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December 2007/January 2008
Gallery: A Detail of the Infinity: The Art of Wolfgang Laib
by Kim
A grain of rice, a speck of pollen, a drop of milk. By themselves, these unorthodox artistic media do not amount to much; but in the hands of Wolfgang Laib, a German artist based
in the Black Forest region, they evolve into archetypal emblems of purity, radiance, and simplicity. Rice becomes a reliquary, pollen a painting, and milk a sculpture. Each ordinary item evolves into a
metaphysical object that is simultaneously simple and complex – and deeply spiritual.
And this is precisely how one can describe the artist himself. Although Laib shows his work throughout the world, the fifty-seven-year-old artist eschews the hectic energy of an urban
environment in favor of rural solitude. He still lives outside the small town in southern Germany where he was born and raised, and he spends months in the fields surrounding his home collecting pollen from
dandelions and pine trees, slowly moving through fields with nothing more than a glass jar and his own thoughts. It is a simple life that allows him to focus on creating art rather than navigating the vagaries
of the contemporary art world. In a catalog for his 1991 exhibition Light Seed, Laib explained: “I'm living very isolated outside of a small village – it is, maybe, like on an island – isolated from people,
from society, but also from art and artists. For me it is very important to be independent and to be forced to do my own things.”
However, this simple lifestyle only underscores how complex the artist’s own life has been. Laib began his professional pursuits in science and trained as a doctor at the University of
Tübingen, where he wrote his dissertation on the purity of drinking water. This topic led him to spend three months researching in India, a country with which he was already familiar. As a child, he traveled
with his family to places such as Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and India, and the ancient monasteries and tombs appealed to his intellect and, more importantly, captured his imagination. Closer to home, he visited
medieval churches and towns, like Assisi, the province in Italy where St. Francis renounced worldly possessions in favor of an ascetic life devoted to God. This theological eclecticism influenced Laib to abandon
medicine in favor of art. After receiving his medical degree in 1974, he left the medical profession behind to pursue art. "The more I knew about the natural science,” Laib has since reflected, “the more I
saw that they were too narrow for me and it's just not what this body, what all these things are all about."
Laib similarly found art schools with their rigid curricula as impediments to the creative process. For that reason, he rejected the usual path followed by artists and simply began
creating, drawing inspiration from his spiritual influences as well as from artists such as Joseph Beuys and Constantin Brancusi. While still in medical school, he began sculpting perfectly shaped ovoids and
ellipses, forms he called "Brahmandas," the Hindu word for universe deriving from the religion's creation-myth. Soon thereafter he created his first “Milk Stones,” rectangular blocks of polished white
marble carved with slight depressions that hold a thin layer of milk. These two materials combine to create the illusion of one, solid form; an immovable yin meets a liquid yang…
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The Scent of the Holidays – German Smokers
by Brenda Ruggiero
They have brightened the holidays for centuries and hold a special place in the hearts of many who love Germany.
“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they
presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.”
– Matthew 2:11, King James
According to history, incense ranked along with gold and gems as a precious gift worthy of giving to kings, emperors, and even the Christ Child. Following this tradition, incense
smokers are often used as favorite Christmas decorations in Germany. Each of the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas has a special meaning, with the season culminating on January 6. On this day, the Festival of
the Three Wise Men is celebrated, and incense smokers are lit to mark the end of the season.
Another reason for the popularity of smokers was the belief that evil spirits of Raunächte (the longest night of the year) were driven away by both noise and light. When the
demons had been cleared from the home, incense was burned as a blessing.
Incense smokers, or Räuchermännchen (smoking men) are a tradition with roots in the German Erzgebirge Mountains, sharing the same ancestry as other woodworking toys such as
nutcrackers. Many of these wooden delights were created in the small town of Seiffen.
“All the handmade items (smokers, nutcrackers, pyramids, Schwibbogen), from the German Erzgebirge go back to the miners in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,” explained Marc
Wiedmaier of Erzgebirge Palace and European Gift Palace. “At first, they had only crafted them as a hobby, but later, when the mines dried out, they became professional artisans and crafted for a living.”
Smokers typically have a split body with a hollowed belly. When a burning incense cone is placed inside and the top replaced, the lower part gently glows and the smoke begins to
puff from the figure’s mouth, sending the aroma out to fill the room. However, original smokers were only one piece, and incense was placed on a tray next to the figurine. Early smokers were also made from dough
and papier-mâché rather than wood.
The smoking man tradition is thought to have started around 1850 in Heidelberg. The inspiration for the figures is believed to have come from the fact that pipe smoking was quite
popular throughout the nineteenth century, and a man with a smoking pipe in his hand was a common sight.
“More and more people started to smoke tobacco, and the Erzgebirge workshops took those smokers as an image for their incense smokers,” Wiedmaier said.
While many nutcrackers have stern expressions, most smokers look jovial and humorous. In addition, nutcrackers usually depict officials, such as military or political figures, while
woodworkers used smokers to represent the everyday lives of their friends and neighbors. The figures show the daily activities and chores of those who lived in the area. Many different designs and figures can be
found. Common forms included forestry workers, miners, peddlers, bakers, shepherds, and chimney sweeps…
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Retired in Germany
by Leah Larkin
For a contingent of Americans, Germany is the place of choice for enjoying their retirement years.
