A running joke lately says we can frustrate and confuse the next generation by using handwriting instead of printing. Anyone hoping to research their German Genealogy from original documents or even read letters from their Oma understands that frustration all too well. I’ve written about German Handwriting and how it’s changed a few times (twice in the 20th century). Before…
Category: German History
Johannes Kepler, Life & Work, His Mother Katharina & Witchcraft
Johannes Kepler, a German mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer, wrote the laws of planetary motion, was appointed mathematician to the Holy Roman Emperor, and is considered the father of modern optics. But also… the son of a WITCH? It’s hard to believe, but Johannes Kepler put his career on hold and spent 6 years defending his widowed mother against charges of…
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…
The Potato in Germany- From Erd-Apfel to Kartoffel
The potato in Germany has been a central part of the diet for so long that it seems like it’s always been there. Mashed, boiled, fried, formed into Klöße, baked into bread, they might turn up at every meal. We had a bin in our kitchen JUST for potatoes! But considering how widespread the potato is, it may come as…
West Germany’s Economic Miracle -Wirtschaftswunder
Cover image- Wirtschaftswunder Deutschland nach dem Krieg -Josef Heinrich Darchinger After spending a few semesters in mandatory Economics classes at University, I am certain of three things: 1. It’s virtually impossible to get more than two economists to agree on anything. 2. Guns and Butter are almost impossible to balance. 3. Taking a 7:00 a.m. Economics class might be the…
Sorbian Easter Eggs- How are they made, and who are the Sorbs?
Sorbian Easter Eggs are some of the most beautifully decorated Easter Eggs I’ve ever seen. My mother introduced us to them when we were children, and she remembered them from her childhood. My Opa, her father, is from Weißwasser, a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, that once belonged to Upper Lusatia or Upper Sorbia. While my family isn’t “Sorbian,” the…
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…
The Gäubodenmuseum- 7000 years of History in Straubing, Germany
The Gäubodenmuseum is an absolute treasure trove of early German, Celtic, Roman, and Bavarian artifacts. You’ll find the museum in a rebuilt patricians house on Frauenhoferstraße, off the main pedestrian zone in Straubing. The museum was recommended to me by our tour bus driver, Bene. (And here’s a travel tip- when the bus driver recommends something, GO!). Now, I’ve always…
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…
October 31st, Martin Luther, and the Protestant Reformation
Eight German states observe October 31st, Reformation Day, as a public holiday. But what was the Protestant Reformation, and why is it celebrated? Growing up in the Lutheran Church, we heard the how Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to a church door, setting off the Protestant Reformation and ultimately starting the Lutheran Church. That’s the short version of the…