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August September 2003 - excerpts from the editorial
Pictures form My Homeland - Part I
by Dr. Edith Borchardt
The idea of "Heimat" conjures up memories of my childhood in Furstenfeldbruck, the picturesque city on the Amper with the baroque church next to the cemetery on one side of the river and
the Chapel of St. Leonhard on the other. It was built for the Patron Saint who once saved the city from a great flood. Once a year, school children build miniature boats with lights, sending them down the river
which flows past the garden of the house on Emmeringer Street, where my friend Christiane used to live with her mother and younger brother. There we played in the yard, swam in the river, and celebrated
birthdays with games like "Sorry," and flute, piano and violin performances. From her pedestal on top of the stairs, the Venus de Milo looked down on us, and I always wondered why her limbs were so
maimed. Sometimes Christiane walked with me part of the way home past the villas along the river flanked with weeping willow trees dipping their branches in its waters.
My childhood memories are of the baroque monastery which the Cistercian monks built at the foot of the Mountain of Angels and which after the war housed a gendarmerie and a criminal museum
with reconstructions of murders committed with brutal violence. I played in my "uncle's" office-he was Commissioner of the Criminal Police-and with my little fingers pressed on the keys of his
typewriter, which the grown-ups interpreted as my inclination to become a secretary. Every year at Christmas time, there was a midnight mass in the monastery church, a celebration of light with incense and
Gregorian chants and afterwards a feast of veal sausages with "Uncle" Wendelin and his wife. Although I was Lutheran, Catholicism played a great part in my life. As a little girl, I attended a Catholic
kindergarten, where Sister Martha explained to me that she had a father in heaven. For him and his son and the saints there were many colorful processions during the year. I took part myself in the procession
for Corpus Christi, wearing a white dress and a wreath on my hair with its corkscrew curls. The murmured prayers of the participants with their rosaries sounded like solemn adjuration: "Heilige Maria Mutter
Gottes, gebendeiet seist Du unter den Weibern und gebenedeiet sei die Frucht deines Leibes..."["Hail Mary, Mother of God, blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb..."]
Sister Martha taught me that giving was more blessed than taking. I had put a candy on her desk and then tried to take it back. From her I learned that presents are irrevocable…
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A Summer Day in Dürnstein
by Anna Cramer
Castle ruins, meandering rivers and terraced hillsides add to the charm of Austria’s “Jewel of the Wachau.”
Life was quite different back in 1192 when the English King, Richard the Lionhearted, on his way back from the Third Crusade, was held captive in the dungeon of Dürnstein castle. That was a little
over 800 years ago. Now, on a brilliant summer morning, we approach the quaint town by a swift one-hour car ride heading west from Vienna through bright yellow sunflower fields and vineyards in all shades of
green. Taking the scenic route for the last few miles through the town of Krems, we pass whole families on their bikes getting an early start on their weekend outings.
The view that greets us after the last curve can only be called stunning: majestic renaissance buildings rest solidly on a smooth rock directly at the bend of the Danube, which forms a narrow
valley between Krems and Melk. They are clustered around the church tower and monastery, and behind them the town squeezes its tiny main street buildings between the palaces and the steep terraces that lead up
to the hilltop. Here, the ruins of a fortified castle, left to decay since the 17th century, provide the picturesque backdrop for a harmonic ensemble of well-restored buildings that make up this gem of the
Austrian Wachau valley. The strategic position at the river bend provided continuous wealth to the town and monastery through the centuries, and the horrendous ransom of nearly 25 tons of silver (other sources
speak of 150, 000 marks in silver) paid to Emperor Henry VI for the release of Richard the Lion-Hearted was enough to build the new town of Wiener Neustadt, fortify the city of Vienna, and even send the other
half of the ransom to Germany.
As we enter the town on the narrow winding cobblestone street, people busy themselves setting up tables with wine bottles, baskets, preserves, and fruits of the region in their doorways, as there
is barely room for one car to pass through town. Legend has it that Richard’s faithful servant, the troubadour Blondel, searched for his master by singing a song only known to the two of them in many places,
until finally here Richard answered from within the dungeon. The streets Blondel roamed are now filled with tourists admiring the wrought iron shop signs and flower boxes in the windows. Tempted to explore at
once, we are nevertheless lured into the Golden Ostrich Tavern by the delicious aroma of Viennese coffee and opt for breakfast under the shade of the big chestnut tree in the garden and a little history reading
instead…
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To Love a Tall Ship
by Tido H. Holtkamp
Beneath the beauty of “America’s Tall Ship” Eagle lies a German heart and soul.
Since 1946, the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, has used the barque Eagle for training its cadets and officer candidates. Every graduate of the Coast Guard Academy
has done duty on Eagle – it is a common bond throughout the officer ranks.
Eagle, however, represents more than just a training vessel. As the only large sailing ship of America’s armed services, she has been called upon to represent the United States abroad throughout
the years. She has visited ports all over the globe and led many tall ship parades. She has become known and loved as “America’s Tall Ship.”
