Final Blog

German 110 was a surprise to me. I had imagined it to be more like any other class, but it wasn't. It was very different. Professor Roland made much different then a lecture class. As student, we had to participate, more so like we were teaching the class and in sense, we were. We all presented on subtopics from a larger standpoint and subject. I didn't expect the long hours of class time, however, how the class was conducted I can understand that the long hours were needed. It was very well constructed and Professor Roland made it an interesting class with his humor.

We started out class with a group discussion of what we know and what we thought of Germany, as for, the cultural, politics, history, and other information. We started from the beginning with the 16 states of Germany in which are, Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig, and Thuringia. Each group or state had made a short presentation on the demographics of their state. We than learned about the government and the political side of Germany. Germany has six different political parties: The CDU, The CSU, The SPD, The FDP, The Greens, and The Pirates. After, the political parties we read and watched, "All Quiet on the Western Front". Which was very interesting, first time reading it. I did't fully realize what it must have been like in World War I or to have that emotional stress pinned on you day after day. I liked how the movie match the book so well. In conclusion to the book and movie, we all blogged about it and chose a character we wanted to represent and go into more depth of that character. Next we covered arts, literature, music, medicine, sports...etc. in multiple time zones such as 17th,18th, and 19th century. As for blogs and research, this was the most interesting to me. However, my favorite topic of Germany whether it is good or bad history is World War II. Unfortunately we never covered it in class and in sense I can understand why we maybe did't, because we have all heard the run down of it. We then, watch a couple of movie, Berlin Calling and Der Baader Meinhof Komplex. This was my favorite part of class away from the blogs. Both movies stayed on topic of Intro to German and showed a particular side of Germany whether it is modern day or 30 years ago.They were both good movies, but I would have to put Berlin Calling on top. The music I think was what drew me to the music because I went home and downloaded the album from the movie.

All in all, this was a good class, and a different pace from others classes. Having a night class last semester, I was skeptical how this one might go, but it went well, and kept me engaged, thanks to the professor. On another note, because I need to take a language for my degree, and my passion for the German culture, I am going to take German as my language and I am hoping to have Professor Roland again in the near future.

Leberkase

Leberkase, is a specialty food found in southern Germany. In English, Leberkase means, "Liver Cheese", but in Bavaria, it does not contain liver or cheese.

Leberkase is a traditional German food made from mixed ground meats baked into a loaf, much like meatloaf here in America. Traditionally, the main ingredients are liver,pork and/or corned beef. However, the amount of liver that it contains varies from place to place.

You may look at this with a disgusting look on your face, but don't think of it has a meatloaf. It is actually more like ham and it can be eaten the same ways.

This was my favorite dish when I studied abroad in Germany and it was made by my host mother the exact same way it is shown in the picture.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leberkäse

http://www.germanfoodguide.com/wurstdetail.cfm?wurst_number=15

Classroom Discussion

1. They organized their protest by accepting members who were willing to fight back in the same ways and beliefs as their own. They protested against newspaper statements along with television prodcasts. In there protest they also used articles in newspapers and television prodcasts. With their actions, they killed cops and political members. In addition they trained as guerrilla fighters, bombed military bases and police stations.

2. At the beginning, its seemed as the group had something logical to fight against and knew what they were doing to get across to others. They all had common goals and a purpose to what they were trying to do. The group became more violent and started losing control of their purpose and themselves. They basically gave up and most were killed or caught and thrown in jail. As newer groups began to protest they soon found out the newest generation didn't have goals at all. The new group merely became terrorists and killing innocent people just because they could. They didn't so much have a meaning for it.

3. I do believe his determination and rudeness was a factor in him having a role as the leader of the group. Because of his determination and rudeness, others began to listen and follow him. He had a sense of what he was talking about it and he had plans which ultimately lead to his leadership of the group.

Rote Armee Fraktion/Red Army Faction

The Red Army Faction formerly the Baader-Meinhof Gang. They aimed to eliminate Western influence and capitalism, using terrorism to stimulate worldwide Marxist-Leninist revolution. They were well-known for attacking U.S. military targets in Germany in hopes of eliminating U.S.-German cooperation. They also engaged in large terrorist operations in order to secure the release of fellow imprisoned members.The RAF war founded by Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Horst Mahler, and Ulrike Meinhof. The Baader-Meinhof Gang was established in 1968 during the student protest movements in response to post-Nazi Germany during the 1960s. The RAF was Germany’s most violent and notorious left wing group in history.

The RAF had three generations.. It started with the first generation the original founders such as; Andreas Baader and his followers. By 1972, a large number of the core members of the Baader-Meinhof Gang had been captured and imprisoned. However, the second generation appeared and there were other young terrorists available to swell the dwindling ranks of the Gang. These revolutionaries mostly had similar backgrounds to the first generation. They were middle class and mostly students. Most of them joined the Gang after their own groups disappeared. The third generation was active mostly throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Tom Vague says they were more vicious than their predecessors and says that they perhaps didn't have as much cause as the earlier generations to rebel.

The group announced an end to its terrorist campaign in 1992, and several of its surviving militants were arrested and tried. However, the group formally disbanded in 1998, though arrests and trials continued.




http://vkb.isvg.org/Wiki/Groups/Red_Army_Faction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Members_of_the_Red_Army_Faction

Baader- Meinhof Complex

In the beginning of this movie I was not very engaged. The moment the extremist began to protest against the German government was when it got interesting. It reminded me much of the other movies and photos when the same thing was happening here in America during the Vietnam War era. Riots became an everyday occurance and the voices of outsiders and extremists were non-existent. German authorities went above and beyond what I believe was the necessary action. Extremist were being physically abused and even killed in the chaos. As the movie went on extremist took a similar approach as the German government. They began to form organized groups with well planned out actions to counter the German authorities and make their actions heard. However, towards the end, those groups started to get a little too complacent and began to lose complete control of their organized plans. Each member slowly were taken to jail or even killed. The movie was interesting. It put in prospective what I was too young to see. Little did I know, these revolts took place around the world and not just here in America. Its unfortunate we did not make it to the ending.