AKRON: GERMAN AMERICAN LIFE

Forwarded From Akron Donauschwaben, German Family Society

from: www.germanfoods.org

Präsident: Sepp Geiser

A German-American Portrait: 

From Founding Family to Micro-Brewery Pioneers

    October is a month of great historic significance for citizens of Germany and for German-Americans in North America alike. Since 1990 the third day of the month has been a national holiday in Germany, known as the Day of German Unity. This day, when Germans pause to celebrate their reunification, has since become the most significant national holiday, a German Independence Day, as it were.

    In the US, October 6 is German-American Day, a holiday that celebrates German heritage and commemorates the date in 1683 when 13 German families from Krefeld, Westphalia landed in Philadelphia. These families subsequently founded Germantown, Pennsylvania, the first Ger-man settlement in the original thirteen American colonies. This year marks the 325th anniver-sary of that settlement.

    The story of the Pastorius family of Pennsylvania epitomizes the pioneering spirit of German-Americans throughout history. In 1683, a group of Mennonites, Pietists, and Quakers in Frankfurt approached Francis Daniel Pastorius about acting as their agent to pur-chase land in Pennsylvania for a settlement. Pastorius traveled to Philadelphia, where he negotiated the pur-chase of 15,000 acres from William Penn, the proprie-tor of the colony. Pastorius laid out the settlement of Germantown, where he himself would become one of the town’s leading public servants and where he lived until his death in 1720. In 1688, Francis Daniel Pastorius once again made history when he and three Germantown Quakers joined in signing the first written protest of slavery in American history.

    One of the family’s descendants, Tom Pastorius, has made a name for himself as Pennsylvania’s first craft brewer. In 1986 he founded Penn Brewery and introduced Penn Pilsner, the first Pennsylvania brewed draft beer. In anticipation of changes in Pennsylvania micro-brewery laws (passed in 1987), Tom Pastorius, with technical and financial assistance from the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, began restoring the former Eberhardt and Ober Brewery in the historic Deutschtown sec-tion of Pittsburgh. Pastorius hired a German brew-master to oversee con-struction of the 20,000 barrel-a-year capacity brewing facility, including authentic German micro-brewery equipment. Penn Brewery has grown into a successful enter-prise where Tom Pastorius proudly produces beer in the German style, adhering to the strict German quality standards for beer known as "Reinheitsgebot," first documented in 1516. The restaurant adjacent to the brewery serves a wide array of German specialties.

VISITING AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE

JANUARY  2009

Christian "Santa Free" Zone

Christoph Schommer

Agence Agence Presse/germerica     http://www.germerica.net

    Armed with child-friendly stickers, web-savvy promoters and chocolate figurines, the "Santa-Free Zone" movement says it is gathering steam this year against what it calls the hollow commercialization of Christmas.   Launched by a German Catholic priest in 2002, the campaign aims to knock Santa off his pedestal and replace what they see as a cheap, American import with the real thing: Saint Nicholas.   "The movement is intended to raise awareness of the fact that the consumption-oriented Santa launched by the Christmas gift industry has very little to do with the holy bishop Saint Nicholas," said Christoph Schommer (photo below) of the Catholic aid group Bonifatiuswerk, which is rallying the Santa opposition.   Saint Nicholas, an actual historical figure, was in the fourth century Bishop of Myra in today's Turkey whose legendary modesty and generosity led him to give gifts in secret.

Roman-Catholic activists in Germany are waging a campaign to do away with old Santa Claus and replace him with the real thing: Saint Nicholas. They say they are gainingground thanks to the global economic meltdown.

    As the story goes, his greatest miracle was saving three girls whose impoverished father wanted to sell them into prostitution. Nicholas, who had inherited a fortune from his father, left three lumps of gold over three nights in their room while they were sleeping.   Catholics and Orthodox Christians in much of the world still celebrate Saint Nicholas Day, usually on December 6, as a festival for children, who receive chocolates in their shoes when they leave them out overnight.   But Saint Nicholas has long been upstaged during the holiday season by the ho-ho-ho-ing Santa Claus, or Father Christmas in Britain and Canada, and activists would like the saint to reclaim the Yuletide throne.   Santa's red fur-lined suit, chubby mid-section and fluffy white beard are all thought to be inventions of ad-men at Coca-Cola, which came up with the grandfatherly figure for a campaign in the 1930s.   Opponents say Santa has cheapened Christmas by reducing a celebration of Christian values to a decadent and deeply dissatisfying display of greed.

