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13 Semester

Manuel Danner, Georg Köhler

Plot

13 Semester (Der frühe Vogel kann mich mal) is a German comedy movie from 2009. It is about two friends, Moritz and Dirk, who move from a small village in the state of Brandenburg to Darmstadt to study business arithmetic at the Technische Universität. The Movie was first shown at the Zurich Film Festival and was also shown at the Internationale Hofer Filmtage on 29th September 2009. It started running in German cinemas on 7th January 2010.

The friends Moritz and Dirk get accepted at the TU Darmstadt and leave their small home village in Brandenburg to set out for the big town to study business arithmetic. Having arrived, their lives change in completely different ways. While Dirk becomes a successful student and masters tutorials and term papers with ease, Moritz gets distracted from his studies by university-lifestyle and soon finds himself left behind. Following the slogan: „ Screw the early bird“ Moritz prefers to party with his roommate Bernd and gets himself through life with various side jobs . On one of Bernd’s parties he gets to know Kerstin the woman of his dreams with whom he ends up in a relationship after some indirections.

Due to a lack of motivation he gets thrown out of his and Dirk’s study group. This fuels him with new ambition and together with his Indian fellow student Aswin, who lives his life in discipline, Moritz picks himself up and passes his intermediate diploma. In Gratitude he shows Aswin the more enjoyable side of university life and takes him along to drink beer. This leads to Aswin’s life taking a yet unexpected turning as well . After his intermediate diploma Moritz spends a semester abroad in Australia. These scenes are expressed through multiple photo sequences that are commented by Moritz. The manner in which he is speaking is differing

When he arrives back in Germany, he meets Kerstin in a Laundromat and soon gets together with her. At first, the relationship is harmonic but soon the mood changes because Moritz is dissatisfied with himself and his life. This leads to Kerstin breaking up with him and Moritz moving out of the apartment he shared with Bernd.

At this event the movie takes a turning point. Moritz meets his old friend Dirk again who is working in Frankfurt now. In a conversation with him, it becomes clear that while Dirk always went strictly for the goal he ultimately is insecure whether this was the best way. Moritz takes heart and decides to finally finish his studies. He takes off like rocket and passes his diploma. In the end, Moritz and Dirk are in Australia where they lead a successful chain of restaurants for Maultaschen, a special German dish. However, the movie only hints at what happens between Moritz and Kerstin, thus keeping the end open.

Background

The main models for the movie were experiences of co-author Oliver Ziegenbalg. He studied Business Mathematics and even achieved a diploma in his field of study. According to the director, there are more connections to real life that result from memories of his own life as a student. Frieder Wittich got to know the band “Bonaparte” at a small concert in Berlin and spontaneously invited them to take part in the shooting of 13 Semester. Thus, the song “Anti, Anti” became the movie’s theme song. The band cancelled a concert for this movie and specially wrote a new song that is played in the end credits. At the beginning of the shooting, Amit Shah, who plays Aswin, could barely speak German. He figured it out himself while shooting.

Production

The shooting for 13 Semester took place in the city of Darmstadt from March, 31 to May 13 in 2008. Darmstadt, the fourth-biggest city in the state of Hessen had been able to win in a casting against Münster, Karlsruhe and Konstanz, among others. Among other places in the near surroundings, several facilities of the Technical University of Darmstadt (Technische Universität Darmstadt), the canteen of the University Darmstadt (Hochschule Darmstadt), the University- and state library, the students dormitory Karlshof as well as the bar of the Kammerspiele of the local state theater, the inner-city lake “Großer Woog”, the Herrngarrten, Frankfurt and Offenbach am Main served as setting.

Reception

Critique The critiques on 13 Semester were mostly positive: Kulthit.de praises the movie as equivalent to the many US American student comedies. Filmszene.de highlights the character development, and kino.de talks about a successful Coming-of-Age comedy that very well depicts real students’ life whereas Cinema thinks the movie to be more “authentic” than funny and labels 13 Semester a tragic comedy. “ ’13 Semester‘ is a entertaining and loveable German students‘ comedy. After some initial difficulties, director Wittich does not stick his foot in his mouth as often as could have been expected. She authentically, emphatically and humorously deals with really essential questions, such as “Why” and “Where to” in life and also gives differentiated answers. Here and there, she pleasantly makes fun of some cinematic stereotype which means that what is expected is not what happens.

