Winter 2012 - Saskatchewan German Council

POSTILLION
Der Rundbrief des Saskatchewan German Councils.
Volume 27, Issue 4
Winter
2012
1
SGC Member Organizations
American Historical Society of Germans From Russia, Regina
Austrian Canadian Edelweiss Club, Regina
Austrian Edelweiss Dance Association, Regina
Community Radio Society of Saskatoon Inc.
Concordia Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein
Concordia Brass Band
Das Schulhaus - Regina German Language School Inc.
Department of Internation Language, U of R
Estevan & District German Freundschaft Society
Folkart Co-op Humboldt
German Canadian Club Concordia, Saskatoon
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
German Russian Cultural Group, Leader
German Students’ Association - U of S
Hansel & Gretel Preschool Inc.
Imhoff Heritage Society, St. Walburg
Jagd- und Fischverein “Waidmann’s Lust”, Regina
Karnevalsgesellschaft Harmonie, Regina
Kochlöffel & Nudelholz: German-Canadian Koch- und Backstudio
Lloydminster German Heritage Society Inc.
Melville & District German Heritage Club
Mennonite Heritag Village, Swift Current
Parents Association of German Language Schools, 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, Regina
2012-2013
SGC Board of Directors
President
Ilona Beck
Rouleau
Vice President
Josephin Dick
Saskatoon
Past President
Andrew Grzesina
Regina
Treasurer
Ray Fichter
Regina
Secretary
Darrell Dick
Saskatoon
Directors
Franziska Davies, Saskatoon
Rod Gellner, Regina
Ulrike Hecker, Saskatoon
Amanda Stehwien, Saskatoon
Katharina Ulbrich, Estevan
Michael Zimmermann, Regina
Consultant
Barbara Hoggard-Lulay, Saskatoon
Staff
Sabine Doebel-Atchison, M.A., Executive Director
Andrea MacLeod, M.A., Office & Program Assistant
Hannelies Kuehnle, Immigrant Settlement Advisor Saskatchewan German Council Inc.
510 Cynthia Street
Saskatoon, SK S7L 7K7
phone: (306) 975-0845
fax: (306) 242-8007
e-mail: office@saskgermancouncil.org
webseite: www.saskgermancouncil.org
Contents
Aus dem Büro/From the Office
04
Grüße von der Präsidentin
05
Greetings from the President
06
Response to the Question from the
SGC President07
German Tradtitions during the
Christmas Season08
Rolling Calendar of Events
09
German partner Biosphere Reserve in
Saskatchewan10
History of the Germans from Russia,
part 1111
Ye olde German Christmas Tradition
12
SGC Recipe Corner:
Chicorée Salat - Chicory Salad
13
This Year’s Scissor Cuts in the Postillion14
2012 Christmas Card Contest
14
Upcoming Elections Information
15
News from SGC Member Groups
16
Austrian Canadian Edelweiss Club
16
Community Radio Station Saskatoon 16
Concordia Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein17
Das Schulhaus - Regina German
Language School Inc.
17
Estevan & District German Freundschaft Society
18
German Canadian Society Harmonie 19
German Cultural Centre
19
German Junior Folk Dancers
20
German Language School of Regina 21
German Language School Saskatoon 22
Hansel & Gretel Preschool Inc.
22
Karnevalsgesellschaft Harmonie
23
Kochlöffel & Nudelholz: GermanCanadian Koch- und Backstudio
24
Lloydminster German Heritage Society25
Prince Albert German Canadian Club
“Waldhorn”
25
Skat Club Saskatoon
26
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church 26
Volksliederchor Concordia
27
Volksliederchor Harmonie
27
SGC Library Corner28
Christmas Fariytale28
Jugendseite30
Kinderseite
inside cover
3
From the Office
Sabine Doebel-Atchison
The 2012 calendar year is coming to
an end and SGC is also already in
the 2nd half of its fiscal year. Some
projects have been finished, others
still need some time and new ones
are waiting to get started. There is
no difference between an organization and a family. Once one thing is
finished, the next one needs to be
dealt with. If it was any different,
it would get boring very fast. And
I can assure you that it never gets
boring at the Council. Convince
yourself and visit us at the office. If
you find the time to do so, plan a
cozy reading or movie evening. We
have a very comprehensive library
and you are welcome to borrow a
book or a film or maybe even two
or three.
When one, as a German immigrant,
thinks about Christmas time, the
thought of mulled wine, caramelized almonds and smoked sausage
is not far away. They make up the
special scent of a Christmas market.
On November 24 this scent could
be noticed at the Regina Christkindl
Market. I hope that we can all notice
this special Christmas scent again
in Regina and maybe also in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Estevan or
Humboldt in the coming years.
Left for me is now to wish you a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New
Year.
Scherenschnitt illustrations in this issue
are taken from the originals by
Waltraude Stehwien, courtesy of the
artist.
Repoduction without permission is
strictly prohibited.
W. Stehwien
4
Aus dem Büro
Sabine Doebel-Atchison
Das Jahr 2012 neigt sich dem Ende
zu und auch im aktuellen Haushaltsjahr befindet sich SGC bereits in
der 2. Hälfte. Einige Projekte sind
bereits abgeschlossen, andere brauchen noch etwas Zeit und neue
stehen auch bereits an. Das ist in
einer Organisation nicht anders als
in jeder Familie. Ist eine Sache abgeschlossen, dann steht auch schon
die nächste Sache an. Wäre es anders, dann käme bestimmt auch
schnell Langeweile auf. Versichern
kann ich Ihnen, dass es beim Council nie langweilig wird. Überzeugen
Sie sich doch selbst davon und statten Sie uns einen Besuch im Büro
ab. Wenn sie die Zeit dazu finden,
dann planen Sie doch auch gleich
einen gemütlichen Lese- oder Filmabend ein. Wir haben eine sehr umfangreiche Bibliothek und leihen
Ihnen gerne ein Buch oder einen
Film für einen langen Winterabend
aus und da der Winter in Saskatchewan bekanntlich etwas länger dauert, auch gerne zwei oder drei.
Wenn man als deutscher Einwanderer/deutsche Einwanderin an die
Weihnachtszeit denkt, dann kommt
einem der Weihnachtsmarkt auch
schnell in den Sinn. Glühwein, gebrannte Mandeln, Rauchwurst und
vieles mehr machen den ganz speziellen Duft eines Weihnachtsmarktes aus. Am 24. November stieg
einem dieser Duft beim Christkindl Markt in Regina in die Nase.
Ich hoffe, dass wir in den nächsten
Jahren diesen ganz speziellen Weihnachtsduft weiterhin in Regina und
vielleicht auch in Saskatoon, Prince
Albert, Estevan oder Humboldt
wahrnehmen können.
Mir bleibt nun noch Ihnen ein besinnliches Weihnachtsfest und einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr zu
wünschen.
Grüße von der Präsidentin
Ilona Beck
Mit dem bevorstehenden Weihnachtsfest kommt immer wieder
die Frage auf: Was ist eigentlich der
Unterschied zwischen dem Christkind und dem Weihnachtsmann?
Beide Figuren erscheinen in diversen Liedern wie “Morgen kommt der
Weihnachtsmann!” oder “…freue
Dich, ‘s Christkind kommt bald!”
Beide kommen am Heiligen Abend
und bescheren Jung und Alt. Auch
sind gleichermaßen so effizient und
schnell bei der Arbeit, dass sie noch
kaum einer gesehen haben mag.
Regional betrachtet, könnte man
ungefähr in der Mitte Deutschlands
die Grenze ziehen und behaupten, dass in der nördlichen Hälfte
Deutschlands eher der Weihnachtsmann verbreitet ist und im Süden,
vor allem in Bayern, Baden Württemberg, der Schweiz und Österreich das Christkind die Geschenke
an Weihnachten bringt. Regionale
Unterschiede bestehen auch basierend auf der jeweiligen Glaubensrichtung - katholisch oder protestantisch. Auch hat in neuerer Zeit
eine bekannte Getränkefirma den
Weihnachtsmann sehr propagiert
und verdrängte viele Anhänger des
Christkindes.
Das Christkind oder Christuskind
stellt Jesus, den neugeborenen
Christus in der Gestalt eines goldgelockten Engels dar. Im 16. Jahrhundert hatte Martin Luther das
Christkind als Gabenbringer in die
Welt gesetzt, da die protestantischen# Bewegung gegen die Heiligenverehrung war. Das Christkind war
somit das protestantische Pendant
zum Hl. Nikolaus, der damals als
der Gabenbringer galt. St. Nikolaus
lebte im 4. Jahrhundert als Bischof
in Myra, Kleinasien, der heutigen
Türkei. Er wurde als Schutzparton
der Seefahrer und Kinder vor allem
für seine Fürsorge und Großzügigkeit verehrt. Im Mittelalter selbst
beschenkte man Kinder und Arme
am 6. Dezember, dem Namenstag
des Hl. Nikolaus, oder auch am 28.
Dezember, dem Tag der unschuldigen Kinder. Eine Bescherung am
Heiligen Abend, so wie wir es kennen, gab es nicht. Erst durch die
Reformation mit Luther wurde die
Bescherung auf Weihnachten verlegt.
Inzwischen ist es Dezember geworden und Weihnachtsaktivitäten in
den Mitgliedsgruppen sind in vollem Gange. In Regina verbreitete
der zweite Christkindlmarkt feine
Weihnachtsdüfte und erste Weihnachtsstimmung. Die Gewinner des
Weihnachtskartenwettbewerbs der
Sprachschulen werden noch vor
Weihnachten mit einem Geldpreis
des Councils beschert, sowie die
Gewinnerin des Wettbewerb “Was
ist so typisch Deutsch an mir?” mit
einem einen iPad Mini belohnt. Das
Council selbst freut sich über eine
Erhöhung des AGF’s um jeweils
3% für die nächsten drei Jahre. Das
bedeutet, dass die Unterstützung der
Mitgliedsgruppen durch das Council für die kommenden Jahre erneut
gesichert ist. Wir bedanken uns bei
Sask Culture and Sask Lotteries!
