German Life Magazine

06/12/2023

'tis the season!

And the Phrase of the Day... Glühwein-Marathon, also known as the pre-Christmas frenzy.

So here is a quick and easy Glühwein recipe for that marathon, after all Christmas is only a month away.

All you need is red wine, some spices, citrus fruit, a pot and a stove… and in an hour or so you can enjoy, and share, your very own homemade Glühwein.

Makes about 7 servings.

2 bottles of reasonable quality red wine
570 ml / 2.1/4 cups water
Juice of 2 lemons
140 g / 2/3 cup sugar
6 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 whole star anise
2 oranges, cut into bite-sized pieces
Oranges for decoration

Put all the ingredients in a pot and allow the wine to slowly heat up, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved, bring it close to boil. Cut 2 oranges into bite-sized pieces, and add to the wine. Allow to simmer for a minimum of half an hour, making sure it doesn't boil.

Remove the cloves, cinnamon sticks and star anise, and serve in lightly pre-warmed mugs or glasses. Decorate with an orange slice.

And there is Glühwein “mit Schuss”, a shot of alcohol. Adding an extra shot to the mug for added Glühwein goodness. Amaretto, rum, whisky and brandy all work well.

Of course, although it is "Christmas in a mug" it doesn’t have to be kept just for “the holidays”. Enjoy. 😊

05/12/2023

Do you remember preparing for St. Nicholas Eve?

A German Christmas Carol in German and English Melody and Lyrics: Traditional (Taunus) This song is a traditional folk carol from Germany's Taunus region (Frankfurt area). It is usually sung on or around Nicholas Eve (Nikolausabend, Dec. 5). In some regions of Germany, the Christmas season begins on...

04/12/2023

Yum ....

21/11/2023

13/11/2023

Wow!!

10/11/2023

It was the St. Leonhard Horseback Procession, one of the most colourful and famous horseback pilgrimages in Germany, in Bad Tölz, Bavaria, today.

Since the 17th century the end of every farming year has been marked by "Die Tölzer Leonhardifahrt". A pilgrimage in honour of St. Leonhard, the "Bayerischer Herrgott" - God of Bavaria, it is held on his saint's day 6th November. As long as this doesn't fall on a Sunday.

Originally the patron saint of prisoners and one of the 14 Holy Helpers, St. Leonhard of Limoges (6th century) is the patron saint of livestock and particularly of horses, so he is honoured with a "Pferdewallfahrt".

A horse pilgrimage.

Decorated four-in-hand drays and carriages, including Tafelwagen - wooden carriages painted with traditional folk art motifs, several hundred horses, and women and children in Tracht, rode up to St. Leonhard’s chapel. And today it didn't rain on the procession, there was even a glimpse of sun.

Following a blessing, and accompanied by church bells and traditional music, the procession left the small Leonhardikapelle to wend its way back down the hill to Bad Tölz, where the celebrations continued.

Including a "Goaßlschnalzer" "Whip cracking" competition with whip cracking young men who have made swinging that whip a real art.

Photo credit: toelzer-leonhardifahrt.bayern

08/11/2023

03/11/2023

Season's are a changing!

Snow has fallen on the Zugspitze, Germanys highest mountain

27/10/2023

Celebrating Austrian National Day (Oct 26) in great style!

21/10/2023

Hope you are captured by their spirit!

18/10/2023

Enjoy beautiful Austrian fall color!

Autumn strolls through the garden of Schloss Schönbrunn! 🍁😍 by

10/10/2023

🌄 a beautiful view of Innsbruck🌄

📸 .m.pix
📍Innsbruck, Austria

06/10/2023

Happy German-American Day!

Today is German American Day, 6 October, although the first German immigrants to America arrived in 1608, brought by the "Mary and Margaret", a British sailing ship.

Seventy five years before the 13 German Mennonite families from Krefeld landed in Philadelphia in 1683, helped found Germantown, Pennsylvania, and are celebrated today.

In the early 17th century a transatlantic voyage took eight to ten weeks, and the Mary and Margaret landed around 1 October with skilled craftsmen, farmers and tradesmen seeking religious freedom, as well as a better future. And who initially settled in the small fort town of Jamestown.

Among them was a PhD botanist, Johannes Fleischer the Younger from Breslau, Silesia, who was in search of healing plants, and a Swiss German mineral prospector Wilhelm Waldi, who was to accompany the ship's captain in searching for precious metals on their arrival.

These were the orders of the Colony's organisers, the shareholder owned Virginia Company of London.

Captain John Smith, leader of the Jamestown Colony, complained about the majority of the settlers.

They "never did know what a day's work was, except the Dutchmen (Germans) and Poles, and some dozen other".

Many were English gentlemen unused to hard labour, who looked upon it as an adventure.

The skills of the craftsmen were important to the new colony, and they went right to work, but faced the same hardships as their English counterparts. A shortage of food and illness, with the winter of 1609-1610 extremely difficult on the Jamestown colony.

Four out of five colonists died within a few years of their arrival.

While the number of Germans was too small to make a major impact during the initial years of the emergent colony, their influence grew and more German immigrants followed. Ensuring their place in American history among the country's founders.

Photo credit: First Germans at Jamestown Marker, original source unknown.

03/10/2023

11/09/2023

Check out this special Zoom presentation...

Learn about the tumultuous 1848 revolutions in Europe and the mass immigration to the United States that followed.

04/09/2023