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February/March 2005
The Artists of The Blue Rider
by Phyllis Meras
On a bright June day in 1908, on an outing from Munich, the Russian-born painter Wassily Kandinsky and his young Prussian pupil and mistress, Gabriele Münter, found themselves in the pretty
Bavarian market town of Murnau.
It lay on an endless gold-green moor. Above it rose the blue foothills of the Alps, and nearby, the blue waters of the Staffelsee danced under the sun. Along its cobblestoned Market Street,
classical style houses rose, their façades gaily decorated by Munich architect Emanuel von Seidl. For two painters obsessed with light and color, as Kandinsky and Münter were, Murnau was a find, indeed. On clear
days when the föhn wind from the Alps blew, the sky above Murnau was a brilliant blue, too. For Kandinsky, blue had always been the color of spiritual beauty.
When the couple returned to Munich, Münter talked incessantly of their find to their Russian artist friends, Alexei Jawlensky and Marianne von Werefkin. The following fall, they, too, visited
Murnau. The foursome took rooms at the Griesebrau Inn that still stands on Obermarkt and all four painted the view from their respective windows.
Just a year later, the forty-three-year-old Kandinsky and the thirty-two-year-old Gabriele moved into a hillside house in Murnau that Gabriele bought. It afforded a fine view of the town, of
onion-domed St. Nikolaus Church, and of the castle that today is the Schlossmuseum Murnau. They redecorated the house, and Kandinsky painted the sides of the stairs with pictures of horsemen charging up them.
They filled the rooms with colorful handmade peasant furniture that is still in the house today.
Reveling in the clear atmosphere where colors were brighter than elsewhere, they painted tirelessly. Gabriele abandoned the Impressionist style she had been following, for one that was bold and
representational. For Kandinsky, surface reality began to disappear from his painting as the light in Murnau overwhelmed him. Pure expression “unhindered by the attempt to reproduce nature,” Gabriele Münter
wrote, took over in her lover’s art…
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Birds of a Feather
by Jennifer Raley
From family heritage to business, a multitude of groups and organizations exist in the United States to preserve and promote various aspects of the German-American experience.
According to the 2000 US Census Supplemental Survey, over forty-six million Americans claim to have German ancestry, so the large number of German clubs and organizations in the United States is
no surprise. These groups research German ancestry, promote German customs, and preserve German heritage.
Palantines to America is a genealogical society, consisting of seven chapters, that researches German-speaking ancestry. Martha Mercer of the Palantines to America headquarters in Columbus,
Ohio, says the society has over twenty-five hundred members. In 1975, a group of people researching German-speaking ancestry in Europe and descendants in North America formed the society. Mercer says, “The
purpose of this society is to promote the study of Germanic immigration to North America, to publish information of general interest, and to provide a means for members to exchange information and share
research.” Members have access to a national library, which contains over five thousand books and journals and they can also receive assistance from professional genealogists and other researchers who are
members as well. The society publishes The Palantine Immigrant and the Palantine Patter, and each chapter produces its own newsletter.
The American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR) is another genealogical organization with fifty-one chapters in the United States and four chapters in Canada. Their mission
statement is: “An international organization dedicated to the discovery, collection, preservation, and dissemination of information related to the history, cultural heritage, and genealogy of Germanic Settlers
in the Russian Empire and their descendants.” Members can visit AHSGR’s Cultural Heritage Research Library in Lincoln, Nebraska, receive research and translation assistance, attend the annual AHSGR convention,
receive AHSGR publications, and attend local chapter activities and meetings.
German Genealogy Group, Inc., holds its meetings in Plainview, New York. Members can receive translation and research assistance at the help desk at each meeting. Don Eckerle of the German
Genealogy Group, Inc. says, “Everybody’s friendly and is helping everybody else.” The group has approximately six hundred and twenty members and encourages new members to join. Eckerle says, “Stop and see if you
like us. We’re more than happy to have new people come in.”
Over twelve hundred people in the United States and abroad make up the Sacramento Genealogy Society; founded in 1983 to promote research of families with German ancestry. The society has
over twelve hundred members in the United States and abroad. Members can attend monthly meetings, receive Der Blumenbaum, the quarterly journal, and attend German language classes. In addition, a mentor service
for research question is offered to members.
The next group of organizations has different activities and functions, but they all share the goal of promoting German heritage in the United States.
Since 1963, the Association of German-American Societies of Greater
Washington, D.C. (AGAS) has served as an umbrella organization for German clubs in the area. AGAS President, Eva Nanni, explains that preserving German heritage is the primary purpose of the
organization. Members can participate in the annual German-American Festival, Saint Patrick’s Day parade, Cherry Blossom parade, German-American Day festival at Freedom Plaza, and the wreath-laying ceremony on
Totensonntag. In addition, AGAS decorates the German Christmas Tree at the Smithsonian Institution’s Trees of Christmas Exhibition.
