When France Came to Germany
Beethoven and Goethe, the German Shakespeare, were glad to see liberator Napoleon come, and glad to see occupier Napoleon go. Napoleonic la
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Stefan Israel
- Jan 28, 2021
- 4 min
Why Couldn’t My Ancestor Spell Their Name the Same?
You’re tracing your family back, and the spellings sometimes just go crazy.
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Stefan Israel
- Jan 14, 2021
- 6 min
A Plea to Save Letters!
Save letters! I have a treasure trove of memories downstairs.
So began the email from my mother earlier this week.
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Dean Meservy
- Dec 24, 2020
- 3 min
Why do Americans say ‘Merry Christmas’?
We have kept the old word “merry” from a day when Christmas was anything but a Silent Night
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Stefan Israel
- Dec 17, 2020
- 3 min
Baptizing Beethoven - 250th Year Anniversary
Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized the 17th of December, 1770, in Bonn, a small city on the Rhine River.
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Stefan Israel
- Nov 21, 2020
- 3 min
20 YEARS OF FRENCH GERMANY
French Germany? France is French and Germany is German, as a general rule, so how could you have French Germany?
Well, borders can be flu
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Stefan Israel
- Oct 30, 2020
- 1 min
Our Dutch (Speaking) President Martin Van Buren
The first U.S. president born in the United States (so after the country’s founding) didn’t even speak English as his first language.
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Stefan Israel
- Oct 6, 2020
- 2 min
German-Americans Celebrated in October
The whole month of October is German American month. But wait! October 6 in particular is German-American Day. So many have contributed.
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Stefan Israel
- Sep 22, 2020
- 4 min
Three Hansa Cities, Two Emigration Ports, and a History: Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck
The largest emigration ports from Germany to the New World were the Hanseatic cities Bremen and Hamburg, Germany’s leading ports even today.
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Stefan Israel
- Jul 29, 2020
- 3 min
Imperial Cities of the Holy Roman Empire
At various times, there were dozens of imperial cities, from towns of a few thousand people to some of the largest cities.
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Stefan Israel
- Jun 24, 2020
- 2 min
Kaffeeklatsch
Kaffeeklatsch, a very gemütlich, cozy gathering. It translates as ‘coffee chit-chat’
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Stefan Israel
- May 25, 2020
- 3 min
German-Born, Civil War Vet - Newspaper Help
I love scouring old newspapers. I hit the jackpot with Joseph Billman from Erie - German-born and Civil War veteran.
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Stefan Israel
- Apr 13, 2020
- 3 min
DUTCH, not DEUTSCH: English, Dutch and German
English, Dutch and German are all related languages - the languages diverged - you can see it in how the same original words now differ.-
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Stefan Israel
- Mar 17, 2020
- 4 min
Celtic father-names: Donaldson, McDonald, O’Donnell
The main Celtic traditions for genealogy are the Irish, the Scottish and the Welsh. Complicating matters, Irish settlers brought Gaelic from
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Stefan Israel
- Mar 2, 2020
- 4 min
Understanding -Sen and -Son in a Name: Johnson, Janson and Jansen
Why do some family names end in -son and some in -sen?
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Stefan Israel
- Feb 10, 2020
- 2 min
Dutch and Deutsch: so similar, so dissimilar
We’d talked about how much the German dialects vary, looking at dialect forms of the Lord’s Prayer. Let’s compare High German and Dutch.
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Stefan Israel
- Jan 27, 2020
- 1 min
Mozart and the Founding Fathers
In honor of Mozart's birthday on January 27th, we look to a curious Mozart connection or two crossing the Atlantic.
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Pamela Israel
- Sep 19, 2019
- 3 min
Washing & Sewing: A Diary & Tins
Sewing, in addition to laundry, used to be a responsibility that almost every woman had. And yet it can be tough to get insights into this p
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Stefan Israel
- Aug 5, 2019
- 3 min
Dutchland? Germany?
The tribes that coalesced into Germans spoke 'the people’s/ popular language’ as opposed to Latin
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Pamela Israel
- Jul 26, 2019
- 2 min
Why Do We Say Germany (& Not Deutschland)?
Not long ago, a friend asked me why we say Germany when the Germans use the word Deutschland. The words aren't even related! Good quest
3,519 views0 comments