Notices

 

Projekt WORT-Werkstatt – Kommt die deutsche Sprache zu kurz?
– ein Ideenforum für Eltern deutschsprachiger Kinder auf Malta 

Ist Schiller nicht - was ..ja was oder wer eigentlich? Kennen Ihre Kinder deutsche Dichter?  Sind Sie neugierig auf Ideen zur spielerischen und unkonventionellen Vermittlung eines Stückchen Heimat, eines Stückchen deutscher Kultur? Zauberlehrling, Erich Kästner, Laura Stern, aber auch Pippi Langstrumpf - ein wichtiger Teil deutscher Kindheit ... ohne „langweiligen“ Unterricht! 

Wir suchen interessierte Eltern, die sich mit uns austauschen möchten, um herauszufinden, was Sie, liebe Eltern und Kinder, sich wünschen würden....Wir arbeiten an Projekten für zukünftige Aktivitäten im DMZ  und haben ein paar Ideen ...und möchten gerne Ihre hören! 

Am Mittwoch den 22.11.2006 um 19.30 Uhr würden wir Sie daher gerne in der Bar des Deutsch-Maltesischen Zirkels begrüßen - zu einer lockeren Diskussionsrunde über eine „starke Sprache für starke Kinder“. Es freuen sich Amelie von Stenglin (Frau des deutschen Botschafters) und Sirka Facklam, aktive Zwillingsmutter! 

Martinsfest – a short story by Calvin Veith

In a city called Erfurt, in Germany, lived a boy named Daniel. Every year Daniel looked forward to November 10, the day called Martinsfest. At night the children carried lanterns in a big parade. This year Daniel spent the whole week before Martinsfest making the best lantern ever. He cut and glued, and cut and glued some more until his design was finished. Daniel made a truly beautiful lantern.  Daniel could hardly wait for the children's lantern parade to begin. He was proud of his special lantern. That night, thousands of children from Erfurt and other villages marched through town. Daniel walked down the streets with his lantern glowing in the dark, right up to the big church where the parade ended.

When the parade was over, Daniel found Mama and Papa waiting for him and they started their way back home together. Along the way, they saw a big tent right in the middle of the town. Through the tent opening, Daniel saw lots of people listening to a man. He and his parents stepped inside to hear what the man was saying. He was talking about Martinsfest, so Daniel and his parents walked in and sat down.  The man explained that there were TWO men named Martin who are remembered on this special day. One lived long, long ago, and had been a soldier in the Roman army for 25 years. Then he had a vision which caused him to believe in Christ. He was martyred for becoming a Christian and later he became a saint. The other man, named Martin Luther, lived in Germany about 500 years ago.

When Martin Luther was a young man living right there in Erfurt, he couldn't understand the language spoken in church services. So Martin studied and began to read the Bible for himself. He couldn't believe his eyes when he read in the Bible that salvation is a free gift from God. He read that all people do bad things, no one is good enough to go to heaven. But Martin also read that God sent His perfect son Jesus to die on the cross and rise from the dead to forgive us from our sins. If we believe in Jesus Christ and ask Him to take away our sins, we can go to heaven.

Martin Luther thought these were the best words he had ever read. He wanted everyone in Germany to be able to read God's Word, so he translated the Bible into German. The Bible says in John 8:12 that Jesus is the light of the world. Anyone who follows Him will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.  And this is the reason why children carry lanterns during Martinsfest in order to remember the man who made it possible for the German people to read the Bible for themselves.

Dr. phil. Manfred Moser
Member of the German-Maltese Circle
Author of a new German – Maltese Dictionary
Interviewed by Ingrid B. Kidder

Dr. Manfred Moser is one of those highly educated and professional people who do not occur in plentiful numbers anymore, which is mainly due to modern very streamlined education models. He has followed and completed several different lines of studies allowing him to refer to an enormous fundus of useful knowledge for which so many other scientists have to make laborious researches. He has published many articles and books, yet it is the latest work “Malti-Germaniz – Dizzjunarju kbir / Deutsch-Maltesisch - Großes Wörterbuch” – a comprehensive German-Maltese Dictionary, which is of special interest in this context. This book will be launched at the German-Maltese Circle later in this month (see below), and will tie the interest between him and our readers. 

Manfred Moser was born in Reutte in Northern Tyrol as son of catholic parents and grew up in Innsbruck. Even during the war he was able to serve as ministrant at the Jesuit Church there. Though he was drafted in March 1945 at the age of 15, the military medical officer was wise enough to find some “heart problems” in the young intelligent boy, rendering him unsuitable for the war service, which was the greatest relief for the family. Very early during his school years he had developed a special interest for language structures and adored tuition in the Latin and Ancient Greek languages. Initially absolving full studies in Classical Scholastic Philosophy and Catholic Theology, as well as Mathematics (Dr. rer.nat.) and Physics, he wrote  at the Institutum Philosophicum Oenipontanum in Innsbruck his philosophical thesis “Metaphysic der Materie” engulfing also certain theories of the eighteenth century German philosopher Immanuel Kant.  

