So, for our first session of Dr. Bennett's Cultural Memory course we watched Luther (that is, until the projector bulb exploded 10 minutes before the end of the film). It's a good movie, and very informative for me given that I know very little about Martin Luther.
The movie itself did much, much better in Germany than America when it opened, and I think in part this is because of how Luther himself is portrayed. Joseph Fiennes does an excellent job of portraying Luther as a conflicted, divided man and I think that is what makes the movie appealing. (Although I have to admit, Luther's little yelling-at-myself bits were a bit overdramatic.) But here in Lutherstadt Wittenberg (and probably most of Germany) Martin Luther has this god-like status where his work shapes the perception of him. That is, it's easier to think of Martin Luther based on the context of the immense societal change his work caused (a rebel, etc) instead of a man.
That's what made the movie for me--Luther is not really an enigma that the viewer cannot connect to. He has problems, doubts, and fears much like every other human being. He is portrayed as a rebel, but as a rebel that is trying to reform a corrupt Church and show the common people how corrupt the Church really is. Also, Martin Luther in the film focuses a lot on God as a just, loving God--this reflects his own inner struggle with his faith, and which makes him more human. It's nice to know that others struggle, you know? Even famous religious reformers.
One thing I didn't like was that towards the end I felt they rushed a lot of things. All of a sudden Katharina von Bora shows up and is all "we'll make beautiful music together, Martin, you'll see" and suddenly they get married. I know that Katharina is a very important aspect of Martin Luther's life, but it felt like she was literally thrown in 3/4 of the way through the movie, and it was a bit jarring. Other than strange time-skipping, the film was pretty good and I enjoyed it (in part because it was good, but also because it was so overdramatic at parts).
15 February 2012
07 February 2012
Wittenberg: Internships and more!
This post should have come before the Halle one, but the Halle one was easier to summarize so it came first. Last Wednesday we had dinner with our internship liaisons/supervisors. I'll be working with Herr Weisner and Herr Winkelmann for the Wittenberg Kultur organization in town. Herr Weisner speaks good English, but Herr Winkelmann doesn't, and since I'll be working in two different places (with one at one place, then with the other at the second place, I think) I'm just hoping I'll be able to understand what they are telling me in German. If they talk slowly, I can probably figure it out. Still, I ought to go buy a good dictionary just in case--no harm in being prepared! I'll know more about the internship after tomorrow.
Later that evening we had a really nice surprise! Dr. Bennett (or someone else, I'm not sure) arranged for our group to have a guided city tour with costumed tour guides! We had a Katharina von Bora (Martin Luther's wife), a wealthy woman whose name I can't remember, and two city guards that took us around to the big places in town. We visited the Cranach house/apothecary, the Castle Church, the City Church, and I think one or two other places. It was very cold, but we all had a nice time. The costumed actors definitely made the tour more interesting. I know that I personally was dreading another city tour (Metta and Heinrike, the interns, gave us a walking tour on the first day here) but this tour was very different because we really delved into the history of the city and the important places. The actors did a really good job of getting the group to interact within the premise of it being the 1500s (For example, since we were in the 1500s, it took three-four months to travel from America to Wittenberg, and so on).
The actors were very knowledgeable and the costume really added a lot to the tour and made it more interesting than a normal walking tour. I really liked it; it was sort of like the Renaissance Fair, but on a smaller scale. It was a different, more interactive way to learn history and I'm all for that! I appreciate a good history book as much as the next person, but it's much easier to learn something visually/by example. The tour did a really good job of making me learn by interacting with the actors within the parameters of "We're living in the 1500s, and this is what our city is like" and I really enjoyed it a lot. (Also, I really need to get some Wittenberg pictures! I'm talking about the Castle Church and the City Church and you don't have visual aid! I'll have to remedy this soon.)
Later that evening we had a really nice surprise! Dr. Bennett (or someone else, I'm not sure) arranged for our group to have a guided city tour with costumed tour guides! We had a Katharina von Bora (Martin Luther's wife), a wealthy woman whose name I can't remember, and two city guards that took us around to the big places in town. We visited the Cranach house/apothecary, the Castle Church, the City Church, and I think one or two other places. It was very cold, but we all had a nice time. The costumed actors definitely made the tour more interesting. I know that I personally was dreading another city tour (Metta and Heinrike, the interns, gave us a walking tour on the first day here) but this tour was very different because we really delved into the history of the city and the important places. The actors did a really good job of getting the group to interact within the premise of it being the 1500s (For example, since we were in the 1500s, it took three-four months to travel from America to Wittenberg, and so on).
