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Berlin Real Estate Prices Soaring

Monday, May 21st, 2018

In 2017, Berlin’s real estate prices rose an average of 20.5%. Only a decade ago, Berlin’s mayor described the city as “poor but sexy.” But during the past few years, that picture has changed. The city’s economy is now booming, and the city’s budget is balanced. Foreign buyers flock into Berlin’s residential and commercial property markets. I guess Berlin is still sexy. But the changes also have a downside. Along with Berlin’s skyrocketing property prices, the city’s traditionally affordable rents and hip arts scene may soon be a thing of the past.

Cities at the top of the world’s real estate spiral

According to Knight Frank, one of the world’s leading commercial and residential real estate advisory and research firms, the German cities of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt ranked in the top 10 of cities with the world’s fastest real estate price increases last year. In 2017, Berlin moved into the number one position following several years of soaring property prices. Since 2004, Berlin’s real estate prices have increased by more than 120%. According to the Knight Frank global residential cities index (compiled from official government statistics or central bank data), in 2017 the 10 fastest rising property markets in the world were:

Berlin 20.5%
Izmir 18.5%
Reykjavik 16.6%
Vancouver 16.0%
Hong Kong 14.8%
Budapest 15.5%
Hamburg 14.1%
Munich 13.8%
Rotterdam 13.4%
Frankfurt 13.4%

Despite the steep increase,Berlin’s real estate prices are still relatively affordable in comparison to those in London and New York. Flats in prime parts of the German capital fetch only about a third of the price of an equivalent-sized property in London.

What causes Berlin’s real estate prices to soar?

Berlin’s real estate prices have been fueled by low interest rates and a fast-growing population. The city’s population has grown by about 50,000 per year over the past five years to 3.5 million. It is projected to reach 4 million by 2035. Housing units built have not kept up with the growing population. Meanwhile, investors from southern Europe shifted their assets northwards during the Eurozone debt crisis. Asian and US investors looked to Germany when returns in their own markets started to diminish. Brexit became another factor. It is a classic case of high demand and low supply.

Another factor is Berlin’s low home ownership rate. With only 15%, Berlin’s has one of the lowest ownership rates among cities in developed countries. The reason is that at the end of World War II 40% of all of Berlin’s housing was reduced to rubble. To create adequate housing opportunities, the government established stringent housing laws and built large apartment blocks that encouraged renting. To this day, renting remains the preference of most Berliners because the city’s rental market offers high-quality, affordable tenancies with a strong government commitment to maintain affordability while homeownership requires sizable down payments.

Real estate prices are rising in these typical residential and commercial areas of Berlin. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2016. www.walled-in-berlin.com

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

Tags: affordability, Berlin real estate prices, homeownership rate, Knight Frank global residential cities index
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Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport rooted in change

Monday, May 14th, 2018

Constructed between 1936 and 1941, British architect Norman Foster dubbed Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport the “Mother of all Airports” because it introduced so many groundbreaking new features, which later were copied around the world.

In 1948/49, Tempelhof Airport was crucial to the Berlin Airlift. Following World War II, US, British, French, and Soviet military forces occupied Germany and divided it into four occupation zones. Berlin ended up 100 miles inside the Soviet-controlled occupation zone. When tension between the four Allies escalated, the Soviets blocked all road, rail and water access to West Berlin. The three western Allies responded by airlifting food, fuel and medical supplies to West Berlin. During the Berlin Blockade, Tempelhof Airport was used as the main takeoff and landing site. Some of the airlift pilots dropped candy for Berlin’s children from their planes. US Col. Gail Halvorsen was the originator of the humanitarian gesture.

Berlin girls with flowers for Col. Gail Halvorsen. Collage on display at Berlin's Tempelhof Airport, Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Berlin girl with flowers for Col. Gail Halvorsen. Collage on display at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport, Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tempelhof Airport during the US Occupation

In July 1945, the Red Army handed over Tempelhof Airport to the US forces. Following extensive repairs, the US Air Force turned it into a military base and constructed a radio tower for surveillance purposes. The Air Force also set up several training facilities, a shooting range, various function rooms, a bowling alley, a basketball court, a supermarket, a cinema and a disco area. At one point, 2,000 US military personnel were stationed at Tempelhof Airport. In 1951, US occupation forces released part of the airport for civil and cargo operations.

