Watching What We Say: Lessons from Dachau

It didn’t take long for those in the news to forget recent calls for less inflammatory political  speech following the shootings in Arizona.  I did not fare much better.  It would not be an exaggeration to say that 97.3% of what I utter is hyperbolic.  A clip from last night’s The Daily Show about the hypocrisy of Fox News condemning the recent comparisons of Nazi propaganda and that of the Republican party, which were made by Rep. Steve Cohen (D), reminded me to think seriously about what I say.

You can watch the clip here.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-24-2011/24-hour-nazi-party-people

As I sat there disgusted by those on Fox News, I realized that I am guilty of this myself. I actually called a woman the Sauna Nazi here in Munich.  Such comparisons between Nazi leaders and the people with whom we disagree is not only disingenuous but is frankly an insult to the memory of the victims of the Nazis. Seriously, I was comparing a bossy lady at the sauna to the people who organized book burnings outside of the building where I  now write my dissertation.  Working in what was once the Nazi Party headquarters which is opposite the Führer‘s building (where Hilter’s office used to be), you would think I would find this history hard to forget or at least hard to make light of.  But unfortunately it is not.

Almost a year ago my cousin and I took the S-Bahn to the outskirts of Munich. In less than 30 minutes, I stood at the site of the first Nazi concentration camp opened in Germany. Here at Dachau, which became the model for all later concentration camps, unspeakable horrors were carried out under the Nazis. When the camp was liberated, the Allies found more than 32,000 prisoners packed into 20 barracks that were only meant to hold 250each. The gas chambers here were never used. Possibly they were not required as sickness and brutality killed prisoners at truly awful rates.  It was horrible just visiting the site and the museum more than half a century later, but I am glad I went.  You can watch movies, you can read books, but standing where the prisoners were tortured and humiliated is an unforgettable and life changing experience. Or so I thought.

I know humor is how we cope with the things we fear, but I hope that I can remember not to let it desensitize me to such atrocities.  I believe spending just a short time remembering what happened at Dachau (not to mention the loss of life that occurred in the city all around me), is something we should all do  from time to time to not only re-sensitize us to the meaning of our words but also in memory of the victims.  Maybe then we will reserve the label Nazi for the Nazis.

I know all of what I just said is unoriginal, but I think it is worth being said and said again.  I guess I wrote this to remind myself and hopefully other people to simply watch what we say.

Food Friday: Ritter Sport

[Waldenbuch, 1932, 3am]

Clara: Schatzi, wake up!

Alfred: (German swear words) what is it?

Clara: I have an idea.

Alfred: (more German swear words) what is it this time?

Clara: We should make a chocolate bar that fits into everyone’s jacket pocket.

Alfred: hmph, can’t we talk about this in the morning?

And thus the Ritter Sport was born!

 

Mmmm, chocolate

Ok, so I made up that it happened in the middle of the night and that Alfred Ritter swore like a sailor, but the rest is accurate. NB: Pocket does not mean jeans pocket because no one wore them in 1930s Germany and it would get all melty and gross.  Now you know why this chocolate bar that is full of fat and other goodness can have the name Sport. If you walk/run while eating the pieces in your pocket it almost makes up for eating one of these.

Yes, they now sell Ritter Sport in the States, but not in so many flavors. I frankly think the actual chocolate tastes kinda blah, but I love all the fillings.  My favorite is the strawberry yogurt filling.  Or maybe raisins and hazelnuts. Or maybe the white chocolate with hazelnuts.

The often release special limited flavors, last summer it was stracciatella gelato (which was really like ice cream), mango peach in white chocolate, and wild-berry yogurt.  I would never become a “Ribhead” but I would happily wander around Germany to get those flavors again if it would do any good.

The slogan in German “Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut.” (“Square. Practical. Good.”)  Frankly, I think this says it all.

My Favorite Things Thursday: Müller’sches Volksbad

Still smelling faintly chlorine, I thought I would sing the praises of my favorite indoor public swimming pool in Munich, the Müller’sche Volksbad.

When it was opened in 1901 it was the largest and most expensive public swimming pool (as well as the first public pool in Munich).  The funds for the swimming hall were provided by an Munich engineer, Karl Müller, hence the name “Müller’s Public Baths.”  This Jugendstil (that’s Art Nouveau to you) building was designed by Carl Hocheder.  It was built along the river not far from the Deutsches Museum, which means it is my neighborhood, Au.

