Oppositional Political Identity in the Song Culture of the Vormärz and the 1848 Revolution in Germany

Historically political song has often been perceived negatively, as a disturbance of the peace, summed up by the legendary line from Goethe’s Faust: “Politisches Lied – ein garstiges Lied”. In the period in Germany of the Vormärz (from 1815 up to the revolution of March 1848), however, we see how this perception may be changing as it increasingly becomes a means of self-expression in public life. This was the era of restauration, in which broader sections of German society are striving for political emancipation from the princes and kings. A whole host of political themes emerge in the songs (Freiheitslieder) of that period in which a new oppositional political consciousness is reflected. The themes range from freedom of speech, freedom from censorship, and the need for democratic and national self-determination to critiques of injustice and hunger, and parodies of political convention and opportunism. Sources of reception give indications about the social and political milieus in which these songs circulated. Such sources include broadsheets, handwritten manuscripts, song collections, commemoration events, advertisements in political press, memoires, police reports and general literature of the time. In many cases we see how these songs reflect the emerging social and political identities of those who sing them. One also sees the use of well known melodies in the popular dissemination of these songs. An intertextual function of music often becomes apparent in the practice of contrefacture whereby melodies with particular semantic associations are used to either underline the message or parody the subject of the song.

Rationale for and implementation of age-neutral HRM in divergent institutional contexts–examples from Britain and Germany

Owing to demographic change as well as international and national pressures,
organisations will have to abandon oftentimes prevalent youth-centric HRM practices in favour of age-neutral HRM that is inclusive of the entire workforce, regardless of age. In order to do so, organisations turn to ‘best practice’ guides. These, however, do not tend to differentiate recommendations by country and/or sector. Based on research in eight case study organisations in the chemical, steel and retail sectors as well as in public schools in Germany and Britain, this chapter argues that the rationale for and the implementation of age-neutral HRM practices differ by national institutional and sectoral context as well as by the relative influence of social partners. Hence, organisations planning to implement age-neutral HRM should take organisational, institutional and sectoral peculiarities into account when doing so.

Notions of Conflict and 'New' Citizens' Inclusion:Post-Cosmopolitan Contestations in Germany

This chapter argues that there is a gap between symbolic exclusion from the national community when it comes to the inclusion of new German citizens of Turkish or Kurdish background, and a broad claim to be a cosmopolitan society, at large. While focusing on narratives of minority key political activists in Berlin, and analysing individual stories on the background of contemporary populist xenophobic debates and hate crime of the 1990s, the chapter illustrates both, individual success and vulnerability due to institutionalised forms of anti- Muslim and anti-Turks segments in Germany.

Changing Paradigms in Space Theories:Recapturing 20th Century Architectural History

The concept of space entered architectural history as late as 1893. Studies in art opened up the discussion, and it has been studied in various ways in architecture ever since. This article aims to instigate an additional reading to architectural history, one that is not supported by "isms" but based on space theories in the 20th century. Objectives of the article are to bring the concept of space and its changing paradigms to the attention of architectural researchers, to introduce a conceptual framework to classify and clarify theories of space, and to enrich the discussions on the 20th century architecture through theories that are beyond styles. The introduction of space in architecture will revolve around subject-object relationships, three-dimensionality and senses. Modern space will be discussed through concepts such as empathy, perception, abstraction, and geometry. A scientific approach will follow to study the concept of place through environment, event, behavior, and design methods. Finally, the research will look at contemporary approaches related to digitally supported space via concepts like reality-virtuality, mediated experience, and relationship with machines.

A European Culture War in the Twentieth Century? Antic-Catholicism and Anti-Bolshevism between Moscow, Berlin, and the Vatican 1922 to 1933