– Andreas R. Becker: Filmstarts.de[13]

Success

13 Semester had its debut performance on September, 29 in 2009 during the Zurich Film Festival. It had its first release in Germany on the International Hofer Movie Days (Internationale Hofer Filmtage) on October, 28 the same year. Finally, the official theatrical release was on January, 7 in 2010. In Germany, the movie attracted 56,700 viewers on the first screening weekend and thereby got on place 7 of the cinema charts. Until March 2010 a total of 174,600 viewers watched the movie. It made about 1.333.750 $ (1,068,950 €) at the box offices. The movie thereby in turn got on place 29 of the most successful German productions of 2010.

The “Away from Rome” Movement

Stefanie Karl, Blerina Shabani, André Stephany

“Away from Rome” (German: "Los-von-Rom-Bewegung) was a religious movement founded in Austria around 1900, mostly politically influenced. This movement aimed at supporting change of confession from the Roman Catholic to either the Evangelical Lutheran or Old Catholic denomination. It was supported by German National forces. The slogan “Away from Rome” was coined by Theodor Georg Rakus, a medical student (who would later become Dr. Theodor Georg Rakus, physician and royal Swedish vice consul in Salzburg), and a companion of Georg von Schönerer.

The Background: Greater German and German National Ideas

Since the time of Counterreformation among the Hapsburgs, Austria was an almost exclusively Roman Catholic country. The Protestants only formed a vanishing minority. Only since emperor Joseph II’s enactment of the Patent of Tolerance in 1781, the exercise of religion was granted again to Reformed Christians and Lutherans. After the foundation of the German Reich in 1871, causing the “lesser German solution”, that is the unification of Germany under the control of Prussia excluding Austria, many Austrians still remained devoted to “Greater German ideas”. The German Nationals strived for a close political connection to the German Reich, and partially even aimed at complete dissolution of the monarchy of the Hapsburgs and the annexation of the parts that were populated by the Germans to the German Reich. One of the leading advocates of this political direction was Georg Ritter von Schönerer. In the program of Linz in 1882, the German Nationals established the slogan “not liberal, not clerical, but national”, and opposed to the Jews, as well as to the political and societal influence of the Roman Catholic Church.

The starting point: the language decrees issued by Count Badeni

In 1897, the Language decrees issued by Prime Minister Count Badeni were enacted. They triggered an oppositional movement that promoted the secession from the Catholic Church. The decrees ordered that civil servants of the crown lands Bohemia and Moravia should always be able to speak German and Czech. This decree was vehemently opposed by a group of German nationalists (“Deutschnationale“), but was largely supported by the Austrian Catholic People’s Party (“Katholische Volkspartei“) as well as by many Czech catholic clerics. On a congregation of the German nationalists in Vienna (“Deutscher Vokstag“), the nationalists called on the people to leave the Catholic Church and Mr. Schönerer and a group of followers coined the parole „Get off from Rome!“ („Los von Rom!“).

The conversion movement was supported by protestant organizations from Germany, especially by the „Gustav-Adolf“ association (“Gustav-Adolf-Verein“) and the Protestant Federation (“Evangelischer Bund“) until 1905. Between January 1898 and March 1900 10,000 Austrians left the Catholic Church. More than 65,000 people joining the protestant Church and more than 20,000 people joining the Old Catholic Church before the outbreak of World War I in 1914 were registered. As a result, many new protestant rectories had to be installed. However, not all conversions can be seen as a result of the „Get off from Rome“ movement. Part of them were due to a general dissatisfaction with the Roman Catholic Church. The counter reactions of the Catholic Church were very hesitant at first but from 1902 onwards the Catholic Church started big press campaigns and took administrative measures in order to slow down the conversion movement.

As a result from the “Get off from Rome” movement, the Protestant Church in Austria came partly under a German nationalist impact. Many Austrian Protestants have already been affected by the protestant Prussian dominated German Reich (“Deutsches Reich”) before and due to the conversion movement this tendency became even stronger.

“Afrika-Haus Freiberg“

The “Afrika-Haus Freiberg“ is a museum of modern African art located in Freiberg am Neckar.

Concept

The Afrika house contains a huge number of modern African works of art since 1920. All the geographic regions are represented as well as a great range of trends in art. Umuzi the Kraals of the Ndebele serves as an example for the architectural design of tits gardens. The exhibition also portrays the influence of the old African cultural customs on the modern art. Besides, it demonstrates how the African art is linked to Animism cult, ancestor worship and fertility cult as well as to mythical ideas of magic, cult of masks, sorcery and ghosts. The Afrikahaus keeps on enabling personal exchange of African artists. Thus, it is supposed to support the intercultural communication and to replace mistaken cultural ideas of apartheid by taking on new artistic dimensions, according to Arthur Benseler, founder of the museum.

