Final Paper

The Media In Germany

Ryan Krebs

ENGL 191 sec.21

12/15/09

The media system in Germany has seen many different systems. In the former East Germany, the government tightly controlled the media but in the former West Germany the media was independent and free of censorship. The media system in Germany today was set up after world war two by the four-allied powers⁵. There were different ideas on how to set up the system but in the end the three western allies all had the same idea of a media system independent of the government. “Article 5 of the Basic Law expresses how the Constitution interprets the freedom of the press: “Every person shall have the right freely to express and disseminate his opinions in speech, writing and pictures and to inform himself without hindrance from generally accessible sources. There shall be no censorship.”’ Today the media in German is made up of four main industries, which include the newspaper, the Internet, the radio, and the television.

The newspaper in Germany is enjoyed by millions of people everyday. Germany has one of the highest number of newspaper readers in Europe. According to BBC News 305 newspapers are sold daily for every 1,000 inhabitants¹. All newspapers in Germany are privately own. Most Germans get their news from local or regional newspapers. After German reunification the print media saw major changes. The most popular newspaper in East Germany was circulating 1 million copies at its peak but by 1991 that figure had drop to just 100,000 copies². Today the Bild Zeitung is Germanys number one circulated newspaper with about 5 million copies circulating daily². Newspapers are not only limited to print form in Germany. Most newspapers offer a website where readers can read their favorite paper online. This may be one of the causes of declining circulation in Germany. According to the World Organization of Newspapers, Germany has seen a 9.35% decline in circulation from 2002-2006 and a 2.1% loss in the year 2006 alone¹⁰. In comparison to the United States circulation feel 5.18% from 2002 to 2006 and a loss of 1.9% in the year 2006 alone¹⁰. Overall since German reunification readership in Germany has been steadily declining.

The Internet is the fastest growing media industry in Germany. From the years 2000 to 2007 Germany has gone from 24 million Internet users to just over 50 million users⁷. That’s over a 30 percent increase in just eight years. Compared to the United States, Germany has a similar percentage of its overall population using the Internet. In 2007, the United States had 70.2% of its population using the Internet compared with 61.1% of the German population⁶. Although the media in Germany is separate form the government, the government still has the power to censor what it feels is wrong. For example, on June 18, 2009, the German government started to censor child pornography on the internet¹¹. Another form of censorship occurred in the mid-1990’s when Germany blocked certain sites that contain things that were banned in Germany, particularly websites that contained race hate propaganda. But this has also caused problems due to the high amount of websites out there, this was very hard to do. In July 2000, Reuters reported that, "Germany, which has some of the world's toughest laws banning race hate propaganda, has conceded defeat to the cross-border reach of the Internet and given up trying to bar access to foreign-based neo-Nazi sites. Deputy Interior Minister Brigitte Zypries, the government's Internet security chief, said this week in an interview with Reuters that it was unrealistic to try to shield Germans from foreign Web sites, even though police do aim to stop homegrown Nazi and other offensive material, such as child pornography⁴." In the United States it is very hard to block websites due to legal issues and the first amendment. Only those websites based in America that are doing something illegal may be shut down. A few examples of websites that could be shut down would be child pornography sites and sites that show pirated movies on them. Schools, libraries, and other business have taken censorship into their own hands in the United States by installing software that blocks certain sites, but this also has its flaws because of all the content that is out there on the web it is virtually impossible to catch everything.

Radio first appeared in Germany in the 1920’s and were there as a form of public network institutions¹². The radio in Germany was also highly influenced by the allied powers at the end of the war. Initially after the war the allied powers wanted to ban all radio broadcasting stations that were ran by German organizations⁵. After several disagreements a public radio station was established and was modeled after that of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)⁸. By the mid-1950’s the public radio system was starting to take shape. At the time it consisted of eight radio stations¹². Today there are about 460 radio stations in Germany. Of those 460 stations, 75 are public and 385 are private¹². There are several main differences between the public and private stations. First of all, public stations receive funding from the government whereas private stations receive their money through advertisements. Another big difference between the two is that public input is very low in the private sector compared to the public sector. In order to broadcast in Germany a new station must get a license to do so. A license is issued through the Landesmedienanstalten (State Media Authorities)⁹. Up until 1986 there were no private stations in Germany⁹. This is because the German government always denied any requests for a license and said, “that due to the rather poor technological pre-requisites of analogue distribution channels and the corollary (the impossibility to have frequencies in abundance) an economically oriented broadcasting system would threaten the freedom of speech. Therefore,

only a pluralistic and financially independent broadcasting system could

provide sufficient freedom of speech⁹.” It was with the development of fiber optic cables that made the previous statement no longer valid and eliminated the German governments only legitimate reason for blocking private stations. Web-radio is also growing fast in Germany. Six to seven percent of the Internet users in Germany use Internet radio. However, that is quit low compared to the United States where 16 percent of Internet users listen to web-radio⁹. The most popular web-radio station in Germany is DasWebRadio.de, and has a monthly audience of 510,000 listeners⁹.

