Neue Gesprächsrunde im German-Maltese Circle

 Wir möchten unseren Mitgliedern wieder die Gelegenheit zu kostenlosen Gesprächsrunden geben, zu denen die Teilnehmer zweimal im Monat zusammen-kommen können. Diese Runden sollen allen an der deutschen Sprache interessierten Mitgliedern die Möglichkeit bieten, zu sprechen und gleichzeitig Interessantes über Land und Leute zu erfahren.   Zur Durchführung dieses Programms suchen wir ehrenamtliche, deutschsprachige Muttersprachler, die Freude daran haben, ab und zu für einen Abend über ein Thema ihrer Wahl mit den Teilnehmern zu diskutieren. Dies gilt auch für Besucher, die nur kurze Zeit auf Malta sind. Wenn Sie Interesse haben und weitere Information wünschen, freuen wir uns auf Ihren Anruf im German-Maltese Circle, Tel. 21 24 69 67, zu den Öffnungszeiten wochentags von 08.30 - 12.30h und 16.30 - 20.30h, Samstags 08.30 – 13.00h.  

Wortwerkstatt - Hören, reden…. und malen!!
                           Für Kinder von 5 - 10 Jahren                      

Wir lesen aus Erich Kästners‚ Pünktchen und Anton’ vor.  Anschließend setzen die Kinder das Gehörte in eigenen Bildern um.  …Wortspiele runden die zwei Stunden ab!  Es empfiehlt sich pflegeleichte und bequeme Kleidung, die Farbe abbekommen darf.  Bitte ein Kissen zum Draufsitzen und evtl. dicke Socken mitbringen.

Wann:  Samstag, 24.03.2007 - 15.45 Uhr
Wo:     Deutsch-Maltesischer Zirkel, Valletta 

Wir freuen uns auf Ihre verbindliche Anmeldung bis zum 23.3.2007 unter gmc@germanmaltesecircle.org oder telefonisch unter 21 24 69 67.  Wir dürfen noch mal darauf hinweisen, dass es sich um eine Veranstaltung für Mitglieder des DMZ handelt.

Die DMZ Bibliothek steht zu Ihrer Verfügung!  -  Wir möchten Sie daran erinnern, dass unsere Bibliothek täglich während der DMZ Geschäftszeiten geöffnet ist. Bitte melden Sie sich im Büro am Eingang.

d  d  d  d  Corporate Members 2007  c  c  c  c  c 

Executive Committee 2007

GERMAN MASTER CABINET MAKERS ON MALTA ASSIGNMENT

Eleven students and three lecturers from the Academy for Plant Management, Furniture Manufacturing and Interior Design of the Friedrich-Weinbrenner College of Technology of Freiburg, in South Western Germany, returned to Germany after completing the first part of a very special assignment which brought them to Malta during February. The participants, all of them mature students who have completed a first degree of Master Cabinet-Maker (the German “Meister) and who have already worked for some years in their area of specialization, are following a one-year full time course. Their curriculum includes both the development and production of individual objects, furniture sets and interior design, beside other subjects concerning different aspects of craft and management.  

Way back in 2000, Mr. Joachim Speck, English lecturer at the Academy, established contacts with Mr. Donald Friggieri, Director of the MCAST Institute of Art and Design. Since then, groups from the Freiburg Academy have been visiting Malta and the Institute at Targa Gap every year, while cooperation between the two institutes has been intensified. Last year Joachim Speck was in Malta on one of his regular visits and while at the German-Maltese Circle in Valletta an idea occurred to him: why not assign to the students at the academy the task of re-designing the décor of the entrance area and the cafeteria of the Circle? Such assignments form part of the curriculum at the academy. The students’ task would be not to actually carry out the work themselves but to make suggestions as to how the areas in question could be made to look more attractive, without touching anything of the structure of Palazzo Messina. The German-Maltese Circle’s Committee approved the idea and promised to provide the necessary facilities for the group to carry out the project. Following consultations with the German-Maltese Circle’s General Secretary, Mr Victor Sammut, the students spent many hours working on location at the Circle’s premises in St. Christopher Street. 

While in Malta, the students, who were also accompanied by Mr Bernd Mantel, architect and head of the department, and Mrs Margit Löhlein, lecturer in business communication, had a full program of activities. They went to the MCAST Art and Design Institute where they toured the workshops, had various discussions and attended an illustrated lecture delivered by Donald Friggieri entitled “Crafts in Malta – an Expression of Cultural Values”. On behalf of the German academy, Joachim Speck invited two stone sculptors from the Institute of Art and Design to participate in the “European Stone Festival” which the Academy itself will be organizing in Freiburg in 2008. The stone festival is the big meeting place for young European stone carvers; it has been held in a different EU country every year since the late 1990’s. The German students and their lecturers also visited sites of archaeological and historical interest, museums and churches, Gozo, as well as Valletta Waterfront, the Sacra Infermeria, Fort St. Elmo, the National War Museum and Mdina. They also toured the Playmobil factory at Hal Far and the Joinwell Showroom in Sliema and had a meeting with the German Ambassador. 

In Germany, the students will now complete the first phase of their assignments. Their plans and models for the German-Maltese Circle will be evaluated in Freiburg by members of the staff of the Academy. The Committee of the Circle will also be requested to give its opinion on the students’ work. According to Mr. Speck, they hope to be able to present the best projects at Palazzo Messina in July of this year.   

