Posted on 11/26/2005 2:05:37 AM PST by baystaterebel
BERLIN -- A multimillion-dollar campaign to boost Germans' low self-confidence has backfired after it emerged that its slogan was coined by the Nazis. The $34 million "Du Bist Deutschland -- You Are Germany" -- campaign was devised to inspire Germans to stop moaning and do something good for their country. Beethoven, Einstein and the sports stars Franz Beckenbauer and Michael Schumacher have been cited in advertisements encouraging Germans to take more pride in their homeland. But a historian from Ludwigshafen has provoked an uproar with his discovery that the same "Du Bist Deutschland" cry was used at Nazi rallies in the 1930s.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
this is funny/ironic/sad/divine/pitiful... well, words fail to capture this. i think germany has a lot of bad karma it still hasn't worked through -- they just think they have...
Got a chuckle out of what you said.
Reminds me of the famous Homer Simpson quotation, "That is true on so many levels!"
Should the Germans ban the German word for "Yes" because of this:
You can see how quickly this become farcical.
I lived in Germany for several years, and the people are very sensitive of the past because they have worked very hard to come to terms with theirs.
That is a far better effort than other nations who participated in WW II and have gone to incredible lengths to pretend it never existed.
I am a quarter so so German too (along with 6 other nationalities plus my kids picked up one more from my wife).
All of them, except the cherokee, are European and I don't give a rat's a$$ about any of the Euro lands (most of my closest amigos are in eastern Europe, BTW).
The fact is that Germans are clinically depressed, the price of real estate forces them to live in matchbox apartments, it is well known that even their conservatives are pseudo-socialist and, for a time, they became the Henry Fords of genocide. That doesn't keep me from reading Kafka, Heinrich Boell or Gunter Grass in the original German. That didn't keep me from accepting a fellowship in Germany in 1994. I just don't worship the place (although I do retain a great fondness for the Koenigsee).
I am an American, I feel free to criticize any country I want and if the rest of the world doesn't like it, they can go suck eggs.
Nein, Ich bin ein Wiener!
Question: when and by whom was the song Deutschland über alles written?? The answer to this question will give you some information about the democratic movement of Germany in the 19th century and you´ll learn, that this song has little to do with the Nazis, given its history.
As a German, I don´t give a sh** about this "news". The Nazis used the German language, should I refuse to use my mother-language because of that? I mean, a German student who visited Auschwitz this year did and threw away his passport. He was sent back to Germany by the Polish authorities - in handcuffs. ;-)
The lesson: accept your nationality and do the best you can to be proud of your homeland!
Have you read "The wave" by Morton Rhue? The author describes an experiment he did with his HS students about becoming more and more Nazi-like. It´s in the human nature to cheer with others people who brush up your self-esteem. And that´s basically how the Nazis seized power, or any other dictator for that matter.
I assume the Nazis ate breakfast, drank beer, and had sex too. Oh yea and Hitler was a vegan, so obviously they are all fascists.
Self esteem is just the opposite of what our maker says: "Rom. 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."
I was stationed in Germany in the 50s and knew tons of really nice people there. They welcomed me with open arms. Delightful people and a delightful country.
Is there something in the German nature that is more susceptible to totalitarianism or to world conquest or atrocities? I don't think that has been determined. Also, we are seeing plenty of the same elsewhere, among non-Germans, in the tyrants of today's globe.
If you are a Wiener, then you are an Austrian, not a German
That's what they get for not teaching their own history.
Fools! Fools, I say! Everybody knows that the Esteem Age was in its glory about 100 years ago.
This is the diesel age. Thank you, Mr. Diesel, for inventing that. You were a German, weren't you?
In the '60's while we were in Germany, a good friend found a poster from the '30's. It was a poster for the Hitler Youth and featured a prominent, well, Peace Symbol!
At those times, the lefty hippies were screeching "Nazi" at anyone disagreeing with them and brandishing their own broken cross in a circle. Nobody appeared to see the irony. How is that for cognitive dissonance?
8mm
The melody of the German national anthem comes from the old Austrian imperial anthem “Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser” (“God Save Franz the Emperor”) by Franz Joseph Haydn, which was first played on February 12, 1797. In 1841 Haydn's melody was combined with with lyrics by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben to create “Das Lied der Deutschen” or “Das Deutschlandlied.” From the time of Bismarck's Prussia (1871) up to the end of the First World War this anthem was replaced by another. In 1922 the first president of the German Republic (the “Weimar Republic”), Friedrich Ebert, officially introduced “Das Lied der Deutschen” as the national anthem. During the 12 years of the Nazi era, the first stanza was the official anthem. In May 1952 the third stanza was proclaimed the official anthem of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) by President Theodor Heuss. (East Germany had its own anthem.) The second verse, while never verboten, was not very popular because of its “wine, women, and song” theme.
Germans were into self hate then and are still now. These "national mottos" do not change the German self-hate mentality that got them degrading all around them, and, yes, starting with the Jews...and lest we forget Georges Washington himself criticized the new uneducated German immigration uncontroled...
The entire song isn´t "verboten". I´m free to walk on the streets and sing "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles". Heinrich (Henry) Hoffmann von Fallersleben lived in the British exile on the Island of Helgoland (now Germany) when he wrote the lyrics. Germany was divided in 35 states and 4 sovereign cities. He simply wanted a united Germany instead of this country of self-righteous Princes and Kings who ruled the states. Hoffmann von Fallersleben can be considered a Democrat as opposite to the Monarchists.
The Nazis abused the song, especially to boost their low self-esteem. But for me, the historical meaning is what counts. (Btw, the so-called Horst-Wessel-Song was the national anthem during the Nazi-era, too.)
If you want to hear the melody, click on the link I provide on my profile page.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.