German Territory Research Articles

Of Hypocrites, Whores, and Holy Animal Bones. Polemical Comparisons and the Invective Mode in Early Reformation Disputes

This article aims to illustrate how a pervasively invective mode of communication was pivotal for early Reformation disputes. For this purpose, it explores, first, specific techniques of polemical comparison used in invective communication. Second, it analyses the relation between a broader transregional public discourse and debates at the local level. Some of the sources examined in this article, for instance a handwritten pasquinade whose anonymous author fiercely criticized a Franciscan preacher, as well as a creatively adapted letter of indulgence, are new to Reformation research. The objective here is to outline decisive and entangled aspects of (semi-)public communication between 1520 and 1524. In order to do so, I focus on the beginning of early Reformation conflicts, their ongoing volatility, and their performative zenith, along the border of two of the most important German territories at the time—the Ernestine Electorate and the Albertine Duchy of Saxony.

Active Volcanoes, Active Imaginations: Fire-Spitting Mountains and Subterraneous Roars in the German Territories in the Summer of 1783

Abstract In the summer of 1783, a sulphuric, dry fog that lasted for several weeks covered much of Europe. As a result, the sun, moon and other celestial objects appeared 'blood-red'. Speculation in Europe was rife as to the cause of this unusual weather. In Iceland, the Laki fissure had erupted; from June 1783 to February 1784, it released the greatest volume of lava of any eruption on planet Earth in the last millennium. The ejected gases travelled to Europe and beyond via the jet stream. Unaware of the Icelandic eruption, some contemporaries from the German Territories hypothesised that the dry fog emanated from a local source, namely one or more supposed German volcanoes. This paper traces the reports of these 'eruptions' from the perspective of environmental history and presents translations of pertinent newspaper articles that have, for the most part, remained unstudied, in order to evaluate the possible reasons for the emergence of this idea.

Safe from Harm? Massive Attack Nuclear Worst-Case Scenario for Civil Protection in Germany Regarding High-Risk Zones of Exposure, Vulnerability, and Safe Havens

New risk geographies are emerging with war and conflict resurfacing, including nuclear threats. This poses challenges to civil protection for conducting risk-informed preparedness planning. A spatial assessment of Germany and Europe is conducted using a geographic information system. Buffer circles of nuclear explosion effects and fallout buffers show potentially exposed areas around major cities. Different scenarios indicate shrinking areas safe from exposure. However, even in a densely populated country, rural areas and smaller cities can be identified that could provide sites for evacuation shelters. Changing wind directions poses a challenge for civil protection planning because fallout risk covers most German territory even when few cities are attacked. However, wind speeds and topography can help identify suitable shelter areas. More knowledge about the temporal development of a nuclear explosion and its specific forms of harm can also help to improve risk knowledge and planning. While nuclear warfare at first seems to render useless any option for safe areas and survival, the spatial risk assessment shows that exposure does not occur at all places at all times. Being safe from harm will be difficult in such a worst-case scenario, but avoiding large city perimeters and being informed can also help reduce risk.

German Contributions to Solving the Longitude Problem in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

The attempts to find a solution to the longitude problem have been in the forefront of the discussion about the history of navigation in recent decades. However, pamphlets or serious works dealing with the problem of longitude in the German language, by German authors and/ or published in the German territories have been previously overlooked. This article examines the numerous German contributions, both serious and cranky, that were produced in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The early works on longitude in the German territories, most of them published by authors far from the sea and in general not connected to shipping, did not have any impact on German navigational literature, even when written by such eminent scientists as Leibniz and Euler. They can be viewed today, though, as another example of how scientific and practical problems were discussed and worked on in wider European scientific circles.

Migration flows and the future of democracy and world order

This paper summarizes the major themes of my current monograph project and my recent co-edited volume on post-Kantian perfectionism. The central thesis is that Kant’s critique of rational heteronomy in the Groundwork effectively ruled out certain types of perfectionist ethics and their corresponding political applications, notably the programmes of Christian Wolff and his school, which were dominant in the German territories in the mid- to late eighteenth century. Kant’s critiques did not, however, preclude the emergence of a new type of perfectionism, no longer based on the state-sponsored promotion of eudaimonia or material, intellectual, and spiritual thriving, but on the advancement of freedom and the conditions for its exercise. Predicated on the idea of right, post-Kantian perfectionism focuses on maintaining and enhancing the juridical, political, and economic conditions for rightful interaction among self-defining individuals. Humboldt, Schiller, Fichte, Hegel, and the Hegelian School exemplify this new approach in different ways. Marx’s problematic relation to this tradition is outlined.