Florida, with its sandy beaches and sunny skies, beckons many in their golden years. On the other side of the ocean, thousands of Americans choose Germany – with its castles,
cathedrals, and good beer – as the ideal place for retirement.
“A lot of people in the United States look forward to visiting the old country. It’s their dream to come for two weeks. I’ve been living a dream for thirty years,” says Art Neeland,
seventy-one, who retired in Heidelberg after a career as a teacher there with the Department of Defense (DOD) school system.
Granted, the majority of Americans who retire in Germany have lived and worked in the country, most either in the military or as civilians associated with the military, for many, many
years. A good number are American males with German wives.
Until the end of the Cold War, some two hundred thousand to three hundred twenty thousand soldiers were stationed in Germany with the United States Army. That number is now down to
fifty-two thousand with plans for further reductions until troop strength in Germany is down to eighteen thousand five hundred. In addition to the uniformed forces, thousands of civilians have been, and still
are, employed to support the military.
Many grow accustomed to the European lifestyle, make friends in Germany, and, over the years, find fewer reasons to return stateside.
“I had no relatives in the states. My son was in the university here and my daughter was married and living in Italy. I really didn’t know where to go, but I couldn’t think of any place
in the United States where I wanted to live,” said John Rankin, seventy-seven, who, after living and working in Europe as a civilian for thirty-two years, retired with his wife, Viviana, in a small town near
Stuttgart in 1988.
Fred Schultz, sixty-seven, a retired DOD teacher, says he stayed “mainly for friends.” Schultz is head of the Dinosaurs, a group of retirees in Heidelberg who meet every week for lunch
at the Gasthaus Friedensglocke. “I like the Heidelberg community and the good German beer,” he adds. “For my sixtieth birthday I had a party here for two hundred. I also had a party in the states. Only twelve
people came. That’s why I hang around here, all these people around me.”
Dale Hollis, a Dinosaur member who retired as a military contractor in 2005, years ago married his German wife at the Heidelberg castle and plans to stay in the city. “I like the clean
living here,” he says. “You don’t see cigarette butts in the streets and there’s a lot less crime. You turn on the television and you hear about New Orleans where there are more murders than days of the year. In
Europe, women and children can walk through the forests in relative safety. You can’t do that in the United States.”
In Germany, walking – wandern – is part of the culture. Forests are crisscrossed with kilometer after kilometer of marked trails. Sidewalks are plentiful. People walk to neighborhood
stores and markets. It is a pastime that is appealing to many.
“Walking is part of our life here,” says Olen Cogan, seventy-three, who, after a lengthy career both with the military and as a civilian in the United States and Germany, retired with
his wife, Waltraude, in Sindelfingen near Stuttgart.
Waltraude, seventy-two, who was born in Germany but became an American citizen in 1968, also had a career in Germany. She retired in 2005 from her job as protocol officer for the
Stuttgart military community.
“We walk for an hour and a half every night on paths through the woods. We couldn’t do that in the United States. On Saturday, we walk through the old city to the market. In Missouri
(where they had a home) we had to walk along I 44 where there was lots of traffic,” she explains.
The Cogans also praised the German public transportation network. They can walk to a nearby S-bahn station from where “we can go anywhere in the world,” he said. Looking to the future,
this will be an even greater advantage, he pointed out, as “we won’t be able to drive forever.”
Living styles and standards in Germany can differ greatly from those in the United States. The Cogans traded their spacious suburban home in Missouri where they had originally planned
to retire for a row house in Sindelfingen, which they rent. She confesses “it broke my heart” to leave the Missouri residence, but, like others, spoke of their friends in Germany and their active social life.
“Community has a lot to do with it,” she said. “Why go off into the sunset to a beautiful place if you don’t know anyone?”
Like the Cogans, many retirees belong to German-American clubs. They take advantage of cultural opportunities and festivals in their areas. They travel. Germany, they point out, with
its central European location is ideal for travel to other European destinations.
“There are so many places to go and things to do,” said Larry Applebaum, sixty-six, a retired lieutenant colonel near Heidelberg married to a German. “You can’t be bored here.” He also
likes the “more relaxed, less hectic” lifestyle.
Applebaum, who worked for a German company after he retired from the military in 1986, is president of the United States Army Garrison Heidelberg Retirement Council, an organization
that represents the retirement community and advises the garrison commander on retiree matters. He estimates that there are some eight hundred American retirees in the Heidelberg community.
Retired military can take advantage of many benefits available in communities like Stuttgart and Heidelberg which have military bases with shopping centers, gas stations, and a military
post office where prices are much lower than those found in the German economy. Retirees, however, must pay German customs on the merchandise they purchase at these facilities.
Heidelberg also has a military hospital where military retirees can be treated. Retired civilians do not have the hospital, nor the shopping, privileges. To retain the benefits after
retirement, they, as well as some retired military who want full benefits, often take lesser jobs in military communities to keep their military ID cards.
