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DECEMBER 2005 / JANUARY 2006
Making Their Mark – The Women of Germany’s Wine Industry
by Leah Larkin
A generation of women has paid its dues and those women are now changing the face of the German wine industry.
They discuss the merits of glass corks versus real corks, mechanical harvesting versus harvesting by hand, oak barrels rather than those of stainless steel, acidity, nomenclature, and
sweetness. Some have degrees in oenology and viniculture. Some run wine estates. Others hold management positions with wine growers’ associations. All are women.
It used to be that the only women involved in the German wine business were the pretty faces who reigned as wine princesses in the villages of Germany’s thirteen regions, with one lucky
one being chosen as German wine queen. Today, the princesses must have more than looks, and women are making their mark in the industry. However, being accepted in a domain, which has traditionally been the turf
of men, has not been without hurdles for some.
Monika Christmann heads up the department of oenology at the Forschungsanstalt Geisenheim in the Rheingau, a state university offering bachelor's, master’s and Ph.D. programs in
oenology and viniculture, as well as landscaping and horticulture. Christmann earned both a master’s and Ph.D. in oenology at the university in Geisenheim and went to work in research and quality control for
Sichel, the company that produces the popular wine, Blue Nun. She moved on to work for the wine estate Simi in California where, in addition to enhancing her knowledge of wine, she went to management seminars
and learned about discrimination. In 1994, after three years in the United States, she came back to Germany, “this traditional world,” where she was offered the university job in Geisenheim. At first she
declined, certain she would not be accepted as a woman. She was asked again and took the job.
“One man (head of a committee) resigned because I got the job,” she recalled. “He could not accept a woman in that position. He commented that ‘we invested more than twenty-five million
marks in this and all we got was a woman.’ If he said this in California, he would be in jail for two years. Looking back, I can laugh at it, yet it was painful at the time.”
Even though she is still the only woman heading up a department at Geisenheim, the situation for women has changed “quite dramatically,” in the ten years that she has had the job, she
said. Today, some two hundred of the six hundred oenology and viniculture students at Geisenheim are women. Eighteen years ago, when she was a student, there were only ten women pursuing a degree in the study of
wine…
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Visions of Christkindlmärkte
by Mary Ruddell
What better way to capture the holiday spirit than to tour the Christkindlmärtke of Germany for some Glühwein to warm the body and shopping to soothe the soul!
Several years ago I started a list of places and events I longed to visit. I created my personal list of dream vacations and one I included was a visit to Germany to partake in the
Christkindlmarkt experience. I had enjoyed the articles in German Life, marveling at the photographs and the settings for each market and longed for a trip to experience this myself. When I was in Chemnitz
for the Germany Travel Mart in 2003, I had the opportunity to visited Sieffen, the birthplace of many German Christmas decorations. The museum and town were full of these wonderful handcrafted creations. This
only rekindled that dream of a Christmas market tour. When the opportunity for a trip became a reality, I made my plans and was off on a short tour to five German markets. Knowing that cold weather and long days
at the markets were ahead of me, I packed comfortable shoes and warm layered clothing.
Departure for me was the Friday after Thanksgiving. Now this is a traditional Christmas baking day at my home, so not to break with tradition, the baking started early and I left for
the airport midday. The Friday night flight was uneventful and I arrived in Frankfort just a little jet lagged, but anxious to spend the short time I had in Germany filling my senses with all the things I had
read about the markets. I was not disappointed. Ron Zoia Travel, with Ron as the tour director, had arranged the tour by bus to Rudesheim, Cologne, Rothenburg, Nuremberg, and Frankfurt. The group was friendly,
enthusiastic, and sharing and the bus driver was the best. Nothing could have prepared me for the camaraderie of my group and the experience of the markets.
The first stop on my tour was Rudesheim. I have been to this town on other trips, but the small stands and the crowds were amazing. I arrived on Saturday about midday and immediately
set out to find lunch and my first taste of Glühwein, the warm wine drink that is a German tradition of the markets and the Advent season. It was only later, on the bus, that I was told to buy not only the drink
but also the mug. Every market visitor has a mug collection. The life-sized nativity, which is on the Market Square and the small wooden market booths, were my first Christmas market memory. Only later did I see
the entrance arch decorated with the greetings for the “Christmas Market of the Nations” (twelve countries are represented). Standing very close to the railroad near the Rhine River, I tried in vain to capture
the essence of the market in photographs. Early darkness made picture taking a challenge, but the lights of the market more than made up for this shortcoming, so I opted to take only a few photographs and to
just enjoy the holiday atmosphere and bustling crowd. After all, I only had five days to see five markets and shopping had to be my first assignment.
