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DECEMBER 2003/JANUARY 2004 - excerpts from the editorial
Graz – Austria’s Undiscovered Secret
by Leah Larkin
An eclectic city steeped in history embraces the new and offers a multitude of surprises for visitors.
Austria: Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck. These are the cities on the average American itinerary to this country of music and Mozart fame. But what about Graz?
Austria’s second city is indeed worth a trip as I discovered on a visit last May. Graz is a blend of the well-preserved old and the innovative new.
It’s a city with flare that pulsates with life and fun.
Kayakers get their thrills on a rapid in the middle of the Mur River that bisects the town. The rapid, as well as a walkway along the river, were constructed to make the river more a part of
city life. Locals, who gather to watch the daredevils, call it the “Terminator Race.” They’re proud of their almost-native son Arnold Schwarzenegger who was born near Graz.
Just upriver is a wonderfully bizarre floating island-bridge, an avant-garde shell-shaped structure of steel and glass that houses a restaurant, playground and amphitheater. “The most
interesting thing is the toilet. It’s totally weird. I got dizzy,” noted one visitor of the island whose wavy décor is designed to bring the feeling of water indoors.
The island, a permanent structure, is part of Graz 2003.
The city was selected as the European Union’s Cultural Capital for 2003 and throughout the year, which officially ends in November, numerous exhibitions and events were held in conjunction with the honor.
“It’s just like Graz has woken up this year,” notes city guide Josefa Robier. “There are so many new things and people really like them. Usually people from Graz favor the old.”
And indeed, in addition to the fun and funky new, Graz treasures the old. In 1999 UNESCO declared the city a world heritage site. Wondering through the skinny, twisting streets of its
Old Town leads past fine examples of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Jugendstil architecture.
Located in southern Austria on the sunny side of the Alps, Graz is closer to Slovenia (25 miles) and Hungary (37 miles) than to Vienna, which is about 150 miles or a two-hour drive or train ride
away. “The Iron Curtain was right before us,” said Robier, meaning the border to the south was closed. All that has changed and now the city is at the heart of a central European region that is growing together.
Graz, the capital of the province of Styria, has a population of 240,000 including 40,000 students who study at one of its three universities. The jazz department at its music university is
considered Europe’s best. The town is noted as a center for the manufacture of car parts. DaimlerChrysler has a Graz plant where both the Chrysler Voyager and the Jeep Cherokee are manufactured.
I began my visit with a city tour.
We walked through a cave-like tunnel to an elevator that took us to the top of the Schlossberg, a 1,500-foot hill overlooking the city’s rusty red rooftops. Graz was bombed 52 times during World War II, Robier explained, and towards the end of the war the city constructed a bomb shelter, six miles of tunnels under the hill, where some 50,000 escaped to safety. Several years ago the tunnels were opened. One tunnel is even used as an exhibition hall, and a train for children passing fairytale scenes runs through another tunnel.
Steps, some 260 that make up the Soldiers’ Staircase built by Russian prisoners and Austrian pioneers in 1916, also climb to the top of the Schlossberg. The hilltop was the site of the
original Graz castle built some 1,000 years ago by the Slavs who called it “gradec” meaning little castle, hence the origin of the name Graz.
The castle was expanded in the 16th century as the main fortress against invading Turks.
“Our castle was much bigger than Salzburg’s,” my guide proudly pointed out. Napoleon tried, without success, to conquer the huge castle. However, in 1809, after winning the war with Austria, he had the castle blown up. A park was created around the castle ruins in the middle of the 19th century…
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Christian Ulbricht - “Artistry in Wood”
by Virginia Ann Heyerdahl
Looking at the whimsy in the face of a Christian Ulbricht nutcracker, one marvels at the impeccable artistry in every handcrafted piece from this remarkable “artist in wood.” However, when you
learn that he comes by his talents naturally – following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and further generations back over the past three hundred years, it is no wonder that his creations are so
popular with collectors today.
Nutcrackers are what this artist is best known for, but he also designs and produces incense burners and other handcrafted objects. The nutcrackers emerge in traditional motifs such as
kings, soldiers, hunters, and folk characters, but also featured are designs from other sources such as leading characters from well-known authors, famous historical figures and even the animated films of Walt
Disney. They are all made with the same attention to detail and have become extremely collectible today.
It was in the picturesque region of the State of Saxony, where the Erzgebirge Mountains form a border between Germany and the Czech Republic, in a small German village called Seiffen, that
all this talent first saw the light of day. For centuries, mining in this area was the leading source of employment. When the mines dried up, in the early eighteenth century, the local inhabitants turned their
hobby of handcrafting in wood, into their livelihood. Early documents for this period show that members of the Ulbricht family were wood-turners in the town of Seiffen for more than three hundred years.
In 1928, Otto Ulbricht, who by that time was a professional wood turner, set up his own business. In 1934, he built a new factory, turning out nutcrackers, incense burners, and other
handcrafted wooden treasures for which the region has become known. It was into this atmosphere that Christian was born (in 1933) and raised.
At the end of World War II, when the eastern region of Germany fell under the Communist bloc, the government expropriated all of the major industry in the area and now Otto’s factory belonged to
the regime. Making his plans, Otto and his family fled their home and settled in the town of Lauingen in Bavaria, near the city of Augsburg.
