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October/November 2001
Arnold Schwarzenegger
by Vickie J. Rubinson
“If you were able to bring back the Mozarts and Einsteins, all of those famous people, that would be interesting. Including me!
I would immediately clone myself!” says Arnold Swartzenegger at the premier of his latest film, The 6th Day. “I think it would be great to have myself cloned,” he continues. “We could have four
Arnolds. One Arnold would stay home with my wife because she needs a lot of attention. One Arnold could run for Governor or Senator. Another Arnold would be filming his latest movie in the jungles of Mexico, and
the fourth could stay home with the kids!”
The Austrian’s latest action romp is built around the premise of cloning. “I was amazed that we got away with a PG-13 rating
on this movie,” he says about the film in which he plays as unsuspecting suburban dad who is cloned by an evil corporate entity and is constantly stalked by assassins who, no matter how many times he
dispatches them, come back in newly generated bodies. “I think the ratings board had no objections because it was so cartoonish, the whole thing was done in such a fun way.”
Romania's Siebenbürgen Saxons
by Karin Kinney
Do you know what happened to the children who followed the Pied Piper of Hamelin? He took them underground, and they reappeared in Sibiu, Romania. Or, so the story goes.
You half believe the story when you travel through Romania and stop in any number of cities in Transylvania, in the area formerly
known as Siebenbürgen. When I strolled through the city gate of the medieval town center of Sigisoara, I heard children's voices singing "Horch was kommt von draussen rein..." (Listen to what's
coming in from the outside…), a German folk song. "What's going on here?" I asked a passerby in German, pointing in the direction of the song. "Oh, it's the last day of school," came the
answer in perfect German. "That's the German school."
Siebenbürgen meant seven cities (including 250 villages) with the right to autonomy, granted to German settlers in 1224 by King
Geza II of Hungary, whose rule extended far into Transylvania. These cities are known today as the Saxon cities, although they were first settled by Germans from the Rhineland, and include Cluj (Klausenburg),
Sibiu (Hermannstadt), Sigisoara (Schässburg), Brasov (Kronstadt), Medias (Mediasch), Sebes (Mühlbach), and Bistrita (Bistritz).
Even today the towns bear little resemblance to Romanian or Hungarian settlements but could lie near Nuremberg or Dresden.
The settlers were to farm the land, exploit the mineral wealth of the region for the West, and guard the Carpathian mountain
passes to keep invading Tartar hordes at bay. Medieval guilds sternly organized crafts and trade, and the self-reliant God-fearing population soon prospered and dominated the trade routes to Asia.
For centuries, the Siebenbürgen Saxons constituted a tight elite, forbidding any Romanian or other foreigner to live inside the city walls.
The Real Count Dracula
by Karin Kinney
Although Bram Stoker never set foot in Transylvania, his 1897 novel about Count Dracula conjures up images of storm-lashed
mountains and dark woods, with spooky Gothic fortresses. The mood and settings are true enough.
Transylvania means "beyond the forest" in Latin, and the scenery around the high Carpathian Mountains is breathtakingly
dramatic.
A Prince Vlad IV was born in Sigisoara in 1431 and could have served as a model for the demented count.
In 1436, Vlad's father became Voivode, or ruling prince of Wallachia, the southern province of Romania. At the time the Turks had
conquered much of the region and served as overlords. To pacify the Turks, Vlad's father sent his sons, Vlad and Radu, as hostages to the sultan in Anatolia, where they stayed in captivity for five years. When
Vlad returned to tumultuous events in his homeland, he was well-versed in acts of cruelty and terror and began a ruthless rule. He was most feared for impaling his enemies on wooden stakes and placing them by
the city gates for all to see as they writhed in agony.
Historically Vlad Tepes (or Vlad the Impaler) is regarded in Romania as a successful fighter against the army of the Turkish
sultan Mehmet II in 1462, and thus a fighter for national independence.
Life Beyond the Wall
By Nina Coon
One of six interviews published in the October 2001 issue of German Life follows:
Frank Blohm, 40:
It was the 1980’s, and the young Frank Blohm was studying psychology in West
Berlin. The island city was the place to be, and although Frank thrived on its vibrancy, he lived for the weekends when he could slip off to star in his very own Cold War spy thriller. “It was an exotic
adventure,” says Frank. “While my friends went to India or Africa, I went to East Germany. Imagine—I would lurch from bustling West Berlin into a dreamlike world, where although the people spoke my
language, there were different rules, different behavioral codes.”
