Hello everyone, Since listmembers are talking about their beautiful Christmas traditions, let me invite you to parts of my website that describe our own traditions and the traditions in my parents' Bavarian hometown in the early part of the 20th Century. Here is our Krippe-making tradition: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/4400/krippe.html And here are my father's turn-of-the-century Christmas memories: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/4400/xmas.htm The memoirs actually begin several "pages" earlier and you might want to start from the beginning. I hope you enjoy them. Kind regards, Mary Ann

All area have different traditons for New year's My grandmother came from Pommern she would fix carp. My mother was raised in Brandenburg she would fix ham hocks and sauerkraut or Sour Braten (marinated beef). Katharina > >On New Year's Eve, we follow the German tradition (again from my wife's >family) of pork and Sauerkraut -- for good luck in the coming year. My >uncle >swore it had to be Gefuellte Fisch, but his family were from another part >of >Germany :-) > >Dave Ross > _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

Ede\\Jim wrote: > > WOW! The founding fathers thought of every contingency! What > foresight. They, of course, had foresight. But it was based on direct experience and the history that they had studied. They had learned that a system had to be constructed that would frustrate as far as possible the diabolical nature of individuals who gather around large treasuries. They believed there were persons of principle and empathy with the general populace who would continue to use the system to oppose the thieves. We need to study now what to do to entice a greater number of the principled and empathetic to get into the races again. While there may be a large number (80%?) of the population who cannot or care not to involve themselves in their political fortune, there has to be representation for them among the 20%, or we will return to government by edict and taxation as it pleases the moneyed interests. Both of these options are abhorrent. That's my take on the situation. Stan from Livonia, MI

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

Hi Judy, I have one Obituary from 1839 that was passed down from the family. But there is not very much information in it. Is says. Very sad I like notify all my family and friends. That this morning at 5' o clock my dearest wife Friedericke, maiden name Winterberg, at the age of 39 years ,is gone for ever from me. Neustrelitz, December 31. 1839 Theodor Selmer Grossherzogl. Mundschenk He was the cup bearer of the Great Duke of Neustrelitz. The other ones I have are from my Parents and other close relatives. I only got them because I ask for them and some one cut them out for me. When some one dies in Germany the family will send an Obituary the, same what is in the paper, to relatives and friends to announce the occurrence. Katharina > > >Hi, Erna & others, >How did you obtain this obituary? Was it passed down in the family, or did >you manage to get it from the German newspaper? Wonder if you, or anyone, >has managed to obtain an old (1920's) obit from Germany, and if so, how you >did it? I am trying to locate (without any luck) how to find obits on some >of my German family. Thanks. Judy > ><< > I have a copy of an obituary that appeared in a German newspaper. It was >for my > gg grandmother. She died here in the USA but her family placed an >obituary >in her hometown paper in Germany. >Erna>> > _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

In a message dated 11/22/2000 7:35:45 AM, [email protected] writes: << How did you obtain this obituary >> My cousin gave me a copy of it. I think it was sent to the family from relatives in Germany in the very early 1900's. Erna

Hi All...... I was hoping that this election mess would go away from this list by now -- there is enough on the TV, radio, and amongst people. Sad to say this is the biggest media blast since OJ and Monica and the media is to blame for giving Gore Florida and then giving Bush the Presidency. Neither Gore or Bush are to blame for what is going on (they are personalities and figureheads) -- it is the political parties and corporations that have most at stake in the win or lose of this campaign. But could you please vent someplace else -- I don't like it either, but 1. I don't think this is the place, and 2. Enough -- republicans are still going to support republicans and democrats are still going to support democrats and nothing will change their minds. Respectfully Claire ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike and Dorie Brennecke" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 7:43 AM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-LIFE] Re: Reply to British Revocation Announcement | If the situation had been reversed, Republicans would be doing and saying | the same thing that Gore supporters are doing and saying! :-) And the | simple truth is, not everyone has the benefit of extreme intelligence AND | good eyesight. Ballots must be simple and clear for EVERYONE, or the right | to vote is corrupted. Voting rights are fundamental in our country, and I | agree with Florida's Supreme Court, that this right is paramount, and must | be maintained. Lets not go back to anything like the days when women and | blacks weren't allowed to vote because they weren't intelligent enough--even | ignorant people should have the right to vote. We all know some of them are | even Republicans! (I'm only joking now, so please don't get your underwear | in a bunch!) :-) Dorie | ----- Original Message ----- | From: jlerch <[email protected]> | To: <[email protected]> | Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 2:13 PM | Subject: Re: [GERMAN-LIFE] Re: Reply to British Revocation Announcement | | | > Amen to this !! | > My grown (40 years old and plus) children and I were arguing over " | > whatever happened to personal responsibility" and they think the people | > don't have any ...haha...and I think that we each must have it ! Maybe it | > was because I was a single parent working hard to exist and didn't have | the | > time to teach [thoroughly] the manners and responsibility's each person | has | > to and for their own actions. | > I am saddened by all this behaviour and the reactions to it nationwide. | > jlerch | > | > > > Hmmm. (deep in thought) Now what was that again? Oh Yeah: | > > > | > > German life having such a strong, positive impact on American ideals, | > > work ethics, and citizenship, it's probably not inappropriate to note | > > here that those who complain about the ballots had whatever opportunity | > > was necessary to prepare themselves to vote. | > > | > > The presidential campaign ran for nearly a year pointing at the day in | > > November for casting ballots. Whatever happened to personal | > > responsibility? Why is it, now, always the other guy's fault? | > > | > | |

