MetaFilter posts tagged with Germany

World's Longest Invisible Fence

webhund — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:59:13 -0800

Twenty years ago this month, the nearly 700 mile border between East and West Germany started to disappear. "The fence is long gone, and the no-man's land where it stood now is part of Europe's biggest nature preserve. The once-deadly border area is alive with songbirds nesting in crumbling watchtowers, foxes hiding in weedy fortifications and animals not seen here for years, such as elk and lynx. But one species is boycotting the reunified animal kingdom: red deer." According to the Bavarian National Forest Park Service, scientists [link in German] have recorded nearly 11,000 GPS locations for 'Ahornia," a red deer who appears to never enter the Czech Republic.

The House on Garibaldi Street

reenum — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:35:26 -0800

The capture of Adolf Eichmann is one of the more daring spy operations in the post WWII era. The story spans 17 years, beginning with Eichmann's clandestine escape from the Allied forces and the Nuremberg trial, and ending with his hanging in Israel. After WWII, Eichmann was able to escape the Nuremberg trials and the subsequent efforts of Nazi hunters in Europe. He worked as a farmer for 5 years, before he was able to gain passage to Argentina with the help of an organization that helped ex-Nazis defect to South America. However, Nazi hunters like Simon Wiesenthal never forgot about Eichmann and the crimes he had committed. After years of chasing false leads, the Mossad finally found Eichmann and assembled a team to capture him. This team included Rafi Eitan and Peter Malkin. The team followed Eichmann and planned his capture, which ended with the Israelis smuggling a drugged Eichmann aboard an El-Al plane and making two transcontinental flights that pushed the plane's limits. The operation caused embarrassment for some of the world's superpowers. But, the trial went on nonetheless. Subsequent generations have studied this capture and the impact it had on the world as a whole. You can find repositories of Eichmann related documents here, here, here and here.

Frankfurter Buchmesse

ocherdraco — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:18:25 -0800

Perhaps you have seen the recent video of flies zooming around a "German trade show" like little banner planes? That "German Trade Show" was the Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse)—the most important event in the book publishing world. It's international; all the major US publishers go, as do many agents, to meet their foreign counterparts and to buy and sell projects amid publishing's eternal and ever-present air of fatalism. This year's fair had some interesting subplots, the most visible of which was the complicated dance the organizers did with this year's guest of honor, China, as accusations of censorship (on the part of China) and of brown-nosing (on the part of the fair's organizers) flew. The Frankfurt Book Fair has been held, on and off, since 1454. The Millions' review of A History of the Frankfurt Book Fair gives a nice capsule overview of the Fair's history since its inaugural fair, which Gutenberg himself may or may not have attended:

Then there was a long, protracted fall. Between 1680 and 1690, nearly every publishing house in Frankfurt collapsed due to the indebtedness of publishers. As a result of this there was an anti-Semitic backlash, Jewish financiers becoming the scapegoats for the failure of the publishing houses, and regulations were imposed forbidding trading to Jews. In fact, it was the wars instigated by Louis XIV, and repercussions of the War of the Spanish Succession that crippled the economy. As well, the Reformation had moved the intellectual hub north, and the center of trade was shifting east, giving Leipzig an edge over Frankfurt. Bookshops in Frankfurt turned into bars. By the mid-1800s, even Leipzig was in decline. Book fairs – as they were envisioned then – had had their day, as the book trade was no longer dependent on fairs. The modern era of the Frankfurt Book Fair, after a few false starts, began in the late 1940s. The 1950 fair was a major success. It was both a cultural exchange and a trade show emphasizing merchandising and marketing. A literary peace prize had also been established – Albert Schweitzer won it that year – giving the fair an added PR boost. There was no shortage of intrigue in the post-war book fair. The Cold War and the building of the Berlin Wall led to the infiltration of West Germany (and the Frankfurt Book Fair) by East German spies! Beginning in 1967 and continuing into the 70s, undercover agents (using pseudonyms) from East German publishing houses were covertly checking out the activity at the fair, seeing which of their authors had books there.