Tempelhof Airport reached its capacity

Tempelhof Airport’s capacity for civil operations was stretched to the limits by the 1960s. Following the construction of Tegel Airport in the French sector of the city in 1975, Tempelhof operations were suspended. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, Tempelhof Airport reopened for domestic flights on an “on and off” basis, then permanently ceased all operations in November 2008.

Closing of Tempelhof Airport

Despite the efforts of about 500 protesters and a majority vote in a referendum to keep it open, Tempelhof Airport officially closed on 30 October 2008. Three years later, Berlin’s city planners proposed development of low-income housing for 4,700 families, a large public library and commercial uses along the perimeter of the site, while promising to turn its center into a park. But locals remained unconvinced. Instead, they initiated the 2014 “100% Tempelhofer Feld” referendum. That initiative forced the City of Berlin to abandon its development plans and to keep Tempelhof Airport a giant park until 2024. Beyond that date, the airport’s future is unclear, although many Berliners would like to preserve its uniqueness. For now, kite surfers, rollerbladers, weekend gardeners, artists, cyclists, joggers, jugglers, baton twirlers and dancers have full use of the airfield, and events such as the Formula E races, horse racing and soccer are not uncommon.

Remembering Tempelhof Airport

During the 1960s, the height of the Cold War, I was employed by Lufthansa, German Airlines, and worked in their cargo section. Lufthansa was not permitted to fly into West Berlin at that time. Only US, British and French-registered airlines operating non-combat aircraft had landing privileges, and pilots were required to hold a passport of one of those three countries. That meant that Pan American, British Airways and Air France were permitted to fly into West Berlin while Lufthansa had agreements with those three carriers to transport its freight between West Berlin and West German airports.

My Lufthansa cargo office was once located in this hanger at Tempelhof Airport. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Lufthansa’s cargo offices were located in one of the large, covered airport hangers. During lunchtime, I usually headed for the cafeteria of the Berlin police department, located in the very building the police still leases today. It was in this building that I regularly rode the paternoster. If you have never been on one, you haven’t lived!

Tags: 100% Tempelhofer Feld, Allied occupation of Berlin, Berlin, Berlin Airlift, Berlin Blockade, Col. Gail Halvorsen, Lufthansa, mother of all airports, Tegel Airport, Tempelhof Airport, US Air Force
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Mother of all Airports – Berlin Tempelhof

Monday, May 7th, 2018

British architect Norman Foster dubbed Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport the “Mother of all Airports” because it introduced so many innovative features, which later were copied around the world. The airport was built between 1936 and 1941 on the site of an existing, much smaller airport dating back to the German empire. Tempelhof Airport was designed by Ernst Sagebiel under Nazi direction. Planned in accordance with Hitler’s vision of Germania, it was built to impress. Its main building was once one of the largest structures in Europe.

Predecessor of the “Mother of all Airports”

The predecessor of Tempelhof Airport was constructed in several stages between 1923 and 1929. Its primary purpose was to test airships and balloons. Scientific weather forecasting was still in its infancy in the late 19th century, and previous observations had almost always been made from land. When in the late 1800s, a cooperative program between meteorology and aviation investigated the upper atmosphere with manned and unmanned balloons, the first manned, untethered test balloon was launched from the Tempelhof site. That was in 1891. Over the next few years, a total of 65 manned balloon flights were launched using 16 different balloons.

The “Mother of all Airports” was never finished

The buildings of the ‘Mother of all Airport” still stand today and are made of reinforced concrete with limestone façades. The main departure and arrival hall’s free cantilevered roof exceeds 1,000 yards in length. The hall’s floor-to-ceiling windows are designed to let in as much light as possible. But the airport’s most distinguishing feature is the curved roof that extends 130 feet over the tarmac. Almost a mile long, it protects passengers from the weather as they walk to and from planes. Tempelhof Airport’s physical appearance has not changed much during its 75-year existence with the exception that, unfortunately, many of the buildings are in poor condition.

