I'd like to see them also. I think there may be several new list members who joined specifically to hear about Christmas traditions in Germany. We tried to get this discussion going in the Baden Wuerttemberg discussion list, and were referred here. Sorry if we are getting here late, but we are really interested in the information! Thanks Dianne > Hi Nancy, > I posted some already, did you not get them. > The one from last year : Advents, Knecht Ruprecht, Christmas in the Saxony. > Weihnachten. > I can send them to you privately. > Katharina > > > >I was not on the list last year and would appreciate seeing the Christmas > >traditions posted by Katharina. Thank you. > > > >Nancy Herald > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________ _________ > Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com >

Isn't the address to post to the list supposed to be > [email protected] without the dash after the " L" ?? b PS - how do I get to the archived list to see what's been posted in the past? ----- Original Message ----- From: Gail Meyer Kilgore <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2000 10:18 AM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-LIFE] Re: GERMAN-LIFE-D Digest V00 #333 > [email protected] to subscribe put the word > subscribe in the message and click on send. To post to the list send > a message to > > [email protected] > > > Gail >

[email protected] to subscribe put the word subscribe in the message and click on send. To post to the list send a message to [email protected] Gail

Gail, How does one find the GERMAN-FOOD mail list? I only found this German Life one because someone gave me the address for subscribing. I've been to Rootsweb.com and "lists", but I only see the genealogy ones. I'm sure there are more I'd be interested in, but don't know where to find the index or archives. Thanks, Sandy > > The recipe was just posted on the GERMAN-FOOD mail list. > > Gail

Hi all This was posted by Katharina Hines on German-Food -- she has also posted information on different Christmas customs -- you would do yourself a favor if you joined the German food list and also browse the archives. Enjoy! Claire ----- Original Message ----- From: "Katharina Hines" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 10:40 PM Subject: [GERMAN-FOOD] Re:Pfeffernuesse | 3 eggs | 1 cup sugar | 3 cups flour | 1/4 teaspoon baking powder | 1/8 teaspoon salt | 1/8 teaspoon white pepper. | 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon | 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves | 1/2 cup chopped candied lemon peel | 1/4 cup ground almonds | 1'2 cup confectioners' sugar | 2 apple slices | | beat eggs and sugar in a large mixer bowl with electric mixer | at medium speed. Add flour,baking powder, salt, white pepper, cinnamon, | and cloves and continue to beat until well mixed, scraping bowl | occasionally. Beat in the lemon peel and almonds until well combined. Wrap | in waxed paper and chill dough for 1 hour. | | Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 large cookie sheets. Roll dough out | onto lightly floured surface to approximately 1/4 inch thickness. | Cut out circle with 1 inch round cookie cutter. Place on cookie sheet. Bake | for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Reroll scraps | bake and cool. Place confectioners' sugar in bag, add the cookies and shake | till well coated. | Because these cookies are very hard place them in a tightly covered | container with the apple slices, cover and allow to ripen for 2-3 weeks | (they will soften) Makes about 8 doz. | Katharina | ____________________________________________________________________________ _________ | Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com | | | ==== GERMAN-FOOD Mailing List ==== | Problems? | Email [email protected] | |

Sorry. Forgot the link to the cookie site!! http://www.kitchenproject.com/html/germcook.html B. J. Dunham http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=beejd Surname: Hanselman

Found this site you might be interested in. Happy Holidays! B. J. Dunham Surname: Hanselman http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=beejd

Please, do not post recipes to the GERMAN-LIFE mail list. That is why we have the GERMAN-FOOD mail list and all recipes should be posted there. Gail

Hi Dorie--May I butt in? If it is allowed, could you please print the recipe for pfeffernusse on this list? I, too, would REALLY appreciate the recipe. My grandmother always made these cookies at Christmas time, and since we expected we would have her forever, none of us asked for the recipe! Thank you so much. Doris. ----- Original Message ----- From: Mike and Dorie Brennecke <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, November 24, 2000 8:17 AM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-LIFE] RE: Christmas in Germany > Donna, I can get you one, if no-one else has it. Actually, I think my Mom's > recipe may even have come from a Better Homes or Betty Crocker cookbook! > Let me know, since I'll have to get it from my mom. Dorie > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 11:15 AM > Subject: [GERMAN-LIFE] RE: Christmas in Germany > > > > <Pfeffernusse cookies are favorites in our family, also. They are best > when > > several weeks old and have become very hard. Soft, chewy pfeffernusse > don't > > cut it in our family. AJ> > > > > The above message is what I remember best and they were made by a cousin > as a > > gift to family members. > > > > LOOKING FOR A RECIPE -- can anyone help on this? > > > > Donna Ehlers Walker > >

