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Our activities for February

Wednesday, 4th February
Gesprächsrunde:  "Malta in der deutschen Literatur"
Diskussionsleiter:  Bernhard Baron
Venue:  Messina Palace, Valletta
Time:  6.30p.m.
Open to members with a good command of the German language

Thursday, 5th February
Presentation of designs towards the development of the basement of Messina Palace by students from the Berufsakademie für Innenraumdesign of Freiburg led by architect Bernd Mantel.  Master Organ Builder Thomas Spaeth will also deliver a short talk on Organ Building. Followed by drinks.
Venue: Messina Palace.  Time: 7.00p.m.
Open to members and their friends

Wednesday, 11th February
Talk (in English) on the theme "Malta 60-61 AD: Surviving Shipwreck with St. Paul"
- The historical, literary and theological contexts of Acts 27-28 supported with Powerpoint Presentation showing art paintings of the shipwreck, manuscripts and maps
Speaker:  Mr. Paul Guillaumier
Venue:  Messina Palace, Valletta
Time:  7.00p.m.
Open to members and their friends

Friday, 13th February
German Film Evening:  Befreite Zone (Liberated Zone) directed by Norbert Baumgarten (Produced in 2004)
In German but with subtitles in English
Synopsis: A seemingly lighthearted romantic comedy/sports drama on the surface, Liberated Zone ends up having a little bit more on its mind as this uneven but intriguing film progresses. This sexually liberated comedy centers on a football-mad village reeling from an economic depression.  The arrival of soccer superstar Blondi has brought a wind of rejuvenation to the downtrodden eastern German town, but as the championship game draws near, the soccer team president's son, Micah, threatens his relationship with longtime girlfriend Sylvia by sleeping with her best friend. Incensed at her boyfriend's infidelity, Sylvia seduces Blondi on the eve of the championship game, leaving the whole town wondering just what has happened to their newfound lucky charm.
Members and their friends are welcome.  Entrance free.  Venue:  Messina Palace, Valletta.  Time:  7.00p.m.

Wednesday, 18th February
Gesprächsrunde:  "Ein Haar in der Suppe - Sprachliche Spielereien"
Diskussionsleiterin:  Ingrid Kidder
Venue:  Messina Palace, Valletta.  Time:  6.30p.m.
Open to members with a good command of the German language

From Our Noticeboard

  Attention all Members!!  -  Ex
LAST REMINDER:    RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP for 2009 NOW.  Support the German-Maltese Circle !  €12.00 for one whole year! Mail a cheque (payable German-Maltese Circle) or come personally to the office!  You will continue receiving the Newsletter, join our activities,  use the Library services, and much more!  Those who are attending our courses have had their membership renewed already.
 

Special offer to our members: Upon presentation of their current membership card, members of the German-Maltese Circle are being offered a 10% discount on all product purchases made at the Playmobil FunPark and at the Malta International Airport Shop.

During the Annual General Meeting of the German-Maltese Circle held on Wednesday, 28^th January,  the members elected the Executive Committee for 2009 as follows: 
President:  Frau Ingrid Kidder, General Secretary: Mr Victor H Sammut, Treasurer: Mr Carmel Azzopardi
Corporate Members Representative: Mr Bernd Ritschel (Playmobil)
Members: Mr Simon Alden, Ms Corinne Gauci, Mr Walter Höhmann, Dr Herbert Lenicker, Mr Victor P. Pace and Ms Sirka Facklam

Dr Gunter Jacobs announces that he will conduct another two conversation meetings at Messina Palace on Fridays, 13^th and 27^th February.  Recommended for those with a good command of German.

Maltese for Foreigners:  Part 2 of this popular language course is scheduled to start on Wednesday, 18^th February with lessons on Wednesdays starting at 6.00p.m.  Course consists of 15 lessons of 2 hours each.  For more information and application details see our website.

ing Events for May at Messina Palace

Carmelina Grech writes about the Castle of Eggenberg

While on a tour to Graz, capital of the province of Styria in Austria, I visited "Schloss Eggenberg", the biggest and most important castle of the province. Balthassar Eggenberger, presumably belonging to the peasantry in the surroundings of Graz, was the mint master of Emperor Friedrich III (c.1493). He bought an estate and named it after the family name. He also had a Gothic chapel of the Virgin Mary built on the estate. The Eggenberger dynasty's coat of arms (3 ravens carrying a crown in their beaks) stems from him.  Ruprecht Eggenberger gained spectacular victories against the Turks, so the family was granted the hereditary status of barons. An important family member, Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, who was an advisor and favourite of Emperor Ferdinand II, rose to high office at the Viennese Court. The family estate turned into a splendid palace modelled on Italian and Spanish residences.

The castle was built according to the astronomic and mathematical knowledge of the day. The building based on the numeral symbolism of the Gregorian calendar, has 365 windows - as many days of the year; every floor has 31 rooms - days of the month; the 24 state rooms correspond to the hours of the day; their 52 windows and 52 doors correspond to the weeks of the year. Adding the eight windows of the big banqueting hall (planet hall), you get the number 60 representing seconds and minutes. The four corner towers represent the 4 seasons. All axes of the building intersect at the fifth tower, right in the private Gothic chapel that already existed in the previous medieval building.

The facades of the castle face the four points of the compass. Above the main portal, on the east side, is the seven-part Eggenberg coat of arms; in the centre, the three ravens mentioned above, surrounded by the coats of arms of the Eggenberg territories. The inscription "Ave Claudia Imperatrix" below the balcony on the second floor contains the date 1673, when Johann Eggenberg had the honour of arranging the nuptial chamber in the castle for the second wife of Emperor Leopold I, Princess Claudia Felicitas of Tyrol.

