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June/July 2006
Gallery:
German Art Then and Now:
The Saint Louis Art Museum
by Kim Carpenter
St. Louis might not seem like a likely place to view some of Germany’s most exceptional modern and contemporary art, but that is exactly what visitors will find when they visit this
Midwestern “Gateway City.” The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) consistently ranks among the top ten art museums in the United States and houses one of the most comprehensive collections of German Expressionism in
the country as well as an impressive body of works from the second half of the twentieth century. The institution also serves as the largest publicly held repository of works by Max Beckmann, one of the leading
artists of twentieth-century modernism.
The breadth and depth of SLAM’s collection was largely determined by one man, a generous benefactor with a truly astute curatorial eye. Morton D. May, the CEO of the May Department
Stores, collected art on a vast scale, building a catalog of some five thousand objects and artworks throughout his lifetime. May also emerged as one of the museum’s most generous corporate patrons, and he
enjoyed a close philanthropic relationship with SLAM for over three decades.
While May’s interests ranged from Oceanic to Pre-Columbian time periods, he focused largely on German art of the twentieth century, purchasing works by painters and sculptors from such
artistically innovative schools as Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter. Andrew Walker, SLAM’s curator of American art and assistant director for curatorial affairs, says, “May was very driven by the aesthetic
value, the quality, of works of art and very compelled by German expressionists.” In this regard, he observes, May’s focus resulted in his amassing “the sweet spot of German Expressionism,” the time in between
the two World Wars, when German artists were on the forefront of the avant-garde, abandoning realism and impressionism in favor of depicting challenging social and political issues.
Highlights from the SLAM collection include Erich Heckel’s White Horses (1912), Franz Marc’s Landscape with Animals (1913), and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s Standing Nude (1913).
And, although Wassily Kandinsky was Russian by birth, he executed some of his most stirring paintings while living in Bavaria, including Winter Landscape (1911), one of the first works to demonstrate the artist’s ability to create highly evocative, intense motifs. Such works, says Walker, “provide a good overview into a period of time when German Expressionism was advancing before, during, and after World War I. They tell a narrative story at a very high level.”
Although May demonstrated a remarkable ability to select such standout German Expressionists, it was Max Beckmann who ultimately emerged as the most prominently represented artist in
his modern collection. That is because May developed a personal relationship with Beckmann that resulted in his becoming the painter’s most important private collector…
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A Day for Knights – Kaltenberger Ritterturnier
by Heide G. Castleman
It is His Royal Highness’ invitation to fight, where good encounters evil and revelers enjoy medieval times past.
It is on the grounds of Kaltenberg Castle in Bavaria, still occupied today by royalty, where the most extensive and realistic knights’ tournament in the world occurs. Taking place in
July, this yearly event celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2004.
Both a day and night performance are offered – though I personally find the one held after dark with flames and fireworks to be much more dramatic. In this case, you enter the site at
4:00 p.m. to enjoy browsing around the large medieval village with its market of over one hundred booths and stalls portraying medieval dentistry, medicine, and communal bathing, amongst other things. Wandering
musicians, jesters, and knights along with the offering of food from the times add to the event – all giving the feeling of having stepped back in time.
A colorful parade of over one thousand two hundred performers starts the program at 6:00 p.m. and continues with events on seven stages as well as throughout the castle grounds.
Finally, some thirteen thousand spectators move to the arena for the festive opening where the authentic Prince Luitpold himself, the great-grandson of the last Bavarian King Ludwig
III, welcomes them. After the spectacular entrance of all participants – including noble steeds and imaginative bird-people – the theme is revealed: the eternal fight of good versus evil.
Then the breathtaking tournament starts…knights wearing about sixty pounds of armor storm into the arena on horseback – swords and lances clinking – horses racing through the flames.
The “Cascadeurs Associes,” a group of Parisian stuntmen with fantastic skills, give way to a dangerous and spectacular event. When various competitors fall upon the excruciatingly loud blow from a lance, you
almost believe that a fatality has been witnessed…
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Pedaling in Mozart’s Tracks
By Leah Larkin
Picturesque vistas and charming towns highlight this bicycle route celebrating Austria’s child prodigy.
Celebrate Mozart’s two hundred fiftieth birthday this year by bike. The Mozart Radweg (bike route) is a two hundred fifty-mile long route through two countries – Austria and Germany –
leading past places that featured in the composer’s life. The trek, which begins and ends in Salzburg, is a delight, as my husband and I discovered. Because of rain and a lack of time, we were only able to cycle
about half of the course. However, we were so enthralled, we hope to return soon for more.
The scenery – mountains, lakes, and undulating valleys – is stunning. We especially enjoyed visits to Salzburg and the town of St. Gilgen on the Wolfgangsee in Austria, and, in Germany,
the monastery at Seeon, Bad Reichenhall, Berchtesgaden, and a boat trip on the Königsee.