The recipe was just posted on the GERMAN-FOOD mail list. Gail

I was not on the list last year and would appreciate seeing the Christmas traditions posted by Katharina. Thank you. Nancy Herald

Weihnachtskrippe (Nativity Scenes) At the time od Francis od Assisi (1181-1226) nativity plays and scenes became popular as a way to bring the Christmas story to the people. The first models of the manger scene found in the churches was very simple. Hundreds of years later they developed into a work of art. Famous wood -cavers especially in the monasteries, created, detailed figurines which were then decorated and dressed regally by the nuns. Each region in Germany gave some local color to the nativity scene. later nativity scenes spread to private homes. In the 18 th century scenes were very popular, but soon interest declined. Today nativity scenes are found in many homes. In my home town , the Nativity Scenes in the church, was a live scene at midnight on Christmas eve. Katharina _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

Oh, this is just too funny!! Thanks for a good laugh this morning, "Krt"!! (Isn't it odd how it starts to look Dutch or German in places, and then starts to look like Polish or Czech in others?? Very strange.) Dorie ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 2:20 PM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-LIFE] Fwd: Crisis of Letters in Germany > > <what is the reasoning for having five different ways to say the word 'the' > or alternatively 'a' ?> > It has to do with the gender of the word that it modifies. It is the same > in French. The gender of inanimate objects is something that hasn't much > logic, so each word must be memorized as to whether it is male, female or > neutral. The reason for this? Because that's how the language evolved > into what it is today. Lets face it, English has its problems with logical > spelling rules too, but that's the way it also evolved. Since the proposed > changes in German spelling occurred, the same is now scheduled to happen to > English: > > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!!! > The European Commission on the European Unification (EU) just announced an > agreement whereby English will become the official language of the EU. As > part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's government conceded that English > spelling has some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year > phase-in plan for "EuroEnglish." In the first year, "s" will replace the > soft "c". Sertainly, this consession will make the sensus takers in the > sivil servise selebrate. Also the hard "c" will be seded in favor of the > "k". This kould klear up konfusion and komputer keyboards kan be less > kumbersome. Kount on publik enkouragement koming in the sekond year, > konserning the konfounding "ph" which will be replaced with "f". This kan > kause words like "fotograf" and "fysision" to be more komprehensble. In the > third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to > kontinue to the next fase where more komplikated changes kan be konsidered. > Skools will enkourage kondensing double letters, which have always ben > deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the > silent "e" 's in the languag ar disgrasful, and thay wil be mad to disaper. > By the 4th year, peopl wil be konditiond to be reseptiv to replasing "th" > and "s" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz yer, ze unezezari "o" kan > be dropd vrom vordz kontaning "ou" and zimilar chanjz vud uv korz be aplid > tu ze ozer kombinajunz uv leterz. In yer zix, ve vil hav a vari zenzibl > riten ztil. Zer vil be no mor trublz or difikultiz und evrivun vil vind it > ezi tu unerztan ech ozer and evrizing vil be vundrvul. > > Hav u niz da, > Krt

Donna, I can get you one, if no-one else has it. Actually, I think my Mom's recipe may even have come from a Better Homes or Betty Crocker cookbook! Let me know, since I'll have to get it from my mom. Dorie ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 11:15 AM Subject: [GERMAN-LIFE] RE: Christmas in Germany > <Pfeffernusse cookies are favorites in our family, also. They are best when > several weeks old and have become very hard. Soft, chewy pfeffernusse don't > cut it in our family. AJ> > > The above message is what I remember best and they were made by a cousin as a > gift to family members. > > LOOKING FOR A RECIPE -- can anyone help on this? > > Donna Ehlers Walker

I've never heard of gold chocolate coins on the tree, but my grandparents always sent the coins to us at Christmas, and we always looked forward to them. They also sent gummi bears, which in those days we couldn't get around here, and we loved getting them every year. Dorie ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 9:14 AM Subject: [GERMAN-LIFE] Christmas Traditions > Christmas Eve traditions in our family included our favorite foods of raw > beef and onions on small squares of rye bread (oh so good), pickled herring, > and of course sweet and sour meatballs. The table was laden with all of our > favorite food and the sideboard was filled with goodies including Christmas > wreath (a stollen with a nut filling and no dried fruit), rum balls, ginger > bread and other cookies. After dinner everyone in the family had a glass of > wine (the children's were diluted a bit). > > In the center of the table, the many levels of the candle center piece would > be twirling in different directions from the heat of the candles with the > angle twirling on top. > > We too had a pickle ornament on our Christmas tree and people in our > neighborhood placed bags of gold chocolate coins on the tree for good luck. > Has anyone else heard of the gold coin tradition? And of course a penny for > good luck in the new year would be place on a window sill. > > At midnight the children's choir carrying candles proceeded down the center > isle of the church and joined the adult choirs in rejoicing. I am told that > we looked like angels. > > AJ