    But the Saint Nicholas camp also refuses to be dismissed as a bunch of Bah-Humbug curmudgeons. "We of course are doing the whole thing with a twinkle in our eyes -- we are not trying to take away Santa from anyone but we want to make clear who the original Father Christmas is," Schommer said. "Nicholas promoted values such as solidarity, loving thy neighbour, sharing what you have and the bushy-bearded Santa does just the opposite -- he's a pack horse of consumer society, nothing more."   Protestants have also joined in promoting Nicholas over Santa Claus as a more fitting symbol of Christmas.   The Lutheran Church put out a pro-Nicholas manifesto this month titled "How a Holy Legend Turned Into an Advertising Gag". "'Jack Frost' from Russia and the Weihnachtsmann, Father Christmas (in England and Canada) and Pere Noel were superimposed on the image of the bishop from Asia Minor by clever advertising strategists," it said.   "That is how the charitable miracle-maker who helped young people in need degenerated into the giver of presents big and small."

    The Santa-Free Zone people have in six years passed out 100,000 stickers emblazoned with a jolly Kris Kringle in a circle crossed through with a slash, like a no-parking sign, on high streets and at Germany's ubiquitous outdoor Christmas markets.

The group launched a new website this year in time for the season that lays out the stark differences between Santa and the real Saint Nick, and is drawing 12,000 unique registers per month from around the world.   And the movement is rivaling traditional Santa candies with chocolate figurines wrapped in foil with the image of Nicholas the bishop dressed in a mitre and a flowing robe, clutching a staff and Bible.

    Schommer said the downturn in the global economy had already muted the shop-till-you-drop mood,  and reported rampant interest in the Santa-Free Zone stickers and Nicholas chocolates in Germany, the rest of Europe and North America.

    "There are several interesting parallels with the financial crisis, which also shows at the end of the day that material wealth is ephemeral," he said.

    "Investing in stocks can make your money disappear in a flash but the values that Saint Nicholas stood for -- that giving to others makes you richer and not poorer -- is something that endures."

    But Santa says he's not on the ropes yet.

    "You can't have Christmas without Santa!" Peter Georgi, 66, told the French news agency AFP on a break from playing Father Christmas at Berlin's top department store KaDeWe. The white-bearded Georgi with a mischievous smile said he had learned in his eight years on the job that even adults seemed to feel a little magic in his presence.

    "Santa is not here trying to pull money out of people's pockets. Children, adults and even old people come especially to see me every year. Santa will always be a part of the joy of the holidays."

VISITING AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE

JANUARY  2009

German Warship

Foils Somalian Pirate Attack

Courtesy Deutsche Welle    http://www.dw-world.de/

A German warship and helicopter on Christmas Day succeeded in foiling an attempt by pirates to board an Egyptian bulk carrier traveling in the troubled Gulf of Aden off Somalia's coast.

    The ship, which had a crew of 31 aboard, was headed for an Asian port from the Egyptian port of Suez when pirates approached the vessel and started firing at crew members, said Noel Choong, head of the anti-piracy International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.   He declined to give details of the ship's cargo.

    Upon being attacked, crew members immediately called for aid from international coalition forces patrolling the troubled Somalia waters, said Choong.

    "The pirates were randomly firing at the ship, resulting in one of the crew members sustaining injuries to his leg," he said.

However, before the pirates could board the ship, a German naval warship and helicopter, responding to the call for help, arrived at the scene and managed to chase off the pirates.

    Later, the helicopter returned to the Egyptian carrier and airlifted the injured crew member onto the warship, said Choong.

As the "Karlsruhe" set sail for Somalia Tuesday, Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung proposed an international court be set up to prosecute Somali pirates .

VISITING AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE

JANUARY  2009

 MICHIGAN'S IMMIGRANT

EXPERIENCE

A Journey of Hope

By Chris Pesta

Forwarded From Carpathia Donauschwaben

    Macomb County Community College hosted an exhibit at the Albert L. Lorenzo Cultural Center displaying photo’s, artifacts and displays highlighting a time line of immigration of different ethnic groups into southeast Michigan. Carpathia Club was asked to support the exhibit with items for their displays and participate in an ethnic taste fest. In addition to the German heritage display, the exhibit had similar displays for the Irish, Italian, Greek, Jewish, French, English, Polish, Eastern European, Canadian, African, Arabian, and Asian ethnic groups.