Television in Germany used to be limited to only three channels. That was only until the year 1987. Prior to 1987 the only channel choices were public channels. Today many more channels can be seen thanks to the emergence of cable and satellite. About 30 percent of German households receive television via satellite¹². Households receiving television through cable, account for 58 percent of households¹². Leaving 12 percent of households getting television through an antenna. As of 2004, about 98% of households in Germany had at least one television¹². Each German household that has a television is required to pay a fee of $21 a month³. That accounts for $7 billion a year that funds the German public broadcast system, which is the largest one in Europe³. That money goes to the 22 public television channels available in Germany today³. These public television channels broadcast mostly things like regional news, cultural coverage, and educational programming. There is no censorship on broadcasting in Germany, people are free to express what ever they want with the exception of hate-propaganda.

Overall Germany has a very free media system. In 1999 Germany received the highest ranking for freedom of the press from The Freedom House Survey of Freedom of the Press². Germans love their sources of media and show their continued use of these resources from day to day. The media is forever changing and Germans are grasping on to this by taking on the Internet with increasing usage across the country that is continually growing.

Bibliography

¹BBC News. The Press in Germany. October 31, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3414139 (accessed December 12, 2009).

²Benfield, Richard. Germany. http://www.pressreference.com/Fa-Gu/Germany.html (accessed December 12, 2009).

³Business Week. Germany's Very Public Battle Over Public TV. December 6, 2004. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/cintent/04_49/b3911069_mz054.htm (accessed December 12, 2009).

⁴Electronic Frontiers Australia. Internet Censorship. http://www.efa.org.au/issues/censor/cens3.html#ger (accessed December 12, 2009).

⁵Gunther, Richard, and Anthony Mughan. Democracy and the Media. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2000.

⁶Internet World Stats. "Usage and Population Statistics." Internet World Stats. 2007. http://www.internetworldstats.com/am/us.htm (accessed December 12, 2009).

—. Usage and Population Statistics. 2007. ⁷http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/de.htm (accessed December 12, 2009).

⁸Johnston, Carla. Global News Access. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1998.

⁹Muhlenfeld, Hans-Ullrich. "European Journal of Communication." 2002. http://ejc.sagepub.com.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/cgi/reprint/17/1/103 (accessed December 12, 2009).

¹⁰World Association of Newspapers. World Press Trends. June 4, 2007. http://www.wan-press.org/arcticle14361.html (accessed December 12, 2009).

¹¹Bundesministerium fur Wirtschaft und Technologie. Kabinett beschlibt Netzsperren gegen Kinderpornos. April 22, 2009. http://www.bmwi.de/bmvi/navigation/presse/pressemitteilungen,did=298564.html (accessed December 12, 2009).

¹²Facts about Germany. Culture and Media. 2009. http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/culture-and-media-content-09/broadcasting.html (accessed December 12, 12).

Outline for "Food Around the World"

I. Food around the world

1. everyday foods vs. special foods

2. where they eat food

3. "rules at the dinner table"

4. food and social interaction

II. Preparation of food

1. buying fresh

2. who makes the meal

3. roles of markets

III. Other interesting topics with food

1. special seating at the table

2. what they eat food with

3. restaurants

outline for final paper

1) German media in comparison to American media

a) Television

i) History

ii) Laws

iii) Public vs. private

b) Radio

i) History

ii) Laws

iii) Public vs. private

c) Print

i) History

ii) Laws

iii) Public vs. private

d) Internet

i) History

ii) Laws

iii) Public vs. private

Final Paper Topic

For right now I am thinking of doing government censorship of the media in Europe and how it is the same and different from the U.S.

Link to Presentation on Europe

http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AeczK2n6jBqAZGY0MmtwNnJfMTBnNWZubXNnZA&hl=en

Interview #3

Ryan Krebs

ENGL 191 sec 21

Preparations for the interview

For my interview I came up with ten questions along with three addition points of interest about Germany and its culture. My objective for the interview was to have Wilma give me as much information she could about Germany and about being an international student. I wanted to learn about the pros and cons of the German and American university system. I also wanted to learn more about German traditions like Oktoberfest and the Christmas markets. I researched on the Internet about Germany and that is where I came up with my additional points of interest that I formed into questions during the interview. To record the interview, I brought in my computer and recorded the whole interview on GarageBand.

How Did You Approach People?

To secure three people for my interview I simple asked the three German students in my economics class if they would be willing to let me interview them. Luckily for me, they are all very nice people and agreed to be interviewed. I asked them what times would work best for them to do the interviews because I wanted to make it as little of an inconvenience as possible.

When, Where, and How did you Conduct the Interview?

I conducted the interview with Wilma after our economics class on the first floor of Stewart hall. There was a table set up with chairs, so we had a nice comfortable place to conduct the interview. It was quiet there since it was 5 o’clock and most classes were over for the day. I conducted the interview by showing Wilma the list of questions I had while I was setting up my computer. I told her that I would also be asking her a few questions about Germany and its culture.

Whom did you Interview?

I interviewed Wilma. She is 21 years old. She is a finance and human resource major. She studies at the university of applied sciences in Ingolstadt. She is from the city of Ulm, which is located in the state of Baden-Württemberg. It is two hours away by train from Munich. She lives with her sister, who will be graduating this year from high school, and both of her parents in a house outside of the big city. Her family likes horses and donkeys; they own one of each and keep them in a stable away from their house, since there is no room to ride them there. All of her aunts, uncles, and grandparents live in northern Germany. Her family enjoys going hiking and skiing, so they go to Austria almost every weekend.

