FRG Society

• In 1950s, youths responded to their parents. Following this, adults had to respond to pressures of young people.
• From 1975, the voting age was reduced to 18.
• In 1955, 16% saw their parents as role models, by 1984 this had fallen to 3%.
• In 1954, 50% of parents thought corporal punishment was a good thing. By 1984 this was frowned upon and 35% of fathers and 46% of mothers said they felt free to discuss worries and the family with their children.
• The 1949 constitution granted educational autonomy to Lander governments, meaning educational provision was increased.
• They provided traditional academic courses in their Gymnasien, but also vocational courses in their Realschulan, leading to a decline in number of their Hauptschulen.
• School leaving age was increased from 15 to 16 in the 70s. By the end of the 60s, university students had risen from 108,000 in 1950 to 400,000.
• Old fashioned traditionalism and overcrowding in universities led to protest: by 1989, 49 universities had over one million students.
• Under Brandt's chancellorship, important education measures included:

  • 5x amount of money spent per head
  • more teacher training
  • tax-free allowances for poorer families
  • allowed Lander to open comprehensive schools
  • grants for students to cover university costs
  • spending for research increased by 300%.
• Extent to opportunity was a key factor in the generation divide. Americanisation, listening to pop and breaking traditionalism was growing.
• Unemployment rates were initially high post-war due to refugees and expellees. However, numbers fell as the country entered the boom years. It never exceeded 3% 1958-73. However there was a sudden rise from 200,000 to 400,000 1967-68 due to the downswing in economy.
• After 1973, along with rising oil prices, the number of unemployed began to climb, with just under 2 million by 1991.
• The economic downturn in the 60s fuelled social tensions. Most involved in student protests were young people and middle classes. Left-leaning thinking predominated the APO movement which had an anti-capitalist and anti-American message. Grievances against Gastarbeiter, US presence in industry and defence and unequal welfare system fuelled social tensions and Neo-nazism.
• The German public as a whole were ready to join protest following the oil crisis. The late 1970s saw political terrorism and flourishing environmentalism.
• Technology and robots led to millions of jobs vanishing and unemployment rose to 9% in 1984. Trade unions negotiated higher wages, however this just led to employers trying to cut jobs.
• German society was divided as many unemployed were immigrants, dug addicts, prostitutes and drop outs. Many of which felt that capitalism had failed that, which was not helped by the public spending cuts under Kohl.
• The government offered grants to Turkish immigrants if they returned to Turkey.
• In 1972 surveys, 2/3 believed in West German progression, by 1982, only 28% did.
• 12 houses in Hafenstrasse were occupied by squatters. The street became the meeting point for 5,000 protesters, provoking conflict with the authorities. They even had their own radio station "Radio Hafenstrasse".
• Culture in the early years of the FRG was conventional and confirmative. However, a lot of the "degenerate art" was rescued from storage. Many artists and poets returned who had fled during war.
• The constitution gave Lander freedom over their own cultural affairs, encouraging towns and cities to compete in the provision of galleries, theatres and sculptures. Until the public spending cuts of the 70s, around 1% of budgets went towards supporting the arts, allowing more than 70 orchestra and 60 opera houses to operate.
• A new abstract art school called the Zero movement emerged, using forceful expressionist style based around a 'zone of silence'
• Younger audiences enjoyed more jazz, pop and experimental music, while all ages enjoyed traditional folk music.
• FRG had the greatest density of theatres than anywhere else in the world. They were heavily subsidised permitting diversity and experimentation. There were new provocative productions, such as "The Physicists" which questions scientific ethics and human ability to handle scientific advances. Although there was a rise in TV in the '80s, theatre attendance remained high.
• The cinema scene were quite bland in the 50s, after the 60s, there was a rise in more controversial cinema such as "Aren't we wonderful" which was a hard hitting comedy set in Nazi Germany. The "New German Cinema" movement saw a renaissance, focussing on aesthetic purpose rather than box office success.
• Authors focussed a lot of literature on wartime experience, such as "The Man Outside". Group 47 encouraged young authors to write about contemporary issues and by the 1970s/80s literature was wide and varied, including some feminist literature.
• Paperbacks became cheap due to the popularity of modern culture, there was a growth in readership and weeklies such as Der Spiegel reported on national issues.
• Most Germans wanted to put horrors of Nazi past behind them. However, it was largely ignored and the number of people who believed Hitler would have been one of Germany's greatest statesmen stood at 48% in 1955. Fallen to 32% in 1967
• In 1968, things were polarised as the older generation were happy under new regime, but the younger generation referred to their parents as 'Spiessbürger" who maintained silent when asked about their youth.
• The students were critical of their parent's values as Lübke and Kiesinger were former Nazi members.
• The 1968 student riots bought about more open discussion. Teaching became part of curriculum in 1960s. Brandt even knelt before the Warsaw Ghetto memorial showing personal remorse for Nazi crimes against the Jews. When the PLO terrorists killed 11 jewish athletes in the Munich Olympic Games, universal sympathies were completely with the Jews.
• A TV series on the Holocaust was broadcasted in 1979 and watched by 2 million. In 1968, 471 schools visited Dachau.