Germany’s Complex, Tumultuous History

I’m just wrapping up three weeks of filming in Germany, and I’m impressed by the souvenirs of its tumultuous history. Doing TV shows on Frankfurt, Nürnberg, Dresden, Leipzig, and Hamburg, you can’t avoid the flipside of Germany’s greatness. Here are a few historical artifacts that have stuck with me.

War Memorial

Outside of Leipzig is the wildest war memorial I’ve ever seen. This is the 300-foot-tall Völkerschlachtdenkmal. Just saying it makes you think “huge casualties.” It is the Monument of the Battle of the Nations, built in 1913 to commemorate the biggest battle of its day: when Prussia, Austria, Russia, and other allies teamed up to beat Napoleon in 1813. Half a million men were involved, and there were about 100,000 causalities. The powerful art and symbolism inside makes you weep and salute at the same time. Do you have a personal “most impactful war memorial” in Europe?

Statue in Leipzig

This statue, on Leipzig’s main drag, recalls the dual dictatorships — first from the far-right, then from the far-left — that Germany lived under in the 20th century. It features the flat-palmed Sieg Heil! Nazi salute and the proletariat’s raised communist fist at the same time. Meanwhile, the poor fellow who has little choice but to raise his arms scrunches down under his collar, hoping to somehow get through it all.

Luther statue in front of church

After spending ten days filming our upcoming public television special on Martin Luther and the Reformation, we were tuned into statues of Martin Luther. He seems to be on squares and in front of churches all over Germany. Here in Dresden, in front of the Frauenkirche, we met another Luther — hand on his Bible, as if reminding people of his mission to translate the Word of God from Latin into the people’s language, so all could read it for themselves.

Nazi Gold Room

At the Nazi parade grounds in Nürnberg, we stood on the tribune platform where Hitler stoked the fears and hatreds of 200,000 assembled Nazis. And then our guide took us inside the structure, through several huge, stark, gold-veneered rooms with massive dishes for devilish flames. As these rooms aren’t open to the public, we didn’t film them (because we have an ethic of not showing things on TV that our viewers can’t personally experience). But it was a chilling little side-trip.

Comments

4 Replies to “Germany’s Complex, Tumultuous History”

  1. My Dad grew up in Leipzig pre-ww2.He allways wanted to go to the top of the Völkerschlachtdenkmal. It wasnt till he was 77 in 2001 that we both climbed up to the top together.It was exhausting but he made it.I was so proud to do it with him.He remembered as a child that the Nazis held torchlight ceremonies around the lake in front of the monument.The sight of thousands of torches stuck with him.Hes gone now,passed away last year at 91.This monument truly is monumental.Should be seen by all that visit Leipzig……..

  2. For those of us who came of age before the end of the Cold War, the former East Germany remains somewhat mysterious. I first learned of the Völkerschlachtdenkmal when paging through the DK guide to Germany. I slowly broke apart the word, made the connection to Leipzig and exclaimed “Battle of the Nations”. The monument and a Russian Orthodox church were built and dedicated as a gesture of reconciliation in 1913. This is a truly tragic illustration of the Strauss and Howe generations theory, where the force driving history is the forgetting of lessons previous generations have learned. Just a year later, war broke out across Europe and the cycle started again.

  3. Guten Tag,

    The people of the world need to regularly be reminded of the horrible effects of tyrants.

    Danke,

    T. T.

  4. Of course the ‘infernal flame’ you mention is a riff on the ‘eternal flame’ of the designer’s intention. Extracting these rooms from their specific context, imagine the effect of a natural flame reflecting from the golden surfaces of this ‘Aladdin’s Cave!’ I am reminded of Ludwig II’s stage set fantasies in Bavaria and their use of theatrical lighting effects. Thanks for sharing this image!

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