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August September 2009
Goldscheider Figurines – Art Deco Exuberance from Vienna
by Anna Cramer
The style of a bygone era is captured in delicate, artfully created German porcelain figurines.
“We are moving in the realm of taste, where no logic exists.” With these almost apologetic words, director Wolfgang Kos of the Vienna Museum at the Karlsplatz in Vienna, opened, in the fall of 2007, an exhibition of ceramics – little masterpieces of art, side by side with kitsch.
The small display of only about two hundred and fifty pieces brought back to older visitors memories of the 1950s, of the little treasures in Aunt Grete’s living room curio cabinet, which the children were
seldom allowed to touch. There were smart city girls with their bob hairdo, dressed in stylish suits from the 1920s, cute animals like the little black and white Scottish terriers playing cards or reading a
book. There were children’s figures like the Violin Boy or the Goose Girl or Gänseliesel resembling the famous Hummel characters. However, the most intriguing figures of all were the slender dance girls in all kinds of dancing poses and dresses – or with almost no clothes at all.
It is precisely these dancing figures in the style of the Roaring Twenties that account for much of the enormous success of this Vienna-based manufacturer with its all-time
favorite, the “Captured Bird” dancer, created in 1923.
Jugendstil, the German version of the Art Nouveau style, had paved the way since the turn of the century for the reintegration of art into every day life, giving decorative arts
a whole new value. Art and life were no longer irreconcilable contrasts; instead, they were to become one in order to improve people’s lives.
The famous figurine “Captured Bird,” is a girl in a dancing pose with wide-spread arms, whose costume evokes the wings of a butterfly, painted in pale blue or in
strong dark red with black, blue, and yellow rims. This dance form, created and first performed in 1918 in Germany, then in 1922 in Vienna, by the young dancer Niddy Impekoven, inspired Goldscheider’s
artist Josef Lorenzl to create the figurine, which was produced in four different sizes with many different costume designs and eventually became the most popular of all Goldscheider figures.
Another figure depicts the “mother of the modern dance” herself, Mary Wigman, performing “Festive Rhythm” from her “Vibrant Landscape” cycle.
Head tilted back, the solo dancer poses very straight in a short, swinging dress, conveying sheer happiness and pride.
Many others evoke images of female dancers and movie stars like Lilian Harvey, made popular amongst the public at large through pictures in magazines. A girl, kneeling in
adoration, a dancer tying her sandals Degas-style, two female dancers in matching green dresses in an elegant tango pose. The figurines are a living testimony to the post-World War I spirit, which brought
lightness and amusement back to music and dance.
To see these figures and the later production almost presents a nostalgic walk through the second half of the last century…
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Wending Through Wine Country
by Sharon Hudgins
For those in search of the perfect glass of wine, Germany’s Franconia region presents a cornucopia of romantic wine towns to visit during the pursuit.
Looking for a place to have an affordable, stress-free vacation, away from the doom-and-gloom of the latest economic news? Head for the Franconian wine region in the heart of
Germany, where you can sleep overnight in a winery, take long walks through the vineyards, bicycle to historic pilgrimage sites, dine in cozy rural restaurants, and drink some of the finest wines the country has
to offer.
Extending along both sides of the meandering Main River, the scenic Franconia wine region stretches from near Bamberg to a few kilometers north of Aschaffenburg, from the
foothills of the Steigerwald in the east to the edge of the Spessart and Odenwald forests in the west. It's a land of rolling hills, walled villages, stone watchtowers, Baroque churches, and nearly fifteen
thousand acres of steep vineyards where the Franconians have been growing grapes for more than twelve centuries.
Although there is no official "Franconian Wine Route," you'll occasionally see small road signs saying "Bocksbeutelstrasse." The name refers to Franconia's distinctively shaped green wine bottles known as Bocksbeutel (possibly because they look like certain private parts of a goat). According to law, only wines produced in Franconia can be sold in these flask-like bottles. Following the Bocksbeutelstrasse signs will lead you to some of the most famous wine villages in the region.
My husband and I like to explore this area on our own, by car, without a rigid itinerary. It's fun to turn down a country road and just follow wherever serendipity takes us.
You can also travel by bus or boat, getting off at a stop that strikes your fancy. Rent a bicycle and pedal across more than one thousand kilometers (six hundred twenty miles) of car-free bicycle trails. Or
wander on foot along numerous well-marked hiking routes from village to vineyard, through thick forests and along the winding river.
