Lower Saxony/ Niedersachsen

Lower Saxony

Where is Lower Saxony located?
Located in the northwestern part of Germany
Lower Saxony borders many other German states:

• Southeast: Thuringia
• East: Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt
• North: Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein
• South: Hesse
• Southwest: North Rhine- Westphalia
• Northeast: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Also bordered by the Netherlands and the North Sea

How many live here?

• 7,977,000 people
• 4th largest state in population

How does its size relate to Minnesota, or any other US state?

• In population:
• Lower Saxony is equivalent to the population of Minnesota and Iowa together 
• It is about half the size of Indiana

What is special about Lower Saxony?

• Second largest state in size
• 20% of the state is designated to nature conservation
• Agriculture and farming make up a big part of the economy
• Automobile manufacturing and automobile parts manufacturing are also important economic part of Lower Saxony
• Volkwagon has 5 production plants here along with its headquarters, which is located in Wolfsburg
• The capital of Lower Saxony is Hannover.
• Hannover is also the largest city in Lower Saxony
• Mining has been an important source of income in Lower Saxony for centuries. Lower Saxony is also an important supplier of crude oil in the European Union. Mineral products still mined today include iron and lignite.
• The coat of arms shows a white horse (Niedersachsenross) on red ground, which is an old symbol of the Saxon people

What was the Lower Saxony historically? A kingdom, a duchy, a free city?

• Was originally a duchy
• It is named after the Saxons
• Originally the region was simply called "Saxony", but as the center of gravity of the Duchy of Saxony gradually moved up the Elbe, towards the present-day states of Saxony-Anhalt andSaxony, the region was given the name of Lower Saxony
• The state was founded in 1946 by the British military administration, who merged the former states of Brunswick,  Oldenburg, and Schaumburg-Lippe with the former Prussian province of Hanover

http://www.gtp.gr/LocPage.asp?id=14414

http://www.germanfoodguide.com/niedersachsen.htm

http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/11155

Competition Thingy-Group 2

Life in Germany

1.       When and where did German scientists recently discover a new species of ape?Answer: In Asia on Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Source: http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-world/german-scientists-discover-rare-ape-species-in-asia-20100921-15lkn.html

2.       What city is known as the salt capital of Germany? When did the salt production end?
Answer: Lüneburg, a German city in the state of Lower Saxony, is known as the salt capital of Germany.  It was not until 1980 that the production of salt in the Lüneburg Saline finally closed.
Source: http://worthgem.blogspot.com/2010/09/german-salt-museum-at-luneburg.html

3.       What type of schooling is forbidden?
Answer: Homeschooling
Source: www.german-way.com/educ.html

German History

1.       What was the difference in population in Germany from 1939 to 1946?
Answer: 4 million less people from 1939 to 1946

2.       In the early and middle eleventh century the Saxon kings were able to defeat which Germanic tribes thus strengthening the Elbe Saale frontier?
Answer: The Magyars and the Slavs

3.       What Germanic tribe held onto their tradition of worshiping heathen gods the longest?Answer: The Saxons

German Media

1.       What date did the "television contract" (Fernsehvertrag) get signed?
Answer: March 27, 1953
Source: pg 91 of "The Mass Media of the German Speaking Country" by John Sandford

2.       The Deutsche Welle first began broadcasting is what year?
Answer: 1953
Source: pg 39 of "The Mass Media of the German Speaking Country" by John Sandford

3.       What German newsmagazine is on the rise while its predecessor is on the decline?
Answer: The Focus is on the rise while Der Spiegel is on the decline.
Source: http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/facts/bl_newspapers.htm

German States: Bavaria

1.       Who are the three primary Germanic tribes to inhabit Bavaria in history?
Answer: Bavarians, Franks, and Nordgau

2.       Pope Benedict was born in town of Marktl Bavaria. Where did he live his adolescence?
Answer: Traunstein
Source:http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/biography/documents/hf_ben-xvi_bio_20050419_short-biography_en.html

3.       The Hofbrauhaus is a famous beer hall in Munich Bavaria. What family still owns and operates this historic site?
Answer: The Gerdas
Source: http://www.aviewoncities.com/munich/hofbrauhaus.html

German States: Schleswig-Holstein

1.       Where was the chief base for the Third Reich's navy operations?
Answer: Kiel
Source: pg 259-260 of “Discover Germany” by Jack Altman

2.       Schleswig-Holstein was part of Denmark until what year?
Answer: 1866
Source: pg 259-260 of “Discover Germany” by Jack Altman

3.       What is the world famous annual rock fest that takes place in Schleswig-Holstein?
Answer: Wacken Open Air
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Rhine-Westphalia

German States: Westphalia

1.       The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia convenes to which city in Westphalia?
Answer: Dusseldorf
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schleswig-Holstein

