The Brazilian samba, like a number of Latin American dances, combines African and European artistic influences. These dancers are performing the samba at a nightclub in Rio de Janeiro.
© Günter Gräfenhain, SIME/4Corners Images

It’s time to put on your dancing shoes because National Ballroom Dancing Week is here. From September 16th to the 25th, try out the following fun dance styles in your living room. There are 12 types of ballroom dance: 1) bolero, 2) cha-cha, 3) East Coast swing, 4) fox trot, 5) jive, 6) mambo, 7) paso double, 8) rumba, 9) samba, 10) tango, 11) Viennese waltz, and 12) waltz. Let’s look at a few of these.

Samba is a popular Afro-Brazilian style of music and dance. The term Afro-Brazilian is used to refer to Brazilians of largely African descent. Samba is best known for the central role it plays in the famous Carnival festival in Brazil. Samba music consists of layers of syncopated (irregularly accented) rhythms played in 2/4 or 4/4 time. Samba can be danced solo, in pairs, or in groups. It involves quick forward and backward steps. Dancers sway their hips while stepping and use various sweeping or energetic arm movements.

In Brazil, samba styles vary by region. For example, the samba de roda is a style performed in Brazil’s northern states. This style of samba usually involves women dancing in a circle. Samba-lenço is popular in Brazil’s central and southern states. Samba-lenço dancers hold a handkerchief while performing. Samba carnavalesca is the most internationally recognized style of samba. Dancers perform the samba carnavalesca each year during the Carnival festival.

Samba has its roots in the music and dance of the African nation of Angola. Scholars think the word samba comes from the Kimbundu word semba, which describes a belly-bumping dance move used in some styles of samba. Enslaved African people brought the music and dance style to Brazil. Around 1900, samba became associated with the Carnival celebration in Rio de Janeiro. Soon it became a symbol of national identity in Brazil.

Ballroom dancing is a form of dancing for couples. Various ballroom dances originated in Europe, the United States, and Latin America. These dances then spread throughout the rest of the world as both a popular social activity and a competitive sport.
© Jeffrey Dunn, The Viesti Collection

Rumba, also spelled rhumba, is a Latin ballroom dance that originated in Africa and achieved its modern form in Cuba. Couples perform the rumba in 4/4 time with a quick-quick-slow rhythm. The rumba emphasizes a swaying hip motion that is achieved by taking small steps with the knees relaxed. Steps are typically performed in a square pattern. The rumba is most often accompanied by music with a repeated beat played on percussion instruments.

A version of the rumba was first introduced into the United States from Cuba about 1914. However, the dance’s exaggerated hip movements were considered too sexually suggestive and the dance did not gain acceptance. A more refined version was introduced about 1930. The dance maintained its popularity in the 1930′s and 1940′s, especially in England, where ballroom dance teachers standardized the figures and step rhythms. Rumbas also appear in music not intended for ballroom dancing, as in Darius Milhaud‘s ballet La creation du monde (1923).

Tango is the national dance and music of Argentina. These couples are dancing at a milonga in Plaza Dorrego, in the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Milongas are social events for dancing tango. They have their own special etiquette. For example, couples circulate around the dance floor in a counterclockwise direction.
© Jeff Greenberg, UIG/Getty Images

Tango was the first Latin American dance to gain great international popularity. The tango is a ballroom dance for a couple in slow 2/4 or 4/4 time. The dancers alternate long, slow steps with short, quick steps, sometimes making sudden turns and striking dramatic poses.

The tango was danced in the United States about 1912 by Vernon and Irene Castle, a famous ballroom dancing team. It also became popular in Paris and London. Today’s tango is related to an Argentine dance called the milonga, a Cuban dance called the habanera, and a tango from Spain‘s Andalusian region.

