Title: Flower Punk Location: Hamburg, Germany Artist: Tabby Year: 2023 Photo Credits: Tabby USEFUL LINKS: Tabby in this blog | Website | Instagram | Twitter
Streetart – Tabby @ Hamburg, Germany
Courtesy of Barbara Picci.
🇩🇪 THE FLENSBURG FILES
Wars with Denmark and England dominate the 15th century. Built into these conflicts are internal tensions between the Hanse Cities
Episode 125 – The Rise of Hamburg
🎥🇩🇪
A look at the city of Hamburg and how it became a Hanseatic powerhouse beginning in the 15th Century. Film is in English.
🇩🇪 THE FLENSBURG FILES
After a few months absence, we’re going to take a look at another region along the Baltic Sea Coast that was hardest hit by the Great Sturmflut that occured during the weekend of October 20-21 of last year.
Our next place is located between Eckernförde and Kappeln and is the location where the River Schlei, the widest river in Schleswig Holstein, empties into the sea. Schleimünde is a combination of a bay which the river flows into that is partially enclosed by two peninsulas located on each end as it flows into the Baltic. One of the islands is known in German as Lotseninsel; in English, Pilot Island. That island and the lighthouse on the opposite side serve as a gateway for boaters and sailors entering the Schlei. The lighthouse, known by its lime green color, dates back to 1871. The area includes the nearby town of Maasholm, located four kilometers to the west. The area offers a wide array of activities, ranging from hiking and fishing to boating and swimming. It also has its own localities for you to enjoy while visiting there. Here’s a look at a pair of videos that were produced before the Great Sturmflut of 2023:
Schleimünde before the Great Sturmflut of 2023:
The area was one of the hardest hit by the tragic events of October 20-21, causing damage and destruction by the high winds and large waves. Many houses and businesses were flooded out, others were destroyed along with the boats. Much of the island was devastated with eroded beaches and fallen trees, plus damage to the lighthouse and stone jetties. Here’s a look at the damages through one of the videos.
Schleimünde After the Great Sturmflut:
There are several organizations that are collecting funds and resources to rebuild Schleimünde, including the village of Maasholm, the jetty and lighthouse as well as Lotseninseln (Pilot Island). If you are interested, click on the links below and feel free to contact them for details. The residents will thank you for whatever help you give them in order to rebuild.
Hafen Schleimünde: https://www.hafen-schleimuende.de/spenden/ (includes form and flyer)
Lighthouse Foundation (via HelpDirect.org): https://www.helpdirect.org/lighthouse-foundation/unterstuetzung-fuer-die-lotseninsel-schleimuende/ OR Direct: https://lighthouse-foundation.org/en/Germany-Pilot-Island.html
Lotseninsel Schleimünde: https://lotseninsel.de/Unterstuetzung-fuer-die-Lotseninsel.html
.
You can also view the facebook page devoted to the Great Sturmflut of 2023 by clicking here. There you can find more projects that are ongoing to rebuild the areas hardest hit by the storms, from Flensburg to Rostock. The guide in Schleimünde can be found in the Tour Guide of Schleswig-Holstein by clicking here.
Germany has a rich sporting culture with a wide variety of sports that capture the nation’s attention. From the beloved Fußball (Football) to the exhilarating Eishockey (Ice Hockey), Germans are passionate about a diverse range of athletic pursuits. The country’s love for sports is deeply ingrained in its history, showcasing a deep-rooted connection to physical […]
Most Popular Sports in Germany
A look at the history of sports in Germany and how they have become popular.
🇩🇪 THE FLENSBURG FILES
They love to fly across the water. They love to be photographed. Yet they love to annoy tourists with bill-dodgery and food theft. There have been stories of them hopping on tables at restaurants, eating food scraps and flying off when the waiter sees them. Or in one case when one knocks a matjes sandwich out of the hand of a tourist and flies off with the fish. Or in the case where some fly onto the balcony, eyeing the food to be eaten on the table. These are birds on a wire, ready to steal, eat, broot and shit!
If there is one stereotype of the Baltic and North Sea, they are laden with seagulls. Black-headed, white-headed, Common, and Laughing. Bonaparte, Slender-billed, Franklin and terns. When walking along the promenade or the beach, one will see these seagulls everywhere. They can crave for fame when photographers can take their pictures. Yet when they annoy the tourists by stealing their food, they can become the embodiment of the famous expression “Damn Seagulls!” as you can see on some apparel, such as baseball caps, in America.
