Week 9: Hunting for the Past

Guten Morgen/Tag/Nacht Studenten,

I was thinking about doing a post about the nature and wildlife in Germany. Not a bad idea, but it would’ve been more or less of a list of things we have a lot of in the USA. So I’ve decided to scrap that and go with something a little more fun for you and I both.

Antiques are a great way to learn history, something Germany is very rich in. So I’ve been going to as many antique stores as possible to show you guys what I found. I had no idea what to expect. Let’s see what relics from history we can find.

Leather-bound Bible, in Latin – Stuttgart, Germany – 1630
This beautiful bible has gold adorning the cover and in illustrations inside. This was during the height of the 30 Year’s War between the Catholic and Protestant countries of Europe over the future of Christianity. It destroyed much of the Holy Roman Empire. Nowadays in Germany, it is Catholics in the south and Protestants in the north, all because of this war.

Germany has had lots of propaganda this last century. Here are a collection of six posters from the 1920s through the 1960s. 
1) “Stalin – That is the Peace” Communist propaganda from East Germany – 1952
2) “Our Answer!” Communist propaganda from East Germany – 1950s/1960s
3) “Degenerate Music” (referring to Jazz) National Socialist propaganda – 1938
4) “To Berlin!” Advertisement for the German train system – 1926
5) “All speak of the weather: We don’t” Ad for the Socialist Youth in East Germany – 1960
6) “Help all with the harvest” Propaganda from East Germany – 1951

Bierstein made from Pewter – 1900
Inscription: “what is to me on earth, so heaven brings”
Obviously Germans love their beer. The old school way to do it was to bring your stein (“stone” in German) to the beerhall and have them fill it up. The lid on top has three purposes: it keeps the drink cold by preventing airflow, it keeps the drink carbonated, and it keeps the drink from spilling when you cheers with other people. When you cheers, you say “Prost!”, it’s very rude if you don’t!

Wooden Hunter’s Clock with Buck, Fish, Crow, Rifle, and Spear – mid 1900s
The Germans invented the first mechanical clock in the 1300s. In the south of Germany, especially in the black forest (where cuckoo clocks were invented), old-style wooden clocks are still very popular. This clock is not extremely old, but is entirely carved from a single piece of wood. I love this kind of craftsmanship.

Leather Prussian “Pickelhaube” Helmet – 1900-1918
Prussia was the most powerful of the German kingdoms before Germany united into an empire before World War One. This is their classic helmet called the “pickelhaube”. On the front is the German Eagle with the banner “Fuer Gott und Vaterland” (for God and fatherland). It’s certainly a beautiful helmet. What was the spike for, you ask? Nothing…besides looking cool. I really want one of these, but they’re very expensive.

Creepy Christmas ornament – ???
I found an old cotton Christmas ornament. Is it supposed to be Santa/Father Christmas, St. Nikolaus (different from Santa in Germany), Scrooge? I’m not sure, but it seems to be staring into my soul the longer I look at it. I want to get a Christmas ornament from here to bring back… but definitely not this one.

Gotha Almanac & Calendar – 1821
This book is both a calendar and an index of all of Europe’s royalty. Every year, a publisher in the German city of Gotha would update and release a new version. This occurred from 1763 until 1944, when soldiers from the Soviet Union destroyed the archives. The woman on the left page is “Germania”, the female personification of Germany.

My favorite of the antique shops I visited. This one was in a narrow-side street in Heidelberg, just outside of Mannheim.

Hope you all learned a thing or two. I’ll be back next week for my last of the blog posts. I’ll be back home in January and I’m preparing our celebration. I have a few questions for you all:

• What else would you guys like to learn about Germany when I’m back?
• What would your ideal in-class celebration be?

Hope you’re all going to have a good thanksgiving.
-Guyar Vial