In the previous article of this series, we left off having noted Germany’s insane dedication to preserving monuments stemmed, in part, from the country’s burgeoning national identity. Germany has over one million listed historical places and, as of the time of this article, 44 UNESCO World Heritage sites — more than double the number in the USA. One might say that the German national trust and the US congress perform similar functions: unfathomable amounts of money go to old, institutionalized figures, which at times can give the impression of not doing anything to better the country (*cough* Susan Collins).
So…
For those of you drunkenly scrolling through this article at Oktoberfest, gnaw on your bretzel while contemplating this question: which symbols best embody the German spirit? We foreigners might point to the Brandenburg Gate, the country’s rich literary history, or its vibrant musical culture. In addition to these man-made creations, one geographic feature historically flows through many origin stories of Germany. Even though it constitutes the border of the country, the Rhine river has in the past operated at the center of German nationhood.
However, the Rhine didn’t hold this privileged place in the national imagination until the nineteenth century…
If you’ve somehow maintained the stamina to continue consuming the news, you’ll have heard quite a bit of diatribe in the past two years against the European Union. Most recently, it’s been President Drumpf’s trade war and his meeting with EU Chief Jean-Claude Juncker (complete with simple, colorful cards). Before that was the Brexit campaign and those eye-catching, yet demonstrably false statistics plastered on London’s buses. Two years later, it seems that those same buses are now ready to drive the British economy straight off the White Cliffs of Dover come March 2019.
In these moments when supranational cooperation seems…
Rose Campion
Musicologist and historian studying at the University of Oxford.
