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This paper explored the cultural and career transition experiences of two elite West African footballers in Germany using the approach of interpretive biography. By analysing data collected through semi--structured interviews, the players' narratives revealed a range of experiences emerging at different temporal points or life domains. The experiences included the psychosocial states of pre-transition, the challenges associated with language and weather, the increased demands of professionalism, the challenge of adapting to a new environment and routines of daily life, the superficiality of relationships and the attendant loneliness. It however, advanced literature by demonstrating how an African footballer in Europe may locate self and progress career within the European football economy and how a high-status African migrant athlete may use his social position to characterise self in a certain manner so as to exercise the right to belong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores several dimensions of the work and career of Kurt Leibbrand, often considered the most influential German urban transportation planner after 1945. It examines some key ideas prevalent in his publications, such as his advocacy of the priority of transportation planning, hostility to citizen participation in planning, and rejection of pedestrian zones. In assessing his status, the paper discusses his contributions to traffic plans for the cities of Basel, Mainz and Selb. The paper also examines some shifts in his career, including his move to the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in 1950 and his resignation there after his arrest for having ordered the murder of Italian volunteers in his army unit during the war. Leibbrand was convicted of manslaughter but not punished because the statute of limitations had expired. He continued to work as a consultant but did not again hold an academic position in the German-speaking world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article enhances the understanding of individual and school-related drivers of socialization connecting to trust in political institutions. Using data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016, the authors show that pupils in Germany report high levels of trust in political institutions that is reduced for pupils with international biographies, experiences of teacher unfairness, and in schools with a high proportion of pupils with international biography, as well as in academic tracks (Gymnasium). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biography of Johannes Brahms has been marked by a persistent web of myth regarding the circumstances of his childhood and upbringing, with some biographers basing their understanding of the man on these distorted events of his childhood. This paper examines the components of the myth, and a general description of the kind of research needed to come to a more realistic understanding of the life. The underlying point of the paper is a general discussion of how musicologists, historians, and scientists deal with the issue of "truth" and facts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented that describes the life of German analytical chemist Rolf Neeb. Born on January 7, 1929 in Mainz, Germany, Neeb was the only child of Arthur Neen and Anna. He attended a grammar school in a town near Oppenheim. In 1948, he started studying chemistry at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. After 1959, he had written a number of seminal papers about the development and application of stripping voltammetry. He died in Mainz on March 18, 2008.

The two brothers Julius and Adolf Hurwitz were born in the middle of the nineteenth century in a small town near Hanover (not far from Göttingen). Already during their schooldays, the two of them became acquainted with mathematical problems and both started to study mathematics, but while the younger brother Adolf turned out to be extremely successful in his research, the elder brother and his work seem to be almost forgotten. This paper examines the lives and works of the two brothers with particular emphasis on the contributions of Julius Hurwitz, and the subsequent reception of their research. It deals with the development of an arithmetical theory for complex continued fractions by Julius and Adolf Hurwitz around 1890 and its rediscovery in the twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modernity stands on the shoulders of ancestors. Their historical foundations support and inspire our today. In 19th century Germany, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was such a historical person. Hertz, a brilliant physicist, had the ability to integrate theoretical book knowledge with fundamental bench experimentation. Hertz's eclectic talents and research accomplishments ranged from drafting in architecture to meticulous manipulation of standard laboratory equipment often redesigned for his relentless curiosity (Buchwald 1994). He was the first to conclusively prove the existence of electromagnetic waves with precise experimental procedures and instrumentation he engineered to generate and detect waves (radio pulses) across space. His touchstone research verified Maxwell's theory and proved that all forms of electromagnetic radiation are propagated as waves at a finite velocity - the speed of light (Heinrich Hertz 2012). In recognition of his pivotal discoveries, Hertz's name is the universal synonym for frequency. Categorizing electroencephalographic (EEG) patterns by frequency is the primary emphasis of an EEG recording. The distribution of frequencies, amplitude, and polarity of electrocerebral potentials as recorded on the computer screen and/or graph paper result from numerous electrical fields of neuronal dipoles. Hertz's images drawn as the paper dipole remain the standard method for describing electrocerebral dipoles and the electrical fields of epileptiform activity recorded on a patient's electroencephalograph. Hertz's intended and inadvertent discoveries became the launch pad for numerous medical and media technologies. His former student Philipp Lenard won the 1905Nobel-Prize for Physics when he developed a version of the cathode tube and studied penetration by x-rays based on Hertz's cathode ray experiments in 1892. Additionally, Hertz did not pursue his ancillary discovery of the photoelectric effect in 1887. Albert Einstein would later explain features of the phenomenon and earn the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 (Photoelectric effect 2012). The gestation of Hertz's scientific discoveries has developed the comforts and pleasures of 21st century life. The electromagnetic spectrum spans from longest wavelength to shortest: radio waves, microwaves, infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-rays, and gamma-rays - all measured in Hz (Electromagnetic waves 2000). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper about the significant archaeological discoveries and life of Dr. Heinrich Schliemann is presented. It discusses his birth on January 6, 1822 and his early life in the town of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany. It details his travels and research in India, China, and Egypt. His research on the ancient city of Troy, Greece is also discussed.