Ob nun Christkind oder Weihnachtsmann der Grundgedanke
bleibt beiden gleich: Gutes tun
und Geschenke geben, sowie an
die Menschen denken, denen es
schlechter geht als uns. Darum geht
es in der Weihnachtszeit. War nicht
ursprünglich der Weihnachtsbaum
mit Essbarem dekoriert, wovon sich
Kinder, Bedienstete und Arme holen durften?
In diesem Sinne wünsche ich Ihnen
ein frohes Weihnachsfest und ein
glückliches und gesundes Neues
Jahr!
Her Honour the Honourable Vaughn
Solomon Schofield with SGC
President Ilona Beck
5
Greetings from the President
Ilona Beck
Christmas is near. Some of you
might ask the question: What is the
difference between the Christkind,
the Weihnachtsmann and St. Nikolaus?
Both appear in Christmas songs
such as Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann and … freue Dich,
s’Christkind kommt bald. Both bring
presents to the children on Christmas Eve. Both work so quickly and
efficiently that nobody has even got
a glimpse of them.
By drawing a line from East to West,
dividing Germany in a Northern and
a Southern region, the assumption
is sometimes made that the northern country popularizes the Weihnachtsmann while in the Southern areas such as Bavaria, Baden
Württemberg, Austria and Switzerland the Christkind brings gifts to
the children. Of course this pattern
changes regionally based on Catholic or Lutheran confession. Adding
to the debate has been the influence
Winter 2012
DEADLINE:
February 22, 2012
articles
pictures
recipes
etc.
6
postillion@saskgermancouncil.org
POSTILLION
of the media: in more recent years
a popular soft drink company contributed to the popularization of
the Weihnachtsmann replacing the
Christkind in different areas.
of the best Christmas Cards in each
age category. As well, the winner
of the SGC Youth contest “What’s
so German about me?” will receive
a well-earned iPad mini for their
achievement. Last but not least the
Christkind or Christ the Child por- Council received notification for an
trays the newborn Jesus who very increase in Annual Global Funding
often is represented as a young an- for each of the coming three years.
gel with golden curly hair. It was This means support for the member
Luther who introduced the Christ- groups is financially secured thanks
kind in the 16th century. Worship- to Sask Culture and Sask Lotteries.
ping saints was not tolerated within
the reformation movement. The May it be Christkind or the WeihChristkind therefore was the Lu- nachtsmann, both follow the same
theran equivalent for St. Nikolaus underlying principle: give from
who was considered the bearer of your heart and think of those who
gifts for centuries.
are in need. This is what Christmas
is all about. Isn’t the traditional
St. Nikolaus lived as a bishop in Christmas tree a testimony of that?
Myra, Asia (which we know as Tur- Christmas trees were decorated with
key today). He was the patron and edible goods such as cookies, apples
protector of the seamen and the and nuts so children, servants and
children; he was worshipped early the poor could pick a treat. Nobody
on for his generosity and support for was forgotten.
the poor. In the Middle Age every
year on St. Nikolaus Day (the 6th of Have a wonderful Christmas and a
December) children and the poorer happy and healthy New Year!
people received gifts in honor of
St. Nikolaus. Presents on Christmas
Eve were unknown in those days. It
was Luther who shifted the gift giving ceremony towards Christmas.
Meanwhile here in Saskatchewan
Christmas celebrations are in full
swing. Member groups have started their festivities. In Regina the
Christkindl Markt was again a very
successful event. The market created
a warm Christmas atmosphere filled
with Christmas cheer and Christmas
spirit within the community. The
annual SGC Christmas card contest
was held in a number of language
schools. The Council will present a
money prize to each of the winners
SGC President Ilona Beck at the
Regina Christmas Market.
Response to the Question from the SGC President: What is German
culture for you? In Postillion, Volume 27, Issue 3, Autumn 2012
James Hoffman
I would characterize my German
cultural awareness as being fairly
shallow. I expect this to be the case
because I only know German culture from what I have experienced
through my English Canadian eyes.
I have never been to Germany. I
have no known German-speaking
relatives outside of Canada. My impressions of German culture have
been formulated from a mix of what
I’ve read, what I’ve observed, who
I’ve spoken to, and the foods I’ve
tasted. I learned about German culture. I didn’t grow up within a German cultural milieu.
Like many Saskatchewan people,
I have a German cultural tradition in my family roots. However,
I suggest that I, like many other
Saskatchewan people of German
language descent, have gradually
over time lost most of the German
cultural context necessary to maintain a sense of German identity.
There are many obvious reasons for
this situation. Time is a huge factor that can diminish the links to
one’s roots. Successive generations
raised in a different cultural setting
adopt the new culture at the expense
of leaving the old traditions behind.
Also, a strong desire to conform to
the new society’s cultural norms has
also probably been a big factor suppressing those distinctive German
cultural traits that would tend to
make one stand out from the crowd.
For me, I do what I can to foster
awareness about my German roots
with my family. I am supported in
this effort by a vibrant, caring German community in my city. I am
glad there is a German Club to visit
from time to time to learn about German cultural traditions and to inter-
act with people genuinely interested
in sharing positive impressions of
German culture with others. I am
also happy there are opportunities
to learn the German language and to
listen to traditional German songs
being sung by a German choir.
These things together have helped
me to foster my German roots (as
limited as they may be) and have
enabled me to expose my children
to German culture here at home. In
these regards, I believe that the Saskatchewan German Council is on
the right track, helping those of us
with an interest in German culture
to enrich our lives and to be proud
of our heritage.
German Cultural Tradition Books, Pins & Lanyards
Each book is filled with information on the specific holiday & tradition, including pictures, songs, and recipes. All books are written in German and
English, and you get 450 pages of reading material. They make a perfect gift
for any occasion or to teach your children and/or grandchildren about their
heritage.
Single books cost $10 or buy all four for $35.
The set is already in its second edition and sells fast.
Don’t miss this opportunity.
Show your love for both cultures by displaying a pin with either the Austrian,
German, and Swiss flag together with the Canadian flag.
You never know where your keys are? Hook them to this useful lanyard printed with the German-Canadian flag. You will find your keys so much easier.
Pins are $2.50 and lanyards are $3.50.
Shipping and handling start at $3.00, depending on location and weight.
7
German Traditions during the Christmas Season
Sigrid Kirmse
The Christmas season begins with
the First Advent, which is always
four Sundays before the 24 of December. On the day before, housewives dig out their boxes with
decorations they use for the time
until the week of Christmas. Since
I come from the Erzgebirge in the
east of Germany, our tradition is a
special one. To be honest, each region might have its own. If you
come to my place you will find the
miner in his old outfit and the angel; the Advent Leuchter (candle
holder with four candles); or the
Advent Wreath, the Kurrende (five
star singers) in long black coats who
pose in front of some houses and
the church of Seiffen, the city in the
Erzgebirge where all those beautiful decorations are handmade from
wood.
8
Angel choirs, the Pyramid and the
Schwippbogen (light bow) are also
found in most houses. Then there
are many different kinds of incense
burners and nutcrackers, and of
course candles. This is the most traditional time of the year and the traditions are passed on from generation to generation. The whole house
smells of all the goods that go with
this season.
December 4th is Barbara Day. Saint
Barbara is the patron for the children and miners. It is also the day
when branches from trees are cut
and placed in vases with warm water. The branches should bloom by
Christmas.
On the evening of December 5 children put their well-polished boots
outside their bedroom door, where
St. Nikolaus fills them with sweets
during the night, since the 6th is St.
Nikolaus Day. But only the good
girls and boys will be lucky enough
to see the holy man in person. To
some he comes with a whip if their
parents had lots of complaints about
the nasty child.
The Christmas Market has also become a tradition in most cities of
Germany. One of the oldest is the
one in Nürnberg. Those markets
have a distinctive flavour about
them. Mulled wine (Glühwein),
roasted almonds, Wurst on a bun
and lots of sweets beckon the visitors to buy. You will also find toys,
wooden ornaments such as angels
and various other items there.
The following weeks are filled with
singing, baking cookies and the delicious Christmas Stollen, which
should be made about six weeks before Christmas and used to be cut on
Christmas Eve. Mother was sowing
and knitting for the children and
their dolls; father fixed broken toys,
repaired the doll’s house and the
Kaufmannsladen, a miniature grocery store. Those things were done
when the children were already in
bed.
Then came Christmas Eve the Holy
Evening: the man of the house
locked himself in the living room.
It took my father hours to decorate
the tree. The first item would be
the top of the tree, then the holders for the candles. Followed by all
the tiny ornaments, most of them
wooden figurines, not to forget the
glass ornaments and finally the real
good tinsels. In some areas people
hang apples and nuts on the tree.
Under the tree dad put straw or
moss in which he bedded the Holy
family with all the animals. All the
presents were laid out. On that evening we ate the plainest meal one
can think of: warm potato salad and
wieners. In the evening we went to
the Christmette at church. When the
candles were lit on the tree my dad
rang a bell and us children, singing
Ihr Kinderlein kommet could see,
for the first time, all the glory of the
decorated tree.
The twelve Holy Nights start on
December 25 and last until January
5. During that time some old customs are still observed. They differ
from area to area; one should not
wash clothing or eat certain food.
