GISSV Campus in Berkeley, CA

The Mayor of Berkley Tom Bates and the Consul of Germany Peter Rothen invite you to join in the first Sister Cities‘ Reception to celebrate the commerce between Berkeley and Jena on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 from 6pm to 8pm.

Proud host of this event is the German International School of Silicon Valley at their new Berkeley location, the GISSV’s Berkeley Campus, 1581 Le Roy Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94708.

Representatives from both cities and the greater German community will come together for an exchange of culture and innovative ideas in science, technology and education. During the event two prodigy pianists from the German International School of Silicon Valley’s orchestra will be performing.

Both cities are excited to set the stage for building long-term new partnerships and putting new ideas into motion.

If you would like to attend this event, please RSVP at: sviveros@cityofberkeley.info or 510.981.7101

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact GISSV’s Director of Development Amy Peabody at 650.254.0748 x315 or apeabody@gissv.org

Jena Markt (By Rene Schwietzke)

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Proud host of this event is the German International School of Silicon Valley at their new Berkeley location, the GISSV’s Berkeley Campus, 1581 Le Roy Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94708.

Representatives from both cities and the greater German community will come together for an exchange of culture and innovative ideas in science, technology and education. During the event two prodigy pianists from the German International School of Silicon Valley’s orchestra will be performing.

Both cities are excited to set the stage for building long-term new partnerships and putting new ideas into motion.

If you would like to attend this event, please RSVP at: sviveros@cityofberkeley.info or 510.981.7101

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact GISSV’s Director of Development Amy Peabody at 650.254.0748 x315 or apeabody@gissv.org

The month of May in Germany starts out with the “Tag der Arbeit” ( Labor Day), an official holiday throughout Germany. On that day the Unions have ‘the say’ and demonstrations are a common picture. But May is also a time for many festivities around the “Maypole” and it’s also the time for a special beer: The “Maibock” .

While it may be hard to find a “Maibock” in California, here are some German “Maifest” celebrations for you to enjoy. From San Francisco to Los Angeles. Here are a few.

MAIFEST 2013 – Oakland :

Hosted by Nature Friends Tourist Club you can enjoy some great German food, beer, music and dancing at Nature Friends Tourist Club, a beautiful, spacious, park-like, outdoor setting in the Oakland hills. The Gruber Family Band will play many favorite Bavarian and other songs and Nature Friends Schuhplattler Dance Group will perform a variety of German and Austrian folk dances.

ADMISSION is $10 per adult (free for kids under 14). Food, beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase.

Please RSVP here and specify the number of guests in your party. Info regarding the program, tickets and parking instructions will be sent in the week prior to the event to those who have RSVP’d.

WHEN: Sunday, May 5, 2013 • 12:00pm

WHERE: Tourist Club (Oakland branch) 3115 Butters Drive Oakland, CA 94602

CONTACT: 510-531-2930

To receive the Nature Friends Tourist Club festival announcements, please make sure that you are on our NEW group email list: Click on the link below and then click on “Join This Group”: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tourist_Club-Oakland_branch/

Alternatively, you can send an email to Tourist_Club-Oakland_branch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and you will be automatically added to the announcements list.

MAIFEST AND KINDERFEST in Orange County

The Phoenix Club in Anaheim celebrates its annual Maifest And Kinderfest. Come and join in at their Biergarten with the Express Band, Deutsch-Amerikanische Schulverein Südkaliforniens, Die Gemütlichen Schuhplattler, The Phoenix Club Youth Dance Group, and The Donauschwaben Dance Group. Enjoy great Bier and German cuisine.

There will be Arts and Crafts, Pony Rides and a Bounce House for the Children and a special performance of:  Der Löwe Lacht by and with Christof and Vadislava Altmann “Ringmaster Christofferus Wackelzahn and Ladulina”

WHEN: May 5th 11:30am-5:00 pm

WHERE: Phoenix Club, Anaheim

ADMISSION:  $5.00

SPARGEL FEST – “White Asparagus Gala Dinner in San Francisco”

The German-American Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco (AHK) has 100 kg of fresh harvested Spargel imported directly from  the “Spargelhof Schulze” in Rheinland -Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate) straight to the plates and palates of the German American community in San Francisco.

Come and join the second annual White Asparagus Gala Dinner! It will take place in San Francisco on May 10th, 2013 at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins on San Francisco’s Nob Hill. Tickets will include a Champagne Reception, 3-course Gala Dinner and beer/wine/soft drinks.

