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October/November 2008
Gallery: Celebrating Bauhaus: Influencing Design for Ninety Years
by Cynthia Elyce Rubin
The year 2009 marks the jubilee anniversary of the founding of the Staatliches Bauhaus, an art and architecture school that began with reform to Germany's art
education and ended as the most influential design school of the twentieth century. An interdisciplinary school with international and avant-garde dimensions founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 in Weimar, the
Bauhaus tells a story as complex as the volatile political and social events of the times. However, its original establishment in the town where Goethe spent much of his life is no coincidence. An intellectual
and cultural center since the age of Classicism, the Weimar Republic after World War I paved the way for a democratic Germany with political and social changes generating the optimism necessary to promote new
solutions to old problems. In the end, the Bauhaus existed in three cities – Weimar from 1919 to 1925, Dessau from 1925 to 1932, and Berlin from 1932 to 1933. After Nazi pressure finally shuttered Bauhaus
doors, many teachers emigrated. Their ideas blossomed, particularly in America, where Bauhaus philosophy transformed into the dynamic and irrepressible global force called Modernism, challenging design and
architecture principles around the world.
The story behind the rise of Modernism began with reaction to profound social changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution that produced the Arts and Crafts Movement from England
throughout Europe. Progressive forces in Germany concerned with social evils and growing criticism of poor-quality, machine-made goods founded the Deutscher Werkbund in 1907, an organization of independent artists and industrialists, whose purpose included "the refinement of commercial processes through the collaboration of arts, industry and crafts." Its aim to uplift Germany's economy after the chaos of World War I by "enhancing craft work" and helping designers find industrial employment had a corollary in improving the quality of German products. Aspects of this movement to bring art and design into the public sphere included inexpensive, healthy housing and functional, affordable wares. Peter Berhens, its founder, was a painter turned designer, architect, and educator as was fellow member, Belgian-born Henry van de Velde, the guiding intellectual force of the art nouveau movement and founder of the School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar. The influences of both Berhens and van de Velde on young architect Walter Gropius cannot be underestimated…
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At Home: Cooking with Bamberg’s Beers
by Sharon Hudgins
Germans are well known for their love of good beer. And rightly so, since they produce some of the finest brews in the world.
However, Germans don’t limit themselves merely to drinking the products of the brewers’ art. Every traditional German cookbook contains several recipes in which beer
is an important ingredient, from appetizers and soups to main dishes and desserts.
On a recent trip to Bamberg, in the Franconia region of Germany, I discovered that young German chefs are following in the footsteps of their culinary ancestors, using beer in a
variety of innovative ways in the kitchen. Bamberg bills itself as “the city of beer and baroque” – a place where you can taste some of Germany’s finest (and most unusual) beers
surrounded by architecture dating from the Middle Ages to modern times. No wonder Bamberg was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993! (In my humble opinion, the quality of its beer alone is enough to earn
the city worldwide recognition.)
One of my favorite places to drink Bamberg's special dark, seductively smoky Rauchbier is at the centuries-old Schlenkerla, a historic half-timbered building in the central
part of the city. At this cozy tavern, the chef cooks hearty Franconian regional foods made with beer, including his Bamberg-style Onion with Smoky Beer Sauce, a big onion stuffed with ground pork, topped with
bacon, garnished with the restaurant's special Rauchbier gravy, and served with mashed or boiled potatoes. The perfect comfort food for a chilly autumn day – accompanied by several glasses of the smoky
brew, of course.
The Schlenkerla menu also offers caraway-spiced Franconian Pig's Knuckle, roasted until the skin is crackly-crisp, and served with a smoky beer sauce. And the chef recently
invented his own Schlenkerla sausage, made with a mixture of pork, beef, spices, and Rauchbier, served with Franconian-style sweet cabbage and rye bread. For dessert you can even buy dark chocolate truffles with
a Rauchbier-cream filling.
At the Mahrs-Bräu-Keller on one of the hills overlooking Bamberg, chef Burhkard Michel offers a special three-hour Bierkularinium, or beer seminar, with a menu based on several
types of Mahrs-brand beers, which are brewed in the city. Each course is made with a different beer and served with a glass of the same brew used in that dish. Between courses, Michel and another beer expert
provide serious information and witty anecdotes about each kind of beer, including its use in the kitchen.
The multi-course meal begins with a colorful aperitif concocted from red Campari bitters, orange Cinzano vermouth, and Mahrs Pils beer. Next comes a mixed green salad with wheat-beer
dressing, followed by beer soup garnished with garlic croutons, catfish fricassee in a smoky-beer sauce, stuffed pork loin with a Märzen beer sauce, and batter-fried apple rings with cinnamon-seasoned plums and
malt beer sabayon for dessert. This cheery, beery dinner ends with a glass of Mahrs Bierschnapps, a clear liquor distilled from strong beer…
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A Thread in the Tapestry of History - German War Brides
By Brenda Ruggiero
On the arms of their American military husbands, they were pioneers and a new breed of international ambassador.
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
-- Martin Luther King. Jr.