Sunday brought us to Cologne with its mind-boggling combination of markets. Starting at the market near the Dom, the well-known Gothic Cathedral, and, winding around, I saw three of the
five distinct markets. The streets were filled with people and stands were very busy on a chilly Sunday. There were many places with outdoor tables to pause and enjoy a snack. There were even stands that
resembled houses where the patrons could dine inside. Warm drinks of coffee, hot chocolate, and Glühwein were my choices for the day. I did not pass up the opportunity to enjoy and shop. I had planned to see the
one hundred nativity scenes in the walking vicinity of the Dom, however, the crowds made shopping a little more difficult, and after all I had three more markets to go…
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Erfurt – The Gateway to Thuringia
by Zac Steger
Merchants, scholars, and theologians brought wealth and notoriety to this Thuringian city along the Gera.
Lying in the heart of Thuringia on the River Gera, the city of Erfurt has long been an important place for commerce and culture. Its location along trade routes, including the Via Regia
(Route of Kings) from Kiev to Paris, and its university, were important in establishing a city of both merchants and scholars. Today, this city of nearly two hundred thousand inhabitants is blooming and firmly
securing its place in the new Europe.
The history of Erfurt was first recorded in 742 in a letter to the Pope from the missionary St. Boniface, though settlements had been there for many years. Early on, Erfurt was under
the spiritual, and later secular, influence of the Archbishopric of Mainz. In the centuries that followed, the city was characterized by a power struggle between the Archbishops, the Ernestine Dynasty of Saxony,
and the citizens of Erfurt. Though it was a powerful city and did gain minting and market rights, it was never a free Reichsstadt. The production of wool and woad (a blue dye) brought great wealth to the city
for many years until indigo arrived from India, which sent woad production into a rapid decline. By the end of the fifteenth century, Leipzig had taken over as the most powerful city in the region.
The influence of the Archbishopric fell victim to Napoleon in 1802 and Erfurt spent the majority of the nineteenth century under Prussian control. The city became a fortified town and,
following an industrial boom, the city grew significantly. The city suffered relatively little damage during the air raids of World War II and experienced, as many cities did, somewhat mixed fortunes during the
DDR era.
A new revitalized economy can be seen on the Anger, Erfurt’s main shopping street. It was the largest woad market in central Europe for many centuries and features some of the
most beautiful architectural ornamentation in the city, including the yellow baroque building housing the Angermuseum. The street is dominated by the central post office, a huge Neo-Gothic brick building, and
the Warenhaus, which today houses the large retail chain Karstadt. At this end of the Anger stands the Kaufmannskirche of St Gregory and St. Boniface. The merchants and traders were important supporters of
Martin Luther, whose statue stands in front of the Gothic basilica celebrating his four hundredth birthday in 1883.
The Fischmarkt was first mentioned in 1248, though its history appears to go back much further. The dominating feature of the relatively small market square is the Neo-Gothic town
hall. Built in the second half of the nineteenth century, it replaced the previous Gothic town hall, which was demolished in 1830 by the Prussian administration. Paintings inside the town hall illustrate the
story of Erfurt and the surrounding region, including scenes from Faust, Tannhäuser, and the story of Count Gleichen. The statue of Roland that stands across from the town hall is a reminder of the power
the city once had. Just south of the Fischmarkt is the Neue Mühle (New Mill). The original mill dated back to the thirteenth century, but burned down in 1736. It was replaced the following year by the current
structure, which today serves as a museum…
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Weinachtspyramiden: A Graceful Spin On the Magic of Christmas
by Heidi Lux
Handcrafted holiday worlds come to life with the glowing warmth of candlelight.
The candles’ gentle warmth sets them turning, wooden propellers spinning slowly, tiny painted scenes revolving like miniature worlds.
Moveable Christmas pyramids, a favorite German Christmas decoration, first became popular in the mid to late1800s. Watching the flickering lights and delicate figures through a
winter-frosted window on a modern-day German street still evokes the feeling of “Gemütlichkeit” during the holiday season.
