Autumn 2015 - Saskatchewan German Council

Transcription

POSTILLION
Der Rundbrief des Saskatchewan German Councils
Volume 30, Issue 3
Autumn 2015
Table of Contents
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Editor’s Note Greetings from the President Hello from the new Interim Executive Director
Saskatchewan German Culture Assistance Fund
25 Jahre deutsche Einheit - Share your story
25 Jahre deutsche Einheit - We were there!
25 Jahre deutsche Einheit - A Trabi moves to Canada
25 Jahre deutsche Einheit - Now and then
SGC Recipe Corner: Rehrücken
SGC Library Corner History of the Germans from Russia, part 22
Rolling Calendar of Events
Folkf Fest in Spiritwood
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News from SGC Member Groups
Austrian Canadian Edelweiss Club of Regina
Volksliederchor Concordia
Imhoff Heritage Society Karnevalsgesellschaft Harmonie
Regina German Film Club
Prince Albert German-Canadian Club Waldhorn
Concordia Brass Band
German Language School Saskatoon
German Junior Folk Dancers
Community Radio Station Saskatoon
Hansel and Gretel Preschool Inc.
German Cultural Centre
Das Schulhaus - Regina German Language School Inc.
German Heritage Society of Humboldt and District Inc.
Concordia Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein
Concordia Junior Alpenrose Dancers
Volksliederchor Harmonie
German Canadian Society Harmonie KulturGarten Saskatoon
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church
German Language School of Regina Kochlöffel & Nudelholz
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Kinder- und Jugendseiten
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The Postillion is a quarterly newsletter published by
the Saskatchewan German Council Inc.
Submissions to: [email protected]
Deadlines 2015:Winter - November 30
Spring - March 7
Summer - June 27
Autumn - October 2
Articles may be reprinted with permission.
Saskatchewan German Council Inc.
510 Cynthia Street, Saskatoon, SK S7L 7K7
phone: 306-975-0845 fax: 306-242-8007
e-mail: [email protected] website: www.saskgermancouncil.org
Cover image: Kürbisse, Fotolia_79361786_Subscription_XL
Inquiries to:
Theresa Kliem, Editor
[email protected]
MELDUNG AUS DER REDAKTION
EDITOR’S NOTE
THERESA KLIEM
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
Josephin Dick, Saskatoon
Vice President
Dr. Michael Oelck, Saskatoon
Past President
Ilona Beck, Rouleau
Treasurer
Rod Gellner, Regina
Secretary,
Ulrike Hecker, Saskatoon
Directors
Frank Bojkovsky, Saskatoon
Don Cody, Prince Albert
Jake Dyck, Estevan
Andrea MacLeod, Regina
Amanda Stehwien, Saskatoon
Uwe Reinkens, White City
Staff
Gabriele Waidelich-Harrison,
Interim Executive Director
Franziska Davies,
Office & Program Assistant
Theresa Kliem,
Immigrant Settlement Advisor
Theresa Kliem,
Postillion Editor
What a fall! While Canada is getting ready to vote, the politicians in Austria, Germany and other
European countries have something else to worry about. Escaping war and terror, refugees from Syria
and other countries are coming to Europe for a better future. Amnesty International calls it “the worst
refugee crisis since World War II.”
During this troubled time, Germany celebrates 25 years of reunification. On October 3, 1990, after 45
years of separation, Germany was finally reunited. This was certainly one of the most important events
in recent German history. For this reason, the Postillion has devoted four extra pages to this topic. Facts,
numbers and statistics are definitely a very important part of history. However, the Day of German Unity
is also a very emotional topic. Therefore, we have asked people in Saskatchewan to talk about their
experiences now and then.
Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, wrote on the Day of German Unity: “The reunification of Germany 25 years ago brought with it the hope of a more peaceful and stable future.” Much has been achieved during the last 25 years. However, as the Federal
Government says on its website, “there is still a lot of need for action concerning the assimilation of
East and West Germany.”
The war in Syria and the hundreds of thousands of refugees coming into Europe show us that
Germany has new challenges to face today. Again, boarder fences are set up in some European
countries. It is still a long path towards a more peaceful future.
At last, besides all the changes in the world, there are also some news from the SGC office. We
would like to welcome Gabriele Waidelich-Harrison as the Interim Executive Director. She is the
new head of the office while Sabine Doebel-Atchison is on maternity leave. During her first days,
Gabi has already proven to be a great colleague. We are really happy to have her on board!
Was für ein Herbst! Während es für Kanada jetzt in die heiße Wahlphase geht, haben die Politiker in
Österreich, Deutschland und weiteren europäischen Ländern ganz andere Sorgen. Auf der Flucht
vor Krieg und Terror machen sich hunderttausende Flüchtlinge aus Syrien und andere Länder auf
den Weg nach Europa. Amnesty International spricht von der “größten Flüchtlingskatastrophe seit
dem Zweiten Weltkrieg.”
In dieser aufgewühlten Zeit feiert Deutschland 25 Jahre Wiedervereinigung. Am 3. Oktober 1990,
nach 45 Jahren der Trennung, wurde Deutschland wieder eine Einheit. Es war eines der bedeutendsten Ereignisse in der neuen deutschen Geschichte. Aus diesem Grund hat der Postillion diesem
Thema vier extra Seiten gewidmet. Fakten, Zahlen und Statistiken sind sicherlich ein wichtiger Teil
der Geschichte. Doch der Tag der deutschen Einheit ist auch ein sehr emotionales Themen. Deswegen kommen in diesem Postillion verschiedene Menschen aus Saskatchewan zu Wort, um über ihre
Erfahrungen damals wie heute zu erzählen.
Deutschlands Außenminister Frank-Walter Steinmeier schrieb anlässlich des Tags der Deutschen
Einheit: “Die deutsche Wiedervereinigung vor 25 Jahren war verbunden mit der Hoffnung auf eine
friedlichere, stabilere Zukunft.” Vieles wurde in den letzten 25 Jahren erreicht. Trotzdem ”besteht
noch immer viel Handlungsbedarf bei der Angleichung von Ost- und Westdeutschland,” wie die
Bundesregierung auf ihrer Webseite schreibt.
Der Krieg in Syrien und die große Anzahl an Flüchtlingen in Europa zeigt uns, dass Deutschland
heute neuen Herausforderungen gegenübersteht. Wieder werden in einigen europäischen Ländern Grenzzäune errichtet. Es ist also noch ein langer Weg bis hin zu einer friedlicheren Zukunft.
Neben all den Veränderungen in der Welt gibt es auch Neuigkeiten aus dem SGC Büro. Wir
begrüßen Gabriele (Gabi) Waidelich-Harrison als vorläufige Exekutivdirektorin. Da Sabine DoebelAtchison in Mutterschaftsurlaub ist, wird Gabi sie in den kommenden Monaten vertreten. Schon in
den ersten Tagen hat sie sich als großartige Kollegin gezeigt. Wir sind froh, sie an Bord zu haben.
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GREETINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT
GRÜSSE VON DER PRÄSIDENTIN
JOSEPHIN DICK
It feels like summer had just started, and now
we have fall again. The leaves are colorful,
which looks beautiful, and the days are getting
colder, which I personally do not like too much.
In June, I received an invitation to Leader. The
Germans from Russia met from July 10 to July
12, sharing interesting stories about their heritage, ancestors coming from Russia, and their
lives in Canada. Fortunately, I was able to join
them Saturday and Sunday with my husband.
After lunch, members of the group took us to
the sand hills, the old school house and the
Blumenfeld church. I really like the church. You
can see its German history in all the decorations, and even though I believe it is difficult,
it is so well maintained, one can feel the
love in doing all that work. Later we listened
to different speakers. For example Mervin
Weiss spoke about the topic “May you live in
interesting times.” I find it very fascinating how
much people actually can find out about their
families after so much time. Especially coming
from Russia, where it is certainly not easy to
gather information because of the distance
and language.
I would also like to congratulate the German
Club in Regina for their 60th anniversary. Fortunately, I was invited to their celebration on
September 12. Founded in 1955, the club is the
oldest member of the SGC, together with the
Volksliederchor Harmonie, of course, which we
had the pleasure of listening to. While the club
may be the oldest SGC member, it is certainly
also one of the most vibrant and active German
cultural organizations in the province. Events
such as Spargelfest, Mosaic, Oktoberfest and
many more are always well-attended and even
receive national attention.
We also have some changes in our office. As
some of you might already know, we have a
new Immigrant Settlement Advisor. Besides
her duties as our Postillion Editor, Theresa Kliem
also started working with new immigrants.
I’m sure her open personality, great smile and
enthusiasm will help immigrants be at ease.
Her knowledge as well as determination to
solve problems will make sure they are well
supported.
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Since Sabine is taking a break as Executive Director because of her maternity leave, we have
Gabriele Waidelich-Harrison to fill in as Interim
Executive Director for a year. She has been the
Coordinator of our German Language School
Saskatoon for over twelve years. Therefore, we
know that she will be of great value for the
SGC. All the best and good luck to both of you.
Man hat den Eindruck, der Sommer hätte
gerade erst begonnen, und nun haben wir
schon wieder Herbst. Die Blätter sind bunt,
was schön aussieht, und die Tage werden
kälter, was ich persönlich nicht so schätze.
Im Juni bekam ich eine Einladung nach
Leader. Die Deutschen aus Russland trafen
sich dort vom 10. bis zum 12. Juli, um ihre
interessanten Geschichten über ihre Vergangenheit, ihre Vorfahren aus Russland und ihr
Leben in Kanada zu teilen. Ich hatte das Glück
Samstag und Sonntag mit meinem Ehemann
dabei sein zu dürfen. Nach dem gemeinsamen Mittagessen nahm eine Gruppe uns zu
den Sanddünen, dem alten Schulhaus und
der Blumenfeld Kirche mit. Ich liebe diese
Kirche. Man kann ihre deutsche Geschichte in
allen Dekorationen erkennen. Auch wenn ich
persönlich glaube, dass es sehr schwer sein
muss, ist diese Kirche in einem bewundernswerten Zustand. Man kann die Liebe, die
in diese Arbeit fließt, förmlich fühlen. Später
hörten wir verschiedene Redner. Mervin
Weiss sprach zum Beispiel zum Thema „Mögen Sie in interessanten Zeiten leben.“ Ich
finde es faszinierend, wie viele Informationen
manche Personen über ihre Familien nach
so langer Zeit herausfinden können. Speziell
in Russland, wo es aufgrund der Entfernung
und Sprache sicherlich nicht einfach ist, Informationen zu sammeln.