The ”Seagull Invasion” has gotten bad to a point that one community is taking some drastic measures. In Sonderburg, located on the north side of Flensburg Fjord, 30 km NE of Flensburg, a law was passed recently which encourages business and homeowners to shoot them, provided that you have an official shooting permit.
According to their city website, the process of culling the seagulls can be done in four different ways, provided that the deadline is kept. That means:
From February 1 to April 15, one can shoot the seagulls on site
From April 1 to July 31, one can find and destroy their nests and eggs
From April 16 to August 31, one can kill the young birds on site.
On top of that, one can remove the seagull nests from houses and businesses, and it is not allowed to build feeding stations and houses to accommodate the birds. Information on the new law can be found in the Sonderburg City Council website:
.
While culling seagulls may be considered an effective way to reduce the number to a minimum, there are some setbacks one has to consider, which include the following:
Aalborg in Denmark has had the policies of shooting seagulls for over 20 years. Yet due to the aforementioned concerns, the city council recently voted in favor of discontinuing the shooting policy effective in 2026, in an attempt to recover the population. Yet the idea of culling the population of seagulls in Sonderburg will most likely brandish a debate on the German side, for seagulls can be nice birds to look at, but they can be a nuisance when it comes to food.
Therefore, a questionnaire on what to do with the seagull population: Should we have something like this on our beaches and in communities along the seas? Click on the link and cast your vote. The results will be presented on April 30th in the Files.
Link to Questionnaire: https://strawpoll.com/ajnEO9zw0ZW
.
Many thanks for your help in this questionnaire and wishing you all the best for the upcoming season on the beach. 🙂
Imagine this scenario: You come from Germany and are applying for a position at a well-known university in the USA. An interviewer asks you how long you have been teaching a subject, like English, for example. Your response comes in this form:
“For three years I started teaching at the University of X.”
The eyes of the interview panel become bigger and even more perplexed. They ask you again to repeat and your response comes differently, like this:
“I have been teaching at the University of X since three years.”
Days later, you receive a letter of rejection, and rightfully so. Sometimes the tiniest mistakes can cost you big time. And if you are an English teacher, you cannot afford to make this mistake. Why?
Prepositions are known to be notorious because of the different meanings and the strict rules on how to use them. They are also a royal pain if they are mixed up, like we have for this example of False Friends. In the years I have been English teacher, the usage of the two false friend pairs, Vor vs For and Seit vs Since have been the most confusing namely because the translational meanings of the four versus the similarity in spelling. And it is amazing that four out of five papers corrected have seen this false friend written at least once.
Hence today’s lesson on the difference, which will then be accompanied with some exercises.
*******
Rules on Usage:
Looking at the first pair, Vor and For, the German Vor has two meanings, one of which is for any time duration, the other looks at what happened in the past.
Vor => EN?
Vor => Before.
Example: 1. Before I applied for this job, I worked as a newspaper reporter.
2. Before you go outside with your friends, you will do the chores first.
3. I haven’t seen this man before.
Vor => Ago.
Example: 1. Three years ago, I left my job to become a writer.
2. We got married 30 years ago on January 23rd, 1994.
In the first example, we use Before when looking at anything that has to do in sequence. Before is one of the words that is used when creating a dependent clause, meaning an incomplete sentence that attaches to the main sentence. In the third sentence Before is used in perfect form and describes something that one had not seen until now.
In the second example, we use Ago to describe an event that happened in the past, regardless of when exactly. Ago is a prepositional phrase used to describe time.
For => Für
When going from English into German, we have our equivalent, whose difference is only a vowel. The meaning is the same, which is a certain time span regardless of whether it is in the past, present or future. Here are some examples:
PAST:
I taught English for 33 years before I retired last year.
Ich war für 33 Jahre Englischlehrer tätig bevor ich im letzten Jahr in Ruhe gegangen bin.
PRESENT (PERFECT):
I have been teaching English for 33 years
Für 33 Jahre, habe ich Englisch unterrichtet.
FUTURE:
I will teach English for the next 33 years.
Ich werde für die nächsten 33 Jahren Englisch unterrichten.
Now comes the fun part: How to get someone unused to using the false friend when it comes to for and since, henceforth:
Since <=> Seit
Since is a true friend with the German term Seit, but in a way that since serves as a time marker for past tense and describes an event that happened at that exact time. It is normal to use Seit in German yet when translating into English, we use For to describe the duration of time in English.
Example 1:
Ich habe seit 33 Jahren Englisch unterrichtet. => German
I have been teaching English since 33 years. => Incorrect English
I have been teaching English for 33 years. => Correct English
I have been teaching English since March 15th, 1991. => Correct English
.