Summer is a fine time to visit, when the vineyards are lush and green and the weather is the hottest and driest in Germany. In autumn, the forests blaze with color, the harvest
is in full swing, and the villages are filled with the aroma of freshly pressed grapes. From March through November, more than two hundred fifty wine festivals are held here, too. (Check with the local tourist
offices for the exact dates.)
You can stop for a tasting at hundreds of wineries that offer their wares year round. Others open their doors to visitors only at certain times of the year. Look for a small
evergreen branch or a straw wreath hung above the entrance to those wineries. Inside there's usually an old cobblestone courtyard where you can sip an inexpensive Schoppen (one-fourth-liter glass) of the local wines, mostly whites made from Müller-Thurgau (Rivaner), Silvaner, Riesling, or Bacchus grapes. In the autumn, be sure to sample a specialty available only during harvest – Bremser or Bitzler,
the cloudy, bubbly, fermenting grape juice that's still on its way to becoming wine…
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The Musikwinkel
Jörg M. Unger
Over three centuries of musical instrument manufacture in Germany lies just across the border from the Czech Republic.
Fleeing from religious persecution – like the first settlers who arrived in America – Protestant emigrants from Bohemia, went across the Saxon border to settle in
the villages and towns of Vogtland, when Roman Catholicism regained influence south of Erzgebirge (ore mountains) after the Thirty Years’ War. Among them were twelve violin makers from Graslitz (Kraslice
in the Czech Republic today), who moved to Markneukirchen and laid the foundation of its three-hundred-thirty-year-long tradition as the German center of musical instrument manufacture. In March 1677, those
craftsmen founded the first German guild of this trade and made Markneukirchen the so-called Saxon Cremona, following the Italian town in the south of Lombardy, which was already famous for its violins in the
sixteenth century.
About one hundred years later, the production of brass and woodwind instruments was introduced as well and many small manufactories specialized in making violin bows, strings,
pegs, and accessories. In those days, strings were made from sheep guts that were washed, cut in strips and drilled together. Concerned about the quality of their products, the string makers of Markneukirchen
– who founded their guild in 1777 – even established trade relations with farmers in England, Denmark, and the Asian part of Russia to obtain the most suitable guts. In the early nineteenth century,
the instrument makers of Musikwinkel started to produce plucked string instruments, like zithers, harps, guitars, mandolins, and banjos. And Johann Christoph Herold from Klingenthal, who already made mouth
harmonicas in 1836, assembled the first accordion in 1852. Before long, all sorts of orchestral instruments were available in Vogtland, which derives its name from the early Middle Ages, when the region fell to
the Vogt (reeve) of Weida.
Already in the early 1800s, the first Verleger (merchants) went to America to trade in musical instruments made in Vogtland, and in the middle of the nineteenth century, the
instrument makers of Musikwinkel held a leading position on the world market. In 1892, musical instruments and strings, almost nine hundred thousand dollars worth, were exported – most of them to the
Americas. To simplify exportation overseas, a branch office of the United States Consulate in Plauen was opened in Markneukirchen in September 1893, and Oskar Gottschalk became the first American Consulate
Representative on Bismarckstrasse 14. The office was closed in April 1916, when the numbers of exported instruments diminished as a consequence of World War I.
Beside merchants, numerous instrument makers immigrated to the United States, too. Among them was Christian Frederick Martin. He was born Christian Friedrich Martin in
Markneukirchen in 1796 and went to New York in September 1833, where he ran a music store selling guitars as well as brass and string instruments. Five years later, he gave up his store and opened a manufactory
in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, to produce guitars of fine quality…
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Lucerne – The Essence of Switzerland
By Leah Larkin
Mountains, lakes, and historic architecture combine and the result is a city that captures the heart and soul of its visitors and residents.
“I’m in love with Lucerne,” says city guide Eliane Ritschard who moved to the Swiss city from Bern twenty years ago. “I like the combination of the city with
nature – mountains and lakes,” adds Christian Haueter, a city native. “It’s a unique combination. You can see so much of Switzerland in a small area.”
Indeed, as the brochures claim, Lucerne is the “essence of Switzerland.” If tourists visit just one place in Switzerland, it’s likely to be lakeside Lucerne.
The Altstadt with its cobblestone streets, stone turrets, and frescoed houses, the famous covered bridges, the spectacular views of the surrounding mountains towering over Lake Lucerne – all make this
Swiss gem irresistible. Add to that outstanding museums, boat trips on the lake, and a trek to a nearby mountaintop and you’ve got a “must” tourist destination.
