Jasper German Club

The Deutscher Verein held their November meeting Thursday, November 17, at the VFW. The evening started with the members enjoying the snack and dessert buffet.

President Bob Dilger opened the business meeting by having Danny Wehr read the Thank You card from Leo and Lora Lou Eckerle in their absence concerning their recent German Heritage award. Rita Egler, Treasurer, then gave members an update of the Club’s financial condition.

President Dilger stated he would be having a Board of Directors meeting in early December. He asked that members contact members of the Board with suggestions for future German Heritage projects in the surrounding area. The Board will give consideration to all ideas presented.

President Dilger mentioned the trip to Covington that Father John Boeglin is planning for November 28 th and also the trip that the Schnitzelbank is planning to Frankenmuth, Michigan next June 8 – 11, 2006. Both trips have vacancies if anyone wishes to go along.

President Dilger thanked Rafe and Phyllis Ackerman and Birnie and Margie Jeffries, who managed the food table and to Judy Gress and Sharon Dilger who welcomed the members as they arrived. He also stated that several copies of the book, Beneath the Cherry Sapling by Norb Krapf were still on hand and for sale.

President Dilger then introduced Jeanne Heltzel, Principal of Holy Family School, who spoke briefly about the school before introducing Charmaine Oxford, German teacher at Holy Family School. She gave a brief report of her agenda for the introduction of the German language and culture to her students. Holy Family is the only Grade School in the Dubois County area to offer foreign language classes to its 6 th, 7 th, and 8 th grade students. Following this report, Jasper High School German teacher, Julie Newton, complimented Charmaine and Holy Family by saying she could really tell which students came from Holy Family School because of their knowledge of German when they started German classes at the high school.

Following the business meeting, Dan Hoffman conducted the annual auction for the benefit of the Jasper High School German Student Exchange program. Julie Newton introduced her class members who will be participating in the next exchange in the Spring 2007 and acted as assistants for the auction.

Dorothy Schnaus and Judy Gress won the attendance prizes. John Luebbehusen and Irene Eckerle won the special prizes.

The Annual Christmas Party meeting will be held, Thursday, December 15 th, at the VFW at 6:30 PM. A meal including fried chicken, baked ham, etc. and dessert will be provided by the VFW at a cost of $8.00 per German Club member. Reservations are needed and can be made by calling Bob Dilger 482-9149 or Ruth Wibbels 482-5403 or emailing her at wibbels@fullnet.com by December 8, 2005.

Friends and new German Club members are always welcome. German Club membership dues are only $5 per person, per year.

The December meeting will be on Thursday, December 15, and will be our Annual Christmas Party. Please note that the Christmas Party will be at the VFW again this year.

The menu will also include assorted desserts. Cost will be $8 per person and payable at the door. Call Ruth Wibbels at 482-5403 or Bob Dilger at 482-9149 before December 8th to make your reservations for the Christmas Party. We will return all messages left to confirm your reservation. Reservations can also be made via email to Ruth at wibbels@fullnet.com or Bob at dilger@fullnet.com.

The Club will provide beer and soft drinks. A cash bar will also be available to everyone. Let's have a festive Holiday party!

The January meeting will be on Thursday, January 19, at the VFW. As has become our custom, this meeting will be our annual beer and wine tasting/judging gathering. Members are encouraged to bring samples of their beer and wine making for the annual competition. Scott Ortiz has once again graciously agreed to coordinate this year's judging in the Grape Wine, Non-Grape / Other Wines, and Beer categories.

The program will feature Indy Polka Motion...direct from Indianapolis, Indiana! These folks are "high-energy" accordion players playing a variety of music all the way from Polkas to Waltzes to Country. What better way to enjoy your wine and cheese?

The program will feature a special post-Valentine's Day performance by Freddie, Ray J, and Boys. Stay tuned for more details in the next newsletter!

who donated and bid on items at the auction. Your support of this program is appreciated. We had a fun time and were thankful for all of your
generosity. We are already thinking about ideas for next year!!

The annual Chili Soup Dinner benefiting the JHS Student Exchange Program will take place on Friday, January 27 th, from 5:30pm to 8:00pm. Presale tickets are $5.00 and tickets at the door will be $6.00.