However, if you scratch the paint, you will see, stamped on her foremast – “508” – ship #508 built by the Blohm & Voss Shipyard in Hamburg. And if you should unscrew the plate “USCGC Eagle” on
her helm, you will find “Segelschulschiff Horst Wessel.”
How did a German sail training ship get from Hamburg to New London?
From its beginning in 1871, the German Navy believed that working on sailing ships was a good way for young cadets to “learn the ropes.” During World War I, Count Felix von Luckner broke through
the British blockade and proceeded to sink a number of allied ships – all with his three-masted sailing ship. His book, Sea Devil, became a best seller. In July 1932, the Niobe, the sail training ship of the
small post-war German Navy, capsized in a sudden squall off the Baltic Island of Fehmarn taking 69 lives with her.
This catastrophe galvanized the German people to collect funds so that the navy could contract with the Blohm & Voss shipyard for a new sail training ship. In May 1933, Admiral Erich Raeder
presided over the christening of a three-master barque with the name Gorch Fock, the pseudonym of sailor and writer Johann Kinau, who had died in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The ship proved very stable and
seaworthy, and the Navy ordered another barque. Adolf Hitler personally attended the christening in June 1936 and named her Horst Wessel.
Horst Wessel, a young student and follower of Hitler, had led a storm troop in Berlin and had written a stirring song that had quickly become the rallying march for the National-socialists. Horst
Wessel was shot in 1930, died in the hospital, and was buried as a hero. When the National-socialists came to power, they appended the “Horst Wessel” song to “Deutschland über alles.”
From her homeport of Kiel in the Baltic, Captain August Thiele took the Horst Wessel into the North Atlantic during January 1937 and ended up in a severe winter storm, where, desperate, he ordered
oil to be released to calm the waves. During the following years, Horst Wessel took trips to Norway, Iceland, the West Indies, England, and Portugal. During these cruises only one sailor was lost – a cadet who
fell to his death. Adolf Hitler visited the ship in 1938, staying for an hour after christening the third sail training ship Albert Leo Schlageter…
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Classic Kugelhopf: A Cake For All Seasons
by Sharon Hudgins
Kugelhopf. Gugelhupf. Kugelhoff. Guglhupf. Kuglhupf. Gugelhopf. Kuglof. Kuelhopf.
No matter how you spell it, this gurgly sounding word is the name of a cake that is popular from Austria to Germany to France.
Classic Kugelhopf is a richly flavored, light-textured, yeast-raised cake studded with raisins and decorated with almonds, which is baked in a special pan or mold shaped like a Turk's turban
– round and fluted, with high sides and a tube in the center. Its name possibly comes from the German words Kugel (ball, in reference to its shape) and hopfen (to rise up under the influence of yeast). The first
Kugelhopfs were supposedly created by bakers in Vienna in 1683, to celebrate a Hapsburg military victory over the Turks.
I first tasted Kugelhopf in Strasbourg, the capital of Alsace, a region in northeastern France that has belonged to Germany at different times in history. Many Alsatians still speak a
dialect of German, and their cuisine shares several dishes with the cooking of their neighbors across the Rhine.
Kugelhopf is considered as much a regional food of Alsace as it is a specialty of Austria. Some food historians trace the connection to the 18th century, when this cake became popular in
France during the reign of Marie Antoinette, the Austrian archduchess who married France's future King Louis XVI at Strasbourg cathedral in 1770. Others contend that Kugelhopfs had been baked in France at least
a century earlier. Personally, I prefer the local legend that says the first Kugelhopf was created by the Wise Men, the Three Kings, as they journeyed through Alsace (presumably taking a rather roundabout route
to Bethlehem).
This tasty cake can be purchased year-round in almost every bakery and pastry shop in the region. And many home cooks make Kugelhopf in their own kitchens, too. There are countless recipes
for this specialty, each varying slightly from the other, some of them family secrets passed down from one generation to the next. In my own cookbooks from Germany and Alsace, I found almost 40 different recipes
for cakes called Kugelhopf.
In Alsace, Kugelhopf is traditionally eaten for breakfast, especially on Sundays, along with big cups of steaming, milky white coffee. Alsatians even have a saying that "Without
Kugelhopf, it isn't Sunday"…
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The Glacier Express
by Leah Larkin
Riding the rails through the most incredible scenery Switzerland has to offer.
A retired couple from Russia sat across from me for the 7½-hour journey on the Glacier Express train through the best of Switzerland. They chatted, laughed, pointed, and took both video and still
photographs. Across the aisle was an Italian couple, no doubt also retired. Before the train pulled out, she was on her cell phone telling friends of the journey about to begin. Groups of young Japanese – school
teachers and a honeymoon couple – as well as British, Americans, and Germans, joined the group in car number 12.
Called “the world’s slowest express train,” the Glacier Express is a popular tourist experience in the land of legendary mountain peaks. The bright red sightseeing train makes daily departures
year round from the glitzy resort of St. Moritz to Zermatt, the home of the Matterhorn, and vice versa, from Zermatt to St. Moritz. The leisurely ride is one of loops and coils, steep climbs and descents, and
endless tunnels.