While mentions of non-moveable constructions bearing candles can be found as early as 1600, K. Auerbach, director of The Erzgebirge Spielzeug (Toy) Museum of Seiffen, suspects two early
design influences: “Pegmen,” candle-bearing wooden constructions used in Bohemian Catholic church processions; and stick trees “planted” in soil-filled flower pots and adorned with candles to be used as a
decoration by rural German families. A pyramid shape was favored for its base stability and candles were staggered to prevent them from melting each other.
“The first moveable pyramids were made by the Erzgebirge miners using the woodworking and mechanical skills they learned in the mines,” explained Klaus Hübsch, managing partner of
Richard Glässer GmbH, Seiffen. “These homemade pyramids were a way of making a nice Christmas celebration for their families.”
The Erzgebirge or Ore Mountains lie in the eastern part of Saxony, Germany, very near the border of the current Czech Republic. At their heart is Seiffen, the name an abbreviated
version of “Zinn ausseiffen,” meaning to sift tin ore from water. First mentioned in connection with the shiny metal in 1324, Seiffen experienced three hundred seventy years of organized tin mining. As demand
for tin ore slowed in the early 1800s, the miners turned to Seiffen’s abundant resources of wood and water power to create a second income as wood turners.
Auerbach notes that Seiffen went from one “Drechsler” or wood turner, in 1650, to six hundred seventy-five wood turners by 1880. In 1849, when Seiffen’s tin mines closed, the miners
were already producing turned wooden plates, needle boxes, nutcrackers, candle arches, smoking men, childrens’ toys, and, for their own families, magnificent Christmas pyramids.
Stockwerk pyramids were true pieces of folk art. Their tiered scenes, so elaborately trimmed with fences and posts, dangling wooden ornaments, and curled, beaded top accents, could not
be mass-produced. The craftsmen labored over scenes from the Bible’s Christmas story, hand-carving figures of people, animals, and angels. They were then colorfully painted with gold and silver accents. Mirrors
were even added to the piece to amplify its grandeur.
In order to achieve the effect of moving pictures, the miners added spring-wound or hand-crank mechanisms to turn a central axel topped by an ornamental propeller. Lit candles added
sparkle and a dramatic, shadowy depth to the turning scenes…
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Dresden – Reborn and Still Soaring
by Lucy Gordan
Celebrate eight hundred years of the glorious city known as “Florence on the Elbe.”
Dresden is a phoenix. This legendary bird supposedly lived several hundred years, burned itself to ashes on a pyre, and rose youthfully alive from the ashes to live another period.
Likewise, over the centuries, Dresden has suffered destruction in many wars: against the Hussites, the Prussians, and Napoleon, and has been rebuilt several times. Mostly
recently, on the night of February 13 to 14, 1945, the British and American air forces firebombed Dresden. They killed thirty-five thousand civilians, many of whom were refugees from Silesia, and destroyed
almost eighty percent of the city's magnificent Baroque yellow sandstone buildings. This still hotly debated raid (so close to the end of the War – clearly inspired more as a vendetta for the Germans'
destruction of Coventry Cathedral than by strategic necessity) was followed by nearly another half-century of neglect and degradation by the GDR.
Since the unification of Germany in 1989, authorities, prompted by a grass-roots movement, have been working hard to restore this once great cultural center to its former glory.
They have recently completed a decade of patient work reassembling over ten thousand sandstone fragments of the Frauenkirche (see German Life, August/September 2005), Germany's largest Protestant church,
purposely left rubble by the GDR government as a war memorial.
The majestic "new" church, which holds two thousand people, was consecrated on October 30, 2005, with Queen Elizabeth II of England and many heads-of-state in attendance.
A climb to the top of the dome reveals a magnificent view of the city and Elbe river valley. Declared "Patrimony of Humanity" by UNESCO in 2004, its lusciously green banks are
lined with magnificent palaces and quaint medieval market towns. For a leisurely look (around three hours round-trip), take one of the many steamboat cruises on the river. The only drawback: the explanation tape
is only in German.
All around the Frauenkirche in the Altstadt or "Old City," from 7:00 a.m. to sunset, mobile cranes swing relentlessly overhead and workmen are busily laying pipes,
buzz-sawing beams, and sledge hammering cobblestones into place. Scaffolding covers sections of the nearby Residenzschloss, home to the Saxon royals until 1918, and of the Zwinger, their parade and festival
grounds. Already in a jubilee mood, Dresden is racing to meet the 2006 deadline when this old-fashioned and elegant grande dame capital of Saxony will celebrate its eight hundredth birthday.
