|
April/May 2001
Easter Fires -- A Blazing Tradition
by Marion Amberg
It sounds like a German fairy tale, but the Easter Fires Legend of Fredericksburg, Texas, is anything but "Grimm." This
story is Old World pluck and wit in a New Land -- a land where everything springs bigger than life. Even the Easter Rabbit is Texas-sized. How he got that way is no small tale.
It all began in 1842 when about 20 noblemen met at Biebrich on the Rhine near Mainz, Germany, to form the Mainzer Adelsverein -- Society
for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas. The adventurous immigrants were not the only ones at risk, however.
News traveled fast even then and, within months, Texas scoundrels knew the Verein wanted New World land. One "royal Frenchman" (a self-knighted Chevalier) traveled to Germany and charmed the Verein into buying an expired land grant near San Antonio.
A year later, in 1844, the nobles were again duped. This time, at least, the rascals were of German origin and the land real --
uninhabitable but real. Called the Fisher-Miller grant, 3.8 million acres bounded by the Llano and Colorado rivers, the tract was deep in Comanche country. Over 6,000 Indians were said to live there.
Mein Gott! What were the colonists to do? Stories of Indian atrocities ran like wild horses, and no one, not even a shaggy
German, wanted a free Comanche "haircut."
Calendar
Washington, D.C.
Until May 6: Ernst Herzfeld and Persepolis.
Exhibition at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Documents the archelogist’s work in the ancient Iranian capital. For information, call (202) 357-2700.
Frederick, MD
April 7 & 8: Frühlingsfest. Schifferstadt Architectural Museum. For further information call 301-663-3885.
May 26 & 27: Beyond the Garden Gates.
Schifferstadt Architectural Museum. For information, call 301-663-3885.
Fredericksburg, TX
April 14: Easter Fires Pageant. Depicts the founding of the city. Staged by German descendants. For information, contact (830)997-2359.
Jessup, MD
April 28: Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society Annual Spring Meeting.
Theme: Genealogical Research: Some New Perspectives. Registration deadline April 13. For registration details, contact Diane Kuster, Registrar, 251 Serpentine Dr., Bayville, NJ 08721, e-mail DMKUSTER@compuserve.com or register at www.rootsweb.com/usmags/
May 5: Maitanz (May Dance).
Germania, 543 South Front Street, in the Brewery District. For information, contact (614) 461-8095.
May 6: 32 Annual German-American Festival at Blob’s Park. Sponsored by the Association of
German-American Societies of Greater Washington, D.C. Grand Door Prize: 2 round trip tickets D.C. to Berlin. For additional information, call or fax (202)554-2664.
Amana, IA
May 5-6: Maifest (Mayfair). At the Amana Colonies. For information, contact (800)579-2294.
North Bergen, NJ
May 6: Crowning Festival 2001.
Crowning of Miss German America. Schuetzen Park Casino. Full course dinner. For reservations contact Trude Klein at (732) 279-0733 or fax (732) 279-0766.
Leavenworth, WA
May 11-13: Maifest (Mayfair). For information contact the Chamber of Commerce, (509) 548-5807; e-mail info@leavenworth.org
Covington, KY
May 18-20: Maifest (Mayfair). Sponsored by Main Strasse Village Association. For information, contact (859) 491-0458.
Hermann, MO
May 19-20: Maifest (Mayfair). City-wide celebration. German School Museum and Deutschheim Museum open. For information, contact (800) 932-8687.
BEETHOVEN'S LETTERS TO A FRIEND
by Betty Lowry
Of all the treasures in the Mutter-Beethoven-Haus, most visitors pause longest at the Rudesheim Box. The black and silver casket dates from the lifetime of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 to 1827) but he never saw it; nor did he ever visit the house as far as we know. Yet the box and the house are the fulfillment of a request made friend to friend and through them we know the genius as a man.
It was February 17, 1827, a cold winter in Vienna, and Beethoven was dying. He had written his boyhood companion and lifelong
friend, Franz Gerhard Wegeler, two months earlier but had neglected to post the letter. Now he sent it again with apology for its delay. In part it read: "…I gladly leave it to you to make known to the
world the integrity of my parents, and especially of my mother." He signed it "Ever your true and faithful friend who honors you, Beethoven."
Wegeler, a physician living in Koblenz, did what he could. He contributed memories of the youth he and his wife, Eleanore
("Lorchen"), shared with Ludwig van Beethoven to the great composer's first biography. He skirted the grimmer details of his friend's life with an abusive alcoholic father and desperately unhappy
mother. He categorically denied widely circulated stories that Beethoven was the natural son of Friedrich Wilhelm II (1744 to 1797), King of Prussia, much less Frederick the Great (1712 to 1786) and his mother,
therefore, not an honorable woman.