The scenery, which is what the trip is all about, is superb. Deep gorges, glorious mountains, lush green pastures dotted with brown cows, villages of weathered chalets clustered around a church
steeple, waterfalls, raging rivers and streams, canyons and crevasses. This is Switzerland and what a way to see it!
Announcements in three languages (French, English and German) give statistics and explain the sights as you roll by. The comfortable seats face one another with a table in the middle. Huge
windows, which run almost the full height of each car, provide excellent picture-taking opportunities. A refreshment wagon passes by. (The Russian woman ordered a beer and peanuts at 10 a.m.) There is also a
souvenir cart for those who must purchase a pricey reminder of the trip.
Lunch in the elegant dining car is a delight but reservations are a must. The Belle Époque dining car is decorated with highly polished oak panels and gleaming brass fixtures. Upholstered chairs
and crisp white table linens complete the scene. It is what I imagine dining cars in the old days of elegant train travel must have been like.
I ordered the set menu of the day: a salad, beef stroganoff with rice and carrots, and orange cake, for 36 Swiss francs. A glass of Swiss red wine was 7.80 SF. It was almost surrealistic to sit in
this splendid ambience, savor stroganoff, and watch a continual slide show of magnificent mountain scenery.
The friendly, enthusiastic waitress was able to address most of the patrons in their own language, including the Japanese honeymoon couple who sat next to me in the dining car. The train ride is
especially popular with the Japanese, so she has learned a bit of the language, she explained.
The Glacier Express has passed through the Furka area, in the heart of the Alps in south central Switzerland, since 1928. Back then, severe blizzard conditions meant that many of the railroad
bridges were removed in October then reinstalled in May. To get from St. Moritz to Zermatt, skiers and tourists had to detour to Zurich, a time-consuming journey. The Furka Tunnel opened in 1982, and, since
then, the Glacier Express has run on a daily basis…
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Follow the Fairy-Tale Road
by Betty Lowry
Beware of witches and wicked stepmothers as you explore the land of the Brothers Grimm.
Grimm’s Fairy Tales did not happen in Fairyland, they happened in Germany, and it takes no cyclone – not so much as a magic wand – to transport you to the land of childhood and German folk
history. A pumpkin coach might be more appropriate, but a rental car from the airport will suffice.
Just follow the Deutsche Marchenstrasse, Germany’s Fairy-Tale Road. And bring along your copy of Kinder und Hausmarchen, the book by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm that first appeared just before
Christmas 1812.
Dark woods and fearsome mountains aside, traveling through fairy-tale country today does not mean you will dine on nuts and berries except as nut cake and red fruit pudding. Delicacies from
streams and forests – trout, venison, and wild boar worthy of a king’s table – appear on the menus of friendly Ratskellers, restored hunting lodges, and Michelin-starred restaurants. Apples that would have
doomed Snow White in a blink can be sampled fresh from the tree or as Apfelwein and Apfelkuchen.
You can stay in a castle with towers assigned to “Rapunzel” (Trendelburg, also home of the giantess Trendula) or protected by a thorny hedge as required by “Sleeping Beauty” (Sababurg in the
Reinhard Forest). Half-timbered inns and picture-book cottages will shelter you for a night or more.
Though there is a Fairy–Tale Holiday Park in Verden and a Cinderella Pageant (as well as fairy-tale plays) in Polle, this in no 370-mile theme park. It was conceived, laid out, and marked by
the Tourist Office of Hesse in 1973, but from the start it was for Germans, not foreign visitors. No translations are necessary since everyone knows the plot lines if not the precise local connection.
From Hanau to Bremen, the original sites have been enhanced with fairy-tale festivals and plays, most often performed outdoors. Grimm museums memorialize the local folk traditions as much as
the lives of the brothers. Copies of the books in their 160 translations and thousands of editions are on display, while museum walls are hung with original illustrations by countless world-famous artists
beginning with younger brother Ludwig-Emil Grimm.
Even before the road was marked, Sunday noon meant a piper in a multicolor cape could be seen leading children in rat costumes through the streets of Hameln while every day the mechanical
figures on the west gable of the Hochzeitshaus enacted the 13th century story.
Now, from May to October, Bremen presents musical performances of “The Town Musicians” and in Hoxter, “Hansel and Gretel” will foil the wicked witch before your very eyes. When that
notorious quack, Dr. Eisenbart, explains himself to the crowd in front of Munden’s medieval Rathaus, he is no more convincing today than three centuries ago…
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Germany Through My Eyes
by Mary Ruddell
A press tour of eastern Germany introduces our publisher to some true gems for tourists.
While I have traveled in Germany on many occasions, I had never been in the eastern part of the country. I was excited about the opportunity to see this part of Germany in combination with my trip
to the German Travel Mart in Chemnitz. This was the 29th GTM, which every year features different areas of interest to travelers and tourists in Germany. So I set out for Chemnitz, which is for tourists the
"Gateway to the Ore Mountains." My Lufthansa flight left Dulles Airport and, after a brief stop in Frankfort, I landed in Dresden. Remember, my destination was Chemnitz, but that was only a short bus
ride away.