Describe the Interview

I thought that the interview went well. I learned a lot more about Germany. One thing I learned from this interview that I didn’t from the previous two was that at a German university they don’t really have a campus. She told me that most activities were done outside of school and that the University was mostly just for lectures. They have no dorms at the university and your life is mostly centered on your home and not school like it is here. Another thing I learned about was the difference in the high school systems. Wilma studied in St. Louis during her 11^th grade year of high school. She told me that they couldn’t pick their classes in high school like we can here. They have to take all of the same classes with the same classmates for nine years. The social life is different in high school too. All of the music clubs and sports teams are not associated with the school. High school is just a place to study in Germany. I also learned about a holiday in Germany that the other two elected not to tell me about. St. Martin’s day in Germany is a day to remember St. Martin because he gave his coat to someone who was poor. Today people walk around with candles through the city and sing songs about St. Martin. Then there is a reenactment of the original St. Martin and then everyone shares a pretzel. I was told that this holiday is for the little kids but Wilma and her friends introduced it to their university, so this year they were celebrating it in Ingolstadt.

Why I didn’t transcribe

I chose not to transcribe this interview because I thought that the first interview with Dan was much better. I thought that the interview with Ann went just as well as this one. Since I had already transcribed the interview with Ann I decided not to transcribe this one.

Report on Country and Culture

Germany is a country in Europe. Germany is made up of 16 different states¹, each with their own customs, traditions, and dialects². The capital city is Berlin and is located in north east Germany. Germany is a member of the European Union and uses the Euro as its currency. The climate is temperate and marine². 82.3 million people live in Germany with about 19% of those people not being German². Germany is a huge economic powerhouse; it has the fifth largest economy in the world and the largest in Europe¹. It is one of the largest trading nations in the world. Germans enjoy a high standard of living with an average income of $35,400¹. The geography of Germany consists of low lands in the north and mountains in the south². Germany has a total land area of 357,022 square kilometers¹.

Germany has a very rich culture with some very unique traditions and celebrations. The most famous of all German traditions is Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest takes place every year at the end of September, running into early October. Oktoberfest lasts 15 days and was started back in 1810 when prince Ludwig was married and had a celebration for it². Today people come from all over the world to experience beer drinking at its finest. Another important event that takes place every year in Germany is its Christmas markets. All throughout Germany, in most cities and towns, you will find a Christmas market for the four weeks leading up to Christmas². Germans also like to play sports. The most popular sport in Germany is soccer. In 2006, Germany hosted the World Cup, and from my interview I now know that the World Cup brought back a lot of pride to the Germany people. Other than soccer, ice hockey and basketball are gaining popularity across Germany. Germans love their beer. There are over 1300 breweries in Germany². Drinking in Germany is seen as a social experience rather than the American way of partying. Germans are allowed to drink beer at age 16, and because of this, they view drinking differently in Germany than we do in America.

Works Cited

¹Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency. September 30, 2009. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html (accessed October 20, 2009).

²German Missions in the United States. Welcome to Germany.info. http://www.germany.info/vertretung/usa/en/startseite.html (accessed October 20, 2009).

Interview #2

Ryan Krebs

ENGL 191 sec. 21

11/2/09

Interview

Me: Where are you from and what’s your name? Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Ann: ok, I am from Germany, and my name is Ann-Kathrin Adae. I am 22 years old and I am studying her for one semester.

Me: Where in Germany are you from?

Ann: I am from New Ulm in Germany, but I am studying in Ingolstadt. It’s in the south of Germany.

Me: Where is your hometown located in Germany?

Ann: In between Munich and Stuttgart in the south

Me: In the Bavaria region?

Ann: Yep

Me Can you tell me a little bit about life back in Germany? Like who do you live with, any family members?

Ann: I have family members, I have one sister and I am living in my parent’s house, but in Ingolstadt I have my own apartment so I was living on my own. I am studying for three years now. I think I am a senior here in America.

Me: Can you tell me about the biggest difference between college life in Germany and college life here? What’s the hardest part to get used to?

Ann: College life in America is more intensive. You have to study very hard, but on the other side you party very hard. So I think its difficult and the people they are younger when they are starting to study because in Germany you usually start when you are 19. So we don’t have the same freshman year. What else? I think that’s the most important one. You have to study every week because you have tests and quizzes and all the stuff. In Germany we don’t have those, we only have the one final exam.

Me: Was that hard getting used to having the assignments and quizzes due every week? Compared to just the one final exam in Germany?

Ann: No, it’s just a different style so you don’t have to study six weeks for only one exam. I think it’s easier.

Me: So you like the style here better than in Germany?

Ann: I like it

Me: What’s your course of study?

Ann: My major is business and finance and marketing.

Me: Can you tell me a little bit about the traditions back in Germany? Any customs you guys might have?

Ann: Ok, tradition in Germany is really different because we have the north of Germany and the South of Germany. North Germany I don’t know about the culture there because I am from the south. So the south is very famous for the Oktoberfest and the lederhosen and all the stuff. So its well known and tradition here, we drink a lot of beer. We have good food. It’s a little bit difficult in America to find good food.

Me: you like the food better in Germany than you do here?

Ann: Yeah. I am not a fan of hamburger and McDonalds and Burger King and Apple Bees

Me: You like the pretzels in Germany?

Ann: Yep, but the pretzels here are not like the pretzels in Germany. You have cheese on your pretzels and that’s impossible in Germany.

Me: What are some holidays that you celebrate in Germany and how do you celebrate them?

