The Role of Women in Germany in the 20th and 21st centuries

Pre-WWI: Traditional role of women prior to WWI can be summarized by the “four K;” Kinder (children), Kirche (church), Küche (kitchen), and Kleider (clothes).

WWI: Women filled the vacancies left by the mobilized male workers. Many of the jobs were factory or farm related.
Post-WWI: Obtained suffrage in 1919 and began filling up other positions traditionally held by men that were not available during the wartime.

WWII: Nazi Germany tried to reverse the rights given to women and once again push the old tradition of child-bearing and –rearing, though many women helped bring Nazi Germany to power. In the later years of the war, women were required to be working in mobilized factories. In addition, roughly one million women had volunteered for auxiliary forces in the army, including aerial defense.

Post-WWII: Labelled as,

“Trümmerfrauen or "women of the rubble" because they took care of the "wounded, buried the dead, salvaged belongings," and they participated in the "hard task of rebuilding war-torn Germany by simply clearing away" the rubble and ruins of war.”

-Wikipedia

In West Germany, the Basic Law was passed in 1949 stating the equality of men and women. This did not take root in civil positions until 1957 when the civil code was amended for this. Women were pushed back to being homemakers and housewives and urged out of working positions where migrant workers and immigrants took up the working positions. In East Germany, however, women remained heavily in the work force due to government requirements. Education and vocational schools were opened to allow women whilst still allowing them to maintain their homes. The government created childcare networks and even funded first trimester abortions. Women made the primary of the workforce because it was mostly men who were escaping over to West Germany.

From the early 1950’s on, women in West Germany didn’t get much educational or professional equality. It took until the ‘80’s until women in West Germany reached a comparable number of entrants to men. In East Germany, the number was already comparable between the two sexes by the mid 1960’s in terms of post-secondary education.

Outside of the education industry, women still have only been receiving around three-quarters the wages of men and even less of upper level positions, including, but not limited to, management, political leaders, professors, and specialty doctors and physicians. Following the unification of Germany, many women in the former East Germany were pushed to part time or unemployment entirely. That the supplements the government used to provide were taken away, like the after school centers and daycare for children, many of the women chose to be sterilized, which was a major factor for the dramatic birth rate decrease from 12 per 1000 to 5.3 per 1000. 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism_in_Germany

http://womenshistory.about.com/library/ency/blwh_germany_women.htm

Germany and Its Immediate Neighbors in the 18th and 19th Centuries

Denmark:

First Schleswig War: Fought in 1848-1851 over Schleswig and Holstein and their rightful owners after King Christian VIII died without an acceptable heir. Germany didn’t want to split the two duchies and Denmark thought they should be split due to Schleswig being primarily Danes and Holstein being primarily Germans. Denmark came out victorious.

Second Schleswig War: Fought in 1861-1864 over the Schleswig-Holstein Question. The second war was fought for the same reason as the first.

Netherlands:

Relations between Germany and the Netherlands formally began in 1871 following the unification of Germany. Obtained from Wikipedia. Little other information is given between the two countries during this timeframe.

Belgium:

No information has been given between Belgium and German relations during this time frame.

France:

The rise of Prussia as a power created conflict between France and Germany. Frederick the Great led the Prussian armies against France, though France was fighting on the same side as most of the German states. These conflicts didn’t end until well past the timeframe of which this little research project is aimed at, post-World War II.

Switzerland:
Germany and Switzerland have been trading and investing partners for a relatively long period of time.

Austria:

While the Holy Roman Empire existed, Germany and Austria were controlled by the Empire. Within the HRE, Prussia and Austria constantly struggled for control over Germany. After the Napoleonic Wars and the HRE died off, the German states united into the German Confederation. Prussia and Austria continued to war over whom would unify Germany. Prussia succeeded and was able to create the German Empire that excluded Austria.

Czech Republic:

Little is given between the Czech Republic and Germany, though the ethnic and linguistically German citizens wanted to turn Czechoslovakia into a German nation-state, whereas the Czechs wanted to keep the Bohemian kingdom out of it.