Deutschamerikanischer Bügerverein Von Maryland, Inc., also serves as an umbrella organization, which consists of fifteen German-American organizations within Maryland. The organization was
founded in 1900 to maintain and to promote German customs and culture. The organization publishes a handbook containing information on German-American organizations, supports two local German language radio
programs, and hosts an annual German festival, featuring crafts, dancing, and exhibits. Additionally, Deutschamerikanischer Bürgerverein Von Maryland, Inc., hosts visiting crews from German naval ships and
sponsors visiting performance groups from Germany.
Deutsch Amerikanischer National Congress (DANK) is the largest organization of Americans of German descent with over one hundred associated societies in the United States and some thirty
chapters. Eva Timmerhuas, of the DANK headquarters says the organization has approximately eight thousand members who share the goal of promoting German heritage and keeping up with German traditions. To
accomplish their goals, DANK hosts numerous German events, such as Oktoberfests, May dances, Karnevals, Christmas parties, and picnics throughout the year. DANK also conducts German language schools, researches
ancestry, coordinates exchange programs for children, and publishes the German-American Journal, a bi-monthly, bilingual newspaper. DANK played an instrumental role in declaring October 6 German American Day in
1987. DANK chapters are located nationwide but are concentrated in the midwestern region of the country.
Ed Sutter of the Fox Valley, Illinois, chapter of DANK says, “If all clubs were like this, half the country would be speaking German.” Sutter explains that the Fox Valley chapter is
extremely active; it hosts a variety of events, including the German bugle tour and Karneval. Sutter says that the Fox Valley is one of the most fun clubs: “We enjoy each other’s company; it’s pretty much all
about friendship.”
Friendship is also an important element of the Texas German Heritage Society, which was founded in 1983 and has twenty-one chapters throughout Texas. Joycine Hanath of the Washington County
chapter says that the organization’s goal is to promote German heritage, culture, and language. The society produces a statewide journal that is distributed three times a year. The Texas German Society’s Schmidt
House, the former home of German settler, Dr. Witte, was built circa 1860 and now serves as a museum. People, especially school children, tour the home and learn about its history.
The Pastorius Home Association in Germansville, Pennsylvania, acquired the Pastorius Haus in Bad Windsheim in 1983. The historic 1668 house was the home of Franz Daniel Pastorius who led the
group which arrived in Philadelphia on October 6, 1668, the day that would later become German American Day. Members of the Pastorius Home Association can stay at the house in Bad Windheim for a low rate; the
association also makes flight and rental car arrangements for its members. Bernice Hicks, President of the Pastorius Home Association says there are roughly seven hundred and fifty members. They have monthly
meetings and hold an annual spring festival.
The Indiana German Heritage Society was founded in 1984 to promote the vast German heritage in Indiana. The society collaborated with the Athenaeum Foundation to establish an Athenaeum
museum that features Germans in Indianapolis. Some activities of the organization include preserving historic structures, collecting historical documents, researching family history, and supporting exchange
programs. The Indiana German Heritage Society also publishes Deutsche Haus-Athenaeum, a quarterly newsletter, and hosts monthly meetings.
The clubs and organizations mentioned represent a small fraction of the hundreds of German clubs and organizations in the United States. Joining your local club is an easy way to become a
larger part of the German-American community. So locate the club nearest you and invest some of your time to help preserve your German heritage while educating and promoting what being German-American is all
about. A quick Internet search should help direct you to the club nearest you.
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Small But Splendid – Bad Wimpfen
by Leah Larkin
Half-timbered houses and a view of the Neckar River add to the charm of this small spa town.
You might not find it on most maps of Germany. After all, it is a very tiny town with just six thousand seven hundred inhabitants. It is a fairy tale kind of a place with picture-perfect
half-timbered houses and cobbled streets that climb and wind past ancient walls and landmark towers. Bad Wimpfen, north of Heilbronn, tops a hill above the Neckar River. The upper town, that is.
Bad Wimpfen im Tal, the lower town in the valley, is the oldest part of Bad Wimpfen, with remnants of civilizations dating back to the early Stone Age. Today, other than industry, its attraction
is a church, St. Peter and St. Paul, a Gothic structure retained from an earlier Romanesque building.
Until 1930, when it was recognized as a “Bad” or spa town, Bad Wimpfen was known as just “Wimpfen.” However, even back in the nineteenth century the town was popular as a spa due to its salt water
springs. Today, the city has a saltwater spa center, the Solebad Bad Wimpfen, a Health Centre and a mineral swimming pool.
For tourists, its best attractions are on the hill. Start with a visit to the tourist office in the old neo-Gothic railway station near the bottom of the incline. Pick up a map with text in
English that outlines a walking tour. Or, arrange for a guided tour.