    German immigration to Detroit began before 1820, and increased following the turmoil of unsuccessful European revolutions in 1848. During the middle 1800’s, German farmers helped the state grow and the early settlers played a large role in developing the state’s education system. In Detroit, most German immigrants settled in an area known as Germantown, located between the Jefferson and Gratiot Avenue corridors with many later moving to Macomb County. Today, Germans are the largest ancestral group in Michigan, representing over 2.6 million descendants, or 22% of the state’s population. Donauschwabens began arriving in the

United States around 1885. The Donauschwaben Club in Chicago formed the American Aid Society to help

German immigrants assimilate into society after World War II.

    Famous German immigrants included Oscar Meyer, Alber Kahn, and Walter P. Chrysler. In the 1880’s, Oscar Meyer began his career as a butcher in Detroit’s Germantown before his moniker became a famous brand name for packaged hot dogs and cold cuts. Albert Kahn designed Henry Ford’s first assembly line in Highland Park in 1912 and General Motors headquarters in 1920’s (then the world’s largest private office building). In 1925, Walter P. Chrysler launched the Chrysler Corporation.

VISITING AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE

JANUARY  2009

Third Century Roman Battlefield

Discovered in Northern Germany

Forwarded by anonymous

    The battle would postdate the invasion of Germania by Roman legions under Varus who was defeated in 9 A.D. by Hermann the Cheruscan and his Germanic tribesmen in the battle of the Teutoburg Forest. The battle is commemorated by a statue of Hermann in the city of Detmold (below). A smaller replica stands in the Minnesota town of New Ulm, known as America’s most German city.  

    As previously reported, the newly uncovered battlefield near Kalefeld-Oldenrode, south of Hanover, is some 124 miles northwest of the Teutoberg Forest and appears to date to between A.D. 180-260.  At a press conference Monday, archeologists said they used coins and weaponry excavated from an area one mile long and 1/3 of a mile wide to date the battlefield. The experts called it the „find of the century.“ The 600 objects include spears, arrowheads, catapult and dishes at the site of a brutal battle that might have involved up to 1,000 Roman fighters.

    Guenther Moosbauer, an expert at the University of Osnabrueck who studies Roman-German history, said he suspects the battle might have been started by a legion seeking revenge after tribesman in A.D. 235 pushed Roman troops south of the Limes Germanicus, a ring of forts that separated the empire from unconquered land to the north and east. DNA tests showed that the arrows may have been made from wood that the Romans cut in Africa.

    Until now historians had assumed that the Romans pulled  back after their ignominious deafeat at the hands of Hermann, a Roman general whose Roman name was Arminius. But the excavations prove that the Romans battled the Germans two centuries later in the middle of German territory. In the past few years archeologists in nearby Goettingen have discovered vast supply camps of the Roman army as well as numerous weapons, coins and household utensils.

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Roman battlefield from the third century near Göttingen that will rewrite history, Lower Saxony's department for preservation of historical monuments said.

     “The find can be dated to the third century and will definitely change the historical perception of that time,” Dr. Henning Haßmann told a local newspaper. The amazing discovery allows an insight in what must have been a dramatic battle between Romans and Germanic tribes. “The find indicates a massive Roman military presence,” Haßmann said.

    So far historians believed that the battle of the Teutoburg Forest, which took place in 9 AD, resulted in the Roman’s Empire withdrawal from Germania without any further attempt to conquer the land beyond the Rhine River again. The leader of the Germanic insurgents was Hermann the Cheruscan, a Roman general whose Latin name was Arminius. But the unearthing of the battleground near the village of Kalefeld proves that Rome didn't give up its expansionary ambitions until much later than previously assumed.

    “It is pretty normal to find evidence of Roman culture all over even up in Scotland, but a find like this in northern Germany is really amazing,” Haßmann said. “And it's spectacularly well preserved.” The dig has already brought some 600 artefacts to light during the last three months, most of them ancient weapons. The exact location has been kept a secret so far, to keep private collectors at bay, Haßmann said. But it will be revealed on Monday by Lower Saxony's minister for science and culture, Lutz Stratmann, as well as the archaeologists that were involved in the excavation.

How did it happen?

    "It never stopped beeping," said Winfried Schütte of Westerhof, referring to his walks with his metal detector. He was accompanied bz Rolf-Peter Dix. Their hobby is to find treasure from bygone days. Schütte said he was following up on Information that a castle had stood in the forest where the two was searching. "We started our search in 2000 and were astonished when their metal detectors started beeping nonstop.. At first they found several metal bolts which later turned out to be metal pieces that the Romans attached to their arrows and shoot with bows called Scorpios.

Archaeologists uncovered a third-century battlefield in northern Germany which could prove that Roman legions were fighting in the region much later than historians have believed.