Frank’s double life was addictive. He started compiling a traveler’s guide to the GDR and sometimes stayed for weeks to carry
out research. “The border guards were aghast,” Frank laughs. “They couldn’t understand why I would want to be in the GDR for so long.”
But his obsession soon came to the attention of the Stasi, and for two years Frank found his movements severely restricted: “My
favorite checkpoint was the Friedrichstrasse. But suddenly the guards became suspicious, subjecting me to thorough checks or making me wait a long time,” he says.
Frank knew he was under constant surveillance the moment he set foot in the GDR. But this just added to the thrill: “I was
regarded as an enemy of the state. I would take crazy risks, smuggle papers out for people, hide them between the pages of books. It was like a bizarre game of cops and robbers.”
And while Frank may not have stood out in his West Berlin milieu, in East Berlin, they were queuing up to make his acquaintance:
“I was immediately special, I was the wise one from the West. Women found me irresistible.
“But in a way, it was so grotesque—I’ll never forget kissing my lover goodbye at the Friedrichstrasse checkpoint, knowing
that we inhabited two completely different worlds.”
Nowadays, Frank lives with his wife and two children in Kreuzberg, one of Berlin’s most fashionable districts. After a spell
running an advice center in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, he now works as a freelance counselor in central Berlin. Says Frank: “I’m a profiteer of the Wall—when it was there and also now it’s
gone.”
Liquid Gold
by Peter Henault
There is something magical in German Eiswein. Or perhaps the wine is simply a work of art, like a Dürer portrait or
Mozart opera. However, my dictionary defines magic, in addition to the supernatural and sleight-of-hand definitions, as "Any mysterious and overpowering quality that lends singular distinction and
enchantment." This certainly applies to Eiswein. Stated simply, Eiswein -- "icewine" in Canada, "ice wine" in the United States -- is a very sweet low-alcohol wine made from the juice of grapes that were pressed while frozen. The water in grape juice freezes at a higher temperature than the dissolved sugar, acid, and flavor elements. If grapes are quickly frozen to a temperature of -8°C to -12°C (18°F to 10°F) and pressed, ice shards will remain behind with the skins and seeds leaving only a highly concentrated grape nectar to flow to the fermenting vat. This nectar, when fermented, produces a wine with flavors and aromatics many times more powerful than ordinary wine. A generous sip engulfs the palate with all the flavors and complexities that are normally much harder to detect and enjoy in an ordinary wine.
Beyond this simplism, the story gets complicated. Laws in Europe and Canada require the wine be made in the traditional way --
the way it was first made in Germany over 200 years ago. This, of course, means the grapes must be naturally frozen while still on the vine. Do not look for ice wine from Spain or the south of France. Laws also
require all ingredients to be natural components of the grape -- no extra sugar, alcohol, or acid to enhance fermentation and balance.
What the laws make difficult, nature makes even harder or impossible. Not any freeze will do. It has to arrive suddenly, in the
middle of the night, with the temperature dropping quickly. A gradual light freeze can produce a sludge with no crystalline ice to remain behind with the skins. The entire crop of grapes is usually lost at high
cost to the vintner. An extreme cold snap will freeze the dissolved sugar and other components as well as the water.
German Horror Classics of the Silent Era
by Michael D. Greaney
The chill that runs up your spine, the shudder in the dark -- all the while knowing you are perfectly safe. That might explain
the attractiveness of horror movies. Today's reliance on shock, gore and outrage would have appalled the creators of the classic horror movies of days gone by. It takes no skill to disgust an audience. A
director needs genuine talent to instill a feeling and inspire an audience to let their imaginations run wild with a multitude of possibilities, each worse than the last -- and then go home, secure in the
knowledge that it is all safely over -- except in your dreams.
The silent horror movie reached its highest development in Germany. With the widespread availability of video tapes, many of
these classic films can now be viewed outside the usual venues of PBS and the college classroom. Staging a kinofest in your living room is an excellent means of acquainting yourself with German popular culture
of the early 20th century -- or just having an unusual evening's entertainment.