Although archaeologists have uncovered remains of an eighth-century castle near the Residenzschloss and even older remains near the Frauenkirche and across the Elbe in today's
Neustadt's artsy bohemian neighborhood, the first document to mention Dresden concerned a dispute between the Bishop of Meissen and the burgave of Dohna who had built a castle on Episcopal territory. The
margrave of Meissen, Dietrich "der Bedrängte" ("the Troubled") had to intervene and signed his judgment on March 31, 1206. Birthday celebrations will begin on that anniversary with the
presentation of three volumes about the city's history, but they will last all year…
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The World Cup is Coming to Germany
by Keith Loria with additional reporting by Craig Hutcheson
“Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore.” It is not the brown oblong type Americans favor but “football” (soccer, for we non-European types) fans the world over will soon be
turning their eyes toward Germany for FIFA World Cup 2006.
In the spirit of the striking slogan chosen by the organizers – “Die Welt zu Gast bei Freuden,” – Germany will open its doors to the football world next June, inviting the best that the
world has to offer. After an arduous qualifying process, thirty-two of the most talented football nations will emerge and converge on Germany beginning June 9, 2006, battling to take home the Jules Rimet trophy
at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
“Football clubs, schools, and people all over the land have really gotten behind this great event, providing further proof, if any were needed, of the prominent role football plays in
all our lives,” said Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA president. “In this respect I would like to congratulate the German Football Association for inviting people from all walks of life to take part in this great event.”
The World Cup takes place every four years with the host nation getting an automatic bid. Germany, which last hosted the event in 1974, is currently ranked in the latter half of FIFA’s
top twenty rankings, so they do not enter as a favorite. However, six host nations out of the last seventeen World Cups have taken the top prize despite having more acclaimed teams as opponents. In fact, in
1974, West Germany defeated the famous Clockwork Orange Dutch side at Olympic Stadium in Munich in one of the most famous upsets of our time.
Germany’s national team coach, Juergen Klinsmann, has said that he fully expects to see his team competing on July 9, when the championship game is played. Looking at his roster of
veteran and future stars, it is easy to understand his optimism.
Players to watch for Germany at the event include some of the world’s best players in Jens Lehmann, Robert Huth, Michael Ballack, and Kevin Kuranyi. Yet many believe that Germany will
ride the wave of Cologne’s top striker, twenty-year-old Lukas Podolski. His meteoric rise began two years ago and his star is still in the ascendant. Back then Podolski emerged from his first nineteen senior
appearances with an impressive ten goals, the best tally by an eighteen year-old in the Bundesliga’s forty-three-year history. He is been on fire ever since.
“I’m looking forward to my first World Cup experience,” Podolski said. "Whenever I'm with the national squad, I watch players such as Oliver Kahn and Michael Ballack. I have so
much to learn from them”…
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Dinner for One
by Anna Cramer
Each New Year’s Eve, a British skit lives on as a cult classic in Germany and its popularity makes those in other nations shake their heads in wonder.
It's New Year’s Eve at the Kreutner home in Landshut, Bavaria. Here, as in almost every other German household at this time of the year, the traditional preparations for the evening
include keeping one eye on the TV program so that neither family nor guests will miss the highlight. It is the common viewing of the sketch Dinner for One – always in the English version – which has become as
integral a part of the end of year celebrations as the popping of champagne bottles and the melting of little lead nuggets to get a glimpse of the future.
The old black and white screenplay – broadcast on many TV stations right before midnight each December 31, guarantees eighteen minutes of uninterrupted delight culminating in the joint
repetition of the famous punch line “Same procedure as every year!” which is known to virtually every living German, even those with little or no command of the English language.
The play itself features aristocratic Miss Sophie celebrating her ninetieth birthday with a dinner party for her closest men friends. Due to the absence of the four invited gentlemen
who have all deceased long ago, Butler James, while serving dinner and drinks, has to simultaneously play their roles and pretend nothing has changed over the years. Miss Sophie has James serve a four-course
dinner, and as she selects the drinks to go with each course, James fills the glasses of the imaginary guests and then toasts to the host, pretending each turn to be one of her old friends: Sir Toby, Admiral von
Schneider, Mr. Pommeroy, or Mr. Winterbottom. As he becomes more intoxicated with the obligatory glasses going with each course, the spectators delight at his skillful imitation of the guests and his ability to
maintain aristocratic manners on the brink of falling into complete chaos. He gasps when James loses his balance and shudders when he mistakenly drinks from a flower vase. But behind all this anarchic
development, the viewer also feels the butler’s humanity in his warm-hearted and tongue-in-cheek behaviour towards old Miss Sophie.