Ann: Of course you have Christmas; you celebrate it with your family or usually with your family, but here in America the big holiday is the 25^th but in Germany it’s the 24^th. The evening, so the people come together, and they have a good meal, and after this you get your presents and you sing. Sometimes it’s difficult between the families but the 24^th is the big day. We have New Years holiday. Easter, it’s in March. All the Christian holidays. They are really big in Bavaria because Bavaria is really catholic and there for the church has a good position in society. So we celebrate a lot of Christian and catholic holidays. And I think Germany is the country with the highest amount of holidays in the world. So we don’t have to work during this time.

Me: You said its mostly catholic people in Bavaria, Does religion play a pretty big role in your lives?

Ann: I think, in the small villages (willages), I would say yeah. Yes, but usually it’s a separated from the government. So not like in countries like Iran. So it’s really separated and in the south of Germany I would say religion, not religion but more culture from the religion like Christmas and Easter and other holidays. They play a big role in society but in the North the people are more Protestant, Lutheran. So it’s not so big of a role in the society but compared to other countries I would say there’s not such a big role of religion in our society.

Me: We’ll sift back to America now, have you been anywhere else while you have been here?

Ann: I was in Chicago, now I’m going to Madison, I was in Milwaukee, I was in Wisconsin at a cabin but I have no idea where. I only know the lake and ill go to New York and L.A.

Me: Do you find that it is easy to make friends here, are the people friendly, and are your professors helpful?

Ann: The people are really friendly. I think it’s the Minnesota….

Me: The Minnesota nice?

Ann: The Minnesota nice, so the people are all really friendly and the people here it’s really different with Germany because in Germany the people are also friendly but not in that way like in Minnesota. Everybody says, “do you need help, I can give you a ride or you can have my car.” It’s really nice here. To make friends I would say it’s a little bit difficult with Americans because everyone is your friend after two seconds, but he is not your real friend. So it’s only your facebook friend. That’s why people have 1,000 friends on facebook. In Germany we say, I had a discussion with one of my friends, when you say he is my friend, he is really one of your best friends and friend are perhaps only 20 persons and in America everybody is a friend.

Me: Friendships are a little closer in Germany then?

Ann: Yep, otherwise you say I know this person, but you don’t say it’s my friend

Me: Back in Germany, did you play any sports? What are the main sports?

Ann: I was a boxer. After this I did a lot of music. I play the flute in the orchestra but no sports.

Me: Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006. Did that have a pretty big impact on your country?

Ann: Yeah, it had a big impact because of WWII all the people have not such high pride of Germany. They always say, ah yeah Germany WWII, every one knows Germany for WWII. After this people saw that we can party too and we are friendly, that we are open minded. That we are another country than 50 years ago. Some people are surprised that Germany is rich. That we all have to start liking America. I think it had a big impact on Germany and the people. Now because the people in Germany are not very proud to be German and here in America its always I’m an American. I’m American, I’m proud to be American and in Germany people don’t say I’m proud of being a German citizen. Its what people in our country don’t say because of WWII, because of the history and yeah it had a big impact.

Me: Does history still play a role? I know of East and West Germany, are there still any conflicts with that at all?

Ann: IN my generation I would say no conflicts between eastern Germany and Western Germany. The wall fall down in 1989, so I was two years old and cant remember anything. For me, I have friends in Berlin and I have friends in Munich, so it’s not a big issue, but I think for my parents and for my grandparents they knew all the stuff and they saw it. Perhaps for them it’s more of a big issue than for my generation. The history plays a big role in our society and we are really taught in the history, in school. When you are in another country we don’t say I’m German, I am proud of Germany. So it’s our style not to present too much that you are of Germany.

Me: Why did you want to come study in America, and why did you choose St. Cloud?

Ann: I want to study in America because I thought it would be a good experience and I wanted to see the difference between the cultures and the party stuff. St. Cloud because I knew a lot of people from St. Cloud because its our partner university. I said perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad to have some friends here, so I decided to go to St. Cloud.

Me: Is it hard taking classes in English?

Ann: No, because we have English class in Germany too. The professors teach all classes in English. They have to in university, so it’s not difficult to understand the English. Its more difficult for Germans to speak English because we don’t speak a lot of English but we can understand it and we can write it.

Me: All the classes are taught in English in Germany at the University?

Ann: In business, yeah. My university, but its different for other universities, maybe some classes, but at my university we do everything in English because we have a lot of international students so they have to do it. There is a lot of Americans, people from St. Cloud and they don’t understand any German.

This is the end of interview on the recorder. We stayed and talked for a while after and this is what I took a mental note of while we were talking.

Ann has been to Oktoberfest 22 times. She said she goes more for the tradition than for the beer drinking, since she is from Bavaria.

She said that different size cities are called different things. She is from New Ulm, which she said had a population of 10,000 people, and is called a willage.

She said she went to an all girls’ school for 13 years until she went to Ingolstadt to study.

She can speak four different languages, English, Italian, French, and German. She is learning to speak Chinese because she is going to Hong Kong. She said that she likes languages because she feels that when she is in someone else’s country that it is rude to not try and speak their language.

In Germany they are taught Oxford English. She said that it is different from American English, and that she didn’t know a lot of the slang American words when she came here.

She said that French people don’t like speaking English. She also said that French people know English they just don’t like Americans and English people.

