12 accents

The English Language Journal

for Baden-Württemberg
www.accents-magazine.de
September/October 2006
magazine

Dirty Denglish

When Deutsch and English don’t match

The Queen’s pharmacist in London
Folk dance a flourishing
Mailing a letter? Join the queue!
 8
Contents
11 16 22
Feature News and Events accent on… Labyrinth
8 Dirty Denglish 5 Queen’s pharmacist 14 Balingen 22 The postal system
Is English polluting in London Cultural treats in the 22 Got mail? Join the queue!
Deutsch? 6 American lawyers in B-W Swabian Alb
9 “Language always 7 Heidelberg institute Regulars
changes“ turns 60 Good to Know
Views of a German linguist 7 St. Catherine’s new priest 4 Letters
21 Money Matters 4 My Two Cents
Arts and Culture Holiday money Uber-cool with German
21 Balingen Tips 16 accents choice
11 The folk dance boom What’s on listings
Irish and American folk 18 accents guide
dance grow in popularity Clubs and contacts
12 Book reviews 20 Classifieds

Cover photo by Chrys Rynearson. Thanks to UDO-SNACK, Calwerstraße 23, Stuttgart

Editorial

The German language is threat-
ened by the corrupting influence
of English. Indeed, Germany’s
linguistic independence and
cultural identity will disappear
if the mishmash of German and
English, commonly known as
Denglish (or Denglisch) is not
eliminated.
Well, that’s the way that
some Germans see it. From
cool and comeback to fashion
and feedback; from sorry and
sale to ticket and teenager;
there’s no doubt that in all areas
of life, Germans are borrowing
English words or using pseudo-
English words (Wellness, sen-
den, relaxen) in place of their
own. How widespread is the
influence of Denglish? And is it
something that native-English
speakers should also be con-
cerned about? Dirty Denglish
is the title of our feature story,
on pages 8-10.
Pass through, bend the line,
square up: if staunch opponents
of Denglish want to get hot
under the collar they need look
no further than your average
Baden-Württemberg town or
school hall on a regular Satur-
day night. English terms are the
norm when it comes to Irish
folkdancing and American folk-
dance forms like square and
round dancing. In our Arts and
Culture section, we explore the
enormous popularity of these
imported forms of folk dance in
south-west Germany.
Bang Your Head. No, not
exactly a step taught by square
dancers. We’re talking heavy
metal music. The “Bang Your
Head” music festival takes
place every June in the town
of Balingen, in the Swabian Alb.
It’s a town with plenty of con-
trasts: heavy metal and high
culture; beautiful buildings and
rolling, wooded hills. Balingen
features in both our travel
section (pages 14 -15) and in our
Good to Know tips (page 21)
in this edition.
In this issue you can also
find out who supplies the
British Queen with her medi-
cine, which church waited 140
years for a full-time priest, and
how to join the queue in a post
office. (Psst, from the side!)
Finally, to all those who
enjoyed reading our Children’s
Corner section up until now,
we’d like to apologise: for
various reasons we have deci-
ded to close down this section.
However, our “Book Reviews”
of books for young readers will
continue. You’ll now find them
in the Arts and Culture section.
accents magazine
editorial team

accents magazine Published by accents media GbR (Bryan Groenjes, Maki Kuwayama, Geoff Rodoreda) Neue Brücke 3, 70173 Stuttgart.
Tel 0711 3102160, Fax 0711 3102161, info@accents-magazine.de Editor Geoff Rodoreda, editor@accents-magazine.de Arts Editor Stuart Marlow
Copy Editor Katharine Schmidt Photographer Chrys Rynearson Contributors Toni Astle, Andreas Fischer, Dagmar Fritz, Liz Gaiser, Anna Gentle,
Helen Klimmek, Melissa Martin, Nichole Martinson, Rebecca Perrin, Simon Rentschler, Steve Trevallion, Harvey Utech, Anastasiya Zagorni
Advertising Enquiries Bryan Groenjes, ads@accents-magazine.de. Webmaster Andrew Golledge, webmaster@accents-magazine.de Website
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Vesoulerstraße 4, 70839 Gerlingen Cost free Published every two months Circulation 10,000 Distribution everywhere English is spoken:
subscribing firms, cultural institutions, shops, pubs, clubs, theatres, hotels and selected tourist centres Advertisers and Corporate Subscribers
Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG, Biddy Early’s Irish Pub, Celesio AG, Corso Cinema International, George and Dragon English Pub, International
Baptist Church, Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum/James-F.-Byrnes Institut e.V., Ernst & Young AG, Little Giants Early Learning Center,
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accents magazine 3
 Letters accents magazine
Neue Brücke 3
70173 Stuttgart

to the Editor editor@accents-magazine.de

Expats learning German
Dear editor,
I just wanted to say that I find accents really interesting and
informative. I am from New Zealand and have been in Stuttgart
for just over one year. For me, it’s great to read interesting
articles and news in English, as my German is not yet good
enough to read German magazines. THANK YOU accents.
Vanessa Franklin, Stuttgart
Dear editor,
I refer to the letter in your last edition “Sprechen Sie
Deutsch?” by Dr. Cindy Halbert-Seger (accents 10, p. 4). I
agree with her that English speakers are lazy when it comes to
learning foreign languages. But has she thought about why?
There are some expats who are only here for a couple of years,
and so they don’t bother learning German. Also, many English
speakers are not helped by the fact that so many Germans love
to practise their English. As well, native-English speakers have
much less exposure to German in their home countries than
Germans have here to English. Just look at the prevalence of
Denglish, which I think helps Germans to learn English.
David Brookfield, Stuttgart
Editor’s note:
Dr. Cindy Halbert-Seger’s letter (accents 10, p. 4), provided a lot
of written and verbal feedback. She challenged accents to con-
duct a survey of how well expats speak German following our
test in accents 08 (Jan/Feb 2006) of Stuttgart’s English ability.
“Kudos to Halbert-Seger!” wrote one anonymous postcard
sender, “Looking forward to the survey she suggests.”
We agree that it’s important for any foreigner living in Ger-
many to learn German in order to be able to integrate effect-
ively into German society. It’s probably true that native English
speakers are not the best foreign language learners in the
world, but we don’t see it as our task to test this theory. We are
an English-language magazine – we’re not experts in German
and are certainly not experts in conducting any sort of German
test. Interestingly – and surprisingly for us at least – last year’s
accents Readership Survey found that more than 80 % of our
expat readers could speak at least reasonable German. Only
17 % rated their German as poor. It was hardly a scientific
language test but it may indicate that the German ability of
native-English speakers living in Baden-Württemberg is not as
bad as many might think. We welcome debate on this and
other issues covered in accents. Please provide your name and
your city of residence whenever you write to us – we cannot
publish letters by ‘anonymous’ or ‘an occasional reader.’
Geoff Rodoreda, Stuttgart
World Cup special thanks
Dear editor,
We would like to thank accents magazine for contributing to
the success of the UNESCO World Youth Festival in Stuttgart
in July. Most of our 2000+ guests are already back in their
home countries, hopefully spreading the festival’s message of
intercultural friendship, peace and understanding. Your special
edition “World Cup Survival Guide” provided our international
guests with the chance to discover the beautiful and interesting
sites of Stuttgart. Maybe even their host families were able to
learn something new about their hometown through your
magazine. Thanks again for your help in making this festival a
truly rewarding experience for all participants.
Ulrike Weinz, Project Manager,
UNESCO World Youth Festival 2006, Stuttgart

My Two Cents

By Katharine A. Schmidt
While defenders of the language of Goethe
find ever more evidence that their mother
tongue is in danger of losing its soul to
international English, they might take heart
at the thought that contemporary English
speakers don’t shy away from the occasional
German word.
I’m not just talking about terms like
Gesundheit (“health”), spoken after some-
one sneezes. German has made its way
onto the evening news, into the business
press, and has even been picked up by the
young and the hip.
Uber, spelled without the Umlaut, has
trickled into English through Nietzsche’s
term Übermensch. In German, über often
means “over” or “about.” But uber now
pops up a lot in US publications and is used
by twenty-somethings to heighten adjectives
from “boring” to “cool” to “sexy.” For
example: “That must be so uber-boring.”
Of course, all English speakers know
some basic German: Kindergarten, Müsli,
Sauerkraut, Bratwurst. But with some of
these everyday terms, adoption into English
can cause some confusion. In English-speak-
ing countries, “Kindergarten” refers to a
child’s first year of school or their last year
before first grade. Whereas in Germany,
kids spend three years in Kindergarten.
A number of polysyllabic German words
come in handy if you’re trying to show off
how well-read you are, and they more or
less retain the meaning they have in Ger-
man. There’s Weltanschauung, to describe a
person’s view of the world; Schadenfreude,
for that joyful feeling when misfortune
befalls others; and Realpolitik, for a foreign
policy based on pragmatism rather than on
moral or ethical principles. (Isn’t it wonderful
that English, the language of breezy inter-
national marketing, has to rely on German
for these pithy terms?)
My favorite among heavyweight German
imports is the word Angst, which somehow
makes me think of a Woody Allen movie,
just about any of them. In German, Angst
refers to common, everyday “fear.” But
native-English speakers use angst to mean
“anxiety,” or as my Webster’s dictionary
says: “a gloomy, often neurotic feeling of
generalized anxiety and depression.” Like
I said, Woody Allen movies all over.
Comments, questions, and suggestions to
mytwocents@accents-magazine.de
or accents magazine, Neue Brücke 3,
70173 Stuttgart