Rex Gribble, eighty-six, retired in 1988 as public affairs officer, a civilian position, with the military in Heidelberg. He now works part time at the American golf course, which
entitles him to an ID card and base privileges. Olen Cogan works twenty hours a week for $7.50 per hour at the base car care center to keep an ID card…
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A Pilgrimage to Steyr
by Tom Bross
This enchanting Austrian city entices visitors with a rich history, a beautiful location, and an annual Christmas pilgrimage tradition.
Just about halfway between much-visited Vienna and Salzburg, two fast-flowing rivers – the Steyr and Enns – converge to form a sharp triangle of terrain in the hilly Traunviertel
region of Upper Austria (Oberösterreich). A promontory looming above those waterways would be predictable high ground for a castle. So, sure enough, this is where Schloss Lamberg’s ramparts and arcaded
courtyards have dominated their surroundings for nine hundred-plus years.
Clustered down below: picturesque Steyr, home to a bit less than forty thousand citizens. Six bridges span the two rivers. For point-of-land similarity, think Koblenz in Germany,
Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. However, this much-smaller place tops them both when it comes to walkable dimensions and an easygoing tempo. Newcomers can get oriented by heading to the elliptically shaped
Stadtplatz, centrally situated amidst twin rows of Renaissance, late-Gothic, and flamboyantly Baroque buildings. Standing tallest: the slender white belfry of Steyr’s mid-eighteenth-century Rathaus, a
cannot-miss edifice featuring a pink rococo-encrusted façade and ornamental balustrades. Nearby, the double-gabled Bummerlhaus dates from the thirteenth century. Also impeccably preserved, Kirchengasse’s
Dunkelhof and its inner courtyard blended into the Altstadt’s architectural ensemble two hundred years later.
Two gateways, the Schallentor (1613) and Neutor (1573), frame inner-city perimeters. Municipal trading rights, granted by the Babenberger dynasty’s Duke Albrecht I in 1287, boosted
waterborne commerce (the Enns empties into the Danube, eighteen miles north of town). Resulting prosperity goes a long way toward explaining rich details embellishing townhouses throughout the Innenstadt core
This being Austria, churches can be expected to accentuate the city skyline. Onlookers admire 1647’s huge, clock-towered Michaelerskirche, prominent on a lofty Enns-side terrace. Its
curved white pediment displays an allegorical fresco depicting Archangel Michael vanquishing devilish Lucifer. Inside, altarpiece artistry repeats that theme of good vs. evil. Old-World Gothic like the
Bummerlhaus, the Pfarrkirche (Parish Church) at Brucknerplatz is illuminated by a dazzling pair of stained-glass windows revering the Virgin Mary…
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…And the winner is...Deutschland sucht den Superstar
by Anna Cramer
The phenomenon is not limited to America as lines form for a chance to become Germany’s next SUPERSTAR!
When Grundy Light Entertainment started exporting the British show Idol to first the United States and then the rest of the world, few anticipated the spectacular success of
the format. Today, more than one hundred countries are airing the show, many – like Germany – with their own version. Here, private RTL Television in Cologne is giving this lifetime chance to aspiring young
singers to strike it big as a superstar – if luck and talent last. In 2007, twenty-eight-year-old Mark Medlock won the fourth round in Germany, and his winning song – Now or Never – jumped to the top of the charts immediately. A total of 5.5 million viewers accumulated in the twenty shows involved in the six months of sorting out the winner from twenty-eight thousand five hundred ninety-seven candidates. These are strong figures for a country of only eighty-two million inhabitants.
Simon Fuller, manager of the Spice Girls, created the format of the immensely popular show. It is quite similar to the United Kingdom show Pop Idol and Britain’s’ Got Talent and the United States adaptation, American
Idol. It starts with a mass screening by preliminary panels on the hip Spanish Mediterranean resort islands of Mallorca and Ibiza, for which anyone between sixteen and thirty years of age can sign up and sing
before a jury without previous application. Successful candidates are then individually auditioned in six German cities. Clips of these early and often embarrassing but funny interviews with terribly untalented
candidates being ridiculed by the judges are later interspersed in the other shows. They become the talk of the schoolyard the next day and are shown for entertainment on other television shows.
In the round after the second screening, the three judges step in to select ten finalists out of one hundred auditioners in forty-five- to one hundred-minute episodes. The judges are
Dieter Bohlen, famous music producer and songwriter; darling of the yellow press for frequent scandals, Heinz Henn; and Anja Lukaseder. Although it is the viewers who decide the fate of the candidates in the
final “motto” shows, the judges evaluate the candidates after each performance, using criteria like the candidates’ outfits and performances in addition to their musical abilities. Judges’ personal preferences
also play in. Afterwards, the judges’ roles change from critics to those of advisors, and the viewers then have the last word. Besides commercial spots, these costly calls are a major source of income for RTL as
they generate millions of euros in fees…
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John Rabe: The Nazi Savior of Nanking
by Barbara Selig
Amidst the turmoil and atrocities of Japan’s invasion of China, one German man’s heroic actions saved the lives of countless Chinese.
