NationStates Jolt Archive

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/26/wnazi26.xml

German pride slogan shamed by its Nazi past
(Filed: 26/11/2005)

A multi-million pound campaign to boost Germans' low self-confidence has backfired after it emerged that its slogan was first coined by the Nazis.

The £20 million Du Bist Deutschland - You Are Germany - campaign was devised to inspire Germans to stop moaning and do something good for their country.

Beethoven, Einstein and the sports stars Franz Beckenbauer and Michael Schumacher have been cited in advertisements encouraging Germans to take more pride in their homeland.

But a historian from Ludwigshafen has provoked an uproar with his discovery that the same Du Bist Deutschland cry was used at Nazi rallies in the 1930s.

Stefan Mörz uncovered photographs of a 1935 Nazi convention in which soldiers display a banner reading, in gothic script, Denn Du Bist Deutschland (Because You Are Germany). The slogan was topped with the head of Adolf Hitler. Leading Nazis such as Hermann Göring and Joseph Goebbels attended the event.

"Every time I see the slogan Du Bist Deutschland I am reminded of this rather disturbing parallel with the past," said Mr Mörz, a historian and archivist.

more at link.

Oops. I certainly hope Germany can come to grips with the past, and forge on into the future. A fine country, with interesting people who have no relation to Nazi Germany. All that fuss, caused by one Austrian...

Oops. I certainly hope Germany can come to grips with the past, and forge on into the future. A fine country, with interesting people who have no relation to Nazi Germany. All that fuss, caused by one Austrian...
Is that fair? I don't think it was all caused by Hitler. If not him, someone similar would have led the Nazis.

Lot of social/economic/cultural pus around back then, Hitler wasn't the architect of it!

That's pretty funny.

I wonder what's going to happen to the guy who thought up the slogan?

But, anyway, I think it's a bunch of shit over nothing and the Germans need to quit being big Naziphobes. Look at the US, we've had plenty of psycho leaders in the somewhat distant past (Andrew Jackson to pick a nonpolitically dividing example) who pissed all over entire ethnic groups (Trail of Tears, anyone?) and we still love 'em.

Hey look on the bright side, Germany has some great Piss videos! :rolleyes: :D

Go Germany! Truly a great country.:)

I wonder what's going to happen to the guy who thought up the slogan?

But, anyway, I think it's a bunch of shit over nothing and the Germans need to quit being big Naziphobes. Look at the US, we've had plenty of psycho leaders in the somewhat distant past (Andrew Jackson to pick a nonpolitically dividing example) who pissed all over entire ethnic groups (Trail of Tears, anyone?) and we still love 'em.

I, for one, despise Jackson. The main differences are that American anti-Native policies were nowhere near as brutal and massive as the Holocaust, and those policies weren't reviled throughout the world (heck, a lot of people copied us). Plus, the Nazis were much more recent; a lot of people still remember them. Heck, the Pope was part of the Hitler Youth (along with every other German boy of the right age).

I guess it'd be equivalent to the US unintentionally using a Ku Klux Klan motto, except that in Germany, the local KKK took over at one point.

I wonder what's going to happen to the guy who thought up the slogan?

But, anyway, I think it's a bunch of shit over nothing and the Germans need to quit being big Naziphobes. Look at the US, we've had plenty of psycho leaders in the somewhat distant past (Andrew Jackson to pick a nonpolitically dividing example) who pissed all over entire ethnic groups (Trail of Tears, anyone?) and we still love 'em.

So you are saying the Germans should start loving Hitler?

Hey look on the bright side, Germany has some great Piss videos! :rolleyes: :D

Go Germany! Truly a great country.:)

We should confiscate their schiess porn to teach them a lesson.

So you are saying the Germans should start loving Hitler?
Well, "they should get over their fear of him" is the message I'm getting...

Elgesh']Well, "they should get over their fear of him" is the message I'm getting...
Yes! A man/woman/thing who understands my own uniquee idiom of conversation.

Yes! A man/woman/thing who understands my own uniquee idiom of conversation.
'Thing' is good... I could be a bot, or a system glitch, or a monkey with a keyboard and lots of luck :D

I wanna be a monkey... <looks wistful>

Next on Sprockets. Germany's most disturbing home videos.

http://www.studip.uni-goettingen.de/pictures/smile/laughoutloud.gif

Hey look on the bright side, Germany has some great Piss videos! :rolleyes: :D
What are you talking about? :confused:

But, anyway, I think it's a bunch of shit over nothing and the Germans need to quit being big Naziphobes.
Meh, it's one way of dealing with it, and for the time being it works.

Sometimes people can take it too far though: http://www.deutsche-welle.de/dw/article/0,2144,1772659,00.html

Elgesh']Is that fair? I don't think it was all caused by Hitler. If not him, someone similar would have led the Nazis.
Some sort of radical leader, yes. But Hitler and Nazism was a bit of a unique movement.
Germans had a feeling of national identity, inspired by Hegel etc, but not to the extent (and with the racial aspect) Hitler created it.

Hey, the only thing I have against the nation of Germany is the god-awful quality of their "rock" music...just an embarassment.

so i lost my bet in the german thread saying that this were oin to come up in general only das after it got known in germany...well you took a hell lot longer. this is oooooold news ;)

seriously, though. there's a difference between the slogan "bein used at nazi rallies" (implying it was often and widely used) and there being "a photograph that shows a banner with it".

the way things are, this slogan was on one single banner on one single convention/rally, iiirc.

that does not constitute a "parallel" with the nazi past, or the slogan being "coined" by the nazis, or a reason to "be reminded of the shameful past" every time you hear it.

Hey, the only thing I have against the nation of Germany is the god-awful quality of their "rock" music...just an embarassment.
I bet you are really knowlegable on this particular field, right? :rolleyes:

what a stupid thing

should they stop using Autobahns simply because it was a Nazi policy(technically a Weimar idea as it first emerged 1927)

how about the Olympic games, lets remove the opening ceremony as it was the Nazis who first made a showcase out of it

election trails, Hitler pioneered using Air transport during election campaigns

fuck using Ford, BMW, Mini's, Porsche, Ferrari, VW after all , all of these companies had some connection to the nazis

:headbang:

In my opinion the more interesting thing to discuss would be how the reactions of the adressed people - the Germans are.
The people realized the origin of this slogan and were amused for the most part. But the background of this canvass was/is/should be to motivate the people to be more interested in their own country, to be a bit more patriotic.
This intention totally failed. Tenor is that most people find it more than ridiculous, unnecessary and arguing about the costs.
I mean what do the "politicians" expect?
Firstly they amputated the national pride efficiently for more than half a century and now they expect the people to love their country from one day to the other?
Yes, the Germans do have a problem with their nation. Try to discuss with a German about national pride. Say:"I am so proud to be American/English/whatever" the reply will be something like:
"Why? What did you do for being American/English/whatever? How can you be proud of something that you couldn't influence?"
You: "So I understand that you are not proud to be German?"
Answer: "No! I like to live here but I could imagine to live somewhere else, too".
Many Germans think this way. Under the circumstances this campaign is totally deadhearted, plain and simply. But who can expect his politicians to know the people's status of emotions? THAT is definitely a tall order! :(
(at least for these guys)