GERM 202
Seh'n Se, det is Berlin Spring 2014
Division I
This is not the current course catalog

In the history of Germany, Berlin has always been a very important cultural and political center: it was successively the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the German Democratic Republic, before becoming the capital of a reunited Federal Republic of Germany in 1990. In order to understand the fascination held by this metropolis before and after WWII and its increasing popularity today, it is crucial to gain an insight into the cultural and historical aspects of the capital of Germany throughout the 20th century. In order to do so, we will read texts by Erich Kästner, Kurt Tucholsky, Thomas Brussig, and Wladimir Kaminer, look at paintings by Ernst Ludwig Kirschner, Otto Dix and photographs by August Sander, watch movies by Fritz lang, Wolfgang Staudte, Hannes Stöhr, and Detlev Buck, and listen to cabaret songs by Marlene Dietrich and electronic music by Ellen Alien. Conducted in German.