The waltz became the most fashionable social dance of the late 1800′s. It originated in Germany and Austria and soon spread to other countries. The waltz inspired some of the finest dance music of the period and also added beauty and elegence to many romantic ballets of the 1800′s.
Emperor Franz Joseph at a Ball in Vienna(about 1900), a gouache painting on canvas by Wilhelm Gause; Museum der Stadt, Vienna/ET Archive, London from Superstock

Waltz is a ballroom dance in 3/4 time characterized by its swift gliding turns. The dance was enormously popular throughout the 1800′s. The term waltz is also used for the music that accompanies this dance. The waltz has been danced in two distinct styles, the three-step and the two-step. In Europe, especially in Vienna, the dancers waltzed much faster than they waltzed in North America.

The waltz developed rapidly in the last years of the 1700′s. It emerged from a group of south German and Austrian dances involving the turning motion of the dancers in a close embrace position. The popularity of waltzes among young people led some authorities to outlaw the dance because it was thought to be immoral for couples to dance so closely.

November 8, 2019

On Nov. 9, 1989, 30 years ago tomorrow, the Berlin Wall, perhaps the most infamous symbol of the Cold War, was opened and begun to be torn down. (See below for a detailed definition of Cold War.) At that time, Germany and Berlin were still split between the Soviet-dominated east and a west supported by the United States and its allies. The fall of the Berlin Wall was an immensely important event in world history. It represented the end of the Cold War and a new beginning in world relations.

East German border guards face cheering crowds at the Berlin Wall on Nov. 10, 1989, the day after the infamous barrier was opened. Credit: © Tom Stoddart, Getty Images

In 1989, democratic revolutions were brewing in East Germany and other parts of Communist-controlled eastern Europe. Large numbers of East Germans were escaping to other countries, while others organized massive demonstrations demanding greater freedom at home. In November 1989, the East German government ended restrictions on travel and emigration and opened the Berlin Wall. In October 1990, East and West Germany were reunified as the single country of Germany, and Berlin was reunited as a single city.

East German police step into West Berlin as a block of the Berlin Wall falls in November 1989. East and West Germany reunited as one nation in 1990. Credit: AP Photo

The East Germans built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop the flow of its citizens into West Germany and other parts of Europe. Armed guards patrolled the massive concrete wall’s system of fortified barriers and obstacles. The guards killed many people trying to escape to freedom in the west.

The term Cold War describes the intense rivalry that developed after World War II (1939-1945) between groups of Communist and non-Communist nations. On one side were the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the Soviet Union) and its Communist allies, often referred to as the Eastern bloc. On the other side were the United States and its mostly democratic allies, usually referred to as the Western bloc. The struggle was called the Cold War because it did not actually lead to fighting, or “hot” war, on a wide scale. Still, between 1945 and 1991, millions of people died in the Cold War’s “hot theaters”—that is, places where military action occurred—mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

August 21, 2019

Earlier this month, on August 1, the famous Schwebebahn electric suspension monorail reopened in Wuppertal, Germany. The oldest such train in the world—it began operating in 1901—the Wuppertal Suspension Railway (Wuppertaler Schwebebahn) had undergone nine months of repairs and renovations after part of its power distribution system failed in November 2018. The train’s reopening was celebrated with free ice cream and waffles for passengers, as well as a reawakened appreciation of the novel public transportation system.

On Aug. 1, 2019, the Schwebahn “floating railway” reopened in Wuppertal, Germany, after several months of renovation and repair. Credit: © Majonit/Shutterstock

The Schwebebahn (literally floating railway) carries 85,000 passengers a day an average of 39 feet (13 meters) above the ground along its 8-mile (13-kilometer), 30-minute route through the western German city of Wuppertal. The majority of the route follows the Wupper River, but when passing over busy city streets, the Schwebebahn floats serenely over traffic delays or winter snow drifts.

Aside from daily commuters, the photogenic Schwebebahn attracts tourists, artists, and selfie-takers. The monorail and its art nouveau stations and towers first appeared in cinema in the early 1900′s, and the train has since graced the background of a number of German and Dutch film scenes. In 1995, it starred in the British artist Darren Almond’s film, Schwebebahn, which showed an inverted trip aboard the train. The disorienting effect makes it appear as if the train were passing through an upside-down world.