To make reservations, please call Alan Hanselman at the Schnitzelbank at 482-2640

Bob Sunderman is requesting that anyone who has bottles from the Partnership Dinner or Family Picnic to bring them to a club meeting or to his home at 3274 Bittersweet Drive. Anyone who brings the bottles to his home will be treated to one of his beverages!!!! Bob can be reached at 482-3211. Please return any bottles so that Bob can begin the process of making beverages for next year’s picnic!!!!

This book is in both German and English. Copies of this interesting book are available for sale at Club Meetings at the greeting table or by contacting Patti Goepfrich at 482-4821 or pmgoep@fullnet.com.

This would be a great gift for that “hard to buy for” person on your Christmas gift list!!!!

For information on what is happening around the state concerning German heritage, contact the IGHS at 317-464-9004 or www.ighs.org.

If someone knows of a potential new club member and would like information about the Deutscher Verein forwarded, please contact Ruth Wibbels at 482-5403.

After dinner, the master baker, clad in white from head to foot, came bearing a large square cake of three layers covered with icing and bearing the inscription in chocolate “Willkommen In Die Alte Heimat” (Welcome to the Old Home). We had noticed the same greeting on a placard edged with laurel over the door as we entered the house.

The cake was served with coffee and a “spot” of the Schwarzwalder Kirschwasser, as in pairs, trios and quartettes, all the relatives dropped in and joined in the after-dinner snack. A very pleasant evening was thus spent discussing the old folk, living and departed, on both sides of the Atlantic. This gathering at the home of one or another of the families was a nightly ritual during our stay in Reute, varied only on the Sunday night public reception, when we were serenaded by the band and male chorus, at the Hirschen Tavern.

At one of the evening gatherings, we drifted into the realm of song, all joining in the singing of the old folk songs: “Der Gute Kamrad,” “Morgenroth,” “Im Wald und Auf Der Heide,” “Wem Gott Will Rechte Gunst Erwersen,” “Fuchs Du Hach Die Gan Gestolen,” “Alle Voegel Sind Schon Da,” “Strasburg,” “Grambambuli” and many others. By mere chance, someone intoned “Stille Nacht,” whereupon another hailed it as being out of season on a rather warm night in September.

The leader, however, was persistent: “When it is the Holy Season,” he said, “our guests will be thousands of miles away and then we can only have this night as a memory.” He had his way, and not only “Stille Nacht, Heilege Nacht,” but numerous other Christmas hymns, German, Latin, English, and even one in French, “Noel,” completed the program of the evening – Christmas Eve in September. Among them were the well-known “Adeste Fideles,” “Ihr Kinderlein Kommet,” “Schoenstes Kindlein,” “Es Kam Ein Engel” and many others, almost forgotten but well-remembered as one or another of the assembled groups of adults and children intoned it.

To make the occasion even more realistic, Oma (grandmother) took the cue to serve coffee, cider and cookies; also apples, pears, grapes and nuts, with which a bountiful Nature had blessed Reute this year with great abundance.

It was a night long to be remembered, especially on this and on future Christmas eves. May the Infant Jesus, the Prince of Peace, bless these folks with the true and enduring peace which they so ardently desire, so greatly need and so richly deserve.

On the Saturday morning of our week’s visit in Reute, Herr Wassmer, a tobacconist from Emmendingen, the county seat, who supplies our hostess with Dame Nicotine’s wares for her store, made his weekly call and had his order all neatly written up in time to join us a breakfast. That function having been completed, he regimented us – Brother Fred, Klara and me, into his brand new Mercedes midget, and headed for the hills of the Schwarzwald, with the famous resort, Triberg, as the objective.

Over excellent black-top roads, we drifted between thicknesses of evergreen trees of considerable size, climbing ever upward and upward with an occasional dip down into a green valley or “tal” or “au” usually the site of a picturesque village, reminiscent of the toy houses under our Christmas tree.

We are now entering the “Glotter-tal-now the Immental – and here is the Todenau.” And many others with more or less familiar names. Herr Wassmer was in his element – he knew every hill and vale, every village and tavern along the route, most of them his customers. As our volunteer guide and host, he pointed them out and called them by name, Das Roesli, Der Loewe, Zum Engel, Die Gemsen (the pony, lion, angel, chamois) and many others, and the shield suspended over the door invariably verified his statement, both by picture and in fancy German letters.