Then, hike up and up. Looming ahead atop the rust-colored rooftops is the Blue Tower, the town’s symbolic landmark. In the thirteenth century, Wimpfen was the imperial residence of the
Hohenstaufens where Emperor Friedrich I Barbarosa had a palace built on the hilltop. The Blue Tower, made of limestone that had a bluish tone, was a defensive post of the palace that was used as a watchtower
well into the nineteenth century. The tower burned down one hundred fifty years ago, but was reconstructed with a blue slate roof and a “neo-feudal” top. Today, from Easter until October, trumpets are played on
Sundays at noon from the tower balcony. Climb to the top for spectacular views of the town’s cluster of reddish rooftops with the Neckar flowing below.
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At Best, It’s Wurst!
By Regina Cole
German-American companies bring a “fresh” approach to making authentic German Wurst available on this side of the Atlantic.
Since few things are easier to acquire a taste for than German sausage, and even fewer foods are made in greater variety, depending on ingredients, processes, weather, geography, regional and
individual preference, and a thousand other factors, an expatriate craving the taste of home might dream of sitting down to a plate of Bauernwurst, Bierwurst, Blutwurst, Bockwurst, Bratwurst, Braunschweiger,
Cervelat, Dauerwurst, Gelbwurst, Hildesheimer, Holsteiner, Jadgwurst, Kalbewurst, Krainerwurst, Landjäger, Leberwurst (fein oder grobe), Mettwurst, Pinkelwurst, Plockwurst, Teewurst, Thüringer, Weisswurst,
Wienerwürstchen, Zungenwurst, Zwiebelwurst – well, you get the idea. Hard, soft, fresh, smoked, spiced, mild, and distinctive, German sausage is a world of taste unto itself; vast, varied, and delicious.
The good news for American Wurst connoisseurs is that German sausage makers do ply their craft here. In fact, German sausage companies in the United States range from literal mom-and-pop
operations serving a loyal, local clientele to vast production facilities that send a steady stream of prized products to supermarkets, delis, and specialty food shops all over the country. In America, the taste
for German sausage stretches from coast to coast, unabated as immigrants age and assimilate.
“People are always trying to connect with what they’ve experienced in Germany,” says Inga Bowyer, president of germandeli.com. “Either they’re immigrants, or Germans working here, but they seek
out the food they love. It tastes good, and it’s a way of keeping memories alive.”
“We have second and third generation customers now,” says Will Osanitsch, sales and marketing director of Karl Ehmer, the longstanding New York-area company and chain of stores. “Our
German-ancestry clients are exceptionally loyal.”
“You don’t have to be German to love German sausage,” add Lenny and Donna Donahue, owners of The Sausage Shop in New Ulm, Minnesota, a sentiment echoed by Judy Voll-Cottrell of Bavaria Sausage in
Madison, Wisconsin. “A lot of our customers are Germans, but a lot are also Americans who’ve traveled in Germany and who appreciate good food.”
“Our customers are primarily Americans who want something better than what they find at the supermarket,” says Dean Fagan of The Bratworks in Bucyrus, Ohio.
With that, he defines the common element shared by these diverse companies: they continue an old-world tradition of sausage making that begins with a thorough knowledge of butchery learned during
an apprenticeship with a master sausage maker, plus insistence on quality that leaves no room for fillers, trimmings, artificial ingredients, cereals, binders, stale commercial spice mixtures, or chemical
flavor-boosters…
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Mad About Mushrooms
By Leah Larkin
They are elusive and delicious. Each spring brings another chance to find a bumper crop of morel mushrooms in the forests of southern Germany.
Branches cracked and dead leaves crunched as the hunters set forth under the towering trees of a forest in southern Germany. They scattered in different directions carrying baskets – not guns –
through the woods, looking much like Red Riding Hood en route to grandmother’s house.
However, their baskets were not full of cookies. They were not full of anything yet.
What a few lucky hunters tracked down that spring afternoon and plopped into their baskets were morels, a coveted and delicious mushroom.
Mushroom gathering is popular in Europe, especially in Germany where many have years of experience with fungi. As children growing up, they learned to distinguish the deadly Pantherpilz from the
delectable Perlpilz when they went mushroom hunting with their parents and grandparents. In some parts of the country, such as the Black Forest, there are organized mushroom hunts led by guides who possess a
wealth of knowledge on edible fungi. Fall is the prime mushroom season, but morels are the bounty of the forest in the spring.
This group of fungi friends from Karlsruhe are all members of a mushroom club that meets regularly to learn more, for example, about fruit body, mycelium and gills – parts of mushrooms. They also
have mushroom hunting excursions, when, in addition to searching for delicious fruits of the forest to eat, they take inventories of certain mushroom species.
A physicist, meteorologist, botanist, electrician, chemist, and painter were among the hunters that day. Eyes glued to the ground covered in dirty brown and beige leaves, they scoured the forest
bed for the elusive prize which, because it blends in perfectly with its surroundings, is extremely difficult to spot. No luck at first. They theorized that the weather had been too dry. Then, eureka,
nine-year-old Konrad Scholler found not one, but three of the treasure. Everyone ran to check out the spot. Soon after, his brother, Friedrich, six, found more. Then a few others in the group hit pay dirt and
uncovered more morels…
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Pickled in Germany’s “Green Venice”
by Lucy Gordan
Visit Germany’s land of canals and gondolas – a place where pickles have a history and are more than just a sidekick to a sandwich.
