Sometimes when things get just a little too heavy or overwhelming, it’s good to sit in a comfy chair with a cup of tea and a feel good book. Susanne Bacon’s Wycliff Novels, starting with “Delicate Dreams” are exactly what I needed to find my center again after a very busy week. No bloody murders, no overwhelming crisis, no smart-aleck…
Category: Book and Movie Reviews
Karl May- Old Shatterhand and Winnetou
Karl May might be the best-selling German novelist that most Americans never heard of. May’s stories of the American West have made frontiersmen and Native Americans come alive in Germany since 1893. For Germans of a certain age, Old Shatterhand, and Winnetou are as familiar as Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione are to my kids. The number of books sold…
“Berlin: The Story of a City” by Barney White-Spunner
“Germany has long had in its capital city the model to which it aspires as a nation” In“Berlin: The Story of a City, Barney White-Spunner looks back at the 1000+ year history of the everchanging city and presents it as a captivating, and I must admit, a late into the night “just one more chapter”, page-turning story. Berlin, for far…
Cold War TV Dramas set in Germany Guest post by Randall Schroeder
I’m excited to share this Guest Post written by Randall Schroeder! The post originally appeared in My German America, a newsletter about German Heritage in America, put out a few times a month by Lukas Schroeder. Lukas who describes himself as the Fourth-Generation German American, Tubist & Manager BierkellerBoys, let his dad Randall, Third-generation descendant of German immigrants, Citizen archivist,…
Die Sendung mit der Maus! 50 Years of Explaining our World
Today, I learned how a search engine works. I also found out what shape raindrops take when they fall. No, I didn’t read a book or do a Google search; I watched “Die Sendung mit der Maus”! What is Die Sendung mit der Maus? For 50 years, this award-winning German TV program on WDR entertained and educated German kids ! And…
“Effigy: Poison and the City”
Recently, I was asked to screen the German film “Effigy: Poison and the City” directed by Udo Flohr. I went in blind, no idea at all what the movie was about, other than being told it is a historical drama. Well, I love movies, I love history, and I love Germany. I was all in. The movie takes place in…
Rübezahl! The legendary Silesian Lord of the Mountains!
I strolled down memory lane, sorting through a box of my old childhood Story Albums sent to America by my Opa. Max und Moritz, Kinder Märchen, and then a brown album with a scary brown giant on the cover Rübezahl! I loved listening to this one as a child (records or vinyl, for those of you too young to remember,…
The Oktoberfest Cookbook- German Oktoberfest Recipes
Festival season is a great time to learn some new German Oktoberfest Recipes. Naturally, I want to be able to cook staples like Brathändl /Roast Chicken and Bavarian Kartofelsalat /potato salad (my northern German version is vastly different). But I also wanted recipes for the less well-known, and quite delicious foods that you would find at Oktoberfest… but now…
German Literature Classics made Easy- Klassiker für Kinder
Ritter, Recken, Mittelalter: Balladen von Schiller neu erzählt (Klassiker für Kinder) (German Edition) Growing up, I learned conversational German, “at home” German, the basics that could get me through most everyday situations smoothly, and have nice chats with my Oma. My everyday German reading skills were similar. As a child I devoured books in English and German, and I still…
Brown Signs on the Autobahn- Notable sights in Germany
I’m the kind of person who loves roadside attractions. If there is a sign saying “Biggest Ball of Yarn” or “Caves of Wonder”, I’m telling the driver to PULL OVER! So you can imagine my delight (and my family’s frustration) when I discovered the Brown Signs on the Autobahn pointing out German Tourist attractions! Everywhere are signs pointing out Sehenswürdigkeiten…