CXQRPGzZY1bpGB8IrEljmJ3QnARj_BYYOcJrS6omzLYLHdSkYGEdWHbSqkeVWRv6W5gU3QDYHCL4qRBF1wHYRqsj9IRAkFdADC9diKKltcYpzKE/s1600/1618022985.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6p-cciRQqsZyGXmAA_0GzoeIB3iR6CXQRPGzZY1bpGB8IrEljmJ3QnARj_BYYOcJrS6omzLYLHdSkYGEdWHbSqkeVWRv6W5gU3QDYHCL4qRBF1wHYRqsj9IRAkFdADC9diKKltcYpzKE/s1600/1618022985.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The classic WG kitchen note with art<br />
accompaniment: "You swine! Clean up<br />
your shit already!...(small print: "Thank you")<br />
(Photo: Oonagh O'Hagen)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
<b>The <i>WG</i> note:</b></h3>
<b></b><br />
<b></b>
The Wohngemeinschaft, or WG (shared flat), is fertile ground for posted notes. Place a group of 5-10 students or young people in close quarters with a shared kitchen area and you're bound to have some good old fashioned aggression; but often, this aggression is not expressed in person, either because the aggressor cannot find the aggressee at that moment, the aggressor wishes to express his/her thoughts to the whole <i>Gemeinschaft</i> (community) and is unable to arrange an all-hands-on-deck WG meeting on short notice, or because the author opts in this case for the 'passive-aggressive' note. Our first example (see photo) comes from a wonderful book by Oonagh O'Hagan called <i><a href="http://www.amazon.de/Ich-brauchte-den-Schinken-Wirklich/dp/3462040073" target="_blank">"Ich brauch den Schinken. Wirklich! – Ein Bilderbuch aus dem ganz normalen WG-Wahnsinn"</a> </i>(I need that ham. Really! – A picture book from the totally normal world of shared-flat insanity), and is a great example of the avoidance of face-to-face confrontation. I couldn't be more for it in this case, though, because I think we can all agree that a simple "Hey, can you give me that <u>thing</u> back, thanks" would have been a lot more boring than this. I'm also quite curious as to what "that thing" was, and why they couldn't just name it in the note. One wonders...<br />
<br />
Any current or former WG resident also certainly knows the kitchen note, and they're very rarely about something positive. I didn't live in a WG when I studied abroad, but I remember seeing the exceedingly complex charts of scheduled tasks and regular duties to be done in the flat, with each resident neatly penciled in for each area in successive weeks. I also remember that those charts were almost never obeyed, and that conflict and hijinks ensued. The composer of example 2 (photo) has obviously taken some time to include artwork along with his/her aggression. After just two examples, it's also already patently clear that nearly all <i>Zettel</i> contain at least a few exclamation points, often in a row (which, incidentally, are exceedingly rare in other written genres of German). Another favorite of mine from O'Hagan's book: <i>"Warum ist mein Bett so feucht?"</i><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Gpjktex0O6bbC_xsyGCKqB5MgtWoBjJvgN2sOAAgMNQBZbWAvw6hxOw6mRbI34rCW_t-KnpCuG4qf3d-aaERUS2N2fJHVn5vkNFIikqWVpVtsx2lbc1rFxZWzx1TQDIWxjUbkEM11zY/s1600/in+moabit+von+rumpel-b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Gpjktex0O6bbC_xsyGCKqB5MgtWoBjJvgN2sOAAgMNQBZbWAvw6hxOw6mRbI34rCW_t-KnpCuG4qf3d-aaERUS2N2fJHVn5vkNFIikqWVpVtsx2lbc1rFxZWzx1TQDIWxjUbkEM11zY/s1600/in+moabit+von+rumpel-b.jpg" height="640" width="435" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The passive-aggressive/formal hybrid note trying to catch the<br />
mystery pooper. (Photo: Notes of Berlin)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
<b>The Mehrfamilienhaus note:</b></h3>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
The Mehrfamilienhaus (apartment building) note is a relative of the WG note in that it also addresses issues of living together with others; but here, there is even more distance between the writer and the readership. They tend to be pretty harmless (like the carefully-penned one directed at us the other day announcing that somebody had mistakenly received our mail), but now and again you get an interesting one, like two months ago in our apartment, when a neatly handwritten note hung in the hallway with the following bulletin: "Would you all be so kind as to close the front door until it latches so people don't shit in our entryway? Thank you, your neighbors." Amazingly, not more than a month or so later on Notes of Berlin, I spotted the gem to the right: "Which dirty sow is crapping in the entryway? Where are we living, anyway? You dirty pig, clean it up! Just don't get caught while you're doing it...." And then there's this fantastic shift in style on the second sheet: "It would be very nice if the party responsible for the fecal matter lying in the hallway would promptly remove it. This is an imposition on the residents as well as the cleaners." I love this note because you can almost see the process the writer went through: first, the unbridled anger as the hallway stench still lingered in his/her nostrils; and then, as they had a little time to cool down a bit, they taped on the more measured, prudent response using immaculate and sober formal German. The two poles of German-note style captured in one example.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXV9atlzeU9TPI8L_V-dBKzCGMkRifRvbObKO6BEGI-9KP5aPcNpHWe7x5GNNoVffHlpzo5J_usGI88UzyTqTsqN_zBXq5kofygBWDoMzBiHc_c5wctBW7eIB1Mv-eHjlcsIVzw1LJQBY/s1600/Fussmattendieb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXV9atlzeU9TPI8L_V-dBKzCGMkRifRvbObKO6BEGI-9KP5aPcNpHWe7x5GNNoVffHlpzo5J_usGI88UzyTqTsqN_zBXq5kofygBWDoMzBiHc_c5wctBW7eIB1Mv-eHjlcsIVzw1LJQBY/s1600/Fussmattendieb.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another <i>Zettel</i> that shows some serious artistic dedication. Note again the use<br />
of multiple exclamation points: "To the doormat-thief: This doormat only<br />
costs 2.99 at the hardware store. Buy one for yourself!!!"<br />
(Photo: Notes of Berlin)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Artistic flourishes can also be found in the apartment complex (after all, WGs are located within apartment complexes when they're not part of exclusive student housing). In this example, I don't hold out too much hope for the artist successfully reacquiring their pilfered doormat – after all, I don't know too many doormat thieves that are likely to return to the <i>Tatort</i>, much less heed the demands of a posted request for the return of the stolen goods. This aside, I'd like to recognize the courtesy of the composer in including the approximate purchase price of a new mat.<br />
<br />
One last, and very concise, Mehrfamilienhaus favorite of mine that was posted next to a long, unsightly smear on the wall of the stairwell: "Bitte keine Nahrungsmittel gegen die Wand schmeißen" ("Please refrain from throwing food products against the wall").<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSPIkf47M3Xgw2CBx9V57u1gch_YjZ6F402ij8fZOSETzWZ21jzfTRkdTHvZqVR6pe7SSX69m7oRHN9mMmlj39PEyzILikQiPAs6Jdb2N8NmLF_lrYkKP-5leagVwrJ88drqUFl7lEFU/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSPIkf47M3Xgw2CBx9V57u1gch_YjZ6F402ij8fZOSETzWZ21jzfTRkdTHvZqVR6pe7SSX69m7oRHN9mMmlj39PEyzILikQiPAs6Jdb2N8NmLF_lrYkKP-5leagVwrJ88drqUFl7lEFU/s1600/images.jpg" height="97" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love the detail in the right-hand panel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
<b>The "so-was-tut-man-nicht" note:</b></h3>
<b></b><br />
This particular <i>Zettel </i>species isn't defined by the place in which it's posted, but rather by its purpose. The "so-was-tut-man-nicht" note (or the "we-just-don't-do-that" note) makes a statement about appropriate behavior – and more importantly, it's about imploring others to follow suit. Being a culture where orderliness and stability is a highly valued thing, this is one of the most common types of <i>Zettel </i>in Germany, and of course in many cases these are properly manufactured signs, but they also exist in <i>Zettel </i>format. I think the first SWTMN note I encountered long ago during my first stay in Germany was the infamous "Bitte im Sitzen pinkeln" (Please potty while sitting) note, which in the ensuing years has become so popular that myriad commercially produced signs can now be purchased and posted (just google '<a href="https://www.google.de/search?q=im+sitzen+pinkeln&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=SKEwUf7eDuGS4ASMxYBo&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=944" target="_blank">im sitzen pinkeln</a>' and enjoy the ride). This behavioral nudge of course is necessitated by the ubiquitous <a href="http://allsinkscherman.blogspot.de/2012/10/the-mystifying-malodorous-shelf-toilet.html" target="_blank">German shelf toilet</a>, which requires precision accuracy in the standing position to avoid unsightly spray on your clothes and all bathroom surfaces. This note is understandable enough I guess, though I personally don't feel the need to post a sign above our own trusty shelf toilet. I figure if my guests feel they've got sharpshooter aim, then have at it, and hopefully they'll be mortified enough to clean up their own mess in the event of a misfire (I'm beginning to reconsider my words even as I type, though, because precise aim and <i>Party machen </i>don't exactly go hand in hand). The Chermans don't risk this eventuality though.<br />
<br />
In the restaurant sign on the right, the SWTMN takes aim at the widespread pet peeve of food photos in public. I love this one for a variety of reasons: first, 'instagrammen' as a verb. Verbing nouns is twice the fun in your second language as far as I'm concerned. Then of course there's the irony of the closing remark forbidding the instagramming of the sign itself. Admittedly, I don't know where the creator of this note came from, but if they are in fact German, this is about as good as German humor gets.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCv5nybJzYWuFCeHwWMLZKWq8HC0NdHHn7vCVnjleClTD1xlT07mR7MD3XLm_92CdTeNgnW9z_6OAsod23Nxxi4ofYgYooyCoX1vyqXxGK_gvhD7YfdaxNMVFCwCxE-1hlcfTF7qoREOc/s1600/Instagrammen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCv5nybJzYWuFCeHwWMLZKWq8HC0NdHHn7vCVnjleClTD1xlT07mR7MD3XLm_92CdTeNgnW9z_6OAsod23Nxxi4ofYgYooyCoX1vyqXxGK_gvhD7YfdaxNMVFCwCxE-1hlcfTF7qoREOc/s1600/Instagrammen.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Please don't instagram the food...or this note."<br />
(Photo: Notes of Berlin)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My other favorite in this category is far too long to post a picture of on here, but it's a <a href="http://www.notesofberlin.com/search?updated-max=2013-02-22T10:00:00%2B01:00&max-results=5&start=5&by-date=false" target="_blank">tome left near the mailboxes</a> lamenting the fact that postal package traffic has increased exponentially of late because everyone shops on Amazon and the Net these days. A quick side note for context: if someone isn't around to receive their delivery, the package is usually delivered to a neighbor who's home. So clearly, this person works from home or doesn't work, and is constantly receiving and doling out packages to his/her neighbors. Though I sympathize to some extent with this person, I can't really imagine feeling the urge/need to post all of these thoughts in the hallway, much less wax philosophical about the evils of online shopping and my own personal hostility toward modernity.<br />
<br />
<div>
<b></b></div>
<div>
<b></b></div>
<div>
<b></b></div>
<h3>
<b>So what's with all the notes?</b></h3>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
To some extent, all cultures post hand-written announcements, notes, signs, etc., but in my experience, the German note is particularly prolific and a lot more interesting. More art, more creativity, and more exclamation points in more situations. When I sat down to think about it, it seemed to break one of my primary preconceptions of the Germans; namely, that they are quite direct and honest, often to a fault. In the case of the note, they seem to be eschewing face-to-face contact and directness in favor of the impersonal request or expression of disfavor. I think a German friend of mine put it best: "The Germans are direct, but they also tend to avoid face-to-face contact..." (think here about dead-silent U-Bahn cars and the utter lack of smiles or greetings among strangers on the street) "...so in this case, they avoid face-to-face contact to prevent conflict." In sum, they can fulfil their desire to express their innermost thoughts and preferences without all of the discomfort and possibility for intense argument and conflict that come with face-to-face interaction with strangers or semi-strangers. Maybe German directness applies primarily to friends and acquaintances? Lately though, I think they also just enjoy getting a little creative and funny, even when they're angry. At least I like to think so. </div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnMmu7zrrSYjjOPBCyIMK_v1phfeP0XULL0AdLqtJxyaj1Bl2BLuJPDk4H34wGM5PyUHaGwmCCBzexn1zYV0pIrr8to6YWXB5LFm9CkZnw33o33B6TV-Z_8NlJrfbR40Zk7gUy6NPwW8/s1600/Bildschirmfoto+2013-01-18+um+15.03.12.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnMmu7zrrSYjjOPBCyIMK_v1phfeP0XULL0AdLqtJxyaj1Bl2BLuJPDk4H34wGM5PyUHaGwmCCBzexn1zYV0pIrr8to6YWXB5LFm9CkZnw33o33B6TV-Z_8NlJrfbR40Zk7gUy6NPwW8/s1600/Bildschirmfoto+2013-01-18+um+15.03.12.png" height="640" width="492" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notes of Berlin's 'note of the month' winner.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-42361758033438232082013-02-22T08:34:00.000-08:002013-03-12T07:52:49.962-07:00Cherman EngineeringI read an article today by Stephen Hill in <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/president-obama-wants-america-to-be-like-germany-what-does-that-really-mean/273318/" target="_blank">the Atlantic</a> about how President Obama is looking to Germany as an economic role model. Specifically, the article addresses how Germany has managed to maintain a healthy manufacturing sector in the face of international economic woes and increased competition from cheaper labor markets.<br />
<br />
I found the article particularly interesting because I think it touches on a few very good points where the U.S. can learn from Germany (and Europe in general). First, the author talks about how German industry maintains a healthy industrial <i>Mittelstand</i> (middle class - but referring to middle-sized businesses rather than individuals) that specializes in high tech, high precision goods. These companies actually <i>supply</i> the Chinese manufacturing juggernaut with the tools they need. In most cases, these companies have workers that get paid well and have full health coverage. Most important, however, is the fact that none of this would be possible without a strong (and longstanding) link between private companies and Germany's vocational training programs:<br />
<br />
"The Land of Bismarck has fed its manufacturing machine with a steady
supply of technicians, engineers and skilled workers through a superb
apparatus of vocational training and technical apprenticeships.