At midnight on New Year’s Eve all
the church bells in the whole country are ringing and people light fire
crackers. The Christmas season
ends on January 6, when Epiphany
starts. The trees are stripped of their
decorations, normal life begins
again.
Rolling Calendar of Events
December
31:
New Year’s Eve Supper at the
German Cultural Center, call
244-6869 to make a reservation
Mon.: The Classical Connection on CFCR
90.5 fm from 3 to 4 p.m. with
Sigrid Kirmse
Tues: Kaiser is played between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., come out and join us.
Wed: Student Stammtisch at Amigos,
starting at 7 p.m.
Fri.:
Classical Panorama on CFCR 90.5
FM from 1-2 p.m. with Sigrid Kirmse
Sun.: Treffpunkt Deutschland on CFCR
90.5 FM from 1 to 3 p.m.
Sunday Brunch at the German Culrual Centre
in Saskatoon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and German Buffet from 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Wed.: Skat at the German Cultural Centre in
Saskatoon at 7 p.m.
February
Student Stammtisch at Amigos,
starting at 7 p.m.
16:
Fri.:
Classical Connection on CFCR 90.5
FM from 1-2 p.m. with Sigrid Kirmse
Mon.: The Classical Connection on CFCR
90.5 fm from 3 to 4 p.m. with
Sigrid Kirmse
Sun.: Treffpunkt Deutschland on CFCR
90.5 FM from 1 to 3 p.m.
Sunday Brunch, German Culrual
Centre/Saskatoon, 1 a.m.-2 p.m.
German Supper Buffet 5:30-9 p.m.
January
29:
Open House at the Hansel & Gretel Preschool, Brevoort Park School
31: Fasching Celebration at St. James
Church with Kochlöffel & Nudelholz
and the German Language School
Saskatoon
Mon.: The Classical Connection on CFCR
90.5 fm from 3 to 4 p.m. with
Sigrid Kirmse
Tues: Kaiser is played between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., come out and join us.
Wed.: Skat at the German Cultural Centre in
Saskatoon at 7 p.m.
Rock and Roll Dance at the German
Cultural Center
Tues: Kaiser is played between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., come out and join us.
Wed.: Skat at the German Cultural Centre in
Saskatoon at 7 p.m.
Student Stammtisch at Amigos,
starting at 7 p.m.
Fri.:
Classical Panorama on CFCR 90.5 fm
from 1 to 2 p.m. with Sigrid Kirmse
Chef’s Special at the German Cultural
Centre from 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Sun.: Treffpunkt Deutschland on CFCR
90.5 fm from 1 to 3 p.m.
Sunday Brunch at the German Culrual
Centre in Saskatoon from 11 a.m. to
2 p.m. and German Buffet from 5:30
to 9 p.m.
Please refer to the SGC Events Calendar at
www.saskgermancouncil.org for more
events.
9
German partner Biosphere Reserve in Saskatchewan
Susanne Abe
Saskatchewan is home to a “model
region of international standing”:
the Redberry Lake Biosphere Reserve. Located just 90 km northwest of Saskatoon, Redberry Lake
is one of 16 Canadian and almost
600 Biosphere Reserves worldwide.
Designated by UNESCO Biosphere
Reserves form a world network
where each site delivers and implements programs that contribute to
the conservation of ecosystems,
biodiversity and countryside; to the
sustainable development of local
culture, society, and economy and
to build capacity within the area
10
through scientific research, learning, and public education. This
work is accomplished by networking with various organizations and
community groups, as well as educational and scientific institutes.
Inspired by the common goal to
establish “quality economies” in
sustainable tourism, agriculture,
and conservation – supported by
research and monitoring – the three
Canadian Biosphere Reserves
Redberry Lake, Charlevoix (Quebec) and Georgian Bay (Ontario)
as well as the German Rhoen Biosphere Reserve decided to work
closer together on this goal.
After some visits an agreement
was signed between the four sites
and the first joint project was born:
A trilingual brochure “Partners in
the World Network” that introduces each of the four Biosphere
Reserves, promotes tourism and
serves as an example of an active
partnership.
This active partnership and connection made it also possible for
the German couple Susanne and
Thomas Abe to travel through
Canada for one year in 2011/12
while volunteering in Biosphere
Reserves. They arrived in Redberry Lake, planned to stay for two
weeks and ended up staying for
more than one year now, becoming
Biosphere Reserve staff and working on their permanent visas.
This year in September two delegates of the German Rhoen Biosphere Reserve visited Saskatchewan for five days. One highlight
was the unveiling of the brochure
by the four partners at the University of Saskatchewan and at the Redberry Lake Research and Education
Center. All partners were pleased to
also welcome Barbara Hoggard-Lulay, Honorary Consul of the Federal
Republic of Germany in Saskatchewan, and Sabine Doebel-Atchison,
Executive Director of the Saskatchewan German Council to demonstrate another good example of a
Canadian-German partnership.
The four Biosphere Reserves are already planning future joint projects
such as student exchanges and internships and are hoping to further
establish this national and international network.
The brochure “Partners in the World
Network” can be downloaded at
www.redberrylake.ca, copies can be
ordered at:
Redberry Lake Biosphere Reserve,
Box 221, Hafford S0J 1A0,
306-549-9311,
communications@redberrylake.ca
History of the Germans from Russia, part 11
Alvin Knoll
In the last issue I touched on the
farming practices of the Black Sea
Colonies. In this issue I will touch
on the Mennonite colonies and how
they affected the average life of the
colonists in all of Russia. You may
recall the Mennonites had fled Prussia in the year 1786 to escape persecution under the tyrannical rule
of Fredrick William II. Many of
these Mennonite settlers had been
landowners and were familiar with
farming and took with them to Russia their own property including
livestock and implements. This was
to be very beneficial as this gave
them a very good start in the otherwise barren Steppes. In 1812 in
the Mennonite village of Ohrloff,
a young 23 year old farmer by the
name of Johann Cornies, realized
that he could make a much better
living by leasing crown land and
raising sheep in a very large way.
He was very ambitious and within
a matter of years had become quite
wealthy. In 1817 the Russian Government recognized Johann Cornies
and made him Plenipotentiary of all
the Mennonites in Russia. His concern and interest in agriculture had
made him a very important man in
all of the Black Sea Colonies. He
became known as an expert in his
field and was the confidant of governors and ministers of the crown.
In 1830 Johann was appointed president of the newly formed Agricultural Society. Under his guidance
the Mennonites delved into animal
husbandry and took their own East
Frisian cattle and crossed them
with the local cattle. The end result
was a great success. A new variety
of cattle had been born. Not only
were these cows adaptable to the
harsh weather on the Steppes, but
milk production increased and with
that so did cheese and butter, which
could now be sold on the market.
This new type of cattle was called
the German Red Cow.
The horses that they had brought
from West Prussia also suffered under the harsh steppe conditions and
changes were needed. Horses were
purchased from the Don Cossacks
and crossed with their own horses.
The end result was a combination of
farm and carriage horses. This new
breed of horse was strongly built,
of medium height and usually black
or roan in colour. Later, a stronger
workhorse was developed by importing and crossing the breed with
Belgian and Dutch sires. Perhaps
one of the most notable of Johann’s
achievements was with agriculture.
Under his guidance farmers started
the practice of summer fallow, fall
planting, rotation of crops and the
introduction of both fruit and shade
trees. These new methods of farming showed promising results and
increased yields. In 1850 wheat
had become king of all the exported
grains and the hard red winter wheat
grown along the Black Sea and the
Sea of Azov became a prized commodity on the London (England)
market. In later years when immigration started for the America’s,
this red winter wheat went along as
a seed grain and would become famous in the state of Kansas and on
the Canadian prairies. It is reported
that by 1914 the Mennonites owned
three million acres of land in their
Russian colonies and they numbered over 100,000 in population.
The largest recorded single property
consisted of 50,000 acres. Today
here in Saskatchewan the farms are
now approaching 10,000 acres and
larger with modern farming equipment; it is difficult to imagine how
farming would have been back then!
But as always in Russia, a troubled
time was approaching. Early in the
20th century, hardships fell upon
all Germans in Russia, including
the Mennonites. The Revolution
of 1917 followed by the Civil War,
then the nationalization of all land
and the famine of 1921 -1922 were
enough for many Mennonites. A
total of 25,000 left Russia for Canada where they made their homes
in Manitoba. During the war years
1939 -1945 the Mennonite settlements that remained in Russia came
to a tragic end with the Communist
Party of Russia relocating the balance of Mennonites to Asiatic Russia in slave labour camps, in mines
and in collectives. So ended a brilliant part of Russia’s history.
11
Ye olde German Christmas Tradition
Steffani Schaefer
When my good friend Kathleen
called to tell me that she found a very
old German Christmas tradition in a
gift catalog I was intrigued, to say
the least. I paid her a visit and over
coffee we looked at the item that
was for sale. It was a “glass pickle”
that looks like a shiny Gewürzgurke
and it is used as a Christmas tree
ornament. The description was as
follows: The glass pickle is the last
ornament to be hung onto the tree
and whoever finds it first on Christmas day will have good fortune in
the following year.
I had to admit that I had never heard
of this glass pickle before, but that
doesn’t mean it is not German. I
had to inquire about this old tradition and asked a lot of my friends
and family, but no one knew of this
“old German tradition”. I called my
sister-in-law in Dresden and told
her of my little dilemma, she, too,
had no knowledge of it. We had a
good laugh and she said: “This is
great, now I have something to tell
my friends about an “old Canadian
Christmas Tradition”.
Maybe there is someone out there
who can clear things up, in the
meantime I’ll send at least 8 shiny,
little glass pickles to Germany with
the rest of my Christmas presents.
