GERMAN WORLD MAGAZINE

German-American Friendship Month

GW Editorial Staff — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:18:39 +0000

Mayor Bloomberg and Dr. Ruth Westheimer kick off “German-American Friendship Month”
Proclamation applauds “invaluable contributions” German immigrants made

NEW YORK – “German-American Friendship Month” has started with a bang – or, to be precise – with four bangs hammered out by “Dr. Ruth” Westheimer as she closed the trading session at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday with a giant wooden gavel. “Dr. Ruth”, legendary sex therapist and author, is a Grand Marshal in the upcoming Steuben Parade and has been a Guest of Honor at two exciting events on the first day of September.

At the New York Stock Exchange, members of the German-American Committee of Greater New York rang the Closing Bell for the third consecutive year and they did it on yet another great day with the Dow Jones gaining almost 3 % and with traders on the floor in a good mood. They erupted in applause and cheers when “Dr. Ruth” entered the Trading Floor. She took pictures with many of the traders and enjoyed her job as celebrity bell ringer immensely.

Standing on the bell podium with “Dr. Ruth” were Miss German-America, Stephanie Russell-Kraft, and the Steuben Parade Princesses, Laura Bucher and Lauren Kuehn, Steuben Parade General Chairman Lars Halter, and many members and supporters of the committee. Mr. Halter, who is also a market reporter for German TV station n-tv, gave a live broadcast directly from the bell podium after ringing the bell.
At the same time, outside the New York Stock Exchange, German entertainment put smiles on people´s faces as the “Föhrer Musik Freunde” from Franklin Square, NY, played German style brass music under the direction of conductor Thomas Hacker. Also on hand were Bavarian “Schuhplattler” dancers under the direction of Lenny Coyne. They danced in front of Wall Street´s most famous building and were even joined for a while by “Dr. Ruth” as she came out after the bell ringing ceremony.

Following the event, the Committee and guests headed up to the Biergarten at “The Standard” hotel for a reception with New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg. For a fourth consecutive year, Mr. Bloomberg proclaimed September to be “German-American Friendship Month” in the City of New York and gave a proclamation to Mr. Halter. In it, Mr. Bloomberg celebrates the “invaluable contributions German-Americans have made to daily life in New York”.

The Mayor name-checked General Friedrich von Steuben, Revolutionary War hero and namesake of the Parade, as well as President Dwight Eisenhower, “Peanuts” cartoonist Charles Schulz, Yankees legend “Babe” Ruth, and Peter Minuit, founder of the colony that later became New York – all of them German immigrants.

They Mayor also thanked German immigrants for giving Americans the beer garden, adding that, unfortunately, “that is closely followed by the beer belly”. He thanked Mr. Halter and his team on the German-American Committee for their hard work throughout the year and said: “The community greatly appreciates the job that your doing”. The Mayor is planning to personally attend the Steuben Parade on September 25, 2010 on Fifth Avenue, for which he wants to wear the Steuben Parade silk tie Mr. Halter gave him as a gift.

During his visit to the Biergarten, the Mayor met with Chef and co-host Kurt Gutenbrunner as well as Dr. Oliver Schnakenberg, the newly appointed Deputy Consul General of Germany and many members of the community. He took pictures with Miss German-America and her court, including the Junior Princesses. He enjoyed a freshly tapped German beer and a sausage.

New Yorkers now are encouraged to celebrate “German-American Friendship Month” together and enjoy the many events and festivities. Details on the schedule can be found at www.GermanParadeNYC.org/events. The highlight of the month will be the 53rd German-American Steuben Parade held on Saturday, September 25, 2010 on Fifth Avenue from 68th to 86th Street and culminating with the traditional Oktoberfest in Central Park. For more info please go to www.GermanParadeNYC.org.

