Chapter 15 Berlin Silence and Explosion AD 1889

Berlin has been living in silence. The entire European civilization has lasted for more than three thousand years. The center of civilization has rotated in the south and the north, and the peaks have staggered one by one, but they have not reached Germany.The place of prosperity alternates between the Mediterranean sunshine and the English Channel, from Italy to Britain, France, and back to the Apennine Peninsula, but it has never visited the remote inland of the Balkan Peninsula.Berlin is a little unknown place, and Germany has never been one of the turbulent powers. For entire millennia, Germany did not exist.There are more than 300 separate small countries under the Holy Roman Empire, and each territory belongs to a family. There is no unified country or even a unified nation.Hundreds of years after France and England built powerful administrative states one by one, Germany remained scattered and powerless.The unification of the country has to wait for an opportunity.Napoleon ended the Holy Roman Empire, and the 1848 revolution burned to Berlin and Vienna. At this time, the voice of establishing a unified country is extremely strong, but true unity still needs time and waiting.

This state is like a long-term hunger, waiting in silence, unable to satisfy, and justifying itself while waiting.German mood and spirit have spontaneously arisen, German poetry and art have also been discussed by philosophers, but the German state has not yet been established.The German heroes seem to have to wait another century to get the same breakout opportunity as other countries.This waiting fermented in urgency, brewing into a bitter and violent common emotion. Germany finally waited for a tragic epic. Germany's history is not long.This is not to say that the history of the Germanic nation is not long, but that the history of Germany as a country is very short.Human beings in Central Europe have a long history. According to research, many tribes in ancient Greece were Germanic races who migrated from the Balkan Peninsula. They belonged to the Indo-European race. They lived at the junction of Eurasia, Europe and northern India thousands of years ago. Many peoples are descended from these ancient peoples.The fall of ancient Rome also originated from the large-scale invasion of Germanic tribes. This is the second great migration of Indo-European peoples in history.

But such a long national civilization did not form an equally long national state.The Germanic nations were never united into a state until the 19th century.After the fall of the Roman Empire, the entire feudal era of the Rhine Forest was under the rule of different vassal states.Prussia, Austria, Saxony, Bavaria, Bohemia, and countless other countries too small to count.The Holy Roman Empire is not so much an empire as it is a loose strategic alliance. The emperor does not have the power of "all the lands in the world", nor can he intervene in the affairs of the kingdom within the princes.The most powerful vassal states are Prussia and Austria. Austria is commanded by the Habsburg family and has inherited most of Europe through marriage. They are not so much a part of the Germanic country as they are a part of the Habsburg country.Only Prussia can rule Germany.

Prussia became a major power in Europe in the mid-19th century.At the beginning of the 19th century, it still lacked sufficient external capabilities. In 1806, it quickly surrendered to Napoleon in the attack of the French army, and people almost opened the door to welcome this brilliant Frenchman. Ten years later, in the Seventh Coalition against France, the Prussian army joined forces with the British army to deal a fatal blow to Napoleon at Waterloo.Prussia's position in Europe became increasingly crucial only after the war when Prussia expanded its territory in the Vienna Agreement.Its location is in the middle of the European continent.On the one hand, it is bordered by France, which has become the main battlefield against France in Europe. On the other hand, it is bordered by Eastern European countries, and directly faces the increasingly powerful Russian Empire.Such a strategic location was important well into the 20th century.

After the revolution of 1848, both liberals and conservatives in Prussia hoped to establish a new government and unify Germany.However, what form of unity is not easy to determine.At that time, there were two possibilities: Greater Germany, that is, Germany in a broad sense including almost all the vassal states of the Holy Roman Empire; Little Germany, excluding Austria ruled by the Habsburg family, composed of the remaining countries led by Prussia. In 1834, Prussia took the lead in initiating the establishment of the German Customs Union, advocating free trade. At that time, except for Austria and Hamburg, all other states joined the union.For Prussia, this is an excellent basis.