The route is well marked with “Mozart Radweg” signs, although there were a few times we came to intersections with no signs and had to guess and/or ask. We used the bikeline series
“Mozart-Radweg” guidebook. Its trip maps are invaluable, as well as the symbols on the maps indicating elevation change.
The pedaling is on bike routes for the most part. There is one nasty section on a heavily trafficked road leading up a long hill and down into the town of St. Gilgen, but most of the
roads on the route have few cars. Long stretches of pleasant flat pedaling along rivers and lakes and through lush fields and pretty towns are interspersed with some hilly treks. However, we found nothing to be
super strenuous.
Before setting out from Salzburg, where we left our car, we visited two Mozart highlights in this charming city: the Mozart’s Geburtshaus (birth house) and the Mozart Wohnhaus (where he
lived). The latter is fascinating. Headsets are provided so you can listen to famous operas and minuets. Musical instruments, musical scores, family portraits, and a map of Mozart’s travels are on display.
Mozart spent one-third of his short life (thirty-five years) on the road. At the huge map, you can press buttons to learn more about different trips he took. The museum/house visit winds up with a wonderful film
on his life, which can be viewed in English.
Mozart’s birth house provides an idea of what living was like back in his day. It is fun to wander through. The old kitchen is especially interesting. Had we had more time in Salzburg,
we may have taken Fräulein Maria’s Bicycle Tour (www.marias-bicycle-tour.com), which visits the main locations from The
Sound of Music. No doubt Mozart would have been insulted had we given Julie Andrews equal time, so we got on the bikes and pedaled out of town along the Salzach River. Our destination was St. Gilgen, some
twenty-nine miles away in Austria, on a loop off the main route.
We left the river and headed through green fields with mountains in the background and villages with onion-domed churches. It was cloudy when we left Salzburg, but soon the rain
started. The light drizzle of morning turned into an afternoon downpour. We had to reach St. Gilgen that night, and the last two miles were the worst part of the entire trip – cycling up a long hill on a busy
road with monster trucks roaring by, their spray adding to the water falling from the sky…
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German-American Destinations:
Spartanburg, South Carolina
BMW in America
by Mark Zimmerman
The “Ultimate Driving Machine” develops a bit of a southern drawl.
The engineering philosophy at BMW’s headquarters in Munich, Germany, is simple: engineer a product until it cannot be engineered any more. BMW’s expansion into foreign markets has taken
this philosophy to a higher level and has re-structured the company’s marketing techniques. In the late 1980s, BMW conducted an extensive internal review of its corporation and found that, although the company
had worldwide sales, its production was limited to Europe. The United States was BMW’s second largest market outside of Germany and an expansion into this market would allow BMW to move from a regional
manufacturer to a worldwide organization.
In the early 1990s, BMW drafted plans to move into the American market and, in 1992, they announced that they would be creating a manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The
inclusion of America as a BMW manufacturer was a unique transition for a company that had almost exclusively manufactured its product in Europe for nearly one hundred years. This resulted in opposition from
those who questioned BMW’s decision, though the automaker never wavered in its transition strategy despite fears that the company would lose its own unique identity.
In 1994, the Spartanburg manufacturing plant went fully operational and, by 2005, America had become BMW’s largest market.
One significant aspect of BMW’s success in Spartanburg is the way they have maintained their corporate independence by tasking out resource responsibilities to their suppliers. Dozens
of suppliers began to relocate to the southeast when the Spartanburg plant first went into operation. The concept of suppliers gravitating towards a manufacturing plant is unique to many other auto manufacturers
who have their supplier network scattered worldwide. Bunny Richardson, Assistant Manager of Media Relations for BMW Manufacturing Co., explains that “one very pertinent point with the growth of the supplier
network is that when BMW announced in 1992 that it would build a factory in the United States, BMW had twenty suppliers in North America and today we have about one hundred forty (spanning from Canada to
Mexico), including forty in South Carolina.” Thirty-one of those forty suppliers have now partnered with BMW with an additional four suppliers now building permanent manufacturing plants in the state.
BMW’s influence has extended beyond its suppliers and is quickly becoming a prevalent force in the local community of Spartanburg and surrounding areas. “BMW Manufacturing is deeply
committed to being a responsible corporate citizen,” Richardson says. “The company believes that its role in the community is to use its funds, facilities, and image to initiate inventive partnerships among
existing organizations.”
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Grand Rapids, Michigan
From Fur Traders to Furniture Traders: City of Contrasts
by Dorothea S. Michelman
The sounds and efforts of German immigrants echo through this city’s history.
Visitors to Grand Rapids, Michigan's second-largest city, may find it a challenge to envision today's vibrant tourist destination as it first appeared in 1826 – a riverside trading post
established by French trader Louis Campeau. Trade between the French, British, and local Ottawa Indians must have been brisk, for in 1831, Campeau paid ninety dollars to the federal government for what now
comprises the city's entire downtown business district.
