German Course

Deutsche Geschichte Teil 1: Auf den Spuren der GermanenGerman History Part 1: In the Footsteps of the Germanic Peoples

In dieser Serie lernst du viel über deutsche Geschichte.In this series you will learn a lot about German history.

Welchen Widrigkeiten (Herausforderungen) musste sich das deutsche Volk stellen? Wie hat Deutschland es selbst nach den schlechtesten Zeiten geschafft, sich wieder zu erholen und zu gedeihen? Was sind die spannendsten Momente der deutschen Geschichte?What challenges did the German people face? How has Germany succeeded in recovering and prospering even after the worst times? What are the most exciting moments in German history?

In diesem Kurs werden wir die Germanen kennenlernen und wie sie den Römern trotzten. Du lernst außerdem ein bisschen über die deutschen Dialekte, da sie unter anderem in den verschiedenen Germanenstämmen ihren Ursprung haben.In this course, we will get to know the Germanic peoples and how they defied the Romans. You also learn a little bit about the German dialects, because they partly originated in the various Germanic tribes.

Inklusive:Included:

• spannende Geschichten als Text und HörspielExciting stories as text and audio play
• Frage-und-Antwort-SpieleQuizzes
• RedewendungenIdioms
• Konjunktiv-ÜbungenKonjunktiv exercises
• PDF zum AusdruckenPDF to print out
• deutsche DialekteGerman dialects
• interessante tote SprachenInteresting dead languages

26325 words – 4h21m56s audio – valuable, comprehensible input in small, digestible chunks!

Swipe left, press the right arrow key (→) on your keyboard, or click on the button to start.

1. Introduction

   • Teaser (Practice the German Imperative!)

   • What We Can Learn From History

   • Introduction to This Series

   • Use This Course However You Like!

   • Quiz: Introduction to the History Course

2. Overview

   • Key Information at a Glance (PDF)

   • Historical Chronology

   • Prehistory and Short Story of the Germans – Warning, Spoilers! 😉

   • The Turn of the Eras

   • Asterix Tells Us About the Germans

3. Who Were the Germanic Peoples?

   • Why “Germans”?

   • The First Germanic Sound Shift

   • Digression: The High German Consonant Shift

   • Quiz: Who Were the Germanic People?

4. Time Travel: Visit a Germanic Village With Me

   • Get Into the Time Machine!

   • A Typical Germanic Village

   • A Germanic Beauty

   • The Blacksmith

   • Busted!

   • The Social Classes

   • A Healthy Meal and Our Departure

   • Quiz: Visit to a Germanic Village

5. The Culture of the Germanic Peoples

   • The Lifestyle of the Germanic Peoples

   • The Society of the Germans

   • The Proto-Germanic Language (With Example)

   • The Futhark: Germanic Runes

   • The Germanic Gods

   • The Religious Rituals of the Germanic Peoples

   • Germanic Magic

   • Example of Germanic Magic: The Merseburg Incantations

   • Example of Germanic Magic: The Canterbury Charm

   • Quiz: The Culture of the Germanic Peoples

6. The Germanic Tribes

   • Differentiation of the Individual Tribes

   • The Germanic Peoples and Their Traces

   • The Suebi and the Strange Language of Their Descendants

   • The Large Tribes – Romans, Take Heed!

   • The East Germanic Peoples – Suddenly They Were There and Wanted War!

   • Overview of the Germanic Tribes

   • Quiz: The Germanic Tribes

7. The Germanic Peoples and the Romans

   • Hello, We Are the New Neighbors!

   • Humor: What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

   • Peaceful Trading With the Romans

   • Armed Conflicts With the Romans

   • Quiz: The Germanic Peoples and the Romans

8. The Cimbric War

   • Why the North Germans Picked a Quarrel With the Romans

   • The March Through Germania (From 120 BC)

   • The Battle of Noreia (113 BC)

   • The Battle of Agen (107 BC) and the Humiliation of the Romans

   • The Battle of Arausio (105 BC) and Split of the Germans

   • The General Gaius Marius Is Cautious

   • The Battle of Aquae Sextiae (102 BC)

   • The Battle of Vercellae (101 BC)

   • Quiz: The Cimbric War

9. The Rhine Border: Germanic King Ariovistus vs. Caesar

   • Ariovistus Crosses the Rhine (71 BC)

   • Caesar and Ariovistus Negotiate (Konjunktiv Exercise)

   • The Importance of Mental Determination (Konjunktiv Exercise)

   • The Konjunktiv (With a Short Exercise)

   • The Battle of Vosges [Vogesen = Vosges; Elsass = Alsace]

10. The Germanic Peoples Defy Augustus

    • The Drusus Campaigns (12 to 9 BC)

    • The Mighty War (Immensum Bellum; 1 to 5 BC)

    • The Price of Tyranny: How the Marcomannic King Was Spared

    • The Epic Varus Battle (Romans Against Cherusker)

    • The Consequences of the Varus Battle

    • Quiz: The Germanic Peoples Defy Augustus

11. The Marcomannic Wars and Their Aftermath

    • The Men of the Border

    • Digression: Marcus Aurelius, His Meditations, and the Stoa

    • The Marcomannic Wars (166 to 180 N. Chr.)

    • Possible Triggers

    • A Play for Time

    • The First Marcomannic War Begins

    • Do You Want a King? We’ll Give You a King! – Rex Quadis Datus

    • The Lightning Miracle

    • The Rain Miracle in Quadi Country

    • The Second and Third Marcomannic War

    • After the Marcomannic Wars

    • Quiz: The Marcomannic Wars

12. The Migration Period (4th to 6th Centuries)

    • Introduction

    • Reasons for and Consequences of the Völkerwanderung

    • Summary of the Migration Period

    • The Goths

    • The Huns Are Coming! (4th Century)

    • The Huns – Doom-Bringing Beasts (?)

    • The Huns: “We do not sow.”

    • Digression: Bows

    • The Visigoths Settle on Roman Territory (4th Century)

    • Excursion: Christianity and Arianism

    • The Gothic War (376–382) and the Gothic Contract (382)

    • The Visigoths Move Through Europe

    • The Invasions of the Germanic Peoples and Further Looting of the City of Rome

    • Attila and the Invasions of the Huns

    • The Decline of the Roman Empire

    • The End of the Migration Period

    • Quiz: The Migration Period

13. Preview

    • Germanic Kingdoms

    • Finished! What Now?