Judy exclaimed "What difference does it make ...." Well probably nothing, but that is true of much else being discussed in this forum. It is our chance to indulge a bit of Gemütlichkeit digression. The brief article on page 12 of this week's issue of TIME magazine, discusses chads, answering my question about the German expression. Apparently chad is referred to as Stanzabfall, or punch waste, by those confounded by the little devils in Germany. So we have a word more specific than Scherbe or Spreu and German computer specialist did not simply accept the American expression -- chad.

Yes, Right on. All we can do in this current situation is laugh at ourselves despite Angie's view. Nomie -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Monday, November 20, 2000 5:51 PM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-LIFE] Reply to British Revocation Announcement >Bully, Jack !! Right on !! Sense of humor intact. And how so MANY of us >are abhorring the Florida Fuss; what a debacle !! > >Dave Ross >Denver > >______________________________

Apologies to the list as I am several days behind in reading e-mails and did not read the listowner's admonition about no more mail about British humor, chads, etc. before I sent my recent contribution to the fray. Sorry, did not mean to ignore the listmaster. EDE in Ohio

<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

Gotta' get into this one! I thought the British bit was funny. There's a lot that's funny in this election. Our comedians are having a field day with all this. I agree that we have a mess on our hand but not a crisis. I've been suffering from sleep deprivation for two weeks watching every bit of the twists and turns of the drama on TV and have gotten little else done. I loathed American Government in High School but have really come to appreciate the structure of our government during this contest. WOW! The founding fathers thought of every contingency! What foresight. It will all work out in time and we need to take the time for the structure to operate and for all the contestants to play out every one of their LEGAL cards. The only part that I have not liked is some of the character bashing that has gone on - and some of the attempts to manipulate emotions. I lived in Germany at the time Eisenhower was being elected and many of the Germans were scared that a change of party in power meant bad news for them - Democrats out, Republicans in. Naw! I responded, won't make much difference what party's in. Also, during the Nixon crisis we had a student from the Netherlands living with us and he was in a near panic about our government falling! Naw! Said I. Presidents come and presidents go, but the government always stands - not to worry. Ditto, on this time too. One of the men will ultimately exhaust their legal options and one will prevail - and the government will go on. This is a historic moment and many parents are taking kids out of school to participate and observe - and most of us are losing sleep not out of fear, but out of fascination watching the process work. Messy, feisty, expensive, contorted, etc., but working. This has surely brought some of the flaws in our system to light which will allow them to be remedied! Out with chads! May the best (better) man, (lawyers) win. Patience folks!! And laugh a lot! EDE in Ohio (who has lived through lots of wars, fights, elections, et al, and who has faith in the system).

