Happy 60th Birthday Pumuckl

Happy 60th birthday to Pumuckl, the red haired goblin that is famous in Germany. On this day in 1962, the Bavarian radio channel BR (Bayrischer Rundfunk) aired the first episode of the audio series about Pumuckl. Pumuckl is a red haired, tiny goblin that can turn invisible. He lives in the joinery of Meister Eder,

Germany Corona Update (Feb. 16, 2022)

The leading politicians of Germany and its federal states met yesterday to discuss the loosening of Covid19 restrictions with a 3-steps plan: Step 1 abolishes restrictions of private meetings for vaccinated and recovered people. As soon as someone participates who is not vaccinated, the old contact restrictions are still valid (see slide 3). Further, no

Julius Fromm – the forgotten entrepreneur

Julius Fromm was born in 1883 in Poland, his family migrated to Berlin in search of a better life to evade poverty when Fromm was 10 years old. His parents died too early, Fromm had to take care of his siblings at age 15. He sold cigarettes for a living – while studying in teh

Valentine’s Day in Germany

On Feb 14 is 🇩🇪Valentinstag (🇬🇧Valentine’s Day). The custom goes back to Bishop Valentine of Terni who, according to legends, secretly married couples who were not allowed to marry. The Valentine’s Day custom came to Germany only after WW2, introduced by American soldiers. But it became more and more popular over the decades and the supermarkets

Käsekuchen (#FoodFriday)

This week’s #FoodFriday is about a classic German cake: 🇩🇪Käsekuchen Käsekuchen literally means ‘cheese cake’ but the German cheesecake is not identical with the American cheesecake. The traditional German Käsekuchen/cheesecake consists of a small layer of shortcrust (🇩🇪Mürbeteig) (while the American cheesecake often has biscuit base). The German cheesecake mostly consists of quark/curd cheese (🇩🇪Quark)

Melitta Bentz

On this day in 1873, the inventor of coffee filters was born: Melitta Bentz. As a mother and housewife, she experimented with blotting papers from her son school excercise books to separate coffee from coffee grounds. Back then, this was still a laborious tasks because it was common to filter coffee by using a funnel

Pfand/Bottle deposit system in Germany

In short: Bring empty bottles back to your supermarket – and get money back! Which bottles? Glass and plastic bottles of soft drinks, beer, water and juices; beverage cans; some yoghurt glasses (e.g. by Landliebe). Exception: wine and other alcohol (except beer) in glass bottles. How much money? Between 8 to 25ct How to identify

Maria Sibylla Merian

#OnThisDay in 1717, German nature scientist and illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian passed away. She is known for her detailed illustrations of plants, animals and insects. Merian war born in 1647 in Frankfurt into a bourgeois and well-off family: her father, Matthäus Merian, was a famous publisher and copper engraver (who died 3 years after his

William and Caroline Herschel

On this day in 1787, William Herschel discovered the moons of the planet Uranus (which he too discovered 6 years earlier). William Herschel was born as Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in 1738 in Hannover. His father was a military musician and William was about to follow in his father’s footsteps. But to escape the Seven Years’

DOs and DON’Ts in Germany (Repost)

When living in Germany, there several unspoken rules and manners. Here’s a quick guide about Dos and Don’ts in Germany. ▪︎Be on time: unpunctuality is considered to be rude (especially in a formal or business context). ▪︎Make eye contact when you toast (otherwise it’s considered to bring bad luck). Read the post in full lenght here.