The original plan for the Schwebebahn had it drawn by horses. This plan was then amended for the use of electric power. Construction began in the summer of 1898, and Kaiser Wilhelm II, the German Emperor, was one of the Schwebebahn’s first passengers on a trial run in October 1900. The train began operation in March 1901, and the full line was completed in June 1903.

The Schwebebahn has had an efficient and mostly safe history, but the train has had a few setbacks. In 1917, a derailment injured four people. During World War II (1939-1945), the train was largely destroyed, but it was rebuilt and reopened in 1946. In 1950, an ill-conceived circus promotion stuffed an elephant into a Schwebebahn car. The elephant, named Tuffi, panicked, burst from the car, and fell in the Wupper River (escaping unharmed but angry). In 1997, two cars collided, injuring several people, and in April 1999, the Schwebebahn’s only fatal accident occurred when a train car fell in the river, killing five people.

The recent Schwebebahn renovations were only the latest in a long history of expansions, improvements, modernizations, and train car replacements. The train (which has never changed locale) originally ran through the industrial cities of Barmen, Elberfeld, and Vohwinkel. These cities were combined with other communities in 1929 as Barmen-Elberfeld, which was renamed Wuppertal (Wupper Valley) in 1930.

April 1, 2019

Today, April 1, marks 100 years since the founding of the influential school of design called the Bauhaus. The school was started in Weimar, Germany, in 1919 by the architect Walter Gropius. Formally called the Staatliches Bauhaus (State School of Building), the school had tremendous influence on modern art and design. The Bauhaus had a relatively short existence, however. The Nazi German government forced the school to close in 1933.

The Bauhaus was an important school of design founded by the German architect Walter Gropius 100 years ago on April 1, 1919. Credit: © Claudio Divizia, iStockphoto

The Bauhaus connected creative design with modern industry and science. Despite its name, the school did not initially offer courses in building (architecture). The school’s main emphasis was on applied arts (design and decoration of ordinary objects intended for use), and students were also instructed on painting and sculpture. Architecture, graphic design, and other arts were later included in the curriculum. The Bauhaus often trained artists as craftworkers or industrial designers, and the school stressed the importance of simple but aesthetically pleasing designs in all fields. The school’s influence is still widely seen in many aspects of modern design. Bauhaus teachers included such famous artists as Josef Albers, Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky.

This chair, designed by the German architect and Bauhaus instructor Marcel Breuer in 1928, exemplifies the simple yet elegant applied arts taught at the school. Credit: Knoll International

The Bauhaus also pioneered in a new kind of art education. The students began their studies with a basic design course in which they learned principles of composition and color, and how to work with different materials. Similar courses have been adopted by art schools throughout the world. In 1925, the Bauhaus moved to Dessau because of government hostility in Weimar. The school was closed by the Nazis in 1932. It tried to reopen in Berlin, but was forced to close permanently in 1933.

In 1937, former Bauhaus teacher László Moholy-Nagy started a similar school of design in Chicago in the United States. This “New Bauhaus” continued the traditions of the original school. In 1944, the school was renamed the Institute of Design, and it became part of the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1949.

April 20, 2018

On April 21, 1918, 100 years ago tomorrow, famed German fighter pilot Baron Manfred von Richthofen <<RIHKT hoh fuhn>>, known as the Red Baron, was shot down and killed during World War I (1914-1918). Richthofen shot down 80 enemy planes before he died, making him the war’s “highest scoring” flying ace. He also trained and led his own fighter squadron. Richthofen became a celebrated hero during the war, and was known as the Red Baron because of his red-painted planes.

Baron Manfred von Richthofen, known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot during World War I (1914-1918). He was killed in action 100 years ago on April 21, 1918. Credit: © Everett Historical/Shutterstock

Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen was born into an aristocratic family on May 2, 1892, in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). He was educated at military schools and became a cavalry officer in the German army. In 1915, Richthofen transferred to the air service. He began flying as an observer, gathering intelligence while a pilot flew the plane, but he soon took flying lessons and became a pilot himself.