Young and old alike repeat Admiral van Schneider’s “skol” with its characteristic military sharpness.
There are hysterical outbreaks of laughter each time he trips over the head of the tiger rug when crossing the dining room to reach the sideboard with the wine bottles. Contrary to expectations and his increasingly slurred speech, as he becomes gradually tipsier with each toast, he manages the rug with rather more than less ease and once even glances almost reproachingly at the tiger head the only time he has not stumbled over it.
It is these funny details as well as British mime Freddy Frinton’s superb slapstick acting that stand out in the many attempts to explain the popularity of this 1963 TV production. The
play incorporates many elements of the silent movie and it is immensely funny, at least in the context of a culture in which the moderate consumption of alcohol for a celebration is permissible and where it is
still politically correct to enjoy watching someone act drunk. The dialogue is minimal and easily understandable even for children, because the pantomime elements are self-understood. The comic juxtaposition of
the clichés of nobility and their servants, high-class behavior and consequent failure, foreseeable each time James circles the table, the running gag of stumbling over the tiger head, all these are silent movie
elements easily enjoyed also by children. Like the tightrope walker who eventually reaches the other side in spite of the abyss, James manages to maintain control and steer the party to the content of Miss
Sophie. Is this seen and felt as a symbol of a year not empty of deceptions finally brought to a happy end? Adults and children suffer anxiety and feel relief with him, which makes the sketch perfect
entertainment for the entire family…
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Involuntary Soldiers for the War in America
by Robert A. Selig
Creative recruitment practices at the hands of Graf Ludwig Friedrich von Löwenstein-Wertheim-Virneburg brought some less-than-willing immigrants to the United States between 1780
and1782.
In the morning of 17 October 1781, the very day that Lord Cornwallis would initiate surrender negotiations at Yorktown in Virginia, Georg Friedrich Heinrich Seberhold, administrator of
the Counts of Wertheim in Obersontheim, informed Graf, that is, Count Johann Ludwig Vollrath von Löwenstein-Wertheim-Virneburg, that at 4:00 a.m. that very morning, five recruits had been forcibly removed from the town for service with British forces in North America. In order to “disown them of the repulsive impression of the ocean or of swimming (um
ihnen dardurch den widrigen Eindruck vor dem Meer oder Schwimmen zu benehmen)," the recruiters had told them that they were enlisting for service for the Electorate of Hanover rather than for service across
the ocean. Seberhold, who assumed that the count did not know of these illegal activities, wanted to inform him so that “he could take the proper precautions” and release the recruits upon arrival in Wertheim.
He was worried about the potentially “far-reaching bad consequences” of “such un-seemly horse-trading.” Little did he know that once the recruits had reached Wertheim, they were to join more than a dozen others
destined for America and that Johann Ludwig Vollrath' s nephew Count Ludwig Friedrich was behind these activities.
The history of eighteenth-century warfare in Central and Eastern Europe is filled with tales of involuntary, deceptive, and sometimes even forced recruitment. Though it is difficult to
quantify such abuses, sufficient evidence exists to suggest that more than one recruiting officer and/or his sergeants, desperate for young men to meet their enlistment quotas, resorted to questionable practices
to entice a likely recruit to take the Handgeld, the recruiting bonus, and to sign his name on the enlistment papers. Sometimes recruiters were assisted in their activities by dishonest innkeepers or local
authorities anxious to rid their towns and territories of poor individuals, and, in extreme cases, they even went so far as to break into houses to kidnap a recruit. When demand for soldiers was especially high,
as during the American War of Independence, the possibility of quick income made the option of acting outside the law all the more tempting for unscrupulous recruiters. What makes the case of Graf Friedrich
Ludwig unique, however, is that fact that here we have a genuine Reichsgraf, an Imperial Count and member of the highest nobility, involved in the kidnapping of young men and smuggling them to recruiters further
down the Rhine…
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AT HOME:
Spekulatius Cookies: A Special Treat for St. Nicholas Day
By Sharon Hudgins
St. Nicholas Day, December 6, is just around the corner, and children in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and parts of France are eagerly waiting for the good saint to
arrive with his bag full of gifts.