We began a recent visit with a stroll over the Spreuerbrücke, one of the city’s two covered wooden bridges spanning the rushing River Reuss. Both bridges were originally part of the town’s fortifications and remain as a step back in time adding genuine medieval ambience to Lucerne. This bridge, built in 1408 and restored in the nineteenth century, is decorated with painted panels representing the Dance of Death. A skeleton in each of the paintings is a reminder that everyone must die.
Just adjacent to the bridge, construction was underway to replace some of the water spikes – one hundred seventy-eight long “needles” of oak that are lowered
and withdrawn by hand to control the water level of the lake from which the river flows. This unusual dam system is one hundred fifty years old and seems antiquated in this high tech age, but it obviously
still works.
I love the river and its sounds -- a powerful body of water surging through the middle of the city, which it divides in half. The Altstadt on the right half is a pedestrian area
whose cobbled streets lead to picturesque squares with many a house façade painted with scenes. We had dinner one evening at the Hotel des Balances, a city landmark whose origins go back to 1199. It became
a guesthouse in 1519 and is painted with scenes illustrating those who have stayed there. Today it’s a classy hotel with a restaurant noted for fine cuisine. Ask for a table on the balcony
overlooking the river.
The most elaborate of the painted buildings is the Zunfthaus zu Pfistern on the Kornmarkt, an old baker’s guild house painted with an elaborate genealogical tree of the
town’s different baker families. A set of steps next to the house is the center of Lucerne’s carnival craziness every year in the pre-Lenten season when bands gather there and play Guggenmusik, discordant, raucous sounds…
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Hallo Mutter, Hallo Vater
By Emily Grosvenor
It isn’t Camp Grenada but families are learning German together at the Concordia Language Village’s Waldsee language camp.
On a crisp August morning, Paul Fujumura stood at the border crossing to Waldsee, a German language immersion summer camp in Bemidji, Minnesota. The forty-six-year-old Annapolis
resident, Director of Asian and Pacific Policy for the Department of Homeland Security, watched as his son Tristan, age eight, had his passport stamped and passed through customs without complaint. He hung back
as his son found a German nametag hanging from a tree and hung it around his neck. But instead of wishing his son auf Wiedersehen and high-tailing it for some peace at home without the kids, Fujimura plucked the name “Wolfgang" from the line and tried it on.
"He doesn't seem like a Wolfgang," Tristan said skeptically about his father's choice of German name. "Wolfgang's are young and fast."
For the past three summers, a new breed of camper has been invading the shores of Waldsee's Turtle River Lake site to learn German in the language village's make-believe
world. The Fujimuras are among the dozens of families who make the long trek to Concordia Language Villages for some serious family fun year round at one of the organization's language immersion programs.
The camps have long fed the needs of Americans that don't live near bilingual schools or who want to give their children a leg-up in language learning (Chelsea Clinton attended Waldsee for six years during
her father's administration). But in this cash-strapped era, families also are also drawn to the camp as a safe setting in which to explore German-speaking Europe without the hassles associated with foreign
travel.
At Waldsee, literally "Forest Lake," villagers learn the language by playing, singing, and studying in a setting that looks almost eerily as if it were plucked from a
bucolic German village. Families live independently in the Schwarzwaldhaus (Black Forest House), a half-timbered dormitory set deep within the woods overlooking Turtle River Lake. Though parents studying
a language alongside their kids risk losing a little face as they try to acquire actively what kids learn naturally, most parents see these small jabs to the ego as a small price to pay on the quest to raise
global citizens…
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Castles of a Dynasty -The Hohenzollern Route
By Zac Steger
Explore the highlights of the Hohenzollern Route and discover the history of one of Germany’s most influential dynasties.
The year 2008 quietly marked ninety years since Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate, bringing an end to World War I and Imperial Germany. As one of the oldest and most
influential families in Europe, the Hohenzollerns had made the Kingdom of Prussia the most dominant German-speaking power and, under the guidance of Otto von Bismarck, united the various duchies, principalities,
and kingdoms into the German Empire. Their story begins far from Berlin in the hills of Swabia along the Hohenzollernstrasse (Hohenzollern Route), where two castles explore the history of one of
Europe’s most powerful dynasties.