While in Dresden, I did take a small detour and visited the Romantik Hotel Pattis. I was delighted with the location of the hotel, near a large park, and the stellar facilities. I enjoyed a
wonderful gourmet lunch fixed by their head chef, Mario Pattis. Then I was off to Chemnitz.
My three days in Chemnitz were wonderful. I saw the city including, a climb to the top of the watch tower; attended press conferences; visited the Chemnitz City Art Gallery, the Saxon Museum of
Industry, Henry Van De Velde Museum at Villa Esche, Chemnitz Civic Centre, the old Saxon Railway Museum, the water castle Klaffenbach; visited the delightful town of Seiffen filled with Christmas decorations,
smokers, and nutcrackers in the Ore Mountains, and enjoyed a train ride into the old silver mine of Markus Röhling. I drank wonderful wines and beers from Saxony, enjoying regional foods wherever we dined. There
was a magnificent tent in the Theatreplatz for the final night celebration with music, food, wine, and dancing. Music surrounded all of the festivities, opening my eyes and ears to the many symphonies and opera
houses that are in Saxony. Hans-Jürgen Goller, Director of TMGS Tourism Marketing Company of Saxony, dismissed their GDR and reconstruction days as "a 50-year pause in a 1000 year history."
Chemnitz, formerly Karl-Marx-Stadt during the GDR times, even though Karl Marx never visited this city, is very historic. After the reunification the residents voted to restore the city's original
name of Chemnitz. The city combines music, museums, green spaces, and culinary delights for an interesting East Germany destination.
Then I was ready for the post GTM tour of Saxony. I must admit that I embraced their slogan, "I am a Saxist." First I was off to Bautzen. What a wonderful city! It was beautifully
restored with the traditional looming church in the town center. Our group was met by city officials, given a short tour of the town and church, taken to the top of the tower, and then to a delightful Sorbian
restaurant for a lunch and city presentation. We were greeted at the door of the Wjelbik Sorbisches Restaurant with bread and salt served by women in typical Sorbian attire. Many of the customs of the Sorbs were
explained and a wonderful luncheon meal was presented to the group. The Sorbs, as a minority group, have the greatest number of residents in Saxony.
Then we were off to Görlitz, a town known for its weavers and wool. The cloth maker's widow, Agnete Fingerin, who was a historical character of medieval Görlitz, lead the group through the streets
where the weavers used to live and work. Dinner followed at Vuerradebnühle, an old mill restaurant situated on the Neisse River, the easternmost part of Germany, overlooking Poland. Our host shared pictures of
the restaurant through the years including the flooding of 2002.
On day two I was in Spreewald, located in Saxony and Brandenburg. The town of Burg led us to the Spreewald area. After another welcome by traditionally attired Sorbian women and a
presentation on spas, biking and hiking in Spreewald, we took an open tram ride through the small town. After a traditional lunch at Kräutermühle Gasthause, we continued on to Lübbenau. We enjoyed a boat ride
that took us to the Lehde outdoor museum. Here we learned how the Sorbians lived and worked. Then it was on to Cottbus for a brief bus tour…
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"In the beginning was Napoleon"
by Robert Selig
Political maneuvering by Napoleon guided Germany out of the Holy Roman Empire and on its way to the modern German state of today.
"In the beginning was Napoleon," wrote German historian Thomas Nipperdey in 1983. What connection could the French emperor have with the rise of modern Germany? What Nipperdey meant was
that the history of modern Germany begins with the French Revolutionary Wars and the intense modernization imposed upon the Holy Roman Empire by France between 1801 and 1815. A crucial milestone in the process
that transformed the empire into a group of modern states was the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss. The "Final Resolution of the Imperial Delegation" of the Reichstag or Imperial Diet of 25 February 1803
decreed the dissolution of most of the ecclesiastical states and Imperial Cities that made up the Empire and their integration into other German states. And, although Napoleon intended to keep Germany divided by
creating a group of powers of similar size and strength, he inadvertently established the foundations of modern-day Germany.
A glance at the map shows the disunity that characterized the 18th century Empire, whose origins date to 1034, when we first read of the Romanum imperium or Roman Empire. The title underwent
numerous transformations until the Reichstag or Diet of Köln coined the designation it would be known under until 1806: heiliges Römisches Reich Teutscher Nation. However, it was never clear what the term meant.
Did it mean that the German Nation had its own Empire, or did the Roman Empire of antiquity continue in the German-speaking territories of Europe? By the 18th century, jurists agreed on the term imperium
Romano-Germanicum, which implied that they did not see the empire as the continuation of the old Roman Empire, but rather as a political entity that had developed in Germania since the days of Otto I in 962. It
was called an empire for historical reasons primarily, but the question as to who or what the German Nation was and is and what its boundaries should be has plagued Europe and the world ever since.