Ich möchte auch noch einmal dem
Deutschen Klub in Regina zu seinem 60. jährigen Jubiläum gratulieren. Ich hatte das Glück,
zu ihrer Feier am 12. September eingeladen
zu sein.
1955 gegründet, ist dieser Klub eines der
ältesten Mitglieder unseres Councils – selbstverständlich zusammen mit dem Volksliederchor Harmonie.
Später am Abend hatten wir das Vergnügen,
einer Vorführung des Chores zu lauschen.
Obwohl der Klub eines der ältesten Mitglieder des Saskatchewan German Councils
ist, gehört er auch zu den aktivsten und
dynamischsten unserer deutschen kulturellen Organisationen hier in der Provinz.
Veranstaltungen wie das Spargelfest, Mosaik,
das Oktoberfest und viele mehr sind immer
gut besucht und erhalten sogar nationale
Aufmerksamkeit.
Wir haben auch einige Veränderungen in unserem Büro. Wie einige sicher schon wissen,
haben wir eine neue Immigration Settlement Beraterin. Theresa Kliem arbeitet nun
nicht mehr nur noch als Editorin für unseren
Postillion, sondern auch mit neuen Immigranten. Ich bin mir sicher, dass sie mit ihrer
Offenherzigkeit, ihrem freundlichen Lächeln
und ihrem Enthusiasmus Immigranten helfen
wird, sich wohl zu fühlen. Ihr Wissen und ihre
Zielstrebigkeit im Umgang mit Problemen
werden dafür sorgen, dass Einwanderer gute
Unterstützung erhalten.
Da Sabine auf Grund ihres Mutterschaftsurlaubes eine Pause als Executive Director
einlegen wird, haben wir Gabriele WaidelichHarrison eingestellt, um sie für dieses Jahr
zu vertreten. Sie war die letzten zwölf Jahre
Koordinatorin unserer Deutschen Sprachschule in Saskatoon. Daher wissen wir, dass
sie dem SGC für dieses Jahr eine große Hilfe
sein wird. Ich wünsche Euch beiden alles
Gute und viel Glück.
HELLO FROM THE NEW
INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
GABRIELE WAIDELICH-HARRISON
I would like to take this opportunity and
introduce myself – my name is Gabriele
Waidelich-Harrison (Gabi), and I am the
Interim Executive Director at the Saskatchewan German Council while Sabine
Doebel-Atchison is on maternity leave.
Just to answer your question right away
– no, you don’t need a hyphenated name
in order to work in this position!
Who am I? I was born in Tübingen,
Germany and grew up in a town called
Steinenbronn. You might not find
Steinenbronn on the map, but it is the
neighboring town of Waldenbuch which
is home to the Ritter Sport chocolate factory! The short walk through the forest
down to the Ritter Sport factory is still
one of my favorite things to do when
visiting home.
I did my apprenticeship in reprographics
and later studied printing technologies
in Stuttgart.
My job took me to Ulm, where I worked
for a book production company, and
a few years later to Munich, where I
worked for Carl Hanser Verlag in book
design and book production.
Once coming to Canada in 2001, I connected with the German Language
School Saskatoon. After teaching there
for one year, I became the coordinator/
principal and stayed for twelve years.
Through the work with the German
School, I connected to other cultural
organizations and served on several
boards in the non-profit sector. I am truly
passionate about teaching, education,
culture and languages.
Furthermore, I believe in community, big
and small. A strong sense of community
makes us feel at home, it provides a
place for shared values and for common
interest. Being a family without immediate relatives around, we tried to build
a community network to be part of a
“Gemeinschaft”.
I encourage you to continue to be part
of our wonderful German speaking community which celebrates our heritage,
culture and tradition. Visit Octoberfest,
enjoy some German dancing, learn the
German language, join a choir, volunteer
at your local German organization, endorse someone. Or build community by
creating your own new group. Do let us
know, SGC can support you! I am looking
forward to hearing from you!
SASKATCHEWAN GERMAN CULTURE ASSISTANCE FUND
ALISON PHILLIPS
Thank you very much for the SGCAF German Language Award, which I received
in September 2015. I am enrolled in the
Faculty of Science at the University of
Regina in the Pre-Dentistry program. My
goal is to become a dentist, and I hope
to be accepted into this program at the
University of Saskatchewan in the future. I
have taken German classes since grade 9
and enjoy it very much. My grandparents
immigrated from Austria in 1953 and have
encouraged me to learn more languages,
initially so I could communicate with relatives overseas. However, I have found that
this knowledge may help me in the future,
if I travel as well as in my chosen career. I
will be using the scholarship money to further my education. Again, I would like to
thank the Saskatchewan German Culture
Assistance Fund for this scholarship. It is
very much appreciated.
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25 Jahre deutsche Einheit
SHARE YOUR STORY
This October, Germany celebrates the 25th anniversary of reunification. In 1990, after years of separation, East Germany and West
Germany reunited to form a single nation. 327 days lay between
this historic event and the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9,
1989. Every year, the Day of German Unity is a day to remember
and celebrate . In this Postillion, Barbara Stehwien from Saskatoon is sharing her memories and history, the story of a family of
artists who lived in the German Democratic Republic.
BARBARA STEHWIEN
In 2014, our artist family celebrated 25 years of the ‘Fall of the Wall’, remembering how we were able to go back home. Not only to visit with
friends and family, but also to retrieve many of the paintings my father
had to leave behind when escaping communist Germany.
This year, in 2015, the family is remembering how the post war communist government destroyed the successful touring Barthold Marionette Theatre, and confiscated everything, including the puppets.
Waltraude (Barthold) Stehwien’s father, Oskar Bathold, a puppeteer
since the 1930s managed to ‘steal’ a few of the puppets of his own
design, before escaping the dictatorship to the West. These puppets
and the entire chronicles, including manuscripts, of a travelling puppeteer, ended up with his daughter and family in Saskatoon. Thanks to
reunification of Germany, these puppets are now going home. Home
to eastern Germany, where they performed regularly to high acclaim
between 1947 and 1949. Plays included old traditional legends of Dr.
Faustus and the Magic Violin, as part of the series for adults, and fairy
tales like Rumpelstiltskin and the Magic Lantern for children.
This year, two puppet theater museums, one in Dresden (former East)
and one in Munich (former West) are collaborating on a combined
puppetry exhibit for 2016. A puppeteer and artist herself, Waltraude
Stehwien has decided to make a donation of several puppets to
the Dresden museum, as the interest in her father’s, and her story
continues to grow. Theirs is a long story of the short lived travelling
marionette theater under communist rule, and the adventures of owning a successful hand puppet theater for many years before that. This
smaller theater travelled throughout eastern Europe in the 1930s, and
performed most often in central Germany and Austria right up until
the war destroyed it all.
Three remaining character heads from an innovative filming of puppet
plays, produced while living in exile in Vienna 1942 to 1945, will be
accompanying the marionettes as well. It is also hoped, that the entire
confiscated collection may one day resurface, and be reunited with
the few puppets that managed to ‘escape’, when their home country
was split in two after the war. Oskar Barthold escaped to West Germany, pretty much a broken man, like many other censored artists, but
did not live to see either the fall of the wall, or reunification.
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The event of reunification wasn’t quite as intense as that of the ‘Fall of
the Wall’, but the date definitely has a certain irony attached to it for
us. Where was our family when it happened? Likely recognizing our
anniversary of the journey across the ocean: October 3rd is the day we
left West Germany to immigrate to Canada, back in 1968.
We usually celebrate, but we will probably always wonder if we would
have pulled up roots - for the 2nd time - had Germany been more politically stable. Who would have expected that there would be no more
East or West just 22 years later!
WE WERE THERE!
155 km! This was the total length of the Berlin Wall. It was the
boundary between East and West and the symbol of the Cold War.
Barbed wire, spring gun and soldiers made it almost insuperable.
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 finally paved the way for German unity. Change was in the air, on the political stage as well as
on the streets. Bev Weston from Regina visited East Berlin in 1990,
before Germany was officially reunited. A travel report.
BEV WESTON
In the fall of 1989, when the Berlin Wall went down, I was secretary in the
Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies at the University of Regina.
As you can well imagine, there was considerable discussion among
our departmental faculty as to the event itself and the ramifications for
Germany.
In the spring of 1990, my daughter Rhonda and I made a trip to Europe.
I made it very clear to Rhonda that I wanted to go into Berlin when we
got to Germany. We had purchased Eurorail passes, but these were not
good in East Germany. Plane and train into Berlin were too expensive for
Rhonda’s budget, but I knew of a cheaper way - the Mitfahrzentrale, or car
share. Basically, it’s legalized hitchhiking with a paper trail. One visits the
Mitfahrzentrale office, usually near the train station, and pays a nominal
fee for a driver’s contact information. The driver will charge a nominal fee,
and if he or she has two or three passengers, it will pay for gas.
Rhonda and I met up with our driver, a German. There was one other passenger, also a German. Travelling from West Germany into Berlin at that
time was not a pleasant experience. All the way through, the road was
lined by barbed wire fences on both sides, and every so often there were
watchtowers. The first watchtower we came to was vacant, and we were
all amazed. The two Germans thought maybe the guards were watching soccer, as Germany was in the World Cup. However, the second was
also vacant, and we realized they would all be abandoned. The Germans
whooped with glee. It was a surprise even to them, as no announcement
had been made. It was an amazing start to our Berlin trip.
chipped away at the Wall. I felt it was the best 5 marks I had spent.
We went through Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin. The ceiling is very
low and it is quite claustrophobic. I am always self conscious about my
German, but Rhonda made me stop two fellows to ask directions. We
talked to them for quite a while. They were not too pleased about the
change that was coming. They were short of goods in the technical line,
but had food, clothing, etc. They said they had little prostitution, no porn,
no drugs, and were apprehensive about the coming Western influence.
I was surprised as I had thought most East Germans would be quite
excited about the reunification. One of the fellows eventually invited us
to his home, probably because of our surprise at his attitude.
In the meantime, we wandered around Alexanderplatz, looking at all the
touts ready to take advantage of the East Germans. At one point, I bought
5 East German marks from a fellow for 3 West German marks. The East
German mark would disappear shortly, and I felt I had a bargain.