In this paper, an optimization technique for medium-high frequency dynamic problems based on Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) method is presented. Using a SEA model, the subsystem energies are controlled by internal loss factors (ILF) and coupling loss factors (CLF), which in turn depend on the physical parameters of the subsystems. A preliminary sensitivity analysis of subsystem energy to CLF׳s is performed to select CLF׳s that are most effective on subsystem energies. Since the injected power depends not only on the external loads but on the physical parameters of the subsystems as well, it must be taken into account under certain conditions. This is accomplished in the optimization procedure, where approximate relationships between CLF׳s, injected power and physical parameters are derived. The approach is applied on a typical aeronautical structure: the cabin of a helicopter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A personal narrative is presented that discusses the author's experiences as a scholar studying the work of theologian Martin Luther, noting the influence of theologian Rudolf Bultmann, the notion of a divine promise in Luther's thought, and the author's study of philosopher Johann Georg Hamann.

The article reports on an international symposium in honor of the 140th anniversary of the Seminar für Alte Geschichte (Institute for Ancient History) at Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, that took place on April 19-20, 2012. Papers presented discussed the lives and works of several classicists and historians who had worked at the institute, including Heinrich Nissen, Eugen Bormann, and Wilhelm Ensslin, and their contributions to the historiography of antiquity.

While generational and biographical approaches are well-established methods in historical scholarship, life-course approaches are less prominent. This article seeks to bridge that gap by applying all these methods to an examination of the early membership of the German labour movement in the 1860s and 1870s. It considers whether we can interpret the rise of the labour movement in the nineteenth century as a generational phenomenon and explain it in light of (work) experiences that were life-phase specific. We see that while life-course experiences were more decisive than generational factors for the making of the movement, the retrospective identification of a founding generation was significant for the creation of the identity of a united labour movement in the years of the Kaiserreich. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses a historical case of politically induced flight. The so-called German Democratic Republic (GDR) children from Namibia are about 430 people brought to the GDR between 1979 and 1989. They came from Namibian refugee camps and were part of a solidarity project between South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO) and the GDR. They were educated to become the Namibian elite once the country had been liberated. Their stay was to be temporary, with the children identified as Namibian by SWAPO and GDR. The article reconstructs culturalist and biological-racist forms of othering as characteristic biographical experience of the young people which deny them belonging to GDR and Namibia. Simultaneously it examines how the young people irritate the categories of othering and create spaces of agency. They build a new hybrid language “Oshi German” thereby breaking culturalization and staying together as a collective in search of a place of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: In Germany, life story work, an approach which acknowledges humans as narrative beings and honors biographies, is required by health authorities to be integrated in care provided in nursing homes. Insufficient attention to life story work could place residents at risk of dehumanization, particularly residents with dementia, who depend on support of others to tell and make meaning of their life experiences. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study to gain insights into care providers' perceptions and practices of life story work with persons with dementia. Thirty-six care providers in 7 nursing homes participated in semi-structured interviews or group discussions. We derived subjective theories (individual understandings) of care providers and higher-order concept patterns following the principles and processes of grounded theory. Results: We found a great variation in participants' understandings of life story work. Some participants were unsure if and how life story work impacts persons with dementia. Starting points for improving the integration of life story work into practice are discussed. Implications for Practice: We conclude that care providers need a better understanding of life story work as a nursing intervention. The importance of the notion of humans as narrative beings and the multiple ways in which we story our lives as well as embody life stories needs to be further developed. Knowledge is required about the practical and systemic challenges of integrating life story work in the care of persons with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The purpose of this study is to explain the German failure at Stalingrad by comparing the opposing army commanders, Friedrich Paulus and Vasili I. Chuikov. In spite of how close Paulus came to accomplishing his mission, which was to take all of Stalingrad, in the end he failed either to take the city or save his army from destruction. A large part of the reason for this is to be found in Paulus’s leadership, which was far too passive and allowed his subordinates too much discretion. Paulus ensured he was unable to influence events quickly by locating his headquarters some 100 miles from Stalingrad at Nizhne-Chirskaya. Likewise, a large part of the Soviet victory can be attributed to Vasili Chuikov, who made sure, by his hands-on approach and active command style, that the tactical battle was fought his way. It was this difference in command styles that, ultimately, spelled victory for one side and defeat for the other. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A biography of Bavarian Chancellor Johann Georg Herwart von Hohenburg, a scholar within the Republic of Letters, is presented. He was notable for his correspondence with scientific leaders including astronomer Johannes Kepler, whom he befriended and mentored. He was born in Augsburg, Germany in 1553, studied law at the University of Ingolstadt, and was appointed Chancellor in Munich, Germany in 1585 under the administration of Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria. His work as a mathematician and chronologist are detailed.

