Seminars on German film, art, history ...
Once a week GLS teachers conduct a seminar on German culture & history - a great addition to your German course. The seminars cover these topics:
- Berlin
Berlin's past and present - German Culture
Art, film & literature - German History
German Empire, Nazi Reich, East & West Germany
Berlin: Club history
Berlin's clubs and partys are legendary. What makes nightlife in Berlin so unique? Why is it different than elsewhere? What role does the city's history play?
Berlin: 13th to 20th Century
Berlin was founded in 1237. Just a sleepy provincial town for many centuries, the city was finally made capital of the Prussian Empire. How did this history shape Berlin? And the mentality of Berliners?
Berlin: The Wall
The wall divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989, isolating the western and capitalist part of the city from its socialist surroundings. How come this wall was built? Why did it fall? And how did it influence the lives of Berliners?
German Literature
Text samples and film clips illustrate the development of German literature since Goethe. How does literature shape or reflect society?
Art in Germany
This seminar analyses and discusses prominent works by German artists, among them master painters like Albrecht Dürer or Gerhard Richter.
German Cinema
We look at German film history - from silent movie classics of the 1920s to recent Oscar winners - and we discuss: How did the Nazis (ab)use film? What distinguishes East and West German films? What are the most interesting films right now?
Art in Nazi Germany (1933 - 1945)
When the Nazis came to power, dissident artists - many of them Jewish - were driven into exile or murdered, their works were destroyed. At the same time, the entire culture industry (in particular the film industry) was instrumentalised as a propaganda tool.
German Language: Luther
This seminar is about the monk Martin Luther (1483 - 1546). You'll probably know that he invented Protestanism. But did you know that he had a huge impact on the German we speak today? It goes back to his translation of the bible.
German Empire: 1871 - 1918
The German Empire ("Kaiserreich") was founded in 1871, uniting 26 countries like Bavaria and Saxony in a German nation-state. The Empire ended with the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II after World War I.
Weimar Republic (1918 - 1933)
The Weimar Republic is the first German democracy. It began in 1918 and ended, when the Nazis came to power. In Berlin the 1920ies were an age of excess: wild, glamorous and morbid (more).
National Socialism (1933 - 1945)
National Socialism equals war, terror and the holocaust. How could the National Socialists establish their dictatorship? What role did art and education play? What does the Nazi past mean for Germans today?
FRG & Westberlin (1949 - 1989)
FRG = the former West Germany. Founded after World War II and Nazi terror, the BRD blossomed into an increasingly liberal democracy. How did that happen - after such a desastrous past? What made this progress possible?
GDR (1949 - 1990)
The GDR, commonly called East Germany, existed from 1949 till 1990, when East (socialist) and West (capitalist) were re-united. How was life in socialist Germany?