WHEN: May 10th, 2013

WHERE: InterContinetal Mark Hopkins , San Francisco

Buy Tickets here.

More fun for Kids in Los Angeles at Tivoli Kindergarten

Tivoli Kindergarten L.A. is having their annual May Fair Celebration on May 11th from 11-3pm!

Enjoy a fun-filled day for the whole family with Arts & Crafts for Kids and a Music Performance by Karma Auger & Band. Famous Karma Auger will be teaming up with his legendary father Brian Auger for some Organ Grinder Trio, a blend of funky grooves, smooth driving bass lines and some funky jazz melodies.

Kids will love the Tivoli house band and Kasperle theater show. Furthermore there will be a Fire Truck, a Bazaar and a Raffle.

Refreshments and delicious food will include German style sausages, potato salad, pretzels, coffee & cake.

Suggested donation $10 per family • Everyone is welcome! •

All proceeds will go towards the improvement of Tivoli Rainbow Garden Preschool

Mark the date!

WHEN: May 11th 2013 11:00 am to 3:00 pm

WHERE: Tivoli Rainbow Preschool, 4051 Tivoli Ave, L.A. 90066

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• Deutsche Spargelzeit – German White Asparagus Season : Get the Real Deal in San Francisco! (californiagermans.com)
• German Language Immersion in the Summer – German Summer Camps In CA (californiagermans.com)

‘Unfamous’ in CAlifornia,  white asparagus has celebrity status in Germany.

Traditionally, “Spargelzeit”, the white asparagus season, starts in Germany around mid-April and lasts until June 24th. But this year, because of the harsh winter, the harvesting time has been moved out to almost the end of April. It was just too cold for the asparagus to grow and the only available one until recently arrived usually from other European countries with warmer climates.

But now it’s finally here! Germany’s Spargel season has officially started and with great anticipation connoisseurs are looking forward to tasting the new season’s  “royal vegetable”.

A Spargel Dinner – the traditional German way in San Francisco

During the season the vegetable also referred to as “edible ivory” or “white gold” is prominently featured on menus everywhere. In order to bring this tradition a little bit closer to everyone in California, the German American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (AHK) will import fresh white asparagus from Germany to San Francisco!

100 kg of fresh harvested Spargel will be imported directly from  the “Spargelhof Schulze” in Rheinland -Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate) straight to the plates and palates of the German American community in San Francisco.

The second annual White Asparagus Gala Dinner will take place in San Francisco on May 10th, 2013 at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins on San Francisco’s Nob Hill. Tickets will include a Champagne Reception, 3-course Gala Dinner and beer/wine/soft drinks.

Get ready for an original Spargel Dinner, the traditional German way!

Tickets are available here  -

Last year’s Spargel Feast by the German American Chamber of Commerce in NY city. Video by RTL in Germany:

http://www.rtl.de/cms/news/rtl-aktuell/amis-sind-heiss-auf-unser-weisses-gold-23179-51ca-14-1150839.html

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• Queen Asparagus reigns supreme over Germany (thelocal.de)
• Start in die Spargel Saison ( http://www.ecocion.de/aktuell/start-in-die-spargelsaison-ab-dem-01-05-2013/ )
• Why is….white asparagus white? How does it get that way? (bakingkookys.wordpress.com)
• Asparagus: Nutrient Filled Vegetable (nelsontheadventurer.wordpress.com)
• Stalks sans color pack crisp sweetness (courierpress.com)

Calling all CaliforniaGermans ! Take a chance at winning a pair of tickets for two different concert dates for “Verklaerte Nacht -Transfigured Night”.  To learn more about the concert please visit our previous post.  Salastina Music Society is presenting   Schoenberg’s early work “Verklaerte Nacht” together with J.S. Bach’s St. Anne Prelude on two different days and venues.

ENTER the GIVE-AWAY below, or  buy some tickets!

Salastina Music Society has set up an Exclusive Event Code for our CaliforniaGermans community (Event code: “GERMAN“) to receive tickets for just $10 at their website! (The regular ticket price is $28). Simply put in the event code ” GERMAN” at check out!

PLEASE CLICK ON the PICTURE below TO ENTER the GIVE-AWAY. (It will redirect you to the sweepstakes page)

1. Fill in your email address & first name & last name  
2. Check off your preferred Concert Date !
3. Press the ENTER button

Good Luck!