Der Student von Prag, 1913
The tragedy of Baldwin, "the Student of Prague," was possibly the first and one of the best cinematic treatments of the
classic theme of selling one's soul to the Devil. Co-directed by Stellan Rye and Paul Wegener, the film was based on Poe's short story, William Wilson, and included elements from Hoffmann. Critics consider it the first expressionist film.
Baldwin, a poverty-stricken student, will be forced to leave school unless he can raise money. He meets Scapinelli, a shady
character. In exchange for one item from Baldwin's lodgings, to be selected by Scapinelli, Baldwin is offered 100,000 gold Gulden. Scapinelli makes his choice from the student's meager possessions: Baldwin's
mirror image. While the student now has no reflection, he considers that a small loss compared to the wealth he now enjoys. Baldwin spends money lavishly and assists a number of poor students, endearing himself
to the student body. He continues his success, gaining the love of a rich and beautiful woman.
Baldwin's Doppelgänger now begins to carry out terrible acts. Since Baldwin is inevitably blamed for every deed of his double,
he must attempt to stop the creature. It becomes obvious that Baldwin sold his soul to the Devil. He seals his fate by attempting to avoid the consequences of his act, inadvertently committing suicide. His
fellow students raise a monument to his memory.
Die Augen Der Mumie Ma, 1918
No collection of horror movies would be complete without a curse film or a mummy movie. Pola Negri in The Eyes of the Mummy Ma, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, provides us with both. This was the first in the sub-genre of "Mummy Curse" films. It was clearly inspired by the period's heightened interest in Egyptology and the occult via "Madame Blavatsky's" Theosophy. This movie, along with the occult movement, may have inspired later stores about "King Tut's Curse." Far more sophisticated than later "Mummy Movies," Die
Augen Der Mumie Ma leaves the viewer in substantial doubt as to whether there really is a mummy's curse.
On "Wends" Of Faith
by Marion Amberg
There is something in the "Wends" in Southeast Central Texas -- a most intriguing story of a little-known ethnic group.
They hailed from Germany yet were not German. They spoke Sorbian, their mother tongue, and their traditions were uniquely their own -- even the birds got married.
And they had spirit. An indomitable spirit. The Sorbian immigrants -- or Wends as they are called in Texas -- refused to bow to
Prussian dictates. The governmental threats, the oppression, did not intimidate. The Sorbian culture was their identity, the Lutheran faith a fire in their belly. To compromise meant surrender, and no way would
they become Germans!
"The Wends are stubborn," admits Jan Knippa Slack, fifth-generation Texas Wend and president of the Texas Wendish
Heritage Society. But then, the Wends had centuries of practice. Their history is packed with prejudice and persecution.
A Saga of Survival
That the Wends survived is a testament of ethnic character. They were never an independent nation. They never possessed a defined
homeland -- a country with borders -- or conducted their own government. The indigenous Wends were like foreigners, pushed back to smaller and smaller parcels of land.
The epic saga began around the 6th century A.D. when Slavonic tribes settled in Lusatia along the River Spree (an area in
present-day Brandenburg and Saxony, and bordered by Poland and the Czech Republic). They built cities -- Leipzig, Cottbus, and Hoyerswerda, among others -- and a tribal fortress at Bautzen.
However, the Sorbs were no match for German warriors and were conquered in the 10th century. In the ensuing "war of the
cross," the Sorbs were forcibly converted to Roman Catholicism, their pagan traditions melded with church practices. The Sorbs also began cultivating land.
Always juxtaposed, the German culture to the west and their Slavic cousins on the east, the Wends fought to retain their
identity. Thanks to the Protestant Reformation and a portion of Wends who converted to Lutheranism (making them a minority within a minority), the mother tongue and ethnic spirit prevailed.
Not Wendish? Fret not! Everyone is warmly welcomed at the annual Wendish Fest, held the fourth Sunday in September (this year on
September 23). Sponsored by the Texas Wendish Heritage Museum, the Fest, held on museum grounds, is filled with Wendish humor, Wendish folk art, and those scrumptious homemade Wendish noodles.