A widespread transformation took place in Germany during World War II. Although a fraternization ban was introduced in September of 1944 to keep American troops from forming
relationships with the local citizens, thousands of men were not deterred from meeting and dating German women. In fact, many of the couples fell in love, in spite of the uncertainty of their futures together.
When the fraternization ban was lifted and U.S. Congress passed the War Brides Act in December of 1945, couples were free to marry. And marry they did. In 1949, it is reported that
about thirteen thousand women married U.S. servicemen. Approximately twenty thousand German women immigrated to the United States between 1946 and 1949.
In fact, approximately sixty-five thousand women from other countries married American soldiers and sailors during the course of the war. As the women and children sought transport to
their new homes in the United States, the American Red Cross, in cooperation with the U.S. military and the state department, began to provide care for them at assembly centers overseas. They also took steps to
prepare them for their new life. A total of twenty ships were outfitted to provide transportation for the thousands of brides and their children.
What did they find when they reached America? What were there experiences like? Through the World War II War Brides Association, German Life met up with several ladies who were willing to tell their stories. Although each story is different, each person played an important role in weaving the tapestry of history.
Lonny
Lonny remembers that she enjoyed going to school in Germany as a child. She always wanted to be a nurse, and when she was old enough, she had her uniform and had signed up for school,
but her father expressed wishes that she do something else because of the war.
“I got a job in an office,” she said. “But even there, in January of ’45, Hitler needed more guys, so he took the guys that were in offices. We had to replace
them, and they drafted me. But for me, it was my luck because I was not in Berlin when the Russians came. My mom told me about it after I got back, and she was glad I wasn’t there.”
When she returned at the end of 1945, Lonny worked in a bakery in Berlin owned by her boyfriend’s parents. Each day for a week, a regular customer invited her over to her house
for a visit, saying that she had some Americans there that she rented to. Lonny finally accepted, and met her husband Asa…
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Cookbooks for Christmas (and Year Round!)
by Sharon Hudgins
Looking for a great gift for yourself or for someone else who likes German cooking?
Hädecke Verlag, a German publisher of beautifully illustrated food and wine books, has produced a series of small, informative, bilingual cookbooks about five different regional
cuisines of Germany. Written by German culinary experts, each book begins with a brief introduction to that region's particular cuisine, followed by a selection of lavishly photographed traditional dishes,
with the recipes printed in German on the left-hand page and in English on the right-hand page. Some of the books also conclude with a description of the wines produced in that part of Germany – or, in the
case of Saxony, the kind of beers drunk there.
In each book, several of the recipes have additional notes about the origin of the recipe's name or the history of that dish in earlier times. You'll learn why classic
Austrian Linzer Torte is also a specialty of Baden in Germany; the origin of potato dishes in Schwabia; which wines to drink with traditional dishes from the Pfalz; how the popular "Obatzda" cheese
spread came into Bavaria after World War II; and the history of Dresdner Christstollen, the famous Christmas loaf baked in Saxony.
My favorite quotation in this series of cookbooks is from a nineteenth-century traveler in Saxony, who observed that "Saxons don't conquer with weapons, they use their
wit, they don't send in soldiers but their women instead, who don't have ammunition and gunpowder but cake and baking powder."
Titles in the series include Original Sächsich: The Best of Saxon Food; Original Bayrisch: The Best of Bavarian Food; Original Schwäbisch: The Best of Swabian Food; Original
Pfälzisch: The Best of Palatine Food; and Original Badisch: The Best of Baden Food. The books range in length from sixty-three to ninety-six pages and feature more than two dozen authentic recipes for
each region. The German-language recipes use metric measurements, and many of the English-language recipe measurements are given in weights (pounds and ounces), not volumes (cups), since Germans weigh out their
flour, sugar, rice, butter, and other items, instead of using cups like Americans do. However, if you have a kitchen scale, you'll have no problem following these recipes in your own kitchen…
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Coburg and the House of Wettin
by Zac Steger
Four impressive castles help tell the story of the Wettin Dynasty and its influence on Europe.
In April 1894, as the end of the century grew near and she celebrated her sixtieth year as the leader of Great Britain, Queen Victoria posed for what would become one of the
most famous photographs of the era. By this time she was considered the grandmother of Europe and, on the occasion of the a royal wedding, the family came together for the last major gathering before World War I
in the small town of Coburg.
The House of Wettin was one of the most influential noble families of Europe due to their marital policies that allied them with the royalty throughout Europe. This included the
thrones of Russia, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Romania, Austria, Great Britain, and later the united Germany. Within Germany, they married into the Hohenzollern, and Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Leiningen families. The
interlinking of the families all goes back to the small town of Coburg.
Coburg was first mentioned in a document from 1056, though there was a settlement on the site much earlier. In 1353, it came under the control of the House of Wettin and, in 1596, it
became part of the new Saxe-Coburg duchy under Duke Johann Casimirs.