CaliforniaGermans Give Away – Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht

We will contact the 2 lucky winners of each 2 tickets via email after Give-Away has ended. The Give-Away runs from April 24, 2013-April30, 2013. Contest rules are posted on the Give Away Page underneath the ENTER button.

Arnold Schoenberg, 20th-Century Austrian composer and known for inventing the Twelve-tone technique (Zwölftontechnik) wrote some wonderful pieces in his early years that follow the tonal structure of late romantic works, reminiscent of Richard Strauss’ and Richard Wagner’s music .

One of these early pieces and in fact one of Schoenberg’s earliest important work is “Verklärte Nacht” (Transfigured Night), Op.4 . It is a string sextet in one movement and was inspired by Richard Dehmel‘s poem of the same name.

Arnold Schoenberg is very much connected to Los Angeles, the city he eventually moved to after his emigration from Nazi Germany. In L.A. he held teaching positions at USC as well as UCLA.

Experience Schoenberg’s “Verklaerte Nacht” in Los Angeles this May 2013

This May, Angelinos will have the chance to experience Schoenberg’s early work “Verklaerte Nacht” together with J.S. Bach’s St. Anne Prelude on two different concert days in Los Angeles.

The Salastina Music Society is bringing this concert to stage in Los Angeles:

• May 10th at 8 pm at the Edye Second Space at the Broad Stage (Santa Monica),
• May 11th at 8 pm at Zipper Hall at the Colburn School (Downtown LA).

KUSC 91.5 FM DJ Brian Lauritzen will host an in-depth exploration of Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, based on German poet Richard Dehmel’s poem of the same name.   Performers include Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Principal Cellist Andrew Shulman, Pacific Symphony violists Meredith Crawford and Luke Maurer, and celebrated young chamber cellist Rebecca Merblum, as well as Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper, Salastina’s co-artistic directors and violinists.

Special $10 Tickets available for the CaliforniaGermans Community

Salastina Music Society has set up an exclusive event code for our CaliforniaGermans community (code “GERMAN“) to receive tickets for only $10! The regular ticket price is $28.

Please purchase your $10 tickets at the Salastina Society Website  and enter Exclusive Event Code “GERMAN” at check out to receive your special ticket discount!

Take a Chance & Win Tickets to this Exciting Evening

In connection with these two Chamber Music Events, CaliforniaGermans will raffle off 2 tickets for each concert day. Two winners will be chosen at random to experience this chamber music evenings with a friend.

We will announce our Give-Away this week (April 21 – 27) on Facebook as well as on our website. Please keep posted by checking our Facebook Page and website to get a chance at winning your Concert Tickets!

Salastina Music Society in Los Angeles

Salastina Music Society founded by violinists and chamber musicians Maia Jasper and Kevin Kumar, is dedicated to bringing a fresh approach to chamber music to Los Angeles. Now in its third year Salastina Music Society has became a distinctive new element in the LA chamber music scene with a contemporary approach to programming.

Villa Aurora in Pacific Palisades is a place where German, European and American culture meet.

Originally the private domicile of German-Jewish novelist Lion Feuchtwanger who had bought the villa in Pacific Palisades in 1943, Villa Aurora quickly became the meeting place for exiled German intellectuals and their American colleagues.  Artists and scholars from different disciplines gathered at Villa Aurora for readings and musical evenings, for celebrations and discussions. Albert Einstein, Bertold Brecht,Thomas Mann and Heinrich Mann, Fritz Lang, Arnold Schoenberg, Kurt Weill and many more were part of this eclectic cultural group.

After extensive renovations, Villa Aurora picked up on its tradition in 1995, and since then has continued to be a meeting place for the arts again. With its Artist-in-Residence Grants Villa Aurora awards up to 12 scholarships every year in the areas of literature, fine art, film and music in the German-American cultural exchange program. The villa itself beautifully restored to its former grandeur is listed on the historical register.

