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| August 2004 Newsletter | |
LANGUAGE
COURSES UPDATES . . . . . . . . |
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• The German-Maltese Circle is once again running its German Language Summer Revision Courses for Schoolchildren. This Summer we have a record of 16 classes catering for about 350 schoolchildren of whom 108 are attending our German Language Induction Courses for Primary Schoolchildren entitled “German is Fun & Easy”. • Enrolment
for the new 2004-2005 German language courses for adults will start
as from the 18th August. Information on these courses is already
available on our website www.germanmaltesecircle.org
In the meantime we wish to announce that also this scholastic year,
the Circle will be organising German language courses for schoolchildren
attending Forms 1 to 5. |
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Sokrates- Fremdsprachen - Projekt an der Louise-Otto-Peters-Schule |
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Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen, besuchten die Jugendlichen Kindergärten, Schulen und Altersheime in beiden Ländern und befragten diejenigen, die sie dort antrafen, nach ihren liebsten Gerichten. Auf vorbereiteten Fragebögen, welche in den drei Sprachen Deutsch, Englisch und Maltesisch erstellt worden sind, wurden die Antworten erfasst und im gemeinsamen Unterricht ausgewertet. Die Rezepte wurden unter Anleitung der Lehrkräfte in den Küchen der Schulen gemeinsam gekocht und selbstverständlich auch gegessen. Die so genannte Mittelmeerdiät gilt als besonders gesund. Es ist daher ein weiteres Anliegen des Sokrates-Fremdsprachenprojektes, die Unterschiede in der Ernährung auch auf deren ernährungsphysiologischen Besonderheiten hin zu untersuchen, auszuwerten und zu veranschaulichen – und dies in den erwähnten drei Sprachen. Die
Summe der Arbeiten im Rahmen des Sokrates – Fremdsprachenprojektes
wird in einem Kochbuch dokumentiert. Die erarbeiteten Rezepte werden
in den drei Sprachen Deutsch, Englisch und Maltesisch erfasst. Die
Auswertung der ernährungsphysiologischen Unterschiede wird
anschaulich präsentiert. Und die Aktivitäten der Schüler
werden auf CD-ROM dokumentiert. Es wäre das schönste Ergebnis
eines solchen Projektes, wenn sich aus der gemeinsam bewältigten
Arbeit und gemeinsam gestalteten Freizeit dauerhafte persönliche
Freundschaften entwickeln und der Basis für eine weitere Zusammenarbeit
zwischen dem University of Malta Junior College in Msida und der
Louise-Otto-Peters-Schule in Wiesloch gelegt würde. Der bisherige
Verlauf des Projektes berechtigt zu solchen Hoffnungen. |
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| A “Different” Exhibition | |
  Mr
Albert Friggieri, President of the German-Maltese Circle recently
inaugurated an Exhibition of paintings by German artist Dagmar Jacobs
at Messina Palace, the Circle’s premises in Valletta. The artist
who hails from Niedersachsen has entitled her exhibition “Different”
– referring to the difference, the contrast and the opposition
of two places: on the one hand Valletta, on the other hand Northern
Germany.
