GERMANY
- Alex P
- Oct 21
- 3 min read
"Germany, my heart is on fire, I want to love and condemn you. Germany, your breath is cold, so young, yet so old."
***
Deutschland – mein Herz in Flammen
Will dich lieben und verdammen
Deutschland – dein Atem kalt
So jung, und doch so alt.
(As they say, sometimes music speaks louder than words)
Rammstein, 2019
GERMANY: THE MOST INTERESTING
I had a lovely homeland long ago
The oak trees seemed
So tall there, and the violets blew so sweet
It was a dream.
It kissed me in German, spoke in German
(You’d scarce believe
How good it sounds) the words: I love you true!
It was a dream
Heinrich Heine, poet and publicist, 1797-1856
GERMANY: HISTORY OF THE COAT OF ARMS
The eagle on the German coat of arms dates back to the times of Ancient Rome. Coats of arms in the classical sense did not yet exist at that time, so it is more likely a reference to the "aquila" (accent on the first syllable) – the symbol of the legions in the ancient Roman army, a silver or gold eagle mounted on a pole. The legions were the main driving force of Rome, so the eagle was naturally perceived as a symbol of imperial power.
The subsequent succession is usually associated with the Frankish king Charlemagne or, Charles The Great (yes, all kings want to go down in history as "Great"), who in 800 became "Emperor of the West" and thus symbolically revived the ancient Roman Empire.
German history is sometimes measured in terms of "Reichs." In fact, "Das Reich" means "empire" in German.
The First Reich was the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation," from the moment the Pope crowned the German King Otto I in 962 until its formal abolition in 1806 by Napoleon Bonaparte, who was building his "dream empire." Its territory encompassed German, Czech, Dutch, Italian, and numerous other lands and nations.
The Second Reich, or "Kaiser's Empire," was a purely German nation-state with a strong central authority in the person of the Kaiser, who united numerous fragmented German petty states. Its creation was proclaimed after the victorious war with France in 1871 and was completed after Germany's defeat in World War I.
The idea of revenge for that defeat led among others to Nazism and the creation of the Third Reich. The tragic results of its short existence are widely remembered.
It's better not to repeat them.
Although many are trying now.
GERMANY: THE FUN FACTS
After a long series of Reichs, emperors, and imperial ambitions, the Weimar Republic emerged. It lasted relatively briefly, from 1919 to 1933, but is considered the first true democracy in Germany. Emerging after military defeat, national humiliation, and revolution, it paved the way for political and cultural diversity, albeit radical sometimes. This homage is, in fact, reflected in the modern German coat of arms, which essentially replicates the coat of arms of the Weimar Republic.
Today, the presence of the state coat of arms on a car's license plate signifies affiliation with government agencies such as the police, custom services, and others.
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