Tempelhof Airport arrival and departure hall. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015, www.walled-in-berlin.com

Despite having been erected to embody Nazi Germany’s greatness, the “Mother of all Airports” was never more than 80% complete. Hitler also wanted the airport roof to accommodate as many as 100,000 spectators at air shows and military parades. But the 13 staircase towers that were supposed to take onlookers to the roof, were never built. Likewise, Hitler had envisioned a giant stadium surrounding the airport complex with the potential of accommodating a million spectators. That plan did not come to pass either. In fact, the Nazis never even used the airport’s grand buildings for their intended purpose. That did not happen until after WWII. The Nazis used them to house military aircraft and weapon construction projects. Then, when bombs fell on Berlin during World War II, Tempelhof Airport served as a huge air-raid shelter. Its rooms contained beds, toilets, food, and other amenities and were filled with people. The paintings on some of the walls still hark back to those times.

Wall paintings in a WWII bomb shelter at Tempelhof Airport, the “Mother of all airports”. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

During the height of the refugee crises in 2015, airport buildings housed up to 3,000 refugees. Since then, most of them have been relocated. Today, the airport’s main tenant is the police, which has been renting space since 1951.

Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport’s, “Mother of all Airports” rooftop for spectator seating that was never completed. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tags: Berlin, Ernst Sabebiel, Hitler, mother of all airports, Norman Foster, Tempelhof Airport, test balloons
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Berlin’s integrated public transportation system

Monday, April 30th, 2018

Berlin, the capital and largest city in Germany, has a very efficient, well-integrated public transportation system. When, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the city’s Eastern and Western sections were reunited and turned into one big metropolis again, the newly reunified city was left without a shared public transportation system.

After East and West had experienced decades of conflicting political, economic and cultural approaches to urban development, it was difficult for Berliners to travel between the former eastern and western parts of the city.

City planners went to work, and 12 years later the revamped S-Bahn network (elevated rail) was completed. Together with the U-Bahn (underground rail) the two systems form a ring around and crisscross the city center and provide the backbone of Berlin’s integrated public transportation system. The two systems share the same fare structure but have different operators. The S-Bahn is operated by the S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, and the U-Bahn is run by Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, the city’s public transit company. Trains, trams, buses and ferries connect to these two main public transportation systems and, of course, private cars, ferries, small cruise boats and bicycles co-exist.

Berlin’s Public Transportation System is frequent and affordable

The system is so comprehensive that private cars often become dispensable because car ownership and operation are expensive, parking opportunities scarce, and the use of private cars is restricted in the low-emission zone of central Berlin. Public transportation, on the other hand, is often the cheaper, quicker and more carbon-friendly alternative. Automobile-owning friends of mine often prefer to take public transportation to work and leave their car parked at the curb when they were lucky enough to find a parking spot close to home.

In contrast, the elevated rail runs every five minutes during peak hours and every ten minutes between peaks. The underground rail runs every two to five minutes during peak hours, every five minutes during the rest of the day and every ten minutes during evenings and on Sundays.

Berlin’s U-Bahn (underground rail) Buelowstrasse Station (elevated at this point) is part of the public transportation system. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

The biking alternative

The city’s flat terrain is ideal for cycling. According to recent studies, there are 7 bikes for every 10 Berliners. Men, women, children and seniors seem to be equally comfortable riding bikes in the downtown. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/berlin-a-bikers-paradise/ Bike racks are everywhere making bike-parking a snap. Bikes are considered a mode of transportation more or less on par with cars and subject to most of the same traffic regulations. Cycling in the wrong direction, running a red light, hurting a pedestrian in the pedestrian zone, talking on a cell phone while cycling, and cycling while under the influence of alcohol are all fined.

Tags: Berlin, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, biking alternative, public transportation system, S-Bahn (elevated rail), S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, U-Bahn (underground rail)
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Empty Bookshelves – Book-Burning Memorial

Monday, April 23rd, 2018

The most unusual monument I have ever seen is the Book-Burning Memorial, called “Empty Bookshelves.” It is located in the Bebelplatz (formerly Opernplatz), a public square on the south side of the Unter den Linden boulevard in the center of Berlin, Germany. A glass plate, set into the cobblestones of the square, allows passers-by to peer into a sunken library. There are enough shelves in this underground library to hold 20,000 books, but the shelves are empty. https://www.visitberlin.de/en/book-burning-memorial-bebelplatz/.