A German service, with a Wendish hymn sung by Pastor Hohle, is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church. Wendish
vittles follow at noon, but get in line early -- 1,400 meal tickets were sold last year. Games, contests, and demonstrations of Wendish crafts, including Easter Egg decorating, are on tap for the afternoon.
Get those toes tapping and hands clapping. This year's featured entertainment is Stroebitzer Trachtentanzgruppe, an authentic
Wendish folkdance group from Cottbus, Germany.
Located five miles southwest of Giddings on FM 2239, the Texas Wendish Heritage Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 1:00 p.m.
to 5:00 p.m. For more details, write: 1011 CR 212, Giddings, Texas 78942-5940; Telephone: 979-366-2441; E-mail: wends@bluebon.net ; Web site: http://wendish.concordia.edu .
Germans and German-Americans in the Continental Army, 1775-1783
by Robert A. Selig
The pastor rose: the prayer was strong;
The psalm was warrior David's song
Then swept his kindling glance of fire
From startled pew to breathless choir,
When suddenly his mantle wide
His hands impatient flung aside,
And, lo! he met their wondering eyes
Complete in all a warrior's guise.
The Rising of '76
Thomas Buchanan Read (1822-1872)
Did Germans fight in the American Revolutionary War? "Why, of course!" our readers will say. "The Hessians. But
they fought with the British." Longtime subscribers may remember my account of the "Deux-Ponts Germans: Unsung Heroes of the American Revolution," which appeared in the August/September 1995 issue of German Life. Although they were fighting for American independence, the Zweibrücker served in a German regiment in the French service that came to Newport with Comte de Rochambeau in July 1780. However, the American forces also had Germans and German-Americans who served as generals and as privates, in the cavalry and the infantry, as doctors and as pastors, as provosts and as quartermasters. Between 1775 and 1783, thousands did their duty in volunteer units, when called up for militia service, in state regiments, and upon enlistment of usually three years, if not "for the duration," in the Continental Army.
Who were these men? Most Americans have heard of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (1730-1794), the first Inspector General of
the Continental Army credited with turning the ragtag American amateurs into an efficient fighting force in the crucible of Valley Forge in 1777/78 (see the August/September 1997 issue of German Life).
Some will have heard of Lafayette's mentor, Baron Johann von Kalb. Born in Hüttendorf near Bamberg in 1721, he had first visited Philadelphia as an officer in the French service on a spy mission in 1767. In
1776, Kalb joined the Continental Army and was killed at Camden in August 1780.
Virtually unknown, however, are such men as Heinrich Baron von Arendt, a Prussian who commanded the German Regiment of Maryland
and Pennsylvania from March to October 1777, after its justly forgotten Colonel Nicholas Hausegger had deserted to the British on December 1776. Unknown also is Ludwig Casimir Baron von Holtzendorff, born in
Berlin in 1728. Holtzendorff had quit the French service in 1776 for a commission in the Continental Army. Denied the epaulettes, he served as a common soldier at Brandywine and Germantown before returning to
Europe in late 1778.
Saxon adventurer Major Nikolaus Dietrich Baron von Ottendorf commanded a German independent corps of eventually five companies
recruited in Pennsylvania in December 1776. When Ottendorf deserted to the British, his corps was broken up in June 1778 into independent companies under such leaders as Captains Johann Paul Schott and the Swiss
adventurer Anton Selin, for example. However, these were German-born officers who espoused the American cause for a variety of reasons, not necessarily, at least not initially, with America's freedom in mind.
For that we need to look toward American-born men like Johann Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg (1746-1807), the minister turned
Revolutionary War General. In his final sermon in Woodstock, Virginia, in January 1776, Muhlenberg, the subject of our opening poem, proclaimed to his congregation that "there is a time to preach and a time
to fight, and now is a time to fight!" Immortalized in a Hollywood movie and honored with a statue in Washington, D.C., and at the college that bears his name, Muhlenberg's dramatic performance inspired
some 300 parishioners to enlist that very day in the 8th Virginia, the German Regiment, under his command.
Calendar
Please note that the September 11, 2001 tragedies may have caused some of the events listed in the calendar to be cancelled or postponed. Contact numbers are given so that you can verify dates and
times in advance.
October
Rochester, MI
October 1-7: First Annual International German-American FilmFest.
Call 313-886-5065, for further information.
