German American Festival and Event Page for October Take a look at our list! October is still Oktoberfest season! But you’ll also find some German American Day celebrations, Harvest Festivals, a Swiss Festival, and maybe a concert or lecture. And don’t forget your lantern for the St Martin celebrations! See the whole year here Do you know of any Events…
Category: Celebrating German Culture in America
German American Festival and Event Page- September
, German American Festival and Event Page for September Take a look at our list! September is Oktoberfest Season! You’ll find plenty of Oktoberfests across the country, but also a Swiss Festival, and maybe a concert or lecture. See the whole year HERE Do you know of any Events or German Festival that’s not on the list? Maybe a concert…
German Museums and Cultural Heritage Centers in North America
German Museums and Cultural Centers do what they can to preserve the history of Germans in North America. They come in all sizes. Many hold exhibits of objects and ephemera, some are living museums that allow visitors to immerse themselves in another time, and others are a treasure trove for genealogists. Please help me add to this list of German…
Pennsylvania Germans: An Interpretive Encyclopedia
Pockets of German culture in America have always fascinated me. I wonder why and when the group arrived in the United States, how they live (and how much different their new home is from Germany), and what parts of Germany do they hold onto. The Pennsylvania Germans go back to the time before there even WAS a United States.…
The Katzenjammer Kids- A German-American Comic for over 100 Years
On Dec.12, 1897, a comic strip featuring a German-American family with a distinctly Denglish accent appeared in a Sunday Supplement of the New York Journal. The Katzenjammer Kids featured twins Hans and Fritz, two boys who were always up to mischief and pranks. The word Katzenjammer basically means “Cat Wailing” or caterwauling, and that loud yowling is a perfect name…
The Candy Bomber – The Berlin Airlift & Operation Little Vittles
Cover Image-C-54 dropping candy during Berlin Airlift c1949 – Public Domain In a 2021 newsletter, I mentioned that I would be writing about the Candy Bomber who dropped handkerchief parachutes with chocolate payloads for the children of Berlin during the Airlift. One of my readers, Dorothea Thunig Smith, reached out to me with a lovely memory. “I lived in Berlin…
Easy German Cookbook: 80 Classic Recipes Made Simple
I’m so proud of my first book! Easy German Cookbook: 80 Classic Recipes Made Simple Easy German Cookbook was a labor of love. However, sharing German culture and food is what I do online, so this book is the next logical step. Between the covers, you’ll find 80 pages of food memories. These are foods that we ate at home,…
History of the Chicken Dance Song- How did Ducks became Chickens?
You are at a party, and you hear those notes… Duhda Duhda Dadah Da…clap clap clap clap… and suddenly the dance floor is flooded with people flapping their arms and shaking their tail feathers. It’s the Chicken Dance Song! (or is it a Duck?). Where did the Chicken Dance originate? And how is it that a song labeled “the most…
Old World Village in Huntington Beach- A slice of Bavaria in California
Just 10 minutes from one of Orange County’s famous surfing spots, you’ll find the Old World Village in Huntington Beach. This special enclave of shops and restaurants conceived and built in the late 1970s by Josef and Dolores Bischof to transport guests and residents to a Bavarian Village. Today, the cobblestoned streets, muraled buildings, flower baskets, and of course, the…
Dirndls from Rare Dirndl – Tradition with Modern Flair
My One-of-a-Kind Dirndl from Rare Dirndl My mother was visiting when the big box from Rare Dirndl arrived. She couldn’t wait to see what was inside, so we tore off the wrapping… and then I lifted the lid and pulled back the tissue. Inside was my special one-of-a-kind Dirndl from Rare Dirndl. Over the years I’ve purchased a few Dirndls,…