Later, we stopped to ask a policeman for directions. He was courteous
and helpful. I couldn’t help but wonder if he had been with the Stasi a
few months previously, and if so, he certainly wouldn’t have been so
polite.
Our host and his youngest son picked us up in their Trabi (Trabant) at the
agreed upon place and time. They took us for a ride, showing us important buildings of which they were very proud. Our hosts invited us for
supper, which was very kind. We spent the evening discussing the new
events. It was an interesting evening, and we were privileged to have
been their guests.
About a week later, when we were in Italy, we heard that Checkpoint
Charlie had been demolished. The Checkpoint Charlie Museum was still
active. Reunification and the time surrounding it were very important historical events; both Rhonda and I were pleased to be there at that time.
We settled into our Berlin hostel and went out to the Kurfürstendamm,
or the Kudamm, Berlin’s main avenue. It was hopping. At one point, a car
with a few young people drove by, and they were all yelling and cheering. The car had an open roof, and there was a German flag hanging out.
We wondered about what great political event had happened. Rhonda
pushed me to ask someone, so I did. It wasn’t a great political event.
Germany had won the soccer match.
The next day, we headed out for some sightseeing, finally getting to
Checkpoint Charlie. The Wall was a disappointment. I had been to Berlin
earlier, and the Wall had been covered with graffiti, some quite artistic.
However, by now, people had been chipping away at the Wall for months.
The outer Wall had been removed, and what was left was sprayed quite
randomly, probably by the fellows who were renting out the sledge hammers. We rented one at 5 marks for 15 minutes, and Rhonda and I both
Bev and Rhonda at the Berlin Wall
7
A TRABI MOVES TO CANADA
INTERVIEW BY THERESA KLIEM
“When does a Trabi reach its top speed? When it’s towed away.”
Especially people from Western Germany used to crack jokes
about the Trabant or Trabi, the former East German automobile.
The end of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) also meant the
end of the Trabi, and nowadays these cars are a rare sight on German roads. Finding them in Saskatchewan? Impossible! Until now.
Katharina and Karsten Ulbrich from Estevan used to love their
Trabi in the 1980s, and therefore decided to buy an old one and
bring it to their new home in Canada. In this Postillion, Katharina
Ulbrich talks about the unusual trip of a special car.
Postillion: When did you decide to buy an old Trabant and bring it to
Saskatchewan?
Katharina: My husband and I started thinking about it about five years
ago. Buying the car had a sentimental value to us. We owned a Trabi
between 1986 and 1990 when we still lived in East Germany, close to
Chemnitz. It was our first family car.
Postillion: Immigration to Canada can be a long and difficult process.
How hard was the “immigration process” for your Trabi?
Katharina: It was definitely not easy. Before we started looking for the
car, I checked with Transport Canada as well as Border Services Agency to
make sure that we were even allowed to bring a Trabi over and license it
at SGI. There are many regulations and I couldn’t find anyone who owned
a Trabi here in Canada. That’s why I had to do a lot of research first, before
we could start our “hunt” for the Trabi.
Postillion: Germany has been united for 25 years now, and Trabis are
not sold at every car dealership around the corner. Where did you find
a Trabi on sale?
Katharina: Around a year and a half ago, we had everything ready to
start searching for a car online. We found three Trabis in the area where
some of my husband’s friends live. One of them is a car mechanic, so we
wanted him to go and have a look first. Finally Karsten’s brother-in-law
purchased a Trabant for us and took it to his place until it was picked up
for shipping. The person who sold it was super excited when he heard
that the Trabi was going to go to Canada. It had been sitting in his garage
for years.
Postillion: How old is the model you bought?
Katharina: It was built in November of 1989, so it is one of the later models. They finally stopped producing Trabants in April 1991.
Postillion: Over 7,000 km, this was probably the longest trip this Trabi
has ever made. How exactly did you bring your Trabant to Canada?
Katharina: We checked different international transportation companies
to compare prices. We finally chose the same company that had shipped
our personal belongings when we had moved to Canada eight years ago.
The Trabi was picked up from our relatives in Germany and hauled on a
1
truck to Bremerhaven, the harbour city. Then they shipped it to Halifax,
where a customs broker did the paperwork for us. Afterwards, the car was
transported by rail to Saskatoon and finally by truck to our doorstep.
Postillion: This definitely sounds like a long process. On the other
hand, people in the GDR often had to wait for years before they finally
received the Trabi they had ordered. When you now think about your
old Trabi from the 1980s, was it as complicated to acquire as the Trabi
you have now?
Katharina: Normally the waiting list in the GDR for new Trabis was
around eleven years. So everybody would sign up for a new Trabi on
their 18th birthday because this was the day you were eligible to send in
the application. We also sent in our application, but we never got a new
Trabant. However, we were able to buy a ten year old Trabi at the black
market. That didn’t take too long.
Postillion: Now that you finally have the Trabi, are you using it as your
everyday car or is it just sitting in your garage?
Katharina: We have had it licensed for one month now. Before that,
it had to pass safety inspection here in Saskatchewan. This was quite
a complicated process because the Trabant was a little rusty. and not
everything was working properly. My husband spent probably six weeks
working almost every night to repair it. Now we can drive it, and I have
already taken it out for grocery shopping. We love using it for little trips
around town to look at the funny faces people make when they see it.
Everybody is asking about it, everybody wants to touch it. The body is not
made out of sheet metal, but of a synthetic material called Duroplast, a
mixture of resin powder and cotton.
Postillion: What do you like most about it?
Katharina: It is just about owning something from the past, something
unique. It brings up special memories. I have always liked driving a Trabi.
100 km/h is the fastest you can go. However, it also has its downsides.
The heating system isn’t the greatest, that’s why we decided not to drive
it in the winter. Furthermore, it doesn’t have any steering or breaking assistance, so it is hard work to drive it. And you mustn’t forget to open the
fuel tab before you start your trip.
1. The Trabi in front of modern Saskatchewan police cars in Estevan
8
NOW AND THEN
What did the reunification of East and West Germany mean to the
people? Of course, many were happy and excited, others, however, worried about the future. The historical event of 1990 has
influenced the lives of Germans in many different ways. In this
Postillion, three residents of Saskatoon talk about their experiences, memories and feelings towards the Day of German Unity.
I remember the overwhelming feeling of being part of history only too
well, the build-up in the months before, with tens of thousands joining
Candle-Monday, weekly peaceful demonstrations for unity and solidarity,
no matter which creed or political designation. Special!
Excited all day, we just couldn’t believe it - the door had opened a tiny
bit, and somebody had put a foot in. At that time, I was a student, sharing
a house with friends. In the weeks after, we invited random people to
stay at our place, who had aimlessly traveled westward with their Trabis
to explore. We made friends, told stories and found out how incredibly
precise the general knowledge of our fellow Germans was, but also, how
reluctant they were to express opinions freely.
We went visiting the eastern parts of Germany ourselves and got to see a
strange mix of places. Gorgeous landscapes and manors, untouched by
renovation craze, Sanssouci Palace of Frederick II, our “common” Prussian
king, and Glienicke Bridge, where my mother had lived as a child, later
a strategic exchange point for spies in the Cold War. Ugly “Plattenbau”,
concrete blocks of flats, cheaply commissioned concrete mass accommodation, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s.
Berlin felt exciting on both sides, but like two cities with two public
transportation systems, obviously connecting nowhere. The wall cutting
through the grand city as a nasty wound. Cobblestone towns, whose
houses hadn’t been renovated for decades, all sooty and grey-brown
with windows made up into shop windows, filled with neon lights and
cheap electronics like the 1980s. Everything smelled like lignite or brown
coal, the most popular fuel for heating - time tunnel. Looking back I am
still amazed. Happy Birthday, reunited Germany!
Katharina Kettner
What does the German word Pfannkuchen mean? Yes, you are right, it
means pancake. Or not? Talking to my best friend who grew up in the
East sometimes ends in a little language confusion. At lease when we try
to order food. When she talks about Pfannkuchen, she actually means
Berliner doughnuts. I just call them Berliner or Krapfen. And since I already
started the East/West food discussion, what exactly is a Broiler?
Of course, German “language barriers” are nothing special between East
and West. Have you ever tried watching a Bavarian movie with your
friends from Hamburg? After five minutes, I was asked to turn on the German subtitles. They just couldn’t understand the accent.
In addition, before you start complaining, I know that Berliner
Pfannkuchen or Krapfen or however you want to call them have even
more different names all over Germany. Still, I love talking to my friend
about the different words she used while growing up in the eastern part
of Germany. One musn’t forget, there used to be two versions of the
Duden (dictionary of the German language), one for East and one for
West Germany.
I didn’t know much about these words when I was a child. When East
and West reunited in 1990, I was only three years old. Growing up in a
small village in Bavaria, my everyday life was never really touched by the
consequences of reunification. Until I met my best friend at the German Sport University in Cologne. She had spent her childhood in the
beautiful Spreewald area in eastern Germany. Without the reunification
of Germany, we might have never met. Maybe she would have studied
in Leipzig or Dresden instead. We were born in two different states, but
today we are able to share our lives.
Even now that I live thousands of miles away, she supports me when I
need a friend to talk to. That’s what the Day of German Unity means to
me. Besides the great friendship, maybe I would have never learnt words
like Kaufhalle (supermarket) or Nicki (t-shirt). By the way, before I forget it,
a Broiler is a roast chicken. I call it Brathähnchen.
Theresa Kliem
Anyone in Germany and around the world who consciously experienced the day the Wall came down knows exactly where they were on
November 9, 1989. A day of pure joy! This may not be so easy when it
comes to the memory of October 3, 1990, the day when Germany, after
four decades of division, was reunited. And yet, that day 25 years ago was
at least as important for recent German history. German unity became a
fact under international law on October 3, 1990 – with the accession of
five new federal states. The territory of the Federal Republic was enlarged
by almost a third and by 16.5 million inhabitants (from a statement by
Federal President Joachim Gauck).
I was recently in Freiberg and Dresden/Sachsen, driving through part
of this Bundesland. Since reunification, much has been done to the
damaged country. What surprised me were the many house roofs with
solar panels. Certainly an improvement for the environment. Also, food
and transportation are much cheaper than in Canada, and not just in the
East of the country. Most of the cities I visited had cobblestones on their
streets. That reminded me of my childhood.
