NOV.-DEC., 2004                                    ISSUE NO. 48

AWARDS BANQUET DRAWS THIRTY STUDENTS OF McDANIEL COLLEGE

Our annual banquet celebrated the 221st anniversary of the Society with nearly 200 members and guests, including 30 German language students from McDaniel College in Westminster, along with their teacher, Prof. Dr. Mohammed Esa, a member of our board of directors. The presidents of the St. George Society and the St. Andrew Society were honored guests, seated at the dais along with President James Schaub and his wife, Abbey. The medal of the Society was presented by vice-president Brigitte Fessenden to the honoree, Dandridge Brooke. Music was provided by Heidi and Heimat Echo. One of the highlights was the playing of the alpenhorn.

            Our director, Prof. Dr. Armin Mruck arranged for the event to be held at the Potomac Lounge of Towson University. Our members, Governor Robert L. Ehrlich and former governor William Donald Schafer were notably absent from this year's event, due to exhaustion from campaigning in the election of the United States president a few days before the banquet.

            Our director, Rev. Siegfried H. S. Otto, presented the invocation  before the banquet. Robert Fritschke, another director, led the assembly in the singing of the German and the American national anthems. President Schaub was master of ceremonies.

            Director Gary Berg arranged for the printing of the banquet program, which contained many ads and greetings to the honoree. The program each year contains the names of all of the members of the Society and constitutes the official roster for the Society's archives.

                                                                                       

ECUMENICAL SERVICE COMBINED WITH MICHAELMAS CELEBRATION

The celebration of the feast of St. Michael, patron of Germany was combined with our Society's annual ecumenical service on September 26 and produced a large turnout on a pleasant Sunday afternoon at the Zion Church. Refreshments were served in the Adlersaal after the liturgy. Zion's choir, boosted by trumpeters from the Baltimore Symphony, produced a musical extravaganza. Rev. Edwin O. Wenck, a lifetime director of our Society, preached the homily and held the congregation spellbound. He spoke of his youth among the German Americans of Maryland and of his family's ties to relatives in Germany. The ecumenical services, sponsored by our Society, Zion and the Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland, originated 15 years ago to rejoice at the fall of the Berlin wall and the freedom of the east Germans from the chains of communism. 

MEMBERS STRIVE TO FULFILL PRESIDENT SCHAUB'S GOALS

Last month our president wrote to ask the members to help publicize the Society and recruit new members. Dan Brooke, accepting the award as the annual banquet, told how he always carries several membership applications in his coat pocket and hands them out to potential new members.  Our membership is increasing due to the efforts of members like Dan, who is the chairman of the membership committee. If you would like a supply of application forms, call our office, leave your name and address on the machine and our manager, Bärbel Otto, will mail them to you.

                    KALENDER

November 27-28 - Christkindlmarkt at Zion Church 

April 1 - German Society Annual Meeting

 

Visit the German Society's website: www.germansociety-md.com

Articles from some past newsletters are posted on our website. Dr. Maureen Helinski updates the site.

For more local German-American happenings, check the web site of the Deutschamerikanischer Bürgerverein von Maryland:   www.md-germans.org

Tune in to the Edelweiss Hour every Sunday: Radio 750 AM  9 am

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Nov.-Dec.., 2004  VEREINSNACHRICHTEN The German Society of Maryland  Page 4

PASS ON YOUR HERITAGE, VALUES BY WRITING WHAT YOU KNOW

Before he died early this year, Clement Petrick, a Jesuit priest, wrote a book, to pass on his history, values and some of the wisdom he accrued over time. Clem was a Baltimore boy who graduated from Loyola High School in 1950, pursued the usual seminary studies, but also because he wanted to be a German teacher, took a master's degree in German at the prestigious language school of Middlebury College in Vermont. After he was ordained, he took graduate studies at the University of Mainz, where he preached in German and ministered to the local community. His teaching of German did not last long. He was selected to serve as the headmaster of one school, president of another and later became  pastor of several churches.