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Pakistan Flood Relief

GW Editorial Staff — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:51:10 +0000

In keeping with the Council’s tradition of supporting humanitarian causes and helping the victims of disasters, our Council is planning to make a substantial contribution to Pakistan Flood Relief. This is a national disaster for Pakistan. Over 3.5 million Pakistani children are at risk from cholera and other diseases because of the slow and inadequate delivery of flood relief.
If you wish to join us in our cause, please send your check, payable to the Austrian-American Council West with the notation “Pakistan Flood Relief”, to Fred R. Reinelt, Treasurer, 2701 Forrester Drive, Los Angeles 90064, and we will add your tax deductible check amount, to the contribution we are sending to Direct Relief International.
Direct Relief International is one of only two charities which Forbes has named for perfect fund raising efficiency for five consecutive years.

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Theodor Escherich discovered e.coli

GW Editorial Staff — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 07:11:16 +0000

In 1885 German-Austrian pediatrician and university professor Theodor Escherich discovered the bacterium Escherichia coli, in short e.coli.
He was awarded the doctorate in medicine in 1881 and only four years later made his major discovery. He became professor of Pediatrics at the Karl-Franz University of Graz in 1890 and in 1902 in Vienna. IN the K. u. K. capital he also directed the St. Anna Kinderspital (St. Anna Children’s Hospital), founded the “Säuglingsschutz” (Infant Defence Society) and started a campaign for breastfeeding.
Theodor Escherich was born November 29, 1857, Ansbach, Mittelfranken; died February 15, 1911, Vienna.

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Germany increases humanitarian aid for Pakistan to 25 million euros

GW Editorial Staff — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:49:03 +0000

The Federal Government has stepped up its humanitarian aid for the flood victims in Pakistan by a further ten million to currently 25 million euros (approx. 32 million US dollars). The total contribution of the European Union and its Member States amounts to 164 million euros (approx. 210 million US dollars).

Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle today (19 August) issued the following statement:

“The scale of the floods in Pakistan is far greater than originally estimated. We must now assume up to 20 million people are affected.

That is why Federal Minister Dirk Niebel and I have decided to step up the Federal Government’s humanitarian aid for Pakistan by a further 10 million euros. With the help of our partner organizations, we will ensure this aid reaches those most at risk with all speed.

I appeal to the German people to respond generously to this disaster. Your donations can do a great deal to relieve the suffering in Pakistan.”

On 18 August Federal Minister Guido Westerwelle spoke on the telephone with his Pakistan counterpart Mahmood Qureshi, who gave him a detailed description of the situation on the ground as well as the humanitarian and medium- and long-term consequences of the floods.

In the face of this humanitarian crisis the Federal Minister expressed his profound sympathy for the people of Pakistan and promised German assistance and support. He gave an assurance that Germany would stand by Pakistan in its hour of need.

Foreign Minister Qureshi expressed his thanks for the German offer of help. Given the scale of the disaster, Pakistan urgently needed international assistance, he pointed out.

The Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development are both increasing their assistance by another 5 million euros. This brings Germany’s humanitarian aid for Pakistan from 15 million to currently 25 million euros.

As a member of the European Union and a range of international organizations Germany is also making considerable indirect contributions to the aid effort.

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Queen Luise of Prussia

GW Editorial Staff — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:55:39 +0000

The “Lady Diana” of the 19th century died 200 years ago.

by Pia Reutter

She is regarded as the “mother of the nation” and was celebrated as “the most beautiful of the beautiful”: Prussia’s Queen Luise was a legendary figure in her lifetime, quasi the “Lady Diana” of the 19th century.

Intelligent she was not, instead she was beautiful, gracious, gentle, cheerful, natural, charming and unquestioningly devoted to her overburdened and often ill-tempered spouse, Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. The people admired her for her simplicity and cordiality, regarded at the time as bourgeois virtues.
She was born in Hanover in 1776 as Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. When she was six her mother died, which is why Luise spent the rest of her childhood with her grandmother. At the end of 1793, at the age of 17, she married Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm in Berlin.
Her life spanned one of the most turbulent periods in the 18th and 19th century – from the French Revolution to the beginning of the Prussian reforms. When Prussia formed an alliance with Russia, Luise met Russian Tsar Alexander I and found him charming. The tsar was also fascinated by the queen. Researchers are certain, however, that an affair between the two, often alleged by biographers, never happened.