Since there had been little change in production techniques in the crafting of nutcrackers over the previous hundred years, Otto brought these techniques and the Erzgebirge wood-turning traditions
with him to Lauingen and once again set up his own business. Fortunately, he was able to pass his knowledge on to his son, Christian.
After Otto’s death in 1968, Christian assumed the helm of the company and continued the time-honored traditions of his father but expanded his thinking and ideas as well as the company. In 1979,
he moved the family operation into a new facility in Lauingen, naming the new company Holzkunst Christian Ulbricht. “Holzkunst” translates as “artistry in wood.”…
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Castaway Chests – Collecting Christmas Lebkuchen Tins
by Anita Burdette-Dragoo
Decorative Christmas cookie tins from Germany are the ultimate prizes during a flea market treasure hunt.
Stifling the urge to snuggle back into the warm cocoon of blankets, I swing my feet to the floor. A cold shiver jolts my body. “I must be crazy to get up at 6:00 am on a Saturday,” I mumble.
However, my American friend Nancy has offered to indoctrinate me into the methods and madness of the German flea market, and she warns that the best finds are gone early.
It is not just any treasure we are after – although we may find some things we did not know we needed. For ten years, Nancy has been ferreting out her “treasure boxes” – the decorative tin
chests produced annually by the E. Otto Schmidt Company of Nürnberg to package its Christmas gingerbread, or Lebkuchen.
Each autumn, white cardboard boxes decorated with a brown woodcut skyline of medieval Nürnberg and the red, heart-shaped “E. Otto Schmidt” logo make their appearances in grocery stores
across Germany. I had purchased my first, not quite certain what I would find inside.
It contained a brightly painted tin chest, about the size of a 12-piece silverware box filled with numerous cardboard packages of pastries. I discovered that basic Lebkuchen is a large round
gingerbread cookie with a white crispy wafer on the bottom, and chocked full of finely chopped nuts and candied fruit. Some have white sugar frosting while others have chocolate, topped with almonds or
hazelnuts. In addition, my chest contained small, bar-shaped Lebkuchen, butter cookies, petit fours-type squares called “dominoes” with chocolate frosting and chewy layers of jelly between the gingerbread and
one large loaf of Stollen or German fruitcake.
Most people apparently purchase the boxes solely for the content and give only passing notice to the artwork on the packaging. The traditional theme is medieval Nürnberg, with drawings of
knights and damsels plus an array of kings and clergy that only a German historian might recognize. A sheet inside describes the scene, in German, of course.
However, I was more thrilled with the tin chest. I remembered that a friend kept her bread in one, and I thought this would be a nice souvenir touch for my kitchen as well. The design that
year depicted the old city wall and castle in Nürnberg framed in dark green with gold scrolling around the edges. I had fond memories of watching the Christmas story enacted in that very spot above the famous
Nürnberg Christkindlmarkt 25 years ago.
Pleased with my purchase, I described it to Nancy Kirkhum who worked with me in Giessen, Germany.
“Oh,” she exclaimed, “would you like to see my collection?” She had learned from the factory that the first painted chests appeared in 1965. Each year a new design was issued, and, although
the factory could not provide her with a list, she had managed to acquire all but one of the designs…
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The Swiss Guard
by Lucy Gordan
A rare look inside the tradition and ceremony surrounding the smallest army in the world charged with protecting the Holy Father – at any cost.
Every year on May 6 at 5:00 p.m. in the St. Damaso Courtyard of Vatican City's Apostolic Palaces about thirty (thirty-two in 2003) new recruits, brandishing eight-foot halberds or pikes with a
Swiss bear-shaped blade, are sworn into the one-hundred strong Swiss Guard. Founded by Pope Julius II on January 22, 1506, they are the oldest, smallest, and most photographed military corps in existence.
During the hour-long ceremony, one-by-one, each recruit, dressed in the frequently photographed red-yellow-and-blue striped uniform with bouffant sleeves, an armor breastplate and red-plumed
helmet, promises in his mother-tongue – French, German, Italian, or Romansch, (Switzerland's four official languages) – to obey his officers and to protect the life of the pope at the risk of his own life
"may God and his saints assist me!" Particularly important are the Guard's patron saints: St. Martin (November 11), St. Sebastian (January 20), and St. Niklaus von Flue, "Defensor Pacis et pater
patriae" (September 25).
This year's ceremony included Dhani Bachmann, the first non-white Swiss Guard ever. Of Indian origin, he was adopted by a couple from Lucerne and is a Swiss citizen. Recruits must be Swiss
citizens from birth, unmarried, between nineteen and thirty years of age, at least five-feet eleven-inches tall, of good character, Catholic, have completed preliminary training in the Swiss army, and must sign
a contract to serve a two-year tour of duty.
Before 1914, the Guard was only German-Swiss. Now its recruits come from all parts of Switzerland, but most still come from the German-speaking cantons of Unterwalden, Uri, Schwyz, and
Lucerne especially. Serving in the Swiss Guard can also be a family tradition. Twenty-four Pfyffer von Altishofens have served as officers – nine of them as Commandant or Commander-in-Chief.
"About seventy-five percent do not re-enlist," said the present Commander, Elmar Theodor Maeder, formerly a lawyer and financial auditor who joined the Guard in 1998 as
Vice-Commander, "but some of us make a career and stay on for as long as thirty years. The recruits' main problems are low pay ($100 a week in cash), monotonous guard duty, tough army discipline, long hours
(two days of ten-hour shifts followed by a third day free), and there's always duty on Sundays."
