German Culture Overview德国文化概况Word文档格式.docx

German Culture Overview德国文化概况Word文档格式.docx

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GermanculturebeganlongbeforetheriseofGermanyasanation-stateandspannedtheentireGerman-speakingworld.Fromitsroots,cultureinGermanyhasbeenshapedbymajorintellectualandpopularcurrentsinEurope,bothreligiousandsecular.HistoricallyGermanywascalledDasLandderDichterundDenker（thecountryofpoetsandthinkers）.[1]

ReadGermany'

sculturefromvariousangles,thispaperincludesseveralaspects:

language,literature,philosophy,music,media,architecture,art,religion,science,diet，sportandsociety.IhopeGermanculturaloverviewbeabletoletpeoplehaveagoodunderstandingofGermanculture.

KeyWords:

German;

culture;

language;

literature;

philosophy;

music;

media;

architecture;

art;

religion;

science;

cuisine;

sport;

society

Language

GermanistheofficialandpredominantspokenlanguageinGermany.[2]Itisoneof23officiallanguagesintheEuropeanUnion,andoneofthethreeworkinglanguagesoftheEuropeanCommission,alongwithEnglishandFrench.RecognisednativeminoritylanguagesinGermanyareDanish,Sorbian,andFrisian.TheyareofficiallyprotectedbytheECRML.ThemostusedimmigrantlanguagesareTurkish,Kurdish,PolishandRussian.

StandardGermanisaWestGermaniclanguageandiscloselyrelatedtoandclassifiedalongsideEnglish,Dutch,andtheFrisianlanguages.Toalesserextent,itisalsorelatedtotheEast（extinct）andNorthGermaniclanguages.MostGermanvocabularyisderivedfromtheGermanicbranchoftheIndo-Europeanlanguagefamily.[3]GermaniswrittenusingtheLatinalphabet.GermandialectsaredistinguishedfromvarietiesofstandardGerman.GermandialectsaretraditionallocalvarietiesandaretracedbacktothedifferentGermantribes.

Aroundtheworld,Germanhasapproximately100millionnativespeakersandalsoabout80millionnon-nativespeakers.[4]Germanisthemainlanguageofabout90millionpeople（18%）intheEU.67%ofGermancitizensclaimtobeabletocommunicateinatleastoneforeignlanguage,27%inatleasttwolanguagesotherthantheirown.[2]

Literature

GermanliteraturecanbetracedbacktotheMiddleAges,withthemostnotableauthorsoftheperiodbeingWalthervonderVogelweideandWolframvonEschenbach.TheNibelungenlied,whoseauthorremainsunknown,isalsoanimportantworkoftheepoch.ThefairytalescollectionscollectedandpublishedbyJacobandWilhelmGrimminthe19thcenturybecamefamousthroughouttheworld.

TheologianLuther,whotranslatedtheBibleintoGerman,iswidelycreditedforhavingsetthebasisforthemodern"

HighGerman"

language.AmongthemostadmiredGermanpoetsandauthorsareLessing,Goethe,Schiller,Kleist,Hoffmann,Brecht,HeineandSchmidt.NineGermanshavewontheNobelPrizeinliterature:

TheodorMommsen,PaulvonHeyse,GerhartHauptmann,ThomasMann,NellySachs,HermannHesse,HeinrichBö

ll,Gü

nterGrass,andHertaMü

ller.

Philosophy

Theriseofthemodernnaturalsciencesandtherelateddeclineofreligionraisedaseriesofquestions,whichrecurthroughoutGermanphilosophy,concerningtherelationshipsbetweenknowledgeandfaith,reasonandemotion,andscientific,ethical,andartisticwaysofseeingtheworld.

GermanphilosophershavehelpedshapewesternphilosophyfromasearlyastheMiddleAges.Later,LeibnizandmostimportantlyKantplayedcentralrolesinthehistoryofphilosophy.KantianisminspiredtheworkofSchopenhauerandNietzscheaswellasGermanidealismdefendedbyFichteandHegel.MarxandEngelsdevelopedcommunisttheoryinthesecondhalfofthe19thcenturywhileHeideggerandGadamerpursuedthetraditionofGermanphilosophyinthe20thcentury.AnumberofGermanintellectualswerealsoinfluentialinsociology,mostnotablyAdorno,Habermas,Horkheimer,Luhmann,Simmel,Tö

nnies,andWeber.TheUniversityofBerlinfoundedin1810bylinguistandphilosopherWilhelmvonHumboldtservedasaninfluentialmodelforanumberofmodernwesternuniversities.

Inthe21stcenturyGermanyhasbeenanimportantcountryforthedevelopmentofcontemporaryanalyticphilosophyincontinentalEurope,alongwithFrance,Austria,SwitzerlandandtheScandinaviancountries.[5]

Music

Inthefieldofmusic,GermanyclaimssomeofthemostrenownedclassicalcomposersoftheworldincludingBach,MozartandBeethoven,whomarkedthetransitionbetweentheClassicalandRomanticerasinWesternclassicalmusic.OthercomposersoftheAustro-GermantraditionwhoachievedinternationalfameincludeBrahms,Wagner,Haydn,Schubert,Hä

ndel,Schumann,Liszt,MendelssohnBartholdy,JohannStraussII,Bruckner,Mahler,Telemann,RichardStrauss,Schoenberg,Orff,andmostrecently,Henze,Lachenmann,andStockhausen.