            Addressing a mother-daughter breakfast at St. Michael's parish in Overlea, he urged them to write their thoughts and deeds for posterity. He told them: "No one will want to read your words now. But when you are on the point of departing this world the interpretation of your life that you pass on to your daughter will be cherished forever as your own will and testament, an inheritance for the ages. This document will keep you alive in the thoughts and memories of your children and long after them into the lives of your grandchildren and great grandchildren. Your words will give roots to subsequent generations and give them a sense of pride in their forebears. Your values and your deeds will live on in your carefully chosen words."

            We often  ask one another: What part of Germany did your family come from?", only to hear them respond that "my father never told me." Your descendants will be grateful to you if you pass on to them your thoughts, values and family histories.

RUSSIA ADOPTING GERMAN WAYS?

Beer. It's part of German culture, at least as perceived by Americans. Russia is now the world's fastest growing market for the golden liquid. Recently, 50% of Russians aged 24 to 55 have switched from vodka to beer. The government has banned beer ads on TV between 7 am and 10 pm, to stem the tide. Vodka has been Russia's national drink since Czar Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century created a state monopoly and banned competing drinks like beer from all taverns. The Russian state has heavily relied on excise taxes from vodka ever since. Russia now has more than 100 brands of beer. A member of parliament, after voting for the ban on beer advertising said: "It looks like everyone here drinks beer day and night. It's not a country. It's a madhouse."

   

GERMANY, 15 YEARS LATER

 The wall fell 15 years ago this month and Germany is still divided socially, economically and emotionally. 20% of them want the wall back up. The West gave the East new highways, and shopping malls, restored their national treasures and cleaned their environment. But the West also gave the East an entrenched regulatory and welfare system which hinders job growth and threatens its ability to compete with their neighbors in eastern Europe.  If Germany is to be saved, it must make serious inroads with welfare reform and against  its restrictive labor laws and wage negotiating practices.

            When the wall fell, the German Society of Maryland responded with a huge celebration which brought together our German American citizens to express joy that all of Germany was freed from communist oppression. Germany responded by inviting our members to parties at the Embassy of the Federal Republic for several years afterwards. Now the parties are over. Relations with the USA are not as good now as then, due to Germany's economic troubles, the fall of the value of the dollar vs. Germany's currency, the Euro, Germany's pre-war aid to Saddam Hussein, disagreements over Iraq. competition between the US and the European Union and other woes.

            What has held strong, however, is the pride of German Americans in their heritage, their ongoing desire to visit the fatherland and the personal friendships forged over the years between individual Germans and Americans and, for those who have relatives on both sides of the ocean, the continuing affection and mutual respect for one another.

 

E.U. COMMISSION PROPOSES TURKEY TO THE UNION; MANY OPPOSE TURK MEMBERSHIP

The European Union commissioners have proposed Turkey as a member of the union, but many E.U. citizens oppose it. A poll of the French people shows that most are against the proposal.. Turkey would not be eligible for membership for nearly 15 years. At its present growth rate, Turkey would have a population of 82,000,000, making it the largest country in Europe. 98.8% of Turks are muslims. France, Italy and Germany fear the Islamization of Europe

The E.U. Commissioners think that by the time Turkey is eligible, a majority of the E.U. nations could be persuaded, on an economic basis, to welcome Turkey. Turkey's economy is growing at a rate of nearly 10%% per year, while the  E. U. is now stagnating.

Nov.-Dec.   2004  VEREINSNACHRICHTEN The German Society of Maryland  Page 5

PLAQUE FOR WWII TROOPS WAS HUNG IN DEUTSCHES HAUS

This plaque, listing the names of young German Americans serving in World War II was hung in Baltimore's Deutsches Haus by  the local ladies' singing society, the Deutscher Damenchor, which practiced there. This copy was supplied by Christel van der Berg, who was brought to Maryland as a war bride by Herbert R.van der Berg whose name is listed here.