Dear Readers,

Some time ago the thought occurred to have a closer look at our younger members, why they might have joined the German-Maltese Circle and why they succeeded in some special talents. We were lucky in finding two young ladies, both born in 1992, who were blessed with a special fate allowing and enabling them to pursue their personal inclinations to a high standard at their early ages. However, I feel the urge to point out that both girls were not “just lucky” with their understanding parents and favourable environmental circumstances, but that they both strike me as very ardent and extremely hard workers who take all their additional work and exercises very seriously in their endeavour to reach their self defined goal.  And this is what they have to say:

Uta Barz   -  Interviewed by Ingrid B. Kidder

A German girl from Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, 
Pupil at the Goethe Gymnasium, Karlsruhe, 
Junior Member of the German-Maltese Circle

Uta has been baptised with water from Malta which was flown to Germany for this sacred purpose – so all her young life Malta was part of her. She lives in the city of Karlsruhe, seat of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court), together with her parents and her younger brother, yet the family spends all school holidays either at the Baltic Sea or in Malta, where all of them enjoy the cheerful company of her Maltese godfather, Dun Gwann Sammut.   

She started learning at a Montessori School, which is actually one of the Council Schools of the area the family lives in. This type of school, named after the founder Maria Montessori (1870-1952), applies a pedagogical concept of promoting the intelligence and creativity of the individual child. In the case of Uta writing and a tendency to languages was nurtured. At the age of 10 she entered the Goethe Gymnasium which is a bilingual school. Here three subjects are taught in English, i.e. Geography, History and Biology. The subject “English Language” is taught for four lessons per week; while her two additional languages, French and Italian have also four hours, the German language covers five hours per week. This school model is found in a number of big cities in Germany and requires a lot of diligence and enthusiasm of the pupils; however, it awards them with a rich experience and exposes them to different cultures from their earliest youth on. One might say, children completing their studies at these schools turn out to be “Europeans” in the modern meaning of the word.       

At present Uta’s favourite subject is history. She emphasises that for her the decision whether a subject becomes a favourite often depends on the teacher. However, considering her language studies which of course include the cultures of the respective countries, AND her great preference for Malta, there might also be an inkling of genuine interest in the past. For example she delivered a most interesting assignment “Die Maltesische Geschichte anhand von Münzen” (Maltese History on the Basis of  Coins). Another very thorough work of hers, is titled (in the original Italian) “Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero Dei Cavalieri Di San Giovanni Di Gerusalemme, Detto Di Rodi, Detto Di Malta” (Souveräner Militär- und Hospitalorden der Ritter des hl. Johannes von Jerusalem, genannt von Rhodos, genannt von Malta). I have read these essays and they show not only linguistic skills above a teenager’s average but also a very sound and well researched knowledge of her subject. Apart from these historical titles she also writes stories, fairy tales full of fantasies placed in modern surroundings. I am convinced in future Uta will surprise us with noteworthy literary products to be enjoyed by all. 

Vanessa Gatt   -  Interviewed by Ingrid B. Kidder

A Maltese girl from Marsaxlokk, 
Pupil at Our Lady Immaculata Church  School, Hamrun, 
Student of German at the German-Maltese Circle

Vanessa’s great obsession is music – “I just love singing” she says with an enraptured face. As a very young child of about three or four years she started to sing little songs hearing them from her mother and picking them up from TV or radio. And soon – at the age of five - she asked her parents to allow for private lessons, and performed during the same year for the first time in public together with another little girl who was dancing to Vanessa’s song. 

Since those days Vanessa has never stopped with her vocal training, which at present takes up at least five to six hours per week. She works with various teachers at the Malta Academy of Performing Arts. However, singing is not her only artistic expression. As a hobby she also plays the piano and the harp, composes and writes the lyrics for her own songs. “Music is part of my life” she said, which is also reflected in her outstanding career of performances. Since that first stage experience in 1997 she participated in practically every musical shown in Malta, may it be at the Manoel Theatre or at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, she sang and danced in numerous shows and series live, as well as on the national Maltese TV station TVM. She took part in music festivals for juniors in several countries abroad, most noteworthy in 2003 coming second in a national Romanian TV competition for juniors with entries from 16 other countries. And a year later she participated in the same Romanian competition only this time in the adult section and placed second again. A special highlight was the participation in a performance for the CHOGM delegates on the occasion of their meeting in Malta last year. Recently she started attending Masquerade Theatre Arts School in Malta, studying drama, voice and jazz dancing, and is currently recording her own compositions and songs in a recording studio in London.   

Apart from her artistic talents she is an ardent student at Our Lady Immaculata Church School, Hamrun, and once she has passed her A-Levels intends to study to become a lawyer. This, however, astonished me, as I would have considered it natural for her to choose a music related profession. “But”, so she said, “Although I believe in myself, I would like to always be able to fall back to some secure way of earning my living.”  

My last question concerned her learning German at the German-Maltese Circle. Why? Three years ago she heard some people conversing in German, subsequently found German friends and thought: “German is a nice sounding language”. Soon she came over an advertisement in a local paper offering German courses for children at the German-Maltese Circle. As her school did not provide the subject of German at the time, she enrolled and is now aiming for her O-Levels next year, and found out already that German is a very practical tool when travelling in Europe.  

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