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April/May 2002 - excerpts from the editorial
Where Germany Began
By Pete Hénault
Quedlinburg! Germany’s birthplace! Cornerstone of the Holy Roman Empire! Medieval metropolis frozen in time! Home of Ottonian architecture! UNESCO World Heritage site! Quedlinburg is unique,
charming, and packed with claims to fame! It even had bit parts in American history and art. There is too much to tell in a single article.
However, we can begin the story if we go back 1100 years to the beginning of the 900s. The German-speaking lands between the Rhine and a fluctuating network of feudal dukes, bishops, and lesser
lords who were often fighting one another controlled Oder at this time. Thanks to the hard work of Boniface, Christian missionary and later saint, the Germanic lands had begun, in the 700s, to rise out of the
Dark Ages. Karl the Great – known better in English writings by his French name, Charlemagne – had established an empire that included most of what is now central Europe. After Karl died in 814, the empire
gradually fell apart as lands were divided among his descendants.
In 843, the empire was split among his three grandsons into kingdoms comprising much of what later became Germany, France, and Italy. Grandson Louis was made king of the Germanic lands but he and
his successors were kings in name only as they were foreigners, boundaries were fluid, and none could defend the lands against Magyar and Slav invasion. By 900, four duchies had become dominant: Saxony in the
north, Franconia comprising what is today central Germany, and Swabia and Bavaria in the south. None of the dukes recognized a German king.
The nobles of this period moved from one residence to another to maintain control of their territories. Peasants lived in pits with thatched roofs; stone construction was in its infancy. Cities
had not yet developed. Knowledge, medicine, and farming centered around monasteries. Music was beginning to appear; oil painting and literature were centuries in the future. The crossbow had just come into use;
gunpowder was 400 years away.
In 900, the powerful Saxon family of Liudolfings, under Duke Otto the Illustrious, acquired an estate on the north side of the Harz Mountains where the Bode River cascades out of the hills onto
the plain. Dominating the estate on a promontory that rose 300 feet above the river was a castle long called the Quedilinge Burg, a name rooted in High German that came from an early owner who could “talk
well.” Otto ruled well and united most of the feuding lords of Saxony. Facing death in 912, he convinced the Saxon nobles to elect his son, Henry, to be the next Duke.
Meet the German Ambassador to the United States:
Dr. Wolfgang Ischinger
By Carolyn Cook
The German Ambassador to the United States, Wolfgang Ischinger, is no stranger to this country. His first experience in the U.S. was as a foreign exchange student in Wadeseka, IL. Even then, he
says, “I knew I wanted to get into some professional work that would have an international environment.” In the early 1970s he spent a year at Harvard for postgraduate studies and from 1979 to 1982 he served
as a First Secretary at the German Embassy in Washington. When asked if he was happy to come back to America, he replied, “You bet! My secret professional and personal dream for quite a long time was to
return, but I certainly didn’t plan to come back as Ambassador!”
Ambassador Ischinger’s job in Washington is two-pronged. First, he has “to make sure that the German government understands exactly what is going on in the U.S.” Secondly, he “explains to
Americans why it is important to listen to Germans, why it is important to have a good relationship.” In that role he speaks directly to Americans, at government meetings, to Congress, and to the media “to
reach out and explain to Americans what we are up to.”
In a speech presenting his letters of credence to President Bush, Ischinger said, “We Germans feel a particular attachment to the United States, not only through the friendship linking our
peoples, but also through our partnership in the North Atlantic Alliance and, above all, through our shared values and interests.”
That Famous Fin:
Count Zeppelin and Germany’s Airship Program
By Simon Jones
Today the Zeppelin program is best remembered for the disastrous fire that destroyed the Hindenburg on landing at Lakehurst in May 1937, while the airship, as a means of travel, seems almost as outdated as the teaclipper. Yet, in its day, the Zeppelin pioneered world air transportation. The 21,000-mile round-the-world cruise of Graf Zeppelin in the summer of 1929 came a full decade before any commercial air service managed even to cross the Atlantic. Public imagination was captured worldwide by these airships, both by their extraordinary impact, hovering low over New York, Berlin, and other major cities, and by the many epic journeys which the fleet undertook.