Eighty kilometers southeast of Berlin, the watery Spreewald or “Forest of the River Spree,” a unique inland delta of rivers, canals, and streams, is the closest thing the capital has to a
playground. The first travel writer to describe the Spreewald's beauty was Theodor Fontane in 1853 and, three years later, the newly built railroad started to bring the first tourists from Berlin to the quaint
town of Lübbenau.
Today day-trippers come here in droves. They can kayak on their own or punt in the local flat-boated barges, known as kähne, maneuvered by local "gondoliers" on more than four
hundred kilometers of waterways; fish; bicycle on about one thousand kilometers of flat bikeways; hike the countless nature trails which include herbal, botanical, and bird-watching tours; and ice-skate in
winter.
In 1990, UNESCO declared this region a “Biosphere Reserve” for its eighteen thousand animal and plant species. You can find kingfishers, white and black storks, white-tailed eagles, ospreys,
snipes, and otters. There are more than eight hundred types of butterflies, numerous clams, mussels, snails, amphibians, and reptiles, not to overlook a rare marsh marigold.
The Spreewald is also unique for its unusual human inhabitants – a blend of Germans and Slavic Sorbs who first arrived here in the fifth century, bringing their cucumber growing tradition
with them. They have their own language and festivals – Vogelhochzeit or Birds' Wedding on January 25, a horseback procession at Easter, and a local variant of Walpurgisnacht, like a springtime Halloween, on
April 30.
The area is famous throughout Germany for its many fairy tales, its blue and white polka-dot pottery called Töpferei, and for its gastronomic specialties of freshwater fish such as pike,
eel, pike-perch, and catfish, honey, gritzwurscht or black pudding, hefeplinse or buttermilk pancakes stuffed with fresh cheese and jam, and, when in season, venison and wild boar.
However, as the former “vegetable granary” of Germany, the cultivation and preservation of vegetables is a long-standing tradition here thanks to the flat, ever-moist and very fertile soil.
Local specialties include horseradish, flax oil, a bitters liqueur, but above all the famous Spreewald-Gurken or pickle, which can be herb, pepper, sour, sweet/sour, garlic, salt, or mustard. Their secret? The
combination of herbs – thyme, fennel, pearl onions, dill, to name a few – the freshness of the cucumber, and lack of preservatives. A Spreewald pickle is best eaten within one year…
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The Enchanting World of Wendt & Kühn
by Betsy Hills Bush
Their round bodies and faces have delighted generations. Revisit the whimsical figurines of Wendt & Kühn.
Chubby angel musicians in short shifts and polka-dotted green wings gather to play and sing Silent Night. Winsome children in colorful dresses and lederhosen, holding oversized flowers, march and
sing a greeting to spring. The wonder and innocence of childhood is here, captured in wooden figurines just a few inches tall and painted with bright, shiny paint.
This is the enchanting world created by Wendt & Kühn, a family workshop whose creations, for German-Americans of a certain age, are among their most treasured possessions. Surprisingly little
is known, however, about the workshop itself and the gifted woman whose imagination brought these little folk to life ninety years ago. The history of Wendt & Kühn is wrapped up with the history of Germany
in the twentieth century, and the survival of the firm today testifies to the enduring appeal of these little figurines.
Born in 1887 in the Erzgebirge village of Grünhainichen, Margarete (Grete) Wendt grew up learning the woodworking craft from her father, Albert Wendt, who was the director of the local trade
school. Her artistic talent was recognized by her father, who insisted she attend art school, rather than become a schoolteacher. She returned to Grünhainichen in 1912 after studying in Munich and Dresden, a
center of decorative arts then heavily influenced by Art Nouveau. In 1913, she began to design her now famous figurines.
It is hard now to appreciate how entirely original and even revolutionary the designs of Grete Wendt were. Up until that time, wooden dolls were turned on the lathe, head and body in one piece,
perfectly round, symmetrical, and upright. Arms were added by gluing flat sticks to the body. Wendt, however, added a sense of movement to her figurines by gluing diagonally cut pieces to form joints. The
children’s proportions, with their chubby bodies and large heads, and their simple, sweet painted expressions, made them irresistible…
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The Great Wall of Germania
by Pete Henault
In a time of gladiators and expanding power, the Roman Empire’s range of conquest was marked by the Limes.
If you look carefully at a good map of Germany, you will see a dotted line zigzagging east from the Rhine River near Koblenz, jogging north around Frankfurt, then running straight as an arrow
southeast to Schwäbisch Gmünd where it turns north-easterly and makes a long arc to the Danube River near Regensburg. Here and there along the line you will see the word "Limes."
“Limes?,” I wondered some years ago. “Another of Germany's popular tourist routes?” However, this line does not follow roads. It cuts cross-country like high-tension power lines. And limes in
Germany? I was missing something.