Companies work closely with regional technical schools, sometimes
sponsoring programs to prepare the graduates so they are immediately
job-ready." <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLdnCgNjbSQj6LSmAxNM1WIlNSm2VLIi6bGCQxUBs5NR_hhNMEj4anRtAW5mgwH544CmCmrKx-j8yHLLlevyeOpJZ4Q0AAfnfph_AEpYwSh4KJx5fzkIRNbiv0s6glIEvAKS_N5oPgT8/s1600/a12_bibb-report_1209_en_abb12_700.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLdnCgNjbSQj6LSmAxNM1WIlNSm2VLIi6bGCQxUBs5NR_hhNMEj4anRtAW5mgwH544CmCmrKx-j8yHLLlevyeOpJZ4Q0AAfnfph_AEpYwSh4KJx5fzkIRNbiv0s6glIEvAKS_N5oPgT8/s1600/a12_bibb-report_1209_en_abb12_700.png" height="416" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though trade school numbers in Germany are high, they've also seen declines since the 90s. Source: German Federal Statistical Office.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
As the author states, Denmark does an even better job of this than Germany; the vocational schools there know <i>years in advance</i> exactly which companies will need to fill which positions. I think there are two big challenges that the U.S. would face in trying to emulate this kind of workforce planning. With a population about four times the size of Germany's and many more times the size of Denmark, coordinating the needs of companies and the respective training programs would be much more difficult in the vast United States. Second, and more fundamentally, a paradigm shift would have to happen in the U.S.: I feel like in the last 20-30 years, young Americans have been told time and again that you've come up short if you didn't go to college and at least complete a Bachelor's degree. Many students who did reach this goal, and beyond, are now finding that college degrees aren't all they were cut out to be, and meanwhile, U.S. manufacturers can't find skilled workers. I think there needs to be a general reevaluation of the "value" of vocational training, along with various other professions beyond skilled industrial labor (Primary and secondary school teachers are the first that popped into my head).<br />
<br />
The second thing that the author brought up that I found particularly interesting was the fact that "Germans have harnessed their wealth to foster an equitable and
broadly shared prosperity that has given Germans an enviable living
standard." A comment from a reader expounded on this: "In many ways, Germans are simply better at living and working together.
They have a sense of national community combined with inherent
resourcefulness which, when combined with smart and inclusive policies,
ensures a great part of their long-term success." Though I think both of these writers are on to something, I also think both are perhaps a tad on the idealistic side in ignoring many of the shortcomings of German society. I think that Germany in fact has many of the same internal divisions and conflicts that are also present in the U.S.; but in Germany, the fierce American individualism and libertarianism is notably absent, so that highly progressive taxes and a robust welfare state are widely accepted facts of life (one indicator of this: the FDP are the strongest anti-tax/pro-business party in Germany – though not nearly as extreme as the Republicans or Tea Party – and after seeing their best result ever they still only received 14% of the vote). These social programs actually work for the most part, and the result is that the gulf between rich and poor is not nearly as wide as in the States.<br />
<br />
Finally, a bit that the article does not mention: that despite having all of these efficient vocational training programs that help maintain a healthy manufacturing sector, Germany has also piggy-backed on some of the extremely harmful developments in the working world that the U.S. has spearheaded. I'm talking here about the rise and spread of the concept of the eternal intern (<a href="http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/the-age-of-the-permanent-intern/index.php" target="_blank">see this article from the Washingtonian</a>). It's a buyer's market (for the employer, that is) out there on the job market, so German as well as American companies know they can get highly educated people to work for next to nothing because they want to gain some experience; at the same time, employers don't have to make any long-term commitments to most of their workforce.<br />
<br />
As a former TA, I'm finding out now that I jumped out of the pot and into the fire of the private sector: it all looks a whole lot like what I experienced as the current employment model at universities: fewer and fewer well-paid professorships and an army of well-educated, underpaid "teacher-interns" teaching courses previously taught by professors. With the number of 'real' jobs shrinking, this 'well-trained army' in turn has nothing to look forward to but vicious competition for the few positions that remain. Not only is this employment model unsustainable, it will eventually come back around to bite employers in the ass as well. In the end, an intern with little or no job security and little hope for a permanent position are also less invested in their employer's success. It's a scary world out there, so let's hope the U.S. starts copying more of the German model when it comes to vocational training, and that the Germans realize that they're better off not taking a page out of the States' book in this case.<br />
<br />
[steps down from soapbox]<br />
<br />
Update: A new look for vocational training in the U.S., from <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/03/12/174080027/the-new-face-of-vocational-education" target="_blank">NPR's Morning Edition </a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-49539580633332005242013-02-19T06:16:00.000-08:002013-02-28T02:33:06.428-08:00Berlin Water Pipes You Don't Smoke<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhADK_pth0fHyEa__5MMMwWF3iG7YVrQl5RwA2aV4CSX8pbdJ4cdHYDwATXeZUW8UDPojEan0hYnR0nR7Dq6RpQYyGRon5ImYm4RiQpOhOrqVb1UCavhT6jDL50yXKiBuEVY4f6upKxDDI/s1600/2012-10-21+09.20.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhADK_pth0fHyEa__5MMMwWF3iG7YVrQl5RwA2aV4CSX8pbdJ4cdHYDwATXeZUW8UDPojEan0hYnR0nR7Dq6RpQYyGRon5ImYm4RiQpOhOrqVb1UCavhT6jDL50yXKiBuEVY4f6upKxDDI/s1600/2012-10-21+09.20.38.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a new-fangled blue pipe!</td></tr>
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If you've ever taken a stroll through central Berlin, you've probably noticed the massive blue/purple/pink pipes winding along the sides of streets, over streets, and into the ground. In many cities, these structures would stand out starkly and draw a fair amount of attention from residents and visitors, but in Berlin they sort of blend into the fabric of the often-just-dirty-enough urban landscape. The surrounding graffitied walls and ubiquitous construction sites render the pipes relatively unremarkable. They themselves are often adorned with various tags and street art – just another kind of urban canvas to be utilized.<br />
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On the surface, the pipes are mere curiosities, but they actually reveal a pretty interesting and oft-forgotten aspect of Berlin's history; namely, that the entire city was built on top of a swamp. The region around Berlin has historically been referred to sarcastically as the "<i>Streusandbüchse</i>", and presented challenges from day one during the settlement of the area. The term <i>Streusandbüchse</i> translates literally as "sand box", but actually refers to a small box containing fine sand that was used to dry the ink on manuscripts. So what exactly does the Brandenburg-Berlin <i>Streusandbüchse </i>look like? <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiMg76uWRW9VJJSoPRhRb2p-SHO0Rt3FhVkIFp_l2wWSqh3Mh_LR7d0_mErmdQ3LbAUo48u1ySIVNMlc_G_1U50MRKIyL65KHKGpaKkb2L-iWUKVINR7q61Ce4c2LbaJyuWUgDTqB5SdE/s1600/557px-HavelRhin.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiMg76uWRW9VJJSoPRhRb2p-SHO0Rt3FhVkIFp_l2wWSqh3Mh_LR7d0_mErmdQ3LbAUo48u1ySIVNMlc_G_1U50MRKIyL65KHKGpaKkb2L-iWUKVINR7q61Ce4c2LbaJyuWUgDTqB5SdE/s1600/557px-HavelRhin.gif" height="400" width="371" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Spree-Havel region in Brandenburg/Mecklenburg.</td></tr>
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Berlin is situated right in the armpit of the Spree and Havel Rivers, the latter of which flows into the Elbe about 150 km north of Magdeburg. Berlin sits just 35 meters above sea level on average, and just to give you an idea of just how flat this region is, the River Havel drops only 50 meters in its 325-km trip from the already-quite-flat Mecklenburg to the Elbe (see map, with the Havel in dark blue). A quick glance at the whole region shows that the rivers often bulge out into lakes as they pool up on the flat land. The Wannsee in southwest Berlin and the stretch along the Havel bike trail west of Potsdam are great examples.<br />
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Historically, Berlin was a late bloomer on the European landscape. As a backwater trading post on the outer fringes of the Holy Roman Empire, Berlin sat on swampy, primarily nutrient-deficient, loose soil (with the notable exception of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havelland" target="_blank">Havelland</a> west of Berlin), and Middle Ages settlements were perched on silt islands that rose out of the lake-like Spree of the 13th century. The settlements were important for east-west trade, but for the most part stagnated. Some 400 years later in the mid-1600s, however, following a few spoonfuls of Black Death, a healthy dose of malnourishment and the death or emigration of half of its population during the 30 Years War, the Hohenzollerns looked to reincarnate Berlin, only this time much bigger and better. They called pretty much everybody to come on over, but perhaps most crucial to the expansion of the city were precisely those people who knew best how to build on swampy silt and sand: the Dutch. As Berlin expanded beyond the silty high ground around the river, engineers and architects from Holland came to the rescue, drained the land, and the rest is history. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqXjCM-WeJX8D3dBeEtMeOQfKgNkNVppUtCN5Bt3RytElZZ4YLrohrWoLE9AqyPlgD7pyiDwTpjdAeZOCMVhsFEFNJ0saVg4JnkgxdqZc6SCZA7xz_qYR3ohCUazHkoIdMnM67i4o1NwU/s1600/2012-10-21+17.48.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqXjCM-WeJX8D3dBeEtMeOQfKgNkNVppUtCN5Bt3RytElZZ4YLrohrWoLE9AqyPlgD7pyiDwTpjdAeZOCMVhsFEFNJ0saVg4JnkgxdqZc6SCZA7xz_qYR3ohCUazHkoIdMnM67i4o1NwU/s1600/2012-10-21+17.48.28.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unter den Linden. Notice the copious<br />
construction cranes.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Today, the colored pipes are most commonly spotted near large construction sites. Together with modern pumps, they are used instead of windmills to lower the water table in order to set building foundations. There are also many problematic spots where the pipes are basically permanent, and on these you're more likely to find ads and/or graffiti, depending on what you call art, of course (see photo and check out <a href="http://www.google.de/imgres?hl=en&client=ubuntu&hs=pHU&sa=X&tbo=d&channel=fs&biw=1920&bih=881&tbm=isch&tbnid=2DF_w4xia4pBGM:&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/groups/1847041%40N25/pool/%3Fview%3Dlg&docid=QIHJ38QaQ8gPjM&imgurl=http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6085/6145802618_fbc40d04ab_z.jpg&w=640&h=487&ei=2oIjUdeDBMPZtAaAvYHIBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=4&vpy=287&dur=2383&hovh=196&hovw=257&tx=101&ty=99&sig=101001541804816765730&page=1&tbnh=145&tbnw=179&start=0&ndsp=49&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0,i:115" target="_blank">Pink Pipes of Berlin</a>!). The latest example of Berlin's high water table causing problems is at the now-notorious, to-be-finished-at-an-as-yet-uncertain-date-for-a-much-higher-price Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER) being built on the southeastern outskirts of the city. While the massive public project has been delayed for just about every reason ranging from flaws in the fire safety system to a shortage of check-in counters to the actual size and capacity of the airport, if the thing <i>is</i> actually sinking into the <i>Streusandbüchse</i> as this <a href="http://www.focus.de/finanzen/news/zweifel-an-standfestigkeit-versinkt-der-berliner-pannen-flughafen-im-sand_aid_871092.html" target="_blank"><i>Focus </i>article</a> says it is, all those problems may be a moot. One would have thought they would have learned from the Dutch engineers in the 17th century, or from the myriad water pipes throughout the rest of the city. Lord knows, we'll probably be able to snap pictures of these above-ground pipes at the construction site for the <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/berlin-airport-artist-bjorn-melhus-suffers-from-airport-opening-delay-a-884628.html" target="_blank">BER airport</a> five years from now! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihABp5xJWPJVrDWOYP6sfR4raOAOmJ0vXt6B2DtFc0Zk4ohNG-sT4NtjmfRTdjSYJAbUVtseoAqFh1Ie5VP2TiUh0RwdVQ_qao7E-882DsQejLx33AkOVEkUBHMRGLahMUouZIKBiMMA/s1600/rituffo_pipes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihABp5xJWPJVrDWOYP6sfR4raOAOmJ0vXt6B2DtFc0Zk4ohNG-sT4NtjmfRTdjSYJAbUVtseoAqFh1Ie5VP2TiUh0RwdVQ_qao7E-882DsQejLx33AkOVEkUBHMRGLahMUouZIKBiMMA/s1600/rituffo_pipes.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by rituffo: 'Pink Pipes of Berlin'</td></tr>
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(If you're into early-80s German TV documentaries, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnyR2m7iiZ8" target="_blank">this one on the Berlin freeway ring</a> gives a nice idea of the idyllic landscapes that are Brandenburg. They mention the <i>Streusandbüchse </i>at 12:00, and unrelated, but the Fisherman at 27:00 has a pretty solid Brandenburgisch dialect)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-23973862300663080102013-02-13T14:32:00.001-08:002013-02-13T14:32:33.585-08:00Döner mit Allem – und ScharfThe indomitable, delicious Döner. What would a blog about life in Germany be without it? Ah, but first, I must begin with a heartfelt apology, for in case you hadn't noticed, I heartlessly slandered the Döner last week in order to make a point about cuisine in Berlin. I dared mention it in the same sentence with the far inferior Currywurst. Yes – today, I take it all back. This is my "Ode an den Döner"...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmrV3gAWq1ANw58YyKKaARIMCUgALIOP4aqFwmHtJbbEX3-8tKqCQKRlNDZZPkcdNhmCv-xOKK-KS1FV6dUQs4U3BWUrzE6Ps9XM_Li736lEzfh-8I4GP0sj0BTInGXGhJ-MpzpunOqw/s1600/Adam+022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmrV3gAWq1ANw58YyKKaARIMCUgALIOP4aqFwmHtJbbEX3-8tKqCQKRlNDZZPkcdNhmCv-xOKK-KS1FV6dUQs4U3BWUrzE6Ps9XM_Li736lEzfh-8I4GP0sj0BTInGXGhJ-MpzpunOqw/s1600/Adam+022.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <i>Dürüm-Dönerbürste </i>being put into action in Vienna.<br />That handsome feller on the right didn't even have time<br />to put his umbrella down.</td></tr>