N.B.: I am a book editor. It's possible (but unlikely) that I know someone mentioned somewhere in the things I've linked to.

The Surprisingly Accurately Named Thirty Years War

Kattullus — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:32:07 -0800

The Thirty Years War is a website covers that ginormous kerfuffle that consumed Europe in the first half of the 17th Century from the Second Defenestration of Prague to the Peace of Westphalia. It has a handy map with a place locator which will help you tell your Schweidnitz from your Schweinfurt. Here are some other maps, The Religious Situation in Central Europe about 1618, Principal Seats of War, 1618-1660 and Europe in 1648 - Peace of Westphalia.

Early Animated Films, Lost and Found

filthy light thief — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:02:23 -0800

While some might believe that Walt Disney had the first feature-length animated film with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in 1937, the Disney film is the fourth animated feature-length film, and was two decades late for first place. The first two animated feature-length films were directed by an Italian in Argentia in 1917 and 1918, though all prints of those films are presumed lost or destroyed. The third animated full-length feature, Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (The Adventures of Prince Achmed), came out the same year that the first two were lost to fire. This third animated film was a silhouette animation made by a German artist named Lotte Reiniger. The original negatives are considered lost, but a supposedly first-generation positive (from the camera negative) remains and the film has been restored from this stock (full film with limited subtitles, 5 minute preview with English subtitles and the full film viewable with Veoh plug-in). More information and videos inside. The first animated feature film was El Apóstol, followed by Sin dejar rastros, both written and directed by Quirino Cristiani. His career in film was limited to 27 years in film (1916-1943), but rather notable for early animation firsts. Cristiani's last major film, Peludópolis, was the first full-length animated motion picture with sound, presented with sound-on-disc. The only known prints of his first films were destroyed in a fire in 1926, and his final work was also lost to fire, this time in 1961, giving Cristiani two films on a list of Top 50 Lost Films of All Time. Lotte Reiniger was born in 1899, and she was fascinated by Chinese silhouette puppets from an early age (shadow puppetry previously). She created her first shadow theater at the age of six, and ultimately had a career that spanned 60 years (1919-1979, not counting her early credits going back to 1916) and some 70 film credits to her name. Her most recalled accomplishment was creating the first German animated film, Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed. The animation was made with cardboard and thin sheets of lead, and color tinting. Reiniger wrote about the process of creating and restoring the film (PDF, Google html cache), and she noted that the complete original Wolfgang Zeller accompanying score was preserved in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Silhouette puppetry of a sort lives on in a new mini-series, The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello. The series currently consists of four episodes (called "voyages") that are set in a the world of steampunk aeronautics, utilizing a silhouette animation style that has been likened to The Adventures of Prince Achmed. The first voyage, Jasper Morello and the Lost Airship is on YouTube in full (previously). Unlike Anthony Lucas' earlier stop-motion animation, the Mysterious Geographic Explorations are a mix of 3D computer graphics, photographic composition and miniatures. The Gothia Gazette has more information on the series. This rambling journey through early animation and silhouette work was set off by Tor Books, who have laid claim to October as Steampunk Month on their website. The Jasper Morello video was one of three animations, the other two being shorts (#2: The Aeronaut {also on mtvU with sharper sound, but also watermarks} by Nicholas Lombardo; #3: Komedi - A Gentelan's Duel, by Blur Studios, who were mentioned previously twice). Selections from the List of Lotte Reinger works 1920 - Das Geheimnis der Marquise (MP4) (The Marquise's Secret) for Nivea skin cream 1954 - Cinderella (10:29), The Little Chimneysweep (9:53), The Frog Prince (10:24) 1955 - Hansel and Gretel (10:32), Jack and the Beanstock (from the beginning, missing the first minute, and a bit of the end) 1971 - The Art of Lotte Reiniger (17:02), featuring Ms. Reiniger herself, creating silhouette puppets and describing the process Extra links Previously: steampunkery, Czech animator Karel Zeman, German animator Hans Fischerkoesen Etcetera: Bullet Bill and Bob-Omb as Victorian gentlemen Bonus video: Grand Drive "Firefly" (4:05), music video with shadow-puppet animation inspired by Lotte Reiniger, produced by Trunk Animation

1989, revolution in Eastern Europe

Kattullus — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:49:20 -0800

The BBC World Service has put together a special report on the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe (they also have a simpler portal). There is a wealth of material, including TV reports on key events from the BBC archives, interviews, a map timeline, a report on Catholicism's role in the 1989 revolutions, a first-hand report of what it was like to gather news in East Germany during that time and much more.