“Wir sind ein Volk” was the Motto of the people in the DDR, and because
of their insistence they made it happen, even if not all of them are happy
of the results.
Für mich bedeutete die Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands, dass meine
Geburtsstadt Chemnitz ihren alten Namen wiedererhielt.
Sigrid Kirmse
9
LIBRARY CORNER
ANDREA MACLEOD AND THERESA KLIEM
DER DIAMANT DES
SALOMON
by: Noah Gordon
German, 492 pages
This is the story of Harry
Hopeman, a diamond man
from a diamond family; of
his love for a remarkable
Yemenite woman; and of
his painstaking search for a
valuable ancient diamond,
whose history is interwoven
with the past of the Jewish people. A chronicle
of ancient Judaism and modern Israel, The
Jerusalem Diamond is at once an exciting
adventure, a passionate love story, and an
absorbing voyage through history.
RECIPE CORNER
FRANZISKA DAVIES
REHRÜCKEN
DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN
VENISON
DVD
Prep time: 25 minutes; cook time: 50 minutes; total time: 75 minutes
Ingredients:
3 carrots
2 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
1 tsp. mustard seed, slightly crushed
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 lb. venison or elk steaks, 1/2 inch
thick
1 tsp. juniper berries, crushed
2 tsp. black peppercorns, crushed
4 - 6 slices of bacon
1 c. dry, red wine
1 T. corn starch mixed with 2 T. red wine
4 oz. crème fraîche
Clean and slice the vegetables into 1/4 inch
pieces. Lay them in the bottom of an oiled
roaster or 9 x 13 inch pan, add the mustard
seed, bay leaves, salt and about 1/2 cup
water and bake at 385°F for 20 minutes.
While the vegetables are roasting/steaming,
wash and pat dry your steaks. (You may also
use a filet piece and carve it for serving.)
Mix together the juniper berries and
peppercorns and rub the steaks with this
mixture.
10
Lay out the steaks and place bacon to cover
(cover 50-90% of steak).
When the vegetables have softened slightly,
remove from oven, place steaks on top
(bacon side up), and place pan back in oven.
Bake for 10 minutes, pour the red wine over
steaks and bake another 15-20 minutes.
Remove from oven. Test steaks for desired
doneness (they will be medium-well to well
done). Remove steaks and place on a platter, remove bacon and keep warm.
Pour off red wine into small saucepan and
bring to a boil. Reduce to half. Add the corn
starch slurry while stirring and stir until
thick. Add the crème frâiche and stir until
blended. Taste and adjust the seasonings
as needed. Serve steaks with potatoes and
sauce and apple quarters browned in butter
and cooked in white wine.
Notes: You may make a roux with flour and
butter and add the red wine, instead of
using cornstarch to thicken. You may also
use pureed vegetables to thicken (they are
usually discarded) for a healthy and tasty
alternative.
132 min, Language: German,
Subtitles: German
East Berlin, November 1984. Before the fall of
the Berlin Wall, East Germany’s secret police
(Stasi) monitored the country’s population.
When Gerd Wiesler,
a hard working and
idealist Stasi Captain, starts spying
on the playwright
Georg Dreyman,
his loyality for the
GDR regime begins
to crumble. It is the
start of a dangerous
game ...
After a series of comedies such as Good Bye
Lenin! or Sonnenallee, the drama film Das
Leben der Anderen approaches this part of
German history uncompromisingly and quietly. The film was widely applauded and won
several awards, among those an Oscar for Best
Foreign Language Film in 2007. It was only the
third German film ever to win this award.
HISTORY OF GERMANS FROM RUSSIA, PART 22 Russia was a mess. There could be no other way to explain how the
country sat at the end of World War I. At the insistence of Germany in
1918, Ukraine had now become a country, carved out of the heart of
Russia. Germany and her allies occupied this new country, Ukraine.
In the south and east the newly formed White Army was threatening Lenin and his communist Red Army. There was famine, riots, and
chaos throughout the entire country. Russia was a country at war with
itself.
Lenin, who had brought his communist party to power in November
1917, was finding that his Nationalization policy would not be that
easy to implement. By the end of 1918, Lenin’s very existence was being threatened by non-Bolshevists and former Tsarist Generals. These
anti-Lenin, anti-communists formed their own armies, and they would
become known as the White Armies. Throughout 1919 and 1920, different factions of the White Army would do battle with the Red Army
as their battles crisscrossed Russia and the newly formed Ukraine.
There were several Tsarist Generals that need to be mentioned.
General Denikin operated out of the southeast of Russia and was
successful in eradicating the Red Army in the Don and Kuban areas,
in the east Admiral Kolchak took control of Siberia, General Wrangel
operated in the Crimea and closer to home, General Yudenich based
out of Eastonia threatened Petrograd (later renamed Leningrad).
Well, how did this affect the German colonists? As mentioned earlier,
there were not only the armies to contend with, but with very little
government in place many areas were at the mercy of thieves and
local tyrants. It should be mentioned that as the armies marched
across the countryside, they requisitioned food and lodging wherever
they were, and many times the colonists were forced to help. The only
stable area was the Ukraine, which was occupied by the German and
Austrian military. This, of course, was about to change once the occupiers left in late 1918.
Of great concern to the German colonists was their safety. They well
remembered how the countryside had been rife with brigands and
thieves especially during the latter part of the Tsarist reign and during
the revolution. The colonists had decided that with the aid of the
German Occupiers they would establish a home guard (Selbstschutz)
to protect themselves. This was no easy task, but it was accomplished.
It seemed that in these times everyone had access to arms and some
sort of military training. The Mennonite areas were a little more
reluctant to become involved, as they were more peaceful and did not
believe in bearing arms. They did however realize the dire situation
their country was experiencing and did join the home guard, setting
up a home guard in their larger communities.
I should also mention that the colonist villages by the year 1915 had
grown and were no longer small in size. I will mention three villages in
the Beresan district, Karlsruhe (population 1,932), Speier (population
2,408) and Rastadt (population of 3,807). The small villages had become towns; they had prospered, ADVERTISEMENT
grown and become quite wealthy.
Would these towns become targets for the thieves and bandits who
prospered at this time? The answer is yes. Although there were other
communities of Ukrainian and Russian farmers, they were not quite as
prosperous as their German neighbours. It was always said that in the
German villages you would find more horses, calves and hogs in the
barns, more ham, lard, wheat flour and sunflower oil in the pantries
and more jewelry, furs and carpets in the houses – thus more to steal.
ALVIN KNOLL
Although in the end, all farms no matter what their ethnicity, were
attacked and looted.
Now enter into the picture the Ukrainian bandit Nestor Michnenko.
He was the son of a poor peasant and grew up in the Ukrainian village
of Guljai-Pole, where in his youth he had been a cow herder. Nestor
was a very dangerous man and a confirmed anarchist. He had been
imprisoned under the Tsarist rule, but had been released during the
revolution. He was clever and ruthless, a persuasive speaker and a
very good organizer. His followers were exclusively Ukrainian farmers,
and they were all strongly nationalistic to the Ukrainian cause. Their
thinking was that the communists were not radical enough. On their
black flags was written ‘Anarchy is the mother of all order’, and they
did their best to set this in motion. At the height of his power in 1919
and 1920, it was said he commanded hundreds of thousands, and he
was the most powerful man in the whole of the Ukraine. Nestor made
his headquarters in his old village of Guljai-Pole. It was from here that
he attacked the numerous neighbouring villages – in this case mostly
Mennonite. His attack methods were to rape, hack or shoot a woman
to death while men from these villages were usually hacked, shot to
death and then burnt. Property of wealthy farmers and estates were
burnt to the ground.
The Schönfeld Mennonite villages were the first of the villages he
attacked. The Mennonite Home Guard could not defend all the scattered villages, and Michnenko did mostly what he wanted. For several
weeks he plundered, burnt, tortured and raped his way through these
colonies. He eventually moved onto larger villages, and in January of
1919 he attacked the Grunau villages. After suffering heavy losses in
the battle, the remnants of their Home Guard, 67 men, were executed
by the victorious robbers. Nestor next expanded his territory to the
Kronau area, some 160 miles to the west, where he was unchallenged.
He pillaged five of the villages in this area with his usual method of
rape and murder. He completely destroyed the village of Münsterberg
where 200 people were raped and murdered. His reign of terror continued all through the winter of 1919-1920 and only came to an end
in the spring of 1920, when Red Army regulars showed up and put an
end to Nestor and his cruel exploits.
What had become of the White Armies?* There is so much history here
on this topic that I will just touch on the surface. Well, it seems that
the White Armies were made up of many factions, and many of these
factions did not like or trust each other. There was no one leader of the
White Armies. This would be their downfall. The British and French had
invaded Russia after Germany left in 1918. The British were supportive
of the White Army initially, and had they worked a little closer with the
White Army, they could have defeated the Red Army. Britain however,
decided to pull its troops out of Russia and left the White Army to its
own fate. With no leadership, the various factions of the White Army
were put to route. Admiral Kolchak was driven back into Siberia,
where he was captured and his army disbanded. In November 1920,
General Wrangel suffered a disastrous defeat in the northern Crimea.
He decided to evacuate the remnants of this army to Constantinople
and thus ended any hope of ending the reign of Lenin and his Red
Army. In the next issue, I will touch on the Bolsheviks and their treatment of the German colonists.
______________
* I would suggest googling the history of the Russian Civil War or White Army of
Russia.
11
Rolling Calendar of Events
EVERY TUESDAY
KAISER (CARD GAME) at the German Cultural Centre, Saskatoon, 12 p.m. - 2 p.m. (not in
December)
EVERY WEDNESDAY
SKAT at the German Cultural Centre, Saskatoon, 6.30 p.m.
EVERY FRIDAY
CLASSICAL CONNECTION on CFCR 90.5 FM, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. with Sigrid Kirmse
EVERY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY EVENING
CHEF’S SPECIAL at the German Cultural Centre, Saskatoon
EVERY SUNDAY
TREFFPUNKT DEUTSCHLAND on CFCR 90.5 FM, 1p.m. - 3 p.m.
SUNDAY BRUNCH at the German Cultural Centre, Saskatoon, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
GERMAN BUFFET at the German Cultural Centre, Saskatoon, 5:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.