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Where I live, we don't eat the Döner, we brush our teeth with the Döner (the term <i>Dönerbürste</i>, or Döner-brush, has been bandied about in certain circles). Four out of five dentists do <i>not</i> recommend it, but I personally brush my teeth with Döner approximately as often as I actually floss. Doctors don't recommend them either; a BBC study found that the average Döner in England had around 1,200 calories (if you consider the 5-10 beers you drank beforehand your lookin' at 2 grand or more). You also often must brave less-than-sanitary conditions if you're keen on finding the best Döner in town; "the dirtier the better" is a pretty solid rule here. If you're not just a little bit nervous on your way there, you're probably going to be disappointed. There is also no edible item that I have eaten more of between the hours of 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. The Döner is a loyal friend of sorts; it's flavors and spices will accompany you wherever you may go, for many hours after eating. Don't think that a real toothbrushing will save you, either. Despite all of these things, I continue to thoroughly enjoy and love the Döner, and this keyed my interest in finding out just how a food with Turkish roots has ironically become one of the most iconic symbols of <i>German</i> cuisine. <br />
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The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%B6ner" target="_blank">Döner</a> gets its name from the Turkish word for "to turn around", and though its history begins on the shores of the Sea of Marmara in western Turkey, its true glory and worldwide fame wasn't realized until it traveled along with the Turkish <i>Gastarbeiter </i>(literally "guest workers") of the 1960s all the way to the German capital. Only there did it assume its current form as a sandwich, along with that wonderful mix of 'Salat komplett' (or <i>ohne Zwiebeln </i>if that's how you roll, though you're missing out) that we all know and love.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2HEDcKyeoMSPXATQQ4iPPcRSP5o6hhhBdtivt1oBTqUyOUzggcyqRNBu9ujCLVj1nIO3a0RBKjoZEqoNaPlscLAsG-q6X5JCblCVrXH8G9JRjVc3BScDP7lqTe02Epi7GZuAUPuAwCDI/s1600/IMG_4402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2HEDcKyeoMSPXATQQ4iPPcRSP5o6hhhBdtivt1oBTqUyOUzggcyqRNBu9ujCLVj1nIO3a0RBKjoZEqoNaPlscLAsG-q6X5JCblCVrXH8G9JRjVc3BScDP7lqTe02Epi7GZuAUPuAwCDI/s1600/IMG_4402.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where it all started: Iskender in Bursa, Turkey</td></tr>
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So we first trace the roots of the Döner back to the the very brief capital city of the Ottoman Empire, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bursa" target="_blank">Bursa</a> (capital from 1326-1365). It's a city whose past glory as the center of a powerful empire – at least for 35 odd years – is today unknown to most. Its reputation certainly suffered from lying directly across the pond from its much bigger brother, Istanbul (or Constantinople, if that's how you roll). Likewise, it's importance as the prime mover in the development of today's Döner Kebab has gone largely ignored. I took a journey in 2009 that began in Istanbul. I crossed the Marmara Sea, and set off toward Bursa on a mission to find the original Döner (also, I had a day to kill on my Turkey trip and Bursa happened to be a quick and convenient ferry ride away, but this doesn't take away from how happy-as-a-clam I was when I found out the original <i>Döner Laden</i> was where I had randomly decided to go). After touring some of the fascinating original medieval villages on the outskirts of the city, my Couchsurfing host guided me to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0skender_kebap" target="_blank">Iskender Kebab</a>, the place where it all began. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Yavuz İskenderoğlu, who lived during the latter half of the 19th century, was the first man to take the proverbial Kebab-bull by the horns – he deliberately and confidently turned what was previously a horizontal spit, and tilted it precisely 90 degrees. Just like that, the vertical <i>Spieß</i> was born. <a href="http://www.iskender.com.tr/" target="_blank">Iskender Kebab</a>, as it's called today, is lean lamb, should be sliced thinly but widely, and is served on a plate over pieces of unleavened bread and with yogurt, and if you're lucky, the server will come around with the melted butter and tomato sauce and give you a nice friendly Turkish drizzle. Let me give you a little helpful tip at this point here though: when you're all sated and full of tasty rotated-meat goodness, you've finished your Iskender and are sipping </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9E%C4%B1ra" target="_blank">Şıra</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"> and are brainstorming about possibly similar foods you've had before that you could compare to Iskender Kebab, don't say this: "Hey, this is basically like a Turkish gyro." Take it from me.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxNasWKwwDAOO7Nat7S7f9kQ9zuzpdaKNmVwPmHtfe7k__rfYG_k4fUzvjDTaBZn-gdMSTQJc8FawkbXEqRjRv5mK1Na4Xgc3oT-wgh3gJ-qSy67tx6VSKSa2IpDdgRjwlqSY5EuRIOM/s1600/734353_484230968289501_1008401979_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxNasWKwwDAOO7Nat7S7f9kQ9zuzpdaKNmVwPmHtfe7k__rfYG_k4fUzvjDTaBZn-gdMSTQJc8FawkbXEqRjRv5mK1Na4Xgc3oT-wgh3gJ-qSy67tx6VSKSa2IpDdgRjwlqSY5EuRIOM/s1600/734353_484230968289501_1008401979_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only Döner is a better incentive than money (Photo from<br />the always-entertaining <a href="http://www.notesofberlin.com/" target="_blank">Notes of Berlin</a>)</td></tr>
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<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">We fast forward to the 1960s in Germany, where work was plentiful, but working-aged men were not. Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, Moroccans, and of course Turks came to Germany as<a href="http://www.planet-wissen.de/alltag_gesundheit/gastarbeiter_und_migration/geschichte_der_gastarbeiter/index.jsp" target="_blank"> <i>Gastarbeiter</i></a> to fill the ranks. The full history of the <i>Gastarbeiter </i>is a topic for a different blog, but suffice it to say that – to the chagrin of many a German xenophobe – thousands upon thousands of Turkish men came in large numbers, and their families eventually followed. Somewhere in that mix, some Iskender enthusiasts settled down in Berlin and sought to give their fellow Turkish workers a little 'slice' of home, but this time a slightly more convenient and portable one. As with many of my favorite legendary food and drink inventions (the Reuben, the Martini, sliced bread, etc.), there is some dispute as to who exactly was the first person to take the bread that Iskender was served <i>over</i>, and repurpose it as a vehicle for the turning meat. One of the main claimants to the Döner Throne is now a retiree in Berlin named <a href="http://www.berlin.de/tourismus/insidertipps/2036421-2339440-doener-kebab-ist-eine-berliner-erfindung.html" target="_blank">Kadir Nurman</a>. With his humble stand near Bahnhof Zoo in the early 70s, he was slingin' Döner before it was cool, and it didn't take long before his Turkish clientele was joined by ze hungry Chermans. Let the controversy begin, though, because in 2009, the very reputable Guardian reported the death of the 'man who invented the Döner' in 1971, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/4295701/The-man-who-invented-the-doner-kebab-has-died.html" target="_blank">Mahmut Aygun</a>. Perhaps the world will never know who really created the Döner. I like to think it was the multi-cultural soul of the city of Berlin that birthed such a divine drunk food. In the 40 years hence, Döner Kebab spits of wildly varying quality can be found on every street corner on nearly every town in Germany and increasingly Europe-wide: today, t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">here are well over 1,000 Döner shops in Berlin, and over 16,000 in Germany alone. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Despite a fair bit of controversy in recent years stemming from questions on the origins of the <i>Pressfleisch-</i>type Döner meat, the Döner continues to be serious business. Over 720 million Döner are sold annually in Germany (!), and even <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304432704577350194262835880.html" target="_blank">Angela Merkel</a> was recently photographed awkwardly trying her hand with a big slicer. There is now an official certificate issued by the <a href="http://www.atdid.de/" target="_blank">ATDiD</a> (</span>Avrupa Türk Döner Imalatçıları Dernegi, or the Union of Turkish Döner Makers in Europe), who despite piss-poor website design are at the very least pretending to regulate the quality of the turning meat. They even have their own annual conference, so it's gotta be legit, right? I mean, I'm sure at least there's no horse meat hanging out in there.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBWORai8E7Bk0Jg14oI-zhMelkFQuRg4m2nyyVjRl6g7HcPzgZRr-qQqgf9Wzm5rNIAnuD0DENtH5pLT54EWuYGo2zHiBsnqCziw3volsJP3NMN-ggUYXGxxIygxpc3oPPRpKhLYEOvE/s1600/2012-10-18+13.10.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBWORai8E7Bk0Jg14oI-zhMelkFQuRg4m2nyyVjRl6g7HcPzgZRr-qQqgf9Wzm5rNIAnuD0DENtH5pLT54EWuYGo2zHiBsnqCziw3volsJP3NMN-ggUYXGxxIygxpc3oPPRpKhLYEOvE/s1600/2012-10-18+13.10.21.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mustafa's Kebab in Mitte (also in XBerg).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Yes indeed, the Döner has joined a long line of semi-circular, tasty, practical foods. The Cornish pasty, the calzone, the gyro, the taco – I'd even submit that the semi-circle competes with the beloved cylinder as today's shape of choice for handheld food. For all of its faults, the taste and smell of a nearby <i>Döner Laden</i> will never leave my memory, and I thank Iskender, Nurman, and all of the best shops in Berlin today that I'm still discovering (for me, there's no comparison thus far to <a href="http://www.qype.com/place/52788-Imren-Grill-3-Berlin" target="_blank">Imren</a> or <a href="http://mustafas.de/" target="_blank">Mustafas</a> – you've gotta check out the latter's website). But in the end, I'm really no expert. To those of you in Berlin or elsewhere, I'm calling out to you: I want to hear where the best (and the worst) Döner is hiding out.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-15047884061454977812013-02-06T06:30:00.003-08:002013-02-07T01:31:59.119-08:00Pan-Asian, All the Time<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Hw1KDk6TTaRMbnlMAq8uU2CXnRzqDCm-WZjqcFgGKuMRdpbsBG5RQ9TYpaFGt-0_EiyFG4waAFfOuuFIdmq_C4c_P-VWdA0ksqef3tpt-2XGh0IAXMbhThSBmM7ykkCK6He5M7pUDSo/s1600/2012-10-21+18.19.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Hw1KDk6TTaRMbnlMAq8uU2CXnRzqDCm-WZjqcFgGKuMRdpbsBG5RQ9TYpaFGt-0_EiyFG4waAFfOuuFIdmq_C4c_P-VWdA0ksqef3tpt-2XGh0IAXMbhThSBmM7ykkCK6He5M7pUDSo/s1600/2012-10-21+18.19.48.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first part I believe...not so much the second.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Berlin isn't exactly known as a foodie capital among the world's metropolises. In fact, it's not even a foodie capital in Germany: its two most widely-known signature "dishes" are a sliced hot dog swimming in curry ketchup and a Turkish more-often-than-not mystery rotating meat sandwich (stay tuned here for part two of cuisine in Chermany). Now, I'm the first to admit that I love me a good quality <i>Döner</i> as much as the next guy, but by any standards these are not products requiring refined tastes.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHw85HABplAC7zgzyLVQfstFlfctPEuu6yYHPYYwxJgz_ePqOm56PHPA92GVnA2yKm2l7sOAfXVvOCPkNIsppHNgs1DPcDzUJTGfcPERIyjEj5zV9IbJtRkuAYN0N_OGsPsJgwf1F3XnM/s1600/2013-01-26+12.59.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHw85HABplAC7zgzyLVQfstFlfctPEuu6yYHPYYwxJgz_ePqOm56PHPA92GVnA2yKm2l7sOAfXVvOCPkNIsppHNgs1DPcDzUJTGfcPERIyjEj5zV9IbJtRkuAYN0N_OGsPsJgwf1F3XnM/s1600/2013-01-26+12.59.39.jpg" height="240" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Japano-Thai food, anyone?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Now, before I get into what I think are the cultural and historical roots of Berlin's lagging food culture, I wanted to mention my new personal favorite symbol of Berlin's food 'handicap'; namely, the ubiquity of the 'Pan-Asian' restaurant. On nearly every street, in train and U-Bahn stations, in tiny kiosks, shopping malls, and especially in certain corners of the former East Berlin, you can't help but notice the stereotypical pointy Far-Eastern typefaces on cookie-cutter style signage (see photos). 'Asia Restaurant', 'Oriental Wok', or the most honest of them that I've come across, <a href="http://www.panasia.de/" target="_blank">'Pan-Asia'</a>, call out to you to take a closer look at their amazingly versitile menus offering Vietnamese pho and bahn mi, Japanese sushi rolls, Korean rice bowls, Chinese crispy duck, Pad Thai and the wonderfully generic 'China-Pfanne' (literally 'China pan'), which in no way has anything to do with China beyond having brown, asian-looking noodles and some soy sauce in it. In fact, these 'restaurants' can really be best described as the hybrid bikes of the food world: they do a lot of different things quite poorly. Your sushi rolls might <i>look</i> like fish wrapped in seafood and rice, and your pho will indeed contain a brown-colored liquid, but it will taste only vaguely like the original. At the very least, you can expect your spicy Thai dish to have about as much kick as a Wiener Schnitzel. I really hope somebody living in Beijing reads this and sends a pic of the pan-Europe restaurant around the corner slinging pizza, gyros, paella, fish and chips, and <i>Wurstsalat</i> on the same menu.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifG6mBz_Hhglf5csJHc9AZy4BfZTCcjuFAWbnEDFBwFamDOZB2lAsDD71z4cluRtHHiM8oGNzk-0eutJTdkPX_dXaCa4MbxDNSJwPyO7tphPtUQ2CRmdMoioLOclYFzXrJl2iyKu5MX0Y/s1600/2012-12-22+15.53.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifG6mBz_Hhglf5csJHc9AZy4BfZTCcjuFAWbnEDFBwFamDOZB2lAsDD71z4cluRtHHiM8oGNzk-0eutJTdkPX_dXaCa4MbxDNSJwPyO7tphPtUQ2CRmdMoioLOclYFzXrJl2iyKu5MX0Y/s1600/2012-12-22+15.53.05.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I'll have the Pad Thai"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So the question inevitably arises: why <i>Pan</i>-Asian? Why not a Korean restaurant, a Sushi bar, and a Vietnamese specialty restaurant, all doing the things they're respectively best at? After all, anyone who knows anything about biking wouldn't take a hybrid cycle to a mountainous downhill race. My personal theory has a two-part explanation. The first part draws on the fact that nowadays, the far-flung corners of the former East Berlin that haven't taken part in rapid internationalization and gentrification (see Marzahn, Lichtenberg, Hohenschönhausen, etc.) seem to be the most fertile ground for the pan-Asian restaurant – and consequently the most drought-ridden ground for finding traditional country-specific Asian food). While West Berlin and the rest of West Germany spent the post-war decades becoming more culturally and culinarily diverse, and certain hip(ster) pockets of East Berlin rapidly internationalized upon the fall of the Wall, the rest of the East remains relatively isolated from these developments, sticking with its traditional 'German' (i.e. Brandenburgisch/Deutsch) cuisine and just getting its toes wet when it comes to ethnic Eastern food – which brings me to part two of my theory...<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbyNrVoNIKDY1Uh_W7H8InzCMwaSLNyMxixa2RY5lyrQFcYGtG6c9ja4iEgoyZyqwlthyphenhyphenACVQyxFnBsyx_pvrbDaA_SFqyqAt3GT4n2OHAe6N7KlnY5L6mdnLKPZoSLBq2SeWLl94vqY/s1600/Foto-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbyNrVoNIKDY1Uh_W7H8InzCMwaSLNyMxixa2RY5lyrQFcYGtG6c9ja4iEgoyZyqwlthyphenhyphenACVQyxFnBsyx_pvrbDaA_SFqyqAt3GT4n2OHAe6N7KlnY5L6mdnLKPZoSLBq2SeWLl94vqY/s1600/Foto-2.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And they put the <i>most </i>appetizing<br />