Along the way there were saw-mills and neatly piled stacks of lumber, or incredibly long poles of creosoted timbers, like the tall posts on Recreation Field back home bearing the electric lights for night baseball. All along the way also, were hundreds of apples trees with limbs propped up to keep them from breaking under the weight of their fruit, and plum trees laden with their purple freight (prunes). From there the famous Schwarzwalder Obstwasser and Zwetschgenwasser are distilled to warm the hearts of natives and tourists during the long, cold winter months when skiing, coasting and skating are the principal attractions for the visitors. The cherry trees, which yield the fruit for the equally famous Kirschwasser, are generally in bloom, we were told, so early in spring, that they shed the snow-white petals in the cherry groves in the valley while the tops still covered with real snow. The cherries usually mature to a bright red around “Christi-Himmelfahrt,” the feast of the Ascension of Christ into Heaven, forty days after Easter.

The day being one of bright, early autumn sunshine, and rather warm, the dense shadows cast by the thick, bushy branches of the evergreens in the hillside forest were the tip-off to its name, “ Black Forest.” The ground below the branches was as clean as the floor of our gymnasium just before the start of a basketball game. There was not a twig on the ground, or a loose limb on a tree, or a top of a recently cut tree cluttering up the forest, for the forest is patrolled daily and every twig, loose branch or tree top is picked up as were the sheaves of wheat by the gleaners in the olden days tied into bundles or faggots and sold for fire wood.

The clean paths through the forest, winding through the thick growths of evergreens, and up the hillside, generally sloping gently and occasionally precipitously, invited the passerby to a hike. But, aside from stopping shortly from time to time to enjoy a particularly fine view, we pressed on, in order to reach our destination, Triberg, before noon.

After breathing the invigorating air of the pine-clad Schwarzwald hills all morning, our first thought upon arrival at Triberg was about food. Triberg being a resort town, there are plenty places to eat, hotels, restaurants, taverns, gift and novelty shops abound.

So it was mostly a question of whom we want to favor with our patronage. We were not long in deciding, for just a block ahead of us was the large sign; Parkhotel Wehrle, with the coast-of-arms emblazoned upon the shield, plus the number 1707. Whether that is the street number of the hotel or the year of its origin, we were unable to learn, but well-kept as it is, it showed signs of great antiquity. We chose this place for sentimental reasons, reminding us as it did of Wehrle’s “Chicken-in-the-Rough” restaurant back home in Jasper, Indiana.

The menu of the day, also adorned with the Wehrle coat-of-arms and name in full, plus the following appetizing choices of food, listed, partly in German, partly in French and some English: Kerbel-Suppe, Omelette mit Gefluegelleber, Roast Beef English styles, pommes frites, Wirsinggemuese, Schokoloden-Crème. The price D.M. 5.00 or about $1.25. The dinner or abendessen menu was more elaborate but the price about the same: Ochenschwanz – Suppe; Steinbutt, gekocht, Petersilien-butter; Salzkartoffeln; Eierhoernchen mit schinken gratiniert, oder kalte – bratten, schinken und wurst; Reiche salatplatte, schokoladen crème oder verschieden kaese.

Hearing the people at the table next to us speaking English (of the American variety) we identified ourselves as fellow Americans. There were a family of father, mother, son, daughter and maid, hailed from New York and residents in Triberg over a year. They love the Schwarzwald but the little boy yearned for home where he would be able to play baseball and football.

The city of Triberg is built on the lower slope of a three-peaked hill (from which it derives its name) similar to French Lick and West Baden, only much larger.

The Dorfbach, a mountain stream which dashes rapidly through the center of the town, has its origin high above, cascading down from the top of the mountain in a series of beautiful waterfalls, said to be the highest and largest in Germany. The rest of our party admired the falls from below, while I started to climb the mountainside by way of the path alongside the falls with a bridge over the stream at strategic places. Climbing from one leap of the water to the next one above was a fascinating experience, and I kept on going higher and higher until I reached the top where the stream flows serenely in the “back” on the plateau above it starts its descent in easy stages down the cliffs.