In 1795, the Russian Tsarina Catherine II was looking for a bride for her grandson and Duchess Auguste Caroline Sophie wasted no time in making the trip to St. Petersburg with her
three daughters. She returned to Coburg with two of them and a total sum of 160,000 rubles. Most importantly, she returned with access to one of the most powerful dynasties in Europe and began a trend that would
secure Coburg’s place on the European state. Over time they would extend their influence to as far away as Brazil and Australia.
The most important marriage was that of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his cousin, the future Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Victoria. Christian Friedrich Baron von
Stockmar, a doctor who served Coburg more as a loyal diplomat, arranged the first meeting of the pair. Their 1840 marriage was unique in that they actually loved each other. Although he was given the title of
Prince Consort, Albert was effectively the King of England a few years after their marriage. They had nine children together before his death at the age of forty-two of typhoid.
Their story begins a short drive northeast of the city at Rödental, the site of Schloss Rosenau, where Prince Albert was born. It was remodeled from an existing medieval structure in
1817 into a Neo-Gothic castle surrounded by an English style garden. It was the favorite residence of Queen Victoria, who said that if she were not the Queen of Great Britain, this would be her permanent home. ..
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The Hand of Fate: Claus von Stauffenberg and Operation Valkyrie
by James E. Held
A table leg was all that stood between the plans of the brave souls of the German Resistance and the end of Hitler’s tyrannical reign.
The Wehrmacht Colonel pleaded for privacy to change his sweaty shirt that hot, muggy July 20, 1944. Earlier that morning, as Count Claus von Stauffenberg’s flight departed from
the army base of Zossen, the code Uebung (Exercise) was transmitted to conspirators waiting in Berlin, Prague, Paris, and Vienna. Neither the arm amputated below the elbow nor the patch over the missing left eye compromised Stauffenberg’s tall, handsome, and determined demeanor. Arriving at the “Wolf’s Lair,” Hitler’s East Front Command Center, he carried a briefcase containing reports on the home army’s mobilization and two charges of plastic explosives. While his aide, Lieutenant Werner von Haeften, guarded the door, Stauffenberg clutched the pliers with his two remaining fingers and thumb to set the fuses, but with the meeting with Hitler already underway he was interrupted after arming only one bomb. Entering the briefing hut where the Fuhrer’s staff had gathered around a map table, he pleaded bad hearing to sit close to Hitler who reviewed reports on the latest Soviet offensive that had killed or captured three hundred fifty thousand Wehrmacht soldiers, knocked Finland and Romania out of the war, and threatened Germany’s eastern borders. Stauffenberg placed his briefcase beneath the heavy oak table practically under Hitler’s legs then shortly afterwards excused himself to telephone Berlin. In less than ten minutes, an explosion would launch Operation Valkyrie, the German Army’s assassination of Hitler and overthrow of the Nazi regime.
History habitually records Germans passively or passionately followed their Führer, neglecting those who resisted the Nazi regime and paid a terrible price. Opposition included
religious students of the “White Rose,” leftists or monarchists who despised the parvenu “bohemian Corporal.” Other resistance organizations included the Mittwochsgesellschaft and
Helmuth von Moltke’s Dreisauer Kreis, but against a relentless Gestapo and indifferent public, only the German Army came close to deposing Hitler (1).
Although many in the military opposition had initially welcomed the Nazi seizure of power, they also became adversaries as well to Hitler’s dreams of world conquest. General
Ludwig Beck, head of the General Staff, resigned in protest against the 1938 dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, and throughout the invasions of Poland, France, and the Soviet Union, Hitler’s generals
stressed the dangers of his vainglorious ambitions. At the opening of the 1939 Polish campaign, Admiral Canaris, head of the Abwehr (Military Intelligence) declared, “This means the end of
Germany,” (2). Using contacts through Spanish dictator Franco and the Vatican, he extended secret offers of peace negotiation to Allen Dulles head of OSS intelligence operations in Geneva and the
future CIA director, but Allied Commanders rejected any overtures and clung to the 1943 Casablanca Conference’s Unconditional Surrender clause. Soon though, General von Tresckow of the Resistance
declared, “We must act…whatever the cost. Even if it is sure to fail…. It is no longer a question of practicality. The most important thing is that the German Resistance demonstrates to the
world and to history that it dared to risk its life in a decisive gamble. Anything else is irrelevant (3).”…
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Off to the Odenwald
by Leah Larkin
Beautiful countryside connects the series of charming towns that comprise this delightful part of Hessen and Baden-Württemberg.
“And now I have a surprise for you,” announced our host, Herbert Ullrich. He led us down a few rutted stone steps. We followed his example, ducking our heads under
an ancient door, and entered a tiny “cave” dating from the year 400. The glow of dozens of candles bathed the thick rock walls in a soft, warm light. Ullrich popped the cork on a bottle of his
signature sparkling apple wine and served us the bubbly in this romantic ambience. It was a setting so perfect it should have been filmed for Hollywood.
Ullrich and his wife, Vera, are owners of the Schafhof, a luxurious hotel hideaway in the Odenwald hills above the baroque city of Amorbach. The Odenwald, an area of lush hills,
verdant valleys, half-timbered houses, medieval fortresses, and charming cities, lies northeast of Heidelberg, southeast of Frankfurt, between the Rhine, Main, and Neckar rivers. It is a delightful area to
explore, or the perfect place to chill out for several days. Wandern, that favorite German pastime, is ideal in its dense forests.