"Some of us join for religious reasons," said Jérôme Montani, a halberdier, age twenty-four, who joined last year and hopes to become a fireman. "Others, like me, join to
'find themselves' and have two years to decide on what to do with their lives. Still others join to come to Rome."
"We live in barracks and aren't even allowed to bring any women friends into the Vatican for social visits," said Tiziano Guarneri, a corporal who joined the Guard in June 1994 and
last May married an Italian kindergarten teacher. "We can't marry unless we've completed a minimum of three years of service, sign up for another three and one of their eleven apartments assigned to the
Guard inside Vatican City vacates; officers, four in all, even unmarried ones like the Guard's chaplain, who, by the way is the only Guard to be chosen personally by the pope, have precedence. In our free time
we must study Italian and special technical and commercial courses to prepare us for a future as civilians."
Forty-five Swiss Guards are on duty at all times. One of the first things the recruits must learn is how to handle the eight-foot halberd – part pike, part battle-axe – and how to sink
gracefully on the right knee with it held perpendicularly in the right hand, in the motions of the papal salute. Although they brandish this halberd, the Guards also carry containers of a mace-type spray,
concealed in their uniforms. Since the attempted assassination of the pope in 1981, they have studied karate and judo with a black-belt master..
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Looking Down on St. Moritz
by Lori Hein
Switzerland’s Muottas Muragl provides awe-inspiring views of St. Moritz that are forever etched into one family’s collective memory.
“Look,” I said to my husband and kids. “We have all of St. Moritz at our feet.” We were standing atop Muottas Muragl in Switzerland’s beautiful Upper Engadine. The nail polish-red Muottas
Muraglbahn had deposited us at the over 8,000-foot mountain station and had already begun its descent, leaving us to gaze over a spectacular alpine panorama that included the towns of Celerina and St. Moritz, a
chain of bluish-green lakes, and the powerful peaks of the Bernina Massif.
The July day was cloudy and cool. To get to Muottas Muragl, we had driven alongside the Sils and Silvaplana lakes, where the windsurfers all sported wetsuits. The day before, in medieval
Bellinzona, we had shared an outdoor lunch table with Horst, a German mathematician living in Zurich. When we mentioned our plan to overnight at the mountaintop Berghotel Muottas Muragl, he said, with certainty,
“It will snow above 2,000 meters.” We had just smiled, shading our eyes from the blistering Bellinzona sun.
Now, we were on top of a crisp mountain world, and the possibility of snow in July did not seem so farfetched. Muottas Muragl’s treeless summit was green, with delicate lichen and pink and
yellow wildflowers flourishing between the rocks. Tempting hiking paths unfolded in several directions. Ice-covered giants towered just beyond, encircling us like a crystal bracelet, and a light fog blanket had
started to climb from the valley floor.
We checked into the sherbet-colored hotel, which sits at the mountain’s edge. From our room, we looked down at St. Moritz on its lake. We could also watch the shiny red Muraglbahn make its
frequent trips between the summit terminus and the Punt Muragl station below.
There is much to explore on the mountaintop. We hiked part of the Hochweg, a trail that leads down to the resort town of Pontresina, a three-hour walk away. The Muraglbahn delivered several
groups of hikers. Many were seniors, fit and sturdy like noble trees. Off they went with their packs and walking sticks.
While Muottas Muragl offers splendid hiking in summer and uncrowded skiing and sledding in winter, many people come simply for the breathtaking, unparalleled view of the Alps. The Piz
Rosatsch and Piz Julier ranges frame the Upper Engadine Gap, which holds St. Moritz and the string of lakes stretching to Maloja. From the hotel’s terrace, the massive, glacier-studded Bernina peaks look close
enough to touch.
The hotel’s rustic Panoramic Restaurant offers local specialties until 11:00 p.m., and those not overnighting at the summit can ride the Muraglbahn up for lunch, sunset cocktails, or dinner
and enjoy the spectacular vista as a side dish.
At night, while my family slept, I sat at our window, trying to etch the view in my mind so I could carry it home. The sky was cobalt blue, and lights twinkled everywhere. There were stars above
and the glow of St. Moritz nightlife far below…
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‘Tis the Season - A Wonderful World of Weihnachtsmärkte
by Mark Slider
Steeped in history and tradition, Germany’s Weihnachtsmärkte draw millions of visitors and wrap the senses in
holiday cheer!
Flurries of snow drift effortlessly through a cold December sky. The rich, luscious scents of roasted chestnuts, cinnamon, and gingerbread weave their way through the crisp winter air. Steam rises
from warm cups of Glühwein and mixes with clouds of breath made visible by the chilled air. The drink proves as effective at warming the hands as it does warming the belly and spirit. People meander through row
upon row of stalls decorated with white lights and sprigs of evergreen, their seasonal wares always tempting passersby. Gifts of the season run the gamut from traditional pyramids, nutcrackers, and smokers to
beeswax candles, Zwetschgenmännlein (prune people), and wonderful nut and candied fruit-filled mounds of snow-white Stollen. This is Christmas in Germany and the wonderful world of Christkindlmarkts!