The term “culture war” has become a generic expression for secular-catholic conflicts across nineteenth-century Europe. Yet, if measured by acts of violence, anticlericalism peaked in the years between 1927 and 1939, when thousands of Catholic priests and believers were imprisoned or executed and hundreds of churches razed in Mexico, Spain and Russia. This essay argues that not only in these three countries, but indeed across Europe a culture war raged in the interwar period. It takes, as a case study, the interaction of communist and Catholic actors located in the Vatican, the Soviet Union, and Germany in the period between the beginning of the Pontificate of Pius XI in 1922 and Hitler’s appointment as chancellor of Germany in 1933. Using correspondence and reports from the Vatican archives, this essay shows how Papal officials and communist leaders each sought to mobilize the German populace to achieve their own diplomatic ends. German Catholics and communists gladly responded to the call to arms that sounded from Rome and Moscow in 1930, but they did so also to further their own domestic goals. The case study shows how national contexts inflected the transnational dynamics of radical anti-Catholicism in interwar Europe. In the end, agitation against “godlessness” did not lead to the return of a “Christian State” desired by many conservative Christians. Instead, the culture war further destabilized the republic and added a religious dimension to a landscape well suited to National Socialist efforts to reach a Christian population otherwise mistrustful of its völkisch and anticlerical elements.

Kinetics of the oxidation of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) by potassium permanganate

The occurrence of the fuel oxygenate methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in the environment has received considerable scientific attention. The pollutant is frequently found in the groundwater due to leaking of underground storage tanks or pipelines. Concentrations of more than several mg/L MTBE were detected in groundwater at several places in the US and Germany in the last few years. In situ chemical oxidation is a promising treatment method for MTBE-contaminated plumes. This research investigated the reaction kinetics for the oxidation of MTBE by permanganate. Batch tests demonstrated that the oxidation of MTBE by permanganate is second order overall and first order individually with respect to permanganate and MTBE. The second-order rate constant was 1.426 x 10(-6) L/mg/h. The influence of pH on the reaction rate was demonstrated to have no significant effect. However, the rate of MTBE oxidation by potassium permanganate is 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than of other advanced oxidation processes. The slower rates of MTBE oxidation by permanganate limit the applicability of this process for rapid MTBE cleanup strategies. However, permanganate oxidation of MTBE has potential for passive oxidation risk management strategies. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

‘Proficiscere, anima Christiana’: Gerontius and German mysticism

The popularity in Britain of Elgar's _The Dream of Gerontius_ was triggered by the successful reception of the work in Germany in December 1901 and May 1902. By examining some of the writings on Elgar by German critics in this period, I explain that what may have particularly have appealed to German audiences was the composer's engagement with mysticism, something that as well as being a distinct strand of German theology since medieval times had acquired a new popularity among German artists in a number of fields as part of a reaction to the materialism of Wilhelmine Germany. Through a reading of the work that takes into account both its Catholic theology and ideas of mysticism more generally, I propose that the two Parts of the work should be conceived as taking place simultaneously, rather than successively, and that the work is thus best understood as belonging to the genre of epic rather than drama. ©2013 The Royal Musical Association

Physician recommendation for invasive prenatal testing: the case of the 'precious baby'

Do clinicians manage pregnancies conceived by assisted reproductive technologies (ART) differently from spontaneous pregnancies?

Clinicians decisions about prenatal testing during pregnancy depend, at least partially, on the method of conception.

Research thus far has shown that patients decisions regarding prenatal screening are different in ART pregnancies compared with spontaneous ones, such that ART pregnancies may be considered more valuable or precious than pregnancies conceived without treatment.

In this cross-sectional study, preformed during the year 2011, 163 obstetricians and gynecologists in Israel completed an anonymous online questionnaire.

Clinicians were randomly assigned to read one of two versions of a vignette describing the case of a pregnant woman. The two versions differed only with regard to the method of conception (ART; n 78 versus spontaneous; n 85). Clinicians were asked to provide their recommendations regarding amniocentesis.

The response rate among all clinicians invited to complete the questionnaire was 16.7. Of the 85 clinicians presented with the spontaneous pregnancy scenario, 37 (43.5) recommended amniocentesis. In contrast, of the 78 clinicians presented with the ART pregnancy scenario, only 15 (19.2) recommended the test. Clinicians were 3.2 (95 confidence interval [CI]: 1.66.6) times more likely to recommend amniocentesis for a spontaneous pregnancy than for an ART pregnancy.

The study is limited by a low response rate, the relatively small sample and the hypothetical nature of the decision, as clinician recommendations may have differed in an actual clinical setting.

Our findings show that fertility history and use of ART may affect clinicians recommendations regarding amniocentesis following receipt of screening test results. This raises the question of how subjective factors influence clinicians decisions regarding other aspects of pregnancy management.

There was no funding source to this study. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.