From there, expansion was swift: trading post to village, village to city, and from trading in furs to trading in furniture. Geography – Grand Rapids' proximity to the rapids of the
Grand River and the dense pine trees blanketing the surrounding area, coupled with economic and demographic factors – including often lower wages for immigrant artisans – fostered the growth of what would one
day be America's "Furniture Capital." By 1850, the year Grand Rapids was incorporated, the Grand River was generating power for the new city's first furniture factory as well as providing
transportation for the logs traveling from forests further upstream.
As for the makers of the fine pieces of furniture produced at the new factory and elsewhere, their numbers included recent German immigrants who had brought old-world cabinet-making
traditions over to the new, where the high quality of their cabinetry soon found an appreciative market.
At the Van Andel Museum Center, a stroll through "Furniture City" not only brings to life the craft of those who created it, but invites the visitor to catch a glimpse of some
of their leisure-time activities. Included in the exhibit is a photograph of an 1892 get-together of German artisans at their beloved Turnverein, an institution brought over from the old country which, in North
America, served not only as an athletics club with physical education classes in a familiar cultural setting and a haven from the trials of life in a foreign country, but also formed an essential bridge between
old and new by offering English classes, encouraging naturalization, and providing various means for the emigrant to further his or her education as well as a place to simply socialize.
German "pioneers" to the area included Anthony and Elizabeth Cordes and their eight children, who arrived from Westphalia in 1836 and settled in Grand Rapids four years later.
Others would follow. As Wilhelm Seeger, professor of German at Grand Valley State University and authority on the history of local German culture points out, these newcomers – many of them arriving in the
aftermath of the political upheaval of 1848, as well as a tremendous wave of immigrants at the end of the Civil War – played a vital role in the development of the Germans' social, political, religious, and
cultural image.
Ultimately, Germans would comprise the second-largest group of immigrants in Grand Rapids after the Dutch…
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Lunenburg, Nova Scotia:
Discovering Lunenburg
by Melanie Furlong
With strong German roots, this seaside UNESCO World Heritage Site in Canada is a “must see” on vacation lists.
Throughout the centuries, German customs and language have remained strong among Nova Scotia’s Lunenburgers. Although this small enclave of German culture is not well known among most
of the world’s German-speaking population, many of those who have happened upon it in recent years have decided to stay.
If you accidentally wandered into Lunenburg, you might be surprised by many things you found there. First off, you would blink with wonder at the town’s curious rainbow-colored houses.
The well-preserved homes were built in a striking vernacular unique to the area between 1760 and 1905 and are one of the main reasons Lunenburg was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995. From the
houses with the famous Lunenburg “bump,” a bay window that bulges out from the façade of the house to add more light and space, to the imposing Lunenburg Academy atop Gallows Hill, the town’s buildings give it a
unique character that had UNESCO calling it “an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement.”
Established in 1753 by King George of England, who also bore the title of Duke of Braunschweig-Luneburg, the area was confiscated from the French-speaking Acadians, who were
expulsed to the United States, and re-settled by protestant German-speakers. Many came from southern and central Germany, Switzerland, and the Montbeliard region of today’s France, and were chosen deliberately
for their potential for loyalty to the British Crown.
These determined immigrants were farmers who eventually turned to the sea for their livelihood and became legendary mariners and shipbuilders. Their success enabled them to build
up the town, which has become a must-see for all visitors to the province.
Hamburg natives Dieter Hintze and his wife, Ingeborg, arrived in Lunenburg in 1989 in search of a summer home, but now they and their children and grandchildren have moved to the
area permanently. “We were surprised to discover that the town had such deep German roots,” says Hintze. “We thought the name of the town might be related to Luneburg, Germany, but we didn’t know any more than
that. Now that we know about the German heritage of the area, what we really enjoy about it is the friendly people who are so proud of having German roots. So many people have told us, ‘My
great-great-grandfather was born in Germany and came here in 1753.’” Hintze also says he enjoys watching the waves lap up against his sailing boat from his beautiful waterfront property.
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Cole Camp, Missouri:
“Here We Speak Low German”
by Kim Hill
A small Missouri town celebrates a renaissance of low-country language
“Goden dag, leeve leeser.” For those who speak German but do not recognize this greeting of “good day, dear reader,” do not rush to the dictionary. The words are written in Low German,
not the standard High German phrase of “Guten tag, liebe leser.”
Derived from the Old Saxon language, Low German originated in the northern plains states. This low-lying area gives the language its name.
Low German has a rich history, even serving as the official language for commerce, law, and education for much of sixteenth century northern Europe. During the 1800s, one and a
half million Low German speakers made their way to America, where the language flourished in farmhouses across Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, and other states. Later, anti-German sentiment during both world wars sent
nearly all aspects of the German language into hibernation.