Most people wonder how they would fare when faced with a moral or ethical dilemma or a situation that required incredible personal bravery. Would we stand up for our beliefs? Would we
be courageous when facing the lions in the Roman arena? Would we have personally hidden runaway slaves in ante-bellum America or been in the resistance in Vichy, France? Most people never have to truly face what
inner reserves they have, but one businessman, John Rabe, living in China in 1937, had to do just that. He lived through seven of the most horrific weeks in human history in the city of Nanking. Rabe stepped
forward, and tried to save as many lives of the Chinese people, whom he had grown to love, as possible and then faded back into obscurity and in fact, poverty and disrepute. His fascinating story is not only a
personal one but a political one as well, and politics are helping to rescue Rabe’s name from obscurity just as politics sent his story underground almost seventy years ago.
John Rabe was born in Hamburg Germany in 1882. His father was a ship captain who died when Rabe was young, making it impossible for him to continue his education. Perhaps his father
told him tales of his travels for Rabe’s life also would be spent largely outside of Germany. He went first as an apprentice for a Hamburg export firm to Mozambique where he learned to speak English. Malaria
brought him back to Germany in 1906 but several years later he moved to China, first to Peking and then Shanghai. He married his childhood sweetheart, Dora, with whom he had two children, a son, Otto, and a
daughter, Gretel. In 1911, he gained employment with the Siemens Corporation in China where he remained even during the challenging years of World War I. By the time Siemens transferred him to Nanking in 1931,
he was their lead officer in China.
Nanking (now known as Nanjing) was a city of about 1.3 million in the 1930s. Becoming the capital city of Nationalist China in 1927, Nanking was filled with embassies, foreign mission
schools, the University of Nanking, and a beautiful memorial park and mausoleum honoring Sun Yat-sen. Located at a bend in the Yangtze River, Nanking was surrounded by water on two sides. Purple Mountain stood
to the east so this natural defense was known as the “coiling dragon” and “the crouching tiger” to the locals. Folklore also predicted that when the Purple Mountain burned “Nanking is lost.” During the Ming
dynasty, huge city walls were built to protect the city. It took two hundred thousand workers twenty years to build the wall, the largest of any city in the world. The walls contained intricate gates, which
would later prove a disadvantage when Chinese troops were trying to flee the city. By 1937, not all of the wall remained, but at least twenty-one to twenty-five miles still surrounded the city, at places fifty
feet high and forty feet wide at the top. Nanking was also known as one of the furnaces of China in the summer due to its heat and humidity…
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Göttingen
by Jörg Unger
From its university that lays claim to forty-four Nobel Prize winners to the “most kissed girl in the world,” Göttingen offers a rich and eclectic experience.
“Remember me also affectionately to the professors at Göttingen, whose learning and politeness impressed me with the highest esteem for them. I wish every kind of prosperity to
them and their university,” Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter of September 1766 to Rudolf Erich Raspe, author of the Münchhausen Stories. Invited by the Academy of Science, Franklin had attended a conference
in Göttingen on July 19, 1766. A memorial plaque on Michaelis House in Prinzen Strasse is a reminder of his stay when the building served as a lecture hall and accommodations for guest lecturers.
The esteem and respect must have been mutual, as Benjamin Franklin, inventor of bifocal spectacles and the lightning rod in 1752, had great influence on Georg Christoph
Lichtenberg, student and later professor of the Georg August University. He is regarded as the first lecturer who introduced experiments in university courses, which used to be full of theory and facts in those
times. Lichtenberg was a mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and aphorism writer, all in one. He anticipated balloon trips when he released gas-filled soap bubbles during his lectures, and his electrostatic
machine emitted amazing sparks flying up to sixteen inches. His experiments could induce more than one hundred students to attend one of his courses at the same time. He was the first to introduce Benjamin
Franklin’s lightning rod in Göttingen and talked about negative and positive electric particles.
Georg II, Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg and Elector of Hannover, inaugurated the University of Göttingen in 1737. It soon became one of the most well-known universities of Europe
and had a wide appeal among English students, since his father, Georg I, had ascended the throne of Great Britain in 1714. Up to this day, forty-four Nobel prize winners can be associated with the university,
among them Robert Koch, Max Born, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Max Planck, Otto Hahn, Rudolf Euken, and Irving Langmuir, and famous scientists, philosophers, and politicians – such as Richard Courant, James Franck,
Thomas Young, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Gerhard Schröder, ex-chancellor of Germany – lived and studied in this town.
While the modern university complex, which has grown to thirteen departments with about twenty-four thousand students, is located in the northern part of Göttingen today, the
grand assembly hall (Aula) of the Georg August University and the historical library can be visited in the old town during a guided city tour. Built in classical style on the occasion of the hundredth
anniversary of the university from 1835 to 1837, the front of the Aula is adorned with a relief, depicting the four classical disciplines of the university: theology, law, medicine, and philosophy. Inside, the
large celebration hall with the portraits of the university founder and his successors is still the venue for presenting diplomas and prizes or holding solemn ceremonies and speeches…
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Die Weihnachtskrippe – A Brief History of the Nativity Scene
by Robert A. Selig
It is found in many forms and by many names but the three-dimensional depiction of Christ’s birth remains synonymous with Christmas.