Queen Luise was considered to be a great support to her spouse and aided him in making decisions, but her role in the Peace Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 has been politically overestimated.
Luise asked Napoleon to show restraint with the terms of the peace treaty. But this appeal went unheard. This did not hurt Luise’s reputation. After her death following a lung infection in 1810, thousands followed her funeral procession. Her early death was seen as the death of a martyr, with which German nationalists justified their hostility to France. Prussia’s victory over French in 1870-71 was also regarded as late revenge for her death. Even the National Socialists saw her as the founder of their empire more than a 100 years later.
Berlin and the state of Brandenburg are celebrating their famous “daughter” with numerous special events through spring and summer 2010.

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Herta Müller Receives the Nobel Prize of Literature

GW Editorial Staff — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:44:46 +0000

by Nina Wachenfeld

When the native Romanian received the award in Oslo in October 2009, becoming the twelfth female Nobel laureate in Literature, tribute was paid not only to a superb author, but also to a passionate human rights activist who, in her works, describes the terrors of the Ceauscescu regime. Best known since the early 1990s, her works have been translated into more than 20 languages, and the fictional style of the award-winning author from the former German-Romanian region of Banat has often been compared to Franz Kafka. Herta Müller, whose mother disappeared for many years into Russian labor camps, and whose father was conscripted into the Waffen SS, was a member of an activist group which advocated freedom of speech and a ban on censorship. After initially being refused permission to emigrate to West Germany, she settled in West Berlin in 1987 with her husband, novelist Richard Wagner. Other women who have received the Nobel Prize in Literature are Selga Lagerlöf, Pearl S. Buck, Toni Morrison, Elfriede Jelinek, and Doris Lessing, among others.

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Zurich – A Little Bit Closer to Heaven

Petra Schuermann — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:42:17 +0000

Most of you have probably arrived at Zurich airport, much applauded for its short ways, excellent public transport connection and a fantastic shopping and restaurant scene. But when did you last stop to visit the city of Zurich?

Only recently, did I have the opportunity and I am simply thrilled by the many opportunities that this city in the heart of Europe has to offer.
The arrival in Zurich airport is easy and breezy. City center is ten minutes from the airport. Buy a 24- or 72-hour Zurich card at the main railway station, a must for tourists.

We chose the famous hotel “Schweizerhof” for our stay, conveniently located across from the main train station and next to the famous “Bahnhofstrasse” with its excellent shopping opportunities but still a quiet oasis in the midst of the town center.
Built in 1876, the hotel was last renovated in 2007 with its historic, classicistic outside façade completely restored. The daily gourmet breakfast buffet is a good way to start your day leisurely and let’s you skip lunch. A dinner at the hotel’s Swiss-French restaurant „La Soupière”, however, should not be missed.

From here it is only a quick walk of 20 minutes to Old Town, where there are numerous cafes along Limmat River.
Stop at the „Oepfelchammer” (apple chamber), a traditional pub that was much frequented by Switzerland’s famous author Gottfried Keller. For a romantic escape from the city, hop on a 90-minute river cruise with nearby snowcapped mountains.

For a some cultural highlights, slip into St. Peter’s Church with the oldest clock face in Europe and a Giacometti stained-glass window. The Baroque and Gothic Fraumünster church offers an otherworldly experience where you can admire the five large stained-glass windows by Chagall. The twelfth-century Romanesque-style Grossmünster cathedral with its twin spires is also well worth a visit. Once you catch sight of the stunning city view, you won’t regret climbing the 200 steps of the church’s north tower. Here, you simply feel a bit closer to heaven.

For more information, visit Zurich Tourism: www.zuerich.com
For flight information on SWISS International Airlines: www.SWISS.com

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Chrisoph Schlingensief is dead

GW Editorial Staff — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 21:00:29 +0000

Christoph Schlingensief, hope and enfant terrible of Germany’s theater scene died August 21st in Berlin. He battled lung cancer for over two years.

