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Germany
The decline of spoken German
I said: "Several German TV announcers cannot speak clearly. The classical theater was the source of modern German, originally Bühnensprache, theater speech. Actors were trained to speak clearly. Now German is murdered almost as badly as English". Christopher Jones agrees: "Sad but true. The language of Goethe and Schiller has been decimated by rock-o-pop, kanaken-deutsch (there is even a dictionary of this patois that combines German and Turkish) rap and so on. It is true there was no other country in Europe with such a rich theater heritage as Germany. And its actors were in a class unto themselves: Gustaf Gründgens (who invented the Mephisto character with the black and white mask and the recently passed Will Quadflieg who was Faust. Austria conserves the Burgtheatre in Vienna where greats from Germany and Austria receive a sort of lifetime membership in the form of a ring. We should not forget that the theatre is one of the building blocks of our civilization since ancient Greece. There is an weird atmosphere to the theatre that any electronic or celluloid based media cannot match -- whether its the three strokes on the stage in France or a small rural classical stage in Germany, there is something magical about the stage. My wife who is a trained "Germanistikerin" in Leipzig (which used to include the study of such languages as Gothic) says there is no hope for Bühnendeutsch -- it is gone with the wind. A crime against civilization, but I am not so pessimistic: as Mephisto says, "Du bliebst immer was du bist." "
RH: TV and the movies are the villains. TV announcers are often pretty young women with no speech training. If they spoke well they would probably be regarded as affected by hoi polloi. The theater stresses speech, but when TV or the movies take up a story it is mostly reduced it to light and noise effects. I mentioned a Mexican film about Zapata. I would have liked a lucid account of his life. However, it was mostly fighting between the peasants and the army, with guns blazing and roaring and people being killed in battle or executed.
End of military cooperation with the U.S.
German Defense Minister Peter Struck said that Germany would stop guarding
US military bases in the country at the end of 2004 and would not contribute
forces to a NATO force in Iraq. Struck told the Welt am Sonntag weekly that
the government wanted to "put an end to the German army's protection of
American installations by the end of
the year". The German Defense Ministry said the arrangements for ending
the guard service were still under negotiation, and that talks had been going
on since the beginning of 2004. US installations in Germany were established
when the country came under Allied occupation after World War II, and stayed
for the duration of the Cold War, when US forces were stationed along the "Iron
Curtain" against the Warsaw Pact's armies in the east. The
US army still has about 70'000 troops in Germany, but has said it may move up
to half of them to new bases in Romania or Bulgaria. This redeployment will
be part of a major realignment of US forces across the globe, with the Pentagon
aiming to establish small, low-maintenance bases that could quickly be brought
to full operability if required. Some 2'500 soldiers of Germany's Bundeswehr
have protected US installations since the beginning of
2003, when a large part of the US contingent was sent to take part in the invasion
of Iraq. Struck excluded the possibility that Germany would participate in any
future NATO force in Iraq. Struck said he considered it "highly uncertain"
whether NATO would be asked for support, and when. "Whatever the case,
Germany will not take part in it. The army will only provide special aircraft
to transport wounded if this proves necessary" (ISN, 5/4/04).
Nelly Sachs
The eulogistic bio of Jewish Nobel laureate writer Nelly Sachs elicited this
response from Christopher Jones: "While Israeli kill, blow up homes, and
continue to oppress the Palestinians, the piece on Nelly Sachs is an outright
provocation! Why didn't this illustrious Nobel laureate write about the suffering
of the people the Israelis threw out of their homes? Why do Americans always
associate anything "German" with the Nazis? Why not the Holy Roman
Empire, German Nation or the Kaiserreich? Always the damn Nazis! I will tell
you why: it could upset that very special morality for Jews that was set up
after the war by the Soviet loving idiots who won it. If I were Jewish I would
join with the German people and rebel against casting thousands of years of
German and Jewish history into 12 very unhappy and awful years". RH: Christopher
has a point in that people are interested in the present and recent history
of enemy countries, but not in their long history. We are flooded with information
about the war in Iraq, but few are interested in its long and at times glorious
history.
This bio by John Gehl of the German-born Jewish poet and dramatist Nelly Sachs
(1891-1970) is a case study of what happened to a Jewish intellectual in Nazi
Germany. She shared the 1966 Nobel Prize for literature with the Israeli writer
Shmuel Yosef Agnon. Sachs wrote mainly about the persecution and genocidal oppression
endured by the Jewish people for hundreds of years. In the words of the Nobel
judges, Sachs was praised for her "outstanding lyrical and dramatic writing,
which interprets Israel's destiny with touching strength". In accepting
the prize, Sachs commented that her fellow laureate, Agnon, represented Israel,
whereas "I represent the tragedy of the Jewish people."
Sachs was born and educated in Berlin. Her father was a prosperous manufacturer, and she grew up in the fashionable Tiergarten section of Berlin. She began writing verse at age 17, mostly romantic and conventional poems that were published in newspapers. When the Nazis came to power, she turned to the study of ancient Jewish writings to strengthen herself against the growing climate of anti-Semitism. In 1940 she learned that she was to be sent to a forced labor camp. Fortunately she was able to escape to Sweden thanks to the help she received from the Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf. Lagerlöf had been her pen pal and elicited the support of the Swedish royal family on her behalf. While living in Sweden, Sachs shared a one-room apartment with her mother. She learned Swedish, and occupied her time translating German poetry into Swedish.
