There is only exhaustion and resignation in her face as she sits in her squalid kitchen in a Berlin Mietskaserne, surrounded by a lifetime's assortment of collected trinkets. Her dwelling is horrifying, but only if we believe we are somehow better than magpies and mice 1/6

A generation later, architects like Ernst May stripped away the debris to reveal kitchens of ruthless efficiency and sterility, though this was a sanitary lie against our animal nature. Stainless steel and tile were weapons against the infection of human individuality. 2/6

Rebelling against the antiseptic style, their children added a tree to this spacious, "grifflose" kitchen, but, as the name implies, removed all the buttons and handles. This mid-century dwelling was orderly but not functional, like the inner lives of its doomed inhabitants. 3/6

And with the added space, these airy kitchens allowed grandmother to practice painting, smiling broadly despite her inner turmoil, as she declined slowly to a well-deserved death. No one could quite say why the menacing sharpness of the houseplant's leaves felt apt. 4/6

When she perished, her descendants used the modest inheritance to flood the kitchen with the vibrancy she had denied them during her life. This too was a mistake, as it turned out, since she continued to complain about it long after, opening the vivid cupboards in protest. 5/6

In retaliation, they crammed their home with potted plants, displaced representatives of the life that was visible but unreachable beyond the glass. In the end, all one could do was sit resignedly in exhausting green despair. 6/6

We are not so different from other creatures, who murder and fornicate with animalistic abandon, except, perhaps, that it is difficult to imagine another of these, at the pinnacle of its evolutionary climb, also clawing filth into our shared sky.

If you feel a sudden urge to exit a room, always obey.

This thread is reminiscent of our Weimar Germany class. Those harrowing Mietskasernen!

Do you teach high school German? You might be interested in the Graduate Certificate in German from Indiana University ius.edu/certificates/g…

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IU students! The deadline is approaching for students to apply for our summer trip to Berlin with IU South Bend. Apply before 12/1 academics.iusb.edu/international-…

IU folks! There is still time to apply for our summer study abroad in Berlin this May 14-29. If you are thinking of going, please click through this link and apply: academics.iusb.edu/.../study-abro… Remember, going on the trip does not require any German proficiency. Do it today!

This May, we're headed to Berlin. But even if you are not going with us, you can still take German courses with us this summer. We'll even have live course content from Germany! tinyurl.com/5ab687uy

Join us for Beginning German this summer! It is going to be great.

We're really excited about study abroad this summer!

Come study abroad with us this summer! The deadline for applications is Nov. 29

If you’re thinking of taking a foreign language this fall, run, don’t walk, to sign up for German.

Day 1 of German 101 is officially over. EXCELLENT group of students this fall.