This way this “old German Tradition” finds its way home again. I’m
really curious about their reactions.
It makes you wonder how some traditions start and how quickly they
are being called “ye olde”.
What is so German about Me? Contest Winner
Andrea MacLeod
Kirsty Sigmeth is this years winner of the SGC Contest “What is
so German about me?” The council
received various submissions and a
committee chose the winner. Mrs.
Sigmeth submitted a wonderful collage of her various experiences in
Germany during a summer school
and an exchange year at a university. The winning prize was an iPad
Mini, which was presented to Mrs.
Sigmeth by the SGC President Ilona
Beck.
We would like to thank everyone for
their participation and submissions.
Watch out for SGC’s Youth Contest
next year.
Above: Kristy Sigmenth’s submission
Right: Ilona Beck and Kristy Sigmeth
12
SGC Recipe Corner
Winter brings cold days and even
colder nights here in Saskatchewan.
Produce is sparse and making a
salad is certainly something most
people would not think of. Howev-
er, even during winter time you can
serve a salad before a meal. Try this
one for your next lunch or supper.
If you would like to submit a recipe for the Postillion or SGC web-
Chicorée Salat - Chicory Salad
Hannelies Kuehnle
Zutaten für 2 Portionen:
Ingredients for 2 persons:
1 großer Chicorée
1 kleiner Apfel
1 EL Zitronensaft
1 EL Öl
3 EL Joghurt
2 EL Zucker
Nach Geschmack: Hasel-oder Walnüsse
1 big chicory
1 small apple
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. oil
3 tbsp. yoghurt
2 tbsp. sugar
Optional: hazel-or walnuts
Den Chicorée schneide man in feine
Streifen.
Für die Joghurtsoße vermischt man
Joghurt, Zitronensaft, Öl und Zucker miteinander. Eventuell muss nach
dem Abschmecken mehr Zucker
zugefügt werden.
Den Apfel schneidet man mit der
Schale in kleine Stückchen, die man
sofort unter die Joghurtsoße mischt, damit die Apfelstückchen nicht
braun werden.
Zum Schluss gibt man den vorbereiteten Chicorée dazu und vermischt
alles gut miteinander. Je nach Geschmack können einige Nüsse über
den Salat gestreut werden.
Vor dem Servieren sollte man den
Salat kühl stellen.
Cut the chicory into fine strips.
For the yoghurt-dressing mix yoghurt, lemon juice, oil and sugar
well. Maybe you have to add a little
bit more sugar.
Cut the apple (with peel) into little
pieces and give them immediately
to the yoghurt dressing. That prevents the apple pieces from becoming brown.
Finally add the chicory strips and
mix the salad well. Optional you
can add some hazel-or walnuts.
Place the salad in a cool place before serving.
site, please send an email with the
recipe and picture (if possible) to
office@saskgermancouncil.org.
Advertise in the Postillion
full page (18.8 x 24.8 cm)
$130
1/2 page horiz. (18.8 x 12.4 cm)
$ 90
1 column (6- 24.8 cm)
$ 70
1/2 column (6 x 12.4 cm)
$ 40
1/4 column (6 x 6.2 cm)
$ 20
SGC member receive a 15%
discount.
postillion@saskgermancouncil.org
(306) 975-0845
Office of the Honorary
Consul of Germany for
Saskatchewan
Barbara Hoggard-Lulay
823 Brookhurst Bay
Saskatoon, SK S7V 1G1
Phone: (306) 979-4911
Fax: (306) 979-4912
E-mail: hksask@shaw.ca
Office hours:
Tuesdays & Thursdays
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
13
This Year’s Scissor Cuts in the Postillion
Andrea MacLeod
The Postillion has one very recognizable feature - the scissor cut on
the front page. Each edition is provided with a new and different one,
which is designed and cut by Waltraude Stehwien. She graciously has
been providing those scissor cut for
the Saskatchewan German Council
Inc. since spring 2005.
Each year the Council and Mrs. Stehwien discuss the topic for the year
and this year it was all about trades.
You might want to go back and look
at those old Postillions again, they
are truly a work of art.
The spring edition started with the
bakers trade and showed a bakery
with its bowls, oven, baker’s table
and other items that are needed. You
see the baker in the middle and his
three assistants, who help him mix
and prepare the baked goods. Look
at the picture and see if you can spot
the flour bags, bottles and cans full
of various flavours as well as the
brushes.
For the summer edition Waltraude
Stehwien cut a piece depicting the
tailoring trade with a studio and
people at work. You will see the tailors working on cutting and sowing
as well as fitting a dress. How many
pieces of clothes can you spot? Did
you see the details on the sowing
machine?
Later this year, in the fall edition, we
were presented with a cut showing
the cooking trade. There you have
the kitchen, bustling with people.
The cook is at his stove, preparing
a delicious meal, his helper are preparing, mixing and cutting whatever
he needs. See if you can count all
those various bottles that contain
spices, oils and dressings.
Finally, this edition lets us peek
into the workshop of a toy maker.
Wooden toys can be seen all over
his shop but also useful items like
bowls. The toymaker is busy at the
woodworking lathe and his two assistants are painting the toys. Can
you spot all the different toys that
have been cut?
Each scissor cut is carefully researched and prepared by Mrs.
Stehwien. Sometimes it takes several weeks to determine how the
cut should be laid out since it is
2D and not 3D like regular pictures
and paintings. All four cuts have received careful consideration by the
artist to make sure they are authentic.
The Saskatchewan German Council wishes to extent its gratitude
and thanks to Waltraude Stehwien
for her continues work. It is a great
pleasure and honour to see her work
on our Postillion.
2012 Christmas Card Contest
Andrea MacLeod
This year the SGC hosted another
round of the Annual Christmas
Card Contest. The German Language School Saskatoon Inc. and
Das Schulhaus - Regina German
Language School Inc. took part and
submitted cards.
Monetary prices were given to:
Retaj Ramanda
Yanis Eberhart
Sabine Chateigner
Mia Zagoricnik
Eleonore Schmidt
Katelyn Rybchuk
Here are the winning cards. We
would like you to choose one, which
will be printed for the 2013 Christmas Season.
14
To the
left:
To the
left:
Picture 1
Picture 4
Picture 2
Picture 5
Picture 3
Picture 6
Upcoming Elections for the SGC Annual General Meeting
Sabine Doebel-Atchison
Every year the Saskatchewan German Council is looking for new
individuals to join the Board of
Directors. Working on the SGC
Board gives you the opportunity to
have a direct impact on shaping the
provinces’ German-speaking community. To find out more about responsibilities and obligations of a
Director’s position, please contact
the SGC office or the Nominations
Committee. The following two indi- all geographic areas of the province.
viduals are members of the Nomi- Below you will find the Nomination
nations Committee:
Form to nominate a candidate for
the Board of Directors. You can also
- Andrew Grzesina
find the form on the SGC website
(thegrzesinas@sasktel.net)
(www.saskgermancouncil.org) or
- Ulrike Hecker
contact the office to receive a copy.
(ulrike.hecker@gmx.net)
Thank you for considering to join
the SGC Board of Directors.
The Council encourages nominations for the Board of Directors from
Board of Directors
2013 nomination Form
Name of Nominator:
⃝ SGC Member Group:_________________________________________________
⃝ SGC Individual Member
Address:
City:
Province:
Postal Code:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Name of Nominee:
Address:
City:
Phone:
Province:
Fax:
Postal Code:
E-mail:
The nominee is a member of the following organizations associated with SGC:
__________________
Attach a one page summery which:
-
Details of nominee’s involvement in cultural activities/organizations at the local, regional, provincial and national
levels.
Nominee’s contributions and achievements to cultural development that benefit Saskatchewan people of Germanspeaking backgrounds.
How can the nominee’s experience, skills and background contribute to SGC’s mandate and mission?
Nominee’s personal background including current occupation, where you live, family, educational attainment.
Available positions (please select):
⃝ Vice President (candidate must have previously served as SGC Director)
⃝ Secretary (candidate must have previously served as SGC Director)
⃝ Director (three two-year positions are available)
Please return form and additional information to the SGC office by May 24, 2013.
15
News from SGC Member Groups
Austrian Canadian Edelweiss Club
Greetings from the Regina Austrian Canadian Edelweiss Club
Janet Jost
come to this social gathering. It is a
wonderful opportunity to visit with
Santa and spread Christmas cheer
amongst friends and family.
On March 9 the Austrian Edelweiss Dancers will once again host
a Spring Fling cabaret. Tickets for
this cabaret are available from any
dance member, at the club or by
contacting Nikki at 531-2097. The
theme for this cabaret is dress in
your favourite decade. Whether you
are wearing a flapper dress, a poodle skirt, hippie garb or disco gear
the live band will have you moving
and grooving on the dance floor. We
look forward to seeing you at this
annual dancers fundraising cabaret.
A wonderful evening of Austrian
cuisine and entertainment was held
at our club on October 19. The hall
was filled to capacity as a traditional
Schnitzel meal was served followed
by an outstanding performance by
the Austrian dancers. The Austrian
Club and Dance Group would like
to thank all the volunteers, the Saskatchewan German Council and all
of our sponsors that made this sold
out fundraising event such a success.
The Schnitzel Night will become an
annual event at the Austrian Club in
Regina as it was a wonderful opportunity to immerse in our culture and
share it with those who attended. If
you missed out on this Austrian experience, we hope you can join us
next October.