4 Letters accents magazine


Her Majesty’s Royal Chemist
UK Honorary Consul in London
The UK Honorary Consul in Stuttgart, Fritz
Oesterle, has been checking up on the
health of the British Queen – indirectly, at
least.
Oesterle was part of a delegation of
Baden-Württemberg business and political
leaders, headed by Baden-Württemberg’s
premier, Günther Oettinger, which visited
London in June. Oesterle is the chairman
and chief executive officer of the Stuttgart-
based firm Celesio AG, Europe’s largest
pharmaceutical distribution company.
Celesio has an especially strong presence
in the UK market – more than half of its
35,000 employees are British.
Oesterle played host during Premier
Oettinger’s visit to the London pharmacy
John Bell & Croyden. It’s one of Britain’s
oldest pharmacies and, as a holder of a
royal warrant to the Queen, delivers medi-
cines to the British royal family. John Bell &
Croyden is the flagship shop of the British
pharmacy chain Lloydspharmacy, which is
Queen’s 80th celebrated in Stuttgart
The UK’s Honorary Consul in Baden-
Württemberg, Fritz Oesterle, has revived
a tradition that hasn’t occurred for many
a year in Stuttgart – celebrating the
birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.
On Friday, June 23, Oesterle invited
more than 300 guests from the world of
politics and business, and from the UK
community in B-W to an outdoor recep-
tion in honour of the Queen. Oesterle
welcomed his guests on the lawns and
forecourt of Celesio AG, the company he
accents magazine
News and Events
owned by Celesio. Looking at it another
Photo: Celesio AG
way, the British honorary consul in Stutt-
gart is, ultimately, the Queen’s pharmacist.
At John Bell & Croydon, Premier
Oettinger inspected the range of health
care services offered at British pharmacies,
including some asthma and blood-sugar-
level tests which are normally carried out
by doctors in Germany.
Oesterle, the Celesio boss and UK rep-
resentative in Baden-Württemberg, was
keen to show Baden-Württemberg’s political
leader aspects of British health care pract-
ice that could be worthy of mention in the
debate on health care reform in Germany.
“Premier Oettinger’s visit to our flagship
London pharmacy clearly demonstrates that
healthcare policy and the importance of UK Honorary Consul
healthcare provision has become a central Fritz Oesterle (left)
and B-W Premier
theme in German politics,” said Fritz Günther Oettinger
Oesterle. “We are committed to intensify- (right) in London
ing the dialogue on health reform with
decision makers in politics.” Photo: Celesio AG, Queen’s birthday celebration in Stuttgart
Mondays
Music & movie quiz
Tuesdays
Live Jazz music
heads, declaring that two things lay close
to the heart of every English person: the W ednesdays
General Knowledge Quiz
royal family and football.
“It’s a nice coincidence then,” said Saturdays
Oesterle, “that the official 80th birthday Darts tournament
of the Queen should be celebrated in
the same month as the football World
Cup in Germany.” The George & Dragon English Pub
Elizabeth II was actually born on April In Hotel Le Meridien
W illy-Brandt-Stra§e 30
21, 1926 but her birthday is always offi- 70173 Stuttgart
cially celebrated in the United Kingdom 0711 2804969
in June. w w w.gandd.info
News and Events 5
“Different software in our brains”
US lawyers in Baden-Württemberg
How can you tell when lawyers are lying?
Their lips are moving. Why did the lawyer
cross the road? To sue the chicken on
the other side. And there are plenty more
where that came from – in the United
States, at least.
In America, lawyers are a favourite topic
for jokes. But that’s not the case in Ger-
many. The legal profession here enjoys a
high level of respect, according to US
lawyers working in Baden-Württemberg.
As increasing numbers of small and
medium sized Baden-Württemberg firms
engage in trans-Atlantic trade, they are
finding they need the advice of US lawyers
to guide them through the thicket of
foreign regulations. The same goes for US
firms wanting to set up business here.
“When an American manager steps off
the plane he or she often doesn’t know
anything about how to set up shop here,
how to employ people, how to market pro-
ducts. It’s the same for German companies
investing in the US. And so you become
a business advisor as well as a legal advi-
sor,” says Stuttgart lawyer Nicolaus Susta.
Susta is in a perfect position to compare
the two legal systems. The 35-year-old
grew up near Hamburg but studied English
in Virginia and law in New York. He speaks
both German and English fluently and has
worked as an attorney in both Germany and
the US. At the Stuttgart law firm Wahlert
Rechtsanwälte he’s set up an alliance with
a law firm in the United States.
“In America there is more litigation and
still a bit of a Wild-West attitude when it
comes to the law, based on the motto that
if the law won’t help, we’ll argue for new
Culture and fun in English – The Metropolitan Club
By Nichole Martinson
Smuggling out possessions under hoop
skirts to avoid detection by the duke’s
henchmen; highly-charged lovers’ quar-
rels fuelled by a high intake of Riesling;
searching for horses and lodging for
Napoleon’s army – these are the ingred-
ients of great stories, and some of the
true-life tales of world-renowned authors
who once strolled through Stuttgart’s
cobblestone streets.
Victor Hugo, Samuel Beckett, Hans
Christian Andersen and Arthur Rimbaud –
among many other writers – have all visit-
ed Stuttgart. You can relive their experi-
ences by taking part in a Writers Tour of
Stuttgart, in English, organized by one of
the city’s most active international clubs,
6 News and Events
Photo: Chrys Rynearson
More work for US
lawyers in Baden-
Württemberg –
Michael Hixson (left)
and Nicolaus Susta
law. In Germany, it’s more like: ‘Well, you
can’t pursue this course because of A, B
and C.’ It’s based more on predictable rules
and regulations,” says Susta.
US attorney Tim Smith, 38, who set up
his own law firm, Lungershausen & Smith,
in Böblingen five years ago, puts it this
way: “American lawyers take a more
adversarial approach to legal disputes. It’s
drummed into you from your first day of
law school. German lawyers have a diffe-
rent mindset. They adopt a problem solving
approach from the beginning; it’s about
finding compromises to reach an amicable
solution. It’s like we’re both made of the
the Metropolitan Club.
On a particularly gray, rainy day in
August, we wound our way through the
Alte Postplatz, where the 19th century
French writer Stendhal once found shel-
ter and horses for Napoleon’s men. In
Rotebühlplatz there’s a furniture store
on the spot where French poet Rimbaud
may have laid his weary head after a
lovers’ tiff and too much wine. On Bären-
straße, fair maidens aided the famed
womanizer Giacomo Casanova, saving his
belongings from repossession by hiding
them under their skirts.
The Writers Tour is just one of a range
of social events organized by the Metro-
politan Club in recent months. Wine
tours, water skiing, bowling, bike riding
and film night events, as well as trips to
same hardware but have had completely
different software installed in our brains.”
US lawyer, Michael Hixson, chose to
work in Baden-Württemberg after first
holidaying here.
“It was refreshing to encounter a so-
ciety that, unlike America, was not overtly
prudish or religiously conservative. Apart
from that, the working hours are shorter
here, there’s more vacation, and a more
cohesive sense of community and tradi-
tion,” he says.
Hixson, 31, now works for the law firm
Großmann & Associates in Gerlingen, near
Stuttgart. He grew up in Tennessee and
studied and worked in the US before his
vacation in Stuttgart in 2003. He later came
back here to work. He agrees that Germany
and the United States have quite different
legal cultures.
“Germans are very risk averse. They
want the outcomes of their business
decisions to be predictable, and prefer not
to allow the unpredictability of the legal
system to determine outcomes. They’re big
on insurance – they insure against risk rat-
her than go to court. And lawsuits are not
used here so often as a means of rectifying
wrongs in the system.
“In the US, you don’t rely on the govern-
ment to fix things, you seek legal redress
to right a perceived wrong. Government is
seen as reactionary and the courts are view-
ed as a forum for progressing society.”
Says Timothy Smith: “The US litigation
system could be viewed as a possible
avenue of wealth distribution in society.
Real pessimists would say it’s nothing but
a lottery.”
the zoo, the opera, and the Black Forest
were also on the program.
The Metropolitan Club Stuttgart was
founded shortly after World War II to
foster relations between the United
States and Germany. But it’s evolved into
an international club which now aims to
provide foreigners with an understanding
of regional culture and history.
New members are eagerly accepted,
but one does not have to be a member
to attend one of the club’s outings or
events. For the full schedule of activities,
see the Club’s website: www.metclub.de
The Writers Tour was conducted by
Literatur-Spaziergänge Hahn & Kusiek
www.litspaz.de
accents magazine
Fostering German-American relations
DAI Heidelberg turns 60
By Harvey Utech
Germany has developed into one of the
most stable democracies in the world since
World War II. But the transformation didn’t
just happen overnight.
Germans found themselves isolated im-
mediately after the war. They were looking
for fresh ideas to help them rebuild their
broken society. In Heidelberg, American
authorities established the Amerikahaus in
1946 to provide war-weary Germans with
physical shelter and – through a well-
stocked library – with literary and political
food for thought from across the Atlantic.
“Our purpose in those days was to open
the doors in Germany to democracy, and
the movements it had spawned in the
United States”, says Jakob Köllhofer, direc-
tor of the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut
(DAI), the successor to the Amerikahaus.
“Sixty years later we’re still involved in this
exchange.”
The DAI is one of four German-American
cultural institutes in Baden-Württemberg.
The others are in Stuttgart, Tübingen and
Freiburg. They each run a library, offer Eng-
lish courses, provide information on study-
ing in the US, and organize a rich program
Appealing to the senses
Baden-Württemberg newcomer, Father Dimmick
Nearly 140 years after its founding, Stutt-
gart’s first English church, St. Catherine’s,
has finally received a full-time priest.
Melissa Martin reports.
In 1864, a wealthy English woman, Cathe-
rine Masson, travelled all the way from
Liverpool to Bad Cannstatt to luxuriate in
a health spa. This was the first in a chain
of events, which included a booked out
Spanish class and a funeral in Texas, that
led to the 51-year-old Reverend Kenneth
Dimmick becoming a full-time priest at St.
Catherine’s Anglican Church in Stuttgart.
St. Catherine’s is a unique institution set
up for English visitors to south-west Ger-
many in the late 19th century. They came
because of English links to the Württem-
berg royal family or, as in the case of
Catherine Masson, for health reasons.
When Masson died in 1865 she bequea-
thed her dowry to found an Anglican
church in Stuttgart. It was consecrated in
1868. St. Catherine’s was destroyed during
World War II and rebuilt by Stuttgart’s Old
Catholic congregation. Today the building
belongs to the Old Catholic Church and the
Anglicans use the premises as guests.
St. Catherine’s Anglicans have always
accents magazine
of cultural exchange.
The DAI Heidelberg’s cultural program
includes an impressive list of invited speak-
ers over the years, among them T. S. Eliot,
Thornton Wilder, Oliver Sacks, Jane
Goodall, Joanne K. Rowling and Nobel Prize
winners such as Günter Grass and Derek
Walcott. Köllhofer quotes a former DAI
member as saying: “At the DAI I met all
the famous Americans I would never have
met in the United States.”
Köllhofer is proud to point out that the
second speaker he brought to the DAI,
after he joined in 1977, was Rudi Dutschke,
Germany’s most famous left-wing activist
of the 1960s and 70s. Dutschke was in-
spired by the US student protests of that
era. He’s typical of the speakers the DAI
tries to attract: progressive thinkers who
are not afraid to speak their mind.
The DAI started as a library and the
library remains the main attraction within
it’s elegant home in downtown Heidelberg.
The library boasts over 17,000 English
language books, videos, DVDs, and over
100 newspapers and magazines. Apart
from English courses for adults, the DAI
offers English instruction for students, and
a program for younger children (4 -14 years)
had to ‘share’ priests with other congre-
gations, so they’re delighted to finally have
Father Dimmick, a Texan Episcopalian.
A year ago, Dimmick was looking for a
new challenge in his ministry. He thought
of going to Japan, or maybe Russia. Then,
at a funeral in Texas he heard of an opening
in Düsseldorf. Dimmick had served with
the US military in Germany and already
spoke good German. He’d first studied the
language after the Spanish course at his
Father Dimmick
(above) says raising
membership at
St. Catherine’s
“has a lot to do with
trust”
Housed in a stately
building in the
centre of Heidelberg:
the Deutsch-
Amerikanisches
Institut
called the OWLS – One World Language
School – program.
In its 60th anniversary year, the DAI has
organized an ambitious program of lectu-
res, readings, seminars, exhibitions, film
nights and festivals for people of all ages.
On Sunday, November 25, 2006 it’s organ-
izing a major celebration for its “Circle of
Friends.” This event will take the form of
an “Open House.” Anyone with an interest
in the DAI is welcome to attend.
“We are proud of what we have achiev-
ed in 60 years,” says Köllhofer. “But there
is still much work to do. We are looking
ahead and hope to be able to intensify
discussion and dialogue on the important
issues of the day.”
high school was booked out. He applied for
the Düsseldorf job, went to the interview
in London, but was turned down.
The very next day, St. Catherine’s
posted its job advertisement for a full-time
priest. Dimmick applied, and when St.
Catherine’s offer and a Japanese job offer
arrived on the same day, he chose
Stuttgart.
Father Dimmick’s full-time position at
St. Catherine’s signifies a bold commitment
on the church’s part to increase member-
ship. Services are in English and the con-
gregation is very international. Additional
children’s activities and a choir are planned.
St. Catherine’s is a strongly liturgical
church, which means that the congregation,
including the children, play an active role
in the service. “We aim to appeal to the
senses,” says Dimmick. “We want to help
worshippers to experience God with their
ears, eyes, brain, heart – and even their
tear ducts from time to time.”
St. Catherine’s Anglican Church
Katharinenplatz 5, Stuttgart
(U-Bahn: Olgaeck or Rathaus)
www.stuttgartanglicans.de
News and Events 7
Feature
“Updates werden gedownloadet”
Dirty Denglish
Sorry, happy, meeting, ticket, manager,
know-how – they’re all words commonly
used in everyday German which have
been borrowed from English. Deutsch
is mixed with English to create Denglish
– much to the annoyance of some
Germans. Is the German language being
destroyed by Denglish? Accents investi-
gates.
Jürgen Klinsmann hasn’t helped at all. The
national football coach of Germany’s 2006
World Cup team lives in Huntington Beach,
California, with his American wife and two
children. He might have been Germany’s
football darling this summer but he didn’t
win any prizes for his eloquence with the
German language. His thick Swabian accent are at risk.”
was one problem (for the rest of Germany)
but his occasional use of English terms
in spoken German made him the brunt of
much ridicule. SWR 3, a local radio station, perfectly normal German word can be used
produced comedy skits with a Klinsmann
8 Feature
character using words like coach, team,
tricks, feeling, favourite, power and con-
nections instead of their German equiva-
lents. For those trying to fight the cultural
battle to keep English terms out of every-
day German, Klinsmann is not the best
role model.
Spearheading that cultural battle is the
Verein Deutsche Sprache (Society for the
German Language), a club set up in 1997
whose mission is to rally against the infil-
tration of English into everyday German.
“Sale, card, highlight, bike, counter, ser-
vice point – these words and many others
are muscling their way into the German
language,” argues the Society. “Germany’s
linguistic independence and cultural identity
The Society says it’s not opposed to
English per se but it’s against a mishmash
of English and German. In most cases a
instead of an English import.
Another category of Denglish words
arises because of differences in German
and English syntax and grammar. This leads
to the creation of pseudo-English verbs like
relaxen, texten, gemanagt, gedownloadet
and gejobt. Other Anglicisms have taken on
completely different meanings in German.
An Oldtimer in Germany refers not to a per-
son but to a vintage car, a Shooting refers
not to a gun battle but to a photo shoot.
Germans talk about a Drive-in and mean
what Americans call a drive-through. A
Beamer is the nickname the English give
to a BMW car; Germans are talking about
a video projector. And a Handy is known as
a mobile phone or a cell phone in English
speaking countries.
Denglish owes its existence in part to
the predominance of English in the world
of pop music, the computer industry and
international business. But it is the use
of Denglish in German advertising and
marketing that annoys the Society for the
accents magazine