She said that Wednesday is a big party day back in Germany.

Ryan Krebs

ENGL 191 sec 21

Preparations for the interview

For my interview I came up with ten questions along with three addition points of interest about Germany and its culture. My objective for the interview was to have Ann-Kathrin give me as much information she could about Germany and about being an international student. I wanted to learn about the pros and cons of the German and American university system. I also wanted to learn more about German traditions like Oktoberfest and the Christmas markets. I researched on the Internet about Germany and that is where I came up with my additional points of interest that I formed into questions during the interview. To record the interview, I brought in my computer and recorded the whole interview on GarageBand. I then sent the interview to iTunes so I could burn it to a CD.

How Did You Approach People?

To secure three people for my interview I simple asked the three German students in my economics class if they would be willing to let me interview them. Luckily for me, they are all very nice people and agreed to be interviewed. I asked them what times would work best for them to do the interviews because I wanted to make it as little of an inconvenience as possible.

When, Where, and How did you Conduct the Interview?

I conducted the interview with Ann-Kathrin at the coffee shop in the library. I went to the library about ten minutes before our scheduled 12:00pm meeting time to look for a good spot. There were no study rooms available so the next best alternative was the coffee shop. The coffee shop turned out to be a great spot for the interview. It was quiet and we had our own table to sit at. I conducted the interview by simple telling Ann-Kathrin that I have a couple of questions ready to go but the whole purpose of the interview is for me to learn as much as I can from her. After that, I started the recorder and we began the interview. After I was out of my preformed questions, I shut off the recorder because I thought the interview was over, but then we started talking and I learned a few more things about Ann-Kathrin and Germany that did not make it onto the recorder. I listed these things at the end of the transcribed interview.

Whom did you Interview?

I interviewed Ann-Kathrin. Ann-Kathrin is from southern Germany, in the state of Bavaria, in the willage of New Ulm. Ann-Kathrin is 22 years old and is in her senior year of college. She has one sister. She lives with her parents in New Ulm when she is not at school. In Ingolstadt she has her own apartment. Ann-Kathrin is a true Bavarian. She said that she has been to Oktoberfest 22 times because it’s a tradition in Bavaria. Ann-Kathrin went to an all girls’ school before she went to Ingolstadt for college.

Describe the Interview

I thought that the interview went well. I learned a lot more about Germany and from the perspective of a Bavarian instead of from the perspective of a northern German, which was my first interview. Something that I thought was very interesting was how Germans view friendship. She said that here in America everyone is friends with everyone even though you are really not friends but you just know the person. She said that in Germany you have a close group of about 20 friends compared to here where Americans have 1000 Facebook friends. Another thing that I thought was interesting was when she said that she came to America and the English was different from what she had learned. She said that Americans use more slang than the English. She said that was the most difficult part of the language barrier. I also thought that it was weird that she took all of her college courses in English while she was in Germany. The reason they teach all the classes in English is because of the high number of international students and that English is the best way for everyone to understand.

Report on Country and Culture

Germany is a country in Europe. Germany is made up of 16 different states¹, each with their own customs, traditions, and dialects². The capital city is Berlin and is located in northeast Germany. Germany is a member of the European Union and uses the Euro as its currency. The climate is temperate and marine². 82.3 million people live in Germany with about 19% of those people not being German². Germany is a huge economic powerhouse; it has the fifth largest economy in the world and the largest in Europe¹. It is one of the largest trading nations in the world. Germans enjoy a high standard of living with an average income of $35,400¹. The geography of Germany consists of low lands in the north and mountains in the south². Germany has a total land area of 357,022 square kilometers¹.

Germany has a very rich culture with some very unique traditions and celebrations. The most famous of all German traditions is Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest takes place every year at the end of September, running into early October. Oktoberfest lasts 15 days and was started back in 1810 when prince Ludwig was married and had a celebration for it². Today people come from all over the world to experience beer drinking at its finest. Another important event that takes place every year in Germany is its Christmas markets. All throughout Germany, in most cities and towns, you will find a Christmas market for the four weeks leading up to Christmas². Germans also like to play sports. The most popular sport in Germany is soccer. In 2006, Germany hosted the World Cup, and from my interview I now know that the World Cup brought back a lot of pride to the Germany people. Other than soccer, ice hockey and basketball are gaining popularity across Germany. Germans love their beer. There are over 1300 breweries in Germany². Drinking in Germany is seen as a social experience rather than the American way of partying. Germans are allowed to drink beer at age 16, and because of this, they view drinking differently in Germany than we do in America.

Works Cited

¹Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency. September 30, 2009. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html (accessed October 20, 2009).

²German Missions in the United States. Welcome to Germany.info. http://www.germany.info/vertretung/usa/en/startseite.html (accessed October 20, 2009).

Revised Germany Information

Ryan Krebs

ENGL 191 sec.21

Germany

Germany is a country located in Europe. Germany has the largest economy in Europe. German people enjoy a high standard of living; according to the CIA World Fact Book Germans have an average income of $34,500. The country produces many goods, including luxury car brands like BMW, Mercedes Benz, and Audi. The capital of Germany is Berlin. According to the CIA World Fact Book Germany is made up of 16 different states. The northern part of the country is mostly lowlands, while the south is mostly mountainous. Germany has a negative population growth rate. Germany’s currency is the Euro. According to the web page German Missions in the United States, the population of Germany is 82.3 million people.