(Sorry about how blurry some of these pictures are, I was sneaking them with my iPhone)

The building originally cost 1.8 million gold marks. Pretty impressive for the turn of the century

I have read that the water reserve is kept in a tower here, I am guessing this one

The part of me that still likes fairy tales, is a sucker for Art Nouveau

This one is concerned because her baby looks like a monkey

I love the details you find everywhere on the building.

Blurry, but you can get a sense of what it is like inside.

The next time I have to teach the second half of survey, I am using this in class

When you pay to use the pool, you are given a time card which lets you into the rest of the building, you then put the card in a little post box sized cabinet and receive a key to wear around your wrist. This key has the number of your locker.

This is the larger pool, which was originally for men. It is colder than the smaller pool and therefore is better for lap swimming. Photo: not mine 🙂

Formerly the women's pool, it is now nice and warm and great for floating. You can admire the beautiful stucco work of the ceiling while you bob along

After the hard exercise, you will need sustenance. Fortunately, there is a great little cafe here

There is also something they call a Roman-Irish bath, I have never used these saunas and anyway I couldn’t take my phone in if I did. Next time you are visiting Munich, skip your hotel’s pool and swim in this restored gem of a building.

Food Friday: German Christmas Desserts, you have Stollen my Heart

Sorry it couldn’t be helped. Continuing the Christmas theme, on today’s menu is Stollen. (Although not really, since I ate the last slice I had last night).  Stollen is a bread-like cake with dried fruit, nuts, or marzipan that is topped with powdered sugar. It is traditionally sold around Christmas time. Supposedly the loaf shape was meant to look like the swaddled baby Jesus.

Ahhhhhh!!!! You hacked into the Baby Jesus!!!!!! He is not the bread yet; wait until he is in his 30s!!!

I sorta wish I had not read the part about looking like the baby Jesus, because now every time I see a nativity I will get hungry for some German fruit cake.  German, mind you! Not that horrible stuff we have in America with the candied fruit that is soaked in booze.

The most famous Stollen comes from Dresden and there is even a Stollenfest there.   The festival began in 1730 when Augustus II the Elector of Saxony order the creation of a Stollen big enough to feed all his subjects.

The red smoke must be coming from the kitchens as they try to make the huge Christmas cake. Also his sword is sheathed because there is no way that could cut through the Stollen

The bakers created a special oven and a humongous knife was fashioned.  Unfortunately, the crust was really hard and the insides were rather uncooked. Nevertheless it was for the subjects, so who cares!  The tradition of giant Stollen is still alive today. The biggest was made in Dresden in 2000 and weighed 4,200 kilos.

Since this is Germany, in recent years Dresden has elected a Stollenmädchen, whose “primary role is to fulfil prestigious tasks in connection with the preparation of the Dresden Stollen Festival, the representation of Dresden`s baker and pastry-chef trade and the marketing of the stollen. In this function, she travels across Germany, visits closely related towns, Christmas fairs and other events, and appears on TV and radio shows promoting the German “Christmas capital” Dresden.”

You can visit their website and see pictures of the “Stollen Girl.” The festival takes place tomorrow so you better start making your travel plans.

If you can’t manage that, you should at least know something of the history of the Stollen. Like all good stories, it includes a pope:

In the fifteenth century during Advent bakers were only allowed to use oil and not butter. In Saxony (northeast of Bavaria) oil was hard to come by so they had to use water or oil made from turnips (yuck). This meant that the Christmas cakes were hard and tasteless.  Electoral Prince Ernst and his brother, Duke Albrecht, decided to change all of this and wrote the pope asking him to allow bakers to use butter during the fasting time of Advent.  The pope gave in to their request and sent a letter, known as “butter-letter”, to Dresden. In that letter he had declared that richer ingredients were allowed. In return, the Dresden Stollen bakers had to pay a fine. The money was used, for example, for the construction of the Freiberg Cathedral.

So there you have it. If you don’t like something about the Catholic church, just get some prince to write a letter. While you are waiting–the pope did not give in right away–how about a slice of Stollen?