Denglish
A cause for concern?
The Institute for the German Lang-
uage in Mannheim is a non-university-
affiliated institution for the study of
the contemporary use of the German
language. Andreas Fischer spoke with
Dr. Annette Trabold, a linguist, who
heads the Institute’s public informa-
tion department.
Photo: Chrys Rynearson. English in a shop window in Stuttgart
What are the reasons for the popular
use of English words in place of
German ones?
If products with English or American
names didn’t sell so well, advertisers
wouldn’t use them. Many people would
simply rather buy a “City Shirt” than
something called a Herrenoberhemd. In
order to appear less provincial and more
German Language most of all.
The Society points to surveys which
show that the majority of Germans do not
understand the real meaning of English
slogans and marketing phrases used by
companies in Germany. Examples include;
“Be inspired” (Siemens mobile), “There’s
no better way to fly” (Lufthansa) and
“Every time a good time” (McDonald’s).
Perhaps this is why media and market-
ing experts speak of a trend in advertising
away from Denglish and back to German.
In recent years, the clothing chain C & A
changed its slogan from “Fashion for
Living” to Preise gut, alles gut; the televi-
sion channel Sat 1 swapped its “Powered
by emotion” slogan for a German one;

What is your Institute’s view on the
use of Denglish in the German lang-
uage?
The expression Denglisch is loaded – it
implies that English words are already
over-used in German. In fact, a look at
official listings of German words reveals
that between 1880 and 1986 the pro-
portion of Anglo-words in the German
language rose from 1.36 to 3.46 per-
cent. At first glance, Anglo-terms stand
out in advertising, sport, the computer
industry and in business. But you have
to differentiate between words that
stand out in advertising and the media,
and those that find their way into every-
day usage. Personal observations are
not necessarily representative of overall
trends.
Where the use of foreign words
hinders proper communication it might
be better to use German alternatives.
However, a lot of foreign words have
found their way into regular German:
Magazin is Italian, Gitarre is Spanish,
Alkohol is Arabic, tapezieren (to wall-
paper) is French, Humor and Sport and
Film are all English. All of these words
have become part of the German lang-
uage and are no longer seen as foreign
but completely natural.
At what point then does the natural
use of English words in German
become “Denglish” or, if you like,
unwanted?
When English terms are not used to
describe something new – in most
cases that’s the reason for borrowing
foreign words in the first place. Or if an
English term causes misunderstandings
and the thing or matter-at-hand can just
as easily be described in German with-
out a loss of meaning. But as I said, the
term “Denglish” is, in itself, a loaded
expression and can reflect an individual
impression. Others might draw the line
elsewhere. Many people feel threat-
ened by change and feel the same way
about the development of language or,
rather, newness in language.
sophisticated people sometimes prefer and even that quintessentially American
using English words. Second, lots of company, McDonald’s, dropped its English
people like to demonstrate how well- jingle for ich liebe es – although in Austria,
travelled and international-in-outlook McDonald’s uses the English equivalent
they are by dropping English words and “I’m lovin’ it.”
expressions into their conversations now The perfumery chain, Douglas, aroused
and again. particular confusion with its English slogan
You also get young people diff- “Come in and find out,” according to one
erentiating themselves from adults, not survey. Many Germans thought this was
only through their clothes and their an invitation to enter a maze. It was taken
behaviour, but also through the way they to mean: “Come in and find your way out
speak. Using English terms is a part of again.” Douglas has now changed its slo-
that. Sometimes, English terms might gan to Douglas macht das Leben schöner,
be used in politics for strategic reasons, which translates roughly as “Douglas
to cloud over a controversy – exactly makes life beautiful” – this is the com-
because no one understands them. pany’s slogan in the USA. A Douglas
Recently, we had the term “Job-Floater” spokesperson, Tanja Stephani, told accents
– no one had any idea what it really magazine that the slogan “Come in and
meant. At other times, Germans simply
use Anglo terms without even thinking
about them, they are just part of natural
vocabulary.
What are the longer term consequen-
ces of the constant use of Denglish, in
your view?
So-called Denglish words come and go,
like any trend. What I view as more
problematic is occurring in the sciences
nowadays where German is not used
at all. Everything is written down in Eng-
lish. Developing thoughts in your own
language is always better than writing
them out in a foreign language. The
trend away from Latin as the language
of science led to a better understanding
and involvement of the general popu-
lation in the sciences. English is now
becoming the only official language of
science and, once again, broad sectors
of the population are being shut out of
debate.
How do you expect the use of
Denglish to develop?
You cannot predict how a language will
develop, but languages are changing all
the time. If the German language – the
vocabulary, the grammar, the style of its
use – didn’t change at all, then we might
still be speaking a cultivated form of
middle-high German from the year 1200.

accents magazine Feature 9

 Photo: Chrys Rynearson
words that stand out in advertising and the
media, and those that find their way into
everyday usage,” says Annette Trabold,
a linguist at the Institute. “Languages are
developing and changing all the time. Many
people feel threatened by change (in a)
language or, rather, newness in language.”
(See “Denglish: a cause for concern?”,
previous page.)
A passing fad or here to stay?
Used in shop Accents decided to investigate the pre-
windows across valence of English words and expressions
Germany: “sale”
appears to have used in German shop windows on Stutt-
become natural gart’s main shopping street, Königsstraße.
German Of the 126 shops on both sides of Baden-
Württemberg’s premier shopping and
find out” was not scrapped because of a pedestrian zone, 65 of them (52 %) used
back-to-German trend or because of custo- English words, slogans or expressions to
mer confusion. attract customers inside.
“We didn’t receive any complaints about However, the most frequently used
our former English slogan. Studies have in English word was “sale.” In 22 of the 65
fact shown we have one of the best-recog- shops with English words, “sale” was the
nised brand names in Germany – and this is only English word used. A week after our
in no small part due to our previous English original survey, with the end of the official
slogan,” said Stephani. summer sale period, a recount revealed
Are Germans really all that confused or that 43 shops (34 %) of the 126 shops on
annoyed by Denglish? Königsstraße used English expressions.
Some defenders of the German lang- Examples of English used in shop
uage, such as the Institute for the German windows included: Designed for desire;
Language, in Mannheim, are not overly Selected lines on sale; Long sleeve; Adopt
concerned about the consequences of me; Trendstore; New collections, fall
Denglish on German. winter; and the ubiquitous Coffee to go.
“You have to differentiate between Some of the more curious expressions,
from a native-English-speaker’s perspec-
tive, were: Euroeyes, Crazy lenses; Fashion
is back home; and Look for nice price.
The Institute for the German Language
takes a pragmatic view of the use of
English expressions in German advertising.
“If products with English or American
names didn’t sell, advertisers wouldn’t
use them,” says Annette Trabold. “Many
people would rather buy a ‘City Shirt’
than something called a Herrenoberhemd.”
Trabold argues that all languages are
continually adopting ‘foreign’ words, and
German is no different.
“Humor, sport, film and thriller are
English words that have now become a
natural part of the German language,” she
says.
Maybe the word “sale” should be added
to her list. Or perhaps the final word should
be left to the late Dutch entertainer and
comedian, Rudi Carrell, who worked for
many years in Germany.
“When I first came to Germany I only
spoke English,” he said. “But in the mean-
time the German language has adopted
so many English words that I now speak
fluent German!”
Additional research for this story:
Andreas Fischer, Helen Klimmek
and Anastasiya Zagorni
 Arts and Culture

Irish jig and American square

Folk dance is booming

By Stuart Marlow
Popular touring dance shows like River-
dance and Lord of the Dance have made
Irish dancing known to a wider public in
Germany in recent years. That’s one of the
reasons that Áine Halpin’s Irish dance
classes, which she started in the Stuttgart
region in 1994, have grown steadily in
popularity.
Halpin has remained in touch with the
rich traditions of Irish dancing. She began
dancing as a four-year-old in County Clare,
and won dance prizes throughout her child-
hood at the local and county level. Since
arriving in Stuttgart with a marketing
degree in 1992, she has run a highly pop-
ular dance school, founded a performance
group in 1996 called Fáinne (“Ring” in
Gaelic), and has now become an associate
member of the Dublin-based World Govern-
ing Body of Irish Dance.
One of the reasons the tradition of Irish
folk dance is still alive and strong, says
Halpin, is because of competitions. They
are a driving force behind the popularity of
Irish dance in Germany.
“From my own school, I have noticed
that some of the dancers have really upped
their game when they saw what the com-
petition was like here, and worked hard to
How does Halpin see the balance between
tradition and change?
“All art forms are continually evolving,
and Irish dance is no different in that res-
pect. Riverdance and other shows have
brought a whole new demography to Irish
dance and had a positive influence. But in
Ireland you can still go set-dancing at a ceílí
and see hundreds of people dancing in
exactly the same way they would have if
Riverdance had never happened.”
Keeping traditions alive means recruiting
young people. What kind of people in
Baden-Württemberg are interested in
taking up Irish dance?
“Every type! It is quite surprising how
varied it is,” says Halpin. “I have children
from the age of 5, as well as teenagers
and adults up to the age of 60 who want
to begin learning Irish dance. Some have
connections to Ireland, most do not. Most
have seen the international shows, and that
is what has sparked their interest.
More popular than
ever: square dancing
clubs in B-W now
number more than
fifty
“It can be daunting at first but once the
basics have been mastered, progress is
more rapid, and a number of dances can be
learned without any problems.”
American folk dance
If Irish dancing sounds too energetic, you
may wish to take up a closely related
dance activity with a proven track record
in the United States of helping to reduce
stress and the risk of heart attacks, and
of promoting well being – square dancing.
Square dance has become an extremely
popular pastime in Baden-Württemberg.
There are 30 square dance, round dance
and clogging clubs in the greater Stuttgart
region, at least 11 in the Mannheim-
Heidelberg region, and 15 more clubs in
the Baden region.
American folk dance originally built up a
following in south-west Germany with the
help of Americans linked to the US military
but the clubs have flourished locally under
German management despite the closing
of many American bases and the loss of
many U.S. dancers and callers. People from
a wide range of backgrounds are attracted
to square dancing. The Vaihingen-based