dish on the front cover!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
...that northern Germany – and indeed most of northern Europe – started the world foodie race with a ten kilo ball-and-chain attached to its leg. Though the following quote from a friend cites the Netherlands rather than northern Germany, it could very easily also be said about Brandenburg: "the Dutch don't just have bad cuisine, they have <i>no </i>cuisine." Yes, when we think of most traditional "German" cuisine, we're really thinking about <i>southern</i> German or <i>Austrian</i> cuisine. Schnitzel, Spätzle, Maultaschen, Schweinsbraten, Flammkuchen, Gulasch, Knödel...all from the South (or the former Hungarian Empire). Now, before all the Brandenburgers, Dutch, and northern Germans get their undies in a bundle because I've slandered their regional kitchen, let me explain. The vast majority of "national" cuisine is firmly rooted in the distant past (the U.S. being an interesting exception, but that's a topic for a different blog), and generally incorporates ingredients, vegetables, meats, etc. that were found in that region at that time. Though people in the pre-modern world moved around more than one might think, the lack of refrigeration and slow transportation methods meant that ingredients had to be sourced from the immediate vicinity – a great reminder of this fact for me was when a (living) German acquaintance said that they hadn't eaten a banana until they were in their mid-20s or 30s. The point is, chilly northern Europe (and England) had some pretty paltry ingredients at their disposal: fish, salt, root vegetables, cabbage, a few of the hardiest fruits, and not much else (see photo). I exaggerate, but you get my point; pretty much any spices beyond salt, and pretty much any spicy food – chili, coriander, curry spices, nutmeg, cilantro – were all completely unknown to most of Europe until the Dutch East India Company and other international trade brought them there in the not-so-distant past...after a "cuisine" and regional tastes had largely been established. These things seem to also have a remarkable ability to stand the test of time and passing of generations. What you eat and become accustomed to as a child has a lot to do with what your parents enjoy eating, after all. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4AcdDqdWM0g5_W4pl9xpdegBUNSSLq7uqHMSJ-oqc4GWEvi1bMHURoIfTpCqzXOd3tPeBl22uIs3PhwvzSuyUHCh576hAP1TbbuBRh-RoJEEP68LoIZsLDJbffCKAQFaKhTJA1fpSqIY/s1600/Foto.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4AcdDqdWM0g5_W4pl9xpdegBUNSSLq7uqHMSJ-oqc4GWEvi1bMHURoIfTpCqzXOd3tPeBl22uIs3PhwvzSuyUHCh576hAP1TbbuBRh-RoJEEP68LoIZsLDJbffCKAQFaKhTJA1fpSqIY/s1600/Foto.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ah, my favorite publisher from the 90s: <i>Verlag<br />für die Frau</i>: Publisher for the woman (!).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So back to my original question: why pan-Asian? I think that (northern) German taste buds are playing catch-up. There are still a lot of Germans I know, most of them of the older generation, who are what I would call "sensitive" to strong flavors, intense spices, hot peppers and spices. I think the success of pan-Asian restaurants, at least up until now, has been in that they provide <i>just enough</i> in the way of exotic flavors (just as a hybrid biker wants to be able to ride in several different environments, but they don't want to go careening down a mountain). But things are changing <i>fast</i> here in the <i>Hauptstadt</i>, like rent prices and demographics and just about everything else. Many of my younger German friends are <i>very </i>well-traveled and are keen on a wide variety of world foods. In fact, we found the little <i>Kochbüchlein </i>depicted in these photos on a shelf in a fantastic little <i>prix fixe</i> restaurant across the street from our Friedrichshain apartment – a sort of symbolic novelty item reminding the diner of how food habits here have already changed dramatically. The gray foods, pickled and salted fish, and mushy cabbage are already in the rearview mirror in most areas, soon to be followed by all of these hybrid-bike-like pan-Asian restaurants. In anticipation of this development, a host of new region-specific ethnic restaurants are already booming in central
Berlin, so much so that one has trouble booking a table at the multiple tasty
Korean restaurants after Thursday (I'm looking at you, Kimchi Princess). There are now even a few Mexican joints that are actually worth their salt (look up Ta Cabron) – something I wouldn't have thought possible even five years ago. Like the shelf toilet and FKK, I think the pan-Asian restaurant will in all liklihood fade away in the next generation. I, for one, won't be complaining. <br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-47106073942633184122013-01-16T08:49:00.001-08:002013-01-16T08:49:44.124-08:00FKK in the DDR (and beyond)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQGcxRZF_MlgQLnYMdMoEb6Afudx4wcqEs7DjyWPXevxG1u7qF1MOCCpwRoHKr9Athyphenhyphenx7tTbWPNDROWhNOw8ylAZGgpEAErG2F5f2ThGpLRylZfe3xnDwWbBO2ilUGqOZ1kPPuvujsBI/s1600/2012-12-30+14.20.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQGcxRZF_MlgQLnYMdMoEb6Afudx4wcqEs7DjyWPXevxG1u7qF1MOCCpwRoHKr9Athyphenhyphenx7tTbWPNDROWhNOw8ylAZGgpEAErG2F5f2ThGpLRylZfe3xnDwWbBO2ilUGqOZ1kPPuvujsBI/s1600/2012-12-30+14.20.35.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Naked <i>kicker</i> (foosball), anyone?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
FKK, or <i>Freikörperkultur</i> (literally 'free body culture'), is a century-old German institution, and it has a very simple philosophy: 'nudity is normal'. Revel in it – in public, in a park, in the water, on a bicycle. Let your bits swing freely when you're sunbathing, sitting in the sauna, swatting a birdie around with some friends, reading a book, or grilling up a juicy bratwurst. So where does this German (and to some extent, European) openness to nudity really come from? I think a quick look at the difference between the U.S. and Europe is a good starting point...<br />
<br />
Americans are prudes – at least from the perspective of the Germans and the Europeans. I think my favorite example of this on the continental scale is the fact that American children are vigilantly shielded from exposed nipples and buttocks, sexual innuendo, and the like, but are free to (or implicitly allowed to) bathe themselves in blood, guts, and torture in films and games. Now, the last thing I want to do here is start a debate about guns and violence – it's like arguing with somebody over the existence of god. This article is all about the nudity, folks. <br />
<br />
But so the point is, Americans view being naked as something fiercely private, while violence is and was historically a part of everyday (and public) life. I have a hunch that this contrast with Europe can be traced all the way back to America's prudish, Protestant roots, which were combined with an often lawless, vigilante-type justice as the U.S. expanded into an ever-westward-moving frontier with no discernable governmental structures. I've read many theories about Europe's relative lack of a culture of violence (a sort of counter-movement to the long history of wars, the fact that violence was exclusively the instrument of the nation rather than a part of individual volition, etc.); but I think the rise of FKK – in the sense of nudity being a completely normal thing, even in public – could perhaps be connected to Europe's secularization, which is often accompanied or replaced by a certain naturalism.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwghxiaotmxJhsHqQSNd0T_nq4wnuieDjkksE5Cvzux-UdiwZkHuNYK_xIyoTU4Q-GmuZjYLz_X7Y6HysgGmmeNht7LcylnRaevnOg2tp5KJBHUp1do3-n8D4laMT5enpBs4ZrHHHZLU/s1600/2012-12-30+12.14.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwghxiaotmxJhsHqQSNd0T_nq4wnuieDjkksE5Cvzux-UdiwZkHuNYK_xIyoTU4Q-GmuZjYLz_X7Y6HysgGmmeNht7LcylnRaevnOg2tp5KJBHUp1do3-n8D4laMT5enpBs4ZrHHHZLU/s1600/2012-12-30+12.14.57.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two East-Berliners enjoying a little naked time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In any case, the concept of FKK as a movement ('nudism') really could only come about as a nudity taboo emerged in 18th century Europe. Indeed, when society or the powers that be tell you you can't do something, it only serves to strengthen your resolve. The German FKK movement begins in earnest around the <a href="http://www.dfk.org/" target="_blank">turn of the 20th century</a>, and seems to be at its strongest when it's forbidden or <i>verpönt</i> (frowned upon).<br />
<br />
A very quick aside: the birth of the FKK movement in Germany coincided with a nudism movement in the U.S., which never really blossomed into the mass movement seen in Germany. <br />
<br />
So in 1954, GDR culture minister Johannes R. Becher declared: '<i>Schont den Augen der Nation!</i>' (Spare the eyes of the nation!') as he closed down over 50 designated nude bathing spots throughout the country. Too many wrinkles, too much hair, too many body parts where they shouldn't necessarily be, too much...you get the idea. So FKK continued to gain popularity in the East after this declaration, to the point that it became one of the major defining aspects of East German culture. By the time the Wall came down, the Wessi (West German) was amused, and sometimes apalled, by the Ossi's (East German) penchant for not just sunbathing naked, but playing sports and hanging out in the nude. A '<i>Höschenkrieg</i>' ('War of the Knickers') ensued on Baltic Sea beaches as the knicker-ful Wessis encountered the knicker-less Ossis. But why so popular in the East?? According to an <a href="http://www.ndr.de/geschichte/chronologie/fkkddr115.html" target="_blank">article from NDR</a>, some have blamed the lack of stylish bathing attire, some say Ossis were trying to carve out a bit of freedom in an otherwise oppressive regime. I'll let you decide, but I personally think that without the official ban in 1954, there is no mass movement.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDe0APO4XZop6h8m2luKhi7QcjieCr_SZD58YttHgkGZa5iZ5NCdp5kASqbJjt8rha70wIxXRKR2xa1aS-WuNKFPYEQ2ge-ma7oUDl4XAYh8etJtDjyFVqT3tDPY1bPEUT5C2mDKvJacE/s1600/41fkq93p7oL._SX385_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDe0APO4XZop6h8m2luKhi7QcjieCr_SZD58YttHgkGZa5iZ5NCdp5kASqbJjt8rha70wIxXRKR2xa1aS-WuNKFPYEQ2ge-ma7oUDl4XAYh8etJtDjyFVqT3tDPY1bPEUT5C2mDKvJacE/s1600/41fkq93p7oL._SX385_.jpg" height="320" width="301" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FKK-themed clothing: so itchy, you'll<br />instantly want to disrobe. (Photo: Amazon.com)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Anyway, this 'Knicker War' has in fact had a strong and long-term detrimental effect on the FKK movement in general. The ranks today are dwindling and aging (<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/video/keine-lust-auf-nackig-nachwuchssorgen-an-der-fkk-front-video-1146019.html" target="_blank">check out this video in German</a> – at your own risk – interviewing real live FKK-enthusiasts), and I think we can all see that the latter isn't doing any favors for the former. I mean, let's just say, purely hypothetically, that a 26-year-old American male were to arrive at an Austrian FKK beach in Austria's Salzkammergut for a little skinny dip, in hopes of curing his societally conditioned prudishness, only to find he is the sole swimmer/sunbather/reader/badminton player born after the Berlin Wall was <i>built</i>. Suffice it to say that even if said wrinkly nudists were the hippest, friendliest 55-plussers around, I still wouldn't have felt compelled to return, much less visit the official website and pay to membership fee.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4HEcewBeS7uxGnT1mc928UjyvwwpM7AJ-5gia_JmYpFJAyMyLdulOimdcL0nqd21oKvNTKPHHek4ZwllQfJriJ9wUfsjQ-dsFAW2I1r1qBWaR8GoOonxdzht8X1m93nVK5M-8R-iGBlA/s1600/IMG_6529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4HEcewBeS7uxGnT1mc928UjyvwwpM7AJ-5gia_JmYpFJAyMyLdulOimdcL0nqd21oKvNTKPHHek4ZwllQfJriJ9wUfsjQ-dsFAW2I1r1qBWaR8GoOonxdzht8X1m93nVK5M-8R-iGBlA/s1600/IMG_6529.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <i>Sternfahrt</i>: an event for cycling awareness,<br />or a perfect opportunity for an FKK demonstration?</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I had one more recent first-hand encounter with the FKKers that underscores the continuing marginalization of a once-proud mass movement. I spontaneously decided to take part in the largest group cycling event in the world, called the <a href="http://www.adfc-berlin.de/aktionenprojekte/sternfahrt/1074-der-adfc-fahrradsternfahrt-film.html" target="_blank"><i>Sternfahrt</i></a> ('Star Ride'), in 2010 in Berlin. Some 150,000 people meet at 19 different starting points and converge on the Brandenburg Gate, where beer-drinking, sausage-eating, and chaos ensue. The point is to raise awareness for cyclists, despite the fact that Berlin, along with Copenhagen, already has one of the best bike infrastructures in the world. Anyway, I had big designs on the 90-mile Frankfurt/Oder starting point, but had had a long night and slept through the starting time, so Potsdam it was. Little did I know, this meant that I would get a little 'show' (see photo), as about 150 FKKers decided they would hijack the bike demonstration to raise awareness about FKK. A group of some 7,000 clothed bikers were physically blocked by the Polizei for 45 minutes while the FKKers debated with the police about the legitimacy of 'free'-riding. <i>'Das hier ist eine Familienveranstaltung' </i>('this is a family event'), said the police. Words were exchanged as meticulously uniformed officers conversed seriously with naked bikers in baseball caps. The FKKers finally relented, dressed (I have no idea where they had the clothes stashed because I didn't see any panniers), and on we rode, family-friendly, toward the Brandenburg Gate.<br />
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In the end, I think FKK as a movement will more or less die out with the current generation, but the underlying perspective of Europeans toward sex and nudity remains worlds 'ahead' of the U.S. I at least like to think that I'm not nearly as prude as I was when I first set foot in Germany and had my first FKK experience.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-46684035011468180502012-12-26T08:07:00.000-08:002012-12-26T08:11:34.801-08:00The Dirty South<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flanders – future newest member of the EU?</td></tr>
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I promise to return to the lighter, stranger, funnier side of German culture in 2013. But first, one more foray into the complex dynamics of an increasingly unstable European Union...<br />