Flights in heated air balloons began as long ago as the 1780s. However, it was the rigid style of cigar-shaped airships developed over several decades by Graf (or Count) Ferdinand von Zeppelin
that made Germany the pioneer of long-distance commercial air transport. If Lakehurst killed off the Zeppelins, another United States flight, made 70 years earlier by the Count himself, helped trigger the whole
program. Graf Zeppelin made his first balloon trip as a military observer of the American Civil War. Such tethered balloons were the first practical hydrogen-filled aircraft, used in reconnaissance of enemy
lines.
The young von Zeppelin travelled from New York to Ohio, then by steamship to Michigan, and on to St. Paul, Minnesota. Here he ascended in a balloon designed and operated by John Steiner, a member
of the balloon corps attached to the Federal Army. As he wrote later, “While I was above St. Paul, the idea of aerial navigation was strongly impressed upon me, and it was then that the first idea of my
Zeppelins came to me.”
Teutonic Titans
By Carl Kuntze
While the development of optics was a long slow process requiring the collaboration of chemists, physicists, and glassmakers in many countries, it is Germany that became eminent in the field.
Schneider, Rodenstock, Goerz, Steinheil, Leitz, and Zeiss are familiar names to photographers, but Zeiss remains an intriguing puzzle. Very little has been divulged in written accounts about the private lives of
the three men behind the name.
Carl Zeiss was born in Weimar, Thüringia, on September 11, 1816. His father managed a machine shop. He completed high school at the Weimar Gymnasium. Following that, he had an apprenticeship with
Dr. Frederick Koerner who was investigating properties of glass for telescopic objectives. After learning all he could from Dr. Koerner, he accepted employment as an auditor at Jena University where he continued
examining glass. He toured glass-manufacturing plants in Berlin, Darmstadt, Stuttgart, and Wien, keeping comprehensive notes of its metamorphosis.
When he returned to Jena University, he enrolled to earn a degree in chemistry and mathematics. In 1846, he started his workshop with a team of 20 technicians at Neugasse in Jena, producing
magnifying glasses and simple microscopes for university faculties. By 1858, the technicians felt confident enough to assemble more complicated microscopes for medical clinics, hospitals, and research
laboratories. Their advancement would gain momentum when Ernst Abbe joined the firm in 1866. Zeiss had met him during one of his fact-gathering trips to Jena University where Abbe lectured in physics.
Ernst Abbe was born in Eisenach, at the edge of the Thüringian Forest, on January 23, 1840. Winning a scholarship at Gottingen University, he graduated when he was only 21. Three years later, he
was an accredited science professor at Jena University and was appointed Director of the university’s Astronomical and Meteorological Observatories in 1878. As part-time Research Director at Carl Zeiss from
1868 to 1876, he collaborated on a compound microscope in 1872 that became the progenitor of modern microscopes. His paper outlining the steps leading to its fruition contributed to a greater understanding of
optics and is still paraphrased in textbooks by contemporary scientists. By 1878, the volume of the company’s production had increased to an extent where Abbe resigned his academic positions to take a more
active role in administration as a partner to Zeiss.
To guarantee access to the best glass available, Zeiss and Abbe funded the establishment of the Schott and Genossen Glass Fabrique in Jena with Otto Schott as their industrial partner. Schott was
a talented glass chemist who had corresponded with Abbe about his experiments in glass. Born in 1851, he was the youngest of the triumvirate and tended to be bolder in his approach. He blended unrecognized
elements into novel alloys until he created an analogue he was searching for. Schott invented 100 varieties of optical glass and almost an equal number of functional and decorative glass. His optical glass gave
Zeiss an edge over his competitors. By the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the brand “Zeiss” was synonymous with the finest optics, attracting the best technicians in the field.
