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VISITING
AUTHOR-ARTICLE
OCTOBER
2010
Who
Are Die Lieblinger?
Forwarded by United
Donauschwaben Milwaukee
A little more than a year ago, a group of
boys from the UDoM Jugendgruppe, myself included,
started a band. We all love German music, and as it
happened, all played instruments. We called
ourselves Die Lieblinger, but since then we’ve had
many people, both German and not, ask us what the
name meant. I wanted to take the opportunity to tell
you why we are Die Lieblinger, as well as telling
you a little bit about our band.
In spring of 1944, the Russian army entered
Romania as World War Two was drawing to an end.
Tucked in the west of Romania, just south of
TimiSoara (Temeschwar in German), laid the town of
Liebling. Settled in 1786 by Germans during the
great immigration under Emperor Josef II, Liebling
became one of many peaceful German farming towns in
what was known as the Romanian Banat. It was on
September 22, 1944, that over two thousand
Donauschwaben fled the advancing Soviet army to
escape what would be certain death, imprisonment, or
deportation to Russia. Of those who did not flee,
one hundred innocent people were deported to Russian
work camps, where about half of them died.
When I was a little boy, my Opa told me a
story about a group of kids, not much younger than I
am now, from Liebling. This groups of kids, like us,
were also musicians. Once the German people of
Eastern Europe began fleeing from their homes for
the west, the families in Liebling put their
children on trains headed for Austria to save their
lives. It was in Austria where my Opa met them. They
had arrived as Flüchtling, as so many of our
families did, and were immediately welcomed by the
town that they would now call home. As almost every
town in Austria had a Blaskapelle of its own, this
town was no exception. It was a small farming
village though, which meant that they didn’t have
many musicians. The band had only five members;
needless to say, the surrounding villages didn’t
think much of them. When the children from Liebling
arrived, the town band asked if they would play with
them. That year at the Blasmusik Festival, thanks to
the children from Liebling, the town won first
place!
To this day, no one knows if they were ever
reunited with their families who had to stay behind
in Romania. And although there may be happy
memories, it is a sad story, but one that is all too
common amongst us Donauschwaben. It is in
remembrance and honor of that group of Donauschwaben
children, who had suffered and survived, that we
have named our band, Die Lieblinger.
There are four of us in the band, and I would
like to take a moment to introduce everyone. Joseph
Fischer is our bassist, backup vocalist and one of
the founding members of the band. He is 19 years old
and attending the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh to
become a history teacher. Nicole Fischer is our
band’s manager, as well as Joseph’s older
sister. She is 21 years old and currently attending
Mt. Mary College in Milwaukee. Lyle Hendrickson is
our drummer and the youngest member in our band at
13 years old. Don’t let his age fool you though;
he is a very talented young man and a great
musician. Ryan Hendrickson is not only our lead
guitar player, but also our accordion player and
second backup vocalist. He is 17 years old and
Lyle’s older brother. And finally, my name is
Michael Potnek and I am our lead vocalist, rhythm
guitar player, and trumpet player. I’m 21 years
old and the other founding member of the band. I’m
currently in the Nursing Program at Waukesha County
Technical College.
As I had mentioned earlier, we are also all
members of the UDoM Jugendgruppe. It has been very
exciting for us to be able to bring our music to not
only our Donauschwaben club, but the entire German
community, as we started the band out of a love for
music, and a tribute to our heritage which we are
all so proud of. We have only been around for just
over a year, but our name is already beginning to
spread. We have played quite a bit in the Madison
area, as well as for our Milwaukee Donauschwaben
club at the Senior’s 35th Anniversary Party, and
the Oktoberfest earlier this year.
So, that’s the story of who Die Lieblinger
are, as well as where our name came from. If you
have any questions, or would like to contact us,
please don’t hesitate to call or email. You can
contact us through Nicole Fischer at (262) 719-6752
or by email at dielieblinger@yahoo.com
. You can also find us on Facebook where you can see
pictures, and get more information on the band.
Written
and Submitted By: Michael Potnek
|
02/24/13