The Schafhof, which formerly belonged to the Benedictine monastery in Amorbach, is a popular Odenwald venue with two excellent restaurants and an idyllic setting surrounded by lovely
views of the surrounding countryside. Herds of sheep graze in fields below.
At a gourmet dinner following the Apfelwalzer (sparkling apple wine), Peter Schmitt, Amorbach’s mayor, told us his city offers three things: history, its setting in the midst of
the beautiful Odenwald landscape, and its popularity as “wedding city,” due to its name. “Many people come here to get married,” he said. One of his goals as mayor is to make the Odenwald
and its attractions better known.
We started our town visit with a tour of the major attraction, the former Benedictine abbey church (Abteikirche) whose two towers jut above the cluster of half-timbered houses.
The interior is a marvel of rococo dating back to 1742 to 1747. The church, with its massive organ, is just part of the tour which also takes in the abbey library, said to be one of the most beautiful libraries
of the eighteenth century with a collection of thirty thousand books.
Today the church is privately owned by a royal family – and Protestant, although Amorbach is eighty percent Catholic. The Catholics have their own church, another baroque
jewel…
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A Song, A Dance, A Laugh – Come to the Cabaret
by Anna Cramer
Perhaps the character of Sally Bowles said it best: “What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a Cabaret, old chum – come to the
Cabaret!”
“Do Germans have a sense of humor? Many of our western neighbors would flatly deny this,” H. D. Gelfert, former professor of English Literature at the Free
University Berlin, believes.
However, the lively cabaret scene speaks a different language – in all major German cities and especially in Berlin with its almost thirty cabaret venues (varieté included). The history of a city, where pre-World War II times were characterized by heady night-life entertainment, where the Nazi regime suppressed free speech, but also showed ludicrous sides, and where sixty years of East-West division during the Cold War meant constant tension, but endless need and material for satire. No other German city can look back on such a roller-coaster history, and nowhere else did cabaret, especially political cabaret, flourish to such an extent.
The German love story with cabaret begins in the early twentieth century, and is still hot, in spite of the omnipresence of television. Performances in the better-known establishments
are usually sold out long in advance, and a visit to a cabaret show is a must in every travel packet to Berlin.
The “Big Seven” of Berlin today are:
- Die Wühlmäuse – “The Mice” more exactly “The Vole”
- Die Distel – “The Thistle”
- Die “Stachelschweine” – “The Porcupines”
- BKA – Berliner Kabarett Anstalt – “Berlin Cabaret Institution”
- Bar Jeder Vernunft – pun “Bar of Reason/Void of Reason”)
- Tipi – Das Zelt am Kanzleramt (“Tipi – The Tent at the Chancellery”)
- Quatsch Comedy Club
- Over the course of time, especially in the past twenty years, many mixed forms developed, quite in keeping with the origin of the word, which, some believe, stems from the French
“cabaret,” a turntable for food, and indicates different types of show pieces, like chanson, circus, dance, and the like, while others see it as derived from the French word for “bar.”
From the early ironical improvisations of the Berlin and Munich bohème in the repressive political situation of the beginning of the past century, cabaret developed into a form of free speech, considered dangerous by the authorities. Authors
were challenged to create texts and situations that just passed censure, but whose critical content was still understood by a large audience.
The birthplace of cabaret was Paris with the opening of the “Chat Noir” (“Black Cat”) at Montmarte in1880. The professed intention of its founder was to
“ridicule political events, to teach people, confront them with their stupidity and to undo their bad mood...” German-speaking cabaret followed twenty years later with the “Buntes
Theater” in Berlin and the “Elf Scharfrichter” (“Eleven Executioners”) in Munich.
The end of World War I also ended censure, and in the liberal, often daring atmosphere in the Berlin of the 1920s, this new form of sophisticated entertainment reached a first climax
of development and popularity. The famous show and musical Cabaret made that Berlin epoch known internationally. Many serious writers like Kurt Tucholsky, Erich Kästner, and Klaus Mann wrote cabaret texts, until the rise of the Nazi regime put an end to this freedom. Many were forced into exile or even committed suicide…
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Treating “Frau Mittelmass:” West Germany’s Mothers’ Cure Homes
by Kim Carpenter
Following the devastation of World War II, sick and exhausted German mothers turned to a Mothers’ Cure Homes for a chance to recover from the tolls of daily life.
“We were really skeptical that the recovery time would actually help my mother and make her better. Now I believe it has strengthened some mothers more than the very best
and most beautiful Schnitzel.” This is how a little boy described his mother’s four-week stay at the Müttergenesungswerk, or Mothers’ Cure Home, in West Germany during the mid 1950s. Schnitzel
was an unlikely comparison, but the boy’s enthusiastic letter summed up how an organization created uniquely for mothers helped close to half a million women regain their health and strengthen their
spirits following World War II.