OCTOBER
17 OKTOBERFEST
German Cultural Centre, Saskatoon Call 306-244-6869 for more information
19 KOCHLÖFFEL & NUDELHOLZ CLASS
Kochlöffel & Nudelholz - German Canadian Koch- und Backstudio
Call 306-292-2117 or e-mail kochlö[email protected]
19 FIRST CHOIR PRACTICE FOR CHRISTMAS CONCERT
Volksliederchor Concordia, Saskatoon
Call 306-653-0799 for more information
23 ROCKTOBERFEST IN REGINA
Regina Austrian Edelweiss Club
Call 306-721-6388 or visit the Regina Austrian Edelweiss Club
Call 306-292-2117 or e-mail kochlö[email protected] 12
OCTOBER (CONTINUED)
27 HALLOWEEN HOWL
German Cultural Centre, Saskatoon
30 SOCK HOP DANCE
NOVEMBER
6 CROWNING OF PRINCE AND PRINCESS
Karnevalsgesellschaft Harmonie, Regina
Call 306-545-8873 for tickets
15 CHRISTKINDL MARKET
German Cultural Centre, Saskatoon Call 306-244-6869 for more information
Call 306-292-2117 or e-mail kochlö[email protected]
28 MARKET MALL MINIFEST
German Junior Folk Dancers, Saskatoon
E-Mail [email protected] for more information
FOLK FEST IN SPIRITWOOD
CHERYL TURGEON
Wunderbar!!! That was the consensus of the approximate 775 people that visited the German Pavilion at our Spiritwood Folk Fest of September 5 and
6. Thanks to the help of Franziska of the SGC in Saskatoon, Sheila Baessler from Prince Albert and Ron Sawatsky of Chitek Lake (cook/caterer), the food
was prepared from recipes of German culture.
Thanks again to the Saskatchewan German Council for providing the sponsorship that enabled us to have live authentic entertainment. Nancy & Neil
Stubbs entertained twice on Saturday with accordion music and German singing. Betty Siemens and Martha Bolt entertained on Sunday. Betty played
the electric harp, and they sang German songs. The diversity banners provided by the Saskatchewan German Council were very informative tools conveying an insight into our German culture. The people, authentic food and drinks as well as the lively entertainment were the catalyst for two fun-filled
days. We anticipate hosting another Folk Fest in two years.
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News from Member Groups
The Saskatchewan German Council Inc. has 39 member groups throughout Saskatchewan. Those groups include
cultural clubs, language schools, dance groups, choirs, genealogical groups, and many more. The following pages
contain articles by SGC member groups.
GREETINGS FROM THE AUSTRIAN EDELWEISS CLUB OF REGINA
Austrian Canadian Edelweiss Club of Regina — Janet Jost
Welcome to the beautiful season of fall and to the festive time of the
year that includes many Oktoberfest celebrations. To join in, the Austrian
Club is hosting ROCKTOBERFEST on October 23. The band A-Maze will be
entertaining the crowd with classic rock. There will be several fun-filled
games to participate in throughout the evening. Favourite food dishes
such as Schnitzel, Bratwurst and Pretzels will be available for purchase. Locally owned and operated, the District Brewing Company has joined our
party as an official sponsor of Rocktoberfest. We are excited to announce
that we will be offering their seasonal, one of a kind, Sasktoberfest Bier
along with our traditional Austrian import beers, Stiegel and Gösser. This
event is open to the public (aged 19 +) and promises to be an evening
full of festivities with a blend of Austrian and Canadian traditions. We
would like to thank our many sponsors including SGC, Saskatchewan
Lotteries, SaskCulture, Rawlco Radio, Old Dutch, Jenkins Design and
District Brewing Co. that have assisted us in this endeavour. Come in your
lederhosen, dirndl or come as you are comfortable to join us for a rocking
good time.
The club is now open for breakfast from 6:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Also, we’ve
made the change to serving a DAILY luncheon buffet which is available
from 11 a.m. -2 p.m.
This delicious daily buffet includes soup, salads, three meat choices, potatoes, pasta, and all the trimmings including mouth-watering desserts.
Guests may choose to dine at the club or have the luncheon buffet to go.
Our full luncheon menu is still offered for customers who prefer ordering.
A new takeout menu is in place, and many of our neighboring business
employees have been attracted to this alternative choice. We welcome
you to come enjoy a delicious meal with us and meet Paul.
Whether it is to party with us at Rocktoberfest, prepare meals with us at
our cooking classes or dine with us in our restaurant / lounge, we welcome you as a friend and guest at the Austrian Club. Prosit!
For tickets or more information about our events, please contact 306721-6388 or email us at [email protected].
Also this fall we are excited to announce a heritage filled cooking class
that will be held Sunday, October 18 at the Austrian Club. Andrea
MacLeod will lead us in an afternoon of preparing tasty Austrian dishes.
This cooking class menu includes Tafelspitz (beef main dish), Käsespätzle
(homemade noodles with cheese) and Pretzels. We are hoping to continue to offer more cooking classes as a way to share traditional dishes
with the next generation.
While on the topic of great tasting food, we would like to introduce our
new manager, Paul Katsiavos. Paul has brought with him many years of
experience in the restaurant business and has implemented several positive changes.
HELLO FROM THE VOLKSLIEDERCHOR IN SASKATOON
Volksliederchor Concordia, Saskatoon — Margot Hasner
Our choir has currently 20 members. We are
very happy about the increase. The beautiful
summer season is gone, and we are enjoying an
equally beautiful fall.
As in nature, the seasons are changing, and so
does life. We are welcoming one phase and
14
saying goodbye to another. In September, we
said goodbye to our longtime beloved member
Helga Schulz. Helga passed away peacefully on
September 9 at her home. She will be dearly
missed by all of us. With a heavy heart, we sang
at her funeral. It was our last “auf Wiedersehen”
to her. Our condolences to her family.
On October 19, we will start our choir practice
for the Christmas concert, which will be held at
the Cultural Centre on December 13 at 2 p.m.
Wishing everybody a beautiful fall.
Thank you to the Saskatchewan German Council for their continuous financial support.
NEUIGKEITEN FROM THE IMHOFF HERITAGE SOCIETY
Imhof Heritage Society, St. Walburg — Phyllis Imhoff
This United Church of Christ in Shaefferstown, Pennsylvania, was decorated by the German artist Berthold Imhoff in 1903 (picture 1). This year, a special
celebration was held marking the 250 years since it was constructed. The celebration was held on September 12, and family members were invited to
attend and speak to the congregation during the service. There have been many churches of all denominations decorated by Berthold Imhoff in the
state of PA.
The second picture shows St. Peter Church. This was the largest church that we visited with Imhoff Murals, and it was located in Reading, PA. There
were three more United Churches that we visited in this State. All contain exquisite Imhoff decorations and are cared for and treasured by their congregations. We thank John & Kay Ogurcak from Shaefferstown for their hospitality in hosting and driving us to all these places.
1
2
3
1. The United Church of Christ in Shaefferstown 2. St. Peter the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in Reading, PA 3. Anniversary cake and lunch following
the service
IT’S TIME FOR KARNEVAL
Karnevalsgesellschaft Harmonie, Regina — Sheila Aldous
Over the summer, our members have attended a number of functions. SGC
hosted a wonderful Treffpunkt event in June at the German Club in Regina.
We were very proud when Darlene Rubrecht received one of the volunteer
awards.
Some of our dancers took part in a couple of RMC’s Culture on the Plaza
events and attended Folkfest in Saskatoon. Thank you to our hosts at these
events. We had a great time.
Our group also took part in the Regina German Club’s 60th anniversary.
A GREAT JOB was done by the organizing committee. Happy anniversary,
thanks for the wonderful memories.
2
With summer days passing, our group is hard at work planning the Crowning of AJ & Lindsey on November 6. For tickets to this event call Darlene
at 306-545-8873. If you are interested in joining Karnevalsgesellschaft
Harmonie, give our president Darlene a call (306-545-8873) for more information.
3
1
1. Ashley, Cheryl, Annette 2. Darlene 3. Culture on the Plaza
with guests
15
NEWS FROM SGC MEMBER GROUPS
AN UPDATE FROM THE FILM CLUB
Regina German Film Club, Regina — Ilona Beck
The Regina German Film Club celebrated the
end of its film season with the 5th annual
outdoor movie night in August 2015. ”German
Movie under the Stars” is a very popular event
that brings together old and young to enjoy
a German film on a beautiful summer night.
Over 25 people attended the evening where
we showed the comedy ”Mann tut, was Man(n)
kann.” The event started with a potluck barbeque followed by the movie at sunset. Thank
you to the Reinkens family for providing their
garden and deck for the showing.
The new season will start in October/November
with the movie “ Die Geliebten Schwestern”
followed by “Marcel Reich-Ranicki: Mein Leben,”
“Schiller- Leben und Leiden eines JahrhundertGenies,” “Herbstzeitlosen” und “Die Scheinheiligen.”
The Film Club gets together every 6-8 weeks at
the Bothwell Public Library to watch the movie.
The event is free of charge, and everyone
interested is welcome to attend. If you wish to
be notified of the upcoming dates and movies,
please contact Ilona Beck at 306.776.2432 or
[email protected]
GREETINGS FROM PRINCE ALBERT
Prince Albert German-Canadian Club Waldhorn, Prince Albert — Laurie Fabrick
Our Club recently attended Tapestrama, put on by the Prince Albert Multicultural Society. We set up a food booth and sold bratwurst on a bun with
sauerkraut, lentil soup and dark brown bread, as well as many kinds of German desserts. Most other food vendors were Asian, so we were a “one of a
kind” business. Word got back to us from a friend who is a cashier at Superstore that a customer was raving about our fabulous soup and bread!
Plans are now underway for our Christmas party, to be held December 6. We hope it will be as successful as last year! Depending on the weather, we
will probably have a kaffeeklatsch or two during the winter or spring, just to keep in touch. Many members go south for the winters, but there are also
many who are house-bound and would enjoy an outing. German language school hasn’t started yet; we had hoped it would be underway by now, but
our teacher has been unavailable. Greetings to everyone else in the Province!
1
1. Our 3 Dons 2. Doris Lautner and Lee Gisi 3. Les Lautner
16
2
3
NEWS FROM THE BRASS BAND
Concordia Brass Band, Saskatoon — Yvonne Kristoff
The Concordia Brass Band has been very busy so far this year. We rehearse every Thursday.