Yet the lasting tribute to the woman Beethoven called "my best friend" after her death in 1787, was nearly two
centuries in the future. The last request was honored finally when the half-timbered village house where Maria Magdalena van Beethoven was born in 1746 was purchased in 1969, repaired and rebuilt. The
"Mutter-Beethoven-Haus" on Wambachstrasse, Ehrenbreitstein, across the Rhine opposite Koblenz, was transformed into an intimate museum and chamber music hall by the descendants of Franz Gerhard and
Eleanore von Breuning Wegeler. In October, 1975, it was opened to the public and presented to the German nation as a gift. The occasion was the 175th anniversary of the founding of Deinhard & Company.
Live Like a Knight in a Castle
by Peter Henault
In days of old, when knights were bold, they lived in castles scattered along the Rhine and Danube and other rivers of Europe
that made up the trade routes of the Middle Ages, and in those lofty strongholds that crested the green forested hills marking the frontiers of the duchies and kingdoms of the time. They lived, too, in those
high-walled multi-towered city-fortresses of the kings and emperors and later, in times and places of lasting peace, they lived in elegant ornamented residences that were more château than stronghold.
When Shirlene and I moved to Nuremberg many years ago, we immediately fell in love with the Kaiserburg that loomed above the Old
City. This great rambling imperial fortress, with its imposing central tower, dominated the history of the Holy Roman Empire longer and more frequently than any other German castle. Down on the Marktplatz by our
hotel, on those first days, we marveled at the Seven Electors of the Empire -- in the form of meter-tall copper men -- who marched out from behind the clock of the 1300s Frauenkirche at noon every day to pay homage to Emperor Charles IV. That they had come out nearly every day for half a millennium was hard for us to fathom.
One cannot visit Germany and not learn history. It is everywhere, from the simplest Rathaus to the tallest cathedral tower, and it seeps into your heart and soul without your knowing it. We gobbled up as much as we could and before long we were driving into the countryside and discovering, hidden-away in forests and topping hills, Germany’s smaller castles -- the castles of fantasies and fairy tales. These were the castles defended by knights in armor, the homes of overlords who taxed the peasants, tolled passing merchants and administered the affairs of their kings and emperors. By some estimates, there were 10,000 of them in Germany during the golden days of the Middle Ages.
If You Go
Germany’s Best Castle Hotels
Until recently, information on Germany’s castle hotels was hard to find. Thanks to the Internet, hotels can be researched and
reservations made from your home computer or an Internet café after you leave home. The two best sites to search are Gast im Schloss at www.gast-im-schloss-hotel.com and European Castle Hertage at www.european-castle.com . The following chart provides details on the author’s top 25 favorites.
|
Hotel
|
Location
|
Comment
|
Prices
(U.S. $)[1]
|
Telephone
|
|
Abenberg
|
20 min S or Nuremberg.
|
Impressive watch tower, pleasant courtyard.
|
$40 to $75
|
011-49-9178-982 990
|
|
Colmberg
|
Between Rothenberg and Ansbach.
|
Adjacent to golf course with wildpark, museum, library, chapel.
|
$40 to $110
|
011-49-9803-91 920
|
|
Eckberg
|
10 min N. of Dressden.
|
In a large park sloping down to the Elbe with unique view of Dresden; historic halls and salons.
|
160 to 250
|
011-49-351-809 90
|
|
Götzenburg
|
Half hour NE of Heilbronn.
|
Former hunting castle in village where Götz von Berlichingen was born; museum contains the knight’s “iron hand.”
|
$55 to $110
|
011-49-7943-2222
|
|
Hirschhorn
|
20 min E of Heidelberg overlooking Neckar River.
|
Spectacular views from outside dining terrace; no lounge or public rooms inside except dining room.
|
$65 to $120
|
011-49-6272-1373
|
|
Hornberg
|
20 min N of Heilbronn overlooking Neckar River.
|
Former home of Götz von Berlinghingen.
|
$75 to $125
|
011-49-6261-92 460
|
|
Hugenpoet
|
Between Essesn and Düsseldorf.
|
Palace castle in park with art collection.
|
$165 to $300
|
011-49-2054-120 40
|
|
Kronberg
|
15 min W of Frankfurt.
|
Palace of Empress Friedrich built in 1888; in forest park with golf course; General Eisenhower’s residence in 1945.