Artistic fields

Sculptures and paintings At the entrance of the garden visitors are welcomed by two tall, very skinny Massai-statues made of mahagoni which lead the visitors to colorful concrete and cement sculptures. Those concrete statues are part of the cult of dead which is still practiced today in western Africa. Used for the second funeral ceremonies, they occasionally are served as advertising purpose. Additionally a number of colorful statues which represent the Voodoo Pantheon (deities Legba and Zangbeto) accompanied by two lions, judging a sinner, can be found. Originally this group, created by artist Cyprien Tokoudagba (Benin), was part of the exhibition Magiciens de la Terre in Centre Pompidou (Paris) in 1989.

Jana Schmidt, Nicolina Schick

University Library of Basel/ Basel University Library

Elisabeth, Jochen

The University Library of Basel (officially: Öffentliche Bibliothek der Universität Basel, “Public Library of the University of Basel“) is the central library of the University of Basel.

Historical background

The first written evidence of the library‘s existence dates from the year 1471, today one of the most important libraries of the country. The library began compiling its catalogue in volumes from 1559 to 1889, when it was changed to a so-called „Zettelform“. The last change was to a subject heading catalogue in 1939. In 1886, the first curatorial librarian was employed, before the library was moved to its own building ten years later. Between 1962 and 1968, the library’s new location was found. After this, the library of medicine was founded in 1978 as a subsidiary of the original library, which can be found in the Basel University Hospital (earlier: Basel Cantonal Hospital).

Electronic “revolution” in lending services

Computer cataloguing and application was used from 1981 onwards and the first database was installed four years later. In 1988 the OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue), the library of the Economics faculty (Wirtschaftswissenschaftliches Zentrum, WWZ) and the business archive of Switzerland (Schweizerisches Wirtschaftsarchiv, SWA) were put into service. From 1995 on, electronic borrowing was activated and the open stacks were put into service. Access to the internet has been possible for the public since 1997.

Functions and Collections

The University Library collects publications without restrictions in subjects, but focuses on humanities, social and natural science and medicine. If there is scientific interest in non-academic literature, it will be included as well. Along with the departmental libraries, the University Library is responsible for the literary provision of research and teaching at the university. The University Library also contains the library of medicine and the library of the Centre for Economic Science, including the Swiss economic archive. Many of the departmental libraries are affiliated with the network of German-speaking Switzerland (Informationsverbund Deutschschweiz, IDS). At the same time the University Library serves as canton library for Basel City. In this role it collects all publications by residents of Basel, as well as everything about Basel and its inhabitants (these collected publications are called “Basiliensia”), as an informal dépot legal, a depository library.

total stock 3,000,000 units annual growth 45,000 units lendings 250,000 per year

All in all, the university owns more than three million units of media, which places it among the major libraries of Switzerland. Moreover, it is equipped with a rich old stock of enormous historical collections with about 1,750 manuscripts, early printings, music supplies, maps and portraits, mainly from Basel’s convents and its university. The collections are complemented by the faculty libraries, general libraries of the GGG (Gesellschaft für das gute und gemeinnützige Basel, society for the good and non-profit Basel) and a range of special libraries.

Borrowing information

The library is open to all people older than 14 as well as people who live and work in Switzerland and cross-border regions, members of the university and the EUCOR-universities. The registration and the use of the library are free of charge. Books can be ordered online. If the book is either borrowed or not in the stacks, it can directly be taken from the self-service section.

Miscellaneous

Concerning the research of Nietzsche, the University of Basel is the second most important collecting point (preceded by the archive of Nietzsche in Weimar, Germany), because of the amount of resources that can be found about “Nietzsche in Basel” in the wake of Franz Overbeck.

Bach House (Eisenach)

Ursula Kapferer, Laura Schubnell, Julia Wengrzik

The Museum – Entrance and overview

The entrance to the museum is now located in the new building. The tour takes the visitor from the foyer through the ground floor of the historical Bach House, the music hall and the garden into the rooms for the special exhibitions in the eastern adjoining building (Frauenplan 19). Leaving the exhibition rooms in the first floor, where the main focus is laid on the biography of Bach, the visitor arrives at the great exhibition hall in the first floor of the western building where the focus is laid on Bach’s music. From here, stairs lead back to the foyer. The exhibition presents more than 250 original exhibits on 600 square metres. The exhibit descriptions and the audio guides are in English and German, printed museum guides are available in French, Japanese and Braille as well.