Besides rehearsals, we have completed six engagements with six more booked for the month of
October alone. October, November and December are always our busiest months of the year.
The pictures submitted are of two of our engagements. The outdoor picture of the entire band is
from our show at the Barn Playhouse. It is a beautiful setting under the trees with many people
enjoying a delicious supper and listening to the band. The other photo shows part of the band
on stage at Folkfest. Folkfest is always our largest audience with the most performances in the
three days. We play ten half hour sets. Thank you to anyone who has been part of our audience.
We thoroughly enjoy performing. We even look forward to rehearsals. The adult band has been
described as a social group with a habit of music.
SGC MEMBER
ORGANIZATIONS
American Historical Society of Germans
from Russia, Regina
Austrian Canadian Edelweiss Club, Regina
Austrian Edelweiss Dance Association, Regina
CFCR Community Radio Society of Saskatoon Inc.
Concordia Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein
Concordia Brass Band
Concordia Junior Alpenrose Dancers
Das Schulhaus - Regina German
Language School Inc.
Department of International Language, U of R
Estevan & District German Freundschaft Society
Folkart Co-op Humboldt
German Canadian Society Harmonie, Regina
German Heritage Society of Humboldt &
District Inc.
German Junior Folk Dancers, Saskatoon
German Language School Saskatoon Inc.
German Language School of Regina
1
2
German Russian Cultural Group, Leader
German Students’ Association - U of S
1. Barn Playhouse 2. Folkfest Saskatoon
Hansel & Gretel Preschool Inc.
Imhoff Heritage Society, St. Walburg
Jagd- und Fischverein “Waidmann’s Lust”, Regina
EVENTS AT THE LANGUAGE SCHOOL
German Language School, Saskatoon — Susanne Pachal
Karnevalsgesellschaft Harmonie, Regina
Kochlöffel & Nudelholz: German-Canadian
Koch- und Backstudio
Lloydminster German Heritage Society Inc.
First off I want to introduce myself: my
name is Susanne Pachal, and I’m very
excited to be the new coordinator for the
German Language School Saskatoon. I’m
taking the position over from Gabi Harrison,
who has done a wonderful job as coordinator for the past 12 years. Gabi has accepted
a position as Interim Executive Director of
the Saskatchewan German Council.
I grew up near Basel, Switzerland, and have
lived in Canada for the past 17 years. My
husband and I have 6 year old twins. We enjoy camping, fishing, hiking and skiing as a
family. I taught the Level 3 class at the German Language School this past year, and
I’m currently teaching the Tuesday/Thursday class at Hansel and Gretel preschool.
It was wonderful to see so many returning
students and their families as well as meet a
few new faces!
A lot of learning has already taken place in
the last couple of weeks, and I’m looking
forward to a fun-filled and successful school
year for all of our students!
We are planning several cultural events
throughout the school year, and our first
one will be Herbstfest (fall festival) on
November 5, which we will be holding in
conjunction with the AGM (Annual General
Meeting).
If you are interested in taking German
language classes, check out our website:
www.germanschoolsaskatoon.blogspot.ca.
We offer classes for children age 5 and up as
well as various levels for adults.
Melville & District German Heritage Club
Mennonite Heritage Village, Swift Current
Parents Association of German
Language School, Saskatoon
Prince Albert German Canadian Club Waldhorn
Regina German Film Club
Saskatchewan Association of Teachers
of German, Saskatoon
Saskatchewan German Culture Assistance
Fund Inc.
Saskatoon German Days
Skat Club Saskatoon
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Regina
Village of Edenwold
Volksliederchor Concordia, Saskatoon
Volksliederchor Harmonie Inc., Regina
Zichydorf Village Association
17
HELLO FROM THE GERMAN JUNIOR FOLK DANCERS
German Junior Folk Dancers, Saskatoon — Barbara & Amanda Stehwien
September started out with a full schedule of performances and more
invitations from around the province than we could take on. We chose
to travel to Prince Albert’s Culture Days Tapestrama, as it was the shortest
of the trips - Estevan and Spiritwood probably require earlier planning. A
huge thank you to the PA Waldhorn Club for once again providing a most
delicious German supper for our travelers, with the best Bratwurst around,
and a most delicious homemade lentil soup! Kuchen for dessert included
- that alone was worth the trip!
The summer was also much fun and included our 17th performance
at Canada Day and a first ever invitation to perform as part of the high
profile Dance on the Saskatchewan event. We were thrilled and felt this
was something we shouldn’t turn down. In order to offer our very best
performance, we even lured a couple of dancers out of retirement. It was
rewarding to see the success of the two shows on a very hot summer
day. The very young dancers managed to perform wonderfully in the big
Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan tent and the teen dancers were high
energy and also quite a hit. A big thank you to the dancers and parents
for helping to make it a success.
2
We’d also like to welcome our new and returning members for this
2015/16 season as we’re looking forward to a fun fall season.
There are some projects and performances lined up for the pre-Christmas
weeks as well, part of which is our annual Lebkuchen fundraiser and
the largest playmobil display yet. If anyone would like to place a
Lebkuchen order through us, it’s not too early to get in touch: barbara@
germanjuniorfolkdancers.ca
3
1
1. From the archives: Florian and Evan, Canada Day 15 years ago
2. Little dancers in the big Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan tent
(photo: Ken Greenhorn) 3. Big applause for Katrina, Amanda,
Anita & Florian after the Dance on the Saskatchewan performance (photo: Ken Greenhorn)
COMMUNITY RADIO NEWS
Community Radio Station, Saskatoon— Sigrid Kirmse
The more than one hundred hosts, who bring alternative music to our community, worked hard to bring in the donations at this year’s FM-Phasis 2015.
We hope we made it! The goal was $70,000. The donation from the Saskatchewan German Council for the German program Treffpunkt Deutschland is
always a great help and very appreciated. Thanks to all. Shortly after the fundraiser, the radio station held its annual Art Auction. Other fundraisers are
in the making. Station Manager Neil Bergen said; “The money is badly needed, our equipment has to be replaced, you can do only so many repairs and
that’s it.”
As usual, Thorsten Brendel hosts the “music for the younger generation” every second Sunday of the month. I like to thank him and Helge Struthers for
helping out when necessary. The German program Treffpunkt Deutschland is aired every Sunday from 1-3 p.m. live on 90.5 FM. It can also be heard on
the computer over www.cfcr.ca – go to program and Sunday. I recently found and listened to it while I was in Germany. Requests have to be made one
week in advance. I wish you all a wonderful autumn.
18
AN UPDATE FROM THE PRESCHOOL
Hansel and Gretel Preschool Inc., Saskatoon —Ulrike Hecker
It is the beginning of a new school year, and our students have settled
nicely into their new classes. All of our three- and four-year-olds are enjoying their daily preschool routine that includes playing with their new
friends, exploring nature, making crafts and, of course, singing German
songs and rhymes. We have 45 students registered in our three classes. A
warm welcome goes to the new teacher in our Tuesday-Thursday class,
Mrs. Susanne Pachal. She is also the new coordinator of the Saskatoon
German Language School.
This year our preschoolers were invited by the German Cultural Centre
to perform at the Folkfest on August 15. We were very proud to see our
little ones on the stage, sharing a variety of German songs and rhymes
that they had learnt in preschool. On August 15, we also celebrated the
30th anniversary of the preschool. The preschool was founded in 1985 by
Sigrid Kirmse and Leslie Angele .
1
The former “German Pre-Kindergarten” has grown and flourished over
the last 3o years. Our program would not be as successful as it is today
without the passion and devotion of all the teachers and parents that
have been part of our preschool over the last 30 years. Thank you for all
your support! We are looking forward to another year of fun and learning
with our little German language learners.
If you are interested in the program or have questions, please contact Uli
Hecker; [email protected] (306-281-4428).
Hanselandgretelpreschool.blogspot.ca
2
1. Hansel and Gretel Preschool performing at Folkfest 2. Sorting by colours
GUTEN TAG FROM THE GERMAN CULTURAL CENTRE
German Cultural Centre, Saskatoon — Adeline Vogelgesang
It was a busy time at the German Cultural Centre prior to Folk Fest, which
was held on August 13, 14 and 15.
With the extreme heat on Thursday and the all-day rain on Saturday, out
attendance was down. However, in spite of the rain on Saturday, we were
pleased with the crowd and the fun everyone had.
There was an intermission which allowed the crowd to go outside to
witness the full eclipse of the moon (blood moon). This occurrence will
not be seen again until 2033.
We are looking forward to our popular annual Oktoberfest, to be held on
Saturday, October 17. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
In addition to the regular popular outdoor entertainment, there was
also a three piece German band from Calgary, who won the hearts of
the crowd. The indoor crowd was entertained by the Junior and Senior
dancers, as well as by a popular local vocal group.
Our second “Halloween Howl” night will be held at the hall on Tuesday,
October 27. A fun night for all ages, with games, scary stories and food.
All are invited to wear costumes to this “come and go” event from 5:30 to
8:30 p.m.
We were honored to have Mr. and Mrs. Willy Baessler from Prince Albert
attend on Saturday. Mr. Baessler, a skilled butcher, offered to carve the
roast pig which was cooked outdoors in the “Pig Tent.” This attracted
many patrons to stop and watch Willy’s skill.
The “Sock Hop” to be held on Friday, October 30, will be a night of
dancing and entertainment. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
A well-attended fall supper was held on Friday, September 11. The food
was delicious.
The “Ed Sullivan Night” held on Sunday, September 27, had the hall filled
to capacity. The evening was a huge success with entertainment from
the 1950s and 1960s, such as “The Beach Boys” and “Patsy Cline.” The
crowd had a variety of food choices, bags of freshly popped popcorn
were also available.
Due to circumstances, our president Del Peters dutifully took on the
extra duties of managing the Cultural Centre for a few months, until our
present manager, Cindy Hobbs, took on the position. Del’s many hours
were indeed appreciated. Del Peters has resigned as president, and
Darrell Dick, who is familiar with the position, is now president of our
club.
For inquiries on tickets, call the club at 306-244-6869.
19
CHANGING SEASONS - DAS SCHULHAUS IN REGINA
Das Schulhause – Regina German Language School Inc. — Sabine Zagoricnik-Wecker and Dr. Olga Lovick
What a busy time it is, when leaves turn all yellow and red, and the
days get shorter.