“Empty Bookshelves” is the work of Micha Ullman and serves as a reminder that on 10 May 1933 twenty thousand so-called “un-German” books went up in flames in this spot under the direction of the Nazis. The inscription quotes 19^th century German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine’s words from his 1820 play “Almansor”: “Das war ein Vorspiel nur; dort wo man Buecher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen.” (That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately also burn people.)

“Empty Bookshelves” Book-Burning Memorial in the Bebelplatz in Berlin’s city center. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

How did the Berlin book-burning come about?

After World War I, many university students opposed the Weimar Republic http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/weimar-republic-can-democracy-be-too-democratic/ and found in National Socialism a way to express their political and social discontent. On 10 May 1933, the Nazi German Student Association and their professors hosted a book-burning in a nationwide “Action against the Un-German Spirit.” Students in as many as 34 other German university towns initiated book-burning ceremonies or marched in torchlight parades. They burnt the works of hundreds of independent authors, journalists, philosophers and academics. The books to be burnt were chosen according to blacklists and focused primarily on books written by Jewish, religious, anarchist, communist or pacifist authors, who were viewed as being subversive or as representing ideologies opposed to Nazism. With the words, “No to decadence and moral corruption! Yes to decency and morality in family and state! I consign to the flames the writings of Heinrich Mann, Ernst Glaeser, Erich Kaestner…” Germany’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, tossed the first books into the fire. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005852. Other blacklisted authors included Berthold Brecht, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Heinrich Heine, Ernest Hemingway, Aldous Huxley, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Helen Keller, Karl Marx, Leo Tolstoy and Kurt Tucholsky.

Other book-burnings

The 10 May 1933 book-burning under the Nazi regime is perhaps the most infamous one in history, but it was by no means the only book-burning during that time period. Years later, after having defeated Germany in 1945, the Allied occupation authorities in Germany drew up a list of over 30,000 titles. As part of the denazification program, they had millions of books confiscated and destroyed the following year. The books burnt ranged from simple school textbooks to poetry.

In the United States, German-Americans came under severe scrutiny when the US entered World War I in 1917. The American Defense Society urged Americans to burn German books and literature, and for a time, book-burning ceremonies became the rage in the United States. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/where-have-german-americans-gone/

Tags: Bebelplatz, Berlin, Book-burning, Empty Bookshelves, Heinrich Heine, Micha Ullmann, Nazi German Student Association, Nazism, Unter den Linden, Weimar Republic
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Hyphenated Americans with German Roots

Monday, April 16th, 2018

During World War I, the term hyphenated Americans was popular. It referred to the hyphen between people with another ethnicity and “American.” One example would be German-Americans. “Hyphenated Americans” was a term that was used in a derogatory manner and was frequently directed at Americans with German roots. It was presumed that German-Americans fostered continued allegiance to Germany during the war. Allegations included spying for Germany and endorsing the German war effort. Thousands were forced to buy war bonds to show their loyalty; hundreds were interned or beaten, tarred and feathered. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/where-have-german-americans-gone/ Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were outspoken “anti-hyphenates” and insisted that dual loyalties were impossible in wartime.

When and Why Germans immigrated to America

Since Germany did not have colonies in America, the first German immigrants arrived in the British colonies. That was in the 1670s, long before the United States became independent. They settled primarily in areas we now know as Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia and had left Germany because of shortages of land, religious or political oppression. German immigrants who arrived prior to 1850 were mostly farmers; thereafter many came to cities. The largest flow of German immigration to America occurred between 1820 and World War I. During that time, nearly six million Germans immigrated to the United States.

Between 1931 and 1940, 114,000 Germans moved to the United States, many of whom were Jewish Germans. Germans who immigrated after World War II were mostly professionals and academics. By 2010, the population of hyphenated Americans with German roots had grown to 49.8 million, which includes 6 million people who had immigrated since 2000.