Founded in 1950, the Müttergenesungswerk sought to alleviate “the monstrous stress of our time” and the constant work that was bringing many women to their physical
breaking points. War, occupation, and reconstruction had taken a particular toll on women, leaving many of them widows, refugees, and homeless. Women also played a key role in building the West German economy,
although their accomplishments often remained unrecognized. As the famous “Trümmerfrauen” (the “women of the rubble”) cleared away the debris of the Third Reich, women by scores became
factory workers, took positions as office workers, and ran farms to create the “Economic Miracle” that led to the Federal Republic’s political stability and security.
The Müttergenesungswerk understood these hardships. An early pamphlet said: “Being a mother and a housewife is so underappreciated and so much hard work – it’s
easier to say what a woman doesn’t do than to list everything she does!” From giving food rations to their children to working fourteen-hour days, mothers did whatever they could, and as a result,
they suffered from a wide range of physical and psychological maladies such as malnutrition and degenerative neurological conditions.
Mothers’ cure homes treated these illnesses and more. The initial impetus behind the organization was high unemployment among men during the 1930s, when wives and mothers
entered the workforce at cheaper wages. Dr. Antonie Nopitsch, an advocate for women’s health issues, worked with the Lutheran Women’s Work Organization and founded the Bayerischer Mütterdienst, which
gave mothers both the time and a place to recover from illnesses…
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The War to End all Wars?
by Robert A. Selig
Reflections on the ninetieth anniversary of the Armistice on 11 November 1918 that ended the Great War.
Erich Kästner of Germany died on 1 January 2008. Stanislaw Woycech of Poland on 12 January. Louis de Cazenave of France on 20 January. The American Harry Richard Landis died on
4 February. The Frenchman Lazare Ponticelli on 12 March. Yakup Satar from Turkey on 2 April. Franz Künstler from Hungary on 27 May. Francesco Domenico Chiarello from Italy on 27 June.
Though they had never met, these men had much in common. Not only were they all well over one hundred years old at the time of their deaths, they were also among the last, if not the
very last, of the veterans of World War I. They fought for their respective countries in what was commonly referred to as "The War to End all Wars," the war that was to make the world "Safe for
Democracy" or to give their country that "Place in the Sun" that their monarchs thought they were denied. They had all lived to see, sometimes even fought in, another World War, this time in order
to bring about freedom from want and fear, of speech and of religion or that Lebensraum for the Superior Race, depending which side you were on.
Finally, whether they had been known as a Doughboy, poilou, Soldat, digger, or Tommy in their time, they were all painfully aware that their sacrifice and suffering had
failed to achieve the goals and purposes they had been told they were fighting for. Ninety years after the end of the war, they all agreed instead that "War is something absurd, useless, that nothing can
justify. Nothing," as Cazenave told Le Monde newspaper in a 2005 interview. Shortly before his death, Künstler, who was born in Hungary but had lived in Germany since 1946, told a journalist of the German magazine Cicero that he was anything but proud to be the last living soldier of the Austrian Emperor. "The youth had to murder each other. Is that just? No." Ever since a Catholic priest had blessed the cannon of his unit in the Alps in the spring of 1918, encouraging the soldiers to destroy their enemies, Künstler had refused to set foot in a church. Ninety years later he was still wondering "How can a priest say something like that?" Across the channel, Englishman Henry John Patch, one of the last living veterans of the Great War, recalled in July 2007, just after his 109th birthday, how a few years earlier he had met a German veteran who had fought opposite him in Flanders. "Nice old chap. A pacifist. Same as me. Why did they suffer, those millions of men? I've never got over it. You never forget it. Never."
