Berlin School Research Articles

The National Family: Allegory and Femininity in a Festspiel from 1880

This essay analyzes a Sedan Day pageant, written by Johanna Siedler and celebrated at a girls' school in Berlin in 1880. Although Sedan Day celebrations were common in imperial Germany, Siedler's pageant is unique in providing roles for women and girls to play. The pageant models an emotional relationship between young women and the state, whereby girls take on allegorical roles that embody the virtues and the historical and cultural continuity of the German nation. The pageant's language-that of love and duty, longing and national belonging-coupled with the discursive role of the young women's bodies on the stage demonstrate how nationalism was gendered in imperial Germany and how schools as institutions of the nation state integrated women into the nation. The girls learn that, in order to lay claim to their own Germanness, they must align their private feelings with their role as delineated in the textual and symbolic discourse of nation. (JA)

Religious Education in Response to Changing Times Congregation Adass-Isroel Religious School in Berlin

AbstractDuring the 19th century, various frameworks were established in Germany for the purpose of providing Jewish students with religious education. The article deals primarily with the orthodox Congregation Adass-Isroel Religious School. Established in 1869 in Berlin, the school had a major impact on the development of supplementary religious instruction throughout Germany and served as a model in this area. The school's background, history, basic principles and method of instruction, as well as study subjects (Hebrew, Bible, Talmud, Religious instruction, History) are discussed and compared to corresponding religious schools. Research is based on the school's annual reports, archival material, scholarly literature, memoirs, and newspapers.

WOLFGANG FRANKE IN MEMORIAM

Wolfgang Franke (Fu Wukang 1.f:g.*), late Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Hamburg, passed away unexpectedly of heart failure, on September 6, 2007. A few months earlier he had celebrated his 95th birthday in a small circle of family and friends, and in spite of his advanced age, he proved to be on top of things even if he had become a bit hard of hearing lately. Wolfgang Franke was born on July 24, 1912, in Hamburg where his father, the sinologist Otto Franke (1863-1946),1 held a chair of Chinese Studies at the newly established Colonial Institute (later merged with the University of Hamburg); it was the first such chair in Germany. As his father accepted the sinological professorship at the University of Berlin in 1923, Wolfgang Franke went to school and university both in Hamburg and Berlin. As the family had many Chinese friends Otto Franke had not only spent thirteen years in China, for several years he was also councilor in the Chinese legation in Berlin -Wolfgang became intrigued by China and decided to study Chinese. His main teacher was Fritz Jager (1886-1957),2 himself a disciple of Otto Franke, and his successor at the University of Hamburg. Wolfgang Franke's doctoral thesis (1935) dealt with Kang Youwei's political reform plans,3 a subject suggested to him by his father. He went to China afterwards and became a staff member of the Deutschland-Institut (German Institute) which had been established by Cheng Shoulin (Zheng Shoulin J~~ M) in 1931 as a forum f~r cultural relations and interaction

Does physical education modify the body composition? - Results of a longitudinal study of pre-school children

The aim of the study is the analysis of body composition, motor development and cardiovascular parameters of preschool-children. In 2001/2002 a longitudinal study started in 17 nursery schools in Berlin. A total of 160 children out of the 264 children participated in a regular exercise programme. After 24 months of training significant differences of body composition, motor skills and cardiovascular parameters between 5 complete year old children of the intervention and the control group were observed. The results show that such an exercise programme is successful as a preventive measure to decrease the risk of obesity.

Berlin School of Mind and Brain

Berlin School of Mind and Brain

"Sustenance for the Learned Soul": The History of the Oriental Printing Press at the Publishing House of the Jewish Free School in Berlin

"Sustenance for the Learned Soul": The History of the Oriental Printing Press at the Publishing House of the Jewish Free School in Berlin

The Berlin School of Logical Empiricism and its Legacy

What has become generally known as the Berlin School of Logical Empiricism constitutes a philosophical movement that was erected on foundations laid by Albert Einstein. His revolutionary work in physics had a profound impact on philosophers interested in scientific issues, prominent among them Paul Oppenheim and Hans Reichenbach, the founding fathers of the school, who joined in viewing him as their hero among philosopher–scientists. Overall the membership of this school falls into three groups. The founding generation was linked by the circumstance that both Grelling and Reichenbach were collaborators of Oppenheim; the middle generation by the fact that both Hempel and Helmer were students of Reichenbach’s in Berlin; and the younger generation by the fact that all of its members were students and (at least in their early years) disciples either of Reichenbach’s or of Hempel’s in the USA. Three stages are at issue: an initial phase in Berlin, a transatlantic migration, and a continuation in the U.S.A.—principally in Pittsburgh.