Stuttgart
By Carl Kuntze
A statue of Fredrich Schiller by Bertel Thorwaldsen, a Danish sculptor, which was unveiled in 1839, is the centerpiece of Schillerplatz in Stuttgart. The remarkably lifelike figure of Germany’s
most venerated dramatist, poet, historian, and philosopher peers down reflectively, clutching a notepad and a quill to remind viewers he was a man of letters. Although he was born in Marbach in 1759, he did
study medicine in Stuttgart and served as an army doctor to a regiment of invalid soldiers – a disagreeable under-funded post.
To escape the realities of everyday humdrum, he sought refuge in writing plays, yet he could find no patrons. Borrowing money, he had one published as a book. His conviction was rewarded when
Dahlberg, an impresario of a theater in Mannheim, discovered Schiller’s book and adapted it for the stage. Its successful presentation launched his career. An astute observer of his contemporary society,
Schiller created work that had the tone of social commentary. He often tweaked the pretensions of the nobility.
Even while his plays earned substantial royalties, his life was a tenuous one that took him all over Germany, sometimes because he was hiding from powerful people he had offended by his work.
While history was once turgid recitals of statistics and dates, Schiller converted it into a literary form which people enjoyed reading. This undoubtedly made them more cognizant of politics and less pliant to
seductions of despots. In his journeys, he met Goethe in 1794, and the two formed a long-standing friendship. Schiller only resided in Stuttgart for seven years, but the city likes to claim him as a native son,
as do many of the cities where he lingered briefly. I have seen small museums devoted to his memorabilia in a great many German towns. Both the plaza where his statue stands and the Collegiate Church (Stiftskirch,
erected by architect Aberlin Jong toward the end of the 15th century) are being refurbished, liberating the surroundings to temporary food stalls and picnickers on the weekends. Schiller, who had populist sympathies, would be pleased.
Railways to Heaven and Vulkan Hell
By Keith Kellett
In the Eifel hills, between the Rhein and Mosel valleys, there is excellent country for hiking, cycling, riding, or just hanging out. The landscape is pleasant rather than spectacular, but it is
not crowded, and it is relatively unspoiled.
In Britain, we would probably fill it with gift shops, tearooms, and coach parks. However, the vineyards and castles along the nearby rivers channel most of the tourists away.
The proximity of the tourist haunts means that the area is easily accessible. From the main Bonn-Koblenz railway line along the eastern bank of the Rhein, there are two branch lines which provide
easy access and an interesting contrast to each other.
From Andernach, the TransRegio train provides a regular, fast, and efficient service to Mayen. To visit the Laachersee, or the nearby Benedictine abbey, and maybe drop in at the Vulkan Brauhaus in Mendig on the way back, Niedermendig is the stop you need.
The TransRegio track looked weedy and overgrown, and the stations along the line shabby and dilapidated. However, the line had been out of use for a while, and had only recently been leased from
Deutsche Bahn and re-activated by the TransRegio Company.
The train was definitely not shabby. It is almost brand new, and has only been in service since May 2000. A sleek, silver and yellow double-ended bullet, it looks more suited to a main-line
express than a local service. In the ticket office, they had told me the correct platform, but waved my money away, and told me to pay on the train.
Ingolstadt: 750 Years Of History And Tradition
by Michaela Edelhäuser
The word “Bavaria” conjures up images of endless barrels of beer, young women wearing traditional clothing, and storybook castles. Bavaria is all that – and more.
As a native of Bavaria, I grew up surrounded by a living history and a culture rich in tradition. I didn't realize how rich until I moved to the States in the early Nineteen
Eighties. Since then, I have come to understand that the average American has only a partial understanding of the depth of Bavaria's history.
