24/7 Wall St.
June 2, 2011
If Germany and Greece were a married couple, they would be headed for divorce. Like many faltering relationships, it comes down to money. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has plenty of it and Greece, facing a potential default, needs it badly.
The relationship is complicated. Back in the 19th Century, Germans became enamored of all things Greek. King Ludwig I transformed Munich into his idealized vision of Ancient Athens. Heinrich Schliemann, a wealthy German businessman and archaeologist, began excavations at the ancient city of Troy, Schliemann liked Greece so much that he advertised for a wife there in a newspaper and eventually married a Greek woman 30 years his junior. The archaeologist wanted desperately to prove the historical validity of ancient texts such as the Iliad. His work was later proven wrong but laid the groundwork for a close relationship between the two countries. Vast collections of ancient Greek artifacts reside in German museums including Berlin’s Museum of Greek and Roman Antiquities. There are also a slew of cultural institutions linking the two nations. Earlier this year, Sophocles’ Electra was presented by director Costas Papacostopoulos in Cologne.
By the 20th century, Germans turned their attention to another ancient culture, Rome. Hitler invaded Greece in 1941 to bailout his allies, the Italians who had botched. Understandably, World War II remains a touchy subject today. After the War, West Germany was rebuilt and became an economic powerhouse. Greece, however, was beset by political chaos and was ruled by a military junta from 1967 to 1974. Many Greeks fled their country, creating a diaspora that stretches around the world, including Germany.
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