Stretching around 300 kilometers, the Hohenzollern Route takes visitors through the former territories of the family in southern Baden-Württemberg. Sights include the moated castle at
Glatt, Beuron Abbey, and Schloss Haigerloch, site of the world’s first atomic reactor. However, two castles are must-sees: the ancestral seat of Burg Hohenzollern and Schloss Sigmaringen, seat of the
Swabian family line.
A medieval chronicle traces the origins of the House of Hohenzollern back to the brothers Burchard and Wezil von Zollern, two knights who died in battle in 1061. It was in this same
century that the first Hohenzollern fortress near Hechingen is mentioned, though little is known about it.
In 1188, Count Friedrich III von Zollern married the daughter of the burgrave in Nuremberg, setting the path for the family’s expansion into Franconia. Upon the
burgrave’s death, Friedrich III inherited all of his possessions and titles, which were divided by the following generation. This split the family into two main branches: the Swabian line (Catholic), which
remained close to the ancestral seat and the Franconian line (Protestant), which would continue their expansion into Brandenburg and Prussia.
Punctuated by various Friedrichs and Wilhelms, the Franconia-Brandenburg-Prussia line proved to one of the most important families in Europe. By 1701, Friedrich III had crowned
himself King of Prussia, which covered much of northern Germany and modern Poland. Following victory in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, Wilhelm I became Kaiser of a united German Empire…
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To the Sierra Morena: German Emigration to Spain in the Eighteenth Century
by Robert A. Selig
In the mid 1700s, impoverished Germans were immigrating to other lands in search of a better life and Johann Kaspar (von) Thürriegel pointed them in the direction of Spain.
In April 2009, my daughter Hannah and I participated in the re-enactment of the 1797 Siege of San Juan in Puerto Rico. While in San Juan, I gave a presentation on the role of
the Löwensteiner Jäger in that campaign. (See our story in the March/April 2009 issue of German Life). During a conversation following my lecture, Dr. José G. Rigau-Pérez of Academia Puertorriqueña
de la Historia, told me that he, too, was of German descent. His ancestor, Franz, or Francisco, Kerpf, having arrived from Málaga in Spain in May 1784 at the age of thirty-two with the Regiment Infantry Naples,
had given his birthplace as "Tschifflick" in “Dupont or Dupent," clearly Deux-Ponts or Zweibrücken in southwestern Germany.
According to their personnel files in the Archivo General de Simancas, Legajos 7137 and 7289, eighteen-year-old Francisco had joined the Naples Regiment in 1770 together with
his twelve-year-old brother, Johannes Anton, or Antonio, born 22 January 1758. Once Spain had joined France in the American War of Independence in the summer of 1779, the two brothers served in the siege of
Gibraltar from June 1779 until February 1783. Following the Peace of Paris in 1783, Antonio, as well as Francisco, married to Ana Maria Gomez del Pozo in Málaga since 10 September 1779, shipped with their regiment to Puerto Rico, where Francisco joined the Infantry Regiment Puerto Rico in 1790. On 1 December 1794, Francisco, now a First Sergeant, retired at age forty-two due to “hectic fever,” possibly tuberculosis, and died shortly thereafter. Dr. Rigau's question to me was "how did they get from Zweibrücken to Málaga?"
This information naturally piqued my interest, especially when the Rev. Dr. Dennis A. Kastens, one of our readers and a genealogy expert on Zweibrücken, informed me that no
family by the name of Kerp, Kerb or Kerpf appears in Palatinate village census records of 1731 or 1742. However, he had found an Anton Lohin, a widower with one son and three daughters, of Catholic faith, in the
1742 census of Schmitthausen, a community quite distant from Zweibrücken. That information not only matched the known surname of Anton's mother, Margarethe, spelled Loin/Loyn in eighteenth-century documents,
but that of Antonio's grandfather as well. The location of Schmithausen helps explain why Dr. Kastens could find neither the father, Johannes, in the census nor a birth or baptismal record of Francisco: the
Kerpf's were newcomers in Tschifflick, having arrived there some time before 2 July 1756, when the birth of their daughter Marie Salome is entered into church records….