The unification of Germany comes from the powerful iron-fisted prime minister - Bismarck.He was the first powerful figure that the German people waited for, and he achieved reunification almost on his own.Bismarck took office in 1864 and was entrusted by William I of the Hohenzollern family to become prime minister. The first thing he did after taking office was to promote the great cause of German unification.He decided to unify the country according to the plan of Little Germany. The reason is very simple. The territory of the Habsburg family includes not only Austria, but also Italy, Spain and North Africa. If it is included in the plan, the ownership of these lands will become tough question.Bismarck decided to isolate Austria and establish Prussia.Many people think that Bismarck was not a German Nationalist at all, but only a Prussian.Everything can be advanced as long as Prussia is the master.He first provoked wars against Denmark and Austria to gain the initiative, and then eyed France.He looks for opportunities patiently, like a servo wolf.After a turmoil in Spain, succession became a problem. Bismarck used various methods to support a distant relative of William I, a collateral descendant of the Hohenzollern family, to the throne, which aroused strong vigilance in France.After a series of perfunctory and deceitful maneuvers, France was finally angered and declared war on Prussia, giving Bismarck the opportunity he had longed for.As expected, all the other German states joined the war, and the unity which could not be achieved in peace was achieved in the emergency of unanimity against the enemy.At Sedan, the German army defeated the French army. In January 1871, William I announced the unification of Germany in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles in France, and became the first German emperor.

This is how Bismarck's exploits unfolded.He crowned the German Empire in the palace of the French, which is undoubtedly the greatest humiliation.After that, Bismarck always maintained the same tireless planning for the prosperity of Germany.Before Bismarck, Germany's economy was very backward compared to Western Europe, and the Junker class, or the conservatism of the big farm owners, could not keep up with the wave of capitalism.People look forward to the coming of the strong.Bismarck reformed economic policies, improved farming tools, built cities, developed capitalism, promoted Berlin culture, and brought the German Empire into the ranks of industrial powers.He implemented a smooth multilateral diplomacy strategy, using unscrupulous perseverance and cunning combination of toughness and softness to keep Germany in an advantageous position.Bismarck is the most divisive figure in history, with many calling him a hero and many calling him a reactionary.

Bismarck is known as the iron-blooded prime minister because of a sentence he said in 1962: "The major contemporary problems cannot be solved by discussion and majority vote. Sometimes it is inevitable that they must be resolved through a struggle. A struggle with iron and blood." His involvement in the suppression of the Paris Commune made him the Communists' worst enemy. Anyway, all of this is written in history.In the German Historical Museum, we can see the whole process of the rise of Germany.The large-scale exhibition tells about the 19th century of German unity, about Bismarck, about the construction of Berlin and the transformation of the German spirit at the turn of the century.Bismarck is impossible to get around, he is in a way the era itself.Even this historical museum was remodeled during Bismarck's time.This beautiful Baroque building was originally an arsenal and was converted into a military museum in 1880.In the expansion after World War II, the famous designer I.M. Pei participated.

The period when Bismarck was in office was the golden age of Berlin construction. Before he took office, Schinkel had already built a beautiful old museum for Berlin.When Bismarck was prime minister, Museum Island, Berlin Cathedral and a host of other buildings were completed one after another.He built the Kurfürstendamm in line with the Champs-Elysées, and Berlin became a true metropolis. Much of today's Berlin was rebuilt after World War II.There are still some buildings from the Bismarck era, but most of them were destroyed by the bombing of the Allied forces during World War II. What can be seen at this time is the new life after the war.The interlacing of old and new buildings makes people witness the interlacing of history.Schinkel represents neoclassical Berlin. He was an outstanding architect and painter in the early 19th century. The Gendarmenmarkt Theater and the Old Museum he designed are both classic examples.There are many kinds of sculptures unearthed in Greece in the old museum, and the inside and outside of the museum are integrated.The Capitol is a Renaissance-style building built by Wollert in 1894. It was destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in the 1960s.Kurfürstendammstrasse was once cut off when the Democratic Republic of Germany and the Federal Republic of Germany split. One end of this wide and straight avenue connects the Capitol, and the other end connects the Museum Island, the Hohenzollern Family Church, and the Berlin Cathedral.The two sides developed separately during the period of isolation. Now when the barriers are dismantled and the end of the road can be seen at a glance, the clearly visible differences are like scars exposed.