World, this was the moment of departure. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2013. www.walled-in-berlin.com

For more than seven million emigrants, who left from Bremerhaven between 1830-1974 on their journey to the New World, this was the moment of departure. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2013. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Where did Hyphenated Americans with German roots settle?

There is a “German belt” that extends from eastern Pennsylvania to the Oregon coast. The first permanent German settlement was Germantown in Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1683. Today, the states with the highest proportion of German Americans are in the upper Midwest, including Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin and the Dakotas, where over one-third of the population has German roots.

Hyphenated Americans with German roots who made their mark

American industrialists and businessmen with German roots include Eberhard Anheuser, William Boeing, Adolphus Busch, Walter Chrysler, Adolph Coors, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Conrad Hilton, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Steinway, Levi Strauss, the Studebaker brothers, and many others. Walter Gropius, Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong and Wernher von Braun contributed to American technology and culture. Politicians include John Boehner, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, Henry Kissinger and Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Barack Obama, too, has ancestors with German roots on his maternal side. They came from the town of Besigheim in southern Germany.

Hyphenated Americans with German roots established the first kindergartens, introduced the Christmas tree The Christmas Tree Tradition is German and the Easter Bunny Our Easter Bunny (Osterhase) is German and popularized the Oktoberfest. They also brought hot dogs and hamburgers to America.

A discussion about Germans in America would be incomplete without addressing a false belief, known as the Muhlenberg Legend. The lore claims that German almost became the official language of the U.S. Not true. Did German almost become America’s Official Language?

Tags: anti-hyphenates, German belt, German-Americans, hyphenated Americans, Muhlenberg Legend, President Theodore Roosevelt, President Woodrow Wilson, World War I
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Zimmermann Telegram – WWI Saga of Intrigue

Monday, April 9th, 2018

The Zimmermann Telegram was a coded cable sent by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann to the German ambassador to Mexico, Heinrich von Eckhardt, in the midst of World War I. In the dispatch, Germany promised to help Mexico regain its lost territories of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico in exchange for support of Germany against that country’s enemies: Britain, France, Russia and Italy. The Zimmermann Telegram helped push the United States into entering into World War I.

Arthur Zimmermann, German diplomat in the United States. Photo courtesy of The Daily Star. www.walled-in-berlin.com

What the Zimmermann Telegram proposed

The cable instructed German ambassador to Mexico, Heinrich Von Eckardt, to approach Mexico’s president and propose a military wartime alliance between Germany and Mexico in the case that the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies against Germany. In exchange for a Mexican attack on the United States, Germany would provide military and financial support for the assault, and Mexico would be free to regain its lost territories.

Purpose behind the Zimmermann Telegram

Germany had long toyed with the idea of inciting a war between Mexico and the United States to keep the American forces busy at home and to slow the export of American arms to the Allies against Germany. The United States spent the first two-and-a-half years of the war watching from the sidelines. But the sinking of the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania in 1915 had helped to rally some pro-war factions. Still, isolationist sentiment in the United States remained high. In 1917, Germany gave the Zimmermann Telegram in coded form to U.S Ambassador to Germany, James W. Gerard, for transmission to Mexico. On 16 January 1917 the missive was sent via Berlin, Copenhagen, London and Washington, D.C. to Mexico City. http://www.history.com/news/the-secret-history-of-the-zimmermann-telegram Shortly thereafter, Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic.

The Plot surrounding the Zimmermann Telegram thickens

British intelligence had been secretly tapping into the U.S. state department’s transatlantic cables since early in the war. On 17 January 1917 – two days before the Zimmermann Telegram arrived in Washington – a British crypto analyst encrypted the dispatch and passed the information on to Admiral Sir William Reginald Hall, Director of British Intelligence. For several weeks, the admiral kept the telegram under wraps without informing his superiors or the United States. The reason was twofold: (1) Hall did not want Germany to know that the Brits had broken their codes and (2) Hall did not want the United States to know that the Brits were eavesdropping on their communications.

When it became clear that the US would not enter the war despite the sinking of the RMS Lusitania and the declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare, Britain passed on the contents of the telegram to the United States but concealed its source. Instead, England claimed that it had intercepted the Zimmermann Telegram in Mexico and passed the information on to the U.S. Embassy in London. Still unaware of the British espionage involved, the U.S. agreed to pass off the information as something that had been intercepted by its own intelligence service.