About fifteen years ago, however, Low German began to awaken from its fifty-year nap, helped along by the growing interest in genealogy. One community at the forefront of this
emergence is Cole Camp, Missouri. This small town (population one thousand twenty-eight) about one hundred miles southeast of Kansas City is one of few places in the United States where Low German is regularly
spoken and celebrated.
During the 1840s, large groups of immigrants from present-day Niedersachsen moved into the Cole Camp area, bringing their Low German language, strong work ethic, and Lutheran
religion. These characteristics still define the area today, according to Robert Owens, a native of Cole Camp and the town’s self-proclaimed historian.
Cole Camp’s sesquicentennial in 1989 proved to be the pivotal event that spurred a Low German renaissance. “During preparations for the sesquicentennial, a committee decided that
a booklet should be published of Low German stories and anecdotes,” says Neil Heimsoth, a participant in the town’s Low German revival. “After meetings with our older town members who spoke the language, so much
information was gained that a three hundred sixty-six page book was written.” This book, Hier Snackt wi Plattdütsch (Here We Speak Low German), was written by Owens.
As part of the celebration, a forty-five-member dance troupe from Germany arrived in September 1989, and provided an added impetus to Cole Camp’s Low German revival. “We were
amazed to find that we could understand their Low German and they could understand ours,” Heimsoth recalls. “This was truly a wonderful experience and people who had not spoken the language for years suddenly
took pride that they could speak it.”
Town leaders soon organized a Low German Club. A Low German Theater, held each October, is a humorous, two-hour production featuring songs and skits entirely in the low-country
language. The club also sponsors the annual Saengerfest, held each year on the second Saturday in June. This festival includes German singing groups from throughout the Midwest in addition to Cole Camp’s own
choirs (Maennerchor, Damenchor, and Kinderchor)…
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The Arkansas River Valley
A “Promised Land” for German-Swiss Immigrants
by Fred Middleton
Life in the new homeland was more difficult than immigrants were told but their faith and knowledge of grapes and wine enabled them to prosper.
Friendly people who take pride in the beauty of their mountain surroundings as well as their German and Swiss heritage roll out a warm welcome to the Arkansas River Valley, where
thousands of their ancestors relocated in response to recruiting efforts in the late 1800s.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Altus, located on the Ozark Plateau in Franklin County, was home to one of the largest international settlements in the state,
attracting people from Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Ireland. Situated in the Boston Mountains at the highest point on the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railway, the town was attractive to
immigrants because its soil and climate were ideal for establishing a viticulture region and for its strong resemblance to their mother countries. Although many who settled in Altus worked on the railroad, in
the nearby coal mines, or utilized their skills as craftsmen to make their living, most were farmers, with grapes for winemaking and table consumption as the predominate crop.
As Arkansas historian Dr. Jonathan Wolfe notes in his study of the German and Swiss migration to Arkansas, the state was ill equipped financially to carry out a large-scale plan to
attract German-speaking immigrants. So the job fell to “religion and railroads” to carry out the plan.
Bishop Edward Fitzgerald of the Diocese of Little Rock was eager to add to the state’s Catholic population. The Little Rock and Fort Smith Company sought to sell more than four million
acres of government-granted land for two dollars to six dollars an acre in hopes of recouping some of the cost of bringing its railroad (completed in 1876) to the primitive Valley, which stretched some one
hundred sixty-five miles from Little Rock, in the center of the state, to the Northwest outpost of Fort Smith.
During the 1870 to 1890 period, Arkansas’ German-speaking population grew from one thousand seven hundred eight to seven thousand eighteen, largely because of this partnership. Although
many other Southern states had larger German populations, among those states only Texas added more German-speaking immigrants in those twenty years.
Two German religious orders that were greatly affected by Otto von Bismarck’s Kulturkampf – the Benedictines and the Holy Ghost Fathers – were significant influences in helping
the Bishop and the railroad company realize their objectives.
Benedictine monks who fled Germany to the relative safety of the monastery in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, were transplanted to America to found St. Meinrad’s Abbey in Indiana. In exchange
for railroad land, their Abbott agreed to establish a mission center and a convent for Benedictine nuns in the Arkansas River Valley. This agreement led to the founding of St. Benedict’s Priory in 1878 near
Paris, Arkansas. Renamed New Subiaco Abbey in 1891, it provided priests for churches at such places as New Dixie, Hartman, Scranton, Altus, Paris, and Morrison’s Bluff…
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Following The Red Thread Through Hannover
by Sharon Hudgins
For a tour of Hannover’s key sights, all you have to do is look down and follow the “Red Thread.”
How many times have you arrived in a city that you haven't visited before – and wondered where (and how) to begin sightseeing? Sure, guidebooks always list the important museums,
churches, and other landmarks that you should see. However, they seldom tell you the best, or most efficient, way to plan a sightseeing tour on your own.
