CULTURE
Germany's older regions, was
custodian to the greater portion of the country's rich cultural
legacy. The major wealth of Germany's architectural monuments—of
Roman Germany, of medieval Romanesque, of south German Baroque—fell
within the borders of West Germany after World War II, as did
many of the great libraries, archives, and facilities for the
performing arts. Yet some of the greatest monuments of Germany's
cultural and historical achievement were located in the German
Democratic Republic, including the Wartburg of Luther near Eisenach,
the Weimar of Goethe, the Leipzig of Bach; a large share of prewar
Germany's art treasures rested in East Germany, especially in
East Berlin and Dresden. After the division of Germany, many of
the cultural assets originally from the eastern sector were removed
to the west. Many of East Germany's artists, writers, and institutions,
including entire publishing houses, transplanted themselves to
West Germany or set up successor organizations there.
During the 40 years of separation
it was inevitable that some divergence would occur in the cultural
life of the two parts of the severed nation. Both West Germany
and East Germany followed along traditional paths of the common
German culture, but West Germany, being obviously more susceptible
to influences from western Europe and North America, became more
cosmopolitan. Conversely, East Germany, while remaining surprisingly
conservative in its adherence to some aspects of the received
tradition, was powerfully molded by the dictates of a socialist
ideology of predominantly Soviet inspiration. Guidance in the
required direction was provided by exhortation through a range
of associations and by some degree of censorship; the state, as
virtually the sole market for artistic products, inevitably had
the last word.
the antecedents of contemporary
German art, music, and literature are so thoroughly embedded in
the broader European intellectual traditions as to defy most attempts
to separate any specifically German cultural roots. A visitor,
for example, can see abundant evidence of early medieval art and
architecture in the many splendid cathedrals, monasteries, and
castles of Germany, but these follow the same styles and style
periods that are be found in other European countries—Romanesque,
Gothic, Renaissance, baroque, and so on. German literature and
music were similarly part of the larger European culture. Two
important events—the construction of a printing press using
movable type around 1450 by German printer Johannes Gutenberg
and the translation of the Bible into German in 1521 by religious
reformer Martin Luther—had a profound impact on Western
culture as a whole. They also opened new possibilities for a specifically
German literature, because they founded a uniform High German
language above the regional dialects, and made it accessible to
all who could read. Religious unrest and the Thirty Years’
War put an end to most German literary efforts until a revival
occurred in the 18th century.