Helen, GA
October 1-29, Nov. 3: Oktoberfest
For more information, call 706-878-2181 or www.helenga.org .
Reading, PA
October 4-7: Berks County Oktoberfest
For more information, call 610-373-3982.
Fredericksburg, TX
October 5-7: Oktoberfest
For more information, call 830-997-8515 or 866-TEXFEST, or check out the website www.oktoberfestinfbg.com .
New Ulm, MN
October 5-7, 12-13: Oktoberfest
Call 888-4NEW-ULM or visit www.newulm.com for more information.
Brush, CO
October 6: 19th Annual Oktoberfest
For further information, call 800-354-8659.
Kissimmee, FL
October 6: Oktoberfest
For more information, call 407-891-1601.
Zoar, Ohio
October 6-7: Zoar Village Apfelfest and Oktoberfest
For more information, call 800-262-6195.
Stroudsburg, PA
October 6-7: Harvest Festival
For more information, call 570-999-6161.
Lancaster, PA
October 6-7: Harvest Days
For more information, call 717-569-0401.
Ocean City, MD
October 5-6: Oktoberfest
For more information, call 410-524-7020.
Newport, RI
October 6-8: Oktoberfest
For more information contact 401-846-1600 or www.newportfestivals.com .
Rayne, LA
October 6-7: Robert’s Cove Germanfest
For more information, call 337-334-8354 or visit http://members.aol.com/germanfest .
Cullman, AL
October 6-14: Cullman Oktoberfest
For more information, call 800-313-5114.
Tampa, FL
October 10:
Dr. Peter Moser Lecture. Will be held at noon in the Grand Salon of the University of Tampa, Dr. Moser, ambassador of Austria, will lecture on Austria and the European Union.
Leavenworth, WA
October 12-13: Oktoberfest
For more information, call 509-548-8153 or www.projektbayern.com .
San Francisco, CA
October 12-14: San Francisco Oktoberfest
For more information visit www.oktoberfestivals.com or call 510-553-9001.
Fresno, CA
October 13: Original Oktoberfest
For more information, call 559-229-6078.
Mayestown, IL
October 14: Oktoberfest
For more information, call 618-458-6660.
Tulsa, OK
October 18-21: Oktoberfest
For more information, call 918-744-9700 or visit www.tulsaoktoberfest.org .
Grand Island, NE
October 19-21: Low German Heritage Days. For further information, call 507-645-9161 or visit www.moin-moin.com .
Danbury, CT
October 20: Karpatendeutsche Landsmannschaft Memorial Dedication. For more information, call 860-868-2660.
Deerwood, MN
October 19-21: Rutger’s Bay Lodge Oktoberfest
For more information, call 800-450-4545 or www.ruttgers.com .
Marthasville, MO
October 20-21: Deutsch Country Days
For more information visit www.deutschcountrydays.org or call 636-433-5669.
Atlantic City, NJ
October 27-28: Trump Taj Mahal’s Oktoberfest
For more information, call 732-528-5135.
Bedford, PA
October 20-21: Old Bedford Village Oktoberfest
For more information, call 814-623-1156 or visit www.oldbedfordvillage.org .
Kensington, MD
October 27: The Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society Annual Fall Meeting
For registration details contact Diane M. Kuster, MAGS Registrar, 251 Serpentine DR., Bayville, NJ 08721.
Reno, NV
October 27-28: Octoberfest at the Reno Hilton
For more information visit www.oktoberfestivals.com or call 510-553-9001.
November
Detroit, MI
November 1-3: Sixth Annual international German American Book Fair.
For more information, call 313-886-5065.
New Braunfels, Texas
November 2-11: Wurstfest
For more information, call 800-221-4369 or visit www.wurstfest.com .
Columbia, SC
November 9-10: Francis Lieber Symposium.
For more information, call 803-777-3895.
Newark, DE
November 10: Christkindl Markt
For more information, contact the Delaware Saengerbund at 302-366-9454.
Ferdinand, IN
November 17-18: Christkindl Markt.
For more information, call 800-968-4578.
Frederick, MD
November 23-25: Christkindlemarkt
For more information, call 301-663-3885.
Washington DC
November 24-25: Washington Sangerbund Christkindlemarkt
For more information, call 301-587-0144
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