The artist directed plays, movied, operas, most renowned the annual Richard Wagner festival in Bayreuth and in Manaus, Brazil. His choices were often controversial and had a strong political message.

Oliver Golloch, Ruhrtriennale Festival spokesman said the 49-year old director died on Saturday, he did not give any further details. Christoph Schlingensief is survived by his wife Aino.

Christoph Schlingensief’s Website.

Christoph Schlingensief on Wikipedia

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Air Berlin to join oneworld alliance

GW Editorial Staff — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 23:36:29 +0000

Air Berlin is to join oneworld®, adding Europe’s fifth largest airline and

Germany’s second biggest carrier to the world’s leading quality airline alliance.
Air Berlin group member Austria’s NIKI will become an affiliate member of the alliance.
A memorandum of understanding between Air Berlin and oneworld was completed in the airline’s Berlin
home city last night, with a formal alliance membership agreement to be signed soon.
Air Berlin is expected to start flying as part of oneworld in early 2012 – just weeks before the opening of
the new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport, which is being built as a major new hub for Europe.
As a major player in the European air travel market, Air Berlin served in 2009 a total of 160 destinations in
some 40 countries, operating almost 600 daily departures. It carried 28 million passengers, generating
revenues of EUR3.2 billion (US$4.5 billion). As of July 2010, Air Berlin operates a fleet of 165 aircraft,
including Austria’s NIKI, serving 168 destinations.
When it becomes part of oneworld, its customers will gain access to an unrivalled global network. It will
add almost 75 gateways to the oneworld map, expand the alliance’s coverage to almost 900 destinations
in nearly 150 countries, served by a combined fleet of 2,500 aircraft operating some 9,500 flights a day
and carrying 340 million passengers a year.
Members of Air Berlin’s topbonus frequent flyer programme will be able to earn and redeem rewards on
any of oneworld’s 13 other top-class carriers, with top tier members able to use any of the group’s 550
plus airport lounges, and its network will be covered by oneworld’s full range of alliance fares. Frequent
flyer cardholders of oneworld’s established airlines will be able to earn and redeem rewards when flying
Air Berlin.
As a starting point in its oneworld implementation, Air Berlin will develop one-on-one co-operative
agreements with key established members of the alliance American Airlines and Finnair, to take effect
this coming winter season. (See separate news releases.) Bilateral agreements with British Airways and
Iberia are planned to follow.
British Airways will support Air Berlin through its oneworld implementation programme as its alliance
sponsor.
The addition of Air Berlin as a member elect is the latest significant step in what is turning into a
breakthrough year for oneworld as it builds further on its position as the world’s premier airline alliance,
expanding its unrivalled route network still further and enabling it to offer even more services and benefits
to customers.
All but one of the alliance’s existing carriers (with Mexicana the exception) already serve Air Berlin’s
German homeland – the most populous country and the biggest economy in the European Union. They
will also be looking to expand their own services to its key hubs Berlin and Dusseldorf as the new alliance
recruit prepares to join the group.
Air Berlin Chief Executive Joachim Hunold said: “Joining a global alliance is the logical next step in Air
Berlin’s development. We are very pleased and proud to be lining up to join what is clearly the world’s
top quality airline grouping. Becoming part of oneworld would be one of the most significant departures
so far for our airline, enabling us to offer our customers a truly global network served by partners who
include some of the best and biggest airlines in the world. We look forward to completing all joining
requirements as soon as possible.”
Willie Walsh, Chief Executive of British Airways, oneworld’s sponsor of Air Berlin, said: “Air Berlin will
make an ideal oneworld partner. It has an excellent reputation for customer service – right in line with
oneworld’s focus on quality above quantity in terms of membership. Its network is one of the best in
Central Europe, expanding the alliance’s coverage of this region markedly. British Airways is delighted to
be supporting Air Berlin’s addition to oneworld by acting as its sponsor into the alliance – and we look
forward to establishing our bilateral co-operation.”
American Airlines’ Chairman and Chief Executive, and oneworld Governing Board Chairman, Gerard
Arpey added: “oneworld already features four of Europe’s best airlines. Adding the continent’s fifth
biggest carrier will greatly enhance our coverage throughout this region. With all the other significant
steps we are taking in this breakthrough year for our alliance, this represents a great leap forward in our
journey to establish oneworld firmly as the world’s premier airline alliance with members unmatched in
brand and service quality.”
Already in oneworld’s “breakthrough year”:
· Russia’s leading domestic carrier S7 Airlines is on track to join in the coming months.
· India’s leading carrier Kingfisher Airlines became a oneworld member elect in June.
· Japan Airlines has been expanding its co-operation with its oneworld partners since reaffirming its
membership of the alliance in February, filing days later with American Airlines for anti-trust immunity for
a joint business across the Pacific and more than doubling its code-sharing with British Airways.
· American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair and Royal Jordanian this month received longawaited
final approval for their application for anti-trust immunity across the Atlantic and the proposed
transatlantic joint business between American, BA and Iberia.
· British Airways and Iberia are on track to complete their merger by the end of the year.
· LAN Airlines celebrated its 10th anniversary as a oneworld member on 1 June. Since joining, it has
added to the grouping its affiliates in Argentina, Ecuador and Peru. With Mexico and Central America’s
leading airline Mexicana joining oneworld in November 2009, this extended oneworld’s position still
further as the leading Latin American alliance.
· oneworld added the World Airline Awards’ World’s Best Alliance title to the World Travel Awards’
World’s Leading Airline Alliance trophies it has won for the past seven years, as the only winner of that
award since it was introduced in 2003.

