Culture and History I Encountered in Germany Essay Example
Culture and History I Encountered in Germany Essay Example

Culture and History I Encountered in Germany Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (824 words)
  • Published: April 22, 2022
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During the last of high school I had the joy of having a German exchange student reside with me for a year. Her name was Marike Deliweit she was 17 when she came here. During the course of the year I was intrigued about the history of Germany and traditions of their country. As a Christian parent I attend church weekly, I was worried that would have been an issue. I learned that she as well attended church while in her home country. It was also helpful for here attending my church as there was other families that is from Germany. A lot of their traditions are no different from ours here in the United States. As I got to know here more and more I realized that she was not much different from our family. She always enjoyed spending quality time with the family during and dinner.

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I will be explaining the scope of my finding of several areas of German culture throughout this document. Some people will ask you what culture is. Culture can cover a large area of things including values, belief systems, rules, morals, language, and organizations. With what I will be covering over Germany you will have a better understanding of what Germany has to offer.

Christianity is known as the largest religion in Germany. They belonged to either the Roman Catholic or Protestant churches. The Protestant churches comprised of 28 regional churches across all of Germany. One of the most famous members of the confessing Church was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed for his role to overthrow the regime. He was executed in a concentration camp.

I have come across good

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information of history about Germany but there is one that has intrigued me most. That is finding out that the capital of Germany was in Berlin then moved to Bonn and then back to Berlin. Before World War II Berlin was the capital of Germany. Germany was split into two regions and on August 16 1961. East Germany and West Germany was divided by the newly constructed Berlin Wall. With the split it also divided Berlin into East and West Berlin which was divided by the Berlin Wall. Berlin was not able to sustain being the capitol with the dividing of Berlin. So with this Bonn was determined to be the new capital of Germany. This move took over 8 years to complete and well over 10 billion dollars to finish the move. In 1999 German Bundestag met in the Reichstag building in Berlin to reassign Berlin as the capital of Germany. The parliament of Germany had not met in this building since Reichstag fire in 1933. The Berlin Wall was one of many conflicts in Germany.

Another interesting fact about Germany is the festivals that are held are to preserve the history. One of the most popular festival that is known worldwide is Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is known for its beer and Bavarian specialties such as sausage and pretzels. (Bones, 2008) This festival is held for more than two weeks. Another festival is Weihnachtsmarkte, or Traditional Christmas Markets. Similar to the here in Unites States, Christmas lights are displayed around the towns and homes of families. Also there is several amusement rides such as a Ferris wheel, merry-go-rounds, and ice skating rinks.

There is a lot to

be known about Germany when it came to military and democracy. It was an interesting find that the rise and fall of the Roman Empire was actually in the German region founded by Romulus and Remus. The two were twin sons of Mars, the god of war. The rise began around 753 B. C. and it fell in 509 B.C when turned to a republic. Another older battles was the German revolutions in 1848 to 1849 which was known as the March Revolution. (History.com Adolf Hitler 2009) A more commonly taught piece of history of battles in Germany is WWII which Adolf Hitler was in charge. Something that I did not know of was that Adolf Hitler petitioned the Bavarian King to be allowed to volunteer in a reserve infantry regiment during World War I. Adolf Hitler‘s government established the cultural dominance of Nazism while he was in charge of Germany.

In conclusion I have learned that there is far more history in the culture, military engagements, Christianity and life in general in Germany than I realized. There is so much more to cover that it would take days to type out everything that I have learned. What really catches my eye is that Germany is more like Americans than you really and truly realize. They have English speaking towns, they enjoy celebrating holidays that we as Americans celebrate. Yes they have had their share of turmoil and devastation over the years but they have overcame those heartaches and kept their head held high and pushed forward for a new life. If it wasn’t for the fall of the Berlin Wall it is uncertain how the

culture would be today.

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