Leveraging web search data to explore public interest in psoriasis in Germany

AbstractBackgroundLittle is known about what people are interested in when they search the web for psoriasis. The monitoring of online search behaviour allows the assessment of interest in a disease on a more representative level by including people outside of medical settings.ObjectivesThis study aims to reveal relevant aspects regarding psoriasis for people consulting the web.MethodsGoogle Ads Keyword Planner was used to select and evaluate relevant German keywords for ‘psoriasis' in the study period from September 2016 to August 2020 on German territory. All keywords were qualitatively reviewed and descriptively analysed in 11 categories. One‐way analysis of variance, Welch test and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used to assess differences within Germany, annual search volumes and seasons.ResultsOverall, 11,170,740 German language Google searches on the topic of psoriasis were made. In the general category, the most commonly searched disease aspect was related to the possible contagiousness of psoriasis (n = 122,040). ‘Head’ (51.1%), followed by ‘nails’ (15.9%), ‘hands’ (8.8%), ‘feet’ (7.8%), and ‘genital/anal area’ (6.1%), was the most frequently searched for localization. Pustular forms of psoriasis were overrepresented in the search volume. Almost half of the search terms for therapy were represented by keywords related to alternative care and phytotherapy, while less than 1% related to biologics. Differences between the federal states for search volume on treatment options (p < 0.001) and between annual search volumes (p < 0.001) were found.ConclusionsQueries on pustular forms and difficult‐to‐treat areas gained high online interest, which suggests higher disease impact or underdiagnosis. The high interest in alternative therapy options suggests possible therapy dissatisfaction, lack of patient information or lack of access to guideline‐conform therapy options. The possible infectiousness of psoriasis seems to remain an issue in the general population and should be addressed accordingly.

Fulda Gap: A board game, West German society, and a battle that never happened, 1975–85

This article explores the reception of the American-made board game Fulda Gap: The First Battle of the Next War in the Federal Republic of Germany in the early 1980s. The German peace movement used the game, which depicted conventional, chemical, and nuclear war on German territory, as a potent symbol of what they believed to be American and NATO disregard for German lives and sovereignty. The controversy over the game reflected the changing character of German-American relations during the ‘Second Cold War’ and increasing concerns among Germans about the possible consequences of superpower conflict in Central Europe.

Ghostly Presences: Heritage, Ruination and Fixing the National Landscape in Pomerania After 1945

ABSTRACT The article examines the process of cultural adaptation of resettled persons concerning the cultural landscape and heritage. It is based on the example of the formerly German territories annexed to Poland after World War II (the Recovered Territories). The author analyses, how the unfamiliar elements of the cultural landscape were culturally reinterpreted and handled by the authorities and the new inhabitants. She focuses on the inscriptions of everyday use and studies their handling as spatial practices of resettlement which redefine ownership, belonging, and the past of the resettled territory (the arrival into the territory, stripping the landscape of the marks of its former identity, and imposing a new national identity). The study covers both top-down and bottom-up strategies of spatial adaptation analyzing them as instances of symbolic and physical violence inflicted on the past identity of the territory. The main forms of such violence, cultural reconstruction of heritage and physical ruination, had the effect of integrating the elements of the pre-resettlement culture into the post-resettlement one as ghostly presences: its illegible and subversive elements.

Implementing the Reichsbürgergesetz: Registration, Statistics, and the Deportations of German Jews

Abstract This article reconsiders the process by which Jews were excluded from the National Socialist state in the 1940s by analysing its administrative preconditions. It focuses on the identification of those individuals in the ‘Altreich’—pre-war German territory—who were defined as Jewish or of ‘mixed blood’ by the 1935 Reichsbürgergesetz (Reich Citizenship Law). Due to the prior absence of criteria, the number and identities of this group were unknown to the authorities. After summarizing historiographical discussions about the involvement of statisticians in the identification and registration of German Jews, this article argues that the hitherto neglected Volkskartei (People’s Card Index) was as important for the localization of Germany’s Jews prior to the deportations as the 1939 census was for their identification. Only the coordinated interaction of both devices made it possible to aggregate and provide the required information to facilitate National Socialist deportations.