Example 2:
Ich habe dich seit Stunden nicht gesehen. => German
I haven’t seen you since hours. => Incorrect English
I haven’t seen you for hours. => Correct English
I haven’t seen you since this morning. => Correct English
In both cases one can see the difference between the German Seit and the English equivalents which have different usage. For is always used for duration and is best used with Für, whereas Since describes an event that happened at an exact time and the after-effects of that to date.
************
And now the exercises. 😊
.
Exercise 1: Complete the sentence using the correct English preposition. You have the choice of For, Since, Before and Ago. Please pay attention to the verb tenses and the hints provided in parenthesis. Some answers may vary.
.
Exercise 2. Look at the following time phrases and determine whether you would use the words For, Before, Since or Ago. Then formulate the sentence. Answers may vary!
.
Exercise 3. Rewrite the following sentences in English.
Any questions on this topic? I hope you have a chance to understand the differences and make sure others are in line as well. 😊
.
Note: Check out the Pocket Guide on False Friends for some more examples that have been listed. The Answer Key to the first Guessing Quiz has been enclosed.
A few weeks ago, I created the first of what will be many false friend quizzes for you to try out and learn the difference between two German word pairings. To view the quiz, click here. Here are the results with some explanations in Part 1:
**********
Activity 1: Determine which pairs are true friends and which ones are false.
Activity 2: The following German words have more than one meaning in English. Try to find the meanings.
********
Hope this is of help. Check out the Language Corner page as you will find more activities, as well as a growing list of False Friends that have appeared in the Files lately with more pairs (and exercises) yet to come. 🙂
By Rene Wagner BERLIN, March 14 (Reuters) – Investment in Germany by foreign firms was at its lowest level in a decade last year, an IW institute study showed on Thursday, as de-industrialisation fears loomed over Europe’s largest economy. Foreign companies invested only about 22 billion euros ($24.07 billion) in Germany in 2023, according to […]
Investment in Germany by foreign firms drops to decade low, study finds
🇩🇪 THE FLENSBURG FILES
By Christian Kraemer BERLIN, March 14 (Reuters) – The German coalition government needs tighter guidelines for tackling conflicts of interest, though it has been transparent about the influence of lobbying on legislation over the past few years, activist group LobbyControl said on Thursday. There should be better action taken on party financing and conflicts of […]
German government needs tighter conflict-of-interest guidelines, activists say
Summary of this here. It’s something that most of Germany can agree on.
🇩🇪 THE FLENSBURG FILES
The music world is mourning the loss of a musical great who made a film one of the icons of American culture. Eric Carmen (1949- 2024). When we first think of the singer, the first song coming to mind is All By Myself.
All By Myself was released by Carmen in 1974 but was remade by Celine Dion in 1999. The newer version has appeared in some motion picture films including Brigitte Jones’s Diary.
But if there was one song that made a film an American cult, it was his piece, Hungry Eyes. Produced in 1987, it was included in the film Dirty Dancing, with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.
Together with the song Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, the song made the film not only the best of the 1980s, but one that will forever be mentioned in the history books looking at American films, music and culture. It’s still being played on the radio today, even here in Europe and will continue to be a popular song for years to come.
And paying tribute to Mr. Carmen, here’s the song that helped make Dirty Dancing an American icon.
Stuff you don't find in guide books
Finding direction and purpose on the road, in the outdoors, and on the page
time.news
Virtual travels with Travelwisesr to beautiful destinations & landmarks
2002-2015 quotations collected; selection 2015 New Year
It started when I gave up smoking and went from there!
POETRY RANDOM THOUGHTS AND STUFF LIKE THAT...
Travels around the Continent
The best of the literary web
Around the World, or Just in my Thoughts.
Personal Blog
Travel, life and work in Germany
Come explore the world with us at home and on vacation
Podcast in text Latest News Film , Sport, Artist
Business News Plus is your 24/7 Canadian Business News website. We are independently owned and operated, providing business news coverage that you won't see anywhere else. Technology, software, health-tech and more across micro, small, mid, and large-cap publicly listed companies on the TSX and TSX-V stock markets. We cover new breaking company press releases, quarterly & annual earnings, IPOs and much more (including the occasional non-business related news, e.g. Auto, Gaming, Entertainment, etc.). We're based in Toronto, Ontario.
Sport fan news, tips, predictions
Covering Basketball In Germany!
THE FLENSBURG FILES 