Result of the Zimmermann Telegram

By 1 March 1917, the contents of the Zimmermann Telegram were splashed all over the front pages of newspapers throughout the nation. The telegram served as evidence of German aggression, and the American public was outraged. Public opinion turned against Germany and against German-Americans living in the United States. Where have all the German-Americans Gone? On 2 April 1917, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson abandoned his policy of neutrality and asked Congress to declare war against Germany. In the meantime, both Mexico and Japan had already dismissed as infeasible Germany’ offer of a military partnership.

Tags: Admiral Sir William Reginald Hall, Arthur Zimmermann, British Intelligence, diplomatic intrigue, Germany, Heinrich von Eckhardt, Mexican war to regain lost territories, RMS Lusitania, U.S. intelligence, unrestricted submarine warfare, World War I, Zimmermann telegram
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Where have all the German-Americans gone?

Monday, April 2nd, 2018

According to census information, almost 50 million German-Americans lived in the United States in 2010. That number represents 16% of the total U.S. population. Not surprisingly therefore, German-Americans are the largest ethnic group living in the United States. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/hyphenated-americans-german-roots/ At the turn of the last century, New York ranked third in cities being home to the world’s largest German-speaking populations, trailed only by Berlin and Vienna. Entire communities from Wisconsin to Texas consisted almost exclusively of German immigrants and their children. These immigrants founded churches, they established German language newspapers and cultural societies, and they entered politics. But unlike Spanish-Americans, very few German-Americans still master the German language today, and few schools list German as part of their curriculum. Only 1.7% of all German-Americans over the age of 5 even speak the language. Why is that?

Emigrant Memorial (Auswandererdenkmal), Bremerhaven, Germany. The father of these four soon to be German-Americans looks toward the New World. The mother looks back as she leaves the Old Country. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2013, www.walled-in-berlin.com

Word War I changed everything for German-Americans

The large number of German-Americans living in the United States lobbied against intervening on the Allies’ side and helped to keep the United States out of World War I for a long time. When the United States finally did enter the war in 1917, German-Americans came under severe, and often violent, scrutiny. Their loyalty was questioned. People with German roots were indiscriminately accused of being spies and double agents. When the Zimmermann telegram was unearthed, a crackpot German plan that proposed Mexico invade the United States, extreme anti-German sentiments took hold and caused lasting damage to German culture in the United States. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/zimmermann-telegram-wwi-saga-intrigue/

During the 19 month that followed, the German language, German books, newspapers, music, churches, communities, and even German-Americans themselves came under violent attack. Hundreds of German-Americans were interned. More than 30 were killed by vigilantes and anti-German mobs. Hundreds more were beaten or tarred and feathered. The works of Goethe http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/goethe-writes-faust-a-closet-drama/, Schiller http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/friedrich-schiller-champion-of-freedom/, Bach, Mozart and Beethoven http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/ludwig-van-beethoven-lonely-giant/either perished in the flames of public book-burning ceremonies or were relegated to back shelves or basements. Some of the burnings were performed by mobs, others by administrators or officials. For a time, these ceremonies were all the rage in the US, and many German-Americans hid their German roots or changed their names. For book-burning ceremonies in Germany, see http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/empty-bookshelves-book-burning-memorial/

The Immigrants Memorial near Clinton Castle in Battery Park, New York. Clinton Castle served as a processing facility for newly arrived immigrants. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

What was left of German-Americans after World War I

In 1910 there were 488 German-language newspapers in the United States with a combined circulation of 3,391,000. Ten years later, there were only 152 publications left with a circulation of 1,311,000. In contrast to the decline of German-language publications, the number of many other ethnic publications increased. Between 1910 and 1920, the number of Spanish-language publications increased from 21 with 74,000 readers to 33 with 256,000 readers. Yiddish publications increased from 8 with 321,000 readers to 23 with 808,000 readers. Italian newspapers went from 28 with 245,00 readers to 40 with 584,000 readers.

