04 accents

The English Language Journal

for Baden-Württemberg
www.accents-magazine.de
April/May 2005
magazine

Can I help you?

In search of customer service

Meet the real ‘Shake-spear’
The bombing of Pforzheim
Rug up! Deutschland’s deadly drafts
 6 8
Contents
Feature
8 The customer is king
... sort of
Changing attitudes to
customer service
9 Enterprise Rent-a-Car
Investing in serving
10 Don’t shop here!
Turning away customers
News and Events
5 UK consulate closure
6 Pforzheim’s night of hell
6 Business English
made easy
Editorial
Just a dozen or so years ago it
was impossible to get an item-
ised telephone bill in Germany.
You couldn’t win arguments
with Deutsche Telekom about
why your phone bill seemed to
be grossly over-inflated, despite
the fact you were on holidays
for half the month in question.
If you were lucky enough to get
anyone on the phone to com-
plain to, what could you prove?
Many an English-speaking
foreigner in Baden-Württemberg
has a story or two to tell about
how they feel they were gruffly
treated in a shop, carelessly
overlooked in a queue or bluntly
ignored over a counter. While
Germany has been a world
leader in machine engineering,
and creating quality cars, it’s
had a lot of catching up to do
accents is sponsored by
accents magazine
Arts and Culture
12 The Bard exposed
The ‘real’ Shakespeare
13 “The poet on the Neckar”
Friedrich Schiller’s year
14 Spring reading
Bulletin Board
11 Community notices
and events
English at Work
15 Profiling English
in banking
in terms of dealing with custo-
mers in a shop – or at the end
of a phone line.
We’re not making this up. As
we began researching a feature
story about the business of
customer service we discovered
that German experts – not
grumbling foreigners – were of
the same opinion. Increased
competition, deregulation and
globalisation are finally forcing
German businesses to pay
closer attention to the wishes
of the customer. How are they
shaping up? Our feature story
begins on page 8.
And speaking of customers,
we want to know who ours are!
Do you work or study? What
sections of accents do you like
reading? Please fill in our rea-
der’s survey (a sheet within this
12
accent on…
16 Swabian ‘wander’-land
Hiking trails in the Alb
Children’s Corner
18 Kids as consumers
18 Prize winning books
Good to Know
19 Money Matters
Planning to invest
19 Stuttgart’s mineral baths
magazine) return it to us, and
be in the running for some
great prizes. You can also fill
out the survey on our website,
which has had something
of a facelift: www.accents-
magazine.de
Our previous feature story,
about dual citizenship, drew a
slew of responses from British
readers, in particular. Many
wanted to congratulate the lone
fighter at the centre of our
story, Kevin MacInerney-May,
for doggedly pursuing his goal of
British-German dual nationality.
Other Brits living in Baden-
Württemberg have equally inter-
esting stories to tell – see our
Letters Page overleaf.
Two new sections are
being introduced in this edition.
Bulletin Board provides a forum
16
Labyrinth
26 Health insurance
26 Sickening Zugluft
27 My Two Cents
Our column on language
Regulars
4 Letters
Cover photo: Chris Rynearson
20 accents choice
What’s on listings
23 accents guide
Clubs and contacts
24 Classifieds
for groups or organisations to
‘pin up’ a notice about their
activities, specific events or
simply about themselves. And
English at Work is an occasional
section we’re introducing to
examine the important role Eng-
lish plays in local businesses.
Also, our arts editor tells us
that William is not, in fact, the
Shakespeare you thought he
was; our travel writer thaws
out, and takes you hiking through
sections of the Swabian Alb;
and in Labyrinth we hear about
all the unique ways there are to
get sick in Germany. Watch out
– you might catch something
after reading Liz Gaiser’s column.
Otherwise, happy reading!
accents magazine
editorial team
3
 Letters
to the Editor
Dual nationality
Dear accents,
I was interested to read about the trials and tribulations of
Kevin MacInerney-May in his acquisition of dual German-British
citizenship (accents 03, pp. 8-9). The article boasts that
MacInerney-May “is the first Briton in Baden-Württemberg to
become a German citizen who’s not had to give up his British
passport”. This may well be the case under new B-W Interior
Ministry regulations. However, I was awarded German citizen-
ship in Mannheim in July 2000, without any difficulty at all.
I still possess my Isle of Man (British) passport as well as a
German passport. It may be that I had no difficulty as the Isle
of Man was not seen as being part of the UK. The purpose
of my letter is not to grandstand but simply to point out that
some things in Germany do appear to work without too much
bureaucratic fuss!
George Broderick, Mannheim
Dear accents,
I was delighted to read in your February/March edition that I
was not the only Briton last year to become a naturalised
German with dual nationality. My story mirrors that of Kevin
MacInerney-May’s in many ways. I accidentally heard brief
mention in the television news that a Greek psychotherapist in
Bavaria had won his case for dual nationality. This prompted me
to visit my local authority, where I was initially told I would
have to give up my British nationality. I also wrote to the British
Embassy, and they also referred me to the April 2004 ruling of
the Federal Administrative Court on dual nationality. I attached
the ruling, my correspondence with the Embassy and other
documents to the application papers I submitted sometime in
May last year. My second application was approved. Like Mr
MacInerney-May, I also received my naturalisation certificate in
December 2004 and look forward to being able to vote in a
general election for the first time in my life in 2006 at the ripe
old age of 55. Are there any more of us out there?
Prunella Götz, Sinsheim
4 Letters
accents magazine
Libanonstraße 58
70184 Stuttgart
editor@accents-magazine.de
Dear accents,
We just wanted to tell you that we use accents magazine in our
in-company English lessons and have found the articles very
interesting. We’ve learned a lot about Baden-Württemberg. The
recent article about “Mr Dual Citizenship” (accents 03) was
especially informative.
Kaiser Metalle, Pforzheim
Dear Editor,
We found your article “Flying Pancakes” very amusing.
(accents 03, p. 6) We would like to explain the meaning of
Schmutziger Donnerstag (Dirty Thursday). The word “Schmutz”
comes from the old German word “Schmotz”, meaning fat.
On this day people slaughtered their animals and enjoyed
eating the meat in the days leading up to the beginning of Lent.
Christel Paschke, English Group, Hammer & Söhne GmbH,
Pforzheim
Hello,
I read in accents 03 that if you have a Michigan driver’s licence,
you must pass a written exam in order to acquire a German
driver’s licence. The law must have changed recently, because
three years ago (for my husband and myself) and two years ago
(for a husband’s colleague) it was possible to simply exchange
one licence for the other. Where would I find the most current
German requirements and how often does this change?
Lisa Muenzenberger
Editor’s note:
Lisa, you are correct. The rules on who’s allowed to swap their
foreign driver’s licence for a German one can change from
month to month. Michigan drivers do not, in fact, need to pass
any exams to get a German driver’s licence. You now get the
straight swap. For updated information, best check out the
(German) website: http://www.verkehrsportal.de/fev/
anl_11_usa.php
accents magazine