Walking on the streets of Berlin, thinking of the entire 20th century in Germany, people will feel a lot of embarrassment in their hearts.Witnessing all kinds of history in the 19th century, perhaps we can easily understand Germany's desire for unity and strength at that time.There is the threat of France in the west, the strength of Austria and Russia in the east, the marriage of Napoleon and Austria puts Prussia in the middle, and there is no wealth in Italy and industry in Britain, no navy and colonies, only poems passed down from generation to generation, singing the ancient Germanic hero.Such internal and external troubles have become a kind of persecution, and the greater the anxiety, the stronger the desire for integration in people's hearts.There was no real unified German Empire until 1871.This may be a good thing from the perspective of cultural diversity, but it is difficult to say from the perspective of national mentality.Like a devil in a bottle making a wish while waiting, from thanking for salvation to cursing for salvation, if you wait too long, the reward you want will be doubled. The 20th century is an irony of the 19th century, the joy of unity turned into the madness of war, waiting for salvation and waiting for a massacre.Maybe all of this is unexpected and reasonable.

At the turn of the century, no one could have foreseen the elegy of later generations. In 1889, Berlin was still in the hope of rising, the hard-won glory, the thriving new city, and the golden future dreamed of. In 1889, several big things happened.One of them is the arrival of an important person in Berlin on a special occasion.He was a genius, a seer, and a man afflicted with mental anguish.He went mad in Turin, wept with a whipped old horse, and called the horse his brother, so he was taken back to Berlin by his friends.His name is Nietzsche. Nietzsche is the most peculiar figure in German philosophy. On the one hand, Nietzsche has inherited the classicism and profundity from Kant and Hegel, and reached the top of the mountain; on the other hand, he has a personal attitude and madness that no one else has.He does not use the panoramic and systematic language like his predecessors, and his treatises are aphoristic and allegorical, consisting of aphorisms and assertions rather than definitions, reasoning, and word discrimination.In other words, he was using the prophetic books, not Newtonian mechanics. Nietzsche was a prophet, and he is the most difficult person to judge.He criticized the cowardly culture of Christianity with the most ironic language, but he understood the spirit of Christianity better than anyone else.He despises the vulgarity of the masses and praises the spirit of heroes, but he also despises the generals of the masses who pursue personal status.He criticized all previous philosophers for their cold and empty "roar of virtue" that was "whitewashed with big words", but he also did not think that purely sensual, physical theories could explain things.He left all the good and evil before, but he didn't want to go to the end of nothingness. Nietzsche's wandering is the most critical wandering when German philosophy enters the threshold of the new century.German philosophy has always been an outstanding model in the world.Starting from Kant, every great philosopher not only sums up the truth, but also finds a complete and profound philosophical system from human history.German philosophy goes deep into the depths of human spirit and history, questioning human consciousness, rationality, heart and soul, looking for reasons for people to make decisions, exploring freedom and destiny, and the pure nature of things.German philosophy does not have a strong sense of social admonition. It starts from the human heart, from thinking, reason, and emotion, and regards human beings as pure existences of the universe.Compared with German philosophy, British empiricism in the 17th century seemed too close to the common sense of life, while French Enlightenment in the 18th century had too direct an impulse to transform society. Kant is an important pioneer of German philosophy.He wanted to know how man came to know.Starting from the comprehension problem raised in Hume's "A Treatise of Human Nature", he took "transcendental synthetic judgment" as the first problem of his own philosophy.It took him 12 years to think, and it took him a few months to achieve it. Although there are shortcomings in expression that he admits, it is not because Kant's logic is unclear, but because he is fully aware of how difficult the issues he is discussing are.He discusses his views from both sides, with childlike candor: "I have a hope that when I look at my own judgment unbiasedly from someone else's point of view like this, I will get a third I want to improve my previous views." His sincere and focused thinking, his depth and breadth, and his open-minded heart give his works a depth and unique charm that transcend the times.His three critical books——, "Critique of Practical Reason" and "Critique of Judgment" are not easy to read even for students of philosophy. .His questioning and thinking about prior knowledge, his definition and reflection on morality, and his reliance on aesthetic judgment are still important guidelines for many people to think about the future direction until today. Kant did not consider