Photo: Eckart Moltrecht

improve. In Ireland, Irish dance is highly
competitive. Some girls and boys as young
as ten or twelve are performing at the high-
est possible standard. But on mainland
Europe there are Irish dance competitions
aimed at all standards – from beginners to
advanced. There’s no reason why anybody
starting off could not become competitive
at their level.”
Some of Áine Halpin’s own students
were awarded prizes at this year’s Munich
Open Feis (competition.)
“However, it is important to state that a
number of my dancers are not really inter-
ested in competition,” says Halpin. “They
dance purely for the pleasure of it – it also
helps them keep fit!”
Performance groups like Halpin’s Fáinne
help to keep ancient folk traditions alive.
But there are always new influences in
dance, so that even the most traditional
forms of dance are constantly evolving.

accents magazine Arts and Culture 11

 square dance society Broken Wheels has
even recruited students from Stuttgart
University into its ranks.
Square dancing in the United States
developed from various European folk
dance traditions including Morris dancing,
English and Scottish Country Dancing, and
the French Quadrille. Cynics may view
square dancers as redneck ‘squares’ stom-
ping around in formation to strange com-
mands like: ‘Weave those rings’ or ‘Bend
the line’ or ‘Swing your partner do-si-do’.
But square dancing is in fact a lively and A rich tradition, also
very social pastime, which requires a high nurtured in B-W –
Áine Halpin’s Irish
level of skill. One US dance researcher, dance class
Phil Jameson, has traced early square
dance calls back to traditional European
rural dance forms, which were sanitized
by the church but which essentially turned One reason for the popularity of
flirtation into an acceptable art form. American-style square dancing clubs in
The basic square dance involves four Baden- Württemburg may be because the
couples. Each dance sequence starts and dance has essentially come back to its
ends with a formation in which the couples roots. It remains a sophisticated and
place themselves on either side of a squa- socially integrative dance form that’s set
re. A key role is that of the ‘caller’, an early to develop even further, if its growth of the
twentieth-century American invention. The last few years is in any way indicative.
caller literally calls out the steps, choreo-
graphing the dance sequences. Interest- Irish dance links
ingly, square dance ‘calls’ are always in www.danceirish.de
English, no matter what country the dance www.fainne.de
is taking place in. (In square dance groups
in Baden-Württemberg a good knowledge Square dance links
of English is not necessary as the steps of www.srrs.de
each dance are explained in German in www.eaasdc.de
classes beforehand.)

Stories spawned by classics

Recommended reading

Writers often use classic works of lite-
rature as a basis for new stories. The
following two novels draw on two very
different, especially-revered books to
create entertaining stories in each case.
Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro
Harper Collins, 390 pages
Louise is browsing in a second-hand
bookshop when she discovers a book
that becomes her personal Bible, helping
her to come to terms with her own life as
well as the consequences of her actions.
The ‘discovery’ is Genevieve Antoine
Dariaux’s (real) 1964 classic on style,
A Guide to Elegance. Tessaro’s story
realistically captures the insecurities of
modern-day women who have a predilec-
tion for self-help books. She has cleverly
used the skeletal framework of Madame
Dariaux’s book, with alphabetical chapter
headings – ‘Accessories’, ‘Beauty’,
‘Comfort’ etc. – while underneath each
heading she quotes from Dariaux.
(Beauty: “… While beauty, in its purest
physical form is nature’s gift alone to
bestow, elegance, grace and style are istic and insightful book, which has won
infinitely more democratic.”) Tessaro’s a Pulitzer Prize. March is a man riddled
novel is really a romantic comedy, but with self doubt; he has high ideals but he
one with a serious message: you will not is naive in his approach to human nature.
achieve your goals without a lot of hard The character was developed as a result
work and discipline. By the way, Madame of the author’s extensive research into
Dariaux’s book has been updated to in- Louisa May Alcott’s own father. Later on
clude references to Princess Diana and in the story, Brooks writes from the per-
cell phones. The author’s wry comments spective of “Marmee”, the mother. She
make for entertaining reading, although brilliantly portrays the character’s aware-
the degree of elegance demanded requi- ness of their weaknesses, as well as
res the discipline of a top athlete. their resolve to overcome them.
March by Geraldine Brooks
Harper Perennial, 280 pages
Ever read a novel and wondered what
might have happened to a character who
wasn’t the focus of the story? Mr. March
is the missing patriarch in Louisa May
Alcott’s classic 19th-century novel Little
Women, a story about a mother and her
four daughters struggling to survive in
New England while the father is away
with Union troops during the American
Civil War. The shadowy figure of March
takes center stage in Brooks’ deeply real-