At the same time, the end of summer and the changing season
makes things hum again. I remember it to be an exiting time as
a school aged child. It is the same feeling I have starting a new
school year at Das Schulhaus. A special motivation starter was
the bi-annual national conference of the Canadian Association of
German Language Schools this year. It just took place at the end
of August in Toronto and left us with a lot of inspiration. But back
to the German School: Teachers are happy to see each other again,
students look so grown up, classes rearrange, and we always welcome new students. It takes a few weeks for everything to settle
again, until the last books finally arrive, or the students find their
fitting classes.
work environment, we create something important for the whole
community. A legacy is not carried on simply through paper, a
legacy is carried on in our hearts. Here is to another successful year
at Das Schulhaus!
Want to learn more about Das Schulhaus? Please contact das
Schulhaus at [email protected] or find more contact info
on our website www.dasSchulhaus.org. We are still accepting new
students in our classes!
KOMM, WIR LERNEN DEUTSCH! Wir freuen uns auf euch!
Growing from seeds planted over 60 years ago by other institutions, Das Schulhaus has grown into a vibrant German language
school. We have 50 students enrolled this year. At the very heart
of our organization lie our vision and mission to promote German
language and culture in a contemporary and authentic way in
Saskatchewan. Through our classes, and through our collaborative
WAS IST LOS IN HUMBOLDT?
German Heritage Society of Humboldt and District, Humboldt — Ursula Klassen
We hope you all had a great summer. We are now into the fall season, with
the weather co-operating to allow the farming community to complete the
harvest.
We wish you all a colourful fall with more comfortable days ahead.
The 100th anniversary of our Water Tower was a beautiful day, and the crowd
was overwhelming. Tours to the top of the tower were promoted for a curious
crowd of people, old and young. Everyone who was on the tour was amazed
at the site when they reached the top. All of the demands could not be met
and as a result, we have more tours by appointment. Old fashioned games
were played with the children.
One hundred coloured balloons were released from the top of the tower
after Mayor Malcolm Eaton expressed his welcome. The fire department set
up water sprays instead of fireworks. Three large cakes were consumed, and
hamburgers as well as hotdogs were also provided. The Little German Band
entertained while the food was being served. Presentations were made to
Mayor Eaton, Minster Donna Harpauer, Al Gill from the Architectural Heritage
Society, as well as Norman Duerr, Dan Steiner, Hubert Possberg and Ed Brockmeyer. Six stained glass windows depicting the source of the water provided
by the tower in its early years were developed by Elaina Adams, our stained
glass specialist. These windows were dedicated to Marianne Steiner, deceased
wife of Dan Steiner.
In October, we celebrated our 30th anniversary of the German Heritage
Society. We were excited to host members from the first executive of 1985. A
traditional German menu was followed by black forest cake for added calories.
1
2
1. Humboldt Water Tour 2. Little German Band
20
AN UPDATE FROM THE SCHUHPLATTLER VEREIN
Concordia Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein, Saskatoon — Heidi Armstrong
We had another successful weekend at Folkfest this summer! The rainy
weather did not stop our sets on the outdoor stage, and many people
watched from under the beer tent. The debut of our new dance to
Rammstein’s “Du Hast” was very well received.
You can keep in touch with the Alpenrose dancers by liking our Facebook page “Concordia Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein” or by following
this link https://www.facebook.com/germandancers.
Our dancers have been preparing for a busy autumn dance season
filled with lots of Oktoberfest fun! Nine of our dancers are travelling to
North Battleford to perform at the Rotary Club of Battleford’s Oktoberfest on October 3. On October 17, we will be dancing at Saskatoon
German Cultural Centre’s Oktoberfest. Finally, we will travel to Lloydminster’s Oktoberfest on October 23 to take part in their opening
activities and perform throughout the evening. Additionally, one of our
members is getting married on the Thanksgiving weekend in Saskatoon, and we are honored to dance at her reception.
Christkindl Market will be held at the Cultural Centre on November 15.
We will be selling Glühwein and enjoying the festivities. We are planning a Schnitzel Night Fundraiser – watch for more information!
NEWS FROM THE CONCORDIA JUNIOR ALPENROSE DANCERS
Concordia Junior Alpenrose Dancers, Saskatoon — Brenda Booker
We started off the summer at The Children’s Festival for the first time. We
performed and then held an Audience Participation Workshop. Dancers
had a great time at both the Workshop and Festival activities.
Canada Day was a scorcher, but our dancers kept their cool and put on a
spectacular performance. They were so proud to have three new dances
to perform. Some families were able to stay and enjoy the other festivities.
the dances and the costumes. CJAD will again be participating in the
“Halloween Howl” on Oct 27. Games and bouncy houses, food and
Spooky Punch, to purchase, for children and adults. $4 tickets can be
purchased from CJAD or the German Cultural Centre. Hope to see you all
there!!
From the ‘Concordia Junior Alpenrose Dancers’ (CJAD), contact Brenda
(call 306-373-7973)(text 306-371-7923).
Thanks to all the Dance Families who organized their summer to allow
for family holiday time, as well as additional Folkfest practices. It was
the first Folkfest experience for some of our dancers. Even with the long
hours and busy performance schedule, all dancers had a great time and
performed well. A few of the boys joined the men for a nightly performance of ‘The Miner’s Dance.’ We couldn’t be more proud of them. Thanks
to Joan for finding the boys matching Alpine hats. That really finished off
their costumes perfectly.
We incorporated many new dances into our performances. We were
especially proud of ‘The Cane Dance,’ as we’ve only ever seen one other
group perform it. It has a bit of everything in it. Props, girls twirling & even
a bit of schuhplattling. Danke Neil Stubbs for ‘making the music for us.’
1
Thanks to all your support, we again had a “Sold Out” Candy/Cookie Sale
& Raffle. Thanks Amanda for spearheading the return of the Lebkuchenherzen (Gingerbread Hearts). Thanks to Jayana’s family for their donation
of the Sunflower Table that was used in our raffle.
We welcomed a few new dancers at fall registration night with treats and
dancing. They were catching on brilliantly and we look forward to getting
them ready to perform.
We are looking forward to the next few months for a variety of reasons.
We’ll enjoy getting our new dancers ready for performances, both with
2
1. The Boys showing it at Canada Day 2. CJAD at their first Canada Day
21
NEWS FROM THE VOLKSLIEDERCHOR HARMONIE IN REGINA
Volksliederchor Harmonie, Regina — Mary Kondzielewski
Thank you to Stewart Wilkinson for filling in as conductor on a temporary basis, while Ken Holzer is recuperating.
The choir performed at the German Club’s 60th anniversary celebration on September 12. We were one of several groups providing entertainment
after the delicious meal. A good time was had by all who were able to take part in this event.
Choir members hosted the 3rd annual Harvest Fest on September 25. Traditional fall-time food of onion cake, potato soup, apple cider and German
wines were served. Traditional seasonal songs were also served up by the choir. It is good to be able to feed both the body and the soul.
We have started to practise the songs we will be performing at our Christmas concert in early December. We hope our many “fans” will be able to join
us when we celebrate the Advent season later this year!
HELLO FROM THE GERMAN CANADIAN SOCIETY HARMONIE
German Canadian Society Harmonie, Regina — Patrick A. Kossmann
As I write this article, we are currently running our annual Oktoberfest
weekend. Before I share how that is going, let me share a bit about our
big anniversary. This year our club celebrated its 60th anniversary. Guests
enjoyed a Sauerbraten meal and then were entertained by the various subgroups. The Jagd-und Fischverein Waidmanns Lust gave a very
thorough history of the club. The German Language School and Das
Schulhaus shared how their schools are doing. The Karnevalsgesellschaft
Harmonie showed off some of their dances, and Volksliederchor “Harmonie” Inc. shared a few songs.
The Regina German Club has taken a big step this year in starting a
Schuhplattler group. Six men have stepped forward to try their hand
(and their legs) at the dance style. Das Volle Lederpaket made their debut
at the 60th anniversary to the joy of all in attendance. The group will be
performing three routines at the Oktoberfest opening ceremonies.
Our Festessen (feast) was well attended as another sellout event at the
club, Bryce’s cooking continues to be very popular. Our chef prepared a
smoked beef, schupfnudeln, honey roasted beets, and carrots. We heard
nothing but positive feedback from everyone that attended, and many
are planning to return next year. Make sure you get your tickets early! This
year, we continued to build on our Mr. and Ms. Oktoberfest contest that
we introduced two years ago. We are proud to announce that Patrick and
Mel are our winners of this year’s competition. Both Patrick and Mel have
worked and volunteered for the German Club, and we are excited for
their support over the next year. You can expect to see them around the
club, maybe even wearing their sashes and crowns.
Family Fun Day continued for our second year. It ran from 2 - 5 p.m. this
year, and though weather did dampen our outdoor events, children still
were able to take part in: German participation dances, face painting,
balloon animals, photo booth, bouncy house, pictures with the Regina
Costume League, a colouring contest and pony rides. Our ceremonial
keg tapping was attended by City Councilor Jerry Flegel, Mr. and Ms. Oktoberfest, Harry (our miniature horse) and das Volle Lederpaket. We had a
fun night of dancing, eating, drinking and visiting with old friends.
With winter approaching, we turn our focus to our annual Christkindlmarkt. Make sure you check out our website www.reginagermanclub.ca
for more details and to find out what is happening at the club.
22
1
2
3
1. The crowd of patrons attending our 60th anniversary celebration 2. Das
Volle Lederpaket Schuhplattler Verein 3. The outgoing Mr. and Ms. Oktoberfest 2014, newly crowned Mr. and Ms. Oktoberfest 2015, Club President
Kerri Van Loosen, and MC Patrick A. Kossmann
GREETINGS FROM THE NEW GROUP
KulturGarten Saskatoon — Michael Oelck
Das Saskatchewan German Council hat eine neue Mitgliedsgruppe, den
KulturGarten Saskatoon. Die Gruppe möchte nicht nur die traditionelle Kultur aus Deutschland darstellen, sondern vor allem das aktive
Deutschland von heute zeigen, die führende Technologienation in der
Mitte Europas.
The Saskatchewan German Council has a new member group, the KulturGarten Saskatoon. The group not only wants to present traditional
culture from Germany, but more so the active Germany of today, the
leading technology nation in the middle of Europe.