Events at the Villa Aurora

Villa Aurora hosts many cultural events throughout the year that open up the splendid residence and location to the public.  Some exciting events coming up as soon as this week are listed below:

- Music Memory Metamorphosis - 

Los Angeles | April 20, 2013 (7:30 pm)

Viktor Ullmann:
Piano Sonata Nr. 7 (1944) &
“The Lay of Love and Death of the Cornet Christoph Rilke” (1944)
12 excerpts from the poem by Rainer Maria Rilke for speaker and piano

As Cinematic-Musical-Montage

Produced and directed by Gwyneth Bravo with the support of REZN8′s founder Paul Sidlo and featuring live performances by Neal Stulberg and pianist Steven Vanhauwaert, this multi-media program presents composer Viktor Ullmann’s final 1944 works—the Piano Sonata No.7 and his melodrama The Lay of Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke — against a cinematic backdrop. In the spirit of early film and Erwin Piscator’s experimental Berlin theater of the 1920s, the production re-imagines the theater and concert hall as a cinematic space where the live performance of these works takes place inside a cinematic framework, where a kaleidoscope of projected and slowly shifting montage images serves as a visual counterpoint to the poetry and music. Employing a postmodern compositional aesthetic, her film, which Robert Elias, President of the OREL Foundation, describes as “a moving and beautifully wrought immersive work of art,” unfolds in thirteen, short movements and is composed of a series of densely-textured images constructed from the superimposition and animation of a multi-layered and harmonically-conceived series of visual elements.

Neal Stulberg, Recitation
Steven Vanhauwaert, Piano
Paul Sidlo, Technical Production & Design
Gwyneth Bravo, Producer & Artistic Director

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 - Two Who Dared - 

Los Angeles | Saturday, April 27@ 7:00 p.m.

A documentary by Artemis Joukowsky III                                                       USA, 2012, 76 min., digital                                                                                           Presented by Villa Aurora, Artemis Joukowsky III and Robert Lemelson

Q & A and reception for the filmmaker after the screening.

This film tells the story of Unitarian minister, Waitstill Sharp and his wife Martha who, just days prior to the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, left their young children in Wellesley, Massachusetts to help save thousands being persecuted in Eastern Europe.

Who were these American heroes? What drove their willingness to put the well-being of strangers over that of themselves and their family?

Waitstill and Martha were also involved in the Feuchtwangers’ escape from France. They are two of only three Americans who have been honored as “Righteous Among Nations” by Yad Vashem.  Two Who Dared has received a number of awards in 2012 including the Special Jury Prize from the Amsterdam Film Festival; Official Selection, River’s Edge Film Festival, and Redemptive Storyteller Award, Redemptive Film Festival

The screening at Villa Aurora is part of a grassroots, community-based effort, at synagogues, churches, theaters, and schools; in cities world-wide!

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-  Bis an die Grenze – Up to the border -

Los Angeles | Thursday, May 2 @ 7:00 p.m.

A documentary by Claus Oppermann and Gerald Grote                Germany, 2011, 95 min.                                                                                                   Presented by Villa Aurora and Pacific Palisades Film Festival

Sunday, August 13th 1961, the government of the German Democratic Republic lays the foundation stone for the “ugliest monument in the world”. A whole city is in a state of shock. At first the “atrocious century-construction“ is watched in disbelief. Then people start pulling their 8mm-cameras out of their cupboards to capture the images of the events.

On the basis of these extraordinary, widely unknown recordings and found footage, Claus Oppermann und Gerald Grote’s first feature film tells many impressive but forgotten stories about the rise of the Berlin Wall in 1961 to its fall in 1989, about the division of Germany and a bloody borderline through the middle of Europe.

The Wall, 155 km long, symbol of the Cold War, photographed and filmed million-fold, seen from a private and personal point of view. A unique documentary, put together out of hundreds of previously unreleased substandard films that have never been seen like this before. Many private archives were opened for the first time – a time travel, well worth seeing.

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VILLA AURORA:

Location: Villa Aurora, 520 Paseo Miramar, Los Angeles, CA 90272

Street parking is available on Los Liones Drive. Event Shuttle service starts usually one hour prior to an event and will start from Los Liones Drive, off Sunset Boulevard two blocks North-East of Pacific Coast Highway.

Please do not park on the Topanga State Park Lot!

To Listen to an Audio Report on the Villa Aurora by PRI on theworld.org click here : PRI- Villa Aurora Audio

Related articles

• Germany is Serious About Making Great Films! (crimefilenews.com)

 

While the world witnessed how Berliners stood up for the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall not to be removed last month, two other Berlin Wall segments found a permanent home in Mountain View, California.

A few days before Easter shortly before dawn construction workers started with the removal of the famous ‘East Side Gallery’ in Berlin, the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall (1.3 km long), and an international memorial for freedom. The reason behind it: The East Side Gallery needed to make way for a luxury apartment complex. Despite days of protest and even a short-lived halt of the project, when politicians tried to find a solution for keeping this famous section of the Berlin Wall untouched, the developer was ultimately given permission to proceed with his project after all.