Fitness as ‘social heritage’: a study of elementary school pupils in Berlin

Health and fitness among children and adolescents is a subject currently receiving public attention. This article focuses on the fitness of German pupils (third and fourth grades) in five schools in Berlin with widely differing social catchment areas as well as children from differing social backgrounds. Besides an orthopaedic examination and measurements of height and weight, we tested the children’s motor skills. In addition, a survey was carried out among pupils and their parents. For this purpose, questionnaires were developed which, besides furnishing demographic data, also provided information on attitudes towards the issue of sport and health as well as on sporting activities. In this contribution, we concentrate on the influence of parents and schools on the fitness and motor competencies of the children. The results of the test and the survey clearly showed correlations between the fitness level of the pupils and the education level of the parents. According to our results, fitness and physical skills are, at least to a certain extent, socially inherited. The fitness differences found in the different schools can be explained partly by the different social back ground of the children, but differences in facilities and provisions have also to be taken into consideration. Children who participated in a special programme and visited classes with an emphasis on physical education had a better fitness than pupils in ‘normal classes’. However, most of the children in these special classes were from a middle-class background.

"Sustenance for the Learned Soul" The History of the Oriental Printing Press at the Publishing House of the Jewish Free School in Berlin

"Sustenance for the Learned Soul" The History of the Oriental Printing Press at the Publishing House of the Jewish Free School in Berlin

Marlies Teichmüller (1914-2000): A Successful Woman Geologist and the Berlin School of Organic Petrology

Marlies Teichmüller, née Köster (1914 Herne-2000 Krefeld), was one of the few women geologists in Germany who as early as the 1940s had a successful scientific career. To accomplish this unusual career path various prerequisites had to be met. Besides a strong character and talent, the support of her family proved to be crucial. Her childhood that was troubled by the early death of her father, her and her sisters' upbringing as half-orphans and her schooling probably played a major role in her decision making process. The influence of her teachers during her student years at the University of Berlin as well as her marriage to a scientist in a related field are considered to have been most important for her later scientific success. Their shared knowledge and many decades of lasting cooperation led to completely new insights in the field of organic petrology. In addition we emphasize her accomplishments in improving communication between the German and the American scientific traditions in the field of coal studies.

Julius Bernstein (1839–1917): pioneer neurobiologist and biophysicist

Julius Bernstein belonged to the Berlin school of "organic physicists" who played a prominent role in creating modern physiology and biophysics during the second half of the nineteenth century. He trained under du Bois-Reymond in Berlin, worked with von Helmholtz in Heidelberg, and finally became Professor of Physiology at the University of Halle. Nowadays his name is primarily associated with two discoveries: (1) The first accurate description of the action potential in 1868. He developed a new instrument, a differential rheotome (= current slicer) that allowed him to resolve the exact time course of electrical activity in nerve and muscle and to measure its conduction velocity. (2) His 'Membrane Theory of Electrical Potentials' in biological cells and tissues. This theory, published by Bernstein in 1902, provided the first plausible physico-chemical model of bioelectric events; its fundamental concepts remain valid to this day. Bernstein pursued an intense and long-range program of research in which he achieved a new level of precision and refinement by formulating quantitative theories supported by exact measurements. The innovative design and application of his electromechanical instruments were milestones in the development of biomedical engineering techniques. His seminal work prepared the ground for hypotheses and experiments on the conduction of the nervous impulse and ultimately the transmission of information in the nervous system. Shortly after his retirement, Bernstein (1912) summarized his electrophysiological work and extended his theoretical concepts in a book Elektrobiologie that became a classic in its field. The Bernstein Centers for Computational Neuroscience recently established at several universities in Germany were named to honor the person and his work.

The case of the Jewish High School in Berlin: a denominational school dealing with diversity

The following contribution deals with the conception of Jewish schools in Germany. With regard to the British debate about state funding for religious schools, current developments in the Jewish educational system in Germany will be presented. After this, the constitutional framework for the establishment of denominational schools in Germany will be analysed. The second and major part of the article deals, as a case study, with the Jewish High School in Berlin, which is the only Jewish secondary school in contemporary Germany. In an empirical qualitative approach, the desires and expectations of the pupils in their religious education take centre stage. Before moving to the empirical study, an overview of the history of the Jewish High School, its re‐establishment in 1993 and a profile of the pupils and the school will be provided, in order to understand the special character of this school. The conclusion in the last part raises the question of new directions emerging from a Jewish school which has pupils who are heterogeneous culturally, religiously and socially and which does not react with a strategy of cultural preservation, but with a policy of inter‐religious dialogue.