In time I learned that "Limes," pronounced LEE-mess, was Roman for "limit" and that the line identified the northern continental boundary of the Roman Empire two thousand years
ago. South and west of the line lived people who had been conquered and Romanized; people to the north were unconquered. The border began on the North Sea, ran upriver along the Rhine to Koblenz and across
Germania as a three hundred fifty-mile defensive line of forts and towers to Regensburg where it continued along the Danube River to the Black Sea.
In the centuries before Christ, the peoples of Central Europe comprised two cultures – Celtic and Germanic. Those inhabiting what later became southern Germany, France, Austria, and northern
Switzerland were largely Celtic. They lived in fortified hilltop communities, farmed the land, produced high-quality metal tools and jewelry, and traded across Europe from the North Sea to the Mediterranean.
They were skilled in warfare and fought with broad swords and spears, often from light, two-wheeled chariots.
What is now northern Germany and a good part of Scandanavia was home to some sixty Germanic tribes which the Romans collectively called Germani. They were more migratory as they moved about
searching for better land and not as advanced as the Celts. Tacitus, a Roman scholar who studied them, described the men as large in stature and astonishingly strong with long golden hair and fierce blue eyes.
They enjoyed warring, hunting, and gambling but had little interest in tending herds or farming which activities were left to their women. They were known as democratic and hospitable, had strong family values,
and were devoted to their gods. Unlike the colorful display of the Romans, their armor was simple and unadorned and they fought with javelins which served as both spear and sword…
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The Party Never Ends – Celebrating Fasching
by Robert E. Tevis
Lichen-covered townsfolk scare away the doldrums of winter during a Fasching festival in the Tyrolean region of Austria.
Soon after the Bavarians put down their empty Oktoberfest glasses, they have just enough time to catch their breath before the celebrating begins again. Fasching, the Southern Germany and Austrian
version of Mardi Gras, kicks off with a bang and, while many Americans have heard of the Mardi Gras in the United States, this weeklong pre-Lenten celebration pales in comparison to the months-long celebrations
that mark Karnival or Fasching in Germany and Austria.
It all starts at 11:11:11 on the eleventh day of the eleventh month (November 11) or January 7 (depending on the region) and it lasts until the dawn of Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the
Christian celebration of Lent. In the northern part of Germany, the celebrations are referred to as “Karnival,” while in Bavaria and Austria people call it Fasching. It is also referred to as “die närrische
Saison” or “silly or foolish season.”
Just like Mardi Gras, it is an opportunity to go a little crazy and have a great time. It also gives people the opportunity to escape the drab, bleakness of winter. In fact, most of the
traditional celebrations and rituals have been passed down from ancient folklore as a means of banishing away the spirit of winter and preparing for the coming spring.
Fasching time includes a number of traditions that go beyond the typical Mardi Gras celebration. For example, November 11th also coincides in Austria with the time when the new wine (Heurige)
becomes old. Of course, this means it is time to bring out the new, new wine and that is, in itself, a cause for celebration.
Bakers join in with their own seasonal offerings. Bakeries begin carrying “Faschingskrapfen” – a doughnut pastry filled with apricot jam.
Most people are unaware that the world-famous ball season in Vienna is itself a descendent of the Fasching tradition. Like today, costumed revelers hid themselves, and their inhibitions, behind
masks. Parading through the streets, people began to use their anonymity to fearlessly mock the aristocracy. At some point, it became only natural for the aristocrats to fear that the men behind the masks might
become a threat to their well-being.
When the people became too rowdy, celebrations became restricted. In eighteenth-century Austria, Empress Maria Theresa decreed that masks would no longer be allowed in the streets, forcing the
revelry indoors, and paving the way for elaborate dancing balls – some of which continued the masquerade tradition.
More than three hundred balls are held during the season of Viennese Fasching. Dancing had always been a part of the Fasching celebration, and the balls took the art form to heights it would never
reach in the streets. The high point of the season is the “Opernball,” held at the Musentempel where VIPs from around the world waltz late into the night – so much for the elegant side of Fasching.
Of course like Mardi Gras, the festival reaches its high point and its wildest also in the week before Ash Wednesday. For the more populist and unusual celebrations, visitors should seek out the
unique festivities held in many of the smaller villages throughout the countryside. One of the oldest Fasching events is held in the small Austrian town of Telfs just a short drive on the Autobahn from Innsbruck.
Called the Telfs Schleicherlaufen, it is one of the most famous Fasching celebrations in the Tyrolean region of Austria. Telfs is a town of about ten thousand people at the base of the Mieminger
Kette area of the Austrian Alps. The festival gets its name from the “Schleichers” or Skulkers” – truants from their daily responsibilities, hidden behind costumes and masks to escape detection. Literally, the
word means a “skulker’s run.”