|
$165 to $430
|
011-49-6173-701 01
|
|
Landsberg
|
30 min NW of Coburg; E of Fulda.
|
Storybook castle in forest; popular for theater and cultural events; Knights’ Hall restaurant and tower bar.
|
$55 to $175
|
011-49-3693-44 090
|
|
Lauenstein
|
Between Kronach and Saalfeld, NE of Coburg on the Beer and Castle Road.
|
Fantasy castle dating from 915; walk through outer wall into the Middle Ages; collections of antiques, iron work, peasant rooms.
|
$60 to $120
|
011-49-9263-9430
|
|
Neuberg
|
20 min N of Heilbronn above Neckar River.
|
Older sections date from 970; in a forest with views of the Neckar Valley.
|
$55 to $125
|
011-49-6261-973 30
|
|
Prinz von Hessen
|
Between Fulda and Kassal
|
Luxury hotel with modern rooms, Michelin-star dining.
|
$100 to $325
|
011-49-6674-92 240
|
|
Reichenstein
|
Near Rudesheim on the most beautiful part of the Rhine River.
|
Storybook castle overlooking Rhine; magnificient views of barge traffic; valuable collections including weapons.
|
$50 to $80
|
011-49-6721-6101
|
|
Rheinfels
|
Rhine River facing famed Loreley.
|
Part of Germany’s largest castle ruin; overlooks “Cat and Mouse” Castle; largest vaulted cellar in Europe.
|
$75 to $215
|
011-49-6741-8020
|
|
Saaleck
|
Half hour north of Würzburg.
|
Topping a hill surrounded by woods in wine country dating from time of Charlemagne.
|
$40 to $95
|
011-49-9732-2020
|
|
Sababurg
|
|
“Sleeping Beauty’s Castle;” rooms in one of two massive round towers; wild game park, hunting museum, pleasant outdoor dining.
|
$95 to $190
|
011-49-5671-8080
|
|
Schönburg
|
Rhine River at Oberwesel.
|
Massive castle above vineyards sloping down to Rhine; wonderful views, terrace.
|
$55 to $180
|
011-49-6744-939 30
|
|
Spangenber g
|
30 min SE of Kassel.
|
Beautiful tall towered castle atop tall hill in picturesque medieval town; enter through rampart walls, across bridge over moat into cobbled courtyard.
|
$65 to $190
|
011-49-5663-7567
|
|
Trendelburg
|
25 min N of Kassal.
|
One of Germany’s best preserved castles; rooms in round tower.
|
$90 to $120
|
011-49-5675-9090
|
|
Vellberg
|
10 min SE of Schwäbisch Hall.
|
Village castle popular for weddings; chapel, wedding suite in medieval gate, knights hall restaurant, frescoes dating from 1549.
|
$55 to $100
|
011-49-7907-8760
|
|
Waldeck
|
30 min SW of Kassel.
|
Soltary medieval fortress on hill overlooking Eder Lake; good family recreation nearby.
|
$85 to $190
|
011-49-5623-5890
|
|
Wassenberg
|
On the Dutch border, 30 min W of Düsseldorf.
|
Rich history of royalty going back to Kaiser Heinrich II in 1002; dining features dishes “as the knights of old used to eat.”
|
$70 to $175
|
011-49-2432-9490
|
|
Wasserburg Anholt
|
On the Dutch border just off the Wesel-Arnhem autobahn.
|
Elegant 1100s water-castle surrounded by wide moat and lake; architecturally unique with large art collections, gourmet dining.
|
$55 to $200
|
011-49-2874-4590
|
|
Weitenbrug
|
Just off the Stuttgart-Constance autobahn 20 min SW of Tübingen.
|
Another storybook castle with chapel popular for weddings; canopied beds, porcelain stoves, antiques, beamed dining room with venison a specialty. Tops a hill looking down on the
upper Neckar Valley.
|
$70 to $125
|
011-49-7457-9330
|
|
Wernberg
|
E of Nuremberg near Czech border.
|
Wedding chapel and suite; dining in vaulted cellar of “Prince Hall;” enter by wooden bridge over moat.
|
$65 to 300
|
011-49-9604-9390
|
[1] At exchange rate of 2 DM/$; lower number for a single room, higher number for better double room, breakfast included.