Police selection in Bavaria and in different German states

Aim: To extend the literature of the Hungarian Law Enforcement Science by studying and presenting the selection system of the Bavarian and other German territories.Methodology: The research was performed through collecting and analysing the English and German open sources and the relevant literature. On the other hand, a written structured interview with a Bavarian practitioner was performed, as well.Findings: The conclusion of the article is that the structure of police selection in Bavaria and in other German territories are based on similar principles, while the territorial particularities depending on different needs (e.g. duties and hiring) are taken into account.Value: The findings of this paper could provide knowledge for those specialists in Hungary who are responsible for this area. On the other hand, it can be used as a basis for deeper examinations. The findings can be compared with other countries’ practices, as well.

Consequences of the German Constitutional Court’s Ruling on Germany’s Foreign Intelligence Service: The Importance of Human Rights in the Cooperation of Intelligence Services

AbstractIn 2020, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court made a groundbreaking decision on foreign surveillance by the Federal Intelligence Service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND). The Court’s first central finding was that the protection of fundamental rights is not limited to German territory. In addition, the ruling declared unconstitutional the regulations governing the transfer of information to foreign intelligence services. The ruling will therefore also have consequences for the cooperation of intelligence services, making it relevant abroad as well. In the ruling, the Court focused primarily on the role of human rights and ruled that the BND must check whether its cooperation partners respect human rights. The German parliament was given the task of implementing the Court’s demands. The law adopted in response to the Court’s demands came into force at the start of 2022. This article analyzes the ruling and the new law, and addresses the question what concrete requirements must be placed on the BND’s cooperation with foreign intelligence services.

Lessons of the Cold War

Lessons of the Cold War

К вопросу о государственном устройстве Федеративной Республики Г ермания при принятии Основного закона 1949 г.

The article deals with the issues of state structure of the Federal Republic of Germany discussed in the process of adoption of the Basic Law of 1949. The author examines the constitutional and legal situation within which the Basic Law of the FRG was adopted, analyses in detail the ideas of leading constitutionalists on the issues of state structure that were discussed in the process of drafting the Basic Law of the FRG. Germany's partition was initiated by the West. Recently disclosed archive documents show that Germany's split was predetermined already in the course of the war at the meetings of the "Big Three" - the USSR, the USA and Britain. Then they were joined by France. The accusations that the Soviet Union was responsible for the split of that country are untrue. On the contrary, in the first post-war years, the Soviet government proposed free elections in both parts of Germany, on the condition that the united country would be neutral, that is, would not be part of any military blocs. The West rejected this proposal. The Soviet government has repeatedly stated that Germany must be seen as a single economic and political entity. The position of the Soviet Government is supported by the views of scholars of Soviet state law. The question of German state unity was widely discussed at that time in Soviet periodicals. Soviet scholars L. Bezymensky, B.S. Mankovsky, D. Melnikov, D. Monin, E. Tarle and I. Traynin were in favour of a united German state. On this basis, they concluded that the rejection of the political unity of Germany was directed against the democratic restructuring of the country. A dismemberment of Germany is in the interest neither of the German people, nor of the democratic countries of Europe. Only the re-establishment of a united Germany is in the interest of a lasting peace in Europe, consistent with the historical development of the country and the legitimate aspirations of the German people themselves. There were differences of opinion about the future state structure of Germany. The position of prominent Soviet jurists differed fundamentally from that of Western politicians and jurists. The Western allies were in favour of a federal Germany, while the Soviet scholars were in favour of a unitary form of government. Thus, Germany, divided first into four occupation zones, and then into American and Soviet zones of influence, which not only lost considerable territories, but also completely lost its international standing, ceased to exist as a unified nation state for many years. Two independent states, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, were created on German territory. There was a de facto split into two states, which found themselves in different military and political blocs. Since that time, all the aspirations of West and East Germans have been directed towards the unification of Germany and the reunification of the German people. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

Przestępstwa popełnione przez żołnierzy Armii Czerwonej na Środkowym Nadodrzu po zakończeniu II wojny światowej (1945–1946) w świetle repertoriów Prokuratury Sądu Okręgowego w Zielonej Górze

