Jemma Cartland
High Distinction
Gosford High School
Deutschland; über alles1

For the latter part of the last century, nationalism to the Germans has always been inevitably tainted by a nagging awareness that their country long ago forfeited its right to national pride.2 However today, with events such as the 2006 Fifa World Cup held in Munich and German’s role on the global political stage, within the EU and UN3 we can see a cultural transformation that has taken place both as a result of forces of external and internal social change, which is in turn shaping national identity in vastly positive and constructive ways…
…Customs in Germany are derived of course from established and fundamental values within the society and vice-versa. These core values are part of what constitutes a national character, and their continuities and changes vis-à-vis globalisation and westernisation are therefore crucial in the conception of nationalism and subsequently, the re-moulding of Germany’s ethos. It must be distinguished also, that the westernisation of values- ostensibly politically and socially- is not in fact causing a demise (or Americanisation of, as some would argue) traditional customs and ideals, but rather reshaping them in concurrence with the intrinsic changes of social patterns.

Alterations of customs such as in lifestyle; eating habits and vocational shifts are all manifestations of globalisation in that their changes represent the changing values within society that are resultant of globalisation. “Wir essen alle zusammen, normalerweise um halb sieben für die Abendessen.”4 When interviewed Katharina acknowledged the fact that although it is customary for German families to sit down together for a hot meal at lunchtime, her family “normally eats together at around 6.30 for dinner,” but sometimes even then, as noted also in my exchange, her father Roland might not be home from work as a builder, or her mother Heidrun, working shift hours as a geriatric nurse. These lifestyle shifts on a holistic level are a result of an increasingly complex society, one that is driven now by capitalism, rather than twenty years ago, in the case of East Germany (German Democratic Republic- GDR), which was occupied by Soviet forces and operated accordingly by a communist economic system. Upon unification of the two Germanys, many jobs were lost as the former East Germany collapsed to follow the Federal system of its western counterpart. Many nationalized industries had to be sold and run by private owners, and in some parts of the east, unemployment reached up to 40%.5 Such transformations in a society patently instigate many cultural ramifications. Few families have more than two children6 as women increasingly prefer financial autonomy and careers and are postponing childbirth. Stemming from this, the population is set to decrease by almost one million by the year 2015.7 As the values of the prior Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), are the values adopted now and are those values of Western democracy and capitalism, we can see that westernisation and globalisation have both played foremost and vital roles in the changes to German values that are ultimately reshaping and moulding national identity.

END NOTES:

1. Translates to ‘Germany: above all.’ These words were previously used within the German national anthem during the Third Reich and reign of Hitler. As a title, it serves to demonstrate the significance of the alteration in values, which has seen the emergence of a constructive and affirming nationalism within Germany. It seeks to place a positive connotation upon previously negatively-associated words.
2. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2065774,00.html
3. The European Union, and United Nations.
4. Katharina Jahn, host sister. Interviewed via email, 6.5.09
5. Sonja Schanz, Changes at Work, in The Changing Face of Germany White-Thompson Pub. (2002) pg 42
6. Sonja Schanz, Changes at Home, in The Changing Face of Germany White-Thompson Pub. (2002) pg 26
7. ibid. pg 26.