Fröhliche Weihnachten und Gutes
Neues Jahr vom Österreichischen
Edelweiß Klub von Regina
Upcoming events at the Austrian
Club include our family Christmas
Party which was held December 9
from 2-4 pm. All members are wel-
Community Radio Station Saskatoon
From the Community Radio
Sigird Kirmse
The more than one hundred hosts
who bring alternative music to our
community worked hard to collect
the donations at this year’s FM-Phasis 2012. We almost made it! The
goal was $70,000. The contribution
from the Saskatchewan German
Council must have inspired the listeners of the German program Treffpunkt Deutschland. Thanks to all.
16
Shortly after the fundraising the Radio station held its annual Art Auction. Station Manager Neil Bergen
was very pleased with the outcome.
“The money is badly needed,” he
said; “our equipment has to be replaced, you can do only so many
repairs and that’s it”.
Shortly before Christmas, Sigrid
Kirmse, host and founder of the
German program, has her 35th anniversary bringing German music
and news from the community to
her listeners. An open door party to
celebrate this event will be held in
January 2013. The exact date will
be posted on the website. I am looking forward to see many of the listeners.
The German program Treffpunkt
Deutschland is aired every Sunday
from 1-3 p.m. live on 90.5 FM. or
online at www.cfcr.ca. During the
Advent and Christmas Season I will
broadcast many of the old and well
known songs.
Requests have to be made one week
in advance.
I wish all a very peaceful and happy
Christmas.
Concordia Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein
News from the Schuhplattler
Amanda Marien
The senior dancers are now enjoying a, well-deserved, break from
practicing and performing German
dance. With the hustle and bustle
of the Christmas season, we find it
difficult to get everyone out to practices and so we take a break following Oktoberfest to return in January.
Unfortunately, we had to postpone
our Christmas party until the New
Year, as we could not find a date
that worked for most! Come January, we will have a sledding night
followed by drinks and appetizers at
Glenda and Emile Bussiere’s home.
It should be a great time, provided
the weather is nice! Emile usually
pushes the furniture out of the way
to make room for dancing later in
the evening!
We recently wrapped up our Sobeys
gift card fundraiser, which was very
successful. We would like to thank
those of you, who purchased gift
cards from the dancers, for your
support. We hope to do it again in
the spring, right before barbeque
season, and look forward to your
support! All money earned from
fundraising is used to purchase costume pieces, props and to pay for
travel expenses incurred when performing out of town.
A few weeks ago, our dance group
was contacted by Persephone theatre, as they were looking for
matching dirndls that could be used
in their production of ‘The Sound of
Music’. Our costume coordinator,
Joan Rudolph, was happy to oblige
and Persephone Theatre sent us two
tickets to the show and a $100.00
honorarium in thanks. The Concordia Club and the Concordia Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein were also
mentioned in the program. One of
our former dancers, Lisa Baldwin,
was part of the show’s singing ensemble and also one of the actors
wearing our dirndls; I thought this
seemed very fitting!
Upon our return to dance in January,
we hope to work on the ‘Illertaler’,
taught to us by the Calgary group.
We have also been asked to swap
dances with a German dance group
in Brisbane, Australia, where one of
our dancers is studying for the year.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from the
Concordia Alpenrose Schuhplattler
Verein! If you interested in joining
us in 2013 or would like to book
a performance, feel free to contact
me.
Amanda Marien
249-0108
amarien@sasktel.net
Das Schulhaus - Regina German Language School Inc.
…rote, grüne, gelbe, blaue, lieber Martin komm’ und schaue!
Sabine Zagoricnik-Wecker/Linda Froh
On the 8th of November on a cold
snowless night, our yearly St. Martin’s lantern procession took place.
The children proudly paraded their
self made lanterns through Wascana
Park taking great care of their lit
candles. They were greeted with a
warm fire, warm Martinspunch, the
first Lebkuchen of the season and
home made gingerbread men. The
children were so enthusiastic that
they didn’t want to go home! We
are looking forward to next year’s
parade already!
No sooner are the lights of St. Martin’s blown out when the school be-
gins its preparation for Christmas
time. Christmas themed pictures
were coloured and painted in all
of our classes as we partook in the
SGC’s Christmas card contest. Advent wreaths were prepared for our
school fundraiser with the help of
our high school class as well as sev17
eral parents, then displayed and sold
at the Christkindlmarkt.
Last but not least, St. Nikolaus was
around the corner and the students
practiced a small play and songs.
The children are becoming introduced to the multitude of German
culture and its traditions that come
with Christmas. In the midst of all
of this, we continue to honour the
importance of learning German, and
we are filled with the joy of the season; parents, teachers, children and
board members alike.
FROHE WEIHNACHTEN to you
all from Das Schulhaus!
Registration is now open for the
adult classes winter semester and
language proficiency exam DSD
1!
Contact:
dasSchulhaus@gmail.com
Estevan & District German Freundschaft Society
Das Neuste aus Estevan
Katharina Ulbrich
Pancakes were on the menu and wish
lists were delivered to Santa during
the 3rd Annual Christmas Kick-off
and Breakfast with Santa which
took place at the Estevan Shoppers
Mall on December 1, 2012. After
advertising in newspapers, schools
and even on the radio the participation was overwhelming.
Along with the Chamber of Commerce, the local Humane Society,
Pro-Life Association, Santa with
one of his reindeer and many other
local organizations, the Estevan &
District German Freundschaft Society participated in that great event
full of excitement and activities for
the 3rd time.
Tables were set up right in the centre of the mall to display traditional
German Christmas decorations.
Visitor’s questions were answered
by members of the German Club
about certain things like Christmas
baking recepies or how a Christmas
Pyramid works.
Members of the club prepared and
18
handed out 160 St. Nicholas goody
bags to kids which included oranges, walnuts chocolates and candy to
follow a German tradition. A flyer
with the St. Nikolas story and some
information about the Estevan German Club and German Language
Classes hosted by the club was also
included in the bags. Special thanks
to the Saskatchewan German Council, Sask Culture & Saskatchewan
Lotteries for providing funds to promote German heritage and culture.
The German Club choir performed
by singing Christmas carols in German language. Thanks to Irene, a
long time friend of the club, who
played the piano for us. Many people stopped by to listen to the performance.
Students of the newly formed German Language class joined seasoned
members of the German Club in
preparations and the performance. It
was, once again, a successful event
and everybody is looking forward to
participating next year.
Prior to Christmas the German Club
choir sang Christmas Carols several
times at nursing homes, a trip to Regina was made to listen to the choir
concert of the Volksliederchor Harmonie and we gathered for a Christmas Party with Stollen and lots of
visiting followed by a dinner. The
club is now looking forward to a
successful year 2013.
Frohe Weihnachten und ein Gesundes Neues Jahr to everybody.
German Canadian Society Harmonie
Oktoberfest and Christkindl Markt
Kerri Van Loosen
The German Club’s annual Oktoberfest was a huge success! A BIG
thank you to our Oktoberfest committee and all of the volunteers
who worked steadily throughout
the night. Congratulations to this
year’s Team Challenge winners,
Das Boot. They did an amazing job
and conquered all three challenges;
Stein Hoist, Bavarian Hat dance and
the Pretzel Toss. We all danced the
night away to music performed by
The Diamond Trio and the Cornerstone Band. Between eating great
food and drinking thirst quenching
German Bier our guests were shouting out Zicke Zacke and Ein Prosit!
Next year can only promise greater
things.
The huge amount of snow in Regina
made the 2nd annual Christkindl
Markt on Saturday, November 24
at the German Club all the more
festive. Despite the cold and snow,
large numbers of guests came to enjoy Bratwurst while huddled around
the bonfire in the courtyard. They
sipped Glühwein and munched on
Lebkuchen while the Volksliederchor Harmonie entertained with
traditional Christmas songs. Many
stopped for Kaffee and Stollen in
the Kaffeestube or enjoyed some
Gulaschsuppe. Shoppers were able
to purchase Christmas items from a
variety of vendors – German cookies, advent wreaths, calendars, knitwear, wooden toys, tree ornaments,
smokers, pyramids, jewelry and
jams. The children were busy making crafts and baking cookies. There
was something for everyone and it
was great that our guests lingered
to enjoy the twinkle of hundreds of
Christmas lights decorating the vendor stalls. How enjoyable to visit
with friends and neighbors but best
of all, to take time out of the hectic of everyday life and prepare for
Christkindl!
Our committee of Ilona Beck, Maria Hartman, Svetlana Voronin, Sabine Zagoricnik-Wecker and Berbel
Knoll appreciated all the volunteers
who helped at Christkindl Markt
this year. We already have great
ideas for the 3rd annual in 2013.
Next up was the Annual Weihnachtsfest on Dec. 8th. The evening
consisted of a delicious, festive
meal and a variety of Christmas music, readings and recitations.
Check our website:
www.reginagermanclub.ca or
follow us on Facebook:
Regina German Club
and Twitter: Regina German CLB
Fröhliche Weihnachten und Gutes
Neues Jahr!
German Cultural Centre
News from the German Cultural Centre
Sigrid Kirmse
Winter came early this year, right
after Oktoberfest, which was very
successful. Unfortunately, the German Brass Band had to cancel in the
last minute, but the Senior Dance
Group made up for it. Decorations
in the Centre are almost done. For
all the Christmas parties and this
festive season the rooms have been
decorated. Each room features a
tree fashioned with tiny lights and
glass ornaments. It looks lovely,
and I urge all visitors to see the
two front rooms and look around.
The lounge and dining room are
open Tuesday to Saturday from
11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., on Sundays for lunch and dinner. Special
bookings for events like weddings,
parties etc. should be done well in
advance.
19
Winterfest has been booked now
for December the 16th. Manager
Jon offered a lot of interesting features for the afternoon. Sleigh rides,
games for children, indoors and out,
Wiener’s on a bun and hot chocolate, cookie decorating, all free of
charge, only free-will donations.
