Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
I'm in the dozy sea resort of Warnemünde, known for kite-surfing, summer regattas, impeccably tidy gardens, seagulls, beer and fish. Also, as Joshua Treviño put it, "I love seeing the old Hanseatic cities. I admire their clean efficiency, their Prussian crusading roots, their pure civic existence on trade. And then I remember they were the Nazi electoral base."
You would never in a million years guess that this was, indeed, the Nazi electoral base. You would not see one clue, one hint, one sign. It's just a lovely, sleepy little bourgeois coastal town, populated by reserved but basically friendly aging Germans who keep everything very clean and drink a lot of beer.
As for "pure civic existence on trade," there's not much sign of that, either. The local economy is obviously powered by visiting cruise ships, but no one here speaks much English. Fortunately, German is a dialect of English, so we're making ourselves understood. None of the cafes have Internet access, although clearly this is the thing everyone getting off those cruise ships looks for first. How do I know they're looking for it? The signs on the cafes, in English: "We do not have Internet access." I'm understanding this as, "We're happy to have you here, tourists, but we're not really going to go out of our way to encourage you to spend more money. We've done fine until now selling beer. Beer's what's for breakfast."
So: No pure civic existence on trade. That's okay. There are some places where I'm more than happy to see a complete break from history and tradition. This one would be at the top of the list.
By the way, if you use "English proficiency" and "prevalence of high-speed Internet" as two common-sense measures of "preparedness to compete in the global economy," Finland is the clear Winner of the Baltic Future. I was startled by how well the Finns speak English. I'd expect that of Germans, given the family proximity of the languages, but Finns start from the same handicap I start with in Turkish. I mean, that language has nothing in common with anything. The more I think about Finland, the less surprised I am that the Finns handed the Soviets' backsides to them.
Anyway, in the end, as you can see, I did find Internet access. And I'll sleep just fine thinking about Germany tonight.
Turkey, I worry about.
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Jan '11
Re: Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
Finns do start with one big "advantage": the absolute certainty that unless they learn second (and third and fourth) languages, they won't be able to talk to anybody in the world outside their (rather small) country. I would guess that's a powerful motivator. Also, they probably haven't broken their school system yet - did you get any feeling on that?
Re: Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
Well, let's remember I was there for all of one day, so I'd hate to sound as if I had any real idea--I don't. But definitely all the signs of a highly educated population were in evidence from what little I saw. (I think actually that I saw all of it: small country.)
Oct '10
Re: Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
Isn't it the other way around? Not that it matters.
That insular attitude toward learning another language sounds an awful lot like the U.S. Do we still have that reputation? I remember reading that American ethnic ancestry is sixty percent German. That fact is probably also antiquated.
Re: Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
Severely Ltd.
Isn't it the other way around? Not that it matters.
That insular attitude toward learning another language sounds an awful lot like the U.S. Do we still have that reputation? I remember reading that American ethnic ancestry is sixty percent German. That fact is probably also antiquated. · Jun 11 at 6:52am
I was joking, but of course, languages are dialects with an army and all that. And yes, a native English speaker with a semester of college German and German-speaking grandparents can sort-of make herself vaguely understood in German. Not much hope of that in Finnish.
Oct '10
Re: Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Severely Ltd.
Isn't it the other way around? Not that it matters.
That insular attitude toward learning another language sounds an awful lot like the U.S. Do we still have that reputation? I remember reading that American ethnic ancestry is sixty percent German. That fact is probably also antiquated. · Jun 11 at 6:52am
I was joking, but of course, languages are dialects with an army and all that. And yes, a native English speaker with a semester of college German and German-speaking grandparents can sort-of make herself vaguely understood in German. Not much hope of that in Finnish. · Jun 11 at 7:05am
Ah, yes, a joke. On Saturday mornings please avoid that degree of subtlety, at least until I'm well into my second cup.
May '10
Re: Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
Ich hatte einst ein schönes Vaterland.
Der Eichenbaum
Wuchs dort so hoch, die Veilchen nickten sanft.
Es war ein Traum.
Das küßte mich auf deutsch und sprach auf deutsch
(Man glaubt es kaum
Wie gut es klang) das Wort: "Ich liebe dich!"
Es war ein Traum.
I had once a beautiful fatherland.
The oak tree
Grew so high there, violets nodded softly.