When the people of Paris stormed the Bastille on 14 July 1789, the constitutional structures of the Reich were still fundamentally as they had been set up in the Golden Bull of 1356. It was an
extremely complex system, consisting of diverse forms of government, administrative structures, and overlapping jurisdictions. At the top of the polity stood an elected emperor with precedence over all Christian
monarchs. From 1453 to 1806, with a brief interruption from 1740 to 1745, it was always a member of the House of Habsburg who held the dignity. The Golden Bull had vested seven electors with the right to elect
the emperor. By virtue of this dignity and as holders of the highest imperial offices, they constituted the political elite of the Empire. Since 1356, there had been three ecclesiastical and four secular
electors. They were the archbishop of Mainz, who held first rank among all electors, and the archbishops of Köln and Trier. Secular electors were the Count Palatine of the Rhine, the King of Böhmen, the Markgraf
of Brandenburg, King of Prussia after 1701, and the Duke of Sachsen-Wittenberg. (Two more were created in 1648 and 1710.) Besides electing the Emperor, the electors held royal rank, privileges, and precedence,
as well as judicial sovereignty, which meant that their subjects could not be tried in imperial courts…
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Yesteryears
by Robert A. & Barbara Selig
Carl Laemmle (1867-1939)
Carl Laemmle, born in Laupheim in Württemberg, was the 10th of 13 children. Apprenticed at age 13 to a shopkeeper to learn bookkeeping, he yearned for more from life. Following an older brother
already in America, Laemmle left Germany in 1884, at age 17, on steerage passage and with a reported $40 in his pocket. He worked at various jobs and became a citizen in 1889.
Married in 1898, his success came when the family moved to Chicago where he opened his first nickelodeon in 1906. This was an inexpensive form of entertainment. For a nickel, people got to watch a
short movie of usually less than 10 minutes length. The movies were in serial form: you only saw part of the story for a nickel and needed to return later for more of the story. As the “better” sorts did not
frequent nickelodeons, many considered these businesses somewhat disreputable. However, with the low overhead and hundreds of daily customers, Laemmle saw an opportunity. He opened more nickelodeons and became a
film distributor to help guarantee a regular supply of films. In the process, he had to take on the Motion Pictures Patents Trust which charged weekly usage fees for film and projectors. Using lawsuits and
advertisements, and by making his own movies, he kept his business growing…
Helmut Eugene Benjamin Gellert Hauser (1895-1984)
Helmut Eugene Benjamin Gellert Hauser was a German immigrant who found success in Hollywood on a very different path. Born in Tübingen, Württemberg, in 1895, he came to the United States at the
age of 16 to join an older brother, Otto Robert Hauser, who was a minister in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Shortly after his arrival he was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the hip, a death sentence in those days.
Unwilling to accept his fate, he went in search of a cure. He turned to alternatives to traditional medicine and Dr. Benedict Lust, a naturopath, who suggested clay packs, herbals teas, and long warm baths. He
went to Switzerland to learn more about the ideas of natural foods. There, a monk, Brother Maier, told him to eat only salads, fruit juices, vegetable broths, and herbs. In a short time his abscess was
permanently cured.
This set Hauser on his life’s path – a quest for learning all he could about nutrition and health. He studied in Vienna, Zürich, Dresden, and Copenhagen, learning from specialists who recommended
such things as sunlit foods, and under-eating as opposed to over-eating. He began a consulting business in Chicago, but when his clients became too numerous he began public lecturing. In 1923, he changed his
name to Benjamin Gayelord Hauser but dropped the Benjamin from his professional name…
Sauerkraut
If ever there was a proto-typical German food, it is the fermented or brined white cabbage known the world over by its German name of Sauerkraut – even though it did not even originate in Germany.
Food historians believe that its roots date back to the building of the Great Wall of China, where laborers ate it to combat vitamin deficiencies arising from a diet consisting primarily of rice.
From China, the Tartars brought it to Eastern Europe, from where it spread into Germany and the Netherlands. Because of its anti-scorbutic values, Sauerkraut was used for centuries thereafter,
especially during wintertime, as an integral part of people's diet in Central Europe. As the Germans and Dutch settled in America, they brought Sauerkraut along with them, and it became a staple of their diet in
the New World as well. Since then it has been, and probably forever will be, connected in the minds of the non-Dutch or non-Deutsch Americans with Germany and the Germans.
However, other ethnic groups ate it too: during the winter of 1775 to 1776, British forces in Boston allotted 1/2 pound of Sauerkraut per man each week; in neighboring Rhode Island a soldier was
to get as much as two pounds per week. Their Sauerkraut was shipped all the way from England and Ireland, but it was, of course, available in America too, where the Continental Congress, in July 1777, ordered
the Board of War to procure Sauerkraut for the soldiers of the Continental Army…
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The Skat Town of Altenburg
by Jörg M. Unger
You won’t find a house of cards in Altenburg but playing cards and the game of Skat are at the foundation of this enchanting town.