Poland:

Poland didn’t have a stable state until after World War I, and thus was being controlled by various groups up until then. Prussia was one of the combatants in the fighting for control of Poland.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark%E2%80%93Germany_relations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Schleswig_War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Schleswig_War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria%E2%80%93Germany_relations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany%E2%80%93Switzerland_relations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%E2%80%93Germany_relations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic%E2%80%93Germany_relations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany%E2%80%93Poland_relations

Berlin Calling reaction

1. What do drugs mean to Ickarus?
To Ickarus, the drugs were being used as a method to invoke deep creativity. While working on his latest album, he often found himself unable to complete a few songs due to the infamous writer's block. To "counteract" the block, Ickarus would take the drugs to relax and go into a more "creative trance" type of thing.

2. Why, when, and how are his fans taking drugs, and which drugs do they take?
The fans would take drugs in order to feel more relaxed and to enjoy the electronica style more deeply. They would take drugs more often around the times they would party or be at a concert.  The various drugs would be smoked, snorted, or ingested. Marijuana, meth, cocaine, heroine, and various types of pills were the most common.



3. While we can see that his drug habits get him ill and into a psychosis, and while we witness his relapse and inability to work successfully, why does the subculture Ickarus belongs to focus on drugs?

This question is best answered by understanding electronic music. Without lyrics, every beat, rhythm, and note resonate throughout the body.  The idea is that the music can change your mood. With nothing but the music to focus on, and since there is so many different things going on within the song, focus becomes difficult on the whole piece, so the best way to listen is to take it in without focus and hear with your whole body. The drugs, supposedly, lessen the sharp edge that consciousness brings and makes it easier to not focus on the song, but just to listen and go with it. That last bit is my theory on drugs. I have no personal experience with the interaction between any illegal substance and electronica music. I do, however, have experience with the genre and do listen to it, in almost all of it's varying forms and subgenres, as much as I listen to normal music. The genre is similar to classical music, but almost opposite in terms of how it should be listened to. Classical music has a focus, usually on the primary instrument. Electronica does not. It should be taken in at once, though can be appreciated and broken down to enjoy like classical by those who are more interested in such bits of information.


4. Compare the standards you know from your home society with the people you see depicted in this movie. Which are the stark differences and contrasts?
Well, I'm the first person in my family to like electronic music, whereas those before me prefer music with lyrics, with a story or purpose you could say. With that, just the music itself is a big difference. Aside from that, no one in my family does drugs or the sort, save the few occasional people who smoke. Parties do not happen often around me or my family.



5. Germany is considered a strong industrial nation the world over. Do you think that the youth culture as depicted here could change that? How about work ethics of Ickarus and of Alice, the label director who fires and then re-signs him?
Using America here as an example, I don't think that the youth culture could change it. As rowdy as they are, the ones who would excel and succeed will take over the industries and just modernize them to fit more of the culture as it was when they lived in the time. The people and low lives depicted here that do nothing but drugs and a few jobs to live off welfare end up being the factory workers that don't go anywhere with their lives. Fortunately, the successful and ambitious people are the one who change the world, not the lazy drug addicts. The work ethic, on the other hand, I believe will change a bit more towards the lenient end. Times are not like they used to be where hard work day in and day out was a happy life.
















6. Which similar "cult movies" of US origin have you seen, if any?
I do not believe I have seen any "cult movies." If I were given some as examples, I could say yes or no to them if I've seen them, but I don't believe I have.


I'm part of an online community where raves and lightshows are popular. The music of the movie is very much what I'm used to. Because the community is primarily online and only in the real world for things like cons and various raves/concerts, there isn't a clearly defined culture, especially since it's so heavily diverse. The real differences between the two is the excessive drug use to relax, as an outlet, or just to have fun. It is true that while some people would and do use drugs in the same manner, such are very few and very far between. Those who do typically tend to stay in their own groups and keep it there, being more social without bringing in the subject of their drug life. As such, Berlin Calling didn't have too much of a culture split between me and the video. Even in the real world, the situation is more around the same to me as it is online. Those who do the drugs stick to their groups and keep it within them. The music isn't as popular, but it is growing and light shows and raves are still quite common. Much of the movie in terms of how the drug users and alcoholics would live and interact is about how it is here. While they do, they don't do it as much in public and keep it on the down low. They often live off welfare and in poverty and hang out mostly with others who like to party, drink, and get high. It is a part of culture I cannot stand.

About everything that happened in the movie is something I can definitely see happening here in the US. Given my own struggle with depression, I can understand Ickarus' dependence on drugs to get something done. It is a very painful and difficult situation. I saw the parts when Ickarus was down and could definitely imagine myself being in that position had I been just a little bit more impulsive. It was rather disturbing how close I am to that yet still so far.