Located in Southern Germany, Bavaria’s 12 Million inhabitants share approximately 27 Thousand Square Miles divided up into several distinct regions. While visitors usually travel through
the so called “Free State of Bavaria” to see popular historic sites, such as the Neu Schwanstein Castle, Oberammergau's Passion Plays, and the Glockenspiel in Munich, to name a few, most experienced
travelers will agree that the greatest rewards will come from setting aside a few days to venture off the beaten tourist path.
To the North of Munich and to the South of Nuremberg, is the Danube River. With its feet firmly planted in the Black Forest and its fingertips reaching all the way to the Black Sea, it runs from
West to East right through the heart of Bavaria. Along its 1,770-Mile course, it passes through some famous cities such as Vienna, and some not so famous cities such as Ingolstadt. This is the
place I call home, and it is in places like these that visitors will begin to truly experience Bavaria.
And Give us this Day our Daily Bread:
Food and Agriculture in 18th Century Germany
By Robert Selig
Our world grew out of peaceful modernization, sometimes violent revolutions, and the great hardships suffered by our ancestors over the past two-and-a-half centuries. The American and French
Revolutions of the second half of the 18th century initiated an age of transatlantic Democratic Revolutions that forever changed the political framework of western societies and which continues to spread around the globe. The Industrial Revolution, quickly followed by additional waves of modernization, brought mechanization and mass production, permanently altering the way we produce goods. An Energy Revolution progressing from steam to electricity and internal combustion engine has made us independent from human and animal muscles and from the vagaries of wind and weather. The railroads, cars, and airplanes of the Transportation Revolution made possible the quick and efficient distribution of a multitude of goods produced in the four corners of the world. Revolutionary changes in communications technology from post rider and carrier pigeon to Morse code and telephone to E-mail have released the speed of communication from the bonds of its perennial twin, the speed of transportation.
Yet these changes would have been all but impossible without the concurrent Agricultural Revolutions of the past two centuries, which enabled fewer and fewer farmers to produce the ever-increasing
amounts of foodstuffs needed to feed the growing populations of this world. Advances in agricultural techniques from crop selection to gene splicing, selective breeding, and chemical fertilizing have profoundly
changed the way we produce our food. In 2002, few people not employed in agriculture know much about planting, yields, and animal husbandry. Fewer still know what kinds of crops peasants grew some 250 years ago,
how they grew them, what their yields were, and what kinds of animals stood in their stables. Yet the lives of the vast majority of our ancestors revolved around these issues. They tell us how our ancestors
lived, what they ate, and, perhaps, why so many of them wanted to grow their crops on theirown manure or were looking for the proverbial greener pastures elsewhere, in Eastern Europe or in North America.
Calendar – April/May 2002
APRIL
Amana Colonies, IA
April 18: 26 Annual Meeting – Society for German-American Studies. For further information contact Frances Ott Allen at 513-451-9233 or e-mail at allenfo@email.uc.edu
Washington, D.C.
April 21: Concert (Chamber Music Series). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. For information see www.ushmm.org
Jessup, MD
April 27: Spring Meeting. Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society. For registration details contact Diane Kuster at DMKUSTER@compuserve.com or see www.rootsweb.com/usmags/
MAY
Manheim, PA
May 4: Maitanz. For information see www.lancasterliederkranz.com or call 717-898-8451.
Amana, IA
May 4-5: Maifest (Mayfair) at the Amana Colonies. For information contact 800-579-2294.
Jessup, MD
May 5: 33rd Annual German-American Festival
at Blob’s Park. Sponsored by the Association of German-American Societies of Greater Washington, D.C. For information, call or fax 202-554-2664
Leavenworth, WA
May 10-12: Maifest (Mayfair). For information contact the Chamber of Commerce 509-548-5807 or e-mail www.info@leavenworth.org
Covington, KY
May 17-19: Maifest (Mayfair). Sponsored by Mainstrasse Village Association. For information contact 859-491-0458.
Hermann, MO
May 18-19: Maifest. For information call 800-932-8687 or see www.hermannmo.com
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