The German city of Hannover has cleverly solved that problem for tourists by painting a bold red stripe on its sidewalks, connecting more than three dozen important sites in a
continuous route that you can follow on foot through the city center. Whether you're a business person with only a couple of hours to spare, or an leisurely tourist planning to spend several days there, you can
maximize your visit by following the "Red Thread" through Hannover.
Start at the Hannover Tourismus Service (Ernst-August-Platz 8) next to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station), where, for two Euros, you can purchase a small, handy-size guidebook
titled Hannover: The Red Thread through the City Centre. This book shows the entire 4.2 kilometer (2-3/4-mile) "Red Thread" route, with a short description of each of the numbered stops along the
way. If you plan to spend only a little time in Hannover, just buy a city map for thirty Euro cents, which shows you how to take a short version of this self-guided tour to the main sightseeing points.
Start by strolling through the elegant Galerie Luise and Kröpke Passage shopping arcades, where you can also fuel up for your walk at one of the trendy bistros or cafes in these
glitzy mini-malls. Then head down the boulevard known as the Georgstrasse to Hannover's neo-classical Opera House, where you might want to buy a ticket for an upcoming performance. Just next to the Opera House
is a somber reminder of German history, a modern memorial to the Jews of Hannover who perished in the Holocaust.
Continue on down the Georgstrasse to the Georgplatz, resisting the temptation to do more shopping along the way. You don't want to lug a bunch of heavy shopping bags along the
route! The "Red Thread" will lead you from the Georgplatz past several historic sites, including a fragment of the old city wall from 1337 and the ruins of the medieval Aegidienkirche (St. Giles
Church), which was bombed during World War II when ninety percent of the city's buildings were damaged or destroyed by air raids. The church is now a place of remembrance for victims of war, including a monument
to the victims of Hiroshima.
When you reach Hannover's magnificent New Town Hall (built between 1901 and 1913), take time to go inside and ride the unusual oblique elevator to the top of the building's dome,
where you'll have a panoramic view over the entire city. Weather permitting, from that vantage point you'll be able to see why Hannover is known as "The Green Metropolis," for its many trees, parks,
forests, and gardens within the municipal boundaries…
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“Der Blaue Kurfürst” Maximilian II Emanuel of Bavaria (1662 to 1726) and the Siege of Vienna, 14 July to 12 September 1683
by Robert A. Selig
He successfully defended Vienna against the Ottoman Empire yet his life’s goal was to elevate the status of the House of Wittlesbach.
The name of Maximilian II Emanuel, the Blaue Kurfürst or "Blue Elector," after the "Bavarian Blue" color of his and his army's uniforms, is irrevocably connected
with two wars, or series of wars, of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. One is the "War of the Spanish Succession" (1702 to 1713), known as "Queen Anne's War" on this side
of the Atlantic, in which he nearly lost his Electorate in the Battle of Höchstädt (or Blenheim) in 1704. The other is a series of wars – the Türkenkriege – beginning in 1683 by the House of Habsburg and its allies against the Ottoman Empire that sought the displacement of the forces of the Sultans from the Balkans. These wars ended, some historians would argue, only with the Treaty of Lausanne between the Allied Powers of World War I and the government of Mustafa Kemal (Kemal Atatürk) in 1923. It was in the wars of the 1680s, at Vienna and Belgrade, that Max Emanuel gained the aura of a daring general and skilled military leader that still surrounds his name.
Maximilian II Maria Emanuel Kajetan, his full name, was born on 11 July 1662 in Munich to Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, (1636 to 1679) and his wife, Adelheid of Savoy (1636 to
1676). Barely seventeen years old at the death of his father in 1679, Max Emanuel inherited a small but well-administered electorate with a well-filled treasury. To enlarge this inheritance and to add dynastic
glory, a royal or maybe even the Imperial Crown, to the dignities of the House of Wittelsbach, which had ruled in Bavaria since 1180 and would continue to do so until 1918, became the over-riding ambition of his
life. In view of the limited resources of his lands, Max Emanuel reasoned that the best way of achieving his goals was in alliance with the House of Habsburg, which had held the Imperial dignity since the days
of Frederick III in 1452. The current Emperor Leopold I (1640 to 1705) had the additional advantage, from Max Emanuel's point of view, of having only one child with his wife (and niece) Margareta Maria Theresia
of Spain. Their daughter, named Maria Antonia Josefa (1669 to 1692), united in her person hereditary claims not only to the lands of the Austrian Habsburgs but of the Spanish branch of the family as well. The
surest way to ingratiate himself to his feudal overlord and powerful neighbor to the East was by lending military assistance in the struggle against the Sultan in Constantinople, today's Istanbul.
