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The Strandkorb – Distinctly German

Thursday, August 21st, 2014

August is beach season, and a “sun-sand-sea-and-wind holiday”on Germany’s North Sea and Baltic beaches almost always involves renting a Strandkorb. These distinctly German beach baskets allow their occupants to soak up the sun while avoiding the scouring sand that frequently travels the windswept beaches. Besides, a Strandkorb quickly becomes “home away from home” when beachgoers build a low wall of sand–called a castle–around their basket and decorate it with seashells. For generations, Germany’s beaches have been dotted with legions of these beach baskets each summer.

What is a Strandkorb?

A Strandkorb is a sturdy, adjustable armchair for two, made from wicker, cane and/or wood and allows its occupants to curl up in the basket’s interior or to soak up the sun’s last rays while all stretched out. A small built-in table makes it possible to lunch or dine at water’s edge. But the Strandkorb is much more than a utilitarian piece of furniture. It is a uniquely constructed piece of art that comes with many options, such as drawers at the base that serve as foot rests and storage, backward-tilting roofs, armrests with foldaway trays, heated seats and rainproof covers. There are even special models for children and pets.

Strandkorb around 1950 Photo © J. Elke Ertle 2014, www.walled-in-berlin.com

Strandkorb History

In 1882, the noble woman Elfriede von Maltzahn asked Wilhelm Bartelmann, chief basket maker to the Imperial Court of Emperor Wilhelm I, to built her a beach chair. She asked for protection from excessive sun and wind while accommodating her rheumatism. Mr. Bartelmann designed a large, canopied, single-seated armchair. Considering that beach furniture was unheard of prior to 1882, Mrs. von Maltzahn’s Strandkorb became the envy of beachgoers in Warnemuende that year, the sea resort on the Baltic Sea she frequented. Encouraged by the enthusiastic reception of his armchair, Bartelmann designed a two-seater the following year, and his wife opened a beach basket rental service. Since then, the Strandkorb hasn’t left the German beach scene.

The Strandkorb Today

Todays Baltic and North Sea beaches are dotted with more than 70,000 of these covered wicker beach baskets. Two distinct variations have evolved: The straight angular North Sea Strandkorb and the rounded Baltic Sea model. But these beach baskets are no longer relegated exclusively to the beach. You also see them on balconies and patios. A friend of mine received a Strandkorb as a retirement present and uses it to relax in her garden. Despite their weight (up to 200 lbs), the baskets are shipped all over the world. It takes around $700-$3,000 plus shipping costs to become the proud owner of a Strandkorb.

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: Baltic, beach basket, Elfriede von Maltzahn, North Sea, Strandkorb, Warnemuende, Wilhelm Bartelmann
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On taking responsibility

Monday, August 18th, 2014

As a rule, you will find that those who complain about the way the ball bounces are usually the ones who dropped it.

–Anonymous

Tags: complaint, responsibility
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Thought of the Day, Walled In Berlin | No Comments »

The Skinny on Nude Bathers in Germany

Thursday, August 14th, 2014

For decades, summers in Germany have attracted scores of nude bathers to beaches, parks and lakes. Between eight and twelve million Germans enjoy clothes-free sunbathing, says French geographer Emmanuel Jaurand, author of “A comparative study on the naked cult in Germany.” One reason for the desire to go naked is that German summers tend to be short, and sun worshippers want to assure an all-over bronze tan. Another is the longing to reconnect with nature. Foreign tourists are often caught by surprise when they take a stroll through a park and suddenly bump into a man or a woman in the buff.

FKK- Freikoerperkultur

The first Freikoerperkultur club, FKK for short and literally translated “free body culture,” was established in Essen, Germany, as far back as 1898. Two years later, a number of Swedish bathhouses sprung up in Berlin and at the North and Baltic seas. The first nude beach in Germany was established in 1920 on the island of Sylt. Freikoerperkultur still endorses a naturalistic approach to sports and community living. Nude bathers enjoy the experience of reconnecting with nature without sexual connotation.

Declining FKK membership

Despite the German love for clothes-free sunbathing, membership in FKK clubs has decreased by about 2% per year since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The clubs’ largest contingent is currently 50 to 60 years old. Members under 25 have become rare. However, the decline in membership does not seem to connote a decrease in the German affinity for nude bathing in public. It only seems to indicate that nude bathers prefer to do so without the constraints of club membership. In fact, nude hiking is the newest wave. The first German “nude hiking trail” was established in 2010.

Expedia Study on Nude Bathers

The 2014 Expedia Flip Flop Report examines the most prevalent joys and anxieties among beachgoers worldwide. The study was conducted among 11,165 adults 18 years of age and older, across 24 countries on five continents. For the third year running, Germans were the likeliest to be nude bathers. However, this year – for the first time – Austrians tied their German peers.

Nude Bathers – Another Perspective

On a carriage ride through the Wadden Sea http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/wattwagenfahrt-endless-discovery/ our couch woman cautioned, “… at a FKK Beach, you’ll see the human body the way God created it and McDonald’s shaped it.” Keep that in mind!