2.       Where can the best soil in North Rhine-Westphalia be found?  (specific place)
Answer: The fertile, deep loessial soil of the Köln Bay.
Source: pg 12 of “North Rhine-Westphalia” by J. A. Hellen

3.       What are the names of the two broad trails, one a road the other a trading route in North Rhine-Westphalia that can be traced back to prehistoric times? Answer: Rhine (Road) and Hellway (Trade Route)
Source: pg 18 of “North Rhine-Westphalia” by J. A. Hellen

Berlin

1.       What animal infestation did the U.S. Army eradicate in Berlin?
Answer: Rats
Source:  “The Berlin Wall: How it Rose and Why it Fell” by Doris M. Epler

2.       What is this and what does it stand for? (Picture Link:http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/berlin-d1434.jpg)
Answer: The Soviet War Memorial; it was built in memory of all the Soviet soldiers who died in the battle of the conquest of Berlin. (WWII)
Source: “The Berlin Wall: How it Rose and Why it Fell” by Doris M. Epler

3.       What was the full birth name of the mayor of West Berlin who was in office during JFK’s “Ich bin ein Berliner Speech?”
Answer: Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm

Final Category – Poetry & Cars

1.       “At Bacharach on the Rhine, Lorelei is lingering” is the English translation of the first line of whose poem?
Answer: Hans Rudolf Hilty – poem’s title Lorelei
Source: pg 131 of Contemporary Germany Poetry: An Anthology

2.       “I greet Berlin as three times
 I band my head, three times
against one of the walls” is the English translation of whose stanza?
Answer: Günter Grass – poem’s title Brandmauern
Source: pg 147 of Contemporary Germany Poetry: An Anthology

3.      How does the BMW logo represent the company’s history?
Answer: Originally, the Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW or “Bavarian Motor Works”) was a German airplane engine manufacturer, which later came to focus on making sweet cars.  The BMW Logo is supposed to represent a white airplane-propeller against the blue sky; a reflection of the company’s beginnings in the early days of flight.

German Print Media Reviewed

I couldn't find the language changer on any of the sites, so my observations are rather simplistic and obvious.  It looks like the same layouts the U.S. uses.  One difference I did see was that German Newspapers use a lot of pictures.  While the U.S. papers don't.  I assume that the U.S. puts pictures linked to the stories that they want readers to read.  Maybe not focus on issues that could give the company a bad rap.  I also saw David Hasselhoff on quite a few newspaper's websites, while none on U.S., just thought that was interesting.

Mass Media - Radio

Are Mass Media more globalized than the people who consume them?

I’m not really sure, I’d like to say no but there is something in me that says yes.

What does it mean when patterns across the Western globe are so similar?

I think that patterns in the Western globe are so noticeable similar because once one country finds a sequence of doing something that controls the following group (the group being unconscious of this) then other countries catch on seeing what this pattern has brought forth.

Where do cultural differences "survive" if media do not carry them - or do they?

Cultural differences survive in the people.  If the culture rejects a pattern long enough media will have to change to satisfy the following.

What can you say about Radio in Germany?

I say that radio stations in Germany are much of the same pattern of the U.S.’s.  Although I don’t know if the commercials are any similar compared to ours.

My observations about the top 20 Radio stations in Germany

My very first observation about the top 20 Radio stations in Germany was that my German sucks.


The second observation was that the stations (that worked for me at the time) seemed to play English-Sung songs.  Which I thought wasn't strange, but I wasn't excepting it, some radio stations didn't even translate the titles of the songs.  For example Great Expectations and It's Raining Again were introduced such as that.  


Third observation I made was the wide variety of genres they have.  Six of the top 20 stations had Mix as the genre, showing that there is a demand for all types of music.  


Fourth observation was that one station has a genre Schlager, when 'googled' roughly translates to hit.  These types of songs are ballads light pop type songs.  


My over all observation, other than the learn German so I can understand the commercials, were that I like the German top 20 radio stations for their choice of songs.

Bayerische Wald

• The Bayerische Wald (Bavarian Forest) is the oldest national park in Germany
• This forest has been completely returned to nature.
• No humans live here
• There are wet valleys, streams, bogs, moors and meadows in this forest
• The Bavarian Forest is the largest contiguous area of protected forest in central Europe.
• Many rare species have made the Bayerisch Wald their home
• lynx, black stork, eagle owl, and the three- toed woodpecker are a few examples
• There are 300km of walking trails
• 200km of cycling paths
• Mountain biking is all popular here
• This forest is not well known which makes it a great place to go to avoid tourism
• The Bayerische Wald contains Germany's cleanest air
• This forest use to be covered in glaciers
• Home to the tallest mountains in Bavaria

http://www.slowtrav.com/germany/bavarian_forest.htm

http://www.germanplaces.com/germany/bavarian-forest-national-park.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8292819@N08/4247956363/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sophie-/3138137194/