In 1916, Richthofen joined the squadron of Oswald Boelcke, an accomplished fighter pilot who had developed successful air battle strategies. In 1917, Richthofen was given command of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG1, or Fighter Wing 1), famously known as “The Flying Circus” for the unit’s fantastically painted fighter planes and because of its reputation for showing up in many different locations like a traveling circus.

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The Fokker D. VII, a 1918 German fighter plane used in World War I, was known for its fast climbing ability. Credit: WORLD BOOK illustration by Tom Morgan

In April 1917, a month known as “Bloody April” to Allied airmen suffering heavy losses in northern France, Richthofen shot down an astounding 21 enemy planes. In July, he received a bullet wound to the head but managed to land his plane. He returned to combat in August as JG1 was outfitted with the famous Fokker Dr.1 triplane (a plane with three pairs of wings). The Dr.1 was infamously hard to fly, and Richthofen more often flew Albatros biplane fighters , which had the standard two pairs of wings. It was in a Dr.1, however, that the Red Baron was killed. JG1 later switched to the Fokker D.VII biplane, a plane which Richthofen helped to develop but never flew in combat. The D.VII proved to be Germany’s most effective fighter plane of the war.

During the 1918 Battles of Villers-Bretonneux in northern France, Richthofen was killed as he pursued an enemy plane far into hostile territory. He was shot through the chest, and his plane crash-landed. It is unclear whether Richthofen was brought down by Australian troops on the ground or by a Canadian pilot coming to the aid of the other plane. Richthofen’s 1917 autobiography, Der Rote Kampfflieger (The Red Air Fighter), became a German best-seller (he was 25 when it was published). Richthofen’s brother Lothar and his cousin Wolfram von Richthofen also served as a fighter pilots in JG1 (and both survived the war).

March 26, 2018

Heute ist Montag—that is to say, Today is Monday.

On this Montag, World Book takes a look at a language closely related to English—German. In fact, English is a Germanic language, so it is not surprising that the German and English words for Monday resemble each other.

The flag of Germany. Credit: © T. Lesia, Shutterstock

In German, the language is known as Deutsch, and Germany is called Deutschland. German is the official language of Germany, of course, as well as Austria and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the official languages of Luxembourg and Switzerland. There are an estimated 100 million to 120 million German speakers worldwide. German is one of the most widely used European languages.

German and English both belong to the Indo-European family of languages. The earliest source of the English language was a prehistoric language that modern scholars call Proto-Indo-European (PIE). PIE was probably spoken about 5,000 years ago by people who lived in the region north of the Black Sea, in southeastern Europe. These people migrated through the centuries and gradually developed new languages.

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German is the official language of Germany as well as nearby Austria and Liechtenstein. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

The group of people who spoke PIE and migrated west divided into groups who spoke languages that were the ancestors of the Germanic, Greek, and Latin tongues. The Germanic languages developed into English, Danish, Dutch, German, Norwegian, and Swedish. The ancient Greek language became modern Greek, and early Latin grew into French, Italian, and Spanish.

Today, the Germanic languages are often divided into the North Germanic languages and the West Germanic languages. The North Germanic languages are the Scandinavian languages of Danish, Faeroese, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish. Dutch, English, and German are West Germanic languages.

The German language itself has two principal spoken dialects: High German and Low German. They are not named for their status or class but for where they are spoken. High German (Hochdeutsch) is spoken in the “high” mountainous region of Germany, and Low German (Plattdeutsch) is spoken mainly in the lowlands of northern Germany. High German serves as the base for Standard German. Standard German is spoken in schools and on radio and television. It is also the written language of Germany.

One person is credited with having helped form the modern German language more than any other: the religious reformer Martin Luther. Luther, a leader of the Reformation in Germany, translated the Bible into German, using the dialect of east-central Germany, particularly the region called Saxony. In shaping the development of the German language, his translation, completed in 1534, influenced German writers much as the King James Version of the Bible influenced English writers.