Asked about the mental picture that comes to mind when they think about Christmas, most Christians the world over will place the Krippe, the nativity scene, at the very top of
their list, together with the Christmas tree and the smells of Christmas emanating from the kitchen as they remember them from their childhood. And how could it be any other way when the Weihnachtskrippe,
the visual representation of the birth of Christ, is the very reason for the celebration of Christmas?
What is a Weihnachtskrippe? The term Krippe, used to describe a nativity scene in German, comes from the old High German word krippa. Originally, the term was used to describe a Flechtwerk,
(wickerwork or basketwork) and was applied to a trough-like or basket-like contraption used to feed large animals such as cows or horses in a stable. The various English terms used to convey the meaning German Krippe – creche (or crèche) from the French, meaning "infant bed," or manger from the French manger,
to eat, as well as the German-language rooted words crib (a term used especially in the United Kingdom and countries of the Commonwealth), and cradle all preserve both the religious as well as the "real world" content of the word.
Depicting the Holy Family in a stable with the Christ-child in a manger is based, of course, on the well-known description in the Gospel of Luke, beginning with Chapter 2, Verse 7:
"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." Verses 12 and 16 describe the image to the
shepherds as well: "And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. … And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in
a manger."
Some historians see the origins of the three-dimensional depiction of the events in Bethlehem in the writings of Origines (circa 185 to 254 AD). Origines describes how pilgrims came to
Bethlehem from all across the Roman Empire to visit the grotto where Christ's crib was said to have stood. Since traveling to Bethlehem was not an option for most people, the early church is said to have
encouraged the construction of nativity scenes in places where Christians met. Similarly shrouded in tradition is the creation of the first nativity scene by St. Francis of Assisi in 1223. According to Thomas of
Celano, Francis' nativity scene consisted of but a straw-filled manger set between a real ox and donkey with the manger acting as the altar for the Christmas Mass. In 1289, Fr. Pandolfo, a canon at S. Maria
Maggiore in Rome, founded a chapel with an altar in one of the aisles of the church. A set of figures depicting the three wise men praying in front of the Christ-child in his crib which were added to the altar
in 1291. Historians see in this (still existing altar) the oldest surviving nativity scene…
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Language: Auf den Spuren deutscher Missionare in Süd-Dakota
Zweiter Teil
Von Gert Niers
Nach der Schlacht am Little Big Horn River im Osten des Montana-Territoriums (1876), in der Angehörige der Lakota (Sioux) und Nord-Cheyenne ihrem Angreifer General George A.
Custer eine vernichtende Niederlage bereiteten, fand am Wounded Knee Creek, Pine Ridge Reservation, im Südwesten des heutigen Bundesstaates South Dakota die letzte größere Auseinandersetzung zwischen Lakota und
US-Armee statt (1890). Bei dem als Massaker bekannt gewordenen Konflikt wurden mehr als 200 Lakota vom 7. Kavallerieregiment der US-Armee erschossen, 15 Armee-Angehörige kamen ums Leben. Das rund 500 Mann starke
Regiment hatte den Auftrag, Angehörige der Miniconjou-Lakota und der Hunkpapa-Lakota in ein anderes Reservat zu bringen, weil das Bureau of Indian Affairs Unruhen befürchtete wegen verstärkter Aktivitäten einer
Gruppe von Geistertänzern. Diese fanatischen Tänzer waren von dem in Nevada ansässigen Paiute-Schaman Wovoka inspiriert worden und hofften auf eine Wiederstehung ihrer alten Welt. Als auf der Pine Ridge
Reservation kurz vor Jahresende 1890 die Einheimischen ihre Waffen abliefern sollten, fiel während eines Handgemenges plötzlich ein Schuss. Daraufhin eröffnete die US-Armee das Feuer aus allen verfügbaren
Rohren, u.a. aus vier leichten Kanonen.
Das Massaker ist heute allgemein bekannt als Tiefpunkt in den Beziehungen zwischen der US-Regierung und den entrechteten Ureinwohnern. Nicht so sehr bekannt ist die Vermittlungsaktion
des aus Vorarlberg (Österreich) stammenden Missionsleiters Johann Jutz, der unter viel Mühen eine friedliche Umsiedlung mit den Lakota-Häuptlingen ausgehandelt hatte und um das Ergebnis seiner Verhandlungen
betrogen wurde. Bei dem Konflikt wurde allerdings keinem Missionsangehörigen von den Indianern ein Haar gekrümmt. Im Gegenteil: einige Krieger kehrten sogar bei der Holy Rosary Mission auf dem Reservat Pine
Ridge ein, um sich mit Speis und Trank zu stärken. Auf der von dem Jesuitenpater Jutz geleiteteten Mission taten auch Franzikanerinnen Dienst, und zwar Schwestern von der Buße und der Christlichen Liebe.