 

Things Departments Should Tell You Before You Research Abroad

I have been living and researching in Munich for over a year now. During this time I have realized that I was in no way prepared to deal with all this entails. Talking to other grad students who are on fellowship and researching at foreign institutions, I have discovered that my experiences are not unique. So here is a list of things I wish I had been told before I was sent off into the wide world to try to write a dissertation.

1. You are going to feel like a moron most of the time.  This is going to come as a shock. You have probably become accustomed to feeling pretty intelligent. After all, you are working on your PhD and you have just won a fairly prestigious grant.  It is going to be difficult to have your ego bruised nearly everyday as you try to understand a different culture and language. Just dealing with the hiccups of daily life (e.g. disputing phone bills, making photocopies, arguing with the person who just cut in front of you in the line, trying to return something to the store) is going to be tough at first. You will have check out clerks and children look at you like you are a drooling idiot.  Old women will wonder what you are doing in the country if you can’t speak the language well. Although you will learn and adapt over time, about once a week something new will be thrown at you and you will be back to feeling like an idiot. Solution: There is nothing much you can do, besides steeling yourself in anticipation of this.

2. Even if you studied the language of the country you are now in, it is going to be insufficient to speak about your project in an academic way.  Solution: Prepare in advance several sentences that describe what you are doing. (I should still do this).  [Also, practice smiling and nodding in the mirror. It will get you through receptions or field trips.)

3. Most people are friendly at the libraries or universities where you will be working. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Of course there is always going to be some ass hat who is going to make things difficult. He or she will invariably be in charge of the resource you need most. Solution: find out when it is his or her day off.

4. Everything is going to take longer than you planned. Period.  Just don’t be surprised when this happens.

5. An important archive, object, or building you need to see will be inaccessible until the day after you leave. Solution: There isn’t any. Fate is a bitch!

6. You are going to need some sort of document, permission, library card, or pass from Office A. To get this you need to go to Office B for Form 1, which is on the east side of the city. Office B will send you to Office C (in the same building but only open on Mondays from 9-12) to get Form 2 to request Form 1. When filling out the form you find that you are going to need passport photos and a letter from Office A.  After getting this, you will take all of the documents, forms, and photos to Office D (north side of the city), they will stamp the form so you can take it back to Office A to get the thing you originally needed. Solution: Be prepared to do a lot of walking and queuing and buy some comfortable shoes.

7. If you are being paid in Euros, the dollar will get stronger.  If you are being paid in dollars, one Euro will be worth about 2 bucks. Solution: Emergency Pizza will save you money and keep you from starving.

8. Grants will rarely be enough to support you, but they will insist that you do no other form of work or take no further grants. Solution: Emergency Pizza.

9. You will realize that your department has not prepared you to use archives. Solution: get names of students who have worked there in the past and they can tell you what pitfalls to avoid. Or don’t pick a project that requires lots of archival research (Now you are thinking!)

10. You will also discover that you have no idea how to write a dissertation. Your advisor is going to offer vague suggestions while making concrete deadlines. Solution: Just accept that you will figure it out as you go. I have also learned to stop expecting that it will be brilliant and groundbreaking. This is a learning experience and something that you have to get done. (My advisor only pointed that out this summer). It will help you not be afraid to start if you think of it thusly.

Also, fake and real illnesses are always handy when it comes to avoiding short-term deadlines. You can tell your dissertation is going badly, when you hope for a horrible flu that will mean you can just stay in bed and sleep. Mmmm, sllllleeeeeeepppppp.

If all else fails, procrastinate by writing blog entries.

“I’ll Grant you This”: What I have Learned about Applying for Fellowships

It’s that time of year again. The time when all good little graduate students are frantically trying to write and submit grant applications. If there were a Charmed-style demon that fed off anxiety, he simply could go to any graduate reading room during these months for his fear smorgasbord. (I am pretty sure there was one. He was played by the same actor who was the creepy bad guy in Brisco County Jr.)  This year I have been ordered to finish my dissertation and NOT to apply for any grants, fellowships, or stipends. Does this mean that Barbas (Demon of Fear according to the Charmed Wiki) would starve around me? Of course not! I am afraid of everything. Right now I am anxious about not being worried about grant applications. Since I can’t work on grant proposals by order of my Doktorvater, I thought I would reflect on what I have learned from writing (sometimes successfully) fellowship/grant proposals.