However, if these last few veterans were still dealing personally with their experiences of World War I ninety years after it had ended, Europe, and the world as a whole, are also
still trying to come to terms with the outcome of the Great War, trying to correct the wrongs done to peoples and nations at Versailles, at St. Germain, Neuilly, and Trianon, are even still dealing with the
sordid physical remains of a conflict that had cost millions of lives and caused untold suffering. 1,700,000 Russians killed, 4,950,000 wounded, some 1,450,000 of them permanently disabled. 1,774,000 Germans
killed, 4,216,000 wounded. 1,375,800 Frenchmen killed, 4,266,000 wounded, some 690,000 of them permanently disabled. 1,200,000 soldiers of the Dual Monarchy killed, another 3,620,000 wounded. 908,000 citizens of
Britain and her Commonwealth killed, 2,100,000 wounded. 50.7 percent of all French soldiers were wounded during the war, almost 17 percent of all draftees died. For Germany, the numbers are 38.3 percent and 16.1
percent. For the Dual Monarchy, 46.4 percent and 16.4 percent. For Russia, 41.3 percent and 14.2 percent. In Britain, 23.5 percent and 10.2 percent. In Italy, 16.9 percent and 11.6 percent. Though the list could
easily be expanded, these cold numbers cannot even begin to hint at the suffering hidden behind them…
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Language: Die Deutsche Sommerschule von Neumexiko: Eine Kuriosität des Südwestens
Von Peter Pabisch
Hoch in den Rockys, wo sich die Füchse „Gute Nacht!“ sagen, wird es im Sommer auf gut Deutsch lebendig. Tatsächlich führt dort die Universität von Neumexiko, deren
Hauptsitz in Albuquerque liegt, seit über drei Jahrzehnten mit mehreren anderen Universitäten des Landes ein fünfwöchiges intensives, akademisches Unterrichtsgeschehen durch. Es lehrt die deutsche Sprache,
Literatur, und das vielartige Kulturgeschehen deutscher Länder und Regionen in ihrem internationalen Zusammenwirken. Die Umgangsprache am Schulort im 3000m hoch gelegenen Taos Ski Valley ist während dieser
Wochen nur Deutsch! Die Kulturkurse ändern sich jedes Jahr und können die Geistes-, ebenso wie die Natur- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften einschließen. Dazu kommen Kurse und Vorträge über Kunst, Schauspiel, Musik,
ja sogar zur Technik. Im Mittelpunkt des Curriculums stehen gehobener Sprachunterricht und Literatur, doch meistens in interdisziplinärer Verquickung mit den Kulturkursen; diese Ausrichtung des
Unterrichtsgeschehens gehört zu den Besonderheiten der Sommerschule. Die alpine Umgebung ladet zum Wandern ein und gleicht in vielem mehr den deutschen als den amerikanischen Landen. Da viele Schweizer,
Österreicher und Deutsche beim Aufbau des Skigebiets beteiligt waren, tragen Gebäude und Skipisten oft deutsche Namen. Es gibt ein Hotel Edelweiss, einen Alpenhof und eine Innsbruck Lodge. Der Gründer des
Skitals, der in Frankfurt geborene Ernest H. Blake (1913 – 1989), benannte ein paar der steilsten Hänge nach den Widerstandskämpfern und anderen Codenamen des 20. Juli 1944 – etwa Stauffenberg
(Berthold Graf Schenk von), Fabian (von Schlabrendorff), Walkyries, etc., oder weniger steile Hänge nach deutschen Märchen- und Sagenfiguren wie Rübezahl und Firlefanz.
Die Geschichte mit Europa begann im Südwesten der Vereinigten Staaten schon im 16. Jahrhundert unter dem Habsburger Kaiser Karl V., der unter anderem auch König von Spanien war. In
seinem Reich ging angeblich die Sonne nie unter. Sein Spanisch soll im Gegensatz zu dem seines Sohnes Philipp II. nicht gut gewesen sein, da er in den Niederlanden aufwuchs. Ob sein Deutsch war, wie man es sich
wünschte, ist auch nicht sicher. Immerhin traf er am 17. April 1521 Martin Luther zu Worms und wollte, dass der seine berühmt gewordenen 95 Thesen widerrufe. Das tat der nicht, wie wir wissen. So entfaltete sich
der Zwiespalt zwischen Katholiken und Protestanten, der über viele Jahre zwei Weltmächte schuf, die sich noch heute in Latein- und Nordamerika an unterschiedlicher Religionsauffassung erkennen lassen. Neumexiko,
dessen Hauptstadt Santa Fe einst die nördlichste offizielle Hauptstadt der katholischen Spanier in Lateinamerika war und erst nach dem mexikanisch-amerikanischen Krieg 1848 an die Vereinigten Staaten überging,
lässt diese Gegensätze – allerdings heute in friedlicher Weise – erahnen. Hispanische Katholiken sind hier in der Mehrheit gegenüber mehreren protestantischen und ähnlichen Gläubigen. So eignet sich
der Hintergrund dieser Gegend, europäisch-transatlantische Geschichte den Studenten auf Deutsch lebendig darzustellen.
The German Summer School of New Mexico: A Peculiarity of the Southwest
by Peter Pabisch
The summers are very busy in a hidden ski valley high up in the New Mexican Rockies. Here, together with other colleges, the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque has
conducted a total immersion program in German as an extension activity for more than three decades. The program lasts about five weeks and offers German language, literature, and culture seminars along with a
strict “German Only!” concept. Culture includes a large realm of coursework that changes in part every year, embracing the humanities, the sciences, and economics as well as conducting lectures and
seminars in art, theater, music, and even in technology. The alpine surroundings, which resembles a German region more than one in America, invite participation in outdoor activities such as jogging, cycling,
and hiking. Many Swiss, Austrian, and German immigrants contributed to building Taos Ski Valley, so that hotels and ski slopes have German names. There is an Edelweiss Hotel, an “Alpenhof” and an
Innsbruck Lodge. Ernie (Ernest H.) Blake (1913 to 1989), born in Frankfurt, Germany, named a few of the steepest pistes after German resistance fighters against Hitler, of July 20, 1944, such as
“Stauffenberg,” “Fabian” (von Schlabrendorff), “Walkyries,” and so forth. He named easier slopes after figures from German legends and fairy tales, such as
“Rubezahl” and “Firlefanz.”
