The little things Hitler ruined... (1 Viewer)

Napoleon1er

Napoleon1er

2nd Lieutenant
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Hi,
I was just thinking about all of the little things that became associated with Hitler and are no longer "acceptable" to use/etc.... Because the regime used music/art/images/traditions that were rooted in classical culture, many of these great things have become taboo. Here is my list, but feel free to share your own:

The Roman/Napoleonic salute. Yes, this is the one where you stick out your arm. It was has been used as a symbol of allegiance and honor since ancient times, and is a quite natural gesture (try it), but because he used it, I can no longer salute Napoleon in public{sm0}.

Deutsche Nationalhymne. This beautiful song was first written by Hayden as the Austrian National Anthem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JTsLGAbdao
then became the tune for "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrHI3ATW9Co&feature=related
then became Germany's national anthem under Bismark, and was then used by Hitler. It is still the anthem today, but with lyrical alterations because the line "Deuchland uber alles", or "Germany over all" seems to Hitler, though in fact it means a unifyed German sate over all the smaller German sates. You can here the whole thing here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAK23saAI1I.
From my experience, many German people are afraid of their own anthem. If I hum the melody, somebody always asks me why I am humming Hitler's anthem, which is such a pity.

The Swastika. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

The work of Caspar David Friedrich. Until recently he was associated with Nazis because they used his art as propaganda, simply because of his Nationalism in the resistance to Napoleon. He was a great man, and he is my favorite non-French painter. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_David_Friedrich

So does anyone have another?
-Sandor:salute::
 
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And you can't wear a toothbrush mustache anymore, either. Those used to be the guys who got all the girls, but since 1945...
 
Actually, regarding the German national anthem....

The lyrics are a poem by Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, written in 1841, as the national movement was rising, and the idea that all Germans should be united in a single state was a cause of many liberals (ie, those who favored republican democracies to replace the old monarchies). (Belief in a national state encompassing all who speak the same language and share a common culture was not unique to the Germans, by the way). It expressed the idea that Germany, the language and culture, should be foremost in the minds of all Germans--an idea that was treason, by the way, to all of the kings, princes, dukes, etc, in the German lands. That is the meaning of the first verse (lyrics unchanged, by the way, just not sung at official events).

The second verse extols the beauty of German wine, women and song. The third verse, which is the verse used by the Federal Republic as its anthem, is a prayer for unity, justice and freedom for Germany, which, from the perspective of 1841, existed nowhere where German was spoken (except in immigrant neighborhoods here in the States).

Sometimes I get to use my major in German.....


Prost!
Brad
 
Arnhemjim said:
Would certainly add Teutonic Runes and the Totenkopf (as opposed to the 'motto' of the British 17th Lancers) to your list.
Click to expand...

Very good point about the Totenkopf, Jim. Alongside the version of the emblem that the SS used, there was the traditional badge used by the successor units to the old Brunswick infantry regiments, who wore the badge since Waterloo. The SS, and the panzer version, too, were close to the style worn by the Leibgarde-Husaren of the old Imperial Army. And the death's head as a religious emblem had a history that pre-dated the Nazis' use. It was used to adorn the base of a crucifix, for example, as a memento mori, a reminder of our death, our mortality. GIs occupying Germany after the war often mistook this emblem as a sign of the owner's political affiliation.

Prost!
Brad
 
I haven't come across any kids named "Adolf" in the last couple of decades . . .
 
theBaron said:
Very good point about the Totenkopf, Jim. Alongside the version of the emblem that the SS used, there was the traditional badge used by the successor units to the old Brunswick infantry regiments, who wore the badge since Waterloo. The SS, and the panzer version, too, were close to the style worn by the Leibgarde-Husaren of the old Imperial Army. And the death's head as a religious emblem had a history that pre-dated the Nazis' use. It was used to adorn the base of a crucifix, for example, as a memento mori, a reminder of our death, our mortality. GIs occupying Germany after the war often mistook this emblem as a sign of the owner's political affiliation.

Prost!
Brad
Click to expand...

Ah, the Brunswickers! Cool unit, just wish they didn't eat Rifle, the pet dog of the 95th. Wrote a report about a painting of a Brunswick hussar about to rape someone at the Duchess of Richmond's ball. The Totenkopf is defiantly one to add, as is German classical music such as Wagner's.
 
But yeah; names and mustaches really got it, though I saw 3 guys in Germany with toothbrush mustachios!
 
His sofa!!! Blood stains are just so hard to get out!!!!
Mitch
 
Didn't do much for that whole blackshirt, brownshirt thing as far as the fashion industry is concerned. -- Al
 
lancer said:
Didn't do much for that whole blackshirt, brownshirt thing as far as the fashion industry is concerned. -- Al
Click to expand...

I note when a company gives out shirts to employees, the salary folks get polo shirts and the hourly folks get Ts. Imagine Hitler in a polo and the SA in Brown Ts.
 
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