To this end he turned his armed forces into a standing army, modernized it along the lines of the armies of Louis XIV of France, and when the opportunity to use this military in support
of the Emperor arose in 1683, he was ready. Following the battle at Mohacs in 1526, Hungary had been broken up into three political entities. The first was the Habsburg-controlled northwestern Hungary, a narrow
strip of land stretching in a northeasterly direction from Croatia to Silesia. The second was Turkish-controlled Hungary, stretching from the Adriatic to the Black Sea and encompassing most of the former
Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, and parts of the Ukraine. The third was the autonomous principality of Transylvania, mostly modern-day Slovakia, parts of Poland and the Ukraine. For decades, the Hungarian
nobility had feuded with their Habsburg overlords over religious and constitutional rights. Seeking assistance against what they considered foreign oppression, nobles around Count Imre Thököly (1657 to 1705) now
appealed to Sultan Mehmed IV (1641 to 1692) for help…
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A Genealogist’s Mecca – Salt Lake City
by James M. Beidler
When it comes to genealogy, make your first stop the Family History Library.
For many of the many Americans with German-speaking ancestors, a crucial point in their genealogical research comes when they attempt to establish the heimat or “home village” of the
ancestor. And while these researchers often think a trip to Germany (or Switzerland or Austria) is in order, purely in terms of accessibility to and assistance with the major German record groups, the first
priority for a research trip is not across the Atlantic but to the “crossroads of the West” – Salt Lake City.
That is because Utah is the home of the world’s largest genealogical repository – the Family History Library – which is free to the public and run by the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. One of the many strengths of this library is its extensive collection of records – both in book and microfilm – relating to German-speaking people.
First, some of the statistics that allow the library to live up to its “world’s largest” billing: Its collection of some four hundred-thousand books and nearly three million rolls
of microfilm (spread out over five public floors) spurs about three-quarters of a million visits annually. The materials relating to German-speaking peoples are generally found on the library’s International
floor, which is called “B1” for “Basement 1.”
Of particular interest to researchers with German-speaking ancestry is the fact that many German, Swiss, and Austrian church registers have been microfilmed for the library. While
the coverage is somewhat uneven due to varying degrees of cooperation between the custodians of the records and the Mormons – western Germany is better represented than eastern Germany and more Protestant than
Catholic Church books have been filmed – this resource still represents millions of names. It is common for these registers to date back to the period after the Thirty Years’ War (1618 to 1648), leaving room for
an average of four generations to be found even for Colonial era immigrants to America.
These church registers primarily consist of baptisms, marriages, and burials; each type of record can help the genealogist make connections between generations. Typically, a researcher
may find an immigrant ancestor’s baptism, which names the ancestor’s parents. Armed with those parents’ names, the marriage register can be consulted to find the maiden name of the mother and most German
marriage records also list the names of both wedding partners’ fathers. This in turn opens the door to looking for the baptism of the next generation further back in time…
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At Home:
Chill Out: The German Passion for Frozen Desserts
by Sharon Hudgins
Germans are crazy about frozen treats, from ice cream (known simply as Eis) to frozen yogurts, mousses, bombes, and sorbets; from layered frozen tortes to tall glasses of
Eiskaffee (hot coffee with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream).
However, ice cream reigns supreme. The earliest known recipe for ice cream in Germany was published in the late 1500s, and Germany's first ice cream parlor reputedly opened in
Hamburg's Alsterpavillion in 1799.
One of the country's most famous ice cream concoctions – Fürst-Pückler-Eis, or Fürst-Pückler-Bombe – was created in the nineteenth century. Named for Prince Hermann von
Pückler-Muskau (1785-1871), this dome-shaped frozen dessert consists of three layers of sweetened whipped cream or ice cream (chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry-spiked-with-maraschino-liqueur), with crushed
almond macaroons either folded into the whipped cream or spread between the layers of ice cream. An especially popular dessert in Berlin in the 1880s, this northern version of Italian “Neopolitan ice cream” is
still beloved by many Germans today.
Prior to the twentieth century, ice creams were made primarily in restaurant kitchens, in the backs of ice cream parlors, and in those households that could afford to purchase ice
for making and storing frozen desserts. Large-scale industrial production of ice cream in Germany began in 1935 with the founding of the Langnese Company, which is still the country's top ice cream maker today.
Until the 1960s, almost all the ice cream in Germany was sold from street stalls (kiosks and moveable carts) and at ice cream parlors and restaurants, because so few German households had refrigerators (and even
those had freezing compartments too small for storing cartons of ice cream).
Beginning in the 1960s, Italian immigrants in Germany started opening their own street stands and little ice cream parlors, featuring several flavors of Italian gelati (made
with milk instead of cream), as well as colorful frozen fruit sorbetti (sherbets or sorbets – the word used in German and French). These Italianische Eisspezialitäten became so popular that today you'll find Italian ice cream sellers in almost every city and town in Germany. The advent of Italian ice cream to postwar Germany also boosted consumption, from around 1.6 liters per person in West Germany in 1960 to 8.4 liters per person in unified Germany in 1992.