GAHS CELEBRATES TWENTY YEARS

The  German American Heritage Society of Greater Washington  celebrated its 20th anniversary in Sept. with a luncheon at Old World Restaurant in D.C. The Society is a member of the Association of German American Societies of Greater Washington, of which our Society is a also a member. Our own members, Gary Grassl and  Brad Miller have served as past presidents of GAHS. It has done excellent work in describing and preserving the German heritage in DC, MD and Virginia,

MERGENTHALER VS. MENCKEN

Which of our past members is more famous? H. L. Mencken's literary reputation probably prevails in the English-speaking nations, but Mergenthaler's advances in the printing industry have spread his name throughout the entire world. Both of them had connections to the Baltimore Sun newspaper.

RECALLING THE DEUTSCHES HAUS

When our director, Betty Buchhald agreed to marry Bruno (Dutch) Niemann, she gave Dutch the job of picking the place for the reception. Dutch picked the Deutsches Haus, and so the event took place there just 50 years ago, September 28, 1954.

            Responding to last month's article, David Pardoe, a member from Columbia, MD, writes to us:

"I used to work on Cathedral Street in the 60's and often went there for a lunch of good German sausage and sauerkraut. They had an amazing number of German beers on draft, and my favorite was Dortmunder dark.  A good friend of mine, John Eltermann, had a rehearsal room where he taught music and gave voice lessons. He was a well-known organist and choir director. He lived alone and often ate at the Deutsches Haus. It was a community place, sort of a cross between a club and a pub." (Ed note: Dr. Eltermann was an active member of our Society. He always attended our annual banquet and led us in the singing of German folk songs.)

            Ted Potthast recalls having beers at the Deutsches Haus with Theodor Fehr, a retired merchant sea captain who told of his experiences of going to sea at age 13 as a cabin boy, and taking 7 months to sail from Germany to Chile, and 5 months on the return trip

            Christel van der Berg was a young "war bride" when she arrived in Baltimore in 1947. Her husband, Herbert, often took her to the Deutsches Haus on Sunday afternoon for the music  and dancing in the outdoor beer garden, which she says was just like in Germany. She remembers the plaques on the walls with the names of the soldiers who fought in the war, and a special one with the names of the German American soldiers who died. She remembers the Mannenchor and Damendchor singing under the direction of Dr. Eltermann. The large parties where held in the Rheinland Halle. It was the favorite meeting place for the young German Americans who often met there and found themselves a bride or a groom.

 MANY THANKS to MARK DUERR, past president of the Baltimore Kickers Club, who read in our last newsletter that we were seeking information of the Deutsches Haus. Mark researched and wrote the article on pages 6 & 7. Mark said: " Although I never visited this celebrated establishment, I heard so much about it over the years that I decided to conduct my own research."

NOV.-DEC, 2004  VEREINSNACHRICHTEN The German Society of Maryland  Page 6

  DEUTSCHES HAUS ARTICLE BY MARK DUERR (not available here but can be obtained from the German Society Office)

NOV.-DEC , 2004  VEREINSNACHRICHTEN The German Society of Maryland  Page 7

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WELCOME TO NEW          MEMBERS

                     

XMAS GIFTS AT THE  CHRISTKINDL MARKET AT ZION NOV. 27-28

                       

PRES. JIM SCHAUB WISHES ALL MEMBERS A VERY  HAPPY CHRISTMAS

                        

GIVE MEMBERSHIP IN THE GERMAN SOCIETY AS AN XMAS GIFT TO A FRIEND OR RELATIVE - $15

ANNUAL DUES

                     

RECRUIT A NEW MEMBER - HELP OUR SOCIETY  EXPAND

                     

THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE HELPED MAKE 2004 A GREAT YEAR FOR OUR SOCIETY