Asof2006,Germanyisthefifthlargestmusicmarketintheworld,[6]hasexertedastronginfluenceontechnoandrockmusic,andpioneeredtrancemusic.Germanmusiciansand,particularly,thepioneeringbandsTangerineDreamandKraftwerkhavealsocontributedtothedevelopmentofelectronicmusic.[7]

Germanyhostsmanylargerockmusicfestivalsannually.TheRockamRingfestivalisthelargestmusicfestivalinGermany,andamongthelargestintheworld.GermanartistsalsomakeupalargepercentageofIndustrialmusicacts,whichiscalledNeueDeutscheHä

rte.GermanyhostssomeofthelargestGothscenesandfestivalsintheentireworld,witheventslikeWave-Gotik-TreffenandM'

eraLunaFestivaleasilyattractingupto30000people.

Media

Germany'

stelevisionmarketisthelargestinEurope,withsome34millionTVhouseholds.Themanyregionalandnationalpublicbroadcastersareorganisedinlinewiththefederalpoliticalstructure.Around90%ofGermanhouseholdshavecableorsatelliteTV,andviewerscanchoosefromavarietyoffree-to-viewpublicandcommercialchannels.Pay-TVserviceshavenotbecomepopularorsuccessfulwhilepublicTVbroadcastersZDFandARDofferarangeofdigital-onlychannels.[8]

Germanyishometosomeoftheworld'

slargestmediaconglomerates,includingBertelsmann,theAxelSpringerAGandProSiebenSat.1Media.

TheGerman-speakingbookpublishersproduceabout700millioncopiesofbookseveryyear,withabout80000titles,nearly60000ofthemnewpublications.GermanyisinthirdplaceoninternationalstatisticsaftertheEnglish-speakingbookmarketandthePeople’sRepublicofChina.[9]TheFrankfurtBookFairisconsideredtobethemostimportantbookfairintheworldforinternationaldealsandtradingandhasatraditionthatspansover500years.

Architecture

ArchitecturalcontributionsfromGermanyincludetheCarolingianandOttonianstyles,importantprecursorsofRomanesque.TheregionthenproducedsignificantworksinstylessuchastheGothic,RenaissanceandBaroque.

ThenationwasparticularlyimportantintheearlymodernmovementthroughtheDeutscherWerkbundandtheBauhausmovementidentifiedwithWalterGropius.TheNazisclosedthesemovementsandfavouredatypeofneo-classicism.SinceWorldWarII,furtherimportantmodernandpost-modernstructureshavebeenbuilt,particularlysincethereunificationofBerlin.

Art

Germanarthasalonganddistinguishedtraditioninthevisualarts,fromtheearliestknownworkoffigurativearttoitscurrentoutputofcontemporaryart.

ImportantGermanRenaissancepaintersincludeAlbrechtAltdorfer,LucasCranachtheElder,MatthiasGrü

newald,HansHolbeintheYoungerandthewell-knownAlbrechtDü

rer.ThemostimportantBaroqueartistsfromGermanyareCosmasDamianAsam.FurtherartistsarethepainterAnselmKiefer,romanticCasparDavidFriedrich,thesurrealistMaxErnst,theconceptualistJosephBeuys,orWolfVostellortheneo-expressionistGeorgBaselitz.

Religion

TheGermangovernmenthaslimitedresponsibilitiesforculture,whichisdevolvedtothestatesofGermany,calledBundeslä

nder.

64.1percentoftheGermanpopulationbelongstoChristiandenominations.31.4percentareRomanCatholic,and32.7percentareaffiliatedwithProtestantism[10].

TheNorthandEastispredominantlyProtestant,theSouthandWestratherCatholic.Nowadaysthereisanon-religiousmajorityinHamburgandtheEastGermanstates.[11]GermanyformedasubstantialpartoftheRomanCatholicHolyRomanEmpire,butwasalsothesourceofProtestantreformerssuchasMartinLuther.

Historically,GermanyhadasubstantialJewishpopulation.OnlyafewthousandpeopleofJewishoriginremainedinGermanyaftertheHolocaust,buttheGermanJewishcommunitynowhasapproximately100,000members,manyfromtheformerSovietUnion.GermanyalsohasasubstantialMuslimminority,mostofwhomarefromTurkey.

Science

Germanyhasbeenthehomeofmanyfamousinventorsandengineers,suchasJohannesGutenberg,whoiscreditedwiththeinventionofmovabletypeprintinginEurope;

HansGeiger,thecreatoroftheGeigercounter;

andKonradZuse,whobuiltthefirstcomputer.[12]Germaninventors,engineersandindustrialistssuchasZeppelin,Daimler,Diesel,Otto,Wankel,VonBraunandBenzhelpedshapemodernautomotiveandairtransportationtechnologyincludingthebeginningsofspacetravel.[13][14]

TheworkofAlbertEinsteinandMaxPlanckwascrucialtothefoundationofmodernphysics,whichWernerHeisenbergandErwinSchrö

dingerdevelopedfurther.[15]TheywereprecededbysuchkeyphysicistsasHermannvonHelmholtz,JosephvonFraunhofer,andGabrielDanielFahrenheit,amongothers.WilhelmConradRö

ntgendiscoveredX-rays,a