My own two cents on the vanishing German-Americans

I am a German-American and speak German, although rarely. The reason is not that I have forgotten how to speak German or that I want to hide my German background, but that few of my friends have German roots. I came to the United States much later than discussed in this article. I came as a young woman during the Cold War and intended to stay for only one year. Born just after WWII, I came from the then walled-in city of Berlin. It was just over twenty years since WWII had ended, and there still was plenty of anti-German sentiment in the United States. But I had expected that. Post-WWII anti-German attitudes were common throughout Europe. There was shame in being German, and we were taught that in German schools.

Born after World War II, my understanding of the war was limited to book knowledge. To avoid detailed discussions on a subject I knew little more about than the rest of the population, I sometimes pretended to be Norwegian. And since I had come to the United States for the purpose of improving my English, I preferred exposure to native English speakers and avoided Germans. Besides, having visited German American clubs occasionally, I found that I had little in common with its members. The non-German members seemed to be in it for the beer, the bratwurst and the polka, and the expatriates, decades my seniors, remembered a Germany that no longer existed. By the time I decided to make the United States my home, most of my friends were non-Germans.

The information presented in this article, aside from “my own two cents,” is based on Erik Kirschbaum’s 2015 book, “Burning Beethoven: The Eradication of German Culture in the United States During World War I.” Eric is a correspondent for the Reuters International News Agency and lives in Berlin, Germany.

Tags: anti-German sentiment, Auswandererdenkmal, Bremerhaven, Burning Beethoven: The Eradication of German Culture in the United States During World War I, Emigrant Memorial, Erik Kirschbaum, Friedrich Schiller, German-Americans, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, public book burnings of German books, The Immigrants Memorial, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang von Goethe, World War I, Zimmermann telegram
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Our Easter Bunny (Osterhase) is German

Monday, March 26th, 2018

Did you know that the Easter Bunny is German? Along with St. Nikolaus http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/dont-forget-st-nikolaus-day-december-6/, Santa Claus and the Christkind (Christ child), the Easter Bunny brought gifts to the children on the night before the respective holiday. The Easter Bunny stems from the German tradition of the Osterhase (Easter hare). Only good children received colored eggs in nests, which they had made from their caps and bonnets before Easter.

The Easter Bunny, as a symbol for Easter, is first mentioned in writings in 16^th century Germany. The first edible Easter Bunnies were produced in Germany in the early 1800s. When Germans began emigrating to America, and especially to Pennsylvania, in the 18^th century, they brought the tradition of the Osterhase with them. The tradition spread across the country, until it the Easter Bunny also became a part of American Traditions.

The Easter Bunny (before immigrating to the United States 😃). Handmade in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) and available through Mueller Smokerman. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Why would a hare bring eggs?

A hare doesn’t lay eggs. Why would he be associated with eggs during Easter? There are numerous legends tying the hare to eggs. Most likely, the connection originated in farming communities. In the Middle Ages, Green Thursday – the Thursday before Easter – typically marked the end of the business year and the time when tenant farmers had to pay their taxes to the owners of the land they worked. Because these farmers had fasted throughout Lent, the period just before Easter, they frequently had accumulated a surplus of eggs. Often, these eggs became the currency of choice, and many farmers paid their taxes with cooked eggs and with hares they had killed in their fields.

Another legend has it that the hare was the sacred beast of Eostre, the Saxon goddess of Spring and Dawn. However according to the Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore there is no evidence that hares were sacred to Eostre.

Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny

After the Lenten fast had ended, peasants prepared special dishes with decorated eggs as part of the celebration. Later, German Protestants retained the custom of eating colored eggs for Easter. By the end of the Second World War, the Easter Bunny had become mainstream.

