Germany Blog

Stories, tips, and reflections about life, travel, and culture in Germany.

  • German Opera And Its Sung Languages

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    In today’s day and age where Hip-Hop and “Indie” music is part of the mainstream, I think old-timer music like Opera doesn’t get the respect it rightfully deserves.

    Yes, I’m using this blog to tout the virtues of the German Opera.

    I know you must be thinking, how “romantic” can German Opera be when the language itself sounds a bit harsh? Romantic or not, it took years for German opera writers to come out from behind the shadows of their Italian or French contemporaries.

    While Heinrich Schütz is technically the father of the German opera (back in the early 17th century), it took the likes of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and eventually Richard Wagner (Mad King Ludwig II’s favorite guy) to bring into the light.

    Many German language operas follow the tales of the Brothers Grimm (even making the story of Hansel & Gretel into a singing sensation). Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde is also a time-honored favorite.

    These two operas aren’t the only ones sung in German. It wouldn’t be fair to leave out Beethoven’s Fidelio or Franz Lehar’s Die lustige Witwe (that would be the Merry Widow in English).

    It wasn’t just German (or Austrian) composers that wrote German operas, Italians like Busoni wrote them as well.

    Operas are grandiose productions, so it’s only fitting that they’re performed in magnificent music halls like the Munich National Theater (where the Bavarian State Opera performs), the Alter Oper in Frankfurt, and the Stuttgart National Theater (home of the Stuttgart State Opera).

    I can’t think of a more appropriate venue for an over the top opera than an over the top theater. Can you?

    Yeah, I know that opera is one of those musical stylings that either you love it or hate it, there’s no in-between. But c’mon, give it a chance. Just remember, it ain’t over ’til the “pleasantly plump” lady sings. ;-)

  • German Schnapps

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    Germany’s got just about every kind of festival or market under the sun. What it doesn’t have is a festival dedicated to Schnapps. Or, I should say Schnäpse.

    We all know Germany’s famous for its world-renowned beer, and its fantastic wines. I also think that it’s about time its schnapps be held in higher esteem.

    When talking about the American version of what our friends on the other side of the pond call schnapps, for us this would be liqueurs such as the quite famous Jägermeister. Ever heard of it?

    Yeah you have, if you ever tried a Jäger Bomb (that would be Jägermeister and Red Bull).

    Today, though, I ain’t talkin’ about American schnapps or liqueurs but German Schnapps or German Liquor. So…

    For my American friends, keep this in mind: The sugary schnapps you buy in the liquor store (root beer, butterscotch, banana, lemon, etc.) aren’t true German schnapps. Nope, the real German stuff is generally made with apples, pears, plums, and cherries; and is about 80 proof (which is about 40% alcohol by volume).

    OK, and the occasional raspberry, but that makes something called Himbeergeist. It’s also meant to be drunk cold.

    Confused? Don’t be, I’ll help you navigate your way around this clear, fermented, fruit-flavored drink. I already told you the typical flavors and proper drinking temperature, didn’t I?

    Schnapps or liquor isn’t always listed as “Schnaps” on the label. You might see bottles with names like Kirschwasser (a cherry water made with morello cherries & served cold) that’s often drank either as an aperitif (before dinner) or a digestif, which would be an after dinner drink.

    Kümmel is also a fine German schnapps made with caraway, cumin, and fennel. And while technically a schnapps, Steinhäger is a German gin that’s only allowed to be made in the Westphalian town of Steinhagen.

    Even if you’re keen on drinking schnapps before or after a delicious German dinner, I still think it’s high time to create an entire schnapps or liquor festival.

    But, if I totally dropped the ball and there is one out there, can someone let me know so I can come & have a good time?

  • Methodical Germany Makes For Memorable Museums

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    In some ways it is stereotypical German behavior to be punctual and methodical. Kind of like, if you have to work late, there’s got to be something WRONG with you. Right?

    Maybe this is why we love museums so much; where everything is categorized, labeled, and methodically documented. “Sniff-sniff,” it’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?

    Germany’s got a museum for just about everything and anything under the stars. Don’t want to be stuck indoors on a fine weather afternoon? No big deal, there are outdoor museum scattered all over the country, including the Winsen Museum Farm and the Hagen Westphalian Open-Air Museum.

    Got a penchant for following military and war history? Check out the German Tank Museum, Königstein Fortress, and the Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr.

    It might seem a bit odd to come all the way to Germany go see mummies. Both the cities of Bonn and Berlin house fantastic mummy exhibits at their respective museums.