When I asked him, how many years of his life he spent studying, he replied FIFTEEN, altogether 30 semesters at various German and Austrian Universities, and added proudly: “Apart from a few stipends, I financed all those years myself!”

As from 1965 he worked for many years as an assistant at the Universities of Cologne and Tübingen, pursuing Philosophy of Matter and the Philosophy of Language. Finally he was an employee as Academic Director of the “Institut für Interdisziplinäre Forschung und Lehre” (Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and Teachings) or “Studium Generale” at the University of Mainz. He enjoys lecturing wholeheartedly, might his talks be on philosophy, on the metaphysics of time, or might they have been reflections on the propositions of physics or mathematics. And when the age of electronic storage of information began, he was one of the first to adopt these new realms and for many years gave courses of lectures on “Einführung in die EDV für Geisteswissenschaftler” (Introduction to EDP for Scholars of the Humanities).

Strangely enough, he still found time to marry Hildegard and raised three children, all of whom studied scientific subjects as well.

Now, where does the Maltese language come in? By coincidence, it was in 1991, he spent his first holidays in Malta  – after which a further 24 should follow (so far!). Here he heard the Maltese language, was intrigued by it; and, as he put it, felt a psychological motivation to learn Maltese. This he started all by himself by means of the Bible. He was fascinated discovering the Maltese language is spoken with an originally Semitic way of thinking; he noticed the confrontation of Indo-Germanic structures in German and English with the Semitic linguistic forms; the Semitic plural forms on originally Italian words; no modal verbs, no subjunctive, very few reflexive verbs.

These and other findings were challenging him to publish his first small Maltese/German – German/Maltese dictionary in 1999, a handy book mainly for the ardent tourist. But he wanted to improve on this and compiled this new dictionary with 64.000 head words. Special attention was given to ease the finding of words, and even a “Suchhilfe” (a search aid) was enclosed. This book is a remarkable witness of results achievable when so much scientific force is applied as is available within the brain “storage” of Dr. Manfred Moser.        

How does a person like Dr. Moser relax? To my great astonishment his answer came quickly with a roguish glimpse in his eyes: little technical problems like repairing normal household equipment, lawn mowers, electric shavers. Even the new construction of useful equipment or gadgets for everybody’s use can give him many pleasurable hours – and, of course, pride when it functions.

Dr. Moser will be in Malta from 23^rd to 29^th November, 2006. Those of our readers who would like to meet him are most welcome to attend the launching of his new dictionary at Messina Palace on Saturday, 25^th November, 2006, at 11.00 hours. 

German School-Theatre group visits the German-Maltese-Circle
Dr Volker Kronemayer, Vice-principal and coordinator

This year they came over to Malta also to perform a play on the occasion of the Mozart-Year 2006. Mr Hans-Peter Oberst wrote the play presenting Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from the point of view of his elder sister Anna Maria called Nannerl. In sixteen scenes actors and dancers assisted by a number of students from the Maltese Junior College gave an insight into the feelings of Mozart’s equally talented elderly sister. Being a woman she just was not given the same chances like Wolfgang. She was not allowed to travel all over Europe and to perform at courts. She was not allowed to write operas and other pieces of music like the ones her brother is still renowned for. Nannerl had to run her father’s household (after the death of her mother) and then got married to a man she didn’t like. While her talent was just noticed by a small interested public, her brother came out in the limelight – in which he still is. The play ended with choreography from Amadeus Superstar created by Mrs Regina Schneck. 

The cast was composed of Marelne Epp doing the part of Nannerl, Lisa Maier (Father Mozart, Lord Stewart, Eart Arco), Valentina Derzapf (Wolfgang Mozart, Papageno), Philipp Unold (Mozart, writing letters), Marina Tisch (Bäsle), Franziska Lampert (Archbishop Colleredo), Tamara Hofmann (Papgena), Anna Kraemer, Marina Tisch and Rianne Farrugia [JC] (three daughters of the Weber’s family). Among the dancers were Rodney Gauci [JC] as Amadeus Superstar together with Anthea Zammit [JC], Jessica Muscat [JC], Arberesha Shkreli and Ardiana Mehoviq. Doing the Minuet were Ronald Briffa [JC], Joseph Borg [JC], Anna Kraemer and Regina Pfeffer.  

The visitors from Germany are very much obliged to Mrs Ingrid Kidder for her warm-hearted welcome speech and  reception of the group at Messina Palace. They are also very much obliged to Mr Victor Sammut and the staff of the Circle for the efforts they undertook to make the visit such a success and to Mr Albert Friggieri for allowing them to perform there in the first place and for kindly keeping up contacts between Consul Prof. Dr. Victor Dulger and the Louise-Otto-Peters-Schule.

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