Even Santa Claus was be there. All
were invited.
We will not have an official New
Year’s Eve party but a special dinner in the evening. Reservations are
requested. On February 16th a Rock
and Roll Dance has been planned
to chase away the winter blues.
A Medieval Feast in March will
come back by request of our guests
and friends. This is always fun and
much enjoyed by all.
From all of us to you Frohe Weihnacht und ein gesundes Neujahr.
A small group is playing Kaiser every Tuesday from 1-3 p.m. in one of
the rooms. Newcomers are always
welcome. We play only for fun, no
money involved. Some of us arrive
early to have lunch or a large plate
of our cook’s delicious soup. This is
not only for ladies!
The GCC has a website which is updated constantly:
www.saskatoongermancultural.ca
phone: 244-6860.
German Junior Folk Dancers
Busy Time for the Dancers
Barbara Stehwien
The pre-Christmas season is always an exciting time for our dance
group. There is the annual Festival
of Trees performance and our own
Christmas event, the mini Weihnachtsmarkt. This year, we have
extended our little Lebkuchen sale
and are present at a small kiosk at
Market Mall in Saskatoon.
We have set up an extensive toy
display and imported an ample supply of Lebkuchen and other German Christmas ‘necessities’. Our
dancer families, as well as the new
Kochlöffel & Nudelholz group have
been busy baking for the always
popular home baked items as well.
Performances are, of course, also
part of all events.
A rather entertaining part of this
extended fundraiser is the permanent toy display set-up. The large
5-showcase counter provides lots
of room and the scenes start with a
Christmas workshop. This includes
20
the Weihnachtsbäckerei up in the
clouds with busy angels baking, and
even practicing their choir singing.
Then comes the dark forest with
many trees, animals, and of course,
Santa guiding his 8 reindeer through
the snowy night on a big sleigh, full
of presents.
Lebkuchen Kiosk at Market Mall.
Winter fun for the Playmobil.
Playmobil Christmas Market.
The next, larger case, shows a typical German town square with a
Christmas market, complete with a
carousel, buskers, toys for sale and
Glühwein consumers. The last case
shows the large Victorian family
home and some outdoor winter fun.
Little improvements have happened
along the way, including the exciting event of the first ‘snowfall’, December 1st.
As the Lebkuchen and home baking
is being sold, talking about the German Christmas traditions is a great
educational sideline. A favorite topic is the smoking man, or Räucher-
man tradition. Also, the pyramids
and candle arches makes for great
discussions. If time permits, it may
be worth doing a similar trivia type
of set-up as we have for our summer candy sales. It’s always a bit of
a surprise to find how few people
know the origin of some commonly
treasured traditions. The origins and For more information, please check
import of the Christmas tree is cer- our website
tainly one of them.
www.GermanJuniorFolkDancers.ca
or send an email to
These pre-Christmas activities defi- barbara@germanjuniorfolkdancers.
nitely fit perfectly with our group’s ca
motto of ‘Having fun with German
traditions’!
German Language School of Regina
News from the School
Sandra Morin
The past month has been a whirlwind of activity at the German Language School of Regina! Besides
the normal business of learning
the curriculum aspect of the German language, students took part in
some cultural activities which gave
them the opportunity to learn some
new vocabulary as well as practice
their oral skills.
On October 27, we celebrated a
newer tradition celebrated in German speaking countries, which was
adopted from North America. This
tradition, of course, is the celebration of Halloween and the children
quickly learned that if they wanted
the doors of the adult classes to open
so they could receive some treats,
they needed to yell Süßes oder Saueres very loudly!
The instructors of the school attended a mandatory Professional Development Workshop hosted by the
Multilingual Association of Regina
on November 3, regarding curriculum development. This workshop
is very timely given that our school
is undertaking a full curriculum review. We are excited about the resources that the review will provide
for the future!
An event which came to fruition at
the German Canadian Society Harmonie last year took place again
on November 24. The school participated in the Christkindlmarkt
this year with a booth selling Weihnachtsware along with approximately 11 other booths selling an
amazing variety of German wares.
Many students visited the Christkindlmarkt and purchased items for
themselves or as Christmas gifts.
Our booth sold Weihnachtspyra-
Judith Kocks, Regina Furkert, Irina
Wagner and Melissa Berwald at the
Christkindlmarkt booth.
The children of Esther Flaman’s class
excited that St. Nikolaus left goodies
in their boots!
miden and Räuchermännchen from
the Erzgebirge as well as Nussknacker, placecard holders with German
descriptions, puzzles, German children’s books and beautiful tree-top
angels. Thank you to all of the volunteers and organizers,we had a tremendous amount of fun!
On December 1 we celebrated the
tradition of St. Nikolaustag, which
actually takes place on December
6. The students placed their boots
outside their classroom door and
anxiously awaited the arrival of St.
Nikolaus to put some goodies in
their boots. One student received
some coal in his boot because he
is often tardy to class! We enjoyed
a short program of songs, poetry
and skits presented by the students,
which they are practicing for the annual Weihnachtsfeier!
Süßes oder Saueres!!!
21
German Language School Saskatoon Inc.
An Update from the School
Gabi Harrison
Fall at the German Language School
was quite busy for us! We started
a new Adult Beginner Class this
year which brought us up to having 4 adult classes which run from
September to May: Adult Beginners, Adult Intermediate I, Adult Intermediate II and Adult Advanced.
There are 50 students enrolled who
are either starting to learn German
or who already know some of the
language and are here to improve
their knowledge, polish their grammar and conversational skills or
who simply enjoy learning German
in a relaxed and fun environment
with people who think likewise.
Also, our 8-week Travel Coursewas well visited and gave students
a good set of language tools to com-
municate about chosen topics in
German.
Our children’s classes offer German for kids from 5 years and up.
We work in 3 different age levels
so children can study in groups of
similar age and therefore similar interest, maturity and comfort zones.
Once in high school, students are
able to join our Credit Classes German 10, 20 & 30 to receive credits
for their course. At the moment, we
have 35 children enrolled in our
school.
German Language Diploma
DSD I
For anyone who is interested in
studying in Germany, we are offering a course and exam for the
DSD I which is a certificate proving the linguistic qualification that
is required for entry to a college in
Germany to study.
The course will start in early
January 2013.
For more information please contact:
German Language School Saskatoon
Tel. 382-8158
www.germanschoolsaskatoon.ca
germanschoolsaskatoon@sasktel.
net
Hansel & Gretel Preschool Inc.
Updates from Hansel & Gretel Preschool
Ulrike Hecker
A couple of busy months are behind
us and all our children have settled
in wonderfully. Both of our preschool classes are full and all of our
students enjoy going to a bilingual
preschool, where they learn about
the German culture and language in
22
addition to our English curriculum.
The class structure remains diverse
and we have children from various
countries and different neighborhoods throughout the city. We were
happy to open another spot for a
German family who just moved here
from Germany. Going to a GermanEnglish bilingual preschool helps
our little newcomers with a smooth
transition into their Neue Heimat.
Our “newcomers” arrived just in
time for our annual St. Martin’s
Fest, that we celebrated with our
students and families. It was exciting for our Canadian children to see
the handmade lanterns that our German children had made and brought
from Germany.
The parents enjoyed watching our
little St. Martin’s play and joined
us for the Laternenumzug (lantern
parade) through the school and
brought light into the dark hallways
of our school. We also taught the
parents how to sing the St. Martin’s
song: Ich geh mit meiner Laterne.
We welcome our new board members for the school year 2012/13 and
celebrated Nikolaus and took part in
the Brevoort Park Christmas Concert. Like every year Hansel & Gre-
tel Preschool will have the opening
part of the concert and sing Kling
Glöckchen Klingelingeling.
Hansel & Gretel Preschool will hold
an OPEN HOUSE on January 28th,
2012 from 6.30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
REGISTRATION for the School
Year 2012/13 will start that day.
Since classes fill up quickly, we recommend to register early!!
If you are interested to get more
information, please go on our website: hanselandgretelpreschool.ca or
call Uli Hecker @ 651-0436.
On behalf of our board and our staff
members we wish everybody Frohe
Weihnachten and a Gesundes Neues
Jahr!
Karnevalsgesellschaft Harmonie
Greeting from the Karnevalsgesellschaft Harmonie
Angelica Barth
This fall season began with the Karneval group volunteering and performing at Oktoberfest. This German Club event was a hit, bringing
wall-to-wall crowds. On Nov. 18th
alongside our Christmas Stories
themed float at the Santa Claus parade Karneval group members had
fun playing the role of Nut Crackers. Unseasonably warm weather
brought out shoulder-to-shoulder
crowds.
The Karneval group prepared
Christmas goodies and crafts for
sale at the German Club organized
Christkindl Markt. Held November
24th this event attracted capacity
crowds under twinkling lights gracing the various booths boasting tasty
treats and hand-made crafts. Mulled
wine too kept everyone contently
visiting throughout.
Carefully created cultural sweets
laid out for a mosaic of Reginabased cultural groups were enjoyed
by all at Government House. Our
Karneval group is pictured with Her
Honour the Honourable Vaughn
Solomon Schofield as we attended
the Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan’s Celebration of Volunteers. Our honoured dance instructors Sheila and Cheryl Aldous were
nominated for the Betty Szucheycz
Award. Winning this award will
wait another year.
Karneval 2012 began with three
shots ringing into the air by our
President Erika Dumont at precisely
7:11 p.m. Friday, November 9 just
as planned. Not planned were wicked winds that brought on winter and
23
15cm of snow in one fell swoop!