While its origins are unknown, there is documentation of the celebration back to the sixteenth century. A pre-Lenten celebration today, evidence suggests that the origins date back to ancient
fertility rites. The current festival has been held every five years since 1890. The last festival, held in 2000, drew over fifteen thousand people in attendance. The next festival is in February 2005.
So, at the end of 2004, the festival planners met on the feast of St. Stephen (December 26) to begin the preparations. While the entire town takes part in the preparations, women should note that,
true to medieval traditions, only men take part in the festival proceedings. Women are limited to the behind-the-scenes work, which is considerable.
In the short time before Lent, elaborate costumes and floats are prepared for the event.
The actual commencement begins on the evening of the Epiphany (January 7) when the townspeople gather in the Untermarkt Square for the ceremony of digging out the “Naz”—a rag doll that symbolizes
Fasching.
The culmination of the festival is the procession or parade where everyone gets to see the village workmanship. Fancy, multi-colored silken-costumed characters contrast sharply with the “Wilden”
or “savages” dressed head-to-toe in forest lichen. Their costumes are constructed from actual living lichen, collected by boys in the town who have to climb up into the mountains, sometimes more than five
thousand feet, to collect it…
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Along the Porcelain Road
by Jörg M. Unger
Graceful, delicate creations in porcelain can be found all along this historic route through Thuringia.
“Collectors are happy people.” Johann Wolfgang Goethe once said – and those porcelain and china collectors, who travel on the Thuringian Porcelain Road, will be especially happy to see some of the
famous and historical manufactories that produced tableware, candlesticks, figurines, pipe bowls, bathing beauties, and dolls for the American market in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They can enjoy the
finest porcelain collections and exhibitions in several museums, watch skilled sculptors and painters doing their elaborate work, and purchase beautiful items they have fallen in love with. It is also said that
adventurous collectors sometimes even dig up small “treasures” from the waste heaps of abandoned manufactories.
Coming from Frankfurt airport to Thuringia, it is best to first have a stop in Eisenach. It was not only the hometown of Johann Sebastian Bach, Castle Wartburg, the venue of ancient
minnesingers, and the place where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into the German language but it also possesses one of the most extensive porcelain collections with samples from nearly every renowned
Thuringian china factory. Here visitors get to experience a broad range of manufacturers and their products before they continue along the route. The Thuringian Porcelain Road is not just a single road but a
marked route of roads that join former and present manufactories, porcelain painters, museums, and china collections.
Since the tour can be arranged as a roundtrip with some detours here and there, let us start in the small town of Sitzendorf – the cradle of Thuringian porcelain – where, in 1757, the Thuringian
parish priest and hobby alchemist, Georg Heinrich Macheleid, was sitting in his laboratory, trying to find the right mixture of raw materials for producing the mysterious “Arcanum.” Macheleid, born in nearby
Cursdorf on October 16, 1723, was the son of an alchemist. The young Georg studied theology in Jena, but his interests took him beyond his textbooks, and he also attended lectures on science, which inspired him
to conduct experiments in his father’s laboratory. After having finished his studies, he became a priest in the principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, carrying on his experiments at home. By 1755, he was mixing
sand and soil from several hills and different quarries of the region.
According to legend, in the winter of 1757, Georg bought some sand for gritting the footpath in front of his house. Of course, he also tested that sand in his experiments and when it turned out
that the grit contained kaolin and was suitable for making porcelain, he gave up preaching and dedicated himself to finding the right mixture of raw materials to make good quality china.
On September 8, 1760, when Macheleid was satisfied with his results, he went to the prince, Johann Friedrich of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and asked him for the right to build an exclusive
manufactory. The prince agreed and Macheleid established his first small company in Sitzendorf. However, the prince soon wanted the manufactory to be moved to Rudolstadt, near his residence at Castle
Heidecksburg, so that he could keep an eye on the porcelain production. To have sufficient water for driving the mills, the factory was built on the banks of the river Saale in Volkstedt, a hamlet lying just a
mile outside the town walls of Rudolstadt. The raw materials for the factory, opened in the spring of 1762, came from several places in the principality: sand from Königsee, a special type of clay from Coburg,
and porcelain soil and glazes from some neighboring villages.
Today, this manufactory is simply called Die Älteste (German for “the oldest one”). Belonging to the group of porcelain companies of Christian Seltmann, Weiden, skilled hands still produce
porcelain figures and items from historical molds. Many parts of lace and Canova figures, gala carriages, candlesticks, horsemen, traditional figures, musicians, soldiers, shepherds, and animals are displayed in
the sales department and exhibition rooms of the company, located on Breitscheidstrasse 7…
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AT HOME: Sauce for the Goose, Sauce for the Gander
by Sharon Hudgins
When you think of a “saucy” cuisine, you probably think of French cooking – with all those classic sauces such as béarnaise, bordelaise, hollandaise, lyonnais, provençal, and rémoulade (even
if some of them actually originated in other countries).
However, German cuisine has its own repertoire of sauces – hot and cold, savory and sweet – served as accompaniments to every course of a meal, from appetizers to desserts.