Christkindlmarkts or Weihnachtsmärkte abound in most every major town across Germany and each offers a spectacular way for young and old alike to fill the anticipatory timeline from Advent
to Christmas Day. For many towns such as Nuremberg and Dresden, the tradition of the Christkindlmarkt dates back over five centuries. Dresden claims to be Germany’s oldest Christmas Market (first mentioned in
documents in 1434). Christmas markets began as basically winter markets, just one of many street markets that occurred throughout the year in towns across Germany. Over time, they became the place to go when
buying the many elements needed for the Christmas celebration. The main church in town was the typical backdrop for the market since it provided a central location and guaranteed foot traffic for merchants.
Today, Christkindlmarkts thrill the senses and wrap visitors in the spirit of the holidays. Filled with food, gift ideas, and a warm spirit, Christkindlmarkts entice visitors by the millions
each year…
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The Glassblowers of Lauscha
by Jörg M. Unger
Skilled artisans keep a tradition alive and breathe life into delicate glass ornaments that capture the beauty of Christmas.
Christmas season is approaching and children with sparkling eyes will soon sit in front of colorful Christmas trees, unwrapping boxes and parcels and enjoying the candlelight reflected by glass
balls, bells, fruits, and other Christmas decorations that might come from Lauscha, Germany.
In the Thuringian woods, glass has been made since the 12th century but the small village of Lauscha did not come into being until 1597, when Duke Johann Casimir of Saxony-Coburg granted
Hans Greiner and Christoph Müller the permission to build a glassworks in the small valley of the creek Lauscha that provided the components of glass – quartz, potash, and limestone – as well as enough wood for
firing the furnaces. Sons of these two families founded new glassworks in the region and the glass industry developed in the Thuringian Slate Mountains around Sonneberg.
The ancestors of today’s glassmakers produced green glass for bulls’ eye windowpanes and pharmacy bottles in medieval times and crystal glass for tankards, goblets, and flagons in the baroque age,
before they blew glass to beads, marbles, and doll eyes in the 18th century. The products were traded on the local markets and wholesalers brought the glass to Saxony, Hesse, and Franconia from where it was
transported to Hamburg and the Netherlands for shipment. This way, Lauscha glass art became famous in the world.
The first glassware was exclusively made in the glassworks. Before Edward Danner, an American, invented the first machine for producing glass pipes in 1917, the glassblower’s tube had been
the most important tool in the glassworks. It is a steel tube of four to six feet in length and half an inch in diameter. The mouthpiece is covered by wood to protect the glassblower from the furnace heat. The
other end of the tube is to take up some molten glass from the furnace. The glassblower forms it by rolling on an iron surface, while he blows into the pipe to produce a raw, hollow body. To make a glass pipe, a
second worker takes up the end of this body to pull and protract it to a pipe of about four feet in length. These pipes are the raw material for Christmas decorations.
At the end of the 18th century, more and more residents of Lauscha set up workshops in their living rooms and started to blow beads and other goods in front of kerosene lamps, whose heat of flames
was increased by bellows. A poor glassblower, who could not afford to hang up real apples and nuts on his Christmas tree, presumably made the first Christmas decorations…
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Little Friends from Germany
A world filled with dolls comes to life in a number of fascinating museums in Germany and Austria.
Over the centuries, toys have come and gone. Some toys ride “faddish” waves, serving a particular want in society. Others satisfy a basic need and provide a sense of comfort found in play and
imagination. Of all items created to satisfy these basic human needs, dolls have established a position as one of the most enduring and endearing.
Germany has played an integral part in doll production through the ages. Doll manufacturing in Germany hit its stride in the nineteenth century with the production of dolls of china,
porcelain, celluloid and bisque head dolls. The period from 1880 through 1903 is referred to as the “golden age of doll manufacturing.” Manufacturers such as Simon & Halbig, Armand Marseille (descended from
French Huguenots who were banished from Russia and emigrated to Coburg, Germany), Max Handwerck, Heinrich Handwerck, Kämmer & Reinhardt, and Kestner were among the leading doll producers in Germany.
Thuringia, and in particular Waltershausen and Sonneberg, became the hub of doll manufacturing with, by some estimates, some 25,000 people employed in doll production.
Today, contemporary doll artists from Germany stand at the forefront and are pushing the envelope of the art form. Artists including Annette Himstedt, Hildegard Gunzel, Rotraut Schrott, and
Sonja Hartmann – to name just a few – create amazingly life-like dolls sought by collectors around the world.
Having made such a contribution to doll manufacturing, it is only natural that Germany would be home to wonderful museums housing incredible doll collections. With the holiday season in
mind, we thought it would be fitting to introduce you to a selection of museums that maintain the history of everyone’s favorite plaything – the doll.
Germanisches Nationalmuseum
Kartäusergasse 1
D-90402 Nürnberg
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; Wednesday 10:00 am – 9:00 pm; closed Monday
Phone: +49 (0) 911-1331-0
Fax: +49 (0) 911 1331-200
email: info@gnm.de
www.gnm.de
From its inception, the collection at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum has united two quite different realms of play – children’s toys and games for adults. Separate themed areas inhabit each of
the museum’s three floors. The central theme of the ground floor is doll’s houses of the seventeenth century, which present a snapshot view of the world held at that time. The first floor exhibition focuses on
boys’ and girls’ toys and investigates the role toys played in the gender-specific education of children while another section explores the reform of toys in the twentieth century. With girls’ toys, the focus is
on dolls from different areas and epochs, which provide a close thematic link to the doll’s houses and doll’s apartments on the ground floor. The second floor is devoted to exploring parlor games from three
perspectives: games for children, transitional games from childhood to adulthood and adult games. Another major exhibition area covering paper theatre is also an integral part of the experience.
