Tag Archives: politics
Refugees Welcome? Germany Reacts (Pt2) Posted by Constanze on Oct 5, 2015
Guten Tag! đ In July I posted this article with a collection of interesting news stories relating to the refugee situation in Germany. As this situation has developed significantly over the past few months and is making headline news around the world, I decided to do another post on it with the most recent news…
The Turkish Guest Workers of ’60s Germany Posted by Constanze on Sep 20, 2015
The Turkish make up the largest ethnic minority group in Germany. But why is that, exactly? Der Gastarbeiter (pl: Die Gastarbeiter) It all began during the Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle) of the 1960s and 1970s, when Germany and Austria experienced rapid industrial growth and reconstruction of their economies following WW2. However, being severely low on labour…
The Power of German Traffic Lights Posted by Constanze on Aug 17, 2015
Who knew a pedestrian crossing could have such an impact? Yet thatâs exactly what the Ampelmann (also sometimes called by its more endearing term, Ampelmännchen) has been doing in Germany and Austria over the years! A LITTLE BACKGROUND The fascination with pedestrian crossings in Germany started with the famous Ost-Ampelmännchen, which was born in Berlin…
Refugees Welcome? Germany’s Reactions Posted by Constanze on Jul 24, 2015
Hallo! Wie geht’s? đ In März I wrote this post on PEGIDA and the German word Ăberfremdung (âover-foreignisationâ). Since that time, the topic of immigration in Germany has been making headline news â mostly due to the refugees coming to live in Germany. According to the interior minister, Germany is expected to receive a record…
Urban German Graffiti: Berlin Posted by Constanze on Jun 21, 2015
Berlin has been called the most bombed city in Europe. It has also been called the âgraffiti capital of Europeâ . Coincidentally (or perhaps not so coincidentally), Berliners have a slang term known as Das Bombing, referring to the act of âbombingâ the streets with graffiti. This should be enough to tell you that Berlin…
Urban German Graffiti Posted by Constanze on Jun 10, 2015
Iâve been quite interested in graffiti as of late. I like the way words are used in it, and I like the political, cultural meanings these words take on in their public settings. But I also just like the power of language that is contained in these scribbles. I thought that showing you some German…
Some simple facts about Germany Posted by jan on Nov 21, 2011
Germany is located in the heart of Europe. It has nine Nachbarstaaten (neighboring states) and it naturally borders the Nordsee (North Sea) and Ostsee (Baltic Sea) and the European Alps in the south (The borders to all neighboring states are open, by the way. The only exception is Switzerland). With its 357.111,92 km², it is…