In The German Cookbook, Mimi Sheraton points out that “Hardly any fish, meat, or vegetable dish comes to the table without this final embellishment, and, as a rule, these sauces are as
hearty and substantial as the rest of that country's fare. As in all Europe, it is considered very bad form (downright sinful, in fact) to leave any sauce on the plate; the wide array of dumplings, potato and
noodle dishes, and breads are used to absorb every last drop of these hearty concoctions.”
As the saying goes, “Clothes make the man (or woman).” Similarly, the sauce often “makes” the dish. What would a Zigeunerschnitzel (Gypsy-style fried cutlet) be without its rust-red sauce
redolent of paprika and flecked with strips of fleshy red peppers and boiled ham? Or a Jägerschnitzel (hunter's-style fried cutlet) without its rich dark-brown sauce full of sliced mushrooms and diced bacon? Who
could imagine roast venison, duck, or goose served without garnet-hued Preiselbeerensosse (similar to cranberry sauce) on the side? Or a big Schwabian Dampfnudel (steam-poached dumpling) without its pool of
warm, sweet, vanilla sauce?
In Germany you'll find a wide range of sauces with a variety of names. The most common word for “sauce” itself is Sosse, although Germans often simply use the English and French word, Sauce.
Less often you'll see Tunke, another German word for sauce, and occasionally even one of the many German dialect terms used in different regions of the country.
Wending your way through the maze of German sauces, you'll encounter cream sauces identified as Rahm-, Sahne-, or Creme- sauces (three different words for “cream”); mustard sauces spelled
Senftunke or Senfsosse; and mushroom sauces named according to the kind of mushroom featured in them (Champignons, Pifferlinge, Waldpilze). Red or white wine sauces (Rotweinsosse, Weissweinsosse) can be hot or
cold, savory or sweet, served with main dishes or desserts – as can the many types of fruit sauces (Fruchtsosse), often identified by the specific fruit from which they are made. And versions of foamy
Schaumsosse, which used to be associated only with desserts, are now showing up as savory sauces for appetizers and main dishes prepared by trendy German chefs.
Some German sauce names easily cross linguistic borders: Dillsauce, Tomatensauce, Paprikasosse, Currysosse, Schokoladensauce. And the names of German sauces often contain multiple clues to
their ingredients: Paprikarahmsosse is a paprika sauce enriched with cream; Schokoladencremesauce is a creamy chocolate sauce…
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The German Bundeswehr Turns Fifty
by Robert A. Selig
What does the future hold for the German Army?
On 4 April 1949, the representatives of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States signed the treaty
creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO. In it, the signatories guaranteed the territorial integrity of each member state, declared an attack on any member an attack on the organization as a
whole, and announced their resolve to use military force to maintain their common security. Conspicuously absent were German representatives from the American, British, and French occupation zones. Here a new
state came into existence when, eight weeks later, on 23 May 1949, the Basic Law or Grundgesetz creating the Federal Republic of Germany (BRD/FRG), went into force. Four months later, on 7 October 1949, the
Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR/GDR) was founded under Soviet control. However, the new FRG had neither armed forces nor was its territory included in the NATO security guarantee. In 1949, few Germans and
non-Germans alike wanted to see weapons in German hands again.
However, times were already changing. In March 1949, even before the signing of the NATO treaty, Konrad Adenauer, the future first Bundeskanzler of the FRG, declared the integration of a
West-German state into NATO a prime responsibility of any government, even if that state would not have any armed forces. Adenauer's rationale was not so much the rearmament of Germany; rather, he saw NATO as a
means to weaken the Occupation Statute of 21 September 1949, which had granted Germany only limited sovereignty and to further Germany's position as an equal partner in Europe. In its first foreign policy debate
on 24 to 25 November 1949, however, the German Bundestag rejected any thought of rearming Germany. June 1950 saw the beginning of the Korean War, and shortly thereafter, on 9 August 1950, British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill called for the establishment of a European military that included a German defense contribution.
Unlike the United States and Great Britain, which were ready to rearm the FRG quickly, France was not quite at ease yet with the thought of having German soldiers at her Eastern frontier so soon
after the end of the Second World War. Sensing both these fears as well as an opportunity to enhance Germany's standing in Europe, Adenauer responded to Churchill's overtures in an interview with the New York
Times on 17 August 1950, in which he offered to contribute German troops to a yet-to-be-created Europäische Verteidigungsgemeinschaft (EVG) or European Defense Community under a European Defense Minister. When
United States President Harry Truman, on 9 September 1950, also called for the rearmament of Germany, France was forced to react. On 24 October 1950, French Minister-President René Pleven unveiled the so-called
Pleven Plan. It envisioned two parallel defense systems: units that continued under national command and a common European military composed of units integrated into a European command structure. Germany would
only have army units integrated into the European command. Despite French opposition, which did not want any German units larger than regimental size of one thousand men or less, NATO eventually agreed to grant
Germany brigade-size units…
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FAMILY RESEARCH: Ortsippenbuch and Dorfbuch to the Rescue
By James M. Beidler
Finding a German immigrant’s village of origin is a frequent goal for a genealogist.