The southwest’s history with Europe started in the 1500s, under Habsburg emperor Charles V (1500 to 1558), in whose worldwide empire the sun supposedly did not set. Among his
many titles he is also known as king of Spain yet, as opposed to his son Philip II, his Spanish was not too famous, because he grew up in the Low Lands, thus his German might also have been weak. He summoned
Martin Luther to Worms/Rhine on April 17, 1521, and wanted this foremost Protestant to revoke his (in)famous 95 theses – as we know, albeit in vain. For centuries to come, the conflict between Catholics
and Protestants created two world powers, as they still characterize Latin and North America as remaining regions of these two camps to this day. Fortunately, the warlike confrontation has disappeared and the
once opposing parties coexist peacefully in New Mexico, where the capital of Santa Fe was the most northern official city of Latin America until 1848 – to Latin Americans it still holds that distinction
today. As a result of the Mexican-American War, this state and several other southwestern states joined the union, and this background enables the school to portray European-Transatlantic history quite
effectively – all in German – to its students…
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Family Research: In Genealogy, One Good Find Deserves Another
by James M. Beidler
If there is one thing I have noted in nearly a quarter-century of researching my genealogy, it is that fellow genealogists are among the most generous people in the world. The
great majority of people involved with genealogy always seem to be willing to give more than they receive when it comes to sharing information from their research.
I benefited from this generosity enormously in my early years of research, as those who had spent years chasing down tombstones, wills, and loads of other records shared what
they had found with me.
So I have been determined to make sure that I "pay back" that giving spirit by passing on my own key finds to others.
Probably my greatest find has been the German origins of the Machmer (and many other spellings such as Machemer, Machamer, Magemer, Mahomer, and Machenheimer) family, from the
Rhineland village of Sprendlingen.
Before I had found that village of origin, I had already spent years writing back and forth with a "first cousin, twice removed" named Wellington Machmer, who was the
namesake of my great-great-grandfather and a favorite ancestor of mine. Wellington had determined that our ancestor Johann Phillip Machmer had arrived in America with a brother named Johannes in 1744.
I had also corresponded for a while with an elderly lady in Idaho, Charlotte Machemer Bay, who was likely to be a cousin, but more distantly related to me than Wellington.
And a lady named Michelle Potter from Wisconsin had visited with my mother once to learn about her Machmer ancestor, who was a brother to the original Wellington. They visited a
number of family sites together several years ago.
When I had my "eureka" moment of finding (much by chance) in church records that the Machmers hailed from Sprendlingen, it was in the Family History Library in Salt
Lake City, Utah. The first person I called was my cousin Wellington Machmer.
I did so with a bit of trepidation, because he had concentrated his work on finding the origins of the Machmers for some thirty years without success, focusing in large part on
Switzerland since a county history write-up on the Machmers had talked about a Swiss origin. Had I stolen a moment that was rightfully his?
Fortunately, I found that he was overjoyed, asking me to spell Sprendlingen so he could find it on a map…
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Calendar
September
Washington, DC
September 11 – October 31: Stefan Moses: German Vita (photography exhibition). Goethe-Institut Washington, 812 Seventh St., N.W.
Call 202-289-1200 or visit www.Goethe.de/Washington .
Berrien Springs, MI
September 13: Fall Harvest Dance. St. Joe Kickers Sport Club. Call 269-429-1057 or visit www.stjoekickers.com .
Newark, DE
September 19- 21: Delaware Sängerbund Oktoberfest. 49 Salem Church Road. Call 302-366-9454 or visit www.delawaresaengerbund.org .
Hays, KS
September 20-21: Midwest Deutsche Oktoberfest. Ellis County Fairgrounds. Call 785-625-5394 or visit www.midwestdeutschefest.com .
Hays, KS
September 26: FHSU Oktoberfest. Frontier Park. Call 785-628-8201.
New Orleans, LA
September 26-27, October 3-4, 10-11, 17-18, 24-25: Oktoberfest in the Crescent City. Deutsches Haus. Call 504-522-8014 or visit www.thedeutscheshaus.org .
Leavenworth, WA
September 26-28: Autumn Leaf Festival. Call 509-548-5807 or visit www.Leavenworth.org .
Hillsborough, NH
September 27: 6th Annual Schnitzelfest. Downtown Hillsborough. Call 603-464-5858 or visit www.hillsboroughnhchamber.com .
Ambridge, PA
September 27: Erntefest Harvest Festival. Old Economy Village. Call 724-266-4500, ext. 101 or visit www.oldeconomyvillage.org .
Danbury, NH
September 28: Oktoberfest Beer Dinner. The Inn at Danbury. Reservations required. Call 603-768-3318 or visit www.innatdanbury.com .
Serbin, TX
September 28: 20th Annual Wendish Fest. Texas Wendish Heritage Society Museum grounds. Call 979-366-2441 or email: wendish@bluebon.net .
October
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 317-630-4569, ext. 1 or email athfound@sbcglobal.net .
Cincinnati, OH
October 1-31: German-American Heritage Month. For calendar of events, visit www.gacl.org .
Leavenworth, WA
October 3-4, 10-11, 17-18: Oktoberfest. Call 509-548-5807 or visit www.Leavenworth.org .
