Franz Kafka

Born 1883 in Prague in a Jewish family. His first language was German, also he was fluent in Czech. He belongs to the most important writers of the 20th century. He wrote short stories and novels.

Although he was Jewish from Prague, he belongs to the German writers, because all his writting is written in German.

Franka's works are filled with black humor and influences of existencialism and modernism.

He became renown posthumously when his three major works were published: The Trial in 1925, The Castle in 1926 and America 1927.

The Trial
is a story of a man who is arrested and prosecuted without knowing the merit of his crime. The novel describes his struggle with authority and bureaucracy.

The Castle
is about alienation of people in modern society. The whole novel is dark and surreal.

Survival Phrases in German

Hallo – hello/hi [hallo]
Bis bald – later [biz balt]
Tschüß – bye [tshuiss]
Auf Wiedersehen – good-bye (literally: until seeing each other again) [ouf veedahsehan]
Guten Morgen – good morning [gootan moahgan]
Guten Tag – good day, hello [gootan tahk]
Guten Abend – good evening [gootan ahbant]
Gute Nacht – good night [goota nakht]
Grüß Gott – good day, hello (used in Bavaria and Austria) [gruiz got]

Wie geht’s? – How are you? (neutral but casual) [vee gehtz]
Wie geht’s dir? – How are you? (informal) [vee gehtz deeah]
Wie geht’s Ihnen? – How are you? (formal) [vee gehtz eehnahn]
Gut. – Fine. [goot]
Und dir/Ihnen? – And you? (informal/formal) [oont deeah/eehnahn]
Ganz okay. – Quite okay. [gahnts goot]
Könnte besser sein. – Could be better. [kehntah bezah syn]
Es muss. – It has to be (okay). [ez mooz]
Schlecht. – Bad. [shlekht]
Danke – thanks [dankeh]
Danke schön – thank you [dankehshoin]
Bitte – please/you’re welcome [beettah]
Gern geschehen – no problem [geahn geshehn]
Schön, dich kennen zu lernen. – Nice to meet you. (informal) [shoin dikh kehnnan tsoo leahnan]
Sehr erfreut. – Nice to meet you. (formal) [seah eahfroit]
Guten Appetit! – Happy meal/enjoy! [gootan appeteet]
Gesundheit! – Bless you! (after someone sneezes) [gehsoondhyt]
Viel Glück! – Best of luck! [feel gluik]
Herzlichen Glückwunsch! – Congratulations! [heatsleehen gluikvoonsh]
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag! – Happy Birthday! [heatsleehen gluikvoonsh tsoom gebootstahk]
Entschuldigung – excuse me/sorry [entshooldeegoonk]

GERMANY BASIC FACTS

• Its territory covers 357 021 km2 (137 847 sqm) and consists of 16 states.
• Germany has borders with Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland.

Its population is about 81 750 000 inhabitants.

MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN GERMAN HISTORY ACCORDING TO ME

• From 750 BC till 1st century BC Expansion of Germanic Tribes. They spread from southern Scandinavia and Northern Germany to south, west and east.
• 9 AD The Battle of Teutoburg Forest. In this battle the Roman legions were defeated and were forced to stop the Roman expansion into the Germanic territory thus the border of the Roman Empire stayed westside of the river Rhine.
• Around 260 AD The Germanic Tribes Cross Frozen Danube - they settled in the Roman territory.
• 800 AD Charlemagne founded the Carolingnian Empire. This event is seen as the founding of Germany and France.
• 962 AD Otto I Consolidated Germany.
• In the 12th and 13th Centuries The German Colonisation Moved To Eastern Europe. At that period Germans were gaining influence in Slavic territories - East Germany and Austria.
• 1273 Rudolph of Habsburg became king of the Roman Empire. He was the founder of the Habsburg dynasty that reigned over a big part of Middle Europe till 1918.
• 1348 - 1350 Black Death Plague. This epidemic killed 30 - 60% of the European population.
• 1439 Mechanical Printing Press. Invented by Guttenber.
• 1517 German Reformation. Started by Martin Luther.
• 1618 - 1648 Thirty Years War. During that time 30% of German population died. The German Empire was divided in numerous independent principalities.
• From 1740 started rivalry between Austria and Prussia. This rivalry continued till the end of 19th century and caused many conflicts.
• 1871 - 1918 The German Empire. At that time Germany was unified by the most powerful German state - Prussia.
• 1914 - 1918 First War I.
• 1933 - 1945 The Third Reich. Hitler became the German prime minister in 1933. In 1939 Germany started the war.
• 1990 Reunification. East and West Germany were reunified.