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by Cultural Understanding
A Companion to the Hanseatic League
by Donald J. Harreld (Editor)
The Companion to the Hanseatic League discusses the importance of the Hanseatic League for the social and economic history of pre-modern northern Europe. Established already as early as the twelfth century, the towns that formed the Hanseatic League created an important network of commerce throughout the Baltic and North Sea area. From Russia in the east, to England and France in the west, the cities of the Hanseatic League created a vast northern maritime trade network. The aim of this volume is to present a “state” of the field English-language volume by some of the most respected Hanse scholars.
Buddenbrooks: decline of a family
by Thomas Mann
First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author's former neighbors in his native Lübeck.
As he charts the Buddenbrooks' decline from prosperity to bankruptcy, from moral and psychic soundness to sickly piety, artistic decadence and madness, Mann ushers the reader into a world of rich vitality, pieced together from births and funerals, weddings and divorces, recipes, gossip and earthy humor. It is perhaps the first great family saga of modern literature, and it brought to public notice a writer of world stature who, three decades later, was to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Germans to America: 300 Years of Immigration 1683-1983
by Gunter Moltmann
A look at German immigration into America. Nice book for genealogy or those interested in the immigration of Germans. Lots of photos and illustrations.
Germany: A New History
by Hagen Schulze
An accessible overview of German history, focusing on key events and developments. The author, Hagen Schulze (31 July 1943 – 4 September 2014) was a German historian who held a position at the Free University of Berlin. He specialized in early modern and modern German and European history, particularly in comparative European nationalisms. He was a visiting fellow in Oxford and in Princeton.
Germany: Memories of a Nation
by Neil MacGregor
Provides an insightful look into German history and culture through the lens of objects and artifacts.
The German Way: Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs in the German-Speaking World
by Hyde Flippo
A useful guide to understanding German customs, etiquette, and social norms.
The Hanseatic League - A History of the Rise and Fall of the Hansa Towns
by Helen Zimmern
There is scarcely a more remarkable chapter in history than that which deals with the trading alliance or association known as the Hanseatic League. The League has long since passed away, having served its time and fulfilled its purpose. The needs and circumstances of mankind have changed, and new methods and new instruments have been devised for carrying on the commerce of the world. Yet, if the League has disappeared, the beneficial results of its action survive to Europe, though they have become so completely a part of our daily life that we accept them as matters of course, and do not stop to inquire into their origin. To us moderns it seems but natural that there should be security of intercourse between civilized nations, that highways should be free from robbers, and the ocean from pirates.
The Shortest History of Germany
by James Hawes
A concise and engaging account of Germany's history, helping to contextualize its present.
This house is mine
by Doerte Hansen
All her life Vera has felt like a stranger in the old and drafty half-timbered farmhouse she arrived at as a five-year-old refugee from East Prussia in 1945, and yet she can’t seem to let it go. Sixty years later, her niece Anne suddenly shows up at her door with her small son. Anne has fled the trendy Hamburg, Germany neighborhood she never fit into after her relationship imploded. Vera and Anne are strangers to each other but have much more in common than they think. As the two strong-willed and very different women share the great old house, they find what they have never thought to search for: a family.