himself a Romantic, yet his discussions of free will earned him the title Romantic.German artists contemporaneous with Kant were immersed in an art movement known as the Sturm und Drang. In the 1860s and 1870s, Kringle wrote a play called "Dash", and Goethe left behind the famous love novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" which ended in suicide.Schiller used poems and plays to express questions similar to Kant's: freedom, will, moral reason, independent individual.The drama characters in his works are not like the classical ones who get bad luck by impulse or fate. He writes deeper tragedies: people's rebellion against the world and nature.The philosopher Fichte after him was also passionate about freedom. Although he became a fanatical nationalist in his later period, he was based on a freedom to define the world from his own perspective. The questions raised by Kant laid the foundations of German philosophy.After him, there was another great figure who stood shoulder to shoulder with him: Hegel.Hegel is the true mouthpiece of grand philosophy.His works are so magnificent that it is difficult for those who have been in contact with his narration not to be moved by his panoramic pictures.What he tried was to put the whole world into an understandable framework, to observe everything from the inside of the world instead of the surface details.What he found was the spirit, the only truly independent being, the manifestation of which is the everyday world we can see.The evolution of the spirit determines the manifestation of matter, and the spirit gradually knows itself in its own development.Ancient architecture is the manifestation of the simple world spirit, and modern music is the product of the abstract and complex world spirit.The grand history stems from a more grand spiritual development. In this respect Hegel is easily criticized.Spirit sounds too mysterious. Many people think that Hegel "imagined the universe as an entity with a soul", so it sounds close to ancient theology.However, Hegel himself did not make such mysteries. He did not regard it as a personified existence, but clearly stated that the spirit is the inner law that determines the universe. "Spirit is the inner existence of the world." Hegel said, "Spirit that has developed and knows itself to be spirit is science. Science is the reality of spirit, the kingdom that spirit builds for itself with its own innate elements." This means that science is the spirit that has been elucidated.He did not use the word law, but spirit, which does not mean that he was referring to some kind of god.Similar to Plato's ideas, spirit is the inner basis of material compliance, but the difference is that the spirit described by Hegel is more characterized by evolution. Hegel influenced many generations after him, including Marx.Hegel put forward the concept of conflict, which he called dialectics, a kind of positive spirit and reverse spirit bring about conflict, collide, grow and sublimate in the process of conflict.Historical conflict is the embodiment of inner spiritual conflict.He sees this inevitable process as a necessity for purification, and the pain it brings is the tragedy of the world itself. Such tragic conflicts are more clearly reflected in his contemporary Schopenhauer, a tragic philosopher whose core concepts are based on the tragedy of this inevitable struggle.He also emphasized something grand like an idea—the will, and he also emphasized that the will will manifest itself as a visible phenomenon. However, unlike Hegel's emphasis on the evolution of the spirit itself, Schopenhauer believed that the will split into everything in the world , things thus begin to undergo endless struggle.The will is always based on the desire for something, and when people are driven by it, they always act in endless desires.In the collision of will and will, man encounters the tragedy of destruction and sees a special magnificence in this tragedy. Schopenhauer was Nietzsche's mentor.He is a pessimist at heart.He said that the essence of man is that his will will never cease to pursue something, and when he can’t get it, he can only be endlessly anxious and chasing, and if he gets it, he will suffer even more in boredom and emptiness. "Life is like a pendulum swinging back and forth between pain and boredom." He believes that pain is the nature of the will, and the problem of life will eventually return to the problem of will. Schopenhauer's life was not smooth.He received little attention during his lifetime.He taught at the same time as Hegel, but Hegel's class was overcrowded, and Schopenhauer's class had few listeners.Schopenhauer's melancholy has turned into a series of important works, the most important of which is this unsalable booklet, which was once curled up in a corner of an old bookstall, and Nietzsche accidentally picked it up.Nietzsche read it all night as if he had found a treasure, and his life has been very different since then. German philosophy is constantly moving forward in this series of grand narratives that explain the universe.Its footsteps have left other nations far behind.It reflects on itself and national existence from the perspective of the universe.In the process of national suffering and striving, reflection is often the most profound, and the awareness of national history and