Tags: Emmanuel Jaurant, fall of the Berlin Wall, Freikoerperkultur, nude bathing in Germany, nude hiking trail
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Character versus Reputation

Monday, August 11th, 2014

Character is like a tree and reputation is like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of; the tree is the real thing.

–Anonymous

Tags: character, reputation
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Not So German Chocolate Cake

Thursday, August 7th, 2014

When I first came to San Diego, fresh from the old country, my new friends would try to help with the transition. “Come on over for dinner tomorrow,” they’d say, “We’ll have German Chocolate Cake for dessert. That will make you feel right at home.” Their eyes would twinkle, suggesting we understood each other. I’d smile back and say, “I’d love to. Thanks for inviting me.” Then I’d ponder the rest of the day what they might have meant by “GERMAN” Chocolate Cake. After all, what makes a chocolate cake German? When I learned that the key ingredients were sweet baking chocolate, coconut, and pecans, I was even more baffled. Delicious as the cake was, I had never tasted anything even similar in all of my years in Germany. So what made my friends think this was a German cake?

German Chocolate Cake

Chicken a la Germany

Sometimes I wondered whether the cake got its name the way my recipe for “Chicken a la Germany” had come about. The latter owed its title to a minor mishap in my kitchen. Not being an experienced cook, I once had burned the chicken only minutes before the arrival of the guests. To cover up my blunder, I peeled off the skin, rubbed the chicken meat with lemon juice and drizzled spicy yoghurt sauce over the pieces. My guests loved it, but my lips remained sealed when I shared the recipe. As it turns out, the German Chocolate Cake story is quite different.

History of German Chocolate Cake

In 1852, an American named Sam German, created a bar of sweet baking chocolate while working for the Baker’s Chocolate Company. The company named the bar in his honor: Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate. http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Cakes/GermanChocolateCake.htm. In 1957, more than 100 years later, Mrs. George Clay of 3831 Academy Drive in Dallas, Texas, submitted her cake recipe to the Dallas Morning Star. The newspaper printed it in the “Recipe of the Day” section. The cake, made with Baker’s Sweet Chocolate, gained in popularity. Sales of Baker’s chocolate increased dramatically. Over time, the name of Mrs. Clay’s award-winning cake was simplified and the all-American cake became known as German Chocolate Cake.

Tags: Baker's Chocolate company, Chicken a la Germany, Dallas Morning Star, German Chocolate Cake, Mrs. George Clay, Sam German
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The stonecutters tenacity

Monday, August 4th, 2014

When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.

–Jacob A. Riis

Tags: determination, Jacob A. Riis, persistence, tenacity
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Thought of the Day, Walled In Berlin | No Comments »

See the “Lichtgrenze” in Berlin in Fall

Thursday, July 31st, 2014

If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind experience, take a trip to Berlin, Germany, later this year to see the Lichtgrenze (border of lights). Lichtgrenze is an artistic light project that will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism. At a cost of just under 2 million, the State of Berlin, in collaboration with Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH will place 8,000 illuminated balloons along the route of the former wall. The installation will be funded with lottery money.

2014 Fall of the Wall Celebrations

The Berlin Wall divided the city for nearly thirty years. It tumbled on 9 November 1989. Twenty-five years later, Berlin has transformed into a vibrant metropolis. Throughout 2014, locals and visitors can enjoy special lectures, movies, concerts, exhibitions and readings. But the high point of the celebrations will be the Lichtgrenze during the weekend of November 8 and 9. The installation will trace the path of the Wall over a stretch of approximately 8 miles in the city center. It will run from the Bornholmer Strasse to the Oberbaumbruecke, past the Mauerpark, along the Berlin Wall Memorial on the Bernauer Strasse up to the Brandenburg Gate, across the Potsdamer Platz to Checkpoint Charlie, and finally to the East Side Gallery. An accompanying open-air exhibition will take a closer look at the division, the peaceful revolution, and the ultimate fall of the Wall.

Release of Balloons

On the night of November 9, the helium-filled balloons will be released into the sky at five spots in the city center to commemorate the opening of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago. The release will represent “a symbol of hope for a world without walls” and will follow a countdown, played by the Staatskapelle Berlin and conducted by Daniel Barenboim. A public party at the Brandenburg Gate will then round off the celebrations.

Lichtgrenze’s installation inspired by two brothers

Lichtgrenze is the brain child of two brothers: Christopher and Marc Bauder. Christopher, born in 1973, is an interaction designer and media artist. He focuses on the translation of digital information into objects and environments and vice versa. Marc, born in 1974, has produced and directed many award-winning documentaries for television and cinema. Both live and work in Berlin. For additional information, visit http://www.mauer.visitberlin.de.