Fredericksburg, TX
October 3-5: Fredericksburg Oktoberfest. Marktplatz, 100 block of W. Main St. Call 830-997-8515 or visit www.oktoberfestinfbg.com .
Hays, KS
October 4: German Buffet. St. Johns Rest Home. Call 785-735-2208.
Berrien Springs, MI
October 4 & 11: Oktoberfest. St. Joe Kickers Sport Club. Call 269-429-1057 or visit www.stjoekickers.com .
Kutztown, PA
October 18-19: Heritage Harvest Fescht. Call 610-683-1589 or visit www.Kutztown.edu/community/pgchc .
Harmony, PA
October 11: Harmony Museum German Dinner. Call 888-821-4822 or visit www.harmonymuseum.org .
Newport, RI
October 11-13: 16th Annual International Oktoberfest. Newport Yachting Center, 4 Commercial Wharf. Call 401-846-1600 or visit www.newportfestivals.com .
Hays, KS
October 12: German Buffet. Knights of Columbus. Call 785-735-9395.
Crossville, TN
October 10-11: 18th Annual Oktoberfest. Call 931-707-7291, email: jguzek@citilink.net or visit www.crossvilleoktoberfest.com .
Miami, FL
October 17-19 & 24-26: Oktoberfest Miami. German-American Social Club of Greater Miami.11919 S.W. 56 Street. Call 305-552-5123 or visit www.germanamericanclub-miami.org .
Redding, CA
October 18: Oktoberfest. German American Club of Redding. Call 530-221-2578 or email urselrichardson@sbcglobal.net .
Marthasville, MO
October 18-19: Deutsch Country Days. Luxenhaus Farm. Call 636-433-5669 or visit www.deutschcountrydays.org .
Frederick, MD
October 19: Oktoberfest at Schifferstadt. Schifferstadt Museum, 1110 Rosemont Avenue. Call 301-663-3885 ext. 3 or visit www.frederickcountylandmarksfoundation.org .
Richmond, VA
October 24-25: 40th Annual Richmond Oktoberfest. Call 804-342-0310 or visit www.richmondoktoberfest.com .
New York City, NY
October 25: 29th Annual Conference for German Language Schools in USA. German Consulate General. Call 203-792-2795.
Fredericksburg, TX
October 25: Fredericksburg Food & Wine Fest. Marktplatz, 100 block of W. Main St. Call 830-997-8515 or visit www.fbgfoodandwinefest.com .
Belleville, IL
October 26: A Taste of Germany Festival. Fischer’s Restaurant, 2100 West Main Street. Call 618-234-2332.
Danbury, NH
October 26: Oktoberfest Wine Dinner. The Inn At Danbury. Reservations required. Call 603-768-3318 or visit www.innatdanbury.com .
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 317-630-4569, ext. 1 or email athfound@sbcglobal.net .
Chicago, IL
November 2: Illinois’ German Heritage. Book signing with Dr. Don Heinrich Tolzmann. Book Cellar Book Store, 4736 N. Lincoln Ave.
Call 773-293-2665.
Washington, D.C.
November 6- January 2, 2009: A Disenchanted Playroom (photographs by Wolfram Hahn. Goethe-Institut Washington, 812 Seventh St. N.W. Call 202-289-1200 or visit www.Goethe.de/Washington .
Fredericksburg, TX
November 7-9: Art Past Dark. Locations throughout Fredericksburg and Gillespie County. Call 830-990-1242 or visit www.artpastdark.com .
Fredericksburg, TX
November 15-16: Fredericksburg Fall Antiques Show. Gillespie County Fairgrounds. Call 830-995-3670 or visit www.texasantiqueshows.com .
Harmony, PA
November 15-16: 11th Annual Weihnachtmarkt. Harmony Museum. Call 888-821-4822 or visit www.harmonymuseum.org .
Davenport, IA
November 16: Program on Chestnuts: A Popular Treat in Germanic Lands. German American Heritage Center, 712 West Second St. Call 563-322-8844 or email director@gahc.org .
Danbury, NH
November 23: 4th Annual German Cooking Making Class. The Inn At Danbury. Spaces limited. Call 603-768-3318 or visit www.innatdanbury.com .
Leavenworth, WA
November 28-30: Christkindlmarkt. Call 509-548-5807 or visit www.Leavenworth.org .
Denver, CO
November 28 – December 23: 9th Annual Denver Christkindl Market. Skyline Park at 16th Street Mall and Arapahoe St. Call 720-308-2921 or visit www.denverchristkindlmarket.com .
Fredericksburg, TX
November 28-January 4, 2009: Eisbahn (outdoor skating rink). Marktplatz, 100 block of W. Main Street. Email: info@eisbahnfbg.com or visit www.eisbahnfbg.com .
Ambridge, PA
November 29: Christmas with Belsnickel. Old Economy Village. Call 724-266-4500 ext. 101 or visit www.oldeconomyvillage.org .
Baltimore, MD
November 29-30: Christkindlmarkt at Zion Lutheran Church, City Hall Plaza. Call 410-727-3939 or email: zionbaltimore@verizon.net .
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