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In my previous post about the chinks in the armor of the European Union, I mentioned reinvigorated regionalist and independence movements within national borders of EU member states. Among others, the Catalonians, the Flemings, and the Scots have made concrete moves in this direction in recent months (read this very interesting and informative profile of the movements from <i><a href="http://www.zeit.de/2012/48/Essay-Separatismus-EU-Staaten" target="_blank">die Zeit</a>. </i>The author does a great job of concisely describing and comparing their situations and histories). Though I personally think the recent rise of referenda on independence have a lot to do with the present economic and cultural uncertainty in the EU at large, these local movements have long histories as well, and tell us a lot about the human story in general. Indeed, human nature seems to dictate that as long as one is comfortable and provided with basic needs and work, political and cultural differences can be and are put aside in the interest of larger political and cultural units. We probably also have to add authoritarian government to the list of unifying forces, as in the case of the USSR and Yugoslavia, which promptly broke down into their regional parts – and in many cases descended into serious conflict – following the weakening or downfall of the respective regimes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rHeS-JXgxDs6zEzRU_g6XcWpeqOZSjV4mxBaZzNwf4n0ixrrVyxq2mRJOq2LsS9f4MDS-ocuaFkWmkkENvmvY74S2bVgbqrzh_hAyJw7e886Cn62oYtMFtHOhr78X_nBKRGGVrQbZ5c/s1600/800px-Flag_of_Scotland.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rHeS-JXgxDs6zEzRU_g6XcWpeqOZSjV4mxBaZzNwf4n0ixrrVyxq2mRJOq2LsS9f4MDS-ocuaFkWmkkENvmvY74S2bVgbqrzh_hAyJw7e886Cn62oYtMFtHOhr78X_nBKRGGVrQbZ5c/s1600/800px-Flag_of_Scotland.png" height="120" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scotland's flag – a long history of resistance,<br />
and finally an independent land?</td></tr>
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So there were really two things that struck me when reading this piece in <i>Die Zeit. </i>First and foremost is the European – and I would argue worldwide – trend away from national identities and borders toward more localized structures. As any history student knows, the nation seems like an eternal edifice to us today because all of us were born in an era where the world would look completely foreign without national borders. But of course in many cases in Europe, the nation wasn't even born until the second half of the 19th century, so the memory of a pre-national society is much more salient in many Europeans' collective consciousness; I think there are lots of places in Europe beyond the above-mentioned territories where you could ask residents with whom or what they identify most intimately, and the answer wouldn't be Germany, Italy, or Spain, but Bavaria, Lombardy, or Andalusia (or even Munich, Milan, or Granada). In the United States, even as regionalism is being muted by increased long-distance and urban migration, states such as Texas are reasserting their historical rebellious identities in the face of the clearly-tyrannical Obama administration. In China alone there are perhaps a half dozen examples of regional movements struggling against a government that spends much of its time and effort trying to hold together and justify the idea of one China. There are countless other examples in post-colonial Africa, the Middle East, etc. The case of regionalism in the EU is particularly interesting, though, because its constitution has specifically encouraged the preservation of these unique identities, perhaps to the detriment of the Union itself. Interestingly, if the Flemings want their own country, the 'Belgians' – or whatever is left if the Flemings separate – would have to agree to their entry into the EU along with the rest of the member states. Likewise, Spain would have to agree to Catalonia's legitimacy as a state. Can the EU really survive if the regionalism ball gets rolling and gains momentum? I can think of quite a few other regions that could gain momentum if these first regions successfully gain independence (South Tyrol, Friesland, Basque, etc.).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmkpj2DdSGX0YZOGRzakKJDupfI62phh1YrPJr8TuGujVkFReI7L1FigZ0o0mDewQ_-yTnzhXI9y9m2IPkumeCpRLVrCdYVaSLnIk04XzjeuZjCCOOxlkCMAhBsBoMaREw7lBYvKzZac/s1600/800px-Flag_of_Catalonia.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmkpj2DdSGX0YZOGRzakKJDupfI62phh1YrPJr8TuGujVkFReI7L1FigZ0o0mDewQ_-yTnzhXI9y9m2IPkumeCpRLVrCdYVaSLnIk04XzjeuZjCCOOxlkCMAhBsBoMaREw7lBYvKzZac/s1600/800px-Flag_of_Catalonia.png" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Catalonians – funding Madrid amid<br />
economic instability in Spain.</td></tr>
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The other thing that struck me as I read about these referenda was just how often regional and cultural divides are defined by a north-south border. Italy, Great Britain, Germany, the U.S., and indeed the entire continent of Europe have distinct cultural and political borders that run horizontally. Though the south of Germany breaks the mold by being the richer region in Germany, the southern regions of all of these examples are viewed by their northern counterparts as being less productive, more provincial, or less economically successful parts of their respective nations, just as southern and Mediterranean Europe is seen by the North as the delinquent participants in the European Union. In this context, I couldn't help but remember Jared Diamond's book <i><a href="http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/" target="_blank">Guns, Germs & Steel</a></i>, which, though flawed in many respects, does a pretty solid job of outlining in broad strokes the tendencies and trends of human movements, the proliferation of technologies and disease, and the distribution of cultures. In short, he points to the fact that all of these things tend to move much more readily and rapidly horizontally than vertically. This idea is based largely on the fact that weather and climate are huge factors in determining which microbes, plants, and lifestyles are possible or likely in a given place (geography and just plain chance also admittedly come into play). This is why a New Yorker would most likely feel more at home in London than in Savannah, Georgia, and it also reinforces itself because people from northern climes and cultures have a lesser tendency to migrate from north to south or the other way around. </div>
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So I think my point with all of this is that I think that so much of the conflict within nations and continents is based on this inherent, fundamental difference between the sober, determined, industrious, colder, cleaner North, and the emotional, profligate, lazy, hotter, and <i>dirtier</i> South. At the small scale and the large – that is, at the continental or national, or even state level, these differences continue to strengthen and reinforce these regional (and linguistic!) identities. Where that leaves us in the globalized age remains to be seen, but I feel like humans – being animals that by nature organize in smallish groups – will always have a strong desire to identify with something on the local level. This tendency seems to be gaining traction again, perhaps as a backlash to the pervasiveness of global economies, culture, and technology. The question is whether the nation really has any relevance in this hierarchy as technology continues to render its borders irrelevant. The European Union just might be the perfect place to keep an eye on to find out.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-2975938947788626572012-12-11T05:36:00.001-08:002013-03-11T10:16:15.319-07:00European (Dis)Union<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greek discontent with German euro policy (or just the Germans?)</td></tr>
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Now that the U.S. elections have
passed, and the Americans haven't yet peeked over the edge of the fiscal cliff, the Germans can get back to the business of discussing the euro,
austerity, the fiscal responsibility of their southern neighbors, and the general future of the European Union.
When the grand European project began in the wake of the Second World
War, it was clear that Germany and France would have to be the core
of the union. In the opening decade of the EU, Germany relished the
chance to resume it’s role at the heart of Europe’s economic and
political world. Indeed, the euro opened with a bang and quickly
established itself as a consummately stable currency, despite the fact that cost of living pretty much instantly increased in all member states. Exports were
strong, the elimination of trade barriers and international
investment leading to booming economies in countries like Ireland, Spain,
and later in the former Soviet territories. What lurked beneath, however, were some very key structural flaws in the common currency that have left the euro – and the Union as a political/cultural entity – where it is today: the currency remains stable against the equally fragile dollar, but it's future as the EU's common currency is quite uncertain. The Union itself, I would argue, wavers amid doubt that the differences between the countries (or perhaps regions) of Europe are just too great to reconcile. I even saw these chinks in the armor when I was living in Austria in 2006 and writing about the EU on the unfortunately now-defunct <a href="http://thestusie.blogspot.de/2006/02/waste-of-time.html#links" target="_blank">'Stusie' blog</a>.<br />
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So if we boil it down to a nice, viscous goo, the problem in the European Union is that it is probably now too united to drop the common currency (read: boot Greece, Portugal, Italy?, Spain?) without inducing a domino-effect run on the banks of the rest of the Mediterranean, which would in turn surely send the world economy back into a spiral. On the other hand, it is not united enough to control a common currency the way it should be governed. Now, I'm no economist, but I do understand that when an economy in a given country stagnates, interest rates and a number of other currency controls can be manipulated to navigate and hopefully reverse the downturn (just as overheated economies such as China 5 years ago can be cooled). The planners of the euro – perhaps due to oversight, perhaps resulting from naivete regarding the debt boundaries set prior to the euro's debut (even the solid German economy is now hovering above the 60% of GDP debt limit set by the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13361934" target="_blank">Maastricht Treaty</a>) – did not foresee the fundamental differences between the member states' economies. The 2008 crisis shined a floodlight on these differences, but over time – even had the crisis not happened – this problem would have emerged anyway. In essence, with the euro pegged to the economic trends of the most 'core' members (Germany, France, the Netherlands, etc.), the rest of the countries were left powerless to react in an agile manner to the drastic effects of the downturn, or any other hypothetical financial event that may happen.</div>
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Greece has become the face of this problem in Europe, and their economic failings have been attributed (mostly by politicians) to everything from corruption in the public and private sectors, excessive pension programs, and general laziness and profligate spending. The EU's (read: Germany's) response to this problem has been to scold Greece and the other 'problem states' for the above-mentioned shortcomings, and to institute austerity measures to quell debt. In a way, I think Merkel might feel like she's in a strategically stronger
position advocating austerity: if it fails, she can simply point to the
Greeks' inadequate implementation of the recommended steps. However, I'd like to set aside the debate about whether one can actually 'cut' one's way out of an economic crisis (for commentary on this, see nearly any column written by Nobel Laureate economist Paul Krugman) and have a look at the cultural complications brought about by Germany's response. </div>
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As the EU (read: Angela Merkel, having 'convinced' France and 'the north' to acquiesce) redirects money toward the south in order to calm market fears about those countries' economies, the general populations of both contigents are increasingly resentful and angry with the other side. The Spaniards and Greeks wield placards depicting Merkel in <a href="http://www.google.de/imgres?hl=en&client=ubuntu&hs=9x5&sa=X&tbo=d&channel=fs&biw=1920&bih=881&tbm=isch&tbnid=O8aB6pP5jjCm5M:&imgrefurl=http://rt.com/news/greece-protests-germany-merkel-946/&docid=Dc3Ou4MYFQxUYM&imgurl=http://rt.com/files/news/greece-protests-germany-merkel-946/protester-plackard-german-chancellor.jpg&w=640&h=426&ei=TCzHUKrqLMfQsgbnm4GABg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=924&vpy=454&dur=2641&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=134&ty=88&sig=101001541804816765730&page=1&tbnh=141&tbnw=212&start=0&ndsp=40&ved=1t:429,r:36,s:0,i:197" target="_blank">Nazi garb</a>, believing that it is the intention of the Germans to 'punish' the Greeks for their impropriety. In Germany and the rest of the 'paying' customers, an already-present-but-latent <a href="http://www.google.de/imgres?hl=en&client=ubuntu&hs=3fQ&sa=X&tbo=d&channel=fs&biw=1920&bih=881&tbm=isch&tbnid=d7OkI7CBRZkniM:&imgrefurl=http://modernes-griechenland.blogspot.com/2012/06/geschmacklos-griechische-medien-zeigen.html&docid=xyskPunISK5DcM&imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7swg51onXek6YilFF1gwiVbP9ZdUx189zN-CBmMFyAlwdjENoOH7JVk0nP8P2nd1pEP5LQ2kE_KI_luFj-JsTU-OFvBwq5oZAOpPTTLF8yknsrnYrG6E-NgxJySILXDlMrghxIeClOTlO/s1600/Merkel%252BNaziUniform.jpg&w=500&h=281&ei=5yzHUM2APY_Gswbt2IHAAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1368&vpy=474&dur=275&hovh=168&hovw=300&tx=171&ty=98&sig=101001541804816765730&page=1&tbnh=131&tbnw=234&start=0&ndsp=50&ved=1t:429,r:48,s:0,i:233" target="_blank">air of superiority</a> toward the lazy and profligate South has become more and more prevalent. In my experience, the average German is not aware of many of the advantages that Germany's economy derived from having free reign in the less-developed economies in Europe, and therefore view the ECB bailouts as pure-and-simple charity given to the problem states. In effect, I think both angry groups are missing part of the story, but who can blame them for being livid about losing their livelihood/jobs/tax revenues? </div>
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My point in all of this is that the crisis with the euro, in some sense, has served to bring all of the underlying <i>non-economic</i> problems to the European Union to the surface. Now that business isn't booming the way it was in the early 2000s in Europe, the South-North divide has reemerged, Great Britain has suddenly walked back its participation in the Union, and perhaps most importantly, a number of historical intra-national local/regional independence movements (the Basque/Catalonians in Spain, the Flemings in Belgium, the Scots in England, etc.) have gained huge momentum in the past couple years (watch for my next post on this topic). Though peace persists on the large scale, all is not well in the Union, and I'm here to tell you that austerity won't bestow satisfaction on the North for having taught the South a valuable lesson in fiscal responsibility. Likewise, the debt-ridden states will find no resolution of their economic woes until the underlying shortcomings of the common currency are addressed.<br />