In April 2010, the Guildhall School of Music recognized German composer Helmut Lachenmann's expertise in extended instrumental techniques, inviting him to give the keynote speech at a research day dedicated to contemporary performance practice; in May, he had a Fellowship of the Royal College of Music conferred upon him for his achievements as a composer; in June, the London Symphony Orchestra performed Lachenmann's Double (Grido II) for string orchestra, in doing so becoming the first non-BBC British orchestra to have performed his music; and in October, the Southbank Centre presented two days of Lachenmann's music including performances by the Arditti String Quartet and a much expanded London Sinfonietta, the latter broadcast on Radio 3. Outside London, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group gave a performance of his most recent work, Got Lost for soprano and piano, and the University of Manchester presented a mini-festival dedicated to his music. This roll call of events might be seen then as the celebration to be expected as a noted composer passes a milestone, but Lachenmann is a composer who – despite his age – could until recently have escaped such attention in Britain. In 1995, Elke Hockings wrote in these pages that, while enjoying ‘an exalted reputation among a small circle of English contemporary music enthusiasts, […] to the wider English music public he [Lachenmann] is little known’ and critical reception has been mixed, often extremely negative. Introducing Lachenmann to an audience at the Southbank Centre in October, Ivan Hewett described him as ‘a composer we don't know well in this country, an omission we are gradually repairing’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although Robert Schumann would become identified in the public imagination as a 'Romantic artist' who suffered from mental illness, throughout most of his life he functioned on a high level in his negotiations within the world of music publishing. An examination of the composer's letters and diaries shows that Schumann was able to advocate successfully for his work, both through written correspondence and social contact, until his confinement in 1854. Despite the composer's increasingly erratic behavior and odd affect, he leveraged his ability to persuade publishers to issue his music through relationships built on personal and social activities. It is possible that items related to serious financial concerns, business matters, and career development were held in an isolated section of the composer's psyche, allowing him to function on this level regardless of the stresses at the time, as long as he continued to exist among society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1900, Ernst Däumig (1866–1922) wrote to Karl Kautsky of his ‘bitter experiences’ of violence in the French Foreign Legion and then in the Prussian military that had led to his recent ‘conversion’ to the socialist worldview. This article takes up Däumig's letters, articles and travelogues, and a drama, to explore how he recast his experiences of colonial and military violence twice, first as a writer for a German soldiers’ journal and then as an aspiring socialist journalist. As well as a burden that pushed him to critique his past, Däumig's military and colonial experiences are shown to have been his starting capital in the world of journalism and politics. The article gives particular attention to the process of conversion, through which Däumig forged a new life narrative out of the moral tales offered by the adopted worldview and the events of his own past. In addition to providing a case study of worldview conversion, this article demonstrates how biographical research can challenge assumptions about the impact of colonial violence on German metropolitan culture. At the same time, this biographical analysis sheds light on the early career of one of the key figures in the German Revolution of 1918 to 1921. As co-chairman of the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), Däumig led the USPD into union with the Communist Party in 1920. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article analyzes the specific version of Zionism developed in Central Europe by examining the life and work of Robert Weltsch. Born in Prague in 1891, Weltsch was the editor of the official journal of the German Zionist federation, the Jüdische Rundschau, from 1919 until 1938. I trace the impact of German nationalist ideology and politics on Weltsch's thinking, arguing that he developed an ambivalent concept of Jewish nationalism that cannot be identified as either ethnic or civic. Weltsch criticized liberal ideology and affirmed völkisch ideas of national community while rejecting national chauvinism and embracing universal humanity. Weltsch's Zionism was an attempt to fulfill the cultural aspirations of völkisch nationalism and yet to avoid its political consequences. His ideas remained an unsolved contradiction and, though supported by many German Zionists, were thus not able to shape the politics of the Zionist movement and the political reality in Palestine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the letters written by German architect Walter Gropius to his daughter Manon Gropius between 1927 and 1935. The letters are considered from both a historical and a biographical standpoint and the authors explore how the they provide insights into Gropius' artistic motivations. Some of the events discussed include Gropius' relationship with Alma Mahler-Werfel, his eventual wife and the mother of Manon, his architectural career in Germany and Europe, his leadership of the Bauhaus School, the professional challenges he faces with the Depression and the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, and the illness and death of Manon in 1935. Translations of several letters are presented.