Mr Friggieri stated that in her work, the artist tries to bring out not only the obvious difference between our Capital City and the northern regions of her country, but also the difference in colour, character, soul and mind. The artist is presenting us with water colours portraying Valletta where she feels herself being transported through time, with stories of power and people, of joy and of pain. Frau Jacobs states that there “she experiences the morbid magic of the past, imbued with history and life, the magic of maturity”. On the other hand, the German artist painted snapshots in glaring oil colours of impressionistic landscape and country images so characteristic of Northern Germany. The
opening of the Exhibition was attended also by the German Ambassador,
H.E.Mr Georg Merten, the Cultural Attache at the German Embassy,
Mrs Kerstin Platsch, members of the Executive Committee of the German-Maltese
Circle, many Maltese artists and members of the German community
in Malta and by Mr Alexander Breitenbach and Mrs Johanna Albrecht,
the organisers of Dagmar’s exhibition in Malta. |
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| Neu in der Bibliothek | |
| Eine umfangreiche Büchersammlung zum Thema Antike wurde uns von Robert Dohm gespendet und kann ab sofort ausgeliehen werden. Wir möchten uns nochmals sehr bei Familie Dohm bedanken. Danken möchten wir auch Frau Christiane Querfurth-Fenech, die uns verschiedene Romane, darunter z.B. ‘Nihilon’ von Alan Sillitoe und ‘Gai-Jin’ von James Clavell, gespendet hat. Eine weitere Bücherspende haben wir dankenswerterweise von Herrn Joe Gulia erhalten. Eines der Bücher ist ‘Big Sur – und die Orangen des Hieronymus Bosch’ von Henry Miller, in dem sich der Autor “mit leidenschaftlicher Diesseitsfrömmigkeit zu einem Leben fern aller Zivilisation, in ursprünglichem Einverständnis von Mensch und Natur” bekennt. New
Video: KUBUS No. 61 (in German with accompanying booklet
in English and in German) |
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| Carmel
Azzopardi Treasurer of the German-Maltese Circle, Lecturer at MCAST Interviewed by Ingrid B. Kidder |
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 I
am a careful person and have learned to be patient”, was one
of the very first sentences uttered by Carmel Azzopardi, when we sat
down for this interview. Adding: “I never start a discussion,
but I can continue a discussion” – These words sum up
the impression that Carmel Azzopardi gives to those who meet him –
a composed and amicable gentleman. And he explained that growing up
with his four brothers and one sister formed him from early childhood,
taught him respect and the necessity to share everything that life
offered. With this he meant not only the tangible goods of every day’s
care, but also moods, pleasures and sorrows. He is of the firm opinion
that the family nucleus and structure is one of the most important factors of well-being. In fact, he still lives in the same house in Dingli in which he was born, sharing it with his sister and one of the brothers. Carmel Azzopardi was an early starter. His father, the blacksmith of Dingli, recognised his abilities and, already at the age of four-and-a-half sent him to the St. Joseph Sisters School. After a mere two years he was moved to the Primary School of his native village, straight into Standard 2, meaning that this six-and-a-half year old boy shared the same school benches with mates of approximately eleven to twelve years of age. He appeared not to be particularly happy reminiscing about this period of his life. Though good in subjects like Maths and English, he did not share the interests of the older boys, who, so he remembered, were mainly concerned with leaving school as soon as possible, something still very common in 1957. Thereafter he sailed through Secondary School and eventually, in 1967, at the age of 16 he joined Malta Drydocks as an apprentice. As was practice then, after one year apprenticeship the next choice had to be made. Having the best results of seven candidates, he chose to become an engine fitter. During his apprenticeship he attended courses at the Malta College of Arts Science and Technology, which was also referred to as “Polytechnic”, and which existed in this form from 1964 to 1981. He successfully concluded his course and apprenticeship there in 1971 with the “Higher Technician Diploma”. He had worked for three years as engine fitter “afloat”, i.e. repairing ship machinery and auxiliaries on board ships coming into the dry docks, when his life took a major turn: Following the trend of the political and economical changes of the time, Malta Drydocks were placed under the Management of German shipbuilding experts, who suggested that some promising young Maltese should be sent to Germany to study ship construction there. Young Carmel was chosen, which meant, first of all, that he had to learn the German language from scratch - and fast! Learning German had been his ‘dormant wish’; the reason for this, he said, was, that it had always puzzled him and he was particularly intrigued by the fact, that this nation - though having lost the war - developed a Wirtschaftswunder in no time, exported Volkswagen Käfer all over the world, while so many of its citizens could afford to spend their holidays abroad. So, with curiosity and eagerness he started to learn German at the German-Maltese Circle under Mr. Herbert Conrad. Needless to say, he passed both the first and second year as best of class, also sitting for his A-Levels at the same time. Fulfilling all preconditions and with a five-year scholarship of the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft in his pocket he left Malta for Germany in 1975. After a period of intensive language training at the Goethe-Institut, he worked and trained for six months at the Howaltswerke Deutsche Werft, and attended the Fachhochschule Berliner Tor, Hamburg, (Technical University), concluding his studies as Diplom-Ingenieur (B.Sc) in 1979. With yet another course in Welding Engineering he also graduated as Schweissfachingenieur (Welding Engineer). Back in Malta in 1980 and after a period of Management Training he was appointed as Quality Control Manager including welding responsibilities at the Drydocks, a position he held for six years. However, in 1986, he joined Det Norske Veritas as Ship Classification Surveyor, based in Malta. Having been promoted to Senior Surveyor, he was sad to have to leave DNV due to health reasons in 1995. He was compelled to re-orientate himself towards a profession physically less strenuous than climbing between ships’ engines, holds, tanks and crawling in double bottoms. Carmel decided to become a teacher, a profession which gave him the possibility to handing down his immense knowledge of ship engineering to young future Maltese technicians.