The core of the State Rooms is the planet. The cosmic symbolism is expressed in the ceiling frescoes, each of the 7 planets (known at that time) represent not only the days of the week but also a member of the Eggenberger dynasty. The walls are ornamented by the 12 signs of the zodiac, representing the months of the year. The candle-lit planet hall is an ideal romantic setting for concerts!

In the 24 state rooms, ceiling frescoes tell ancient and biblical stories that were made by the first Eggenberger court painter, Melchior Otto. Three rooms were furnished in East Asian style. The castle church "Maria Schnee" formerly called "Comedjhaus" (theatre) of the Eggenberger dynasty, is today one of the most fashionable wedding chapels of Graz. This magnificent building is a popular attraction to many visitors in view of the fact that the castle is inseparable from the park which is the entrance of the castle and which was transformed from a rococo garden into an English landscape after 1850. The history of the dynasty came to an end with the last male Eggenberger. The inheritance was sold in 1939, and today it is a part of the Provincial Museum.

Maltese Artist Doranne Alden Exhibits in Germany

“A firework display of colour” or 'Ein Feurwerk der Farben aus Malta” was the title of a solo exhibition by this well known local artist held at the VR-Bank in Freyung, which is a small town near the historical University town of Passau on the banks of the river Danube.  The exhibition, which was opened by Director of VR-Bank Mr. Josef Leutziger was sponsored by Messrs. Erhard & Mario Dumps, owners of Bavarian Technology Systems, an electronics assembly company which started operations in Malta in 2004, as they are keen to promote cultural exchanges between Bavaria & Malta. In his opening address, Mr. Leutziger praised the high standard of work on display and expressed his delight that the bank was given the opportunity to enjoy and exhibit Doranne Alden’s works, which added a flourish of colour to the drab winter weather in Germany!

The art on display was very well received by the local community and guests at the opening reception as it gave them a colourful artistic insight to the Maltese islands.   The local newspaper PASSAUER NEUE PRESSE remarked in its coverage how the artist used strong and intensive colour contrasts in her work, additionally highlighting the fact that Alden had previously successfully exhibited in Bavaria during the 8 years she spent living in Germany.

(Doranne Alden will be exhibiting her works at Messina Palace later this year.)
 

Köln Karneval (or the fifth season of the year)

Well known Carnivals are held in southern German cities and in the Rhineland cities of Mainz, Aachen, Bonn and Düsseldorf.  Along the Rhine every town has a "Prinz" and "Prinzessin" who command a uniformed guard, the "Prinzengarde". The biggest and zaniest Rhine Karneval and for that matter, in all of Europe, is held in Köln (Cologne), Germany's oldest city where the Karneval is annually synthesized into a vivacious work of art.

The first written record of the Köln carnival is from the year 1341. Köln has the Dreigestirn (three Stars): the Carnival Prince (known as Seine Tollität, ‘His Craziness’), the Bauer (peasant) and the Jungfrau (virgin). The Jungfrau has always been a man. It is a great honour to be one of eleven (11) members of the Dreigestirn, and they are elected each October from the members of Köln’s 105 historic carnival associations.

In 1823, citizens, mainly of the educated elite, formed Karneval societies for the purpose of creating a new image. The Romantic spirit of the times and renewed interest in classic Greece and Rome, provided inspiration for Karneval themes. A symbolic figure, Prinz Karneval, assisted by two other picturesque figures, the Kouml lnische Bauer (Cologne Peasant) and the Kouml lnische Jungfraü (Cologne Virgin, portrayed by a man) became popular. 

The Köln carnival involves hundreds of street and pub-parties, where everyone is in costume. Many special fund-raising events are held in large halls. Officially it starts am elften elften elf Uhr elf (11^th November at 11:11am) and continues in a fairly low-key for about three months before the Tolle Tage (Crazy Days) which climax on Rosenmontag, the 42^nd day before Easter. In Köln a huge party starts on Thursday (Altweiberfastnacht) and ends on Tuesday (Veilchendienstag) with the Nubbelverbrennung (burning the spirit of carnival to atone for the sins committed during the carnival session). Thousands will be in the streets dressed in costume to cheer their “royalties” and friends on floats or marching in the parade for the Rose Parade on Carnival Monday.

After the official initiation in November, Karneval’s other important countdown dates are New Year's Day (January 1^st) and the Festival of the Three Kings or Magi also know as the Epiphany, on January 6th.

Weiberfastnacht (women’s carnival night) is the Thursday before Rosenmontag, and it is tradition that women are allowed to cut off the tie of any man within reach, and to kiss any man they want to. This day also signals the beginning of the five days of Carnival with nearly 50 processions leading up to Monday's Rose Monday Parade.  About 1.5 million people go to the Rosenmontag parade in Köln and many more watch the festivities on TV. For the many Karneval associations their biggest effort goes into constructing their float for the Rosenmontag parade. The floats are not only beautiful but also represent satirical, political and traditional topics. As the floats pass by, the costumed revellers aboard pelt the street crowds with papers and sweets while they sing the many old Karneval songs.

The Mariechen, acrobatic dancing troupes of girls entertain the crowds as part of the parade. In the parade the Carnival Prince has a royal bodyguard who are dressed in uniforms of the early 1800s. The  Prinzengarde bodyguards remind the crowd of the city’s tradition of anti-militarism. This included disobeying orders by turning in the wrong direction and stuffing flowers into rifle-barrels. Rosenmontag is not an official holiday but in some areas of Germany, workers usually get the day off.

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