Stop at an ice cream parlor (Eiscafe) on a summer day and you'll find a menu (Eiskarte) listing a large selection of ice cream dishes (Eisspezialitäten), including
elaborate Eisbecher – combinations of one or more flavors topped with sweet sauces (chocolate, caramel, strawberry, cherry), fruits, nuts, berries, crumbled macaroons, crushed pralines, liqueurs, and always a
flourish of whipped cream, all served in tall parfait cups made of thick clear glass. You can also order a slice of Eisbombe, cut from a block of several layers of ice cream frozen together in a decorative
mold…
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Language:
Goethe’s Wisdom
Collected by Gert Niers
Different types of text require different approaches for the translator; obviously, poetry is quite different from prose, but also within the field of prose, there are diverging
forms and intentions of the author. We differentiate between fiction and non-fiction. Most often we find serious texts whose author wants to send us a message. Many prose texts are long and sometimes tedious. It
is more difficult to write comedy than tragedy. Sometimes it is not at all easy to write short texts, particularly if a certain intellectual or humorous twist, a point of wisdom is intended. Such generally valid
words of wisdom are called aphorisms. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 to 1832), Germany’s all-time greatest author, was a master of this genre. We have taken a few examples from his late work, Maxime und Reflexionen, and hope to offer a translation that does justice to the original.
Welche Regierung die beste sei? Diejenige, die uns lehrt, uns selbst zu regieren.
Which government is the best? The one that teaches us to govern ourselves.
* * *
Nach Pressfreiheit schreit niemand, als wer sie missbrauchen will.
Nobody else calls for freedom of the press but someone who wants to abuse it.
* * *
Geschichte schreiben ist eine Art, sich das Vergangene vom Halse zu schaffen.
To write history is a way of getting the past off one’s back.
* * *
Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine tätige Unwissenheit.
There is nothing more horrible than ignorance in action.
* * *
Wenn mir eine Sache missfällt, so lass ich sie liegen oder mache sie besser.
If there is something that I don’t like, I either leave it alone or make it better.
* * *
Wahrheitsliebe zeigt sich darin, dass man überall das Gute zu finden und zu schätzen weiß.
The love of truth becomes evident in the fact that one knows how to find and to treasure
what is good everywhere.
* * *
Deswegen sagte man ganz richtig: “Wer die Menschen betrügen will, muss vor allen Dingen das Absurde plausibel machen.”
That’s why one said quite correctly: “ He who wants to cheat
the people has – above all – to make the absurd sound as if it makes sense.”
* * *
Alles Gescheite ist schon gedacht worden, man muss nur versuchen, es noch einmal zu denken.
Everything intelligent has been already thought; one only has to try to think it again.
* * *
Wer zuviel verlangt, wer sich am Verwickelten erfreut, der ist den Verirrungen ausgesetzt.
Who demands too much, who enjoys complicated things, makes himself vulnerable to errors.
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Family Research:
German Surnames in Genealogy
by James M. Beidler
The search for roots has often been called a quest for identity, and there are precious few identifiers more striking than one’s surname.
The challenge for American researchers with German-speaking ancestors often revolves around deciphering what the “original” name in Europe really was – as opposed to the
modern-day permutations that may represent it in the New World.
My “Rule No. 1” for this process is as follows: “Do not get hung up with finding different spellings for a given surname.” That is because – difficult as it is for us to believe
from our modern perspective – standardized spelling of names (or anything else, for that matter) is a young concept.
“Rule No. 2” is just as important: “Quit saying ‘I do not know why my ancestor changed his or her name.’” The reason you should ban that phrase from your genealogical vocabulary
is that on most records, the name you are seeing is not the result of your ancestor’s spelling for it; instead, everything from census schedules to tax lists to recopied deeds and wills is the result of how
someone else – and probably a someone else who did not speak German – was spelling it for the ancestor. (Only when you see a signature on an original document should you pay any attention to it, and even
then be flexible.)
The origins of different types of German surnames may hold clues to how these names evolved in America.
The first class of surnames are the ones that are often the least helpful because they are the so-called Ecknahme or “occupational names.” Many of these names end with the final
syllable of -er or -mann. Some common examples are Hoffmann, Fleischer, Gerber, Schneider, Zimmermann, and Schiffmann. (Mueller, the German form of “Miller” fits this category – a joke in Pennsylvania German
genealogy is that “When you find you have an ancestor ‘John Miller,’ that is a good place to stop the search.”)
Other occupational suffixes are -macher (“maker”) or -hauer (“cutter”), and examples are Rademacher, Eisenhauer, and Fenstermacher. Occupational names seem to be the ones most likely to
be literally translated into English – there are records of Zimmermann families becoming “Carpenters,” Schneiders changed to “Tailors,” and even Eisenhauers called “Ironcutters” (though obviously not in
President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s family).
Geographic surnames – that is, those created from either specific or general places or physical features – 0are another broad category. Some examples of the “general” subcategory
are Bachmann (“Man of the creek”), Bergman (“Man of the mountain”), and Dieffenbach (“Deep brook”), while examples from specific places are Anspach, Marburger, and Schweitzer…
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CALENDAR:
JUNE
Washington, D.C.