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“Nuremberg” in New York, documentary to premiere at film festival

Andreas Fuchs — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:40:03 +0000

The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 48th New York Film Festival (FSLC, NYFF), “the essential showcase of the latest and best in American and international cinema,” will complement this years previously announced festival selections (for our German language report, click here) with a series of events and additional programs. “The Masterworks and Special Events at the New York Film Festival allow us to expand the offerings that have traditionally been part of the festival, such as retrospective screenings of older films, as well as to move into new areas of programming in preparation for the opening of the Elinor Bunin-Munroe Film Center in 2011. More than ever, there is truly something for everyone at the New York Film Festival,” said Richard Peña, Selection Committee Chair & FSLC Program Director.

Included in “this fascinating breath of programming” is the U.S. Premiere of “Nuremberg” in the Schulberg/Waletzky Restoration (Stuart Schulberg, 1948, USA; 78m) on September 28. Calling this documentary “one of the greatest courtroom dramas in history,” the festival program notes state:

“Nuremberg” shows how the international prosecutors built their case against the top Nazi war criminals using the Nazis’ own films and records. The trial established the ‘Nuremberg principles,’ the foundation for all subsequent trials for crimes against the peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Though shown in Germany as part of the Allies’ de-Nazification campaign, U.S. officials decided not to release “Nuremberg” in America for political reasons, nor was it shown in any other country. Over the years, the picture negative and sound elements were lost or destroyed. Sandra Schulberg and Josh Waletzky’s restoration uses original audio from the trial, allowing you to hear the defendants’ and prosecutors’ voices for the first time. The film ends with Justice Robert H. Jackson’s stirring words: “Let Nuremberg stand as a warning to all who plan and wage aggressive war,” words which leap the decades and make “Nuremberg” startlingly contemporary.

A panel discussion will follow the 6:15 screening on September 28, featuring the following participants: Benjamin Ferencz, chief prosecutor, Nuremberg trial of the Nazi Einsatzgruppen; first head of Claims Conference for Jewish restitution; advocate of the International Criminal Court; Aryeh Neier, human rights advocate; President, Open Society Institute; former director of ACLU and Human Rights Watch; Emilio DiPalma, one of the courtroom guards seen in the film; author of memoir Just a Kid: A Guard at the Nuremberg Trials; Sandra Schulberg, creator (with Josh Waletzky) of the restoration; daughter of the film’s writer/director Stuart Schulberg.

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