As early as 1921 Sachs had published a collection of short stories entitled
Legends and Tales. Her writing after World War II was focused on the Holocaust
and other historical atrocities inflicted on the Jewish people. Her best-known
play was, "Eli: A Mystery Play of the Sufferings of Israel" (1950).
English translations of many of her poems are contained in
the two collections, O the Chimneys (1967) and The Seeker and Other Poems (1970).
The "O the Chimneys" title was taken from the famous poem she wrote
in which she envisions Israel's body drifting upward as smoke from the chimneys
of Nazi extermination camps.
In 1965, the year before winning the Nobel Prize on her 75th birthday, Sachs
had received the German Publishers Peace Prize. She used the occasion to speak
in the spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness that were frequent
themes in her poetry: "In spite of all the horrors of the past, I believe
in you."
See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1878818716/ newsscancom/ref=nosim
for Nelly Sach's correspondence with the poet Paul Celan.
President elect Horst Köhler
I am glad that Christopher Jones has changed his mind about German president
elect Horst Köhler: "As the evening wore on, Köhler certainly
improved. I think he was flustered by the faux pas committed by Bundestag president
Wolfgang Thierse (SPD) who tried to skip Köhler's acceptance speech and
proceed onto the anthem and lunch. At any rate, my impression improved and in
fact, we may be in store for more leadership from the highest office that what
we are used to. The standing of all politicians regardless of their party affiliation
has (rightfully) plummeted in Germany and Köhler recognizes the need for
straight talk. Of course, he couldn't say so outright, but my eyes are set upon
the latest flipflop in the saga of the Federal finances which are utter shambles.
If Hans Eichel (the finance minister) tries to push for more debt and sell the
country's gold reserves, Köhler made his feelings quite clear and he might
oppose it. Few realise outside of Germany, or Europe for that matter, the importance
of the financial problems of Germany and to a lesser degree France. The country
that should be the motor of the European economy is bumping along in semi recession
with close to five million unemployed (higher if you factor in the ABS program
which is nothing more than government pencil sharpening jobs.) Germany reached
unparalleled heights of prosperity and now the Germans have been asked to give
some of it back. This has been never done before. Köhler could conceivably
bring things to a head or push for a grand style compromise to introduce CDU
Financial "Wiz" Friedrich Merz's modified flat tax for the country".
I praised the acceptance speech of German president elect Horst Koehler. Christopher
was very critical of it. From Greece, Harry Papasotiriou writes: "Christopher
Jones seems to equate "telling the truth" with "denouncing Israeli
atrocities". It is not clear to me why Israeli policy should be mentioned
in the German president's acceptance speach. Doesn't Germany have any other
issues of her own? Is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the dominant international
issue affecting Germany? Anyway, in Europe Sharon's policy is routinely denounced
by politicians and the media alike. No shortage of this "truth" over
here. But criticising Sharon's policies is certainly not the same as racist
anti-Semitism, which all civilized persons rightly denounce, especially in the
light of what happened under Hitler".
The future of Germany
Christopher Jones lived for years in Germany and is married to a German. He
despairs of German politicians and proposes as a solution "not a Hitler
but somebody else will capitalise on the reigning "doublespeak," so
cherished by professional politicians to cover their wheeler dealing. Germany
desperately needs a constitutional overhaul. The only questions asked by the
press during the vote were, "Shouldn't the people be voting instead of
the "Macht Elite"(power elite)?? Germany's constitution was designed
to prevent another Führer state from happening again. Exactly what Germany
needs now, a little more direction! (No wars of course) In France, if we are
honest, it was Le Pen who managed to push Chirac to right. (law and order, immigration,
pensions etc.) But Le Pen is no Hitler, he is just a Poujadiste. The debate
is increasingly scripted by the extreme right. They reflect what the people
feel!!
The Spanish Royal wedding was beautiful but I had mixed feelings. I was happy
to see the institution thriving. But outside of Madrid and Astrias of course
Letizia will have to work hard: Felipe is popular, she is not. My heart is with
Sixto Enrique. Por Díos, La Patria, Fueros y el Rey!"
RH: I WAISly disagree with Christopher. Take Spain first. Sixto Enrique is the Carlist pretender to the throne, the descendent of the Carlist pretenders who in the 19th century fought the Liberal governments in Madrid and lost. ETA terrorists have an important Carlist element in their ideology. I hope they do not trigger another civil war. What evidence does Christopher have that Felipe is popular, Letizia is not? That may be true among his conservative friends, but I have no evidence that this is generally true.
As for Germany, the blanket denunciation of politicians reminds me of the campaign
which led to Hitler, whose burning of the Reichstag was an expression of his
scorn for politicians. However, the question of the constitution, made in the
USA, should be taken seriously. This does not mean that there must be a new
constitution, but that amendments may be necessary. Hitler had a plan to abolish
the states (länder), reducing each one to a number in a highly unified
State. In reaction to this the new constitution gives many rights to the states.
It is similar to the states' rights issue in the US. In general, conservatives
support decentralization.
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