In the foyer there is the pay desk, a souvenir shop and the coffee bar. At the side of the foyer there is a small exhibition about the history of the “Leipziger Neuen Bachgesellschaft” which is the supporting organisation of the museum. Special attention should be laid on the drawing of Johannes Heisig (Dir, dir Jehova will ich singen (zu Bach), 2004, mixing technique on canvas, 63 x 47 inch). The drawing shows Bach in his „Componir-Stube“ which is the room where he composed his music. In 2004 Heisig was “Stadtgast” in Eisenach. (This project involves free housing and a scholarship.)

A glass passageway on the eastern side of the foyer leads into the historical Bach House. This passage marks the location of the original entrance to Bach’s flat inside the “Thomasschule” in Leipzig. This is the door which Bach, his family, friends and pupils walked through for 27 years.

Siegesdenkmal

Sina Spitzmesser, Nico Rautenberg, Melanie Meier

The Siegesdenkmal (lit. victory memorial) in the German city Freiburg im Breisgau is a memorial, commemorating of the German victory in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. It was put up at the northern periphery of the historical district of Freiburg in front of the former Karlskaserne, a military barracks named after Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen.

Etching printed in the magazine „Die Gartenlaube (“The Arbor”)“,1877

The Siegesdenkmal was dedicated to the XIV Corps of the German Empire in which mainly soldiers from Baden, a historical region on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, served. The battles near Montbéliard were won under the command of August von Werder in 1871. Due to the general euphoria of victory a donation campaign was initiated throughout Baden, more precisely from Lörrach to Karlsruhe in order to put up the statue in the center of Baden.

In order to find a draft, a public competition among German sculptors was announced. Additionally, several artists were explicitly invited to participate in the competition. The jury consisted of five practicing artists and art connoisseurs: - Ernst Hähnel, Dresden - Wilhelm Lübke, Stuttgart - Eduard Magnus, Berlin - Friedrich Pecht, court painter from Munich - Gottfried Semper, Wien

Out of the eighteen candidates Karl Friedrich Moest, who worked as sculptor at the School of Arts in Karlsruhe, won the first prize, which consisted of a leading position in building the memorial.

Construction

Above the various levels which lead up the whole structure and the foundations of Black Forest granite, stands a newly renovated pedestal. This pedestal is adorned with a semi-spherical plinth, on which stands a statue of a victory goddess holding aloft a laurel wreath. There are 4 rounded plinths just above the corners of the base of the statue which bear designs that depict the different branches of the military. Three of these depict the defensive struggle whilst the fourth shows an artillery man collapsing to the ground dead. The figures are considered to be the principal work of the architect Karl Friedrich Moest .

On the base there are four bronze plaques with inscriptions, whereas the corners are decorated with sculptures of young geniuses in the midst of battle.

Plaque 1: Dedicated to the 14th division of the German Army and their leader General von Werder from the grateful people of Baden.

Plaque 2: The battle of Belfort, the 15th, 16th and 17th of January 1871. Sieges of Strasbourg, Schlettstatt, Neubreisach and Belfort. Battles in Etival, Ognon, Dijon, Pasques, Autun, Nuts, Langres, Vellefaux and Villersexel.

Plaque 3: Dedicated to the sons of Baden and their comrades in arms. In honour of the victorious, in memory of the fallen, as a shining example for future generations.

Plaque 4: Telegram of the Empress and Queen Auguste in Berlin. Bourbaki had retired after a three-day battle against the heroic resistance of Werder’schen. Werder and his brave troops deserve the highest praise. In Versailles, the 18th of January 1871 by Wilhelm.

The insignia of the German Empire can be seen on top.

Reception

"Reception The whole thing is one. Given that architecture also appears to be too whimpish and too obtusely compartmentalised, this work is splendid and most commanding achievement."

– Badischer Architekten- und Ingenieur- Verband (Architechts and engineers association of Baden)

"The defensive position of the four branches of the military on the four lower corners of the memorial is highly significant on the part of the author and reflects the essence of a great struggle. This work was not to glorify the attack of the opponents but rather glorify the stoic defense of the Fatherland down to the very last man. So for now there are three men in Freiburg who have been honoured with a statue: Rotteck, Berthold Schwary and Werder."

– Adolf Kröner in his summer house.

German Women’s football team

Gianna Bös

The German Women’s football team’s winning of the World Cup in 2003 resulted in something like a boom in women’s and girl’s football. In the season of 2005/6 alone, 60% of the new DFB members (German Football Federation) were female.