12 Arts and Culture accents magazine

Learning for fun
Children’s book reviews
The new school year begins in
mid-September. Here are two
books – each part of a series –
which demonstrate that lear-
ning can be easy and enter-
taining. They could be used as
supplementary material for
history, social science or writ-
ing lessons. Better still, just
read them for fun.
My Side of the Story:
Trouble at the Mill
by Philip Wooderson
Kingfisher, 188 pages
Kingfisher’s series “My Side of
the Story” succeeds in making
the subject of history more
accessible. This book is set at
the time of the industrial revol-
ution, and begins from the per-
spective of Lizzy, the daughter
of a recently unemployed mill
worker. There is unrest in the
mill, the workers are beginning
to organize themselves, and
they are planning to strike.
Wooderson vividly describes
the conditions in which Lizzy
and her family live. Just as the
action begins to follow a defi-
nite course, Lizzy’s account
stops: the reader has to flip the
book over to hear Josh’s side
of the story. Josh is the mill
owner’s son who’s come home
from boarding school. He tells
the same story, which is – sur-
Writing competition winners
The winners of our under-18
writing competition, launched
in accents 09 earlier in the
year, are Julia Zimmermann
and Annelieke Overbeeke.
Their winning essays about
watching English-language
films in the cinema can be
accents magazine
prise, surprise – quite different
from Lizzy’s account. This is a
clever series which could be
used in classrooms or purely for
private pleasure. Other histori-
cal settings in the series are the
Plague, the Salem witch hunts,
the colonization of America and
the American Civil War.
Traces: Roll Call
by Malcolm Rose
Kingfisher, 213 pages
Luke Harding is a forensic
scientist and investigator – at
just 16 years old. How is this
possible? Well, what seems to
be an unrealistic fantasy, at first
glance, turns out to be a fan-
tastic surprise. Luke lives in a
parallel world where southern
England is a dangerous slum
zone and the north is wealthy.
There’s merely a hint of social
customs and problems; it’s
exciting to read as you’re left
guessing as to how this parallel
world came to be. Murder and
mayhem are interwoven with
references to technical jargon.
It’s a book aimed at cell phone-
and I-pod-carrying youngsters.
Roll Call is the third in a series
of five books. The last two will
be released this autumn. It
doesn’t matter which book you
start with; it’s highly likely you’ll
end up reading the lot!
read online, under:
www.accents-magazine.de
They each win two free
tickets to the Corso Inter-
national Cinema in Stuttgart-
Vaihingen. Our thanks to
the Corso for supporting the
competition.
accent on…
Balingen
Quiet charms and loud surprises
Sixty kilometres south of Stuttgart,
Balingen is nestled into the Swabian Alps
in what is known as one of the sunniest
regions in Germany. Steve Trevallion
discovers the town’s attractions.
The sun blesses Balingen, so they say,
and they are right. My shirt clung to my
back as the train pulled into the station.
Balingen’s quiet hills sloped around the
edges of the town like a rolling green table
cloth. Before the end of the day I was to
treat myself to the charms of both town
and country.
In 2005, Balingen celebrated its 750th
anniversary but the town is actually around
1500 years old. It was given a town charter
by the Counts of Zollern in 1255 which
basically meant they could have a market.
The new town became established on the
left bank of the River Eyach. However, the
original timbered town was destroyed by
fires down through the centuries. The last
14 accent on…
great fire, in 1809, was the worst, causing
the town’s walls to collapse. What we
see of Balingen today stems mostly from
rebuilding since 1809.
The visitor information centre on the cor-
ner of Friedrich- and Färberstraße is simple
but there’s plenty to read about the town
in English. Make sure you pick up a copy of
“A Walk Round Historic Balingen” which
will tell you all you need to know about this
compact Swabian town.
Across the street from the information
centre, looming above the market stalls,
is the tower of the main Protestant church,
the Stadtkirche. It’s the most visible and,
because of its sonorous peal of six bells,
the most widely heard symbol of the town.
Visitors can climb to the viewing platform
for a panoramic view of the town and the
countryside. Wandering along Friedrich-
straße I found a “sulphur water well” I’d
read about. It serves as a reminder of a
medieval tradition in Balingen of taking
sulphurous baths. Unfortunately, it seems
to have little connection to the Balingen
of today, so you just take note of it and
move on. A well hidden gem, however,
is the Siechenkapelle (Lepers’ Chapel),
situated next to the present hospital on
Tübinger Straße. The chapel was intended
for ‘special invalids’ (lepers) who, isolated
from the inhabitants of the town, lived
there in an infirmary.
I made my way towards a bend in the
river to get a look at Balingen’s picture-
postcard attraction: the Zollern Castle. A
majestic stone tower at the water’s edge is
the only remaining tower of the four corner
towers which once fortified the town walls.
Today, the castle houses a unique collect-
ion of weights and scales. Those interested
in the history of the area can also pop into
the Zehntscheuer (an old tithe barn) next
door. It houses exhibitions and displays on
Balingen’s past. (“Animals of the Ice Age”
is the current exhibition, running until early
accents magazine
November.) The castle’s former servants
hall has been used as a youth hostel since
1921. A very pretty place to stay.
The hostel is situated in a corner of
town which is known as “Little Venice.”
The description is rather laughable, I’m
afraid to say. I mean, the real Venice and
Balingen’s Little Venice both have water
but the similarities seem to end there.
A quiet country town?
Balingen is not just another pretty little
German town to walk around in. Every
June it plays host to the “Bang Your Head”
heavy metal music festival. It certainly
seems brave for such an unassuming town
to be hosting an event that drags more
than eighteen thousand metal fans to it
every year! I did ask around, but most of
Balingen’s inhabitants seemed to have no
idea who or what Leatherwolf, Whitesnake
or Death Angel were. Unbelievable, I know.
“Bang Your Head” is not Balingen’s only
attraction associated with loud noise. The
town is also home to the driver training
grounds for the German automobile club
(ADAC) in Baden-Württemberg.
For those of you who don’t fancy loud
cars and head banging, Balingen holds
an inviting number of other attractions to
occupy your time. The Stadthalle hosts
theatre and opera performances of inter-
national standing. The Municipal Hall is
best known for its art exhibitions, featuring
work by artists such as Picasso, Monet and
Chagall.
I also wanted to discover the surround-
ing landscape so I took a bus out of town
towards those 1000-metre-high rolling hills.
Excellent cycling and hiking paths lead
through meadows, across open country,
into forests or up to the barren Alb plateau.
The views from the top are marvellous.
The Hohenzollern Castle, north of Balingen,
is truly impressive to look at, perched atop
one of the many wooded slopes in the
distance. It is ever so peaceful, and I guess
this is where many of the locals come
when the crowds of long-haired, black-
clothed heavy metal fans tumble into town.
I made my way back down into town
and as I sat waiting for my train home I
tried to think of a way to sum up Balingen.
There’s a quite pretty, semi-circular,
stone weir in town, on the mill-stream part
of the Eyach River. It was a costly con-
struction, built to replace a wooden weir
which was battered by catastrophic flood-
ing in 1895. The investment in a more Above: The Eyach
solid weir seems justified when you look River, Zollern Castle
in the background.
at how high the water marks are further Left: A scene from
downstream near the Tanners’ Gate. These Balingen’s rejuvinated
marks bear witness to what a raging tor- town centre
rent this quiet river can become. I see this
as a perfect metaphor for Balingen itself.
It may not hold the charm of Venetian
alleyways but for a sense of change and
the unexpected it is worth a visit. (See
Balingen Tips on page 21).
 accents
choice
Events
Events
In the region
European Heritage Day
Visit historical sites and monuments
in your area, Sep 11,
www.tag-des-offenen-denkmals.de
(in German)
Nüfringen
Great Aussie BBQ
The German Australian Friendship
Club, Sep 16, info 07032 330975
Stuttgart
38th Penny Bazaar by the German
American Women’s Club
The don’t-miss annual fundraising
bazaar of the GAWC Stuttgart
Oct 11-12, 9:30 am - 6:30 pm
Oct 13, 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Miss Black Germany 2006
Oct 14, 6 pm, Versammlungshalle
Stuttgart-Freiberg,
www.missblackgermany.de
5th Stuttgarter Kulturnacht
Art, music, theatre and more with
a free shuttle bus to all venues,
Oct 22, www.lift-online.de
16 accents choice
German-American Day
Fall concert and the awarding of the
first Franz-Steiner Prize. Oct 26,
7 pm, Neues Schloss, Weißer Saal,
registration at the DAZ required
0711 228180
Tübingen
American Night –
Impressions of New Orleans
Louisiana Funky Butts Brass Band,
readings, guided tours of Peter
Granser’s exhibit and Cajun cuisine,
Sep 15, 8 pm, Kunsthalle
Jazz and Classic Days
Music festival in the entire city,
Oct 21- 28, www.jazzklassiktage.de
One World Native Americans
Presentation with Guillermo Chavez
Rosette, Linda M. Velarde, Rosa
O. Navarro and Four Suns, Oct 25,
8:15 pm, d.a.i., Karlstraße 3,
www.dai-tuebingen.de
Exhibitions
Exhibitio
Heidelberg
Lori van Houten: Field Notes –
Recent Works on Paper
Opening Sept 22, 7 pm,
Exhibit Sept 22 - Oct 18,
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut
(d.a.i.), Gallery Upstairs, Sofien-
straße 12, www.dai-heidelberg.de
Stuttgart
Robert Fass:
As Long as We Both Shall Live
Photography, drawings, and paint-
ings. Sep 12, opening 6 pm, DAZ,
Charlottenplatz 17, www.daz.org
Galye Tufts: Miss Amerika
A mix of stories, stand-up
and music. “Fun für Germans,
Americans and everybody
in-between”. On tour in B-W,
www.gayle-tufts.de
Tübingen
Elderly Grace
Photo exhibit by New York
photographer Chester Higgins Jr.
Sep 19 - 29, Tue - Fri 9 am - 6 pm,
d.a.i., see address above
A Lifetime for Architecture:
The Photographer Julius Shulman
Opening Oct 6, 8 pm, Oct 10 -
Dec 12, Tue - Fri 9 am - 6 pm,
d.a.i., see address above
Stage
Heidelberg
Stage
Children of Eden
Oct 1 and 2, performance time
TBA, special family matinee,
Roadside Theater, Patton Barracks,
06221 175020,
www.roadsidetheater.com
US Army Festival of One Act Plays
Europe-wide event with workshops,
guest performances, and awards
ceremony, all free to the public.
Oct 6 - 8, performance time TBA,
Roadside Theater,
see address above
Everyone misses Richard!
Oct 6 - 8, performance time TBA,
Roadside Theater,
see address above
84 Charing Cross Road
Award-winning Readers Theater
production. Oct 20 - Nov 4,
performance time TBA,
Roadside Theater,
see address above
Stuttgart
Les Misérables
The beautifully renovated Kelley
Theatre re-opens with this “Broad-
way in Concert“ production!
Opening night is Oct 13, please
check www.kelleytheatre.de
for additional dates and times,
Stuttgart Theatre Center –
Kelley Theatre, Kelley Barracks,
Vaihingen, 0711 7292825,
general public welcome
On tour in the region
Gayle Tufts: Miss Amerika
Sep 18, 8:15 pm, Theaterhaus,
Stuttgart, www.theaterhaus.com;
Sep 19, Kulisse,
Weil der Stadt, 07033 80102;
Sep 20, d.a.i., Tübingen,
www.dai-tuebingen.de;
Sep 21, PZ-Forum, Pforzheim;
Sep 22, Kunstverein,
Tauberbischofsheim;
Sep 23, Kulturhaus Karlstorbahnhof,
Heidelberg, www.karlstorbahnhof.de
Sep 24, Tollhaus Karlsruhe,
www.tollhaus-karlsruhe.de
Sep 26, Turmtheater Regensburg,
www.dombrolit.de
Music
Music
Bühl
Lost Highway (USA) Bluegrass
Nov 14, 8 pm, Schütte-Keller,
www.schuettekeller.de
Freiburg
Golden Horse
Sep 2, 8 pm, Jazzhaus,
www.jazzhaus.de
Heilbronn
Cara, Irish music
Oct 6, Altes Theater
Karlsruhe
The Subways
Sep 25, Substage,
Kriegsstraße 15, www.substage.de
Krusty Moors
Oct 17, Scruffy’s Irish Pub
Ludwigsburg
Karl Frierson –
The Voice of De Phazz
Sep 24, 8 pm, Scala,
www.scala-ludwigsburg.de
B.B. King The Final Farewell Tour
Sep 10, 8 pm, SAP-Arena
Reichenbach
Angelo Kelly & Band
I’m Ready Tour, rock.
Sep 9, 9 pm, die halle,
Kanalstraße 10, www.diehalle.de
Boo Boo Davis Blues Band
Sep 16, 9 pm, die halle,
see address above
Charlie A’Court
Canada, Bring on the Storm Tour.
Oct 2, 9 pm, die halle,
see address above
Schorndorf
Amusement Parks on Fire
Sep 16, 9 pm, Manufaktur,
Hammerschlag 8,
www.club-manufaktur.de
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
& The Dead Science
Sep 17, 9 pm, Manufaktur
Peaches & Planning to Rock
Sep 19, 9 pm, Manufaktur
Stuttgart
European Music Festival:
Ways to Mozart
Sep 3 -17, www.bachakademie.de
Mogwai, pop
Sep 5, 8 pm, LKA Longhorn,
Heiligenwiesen 6, 0711 4098290,
www.Lka-Longhorn.de
Blind Guardian, rock
A Twist in the Myth Tour,
special guest: Astral Doors.
Sep 9, 8 pm, Messe Congress
Centrum B Stuttgart-Killesberg,
www.messe-stuttgart.de
The Slackers + Argies
Sep 13, 9 pm, Landespavillon,
Schillerstraße
Arlo Guthrie &
accents magazine