If you ask a veteran of the 6th Armored Division to tell you something about Altenburg, Thuringia, he will surely say: “Well, that’s the town of Skat and playing cards that we liberated in
April 1945. Come on, I’ll show you something.” Then he might take a deck of Bridge cards out of his desk drawer and tell you about Captain Raymond T. Shipley, who came up with the idea of having 25,000 decks
with a special design produced as a souvenir for all the soldiers of that division.
Altenburg, first mentioned in the year 976, lay on the medieval trade route from Nürnberg to Leipzig. Altenburg received a town charter in 1256 and trade and business flourished. Craftsmen and
traders enjoyed their happy hours in the bars of town. The art of card making must have already been in existence there at the beginning of the 16th century but the town became well-known to card players all
over the world when some residents developed the game of Skat in the early 19th century.
According to a legend, a coachman traveled to Bohemia where he observed men playing the Wendish game of Schafkopf (Sheepshead) – a four-handed game that was unknown to him. When he introduced it
in the Tarot club at home in Altenburg, the other club members were reluctant to try it, as they were accustomed to playing in groups of three. As the new game was indeed very intriguing, they started to
experiment with the rules of Sheepshead, the Spanish game of Hombre, and the Italian Tarot – and soon, Skat was born (though other rules were added later). The name of the game is derived from the Italian word
“scartare” that means “put aside,” as two cards were set aside on the table while each player received ten cards for starting the game…
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Marbach am Neckar: A Bookish Town
by Jill Knight Weinberger
This lovely town and home to literary great Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller proves to be an intelligent choice for a getaway.
On our first night in Marbach am Neckar, my husband G.J. and I felt more like college sweethearts lucky enough to get assigned to the same dorm than the middle-aged couple taking advantage of
inexpensive housing that we actually were. It is not necessarily an experiment we care to repeat, but staying at the “Collegienhaus” turned out to be loads of fun, despite our single dorm-style rooms. Its
international array of guests, many of them enthusiastic young graduate students and professors, were a constant reminder of why we came to Marbach in the first place – to visit the German National Literary
Archives (Deutsches Literaturarchiv).
At least, that was Herr Professor G.J.’s mission. Mine was a different sort of literary pilgrimage, for in this 1,000-year-old town spread out on a rocky slope above the Neckar River, some 20
miles north of Stuttgart, one of the world’s great writers was born – Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805). Long ago, as an undergraduate, I had read in translation his great historical plays: Maria
Stuart, Wilhelm Tell, Die Jungfrau von Orleans (The Maid of Orleans), Don Carlos. G.J.’s work at the archives, then, proved an opportunity to take my own personal field trip to Schiller’s birthplace.
Marbach, however, is hardly a one-theme town. Despite its literary renown and modest-size (population about 13,000), Marbach is strikingly layered. It is part college town without the college;
part cultural Mecca, with its Schiller-Nationalmuseum and archive; part open-air museum, with its small medieval Altstadt; and part bedroom community, with a decidedly suburban feel and an S-Bahn to Stuttgart.
Add to that its close proximity to the rural vistas of Swabia and the local light-bodied red wine – perfect for summer dining – and suddenly our August week’s stay did not seem quite long enough.
As I set out one morning to visit Schiller’s birthplace, leaving G.J. behind a stack of books, I managed to get myself lost. Given the small scale of the town center, this is painful to admit.
However, it proved an occasion to note the differences between Marbach and that other German literary pilgrimage destination, Weimar. One could never get lost in Weimar en route to Goethe’s house. Every arrow
points the way, just as every knickknack seems to bear the great writer’s image. Marbach certainly celebrates Schiller – the dear friend of Goethe and also a Weimar resident – but the town does not scream his
name or exploit his image on every coffee cup and postcard. Thus, perhaps, I may be excused for missing the discreet signs directing visitors down the narrow stone lanes of the Altstadt to the Niklastorstrasse
where, in a modest half-timbered house, Schiller was born…
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Calender of Events:
August/September Calendar 2003
Please contact events directly to confirm dates, times, locations, and admission fees.
August
Sheboygan, WI
July 31-August 2: Jaycee Brat Days. Call 920-331-0416.
Jasper, IN
August 1-3: Strassenfest: Call 1-800-968-4578.
St. Louis, MO
August 1-3: St. Louis Strassenfest: Downtown, Memorial Plaza. Visit www.strassenfest.org.
Bethlehem, PA
August 1-10:
Free Museum Day: Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, Moravian Museum, 1810 Goundie House, Burnside Plantation & Colonial Industrial Quarter. Noon-4. Call 610-882-0450.
Newark, DE
August 2-3: Friendship Soccer Tournament and Arts Festival. Call 302-366-9454 or visit www.delawaresaengerbund.org
Berne, MN
August 2-3: Berne Swissfest. Call 1-800-322-2478.
Zoar, OH
August 2-3: 30th Annual Harvest Festival. Call 800-874-4336 or visit www.zca.org.