In der Lakota-Sprache wurden sie als Wakan winonhinca (heilige Frauen) verehrt. Ihnen oblag in erster Linie der Schulunterricht. Laienbrüder übernahmen die handwerkliche Ausbildung. Die Schulen wurden als
Internate geführt. Die Unterrichtssprache war Englisch…
Tracking German Missionaries in South Dakota
Part 2
by Gert Niers
During the Battle of the Little Bighorn (river) in the Eastern part of Montana Territory (1876), members of the Lakota (Sioux) and North Cheyenne dealt an annihilating defeat to
their attacker, General George A. Custer. In 1890, the last major conflict between the Lakota and the U.S. Army took place at Wounded Knee Creek, Pine Ridge Reservation, in the Southwestern part of what is today
the state of South Dakota. During this conflict, now recognized as a massacre, the Seventh Cavalry of the United States Army killed more than 200 Lakota. Fifteen soldiers lost their lives. The regiment of about
500 troops had to carry out the assignment of relocating members of the Miniconjou Sioux (i.e., Lakota) and of the Hunkpapa Sioux tribes to another reservation because the Bureau of Indian Affairs feared trouble
due to increased activities of a group of Ghost Dancers. These fanatic dancers, inspired by the Paiute shaman Wovoka from Nevada, hoped for the resurrection of their old world order. When the Native Americans
were supposed to surrender their weapons on the Pine Ridge Reservation shortly before the end of the year 1890, all of a sudden a gunshot fell during a scuffle. Thereupon the U.S. Army opened fire from all
available barrels, including four light cannons.
Today, the massacre is generally considered the low point of relations between the U.S. Government and the subjugated original inhabitants. Not so well known are the diplomatic efforts
that had been brought forth by Johann Jutz from Vorarlberg (Austria), who – as the director of the Mission – had negotiated with the Lakota chiefs a peaceful resettlement but was cheated out of the result of his
painstaking demarche. However, the Indians hurt no member of the Mission during the conflict. On the contrary, some warriors stopped by Holy Rosary Mission on the Pine Ridge Reservation to regain strength from
food and drink. On that Mission, which operated under the guidance of Jesuit priest Jutz, Franciscan nuns – Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity – also performed their duty. The Lakota
language referred to them as wakan winonhinca (holy women). They were mainly concerned with teaching the various school subjects. Lay Brothers were in charge of instructing the students in arts and crafts.
The educational branch of the Mission was run as a boarding school. The instructional language was English…
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At Home: German Christmas Stollen
by Sharon Hudgins
I was delighted – but also a bit surprised – when I discovered that an accomplished German baker was taking my class on "German Christmas Cookies" at Sur La Table
cookware store in Dallas. It turned out that this German expatriate wanted to learn how to make Springerle cookies like those he remembered from his childhood. However, after only a few minutes I realized
that this handsome elderly gentleman knew more about baking than anyone else in the class.
Hermann Michaeli and his American wife, Andrea Boardman, soon became friends of mine. The first time they came to my annual Christmas potluck dinner party, Hermann brought plates
of delicate, buttery, homemade cookies that were quickly devoured by the other fifty guests (most of them bona fide “foodies” themselves), who wanted to know who baked the best cookies on the dessert table and
how to get the recipes for them.
At the next year's party, Hermann arrived with two loaves of Stollen, a traditional German Christmas treat. Once again, his contribution to the festive meal was a big hit. I
began to suspect that Hermann had been less than honest with me in claiming that he was only an amateur home baker and had never been a professional pastry chef.
Stollen are sugar-coated fruit-and-nut breads – naturally a bit dry, with a texture between a cake and a bread – that are made in the shape of an oblong loaf, which is said to
symbolize the swaddled Christ Child. Also called Christstollen and Weihnachtsstollen, these Christmas breads have been popular in Germany for centuries. Every year, before the Advent season begins, German
home cooks bake loaves of Stollen for their families and friends, and professional bakers ship commercial Stollen all over the world.
The Germans make many varieties of Stollen, some with marzipan, others with poppy seeds, and still others even with mashed potatoes in the dough. Particular cities such as
Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, and Köln are well known for their own special versions of Stollen. (For more information and a recipe for Dresden-style Stollen, see "Stollen Pleasures" in German Life, December 2000/January 2001.)
Most Stollen are made with a yeast-raised dough that takes several hours to rise properly. However, Hermann's delicious Stollen takes less time to make because it is leavened with Backpulver,
a German type of baking powder. Based on a recipe from Das beste Dr. Oetker Backbuch (Ceres Verlag, 1993), Hermann's Stollen also contains Quark, a German dairy product similar to cottage cheese (but
with a smooth texture); hence its name, Quarkstollen…
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Yesteryears
by Robert E. & Barbara Selig
Margaret Gene Arnstein (27 October 1904 – 8 October 1972)
Margaret Arnstein was one of four children of Elsie (Nathan) and Leo Arnstein of New York City, whose parents had immigrated to the United States from Germany during the first
half of the nineteenth century. Her father, a graduate of Yale University, had already had a successful career in business when he became Commissioner of Welfare for New York City and president of Mount Sinai
Hospital.
Her father's social conscience, his commitment to the goals of the Progressive Movement, and change of profession late in life also influenced Margaret's choice of careers. Encouraged
by Lilian Wald, a close family friend, Margaret graduated from Smith College in 1925 and went on to earn a nursing degree from the New York Presbyterian Hospital School for Nursing in 1928, and a Masters Degree
in Public Health Nursing from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1929. From 1929 to 1934, she worked as a nurse in the Westchester County Hospital just north of New York City, before taking up an
appointment in the Communicable Disease Division of the New York State Department of Health. In 1937, she left New York City to accept a position as Associate Professor and Director of Public Health in the
Department of Preventative Medicine at the University of Minnesota. While at the University of Minnesota, Arnstein found her dual calling in teaching and field research. From 1940 on, she would spend the rest of
her life trying to combine field studies in public health nursing with the need to inform the rest of the nursing community of what had been learned in those studies. Arnstein was acutely aware of the many
changes occurring in health care and she wanted current and future generations of nurses to keep pace with those changes. ..