Germany is a country with some long lasting traditions. One of these traditions is the celebration of Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest takes place annual in Munich, the capital of Bavaria. Many people come to Munich each year to celebrate Oktoberfest. One of the more popular activities at Oktoberfest is beer drinking. Germans love their beer, there are over 1300 breweries in Germany according to the web page German Missions in the United States and Germans can start legally drinking it at age sixteen. Since the drinking age is 16, Germans have a different view on drinking than Americans do. Drinking is a socially activity in Germany. Another popular tradition in Germany is their Christmas markets. Every year, for the four weeks leading up to Christmas, Christmas markets are set up in most cities and towns across Germany. The biggest of these markets takes place in Nuremburg. German people love to play soccer. In 2006 Germany hosted the FIFA World Cup. The World Cup did more things than just bring in soccer teams from around the world. It brought back a feeling of pride in Germany. For the first time in a long time, German people were proud to be from Germany again, and this could be seen throughout Germany with little German flags being flown on peoples cars. Up until the 2006 World Cup, it would have been very rare to see someone flying a German flag. German people are very nice. They feel as if they have to be nice because of all the bad things that happened in their past and they feel as if they cannot afford to do any more harm.

Some famous sites in Germany include Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany. King Ludwig II built Neuschwanstein. King Ludwig died before the castle was ever finished and his cause of death is still a mystery today. King Ludwig II was the king of Bavaria. He was often referred to as Mad King Ludwig. He loved music. His favorite musician was Wagner. Neuschwanstein castle is the inspiration behind Walt Disney’s castle in Orlando, Florida. Walt Disney drove by the castle while he was serving in the army. Other famous sites include the many concentration camps across Germany. Tours are offered at many of these. If you happen to see German school children at one of these, don’t be surprised because it is a requirement that all German school children visit a concentration camp.

Interview

Interview

ME: Well Dan, can you tell me a little bit about yourself to start off with?

Dan: Yes, my name is Dan, imp from Germany, and I’ve been here for two months, and imp studying finance and marketing are my majors and this is my last semester.

Me: Family in Germany, do you have any brothers or sisters, who do you live with?

Dan: Yes, I have a younger sister. She just graduated from high school, and she still lives with my parents. I’m from the north of Germany, Hannover. I don’t live there anymore since imp studying in Munich, in Ingolstadt. Your partner university.

Me: What’s the biggest difference with college here and college in Germany?

Dan: I would say the biggest difference is that here there are so many assignments and quizzes and exams during the semester and in Germany we just have one final exam at the end of the semester. It’s really a huge difference, because here you have to work continuously and in Germany you just start one month before the exam and study day and night, so that is the biggest difference.

Me: What one do you like better? Do you feel you learn better here or in Germany?

Dan: Good question, I have to say that I really like the system here. I got to admit that before the assignments and before the quizzes, imp like ahh damn I wish I was in Germany and have just one final exam because now its October and I wouldn’t have to worry about it already, but after I did the quizzes and I did the assignments and I handed them in, it’s a really good feeling because you feel that you are learning a lot.

Me: Was that a though thing to get used to right away?

Dan: The first month.

Me: Let’s talk a little bit about Germany, what are some big traditions, holidays, customs that you guys have there?

Dan: Well we have Christmas, as you do, we get the presents on the evening of the 24^th

Me: Christmas Eve, all right.

Dan: And then we have new years with fireworks, that’s how we celebrate it. That’s the only time of the year when you can get fireworks in Germany.

Me: Otherwise they are illegal all year long?

Dan: Exactly, another big holiday is Easter and we have the Easter rabbit, and he walks around and puts eggs in the ground and it’s for the little kids to pick up eggs but I still like doing it.

Dan and me: hahaha

Me: How about the Christmas markets? Are those pretty big in your hometown? Do you go to those as a family?

Dan: They are pretty big in the big cities. There is a famous one in Nuremburg. That’s really the biggest one in Germany it’s very famous and it’s also famous for the candy. A very special candy.

Me: A very good candy?

Dan: Yes, a very good candy, like little hearts, very special candy. It’s very unique and you only get it at the Christmas time and we aslo, which is very special, heat up wine.

Me: Heat up wine?

Dan: Because when it’s cold, not as cold as Minnesota, Germany is pretty cold, the heated wine like warms you up and it’s usually a group thing, you go there with a lot of people.

Me: Friends mostly?

Dan: Friends and family, yes.

Me: So it’s more like a social gathering then?

Dan: Good explanation

Me: Oktoberfest, been there? Want to go there? Tell me a little about it

Dan: All right, Oktoberfest is in Munich, imp from the north, so it is a long distance, which means I have not been to the Oktoberfest before I started my studies in Munich, near Munich and Ingolstadt. And I’ve been there my first time last year and it was pretty wild and pretty crazy, and I went there with my leather pants on cause like it even supports this tradition in Germany and makes you fit into the crowd of crazy Bavarians. I would almost say it’s a huge mixture of people from all over the world and they just celebrate and have a great time. I have to admit the drinking beer part plays an important role.

Me: You said something about crazy Bavarians, so would you say people from different parts of Germany are different? Or you guys don’t get along, similarities, differences?

Dan: Bavaria is for sure unique. Many people from other states have a stereotype of Germany with leather pants and traditions and drinking beer and socializing, which is only happening in Bavaria. The other parts of Germany don’t have such a strong tradition. Not so much unique customs.

