FL 250: German Civilization, 18th Century to the Present

Professor Mary-Beth O'Brien

 

Culture, Nation, Heimat: German Civilization,
18th Century to the Present

FL 250 Lesson Plan :

Weeks 1-4 The Eighteenth Century: An Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment

    Introduction to the Topic and Methodology of Investigation; Course Requirements.

    Kleinstaaterei, the Rise of Prussia, and the Remains of the Holy Roman Empire German Nation. The Political Order under Enlightened Absolutism: Frederick the Great (1712-1786), Maria Theresa (1717-1780), and Joseph II (1741-1790).

    "What is Enlightenment?" (1784). A Response from Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).

    Doctor Faustus, Scholar or Scoundrel? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), Urfaust (1772-75).

    Weimar Classicism, Germany as a "Land of Poets and Philosophers." Selected Poems by Goethe and Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805).

    Masters of Classical Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Music selections presents in Individual or Group Reports.

Essay Assignment: Write a fictional autobiography based on life in the eighteenth century. What role does religion, gender, age, class, profession, geography, the arts, science,technology, philosophy, and politics play in "your" life? This assignment should combine historical events with fiction and should personalize the Zeitgeist. The essay should be 5 pages typed, double-spaced, and include a bibliography of at least three references.

Required Readings:

  • Kitchen, Chapter 6, "The Eighteenth Century," pp. 124-152.
  • Kant, "What is Enlightenment?"
  • Goethe, Urfaust and selected poetry.
  • Schiller, Selected poetry.
  • Mozart, The Magic Flute
  • Beethoven, The Ninth Symphony.

Weeks 5-9 The Nineteenth Century: The Road to Nationhood

    The End of the HREGN (1806), The Wars of Liberation, The German Federation.

    Romanticism: Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), Jacob Grimm (1785-1863), Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859). Fairy Tales, Dreams of Utopia, Nightmares of Reality.

    The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848. The Industrial Revolution. Karl Marx (1818-1883), Communism, and the Rise of the Proletariat. Georg Büchner (1813-1837), Poet, Activist, Physician. Woyzeck (1835-1837).

    Unification of Germany: The Second Empire (1871-1918), Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898).

    The Ring Cycle (1948-1853), Gesamtkunstwerk of Richard Wagner (1813-1883). The Birth of Cinema. Adolf Menzel (1815-1905), Painter between Realism and Impressionism.

Oral Reports and Group Assignments.

Mid-Term Examination.

Required Reading:

  • Kitchen, Chapter 7, "Reform, Restoration, and Reaction," pp. 152-179; Chapter 8, "The Unification of Germany," pp. 180-203; Chapter 9, "The German Empire," pp. 204-227.
  • Büchner, Woyzeck.
  • Fallersleben, "Song of the Germans." (National Anthem).
  • Grimm Brothers, Selected Fairy Tales including: Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, The Girl Without Hands, The Jew in the Thorns.
  • Schubert, Selected Songs.
  • Selected Art Works by Friedrich and Menzel.
  • Wagner, Götterdämmerung.

Weeks 10-14: The Twentieth Century: An Age of Extremes

    World War I (1914-1918): The First "Modern" War. The Demise of the Second Reich, Revolution, and the Weimar Republic (1918-1933). Thomas Mann (1875-1955). Dichotomies of Modern Life: Tonio Kröger (1903). Expressionism and Wirklichkeitszertrümmerung. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

    The Third Reich (1933-1945). World War II (1939-1945).The Holocaust. The National Socialist Assault on the Arts.

    Divided Germany (1945-1990). The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990). The Berlin Wall (1961-1989). The Voice of Intellectual Dissent or Collaborator? Christa Wolf (1929-). What Remains (1995).

Oral Reports and Group Assignments.

Final Examination.

Required Reading:

  • Kitchen, Chapter," 10, "The Weimar Republic,"pp. 228-253; Chapter 11, "National Socialism," pp. 254-287; Chapter12, "Germany since 1945," pp. 288-311. Chapter 13, "The Renuification of Germany," 312-336.
  • Schönberg, Pierrot lunaire.
  • Mann, Tonio Kröger.
  • Selected Art Works by E.L.Kirchner.
  • Wolf, What Remains.
  • Christo, The Wrapped Reichstag.