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RESULTS will be published on Wednesday, 17th July 2002. Results will not be sent individually by post - these will only be on display on the Circle's Notice board.
CERTIFICATES issued under the auspices of the Goethe Institute of Munich will be distributed to successful candidates later on in the year.
Lessons for the Scholastic Year 2001-2002 will end on Wednesday, 19th June 2002.
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Hanse Sail Rostock
8 - 11 August 2002
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Over the years it has become the biggest maritime summer event in northern Germany and in the Baltic. More than two hundred traditional sailing ships and museum vessels are the main attraction of this summer event.
Ashore, too, in Rostock city harbour and in Warnemünde, you can discover and enjoy many things - such as ‘open ship’, rollmops and Ferris wheel, an international bazaar with partners of Rostock and music on five stages.
In the days of the German Democratic Republic, Rostock as a foreign trade port was in fact a gateway to the world – but largely screened from it by a security fence. Everything that went in and out of the port area was strictly checked. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 the fence also came down, but the port’s trading activities collapsed almost completely in the months before German reunification and monetary union in 1990. On July 23, 1991, not quite 18 months after the opening of the inner-German border, Rostock launched the first Hanse Sail and after decades of isolation rejoined the international community as an open seaport. Its ‘Festival of Freedom’ lasted five days and was a great success. About 100 windjammers from many foreign countries, including Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands and even Uruguay set course for the port. (continued on page 2)
Out of what was planned originally to be only a one-off festival has become an annual highlight of the maritime scene on the Baltic coast and Rostock’s events calendar. Every year on the second weekend in August more and more historical sailing ships berth in Rostock, which with its medieval city wall, its buildings of North German brick architecture and its imposing merchants’ houses still bears ample witness to its golden days of the Hanseatic League.
The now fixed institution of Hanse Sail offers the owners of the old sailing ships the opportunity to earn money for their upkeep. During the festival the ships offer places for a total of about 20,000 visitors who wish to get to know them better by taking a day trip aboard them. That is also possible during the regattas in the classes for barks and schooners and one-masted sailing ships.
Visitors can also take part in the annual Hiorten Regatta, named after a 17th-century Swedish mail ship. The race, involving a fleet of more than 30 windjammers sailing to Rostock from Karlskrona, in Sweden, began in 1997. Other trips in sailing ships can be made as part of Baltic Sail, organised since 1996 by six seaports in Sweden, Poland, Denmark and Germany. The idea for it came from the Hanse Sail office in Rostock. The participating cities stage during an agreed period consecutive Sail Days in their ports and cruises between them in a manner that suits the sailing ships very well. It means they don’t have to come to Rostock for only a few days for Hanse Sail. And with the dates they have in the region as part of Baltic Sail between July and August, they can stay in the Baltic for about five weeks taking paying guests aboard.
Another plan to cultivate the old seafaring tradition in Rostock is to revive marine aviation. At Hanse Sail 2001 the pilots of seven seaplanes and helicopters held a marine flyers’ meeting in Warnemünde, the first such since 1926. For this year’s event the organisers hope to be able to set up a shuttle flight service to, among other destinations, the island of Rugen. International cruise passengers whose ships tie up in Warnemünde, for example, have little time ashore, and so for them, a seaplane service would be an ideal opportunity to see more of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in a short time.
The Hanse Sail office’s ambitious plans also include supporting the restoration or re-production of windjammers as well as archiving historical building plans – from sailing ships to ice-breakers. A Swedish-German project in building a replica of the 15-metre packet boat Hiorten has already been successfully completed. The namesake of the 17th century original is now sailing between Sweden and Germany. A drawing of the 62-metre bark Passatwind is already hanging in the Hanse Sail office and it is targeted to begin building her in 2004.
