#German history

[ivycopper]

So as of this month, trans ppl in Germany can finally change their name and gender marker without a court case and without having to pay 3k in fees. My local town hall is celebrating by flying the trans flag. Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it!

As a history nerd, the funniest and best thing abt this is that the actual building itself was built by the nazis and this really is a giant fuck you to them.

[lottielovelace]

A note on names for "die prinzessin"

König and Reader are both named after royalty—for both their legal names & call signs.

König, of course means king. I decided to make his first name Ludwig after Ludwig II of Bavaria. He's been nicknamed the Swan King/Fairytale King for his extravagant and fantastical projects/patronages, the most recognizable of which is Neuschwanstein which you've definitely seen before even if you don't recognize the name. Yes Bavaria is in Germany, but it is in the South; both physically and culturally linked to Austria. Outside of Germany, he is also referred to as "Mad King Ludwig". He was queer, something made clear in his personal papers.

Elise's callsign is Prinzessin, meaning Princess. Of course, this is quite a mouthful to yell out in an emergency (and P is a horrible nickname), so she often shortens it to Sinn (which does add a letter, but gives us a cool double meaning by being the German word for sense/reason/mind).

Her first name Elisabeth is a reference to Empress Elisabeth of Austria, famously nicknamed Sissi/Sisi. Of course, an empress outranks a king. She was renowned for her beauty and troubled personal life. Since you're reading a COD reader fic, you might enjoy the German language musical "Elisabeth" that explores her life and struggle with depression, framed as death itself being in love with her.

The real life Elisabeth and Ludwig were cousins and close friends. Both famously struggled with their mental health and were murdered (albeit allegedly in Ludwig's case).

Elise's middle name Linh is part of her Vietnamese heritage (not mentioned in every fic, but a major plot point in the first installment). It means spirit/soul.

Elise and König's shared last name, Veidt, is a reference to German actor Conrad Veidt. If you ever have a spare minute, I highly recommend giving at least his wikipedia page a read. He had a fascinating life and philosophy. He was truly a stand up guy and had a moral quality rare for even modern times—much less an actor from 1920s/30s.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

November 9, the fateful day of the Germans in history

Nov 9, 1313: Battle of Gammelsdorf - Louis IV defeats his cousin Frederick the Fair marking the beginning of a series of disputes over supremacy between the House of Wittelsbach and the House of Habsburg in the Holy Roman Empire

Nov 9, 1848: Execution of Robert Blum (a german politician) - this event is said to mark the beginning of the end of the March Revolution in 1848/49, the first attempt of establishing a democracy in Germany

Nov 9, 1914: Sinking of the SMS Emden, the most successful German ship in world war I in the indo-pacific, its name is still used as a word in Tamil and Sinhala for a cheeky troublemaker

Nov 9, 1918: German Revolution of 1918/19 in Berlin. Chancellor Max von Baden unilaterally announces the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and entrusts Friedrich Ebert with the official duties. At around 2 p.m., the Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann proclaims the "German Republic" from the Reichstag building. Two hours later, the Spartacist Karl Liebknecht proclaims the "German Soviet Republic" from the Berlin City Palace.

Nov. 9, 1923: The Hitler-Ludendorff Putsch (Munich Beer Hall Putsch) is bloodily suppressed by the Bavarian State Police in front of the Feldherrnhalle in Munich after the Bavarian Prime Minister Gustav Ritter von Kahr announces on the radio that he has withdrawn his support for the putsch and that the NSDAP is being dissolved.

Nov 9, 1925: Hitler imposes the formation of the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Nov 9, 1936: National Socialists remove the memorial of composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in front of the Gewandhaus concert hall in Leipzig.

Nov 9, 1938: November Pogrom / Pogrom Night ("Night of Broken Glass") organized by the Nazi state against the Jewish population of Germany.

Nov 9, 1939: The abduction of two british officiers from the Secret Intelligence Service by the SS in Venlo, Netherlands, renders the British spy network in continental Europe useless and provides Hitler with the pretext to invade the Netherlands in 1940.

Nov 9, 1948: Berlin Blockade Speech - West Berlin mayor Ernst Reuter delivers a speech with the famous words "Peoples of the world, look at this city and recognize that you cannot, that you must not abandon this city".

Nov 9, 1955: Federal Constitutional Court decision: all Austrians who have acquired german citizenship through annexation in 1938, automatically lost it after Austria became sovereign again.

Nov 9, 1967: Students protest against former Nazi professors still teaching at German universities, showing the banner ”Unter den Talaren – Muff von 1000 Jahren” ("Under the gowns – mustiness of 1000 years", referring to the self-designation of Nazi Germany as the 'Empire of 1000 Years') and it becomes one of the main symbols of the Movement of 1968 (the German Student  Movement).

Nov 9, 1969: Anti-Semitic bomb attack - the radical left-winged pro-palestinian organization “Tupamaros West-Berlin” hides a bomb in the jewish community house in Berlin. It never exploded though.

Nov 9, 1974: death of Holger Meins - the member of the left-radical terrorist group Red Army Faction (RAF) financed in part by the GDR that eventually killed 30 people, dies after 58 days of hunger strike, triggering a second wave of terrorism.

Nov 9, 1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall - After months of unrest, demonstrations and tens of thousands escaping to West Germany, poorly briefed spokesman of the newly formed GDR government Günter Schabowski announces that private trips to non-socialist foreign countries are allowed from now on. Tens of thousands of East Berliners flock to the border crossings and overwhelm the border guards who had not received any instructions yet because the hastily implemented new travel regulations were supposed to be effective only the following day and involved the application for exit visas at a police office. Subsequently, crossing the border between both German states became possible vitrually everywhere.

