“Es bleibt alles ganz anders!” A German figure of speech. Translated: Everything stays completely different!
German vs. American
Watch the video. Then ask yourself the following: If this video was about the American approach to short- and long-term goals, what would be the maximum length of short-term and of long-term? Then answer the same question if the video was about the German approach to short- and long-term goals.
Planung. Vorwegnahme.
Wikipedia in German defines Planung as: Planning describes the human capability or activity of thoughtful – or thought-anticipation – of actions that appear to be necessary in order to reach a goal.
Die Planung beschreibt die menschliche Fähigkeit Fähigkeit oder Tätigkeit zur gedanklichen Vorwegnahme von Handlungsschritten, die zur Erreichung eines Zieles notwendig scheinen.
Nürnberg – Nuremberg
Nürnberg was one of Germany’s — in fact Europe’s — leading cities 500 years ago, and was an industrial marvel. The scenic remnants of its hard medieval past are now just an added dimension of a delightfully people-friendly historic center.
Hildegard on planning
“As the fire carries the flame within itself, so it is necessary for the powers of the rational man to have a work before him.”
Hildegard von Bingen (1098 – 1179), German mystic, abbess and scientist, Catholic saint
“Wie das Feuer die Flamme in sich trägt, so ist es für die Kräfte des vernunftbegabten Menschen notwendig, ein Werk vor sich zu haben.”
German history in six minutes
To understand German history is to understand how the German people thinks. It can’t be any other way. With any other people. Including your people.
The Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen plan of attack used by the German armies at the outbreak of World War I. It was named after its developer, Count Alfred von Schlieffen (1833–1913), former chief of the German general staff.
To meet the possibility of Germany’s facing a war against France in the west and Russia in the east, Schlieffen proposed that, instead of aiming the first strike against Russia, Germany should aim a rapid, decisive blow with a large force at France’s flank through Belgium, then sweep around and crush the French armies against a smaller German force in the south.
Part 1
Part 2
2,000 year history
German history dates back over two thousand years. Back to when the Romans controlled the German lands west of the Rhine River. The history of the Germanic tribes, however, goes back centuries further.
From 2000 BC to German unification
This one hour documentary unravels the history of the Germans from their prehistorical arrival on continental Europe in 2000 BC up to the unification of the German people under the flag of the German Empire, orchestrated by Otto von Bismarck of Prussia in 1871, followed by the horrrors of the 20th century – the first and second world wars, which resulted in the final unification of Germany as we know it today.
How Germany lost control of Covid
In mid-2020, Germany was hailed the world’s shining star of coronavirus containment. Now, while countries like the UK and Israel are going back to normalcy, Germany has been under some form of lockdown for over six months. How did Germany, a country known for its efficiency, love of planning and rationality lose control of its COVID-19 response?