Up until the age of 12 or sometimes even 14, boys and girls are allowed to play in mixed teams. Upon reaching that age the female players have to join girls-only teams. This transition is often seen as being critical. Maren Meinert (national coach of the U19s national team) says: “Playing in mixed teams, the girls are used to a certain standard. When they join a girls-only team, they are shocked by how much lower the level is there. For many of them this is a reason to stop playing football.”

Big clubs (e.g. the team “1. FFC Turbine Potsdam”) have drawn their conclusions and came up with new ideas to deal with this situation. Since 2005, the U17 girls of 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam have been playing boys-only teams of the U15 football district league Havelland. In their first season they finished second in the league and were sometimes even managed to achieve two-digit wins. The girl’s teams of 1. FFC Frankfurt also play against boys-only teams in the district league Hochtaunus.

Nachwuchsarbeit Der Gewinn der Weltmeisterschaft 2003 löste einen regelrechten Boom im Frauen- und Mädchenfußball aus. Alleine in der Saison 2005/06 waren 60 % der neuen DFB-Mitglieder weiblichen Geschlechtes.

Bis zum 12., manchmal auch bis zum 14. Lebensjahr dürfen Jungen und Mädchen in gemischten Mannschaften spielen. Danach müssen sich die Spielerinnen Mädchenmannschaften anschließen. Dieser Übergang wird vielfach kritisch gesehen. Maren Meinert (Bundestrainerin der U-19-Nationalmannschaft): „In den gemischten Mannschaften sind die Mädchen ein gewisses Niveau gewöhnt. Kommen die Spielerinnen dann in reine Mädchenmannschaften, sind viele vom Niveauabfall schockiert. Nicht wenige hören deswegen auf.“ Im Bereich der B-Juniorinnen gibt es nur in Baden-Württemberg und Nordrhein-Westfalen eine verbandsübergreifende Liga.

Große Vereine wie z.B. der 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam haben ihre Konsequenzen hieraus gezogen und gehen eigene Wege. Die B-Juniorinnen des Vereins spielen seit 2005 in der C-Junioren Kreisliga Havelland ausschließlich gegen Jungenmannschaften. In der ersten Saison belegte die Mannschaft den zweiten Platz und konnten dabei teilweise zweistellige Siege einfahren. Ebenso spielen die Mädchenmannschaften des 1. FFC Frankfurt in der Kreisliga Hochtaunus gegen Jungenmannschaften.

Avenue Henri-Martin

Elisabeth Rexrodt

The Avenue Henri-Martin in the 16th arrondissement of Paris is 663 metres long and 40 metres wide. It starts at Rue de la Pompe and ends at the Place de Colombie, where Boulevard Suchet changes into Boulevard Lannes. Both streets lead to the outskirts of the urban forest Bois de Boulogne. It also passes through two “Quartiers” (a “Quartier” is a part of town): Muette, which lies in the eastern part, Porte Dauphine in the western part. At the eastern end of the street there is a metro station (Rue de la Pompe), which is a stop on line nine. At the western end the station Gare de l’avenue Henri Martin, which is connected with the RER lines, is operated from the lines C1 and C3.

History

The Avenue Henri-Martin continues in the western part of Rue de la Pompe as the Avenue Georges-Mandel; this section also belonged to the Avenue Henri-Martin earlier, but was changed in 1945 in honour of the French historian and politician Louis Georges Rothschild alias Georges Mandel (1885-1944), who was murdered in World War II. The house numbers show that all of this was a single street at an earlier point in time. The Avenue Georges-Mandel ends with the numbers 58 or rather 69, whereas the local street starts with the numbers 58 or rather 71. In the building at number 71, the administrative headquarters of the 16th Arrondissement can be found. The Avenue Henri-Martin was named after Henri Martin, a French historian and politician (1810-1883), who was elected mayor of the 16th arrondissement in 1870. He wrote a book with the title Histoire de France, which consisted of 17 volumes.

Well-known residents

The building with the house numbers 107 through 113 was once the home of the French poet Alphonse de Lamartin (1790-1869). Geo-engineer Paul Louis Weiss, born in Straßburg in 1867, has also lived there in a spacious flat from the time of his arrival in Paris in 1899 until his death on Christmas in 1945. Moreover, the main entrance to Winnaretta Singer’s house (1865-1943), built in 1904, can be found in this street, too. She was one of the daughters and heiresses of Isaac Merritt Singer (1811-1875), who made his fortune in the sewing machine branch.