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Update: <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/business/project_syndicate/2013/03/italian_elections_results_show_that_european_austerity_is_not_working.html" target="_blank">another interesting contribution to the debate from prominent economist Joseph Stiglitz in Slate magazine. </a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-80136165244752435662012-11-07T06:16:00.000-08:002012-11-07T06:19:30.604-08:00Mitt oder ohne?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFqwXUTlABV1n77aGPuYIMdTkKP4XHGTXgevwxwT-nq_jC203yKsQyT1Xu9KzhQZGU7oP8ypysUvVQCcBrxhMgAbZ81LZc3JKCrtttLjRbn2OnkDE8WhZBGd5cU8JO0OLvgJMvkbxbE8/s1600/196064_297006490403487_1986778062_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFqwXUTlABV1n77aGPuYIMdTkKP4XHGTXgevwxwT-nq_jC203yKsQyT1Xu9KzhQZGU7oP8ypysUvVQCcBrxhMgAbZ81LZc3JKCrtttLjRbn2OnkDE8WhZBGd5cU8JO0OLvgJMvkbxbE8/s1600/196064_297006490403487_1986778062_n.png" width="337" /></a>The Obama-Romney election last night was the second presidential election I have watched from abroad. The first was the ill-fated Kerry-Bush election in 2004, which I watched in a dorm room just outside Vienna, crammed in with some 25 people, every one of us with incredulous and downcast faces as we watched the results come in. Aside from our massive disappointment that four years of George W didn't convince the American people to choose an admittedly boring (but still far superior) Democratic candidate, we also knew that a solid chunk of our year of teaching English abroad would center around trying to explain to Austrian youth why the American public didn't seem to see what was even obvious to them – that Bush and co. had run the whole ship aground.<br />
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Europeans – and from my experience specifically Germans – are alternatively fascinated, disgusted, vexed and curious about our political system, and also the epic campaigns and sums of money surrounding our elections. I have observed that Germans are fascinated by the spectacle of the presidential debates and the drama stirred up by interest groups and the campaigns themselves, but they are also disgusted by the sheer sums of money wasted on negative campaign ads, frantic travel to events, and behind-the-scenes fundraisers involving the super-rich. Being a frugal people in general this comes as no surprise. Now, of course I realize that many Americans harbor the same feelings, but the Germans and most other Europeans have a point of contrast that we as Americans do not: German and European elections are extremely subdued affairs by comparison, and legally limited to very short time periods, with strict rules regarding financing, advertising, and running a campaign. They are certainly boring, but to me they seem to be a much more fair and measured method of instituting a popular democracy.<br />
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Having such boring elections, I've found that Germans really enjoy simply sitting back and watching the show unfold in the U.S. in all of its glory: the gaffes, the scandals, the ups and downs. However, this fascination is mixed with a very distinct awareness that what happens across the Atlantic will have a very real effect on their economy, their foreign policy, and their lives. Many Americans of course feel helpless voting in an electoral college system, where gerrymandering and various other obfuscations in the electoral system render the individual vote almost pointless, but imagine what it's like for Europeans: they look on from a distance without a chance to cast even a semi-pointless vote, knowing full well that the winning candidate could likely have an adverse effect on their lives.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIsWaMib4ZCxJaDYZTFQAskZEi5Dryy3AtGYBjheyu0DBguz27vVyX13u26EFVDc9OMQGUi5Z9-4LYAqNxXolw2btHdE2goicp95Pg0jSjIW0f2dcRqBELq-LA8L7EY1INea97flHB6KM/s1600/Worldpoll.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIsWaMib4ZCxJaDYZTFQAskZEi5Dryy3AtGYBjheyu0DBguz27vVyX13u26EFVDc9OMQGUi5Z9-4LYAqNxXolw2btHdE2goicp95Pg0jSjIW0f2dcRqBELq-LA8L7EY1INea97flHB6KM/s1600/Worldpoll.gif" width="341" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Really, Pakistan??</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One of the most interesting graphics that surfaced toward the end of the campaign was a <a href="http://globescan.com/commentary-and-analysis/press-releases/press-releases-2012/245-global-poll-obama-overwhelmingly-preferred-to-romney.html" target="_blank">21-nation poll</a> taken by GlobeScan, the findings of which showed that an overwhelming majority of countries – especially in Europe – would elect Obama in a landslide. German support for Obama remained steady from 2008 to 2012 at about 65 percent for Obama to just 8 percent for Romney (with the rest presumably having no opinion or being unsure). The most overwhelming support for Obama in Europe came from the French and Spanish, where just 2-3 percent supported a Romney presidency.<br />
<br />
I found myself pondering the discussions in the U.S. media and political milieu about the shift to the right of the GOP, and thought it would be interesting to see if Europe's view of American presidential candidates had also shifted accordingly. I tried without success to find polls tracing these sentiments. Indeed, it would be incredibly interesting to see if such overwhelming majorities would have supported Jimmy Carter or Walter Mondale or Lyndon Johnson, or if Richard Nixon would have had an equally anemic following in Germany or France. In any case, Germans (and I) now often joke that their most conservative mainstream party, the CDU/CSU, has a much more progressive agenda than our liberal party on nearly all social and economic issues. They are all in full agreement that a progressive taxation system is necessary (and fair!) for the funding of very useful and important government programs providing health care, pensions and infrastructure to its citizens. In Germany, being called a 'socialist' is hardly an insult. Furthermore, it was the conservative CDU's Angela Merkel that instituted Germany's unprecedented pledge to phase out all nuclear power generation in the coming years (with the caveat of course that this move came under significant political pressure from the more progressive <i>Grünen</i> and the SPD).<br />
<br />
<br />
I am optimistic and hopeful that with the re-election of Obama the U.S. and it's population is moving in a direction that will result in a more progressive, tolerant, and environmentally-friendly society, but the spectacle of the 18-plus-month-long campaign – and the fact that 3 billion dollars of largely private and anonymous campaign funding were funneled into it – is a clear indication to me that we have a long way to go before anything like Europe's progressivism could emerge as a formidable force. The U.S. might be getting less conservative, but we are still by a good margin the most conservative Western nation in the world.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-71395526533850701672012-11-04T13:28:00.001-08:002013-02-21T06:20:15.419-08:00Mudlarks, Dumpster Divers, and Pfand-collectors<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43ooPhH7U3dnsLP4azhTFGFZHCuYvP_Q_PF91HSbikdw9NfldFL0LuEEqNrMoWBg9o20Mjtp_VCf93V0rzWrophyphenhyphenkjV3rhDyprwGjcdkXeSb4ygqqPFhjgpyYbO754oUfhgZS_efgueM/s1600/mudlark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43ooPhH7U3dnsLP4azhTFGFZHCuYvP_Q_PF91HSbikdw9NfldFL0LuEEqNrMoWBg9o20Mjtp_VCf93V0rzWrophyphenhyphenkjV3rhDyprwGjcdkXeSb4ygqqPFhjgpyYbO754oUfhgZS_efgueM/s1600/mudlark.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A London Mudlark ankle deep in refuse.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As long as the big city has been around, there has existed an underclass of citizens that – out of sheer poverty and necessity – works to recycle the waste of those classes living above it. They create economies and markets in the deepest, darkest and rankest places, making use of the things the super rich, the rich, the middle class, and the 'normal' poor have tossed. The practice is as old as humankind, and it continues in the modern metropolis – even in Germany.<br />
<br />
But let's look first at England. Early Modern London had it's proud class of 'Mudlarks', plodding the muddy and silty mouth of the Thames at low tide for anything that could be scavenged and resold. From half-broken corn cob pipes to discarded food to bones, the Mudlarks sifted through garbage, excrement, animal and human remains, and worse to reap their harvest. Most Mudlarks were robust youngsters (which shouldn't surprise us given that most never reached their 20th birthday even if they grew up in luxurious circumstances), often orphaned or deserted, or at least without a skilled trade. Their tales have been told in 19th century novels such as <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_Jack" target="_blank">Poor Jack</a></i>, and more recently in Neal Stephenson's stellar <i><a href="http://www.nealstephenson.com/quicksilver/" target="_blank">Baroque Cycle</a>, </i>where main character Jack Shaftoe begins his adventurous journey through life as a garbage sifter and general ruffian in and around the Thames River. Amazingly, this job was legitimately seen as having a set of advantages not enjoyed by other professions, such as freedom to set one's own hours, being one's own boss in general, and working outside in the 'fresh' air. Their story also comes up in a book I've already mentioned, Steven Johnson's <i><a href="http://www.theghostmap.com/" target="_blank">The Ghost Map</a>. </i>Here, the author talks about the decline of the Mudlark profession as London city planners eventually decided to re-direct human and material waste away from the river. The decision notably had nothing to do with the fact that the planners were concerned that city's river had the consistency of a hearty Hungarian goulash; rather, they simply wished to monetize waste materials. This included collecting and spreading London's massive supply of human excrement over the city's surrounding fields. In doing so, planners vastly improved the health of the city's iconic waterway and it's populace (which drew it's drinking water from the river), but also induced the decline of the Mudlark trade.<br />
<br />
So centuries later, the urban waste bins of yesteryear – rivers and canals – have given way to today's rubbish bins, and instead of the Mudlarks, we now have Dumpster Divers. Lucky for them, city-dwellers no longer discard excrement and corpses in the same places they discard their household goods, food and clothing, making dumpster diving a marginally less pungent exercise. "The Local", an expat magazine here in Berlin, recently did a piece on the growing popularity of <a href="http://www.thelocal.de/national/20120322-41475.html" target="_blank">dumpster diving</a> as a kind of sport. The mission: recover, eat, and yes, enjoy some of the 11 million tons of food discarded annually in Berlin. The interesting development with dumpster diving is that people aren't really doing it because they must, but "because they should", according to the Local's article. They're simply trying to do their part in reducing the massive waste by food service industries and the population at large, and by strict laws guiding product consumption and expiration dates. As long as one doesn't care if his/her fruit is sharing space with egg shells, dirty socks and half-eaten steaks, one can probably live solely off dumpster-dived rations.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgioOadlhAf7eH59-JUueAZ_aiNoDPc1h9ZsmHF40hCHB0eRswVateyrZUKIdhxuFmmIwgteHPdEdhQSTYaukcnChZcCLo-XCBKjPWbxvktsHSaLaRyihVY_Fiqn4zbkwUAMg7LmCzNVE4/s1600/IMG_6062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgioOadlhAf7eH59-JUueAZ_aiNoDPc1h9ZsmHF40hCHB0eRswVateyrZUKIdhxuFmmIwgteHPdEdhQSTYaukcnChZcCLo-XCBKjPWbxvktsHSaLaRyihVY_Fiqn4zbkwUAMg7LmCzNVE4/s1600/IMG_6062.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Pfand-collectors wet dream.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This brings me to my final example of the modern-day urban recycling economy, and it surrounds the <i>Pfand</i> system I describe in my previous post. Nearly all glass or plastic products are sold with a return fee, which can be redeemed by using <i>Automaten</i> in every grocery store. Now, most true Germans among the Berliners obediently return their own bottles on a schedule as timely as the Deutsche Bahn <i>used</i> to be. However, being a city with an enormous number of tourists, non-Germans and party-goers, many of these <i>Pfandflaschen</i> get discarded in bins or on the ground all over the city (there is no open-bottle ban in Germany!). The result: an extremely robust and efficient bottle-recycling program headed by those in need, but increasingly by not-so-poor hobbyists. These two groups are joined by many of Berlin's seniors, who have recently borne the brunt of fundamental changes in the German social security programs, and are thus left trying to supplement their insufficient retirement support from the state (the viability and effectiveness of the Hartz reforms are the subject for another blog post). <br />
<br />
This brings me to my personal experiences with the <i>Pfand Collectors</i>: The last time I was at the ever-popular Görlitzer Park having a beer with a friend, the packed public park felt like a full-service outdoor bar, where empty beer bottles were promptly cleared by roaming collectors toting their bags on rollers. It even began to border on the overly attentive service one often gets in U.S. restaurants; collectors began to pester you for your bottles despite the fact you were in mid-swallow. I would venture to guess that any <i>Pfand</i> bottle in Berlin really only spends around 10-20 minutes in the garbage, on the ground, or in one's hand before the next collector comes along to swipe it. The best place to observe the sheer scope of the <i>Pfand</i> industry in Berlin, though, is to go to one of the few supermarkets that are open on Sunday (e.g. at the <i>Hauptbahnhof</i> or <i>Friedrichstrasse</i>) – following a long night (and morning) of revelry at the myriad clubs. Like trick-or-treaters with garbage bags full of candy, collectors wait in the queue to cash in their haul.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2pS95QF_4Dcuv-Uq3H110mX_botgoXr8DtIJVxpr3kbk_pApJocJ_Cy6-LnICSu7jj_XjtMPht6k3oII7QAGzk72qkTmD027vyRxCYFIuzjkSKPI4A0r4jFmLR2xbze35hNjGzsugT0/s1600/2012-10-27+01.14.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2pS95QF_4Dcuv-Uq3H110mX_botgoXr8DtIJVxpr3kbk_pApJocJ_Cy6-LnICSu7jj_XjtMPht6k3oII7QAGzk72qkTmD027vyRxCYFIuzjkSKPI4A0r4jFmLR2xbze35hNjGzsugT0/s1600/2012-10-27+01.14.46.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Treasure hunting in Wedding.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the end, regardless of the motivations behind those participating, the recycling economies of big cities will certainly continue on. As long as there are rich and wasteful people who have more than they need, there will be those to swoop in, happy to make use of discarded goods. I don't see this changing anytime soon. Though the poorest cities in the world doubtless have much more complex and elaborate underground recycling markets, I find Berlin's particularly interesting if for no other reason than – despite having an ample population of people living in poverty – so many seem to be engaging in it purely for sport.<br />
