Tag Archives: German history
Did JFK Really Call Himself A Doughnut In German? Posted by Constanze on Feb 8, 2019
It happened way back in 1963, but still the question comes up: Did John F. Kennedy really call himself a doughnut during his famous speech in West Berlin? At the end of a speech in which the president showed solidarity with the citizens of West Berlin following the erection of the Berlin Wall, Kennedy said…
The origin of Stollen Posted by Larissa on Dec 25, 2018
Stollen is a traditional German Christmas cake that is still very popular to this day. In this post I will explain what exactly it is and how it came about. The first ever Stollen dates back to 1545. Nowadays, Stollen is made out of flour, butter, yeast, raisins, almonds, marzipan and spices like cinnamon and…
November 9 in German History Posted by Constanze on Nov 14, 2018
Guten Tag! November is a big month in German history, as many significant historical events happened on or around November 9th. In fact, so many things have happened throughout history on November 9th in Germany that this date is now known as der Schicksaltag – the ‘fate day’. Today I’m writing about two events from…
Witches In Germany’s Harz Mountains Posted by Constanze on Oct 29, 2018
Guten Tag! Recently I gave you the creepy story of Walpurga Hausmannin, one of Germany’s most famous witches from the 16th Century. In today’s post we’ll continue on the witch theme by talking about a place in Germany that is famous for its association with witchcraft. To get to this place you need to visit…
Germany’s Most Famous Witch Posted by Constanze on Oct 17, 2018
Guten Tag and Happy Hallowe’en! OK, so we’re a bit early, but to prepare for the most gruselig (creepy) time of year, I’ll be bringing you a few posts related to some of the spookier aspects of Germany & German history. Today I am bringing you the story of Walpurga Hausmännin – one of Germany’s…
The Phonetic Alphabet in Germany Posted by Larissa on Oct 16, 2018
Over the past few months I have been using the telephone more and more at work, which means when someone wants to spell their name or address to me they use the phonetic alphabet (also known as Funkalphabet). At first I was completely unprepared and once they started to spell something I would begin just…
The Edelweiss And Its Meaning Posted by Constanze on Aug 22, 2018
Guten Tag! Today’s post is all about Edelweiss. I have countless pieces of jewellery from Germany with the Edelweiss on it, but it was only recently that I stopped to wonder: Why, exactly, is the Edelweiss so symbolic of Germany? What does it mean? Why is it everywhere? First of all, it came to my…