Walter Ufer (22 July 1876 – 2 August 1936)
Born in Germany in 1876, Ufer came to the United States with his parents before his first birthday and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. It was his father, a master gunsmith, who
recognized and encouraged Walter's talent and apprenticed his son to a lithography firm. Having finished his apprenticeship and travels in the western parts of the United States – he sketched the Grand Canyon
and sites in Arizona as early as 1905 – Ufer left the United States in 1907 to study art at the Royal Academy in Dresden where he met Joseph Henry Sharp and Ernest Blumenschein. Until the outbreak of World War
I, Ufer, together with his wife and fellow artist Mary Fredericksen, whom he had married in 1911, lived, worked, and traveled through France, Italy, and North Africa. Following their return to the United States,
the couple settled in Chicago where Ufer worked as a commercial illustrator in Chicago. At the encouragement (and expense) of Chicago's mayor Carter Harrison, Ufer traveled to Taos, New Mexico, in 1914 where his
friends Sharp and Blumenschein were already painting. Blumenschein and Sharp were members of a small art colony established in 1898 devoted to the art of the American West and founding members of the "Taos
Society of Artists," formed in July 1915 to exhibit the works and promote sales of artists living and working in Taos.
At Taos, Ufer found a subject matter for his paintings to which he returned over and over again, especially once he had settled in Taos for good in 1917: the American Indian. Ignoring
much of what he had learned in Europe, Ufer rejected the romantic notion of the noble savage and instead chose to paint the Native Americans and their lives in the more realistic manner championed by the French
Impressionists. Late in life, he described his style thus: "I paint the Indian as he is. In the garden digging – in the field working – riding amongst the sage – meeting his woman in the desert – angling
for trout – in meditation." This genre also supplemented Ufer's political convictions in which he strove to eradicate social injustice…
Barnard (1734 – 1801) and Michael Gratz (1740 – 1811)
Among the most important promoters of westward expansion and exploration during the eighteenth century are the brothers Barnard and Michael Gratz. Born in Langendorf, Silesia, where
both their father and grandfather had been rabbis, the Gratz brothers first migrated to London and from there to Pennsylvania where they settled in Philadelphia, in 1754 and 1759 respectively. Within a few
years, their fur trading routes had expanded into western Pennsylvania all the way to today's Pittsburgh and the Illinois and Kentucky territories. On 25 October 1765, the brothers were among the signers of the
Non-Importation Resolutions to protest against the Stamp Act. When the colonies declared their independence in 1776, the Gratz brothers joined the Patriot side, for example, Barnard signed the oath of allegiance
to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and to the United States on 5 November 1777, as did his brother Michael. During the War of Independence, the Gratz brothers became suppliers to the Continental Army though
they had to relocate their business to Lancaster during the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1778…
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Family Research: A Tale of Two Centuries
by James M. Beidler
Whether the search for a German-speaking ancestor's hometown in Europe is easy or difficult depends upon a number of factors; among them are the availability of "home
sources" such as family Bibles; church, or civil records naming a village; immigration and naturalization documents; as well as a never-to-be-turned-down helping of luck. However, another factor is often
whether the immigrant came as part of the "first wave" to America in colonial times or if the ancestor came across the ocean in the "second wave" of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Linda and Roy Peters of Brea, California, offer an example from each immigrant era – Roy's paternal grandfather was a "second waver" who landed in America in 1892 while
the immigrant of Linda's maiden surname, Keiser, arrived in 1727, relatively early in the first wave. "We began our search with information from Roy's uncle that Peter Peters, was born 'in
Niederochsenhausen in the Province of Bremervörde in Preussen,'" Linda wrote. She said they found Peter on the Ellis Island website (www.ellisisland.org) and learned that he had come on the ship Kaiser Wilhelm II on 2 November 1892 from Bremen and that his place of residence had been Ochtenhausen.
"Knowing nothing about genealogy searches, we searched for Bremervörde on the Internet and found Nieder Ochtenhausen as a very small village on a map," Linda wrote.
"Bremervörde had a website and tourist information e-mail address, so we wrote and asked for hotel and sightseeing information as well as for advice on how and where to look up the Peters family
history."
Linda adds that they responded with lots of information as well as an address of someone from Nieder Ochtenhausen who could probably tell them about the Peters family. After a
month with no response from this individual, Linda and Roy asked for further advice and quickly received an e-mail from a local official inviting them to meet him at his office in the town hall when they arrived
for a visit a couple of months later…
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Calendar:
November
Frederick, MD
First Friday of the month: Der Stammtisch at Brewer’s Alley, 124 N. Market Street. Call 301-631-0127.