PHILIPP DEIDESHEIMER AND THE COMSTOCK LODE
by Glenna Dunning
“The mines at Virginia Town and Gold Hill are exceeding the most sanguine expectations of their owners. At Virginia Town, particularly, the claims promise to excel...” Territorial Enterprise Newspaper (Genoa, Nevada)
1 October 1859.
In 1859, sensational news reached the gold fields of California: silver had been discovered in the arid
Great Basin of the Nevada Territory. Only ten years after the California gold rush had begun, thousands of miners abandoned their depleted claims and hurried eastward across the Sierra Nevada mountains to the
boomtowns of Gold Hill, Silver City and Virginia City.
Within a few months, over four thousand claims had been established within a 30-mile radius of
Virginia City. Early attempts at placer, or surface, mining quickly failed when it was discovered that the silver
did not lie on the surface, but ran in deep underground veins known locally as the “Comstock Lode.” Initially,
this suited the veteran quartz miners who were arriving from California. They had considerable experience working in deep, hard rock gold mines, but they soon discovered that excavating Comstock mines would be
altogether different and dangerous.
The geology of the Comstock region consisted primarily of a heavily fractured quartz matrix,
surrounded by a type of clay that became unstable when exposed to air. Clarence King, Director of the United
States Geological Survey for 1879 to 1881, reported that “when air is admitted by gallery or shaft, [the clay]
immediately begins to swell and exert tremendous pressure … bending and breaking the most carefully laid
timbers and filling mine openings with extraordinary rapidity.” He cited, as an example of the Comstock’s
excavation problems, the Savage Mine where a “chamber opening in clay … filled as fast as men could wheel it out for several weeks, and then closed up.”
In spite of these difficulties, mining operations pressed ahead at a frenzied pace. Mine shafts, tunnels
and ore chambers were dug deeper and wider as miners followed veins of silver through the increasingly soft
and unstable rock. Because the surrounding rock walls were not strong enough to support themselves, miners attempted to shore up excavations with numerous timber supports but the weight of the overhanging rock,
combined with tremendous geological pressures, twisted and collapsed the timbers, resulting in frequent cave-ins and loss of life.
An additional concern was that tunnel cave-ins might collapse the streets and buildings located on the
surface above. During the early days of the silver strikes, mining camps and towns sprang up as close to the
mines as possible, usually with little or no regard to the network of tunnels spreading under the town. Mark Twain, working as a reporter for Virginia City’s Territorial Enterprise during the 1860s, observed that “half
[of the population] swarmed among the drifts and tunnels of the Comstock, hundreds of feet down in the
earth directly under the streets. Often we felt our chairs jar, and heard the faint boom of a blast down in the bowels of the earth under the office.”
Mine owners and engineers became desperate for a solution to the cave-in problem when miners,
increasingly aware of unsafe conditions, refused to enter the mines. Operations were brought to a halt and it
became apparent that, unless a method of effective timbering could be found, the Comstock bonanza might come to a premature end.
Trier
Germany’s Oldest City, Domain of Roman Emperors
By Tom Bross
In a mild display of civic boosterism, street signs give Trier bigshot status as Germany’s “Mosel
Metropole.” A true-enough claim, even though this is actually a mini-metropolis with total population barely
edging past the modest 100,000 level. Which correctly implies manageable accessibility and an easier going tempo than in, for instance, nearby Cologne or Düsseldorf.
I spent some time in Trier during what northern Europeans call their golden October. Late one cool but
sunny afternoon, with stretched-out shadows, I positioned my chair at an outdoor café at Zum Domstein for optimum views of the city center’s Hauptmarkt.
Chatty locals and camera-toting tourists strolled past. The inevitable little group of ring-pierced youth (one
with spiky Day-Glo green hair) lounged at the base of 16th-century St. Peter’s fountain. From somewhere up
above, church bells bonged four o’clock. And seen beyond gables and pinnacles: riverside slopes covered top to bottom with terraced vine-yards. This being autumn, the grapes must have been harvest-ripe.
Indeed, Trier’s river -- Mosel on German maps, Moselle over on the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg’s side --
curves through hilly wine country, comparable in productivity and prestige to the much more romanticized
Rhineland. Mosel vineyards flourish on soil with considerable slate content. Sniffing, sipping connoisseurs say that’s what distinguishes regional Riesling’s desirably pungent, “flinty” taste.
Profile – Maximillian Schell
by Vickie Rubinson
Even though his eyes are dark and intense and he looks intimidating in his role as a German Defense attorney in Judgement at Nuremburg, Austrian born actor Maximillian Schell is at once friendly, cultured,
sophisticated and witty.
“Yes, I have been told at times I seem a bit serious,” Schell admitted at a party at the home of the Swiss
Counsul General in Los Angeles. “Let’s face it… I don’t normally walk around with a big smile on my face. That’s just not me,” he says, swinging his trademark black scarf around his neck.