The timing of this winter weather
sadly kept away many guests. However, indoors after receiving their
crowns from the outgoing Princess Dyan I and Prince Kyle I, our
newly crowned Princess Lia I and
Prince Jason I warmed the evening
reminiscing wonderful memories
in their Karneval skit. They will be
sure to delight once during Mardi
Gras, January 25-27, 2013 in Edmonton, Alberta under sparkling
of disco balls. Disco is the theme.
In the meantime Karneval wishes
everyone a Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year.
Whether being rocked by Rocapulco at Karneval or winter storms, we
kept warm under glistening lights
and good company as this year
fades into the twilight. We look forward to next year’s celebrations and
dancing until our shoes wear out.
Members of the Karnival group with
Her Honour the Honourable Vaughn
Solomon Schofield.
Heart of Harmonie Dancers with
their new outfits.
Members of the Karnival group during the Sanata Parade in Regina.
Kochlöffel & Nudelholz: German-Canadian Koch- und Backstudio
Events at our new Location
Hannelies Kuehnle
We already had three events at our
new location (Refinery on Dufferin
Ave.). Each event had its own special charm corresponding to the
time of the year.
In October, participants were able
to make a pumpkin soup and a delicious crispy apple tarts. With enthusiasm one group of participants
chopped the necessary ingredients
for the soup. The other group experienced how to prepare yeast dough
and how to model small tarts which
they topped with fine chopped apples.
In November, we offered an event
especially for students. We showed
how easy and cheap it is to make
your own different kinds of pizza
and German pancakes. The students
enjoyed making their own pancake
and creating their own pizza toppings. They asked lots of questions
24
to apply what they learned back
home. I heard from one lady that
she made pizza many times since
then and that family members enjoy
it.
The high point of all Kochlöffel &
Nudelholz events of the calendar
year 2012 was obviously the Christmas Family Event at the beginning
of December. We offered three different workshops.
Children we offered to prepare and
to decorate typical German Christmas cookies, which there took home
later. One group of adults learned
how to make a delicious Christmas
Stollen and how to vary the ingredients to make different kinds of
Stollen. The third group prepared
Advent wreaths. Participants who
never did that before were fascinated how nice their first self-made
Advent wreath looked like. The af-
ternoon was closed by inviting all
participants to a coffee break with
Stollen and other delicious Christmas goodies. All participants were
proud of taking home something
self-made for the Advent season.
The team of the Kochlöffel &
Nudelholz is already looking for-
ward to its next events and would
be happy to welcome you at one of
them:
End of January 2013:
Faschings-Event together with German Language School Saskatoon
Beginning of March 2013:
Easter Family Event
If you would like to get more information or if you have questions,
please get in contact with Hannelies
Kuehnle at
(306) 933-0554 or
nudelholz@hotmail.ca
Lloydminster German Heritage Society Inc.
Oktoberfest with the Lloydminster Club
Rosemary Schlekewy
The Lloydminster German Heritage
Society celebrated its 21st annual
Oktoberfest on October 26 with over
400 people in attendance. The Emeralds, from Edmonton, provided
the dance music and the Bavarian
Schuhplattlers, from Edmonton as
well, showed us their alpine dancing skills. For some of their dances,
they included members of the party
group.
Once again, everyone enjoyed the
soft pretzels and the authentic German cuisine at midnight cooked up
by Rob Hofer. This included Spätzle, Sauerkraut and great homemade
sausage made by Leo Oestreicher.
A German Food Basket was the
door prize. The winner of an authentic cuckoo clock from our raffle
tickets was Jeff Duczek.
Thank you so much to all the members of the German Club who spent
their time and talent to make this
function the great success that it
was!
Prince Albert German-Canadian Club “Waldhorn”
News from the Club
Laurie Fabrick
Since our last report we have been
involved in Tapestrama, the annual
Cultural Showcase put on by the
Prince Albert Multicultural Council. It was a two-day event this
year, and our purpose was to show
everyone our pride in our German
culture. We invited the German Junior Folk Dancers from Saskatoon
to perform, served food including
German pastries, and had posters
displayed. It was two days of hard
work and fun!
On December 2 we held our Christmas party. It was very well attended this year; even Santa showed
up again! He had presents for the
younger children and bags of goodies for all of them! We were entertained by the musical Trudel family,
and they were fabulous, as always.
We had a wonderful turkey dinner,
silent auction, raffle of a ham donated by Willi Baessler, and sang
Christmas carols in German and
English. And we surprised our Pres25
ident, Les Lautner, with a life membership award in our Club. Les has
been president for many years, and
always steps up when no one else
volunteers for the job!
We appreciate all your hard work,
Les; the Club might fall apart with-
out you!
Prince Albert wishes everyone a
very Merry Christmas and Happy
New Year! Fröhliche Weihnachten
und ein Frohes Neues Jahr!
Right: Les Lautner receives a Life Membership Award.
Skat Club Saskatoon
Skat Club Saskatoon News
Hans-Jürgen Steinmetz
Our group of Skat players is growing steady, thanks to the effort we
undertook to recruit new players.
This involves of course a lot of
practicing with the “New Ones”.
Because of this effort we recruited
3 new players last year: Diane, Barry and Bill. For this year’s practice
sessions we meet with a new group
of players every Tuesday at 7pm in
the German Culture Center since the
beginning of September 2012. We
welcome these new players, Mar-
sha, Al, Enrico, Keith, Kersten and
Kim, to our Skat club. We also like
to welcome Rudi Lapell who joined
our group after he moved to Saskatoon.
The Skat club had the annual Christmas Skat on December 15 at 10
a.m. and our AGM followed by this
year’s trophy and prize presentation
and a round of Skat on December
19 at 7 p.m.
Overall we had a very good year
of playing our favorite game with
the highlight of hosting the North
American Championship 2012 in
Saskatoon, with visitors coming
from all over North America. The
attendance every Wednesday for
our weekly Skat session is very
good throughout this past year.
Our Skat Club is wishing everyone
a Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year. The first session of Skat
in 2013 will be played on Wednesday, January 5.
Gut Blatt!
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church
News from the Church
Friday Koenig
Advent, Advent ein Lichtlein brennt,
erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei,
dann vier, dann steht das Christkind
vor der Tür.
How fast we have arrived at this
wonderful but hectic time of year.
This includes the many activities at
the church. The church is decorated
with the Advent wreath and candles,
the Christmas flowers and then the
beautiful Christmas tree. The Sunday School group have been practicing their program which they
presented on Sunday, December 16
at the 11 o’clock service. That same
day, December 16, the Luther College High school Choir and Handbells performed their Christmas
26
concert at Trinity at 2:30 and 7:30
p.m. Everyone was welcome, a
free-will offering was be gratefully
appreciated. The Luther College
Gym/Auditorium is presently under
construction and we are happy that
they are using our church for this
very special concert.
On Monday, December 24 we invite
everyone to come to our Candlelight service at 7:30 p.m. Make this
a very special evening by bringing
your children, your parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts to a very
festive evening of carols accompanied by our grand organ, singing
by our choir along with brass instrumental music, and participate in
Holy Communion if you so desire.
On Christmas Day our services are
9.30 a.m. German and 11 a.m. English Service. There will be no New
Year’s Day service. Regular activities resume in the new year – the
Quilting group meets every Tuesday
at 9 a.m., choir every Wednesday at
7 p.m. and the seniors group the first
Wednesday of the month at 2 p.m.
May the Spirit of Christmas that
forever and ever endures leave its
richest blessings in the hearts of you
and yours. Frohe Weihnachten und
ein gesegnetes Neue Jahr.
Volksliederchor Concordia
News from the Volksliederchor
Margot Hasner
After a well deserved summer break
we started our fall practice on September 26. We were all ready for
our weekly choir practice, not only
ready to sing but also to visit with
friends which we hadn’t seen for
some time. We socialize over coffee
and cake after every choir practice.
The members each take turns bringing the goodies. It is always a nice
ending to a fun practice!
Our practice time has changed. The
time change was welcomed by all
members. Our practice is now held
on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. rather than at 7:30 p.m.
Choir practice for our Christmas
concert came to an end. The concert was held on December 2nd, the
first day of Advent, at 2 p.m. at the
German Cultural Centre. We had a
good crowd in attendance. Guest
performers were the German Concordia Brass Band. As always we
served coffee and cake after the
concert.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Advent season, a blessed Christmas
and health & happiness in 2013.
Frohe Weihnacht to the helpful staff
at the German Council and a big
Thank You for the financial support.
Tannen, Lametta und
Lichter, Bratapfel und
Frohe Gesichter.
Freude am Schenken,
Das Herz wird weit.
Wir wünschen:
Eine frohliche
Weihnachtszeite?
Volksliederchor Harmonie
A busy December
Darla McKellar
On December 2, our Weihnachtskonzert was performed in front of
a capacity crowd at the beautifully
decorated German Club. Thank you
for spending the afternoon and celebrating Christmas with us. Thank
you for braving the icy roads and
traveling – sometimes very long distances – to see us. We appreciate it
more than you might know. Singing
in front of an audience such as the
one we sang for that Sunday is the
reason we work so hard throughout
the year.
Our Weihnachtskonzert would not
have been possible without the hard
work of many. Sincerest thanks must
go to: our director, Ken Holzer; our
accompanist, Bernadette Kutarna;
the three lovely musicians who accompanied some of our selections,
Arthur Jack, Ben Polasek, and Maureen Voss; Len and Sabrina Volman
for sitting at the front door and sell-
The audience.
The men performing Weihnacht.
ing raffle tickets; Betty Seidenthal
for putting together the lovely baskets that were raffled off; Annette
Volman for decorating the club;
everyone who provided baking; the
countless members who helped set
up and take down; and anyone else I
might have mistakenly missed.