Deutsches Spielzeugmuseum
Beethovenstraße 10
96515 Sonneberg
Phone: +49 (0) 3675-70 28 56
FAX: +49 (0) 3675-74 28 17
email: deutschsspielzeugmuseum@t-online.de
www.spielzeugmuseum-sonneberg.de
On the southeastern slopes of the Thuringian Forest lies Sonneberg. At the turn of the previous century, the city and surrounding villages were literally the birthplace of one-third of the toys
manufactured in Germany. To preserve that history and pride in their manufacturing skills, influential citizens of the time established a museum. Today, the Deutsches Spielzeugmuseum houses over 6000 toys on
three floors. The basement houses dioramas, photographs and placards that look back at the history of toy makers in the region. Continue to the ground floor and you will find a space dedicated to mechanical toys
such as steam engines and carousels…
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Londonderry: The Lost German Settlement
by Robert Selig
Although short-lived, the settlement of Londonderry is a testament to the hardships German emigrants endured to improve their
station in life.
Though their numbers are insignificant within the context of emigration in the eighteenth century, the experiences of a group of emigrants in 1764 reflect those of thousands more. Driven by the
desire to improve their worldly lot and lured by the availability of land, tens of thousands of Germans left their homes in the years following the end of the Seven Years’ War. That war had also been fought in
the New World, where Canada became British. In October 1763, George III offered land to officers and soldiers -- from 3,000 acres for a captain to 50 acres for a private -- of the British Army and Navy if they
settled there. It did not take long before discharged officers and adventurers of all kinds petitioned the Board of Trade in London for land grants, which they intended to colonize with Protestants settlers from
Continental Europe.
One of these officers was Johann Heinrich Christian von Stümpel, born in November 1736 in Hanover. Some time in 1760, he assumed the noble title and joined the army of Ferdinand of Brunswick.
Utilizing his service for the British crown, he applied to the Board of Trade and Plantations in the early summer of 1763 for a land grant in Nova Scotia. The land was to be settled with 2,000 Protestant French
and Germans "who are perishing under the tyranny of the Roman Catholic Church," he wrote in his petition. "Stumpelburgh" would raise revenue for the crown and improve trade between Europe and
Canada. To help defend Canada from French and Indian attacks, he offered to organize the colony into a militia commanded by himself as colonel.
On 30 August 1763, the Lords of Trade granted him two 100,000-acre townships between the rivers of St. John and St. Croix. Within the next ten years, Stümpel was to transport 4,000 settlers to
Canada and organize them into a militia. The settlers were to have the land free of quitrents and fees for ten years. All gold and silver mines were to remain the property of the crown; lands not settled after
ten years would revert to the crown. At its meeting of 21 December 1763, the Privy Council reduced the grant to 20,000 acres and added the stipulation that within three years Stümpel was to plant at least six
acres of land with hemp and flax for use by the Royal Navy. Under these conditions the Privy Council issued the deed on 10 February 1764.
Armed with his deed, Stümpel returned to the continent to recruit his settlers. His endeavors along the banks of the Rhine, in the Palatinate and in Württemberg, were so successful, that by early
June he was already back in London with over 400 German colonists and about a dozen former officers, apparently comrades from his previous service, whom he had taken on for the purposes of staffing his militia.
It was this group of officers who informed the Board of Trade on 18 July 1764, that Stümpel had disappeared with their, and the settlers, money, leaving them without the means to support themselves or to
undertake the voyage to Nova Scotia. The Board denied their request for assistance and told them that there was no money available to pay for their passage. There the matter rested for the Board, though it did
publish a warrant for Stümpel's arrest, which led to his apprehension in Ansbach in December 1764.
In the meantime the Germans emigrants recruited by Stümpel remained on their ships moored along the Customs House quay, unable to pay for their passage and using up whatever provisions they had
brought with them. On 29 August 1764, the Reverend Georg Anton Wachsel, minister of the German Lutheran St. George's Church in London, informed the public in a letter to Lloyd's Evening Post that some 400 German
emigrants were camped behind his church on Goodman's Field. "Some of them have lain, during the late heavy rains," Wachsel wrote, "and are now lying upon the open fields adjacent to this
metropolis, without covering, without money, and, in short, without the common necessaries of this life … . More than two hundred remain on board the ship which brought them over, on account of their passage not
being paid for, where they are perishing for food, and rotting in filth and nastiness." Between 8 August and 4 October, ten emigrants died and were buried in the cemetery of St. George's.
