Until 1990 Germany was a divided country. The media system of the former GDR was highly centralized and worked under the control of the Communist Party. It disappeared during the process of unification, but patterns of media usage still differ between East and West. Today, the major media production centers are located in the “old” West, newspapers … [Read more...]
Radio and Television in Germany
Radio and television are administered in a decentralized fashion as prescribed in the Basic Law. The intent behind the pattern of regional decentralization is to prevent the exploitation of the media by a strong national government, as had happened under the Nazi dictatorship. Germany has two public broadcasting corporations. The first, ARD, was … [Read more...]
Newspapers in Germany
West Germany has always had highly developed mass media. The independence of the press and its freedom from censorship are guaranteed in Article 5 of the Basic Law. Conversely, the communist regime in East Germany tightly controlled the media. Despite government censorship, East Germans were voracious newspaper and magazine readers. More than three … [Read more...]
Citizens’ Initiative Associations as a Political Force in Germany
In the early 1970s, a new form of political participation in the form of citizens' initiative associations sprang up throughout West Germany. These associations, in essence nontraditional interest groups, were loosely and often temporarily organized groups of citizens mobilized in response to one particular local issue. Concerns ranged from school … [Read more...]
June 19 in German History
June 19, 1867 Death of Maximillian, the Emperor of Mexico, in Queretaro, Mexico. Born in Vienna, Austria. He became Emperor of Mexico at the urging of the French, who controlled it as a colony. Maximilian rather naively accepted assurances that he had been popularly elected emperor by the inhabitants of Mexico. His reign lasted until 1867 when … [Read more...]
June 18 in German History
June 18, 1152 Friedrich I (Barbarossa) is crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Adrian IV in Rome. (Barbarossa is from Latin and means "red beard"). Before his imperial election, Frederick was by inheritance Duke of Swabia (1147–1152, as Frederick III). He was the son of Duke Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty and Judith, … [Read more...]
June 17 in German History
June 17, 1810 Birth of the poet, Ferdinand Freiligrath, in Detmold, Germany. Freiligrath's political/social engagement was reflected increasingly in his poetry to the extent that his work was banned and he was forced to leave Germany. Freiligrath died in 1876. June 17, 1885 Death of Edwin Freiherr von Manteufel in Carlsbad, … [Read more...]
June 16 in German History
June 16, 1801 Birth of Julius Plücker (1801-1868) in Eberfeld, Germany. He was a German mathematician and physicist. He made fundamental contributions to the field of analytical geometry and was a pioneer in the investigations of cathode rays that led eventually to the discovery of the electron. June 16, 1804 Death of Johann Adam … [Read more...]
June 15 in German History
June 15, 1520 The Roman Pope, Leo X, threatens to ex-communicate Martin Luther. June 15, 1866 Prussia attacks Austria as a result of a dispute over Schleswig-Holstein. Prussia won the war by the 1st of July at the Battle of Königsgrätz. June 15, 1890 Birth of Georg Wüst (1890-1977) in Posen, Germany (now Poland). Wüst was an … [Read more...]
June 14 in German History
June 14, 1757 Death of Karl August Archduke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. He made an intellectual center of Weimar through his invitation and patronage of Goethe, Herder, Schelling, Hegel and Schiller. June 14, 1862 Birth of John Ulric Nef in Herisau, Switzerland. Nef was a chemist who demonstrated that carbon can have a valence. He came to the … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 108
- 109
- 110
- 111
- 112
- …
- 158
- Next Page »