Kultur 1

When I first skimmed through this brochure, the first thing I thought of was my AP US History class during my Sophomore year. We talked about how, during WWII, things that had German origin or German names were renamed to have more patriotic or America-centric names. This has always sort of stuck with me. The following is a direct quote from this Wikipedia article about Anti-German Sentiment.

"In New Orleans, Berlin St. was renamed for General Pershing (head of the American Expeditionary Force), sauerkraut came to be called (by some) "liberty cabbage",^[14] German measles became "liberty measles", hamburgers became "liberty sandwiches"^[14] and Dachshunds became "liberty pups".^[15]"

I always wondered what power this had to change the names, and if it truly erased German influence. The introduction to the brochure says no, actually, cultures like German culture have been glossed over because of our new definitions of ourselves based on race and class. I'm a middle-class white woman and nothing more specific. When making small talk in my new classes, people often ask what classes I'm taking. When I say "German" they ask, "Oh! Are you German?" Admittedly, I am a quarter German, but I don't really think I look like it, although I'm half Italian and I don't look that Italian either. I don't feel German, either. At least I feel Italian when I'm eating some of my Grandma's old Italian recipes.

I also found it weird (and interesting) that throughout history, the word "Dutch" was used to describe Germans or German things along with actual Dutch things. Today, my mind has the two countries so separated. I considered taking Dutch rather than German because the history of the Netherlands strikes me as rich and beautiful, whereas I've learned more about Germany's hardships in my past history courses. Not to say that Germany's history isn't rich and beautiful, just that I've never focused on that aspect of the nation; I hope to do that in this course.