However, as difficult a task as this can be, trying to extend that pedigree generations-deep into Germany can be equally daunting – especially when the researcher confronts the problems of smeared
inks and handwriting that looks like chicken scratch to the modern eye in the records that have survived (not to mention record loss).
One of the first things a researcher should do when he or she finds a new village of origin is to determine whether an Ortsippenbuch or Dorfbuch has been published about the village.
An Ortsippenbuch (the plural is Ortsippenbuecher) is usually produced by a well-qualified historian or genealogist from the area in question.
The compiler of an Ortsippenbuch sifts through all of the records that exist for the village – church registers, tax lists, censuses, and the like.
The resulting information is then organized alphabetically by family and the families are numbered. The family numbers are then used to move from generation to generation, and also to
cross-reference females into their own families.
Some of the Ortsippenbuecher even cross-reference into other villages’ books.
How far back in time the family entries stretch depends purely on the date from which records survive, but many books are able to take the families into the 1500s or before.
Dorfbuecher (the plural of Dorfbuch) sometimes list lines of descent within families or houses, but concentrate more on the history of the village as a whole.
Since the history of many German villages stretches back eight hundred to one thousand years, these Dorfbuecher are often thick volumes, filled with abstracts of the early documents and
photographs of historic houses and people of the village…
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Calendar
February 2005
Baltimore, MD
February 4: American Association of Teachers of German Annual Meeting. For more information contact (856) 795-5553 or email headquarters@aatg.org
Baltimore, MD
February 5: Karneval Ball. Zion Church Baltimore. Reservations required. For information call 410-727-3939 or visit www.zionbaltimore.org.
Montreal, Quebec
February 5: S.G. Alpenland Montreal 37th Annual Jaegerball. For more information call Anny Mueller at (514) 484-4862 or visit www.alpenlandmontreal.com.
Cape Coral, FL
February 5: Prinzen Ball. Formal Dress and live music. For more information call (239) 283-1400 or visit www.gasc-capecoral.com
New Ulm, MN
February 5: Bock Fest at the August Schell Brewery. For more information call (800) 770-5020 or visit www.schellsbrewery.com.
Brownstown, MI
February 5: Masken Ball. German Club Downriver Karneval Festival. Fine German Food – Full German Bar. For more information call 734-284-2908 or visit www.germanisclub.homested.com
Rosemont, IL
February 5: Karneval Maskenball.
Rosemont Convention Center will celebrate this grand party before Lent. For more information contact the Rheinischer Verein Fanfaren Corps of Chicago at 4265 N. Elston Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60618.
Cape Coral, FL
February 5: Schuetzen Ball. Casual Dress and Europa Band. For more information call (239) 283-1400 or visit www.gasc-capecoral.com
Baltimore, MD
February 5: Karneval Ball Gala. A Karneval Ball formal dress and costume dance and dinner. For more information call (410) 727-3939 or visit www.zionbaltimore.org.
New Ulm, MN
February 5: Fasching Celebration. Sponsored by the Concorde Singers in Turner Hall from 11a.m. to 11p.m. For more information contact (507) 354-8850.
Cape Coral, FL
February 6: GartenFest. A little bit of Bavaria in the Garden Gates. For more information call (239) 283-1400 or visit www.gasc-capecoral.com
Chicago, IL
February 7: Rosenmontag.
The Verein and their guests will celebrate the last party before Lent. For more information contact the Rheinischer Verein Fanfaren Corps of Chicago at 4265 N. Elston Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60618.
Cape Coral, FL
February 13: GartenFest. A little bit of Bavaria inside the Cape Coral Garden Gates. For more information call (239) 283-1400 or visit www.gasc-capecoral.com.
Cape Coral, FL
February 15: Kulturgesellschaft / Karneval. Only in German. For more information call (239) 283-1400 or visit www.gasc-capecoral.com
Cape Coral, FL
February 20: GartenFest. A little bit of Bavaria inside the Garden Gates. For more information call (239) 283-1400 or visit www.gasc-capecoral.com
March
Lancaster, PA
March 13: German Student Day. For more information visit www.lancasterliederkranz.com
Tampa, FL
March 16: Annual Women’s History Month Luncheon. Sponsored by Ambassador Eva Nowotny. For more information call (202) 895-6772.
Lancaster, PA
March 19: Bock Beer Festival. For more information visit www.lancasterliederkranz.com
Lebanon, PA
March 19: Pennsylvania German Heritage Festival. Trudy Schenk author of Wuenternberg Emigration Index will be the guest speaker. For more information call (717) 507-7237.
Tomball, TX
March 19: 5th Annual Tomball German Heritage Festival.
Alpenfest, Folk Dancers, German Food, German Vendors, and FREE Parking & Admission. For information call (281) 379-6844 or email gradsand@yahoo.com
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