The very day Wachsel's letter was published, tents arrived from the Tower of London by order of the Earl of Sandwich. Subscriptions were opened in coffee houses and banks all over London. On 5
September, a committee of twenty-two members that included Members of Parliament, merchants, and members of the German community in London, was formed to manage the rescue operation. On 6 September, the
remaining freight charges were paid off and passengers and baggage released. Over the next few weeks, more than 1,200 donors had contributed over £ 4,000. The list was led by King George III with £ 300, and
George Montague and the Earl of Cardigan with £ 100 each. Lord Hillsborough, the First Lord of Trade, Thomas Penn and George Grenville, First Lord of the Treasury, gave £ 50 each. Under the leadership of David
Barclay the Quakers of London collected almost £ 260…
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YesterYears
by Robert A. and Barbara Selig
Der Belsnickle – St. Nicholas in Fur
The Belsnickle is the fur-clad gift-bringer of the Palatinate. In pre-Reformation Germany, the gift-bringer was portrayed as a
wanderer, wrapped in fur, with a staff in his hand, looking much like Woden, the Nordic Wind God. By contrast, St. Nicholas, the Bishop with a crozier, was an image popular primarily in northern Germany and in
the Netherlands. When the Protestant Reformers tried to suppress such non-scriptural customs, the gift-bringer went underground. However, it did not take long before he re-appeared, either as the "old"
St. Nicholas in northern Germany and the Netherlands, or as the Christkind of southern Germany, who was accompanied on his journey by a fur-clad helper named Pelznichol, the “Nicholas in a Fur.” The two quickly
developed a division of labor: the Christ Child as a messenger from the infant Jesus, and the Pelznichol, who was no longer a saint and thus met the objections of the Protestant reformers. His dual role was to
frighten bad children into good behavior, by leaving a switch on their doorstep. However, for good children the Pelznichol was still a gift-bringer who left presents for them, significantly enough, still on 6
December, the feast day of St. Nicholas, which was the only “Christmas” gift-giving time during the Middle Ages and in early modern Germany.
Simon Bamberger (1846-1926)
Simon Bamberger, the first Democratic state governor and the first non-Mormon to serve as governor of the state of Utah, was born in
1846 in Eberstadt, Hesse-Darmstadt, to Emanuel Bamberger and Helen Fleish. At the age of fourteen, he immigrated to the United States and settled in Indianapolis, where he worked until the end of the Civil War.
In 1865, he moved to St. Louis with his brother Herman and became a clothing manufacturer. When the business failed, Bamberger moved west and eventually ended up in Salt Lake City, where he bought the “Delmonico
Hotel.”
The hotel flourished and, in 1872, Bamberger purchased an interest in the Centennial Eureka Silver Mine which made him wealthy enough to retire two years later. He then raised $1 million to
construct a railroad to coal mines in northern Utah in which he had invested. In 1881, he married Ida Maas, and the couple had four children. He served on the Salt Lake City Board of Education from 1898 to 1903,
and was elected to the state senate in 1902, the only Democrat winning in Salt Lake County. The legislation he proposed during the 1903 and 1905 sessions gained him a reputation as a Progressive…
William Henry Dethlef Koerner (1878-1938)
Koerner was born 125 years ago, on 19 November 1878, in the small town of Lunden in Schleswig-Holstein to Wilhelm
Heinrich Dethlef and Margaret Anna Koerner. The family immigrated to the United States in 1880, and settled in Clinton, Iowa. By 1896, he was a staff artist at the Chicago Tribune earning $5.00 a day. Following
attendance at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1901, he was art editor of a literary magazine in Battle Creek, Michigan.
In an attempt to further their son's career, the Koerner family moved to New York City in 1905, where William studied at the Art Students League. After two years in New York City, Koerner moved to
Delaware and became the pupil of illustrator Howard Pyle. Koerner spent the four years in Pyle's studio in the Thomas Robinson House, a still-standing eighteenth-century inn in Claymont, Delaware, working with
soon-to-be famous artists such as N.C. Wyeth and Harvey Dunn.
Between 1919 and 1922, the Saturday Evening Post commissioned Koerner, by now one of the best known magazine and book illustrators, to illustrate two series: "Traveling the Old Trails,"
and Emerson Hough's "The Covered Wagon," which were published serially by the Post. He received $1,000 for a cover illustration, an extraordinary sum for the time. These assignments were a turning
point in Koerner's career, which made him one of America's most important Western illustrators. By 1924, he was spending his summers in a log cabin near the Crow Indian Reservation in southern Montana…
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Salzburger Nockerln: The World’s Lightest Dumpling
by Sharon Hudgins
On my first trip to Salzburg, several years ago, I stumbled upon a traditional Austrian dish that I had never eaten
before.
It was New Year's Day, and my husband Tom and I were the only customers at a cozy Gasthaus (inn) on the edge of the city. I was still feeling the effects of a lively party in Germany the night
before, so I did not want a heavy meal, but Tom had worked up an appetite during the snowy drive from Munich to Salzburg. He decided on Sauerbraten (slices of marinated pot roast) with Preiselbeerensosse
(similar to cranberry sauce), accompanied by a couple of Griesknodel (semolina dumplings) – while I continued to read the menu and tried to figure out how to translate the Austrian specialties whose names were
completely new to me.
One separate category on the menu was Mehl- und Eierspeisen (Flour and Egg Dishes) – which listed omelets of various sorts (none containing meat), Kaiserschmarrn (identified rather vaguely in my
menu translator as a pancake-omelet), three kinds of Palatschinken (which I knew were filled crêpes), and Salzburger Nockerln (not listed in my menu translator at all). I decided to take a chance on the
Salzburger Nockerln, just to find out what it was – on the assumption that since all the other dishes in that menu category were meatless, at least I would not be served some kind of foul-tasting innards whose
origins I could not place.
