Being 17

"Oh, look at you! Your skirt is much too short! And be home by 10, otherwise you'll be in trouble!"

Ever hear anything like that from your parents? Most likely yes - because teenagers in every culture and time period manage to come into conflict with their mom and dad as they grow up and try to figure out who they are, and who they want to be.

Parents are a central part of the exhibition "Seventeen...Being Young in Germany," which is now running at the Haus der Geschichte museum of contemporary German history in Bonn. It doesn't just focus on young people today, but looks at what it has been like to be 17 in Germany since 1945.

"At the beginning of puberty, young people start to explore themselves and their bodies. They create their own personality and try to find their position next to the people around them," explained the exhibition's curator, Bernd Lindner. "Finally, young adults have to cope with integrating themselves in society."

Exploring the passage through these different stages of development was the basic idea behind the exhibition.

Dialog between generations

"It's an exhibition for both young and old and hopefully it might trigger some discussion between teenagers and their parents," said Hans Walter Hütter said, president of the Haus der Geschichte museum.

Major historical events, like the division of Germany, had some impact on how young people were educated and how they dealt with growing up, added Hütter.

"But in general we noticed that there hasn't been a huge difference between young people's lives in the western and eastern parts of Germany. Both had to deal with influences coming from the US, and conflicts between generations applied to all of Germany," Lindner said.

And the physical changes associated with puberty affect people in every time and culture, even though it occurs earlier today than in the mid-20th century. Compared to the 1950s, today's society is somewhat more relaxed in terms of sexuality, but conflicts are unavoidable.

"We try to show that troubles are normal at that age," explained Lindner. "We hope that people will be willing to accept this."

Teen visions

Hütter also said that teens' goals and fears have been quite similar over the past few decades. Talking to young people today, many of them seem most concerned about security in the future.

"My aim is to finish my studies with a good grade and to find a well-paid job," 20-year-old Marleen Witzke told Deutsche Welle. Considering recent protests in the UK and Greece, employment is a hot topic for young people across Europe at the moment.

Hütter, who was born in 1954, can remember that he had similar dreams. "I always wanted to study history. At my time, most of young people thought about having a job and a family," he said.

Lindner's experience was different, however, Born in 1952, he grew up in East Germany (GDR). "I never thought about rebellion. I had great dreams about living in the GDR. Many young people fled in 1989 after the borders were opened, but I stayed," he explained.

Globalized individualists

What's new and special about today's generation is that they can communicate globally. "New ideas can travel around the globe in just one day," Hütter said.

This phenomenon is also an issue in the exhibition - and in teenagers' everyday lives, agrees Marleen Witzke. "It's normal to have contact with someone who's miles away. I love chatting with my friend who lives in Australia," she said.

Today, German teens are crazy about American shops like Hollister and Abercrombie, for example, or read manga comics from Japan, while other continents seemed further away 50 years ago.

They may be well-connected with the rest of the world, but today's youth tend to be more individualistic than their parents and grandparents, many of whom took to the streets for a good cause in the 1960s and 70s.

"Young people are more interested in their individual problems; demonstrating for the common good isn't that important for them," Hütter concluded. In general, "young people want to keep a low profile," added Lindner.

The exhibition ends with a question: "Would you like to be 17 again?" Lindner wouldn't say no: "I think it would be a nice experiment - for a few days."

Author: Eva Fritsch
Editor: Kate Bowen