The western and northern territories of Poland (former German territory) were a troubled area in the few months after the end of the war. In the first post-war period, there were no stable power structures, including organs of justice and public order. The prevailing state of anarchy in this territory was the reason for an increase in crime. The perpetrators of crimes were not only civilian settlers but also Red Army soldiers stationed in the area. It should be emphasized that they often treated the territories of the western and northern territories as a conquered territory, and not as part of an allied state. The author presents the issue of post-war criminality in the Lubuskie Region (the so-called recovered territory), where the perpetrators were soldiers of the Red Army. This article was developed on the basis of the indexes of Prosecutor’s Office of the Regional Court in Zielona Góra from 1945-1946. The prosecutor’s office of the Regional Court in Zielona Góra, like the Regional Court in Zielona Góra, started its operation in the early autumn of 1945. Initially, the judiciary and public order authorities in the Lubuskie Region were struggling with personnel and organizational problems typical of the post-war period, therefore their effectiveness in prosecuting and preventing crime was relatively low. Moreover, it should be remembered that the Red Army soldiers were not subject to the jurisdiction of Polish courts and the prosecutor’s office. Cases concerning crimes committed by Soviet soldiers, registered by the prosecutor’s office in Zielona Góra, were transferred to the Military Prosecutor’s Office of the Red Army in Poznań.

Between Hegemony and Federalism. The Prussian Plans to Create the North German Imperial Confederation in the Summer of 1806

The article is focused on Prussian attempts to separate the North German territories from the rest of the Holy Roman Empire during the summer months of 1806 with the aim of creating a North German Imperial Confederation under the Prussian protection. The reasons behind the possible foundation of the North German Imperial Confederation as well as the journalistic activities around this Prussian project are also in the centre of attention. The structure of the supposed North German Confederation are analyzed on the basis of plans and projects elaborated by the Prussian politicians and diplomats in July and August 1806. The deliberations over the joining to the Confederation were conducted by the Prussian government with the Electors of Hesse and Saxony as well as with the Hanseatic cities of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen which were supposed to become the major members of the Prussian-dominated North German state. The analysis has shown that the Prussian government considered the possible North German Imperial Confederation as thelegal successor of the Holy Roman Empire, with Habsburgs being replaced by the Hohenzollern dynasty. The Prussian claims on the inheritance of the Holy Roman Empire and on the hegemony in the Northern Germany were met with discontent on the part of Hesse and especially Saxony, which impelled the Prussian politicians to repeatedly modify their projects, adding more elements of federalism to them. Despite all the concessions, Prussia eventually failed to unite the Northern Germany under its protection. The reasons for this lie both in the separatism of the North German principalities and cities, and in inner inconsistency and crudity of the Prussian projects. France and Great Britain also impeded the Prussian plans since neither of them was interested in a separate North German state under Prussian control. Napoleon's refusal to support Prussia's attempts to unify the Northern Germany was used by the Prussian government as a pretext to declare war on France in October 1806 which ended with dramatic Prussian defeat. Despite the fact that the Prussian plans to create a North German Imperial Confederation in the summer of 1806 were never realized, this was one of the many possible ways of the evolution of the German statehood in the early 19th century. It was finally put into practice half a century later, in the form of the North German Confederation in 1866.

Collective actions for reconfiguration of urban space Biały Bór, Poland

Biały Bór is located in the former German territories that came to Poland after the Second World War. The almost complete replacement of the indigenous German and Jewish populations, initially by Polish and soon Ukrainian communities, was the result of the displacement of state borders by the eviction and relocation of millions of people. To do this, the authorities used certain strategies, which brought different approaches and constraints to local communities and urban spaces. The article considers the differences between the declared principles and the actual actions of the authorities in the context of “small stories” of all actors (national communities), as well as the tactics of indirect resistance of the local community to government pressure. Due to the remoteness of the place from the state center and due to its unanimity, the local community becomes the driving force of the spatial development of the city. And since the city is multicultural, the development of public spaces is influenced by the competitiveness (not confrontation) of two local communities. Therefore, the creation of public spaces is considered in the context of the rights of different groups to the city. This paper argues the conditions under which it is the collective actions of local communities that determine the change in the configuration of urban space.

Sanitary and medical services for german refugees from the occupied regions of Ukraine in 1943-1944.