His relationship to the German-Maltese Circle became even stronger after his return to Malta in 1980, involving himself in many of the Circle’s activities, his two main contributions being that of an elected member of the Committee and filling the post of Librarian for some years, which, however, due to further periods abroad he could not keep up as regularly as he wished. In the early eighties he won another two-months’ scholarship to the Goethe Institute in Schwäbisch Hall to improve his German. The German language remained his main ‘hobby-interest’ though he never fully neglected French, which he had picked up in prolonged working phases abroad, as well as Italian. In 1999 he was elected Treasurer for the German-Maltese Circle and has been re-elected ever since. Reading
is his dearest hobby, Carmel says, in German, of course. This includes
the classical writings of, for example Schiller, Goethe and Lessing,
as well as modern literature. He enjoys the quiet evenings with
his books – unless there is an event arranged by ‘his’
Club, the Sliema Lions Club. On such occasions you can meet him
selling second-hand books at the Sliema Independence Gardens, collecting
money for philanthropic organisations. |
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| Honorary Consuls/Consuls General of Malta in Germany meet in Munich | |
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•
Members are reminded that conversation meetings in the German language
are being organised weekly at the Circle. These meetings which are
of two hours duration start at 6.00p.m. and are being conducted
by Stefanie Kotes. Members who have a Grundstufe IA/IB level in
German have their meetings on Tuesdays while those with an “O”
or ZD level have their meetings on Thursdays. All meetings are
offered free of charge. No pre-booking is required. 
Vom
13. bis 26. Juni 2004 besuchten siebzehn Jugendliche und zwei Lehrkräfte
aus dem Junior College der University of Malta die Louise-Otto-Peters-Schule
in Wiesloch, um das Projekt „Drei Sprachen – Zwei Länder
– Drei Generationen“ zum Abschluss zu bringen. Im März
2004 war eine Gruppe von fünfzehn Schülern und zwei Lehrkräften
der Louise-Otto-Peters-Schule auf Malta zu Gast und besuchte unter
Anderem den German-Maltese-Circle – und lernte
dort auch etwas Maltesisch. Ziel des Projektes ist es, Ernährungsgewohnheiten
deutscher und maltesischer Menschen näher kennen zu lernen
und dies in der Sprache des jeweiligen Gastlandes zu erfahren. 
Consequently
he followed a one year’s postgraduate course at the University
of Malta to qualify as a teacher of technical subjects, graduating
in 1996. Since then he was a lecturer at the Mikelang Sapiano Technical
Institute until its closing down in 2003; thereafter he joined the
new MCAST, where he is lecturing to date at the Institute of Mechanical
Engineering.
The 14th
Meeting of Malta's Hon. Consuls and Consuls General held this year
on 30th June in Munich was hosted by Mr. Bernhard Müller-Menrad,
Hon. Consul for Malta in the Bavarian capital. Mr. Müller-Menrad
is also the owner and Chief Executive Officer of Malta based spectacles
producer, Menrad Ltd. Apart from the participation of the eight
Hon. Consuls and Consuls General, the full-day Meeting was attended
by the Regional Manager of Air Malta for Central Europe, the Director,
Malta Tourism Authority, in Frankfurt, a representative of Malta
Enterprise and Mr. Henry J. Borg, President of the German-Maltese
Chamber of Commerce. In the course of the Meeting these gentlemen
made interesting presentations on their working activities. Mr.
Manuel Mifsud, Counsellor and Consular Officer, briefed the Consuls
on the visa procedures following Malta's entry into the European
Union. The Meeting was chaired by Mr. William Spiteri, Malta's Ambassador
in Berlin. Ambassador Spiteri briefed the Consuls on Maltese-German
relations, Malta's economic performance and political situation,
the EU, the Mediterranean and other matters of interest to the Consuls.
The Agenda, however, focussed on consular activities, promotional
events and on discussing the work-plans for the year.