The waitress took our orders as if it were perfectly normal for one person to request Sauerbraten and the other to choose Salzburger Nockerln. Soon she returned with one napkin and one set of
flatware, which she placed on the table in front of Tom. And after a short while, his Sauerbraten and Knodel arrived, but still no table setting for me. When Tom was halfway through his meal, I began to get
worried. It looked like the waitress had completely forgotten me, and the aroma of Tom's Sauerbraten was driving me crazy. The only noise competing with my growling stomach was the sound of heavy whisking coming
from the kitchen….
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Pictures From My Homeland – Part III
by Edith Borchardt
Visiting Austria: Rediscovering the past with my Aunt Anna in Vienna, who recalls my great-grandparents. I take notes while she talks with me. Our family has had its roots in the Burgenland for a
long time. Here are my origins on my mother's side of the family. I was born in Vienna, in Dobling – she says – in a Jewish sanatorium. My uncle was a child when, in 1917, his parents moved into Castelli Street,
where he still lives today. His father, who always sat on a chair in the kitchen when he was not working in the Imperial Chancellery any more, often took me along to the cemetery when he went to care for the
family graves. Our excursions into those gardens of death when I was little have taken away my fear of dying. Now he, too, rests with his wife next to my grandparents from the Burgenland. We bring flowers and
light the candles, which have gone out.
With Uncle Ferdinand, I visit the sites of Viennese Modernism. We take the city trains to see the stations designed by Otto Wagner. They are newly renovated for the 140th anniversary of the
Austrian Railway for which he worked his entire life. He shows me the administrative building with the caryatids on both sides of the entrance, and we ascend the stairs with their wrought-iron railings to pass
the office where he once worked. In Margarethen, he points out Wagner's influence on the municipal apartments, the public housing projects – the loss of decorative detail and use of simple lines in the facades,
reflecting the function of their structure. The Hundertwasser-House stands at the end of this development – anti-architecture of post-modernism with curving lines, colorful decorations, and columns with purpose.
We photograph a series of coffee houses which existed at the turn of the century – the elegant Imperial, Café Sperl with its billiard tables, and the Hawelka, which the artists have abandoned, but where Frau
Hawelka continues to tend bar, Café Korg and Café Museum designed by Adolf Loos. It needs renovation. Loos seems to lag behind Wagner in fame and needs to be rediscovered. In galleries and museums, I try to
reconstruct the exhibit Traum und Wirklichkeit (Illusion and Reality), which I missed in New York. I am on the heels of Klimt and Schiele and those of Mr. Sabarsky, whose exceptional collection of expressionist
paintings I would like to see. Halbturn Castle is only half an hour from my grandparents' house. The neighbors drive me there in their own car. I marvel at the treasures here – an exhibit of lesser-known
impressionists and, in the hall across the way, drawings by Egon Schiele, who shocks the visitors to this rural museum even today.
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Family Research
by James M. Beidler
Finding a Village
While Germany has its large urban areas, the nation and the many smaller states that preceded have always been collections of many villages. For the genealogist, this realization has a crucial
impact since finding an immigrant ancestor’s village of origin often is a challenge as well as the information that could unlock two or three centuries worth of pedigree.
While there are archives for larger political units than the village, some of the most useful record groups, such as church records, will be found at the level of a village – either the
exact one your ancestor came from or a larger village that your ancestor’s Heimat was a part of.
However, there are often substantial problems in identifying an immigrant ancestor’s village of origin. First of all, most types of American records (even many passenger lists, United States
Census, and naturalizations) will list the birthplace as “Prusssia” or “Bavaria” instead of a village name. In this case, it is best to be methodical, that is, collecting every possible record about the
immigrant in the hope that at least one will have a more detailed description. In addition, since many Germans either traveled with families from the same village or settled near them, always try to find the
villages of others on the same ship or those listed near your ancestor in the United States Census or tax lists.
Another problem arises when the name of a village is handed down. Often, these names have been corrupted over time, and, in some cases, villages have been absorbed by others and will not
appear on modern-day maps. Another scenario is that the place name given is that of a large city such as Frankfurt, when indeed the immigrant just wanted to name a place people would know, instead of
“Langensebold, a small village near Frankfurt…
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Calendar
December 2003
Chicago, IL
November 27-December 22: Chistkindlmarket. Daley Plaza and Block 37 (located on Washington, Dearborn, and State Streets) For more info call 312-644-2662 or see www.christkindlmarket.com
Denver, CO
November 28-December 21: Christkindl Market. Featuring over 30 European vendors bringing traditional holiday food, beer and handmade gifts, live entertainment, St.Nicholas, an
antique carousel and a life-size nativity scene. For more info call 303-260-6001 or see www.denverpavilions.com
Fredericksburg, TX
November 28- January 1 2004: Texas Hill Country Regional Christmas Lighting Trail. For more info see www.tex-fest.com
Bethlehem, PA
November 28-January 4 2004: Moravian Christmas Traditions. The Moravian Museum is decorated using traditional items brought to America by the Moravians including the pyramid tree,
putz, and beeswax candles. For more info call 610-867-0173.
Bethlehem, PA
November 28-January 28: Candlelight Concerts. Traditional Moravian music of the season and commentary by the musicians. For more info call 610-691-6055.
Sheboygan, WI
December 1-31: Christmas Kohler. The American Club celebrates with grand holiday traditions and activities that include dinning, carolers and Holiday teas. For more info call 920-
458-6144.