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Language:
Die Russlanddeutschen und Amerika
Von Peter Pabisch
Die Russlanddeutschen stammen aus vielen Orten in Deutschland und verweisen auf eine lange Geschichte, die von schicksalsschweren, ja tragischen Episoden durchzogen ist, ehe sie
Frieden und Ruhe auf der amerikanischen Seite des Atlantiks fanden. Ihre Hauptauswanderungszeit vollzog sich nach der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts, besonders in den siebziger Jahren und später knapp nach dem
ersten Weltkrieg. Sie wanderten auf beide amerikanischen Kontinente aus, die meisten in die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika. Die Mennoniten, als eine besondere Gruppe der Russlanddeutschen, verließen Europa von
der lettischen Hauptstadt Riga, von wo sie ihre Schiffe über die Ostsee und Nordsee nach Amerika brachten. Sie reisten dann nach Sakatchewan in Kanada weiter. Jahre später zogen gewisse Mennonitenfamilien in die
Vereinigten Staaten und sogar nach Mexiko und weiter südlich.
Ihre Einwanderung und die der anderen russlanddeutschen Volksgruppen erweist sich als sehr spezifisch, da sie die verschiedenen Teile Deutschlands auf Einladung der
russisch-deutschen Herrscherin Katharina der Großen im 18. Jahrhundert aufgaben, um sich in Russland entlang der Flüsse Wolga und Dnjepr anzusiedeln. Obwohl sie im Ende wohlhabend, ja reich wurden, entschieden
sich etliche von ihnen nach Amerika auszuwandern. Sie hatten dazu ökonomische, politische und, wie im Falle der Mennoniten, religiöse Gründe. Über ihre Geschichte und ihr Leben wurden viele Bücher geschrieben,
die man in einem kurzen Essay hier nicht wiedergeben könnte.
Meine Forschungsarbeit dafür wurde durch meinen Studenten Bill Nourse gefördert, der für mich eine Semesterarbeit zu den Russlanddeutschen im Allgemeinen verfasste, und durch
meine Kollegin und Programmleiterin Marina Peters-Newell, die eine Nachfahrin der Mennonitenfamilie Peters in der Ukraine ist. Sie gewährte mir gewissen Einblick in die tagebuchartigen Logbücher ihrer Familie;
ich danke beiden für Rat und Hilfe.
Language:
The Russian-Germans and the Americas
by Peter Pabisch
The Russian-Germans come from many places in Germany – and theirs is a long history, intertwined by many fateful, even tragic episodes before they found freedom and
tranquility on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Their main immigration occurred after the middle of the nineteenth century, most notably in the 1870s and then again soon after World War I. They went to both the
American continents, most of them to the United States. The Mennonites, as a noted group of Russian-Germans, left Europe from Riga, the capital of Latvia, where ships brought them from the Baltic Sea and the
North Sea to America. Here they traveled on to Saskatchewan in Canada. In years thereafter, certain Mennonite families went on to the United States, even to Mexico and further south.
Their and other Russian-German groups’ immigration presents itself as very specific, as they left various parts of Germany in the late eighteenth century upon the
invitation of the Russian-German ruler Catherine the Great, to settle in Russia along the Volga and Dnieper rivers. However, even though they had become quite affluent, even wealthy, several of them decided to
come to America. Their reasons were economic, political, and, as in the case of the Mennonites, religious. Many books have been written about their history and their life, quite impossible to be related here in
a short essay.
My research was supported by my student Bill Nourse, who wrote a semester paper for me about the Russian-Germans in general, and by my colleague and program adviser Marina
Peters-Newell, who is a descendant of the Mennonite family of the “Peters” in the Ukraine. She has offered me some insight to her family’s diary logbooks; I thank them both indeed for their
help…
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Viva Volksmarching!
By Patricia Bloebaum
An American couple tries Volksmarching and develops a passion for the German sporting hobby that has lasted over thirty years.
On a bright, chilly morning in March, 1976, we were driving through the German countryside in search of a town named Grügelborn. Why Grügelborn? We could have been
sleeping warm and cozy under the blankets in our Army quarters in Baumholder, where my husband was stationed.
We were headed to our first Volksmarch, the first of many weekend hikes we’d take in every kind of weather and in every part of Germany. We’d joined the
Baumholder Bahnbrechers (Pathfinders) Volksmarch Club—a group of American military folks dedicated to exploring Germany step-by-step on “People’s Hikes” organized across Europe and
around the year. The sport sounded interesting, but intimidating, for the hikes ranged from 10 to 25 kilometers, and I was a typical out-of-condition-45-year-old American housewife. My husband was used
to marching, but I had trouble climbing the sidewalk that led from downtown Baumholder to our American housing area. Could I walk six miles over hill and dale? I’d soon find out.