Hans-Eckardt Wenzel
Sep 16, 8 pm, T1 Theaterhaus,
Siemensstraße 11, tickets 0711
402070, www.theaterhaus.com
Radio Birdman
Sep 22, Universum, Pfaffenwaldring
45, www.universum-stuttgart.de
Flipsyde, hip hop
Sep 25, Röhre, Willy-Brandt-
Straße 2/1, 0711 2991499,
www.roehre-konzerte.de
Jan Delay
Sep 26, Zapata, www.zapata.de
Seachange, Indie rock
Sep 24, Schocken, Hirschstraße 36,
www.club-schocken.de
Bif Naked
Sep 28, 9 pm, Die Röhre,
see address above
Billy Talent, punk
Oct 5, Kongresszentrum
Liederhalle, Berliner Platz 1- 33,
www.liederhalle-stuttgart.de
Barrelhouse Jazz Gala
A Night in New Orleans 2006
Part II
Oct 6, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
Mozart-Saal, see address above
I Love You But I’ve Chosen
Darkness, Indie Rock
Oct 17, Schocken,
see address above
Panic! At the Disco
Oct 18, 9 pm, Die Röhre,
see address above
Joseph Parsons
Oct 20, Laboratorium,
Wagenburgstraße 147,
www.laboratorium-stuttgart.de
Corinne Bailey Rae
Oct 22, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
Beethoven-Saal, see address above
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Oct 23, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
Beethoven-Saal, see address above
Irish Folk-Festival ‘06
Tribute To The Galway Hooker
Boats
Oct 24, 7:30 pm, T1 Theaterhaus,
see address above
INXS
Oct 24, 8 pm, LKA Longhorn,
see address above
Les Misérables
The Kelley Theatre has been
newly renovated and re-opens
with this smash-hit musical
in celebration of more than
25 years of first class English-
speaking theater in Stuttgart.
Oct 13th, see listing p. 16
accents magazine
Zebrahead
Oct 25, 9 pm, Die Röhre,
see address above
Cracker
Oct 26, Laboratorium,
see address above
Jurassic 5
Oct 27, 8 pm, LKA Longhorn,
see address above
U.F.O. with Andy Parker
Nov 1, 8 pm, LKA Longhorn,
see address above
On tour in the region
Acoustic Eidolon
and Thomas Loefke
Oct 20, Freudenstadt;
Oct 21, Lauchheim, Schloss
Kapfenbuch, with SWR-Radio;
Oct 22, Welzheim, 3 pm;
Oct 22, Asperg,
Glasperlenspiel, 7 pm;
Oct 23, Ludwig Schlaich School,
7:30 pm;
Oct 24, Murrhardt,
Erich Schumm Stift, 6 pm;
Oct 25, Schwäbisch Gmünd,
Cafe Spielplatz, 8:30 pm
Luka Bloom
Sep 23, Tollhaus, Karlsruhe;
Sep 24, Feuerwche, Mannheim
Crooked Jades: Americana Roots
from San Francisco
Oct 13, 8:30 pm, Club Bastion,
Kirchheim Teck,
www.club-bastion.de;
Oct 14, 8:30 pm,
Wirtshaus Konfetti, Neustadt,
www.kulturverein-wespennest.de;
Oct 16, 8:30 pm, Jazzkeller,
Tübingen, www.jazz-keller.com;
Oct 17, 8:30 pm, Spitalkeller,
Offenburg, www.361grad.de;
Oct 26, 8 pm, Schütte-Keller, Bühl,
www.schuettekeller.de
Joshua Kadison solo on piano
Sep 3, 8 pm,
Konzerthaus, Karlsruhe;
Sep 4, 8 pm, Theaterhaus, Stuttgart;
Sep 14, 8 pm, Jazzhaus, Freiburg;
Sep 19, 8 pm,
Festhalle Harmonie, Heilbronn;
Sep 25, 8 pm, Stadthalle, Tuttlingen
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
Oct 13, 8 pm,
Lehenbachhalle, Winterbach;
Oct 15, 8 pm,
Festhalle, Karlsruhe-Durchlach
Paddy goes to Holyhead
Sep 14, Festhalle, Leingarten;
Oct 7, JUBEZ, Karlsruhe
The Kooks, rock
Sep 15, 9 pm, halle02, Heidelberg;
Sep 17, 9 pm, Die Röhre, Stuttgart;
Radio 4, punk
Sep 22, 9:30 pm, Karlstorbahnhof,
Am Karlstor 1, Heidelberg;
Sep 24, Schocken, Stuttgart
Eagle*Seagull, Indie rock
Sep 26, Substage, Karlsruhe;
Sep 30, Schocken, Stuttgart
Roy Sexsmith
Oct 16, 9 pm, Die Röhre, Stuttgart;
Oct 18, 8 pm, Jazzhaus, Freiburg;
Tickets can be bought by calling
Easy-ticket service 0711 2555555,
www.easyticket.de or
SWR 1 ticket service 0180 5929211
Lectures/Discussions
Freiburg
Lecture
Open Dialog
Every other Wed, 6:30 - 8 pm,
please check website for dates and
topics, Carl-Schurz-Haus,
Eisenbahnstraße 62, 0761 5565270,
www.carl-schurz-haus.de
Heidelberg
Discussion group
with Dr. Steven Bloom
Wednesdays, 6 pm,
d.a.i., library, Sofienstraße 12,
www.dai-heidelberg.de Special Film Showing:
English-Language Video United 93 (2006)
Discussion Group At the CORSO-Kino in
Tuesdays, 6 pm, d.a.i., library, Vaihingen we will show
see address above Paul Greengrass’s
Reading poeZone4 film about 9/11. Open
Sep 26, John Haskell discussion after the film.
American Purgatorio ; Sep 11, 7 pm
Oct 3, Zadie Smith On Beauty ;
Oct 12, Charles Simic My Noiseless Robert Fass: As long
Entourage , and Ranjit Hoskote as we both shall live
Die Ankunft der Vögel A unique photographic
8 pm, d.a.i., Great Hall, study of long-married
see address above couples in the US.
In Search of Major Plagge Sep 12, 6 pm
Lecture by Michael Good
Oct 10, 8 pm, d.a.i., Great Hall, Get Registered to VOTE!
see address above Midterm US Elections
Karlsruhe A special event for
DEF English Conversation Circle German and US citizens
3rd Tuesday of each month, in cooperation with the
7:30 pm, Moltkestraße 20, Room 4 US Consulate General,
LitNight in English Republicans Abroad and
Reading and discussing literature Democrats Abroad.
1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month, Debate, voter registration,
7:30 pm, American Library, Sep 29, 6 pm
www.american-library.de
Poetry Please Deutsch-
Poems read and discussed in Amerikanisches Zentrum
English. 4th Tuesday of the month, James-F.-Byrnes-Institut
7:30 - 9 pm, American Library, e.V. Charlottenplatz 17
Tom 0721 3540477 70173 Stuttgart
Stuttgart 0711-228180
The Empire Study Group www.daz.org
A popular study group by Laurence
Stallings and Scott Stelle.
View topics on www.daz.org.
2nd Friday of the month at 5 pm,
DAZ, Charlottenplatz 17, 0711
Subscribe
228180. Next dates: Sep 8, Oct 13
Film: United 93 (2006)
Special showing of Paul
Greengrass’s film about the 9/11
terrorist attacks. Discussion follow- One-year subscription (6 issues):
ing film. Sep 11, 7 pm, Corso Kino, 20 euros. Payment preferred by
Stuttgart, in cooperation with the direct debit or deposit check.
DAZ. Info 0711 228180
Meet the Author Name
Sep 25, John Haskell
American Purgatorio ; Street
Oct 5, Michael Good
In Search of Major Plagge ; Postal code/City
Oct 23, Askold Meinyczuk
What is Told ; State/Country
7:30 pm, DAZ, see address above
Get Registered to VOTE! Telephone
In the Midterm US Elections
An informative evening for German E-mail
and US citizens with local Demo-
crats and Republicans expressing Account holder
their opinions. Voter registration
and other services provided by the Account no.
US Consulate General, Frankfurt.
Sep 29, 6 pm DAZ, Bank Code (BLZ)
see address above
Conversation Circle Name of Bank
Every 3rd Friday of the month from
6 to 7 pm, Stammtisch at 7:15 pm.
Conference Room, DAZ, I hereby give accents media GbR
see address above permission to debit the sub-
Tübingen scription fee of 20 euros from
Writer’s Club my account.
With Carolyn Murphey Melchers,
Oct 13, 2 - 4 pm, d.a.i.,
see address above
Book Discussion
Date
Signature account holder
Oct 13, Alice Munro: Runaway
6:30 - 8 pm, d.a.i.,
see address above
accents choice 17
 Talk At Eight: Discussion Group
on Current Issues
by Laurence Stallings. Oct 13,
8:15 pm, d.a.i., see address above
The One-Dimensional Empire:
The Leveling-Down of Reality
A popular study group by Laurence
Stallings and Scott Stelle, view
topics on www.dai-tuebingen.de.
Oct 27, 6:45 pm, d.a.i.,
see address above
Workshops
Heidelberg
Work
Workshops at the
German-American Institut (d.a.i)
Visit the website for a list of
current workshops on TOEFL
exams, conversation, job hunting,
and orientation for newcomers.
www.dai-heidelberg.de
Stuttgart
Workshops at the German-
American Center (DAZ)
Visit the website for a list of
current workshops on writing,
quilting and dances. www.DAZ.org
The Society of Children’s Book
Writers and Illustrators
Mini-conference with writers,
illustrators, editors. Sep 23, 10 am -
5 pm, Stuttgart International
School, info cjmcnanie@yahoo.com
Irish Ceílí
Halpin School of Irish Dance.
Irish dancing taught every 3rd
Saturday of the month from 4 -7 pm,
Saal, Bürgerhaus Botnang,
accents
guide
Emergency
Police 110
Emerg
Fire Department 112
Ambulance & Emergency
Medical 19222
Poison Hotline 0761 19240
English Speaking Poison
Control 06131 232466
Doctor for House Calls
0711 2628012
Consulates/Embassies
sulates
Australia
030 8800880, Wallstraße 76-79,
Berlin
Canada
0711 2239678, Lange Straße 51,
Stuttgart
Ireland
030 220720, Friedrichstraße 200,
Berlin
New Zealand
030 206210, Friedrichstraße 60,
Berlin
South Africa
18 accents guide
accents forum
Our informal get-together
for readers and contributors.
Friday, September 1st, 7 pm
at o’reilly’s Irish pub,
Reuchlinstraße 27, Stuttgart,
next door in the beer garden.
If it rains, we’ll meet inside.
Friday, November 10th, 7 pm
location to be announced
accents
magazine
www.danceirish.de
Tübingen
Quilting Bees:
A Forum for Patchwork Quilters
3rd Thursday of month, 3 - 5 pm,
d.a.i., see address above
Next dates: Sep 21, Oct 19,
Nov 16, Dec 14
Kids
Freiburg
Kids
Tell Me a Story!
Reading by Bill Wilson (USA)
Check carl-schurz-haus.de for dates, www.american-library.de
5 - 6 pm, Carl-Schurz-Haus,
see address above
030 220730, Friedrichstraße 60,
Berlin
United Kingdom
0211 94480, Yorckstraße 19,
Düsseldorf
United States of America
069 75350, Gießener Straße 30,
Frankfurt
Schools & Preschools
ools
International School
of Stuttgart e.V.
0711 7696000, Sigmaringer Straße
257, Stuttgart, www.international-
school-stuttgart.de
Botnanger Kinderbetreuung
Bilingual Kindergarden
0711 6993404 Gina Kussi,
Griegstraße 18, Stuttgart
Internationaler Montessori
Kindergarten e.V.
0711 93150510, Sulzgrieser
Straße 114, Esslingen,
www.montessori-esslingen.de
EducCare Bilingual Kindergarden
0711 6581447, Hasenbergstraße
31/2, Stuttgart, www.educcare.de
English for Kids!
0711 6491537 Conny von Scholley,
www.spielendsprachenlernen.de
European School Karlsruhe
0721 680090, Albert-Schweitzer-
Straße 1, Karlsruhe
English Garden
English and music lessons, 0761
8866181, Hasenweg 34, Freiburg
Oberlin Kinderuniversität
0761 85648,
Am Mühlbach 13, Freiburg,
www.oberlinkinderuniversitaet.de
Children’s English Library
Halloween Party
Spooks, goblins, and fairies
will have their say again at
the CEL’s annual fundraising
event. Food, fun, and games,
Oct 21, 2- 5 pm,
www.celstuttgart.de
Karlsruhe
Storytime in English!
Children aged 2 - 5 years. Every 2nd
and 4th Wednesday of the month
at 4 pm, American Library,
Stories for Kids ages 6 and up
Sep 29, 4 pm, The Klondike cat,
International School
of Kreuzlingen Konstanz
0041 71 6722727
Hauptstraße 27, Kreuzlingen,
Switzerland, www.iskk.ch
Heidelberg International School
06221 7590600, Villa Heinstein,
Wieblinger Weg 9, Heidelberg,
www.hischool.de
International School Ulm/Neu-Ulm
0731 3793530, Beyerstraße 45, Ulm,
www.is-ulm.de
English for preschoolers
and first graders in Freiburg
0761 1378177 Cathy Plog,
plogs@t-online.de
Little English House
English and art for kids 3 and up
www.littleenglishhouse.de
Helen Doron Early English
Learning English with fun and
gamens, www.hdee.de
Libraries
Librari
Children’s English Library e.V.
0711 3582215, Etzelstraße 25-27,
Stuttgart, Tue 4-6 pm, Fri 3-6 pm,
Sat 2-5 pm, www.celstuttgart.de
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum
Charlottenplatz 17, Stuttgart,
Tue-Thu 2-6 pm
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Tübingen
Karlstraße 3, Tue-Fri 1-6 pm,
Thursdays 1- 8 pm
Karlsruhe American Library
0721 72752, Kanalweg 52,
Tue-Fri 2-6 pm, Wed 10-12 am,
Sat 10 am-2 pm,
www.amerikanische-bibliothek.de
American Library,
see address above
Hogwart’s Library Halloween Night
For kids ages 10 and up. Sign up
requested, 0721 72752, Oct 27,
8 pm - 12:30 am, American Library,
see address above
Stuttgart
Listen in
Story and activity for kids 3 - 6 years
with parent. Sat 3:30 - 4:30 pm,
Sep 30, Oct 14, Children’s English
Library (CEL), Etzelstraße 25-27,
0711 3582215, www.celstuttgart.de
Kid’s English classes at the CEL
For native and non-native speakers,
all ages. Dates and times:
www.celstuttgart.de
CEL Halloween Party
Frightfully fun for families, folks,
and fairies! Food, games, and
tombola. Oct 21, 2 - 5 pm, CEL,
see address above
Sunday Stories: Autumn Tales
Actress Greta Redmond (NEAT
New English American Theater)
tells stories for kids, 4 and up.
Oct 22, 3 pm, kkt,
Kissinger Straße 66a, 0711 563034,
www.neat-theater.de
Halloween for Kids
Celebrate with spine-chilling stories
and many other activities. Oct 31,
3 - 5 pm, DAZ, see address above ,
register by Oct 26 at 0711 228180
Tübingen
English Story Time
for kids ages 4-6 with Anne
Crutchfield, 1st Wednesday of the
month, Next dates: Oct 4, Nov 8,
Dec 6, 4 - 5 pm, d.a.i.,
see address above
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Heidelberg
Sophienstraße 12, Mon-Fri 1-6 pm,
Wed 1-8 pm, Sat 10 am-2 pm
Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg
Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 266,
Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 1:30 pm, 3-6 pm
Clubs & Organizations
Clubs &
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum /
James-F.-Byrnes-Institut e.V.
0711 228180, Charlottenplatz 17,
Stuttgart, www.daz.org
70173: English Spoken Stammtisch
12:00 pm at Restaurant Plenum in
the B-W Landtag Building, contact
Andrea.Krueger@wm.bwl.de for
dates. Open participation. Founders:
Andrea Krueger & Dr. Peter Mendler
(both of the B-W Ministry of Eco-
nomic Affairs) and Rainer Wieland
(Member of the European Parliament)
Stammtisch TRANSATLANTIK
Once a month at Plenum Restaurant
Stuttgart, info at DAZ 0711 228180