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

The Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre, Ukraine during the Nazi invasion and the russian invasion. X

[cid5]

Two German Soldiers NCOs tooled up and ready to go, probably on a trench raid against the French or British, Western Front, c.1916.

[makingqueerhistory]

"There is a rich queer linguistic history in Germany. Many of the words still used to talk about queerness originated there with people like Magnus Hirschfeld, a man whose contributions to the modern queer community cannot be overstated. A lesser discussed name is Emma Trosse, and with her, the beginnings of asexuality as an identity can be found. Standing on the legacy of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs and possibly writing some of her work defending queer identities before Hirschfeld, her name deserves more discussion."

[thespookydookie]

hot researchers don't gatekeep so something i cannot recommend enough if your field is 19th - 20th century (first half) and especially imperial german militaria are these two channels: plw history and feldpost - beautifully presented content and a wide range of topics+additional english subtitles for those who don't speak german;

additionally, for those who do speak german, i would recommend the most recent episode of the "don't forget history" podcast, hosted by the lads from plw history - beautiful episode and a lovely insight into the reality of militarism and its ties to ptsd reception explained by the guest from feldpost.

[valkyries-things]

FELICE SCHRAGENHEIM // RESISTANCE FIGHTER

“She was a Jewish resistance fighter during WWII. She is known for her tragic love story with Lilly Wust after she was reported to the Gestapo. She was murdered on a death march from Gross-Rosen concentration camp to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 31 Dec 1944.”

[j-m-angelofdeath]

Look what I did (cat)

[kanonenvoegel]

A machine gunner of the Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1. „Hermann Göring” in Sicily. 1943. Colourised.

[city-of-ladies]

Guda: a medieval self-portrait

Self-portrait of Guda, homilary, Frankfurt, second half of 12th century.

"The first category of figures we have considered shows the artist present in the work or in the process of creating it. To that category, we add a second type of portrait or self-portrait, in which the artist beseeches a favorable judgment for him-/herself after the work is completed.

Such is the case with the famous signed self-portrait of Guda, who represents herself within a collection of homilies in an initial D[ominus] for the octave of the Pentecost. The inscription reads: “guda peccatrix mulier scripsit q[ue] pinxit h[un]c librum (Guda, a sinful woman, wrote and painted this book).” Of the seven initials in the manuscript, this D is one of only two that contain figures. The other historiated initial comes at folio 196, the opening of the Assumptio Mariae, and contains a portrait of the virgin identified as Maria Virgo. The other five initials display dragons, interlaces, ribbons, or spirals.

Guda represented herself firmly grasping the initial with her left hand and raising her right in a gesture of salutation and expectation. I would argue that Guda carefully and consciously chose to be here. The initial opens the ninth homily of St. John chrysostom, the Sermo beati iohannes episcopi de david ubi goliad immanem hostem devicit (Sermon of the blessed Bishop John, on when David overcame the monstrous enemy Goliath), which explains the election of David. The homily also offers an occasion to meditate on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and its role in comforting the soul. In short, Guda has chosen the perfect spot in which to await the Second Coming of Christ, and this is why she represents herself as a sinner, whose activity as an artist should count in her favor at the end of time.

Guda’s self-representation in this way is analogous to the scene the scribe Swicher has staged (for the reader?) in the frontispiece of his copy of isidore of Seville’s Etymologies. Swicher’s author portrait is most original. In the upper register, Isidore of Seville is depicted in conversation with Bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, the patron of the Etymologies. In the lower register, Christ in propria persona presides at the scribe’s last judgment. Two angels busy themselves at a balance in which is weighed the very manuscript Swicher copied. The work of the scribe counts as a work of virtue: a third angel takes Swicher’s soul away through a thick cloud, whereas the devil turns around empty-handed. The Titulus attests to this: "O god, deign to have mercy on this wretched scribe. Do not consider the weight of my faults. Small though the good things may be, let them be exalted over the bad. Let night give way to light; let death itself give ground to life.”

Guda and Swicher make use of the same patterns of visibility and those patterns are not gender-specific. In both cases, the artists stage their humility and represent their belief that they might reach the heavenly kingdom through the artistic work they have done."

Mariaux Pierre Alain, "Women in the making: early medieval Signatures and artists’ portraits (9th–12th c.)", in: Reassessing the Roles of Women as 'makers' of Medieval Art and Architecture

[queenfredegund]

Women in History Month (insp) | Week 2: Royal Mothers

[ripstefano]

“We have driven the Austrian troops from Bavaria, and restored our ally to the sovereignty of his dominions. That army, which, with equal presumption and imprudence, marched upon our frontiers, is annihilated.”

- Napoleon, 1805

I always dig Bavarian uniforms, the light blue of their flag is a nice little addition. The blue and white go together nicely.

From Napoleon’s German Allies (4): Bavaria

[thatswhywelovegermany]

August 20, 1989: 35 years ago, hundreds, maybe more than a tousand citizens of the GDR went from Hungary to Austria after the Hungarian government had torn down the border fortifications and stopped the border patrols near the city of Sopron. The day before, Otto von Habsburg had organized a "pan-european picnic", inviting Austrians and Hungarians from both sides of the formerly insurmountable border.

This was one of the key events that led to the collapse of the dictatorial government of the GDR and eventually to the German reunifucation in a unified Europe.

Watch the entire series of West German TV news reports to see how things unfolded from the occupation of embassies by GDR citizens to the fall of the wall in merely five months.

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

1918: American World War I recruitment poster by T. S. Davidson encouraging men to save the women of Belgium and Ukraine from German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who is depicted as an octopus.

Military Poster Collection, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina. USA.

[cid5]

Two German soldiers lighting a cigarette with a Wechselapparat ("Wex") flamethrower. 1917