Hermann the German

oldleada — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:08:40 -0800

Fans of Tacitus's Germania, meet Hermann.

Herta Müller is the 2009 Nobel Laureate in Literature

Kattullus — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:10:13 -0800

This year's Nobel Laureate in Literature is Romanian born author Herta Müller, who writes in German, as predicted yesterday by M. A. Orthofer of The Complete Review and Literary Saloon. Here's an interview with Herta Müller and a short bio.

Ce soir sera une bonne soirée!

Rhaomi — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:56:54 -0800

On September 10th, to celebrate their initiation week, 172 communications students at the University of Quebec at Montreal decided to put on a show. After weeks of preparation, the costumed and prop-wielding crowd enacted an exuberant, complex, and flawlessly-choreographed performance of the Black Eyed Peas song "I Gotta Feeling" that sprawled through the campus's multi-story Judith Jasmin Pavilion... and they did it all in one continuous take (on their second try). The feat is just the most recent example of "lipdubbing" -- a video phenomenon where a single camera moves through a crowd of highly coordinated lip-syncers in a single seamless take, with the original recording dubbed over the finished product. Though the basic concept was pioneered by viral videos like the Numa Numa Dance and OK Go's "Here It Goes Again", the current model for lipdubbing was conceived by Vimeo founder Jakob Lodwick, who coined the term after dubbing a recording of himself singing "Endless Dream" by Apes & Androids. According to technical writer and blogger Tom Johnson's analysis of the video, the best lipdubs appear "spontaneous, authentic, participatory, and fun." Lodwick's video was followed up by a Vimeo business partner's staff doing their rendition of Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta" (previously). The technique soon exploded in popularity -- everything from web magazines to TV studios to hospitals got into the act. But perhaps no group took to lipdubbing better than universities. Following the lead of The University Lipdub Project (original video), colleges from multiple nations adopted lipdubbing as a way to showcase their campus life and school spirit:

School, Nation - Video info - Song Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Rouen, France - 140 people - "Thriller" by Michael Jackson HEC Paris, France - 120 people - "Lollipop" by Mika l'Université de Poitiers, France - 56 people - "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" by the Scissor Sisters Mines de Saint Etienne, France - "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" by the Scissor Sisters IUT Belfort/Montbéliard, France - 353 people (a world record) - "La Confession de Monsieur Connard" by Les Tock'art HEC Montréal, Canada - 150 people - "Mamma Mia" by Abba Institut Notre Dame de la Providence, France - "Toi + Moi" by Grégoire Ecole Polytechnique, France - "Love Is All" by Roger Glover Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany - "LMU" (original song) IHECS, Belgium - 100+ people - "Banana Split" HEC Montréal, Canada - 172 people - "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams European Business School, Germany - "Tell It to My Heart" by Dyane Taylor, "I Get Around" by the Beach Boys ESC Dijon, France - 95 people - "Working Together" by Gonzales Essec Business School, France - 200 people - "Let's Get It Started" by the Black Eyed Peas Emlyon Business School, France - 300 people - "Pop the Music" by Triim, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Buggles ENSIC, France - 85 people - "Hot N Cold" by Kate Perry Campo Limpo Paulista College, Brazil - 56 people - "Ultramen" by Santo Forte

Bonus one-shot goodness:

Children of Men's climactic 6-minute one-shot scene (spoilers) Honda's "The Cog" (previ-ously) The Way Things Go (previously) Bike Hero (previously) Slydini's Newspaper (previously)