The Brewmaster’s Castle Public Tour Schedule for the months of June and July: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Saturday at 11:30 a.m.,
1:00 p.m., and 2:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. Visit www.brewmasterscastle.com or call 202-429-1894 to check out information on this late-Victorian house museum.
Washington, D.C.
June 2: The Brewmaster’s Castle Open House and Music. Visit www.brewmasterscastle.com
or call 202-429-1894.
Frederick, MD
June 2: Der Stammtisch monthly social gathering at Brewer’s Alley, 124 N. Market Street. Call 301-631-0127 and ask for Fritz or Stammtisch.
Bethlehem, PA
June 2: Historic Bethlehem Partnership Events. Walking tour of Bethlehem’s South Side begins at Comfort
Suites, 120 W. Third Street. Visit www.historicbethlehem.org or call 610-868-6868.
San Antonio, TX
June 2: Beethoven King William Area Event at the Beethoven Halle und Garten, 422 Pereida Street. Call 210-222-1521.
Dayton, OH
June 2-4: Sängerfest hosted by the Eintracht Singing Society of Dayton, OH. Visit http://www.eintrachtsingingsociety.org/events.htm or call 937-275-0991 and ask for Rose Nolf.
Lancaster, PA
June 3: The 49th National Sängerfest of the Northeastern Singers Association. Tickets are available at the Lancaster
Liederkranz or can be ordered on-line at lancasterliederkranz@comcast.net.
Bethlehem, PA
June 3, 10, 17, & 24: Historic Bethlehem Partnership Events. One-hour guided tour of Bethlehem’s Historic District begins at Historic Bethlehem Welcome Center,
505 Main Street. Call 800-360-TOUR or 610-691-6055.
Lancaster, PA
June 9-10: Lancaster Liederkranz German Sommerfest 2006. E-mail lancasterliederkranz@comcast.net, call 717-898-8451 after 4:00 p.m. daily, or visit www.lancasterliederdranz.com .
Bethlehem, PA
June 10: Historic Bethlehem Partnership Events. Old-fashioned horse-drawn Carriage Rides. Visit Historic Bethlehem Welcome Center or call 610-691-6055 for tickets.
Cincinnati, OH
June 10: German Day of Greater Cincinnati Kickoff Celebration at Findlay Market. E-mail one2print@aol.com or call 513-575-0131.
Newport, KY
June 11: German Day of Greater Cincinnati at the Hofbräuhaus. E-mail one2print@aol.com or call 513-575-0131.
San Antonio, TX
June 16: Gartenkonzert at the Beethoven Halle und Garten, 422 Pereida Street. Call 210-222-1521.
Baltimore, MD
June 17: Deustche Geselligkeit’s 10th Annual Springfest Call 410-491-0845.
Covington, KY
June 17-18: 6th Annual MainStrasse Village “Original” Goettafest & MainStrasse Village River Raid Renaissance Festival at MainStrasse Village. Visit
www.mainstrasse.org or call 859-491-0458 and ask for Jerry Bamberger or Donna Kremer.
Walpole, MA
June 17-18: Sommerfest and Sängerfest. Visit www.germanclub.org or call Richard Brunner at 508-543-7275 or rbrunner@gis.net.
Leavenworth, WA
June 22-24: Leavenworth International Accordion Celebration. E-mail info@leavenworth.org or call 509-548-5807.
Richmond, VA
June 23-24: Palatines to America present Researching Your German-Speaking Ancestors. For registration/fees for this national seminar, e-mail ralphkroehler@prodigy.net or Ralph & Marge Kroehler, 6910 N. Rockvale, Peoria, IL 61614.
Philadelphia, PA
June 25: German-American Day at the United German American Club. Visit www.germanday.us or call 215-677-6394 and ask for Robert Eppinger.
Oakford, PA
June 25: German American Day. Visit www.ughclub.us.
Salem, OH
June 30-July 2: 34th Annual Heimattag. Call 330-222-1770 or 440-842-8442.
JULY
Leavenworth, WA
July 4: Kinderfest. E-mail info@leavenworth.org or call 509-548-5807.
Frederick, MD
July 7: Der Stammtisch monthly social gathering at Brewer’s Alley, 124 N. Market Street. Call 301-631-0127 and ask for Fritz or Stammtisch.
San Antonio, TX
July 7: Beethoven King William Area Event at the Beethoven Halle und Garten, 422 Pereida Street. Call 210-222-1521.
Fredericksburg, TX
July 14-15: Night in Old Fredericksburg sponsored by the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce at Market Square. Visit www.tex-fest.com or call 866-839-3378 for more information.
San Antonio, TX
July 21: Gartenkonzert at the Beethoven Halle und Garten, 422 Pereida Street. Call 210-222-1521.
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