1949Gottfried Benn:

Sound Files:

Sound File Nr. 1 (The New Republics) (15 mins.) (mp3)

Sound File Nr. 2 (Two Germanys in Conflict) (15 mins.) (mp3)

Sound File Nr. 3 (Cultural Achievement during a Cold War) (16 mins.) (mp3)

Sound File Nr. 4 (A Grand Coalition) (14 mins.) (mp3)

Sound File Nr. 5 (The Brandt Years) (15 mins.) (mp3)

Sound File Nr. 6 (Brandt/Schmidt) (15 mins.) (mp3)

Sound File Nr. 7 (The End of the VW Beetle) (18 mins.) (mp3)

Konrad Adenauer (left) greets the French president (right)

1949 Death of Richard Strauß. The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and shortly later The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) are founded. Map Konrad Adenauer becomes the chancellor of West Germany and Wilhelm Pieck becomes the presdent of East Germany. Mao Tse-tung establishes the Chinese Peoples Republic of China. NATO is founded. Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman; Rogers und Hammerstein: South Pacific George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four.

1950 Death of Heinrich Mann; Death of Elizabeth Langgässer. Elisabeth Langgässer wins the Büchner Prize. Albert Goes: Restless Night. Heinrich Böll: Wanderer, if you come to Spa...". The Korean War begins. Senator Joseph McCarthy starts his investigations (House Committee on Unamerican Activities).

	Heinrich Böll
		Elisabeth Langgässer

1951 Gottfried Benn: Problems of Lyric Poetry. Heinrich Böll: Where Were You Adam? Günter Eich: Dreams. The European Coal and Steel Union is founded. The first of the modern codetermination laws are established in Germany. President Truman fires General McArthur. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are found guilty in the United States. Rodgers und Hammerstein: The King and I. J. D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye. The I Love Lucy series starts.

Friedrich Dürrenmatt

1952 Friedrich Dürrenmatt: The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi. The German codetermination laws are expanded. Albert Schweitzer is given the Nobel Prize for Peace. Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot;

Gene Kelly: Singin' in the Rain; E. B. White Charlotte's Web.

1953 Ilse Aichinger: Spiegelgeschichte; Death of Josef Stalin. Eisenhauer becomes the U.S. president. The war in Korea ends. Marilyn Monroe: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

1954 Max Frisch: Stiller. Thomas Mann: Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man. Marlon Brando in: On the Waterfront; The first James Bond Book is published: Casino Royale.

1955 Death of Thomas Mann. Marie Louise Kaschnitz wins the Büchner Prize. The West German army is established. Austria reunites and becomes a neutral nation. West Germany enters NATO. Bill Haley: Rock Around the Clock.

Marie Louise Kaschnitz

Friedrich Dürrenmatt

1956 Friedrich Dürrenmatt: The Visit. Death of Gottfried Benn. Death of Berthold Brecht. Karl-Heinz Stockhausen: Song of the Young. The East German army is established. East Germany enters the Warsaw Pact. Rebellion in Hungary. Fidel Castro lands in Cuba--the revolution begins. Elvis Presley has his first hit: Heartbreak Hotel.

1957 The European Economic Community is founded. The first satellite, Sputnik, is launched. Dr. Seuss: The Cat in the Hat.

1958 Boris Pasternak: Doktor Zhivago; Truman Capote: Breakfast At Tiffany's.

1959 Günter Grass: The Tin Drum. The SPD lays out its Godesberger Plan. Fidel Castro assumes power in Cuba. Alaska and Hawaii become U.S. States. Rogers und Hammerstein: The Sound of Music.
		Günter Grass

	1960 Grimms's Dictionary is completed. Walter Ulbricht becomes the head of East Germany. The U.S.S.R. shoots down the American U-2--Francis Gary Powers is captured. Alfred Hitchcock: Psycho.
Walter Ulbricht

1961 Günter Grass: Cat and Mouse. The Berlin Wall is built. Konrad Adenauer begins his 4th term as chancellor. John F. Kennedy becomes the president of the U.S.A. Bay of Pigs attack in Cuba. The American Peace Corps is founded. Roger Maris hits 61 home runs (more than Babe Ruth). Joseph Heller: Catch 22.

1962 Death of Hermann Hesse. John Glenn orbits the Earth. The Beatles make their first recording. Bob Dylan Blowin' in the Wind; Walter Cronkite becomes the CBS Evening News anchorman. Death of Marilyn Monroe. Edward Albee: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange.

1963 Günter Grass: Dog Years. Heinrich Böll: Views of a Clown. Christa Wolf: Divided Heaven. In Berlin John F. Kennedy says, "Ich bin ein Berliner." Kennedy assasinated. Lyndon Johnson becomes the U.S. president. Heinrich Böll: Ansichten eines Clowns; Christa Wolf: Der geteilte Himmel. Martin Luther King, Jr. "I have a Dream"-speech in Washington; Beach Boys: Surfin' USA; Rolling Stones are founded. Peter Sellers: The Pink Panther. Vaclav Havel: The Garden Party.

1964 Ingeborg Bachmann wins the Büchner Prize. Nelson Mandela is arrested. Golf of Tonkin incident. The P.L.O. is founded. Hubert Humphry of Minnesota becomes the vice president. Muhammad Ali becomes the American heavyweight boxing champion.
	Ingeborg Bachmann

1965 Diplomatic relations are established between West Germany and Israel. Assasination of Malcome X in New York. Uprising in Watts (U.S.A.) Martin Luther King leads the march from Selma to Montgomery. Neil Simon: The Odd Couple on Broadway.