Naja, ein bisschen übertrieben ist das schon, denn eigentlich wurde nur
der Name geändert. Die Gruppe um Rosa Gebhardt, die auch das Folkart
Kunstgewerbe betreibt, und Brigitte Boldt-Leppin hatte unter dem Namen „Saskatoon German Days“ einige große kulturelle deutsche Events
veranstaltet. Seit 2013 hat sich die Gruppe neu formiert und organisiert
verschiedene Veranstaltungen.
At Folkfest 2015 in Saskatoon, the members of KulturGarten Saskatoon presented themselves again with a booth in the large hall of the
German Pavilion and showed the interested visitors German Folkart
(peasant art from Southern Germany) as well as numerous other products under the title “Made in Germany”. Business owners from Saskatoon
provided their German products free of charge, and many visitors at the
KulturGarten booth were astonished: “I didn’t know that these items
are also from Germany.” Haribo Gummibears, Sprengel and Ritter Sport
chocolate, foods such as Bahlsen cookies, Tchibo coffee and Dr. Oetker
pudding were not to be missed. The visitors liked our free samples very
much! Also Maggi Sauce and Löwensenf would have fit in. The success of
the booth was so good that it will certainly be repeated. The KulturGarten Saskatoon shall continue to grow and flourish.
Well, we have to admit that this is a little exaggerated, as in fact only the
name is new. The group around Rosa Gebhardt, who runs the Folkart
craft business, and Brigitte Boldt-Leppin had organized a number of big
cultural German events under the name “Saskatoon German Days”. Since
2013, the group has reinvented itself and organizes different events.
Auf dem Folkfest 2015 in Saskatoon traten die Mitglieder des KulturGarten Saskatoon wieder mit einem Stand in der großen Halle des
German Pavillon auf und präsentierten den interessierten Besuchern
deutsche Bauernmalerei aus Süddeutschland und zahlreiche Produkte
unter dem Titel „Made in Germany.“ Geschäftsleute aus Saskatoon stellten
ihre deutschen Produkte kostenlos zur Verfügung und so ging bei vielen
Besuchern am KulturGarten-Stand ein Leuchten über das Gesicht: „Ich
wußte gar nicht, dass diese Sachen auch aus Deutschland kommen.“
Haribo Gummibärchen, Sprengel und Ritter Sport Schokolade, Lebensmittel wie Bahlsen Kekse, Tchibo Kaffee und Dr. Oetker Pudding durften
nicht fehlen. Die Besucher schätzten unsere Gratiskostproben sehr! Auch
Maggi Würze und Löwensenf hätten noch gepaßt. Der Erfolg des Standes
war so groß, dass er sicher wiederholt werden wird. Der KulturGarten
Saskatoon soll weiterhin wachsen und gedeihen.
1
2
1. The KulturGarten-Team at Saskatoon Folkfest 2015 2. Michael Oelck
presenting German products
UPDATE FROM TRINITY
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Regina — Frieda Koenig
As the days become shorter and temperatures cooler, we know that winter is just around the corner. The summer was wonderful, and so is the fall with
all its majestic colouring of trees and bushes. This year has been an exceptional year of great colour beauty. I hope everyone takes time to admire and
be grateful for all the things and privileges we have.
The Bible Vacation School in July was a success again with 16 children participating. Thanks to Pastor Lindsay and Lara who wrote the program along
with Berbel and Helga helping to organize the activities. Thanks also to the many other helpers.
Our church programs are back into full swing - Sunday school has started, the choir practices every Wednesday at 7 p.m., the ladies’ sewing group
meets Tuesday mornings, and other committees meet to plan and organize upcoming activities.
The annual Fall Fowl Supper will be held on Sunday November 8 at 5 p.m. For tickets please call the church office at 306-757-7729. Tickets sell out fast
so please do not delay missing an exceptional meal. Every Sunday, services are in German at 9:30 a.m. and in English at 11 o’clock with Pastor Lindsay
Hognestad. Sunday school is at 11 o’clock as well.
I would like to conclude with words from a sermon by Warren E. Berkley titled “Locating the Real Treasure.” Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
23
HALLO FROM THE GERMAN LANGUAGE SCHOOL OF REGINA
German Language School of Regina / Deutsche Sprachschule Regina — Sandra Morin
Our annual Laternenparade took place on April
25 with a wonderful walk around Wascana Lake
while we sang songs and shared many laughs.
‘Opa’ Harald Berwald was waiting for our return
to greet us with hot chocolate and cookies.
We said ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to the summer at
the annual Sommerfest, which also took place
in Wascana Park on May 31. Everyone looked
forward to being able to sample the salads
and baking that each family brought and to
engage in pleasant conversation or participate
in the activities. However, the surprise highlight
of the event was Oskar’s bratwurst, that Werner
and Regina Furkert barbecued to perfection!
They were delicious as always, and we extend
tremendous thanks to Oskar Scheuerpflug
for his generosity. In true tradition, there
were many attempts to walk with the various
heights of stilts available, with the tie for the
longest duration being between two teachers,
Esther and Jenni.
The start of the 2015/2016 school year began
with an invitation to do a presentation at the
60th anniversary of the German Club in Regina
on September 12. Our school performed “Mein
Hut, der hat drei Ecken” complete with tricorn
hats that were sent from Germany and “Ich geh’
mit meiner Laterne” with various colours of
lanterns. We had great fun trying to remember
the hand actions while we were singing and
enjoyed having the audience sing along with
us. Thank you to the parents who drove in from
the cottage and elsewhere on a Saturday evening to allow their children to participate, and
thank you to the teachers for the preparation
and dedication to this event!
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We welcomed the new students to our school
with the gifting of Schultüten and the explanation of the tradition by the students who had
already attended our school. We have made a
slight modification to the actual tradition as we
present Schultüten to any new students to our
school, of any age.
2
Spaß durch Lernen!
1. Morgan and Luke give the ‘double thumbs
up’ at the Laternenparade 2. Singing ‘Mein Hut,
der hat drei Ecken’ at the 60th anniversary
celebration of the German Club in Regina
3. Welcoming new students with a Schultüte
filled with goodies and school supplies
3
FOLKFEST AND PICKLING AT THE COOKING CLUB!
Kochlöffel & Nudelholz: German –Canadian Koch- und Backstudio, Saskatoon — Franziska Davies
The summer months for the cooking club are used to take a break and
gather ideas for the upcoming cooking season. A big event that was new
for the club was the participation in Folkfest. We had a small table that
was filled with lots of information and our Candy-guessing game! Thank
you to Julie Yu, Karl Lehmann, Gerald Kohlberg, David Davies and Nathan
Perret for volunteering! Congratulations to Damien Panko for winning the
jar of candy and two free cooking classes! It was such a success that we’ll
definitely have another jar of candy to win next year.
The 2015-2016 season started off with a pickling class, the idea for it had
been swimming around in my head for a while. It always seems to be
that people are a little hesitant when it comes to pickling things, even
though it’s relatively simple. The recipes for the September class were for
Senfgurken and Perlzwiebeln. We had a big class again and everyone was
ready to learn about the pickling process. Each participant was able to
take home several jars of Senfgurken and Perlzwiebeln!
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For October, we’ll be having a traditional Bavarian night with Schweinshaxe, Rotkohl and Knödel.
Thank you to the German Cultural Centre for hosting us again this cooking season! If you’d like more information, please e-mail me at [email protected] or call 306-292-2117.
1. Our table at Folkfest with the jar of candy
K I N DE R - & JUGENDSEITEN
Zum Ausmalen
Witze
Eine Mutter bringt ihre Zwillinge Tim und Tom ins Bett.
Tim lacht und lacht, da fragt
die Mutter: “Warum lachst du
denn?”
Tim antwortet: “Weil du Tom
zweimal gebadet hast und mich
gar nicht!”
Source: Fotolia
Suchbild
Zwiebels Nachbarn haben
einen neuen Hund. “Dein Hund
lügt”, behauptet Max. “Stimmt
überhaupt nicht!” protestiert
der Nachbarjunge gekränkt.
“Wetten?” sagt Max. Er beugt
sich zu dem Hund hinunter,
faucht und sagt: “Wie macht die
Katze?” “Wau, wau!” antwortet
der Hund. “Siehste!” sagt Max
und schaut den Nachbarsjungen triumphierend an.
Kalle ist mit seinem Bruder
Schorsch in der Sporthalle
und wie immer der Erste beim
Duschen. Da Kalle ein ziemlich fauler Strick ist, schreibt er
einen Zettel: “Lieber Schorsch.
Nimm du bitte meine Tasche
mit nach Hause. Ich hab sie
vergessen.” Schorsch schreibt
darunter: “Nimm doch lieber du
sie mit. Ich hab den Zettel nicht
gesehen.“
Ein Mann fragt den Verkäufer
am Marktstand: „Sind das schweizerische oder ausländische
Birnen?“ Sagt der Verkäufer:
„Wollen Sie sie essen oder mit
ihnen sprechen?“
Source: Fotolia
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Finde den Weg
Source: Fotolia
Halloween-Quiz
Bald ist es wieder soweit! Halloween steht vor der Tür und für eine Nacht regieren Monster und Gespenster die Straßen. Süßigkeiten
und Kürbise gehören natürlich jedes Jahr dazu. Aber was weißt du eigentlich sonst noch so über Halloween? Check dein Wissen im
Postillion-Halloween-Quiz! Die richtigen Lösungen gibt es im nächsten Postillion.
What day do we celebrate Halloween?
a) December 31
b) October 3
c) Ocotber 31
What do German kids say when they ask for candies?
a) Süßes oder Saures!
b) Wir wollen Süßigkeiten!
c) Süßes oder Scherz!
Halloween was not invented in the USA or Canada. People from what country brought Halloween to
North America?
a) Ireland
b) Germany
c) Austria
Why did people in the past start carving pumpkins?
a) Its glowing faces were supposed to scare away evil spirits.
b) People have always loved pumpkin soup in the fall.
c) Its glowing faces were supopsed to make people laugh.
What religious holiday is celebrated the day after Halloween?
a) All Saints’ Day (Allerheiligen)
b) Christmas
c) Easter
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Please return unclaimed copies to:
Saskatchewan German Council Inc.
John V. Remai Center
510 Cynthia Street
Saskatoon, SK S7L 7K7
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Autumn 2015 - Saskatchewan German Council

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