Me: They’re modernizing more?

Dan: Yes, exactly. They don’t have anything to identify with like people in Bavaria. I like Bavaria so much, imp from the north where there’s nothing comparable going on. And I like Bavaria for exactly this reason. Holding up the traditions and showing it to the rest of the world.

Me: Just rich traditions down there. You were talking about beer earlier, I know it’s a pretty big thing in Germany; do you have anything to say about that, the drinking age there, is it good or bad?

Dan: That’s a hard question since you guys can drink 21. We can start at 16 and other alcohol at 18. So we start getting in touch with alcohol at a pretty young age. Since imp 22, I go to the bars here downtown, and I just have to say that the life or the….

Me: …atmosphere…

Dan: …the atmosphere in Germany is different at my age group.

Me: Wilder or less wild?

Dan: less wild, since we started so young, we aren’t going as crazy as people here anymore. They just make use of the fact that they are 21 and can drink legally. Like us 20, 21, 22 is just a thing to socialize, like we go to watch soccer, which is another big thing in Germany, and have a beer, not for the….

Me: …getting drunk…

Dan: …exactly, the socializing.

Me: Soccer, did you play any sports as a kid? I know soccer is pretty big, what impact did the World Cup have on Germany?

Dan: World cup, that’s a big, big, big, impact. As you said you guys have baseball, football, basketball, ice hockey. We have only soccer. It’s the bigger thing in Germany by far and I played soccer, used to play till last year when I got here, when we had the world cup in 2006, it was actually the first time for myself that I was really proud of Germany. Like I’m just seeing that here you guys play the national anthem so many times before any sports event and the flag, you have a lot of proudness but in Germany it’s because of the war, weren’t so sure about our country and I got to say we did a great job with the World Cup. We had a blast, like foreigners came. It was just a huge party. We did a very good job in hosting them. We got a lot of positive feedback. Which made us thinking very proudly about Germany and that’s really the first time I was thinking yes, it really is cool to be from Germany

Me: Proud to be a German again. So you said after the war, did that have a lasting impact? You said you weren’t really proud to be a German? Did it kind of put people down about their country? I know my professor said something about German flags aren’t really flown that much anymore because of the Third Reich and all of their propaganda?

Dan: Yeah, the flag thing, in every backyard or in the front of every house here you can see the stripes and stars, and in Germany I cannot come up with any house where there is a German flag in front of it, but during the world cup and after the world cup people put like little flags on their cars and drove around and just started to think about Germany as a country who should get over this past and we worked it out for such a long time. We have to get over it finally and start to be proud of ourselves again.

Me: Is there, I know that Germany it’s mostly white people, but is there any forms of racism, not towards skin color but different ethnic groups and stuff like that?

Dan: We have immigrants from Turkey. Which came over after the war to rebuild the country and the economy started to grow after the war tremendously and everything was down, like literally.

Me: And you needed cheap labor, right?

Dan: Yes, and the Germans, and because there were not so many left any more. People from Turkey got kind of asked to, to get over here and work in the steel industry and the coal industry. So many families came over to Germany and some of them never got really integrated, there was kind of a parallel society. Like went to Germany but kept up their traditions and culture and language. There’s a lack of communication, a gap between the connection of both cultures and both backgrounds, and the question is a very good one because if you ask a German. We are pretty afraid to say that there is kind of racism or anything because we cannot afford anything anymore. We did such a bad job with starting two wars. That we better be nice to everybody, but to be honest when you talk to close friends, there is a stereotype of Turkish people especially with the economy crisis and the jobs. People got unemployed. There were fewer jobs for less people and the Turkish people work for less money and so many Germans were like we are unemployed and they are taking our jobs away, but you would not meet many people who would actually admit it.

Me: All right, let’s shift back and talk about America. Where have you been so far while you’ve been here? What do you like? What do you not like?

Dan: I got to see New York and Philadelphia on the east coast. The Grand Canyon and then the west coast with Los Angeles and San Diego and finally I got to see the Midwest and what I’ve seen so far is, I’ve been on a road trip to Chicago. Which was awesome, we don’t have such big cities and skyscrapers. Such tall and modern buildings. I like the skyline of Minneapolis.

Me: Kind of over whelming seeing all the big buildings?

Dan: Yeah, like when I first got on Navy Pier and saw the skyline, I was like ecstatic. I could have stayed there for an hour.

Me: School going well so far this year? Getting good grades in America?

Dan: So I am getting used to it, in the beginning it was kind of different and you could tell that by the grades, but now I understand how the system works and I am getting better and better.

Me: Taking classes in English. With it not being your native tongue. Is it difficult when the professor is going over things a little fast?

Dan: There are defiantly some words I don’t like get immediately but then I don’t hesitate to ask and the professors here are very helpful and even after class if I, it only happened once, but I didn’t understand the whole topic and I went to the professor after class and he explained it to me again. It was really helpful and I was really surprised about the openness, and about the kindness of the professor.

Me: Are the professors just as nice and open to help in Germany?

Dan: Honestly not as much. They are nice and there are office hours. It’s just uncommon if you go there after lecture and be like could we go over this topic again. He would prefer you go to your classmates and just ask the students because I already explained it in the lecture.

Me: Americans and Germans, who are nicer, friendlier, and more helpful?