As we neared Grügelborn we noticed "IVV" (International Volkssport Verein) signs directing us to our destination. We rounded a bend in the road and saw traffic
being directed into an open field filled with automobiles. Could so many people actually have driven to little Gruü]gelborn just to take a hike? Yep!
We followed the crowds toward the school building, draped with a big IVV banner. Sounds of “oompah” music and smells of roasting bratwurst emanated from the
gymnasium, where early hikers were imbibing hot coffee and cold beer, along with grilled bratwursts or bowls of steaming pea soup. Grügelborn officials issued Start Cards (six Deutsche Marks at that time)
to hikers who wanted to take home the award of that day--a gold medal attached to a red-and-white ribbon. We paid our money, went outside, and followed the arrows painted on the roadway. Our adventure
had begun!
Today, thirty-three years later, I still remember that first-of-many Volksmarches. Cross the street and follow a pathway down the hill and through a shallow
valley. Climb a small embankment onto the road that curved through the little town and its pointy-roofed houses. Flowers bloomed in pots behind crisp white curtains. Old women swept the gutters
with twig brooms. Arrows led us to the edge of town where a sign pointed into a dark fir forest. Up the hill went the path. We followed it to the top and paused for a breathtaking view of the
countryside spread before us. That panorama alone was worth the effort. We returned to the path and followed it--through mysterious woods, across gurgling streams, beside pastures where cows
grazed. It was wunderbar!…
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At Home:
Time for New Wine – A Special Autumn Treat
by Sharon Hudgins
Early autumn is the beginning of the “new wine” season each year in northern Europe. In the wine-producing areas of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Alsace, and the
Italian Tirol, you’ll find the locals merrily imbibing a cloudy, light-beige liquid that combines the taste of yeast and freshly crushed grapes with the sparkle of champagne and the foam of beer.
Neuer Wein, or “new wine,” as the term is used in Germany, refers to grape juice that is in the process of becoming wine. It is still
undergoing fermentation whereby yeast converts the grapes’ natural sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide – and eventually into wine. Since the fermentation process is not yet complete, this
“new wine” is lower in alcohol than true wine and still has some of the sweetness of grape juice. The carbon dioxide makes it bubbly.
Most new wine in Germany is grape juice that’s on its way to becoming white wine – hence the cloudy-beige color of the drink. Occasionally you’ll also find new red (or even rosé)
wine, produced mainly in Italy and some parts of Austria, which is mauve to deep dusty-rose in color.
Since the fermentation time for wines ranges from approximately two to six weeks (white wines ferment longer than reds), new wine is available only in the autumn, during the
grape harvest and the few weeks immediately following, from around mid-August to mid-November (depending on the region, the grape, and the weather).
In the German-speaking areas of Europe, new wine is known by a number of different names. Some of the terms come from the local or regional dialects. Others describe the various
stages of the grape fermentation process. And sometimes the exact definition of the term depends entirely on the person you’re talking to!
Bitzler, from a word in the German Pfalz dialect, meaning “bubbly” or “effervescent.”
Bremser, a term used in the Franconian wine region of Germany, describing new wine in the early stage of fermentation when it’s still sweet like grape juice.
Federweisser, meaning “feather-white,” a name referring to the wine’s light beige color. One of the most common names for new white wine in Germany,
especially in the Rhineland-Pfalz region. In some places it refers specifically to grape juice in mid- to later stages of fermentation when the liquid is less sweet.
Federroter, or “feather-red,” describing the dusty-rose color of new wine made from red grapes.
Most or Moscht, another term for fermenting new wine, from the German word for “must,” or freshly pressed grape juice. Often used in reference to the
grape juice itself or juice in the earliest stage of fermentation, when it’s still very sweet.
Neuer Wein, or “new wine,” another of the most common, general terms for this drink.
Sauser is what new wine is often called in the Italian Tirol, because the wine “rushes” – saust – to your head (and can quickly make you as soused as the term implies).
Staubiger, an Austrian term for fermenting grape juice in the latest stage, after turning from Most to Sturm to Staubiger.
Sturm, an Austrian term for new wine because the wine looks cloudy or “stormy.” The Austrians distinguish between Weisse (white) Sturm and Schilcher (red) Sturm (fermenting red grape juice from the Styria region of Austria).