A parade in Brest, 1939.

languagehat — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:03:27 -0800

September 22, 1939: In the Polish city of Brest-Litovsk (now Brest, in Belarus), "a monumental military parade took place.... What is unusual is that the parade was held not by the Polish army, but by the soviet Red Army and the Nazi German Wehrmacht – together." The excellent blog Poemas del río Wang (which usually features gorgeous illustrations from books) provides historical context, many photos, posters, and cartoons, even a five-minute official German newsreel (the parade takes up the first half). The event itself is a historical footnote, but in Russia, with the "cult of the victory of Soviet people and of the Soviet state in WWII," the very idea of it was anathema and it was denied until last year. The post is full of fascinating tidbits; for example, a few days after the parade "the Soviet secret police NKVD delegated a high rank deputation to Krakow where they demonstrated to the chiefs of the Gestapo their methods used against the Polish underground movement. The leaders of the Gestapo 'expressed their admiration' and declared that they also 'wished to adopt and apply' the Soviet methods."

Rammstein is not a subtle band (NSFW)

zippy — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:58:46 -0800

Rammstein's Pussy (video, really NSFW, SLnYT) gets right to the point. Youtube has taken down uploads. Facebook has taken down links (though not Links). Here's a fan-created censored version (NSFW lyrics). Contrast Pussy with their earlier work, Keine Lust, in which they parody themselves as old, fat, and sexless (until they rock, of course). Are they intentionally following a route blazed by Spinal Tap? Pussy is not the band's first controversial video. Their cover of Depeche Mode's Stripped used footage from Leni Riefenstahl's 1936 Olympics documentary, Olympia (including the beautiful diving sequence). When asked whether it was wise to base their video on a film commissioned by Hitler, the band said that they are not Nazis.

Bavarian Film Studios in Munich

Brosef K — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:33:00 -0800

Hitchcock's first in 1925. Kubrick in 1957. Sturges in 1963. Bergman, Huston, Ophüls, and Wilder. Sound of Music in 1965. Willy Wonka in 1971. Also, Monty Python made their Fliegender Zirkus specials there in 1971 and 1972. Film history and all that. Sure. But to my mind, the best part of the Bavarian Film Studios is being able to go inside the actual submarine from Das Boot. Or you can ride on that flying dog thing from Neverending Story... if that's how you roll.

Viktor Suvorov on the beginnings of World War II

Joe Beese — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:30:16 -0800

Suvorov’s argument is simple. Stalin cleverly lured Hitler into war by offering to divide Poland. This act, Stalin knew, would prompt Britain and France to declare war on Germany. Stalin expected to pick up the pieces. - Eric Margolis Computer wargamers discuss the claim here. Suvorov presents his own case here. (click on "Media Clips" button in the top-right corner of the page.)

Reingelegt!

chillmost — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:20:44 -0800

Net Hoax Convinces Germany of Fake U.S. Suicide Bombing Attempt All of Germany was bamboozled Thursday by a bizarre scheme that tricked the country’s main wire service into reporting an attempted suicide bombing in a California town — an attack supposedly perpetrated by a non-existent rap group called the “Berlin Boys.” This was all planned and carried out by the makers of a soon to be released German film. Fake TV station K-VPK TV - Now hosts "the making of". Bluewater, California - Fake website used in the hoax. Response from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (German)

"the events in Postoloprty"

orthogonality — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:59:54 -0800

"Two hundred and fifty men were taken one day, another 250 the next, and a layer of earth was thrown in between," a policeman told a parliamentary inquiry in 1947. "They weren't all executed in a single night, but rather in stages." Often enough the condemned men were given a pick and shovel, and made to dig their own graves. The perpetrators didn't have many scruples. After all, they were sure they had high-level military backing...."The general told us, 'The fewer of them that remain, the fewer enemies we'll have.'"

Czech Town Divided over How to Commemorate 1945 Massacre

In July 1947 the ... parliament ... felt obliged to launch an official inquiry into the matter. Countless soldiers and local residents were interviewed, including Captain ... Cerny, who immediately assumed responsibility for the killing of the five boys on the parade ground. "I gave the order for their execution," he declared. ...The officials sent a report back to their minister recommending that the bodies be exhumed and burnt so that "[the victims] should have no memorials to which they could point as a source of suffering by their people." In a top-secret operation in August 1947, several mass graves were dug up, and 763 bodies were removed, most of which were then cremated. There is little doubt that there were more victims whose bodies were never found. Meanwhile, the official documents about "the events in Postoloprty" were classified as confidential and disappeared into the Interior Ministry archives. That suited the postwar residents of Postoloprty and Zatec, who now lived in the houses of the killed or displaced former inhabitants.

Der ewige Jude

Joe Beese — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:33:04 -0800

The day after Kristallnacht, Hitler said: "It was necessary not to make propaganda for violence as such, but to explain certain matters of foreign policy to the German people in such a way, that the inner voice of the people all by itself gradually would call for violence." Towards that end, Goebbels commissioned and closely supervised the production of a propaganda documentary titled Der ewige Jude - "The Eternal Jew". Few if any of the inhabitants of the Łódź Ghetto who appear in its footage survived the war. Though it was exhibited throughout Germany and occupied Europe, popular audiences avoided the film's gruesome images of swarming rats and animal slaughter - preferring instead the anti-Semitic melodrama Jud Süß. In 1958, the film was still considered so dangerous that it required the intervention of the Customs Department to permit Amos Vogel to show it at his Cinema 16. Today, the film can be seen at the Internet Archive here. (previously)

Pacman, Tetris, Pong

msalt — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:19:07 -0800

Photos recreating vintage video games and some other stuff.

Recession over in France and Germany

malapropist — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:18:13 -0800

The economy is abjectly terrible, right? It's so bad that nowadays, a picture is only worth 200 words. On the other hand, the recession is over in Germany and France, and in the United States, the unemployment rate dropped just a smidgen last month. To be fair, the recession wasn't as severe in France and Germany, and didn't start so early. Still, this seems a far cry from talk of a second depression.

The state of high-speed rail, August 2009

acb — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:12:59 -0800

The Guardian ran a series of articles looking at the state of high-speed rail travel today. France intends to double its length of track over the next decade, and China is planning a massive rail-building programme, including a high-speed line which will halve the travel time between Beijing and Shanghai to 4 hours. In Germany, domestic air travel is rapidly going extinct, and Spain's network has made day trips between Madrid and Barcelona a possibility. The USA, which has long neglected its rail network, is planning up to 10 high-speed lines. Meanwhile, Britain's only high-speed line goes to France, but there is talk of a 250mph line from London to Birmingham and beyond, possibly by the early 2020s. Meanwhile, the CEO of France's rail operator, SNCF, weighs in on what the UK should do.

Talking Cards

tellurian — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:23:41 -0800

Used as postcards and for advertising, phono postcards were a single-sided phonograph record stuck on a card with a hole punched through. The Weco cards stand out with their use of photography (with the clothes sometimes painted on) and see-through vinyl.

Tools made in German Prisons

Rumple — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:21:31 -0800

Escape and other tools made by inmates in German prisons, from the photographer Marc Steinmetz. My favorite is the functional battery-powered shotgun, although the hand-made toaster is a testament to the love of a decent breakfast. via.

The First Stealth Flying Wing

filthy light thief — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:12:37 -0800

Though the B-2 Spirit is perhaps the best-known of the flying wing designs, its creation came almost 50 years after the earliest attempts at creating fixed-wing aircraft with no definite fuselage. The first prototypes of Frenchman Charles Fauvel's flying wings followed the patent on his formula for the flying wing in 1929. Jack Northrop's newly formed Northrop Aircraft Co. created the first flying wing for the United States in 1940, dubbed Northrom N-1M "Jeep". But it was the Horten Brothers, German aircraft pilots and enthusiasts, who created the first fully-functional stealth flying wing: the Horten Ho IX. The brothers were first interested in flying wings as a design for gliders. The German government was funding glider clubs at the time because production of military aircraft was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. Walter and Reimar Horten initially entered the Luftwaffe as pilots, but submitted their flying wing glider design for a long-range bomber design request. The Ho IX (link via) is often called Gotha Go 229 or Ho 229 due to the identity of the chosen manufacturer of the aircraft. The craft was of mixed construction, with the center pod made from welded steel tube and wing spars built from wood. The wings were made from two thin, carbon-impregnated plywood panels glued together with a charcoal and sawdust mixture (utilized as a porous filler to lighten the composite formed parts). Control was achieved with elevons and spoilers. The aircraft utilized retractable tricycle landing gear, with the nosewheel coming from an He 177's main gear. A brake parachute slowed the aircraft upon landing. The pilot sat on a primitive ejection seat. During the final stages of the war, the US military captured a Horten glider and the Ho 229 V3, which was undergoing final assembly, and sent them to Northrop Corporation in the United States for evaluation. Five partial airframes found at the Gothaer Wagonfabrik factory assembly line were destroyed by soldiers. The only surviving Ho 229 airframe, the V3, is located at the National Air and Space Museum. A full-scale replica was recently created and tested by Northrop Grumman for a National Geographic special entitled "Hitler's Stealth Fighter." The stealth capabilities of the craft were not fully understood or known when first flown. Though the Kriegsmarine, by 1944, had developed and tested radar-absorbing materials which were applied to the parts of submarines exposed above the water in order to prevent their detection by ASV radar, it appears that the radar-absorbing properties of carbon had not been known to Reimar before the late 1970s, when materials working on similar principles were created in the USA. Still, rumors of stealth capabilities circulated around the HO IX, which lead to replication of and documentary on the Ho IX. The fact that the Ho IX can now be called the first stealth aircraft may have been partially due to luck in design. The Horton Ho 229 V3 replica is on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, opening today. For those wondering about the nitty-gritty specifics, an advanced projects engineer/manager at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems who was involved with the recreation and documentary joined a discussion on the recreation efforts, and provided a lot of details the differences from the original craft from 1940 and the modern day replica.

We know a good wall when we see it

dominik — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:39:33 -0800

As of tomorrow a law will be in effect in Germany that allows the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation to block websites without any judicial approval. Both big parties voted favorably today - even in the face of protest and the most successful online petition in Germany so far. And while the original law states that only child pornography can be censored this way, politicians and music industry execs are already calling for the blocking of first person shooters and copyright-infringing content. (Last two links in German) The obligatory twitter-hash tag is #zensursula - a pun on the German word for censorship and the name of the Minister for Family Affairs Ursula von der Leyen.

Ice Football and the Golden Bowling Shoe

paisley sheep — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:51:05 -0800

On May 29, 2009, Stuttgart took home the Golden Bowling Shoe at the first Deutscher Eisfusßball Pokal (that's "German Ice Football Cup" for the English speaking folks). Yes, that's right - those are grown men playing soccer, on ice, in bowling shoes. According to the official site (fyi: in German), Eisfusßball originated with the German tv show "Schlag den Raab" (English: "Beat Raab"), where contestants attempt to win silly and crazy challenges for prize money. This contestant seems to have failed miserably (the action starts around the 1:50 mark) - but all was not lost, as it resulted in a new sport. Here's hoping that 2009 will be just the beginning, heralding annual Golden Bowling Shoe Cup Playoffs. (Admittedly, this is not the first time that football/soccer has been played on the ice. An enterprising American created a marketable version called a "Boot'r" ["a durable, custom designed, and oversized cloth-filled puck whose weight and shape help players to keep it in play on the ice"], which allows anyone to play, no special skills required - although padding is strongly recommended. But due to the fact that bowling shoes are not on the list of acceptable footwear, this is not considered true Eisfusßbal.)

Awaken the researcher within you

tellurian — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:58:31 -0800

DFG Science TV is back. Researchers documenting their work. If you missed the first series, it is still available for viewing.