Kultur 9

The articles for this last chapter were very interesting, much more so than the past few chapters. One article that really stood out to me was the one addressing Germany's patriotism. I have always wondered how Germans felt about their country and expressing their love for it when its history contains so many taboo and terrible things. Most recently, Germany's involvement in both World Wars, more specifically World War Two. I imagine it is hard to express or feel any sort of patriotism or love for a country associated with murdering so many people. The article brings up a good point when it discusses that most of the responsibility can be placed on the leadership of the country AKA Hitler. In fact, when he was heading Germany, he ditched the traditional red, yellow, and black flag for his swastika. I hope that someday Germans can feel that they can openly express their love for their country without feeling guilty or associated with the cruelties of one man.
Another interesting article was "Love Thy Neighbor," which discussed the horrors of having a neighbor in Germany. I feel like in America we have all had an obnoxious neighbor or a neighbor that complains about everything we do, but not to the extent that the article discussed. Court cases dictating how often your dog can bark? That seems a bit like overkill to me. Perhaps I have been fortunate enough to live in locations where houses are not on top of each other, but are BBQ's really that annoying? I happen to love the smell of a juicy burger, even if I am not the one cooking it.
The Brennpunkt Kultur articles addressing Austria and Vienna were actually very informative to me because, as I have said before, I am planning on going on a Eurotrip with a few friends this summer and Vienne was one of the cities I was looking at traveling to. After reading these articles describing Austria's character and charm, I fell like it would be hard to pass up. I think I'll add it to the already overbooked list.