Schell attracts a growing crowd of admirers around the Consul’s swimming pool.
“Did you always want to be an actor?” asks one young fan. “I never knew what I wanted to do and I still
don’t know,” he says. “I’ve always been interested in philosophy and art. As a child I learned early to read
and write. I was drawing, playing the piano, even composing. I became an actor to portray classic figures. It was a beautiful meaning of these dramatic forces.”
Schell comes from an artistic family. The son of a poet and an actress, his sister is actress Maria Schell
with whom he co-starred in The Odessa File in 1974. Schell himself is a dynamic force to be reckoned with.
Neustadt: The Town of Nachtmann
By Leah Larkin
The northern Bavarian town, Neustadt an der Waldnaab, calls itself the "city of lead crystal." It could
also be called the city of Nachtmann, Germany's largest manufacturer of crystal and the town's major employer.
To most, Nachtmann is Toni Frank. The lusty Bavarian shares the duties of president and managing
director of the 166-year-old company with his brother Walter, an engineer. Walter is responsible for technical matters while Toni is the business leader who travels around the world seeking new customers and
developing new markets.
In an era when much of the German industry in the area has fallen upon hard times, Nachtmann surges
ahead with an impressive record of steadily increasing sales and profits. Many attribute that success to Toni
Frank who, above all, values personal contact with his customers, be they a group of women on a shopping tour or a major department store in New York.
"I love this kind of business, the crystal business," he says. "I love the material...I love people. I have
fun selling nice merchandise to nice customers. My customers end up as my friends."
QINGDAO ~ A little bit of China that is forever German ~
By Steven Knipp
It’s late afternoon on a warm spring day. Despite the season, the amber colored sands of the beach are
covered with hundreds of sun-worshippers. Above the high water mark, a score of young men gather at a
ramshackle beach front health club. They lift rusty old weights while carefully comparing each other’s
physiques. Down closer to the water, dozens of older men -- looking as brown and relaxed as old walruses ---
play cards or sunbathe under the warm northern light. Across the street, in sun-dappled cafés, pretty college girls sip draft beer with their lunch.
Nothing really unusual about this--- if I were in Western Europe. But I am not. I’m in northern China. Out of
every evil comes some good. So said Confucius, and so it is with Qingdao, the charming capital city of Shandong province, where The Wise One himself was born and which from the “mud of colonialism, comes
the beautiful white lotus flower.”
One hundred and three years ago - the mere blink of an eye in Chinese history - this remarkably pretty city on
the shores of the Yellow Sea was occupied by the Germans after their government forced Beijing to sign a 99 year lease.
In that same year, 1898, the British pressured China to hand over a little known southern island called Hong
Kong on similar terms. For seventeen years, the diligent Germans endeavored to recreate an authentic piece of Deutschland on the craggy coast of northern China. They built churches and schools, hospitals and rail
lines. At one time, residents could even purchase train tickets that simply read: “Qingdao-Berlin” not mentioning that the long route home included stops in Peking, Moscow and Warsaw. The old rail station,
complete with its charming Bavarian style architecture is still used today.
Travel Tips
Communicating
Telephones
Telephone cards are a must since most of the German public telephones require them. The cards can be purchased at post offices, newspaper stands and some shops. They are sold for DM12 or DM 50.
Occasionally one can find a phone that takes coins, but the phone that use the cards are much easlier to locate.
The privatization of German Telecom has opened the opportunity of private companies to offer phone
calls at cheaper rates. The snag is that the new systems can be difficult to use. Mobilcom, one of the companies, can be reached when you prefix their number 01019 to the number you are calling.
Each town in Germany has its on dialing code. These can be located in phone books (which aren’t
usually found in phone booths). The best place to check for a phone book is the post office.
Mail
Most post offices (Postamt) are open weekdays from 8 A.M. to 6 P.M. and Saturday mornings until noon. Some smaller post offices close at lunchtime.
Mail can be sent to a specific main post office (post restante) if it is marked postlagernd.This isdone at the Postlagernde Sendungen counter.
Mailboxes which are yellow and marked Briefkasten have the contents picked up once or twice a day
on weekdays. Mailboxes with a red point are emptied more often and on weekends. Letters take about one to two weeks from Germany to the United States.
Telegrams
Telegrams can be sent from post offices or by phoning 0800 3301131 to send one within Germany. To send an international telegram, the number is 0800 3301134.
Faxes
Most post office have fax machines for public use.
Source: Insight Guide Germany
|
