Culture Notes

Word of the Day: ''Kinderkriegen'' is a word I heard a lot when Sonny was having her puppies. It would be translated into English as ''to give birth''. In German it literally means something like ''to catch'' (kriegen) ''children'' (kinder) . I think that it is interesting that the root word Krieg (war) is in there. It seems fitting to me.

Golf: In Germany you have to pass a test in order to play golf. . .really! Golf is taken seriously here, so if you would like to play you need to earn an official handicap card. If you are not skilled enough, you can't get onto many courses.

A Few Famous Germans (from http://german.about.com):
composers: Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, and Brahms
inventors/scientists: Albert Einstein; Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler were inventors of the first motor car (1885), although they never met!; Wernher von Braun was a German rocket scientist who helped put Americans on the moon; Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine; Erik H. Erikson, Carl Gustav Jung, and Sigmund Freud (psychologists);Johannes Kepler; Max Planck
athletes: Boris Becker is a tennis star and the youngest ever to win at Wimbleton (1985); Michael Schumacher Formula 1 driver and 2nd richest sportsman in the world; Rheinhold Messner (1944- ) Italian (South Tyrol) mountain climber, first to climb all 14 peaks above 8000 meters
artists\authors: Max Ernst was a Dadaist/surrealist painter, sculptor, and graphic artist; Johann Goethe; Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (fairytales); Franz Kafka; Immanuel Kant; Karl Marx; Thomas Mann; Friedrich Nietzsche; Karl May was a German author of westerns (he never actually travelled to the United States, but German kids all know the ''Real West'' because of him)
Politicians: Henry A. Kissinger
Religion: Martin Luther; Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger)