After three great years as DANK National’s webmaster, it is come time for me to make my exit.  I am proud of what I was able to create for DANK over the last several years and as a result this decision wasn’t made lightly. There are exciting things I am after and new challenges for me to take on.

When I took on the DANK National website, it was a place for people to learn about DANK as an organization.  My challenge was to make it into a place for people to connect with and grow their German heritage, which I feel was successfully accomplished.  After two complete redesigns, I am leaving DANK with a very complete and useful website that I hope can last for many years.  The website has gone from a basic site, to what I believe is one the greatest ethnic organization websites on the web.

While I depart from working on the website, I will be continuing with the German-American Journal, and I will still be very present in the German American community in exciting new ways.  I am ready to find the next beginning where I can grow and explore the evolving German American culture.

I don’t know what the future of DANK looks like, but I hope that as the new leadership settles in, they can continue to see the value in the website as it is and that they continue to grow the site to satisfy the needs of the membership and German-American community.  As with most changes in leadership, DANK will be taking new directions and I wish them the best.

The email address website@dank.org will be going to the new webmaster, so if you have been using that address to contact me directly you can now reach me at stephen@germanpulse.com.

And with that, it is time for me to step away and hand the site over to the next generation.  It has been a pleasure serving DANK and I hope to be able to connect with many of you again as I take on the next adventure.

Until we meet again…
Stephen Fuchs

German-American convention set in South Hills

By Deana Carpenter For The Almanac 

The South Hills will soon play host to German-Americans from across the country.

The German American National Congress, known in German as Deutch Amerikanischer National Kongress or DANK for short, will hold its national convention Oct. 27 through 30 at the Crowne Plaza Pittsburgh South in Bethel Park.

About 75 to 100 delegates from many different chapters of DANK will be in town for the national convention, which happens every two years, said Erik Wittmann, president of the Pittsburgh chapter of Dank. Wittmann said the Pittsburgh chapter has about 200 members, mostly from Allegheny County and many from the South Hills.

He added there are also subchapters of DANK in Uniontown and the Laurel Highlands. Wittmann said DANK also encompasses all of the Germanic cultu res like Austrian and Swiss cultures since the folks there speak German.

While the national organization has been around since 1959, the Pittsburgh chapter of DANK is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Wittmann, who was born in Austria and resides in Mt. Lebanon, has been the president of the Pittsburgh chapter of DANK for 17 years. He also serves as the national vice president for the organization. He said the idea to host the national convention was originally from the late George Steiner, who was actively involved in the organization. Wittmann said Steiner, who passed away last year, “took pride in his German heritage” and volunteered Pittsburgh to be the next host city for the national convention. Pittsburgh last hosted the DANK national convention in 1989.

Wittmann said about 80 percent of the Pittsburgh chapter’s members are not first-born Germans. He added that the chapter includes some Italian and Irish members, “because they like the activities we do.”

“Pittsburgh is not a new Germanic city,” Wittmann said, adding that the city is home to many German companies. However, Wittmann added that Pittsburgh doesn’t have the German social club scene that other cities have. That’s why, Wittman said, “We want to showcase that Pittsburgh has not lost its heritage.”

Several religious organizations will be recognized during the convention. Wittmann said it was religious organizations that helped integrate German immigrants who came to the area in the late 1800s and early 1900s.“We want to recognize those people for the work they have done on behalf of immigrants,” especially education, Wittmann said.

The convention will start Thursday, Oct. 27 when early arrivals to the event will have the chance to go to Hofbrauhaus- Pittsburgh in the South Side Works around 7 p.m. Wittmann said anyone, not just DANK members, is welcome to join the group at the res taurant that evening.

An Oktoberfest will take place at the Crowne Plaza on Oct. 28. Wittmann said the evening, which starts with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m., will feature “German bands, food and beer.” Admission to the Oktoberfest is $10, and again, all are welcome, Wittmann said. The $10 will include entertainment and German snacks with a cash bar available. Entertainment includes The Augsburg German Band and the Alpen Shuplattler Dancers of Pittsburgh. Wittmann said tickets for the Oktoberfest may be purchased at the door that evening, or on the DANK Pittsburgh website, www.germaninpittsburgh.org.

Another highlight of the convention is the semi-formal banquet that will be held Oct. 29 to commemorate the chapter’s 30th anniversary.

Wittmann said all are welcome to the evening event, but tickets at $40 each must be purchased by Oct. 20. Tickets can be purchased online at www.germaninpittsburgh.org (click the “National Convention” link). The banquet is set to start at 5:30 p.m. with dinner and dancing beginning at 6:30 p.m. Entertainment will be provided by the Pittsburgh Junior Symphony Ensemble, the Hank Haller Ensemble with performances by the Northern American Saengerbund and D’Lustigen Isartaler of Pittsburgh.

The Pennsylvania German-American Man of the Year will also be recognized at the banquet. This year’s recipient is state Auditor General Jack Wagner. Also honored at the banquet will be religious groups with Germanic ties, including St. Vincent Archabbey, the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, St. Augustine Province, St. Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh- St. Benedict Monastery, Sisters of Divine Providence and Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities-St Francis Convent of Mt. Alvernia.