<br />
Update: it seems that New York has also become a popular spot for can collecting, in this case due to job losses in the industrial sector. Listen to this <a href="javascript:NPR.Player.openPlayer(172519455,%20172519430,%20null,%20NPR.Player.Action.PLAY_NOW,%20NPR.Player.Type.STORY,%20'0')" target="_blank">interesting and sad story at NPR</a>. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-28782287314236357052012-10-23T15:07:00.003-07:002012-10-23T23:58:48.209-07:00Into the Drink<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you get hit by a truck in Germany,<br />
chances are it'll be a beverage truck.</td></tr>
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We all know that Germans love beer. Germany is home to the
world’s largest beer festival (more than 7 million liters of beer are consumed each
year at Munich’s Oktoberfest), has the world’s oldest known law protecting the
quality of beer (the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reinheitsgebot</i>
was enacted in 1516), and as far as I’m concerned (sorry Czech Republic) still
makes the best damn pilsner in the world. German <i>Knaben</i> and <i>Mädels</i> are already
well-acquainted to the world of alcohol long before reaching the legal age of
16. This is perhaps the subject for another post, but it’s notable that – in
most cases – the earlier drinking age in Germany compared to the U.S. or
England actually results in much healthier, more mature behavior when it comes to alcohol consumption.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The juice quantities alone are simply staggering. (Photo: Peter Menzel Photography)</td></tr>
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Less well-known, however, is the deep-seated German passion
for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Getr</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria \(Theme Body\)";">ä</span>nke</i>
(beverages) in general. Now, you might ask, how do Germans store the requisite
numbers of bottles required to slake their insatiable thirsts with such
diminutive refrigerators? After all, many Americans have entire fridges
dedicated solely to beer storage, and I don’t think we’re nearly as drink-happy
as the Germans. The answer: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">der Kellerraum,</i>
or cellar – chock full of slightly-lower-than-room-temperature beverages,
neatly stacked in their returnable plastic carrying cases. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.menzelphoto.com/books/hp.php">Hungry Planet</a></i> – a thought-provoking book
about eating and drinking habits around the world – families purchased a
typical week’s worth of groceries and posed with the resulting pile. It’s
absolutely fascinating how much you can tell about how a family lives and where
they’re from just by seeing what they consume. So anyway, after letting my
disgust subside upon seeing Americans’ and Britons’ horrendous heaps of frozen,
processed, sugar-laden and unhealthy foods, I had a good look at the German
family’s formidable stack. I couldn’t help but notice how many neatly-aligned
rows of beverages dominated the picture. It almost looks as if they realized
the silly proportion of liquids in their pile, at which point they tried to
visually reduce the utter beverage domination by trying to hide those juices
and drinking yoghurts way in the back (by the way, Germans are also big coffee
and tea drinkers, which is not evident in the photo – the vacuum-packed <i>Tschibo </i>coffee packages and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teekanne </i>tea bag boxes are in all likelihood hiding behind those red wine bottles on the left). </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizoqfWMgmsCddccUda7efW-QUq8VnQCMUh_Miir50AZbrktQzPfHJ6vIoDk-mmvjiykPIjrcQNCnzmES_J3ecD7SItckWKyLjN_6d_-MunldbEyMMQvEk5RhbDt-8iACZCq6e_JwfyLBE/s1600/2012-10-23+17.25.26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizoqfWMgmsCddccUda7efW-QUq8VnQCMUh_Miir50AZbrktQzPfHJ6vIoDk-mmvjiykPIjrcQNCnzmES_J3ecD7SItckWKyLjN_6d_-MunldbEyMMQvEk5RhbDt-8iACZCq6e_JwfyLBE/s1600/2012-10-23+17.25.26.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least €100 of <i>Pfand </i>just waiting to be cashed in.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In my experience, Germans usually have a solid two-week
supply of liquid consumables on hand at any given time. The smartest, most
dedicated <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Getr</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria \(Theme Body\)";">ä</span>nke</i>-lovers
make a special trip to the nearest <a href="http://www.getraenke-hoffmann.de/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Getr</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria \(Theme Body\)";">ä</span>nkeladen</i></a>
(see picture), where the selection is wide, the prices low, and the carts and
aisles specially designed for some seriously efficient drink-purchasing action.
If it’s a Sunday or a holiday, not to fear (when nearly all other stores are
closed); there are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sp</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria \(Theme Body\)";">ä</span>tis</i>
(late-night shops) and gas stations that can fulfill your diverse beverage
needs in a pinch.</div>
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It is the German take on the most basic, simplest of
beverages, however, that I find most interesting. Water almost always comes
from a bottle in Germany. If you’ve traveled here before, you know that
restaurants don’t bring water to the table, and if you ask for water, you’ll
get it in a bottle. You’ll also be asked whether you want it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mit </i>or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ohne</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gas</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kohlens</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria \(Theme Body\)";">ä</span>ure</i>
(with or without carbonation). </div>
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A very brief excursus: Germans also love carbonation. To wit, the
aforementioned <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Getr</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria \(Theme Body\)";">ä</span>nkel</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria \(Theme Body\)";">ä</span>den
</i>have at least three levels of water carbonation on offer, and any non-carbonated
drinks present in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hungry Planet </i>photo
will most likely be diluted with carbonated water before being quaffed.</div>
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So once you’ve caught on to the default of having to pay for
water at restaurants, you pull out your conversation dictionary or travel guide
and subsequently practice saying the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leitungswasser</i>
until you’ve memorized it, only to realize that whenever you order it, you’re
either faced with a disquieting scowl, annoyed sigh, or maybe even a
well-practiced monologue about how water is not served from the tap at this
establishment, not because the water is somehow non-potable or will give you
worms or cholera or worse, but because one simply doesn’t do that (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so was tut man nicht</i>). You may wish to point out now that the
Germans’ consumption of bottled water isn’t consistent with the rabid
environmentalism and conservationism I've mentioned in previous posts; but to nobody's surprise, they’re way ahead of the game: there
is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pfand </i>(deposit) of up to 25
cents per bottle. They also tend to put the largest deposits on the little
flimsy plastic bottles or cans that are most likely to get carelessly tossed
into the garbage – so if you’re too lazy to return your bottles, someone else
certainly will (stay tuned for my next post on precisely this topic!). </div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-26295131342925620982012-10-14T13:39:00.002-07:002012-10-14T13:42:39.059-07:00The Wind and the Windows<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnfywmx3C0sQmwEaLJSJzlyyRQ1NirWp8Vb3Ci_xJHsQze0KzO92esjv5TPRvxj00aoFHRbnKTjQNFFlqL-7dU46mr9Cvtok3QvwMA4jZTMEJZ4UL9Suz_4BnLix8mDBUCEuCu8n5LLo/s1600/Es+zieht.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnfywmx3C0sQmwEaLJSJzlyyRQ1NirWp8Vb3Ci_xJHsQze0KzO92esjv5TPRvxj00aoFHRbnKTjQNFFlqL-7dU46mr9Cvtok3QvwMA4jZTMEJZ4UL9Suz_4BnLix8mDBUCEuCu8n5LLo/s1600/Es+zieht.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another fantastic German ad campaign.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
The Germans have a very complex relationship with air – and more specifically, moving air. If you've ever heard a German say "<i>Es zieht</i>," you've experienced the German's deathly fear of moving air, even when said air is quite warm, and the draft provides much-needed relief in a stuffy environment. Perhaps the most common setting to hear such an utterance is in a regional train car. Next time you're riding the RE from Munich to Salzburg on a warm, sunny summer day, try cracking several windows – especially if there are a few octogenarians present – and there's a great chance you will be scolded for endangering the health of all of those on board. I've seen otherwise immobile elderly ladies abruptly stop knitting and spring up out of their seats at the slightest hint of air disturbing the tufts of hair on their chins, thus stopping the deadly draft before it strikes. I've also seen perfectly healthy young men without a word aggressively slam shut windows that had seconds ago been opened by other equally healthy, but suffocating passengers. Once again, the Spiegel's German <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/draftophobia-blown-away-by-the-fear-of-air-a-407764.html">"Survival Bible"</a> has stolen my thunder here in attempting to explain this phenomenon; a few readers give a great little summary of their experiences with the German aversion to drafts. My favorite part from that piece: according to one reader's wife, leading "scholars" and "doctors" claim that moving air is behind a whole set of maladies including pneumonia, flu, colds, and clogged arteries (!?), but "the biggest paradox <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">of all is that Germans are busy walking and cycling throughout quaint little villages and busy urban streets on a daily basis." Needless to say, it seems strange that doctors and scholars would adhere to what at least seems to me to be pretty arcane ideas about how people get sick. But having read the recent book "The Ghost Map" about London's massive cholera epidemic in the 19th century, I'm tempted to think that this just might be a carryover from the days of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory">miasma theory</a>. Trying to explain sickness in the days before germ theory emerged, it posited that moving bodies of air carried with them nefarious diseases: "The miasmas behaved like smoke or mist, blown with air currents, wafted by winds." </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil0487p4iZ-OTPwK2zivECe15bT-qLGSjaJxKieCto9sAt09EFSBEywqVIF8i4Sds_uZfs3SkbW8AfNUwM81zAMcImZDqiNqbCGXb3msfCXWcSaRJ-Wi7kzaF4lgK7Rphg8dezZOqtAGw/s1600/lu%CC%88ften.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil0487p4iZ-OTPwK2zivECe15bT-qLGSjaJxKieCto9sAt09EFSBEywqVIF8i4Sds_uZfs3SkbW8AfNUwM81zAMcImZDqiNqbCGXb3msfCXWcSaRJ-Wi7kzaF4lgK7Rphg8dezZOqtAGw/s1600/lu%CC%88ften.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
But the story of the "Wind and the Windows" gets a whole lot stranger when we introduce the idea of "<i>Lüften" </i>(Eng. 'ventilation, aeration'). Despite their aforementioned fear of drafts, Germans are very serious about ventilation. Many Germans <i>lüften </i>their apartments, houses, and other abodes on a very strict schedule, but others will sit in a room, and with just as much conviction as the octogenarian train passenger, stand up and declare that this room urgently requires ventilation. In order to properly ventilate (see graphics), the largest available window in the room must be liberally opened, and a door or window directly opposite must also be opened, thus creating a nice, steady stream of flu/cold/pneumonia/clogged artery-causing airflow. In doing so, one replaces the stale, already-been-breathed air (ABB air) that has accumulated over the previous 12-24 hours. When I've pointed out this seemingly contradictory air-maintenance behavior to my German friends, they confidently respond that drafts are "unwanted" streams of air, whereas <i>lüften </i>is an intentional, short-term refreshing of the air supply in a room. </div>