the destiny of mankind reaches the peak of passion at this time.From Kant's universal rationality to Hegel's grand dialectics, from Schopenhauer's struggle of wills to Nietzsche's reassessment of morality, from Weber's rational sociology to Heidegger's philosophy of existence in the 20th century, survival can only be found in German philosophy It is not just the daily trivialities of food and interests, but a double struggle between spirit and phenomenon. The University of Berlin is the university that houses the most profound personalities in the world.Founded in 1810, it is the cradle of world thought.Fichte, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Einstein and Planck once taught here, and Marx, Engels, Heine, Weber and Bismarck once studied here.If the university is divided into weight according to the weight of its ideas, the University of Berlin will break the balance.The University of Berlin was founded by Humboldt, the head of culture and education of the Kingdom of Prussia. He emphasized the idea of ​​freedom, emphasized that the university is independent of politics and economy, and devoted itself to science in the detached silence.His ideas have been resolutely implemented by all outstanding thinkers at the University of Berlin based on life. The University of Berlin was divided into two when the Democratic Republic of Germany and the Federal Republic of Germany were split. The University of Berlin in the Democratic Republic of Germany was renamed Humboldt University, and the Federal Republic of Germany established a Free University of Berlin.The Humboldt University was the main successor to the University of Berlin, and the two universities still operate independently today.Today, outside the courtyard walls of Humboldt University, you can see the simple sculptures of thinkers.The school gate is small, the campus is quiet and simple, and the passages do not have any decorations, only old books and bookstalls and wandering students can make people see that this is a university.The university itself is so low-key, there are no grand buildings, no ostentatious gatehouses, the lawn and sculptures are monotonous, but there is a quiet power to mark itself.Under the rainy sky of Berlin, thought shapes itself out of history, without any superfluous embellishments. History has come to Nietzsche, and also to the peak of spiritual struggle. In 1889, the same year that Nietzsche went mad with pain, and the year that Weber received his doctorate in Berlin, two more events are worth mentioning: the first was the fall of Bismarck, the other was the birth of Hitler. History always presents itself in the most paradoxical ways.Bismarck was Germany's first controversial and strong leader. He may not have imagined that there would be another more extreme person after him.Nietzsche once called for a powerful superman, and Weber once focused on the study of the advantages of the bureaucracy and the iron cage it controls people's minds, but they probably did not expect that the history of Germany will be staged in a distorted way. horrible combination. Nietzsche is one of the most misunderstood of all, the desire for a powerful spirit is at the heart of his theory.The essence of this spirit is detachment and independence. It is an ideal in itself, not dependent on the assumption of distant salvation, and not succumbing to the humility and sorrow of the weak. "What stands out are the fulfilling emotions, the irresistible sense of strength, the high urgency of happiness, the desire to give and give and the sense of abundance... like to be strict and harsh on oneself." This is the cold and arrogant heart of a highly developed person.He doesn't care about warmth and social constraints, he "lives in a vast and proud peace, forever beyond". Nietzsche was criticized by many people in later generations, because the Nazis once interpreted his theory of nobility as their own basis.Nietzsche hoped that the superman would be born, and the Nazis regarded themselves as the superman of history.Nietzsche said something ambiguous, praising the ferocious spirit and the power of the strong, making it easy for posterity to identify him as a supporter of racism.But this is not what Nietzsche meant.He has opposed narrow ethnic vendettas from beginning to end, and his superman is the one who has seen through all these vendettas.Because national sentiment is always the collective sentiment of the masses, but what he praises is always the detached spiritual individual. "Maintain the four virtues: courage, insight, sympathy, and solitude." Nietzsche said, "Loneliness is a virtue in us as a noble tendency and tendency that leads us to purity." Lonely, not a state apparatus, "Everything in the state is fake - he bites with stolen teeth." Superman is not above the average person, but beyond the average person.Ordinary people succumb to their own desires, emotions, timidity, and narrow hatred, but Superman can overcome all these with his own will.Superman doesn't care about the safety of the crowd, he lives in seclusion and practices alone, and goes to the top of the spiritual mountain.Such a person is beyond human instinct.The nation that Nietzsche admires is not the ordinary people in the state, but crosses the bridge of the superman, reaches the place where there is no state, and becomes a spiritual nation: "A republic of geniuses as opposed to a republic of scholars as Schopenhauer said: a giant crosses the In the empty time interval, calling to another giant, calmly continuing the noble spiritual dialogue." Nietzsche called for the cold air on the top of the mountain, for the spirit to fly in the cold sky. "Once life should be elevated, it should be elevated", "Now! Alright! Now, bite the bullet! Open your eyes!" Nietzsche finally died in solitude. German philosophy has an air of tragicism.Perhaps this is precisely because they see the fate of personal and historical tragedy: a person can see history clearly, but still be involved in it. Tragedy made the German spirit.Wagner, another great figure admired by Nietzsche, freezes tragedy in eternal music and freezes heroism in this endless tragic struggle.German music is the deepest music, and the epic that began with Beethoven has never stopped.Brahms maintained the classical tradition left by Beethoven, and added his own depth and sadness.Wagner, the pioneer of a new musical model, called ugly by his contemporaries, but obsessed with his grandeur by later generations, built his own theater, leaving an eternal stage for the never-resolved struggle in his music.Richard Strauss's music is magnificent, creating a chapter of symphonic poetry, like the air on the top of the Alps, majestic and cold, forming a magnificent poem like a long scroll of history.These music are eternal tragic classics, soaring in the musical sky of mankind forever. If you have a chance, you can listen to the Berlin Philharmonic in Berlin.The concert hall of the Berlin Philharmonic is simple in structure, with simple yellow exterior walls, far less luxurious than some other concert halls in the world, but the notes floating from there are enough to paint a magnificent picture for every corner of the world. Many corners of Berlin are full of scars.Destruction and restoration, over and over again.Even the goddess of victory and the carriage on the iconic Brandenburg Gate have experienced failure and the humiliation of being hijacked and returned to their original places many years later.The Boulevard Unter den Linden has witnessed the ups and downs and honors and disgraces; the Berlin Wall is engraved with the divisions of the past; the Reichstag remembers the madness of the arson with majestic elegance; the ruins left by the Nazis here record the once radical grand plan. Compared with other cities, Berlin always feels cold.Maybe it’s because Berlin was bombed badly in World War II, and there are still traces, maybe it’s because the days of isolation between the Democratic Republic of Germany and the Federal Republic of Germany are too long, the city remains sad, or maybe it’s because German art and philosophy have always maintained a cool tone, Profound and melancholy, it permeates the street, forming a unique atmosphere.This is a solemn place.War and division destroyed the dream of the city, but not its temperament. Nietzsche once said: "The character of a nation is not so much expressed in its great men as in the way in which it recognizes and honors them. In other ages the philosopher is an accident in the most hostile environment. The solitary wanderer, who either stalks silently or struggles with clenched fists. Only among the Greeks are philosophers not accidental." It seems to us that among the Germans the philosopher is also no accident. In 1889, another man was born: Heidegger, who took up the mantle of German philosophy from his predecessors.This continuous ideological inheritance is by no means accidental for a nation. The depth of a nation determines its direction.Germany's rigor and commitment after the war gave it the power of rebirth.This is the power that everyone respects.Time has refined the momentary madness, leaving a permanent transcendent thought, which will always flicker in the paper.Remove the tragic history, Berlin still stands on the mountain of human spirit. In addition to the plane, the train is also a highly recommended way. The quality of the German Railways is very high, and there are packages available.The subway is the first to be launched in Berlin. As a city that has opened the subway since 1902, the Berlin underground transportation network extends in all directions, with a total of 10 lines divided into 3 districts, and the prices vary. 1.Kurfürst Street: Commonly known as "Kudang Street", it was heavily bombed during World War II. In 1871, with the rapid development of German industry, Bismarck was inspired by the Champs Elysees in Paris and decided to build this boulevard in the new capital. 2.Brandenburg Gate: Completed in 1791.Napoleon once proudly passed through this gate and transported the "Victory Chariot" to Paris as a trophy. In 1814, Marshal Blücher triumphantly brought it back to Germany. In 1918, the revolutionary team entered the palace through this gate and announced the founding of the Republic. The Nazi troops also held a victory parade here. 3.Unter den Linden Street: Designed by Elector Frederick William in 1647, classical architecture designed by architect Schinkel in the 19th century, represented by the Gendarmerie Square Theater. In 1933, the Nazis burned more than 20,000 books at Bebelplatz. 4.Humboldt University: Humboldt University was built between 1748 and 1766, designed by John Baumann for Prince Heinrich. 