TRANSIT BLOG

TRANSIT Blog was formerly part of the Multicultural Germany Project (MGP), which we are now merging with Transit Journal. Founded in 2001 by the German Department at UC Berkeley, MGP served as a research collaborative and continuously updated archive of migration, supported by the tireless energy and willpower of our very own Deniz Göktürk and UC Berkeley’s graduate students. Our blog includes reactions to current events and news, research materials, and teaching resources. Maintained mainly by students at Berkeley, the blog provides a window into our activities and campus discussions. We hope that TRANSIT Blog continues to serve as a resource and forum for both aspiring and continuing professionals in German Studies and its adjacent fields; we welcome contributions of short thought-pieces of ca. 1000-1500 words year-round. If you would like to contribute your own blog post or other materials (in English or German), please contact us at transitjournal@berkeley.edu.

  • Burhan Qurbani’s “Shahada”

    What is Islam? What does it mean to be a good Muslim? Link to Video Here The 2:04-minute trailer to the film “Shahada,” release date as of yet unknown, opens with two very evocative questions relevant to much of the multi-cultural world today. This German film, featured at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival, was…

  • Young Germany

    This website, much of it in English, some in German, is pretty interesting.  It publishes articles on pretty much anything young people are interested in, from fashion to climate change, sports to education.  Under the “Life in Germany” tab there are articles and resources for people from Italy, Latin America, Russia, and so on.  Check…

  • new synagogue built in herford.

    This Sunday, a new synagogue was opened in the German town of Herford, which had been without a synagogue since its last one was destroyed over 70 years ago during Kristallnacht.  There had been a pressing need in the community for a genuine place of worship, as the prayer room in a Jewish school nearby…

  • WWII Compensation: Ghetto Laborers Still Waiting for German Pensions

    Germany passed a Ghetto Pension Law in 2002 that would give a small amount of money to Jews who held steady jobs in concentration camps, in order to “close a gap in the country’s Nazi-era compensation.”  However, over 90 percent of applicants are being denied, and each day more and more Holocaust survivors are dying…

  • Turkish culture club firebombed in Münster

    A recent string of attacks on a Turkish consulate and a Turkish culture club in the city of Münster are believed to have been carried out by individuals of Kurdish background. This article mentions some of the tensions between Kurds and Turks living in Turkey which continues to be the subject of international concern from…

  • Entschädigung: Im Zweifel gegen die Opfer

    This article revolves around reparations paid to survivors of the Holocaust who had been forced to do labor during the second World War.  Now they can receive a pension for the labor rendered.  However, since the approval of this program there have been complaints of bureaucratic mishandling of the cases presented, that by reviewing cases…

  • Traveling to Germany ‘breaks down prejudices’

    This article states that vacationing in Germany has significantly increased recently, and with this, German stereotypes of “cold and impatient” people have been proven false. It attributes the recent influx of tourism to the cheap cost of hotels and the quick city tours. One thing this article fails to mention is that perhaps some of…

  • Adults Only, Please.

    In a nation with a very low birth rate, and many incentives given by the government to reproduce as many German babies as possible, one cafe in Germany stands alone, fighting against the ever-pervading sound of a child’s scream. As reported in Der Spiegel, March 5th, 2010, Cafe Niesen in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin has established…

  • Germany refuses to extradite German Citizen

    Iran has called upon Germany to extradite a Kurdish leader they say is affiliated with an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, considered by the EU to be terrorist group. Germany has rejected the extradition on the grounds that the man is a German citizen. This article highlights the importance of a resident’s legal tie…

  • Left … out? One woman’s politics cloud citizenship chances

    Feeling left out? Looks like just about anyone may experience exclusion and/or discrimination at least once in their life. In one woman’s case the boundaries of exclusion had nothing to do with her race or ethnicity, not even gender, but her political affiliation. Jannine Menger-Hamilton has resided in Germany for most of her life. Raised…