This piece examines the British reception of the biography of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel by the British author Brigadier Desmond Young, upon which was based the Twentieth Century-Fox movie The Desert Fox (Hathaway, 1951). British newspaper reviewers showed a love-hate relationship towards the memory of the late Wehrmacht Field Marshal. For some, such as former opponent Claude Auchinleck and military historian Basil Liddell Hart, Rommel was a talented field commander and resistance martyr, tangled up in the 20 July 1944 conspiracy against Hitter, for which he had been forced to commit suicide; for others, such as Hugh Trevor-Roper and Richard Crossman, he was an unthinking collaborator who had betrayed the Führer only when the war had turned against the army. The author argues that the book and film set the precedent for the cultural rehabilitation of the Wehrmacht on screen, not only in English-speaking countries, but in West Germany too. Moreover, Anglo-American military histories and films tended to depoliticize and remilitarize the Wehrmacht even more than West German productions. Other films considered include The Battle of the River Plate (Powell and Pressburger, 1956), Ill Met by Moonlight (Powell and Pressburger, 1957) and Ice Cold in Alex (Thompson, 1958). The author argues that the postwar 'clean hands' myth-making surrounding the Wehrmacht was performed not only by the West German film industry but by a transnational cultural division of labour which suited the needs of the Western alliance during Cold War rearmament and West German reintegration into the international community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is divided in two parts; the second part (consisting of Sections 3, 4 and 5) will be published in the next issue of FQS. After asking what is typical or general in the life history of Hülya as a migrant worker in Germany and what is exceptional or unique (Section 1) the biographical processes of her life history up to the most central episodes of her conventional and estranging pre-arranged marriage and her way out of it through divorce after having stayed in Germany for several years will be delineated (Section 2). Before reaching this turning point Hülya not only undergoes the "common" type trajectory of a migrant worker--the trajectory of being a cultural stranger, of being void of language, of being exploited by hardest sorts of work--, but, in addition, her personal biographical development is retarded by the exceptional, but probably not totally untypical experience of being trapped within a situation of compulsory labour (resembling slave labour). For a long time she also feels obliged to remain in her trajectory position of an isolated migrant worker, since originally she had mainly meant to go to Germany in order to support her poverty stricken family back in Turkey with her earnings. Partly based on the fear that she will get self-alienated and "petrified" like the older women with whom she dwells and works together Hülya accepts a pre-arranged marriage (probably mainly negotiated by her mother) as the only way out of her predicament. But willy-nilly Hülya must learn that she--already embarked on her way to an individualized and emancipated existence--cannot live in such a superimposed arrangement, and therefore she distances herself from her husband through the biographical escape action schemes first of returning to Germany alone and then of pushing ahead her divorce. Hülya's way of rendering her life history (which Section 3 will focus on) is quite straightforward in most parts of her narrative. But it is obvious that she is ashamed to tell about her estranging marriage and her disreputable divorce. Dealing with this emotionally difficult turning point in her life history Hülya tends to report in a quite laconic and evasive way. But in doing so she realizes that her story line would get implausible if she continued narrating like this. Therefore she inserts a number of background constructions and argumentative explanations in her laconic line of narration. Part of the article is focussed on this "disorderly" kind of rendering. Then the 4th part of the article resumes the reconstruction of the biographical processes of Hülya's life up to the "presence" of the interview situation in 1986. Here the focus is on (a) Hülya's medical problems seen as a typical transformation of the migrant worker's trajectory of exploitation and self-alienation and (b) her processes of learning and metamorphosis in reaching the present biographical and social state of a highly individualized and emancipated woman. Part of Hülya's emancipation process is her disguised self-distancing from the ways of feeling and thinking of her late beloved mother and her expectations towards the life course of her daughter Hülya. (This is biographical work hidden even to herself.) The 5th section of the interview deals with Hülya's blend of biographical work and of collective identity work in existing as a "marginal personality" according to the early Chicago Sociologists' understanding of marginality as cultural hybridity. Pursuing this line of analysis the article finally deals with Hülya's use of the communicative scheme of argumentation, which becomes linguistically dominant in the coda part of her main autobiographical account and which remains dominant during the subsequent part of questions and answers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses restoration dramatist, poet, and diplomat Sir George Etherege, focusing particularly on the time he spent during his diplomatic appointment as British Resident to the German Imperial Diet at Ratisbon (now Regensburg) in Bavaria, Germany between 1685 and 1689. It reports that his removal from his friends in the society of London, England gave him an opportunity to read books, a pastime he had previously eschewed. Some of the publications he commented upon in his correspondence includes the play "A Fool's Preferment: or the Three Dukes of Dunstable" by Thomas D'Urfey, the play "The Squire of Alsatia" by Thomas Shadwell, and the verse satire "The Hind and the Panther" by John Dryden.