On Tuesday, December 4 our choir
had the opportunity to perform two
selections at the Rotary Carol Festival at Knox-Metropolitan United
Church. Those members in attendance had a great time not only
singing for the audience, but also
listening to other Regina choirs.
We will start 2013 with the winter
semester on January 15. If you like
to join us, we rehearse at the German-Canadian Society Harmonie,
1727 St. John Street, every Tuesday
from 7 to 9 p.m. Our Spring Concert will take place on Sunday, May
5 at 2:30 p.m. We also look forward
27
to hosting Prärie Sängerfest which
will take place May 18 to 20.
Sängerfest is a biennial gathering
of German choirs from across the
prairies. It provides an opportunity
to recognize and honour long time
singers at a banquet as well as an opportunity for great fellowship. The
event highlight is the public concert
which features selections from each
choir and several pieces by a mass
choir of about 300 singers. We are
all anticipating a great weekend of
fun, fellowship and song!
If you like to help with Sängerfest,
please contact us.
Part of the Volksliederchor
Harmonie
SGC Library Corner
Keinohrhasen & ÄON
Andrea MacLeod
The Saskatchewan German Council
has over 2000 books in its library.
Here in the Library Corner we present a selection. If you would like to
know if we have a specific book,
please call or write the office.
Keinohrhasen by Til Schweiger
and is senteced to 300 hours of social servies ... in a kindergarden.
Teacher Anna doesn’t like the new
guy because she knows him from
before. However, their dislike for
each other changes to friendship,
and eventually love.
ÄON, a novel from Andreas
Reporter Ludo is constantly looking Brandhorst
for stars and those who want to be
stars - together with photographer Journalist Sebastian Vogler is sent
Moritz. One day he takes it too far to the south-italien Calabria to find
out about supposed miracle healings of a boy called Raffaele. Vogeler thinks it to be humbug and
superstition. However, after meeting Rafaele he notices inexplicable
changes in his thinking and feeling.
At the same time mysterious suicides and terror acts are happening
throught European countries. Are
both things connected? Vogeler investigates and uncovers a secret that
could bring the world down. A ruthless race with time starts.
Christmas Fairytale
During this year’s Winter Semester the University of Saskatchewan
offered the course German 314,
which was taught by Prof. Dr. Silke
Falkner and Josphin Dick. The focus
of this course was vocabulary, verbs
and grammar, which was taught
with the help of Grimm’s fairytales
as well as German literature such
as Goethe, Haine and Kästner. Fairytale elements were analysed and
outlined. The students had to write
several essays for the the class, the
last being a fairytale.
The fairytale, which is published
here, was provided by Michelle
Thompson. As this was a German
language class the fairytale is in
German. We would like to thank
Mrs. Thompson for her submission.
Zwei Töchter und ein Graf
Michelle Thompson
Es waren einmal ein König und
eine Königin, die lebten in Frieden auf einem Berg. Auf der Spitze
des Bergs gegenüber wohnten ihre
28
besten Freunden, der Herzog und
die Herzogin des nächsten Königreichs. Eines Tages brachte die
Herzogin einen schönen Knaben
zur Welt und fing sofort an, eine
schöne, zukünftige Braut für ihn
zu suchen. Nicht mal zwei Wochen
später fanden der König und die
Köngin heraus, dass sie auch bald
ein Kind bekommen würden. Sie
schickten gleich ihren Boten zum
Nachbarkönigreich, um die wichtige Nachricht ihren Freunden mitzuteilen. Der Bote las die Schriftrolle dem Herzog und der Herzogin
vor:
Liebe Nachbarn,
wir teilen Ihnen wunderschöne
Neuigkeiten mit. Wir werden in
einigen Monaten auch ein Kind
bekommen! Wir schwören, dass,
wenn das Kind ein Mädchen wird,
wird es ihren Sohn heiraten, so dass
unsere Königreiche für immer verbunden sind.
Der Herzog und die Herzogin waren
begeistert, hörten ihre Suche auf, und
warteten auf die Geburt des Säuglings. Eine Weile später erfuhr die
Königin eine große Überraschung.
Statt eines Mädchens kamen Zwillingstöchter zur Welt. Von Anfang
an liebte die Mutter das erste Kind
viel mehr, weil sie glaubte, dass das,
was zuerst kommt, am besten ist.
Die Mutter hatte ihre Tochter ihren
besten Freunden versprochen und
sie dachte bei sich: „Das erste Mädchen soll den Sohn heiraten!” Als
die Zwillingsschwestern aufwuchsen, wurde es klar, dass eine von
ihnen schön, nett und fleißig war
und die andere hässlich, gemein und
faul. Die, die immer bei ihrer lieben
Mutter blieb, war die hässliche und
dumme Tochter, aber die Mutter
hatte sie trotzdem viel lieber, weil
sie die Erste war.
Als nun die Zeit kam, dass die Königin eine Nachricht von dem nächsten Königreich bekam, freute sie
sich sehr und rief nach der hässlichen Tochter, damit sie zusammen
die Nachtricht lesen konnten. Die
Mutter war sich sicher, es wäre die
Zeit, in der der Herzog und die Her-
zogin um eine von ihren Töchtern
bitten würden. Sie erschrak, als sie
den Brief vorlas:
Lieber König und liebe Königin,
vor achtzehn Jahren versprachen
sie uns Ihr Kind. Jetzt ist die Zeit
gekommen, in der wir zusammen
kommen sollen und eine Hochzeit
halten. Weil Sie Zwillingstöchter
bekommen haben, kündigen wir
einen Wettbewerb an! Dadurch
werden wir die beste Braut für unseren Sohn, den Grafen, finden. In
genau sieben Tagen müssen beide
Töchter weg von Ihnen bis zu unserem Schloss laufen. Die erste das
Schloss zu erreichende Tochter wird
unseren Sohn heiraten. Wir warten
auf Ihre Tochter!
Liebe Grüße,
Ihre Freunde, der Herzog und die
Herzogin des nächsten Königreichs
Die Mutter konnte nicht klar denken. Ihre Lieblingstochter war viel
zu faul und viel zu dumm, um das
Schloss selbst zu finden. Sie musste
einen Plan aushecken, so dass die
erste Tochter zuerst ankommen
würde. Die ganze Nacht wälzte
die Königin sich schlaflos im Bett
herum, aber am Morgen stand ihr
Plan fest. Sie befahl ihren Dienern
sofort, einen direkten Fußpfad von
ihrem Schloss bis zum anderen zu
verlegen. Es würde sieben lange
Tage dauern, aber sie hatten genau
eine Woche Zeit. Der Fußpfad war
lang, aber sicher. Die Diener bauten
ihn um den Wald herum. Am Ende
der Woche mussten beide Töchter
loslaufen. Die Mutter war noch
nicht ganz fertig mit ihrem Plan. Vor
dem Anfang des Fußpfads baute sie
ein Schild, das in zwei entgegengesetzte Richtungen zeigte. Das „GEFAHR” Schild zeigte direkt zum
Fußpfad und das „SICHER” Schild
zu einem finsteren, dunklen Wald.
Die dumme Tochter lief fort, ohne
daran zu denken, sich die Schilder anzugucken. Die Mutter aber
fragte die kluge, schöne Tochter:
„Solltest du nicht auf die Schilder
achten?” Die schöne Tochter hörte
immer ihrer Mutter zu und vertraute ihr, deshalb lief sie direkt in
den Wald hinein. Die schöne, kluge
Tochter hatte am Anfang Angst vor
dem Wald, weil er so dunkel war,
aber ein kleiner Vogel sang zu ihr:
„Geh weiter schönes Mädchen, es
ist ein freundliches Wäldchen.” Sie
dankte dem Vogel und lief weiter.
Danach sprach ein großer Baum zu
ihr: „Nimm doch diese Richtung.
Es ist eine Abkürzung.” Der Baum
zeigte zur rechten Seite mit seinem
Ast. Sie dankte dem Baum herzlich
und ging weiter. Das Mädchen war
fleißig, aber sie wurde müde. Sie
wollte rasten, aber es wurde immer
kälter. Sie saß auf dem Waldboden
und ein kleines Mäuschen flüsterte
ihr zu: „Steh auf und lauf, und weine nicht. Siehst du das Licht? Du
bist fast dort, also lauf fort!” Das
Mädchen hatte wieder Hoffnung,
dankte der Maus und lief weiter. Sie
kam plötzlich aus dem Wald und
stand direkt vor dem Schloss. Da
wartete der Graf! Er hielt sofort eine
Hochzeit, die in aller Pracht gefeiert
wurde und sie lebten vergnügt bis
an ihr Ende. Und trotz des langen,
direkten Fußwegs sah niemand die
hässliche, dumme Tochter wieder.
29
Weihnachtsmann, oh Weihnachtsmann,
wie ich dich gut leiden kann.
Kommst mit Geschenken jedes Jahr
und bist immer pünktlich da.
Du machst alle Kinder froh,
darum lieben wir dich so.
Vocabulary:
Weihnachtsmann
- Santa Clause
leiden
- to like someone
Geschenke
- presents
Jahr- year
Kinder- children
lieben
- to love
WEIHNACHTEN, SCHNEE, KEKSE, STOLLEN, NIKOLAUS, KRANZ, LICHTER, STIEFEL, KERZE
Solution:
30
Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt
Erst eins, dann zwei,
Dann drei, dann vier.
Dann steht das Christkind vor der Tür.
Vocabulary:
Lichtlein Christkind
Tür
- light
- Christ child
- door
31
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Please return unclaimed copies to:
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John V. Remai Center
510 Cynthia Stree
Saskatoon, SK S7L 7K7
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