IP & Art

Berlin is a city where the past and the present coexist at the same time while retaining all the bright and dark parts of German history. The park, which occupies a large part of Berlin, is the capital of the country, but it is also a testament to the commitment of state and local governments to the citizens who live there.

German people proudly reveal their shameful past, and show their glorious moments of glory with no regrets. The monument to the victory of the Russian army is preserved in the form of a beautiful statue in front of the Vladenburg Gate, although it may be somewhat inconvenient depending on the view. Monuments to commemorate the massacred Jews are drawn out in the daily life of citizens like parks. It is also an expression of strong will to reflect on past mistakes and not forget them.

It may be because of this historical background, although German people do not express very closeness to outsiders, they feel that they are very considerate of strangers in terms of dialogue and harmony. When it comes to dealing with refugees, instead of making them reside in a specific area, they try to disperse them to places with the best environment so that they can become German citizens.

After realizing that German culture has been at the center of European culture, I felt that I had been obsessed with misunderstandings and prejudices about Germany. Perhaps because of such misunderstandings and prejudices, I might have not been to Germany.

I felt a cultural shock through this visit to Germany. As my study abroad was focused on the United States, I had a rather crooked view of history on Western culture, but through this visit to Germany, I felt that the puzzle about the other half of Western culture, which I had incompletely recognized, was solved.

This is because, although British and American culture was a little alienated region from the stronghold of European culture, it has emerged as the center of civilization in modern times, and it appears to have a very different aspect from the main stream of traditional Western culture. Western culture started from Greek and Roman culture and became the center of Rome, then passed from Germany and France to England, and further developed into a culture the center of which was driven toward the United States.

Although American culture has inherited traditional European culture, it is true that I had a somewhat distorted view of American culture without being able to touch European culture because the traditional parts the original EU culture were also partially damaged. This time, coming to the main stream of European culture, I would be able to compare traditional European culture and British-American culture, which had had some distortions in the process of succeeding it.

German culture seemed a little closer to our culture emotionally. This was because they valued more politeness, were more humane, and respected a certain degree of formality, while valuing practical and artistic aspects. However, due to errors such as the massacre of Jews in World War II, misunderstandings and prejudices about German culture in general have been aggravated, so it seems that there has been no opportunity to properly examine and reevaluate them.

Of course, Germany's internationalization will take some time for various reasons, but we also think that the time has come for us to pay more attention and research on Germany. In particular, after EU integration, it has established itself as a world center country as a leader of the EU, and it seems that in-depth research on Germany and German culture is needed to properly understand Western culture.

Embracing Germany's complex history, garden-like parks and the Spree River all over Berlin melt and harmonize as they are. Heidelberg showing history and natural beauty as it is; Mannheim, a small, compact but clean, palace that uses a palace as a campus;

Bonn, a small country capital city; Weimar, the center of German classicism and the eternal haven of the genius Goethe; Hamburg Munchen, which is undergoing industrialization while doing so; Dresden, which is developing into a new city after unification, although the entire cities are as beautiful as a museum; Berlin which accommodate all the pleasure and pains, etc. without any expression for such feelings seems to be taking a sincere step towards the future without forgetting the regrettable past history... that all of this is Germany and German culture.

Why do I feel like I am now stepping into the contemporary real world only after getting on the ICE from Berlin to Frankfurt? While accommodating both the past and the present, they had sublimated  into a quiet and silently stable social system amidst large parks, rivers and abundant nature, which would make me feel awe and respect.