Paul Baumer

I am Paul Baumer
I am a soldier
I am empty
I am numb
I am an animal
I feel disconnected from the myself, disconnected from my family, my friends.
I feel disconnected from the world.
Connected to the war.

Hamburg Germany

Hamburg, Germany

Hamburg is one of the City-States in Germany. Populated with around 4.3 million people, it is one of the largest in Germany. This island isn’t just surrounded by three rivers; it is filled with nightlife and makes a perfect vacation site for any traveler.

Hamburg is surrounded by Bille River, Alster River and Elbe River making it the second largest port in Germany. 1800 ships go through the port each month ranging from vessels to cruise ships¹. With such a landscape it makes Hamburg quit the tourist attractions.

From sin city to a majestic getaway, depending where you go, Hamburg gives you just that. The second metropolis is about prostitution and strip shows, travel to its original homeland you will experience a stylish cosmopolitan city life².

Party animals wanted, in Hamburg, filled with underground night clubs and cocktail bars that don’t close until dawn³ there is always a party at night. A very popular scene for teens and young adults wanting to have some fun.

In 2010 Hamburg ranked 10^th on the world livability scale⁴. Proving how lively this town can be at night yet what a scene it can be during the day.

1.       http://www.german-cities.com/hamburg-germany.html

2.       http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-191501748-hamburg_vacations-i

3.       http://gogermany.about.com/od/nightlife/Guide_to_Bars_Clubs_and_Theaters_Nightlife_in_Germany.htm

4.       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburg

Bayern, Berlin, Bremen

Bayern, also know as Bavaria, is in souuth eastern Germany. It is Germany's largest state with 12.5 million people, which turns out to be 20% of Germany's total population. After WWII it transformed from a poor agricultural state to the center of thriving industrialism. Bavaria holds the headquarters for BMW, Audi, Puma and Adidas. It has the largest columbian brewery and a major dutch brewery. It has the largest and healthiest economy in Germany, in fact, if Bavaria was its own country, only 17 other countries would have a higher GDP. Bavaria was a kingdom from 1806-1918, since then it has been a free state. It has a multi-party government, which the conservative Christian Social Union has dominated since 1945. In WWII it was strongly occupied by Nazi and U.S Troops which concluded that it was heavily bombed. Their relgion is predomanatly roman catholic. They take pride in tradition and celebrate with festivials and dances. Fun Fact: annualy, theres an average of 170 liters of beer consumed PER PERSON! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavaria

 

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. It is located in northeastern Germany. With the population of 3.45 million people, it is the largest city in Germany. The total annual state budget of Berlin in 2007 exceeded $28.7 billion including a budget surplus of $112 million. The figures indicate the first surplus in the history of the city state. Due to increasing growth rates and tax revenues, the Senate of Berlin calculates an increasing budget surplus in 2008. In 2009, the nominal GDP of the citystate Berlin experienced a growth rate of 1.7% and totaled about $117 billion. Berlin's economy is dominated by the service sector, with around 80% of all companies doing business in services. The unemployment rate had steadily decreased over the past decade and reached a 13-year low in 2008; As of April 2010 unemployment was at 14.2%. Industries that do business in the creative arts and entertainment are an important and sizable sector of the economy of Berlin. The creative arts sector comprises music, film, advertising, architecture, art, design, fashion, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software, TV, radio, and video games. Around 22,600 creative enterprises, predominantly SMEs, generated over 18,6 billion Euro in total revenue. Berlin's creative industries have contributed an estimated 20% of Berlin's gross domestic product in 2005. The German headquarter of Universal Music is based in Berlin.

The State of Bremen, located in northwestern Germany is a two-part Hanseatic city. It consists of Bremerhaven, a port at the Wesser river mouth of the North Sea, and the city of Bremen, located 60km south of Bremerhaven. Bremen is about the size of Atlanta Georgia, and has about double the population of St. Paul, Minnesota. 

As a port city, one third of Bremen's GDP is from Trade and Shipping. Bremen also has a sizeable industrial sector specializing in shipbuilding, aerospace, and fishprocessing industries. In recent decades, however, the manufacturing industry has grown weak in Bremen, and they have invested in the high-tech and services sectors. Education was expanded to accomodate these changes with the founding of the University of Bremen in 1971, and the expansion of Bremen's Fachhochschulen. Bremen is now regarded as a centre for research and technology. 

Bremen is a city of old traditions. One of which is the Freimarkt. First held in 1035, it is the oldest celebreated fair in Germany. It is held for 17 days in the last weeks of October. Events include the Freimarktsumzug parade, made up of over 100 floats among others.  

Sources:

http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/regportraits/info/data/de5_eco.htm

http://www.uni-bremen.de/en/studies.html?cHash=7db4e3ab5ed916b2621b54067ca000c5

http://freimarkt-hb.de/index.php?CHANGElang=en

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremen

Aachen Cathedral

Clip; http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&l=en&id_site=3&gallery=1&&index=13(end clip) 8/30/11

Clip; Built around c. 700, this octogonal shaped cathedral is seen as an artistic wonder that has been inspiration for other cathedrals around Germany. In the time it was being built, it represented unity in the west between spirituality and political powers. Between 936 though 1531, it held coronations for 30 German kings. Over the millenium its presence has been modified, it was expanded in the middle ages and much of it has been destroyed but rebuilt again, however two of its chapels are orginally still standing. (end clip) http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/3/ 8/30/11

UNESCO website: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/3/

Cologne Cathedral

   



Clip; http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/292/gallery/ (end clip) 8/30/11

Clip; "The mother of all churches in Germany" began its gothic themed construction in 1248 and was not fully completed until 1880. The design of the church was inspired by the Aachen Cathedral and the strong faith in European Christianity. The building started out as a priviate house of worship for prayer goers, when religous freedom was declared it was enlarged to the cathedral it is today. During WWII it was hit 14 times from air-raids and was left severly damaged, reconstruction started in 1948 and was not completed until 1956. (end clip) http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/292/ 8/30/11

UNESCO website: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/292/

I chose to compare two cathedrals because the beauty and grand-ness of cathedrals i have always found amazing and a piece of art. After reading, researching, and comparing the two I thought that the Cologne Cathedral stood out more due to its gothic appearence, more so than Aachen Cathedral. Although both are gothic churches, they also are located in the same state in Germany, AND Aachen was inspiration for Cologne, Cologne is more recently built with such a largness that is wonderful to look at.