In the United States, Santa Claus makes his rounds on Christmas Eve, December 24.
But in many regions of northern Europe, December 6 has traditionally been the day when children received holiday presents, with December 24 and 25 reserved for the religious celebration of Christ's birth.
Our secular American Santa Claus is a fat, jolly, white-bearded senior citizen in a red suit, who favors sleighs and reindeer for transportation.
The European St. Nicholas wears a Catholic bishop's miter and robe, carries a crosier, rides a white horse or a donkey, and is sometimes accompanied by one or more colorful assistants who help him distribute his gifts.
Santa Claus is a mythological character who lives in the hearts of American children of all ages.
But St. Nicholas was a historical figure, the bishop of Myra in Asia Minor (now Turkey), who was born in the third century. In later times he became known as the patron saint of children—perhaps because of the legends associated with him.
One legend claims that St. Nicholas rescued three youths who were being pickled to death in a pot by an evil innkeeper.
Another says that he saved three girls from being sold into slavery because their father had no money for their dowries. For three nights in a row, St. Nicholas secretly left bags of gold for the girls at their house. That's how St. Nicholas became associated with gift-giving today.
Although the original St. Nicholas died about one thousand six hundred years ago, he is very much alive in the minds of European children who look forward to his visit every year.
In Holland the St. Nicholas character is known as Sinterklaas. Dutch children believe that Sinterklaas arrives by ship on the evening of December 5. He walks through every village and town, inquiring about the behavior of the children there. If the children have been good, he blesses them and promises them a reward the next morning…
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LANGUAGE:
English:
A Rare German-American Anniversary: Zion Baltimore 250 Years Old
Part 2
By Gert Niers
The next important person with leadership qualities was Fritz Otto Evers who performed his pastoral duties from 1929 until 1952. Before coming to Baltimore, he had been the minister
of the Zion Congregation in Philadelphia for 15 years.
Evers was born in Berlin in 1886, came to New York in 1908, and died in New Jersey in 1963. Also his ministry was burdened with political developments taking place outside of his congregation: World War II. In 1942, Zion donated an ambulance to the American Red Cross and presented a check for the purchase of blankets. After the war, the congregation continued relief work within the Lutheran World
Action.
After Rev. Evers had resigned because of failing health in 1951, Leopold Wilhelm Bernhard
inherited the ministry in 1952. Bernhard was also born in Berlin, in 1915 during World War I. He attended the universities of his hometown and of Zurich. Since he maintained connections with the Confessional Church (of German Lutherans against Hitler), he left Nazi Germany in 1938 and continued his studies in New York and Philadelphia.
Although Bernhard’s ministry was short, he made a significant move concerning the confessional outlook of his congregation: he brought Zion back into the Maryland Synod of the
United Lutheran Church of America (1953) and also pushed through a new constitution. He accepted a call from St. Peter’s Lutheran Church of Manhattan in 1954.
His successor in Baltimore was Hans-Ludwig Wagner who served from 1954 until 1961. Wagner was born in Hamburg in 1913. He studied in Hamburg, Marburg, Rostock, and Bielefeld.
He received his doctorate in theology from the University of Rostock. Because of his critical stance towards the Nazi regime, he immigrated to Canada in 1938. Wagner went from Baltimore to St. Matthew’s Lutheran
Church in San Francisco (1961-68) and from there to St. John’s Lutheran Church in El Cajon, California…
GERMAN:
Ein seltenes deutschamerikanisches Jubiläum: Zion Baltimore 250 Jahre alt
Von Gert Niers
Die nächste bedeutende Führungspersönlichkeit war Fritz Otto Evers, der von 1929 bis 1952 sein Amt ausübte.
Er war zuvor 15 Jahre lang Pfarrer der Zionsgemeinde in Philadelphia gewesen. Evers wurde 1886 in Berlin geboren, kam 1908 nach New York und starb 1963 in New Jersey. Auch seine Amtszeit wurde durch äußere Vorgänge erschwert: durch den Zweiten Weltkrieg. Zion Baltimore stiftete 1942 einen Krankenwagen für das Amerikanische Rote Kreuz und übergab einen Scheck zur Anschaffung von Decken. Die Gemeinde beteiligte sich nach dem Krieg auch an weltweiten Hilfsaktionen.