Red Lodge, MT
August 2-4: Festival of Nations: Ethnic festival. Contact Red Lodge Chamber of Commerce, Box 988, Red Lodge, MT 59068 or call 406-446-1718.
Philadelphia, PA
August 2-4: Sommerfest: Penn’s Landing, Columbus Ave. and Spring Garden St. Call 202-467-5000 or visit www.steubenparade.com.
Evansville, IN
August 7-9: Volksfest: Call 812-442-1915 or email hgggprint@aol.com .
Dayton, OH
August 8-10: German Picnic/German Festival: in Carillon Park. Call 937-293-3099 or e-mail Lieder97@aol.com.
Hunter, NY
August 9 & 10: German Alps Festival: At Hunter Mountain. Call 888-486-8376 or visit www.HunterMtn.com.
Oregon, OH
August 9: Kornfest: At Oak Shade Grove. Call 419-691-3537 or email timptol@aol.com
Baltimore, MD
August 15-17: 103rd German Festival: In Carroll Park. Call 410-522-4144 or visit www.md-germans.org.
Louisville, KY
August 15-17: German-American Club Gesangverein 125th Anniversary. Call 502-894-9512 or 502-426-1740 or visit www.german-americanclub.com
Chicago, IL
August 16-17: 126th Annual Cannstatter Volksfest. At Schwaben Center in Buffalo Grove, IL. Call 630-653-1716 or email schwabenchicago@hotmail.com .
Hagerstown, MD
August 15 & 16: Augustoberfest: Downtown Hagerstown. Call 301-739-8577 ext.116 or fax 301-790-3424.
Hartford, CT
August 18-25: German Beerfest: Call 860-684-5621 or 860-953-8967 or visit www.intelab.com/hsb.
New York, NY
September 20: 46th Annual Steuben Parade: Call 516-239-0741 or visit www.germanparadenyc.org
Oregon, OH
August 22-24: German American Festival: At Oak Shade Grove. Call 419-691-3537 or email timptol@aol.com.
Cincinnati, OH
August 22-24: 33rd Annual Oktoberfest: Call 513-742-0060 or visit www.germaniasociety.com.
Norwood Young America, MN
August 22-24: Stiftungsfest: Call 952-467-3365.
Baltimore, MD
August 23: International Lutheran/Catholic Dialog Dinner. Call 410-727-3939 or visit www.zionbaltimore.org
Hamilton, OH
August 30-31: 40th Annual Oktoberfest Hamilton. Call Karl Giessler at 513-863-1605.
Penngrove, CA
August 31: German-American Labor Day Picnic: Penngrove Community Park. Call 707-665-9933.
San Antonio, TX
August 15: Gartenkonzert: At Beethoven Halle und Garten. Call 210-222-1521.
Harmony, PA
August 23-24: 32nd Annual Harmony Museum Dankfest: Call 1-888-821-4822.
Chicago, IL
August 16-17: 126th Schwaben Fest (Cannstatter Volksfest): at the Schwaben Center in Buffalo Grove, IL. Call 630-653-1716 or email schwabenchicago@hotmail.com.
September
Baltimore, MD
September 4: Garten Fest 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Call 410-727-3939 or visit www.zionbaltimore.org.
Chicago, IL
September 6: 38th Von Steuben Parade: 10:30 am Downtown Chicago on Columbus Drive. Call 630-653-3018 or visit www.germanday.com.
Agawam, MA
September 6: Springfield Turnverein Oktoberfest. Call 413-786-0924
Chicago, IL
September 5-7: 83rd Annual German American Fest: Lincoln, Leland & Western Ave. Call 630-653-3018 or visit www.germanday.com.
Covington, KY
September 5-7: Oktoberfest: Mainstrasse Village. Call 859-491-0458 or visit www.mainstrasse.org.
Sierra Vista, AZ
September 5-7: Oktoberfest: Call 520-417-6980.
Waupun, WI
September 5-7: Volksfest. Downtown Waupun. Call 920-324-2531 or email macann@powercom.net .
Newark, DE
September 6: 35th Enzian Volkstanzgruppe Stiftungsfest. Call 302-366-9454 or visit www.delawaresaengerbund.org.
Chicago, IL
September 6: Annual Von Steuben Day Parade: 10:30 am on Columbus Drive in downtown Chicago. Call 630-653-3018 or visit www.germanday.com.
Torrance, CA
September 6: Oktoberfest: Call 310-327-4384.
Sheboygan, WI
September 6-7: Septemberfest: St. Peter Claver Parish festival. Call 920-457-9408.
Walpole, MA
September 6-7: Oktoberfest. Call 781-893-6627
Milwaukee, WI
September 6-21: Oktoberfest: In Old Heidelberg Park. Call 1-800-554-1448.
Helen, GA
September 11-November 1: Annual Alpine Helen Oktoberfest. Call 706-878-1908, email helenchamber@linkamerica.net or visit www.helenchamber.com.
Mount Angel, OR
September 11-14: Oktoberfest: Call 503-845-9440 or visit www.oktoberfest.org.
