Der Baader Meinhof Komplex. (The Baader Meinhof Complex, 2008). This film examines the rise of the Red Army Faction (RAF), a left-wing terrorist group in 1970s Germany. Through investigative sequences, archival materials, and a focus on the motivations and societal conditions that led to radicalization, the film reconstructs the circumstances behind the violence. It provides a multi-faceted, evidence-driven exploration of why such a movement emerged.
Detective Shows
The German fascination with investigations and the reconstruction of events is evident in the popularity of crime novels and detective series on television. The story is always about figuring out the facts behind a crime. The show ends with the apprehension of the criminal and a reconstruction of the crime.
The most popular of German detective show is Tatort, literally Crime Scene, which began in 1970, has produced over 800 episodes, and attracts between 7 and 11 million viewers per show.
Soko 5113 began in 1978 and has run 40 sets of episodes. Both series have led to popular spin-offs. On any given evening, on any given channel in Germany, a detective show is being broadcasted. Many are co-productions involving teams from Germany, Great Britain, the U.S. and Skandanavian countries.
“rubble film”
Die Mörder sind unter uns (The Murderers Are Among Us, 1946). This is one of the first German films made after WWII and a classic of the “rubble film” (Trümmerfilm) genre. Set in the ruins of Berlin, it follows a traumatized doctor who discovers that a former Nazi officer responsible for atrocities is living unpunished among the survivors. The film centers on the protagonist’s moral and psychological investigation into the past, piecing together evidence and memories to confront personal and collective guilt. It dramatizes the process of uncovering the truth about wartime crimes and seeking accountability, embodying the German approach of reconstructing causes and circumstances
Sigmund Freud
Although Sigmund Freud was an Austrian his methods of psychoanalysis to resolve personal conflicts had tremendous influence in the entire German-speaking world, and eventually beyond. Psychoanalytical therapy involved up to three hundred individual sessions.
For Freud, as the founder of psychoanalysis, it was essential to identify unconscious emotional developments in order to understand human behavior. The earliest years of childhood are especially relevant. Psychological problems – conflicts – can be traced back to those earliest of years.
Understanding developments over very long periods of time are fundamental to Freud’s approach to conflict resolution. Tracing psychological problems far back into one’s personal history, making the unconscious conscious, is the opposite of a quick (hasty) resolution of conflict.
Roads not Taken
The Exhibition “Roads not Taken. Or: Things Could Have Turned Out Differently.” This exhibition at the Deutsches Historisches Museum explores key turning points in German history by reconstructing the causes and circumstances of major events, and also examining alternative outcomes that were possible but did not occur. The exhibit’s very premise reflects the German logic of analyzing contingencies, actions, and omissions to understand why history unfolded as it did.
More Rules of Moderation
The Germans believe that moderation can succeed only if it makes clear to all parties involved that there will be no naming a winner and a loser.
Naming one side the loser is a guaranty that the conflict resolution will not hold, that the losing party will seek to roll back, revise, reject the resolution. True acceptance, real stability, can be achieved only if both parties come away accepting a compromise.
Akzeptieren. Latin acceptare, to accept, take on, allow, approve, recognize; to come to agreement with someone; to accept an apology, a recommendation, an idea.
The Broken Jug
Heinrich von Kleist – Der zerbrochne Krug (The Broken Jug, 1808). This classic play centers on a village court case in which a judge must determine who broke a jug belonging to a local woman. The entire plot revolves around the careful reconstruction of events, examination of evidence, and the search for truth through witness testimony and logical deduction. The play is a brilliant satire of the judicial process, but at its core, it exemplifies the German logic of conflict resolution: reconstructing causes, scrutinizing evidence, and striving for objective truth, even as human flaws complicate the process.
„Streit vom Zaun brechen“
Streit vom Zaun brechen. To let a conflict get out of control. Germans prefer to hide their internal conflicts for as long as possible. Conficts attract attention and curiosity. They force the conflict parties to take a stand, to explain the problem.
This, in turn, offers management and related organizations an opportunity to get involved, to exert influence on the conflict parties, thereby reducing their ability to address the problem alone and independent of outside influence.
Germans, therefore, try their best to avoid escalating a conflict to the next management level. The side which chooses to do so is viewed as impulsive and thoughtless. Germans would rather give in a bit in order to reduce tensions than to strike back. Avoiding open conflict is seen as intelligent, restrained and prudent. Conflict is for the unsophisticated.
Der Klügere gibt nach. To be willing to compromise instead of insisting on being right; to see the other side‘s point of view as valid; to take the hit in order to reduce the tension.
Das Feuer schüren. Literally to stoke the flames. To provoke; to start a fight; to turn a difference of opinion into an open conflict; to whip up the emotions.
Germans want to be responsible for their work and to perform it independently. They want their work to be clearly defined and distinguishable from the work of their colleagues. Germans do not feel comfortable with having to explain or justify how they complete their tasks.
Every form of supervision or monitoring is a sign of mistrust. Escalating a conflict is risky, therefore, for it invites a third party, typically the next level of management, to take a closer look into how the conflict parties actually do their work. This makes them vulnerable to outside influences on how they work.
Autonomy. Greek autonomía. Independence, self-governance. From autos, selbst und nomos, law. To be responsible for oneself, self-determination, self-reliance, decision making freedom.
obsession with causality
Franz Kafka – Der Prozess (The Trial, 1925). Kafka’s protagonist, Josef K., is arrested and prosecuted by a mysterious authority without ever being told his crime. The novel is a nightmarish exploration of bureaucracy, guilt, and the desperate search for evidence and explanation. While Kafka’s novel ultimately highlights the frustration and impossibility of finding objective evidence in a totalitarian system, it powerfully dramatizes the German obsession with causality, procedure, and the need for rational explanation.