5.German Historical Museum: The former Armory, the most beautiful Baroque building in Germany. 6.Museum Island: Old Museum, designed by Schinkel, with numerous sculptures.Pergamon Museum, part of the Great Altar of Pergamon, excavated from the Greek city in 1878.Old National Gallery, Paintings and Calligraphy from the 18th to the 20th Century. 7.Berlin Cathedral: Built in 1894, a monument commemorating the glorious history of the William era.Hornzollen family church. "Romantic" [Germany] Heine (1797～1856) Translated by Xue Hua Heine lived in Paris from 1830 to his death in 1856. He knew many writers and musicians in Paris, and he also participated in the peak of the development of romanticism in Paris. However, Heine was still a German romanticist in his heart.He said that French Romanticism is a continuation of Greek and Roman classics, while German Romanticism is a continuation of medieval romantic epics.He loves the surging giant passion of the Nibelungen Song, which he says is unimaginable for a "small, suave character". It was a continuation of the spurt of German tragic passion. "Everything in the Middle Ages, individual buildings as well as whole states and ecclesiastical buildings, was based on a belief in blood, whereas all our facilities today are built on a belief in money, in reality. "Germany is now acting, not out of frivolous pleasure, but in accordance with the laws of necessity... Pious, peaceful Germany! It glances regretfully at the bygone era it left behind, and once again expresses affectionately Bow down to that old age and kiss it goodbye." "Schopenhauer and Nietzsche" [German] Simmel (1858～1918) translated by Zhu Yanbing Simmel is one of the most important philosophers in modern Germany.His sociological studies of money, fashion, and morality make him one of the sociologists with the most insightful insights into modern society. This book is a series of lectures given by Simmel at the Victoria Girls' High School in Berlin from 1902 to 1903.I was surprised that the women's high school in Berlin at that time offered such in-depth lectures, but fortunately, there were such lectures, which made Simmel make unremitting efforts to make the thoughts of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche as clear as possible. presented before our eyes. The similarities between Schopenhauer and Nietzsche are obvious to all, as is their passion for tragedy and Wagner.However, their difference is that Nietzsche believes in a kind of human evolution and places meaning in it.And Schopenhauer does not take this as a belief.What Simmel admired more was Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer's "negativity" is a deeper insight beyond the limitations of history. "The need for an ultimate life purpose has not been lost. Schopenhauer's philosophy is the absolute, philosophical expression of this state of modern man. Central to his philosophy is the inherent metaphysical nature of the world and of ourselves in our It finds its full and sole decisive expression in the will. For Schopenhauer, life, by its own will, is ultimately doomed to worthlessness and meaninglessness. "Contrary to Schopenhauer, Nietzsche created a brand-new concept of life from evolutionary thinking: life starts from itself, and from its most intrinsic and inner essence, it rises and multiplies, and it is the growing force of the surrounding world towards the subject. Concentration. Life itself may become the purpose of life." "Economy and Society" [German] Max Weber (1864～1920) translated by Lin Rongyuan This is Weber's last book.The two parts of the book were written in 1911-1913 and 1918-1920 respectively, and were sorted out and published by Weber's widow after his death in 1920.It can be said to be the accumulation of Weber's thoughts for many years. On the one hand, it sorts out the overall category of sociological concepts, and on the other hand, it discusses the specific sociology of religion, market, law, and political communities. But it is definitely a classic worth taking out and learning from time to time. The immensity and insight of a thinker is most directly felt by reading those warning prophecies that are painfully accurate and profound.Because the thinker has insight into the essence of the process, he can point out the problem and deduce the possible bad results.They may hope that such warnings will wake up the world, but the fact is often that even if they speak out, history will inevitably fall into the abyss they predicted.And this is their saddest greatness. "The negative meaning of democratization is to allow demagogues to gain power, and its positive meaning is that political leaders will no longer be monopolized by oligarchs only. The unique means of dictatorship is referendum. It is different from ordinary elections, but Believe that those you trust have a leadership mission. "Once the bureaucratic system passively deals with the interference of the parliament, the country will become a variant of the 'totalitarian state'... The supervision of the bureaucratic system will become the first basic task of the parliament... It is necessary for the parliament to be able to call experts and consult files, In order to evaluate the behavior of officials, the parliament must have investigative powers. Unfortunately, the German Reichstag does not have this power."