<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 question was raised, how was the gender of inanimate(!) objects determined or arrived at? Why is it DER KOPF, DIE NASE, DAS BEIN? Why not all DER or all DIE or all DAS? Even I would be interested as a German born. HTG, Dieter ===================== ----- 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 > >

In a message dated 22/11/00 15:50:42 GMT Standard Time, [email protected] writes: << > I think I read somewhere that the longest word is the name of a town in > Wales, >> You are right Anita! Yep, I know it's not German Life, it could be called Celtic life! Just so that you know that Germans don't have the monopoly on long words! This is the name: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllandysiliogogogoch It means Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio of the red cave. Mostly known as LlanfairPG Try writing that as your place of birth on your family tree! Jack

Here's one that I always thought was a doosie. This is one word (63 letters), but I am seperating the compound parts. Ober-donau-dampf-schiffahrts-gesellschafts-aufsichtsrats-vorsitzender = Chairman of the Board of the Upper Danube Steamship Company. ===================================================== ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 4:50 AM Subject: [GERMAN-LIFE] Rettungschwimmeruebungsplatz > I think I read somewhere that the longest word is the name of a town in > Wales, but I don't have it in front of me. A friend took a photo of the > name, across the front of a building there. However, I would think > Rettungschwimmeruebungsplatz would have to be a close runner up!! LOL I too > would be interested in knowing if there are otherwords like that, and even > longer ones, in German. > > >>> I think it would be a great tragedy if the German language did not > include words like Rettungschwimmeruebungsplatz. Words like that just crack > me up. Is there a Guiness record for the world's longest word? What is the > longest word you know in the German language?>>> > >

I disagree the Republicans would be doing the same thing if the situation was reversed. They have more integrity--proof in the pudding is that did not ask for a hand recount in any county let alone heavily republican counties. If Al Gore was so concerned about every vote counting, why didn't he ask for every vote in Florida to be hand counted instead of the few counties where he won overwhelmingly where he hopes he'll get more votes. Kathy Kovalek Mike and Dorie Brennecke wrote: > If the situation had been reversed, Republicans would be doing and saying > the same thing that Gore supporters are doing and saying! :-) And the > simple truth is, not everyone has the benefit of extreme intelligence AND > good eyesight. Ballots must be simple and clear for EVERYONE, or the right > to vote is corrupted. Voting rights are fundamental in our country, and I > agree with Florida's Supreme Court, that this right is paramount, and must > be maintained. Lets not go back to anything like the days when women and > blacks weren't allowed to vote because they weren't intelligent enough--even > ignorant people should have the right to vote. We all know some of them are > even Republicans! (I'm only joking now, so please don't get your underwear > in a bunch!) :-) Dorie > ----- Original Message ----- > From: jlerch <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 2:13 PM > Subject: Re: [GERMAN-LIFE] Re: Reply to British Revocation Announcement > > > Amen to this !! > > My grown (40 years old and plus) children and I were arguing over " > > whatever happened to personal responsibility" and they think the people > > don't have any ...haha...and I think that we each must have it ! Maybe it > > was because I was a single parent working hard to exist and didn't have > the > > time to teach [thoroughly] the manners and responsibility's each person > has > > to and for their own actions. > > I am saddened by all this behaviour and the reactions to it nationwide. > > jlerch > > > > > > Hmmm. (deep in thought) Now what was that again? Oh Yeah: > > > > > > > German life having such a strong, positive impact on American ideals, > > > work ethics, and citizenship, it's probably not inappropriate to note > > > here that those who complain about the ballots had whatever opportunity > > > was necessary to prepare themselves to vote. > > > > > > The presidential campaign ran for nearly a year pointing at the day in > > > November for casting ballots. Whatever happened to personal > > > responsibility? Why is it, now, always the other guy's fault? > > > > >

On 22 Nov 2000, at 6:43, Mike and Dorie Brennecke wrote: > And the > simple truth is, not everyone has the benefit of extreme intelligence > AND good eyesight. Funny thing is these same people could vote just fine for all the other candidates and questions on the ballot. Or has anyone reported that blank ballots were submitted? Undercount means that there was no vote for president but other votes were chosen. Are we now forcing those people to vote for Gore? If they had wanted to they would have. But of course we know better simply because we need some more votes in our column. How corrupt can things get? Fred 4788 Corian Court Naples, FL 34114 941-775-7838 [email protected] Florida Law - count dimples but not military votes

On 22 Nov 2000, at 7:44, [email protected] wrote: > 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 I don't think there is a system. Die Tür, der Stuhl, das Spielzeug. I don't think it makes any sense at all but has to be learned. Fred 4788 Corian Court Naples, FL 34114 941-775-7838 [email protected] Florida Law - count dimples but not military votes

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