A Cultural Metaphor For Germany Essay

Culture is part of special traditions and rites of passage. In this paper I am going to write about American culture compared to German culture. To do this I interviewed Michael Heidenreich, who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1943.

When I think of the differences between German and American culture, one of the first things that comes to mind is how Christmas is celebrated. In Germany, it is always celebrated on Christmas Eve. Instead of Santa, children are told that if they behave well, “Kris Kringle” or “Christkindl”, meaning Christ Child, will leave presents for them under the tree. While waiting for the presents to come, the family will gather around the table to eat dinner

Many families during the month of December are busy shopping for Christmas presents, decorating a Christmas tree, and getting ready for Santa Clause. For those families celebrating Hanukkah this can conclude of preparing Latkes, singing Ma’Oz Tzur, and lighting the candles of the Menorah.

The purpose of this paper was to discuss Socialogical theories and apply them to my favorite holiday Christmas. I discussed Structural Functionalism, Theorist Karl Marx’s Conflict theory, some

The holiday season is among us. Halloween begins in the fall when the leaves start to change colors and fall of the trees. Christmas begins in winter when the snow hits the ground and the weather gets mighty cold. Halloween is when the spookier things come out. When most people think of Halloween they think of pumpkins and candy. Christmas is a time for giving gifts and being with family. Christmas is usually associated with Santa Clause and his worker elves. Although to most people these holidays may seem very different, there are also some similarities between the two. These differences and similarities can be seen in the dressing up, the celebrations, and the giving.

Hannukah has much history behind it, since back in time it has represented the “rededication of the holy temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E. (The Origin of Hannukah) It begins on the 25th day of Kinslev on the Hebrew calendar according to Judaism 101. This ritual is also referred to as The Festival of Lights. Each night of the celebration, a candle is lighted on the Menorah, after the sun setsand sacred blessing are recited. The Menorah holds up to nine candles, the ninth one is used to light the other eight earning the name helper. “The story of Hanukkah does not appear in the Torah because the events that inspired the holiday occurred after it was written. It is, however, mentioned in the New Testament, in which Jesus attends a Feast of Dedication.” (The Origin of

Some of them don’t occur on Christmas day, but happens before or after the holiday. One of them is “The Day of the Candles,” or “Dia de las Velitas.” During this Columbian holiday, everyone lights up skinny candles and sets them outside buildings to light up cities. A tradition in Spain is to stay up to feast and party until morning. In an old Spanish verse, Christmas is called the “good night” or Noche Buena, so it says that the people cannot sleep. There are also religious traditions. In Mexico, children walk around the streets dressing up as Mary and Joseph, traveling by donkey to represent the time when the two had to find lodging. This is called Las Posadas. After the children do Las Posadas, they have a piñata party just for the fun of it. Spain honors the Mass of the Rooster, when it is said a rooster was one of the first to see the birth of baby Jesus. Spain celebrates it by lighting oil lamps and going to church to go to a mass at the midnight of Christmas

The political, economical, and social order of the Germanic states in the nineteenth century was in a state of chaos and disarray. Politically, the states had the desire of becoming unified and had the possibility to do so if it had not been for fear and neglect to follow through. Economically, the states were in a time of hardships with poor growth development in the fields and were also going through the time of the Industrial Revolution with changes to their everyday lives. Socially, the Germanic states were divided into a feudal system that was determined by birth status and wealth. The middle class, made up of scholars and students, and aristocracy had shared the same fear of the commoners’ revolt due

The festivities last for a whole month: from December 6th, the feast of St. Nichols, until January 6th, the feast of the wise men. Similar to the American Christmas traditions, Christmas trees are a large part of the holiday celebration. In Germany, unlike America, the Christmas tree is secretly brought into the house the night of Christmas Eve and is decorated by the mother. Trees are most famously decorated with hand blown glass ornaments and tinsel. Another German tradition unlike America’s is that presents are usually exchanged and opened on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. Germans also celebrate Zweiter Weihnactsfeirtag the day after Christmas. Zweiter Weihnactsfeirtag directly translates to Boxing Day, the holiday also celebrated in Canada. Though unlike Canada, where Boxing Day is a time for shopping and finding discounts, in Germany, Boxing Day is like a second Christmas. Families spend time with their grandparents and godparents. Things like board games, watching TV, and other typical bonding activities are done. This day, for the Germans, is a quiet day to relax and prepare for the rest of the Christmas

Hanukkah is a Jewish tradition that starts on December 6 and lasts 8 days. The Menorah, a traditional candle stand that holds 9 candles, is lit. One candle is lit on the first day, two on the second and so forth, eight of the candles each represent a day and the ninth is used to light the others. Another tradition during Hanukkah is a game played with a Dreidel, a clay spinning top with a different symbol on each face. The game is played by gambling on which side will end up facing upward.

Germany, a country rich in culture and heritage, yet plagued by the fallout of World War I and World War II, has progressed to become the centerpiece of the European Union and the world’s third richest economy. The first German Empire dates back to the Roman Empire starting in the 8th century AD. During the Middle Ages the German Empire fended off many attacks against their soil from the Hungarians and the Slavs. Fighting and power struggles continued until the 1400’s, when the modern world gradually came into existence with intellectual, economic and political changes.

The holidays have sprung upon us. There is a chill in the air. In some places, the ground covered with snow. It is a time where stores are filled with candy canes, Christmas trees, and chocolate Santas. When you look at storefronts there may be snowflakes in the windows, or Christmas trees in your local malls. Christmas, it seems so magical to most, it’s the holiday most know. However, there are some who celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanza, or they just belong to a different culture and their holidays are filled with their own traditions. For some, December is not marked by going to a tree filled the parking lot, inhaling that pleasant smell of pine, while searching for the perfect tree. Instead, their December starts with a tradition not as widely

As it began, our century drew to a close, with Germany once again the economic powerhouse and political hub of Europe. What is remarkable is how quickly this happened, how unbidden and unanticipated: the toppling of the Berlin Wall in November 1989; the reunification a year later; the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in late December 1991; a resurgent impetus to West European integration in 1992; and NATO enlargement, which was consecrated in April 1999. Unquestionably, this chain of events has profoundly affected Germany’s situation over the past decades. For the first time since the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in 1949 and the painstaking process of

Come drink a Bit burger and eat a delicious wiener schnitzel in Germany! Germany is just slightly smaller than the state of Montana in the United States. In addition, Germany is located in central Europe and borders the North Sea and Baltic Sea in the Netherlands and, Poland. The culture built around Germany has a foundation of Art, Literature, Sports, Food, and Music. In addition, Germany’s torn past over war of its modern day is very different form our own, but is very similar in many other ways. However to truly understand the unique culture of Germany, one must know the origin of the unique Art’s, Literature, Sports, Food and, Music, that Germany is known for.

war with a unique goal for its conclusion as his main goal was not to