STORKS AND OSTRICHES: AN EARLY PARODY OF STRAUSS'S ‘ARIADNE AUF NAXOS’

The name of the conductor Max Conrad is hardly one to conjure with. He admitted as much himself in the first paragraph of his memoirs, published in 1956: To be sure, I was born in Berlin, as was [Bruno Walter]; he attended the Askanische High School in Berlin – as did I; he left it without finishing his school leaving certificate – as did I; he studied music with teachers from the Stern Conservatory – as did I; and he soon became famous – and I … oh dear, now it becomes irregular, like a Greek verb …For more than 30 years, Conrad (1872–1963) played a major role in the operatic life of Zurich. In the greater scheme of things, this might perhaps be regarded as of little significance, for Zurich's was then but a theatre in the outer provinces of the German-speaking world. Nor did Conrad achieve recognition by conducting important premières there, as did other men (such as Robert F. Denzler, who conducted the world premières of Hindemith's Mathis der Maler and Berg's Lulu in the 1930s, or Hans Rosbaud, who conducted the staged première of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron in 1957). Conrad did train the flower maidens for the first (legal) performance of Wagner's Parsifal outside Bayreuth, given in Zurich in 1913 – but the première itself was conducted by the chief kapellmeister, Lothar Kempter. To be sure, Conrad did conduct the world première of the revised version of Othmar Schoeck's fine expressionist opera Penthesilea in 1928; but that is hardly enough to ensure anyone posthumous fame.

Contested Namesakes: East Berlin School Names under Communism and in Reunified Germany

Within weeks and months of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, numerous busts and portraits of school namesakes disappeared from the foyers, hallways, and “tradition rooms” (Traditionszimmer) of East Berlin schools and were relegated to trash bins. In 1990 municipal authorities formalized this spontaneous purge of school identities by eliminating the names of all schools in eastern Berlin. Over the course of the 1990s administrators, teachers, and students in the newly restructured schools began to discuss a wide range of new school identities.

Körperliche und motorische Entwicklung von Kindern unterschiedlicher sozialer Herkunft

The aim of the study is the analysis of body composition and motor development of 3 years old children due to their social status. In 2001/2002 a longitudinal study started in 17 nursery schools in Berlin. The results of the first investigation on 224 children are demonstrated here. There are no differences in body development and body composition in 3 years old children due to the social level in Germany, there are, however, differences in motor development due to the social level. Children with a low social level had lower outcomes in all motor skills.

Introduction new developments in preeclampsia

Introduction new developments in preeclampsia

Introduction new developments in preeclampsia

Introduction new developments in preeclampsia

Varia: Deutsch-polnischer Jugendaustausch als Beitrag zu einer Europa-orientierten Erziehung

The author, starting from an attempt to define the essence of the European education and to describe the Polish-German rapprochement process from the late sixties until now discusses some effects (cognitive, emotional andthose related to outlook on life) resulting from meetings of German students with Poland and Polish people. A survey study conducted in one of the schools in Berlin were used to analyse the issue. The results show the importance of direct relations among representatives of two different countries. Such meetings create the chance to become acquainted with each other, to detect similarities and to feel the intimacy laying the ground to eliminating existing feelings of alienation or hostility. Consequently, such meetings contribute to dismantling common stereotypes. Youth exchanges allow diffusion of both cultures and and open the chance of observing domestic reality from one's distance.

Of red roofs and hunting horns: Mendelssohn's song aesthetic, with an unpublished cycle (1830)

Despite considerable progress in many areas of Mendelssohn research in recent decades, his approximately 135 solo songs still require a reappraisal. To date, the relatively few studies that have considered the songs either have approached them from the perspective of the highly dramatic song aesthetic cultivated by Schubert, Schumann, and most composers of the later nineteenth century, or have considered them purely in terms of musical style, treating them as modestly romanticized extensions of the song aesthetic of the so-called Second Berlin School (most prominently represented by Mendelssohn's teachers Carl Friedrich Zelter and Ludwig Berger). However, the determining factor for both Mendelssohn's song aesthetic and the later reception of his songs was neither an inherently nondramatic approach to the genre nor a historically outmoded musical aesthetic. It was, rather, a profound skepticism regarding the communicative abilities of verbal language and the firm belief in music's ability to communicate in a fashion that was both universal and consummately subjective-a view less consistent with the Enlightenment ideas of Hegel (who is typically cited as the source of Mendelssohn's song aesthetic) than with the more romantic perspective espoused by Schopenhauer. This interpretation is borne out by a comparison of the text/music relationships in a well-known Mendelssohn Lied ("Ferne," Op. 9 no. 9) and those in an extraordinarily dramatic unpublished song cycle composed in 1830.

Körper, Geist und Seele? Historische Akzente und aktuelle Schulpraxen eines klassischen Bildungsprogramms

No AccessKörper, Geist und Seele? Historische Akzente und aktuelle Schulpraxen eines klassischen BildungsprogrammsChristine LostChristine LostSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:Jan 2019https://doi.org/10.7788/bue.2001.54.3.317SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail About Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Download book coverVolume 54Issue 3September 2001 ISSN: eISSN: HistoryPublished online:January 2019 PDF download