Birmingham, AL
September 12-13: Oktoberfest: Call 205-923-6564.
Louisville, KY
September 12-14: 3 Day Oktoberfest: At the German-American Club. Call 502-894-9512 or visit www.german-americanclub.com.
Rochester, NY
September 12-14 and 19-21: 16th Annual Oktoberfest. Call 585-336-6070 or visit www.irondeqoit.org/events/oktober.htm.
Vail, Co
September 13-14 and September 20-21: Oktoberfest: Call 970-479-1014.
DaCosta, TX
September 14: Germanfest: At Son’s of Hermann Hall. Call 361-578-6658 or 361-575-0560.
Holmdel, NJ
September 14: 30th Annual German Heritage Festival: PNC Bank Arts Center. Call 609-585-6757, email cindy@cazoo.org or visit www.ghfi-nj.org/festival.
New York, NY
September 14-21: German-American Friendship Week: Call 516-239-0741 or visit www.gasp-ny.org
Huntington Beach, CA
September 14-October 26: Oktoberfest: Every Wednesday through Sunday in Old World. Call 714-895-8020.
Oakland, CA
September 15: 73rd Annual German Fest at the Hayward Civic Center. Call 510-530-5229 or 510-836-0735.
Addison, TX
September 18-21: 16th Annual Oktoberfest: Call 1-800-ADDISON or visit www.addisontexas.net.
Frankenmuth, MI
September 18-21: 14th Annual Oktoberfest: Call 800-386-8696.
San Antonio, TX
September 19: Gartenkonzert: at Beethoven Halle und Garten. Third Friday of every month 5:00 p.m.- midnight. Call 210-222-1521.
Newark, DE
September 19-21: Oktoberfest. Call 302-366-9454 or visit www.delawaresaengerbund.org.
Peoria, IL
September 19-21: Oktoberfest: Festival Park at the Riverfront. Call 309-689-3019 or visit www.peoriaparks.org.
Syracuse, NY
September 19-21: The 43rd Annual Great Syracuse Oktoberfest: Call Ron Dolata at 315-682-2584.
Lancaster, PA
September 19-21: Oktoberfest: Visit www.lancasterliederkranz.com.
Pittsburgh, PA
September 19-21 & 26-28: Oktoberfest: Penn Brewery. Call 412-237-9402 or email pennbrew@hotmail.com.
Canonsburg, PA
September 19-21: Pennsylvania Bavarian Oktoberfest. Call 724-745-1812.
Odessa, WA
September 19-21: Deutschesfest. Call Phyllis Sebesta at 509-982-2226.
Chippewa Falls, WI
September 19-21: Oktoberfest. Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds. Call 866-723-0340, email info@chippewachamber.org or visit www.chippewachamber.org.
Big Bear, CA
September 20-October 26: Oktoberfest: On Saturdays and Sundays. Call 909-585-3000.
New York, NY
September 20: 46th Annual Steuben Parade: at noon on Fifth Avenue from 63rd to 86th St. Call 516-239-0741 or visit www.gasp-ny.org.
Anaheim, CA
September 20-October 26: Oktoberfest: Call 714-563-4166.
New Harmony, IN
September 20-21: Kunstfest: Call 812-682-4488.
Odessa, WA
September 20-22: Deutschfest. Call 509-982-0049.
Hayward, CA
September 21: Germanfest. Noon-8:00 p.m. Call 510-836-0735 or visit www.ugas-eb.org.
Shepherdstown, WV
September 21: Oktoberfest: At the Bavarian Inn. Call 304-878-2551.
Lacrosse, WI
September 26-October 4: 43rd Oktoberfest: Call 608-784-3378 or visit www.oktoberfestusa.com.
Bellevue, NE
September 26-28: Oktoberfest: Call 402-291-3090.
Leavenworth, WA
September 26-28: Autumn Leaf Festival: Call 509-548-5807 or visit www.info@leavenworth.org.
Davenport, IA
September 26-27: German American Oktoberfest. Call 563-322-5489 or email nsteenbock@aol.com .
Brush, CO
September 27: Oktoberfest. Call 1-800-354-8659.
Woodland Park, CO
September 27: Oktoberfest. Call 719-687-9885.
Jackson, MO
September 27: Oktoberfest. In the Bavarian Halle. Call 573-243-6999.
Philadelphia, PA
September 27: Steuben Parade and Oktoberfest: Location to be announced on www.steubenparade.com. Call 215-332-3400.
Pflugerville, TX
September 27: Oktoberfest. Richland Hall. Call 866-482-0927 or visit www.gths.net.
Appleton, WI
September 27: Oktoberfest: Call 920-734-3377.
Stowe, VT
September 27-28: Oktoberfest: Call 802-253-8506 or visit www.stoweoktoberfest.com.
Encinitas, CA
September 28: Oktoberfest. El Camino Real and Mountain Vista Road. Call 760-753-6041.
Serbin, TX
September 28: 15th Annual Wendish Fest: Call 979-366-2441 or email wendish@bluebon.net.
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