Indianapolis, IN
First Wednesday and first Saturday of the month: Docent-led tours of the Athenaeum at 401 East Michigan Street. Call 317-251-8658 or E-Mail shenselmeier@iquest.net .
Harmony, PA
November 11-12: WeihnachtMarkt at Harmony Museum’s Stewart Hall. Call 888-821-4822, E-Mail hmuseum@fyi.net
, or visit www.harmonymuseum.org .
Washington, D.C.
November 17: Washington Sängerbund Fall Concert. St. Ann's Catholic Church, 4400 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Tickets required. Call 202-310-4691 or visit www.saengerbund.org .
New York, NY
November 20: Lecture: “Germany and Russia in a Changing World” by Klaus Segbers. Deutsches Haus, New York University. Call 212-998-8663 or visit www.nyu.edu/deutscheshaus
Frankenmuth, MI
November 23: Holiday Celebration and Candlewalk. Call 1-800-FUN-TOWN or visit www.frankenmuth.org
.
Denver, CO
November 23 – December 23: 8th Annual Denver Christkindl Market at Cherry Creek Shopping Center. E-Mail info@denverchristkindlmarket.com or visit www.denverchristkindlmarket.com .
Bethlehem, PA
Weekends beginning November 23 - December 31: Christkindlmarkt, Bethlehem. Call 610-332-1300 or visit www.christkindlmarkt.org .
Ambridge, PA
November 24: Christmas with Belsnickel at Old Economy Village. Pre-registration and prepayment required. Call 724-266-4500, ext. 101.
Danbury, NH
November 25: German Cookie-making Class. Inn at Danbury & Alphorn Bistro. Call 603-768-3318, E-Mail info@innatdanbury.com , or visit www.innatdanbury.com .
New York, NY
November 27: Lecture: “Big Think Strategy: Some Bold Ideas for German Firms” by Bernd Schmidt. Deutsches Haus, New York University. Call 212-998-8663 or visit
www.nyu.edu/deutscheshaus .
New York, NY
November 30: Film: Mädchen in Uniform. Deutsches Haus, New York University. Call 212-998-8663 or visit www.nyu.edu/deutscheshaus .
Indianapolis, IN
November 30 – December 2: 23rd Annual St. Nikolaus Fest at the Athenaeum/Das Deutsche Haus. Christkindl Market Friday – Sunday. Sankt Nikolaus Fest Sunday (admission/reservations required). Call 317-655-2755, E-Mail jimgould@sbcglobal.net , or visit www.athenaeumfoundation.com .
Sparta, NJ
November 30 – December 1: 6th Annual Lake Mohawk German Christmas Market at Lake Mohawk Country Club. E-Mail deanr@reinauer.com or visit www.lakemohawkgermanchristmasmarket.com .
Tulsa, OK
November 30 – December 2: 8th Annual Christkindlmarkt. Call 918-744-6997 or visit www.gastulsa.org .
December
Frederick, MD
First Friday of the month: Der Stammtisch at Brewer’s Alley, 124 N. Market Street. Call 301-631-0127.
Indianapolis, IN
First Wednesday and first Saturday of the month: Docent-led tours of the Athenaeum at 401 East Michigan Street. Call 317-251-8658 or E-Mail shenselmeier@iquest.net .
Ambridge, PA
December 1: Christmas Fundraiser Dinner at Old Economy Village. Call 724-266-4500, ext. 101.
San Antonio, TX
December 1: Kriskindlmarkt. Call 210-222-1521.
Reading, PA
December 2: 2nd Annual German Christkindl Markt. Call 610-373-3982 or visit www.readingliederkranz.com .
Mifflinburg, PA
December 6-8: Mifflinburg Christkindlmarkt. Visit www.mifflinburgpa.com/christkindl.htm
.
Ambridge, PA
December 8: Christmas at the Village: German Traditions at Old Economy Village. Admission. Call 724-266-4500, ext 101.
Harmony, PA
December 9: Candlelight Christmas at Harmony Museum. Call 888-821-4822, E-Mail hmuseum@fyi.net, or visit www.harmonymuseum.org .
San Antonio, TX
December 9: 103rd Annual Weihnachtsfeier in the Marguerite Parker Chapel of Trinity University. Call 210-653-5112, 210-391-4404 or visit www.bethanychurchucc.org/weihnachtsfeier.aspx
Ephrata, PA
December 10-11: Christmas at the Cloister. Ephrata Cloister. Advance tickets required. Call 717-733-6600 or visit
www.ephratacloister.org .
Ephrata, PA
December 27-30: Lantern Tours at Ephrata Cloister. Reservations required. Call 717-733-6600 or visit www.ephratacloister.org .
January
Frederick, MD
First Friday of the month: Der Stammtisch at Brewer’s Alley, 124 N. Market Street. Call 301-631-0127.
Indianapolis, IN
First Wednesday and first Saturday of the month: Docent-led tours of the Athenaeum at 401 East Michigan Street. Call 317-251-8658 or E-Mail shenselmeier@iquest.net .
Indianapolis, IN
January 26: Köln Style Karneval. Athenaeum/Das Deutsche Haus, 401 East Michigan Street. Admission. Call 317-655-2755 or E-Mail jimgould@sbcglobal.net .
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