Fred was still resting peacefully on a stone bench at the foot of the falls, thinking, no doubt, if his darn-fool brother wants to break his neck there’s nothing he could do about it. Klara, perhaps feeling some responsibility as hostess, finally induced Herr Wassmer to make the climb with her, but I met them half-way down, none the worse for the experience except that I was a little damp from the spray of the cascades.

I found, in climbing, that there are hotels hidden all along the mountainside, one with a beautiful, large swimming pool, tennis courts, etc. The well-known pilgrimage spot, the Chapel of Our Lady of Triberg, is also well up towards the top of one of the three peaks.

We then visited a museum specializing in clocks of all periods of time, and the costumes of the peasantry and nobility over a series of centuries. In one of the largest souvenir stores there was also a display of every variety of cuckoo clocks made by the Schwarzwalders, and also a great variety of other novelties whittled from blocks of wood of various sizes. They are very interesting and ingenious.

After a lunch of assorted cheeses, fruits and excellent “pastetten” (pastries) with choice of beer, wine, or schoholade, we started for Reute as the tall pines cast lengthening shadows across the “tal” and the sun suddenly plunged below the horizon as we descended from “the high road to the low road.”

One of our first missions upon arrival in Reute was visit to the parish cemetery, appropriately named The Friedhof, or “Court of Peace,” for during the many troubled years in Germany, especially since the first world war and during the Hitler regime, it was truly the only place where one might expect to find peace. We had visited first the grave of Stephan Rumbach, the father of our hostess, a nephew of our father, whom he resembled greatly in stature and general appearance.

Stephan had been Fred’s host on his previous visit to Reute, and he had looked forward eagerly to this second visit. Be death mercifully released him from his suffering (cancer) just about a year ago (1949). In fact, the pastor, the Rev. Wolfang Burger, suggested that his anniversary memorial mass be postponed until our arrival. The large attendance at this service bore testimony of the high esteem in which he was held in his community.

The cemetery is a small plot of ground slightly higher than the adjacent land, and is completely surrounded with a stone fence. It is completely filled with graves except a single row, and I learned that as more space is needed, the next oldest row is made available by removal of the tomb stones, only the bronze plagues with the inscription fastened to the front of the tombstones are preserved. The eldest grave dates back about fifty years.

These markers, not only in Reute, but in other villages “Friedhofe” throughout southern Baden, reminded one of Dubois county cemeteries. Here besides Rumbachs and Hettichs, are the Fehribachs, Birks, Birkles, Richs, Becks, Wuchners, and numerous other family names found in our southern Indiana community. Among others is the grave of Karl Sutter, who will be remembered by many of the elder Jasperites as the miller employed by the Eckert Mill here for quite a longtime. In fact, he was my godfather, but he returned to Reute where he married and raised a family of seven children. We met his widow and several of the children, including a daughter, who gave me his photo and two sons, the village green gardener and the other one of the town’s best football players.

In a memorial park in a nearby town we saw the names of Buehler, Berger, Eckerle, Fritch, Gramelspacher, Bohnert and numerous other familiar names. But the town of Wagshurst wins the prize for duplication of local names: a history of World War 1 of that village lists men with the following names: Berger, Beck, Bohnert, Baumert, Danhauer, Dupps, Eckenfels, Eckstein, Ell, Fritsch, Haas, Huber, Hurst, Lampert, Meier, Mueller, Schneider, Schuetz, Sermersheim, Spaeth (Spayd), Vollmer, Becher, Oser, Heitz, Buehler, Baer, Doll and Koch. Other familiar names encountered were Winterhalter, Siegel, Kempf, Goest, Eckert, Scherle, Stenftenagel, etc.

The cemeteries are very well kept, especially the one at Reute. The graves are rectangular mounts, outlined with white shells or small white stones, the tops covered with flowering plants, many of the bleeding heart variety. It lies about midway between Over-Reute and Unter-Reute, which are less than a kilometer apart. The former contains the new parish church, the latter the old one, still preserved as a chapel, and ancient in appearance.

In the B.H. era (Before Hitler) the Angelus was run at both places at 6:00, 12:00 and 18:00 o’clock ( 6 P.M.) and the villagers working in the fields or at home paused and uncovered piously reciting the Angelic Salutation and the Ave. During the Hitler regime the bells were relieved of their mission of Peace, and removed to be melted over and molded into bullets, grenades and bombs. Through the generosity of several American friends, a fund will soon be completed to replace the bells to announce the Glory of God and His Blessed Mother. Pastor Burger has announced that the generosity of the donors will be memorialized in the inscription of the new bells and commemorated at their dedication.