Zwetschgenmännla (Prune People) The making of them started in the Saxony. But they where first sold in Nuremberg at the beginning of the 19 th century. The Arms and legs are made of dried prunes threaded on a wire. The body of dried figs and the head is a painted walnut. They are dressed as men and women, chimney sweeps or other professions. Superstitions has it, you never will be out of money or happiness if you have a Zwetschgenmännla in your house. Katharina _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

Rauschgoldengel (Gold foil Angel) This decoration started in the 17 th century in Nuremberg. The story is, that this angel represents the Christ Child. The angels are made in any shapes and sizes, with long white hair, pleated skirts and folded tops in gold foil. decorated with golden braids. Most have wings, some have crowns. The more modern ones have arms, the original angels had no arms. I still have two angel, that I made myself as a little girl. Katharina _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

Nussknacker (Nutcracker) are mentioned in records of the city of Sonnenberg (Thuringia) about 1735 as "nut biter"- sturdy men with large heads- that operated according to the principles of leverage. By the middle of the 19th century the combination of a useful tool and a human appearance was well accepted. People liked to put a mean looking officer or even a king to work for them to crack nuts. The art of the nutcracker started in 1816. That year Hoffmann published the fairy tale' Nussknacker und der Mäusekönig.'(Nutcracker and the mouse king). But when Tschaikowsky wrote his Nutcracker Suite, it even got more popular. Even today this ballet is liked by parents and children. Katharina _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

<<Perhaps it is a common feature in many languages, or is there some reason for the German language to do that?<< Yes, Thomas, it is a common feature in many languages (French, Italian, for example). _________________________ Heinz L. Zulauf Flotowstrasse 9 D-64287 Darmstadt Germany e-mail: [email protected] Visit my Private Homepage "The Classical Music Site" http://myweb.vector.ch/zulauf _________________________ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Koch" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2000 1:02 AM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-LIFE] Language > The intended question is before the one you answered. The question > being if there is some set of rules so that you can look at a noun such as > Baum, and know through those rules whether it should be das Baum, der Baum, > or die Baum. You might guess that since trees do not have sexes that it > would be das Baum, but my dictionary says it should be der Baum. Streets > don't have sex either and yet it is die Strasse. One rule I seem to remember > is that words ending in the letter 'e' were usually 'die'. (Okay I quickly > found an exception 'der bube' - the boy, but every rule must have an > exception or two). As far as I learned in my four years of high school > German, there is no pattern, but every German child or anybody else learning > German must not only remember the German names for things, but also whether > the new word goes with 'der,die, or das', and then depending on the case, > this can be changed to 'den, or dem' or if you are saying 'an' object > instead of 'the' object there are five or six different ways to say the > English word 'a'. > That all seems to be alot of extra work which adds nothing to the ideas > being communicated. Perhaps it is a common feature in many languages, or is > there some reason for the German language to do that? > Speaking of German and changes. The Swiss immigrants to Sauk County, > Wisconsin quickly built churches, and of course the services were held in > German. Eventually, the younger English speaking generation and perhaps some > non-German new neighbors, demanded a change to English speaking services. > One of the older members was heard to remark: "I suppose God Himself will > have to learn English." > > Thomas Koch > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Katharina Hines <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 2:49 PM > Subject: Re: [GERMAN-LIFE] Language > > > > Hi Judy, > > That is determined by the word in front of the word 'door' > > These are the words der - male > > die - female > > das - child > > die - is also used in the plural form as for > > more then one. > > Katharina > > > > >I am sure this has probably been talked about before, but I have never > > >understood, and hope someone can explain to me. How to you determine the > > >sex > > >of inanimate objects, for the German language. How is it determined if a > > >door, or chair, for instance, is male or female? There must be some > > >reasoning to it, or is this just learned by speaking German as a child, > and > > >passed up? Thanks for any help. Judy > > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________ > _________ > > Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : > http://explorer.msn.com > >

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