1966 Günter Eich: Fifteen Radio Plays. ; Nelly Sachs wins the Nobel Prize. Peter Handke: Abusing the Public. Kurt Georg Kiessinger becomes the chancellor of West Germany in the "Grand Coalition" with the SPD. In the coalition Willy Brandt becomes the Foreign Minister. France leaves N.A.T.O.

1967 Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black judge on the U.S. Supreme Court. Dr. Christian Barnard performs the first heart transplant. Peter Fonda in: Easy Rider. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in: Bonnie and Clyde.

1968 First performance of Peter Handkes Kaspar; Christa Wolf; Reflections on Christa T. Troops of the Warsaw Pact invade Czechoslovakia. The European Community establishes a customs union. Assasination of Martin Luther King. Assasination of Robert Kennedy. Jacqueline Kennedy marries Aristotle Onassis. Stanley Kubrick: 2001 a Space Odyssey.

Peter Handke

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

1969 Rainer Werner Fassbinders Film: Katzelmacher. Willy Brandt becomes the West German chancellor. Gustav Heinemann becomes the West German president. Richard Nixon becomes the U.S. president. Yasir Arafat becomes the leader of the P.L.O. Charles Manson and his group murder Sharon Tate. Neil Armstrong und Buzz Aldrin land on the moon. First Concord flight. 500.000 Fans go to Woodstock; Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. :Slaughterhouse-Five.

1970 Peter Handke: The Anxiety of the Goalie. Werner Herzog's Film: Dwarfs too started small. Brandt and Stoph meet in Erfurt. Bruno Kreisky becomes the Austrian chancellor. The University of Trier is refounded. Troops in Ohio shoot at student demonstrators. Simon und Garfunkel: Bridge over Troubled Waters. Donald Sutherland in: M*A*S*H; Garry Trudeau: Doonesbury.

Werner Herzog

1971 Heinrich Böll: Group Portrait with a Woman. Ingeborg Bachmann: Malina; Peter Handke: The Ride accross Lake Constance. Erich Honecker becomes the head of East Germany. Willy Brand wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Kurt Waldheim becomes Secretary General of the U.N. Andrew Lloyd Webber: Jesus Christ Superstar; Viscontis: Death in Venice.


Heinrich Böll	Erich Honecker	Günter Grass

1972 Günter Grass: The Diary of a Snail. Werner Herzog's Film: Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Heinrich Böll wins the Nobel Prize for Literature. Treaties with East Germany are ratified in the West German parliament. Palestinian terrorists kill 11 Israeli athletes in Munich. The University of Paderborn is founded. Nixon makes his trip to China. Assasination attempt on George Wallace; Mark Spitz of the U.S.A. wins 7 gold metals at the Olympics. Marlon Brando in: The Godfather. Liza Minnelli in: Cabaret; Gloria Steinem founds Ms. Magazine.

1973 Great Britain, Ireland and Denmark join the European Community. Both German states are taken into the U.N. End of the war in Vietnam. Yom Kippur war. O.P.E.C. oil embargo. The New York World Trade center is built. Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Gulag Archipelago.

1974 Heinrich Böll: The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum/ Helmut Schmidt becomes the West German chancellor. Walter Scheel becomes the West German president. Richard Nixon resigns. Gerald Ford becomes the U.S. president. The Sears Tower is built in Chicago. Hank Aaron hits his 714th home run. Stephen King: Carrie.
	Helmut Schmidt

1975 Wim Wender's Film: False Moves. First performance of Bodo Strauß': Familiar Faces. Werner Herzog's Film: Each for himself and God against all. Beginning of the Baader-Meinhof trials. Permanent representatives in Bonn and Berlin (East). Saigon becomes Ho Chi Minh City. Human rights declaration of Helsinki. O. J. Simpson makes 23 touchdowns in one season. Steven Spielberg: Jaws.

1976 Peter Härtling: Hölderlin; Peter Handke: The Left Handed Woman. German codetermination rights are expanded. Muppets appear on television in the U.S.A. Sylverster Stallone: Rocky; Alex Haley: Roots.

1977 Günter Grass: The Halibut. Jimmy Carter becomes the U.S. president. Werner Herzogs Film: Stroszek; Death of Elvis Presley. George Lucas: Star Wars; Woody Allen: Annie Hall; John Travolta in: Saturday Night Fever.

1978 Transit agreement between East and West Germany. End of VW Beetle production in Germany. Camp David Accords. John Paul II becomes pope. 900 religious fanatics commit suicide in Jonestown. John Irving: The World According to Garp.

1979 Werner Herzog's Filme: Nosferatu and Woyzeck; The European currency systems starts. The first direct election of the European Parliament. Carl Carstens becomes the president of West Germany. N.A.T.O. double decision. The Ayatollah Khomeini takes power in Iran. Saddam Hussein becomes the president of Iraq. Margaret Thatcher becomes Prime Minister. Truppen of the U.S.S.R. enter Afghanistahn. 66 Americans are taken hostage in Iran. Accident at Three Mile Island in the atomic power plant. The first American AIDS case reported. Andrew Lloyd Webber: Evita. American television series: Holocaust.

1980 Günter Grass: Poll Tax: or the Germans die out. War between Iran and Iraq. Lech Walesa becomes the head of the Polish Solidarity union. John Lennon is shot. First transmission of the Dallas series. Ted Turner founds CNN. Peter Shaffers play: Amadeus.


Amadeus (Hollywood)	Mozart (Vienna)