Bellefonte, PA
December 4: Back to Germany Dinner. Centre County Genealogical Society. Schnitzel’s restaurant. For more info call 814-238-7183 or see www.rootsweb.com/~paccgs/index.htm
Lancaster, PA
December 5: Caroling, Hayride & Gluhwein. Lancaster Liederkranz, A German Singing Society. For more info call 717- 898-8451 or see www.lancasterliederkranz.com
Philadelphia, PA
December 5: Weihnachten. Christmas market. For more info call 215-332-0121 or see www.cvvphilly.com
Fredericksburg, TX
December 5-7: Weihnachten. A Christmas market, with entertainment and live Christmas Tree Forest. For more info call 1-888-997-3600 or see www.tex-fest.com
Tulsa, OK
December 5-7: 5th Annual Christkindlemarkt. Featuring authentic German and European food and crafts. GAST Center. For more info call 918-744-6997 or see www.gastulsa.org
Elkhart Lake, WI
December 5-14: Old World Christmas Market. Reminiscent of the traditional German Chriskindlmarkt, featuring international and regional artisans exhibiting ethnic/ specialty
products and delectable ethnic cuisine. For more info call 800-876-3399 or see www.osthoff.com
Cape Coral, FL
December 6: Christmas & More. German Music Show featuring Edith Prock, The Haser Family, The Goldfinken and Mike Killmer as singer and master of ceremonies. Edelweiss Hall.
For more info call 239-283-1380.
Bethesda, MD
December 6: St. Nick's Dance with The Edelweiss Band. Social dancing at the Bethesda Women's Club, 5500 Sonoma Road, sponsored by the Arminius Social Club. European-style dances
featuring live music with polkas, waltzes and other ballroom dances: swing, foxtrot, cha-cha, samba and Rheinlander. For more info contact Gerhard Meinzer at 301-559-1944, Peter Krusen at 301-649-3212 or Joan
Stoneberger 1-410-635-2435.
St. Louis MO
December 6-7: Kristkindl Market. A traditional German Christmas market featuring crafts and Christmas goodies. Stone Hill Winery and Restaurant. For more info call 800-909-9463.
Leavenworth, WA
December 6, 13, 20: Christmas Lighting Festival. The festivities are filled with numerous food booths including roasting chestnuts, holiday music from the gazebo and holiday
personalities strolling the streets: Santa, St.Nick and Father Christmas provide photo opportunities. For info call 509-548-5807.
Washington D.C.
December 7: Adventnachmittag with St. Nikolaus and Krampus. For children and families at the Austrian Embassy featuring the children of the Trinity Choristers from the
Upperville Episcopal Church. For more info visit www.geocities.com/americanaustriansociety
Lancaster, PA
December 7: Christmas Concert, Dinner & Dance. Lancaster Liederkranz, A German Singing Society. For more info 717-898-8451 or see www.lancasterliederkranz.com
Newark, DE
December 7: Advent Concert. For more info call 302-366-9454 or see www.DelawareSaengerbund.org
Washington, DC
December 11: Austrian actress Johanna Matz. The Austrian Embassy, for an Advent reading (in German) sponsored by the American-Austrian Society, accompanied by harpist
Daniel Jones. For more info see www.geocities.com/americanaustriansociety
St.Louis, MO
December 13-14: Kristkindl Festivities. Father Christmas will perform and exhibitors will demonstrate traditional German crafts and chestnut roasting. Stone Hill Winery and
Restaurant. For more info call 800-909-9463.
Tulsa, Ok
December 14: German Advent Service. GAST Center at 3pm. For more info call (918) 744-6997 or see www.gastualsa.org
Washington, DC
December 14: Washington Sangerbund Christmas Concert. United Church, 20th and G streets, NW Washington, DC. An offering taken to help the needy. Refreshments will be served
after the concert. For more info see www.geocities.com/saengerbund
Sterling Heights, MI
December 17: Christmas Party. The Carpathia Club Christmas Party. For more info call 586-822-2366 or see www.gbu.org/dist821.htm
Alexandria, VA
December 18: Vienna Boys Choir with the Arlington Symphony. Sponsored by the American-Austrian Society. Schlesinger Center. For more info see www.geocities.com/americanaustriansociety
Dodgeville, WI
December 20: Tree Lighting & Potluck Dinner. Sponsored by Folklore Village. For more info call 608-924-4000 or see www.folklorevillage.org/index.html
Cincinnati, OH
December 31: Silvestertanz. The Donauschwaben Club rings in the New Year with great fanfare. For more info call 513-451-6452 or see www.donauschwaben.com
Lancaster, PA
December 31: New Years Eve Celebration. Featuring Steve Huber. Lancaster Liederkranz, A German Singing Society. For more info 717-898-8451 or see www.lancasterliederkranz.com
Miami, FL
December 31: New Year’s Eve Celebration. The German American Social Club is celebrating with a buffet, dance and live entertainment by German vocalist Anne Ledig. For more info call
305-553-8587.
January 2004
Miami, FL
January 11: 4th Annual Gardenfest. All you can drink domestic beer/soda and all you can eat German buffet. For more info call 301-553-8587.
Leavenworth, WA
January 17-18: Bavarian Ice Fest. Winters play day for all ages with a variety of outdoors events, NW Dog Sled Pulling Competition, fireworks. For more info call 509-548-5807.
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