Tags: 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Christopher Bauder, Daniel Barenboim, Lichtgrenze, Marc Bauder
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Stauffenberg tries to kill Hitler

Thursday, July 24th, 2014

Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg was a primary conspirator in the attempted assassination of German dictator, Adolf Hitler, along with military leaders Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler. By 1944, a small group of high-ranking German officials had come to believe that assassination was the only option to prevent Hitler from continuing to pursue the suicidal course he had started. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/assassination-plot-against-hitler-fails

Stauffenberg’s background

Claus von Stauffenberg was born in 1907 at his family’s castle in the south of Germany. He attended the War Academy in Berlin and joined the army in 1926. He served in combat in all of Hitler’s major battles and was seriously wounded during a military operation in North Africa, which cost him his left eye, right hand and the last two fingers of the left hand. During Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Stauffenberg became aware of and took exception to the atrocities committed by the German Army against Soviet prisoners of war, the Jews and other civilians in Russia. After being promoted to Colonel in June of 1944 and appointed Chief of Staff to Home Army Commander General Friedrich Fromm, Stauffenberg gained direct access to Hitler’s briefing sessions.

Claus von Stauffenberg

The coup to kill Hitler

Following Hitler’s and his military leaders’ presumed death, the plan called for three men to take control of the German Army: Friedrich Fromm, Ludwig Beck and Erwin von Witzleben. The men were also to seize key government buildings, radio stations and telephone centers. Stauffenberg was to become State Secretary of the War Ministry. On the fateful day of July 20, 1944, Stauffenberg and his aide, Werner von Haeften, flew to a briefing with Hitler and other officials at the Wolfschanze–Wolf’s Lair–Hitler’s military headquarters on the eastern front. Stauffenberg, who had never met Hitler before, carried a bomb in his briefcase. He placed it on the floor of the briefing room and seemingly left to make a phone call. Shortly thereafter the bomb exploded. Assuming that the assassination had succeeded, Stauffenberg and Haeften returned to Berlin to put the second part of the planned coup into motion. However, co-conspirator General Friedrich Olbricht had failed to seize key government buildings, radio stations and telephone centers in the interim. And worse, the news came that Hitler had survived the blast with only a badly injured arm. The plot unraveled quickly and the following day, Stauffenberg was executed by firing squad.

Tags: Adolf Hitler, Claus von Stauffenberg, General Friedrich Olbricht, Hermann Goehring, Werner von Haeften, Wolf's Lair, Wolfschanze
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Pride likes competition

Monday, July 21st, 2014

Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man… It is the comparison that makes you proud, the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone.

–C.S. Lewis

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 the home page of http://www.walled-in-berlin.com. Walled-In is a story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War.

Tags: competition, pride
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One Brit’s Take on 2014 World Cup

Thursday, July 17th, 2014

Germany defeated Argentina 1:0 on Sunday when Mario Goetze scored the game-winning goal at the 113th minute. This was the first time a European team has won the Word Cup in a tournament played in the Americas. German fans are thrilled. The Brits on the other hand–their team defeated early in the 2014 World Cup competition–have a slightly different take on this year’s tournament. Simon Winder, author of “Germania: a Personal History of Germans Ancient and Modern, compares England and Germany to rivaling siblings in an article published in the British newspaper, “The Telegraph”.

Mario Goetze (right) scored game-winning goal at the 2014 World Cup tournament

Mario Goetze (right) scored game-winning goal in the 2014 World Cup tournament

Dysfunctional twins?

Wilder portrays Britain’s 2:1 defeat by Uruguay as a devastating blow to the British Psyche. He points out that Uruguay is a country with a population barely twice that of England’s County of Essex. Germany, Britain’s neighbor across the North Sea on the other hand, won the World Cup. Wilder goes on to draw a parallel between the World Cup competition and the economic competition between the two countries. He writes, “I have always felt that Britain and Germany are like dysfunctional twins, with a mass of shared values but quite different life experiences. It has always been Britain that has (in its own estimation) been the ‘good twin’ whereas Germany is the ‘bad twin’, or even the ‘evil twin’. The World Cup gives us a chilling new possibility: could Germany now be ‘the twin that has done well for himself’, while Britain has become ‘the twin that took the poor life decisions’?” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10957770/Lets-learn-to-love-Germany.html. Wilder concludes by writing, “Let’s learn to love Germany. We [England] are constantly buffeted by our political leaders into a view that Britain has no choice in the face of the icy wind of globalization that we need to accept deteriorating conditions for workers, 24-hour-a-day shopping, an intrusive security state, centralized government and massive inequalities of wealth, as though these are things that we can no more object to than to the weather. And yet here is Germany, just across the North Sea, with an economy getting on for 50 per cent larger than our own, which by almost any measure effortlessly contradicts these assertions.” I think Germans would be proud to hear of Wilder’s musings. Having been weighted down for so long by its recent dark past, Germany has worked hard to prove to the world that it can and wants to be a peaceful nation and a good neighbor. It has also successfully managed its own economic havoc following reunification and now produced a remarkable soccer team.

Tags: 2014 World Cup tournament, dysfunctional twins, Mario Goetze, sibling rivalry, Simon Wilder
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