The convention will close Oct. 30 with a grand brunch buffet for $15 if purchased by Oct. 20, or $18 at the door.

“I want to showcase Pittsbur gh and its Germanic heritage,” Wittmann said. “I want Pittsburgh to experience and enjoy a Germanic event.”

For information on the Pittsburgh chapter of DANK or to order tickets to any of the convention events, visit www.germaninpittsburgh. org. To learn more about the national DANK organization, visit www.dank.org.

Article reproduced with the permission of the Almanac

The black forest chalet cuckoo clocks have the lovely sound of the Swiss music boxes included in them but there are to other basic styles of the Chalet design and they are the Black Forest chalet and the Swiss chalet.  The lovely Swiss music boxes sound that is added to the Bavarian chalet cuckoo clocks are The Happy Wanderer and, of course, Edelweiss.

There is only one way to describe the chalet cuckoo clocks and that is breathtaking because of their amazing detailing and uniqueness that makes each cuckoo clock a clock of its own. These clocks are so pretty with their animated characters, their projecting cuckoo bird, and the often found water wheels that are always moving.

Of course, there are other types and designs of the cuckoo clocks besides the chalet cuckoo clocks but the chalet clocks hold much more enjoyment for those that are in search of something to include in their homes. These german cuckoo clocks are unique because of their adding life with the animation and music added to their clocks.

The Cuckoo-Palace Shop has a wide variety of original chalet clocks and they are delivering directly from the black forest in southern germany.

While many living in Erzgebirge (ore mountains in saxony) make their living carving Nutcrackers and other finely crafted wood items, there are three distinct families that have started nutcracker manufacturing companies that have garnered them fame and respect throughout the world.

The Steinbach family has been making their famous Steinbach nutcrackers for over two hundred years, starting as a cottage business like everyone else and eventually building two factories.  Their goods are highly prized by collectors and sold all over the world.  They can trace their ancestry back as far as Erwin V. Steinbach, a 13th century architect and master builder of the Dome of Strasbourg in 1284. Besides bringing pleasure to nutcracker collectors worldwide, the generations of this family have served the public as judges, politicians, architects and in the military.  The family itself is still in charge of and actively involved in their business.

Ulbricht Nutcrackers, founded by Otto Ulbricht in 1928, is also a family business to this day.  Christian, the present family patriarch, still carves sample for the artisans to use as patterns for the Ulbricht nutcrackers.  His son and daughter are in charge of the two family factories.  After World War II, the Ulbrichts were able to reclaim their property in Erzgebrige and one of their facilities is still located there in Seiffen.

But every nutcracker factory and family who makes nutcrackers owes their success in part to William Friedrich Fuechtner, who created the first German Erzgebirge nutcracker in 1865.  The Feuchtner family still produces nutcrackers and the business is managed by the sixth consecutive generation involved in the production and marketing of their creations.

Dear fans and friends of Germany,

We kindly ask your assistance for our coming film project:

This summer (2011), we will produce a TV family swap for German television. One American and one German family will swap lives for two weeks and get to know each others’ country, business and life style.

With your help, we are looking for American families…

• who have a German family background or are enthusiastic about German culture and customs and dream of traveling there together as a family one day.
• who run a restaurant, a diner or a bar in the US that makes it hard for them to travel.
• who wish to swap lives with a family from Germany for two weeks.

Background Information:

Running a family business usually means harmonious and well-oiled teamwork. Over time, things get in a routine and long-held dreams seem far away.

With our TV-Show we plan to break that routine. One American family will experience what living and working in Germany is like: they will take over a German restaurant for two weeks and experience the true Deutschland. Later, they will have a host-family from Germany taking over their business for two weeks.

How do Americans perceive Germany and its mentality? And how do Germans accomplish the American way of life? It is an amazing chance for the family to find out what Schnitzel, Bratwurst and Deutschland are really all about!

How You Can Help Us:

Do you know a family who would be enthusiastic about participating in our film project? Do you know someone else who might be helpful finding such a family?

Please forward the attached notice and application form to any family interested, or pass it on to someone who might know such a family. We would be very grateful for your assistance in this matter.

Thank you and Dankeschön from Germany!

For more information contact: Sarah Levy eMail: info@kelvinfilm.com

DOWNLOADS…

Family Swap Info Sheet and Application Form Family Swap

Here’s another Mashup…this time mixing Ausrian entertainer DJ Ötzi (you may know him from his popular cover version of the Bruce Channel song “Hey Baby”) and the Black Eyed Peas.  Check out the video below for a surprisingly good mix of “I Gotta Feeling” and “Ich will mit dir fliegen”

Click here to view the embedded video.

I came across this interesting mashup of Nena’s “99 Luftballons” and 3 Culcha Candela songs (“Somma im Kiez”. “Solarenergie”, & “Partybus”) by Mashup-Germany and they go together very well.  Have a listen…

Click here to view the embedded video.

The service is held on Sunday, December 12 at 2pm Central Time and the live stream can be watched by visiting www.trinitysheboygan.org/live/

Thanks to Bob Miske for passing this info on!

Here are the links to iTunes where you can preview or download both songs:
Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand – Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2
Sie Liebt Dich – Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2

There is also an interesting article I found that details The Beatles’ German Connection: http://german.about.com/cs/music/a/beatleger.htm