Süsser, or “sweet,” because not all of the grape sugar has yet been converted into alcohol or carbon dioxide. Referring to grape juice in the earliest stages
of fermentation, this term is especially prevalent in the Rhineland-Pfalz and Bodensee (Lake Constance) regions.
Raucher, or “smoky,” another name for cloudy new wine, often used in the Rhineland-Pfalz.
Reisser, a term for new wine that has been fermented longer and is not so sweet. The dryness supposedly “pulls at” – resist – or puckers your throat.
Vin nouveau, Neuer Wein, and Neuer Süsser are all terms that you’ll see in the region of Alsace, where both French and the Germanic Alsatian dialect are spoken. In the regional dialect, fermenting grape juice is also known as Neia Siessa, Neier Süsser, and Neujer Siesser.
None of these terms should be confused with the more general French use of vin nouveau (literally “new wine”) or the famous Austrian Heurige (meaning “this year’s”) wine. Both of these terms refer to new wines in the sense that they are the first real wines produced from the most recent autumn’s harvest. These are true wines, completely fermented and ready for drinking by mid-November of that harvest year – although many people prefer to wait and drink them the following spring or summer, after the young wines have had more time to “age.”…
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Family Research:
Indexing Project Seeks To Put Digital Records On Internet
by James M. Beidler
For years and years, microfilms of church records from many villages in Germany have been one of the backbones of the world’s largest genealogy library, the Family History
Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. These church records of baptisms, marriages, and burials allow plenty of researchers with German ancestry to trace their families’ vital events back in to the 1600s and,
sometimes, even into the 1500s. And, of course, there are many other German records – censuses, immigration records, and others – in the Family History Library as well.
While these microfilms can be rented for a modest fee to local Family History Centers across the country (or viewed during a research trip to Salt Lake City), the folks at the
library’s parent concern, the Mormon-owned nonprofit FamilySearch, realized that there was an increasing demand for access to digitized records right on the computer desktop. With this in mind,
FamilySearch Indexing was created three years ago to begin what is expected to be a long process of digitizing and indexing the huge collection of microfilmed records that includes the German church registers.
Those who agree to volunteer for the project from around the world use an online software application to view and index the digitized records. The project currently has one
hundred thousand active indexers, according to Paul Nauta, FamilySearch public affairs manager. “The project is on track and growing, though there’s always a need for more indexers,” he said.
“More international/foreign language reading indexers are particularly needed, including German!” To give an idea of the project’s scale, more than two hundred fifty million names were indexed
in the first two years, and one million names a day are now being indexed, Nauta said.
In order to gain a greater degree of accuracy, each record is indexed twice, with an arbitrator to resolve differences. Volunteers for the Mormon project who meet a certain
benchmark (nine hundred names indexed in a ninety-day span) receive free access to all record images, even those not on FamilySearch's public site.
In addition to the individual benefits, the project’s partnering organizations also are helped. Organizations that provide records for digitizing and indexing to
FamilySearch Indexing receive free copies of the record images and indexes, though these records and indexes will also presumably be on the FamilySearch website as well. So far, the following items for Germany
are part of FamilySearch Indexing:…
For more, subscribe today!
Calendar: August – September 2009
Please contact events directly to confirm dates, times, locations, and admission fees
August
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
Oregon, OH
August 1: Teutonia Männerchor and Damenchor’s 35th Kornfest. Oak Shade Grove, 3624 Seaman Rd. (near Coy Rd.) in the Schwabenhalle – rain or shine. Call 419-472-9721, or 419-691-4116.
Scranton. PA
August 2: 103rd German Day Sommerfest. Waldorf Park German-American Federation, 13 Waldorf Lane. Call 570-348-2285 or visit www.waldorfparktiki.com
Liverpool, NY
August 2: 37th Annual Bavarian Fest. Longbranch Park. Visit www.bavarianclubalmenrausch.org
Columbus, OH
August 7 – 9: Brats & Crafts Festival. St. James Lutheran Church, 5660 Trabue Road. Call 937-642-4135 or email: kenandmarymusik@yahoo.com
Rochester, NY
August 7 – 9: Annual German Fest. Spencerport Firemen’s Field. Visit www.rochestergerman.com
Fredericksburg, TX
August 20 – 23: 121st Gillespie County Fair. Gillespie County Fairgrounds. Call 830-997-2359.