It was a dream. It kissed me in German and spoke in German
(You would hardly believe
How good it sounded) the words: "I love you!"
It was a dream.
In Der Fremde (In a Foreign Land)
- That old reprobate Heinrich Heine with a wise ambiguity towards his Fatherland
"When they burn books, they will in the end also burn people"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whsieh78/5586977927/
Edited on Jun 11, 2011 at 8:43amApr '11
Re: Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
Claire Berlinski, Ed.:
if you use "English proficiency" and "prevalence of high-speed Internet" as two common-sense measures of "preparedness to compete in the global economy," Finland is the clear Winner of the Baltic Future. I was startled by how well the Finns speak English. I'd expect that of Germans, given the family proximity of the languages, but Finns start from the same handicap I start with in Turkish
A few points:
1. You are judging one country on the basis of its metropolis and another country on a sleepy seaside town.
2. In Germany there is a noticeable difference between East and West, old and young, city and country / small town when it comes to English. Pre-reunification, West Germans learnt English at school, while East Germans learnt Russian. You were in a small town in the former East Germany. I'm sure you would have had little difficulty finding a local able to speak Russian. Had you been in the former West Germany your impression would have been different. And had you been in a big eastern city such as Berlin rather than the sleepy town of Warnemünde your impression would also have been different.
Edited on Jun 11, 2011 at 10:54amApr '11
Re: Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
[cont'd]
3. Young people today in that part of Germany now learn English at school. But there are are increasingly fewer young people in that part of Germany. Eastern Germany, and north-eastern Germany in particular, loses many of its young who head west in search of work.
4. Germany is a large country with a language that many foreigners learn. Finland is a small country with a language that no-one learns. There is more of a need for Finns to be good at English than for Germans to be good at English. Germany can survive just fine in the world economy without everyone there being good at English.
5. Germany dubs foreign-language films and TV shows into German; Finland subtitles them in Finnish (and/or Swedish as the other national language of Finland). Generally speaking those European countries that subtitle tend to be better at English than those countries that dub.
Edited on Jun 11, 2011 at 10:56amJan '11
Re: Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
Croix du Sud
Pre-reunification, West Germans learnt English at school, while East Germans learnt Russian. You were in a small town in the former East Germany. I'm sure you would have had little difficulty finding a local able to speak Russian.
Well, maybe... but I traveled around Hungary during the Russian occupation. Russian was a required subject in Hungarian schools then. Eight years of it. And nobody seemed able to speak a word of it. (Especially when a Russian soldier went into a shop and tried to buy something.)
Consider also Ireland, which likes to pretend that its national language is Gaelic, and supermarket signs are labeled in English and Gaelic, but just try to find anybody who actually speaks Gaelic. Everybody I talked to said, "Ahhhh, we had that in school, nobody uses it."
Language acquisition by fiat doesn't always work out that well.
Apr '11
Re: Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
@Margaret Ball
You are right up to a point. Just because you were forced to learn a particular language at school doesn't mean you can speak it. There are other factors at play. Some people are naturally better at languages than others; some have more of a motivation (even when forced to learn) to become proficient in a language than others. I had compulsory French and German at school and speak both fluently; my brother and sister, who were also forced to sit through classes in these languages, couldn't speak either if their lives depended on it.
I have lived in Germany and know the country well. Not everyone today in the former East Germany who was forced to learn Russian can speak it and of those that can not everyone would want to (and likewise re English). But I can tell you that in eastern Germany you wouldn't have too much trouble finding someone of the right age who is able to speak Russian. In a group of, say, four 50-somethings chances are at least one person would be able to converse with you in Russian.
Apr '11
Re: Denk’ ich an Deutschland in Der Nacht Dann Bin Ich Um Den Schlaf Gebracht
@Margaret Ball:
And re: Ireland. Use of a particular language is not just practical but can also be profoundly political. That you will come across many signs in Irish outside of the Gaeltacht (the Irish-speaking parts of Ireland) and that everyone in Ireland is forced to learn it at school and that some level of proficiency in it has traditionally been a prerequisite for certain jobs arises much more from the political symbolism of the language than any practical need to be able to speak it. (And for an extreme example of the politicisation of the Irish language just look at the way some Sinn Féin politicians in Northern Ireland insist on speaking in Irish Gaelic even though the Queen's English is their native tongue and most of their supporters also speak the Queen's English.)
Edited on Jun 11, 2011 at 11:40am