The actors were very knowledgeable and the costume really added a lot to the tour and made it more interesting than a normal walking tour. I really liked it; it was sort of like the Renaissance Fair, but on a smaller scale. It was a different, more interactive way to learn history and I'm all for that! I appreciate a good history book as much as the next person, but it's much easier to learn something visually/by example. The tour did a really good job of making me learn by interacting with the actors within the parameters of "We're living in the 1500s, and this is what our city is like" and I really enjoyed it a lot. (Also, I really need to get some Wittenberg pictures! I'm talking about the Castle Church and the City Church and you don't have visual aid! I'll have to remedy this soon.)
Halle!
Sorry I've been a bit late in getting all of these up--it's been a combination of being busy and being lazy, unfortunately.
We went to Halle last Thursday, and boy was it cold! Minus 14 degrees Celsius, which is about 7 degrees Fahrenheit, and it was rather windy. So the hour and a half long city tour was interesting in part because we were trying to beat the weather, but also generally interesting.
Halle is the largest city in Sachsen-Anhalt, the state where Wittenberg is, and it is also the main center for the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. We walked around and saw some of the old buildings that have been bought out by the school (the Francke school) and are now housing different departments. The architecture in the old city is very old and very German-esque, but it was interesting to be able to see how the DDR era effected Halle as well. I just thought it was fascinating to see the different architecture and how it's come together to make Halle today, and how the history lives on in the buildings, so to speak. In the new city (which was built in the 1960s) there is a lot of Soviet mass-produced apartment high-rises. Every apartment is exactly the same, they're relatively small, and very cheap. Though they're not pretty to look at, these apartments have been integrated into everyday life now--they serve as student housing for the university students.
Unlike American universities, German universities don't have much in the way of university-owned housing, and if they do there aren't enough places for all the students. So you have a surplus of students who then must go rent rooms, share an apartment with friends, or what have you so they can be close enough they can attend university. It's very different from American universities, that's for sure! Halle is definitely a university city too--I believe there's 20,000 students that live in the city. It was a nice change of pace from Wittenberg, where things tend to go a bit slower, and the city trams were awesome! Public transport is not a problem in Halle, that's for sure.
After the tour we met with university students and had a Stammtisch with them, which is like a study table. We had English and German designated tables, and the students brought in cakes and cookies for us to snack on while we did mixer activities. It was really fun, and once again, it was nice to get to know other people outside of the group. After the Stammtisch, we had free time. I went with Metta and some of the other students to the Halloren Chocolate Museum, and it was fascinating! I was very surprised to see that the captions for the exhibits were in English and in German--the museum must be a tourist destination in the summer. After this we had just enough time to go through the Beatles Museum before we had to catch the train back. I've never seen so much Beatles paraphernalia in one small area! Posters, autographed things, collector's items--even Ringo's uniform from the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band times. It was very neat, but I didn't get any pictures because I wasn't sure you could take pictures in there. I wish I had because it was really great, but it's a memory I'll have forever and that's good enough, I guess.
Halle is the largest city in Sachsen-Anhalt, the state where Wittenberg is, and it is also the main center for the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. We walked around and saw some of the old buildings that have been bought out by the school (the Francke school) and are now housing different departments. The architecture in the old city is very old and very German-esque, but it was interesting to be able to see how the DDR era effected Halle as well. I just thought it was fascinating to see the different architecture and how it's come together to make Halle today, and how the history lives on in the buildings, so to speak. In the new city (which was built in the 1960s) there is a lot of Soviet mass-produced apartment high-rises. Every apartment is exactly the same, they're relatively small, and very cheap. Though they're not pretty to look at, these apartments have been integrated into everyday life now--they serve as student housing for the university students.
Unlike American universities, German universities don't have much in the way of university-owned housing, and if they do there aren't enough places for all the students. So you have a surplus of students who then must go rent rooms, share an apartment with friends, or what have you so they can be close enough they can attend university. It's very different from American universities, that's for sure! Halle is definitely a university city too--I believe there's 20,000 students that live in the city. It was a nice change of pace from Wittenberg, where things tend to go a bit slower, and the city trams were awesome! Public transport is not a problem in Halle, that's for sure.
After the tour we met with university students and had a Stammtisch with them, which is like a study table. We had English and German designated tables, and the students brought in cakes and cookies for us to snack on while we did mixer activities. It was really fun, and once again, it was nice to get to know other people outside of the group. After the Stammtisch, we had free time. I went with Metta and some of the other students to the Halloren Chocolate Museum, and it was fascinating! I was very surprised to see that the captions for the exhibits were in English and in German--the museum must be a tourist destination in the summer. After this we had just enough time to go through the Beatles Museum before we had to catch the train back. I've never seen so much Beatles paraphernalia in one small area! Posters, autographed things, collector's items--even Ringo's uniform from the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band times. It was very neat, but I didn't get any pictures because I wasn't sure you could take pictures in there. I wish I had because it was really great, but it's a memory I'll have forever and that's good enough, I guess.
05 February 2012
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