Metropolitan Club e.V.
Social, educational & cultural events
for all nationalities, www.metclub.de
Stuttgart Conversation Club
0711 8892252 Ed Wilson,
35 years and up, www.metclub.de
Conversation Group Stuttgart
For native and non-native speakers,
Pádraic Ó Leanacháin 0711 2737740,
www.englishcom.de
Baltimore Beauties
Quilting bee at the DAZ, Stuttgart,
every 3rd Fri of the month,
9 -12 am, 0711 243242 Judy Ehmer
accents magazine
Stuttgart Book Club
www.StuttgartBookClub.de
German-American Club 1948
0711 814270 Eberhard Stein
German-American
Women’s Club Stuttgart
info@gawc-stuttgart.de,
www.gawc-stuttgart.de
International
Women’s Club Stuttgart
All nationalities and ages, every 1st
Wed of the month, 10 am - 12:30 pm,
Kulturcafe Merlin, Augustenstraße 72,
0711 6566340, www.iwcstuttgart.org
Anglo-Stuttgart Society
0711 568113 Günther Jaumann,
www.jaumann.de/ass
British Club Stuttgart
0711 455464 Alison Seyerle
Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft e.V.
0172 7391495 Peter Alderath,
Gasthaus Hirsch, Bernhausen,
1st Wed of the month
Asia Circle International Club
07156 29164, asia-circle@web.de,
www.asia-circle.de
International Choir of Stuttgart
0711 769600912 Carola,
int_choir_stuttgart@hotmail.com
Stuttgart Singers
07159 44991 Kathy Williams,
www.stuttgartsingers.de
Stuttgart German-American
Community Chorus
0711 463463 David A. Beckner
EUCOM Harmonizers
Stuttgart-Vaihingen
Barbershop and a cappella,
07146 20677 John Gerrish
German-American Seniors Club
0711 2560867 Hildegard Göhrum
English Round Table, Esslingen
Conversation group,
0711 3451344, Claudia Stadelmann,
info@bueroservice-jaeschke.de
Fáinne Irish Dance Group Stuttgart
0711 483901, www.fainne.de
Irish Dance Ceili, Stuttgart
Every 3rd Saturday of the month
www.danceirish.de
German Conversation Group
07032 77919 Elena Fieres
ELTAS e.V.
English Language Teachers’
Association Stuttgart, www.eltas.de
International Toastmasters Club,
Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe,
Freiburg, Ulm
Presentational skills in English,
find links to all chapters at
www.toastmasters-stuttgart.de
English-Speaking Stammtisch
S-Untertürkheim
0711 3041337 Derek Evans
Deutsch Australische
Freundschaft e.V.
07031 607521 Jeff Gomes,
www.deutsch-australische-
freundschaft.de
Friends Club International e.V.
Böblingen-Sindelfingen
07031 806522 Jan W. Boon
“Here We Are”
International Group Esslingen
07163 8580 Alison Unrath
English Morning Tea Aidlingen
07034 7339 Ellen Zeller,
Wed 10 am - 12 pm
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Tübingen
07071 795260, Karlstraße 3,
www.dai-tuebingen.de
Anglo-German Club Pforzheim
07231 472155 Dr Maurice Claypole,
www.agc-pforzheim.de
Pro Country e.V. Deutscher
Country & Western Dachverband
07150 33212 Ralf Russig,
www.pro-country-ev.de
accents magazine
English-Speaking Circle Starzach
and Landkreise Freundenstadt,
Tübingen & Zollernalb
07478 8290 Kevin MacInerney-May
Schorndorf English Club
07181 64440 Marion Rube
ygroups
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Heidelberg
06221 60730, Sofienstraße 12,
www.dai-heidelberg.de
German-British Society,
Freiburg, Heidelberg, and Stuttgart
0761 4098804 Dr. Susanne Press,
06221 864761 Prof. Manfred Liedtke,
0711 66721255 Dr. Christoph Selzer,
www.debrige.de
German-English
Friendship Club e.V. Karlsruhe
0721 7569503 Rose Schrempp,
info@def-karlsruhe.de,
www.def-karlsruhe.de
International Women’s Club
Karlsruhe e.V.
Annemarie Frenzel, Postfach
110448, 76054 Karlsruhe
Verein Deutsch-Amerikanischer
Freundschaft Pfullendorf
07552 6249 Dr Gary Anderson
Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg
0761 5565270, Eisenbahnstraße 62,
www.carl-schurz-haus.de
Anglo-German Club e.V. Freiburg
07661 1324, Wehrlehof Straße 11,
Oberried, peleube@hotmail.com
Freiburg English Club
0177 6553688 Terrence Barr
www.freiburg-english-club.org
Network of English-Speaking
Women e.V.
07664 962450 Candice Siegenthaler,
NesWomen@web.de, www.nesw.de
British International
Villingen-Schwenningen
07721 53278 Carol King,
www.bivs.gmxhome.de
Deutsch-Irischer Freundeskreis (dif)
0711 2361736, www.dif-bw.de
Region Schwaben, Verband der
Deutsch-Amerikanischen Clubs e.V.
07156 29164 Mi-Kiyoung Wöhler,
www.schwaben-vdac.de.vu
Theater Groups
Theate
A.C.T.S. Anglophone
Collaborative Theatre of Stuttgart
0711 6858370 Stuart Marlow,
smarlow@hdm-stuttgart.de
Kelley Theatre
Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart,
0711 7292825, www.kelleytheatre.de
N.E.A.T.
New English American Theater
Sophie Kränzle, kkt@z.zgs.de,
www.neat-theater.de
Outcast International
0711 634409, Stuttgart,
www.outcast-theater.de
Anglo-Irish
Theatre Group Tübingen
07071 67968 David Hegarty,
dave@anglo-iren.de,
www.anglo-iren.de
The Round Table Players, Aalen
Eva Schumm,
schumm@vhs-aalen.de
Roadside Theater
Patton Barracks, Heidelberg,
siness
06221 175020,
www.roadsidetheater.com
Theaterhaus TiG 7
0621 154976, Theater Trennt e.V.
G7, 4 b, Mannheim, www.tig7.de
The maniACTS Freiburg
University English Department,
www.maniacts.de
Kids & Playgroups
English Playgroup Stuttgart-West
0711 6361169 Bryan Groenjes,
EKiZ Ludwigstraße 41-43,
0-6 years, Wed 4-6 pm
English Playgroup Stuttgart
0-9 years, www.englishplaygroup.de
English Playgroup at the DAZ
Stuttgart
0711 228180, 4-6 years on Tue
3 - 4 pm, 2- 4 years on Tue 4 - 5 pm
English Playgroup Böblingen
07031 287647 Stefanie Spence,
0-7 years, Wed 3:30-5 pm
English Playgroup
Holzgerlingen/Böblingen area
07034 654608 Anita Mayer
0-5 years, Wed 9:30-10:30 am
English Playgroup Sindelfingen
07031 873823 Christine Mitlacher,
Feb 2001 - Feb 2003, Thue 3 -
4:30 pm, Mitlacher-sifi@t-online.de
St. Georg MKK English
Playgroup in Bonlanden
Tue 3:30-5:30 pm,
0-5 years, Nicki 0711 3270748,
5-10 years, Mhorag Heger
07127 960046
English Playgroup
Herrenberg/Nebringen
07032 77452 Erika Laudenbach,
0-5 years, Mon 3-5 pm
English Playgroup Calw/Nebringen
07051 70712 Susan Rosa, 0 - 5 years,
Fri 3 - 5:30 pm
Meet, Chat and
Playgroup Waldenbuch
07157 8561 Elaine Rauhöft,
Fri from 4 pm onwards
English on a Friday Afternoon
Tübingen
07071 930466 Günter Henke,
Fri from 3:30 pm onwards
English Playgroup in Rödersheim-
Gronau (postal code 67127)
06231 929616 Mrs I. Smith,
Fri 10 am, Luise Koch Kindergarten
English Reading Group Freiburg
Mütterzentrum Weingarten,
Krozingerstraße 11,
0761 286803 Amanda Lampert or
07666 99126 Fredi Trenkle
Political Groups
Political
American Voices Abroad Tübingen
fritz.hackert@arcor.de,
www.americanvoicesabroad.org
Democrats Abroad
Heidelberg,
06221 3780 Charles Keene,
Stuttgart,
0162 9824870 Dennis O’Donohue,
www.democratsabroad.org
Republicans Abroad Stuttgart
Timothy Smith,
tsmith@republicansabroad.de
Business Organizations
American German Business Club
e.V. Stuttgart, Heidelberg,
Karlsruhe
Stuttgart: 0711 2486078 Peggy
Stinson, stuttgart@agbc.de,
Karlsruhe: 0721 6268760 Raymond
Jordan, karlsruhe @agbc.de,
Heidelberg: 06221 23597 Barry
Swanson, heidelberg@agbc.de
American Chamber of Commerce
in Germany e.V.
0711 1667156 Prof Dr Roderich
C. Thümmel, Regional Chairperson,
www.amcham.de
British Chamber of Commerce
in Germany e.V.
0711 25540460 Ralf Steppart,
Regional Chairperson,
www.bccg.de
USA forum Tübingen
07071 55970 Bernd Zeutschel,
www.usaforum.de
Religious Services
St. Catherine’s Church
Reli
(Anglican) 0711 7878783
Pastor Kenneth Dimmick,
Katharinenplatz 5, Stuttgart,
www.stuttgartanglicans.de
City Chapel e.V. Stuttgart
0711 6142956 Roland Krumm,
Marienstraße 12, www.citychapel.de
International Baptist Church
Stuttgart-Vaihingen:
0711 6874365 Pastor Jay McFadden;
Heidelberg-Sandhausen:
06224 51516 Pastor Richard Blake;
www.ibcstuttgart.de
St. Antonius Church
0711 4597152 Odilo Metzler,
Catholic Mass in English
1st Saturday every month, 6:30 pm
Paracelsusstraße 87,
Stuttgart-Hohenheim
First Church of Christ, Scientist
0711 6207921 Heinz Clauss,
www.christian-science-stuttgart.de
United Methodist Church
Stuttgart: 0711 251984
Dr Hans-Martin Niethammer;
Reutlingen:
07121 78546 Harald Rückert;
Karlsruhe: 0721 43721 Peter Vesen;
www.emk.de
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints
Stuttgart:
0711 3419240 Ralf Gierschke;
Mannheim:
06223 809040 Dr Frank Heckmann,
www.lds.org
Church of the Nazarene
0711 551147 Mary Schaar,
Friedenskirche, Bad Cannstatt
Word of Faith Mission International
0711 7560369 Pastor Gift Aigbe,
In den Wannenäckern 24,
Bad Cannstatt, www.word-of-faith.de
Evangelical Students
Community Tübingen
07071 61928 Heidi Abe
English Vesper Service Tübingen
Sun 6 pm, during the university
semester, 07071 51475,
www.institut-urchristentum.org
Jewish Observance,
Learning & Meditation, Tübingen
07071 968590 Martin H. Potrop,
SPIRITSHUL@aol.com
St Columban’s Mission Karlsruhe
(Anglican) 0721 28379 (Fax also)
Rev. Dr. Hanns Engelhardt,
www.staugustines-wiesbaden.de/
karlsruhe.htm, St.Columban@gmx.de
Calvary Chapel Freiburg e.V.
0761 7071333 David Pham,
www.ccfreiburg.de
Anglican Church of Freiburg
0761 904693 Minister Rev Robin
Stockitt, Katharinenstraße 9,
www.anglicans-fr.org
English Church Heidelberg
Erlöserkirche, Plöck/Schießtorstraße
06221 804146
accents guide 19
Classifieds Business Services
TAX ME NOT – IRS FREE MONEY
US Citizen? Pay German Taxes?
Have kid(s)? IRS may owe you a
refund! Full range of Professional
Tax Services. You must file a tax
return even if you don’t owe!
07071 968590 potrop@aol.com
Translations
Michael B. Hixson, J.D., LL.M. English-German, German-English,
Attorney-at-Law New York /Stuttgart Economics/Marketing/Medicine/
Amthausstraße 1 Certificates, Christine Schwartz,
70839 Stuttgart-Gerlingen Certified Translator,
Tel 07156 17556-30 contact 0711 5779139 or
www.grossmann.biz skype: mbhixson
selectranslate@t-online.de
Medical Writing and Translations
German-English, English-German
Karen Grützner mgruetz@t-online.de
MASSAGE THERAPIST
Australian Therapist, new in Stgt.
12 yrs exp & excellent hands!
Relaxation, Deep Tissue, Remedial,
Aromatherapy & Soft Tissue
Realignment. Please contact
Vanessa 0174 6330010 or
vanessakreymborg@hotmail.com.
Stgt. West, moments from
centrum. Sept. offer 30 euros/hr.
Employment
Linguarama Spracheninstitut
is seeking qualified native-
speaker EFL teachers for
business English courses
which started in October 2006.
Especially those with a technical
background are welcomed.
Application materials by e-mail.
stuttgart@linguarama.com
or call 0711 997993-30
Native speakers wanted
with financial/technical/business
experience and excellent inter-
personal and language skills.
Freelance work. Contact:
andrina.rout@fokussprachen.com
CleverKids English
Teachers and District Managers
needed for the greater Heidelberg/
Mannheim and Stuttgart areas
as well as Baden-Württemberg
in general. Freelance positions.
Advertising accents media GbR
is seeking a part-time advertising
Training and curriculum provided.
www.cleverkidsenglish.de,
Sales sales representative for the
acquisition of ads and business
07159 408221
Representative promotions. A firm command of
the German language is required. Opportunities
Payment on a commission basis.
accents Please contact Children’s book writer?
magazine ads@accents-magazine.de Illustrator? Published or aspiring,
come to the Society of Child-
ren’s Book Writers and Illustra-
tors September miniconference.
Meet writers/illustrators. Talks
by guest editors. Chance to
network, form critique groups.
23 Sept. from 10 am - 5 pm at
the Stuttgart International School.
10 euros members, 12 euros
non-members. E-mail for info:
cjmcnanie@yahoo.com
20 Classifieds
Seeking creative craftsman!
Experienced craftsman, mechanic,
welder seeking a like-minded tech-
nically inclined craftsman with a
workshop or an interest in opening
a workshop in the Stuttgart area
for hobby projects, creative ideas,
inventions. I speak English and
German. Please contact
Stg-A@web.de
Personal
Seeking Babysitter
for our daughters (3yrs and 6 mths).
We are a German family moving
to Stuttgart-Möhringen. Both our
daughters are born in England and
bilingual (each in her own way!).
We are looking for a caring, active
and communicative female to play;
read; go swimming; do fun and
everyday stuff 2 - 3 afternoons
a week from early September.
s_kremer@web.de; 0151 55946114
Babysitter wanted
We are looking for a native speaker
who would enjoy spending time
with our daughter, 8 months, in
Stuttgart-West (close to S-Bahn
Schwabstraße). Please contact
am.greiner@web.de
Seeking to Rent
Family of 5 seeking to rent
a 4/5 room apartment in or near
Stuttgart-West, long-term. A child-
friendly apt. with a yard or a terrace
would be ideal. 0711 6361169
Send ads to
classifieds@accents-magazine.de
or fax 0711 3102161. One line
of text contains approx. 34
characters, including spaces,
full-stops and commas.
Personal ads
Price for three lines E4
Each additional line E 0.90
Frame around ad E5
Commercial text ads
Price for three lines E 15
Each additional line E2
Frame around ad E7
Commercial designed ads
Black and white or colour.
Column width 45.5 mm
or 95 mm for two columns.
Price for 30 mm
Additional millimeter
E 49
E 1.35
For 3 placements save 5%
for 6 placements save 10%
Add 16% VAT to all prices
Classified ads must be paid
in advance by direct debit or
bank transfer:
accents media GbR
SEB AG Stuttgart
bank code 60010111
account no. 2398600700
The deadline for the Nov/ Dec
2006 issue is Oct 13th
accents magazine