    Yeah, I’d think that the religious museums like the Lorsch Abbey and Michaelstein Abbey, and the Maulbronn Monastery seem a more likely choice to be found within the country.

    But, I did say we like museums — so never mind.

    Honestly, the land that IS modern day Germany has been around a lot longer than people, so no wonder we got all sorts of natural history museums. The State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart is fantastic, as is the Lower Saxony State Museum.

    Oh, I didn’t even add in our two volcano museums which can be found in the Eifel Region — the German Volcano Museum Mendig a.k.a. Lava-Dome in Mendig and the Eifel Volcano Museum Daun in Daun. That counts as natural history, does it not?

    And speaking of people, OF COURSE we’ve got museums dedicated to the best of the best of our homegrown sons and daughters. The Goethe House in Frankfurt am Main and the Karl Marx House in Trier are only two of the many museums that are all about famous Germans.

  • Benedict XVI — The Pontiff’s Return To Germany

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    The long standing question to which “yes” would always be answer “is the Pope Catholic”? Well, in this case I’d like to ask, “Is the Pope German”?

    The Supreme Pontiff sitting on the throne of St. Peter is in fact, German; and this is why his return to Germany September 22nd to the 25th is a very big deal.

    http://www.papst-in-deutschland.de/english/

    I know it’s a bit early to put this epic occasion in our blog event section (it is still summer, after all), but the chances of getting tickets to one of the five papal services (two in Freiburg, with one each in Erfurt, Etzelbach, and Berlin) are slim to none.

    Sorry, more than a hundred thousand requests have already been sent; and seating is limited.

    That’s too bad, but even if you can’t get yourself a ticket to the see the pope in action you can follow along the Benediktweg or Benedict Trail.

    Yeah, that’s a shameless plug for a scenic route in Germany if ever I wrote one. ;-)

    Pope Benedict XVI was born on April 16, 1927 as Joseph Ratzinger in Marktl am Inn in Upper Bavaria, but that’s not the only town on this 225 kilometer route.

    You can see the village of Hufschlag (which is part of the town of Surberg), where the young Joseph’s parents bought a farm, or many amazingly beautiful monasteries or medieval churches in towns like Altötting, Neuötting, Hohenwart (Mehring), Burghausen, and Seeon-Seebruck.

    Whew, I didn’t think I could stop mentioning Bavarian towns there for a second. ;-)

    Many of the towns along the Benedict Trail might not have much to do with Benedict the Pope, some were important when he was just a mere Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.

    Ha, a mere Cardinal; like there are a bazillion of them walking city streets across the globe.

    Whatever Pope Benedict’s name now or was, his return to Germany is momentous, as is the scenic route that bears his name.

  • WWII History And The Lodz Ghetto

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    On September 1st it’ll be 72 years since the official start of World War II. On September 4th, it’ll be 70 years to the day that the official deportations of Jews to the Lodz Ghetto in Poland started.

    That day will also mark the closing of the special exhibition of the Lodz Ghetto (also called Ghetto Litzmannstadt) at the Nazi Documentation Center in Cologne. The entire special exhibit is of photographs taken within the ghetto looking at daily life, before its residents were sent to Auschwitz in 1944.

    The building itself is a piece of history in the story of the Third Reich. The EL-DE Haus (located at Appellhofplatz 23-25) was once the HQ of the dreaded Gestapo; and the museum does have permanent exhibits on the history of Nazi Germany.

    Just about a month after the Lodz Ghetto Exhibition closes, the Dresden War Museum will open its doors (slated for October 14). There’s no glossy candy-coating the wicked, ugliness of war on these exhibits, which is exactly what the museum plans to accomplish.

    According to Der Spiegel, Dresden was the most and least logical place for the museum. It’s also where a number of Neo-Nazis gather every February to mark the city’s destruction date (it was leveled on Feb. 13, 1945 by the Allies).

    Neo-Nazi groups also gather every year at the grave of one of Nazi Germany’s most notorious leaders, Rudolf Hess. Well, they did — until recently.

    According to Der Spiegel, the town of Wunsiedel was tired of the group coming every year in August to “commemorate” the former Hitler Deputy — well they did until 2005 when the practice was banned.

    Still, the folks in the sleepy Upper Franconian town didn’t think that was enough. They cremated his remains and scattered his ashes into the sea, with Hess’ family’s permission, of course.

    Looks like it’s the dawn of a new day in Germany, doesn’t it?