FRG - Culture

Question 1

What were the aims of culture in the FRG

Answer 1

• Want to regain their image as leaders of European Culture after the War
• Remove Nazi controls and reintroduce cultural experimentation
• Influenced by democracy but also a desire to remember traditional German culture (Wagner etc…)

Question 2

What was culture in the FRG influenced by

Answer 2

• International/Cosmopolitan especially Western Europe - blue jeans, chewing gum, rock ‘n’ roll and coca-cola
• Allied Occupation Council 1945-49.
• Wider issues and social movements such as CND, Vietnam War
• Germany’s past (Holocaust)

Question 3

What were the attitudes towards culture in the FRG
-youth groups

Answer 3

• Despite student protest movement and terrorism of 60s and 70s most young people were well integrated into society and most rebellion was just generational rebellion.

Question 4

What were the attitudes towards culture in the FRG
-young people

Answer 4

• Despite student protest movement and terrorism of 60s and 70s most young people were well integrated into society and most rebellion was just generational rebellion.

Question 5

In what ways did culture bring people together from all generations

Answer 5

• From the 1950s, a growing number of social movements drew in people of all ages
• The anti-nuclear movement, ecological and alternative lifestyle movements –>
• shared a rejection of consumerism; more equality; & a desire to change established society for the better

Question 6

What cultural tensions existed in the FRG

Answer 6

• the growing influence of US culture during the 1950s and 1960s - undermined traditional German values
• social liberalisation in the 1960s, especially youth protest & espousal of alternative lifestyles, was seen as a threat to moral values as supported by the Catholic and Protestant churches within Germany
• Conservative forces also feared the growth of TV and consumerism

Question 7

Give examples of how German culture and class divisions were lessened during the 1960s and 1970s

Answer 7

• The expansion of consumerism and materialism provided Germans with common values that eroded the old class divides.
• Sport also helped to give West Germans a greater sense of unity, clearly seen with the success of the West German football team on the international stage

Question 8

In some ways traditional German culture and class divisions were weakened in 1960s and 1970s, BUT…

Answer 8

• BUT polls also showed that young people shared their parents values

Question 9

What was meant by the term ‘Hooligan’

Answer 9

• The term ‘hooligans’ was applied by the media to youth gangs and anti-social and criminal behaviour
• 1956 - sociologist Heinz Kluth wrote it was limited to small groups in urban centres and one should beware stereotyping all young people as criminals and gang members
• 1954 - 560,000 young people had come before the courts
• however, that 80% of offenders came from dysfunctional families

Question 10

What were new influences from the USA associated with

Answer 10

• These cultural commodities from the USA were further associated with a breakdown of deference to authority and youth rebellion, as exemplified by the ‘hooligans’

Question 11

What youth group was formed in 1946

Answer 11

• the German Youth Ring

Question 12

What was the German Youth Ring

Answer 12

• an umbrella organisation for all youth organisations and set up workshops to train leaders, produce resources
• & offer expertise in healthy activities such as singing, folk dancing and hikes - traditional German pastimes
• The Youth Ring embraced organisations such as the Boy Scouts and religious youth groups
• These groups had far more members than the hooligans did

Question 13

What was the extent of radical student groups

Answer 13

• 1960s a new left student protest movement developed - some of its more radical adherents morphed into supporters of terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s
• BUT polls in 1968 among apprentices found the vast majority were well integrated into society and tended to hold the same values as their parents
• Most youth rebellion was generational rebellion about the length of hair, style of clothes, choice of music, conducted inside the home
• For such young people ideas of the New Left let alone terrorism were ideas from an unknown planet

Question 14

Give examples of literature in the FRG

Answer 14

• Post war books - new authors like Gunter Grass wrote ‘the Tin Drum’ - former Waffen ss member, written as an inmate in mental asylum
• Later he wrote ‘Flounder’ about Feminism
• The Clown by Heinrich Boll was criticised in the press for it’s negative portrayal of the Catholic church - political controversy
• HH Kirst sold 12 million worlwide with books set in Nazi Germany
• BUT most people still read thrillers and romances NOT highbrow books.

Question 15

What did literature show through the style of books read

Answer 15

• After the Second World War cultural tensions were revealed in the realm of literature within the FRG
• New authors emerged on the background of the experiences of the war and post-war period
• BUT most people still read thrillers and romances NOT highbrow books

Question 16

What did cinema attendance decline by from 1956 to 1969

Answer 16

• from a peak of 817.5 million visits in 1956
• to 172.2 million by 1969

Question 17

Why did cinema attendance decline, like in other Western countries from the 50s-70s

Answer 17

many films were v traditional and aimed at escapism set in Alpine settings - creating a regional culture in contrast to Nazi nationalistic one

Question 18

What was issued in February 1962

Answer 18

• more serious cinematographers issued a manifesto which introduced the New Cinema movement

Question 19

What was the New Cinema Movement

Answer 19

• reflected new as opposed to old cinematic ideas and its proponents would pursue artistic excellence rather than commercial success.
• funding was always a problem, but out of it emerged undoubted cinematic masterpieces
• focused on Germany’s past & social issues

Question 20

What were a few successes of the New Cinema Movement

Answer 20

‘Young Torless’ examined persecution of the Jews
Fassbinder’s masterpiece was perhaps ‘ Marriage of Maria Braun’ (1979), whose amoral heroine has been seen as a cypher for the ruthlessness of post-war FRG society with its emphasis on materialism and greed.

Question 21

…………………… ……………….. in the 1980s increased attendance at movies, relinquishing its …………. spirit

Answer 21

• Hollywood Blockbuster’s
• innovative

Question 22

What was sport like FRG

Answer 22

• Football became national sport and helped give West Germany a sense of identity
• 1954 and 1974 won FIFA world cup - helped raise German pride

Question 23

What was music influenced by in the FRG

Answer 23

• Rock n Roll

Question 24

How did football reflect the FRG’s values

Answer 24

• The West German team developed a well-deserved reputation for efficiency, team work and flair,
• which many saw as fundamental characteristics of the FRG itself

Question 25

Describe the generational tensions which took place in the FRG
-old vs young

Answer 25

• over year zero and younger generation wanting to confront its past
• Older people wanted more traditional culture and a consumerist lifestyle while younger people wanted less consumerism

Question 26

What cultural action was taken to remember Germany’s actions in WW2

Answer 26

• Not all older Germans wanted to forget the Holocaust —>
• Alexander and Margarete Mitscherlich ‘The Inability to Mourn’ 1967 —>
• led to some Lander reforming their curriculum and teaching Nazi Germany in schools