The days in the environs of the magic Black Forest pursued each other into history with the speed of lightening. A glance at our itinerary reminded us that we had only two days to make the long journey to London where we were to rejoin the “B” tour for the return voyage to New York and the good old U.S.A. By leaving Freiburg at 10 p.m., we were due to arrive in London via Muelhouse, Strasburg, Metz, Lille, Calais and Dover by mid-afternoon of the following day, allowing us a little time to give jolly, little, old London at least a casual inspection.

So, gathered around the hospitable dining table of our Reute home, we had a farewell dinner with the entire tribe of relatives and neighbors and newly-acquired friends dropping in for a cup of coffee, a “wecken” and a hearty Auf Wiedersehn. “Der Beck” (master baker) had made a special trip to Freiburg the preceding day to get a flashlight attachment for his camera in order to be able to record this historic moment in pictures. After a little experimenting, he set to work with excellent results.

Loaded down with a lunch packed by our hostess and our pockets full of Oma’s pears, we taxed the capacity of Klara’s Mercedes with our baggage and our bulging pockets, headed for the Bahnhoff at Freiburg and a last “Adieu” and “Vergelts Gott” to our hostess as the train slowly left the station.

We had little time to relax, for the double ordeal of checking out of Germany and into France awaited us on the banks of the Rhine at Muelhouse.

(Note: This concludes the trip taken to Europe in 1950. In January, 2006, we will begin the series of articles written by Mr. Rumbach during his adventure to Europe in 1954.)

Brickly fry the chops in hot fat;season with salt and pepper. Combine the vegetables with the crusted garlic cloves, the chopped parsley and the capers. Top the chops with this mixture, add the beer and stew until tender.

(taken from Cooking and Healing with Beer – Secrets from Germany’s Famous Andechs Monastery)

Jasper Deutscher Verein (German Club) German Heritage Endowment

Recent Gift to the Jasper Deutscher Verein (German Club) German Heritage Endowment

A gift to the Jasper Deutscher Verein (German Club) German Heritage Endowment of the Dubois County Community Foundation is a wonderful way to remember that special someone. A gift in honor of someone or in memory of someone may be given. The Dubois County Community Foundation will send a letter of acknowledgment to the individual being honored or to the family of someone being remembered. Send your gift along with the appropriate information to the Dubois County Community Foundation, P. O. Box 269, Jasper,

IN 47547-0269. Envelopes are also available at the greeting table at each club meeting.

Enclosed is my gift of $___________. Please direct my gift to the Jasper Deutscher Verein (German Club) German Heritage Endowment.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions please contact Matthias Hilger or Patti Goepfrich.

Deutscher Verein

Officers :

Directors :

Bob Dilger - President
dilger@fullnet.com
Virgil Gress- Vice President
vgress@fullnet.com
Rita Egler - Treasurer
gregler@fullnet.com
Ruth Wibbels - Secretary
wibbles@fullnet.com

Die Zeitung
Editor: Patti Goepfrich
Phone: 482-4821
e-mail: pmgoep@fullnet.com

Fr. John Boeglin
Dave Buehler
Raymie Eckerle
Dan Gutgsell
Jim Gutgsell
Matthias Hilger
Janet Kluemper
Linus Lechner
Danny Wehr

Froehliche Weihnachten

Froh und glaenzend wunderschoen,
Sei die holde Weihnachtszeit,
Und das Neue Jahr gefuellt,
Mit Hoffnung, Fried’ und Heiterkeit!!

Deutscher Verein

Officers :

Directors :

Froehliche Weihnachten

Froh und glaenzend wunderschoen, Sei die holde Weihnachtszeit, Und das Neue Jahr gefuellt, Mit Hoffnung, Fried’ und Heiterkeit!!

Deutscher Verein

Officers :

Directors :

Froh und glaenzend wunderschoen,
Sei die holde Weihnachtszeit,
Und das Neue Jahr gefuellt,
Mit Hoffnung, Fried’ und Heiterkeit!!