what does "old Junker spirit,"mean? Back in Germany! How I envy you! Although I have not seen it since my school days, the spell of Unter den Linden is still strong upon me—the breadth of intellec¬tua

Jody

what does "old Junker spirit,"mean? Back in Germany! How I envy you! Although I have not seen it since my school days, the spell of Unter den Linden is still strong upon me—the breadth of intellec¬tual freedom, the discussions, the music, the light-hearted comradeship. And now the old Junker spirit, the Prussian arrogance and militarism are gone. You go to a democratic Germany, a land with a deep cul¬ture and the beginnings of a fine political freedom. It will be a good life. Your new address is impressive and I rejoice that the crossing was so pleasant for Elsa and the young sprouts.

Mar 8, 2014 3:44 PM

Answers · 3

Junkers were the nobility of Prussia, and then Germany. They were influential in politics and the military. So, in your example, the "Junker spirit" was the "arrogance and militarism" (which disappeared after World War 2). This article may help you understand it better: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junker Probably a better way to write that sentence is: "And now the old Junker spirit, the Prussian arrogance and militarism, is gone." Note that I added a comma after "militarism" which makes that phrase describe "spirit", and then I changed "are" to "is" since "spirit" is singular.

March 8, 2014

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