1. The most significant thing I have learned from this experience is just how much my dissertation lacks any sort of relevance or importance. This realization comes early on in the grant writing process, as you sit there staring at the flashing cursor on the blank Word document trying to come up with a way to sell your project.
2. Whether you win or not is a total crap shoot. I have a friend who was passed over completely for a relatively easy grant to win but was awarded one of the most prestigious fellowships in the field. Why didn’t the first funder see the merits of her awesome project? For the answer I turn to the host of “In Search of…”, Mr. Leonard Nimoy. Take it away, Spock.  “Like the mysteries of Bigfoot or Stonehenge, the secret of how to win grants is something we may never know.” [Cue music and credits]
3. If you the applicant are responsible for making the 13 photocopies that they require, there is no chance that you are going to win this. Why? This suggests that there are so many applicants for this one grant that the funder would go bankrupt just by photocopying all the applications for its reviewing committee.
4. Don’t be cute or use flowery language. I have learned this more from reading tons of grant proposals than from writing them. At first I was really impressed. After all, it seems so cheesy to start a proposal with, “My dissertation is about…” However, after you have read about 20 of these you just want the person to tell you what the hell he/she is working on and why he/she needs the goddamn money.
5. The pdf/word doc application forms are never easy to fill out on your own computer. These are designed by cave dwellers whose only joy in life is torturing applicants who are in a rush to fill these out.
6. No matter how many times you proofread your CV, you will discover mistakes and typos in it the next time you dig it out.  On the positive side, you can use these mistakes to rationalize why you did not win the last fellowship. “Oh, I didn’t get it because there is a typo in one of the titles of my publications! It was not because my project sucks.”
7. The committees don’t read narrative CVs or autobiographies. Why do they make you do this? Are they simply sadists? No! If you can make it through the horrible experience of trying to write about yourself without sounding like a prick, then you must have a will of iron.  (By the way, unless you have a “Commie” hunting grandfather and are now working on Soviet art history, this autobiography is going to be pretty boring or irrelevant.)
8. If you are applying for anything in Germany, go and have your passport photos made now. They are always required. I have been told this is to insure the applicant’s identity. Considering the past, I still find it surprising that Germany would want to have anything to do with something that could be interpreted as profiling.
9. For your own piece of mind, you might not want to choose your recommenders on how well they know you or how well-known they are, but on how well they handle deadlines. It doesn’t matter how awesome their recommendations are if they never submit them.  That being said, I must be a masochist. I never choose with this criterion in mind.
10. Finally: Yes, you are trying to sell yourself for money. And yes, this is a horrible experience. But when you consider other forms of prostitution, namely real prostitution, you realize that you are a ridiculously over-privileged whiner who needs to shut up.  I have been lucky enough to have funding for every year of graduate school.  Not that I haven’t worked hard for this. I have. But I need to remind myself how fortunate I am that I get paid to do what I love.  [Unfortunately, this realization doesn’t last long. Now if only they would pay me a living wage and not this chump change.]

I thought I would end with this quotation from a very wise man:

“Personally, I liked working for the university! They gave us money and facilities. We didn’t have to produce anything. You’ve never been out of college. You don’t know what it’s like out there! I’ve worked in the private sector… they expect results!”

Wunder Wednesday: Asamkirche

Not far from Sendlinger Tor is my absolutely favorite place in Munich, the Asamkirche.

If you think this is over-the-top, just wait

This amazing Rococo church is made even more amazing because it was built by Egid Quirin Asam, a  sculptor and architect, along with his brother to serve as his own private church.  I have to respect someone who uses their entire life savings to construct a church for themselves.

To accomplish this Egid Quirin bought four houses along Sendlingerstrasse.  The southern most he used for his own living quarters. The next two were for his church and the last was for the priest.  The Munichers were not too thrilled that he wasn’t go to have to open to the public. Somehow they managed to persuade him.  Even though he was constructing this in the middle of the 18th century, I found a video of the method the citizens of Munich probably used.

I don’t blame them. First, Herr Asam had blocky shoulders and a flat head. Second, it is the inside of the church that is really unbelievable.