Fredericksburg, TX
August 21 – 23 and 28 – 30: Harvest Wine Trail (Hill Country) / Fredericksburg area. Visit www.texaswinetrail.com
Honesdale, PA
August 21 – 23: 31st Annual Oktoberfest. Alpine Wurst & Meat House, 1105 Texas Palmyra Highway (Route 6 East of Honesdale). Visit www.thealpineonline.com
Cincinnati, OH
August 28-30: Germania Society Oktoberfest. Germania Park. Visit www.germaniasociety.com
Oregon, OH
August 28 – 30: 44th German-American Festival. Oak Shade Grove, 3624 Seaman Street, Oregon, Ohio. General admission: $7.00 per
person. Visit www.gafsociety.org or e-mail: festchair@gafsociety.org.
September
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
Berea, OH
September 4 – 7: Oktoberfest 2009. Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. Visit www.clevelandoktoberfest.com
Ebenezer, GA
September 5 – 7: Annual Heritage Day Meeting of the Georgia Salzburger Society. Visit www.georgiasalzburgers.com
Rapid City, SD
September 9 – 13: 39th Annual Convention of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society (GRHS). At the Ramkota
Hotel Best Western. Call 701-223-6167 or visit www.grhs.org
Fredericksburg, TX
September 11 – 12: Annual Boys & Girls Club of TX Hill Country Shopping Tournament. Call 830-997-6523 or
visit www.shoppingtournament.org
Covington, KY
September 11 – 13: 31st Annual MainStrasse Village Oktoberfest. MainStrasse Village. Call 859-491-0458 or visit www.mainstrasse.org
Poughkeepsie, NY
September 11 – 13: Germania of Poughkeepsie Oktoberfest. 51 Old Degarmo Road. Call 845 471-0609 or visit www.germaniaoktoberfest.com or
www.germaniapok.com
Waupun, WI
September 11 – 13: Annual Volksfest. Join us under the Big Tent. No admission charge. Call Steve Joas at 920-324-2888.
Glendale, WI
September 11 – 27: Oktoberfest. Heidelberg Park behind the Bavarian Inn. Call 262-646-8048 or visit www.bavarianinnmilw.com
Mount Angel, OR
September 17 – 20: 44th Annual Mount Angel Oktoberfest. Call 503-845-9440 or visit www.oktoberfest.org
Chippewa Falls, WI
September 18 – 20: 7th Annual Oktoberfest. Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds. Call 866-723-0340, email: info@chippewachamber.org or visit www.chippewachamber.org
Manheim, PA
September 18 – 20: Lancaster Liederkranz Oktoberfest. 722 South Chiques Rd. Call 717-898-8451 or visit www.lancasterliederkranz.com
Anaheim, CA
September 18 – October 31: Oktoberfest at the Phoenix Club (every Friday through Sunday at 1340 S. Sanderson. Call 714-563-4166 or visit www.thephoenixclub.com
Boyertown, PA
September 19: Boyertown’s 2nd Annual Oktoberfest. South Reading Avenue (Inner Core Parking Lot). Visit www.boyertownpa.org or email: manager@boyertownpa.org
Oakland, CA
September 20: German Fest 2009. In and around the Pavilion of the Dunsmuir-Hellman Historic Estate, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court. Call 510-530-5229 or visit www.dunsmuir.org or www.ugas-eb.org
Shepherdstown, WV
September 20: Oktoberfest. Bavarian Inn. Call 304-876-2551 or visit www.bavarianinnwv.com
Syracuse, NY
September 25 – 27: 49th Annual Great Syracuse Oktoberfest. Clinton Square, Downtown Syracuse. Visit www.germanamericanscny.net
Leavenworth, WA
September 25 – 27: Autumn Leaf Fest. Call 509-548-5807 or visit www.leavenworth.org
Bristol, CT
September 26: German-American Society’s Oktoberfest 2009. Barlow Street off Route 72 (Terryville Road). Call 203-888-5976 or 860-582-6867.
Hillsborough, NH
September 26; 7th Annual Schnitzelfest. Downtown Hillsborough (under tents, rain or shine). Call 603-464-5858 or 603-464-5079, or email: hcofc@conknet.com , or visit www.hillsboroughnhchamber.com
Davenport, IA
September 27: Volksmarch. German American Heritage Center. Call 563-322-8844 or visit www.gahc.org
Serbin, TX
September 27: 21st Annual Wendish Fest. Texas Wendish Heritage Museum & St. Paul Lutheran Church Picnic Grounds.
Call 979-366-2441 or visit www.texaswendish.org
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