Although German and English resemble each other, they differ in a number of significant ways. In German, for example, all nouns are capitalized no matter where they appear in a sentence. And in German, unlike English, nouns also have a grammatical gender—masculine, feminine, and neuter. The grammatical gender of a noun does not indicate the sexual nature of the thing named. For example, pencil (der Bleistift) is masculine, pen (die Feder) is feminine, and paper (das Papier) is neuter. Similarly, chair (der Stuhl), desk (der Schreibtisch), and table (der Tisch) are all masculine, but bed (das Bett) and sofa (das Sofa) are neuter.

In German, articles, adjectives, and verbs also have a variety of forms. A noun’s grammatical gender and function determine which form of the adjective or article is used. The subject of the sentence determines, in part, which form of the verb is used.

Word placement follows fairly definite rules in German. The verb normally comes in the second position in the sentence. If the subject does not begin the sentence, it immediately follows the verb. But in a dependent clause, the verb comes at the very end.

Despite their differences, German and English have many similar words in their vocabularies. Examples of similar German and English words include light and Licht, house and Haus, and cat and Katze. Some German words are the same as English words, including fair, Internet, Manager, and Text. A number of English words have come directly from German, such as flak, hinterland, and kindergarten.

Finally, of the German words that have made their way into the English language mainly unchanged are several that describe states of mind or feelings. Among them are angst (a feeling of anxiety, fear, or insecurity), Schadenfreude (malicious joy or pleasure; joy at the misfortune of others), and Weltanschauung (broad and comprehensive view of the world). Uber, the German word for above, across, or over, has come to mean the best of its kind or extremely in English. It is often used a prefix and combined with other words. So, if you are uberbored, then you are extremely bored.

October 31, 2017

Today, October 31, marks the 500th anniversary of the onset of the Reformation, a religious movement that led to Protestantism. According to tradition, German theologian Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses (articles for academic debate) on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church in Saxony (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) on Oct. 31, 1517.

Martin Luther, a German theologian, was a leader of the Reformation, a Christian reform movement of the 1500′s that led to the birth of Protestantism. Credit: British Library, London (HIP/Art Resource)

The theses, protests against certain practices of the Roman Catholic Church, were soon widely circulated. (Protestant comes from the Latin word protestans, which means one who protests.) Luther continued to publicly criticize the church, and in 1520, he published works spelling out his understanding of Christianity and attacking the papacy (authority of the pope) and many traditional practices. He was excommunicated (expelled from the church) in 1521. Luther spent the rest of his life protesting aspects of Catholic authority, guiding the reform movement and creating what became known as Lutheranism or Lutheran Christianity.

The Reformation had a tremendous impact on social, political, and economic life throughout Europe, and its influences are still felt today.

October 16, 2017

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a legendary character in German folklore. According to a folk story, in 1284 the German town of Hamelin (Hameln in German) was suffering from a plague of rats. One day, a mysterious stranger dressed in a pied (many-colored) suit walked into Hamelin and offered to rid the town of the pests for a sum of money. After the mayor agreed, the man drew out a pipe and walked along the streets playing a haunting tune. All the rats came tumbling out of the houses and followed the Piper to the Weser River, where they drowned. When the Piper—known in German as der Rattenfänger (the rat catcher)—came to collect his fee, the mayor refused to pay him. The Piper swore vengeance. Once more he walked along the streets playing his strange melody. This time, the town’s children ran from their homes and followed him to a cave in nearby Koppen Hill. The cave closed upon them, and the children were never seen again.

A bronze statue of the Pied Piper stands in Hameln, Germany. Credit: © Axel Bueckert, Shutterstock

The legend seems to be based at least in part on fact. Old writings on the walls of several houses in Hamelin say that on July 26, 1284, a Piper led 130 children out of town and that they were lost in Koppen Hill. Some believe that the Piper was an agent of the Bishop of Olmutz, who in the late 1200′s took many Hamelin children to Moravia, where they were resettled. Others claim robbers kidnapped the children. It is also possible that the legend came from the disastrous Children’s Crusade of 1212. The story of the Piper was popularized in modern times by a famous poem by the English poet Robert Browning.

The story of the Pied Piper has made the picturesque Hameln a major tourist attraction. Along the cobblestone streets of the Pied Piper Trail, every few feet there is an imprinted white rat in a bronze plate pointing the way to the main attractions of the town. The Pied Piper House (1602) is one of the town’s largest and prettiest buildings. Several times a day, a clockwork display of figures in the Wedding House (1610-1617) appears in a window and acts out the Pied Piper story. Chimes in the building play what is said to be the Piper’s haunting melody. Every Sunday from mid-May to mid-September about 80 actors in historical costumes recreate the story of how the children of the town went missing.

July 14, 2014

Mario Götze scored in the 113th minute of the World Cup final yesterday to give Germany a 1-0 victory over Argentina in the championship game at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The title is Germany’s fourth, compared with host Brazil’s record five championships. Germany’s victory marked the first time that a European team won the cup in a tournament held in the Americas.

The 22-year old Götze entered the game in the 88^th minute; 25 minutes later, he instantly became one of Germany’s all-time sports heroes.  Ironically, Götze had replaced Miroslav Klose, who had broken the all-time career record for goals scored in World Cup competition.

Germany’s victory stole the spotlight from Lionel Messi, the Argentine star generally considered the best player in the world. Messi received the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player, but it was Götze and his teammates who carried off the big prize.

Soccer is the world’s most popular sport. The World Cup Finals, the biggest single-event sports competition in the world, involved 32 countries whose teams played 64 games in 12 cities over 32 days. A description of the World Cup as “the planet’s single greatest collective human experience” by sports writer Roger Bennett captured the fervor aroused by the 2014 tournament.

Additional World Book articles:

• Tim Cahill
• Neymar
• Cristiano Ronaldo
• Football, Association
• Soccer 1994 (a Back in Time article)
• Soccer 2010 (a Back in Time article)

November 5, 2013

A cache of long-lost art treasures, some of it stolen by the Nazis, has been discovered hidden behind out-of-date canned goods in a shabby apartment in Munich, Germany. The approximately 1,480 paintings and prints by such famous artists as Chagall, Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, and Toulouse-Lautrec are estimated to be worth $1.35 billion. Not all of the artwork is modern. There are also Canalettos and a Courbet in the collection. German art expert Meike Hoffmann described some of works as dirty but undamaged. “The pictures are of exceptional quality and have very special value for art experts,” he noted. “Many works were unknown until now.”

The collection was in the possession of Cornelius Gurlitt. His father, art dealer Hildebrandt Gurlitt, amassed much of it during the 1930′s and 1940′s at what the senior Gurlitt himself said were “shamefully low prices” from Jews desperately trying to raise funds to get out of Nazi Germany. The rest, having been labeled “degenerate” by Adolf Hitler, had been seized by the Nazis. How these works got into Gulitt’s possession is unknown. After World War II, the elder Gurlitt allegedly claimed that his collection had been destroyed during the Allied bombing of Dresden in 1945. He died in car accident in 1956.

(c) Gisele Freund, Photo Researchers

German authorities seized the cache during a raid on Cornelius Gurlitt’s Munich flat in March 2011. Gurlitt had become the target of a tax evasion investigation after he was discovered carrying some $12,000 in cash on a train from Zurich, Switzerland, to Munich in 2010. Prosecutors said the issue of ownership of the art was still being clarified. Some legal experts believe that the descendants of the original owners may be able to make claims on individual pieces. Others note that the art taken in Germany itself may not be reclaimable because of a 30-year statute of limitations.

Additional World Book articles:

• Max Beckmann
• Germany 1933 (a Back in Time article)
• Germany 1935 (a Back in Time article)
• Germany 1938 (a Back in Time article)