<div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTYv5iUYlPEzGQlNeSLxkVT35tiN3fLrXDY6MGYYq2CaekmlyTfRffBWj352-rVI8GnPC9pQuJ05qWVB-VdaJz_KbuAvHR9e5IZKIOODlAo1nR4AMmdlqW9jw0Xqc4-aJEa71p5RUwlY/s1600/richtig-lueften.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTYv5iUYlPEzGQlNeSLxkVT35tiN3fLrXDY6MGYYq2CaekmlyTfRffBWj352-rVI8GnPC9pQuJ05qWVB-VdaJz_KbuAvHR9e5IZKIOODlAo1nR4AMmdlqW9jw0Xqc4-aJEa71p5RUwlY/s1600/richtig-lueften.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting serious about <i>lüften.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Now, I would let this explanation stand – and I can totally understand the logic behind these practices in isolation – but<i> </i>the problem is that in my experience, the appropriate times for <i>lüften </i>versus draft-avoidance seem completely arbitrary. On the one hand, we must keep the hot, stuffy air inside a train car or room, but it's very necessary to completely throw open a wall of windows and the door of a university classroom during mid-winter in Berlin because the previous class spoiled the air inside (based on true events).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The best thing to come of all of this seriousness about air is that Germans have incredibly functional and high-quality windows. In fact, I would venture to say that 90% of houses and apartments that have been renovated in the past 20 years have the same 3-position system: fully closed, fully opened, and <i>gekippt, </i>or tilted (see above graphic again). The connection between this design and German ventilation practices became very clear when compared to the ubiquitous crank systems in the United States. This design is great for Americans who love to keep the fresh air coming all day long in the summer, but simply impractical for the German who lets the air rush in for 15-20 minutes (or <i>kipps</i> it for an hour while they go to the store), and then closes them again afterward. So in conclusion, form follows function in German window construction; this should not surprise us. And with that, I say: "Be safe. Be healthy. Beware the rogue draft."</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-41158240725350234312012-10-08T11:55:00.000-07:002013-02-15T02:55:40.581-08:00The Mystifying, Malodorous German Shelf Toilet<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93iaqGH0p5TJ1EIO_lY4-Njf6DZSx7ROlnGBLJzKG26EG1u3kBTmZWNQSAxZEU5OHy6RbG0VTfIAUnRxLlQDH9K8G96ZqjLmAJz3tvfCsQEeAZFJpd3Jih02CQGpcTa4G86s-Lh76x5Y/s1600/IMG_0966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93iaqGH0p5TJ1EIO_lY4-Njf6DZSx7ROlnGBLJzKG26EG1u3kBTmZWNQSAxZEU5OHy6RbG0VTfIAUnRxLlQDH9K8G96ZqjLmAJz3tvfCsQEeAZFJpd3Jih02CQGpcTa4G86s-Lh76x5Y/s320/IMG_0966.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't worry, it's only a Mars bar. (thanks Tom D.!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Much ink has already been spilled on the subject I am about to broach. Nonetheless, I feel that I would be remiss not to put in my two cents about such a fundamental, intimate and personal experience of the expat in Germany. A simple 'german + shelf + toilet' Google search reveals a plethora of blogs, journals, and commentaries – many treating similar topics to my own humble blog – that have pondered the curiosity that is the German shelf toilet. <a href="http://asecular.com/%7Escott/misc/toilet.htm">Scott Anderson's</a> take from 2003 not only provides a competent description of the mechanisms and experiences behind the shelf, but also includes a useful diagram. Even Spiegel Online includes a <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/hold-your-nose-toilet-shelf-on-trial-a-406547.html">crash course</a> on what to expect from your #2 experience in their "Survival Bible" for foreigners living in Germany. This one simple search also reveals that the shelf toilet is in fact not solely a German phenomenon – the shelf can also be found in the water closets of the neighboring <a href="http://mwaonline.blogspot.de/2010/04/dutch-toilet-dilemma-is-sight-worth.html">Dutch</a>, but has unsurprisingly been eschewed, to my knowledge, by the rest of the continent (this is not to say I prefer the stand-and-squat design still popular in the south).<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMW9DJAbFDqYhyphenhyphen2s0lvAq8Td56oEQeF7IpEvy40waS-_wwcSIDKSaIhMhSgtZeey_UXBUENNhM90kousZk8R6gzjtVHhIMjG2pq92V4JtdTuqkOEsHHN5VuNAjhlkyXXCO_8CG6a7Gxhs/s1600/toiletshelf1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMW9DJAbFDqYhyphenhyphen2s0lvAq8Td56oEQeF7IpEvy40waS-_wwcSIDKSaIhMhSgtZeey_UXBUENNhM90kousZk8R6gzjtVHhIMjG2pq92V4JtdTuqkOEsHHN5VuNAjhlkyXXCO_8CG6a7Gxhs/s320/toiletshelf1.gif" height="109" width="320" /></a><br />
Having read most of these German toilet treatises, I tend to agree with the most common conclusion that the only possible advantage that can come from designing a toilet that leaves your poo high and dry (and noxious) is the ability to examine the viscosity, texture, color, and scent of said excrement. Now, although I can imagine a few scenarios when fecal research might be desirable (recovery of lost or ingested non-digestible objects), or even required (stool sample collection), this cannot possibly amount to more than 1% of all deuces. In the case you're a big believer that self-monitoring your own solid waste for health reasons, I personally think that viewing it in water is just as effective as dropping it onto a dry dock. Indeed, I would have expected renowned German engineering ingenuity to yield something more along the lines of a mechanically operated, optional shelf for those specific times when examination is called for, thus avoiding the abundance of disadvantages resulting from the presence of a shelf. These include but not limited to: intense miasma, flush failure (I don't view the incredibly insanitary shit-brush as a viable solution to this problem), and discrimination against long-accepted male peeing positions.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tSHfv-oyS5QOjII4AHA5kyKnzO6h0jQDNeYQfyJqIr4s0vLyzkVyPFeopz7aolMxoSzZIRx4_0hD3MxHHLJhmEtJWQGlCd64zxEBfE8QafdTZWXw7JvvCeKdMhzMZAtYCDDEa4RU66M/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tSHfv-oyS5QOjII4AHA5kyKnzO6h0jQDNeYQfyJqIr4s0vLyzkVyPFeopz7aolMxoSzZIRx4_0hD3MxHHLJhmEtJWQGlCd64zxEBfE8QafdTZWXw7JvvCeKdMhzMZAtYCDDEa4RU66M/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>'Der Dukatenscheißer' </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The overarching question, then, is whether Germans don't simply enjoy having a good look after they've finished up. This query invites a connection to a recent and controversial article by Michael Lewis in <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/09/europe-201109">Vanity Fair</a> about how the alleged German obsession with feces and filth has affected the European economic crisis. Needless to say, his sweeping claims and questionable jumps of logic in linking shit with dubious financial instruments – most of which I will allow the reader to explore in the interest of brevity – invited a raft of mostly negative responses from all corners of the digital and analogue media realm (including the Economist, Mother Jones and the New York Times, to name a few). Just to give a brief example, he identifies the variety of words, phrases, and even fairy tale characters (<i>der Dukatenscheisser, </i>or 'money shitter') that are connected with feces, and discusses Hitler's overuse of the word <i>Scheißkerl (</i>~ eng. <i>"shithead"</i>). These examples are mostly drawn from a 1984 article by anthropologist Alan Dundes. Though I think this is all very interesting, and a tempting invitation to connect this with the above discussion about the motivations behind the aforementioned toilet design, I don't think we can chalk up the existence of the shelf to a tenuous claim about German fascination with poo. In my limited international experience, Americans or Australians or Lebanese or Italians are just as likely to be interested in their excrement as the Germans. I, for one, am content to conclude that the shelf is a peculiarity of German (and Dutch!) WC-culture, and that the natives' seeming indifference to the design is simply a result of it being familiar. Without doing any objective research, it's also my impression that the next generation of bowls seem to be trending away from the shelf. But if you're in the market for a new toilet and don't want to follow the crowd on bowl design in the U.S., simply Google 'toilettenbecken + Abgang + waagerecht' and you're in business.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-71401155980249240372012-10-06T13:51:00.002-07:002012-10-09T01:23:48.548-07:00Socken mit Sandalen<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5g2JOltd6aoJbPeNJJ5HLl56tQLubY4uy2qtOqWhruDkQmpVCvpWYLcjzOLzfsBkOkoRCnKqMF9Q3lPNdAv78o0k82MW4dMFLI4lD2QOkzAr_5BZtwF6G-dMHJVrS_fIE5eXvwnGzxOY/s1600/2012-10-06+22.01.08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5g2JOltd6aoJbPeNJJ5HLl56tQLubY4uy2qtOqWhruDkQmpVCvpWYLcjzOLzfsBkOkoRCnKqMF9Q3lPNdAv78o0k82MW4dMFLI4lD2QOkzAr_5BZtwF6G-dMHJVrS_fIE5eXvwnGzxOY/s320/2012-10-06+22.01.08.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Felt <i>Pantoffeln = </i>warm feet.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I remember quite clearly the first time I crossed the threshold into a real German house as a strapping young 16-year-old. Before the tour of the three-level, three-generation household began – even before I had finished untying my laces to stand up to survey my surroundings – I was offered a pair of little grey felt slippers, well-worn but not worn out and fraying a little bit at the edges. It was one of the first staples of German culture – and definitely the first of many aspects of German <i>footwear </i>culture – that I was introduced to. My first impression in this case was curiosity, but this initial reaction was promptly replaced with a feeling of being welcomed warmly. How thoughtful of them to consider the welfare of my sensitive suburban soles. I later learned that this practice of offering loan-footwear to guests was such a basic form of social etiquette that one can buy these furry little foot-friends at nearly any store ranging from the patrician KaDeWe to the local Aldi, Pennymarkt or even Flohmarkt. It is perhaps the only product in Germany that you can buy at such a wide range of establishments with virtually no difference in product quality or appearance. Now, much older and wiser, I realize that the practice of offering indoor footwear to guests is actually widespread across many world cultures. A long-time Berliner and German professor recently informed me that this practice within Germany is much more common in the former East, and that if one travels further eastward across Europe, Russia, and eventually all the way to Japan, one will in all likelihood rarely have cold feet as a guest. So it seems that – more or less – the iron curtain in this case seems to have marked a sort of <i>Pantoffel</i> (Eng. 'slipper') boundary. All of this aside, well over a decade later and now a seasoned resident in Deutschland, I still rest easy knowing that if I arrive at a friend's or acquaintance's house (especially if it's in the former East), I will have warm, comfortable feet despite the chill of the tiles and the squeaky, light brown parquet floor.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin0llde9hYX6nl-0MY-VPldVKlOFQQSA5wKREkqViqoS4QN0ZxghNLLL6zubXWwF3xbEjBBVCBGEvjwsk7KCOS0zFy4KMylAHvIoSP_O_zNAcdFb2X7SM8MPpOiU0LZoFbE1p8P1S4tuA/s1600/Foto.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin0llde9hYX6nl-0MY-VPldVKlOFQQSA5wKREkqViqoS4QN0ZxghNLLL6zubXWwF3xbEjBBVCBGEvjwsk7KCOS0zFy4KMylAHvIoSP_O_zNAcdFb2X7SM8MPpOiU0LZoFbE1p8P1S4tuA/s320/Foto.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sock-sandal combo spotting on the U2 in Berlin.</td></tr>
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But I digress. While the idea of <i>Pantoffeln</i> for all is one of the more solidly positive symbols of German <i>Gastfreundschaft</i> in general, the point of this post is really a vexing and much less practical manifestation of German footwear culture: namely, the practice of wearing Teva-esque, but usually generic strapped sandals with dress socks, the latter usually being dark grey or black in color. In this case, we have an otherwise relatively hip 60-something U-Bahn patron (I've chosen in this case to respect his anonymity), confidently donning his black cotton socks with a robust and high-quality pair of strapped leather sandals. Admittedly, it was a tad cool outside to be wearing sandals sans socks that evening, but in this case I would expect the typically sensible German mentality to opt for standard full-toed footwear. I would further argue that the marginal advantage gained in foot breathability is far out-shined by the obvious fashion and weather-proofing drawbacks. The cake is iced for me by the fact that I have repeatedly been stared at and questioned directly by German folk about my insensible choice of flip-flops or Birkenstocks sans socks in warm summer weather, being informed that I was actually wearing <i>Hausschuhe</i> out of doors – "that one does not do that." I think I speak for many when I say the same for the pictured footwear choice.<br />
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Though my observations suggest that this curious institution may be marginally more common in the older generation(s), I have observed many proponents of the sandal/sock combo well under the age of 30, suggesting that the tradition is – for <strike>better or</strike> worse – being imparted upon the impressionable younger generations. Indeed, <i>Socken mit Sandalen</i> appear to be set to survive well into the new millennium. Keep your eyes well-peeled, and you too may spot some in the wild.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2758931653455023072.post-51456358584245501982012-10-03T14:12:00.000-07:002012-10-09T01:24:49.710-07:00Seriously German<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBcYd_Zf0fY1RaneNU43l-1cqovpVnMo7iIWfQjMA7f227KaM-G6U_4p2xZSf9ZsTR1r6UMhGfQ6GtSND0WKpx3tB1REc9i3mkBorZULgYZVxyerPnyP_vM6MP7ohkWejc9KUHPWuJyo/s1600/angela-merkel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBcYd_Zf0fY1RaneNU43l-1cqovpVnMo7iIWfQjMA7f227KaM-G6U_4p2xZSf9ZsTR1r6UMhGfQ6GtSND0WKpx3tB1REc9i3mkBorZULgYZVxyerPnyP_vM6MP7ohkWejc9KUHPWuJyo/s320/angela-merkel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">German Chancellor Angela Merkel being serious.</span></td></tr>
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Germany is a pretty serious place. One needn't look far for examples.<br />
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The Germans are serious about debt reduction: Angela Merkel and her colleagues still stand firm by their policies of austerity in the face of crumbling EU economies. They are serious about saving the environment: decades of protests and campaigns by so-called <i>Wutbürger</i> ("angry citizens") have culminated in an unprecedented pledge to close all nuclear plants in Germany by 2022. On an individual scale, the average German puts Americans, Britons, and other Europeans to shame by being almost painfully frugal with energy and water use. My former landlord made it a specific point to instruct me that I should wash my hands and face with ice cold water and to only turn the water on in the shower for the purposes of getting myself wet and rinsing myself off – both of these seem pretty absurd to the average American. I also initially thought he was out of his mind, but by the end of my year living in Berlin, I found myself doing both religiously (it certainly helped that energy costs were at least double those in the U.S.)<br />
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Germans are even serious about vacation, free time and fitness. According to the Independent, they spent more than any other country on travel in 2010 ($91 billion). The U.S., U.K., China, and France round out the top five. Most Germans also rigidly maintain exercise regimes. Obese people in German are a veritable curiosity (chances are, if you spot one it's actually a tourist or an expat), and this fact is all the more surprising when one considers the panoply of carbohydrate and fat-rich German specialities including but not limited to <i>Würste, Schnitzel, Brot, Kartoffeln, Schweinsbraten, </i>and of course ample servings of beer.<br />
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All of this aside, there are myriad <i>funny</i> things – peculiarly <i>German</i> curiosities – that all of us expats, visitors, students, and residents notice on a daily basis. These things often amuse us and sometimes delight us, but there are also plenty of things that drive us to drink, leaving us with an intense longing for the homeland, wherever that may be. There are other things – like the fantastically practical and efficient <i>Rolladen </i>or the <i>Döner </i>– that I and my friends have repeatedly talked about making a fortune on by importing them to North America. The purpose of the following posts will be to document these funny things about Germany, and to examine the backgrounds, stories, possible motivations, and histories behind them. But mostly I just want to document in one place all of the things I and my friends have laughed, joked, complained, and pondered the meaning of over the years. Enjoy.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(Obesity image from Economist.com)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887095381633978117noreply@blogger.com1