Aim of the article. The article reveals the main aspects related to the organization of sanitary and medical services for ethnic Germans, exported by the Nazi authorities from the occupied regions of Ukraine in 1943-1944. Research methods. Problem-chronological, descriptive and comparative methods were used. Scientific novelty. Based on the involvement of a wide range of archival documents, for the first time in historiography, it was possible to highlight in detail one of the littleknown and at the same time essential subjects of the evacuation of ethnic Germans from the occupied Ukrainian regions in 1943-1944. Conclusions. The level of health care for German refugees depended mostly on the territory of their stay. At the first stage of the evacuation, the Nazi authorities were unable to pay due attention to this significant issue since many resources were at the Wehrmacht disposal. The negligent attitude of indeed responsible authorities to the evacuated ethnic Germans' problems also played an important role. Very significant changes in refugees' situation took place only after moving to German territory in early 1944. Trying to prevent the mass spread of various infectious diseases among them, the Nazi administration was forced to take several urgent measures (such as disinfection, quarantine, and vaccination), which helped stabilize the sanitary and epidemiological situation gradually.

Impact of land management on available water capacity and water storage of peatlands

Peatlands around the world have been drained for agriculture and forestry practices over the last century, leading to carbon loss, water loss, and soil degradation. Soil available water capacity (AWC, the amount of water a soil can provide for plants) is one of the most important soil properties regulating the water balance and plays a pivotal role in plant growth. Compared to most mineral soils, our understanding of the impact of land management on the AWC (applies to the root zone of 0.7 m) and water storage of peat (the amount of water that is stored over the whole peat profile) is limited. In this study, we aimed to deduce possible alterations of the AWC and water storage of peat following peatland drainage and rewetting. We analyzed a comprehensive dataset (676 measurements from boreal and temperate peatlands) to seek relations between bulk density (BD) as a proxy for soil degradation, and field capacity, wilting point as well as AWC. The analyses showed that the AWC increases with BD up to a value of 0.2 g cm−3, and a further increase in BD leads to a considerable decrease in AWC. The function between BD and AWC enables to upscale the AWC to a regional scale using readily available peat BD data. The average AWC of agricultural peatlands in Germany was estimated to be 37.8 ± 11.3 vol% (mean ± standard deviation). Currently, the average water storage of agricultural peatlands in Germany is approximately 19.3 km3 (1.3 m3 per m2), which is less than half of the overall water storage in the natural peatlands in Germany prior drainage (39.6 km3). The conversion of pristine peatlands into agricultural land through artificial drainage resulted in a water storage loss of approximately 20.3 km3, which roughly corresponds to 27 times the volume of the lake Müritz (largest lake entirely within German territory). We conclude that several decades of peatland rewetting would have a limited role in water storage recovery due to a substantial peat thickness loss prior rewetting and low porosity of (formerly) degraded peat.

‘Conducting his own Campaigns’: Evelyn Waugh and Propaganda

Abstract This essay examines Evelyn Waugh as practitioner and critic in the field of wartime propaganda. In 1941, Waugh produced a fictitious account of a British Commando raid on German territory in North Africa for publication in Britain and the United States, an episode which reveals his skill as a propagandist, but also prompts scrutiny of his contacts with British propaganda agencies and agents and of the effect of propaganda on his writings. Waugh’s interwar fiction exhibits a sophisticated understanding of the evolving and growing power of modern propaganda, but the novels also anticipate the public relations and psychological warfare campaigns of the Second World War, specifically those carried out by the Political Warfare Executive (PWE), a secret service established in 1941 to produce and coordinate propaganda to enemy and occupied Europe. Waugh’s proximity to the PWE is suggested by a dense network of social and professional connections, and is further indicated by a series of references to the PWE and its work which I have uncovered in his fiction. Allusions to covert propaganda in Put Out More Flags and the Sword of Honour trilogy betray Waugh’s understanding of the PWE’s operations, but also provide a critique of the corrosive and unforeseen effects of information warfare waged by the secret state and offer a productive means of re-examining his much-noted anxieties regarding modernity and mid-century political change.

A Német Szövetség váltójogi jogalkotása és annak hatása az Osztrák Császárságra és a Magyar Királyságra

Among the 19th century’s European legislative and codification processes nowadays’ jurisprudence is happy to highlight the creation of civil codes as a milestone in the development of civil law, however, we must not forget the flourishing of another, at least as important branch of private law: the commercial law. In parallel with the growth of overland and sea trade, with increasingly diversified commercial relations, commercial transactions developed, which may have served as a good basis for the development of private law. This study is the first in a series of commercial law history studies and presents the sources of different laws on bills of exchange in the German territories and the harmonizing legislation of the thousand-faced German Confederation, as well as its impact on the Austrian Empire, such as the Austrian law on bills of exchange and the Hungarian Kingdom's vicious, but ultimately rewarding independent legislative aspirations.