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A Maltese ‘Buddy Bear’ in Berlin
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On 20th of June 2002 the grand opening of the Circle of ‘United Buddy Bears’ took place, just near the famous Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, at Pariser Platz. Each of the 130 bears - the bear being a renowned symbol of the city of Berlin - represents a foreign country. The bears are 2 metres high and are made out of fibre glass. The aim of this project, which was initiated by the ‘Buddy Baer GmbH’ in cooperation with the “Initiative Toleranz” and the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is to promote international friendship and tolerance amongst nations. It was proposed that each bear should be painted in such a way as to symbolise, and readily identify the characteristics of the country it represents. The Maltese Embassy in Berlin commissioned Mr. Edward B. Gordon, a Berlin based painter, who was entrusted with the design of the bear and who did the work free of charge. Mr Gordon's theme for the bear symbolises Malta’s colourful, historical past as well as present realities. The front of the bear reproduces the silhouette of Valletta with the typical sandstone coloured fortified walls and buildings, shining gold in the sun, with a Maltese dghajsa in the foreground. On other parts of the bear, the artist has emphasised Malta’s connections with the Knights of St. John, by the almost life-like portrayal of Grandmasters la Vallette and L’Isle Adam. The megalithic temples, together with the “Vedette” at Senglea complete the unified theme, which is accentuated by an exciting splash of traditional Maltese fireworks, illuminating the sky. The circle of ‘United Buddy Bears’ can be visited up to November 2002. After this period, it is planned to transport the Malta Buddy Bear to Malta.
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Günther Schlichte schrieb . . . . .
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The weather and humans – are people from the south more friendly than the people from the north because of the weather?
Das Wetter und die Menschen
Es ist in nördlichen und mittleren Teilen Europas im allgemeinen wechselhaft wie die Launen der Menschen, die in den Ländern leben. Je nachdem, wieviel Strahlen die wärmende Sonne auf die Erde schickt, beeinflusst sie das Wohlbefinden der Erdenbürger. – Im Süden ist das Wetter beständiger. Ist das vielleicht der Grund, dass die Menschen dort im allgemeinen freundlicher und entgegenkommender sind als in den nördlicheren Regionen?
Health has a high value which is often not very appreciated when young. Everyone is responsible for his or her health.
Gesundheit
Sie ist ein hohes Gut, das man in jungen Jahren als sebstverständlich empfindet, über das man in der Zeit wenig nachdenkt und dessen Wert dann oft unterschätzt wird.- Wir Menschen haben ein gespaltenes Verhältnis zu dem kostbaren Gut “Gesundheit”, das wir in vielen Fällen durch unsere eigenen Handlungen, aber auch durch Unterlassungen, stabilisieren oder ruinieren können.- Natürlich gibt es auch äußere Einflüsse, z.B. negative Umweltfaktoren, die entscheidend auf die Gesundheit einwirken. Wir können durch unser Verhalten und ein geschärftes Bewusstsein für die “do’s und don’t’s” viel dazu beitragen, dass wir uns wohl fühlen und uns die Gesundheit länger erhalten.
What is the truth? We think we know it, we are looking for it and sometimes we realise that what was known as truth is not the truth.
Die Wahrheit
Wir glauben sie zu kennen, wir suchen nach ihr und manches was mit dem Wort “Wahrheit” überschrieben wird, stellt sich bei näherem Hinsehen oder Nachfragen nicht immer so dar, wie wir es am Anfang geglaubt hatten.- Manchmal sind es nur Nuancen, die den Wert der Wahrheit mindern, manchmal wird sie ganz bewusst verfälscht und damit zur Unwahrheit, mit der wir nicht so gerne leben. Jeder muss für sich entscheiden, wann und wie weit er von der Wahrheit abweicht und glaubt, dass “bending the truth” einer Notlüge gleich kommt, was hin und wieder ungestraft vorkommen soll.
Not only humans have a character but also animals and objects.
Der Charakter
Er ist etwas Eigenständiges, das sich nicht nur auf Menschen beschränkt. Ein Mensch oder ein Tier mit einem guten Charakter (hiermit sollen Mensch oder Tier nicht gleichgesetzt werden), ist etwas Wertvolles, das wir schätzen. Auch Gegenstände können Charakter haben, bei ihnen ist es statt der aktiven eine passive Werteskala. Alle wirken positiv und bieten uns etwas Besonderes, das wir anerkennen.-
Vielleicht sind ein paar Beispiele nützlich, das zu illustrieren:
a) Rückgrat hat ein Mensch, der zu seinem Wort steht und der nicht nur auf seinen Vorteil achtet, der eigene Fehler eingesteht ohne sich zu winden und seine Überzeugung trotz Widerständen durchzusetzen versucht
b) Hilfsbereitschaft ist ein Gut, das wir hoch einschätzen. Es gilt z.B. für jemand, der “out of his way” geht, aber auch für die, die auch im Kleinen anderen gern helfen
c) Ehrlichkeit ist Ausdruck der Fähigkeit den Mut zu haben, eigenes Fehlverhalten einzugestehen und andere nicht bewusst in die Irre zu führen.