Nach dem 1951 aus Krankheitsgründen erfolgten Rücktritt von Pfarrer Evers übernahm Leopold Wilhelm Bernhard 1952 das Pfarramt. Bernhard war ebenfalls in Berlin geboren worden, und
zwar im Kriegsjahr 1915. Er studierte in seiner Heimatstadt und in Zürich. Da er der Bekennenden Kirche nahestand, verließ er 1938 Nazi-Deutschland und setzte sein Studium in New York und
Philadelphia fort.
Obgleich Bernhards Amtszeit kurz war, vollzog er einen wichtigen Schritt für die konfessionelle Ausrichtung der Gemeinde: er führte Zion 1953 zurück in die Maryland-Synode der Lutheran
Church of America und setzte auch eine neue Verfassung durch. Er folgte 1954 einem Ruf der St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Manhattan.
Sein Nachfolger in Baltimore wurde Hans-Ludwig Wagner, von 1954 bis 1961 im Amt. Wagner wurde 1913 in Hamburg geboren. Er studierte in Hamburg, Marburg, Rostock und
Bielefeld. Sein Doktorat in Theologie erhielt er von der Universität Rostock. Wegen seiner kritischen Einstellung dem Nazi-Regime gegenüber wanderte er 1938 nach Kanada aus. Von Baltimore ging Wagner
an die St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in San Francisco (1961-68) und von dort an die St. John’s Lutheran Church in El Cajon, Kalifornien…
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FAMILY RESEARCH:
by James M. Beidler
More from the Mailbag
The American readership of German Life magazine stretches from New York to California – and this coast-to-coast selection of
correspondence shows the many great family research questions that are on readers’ minds.
Q: I have been searching for quite some time for information related to my father’s arrival in this country.
He was born 6 April 1903 in Düngenheim Germany. I have been there twice.
My father came to the U.S. in February 1930 on the ship Bremen. I know it was the Bremen because I have a group photo taken on that ship with “Bremen”
visible on a life preserver. Unfortunately my father passed away in 1972 and I never asked some important questions.
For instance, I have been unable to find out about this ship and where it landed in the U.S. and really don’t know where to look. I would appreciate any tips you might be able
to provide me. – Bill Mohr, Latham, NY
A: Since you have a month and year of arrival, what I would do if I were you would be to go to the National Archives in Washington and go through the passenger arrival lists for
February 1930 – first for New York, then Philadelphia, then other ports until you find the list for the ship Bremen.
One thing that nags at me – could that life preserver have been identifying where the ship was based rather than its name? – I hope you are right, since a lot of these ships came
from Bremen, the No. 1 port of departure from the European continent in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Q:
What happened to the church and civil records from the lands Germany lost after World War II? Are they in a central location or spread all over the place? – Charles Gahm, Milaca, MN
A: Church and civil records of the former German areas: What church records survived have been microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are in their
Family History Library system (See their Internet website, www.familysearch.org, for the library catalog – in cases in which town names have been changed, the catalog shows both versions).
Civil records, I believe, are still with the Polish or other authorities in which the specific jurisdiction now lies.
Q: My maiden name is Swartz. I know I am German, not Jewish, as we all attended the German Lutheran Church. I know the German spelling for Swartz is Schwarz or Schwartz, but everyone
with this name spelling seems to be Jewish.
Have most Germans who emigrated here changed their name to Black? – Fern Davis, Burbank, CA
A: The reason that most people bearing the German surname Schwarz or Schwartz are Jewish is that most Jews did not take surnames until authorities compelled them to do so. This happened
in the late 1700s or early 1800s in most places in Europe.
Many Jews were living in German-speaking lands at this time and therefore adopted German surnames. I can assure you that there are also many non-Jewish Germans who bear this
surname, which, as you noted, is sometimes literally translated in English to “Black.”
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CALENDAR:
November:
Cambridge, MA
Through February 26, 2006: Stratification: An Installation of Works Since 1960. Call 617-495-9400 or visit www.artmuseums.harvard.edu
Frederick, MD
1st Friday of every month: Der Stammtisch at Brewer’s Alley. Email ssbucks@hotmail.com
or call 301-631-0127 and ask for Fritz or Stammtisch.