Money Matters
Holiday spending
The summer holidays are over, but it’s
always a concern whenever you travel:
Do I take plastic or cash with me? Are tra-
vellers cheques all that useful nowadays?
Regardless of where you’re travelling,
the best rule of thumb is not to rely on just
one form of money.
It’s advisable to take at least a small
amount of cash with you – euros, as well
as the currency of your country-of-destina-
tion – although the general rule of thumb is
not to take more than a third of your holi-
day spending money as cash. If it’s stolen,
cash cannot be refunded. It’s often better
value to withdraw money from a local
ATM once you’re on holidays. Most ATM
cards are accepted all over the world.
Travellers cheques remain a safe and
secure alternative to cash. They can be
exchanged at banks and currency exchange
dealerships and can be used as legal tender
in many hotels, shops and restaurants.
A big advantage over cash is that lost or
Balingen Tips
Cultural variety
Balingen, in the Swabian Alb highlands,
60 kilometres south of Stuttgart, is worth
a visit at any time of the year. But this
autumn you can plan your visit around
one of the many cultural highlights on
offer in the coming months.
An exhibition of works by well-
known Alsatian artist Tomi Ungerer will
take place in the Rathaus-Galerie, in
Balingen’s town hall, from September 25
until November 5.
An extra special highlight in the
coming weeks will be the International
Bagpipe Festival, to be held from
October 12 -16. Bagpipe musicians and
groups from 20 European countries
accents magazine
stolen cheques will be replaced, as long
as you remembered to sign them when
you first bought them. Of course, travellers
cheques require a counter signature and
proof of identity.
Credit cards are accepted the world
over and are a fuss-free option for holiday-
makers. Make sure you save your receipts
so you can account for everything on your
monthly bill when you return home. With-
drawing cash with a credit card is subject
to a fee levied by the card-issuer. Within
the European Union, however, this fee
should not exceed the standard rate you
pay for using the card in Germany.
A handy advantage of credit cards is that
there are often attractive perks attached
to their use. The SEB Bank, for instance,
offers its Master Card Gold customers legal
protection for the use of rental cars, inter-
national health insurance coverage, and lia-
bility insurance, all for a yearly fee of 70
euros. Holders of this card are also entitled
gather for a packed program of concerts
featuring regional variations on the rich
tradition of European bagpipe music.
No visitor to Balingen this autumn
should miss the Animals of the Ice Age
exhibition, which runs until November 5.
It’s a trip back in time to the world of our
Stone-Age ancestors, featuring around 50
different life-sized models of animals, big
and small. Featured among them is the
mammoth (3.5 x 6 metres). A great
attraction for both children and adults.
On the occasion of its 25th anniver-
sary, the Stadthalle Balingen presents the
opera Carmen (November 24, 25 and 26).
A home-made production with internation-
Good to Know
Send your
comments and
questions to:
Günther Spieth,
Director,
SEB Bank Stuttgart.
Email:
Guenther.Spieth
@seb.de
to a 15% reduction on transatlantic flights
with American Airlines, 20% off Sixt car
hire, cheaper stays at Kempinski Hotels &
Resorts and half-price green fees at 1,800
golf courses worldwide. Happy travelling!
Written by Günther Spieth, SEB Bank, for
accents magazine. With over five million
customers and 20,000 employees, SEB is
one of the biggest financial service provid-
ers in northern Europe. www.seb.de
Photos: Courtesy of the City of Balingen
al soloists, the Academia Sinfonica and
the Balinger Opera Choir. And on Decem-
ber 2 and 3, don’t miss out on Balingen’s
traditional Christmas Market. It features
more than 140 stands and small huts in
the city centre, offering a variety of gift
ideas, a special program for children, and
Christmas entertainment on the stage in
front of the town hall.
Further info
Tourist Information
Färberstraße 2, 72336 Balingen
Tel 07433 170261, Fax 07433 2701004
E-mail stadt@balingen.de
Internet www.balingen.de
Good to Know 21
Labyrinth
Letters and packages
Germany’s postal system
Your local post office in Germany is no long-
er just a place for mailing letters. It’s a sta-
tionery shop and a bank as well. Customer-
friendly counters have replaced the glass-
window-with-a-hole through which you had
to shout your order of stamps. Most post
offices now have ropes and moveable poles
for people to form an orderly, single queue.
In the last few years, German Post (Deut-
sche Post) has smartened up its customer
service act to prepare for the more or less
full deregulation of postal services at the
end of next year. But all of this doesn’t
make some of its postal bureaucracy any
easier to comprehend.
Posting a normal letter anywhere in
Germany costs a minimum of 55 cents,
or up to 2.20 euros for a larger letter. If it
weighs between 1,000 and 2,000 grams (1-
2 kg) it gets classified as a “small package”
(Päckchen) and costs 4.30 euros. Beyond
two kilograms, it becomes a “package”
(Paket) and is more expensive. This seems
straightforward enough. However, when it
comes to international postage, the correct
category – letter, small package or package,
air mail or surface mail – can make a big
difference in price.
In most English-speaking countries the
Need to mail a letter?
Get in line!
By Liz Gaiser
I don’t care what anyone says about the
modern, new-age Deutsche Post; it’s
always a nerve-wracking experience
waiting “in line” at my local post office.
Today there wasn’t really a line, more
a congested group of people all looking at
each other suspiciously. They were all
thinking the same thing. I was here first.
Realistically they couldn’t ALL have been
there first, but an awful lot of people
seem to morph into chaotic, illogical thin-
kers when it comes to forming a post-
office queue. Worse than the post office
is the bakery before closing time, when
some bakeries sell what’s left for half
price. There’s no hope of a line then.
Cutting in line is actually an art, possi-
bly offered as a course at German univer-
sities or just handed down from genera-
22 Labyrinth
Photo: www.photocase.com
Germany’s postal
system is to be
further deregulated
at the end of 2007
name you give to the thing you’re posting –
a letter, a box, a package – is often irrele-
vant in terms of cost. Not so in the German
postal system.
If you dump your mail on the counter you
tion to generation. An experienced cutter
stands next to you, never behind you. He
or she inches closer to the counter with-
out looking at you. (You have to inch for-
ward in sync with them. If they take the
lead, you need to cut them off in their
tracks without using words.) When the
person working behind the counter asks
who’s next, you’d better be quicker than
a kangaroo on hot desert sand. At times
like this I release the good old New
Yorker in me. I walk right in front of the
cutter as if they’re not there and asserti-
vely shout out my order.
However, waiting among the mass of
people in the post office today did have
its advantages. It gave me time to decide
whether I was going to send my parcel
as a letter or as a package. Technically it
was a letter. But I’d written so many
pages and included so many photos of
might be asked: “Do you want it sent as a
letter, a small package or a package?” The
question is often confounding because
you’re not a postal clerk. But if you’re send-
ing anything bigger than a normal letter,
make sure you ask for the price of each
postal option.
Note that anything heavier than two kilo-
grams – which will be defined as a “pack-
age” – is no longer sent overseas by ship.
All “packages” are now flown to their coun-
try of destination and then delivered by sur-
face or air mail within the country. The for-
mer option (air/surface) is not much slower
but considerably cheaper than the latter
(air/air) option. So if you’re sending a Christ-
mas parcel back home enquire about price
and delivery-time differences. If you are only
sending newspapers, magazines or books
within Germany or overseas, mention this to
the postal clerk as your postage may be
cheaper.
Deutsche Post offers an efficient service
by European standards but it’s not the only
postal company in Germany. Other compa-
nies which deliver letters and parcels can be
found in the Yellow Pages phone directory
under Kurierdienst or Paketdienst.
my adorable children that I had to pack it
in a large, padded envelope.
It turned out that sending my parcel
“as a letter” would have cost 14 euros,
while the same parcel magically renamed
a “small package” would cost only 12.90
euros. Both options would take 6 - 8
weeks. I’m still mystified as to why one
letter can have two different names and
two different prices.
Someone who once visited New York
told me how confused he was when he
tried to order fried eggs for breakfast in a
street-side café. He was hit with so many
confusing questions about having them
easy-over, over-hard, sunny-side-up (or)-
down and so on, that he just walked
away, a nervous wreck. Did he need a
special guide book just to order eggs?
I guess that every culture has ways
and means of mystifying foreigners.
accents magazine