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Olaf Rieck’s corner:
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Neue Bücher
Bedanken möchten wir uns recht herzlich bei Ingrid Kidder für die Bücherspende.
Wollen Sie Ihren Urlaub in Deutschland verbringen? Dann lesen Sie doch zur Einstimmung “Gebrauchsanweisung Deutschland” von Maxim Gorski. Der russische Journalist hat ein amüsantes Buch geschrieben, in dem er Deutschland aus der Sicht eines nicht immer ganz unvoreingenommenen Beobachters schildert.
Hörspielkassetten für Kinder
Über 100 Hörspielkassetten stehen ab sofort zur Ausleihe zur Verfügung. Es gibt Märchen, Hörspiele mit den drei Fragezeichen, den fünf Freunden, Hanni und Nanni, Benjamin Blümchen sowie Lieder für Kinder.
Internet
Jeden Sonntag gibt es von der Radiostation “Voice of the Mediterranean” aus Malta auf 9605 KHZ von 13.00 – 14.00 Uhr und von 22.30 Uhr bis 23.00 Uhr auf 12060 KHZ ein Programm in deutscher Sprache. Seit kurzem können Sie das Programm auch per Internet
verfolgen.
Die Bibliothek bleibt vom 5. – 9. August geschlossen.
Landeskunde
4th August 1930 - *Götz Friedrich, opera producer and director
9th August 1962 - + Hermann Hesse, writer, Nobel Prize winner
(www.hermann-hesse.com)
10th August 1878 - *Alfred Döblin, writer (www.alfred-doeblin.de)
11th August 1922 - The “Deutschlandlied” becomes Germany’s national anthem
(www.germanmaltesecircle.org/newsletters/2001/200111.htm)
13th August 1961 - Construction of the Berlin Wall (www.wall-berlin.org)
14th August 1945 - *Wim Wenders, film director (www.wim-wenders.com)
15th August 1248 - Laying of the foundation stone for the construction of the Cologne Cathedral
(www.koelner-dom.de)
18th August 1949 - Founding of the German Press Agency – dpa
(www.dpa.de)
22nd August 1928 - *Karlheinz Stockhausen, composer (www.stockhausen.org)
24th August 1963 - First day of play for the new football Bundesliga
(www.bundesliga.de)
24th August 1984 - Germany’s first wind energy park GROWIAN is opened
(www.wind-energie.de)
27th August 1770 - *Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, philosopher
(www.hegel.org)
28th August 1749 - *Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, writer (www.goethesociety.org)
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News from Malta’s Embassy in Berlin
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On 22nd May it was Malta Day at the “Königin-Luise-Stiftung”, a private boarding school in Berlin. The event formed part of a project, “Youth in Dialogue – Exchange of Cultures”, in which nine countries participated – Malta, Hungary, Slovenia, Jordan, Namibia, Latvia, Iran, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. During the day reserved for Malta, the Maltese Ambassador, William C. Spiteri delivered to the students a speech on Malta’s political and economic situation, as well as on Malta’s historical and cultural heritage. Following the screening of a film, the students were treated to Maltese food and drinks, which included Pastizzi, Timpana, Bragjoli, Qarabali biz-zalza, and Kannelloni bl-irkotta - all prepared by the school’s cooks on recipes provided by Mrs. Spiteri, the Ambassador’s wife. Kinnie was provided throughout the evening, with the students commenting favourably on the excellent bitter-sweet
flavour.
For the second time in a row, Malta participated at the Potsdam Summer Festival, held on Thursday, 13th June, with an attractive tourist and information stand, set up by the Embassy of Malta in Berlin in co-operation with the Malta Tourism Authority in Frankfurt.
On Saturday, 29th June, the Embassy of Malta in Berlin took part for the second time in the “All Nations Festival”, an event at which thirty Embassies participated, and which is aimed at enhancing communication and friendship between the various nationalities in Berlin. The participating Embassies opened their doors to the public, who were taken to the Embassies in groups by means of an organized bus-shuttle service. The visitors, mostly Berliners and Germans from various regions patronized the event in great numbers. Special trips were in fact organized from various towns and cities in Germany. By the close of the evening it has been estimated that over 2500 visitors had called at the Embassy to have the Malta emblem stamped on a facsimile “Passport Festival” provided by the organizers.
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