German Blog

The Spreewald is located between the counties of Spree-Neiße, Dahme-Spreewald and Oberspreewald-Lausitz. It is separated into the bigger Oberspreewald and the Northern, smaller Unterspreewald. Between both partial countryside’s areas the river Spree unites the parts in a small area in the city of Lübben, which is also the biggest town in the Spreewald. The Southern boarder of the Spreewald is the Lausitzer Grenzwall. In the North, the Lieberoser Heide marks the boarder in an impressive and recognizable way.
The Spreewald is also known for its famous Spree Wald Gurken (cucumbers) which have become very famous with the help of the West German economical and financial power after the unification. The city of Cottbus in the state of Brandenburg promotes the cucumbers that grow in the Spreewald in a very efficient way. The Spreewald County was able to promote its uniqueness and advantages within a newly developed tourist industry that has emerged in Germany and the rest of Europe in a very impressive way. There is actually a movement that cherishes the area of the Spreewald and promotes it throughout the rest of the country and the continent. The Spreewald is especially popular in Eastern Europe.

Even though the area of the Spreewald has to struggle with huge numbers of unemployment with percentages of over 20% in some areas, it benefits from the tourist industry that focuses on the myth and atmosphere that is connected with the Spreewald. The people are known as being stubborn, simple, but honest. The Spreewald was not as fortunate as the bordering state of Saxony which can present very successful industries and economical developments. Brandenburg and the Spreewald have become the Ruhrgebiet of East Germany. If anybody visits Germany and includes the usual destinations like the Oktoberfest or Heidelberg, I can only recommend seeing other parts of Germany as well, and the Spreewald should definitely be part of it.

Studying in Germany: What a paradise! It is free and you can go to any city you want to. That is at least the opinion I have heard from my fellow co-learners during my Master programs in the US. True, die Uni (the university) used to be free and now a small fee of between 500- 750 Euros per semester has been introduced, which almost caused a revolution among the students in Germany. There were numerous strikes and riots during the beginning phase of the new tuition law. I have always asked myself how a strike would have any kind of affect under these circumstances, but apparently it caused a lot of media coverage and resulted in some steps towards the students by the government.

Studying in Germany in my opinion is not half as much fun as it sounds like. During my degree in Germany I was in rooms with about 600 other students and the atmosphere was comparable to the one you would find in small stadiums or train stations. Needless to say there was not a lot of opportunity to actually learn something while in the physical university. Since the universities were so overcrowded, the goal seemed to be to get rid of as many students within the first years as possible. That caused the exams to be harder and sometimes misleading. On the other hand it raised the bar which was a positive aspect.

I did not really know many of my fellow learners in Germany and it was hard to actually find the familiar people or friends since there were just too many students in the building. Most of us had only part time jobs even through the Master phase of the program, while during my Master programs in the US I was studying with professionals with full time jobs, which was a very pleasant surprise since there was actual job experience in the room and people did something that was almost impossible in a German university: They talked to each other and had actual discussion.

I think it was important to have both experiences though. I would encourage every US student to take semester off and study in the country of their choice. It is a great opportunity and a lot aside from the actual life in the university can be learned.

The first time a German student is confronted with a foreign language in a class is between third and fifth grade depending on the individual school. The school system in Germany starts with the Grundschule (elementary school) from first to fourth grade. During those for years it will be determined which school a student will go to afterwards in the high school phase based on the performance shown. The lowest level is the Hauptschule, then the Realschule, and finally the Gymnasium. The newest form of education combines all three schools into one, which is called “Gesamtschule”.

What all school forms have in common is that the English language is taught in fifth grade which means that every German student will have be provided with English language skills. This is a mandatory class and one of the more important classes during a student’s life. The focus of this blog will be on the “Gymnasium” which has the highest percentage of the Germany students with 30% (2001). After two years of English the student has the chance to elect his second foreign language. In general the decision can be made between French and Latin. Again, the student has to choose one of the two. As a third option in 11^th grade many schools offer Spanish or Italian, which are non mandatory classes.

It becomes obvious that there is a very big focus on language skills within the German school system. There is also a current movement to start English in elementary school for everybody.

Almost every single school in Germany has a partnership with a school in other countries like the U.K, France, or Poland. There are many exchange programs offered and the classes have the opportunity to test there language skills with their fellow students from across the border. A lot of friendships have developed in this way and families actually apply for hosting exchange students and provide them with a temporary home during their usually week long stay.