When I describe this church to people, as say it is as if someone vomited stucco and gilt everywhere

Strangely enough the stucco, gilding, stain glass, and painted ceiling harmonize perfectly. It is as if you have step into a little jewel box. I have been inside many times and each time I go I see something new.

Counting Down to Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is coming!!! (To imagine the tone I am using, replace the word Oktoberfest with “hideous land-squid that will eat your brains”). It is a big, cheesy event that I am not particularly thrilled about. But I am here, so I should experience it. My first day living in Munich was at the tail end of the last Oktoberfest. There was also a terrorist threat so the train station was a zoo of police and tourists. It was really fun navigating through it with all of my worldly possesions shoved into two large suitcases.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the first Oktoberfest, which occurred in Munich, on October 18, 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.  So I am imagining even more tourists and crowds than normal.  There is supposed to be a horse race with traditional clothing, so maybe horses will trample some of them.

It begins in just three days and ends on October 4th. Why is Oktoberfest in September? The weather is better. (Look at that no-nonsense German solution. Who cares if the name no longer makes sense?)

Because I am always on top of things, I decided to get the apron of my dirndl repaired yesterday, which I ripped about three months ago.  So I should be all ready to go.  I have also been trying to remember what it was like as an undergraduate, so I will be able to handle the beer smells and stupid people.

History Explained Through Derek Jacobi Roles

I study Medieval art history here in Munich. Some individuals, who will remain nameless, used to ask me when the medieval period was in relation to the Renaissance or Antiquity. I discovered this was the best way to explain. Of course it is contingent on whether the person watches British TV shows and movies. So I thought I would make a visual timeline for those poor people who have never seen his work. (Really though, what is wrong with you?)

Antiquity: Here represented by Jacobi as the Emperor Claudius, who died in 54 AD. Stuttering was optional

Medieval:  Here represented by Brother Cadfael, a twelfth century monk. At this point you might be saying Jacobi seems to have made a career by wearing skirt-like things, and you would be right.

Renaissance: Ok so this is obviously not Jacobi. It is Jeremy Irons who is going to play Rodrigo Borgio the series The Borgias for Showtime. BUT Jacobi will be Cardinal Orsini in this show that is supposed to in 1492. I just couldn’t find a picture of Jacobi. But as a Cardinal, guess what he will be wearing…

Something like this.

To help you visualize Jacobi as the cardinal, I spent ages and made this for you.

Victorian Era: Let’s just say 1840, around when Old Curiosity Shop was written. I think his expression here can be explained because he is unused to wearing pants.

I hope this helps clear everything up.

Week of Oww! (My Neighborhood and its Evirons)

In Munich I live in the neighborhood of Au. Stub your toe and if you are not inclined to profanity like me you will have correctly pronounced Au.  It is southeast of the Altstadt just on the other side of the Isar river.  If you know German (especially the Bavarian/Austrian variety), you will know that Au means floodplain. When you see “au” at the end of a town name it usually is by some water.   If you go to the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum you can see really cool maps and wooden models of Munich (yes I just called maps and models cool) and you will see that this part was mostly made up of farms even in the nineteenth century.  A lot of what is now built here is pretty modern by European standards. This is just one of the reasons I often forget I am living in Europe.

Anyway to start the week of Au, I thought I would be a good art historian and talk about the three large churches that surround me.

The only one of these technically in Au is Mariahilf:

It is the main parish church of Au and was built between 1831 and 1839 in a Neo-Gothic style. There was an earlier church here, but it was smaller (I think a church for a small monastery). Like the other two churches it was enlarged for the growing population and to celebrate old Germany. It was all part of the Romantic movement that swept over Europe at this time. In the foreground of this picture you see the tops of the stalls set up for the Auer Dult, a big market they hold here.

The Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche (I see from my window, technically it is in Giesing to the south)

This nineteenth-century church replaced a twelfth-century one. It is cheesy, but pretty to look at night while I fall asleep.

Maximilianskirche is across the river, so it is in Glockenbachviertel and not Au, but i can see it from my side so it counts.

The church was finished in 1908 and I think it is an interesting mish-mash of architectural elements. Like many things here in Munich it was heavily damaged in WWII.

If you can’t pronounce my neighborhood correctly after this boring blog post, then there is just no hope for you.