The oldest surviving decorated egg dates back to the fourth century A.D. and was discovered in a Romano-Germanic sarcophagus near Worms in Rhineland-Palatinate. https://www.thelocal.de/20170410/made-in-germany-the-very-deutsch-origins-of-the-easter-bunny

The Easter Bunny (after immigrating to the United States). Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2018. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tags: Easter, Easter Bunny, Easter eggs, Easter hare, German immigrants, Lenten fast, Osterhase
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What makes Germans German – Top Ten Traits

Monday, March 19th, 2018

My husband placed a tile on the refrigerator door that reads, “Living with a German builds character!” I placed a sign next to his that says, “It is hard to be humble when you’re German.” What makes Germans German? Here is a list of the top 10 traits:

What makes Germans German? Top ten traits. Design © D.N. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Germans have an intimate relationship with the sun

They absolutely worship the sun. At the first sign of sunshine, Germans flock to outdoor cafés, parks, woods and beaches. They’ll roll up their sleeves and pant legs, lean back and turn their faces into the sun to soak up every single ray. German summers are short making sunshine precious. When I first moved to San Diego, I was incapable of doing anything inside when the sun was out – it was always out.

Germans have an intimate relationship with the sun. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Germans love walks of any length

The love of sunshine leads to a love of the outdoors. Whether it translates into a walk through the city park, promenading alongside the river or hiking in the mountains, a walk is always a welcome activity.

Germans are fond of coffee and cake

Those walks invariably end at a café or bakery where a strong cup of coffee and a piece of delicious cake refresh body and spirit.

Germans cherish their leisure time

Germans value leisure time (Freizeit) above all. It’s in their DNA. No matter how responsible the position held, everybody from trainee to boss needs time to recharge. A job change consideration often includes a critical evaluation of the leisure time options that come with the new position.

Germans expect punctuality

There is no such thing as being “fashionable late” in Germany. Whether for a business appointment or a dinner engagement, late arrivals are frowned upon. Being punctual is considered a sign of respect. That said, punctuality flies out the window when it comes to appointments with physicians or at government offices. Then, substantial delays are customary and expected.

Germans are straight shooters

Germans may not be known for their diplomacy, but you always know where you stand with them. They don’t pussyfoot around but come direct to the point. A yes is a yes and a no is a no.

Germans value their privacy

Despite their directness, Germans do not care to be asked too many personal questions. If they want you to know, they will tell you. As a result, close friendships rarely form overnight, but once they do, they usually last forever.

Germans like handshakes

Germans prefer a handshake over a hug unless the other person is family or a close friend. A handshake infuses a little distance, which will make it less awkward should the relationship sour. The formal address used to accomplish the same thing, but it is rarely used anymore. I used to love the option of the formal address, particularly with pesky young men who were not my type.

Germans do have a sense of humor

Contrary to popular belief, Germans do have a sense of humor. They just don’t like silly slapstick humor. But when it comes to ironic and cynical humor, they keep up with the best. You see the proof during the Mardi Gras season (Karneval in German) when the Germans laugh themselves silly over clever innuendos.

Germans are thrifty

Germans know how to make the most of every penny. Even the least educated German does a quick cost-benefit analysis before buying anything. Their thriftiness is one reason why you see German tourists all over the world. They are masters of the Stretch-Currency.

Tags: Freizeit, German characteristics, German personality, German traits, handshakes, humor, leisure time, privacy, punctuality, sunbathing, thriftiness
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Archive for the ‘Tête-à-Tête’ Category

Cities at the top of the world’s real estate spiral

What causes Berlin’s real estate prices to soar?

Tempelhof Airport during the US Occupation

Tempelhof Airport reached its capacity

Closing of Tempelhof Airport

Remembering Tempelhof Airport

Predecessor of the “Mother of all Airports”

The “Mother of all Airports” was never finished

Berlin’s Public Transportation System is frequent and affordable

The biking alternative

How did the Berlin book-burning come about?

Other book-burnings

When and Why Germans immigrated to America

Where did Hyphenated Americans with German roots settle?

Hyphenated Americans with German roots who made their mark

What the Zimmermann Telegram proposed

Purpose behind the Zimmermann Telegram

The Plot surrounding the Zimmermann Telegram thickens

Result of the Zimmermann Telegram

Word War I changed everything for German-Americans

What was left of German-Americans after World War I

My own two cents on the vanishing German-Americans

Why would a hare bring eggs?

Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny

Germans have an intimate relationship with the sun

Germans love walks of any length

Germans are fond of coffee and cake

Germans cherish their leisure time

Germans expect punctuality

Germans are straight shooters

Germans value their privacy

Germans like handshakes

Germans do have a sense of humor

Germans are thrifty

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