November 9: Washington Saengerbund Fall Concert. Call 703-591-1640 or 202-310-4691, visit www.saengerbund.org
, or email caroltraxler@yahoo.com . Advanced ticket purchase is strongly recommended.
Berne, IN
November 11-12: Weihnachtsfest Celebration: Call 260-589-8080, email tourism@bernein.com
, or visit www.bernein.com
Ferdinand, IN
November 19-20: Christkindlmarkt. Call 1-800-968-4578, email dhopp@psci.net , or visit www.ferdinandchamber.org
Chicago, IL
November 24-December 22: Christkindlmarket Chicago. Call 312-644-2662 or visit www.christkindlmarket.com
Bethlehem, PA
November 25-27, December 1-4, 8-11, 15-18. Call 610-332-1300 or visit www.christkindlmarkt.org
Baltimore, MD
November 26-27: 8th Annual Christkindlmarkt. Call 410-727-3939, email zionbaltimore@verizon.net
or visit http://zionbaltimore.org/calendar.htm
New York, NY
November 30: Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester. Call 212-247-7800 or visit www.carnegiehall.org
December:
Frederick, MD
1st Friday of every month: Der Stammtisch at Brewer’s Alley. Email ssbucks@hotmail.com or call 301-631-0127 and ask for Fritz or Stammtisch.
Washington, DC
December 2: “Eine kleine Weihnachtsmusik” CD Release. By invitation only. For invitation or additional information call 202-310-4691 or 301-577-3503, email
caroltraxler@yahoo.com , or visit www.saengerbund.org
Pittsburgh, PA
December 2-3: St. Nikolaus Party at Penn Brewery. Call 412-237-9402 or visit www.pennbrew.com
Fredericksburg, TX
December 2-4: 8th Annual Weihnachten. Call 1-888-997-3600 or visit www.fredericksburg-texas.com
Tulsa, OK
December 2-4: 7th Annual Christkindlmarkt. Call 918-744-6997 or visit www.gastulsa.org
Sheboygan, WI
December 2-11: Old World Christmas Market. Call 1-800-876-3399 or visit www.osthoff.com
New York, NY
December 3: Panel Discussion “Berlin – New York: Construction, Planning and Architecture NOW”. Call 212-998-8663 or visit www.nyu.edu/deutscheshaus
New York, NY
December 3 – January 28: Exhibition, Publication, Documentary: “Jewish Youth in Germany 2005”. Call 212-998-8663 or visit www.nyu.edu/deutscheshaus
San Antonio, TX
December 3: Kriskindlmarkt. Call 210-222-1521.
Leavenworth, WA
December 3-4, 10-11, & 17-18: Christmas Lighting Festival. Visit www.leavenworth.org
Baltimore, MD
December 4: 65th Annual Bull & Oyster Roast. Call 410-491-0845.
Omaha, NE
December 4: Christmas in Germany. Call 402-333-6615 or visit www.germanamericansociety.org
New York, NY
December 6: “From Bach to Messiaen: Chamber Music for Christmas”. RSVP by December 1 at either 212-998-8660 or email: nora.reitemeyer@nyu.edu
Kensington, MD
December 8: Festival of Lights. Call 202-310-4691, email caroltraxler@yahoo.com
, or visit www.saengerbund.org
Washington, DC
December 9-10 & 16-17: Candlelight Tours of “The Brewmaster’s Castle”. Call 202-429-1894, visit www.brewmasterscastle.com , or email jgruffner@heurichhouse.org
Bangor, ME
December 10: “Weihnachtsmarkt” (Christmas Market). Call 207-942-5619.
Arlington, VA
December 11: Viennese Waltz Ball. Call 703-528-0487 or visit www.viennesewaltz.org/meridian.html
San Antonio, TX
December 11: Deutsche Weihnachtsfeier. Call 210-653-5112 or 210-534-4481 or email webstx@aol.com
or txgisler@swbell.net
Leavenworth, WA
December 17: Starlight Lantern Parade. Visit www.leavenworth.org
Leavenworth, WA
December 17, 20-21: Living Nativity. Visit www.leavenworth.org
Denver, CO
December 18: Ecumenical Christmas Service in German. Call 303-355-4471 or visit www.messiahdenver.org
Washington, DC
December 18: Christmas Concert of the Washington Saengerbund. Call 202-310-4691, email caroltraxler@yahoo.com
, or visit www.saengerbund.org
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