Dan: I meet so many, really nice people. Which I was surprised about myself. I came in with not too high of expectations. I knew that it would be a great semester here.

Me: One final Question here, Why America and why St. Cloud?

Dan: It’s my partner university from Ingolstadt and I meet people from St. Cloud that studied over in Germany, and we became friends over there, and we had a great time over there, and lived it up over there, and now it’s time for me to come here. I really love America. It’s a great place to be, and it’s very helpful to a German to improve my English skills and to just study at an American University. Which have a well reputation in the world. You don’t want to miss this when you have the chance.

Me: You said American universities have a high standard, would most people in Germany think that if you go to school in America that you are a smart kid?

Dan: It’s the experience of surviving at an American college, getting degrees from American colleges, taking classes at American colleges. Just broadens your horizon so much, and just gives you a completely different view on things that are going on in the world. It’s just an experience; you just don’t want to miss.

Me: I’d like to thank you for your time.

Preparations for the interview

For my interview I came up with ten questions along with three addition points of interest about Germany and its culture. My objective for the interview was to have Daniel Reese give me as much information he could about Germany and about being an international student. I wanted to learn about the pros and cons of the German and American university system. I also wanted to learn more about German traditions like Oktoberfest and the Christmas markets. I researched on the Internet about Germany and that is where I came up with my additional points of interest that I formed into questions during the interview. To record the interview, I brought in my computer and recorded the whole interview on GarageBand. I then sent the interview to iTunes so I could burn it to a CD.

How Did You Approach People?

To secure three people for my interview I simple asked the three German students in my economics class if they would be willing to let me interview them. Luckily for me, they are all very nice people and agreed to be interviewed. I asked them what times would work best for them to do the interviews because I wanted to make it as little of an inconvenience as possible.

When, Where, and How did you Conduct the Interview?

I conducted the interview with Dan at the coffee shop at the library. I went to the library about ten minutes before our scheduled 6:30pm meeting time to look for a good spot. There were no study rooms available so the next best alternative was the coffee shop. The coffee shop turned out to be a great spot for the interview. It was quiet and we had our own table to sit at. I conducted the interview by simple telling Dan that I have a couple of questions ready to go but the whole purpose of the interview is for me to learn as much as I can from him. After that, I started the recorder and we began the interview.

Whom did you Interview?

I interviewed Daniel Reese. Daniel is from northern Germany in the city of Hannover. Dan is 22 years old and will be graduated after this semester. He has one younger sister who just graduated from high school. Dan doesn’t live at home anymore since he left for college. He now lives in Ingolstadt, which is where he attends school.

Describe the Interview

I thought that the interview went very well. Dan was an excellent student to interview. He gave long thoughtful answers. Some of the areas that I thought were very interesting were when he was talking about Germany’s history. Dan said that because of Germany’s past mistakes, and the starting of two world wars, that Germans feel obligated to be nice to everyone because they don’t want to be remembered for their past mistakes. I asked Dan about racism and discrimination in Germany. He said that there are many Turkish people in Germany that came to rebuild Germany after the war. He said that the Turks brought their culture with along with their language and never really tried to fit in with the German culture. What I thought was most interesting about this was when he said that everyone is too afraid to say anything in public about this. He said that in conversation amongst close friends or family it would be acceptable to say that the Turks are stealing our jobs but never in public. This is the exact problem we have in the United States with illegal Mexican immigrants who come here and work for less. I thought that it was very interesting how you see people in America speaking out against this, but that would never happen in Germany. It was just one of the many differences I learned about between Germans and Americans.

Report on Country and Culture

Germany is a country in Europe. Germany is made up of 16 different states¹, each with their own customs, traditions, and dialects². The capital city is Berlin and is located in north east Germany. Germany is a member of the European Union and uses the Euro as its currency. The climate is temperate and marine². 82.3 million people live in Germany with about 19% of those people not being German². Germany is a huge economic powerhouse; it has the fifth largest economy in the world and the largest in Europe¹. It is one of the largest trading nations in the world. Germans enjoy a high standard of living with an average income of $35,400¹. The geography of Germany consists of low lands in the north and mountains in the south². Germany has a total land area of 357,022 square kilometers¹.

Germany has a very rich culture with some very unique traditions and celebrations. The most famous of all German traditions is Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest takes place every year at the end of September, running into early October. Oktoberfest lasts 15 days and was started back in 1810 when prince Ludwig was married and had a celebration for it². Today people come from all over the world to experience beer drinking at its finest. Another important event that takes place every year in Germany is its Christmas markets. All throughout Germany, in most cities and towns, you will find a Christmas market for the four weeks leading up to Christmas². Germans also like to play sports. The most popular sport in Germany is soccer. In 2006, Germany hosted the World Cup, and from my interview I now know that the World Cup brought back a lot of pride to the Germany people. Other than soccer, ice hockey and basketball are gaining popularity across Germany. Germans love their beer. There are over 1300 breweries in Germany². Drinking in Germany is seen as a social experience rather than the American way of partying. Germans are allowed to drink beer at age 16, and because of this, they view drinking differently in Germany than we do in America.

Works Cited

¹Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency. September 30, 2009. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html (accessed October 20, 2009).

²German Missions in the United States. Welcome to Germany.info. http://www.germany.info/vertretung/usa/en/startseite.html (accessed October 20, 2009).