As the international community followed the unfolding of events, Berliners were stunned and plainly shocked.  “I can’t believe they came here in the dark in such a sneaky manner,” said Kani Alavi, the head of the East Side Gallery’s artists’ group. “All they see is their money, they have no understanding for the historic relevance and art of this place.” By mid morning people witnessed in disbelief how a 6 meter gap was guarded by a wooden fence and protected by police.

And…that’s not all. The controversial project continues to make headlines. Latest news unveil that the investor behind this project, Maik Uwe Hinkel, had apparently strong ties to East Germany’s communist party SED (Socialist Unity Party),and in fact may have been a spy for East Germany’s notorious secret police, the Stasi, so the news magazine ”SPIEGEL” in its report “Stasi Suspicions: Berlin Wall Developer’s Past in Question”.

Mountain View in CALIFORNIA becomes Home to two Berlin Wall Segments

On the other side of the world in the meantime two large segments of the Berlin Wall found a permanent home in a much quieter venture and with much less media attention.

The more than 10 feet tall donated wall sections depict a caricature of Elvis Presley on one slab and a heart with the words “Wir lieben Dich” on the other. They were previously displayed at an office park, before they got donated to the city last year by the family of Frankfurt native Frank Golzen, who had purchased them after the wall came down in 1989.  “These pieces of the Berlin Wall remind me that freedom is not free. Freedom is paid for in blood,” said Bahl, a local resident who had urged the city council to pick a spot that offered good public visibility.  The famous slabs will now greet visitors to the public library at Franklin Street in Mountain View.

Villa Aurora in L.A. features Documentary on the Berlin Wall in May 2013

In connection with the Pacific Palisades Film Festival, Villa Aurora in L.A. is presenting the documentary “Bis an die Grenze – Up to the border”.

On the basis of extraordinary, widely unknown recordings and found footage, Claus Oppermann und Gerald Grote’s first feature film tells many impressive but forgotten stories about the rise of the Berlin Wall in 1961 to its fall in 1989, about the division of Germany and a bloody borderline through the middle of Europe.

In this unique film one can see how on the historical Sunday of August 13th 1961, the government of the German Democratic Republic lays the foundation stone for the “ugliest monument in the world”. An event that puts a whole city in a state of shock. The “atrocious century-construction“ is at first watched in disbelief. Then people start pulling their 8mm-cameras out of their cupboards to capture the images of the events.

The East Side Gallery is the longest remaining part of the Berlin Wall. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

http://blog.invisiblechildren.com/2013/04/01/east-side-gallery-of-remaining-berlin-wall-dismantled/

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/27/17485506-historic-parts-of-berlin-wall-removed-despite-protests-over-luxury-building-project?lite

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/shock-as-part-of-berlin-wall-knocked-down-to-make-way-for-luxury-apartments/story-e6frfq80-1226608053342

http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_22829559/berlin-wall-sections-find-new-home-mountain-view

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/stasi-suspicions-east-side-gallery-developer-hinkel-past-in-question-a-893110.html

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Related articles

• Parts of Berlin Wall removed for luxury housing project (foxnews.com)
• Fighting The Good Fight: David Hasselhoff Campaigns To Save Berlin Wall’s East Side Gallery (contactmusic.com)
• German Work Crews Remove Part of Berlin Wall (world.time.com)
• Berlin Wall section removed amid row (bbc.co.uk)
• Berlin Wall section removed despite protests (guardian.co.uk)
• Pre-dawn operation removes part of Berlin Wall (nzherald.co.nz)
• David Hasselhoff to rock Berlin Wall protests (thelocal.de)
• VIDEO: Hoff delights crowd at Berlin Wall demo (bbc.co.uk)

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ABOUT

   German Pulse is a new online magazine for the German-American community where you can  find the latest news, reviews, events, businesses, and so much more.

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Fröhliches Ostereiersuchen !

Thank you for being a part of our CaliforniaGermans Community. We appreciate everyone of you!

Last Minute Osterbrot & Co.  -

Quark Osterbrot:   http://casacolorata.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/ein-osterbrot-ganz-ohne-hefe/

Easter Sweet Bread:   http://mybestgermanrecipes.com/easter-sweet-bread-wreath/

Related Articles:

Easter Traditions - http://californiagermans.com/2012/04/08/happy-easter-2/