Extra Credit Germany (Central Europe)

Germany

Germany is one of the most powerful countries along the world because of its development in all the aspects. Many of these aspects are reflected in different way in other regions, for example the perception that Americans have of Europeans is not the same as the one that Asians have of them (Europeans). The most representative aspects of a country can be stereotyped in a positive or negative way. Working with a photomontage we could see that many aspects are important parts of what the country really is, what I want to mean is that every little piece is fundamental. The stereotypes are also part of the structure that shapes the country. Let’s check some of the stereotypes made of Germany.

Talking about Germany the first thing that comes to my mind is the Second World War, because its end was the start of a new era for Germans that was the construction of the big empire that actually is. In the photomontage we can find many images that are a shallow view of the Second World War including the Nazi symbol, Hitler and finally a book that relates the war.

The other aspect that is very notable in the photomontage is the economy, but why? The reason why I put those images related with money was that they have a very strong and stable economy, and is interesting to mention that they have the highest GNP in the European Union. The German economy occupies the third place at global level.

The third aspect that I want to underlie of the photomontage is the image that has a woman saying “We can do it!” that was used in the United States in the period of the war, representing the strength that woman has and demonstrating that woman can do the same as men.

Another aspect easily found in the photomontage is the beer. Beer is a fundamental part of Germany, in a word, is Germany. Is well known that is the place where beer was born, and as sausages, is recognized globally.

The other aspects that are present but are not as crucial as others, are the personality, characteristics, skills, technologic and scientific developments, scenes of cities, nuclear plants, the Berlin wall, the president, the flag and the football team.

What I really wanted to do with my photomontage was to represent each aspect that forms the actual Germany, but also part of its history, include every detail of the country.