“Regrettable”
Consulate closing draws heavy criticism
Government and industry representatives
in Baden-Württemberg have reacted with
dismay and disappointment to the British
government’s decision to shut down its
consulate in Stuttgart at the end of the year.
The move is part of a process of reevalua-
ting priorities and cutting costs overall in
the British diplomatic service.
“Apparently we’ll have to accept the
decision, but we’re not happy about it,”
says Baden-Württemberg’s Europe minister,
Ulrich Müller. “The state government will
set out to ensure – in talks with the British
Embassy in Berlin – that an honorary consul
is appointed, so that at least a minimal
diplomatic presence is maintained in Stutt-
gart.”
The Chamber of Trade and Industry in
Stuttgart says the decision to close the
Torry explains
Sir Peter Torry is the UK’s ambassador
to Germany. Accents asked him about
his government’s decision to shut down
the consulate in Stuttgart.
You’ve received letters of protest in
Berlin from, among others, government
officials and business leaders in Baden-
Württemberg about the decision to
shut down the British consulate in
Stuttgart at the end of the year. Are
you going to reconsider the decision?
No, we won’t. We’ve had to take this
decision because at the British Foreign
Office we are under considerable financial
pressure: we have to make savings over-
all of something like £ 20 m. At the same
time we have to open up new posts
in other parts of the world. A network
always has to be kept under review and
has to be modernised, and making the
sorts of changes we’re talking about
means you have to make savings in high-
cost countries. That is why Germany,
the United States and France have been
amongst the countries most seriously
affected by this review.
But this corner of Germany seems to
have been hit especially hard. It’s not
only Stuttgart – you’re shutting down
the Frankfurt consulate as well. Won’t
accents magazine
News and Events
consulate is “most regrettable.” Britain is
among Baden-Württemberg’s top five
trading partners and the volume of trade
between Baden-Württemberg and Great
Britain has steadily increased over the last
decade, according to the Chamber’s mana-
ging director, Andreas Richter. “It’s under-
standable that existing structures need to
be re-examined regularly and adjusted to
current developments. But a large number
of business deals and trade contacts bet-
ween Baden-Württemberg and the UK have
come about through personal contacts and
through the support of the UK consulate
in Stuttgart and the consul-general, Mark
Twigg,” he says. Conducting business via
the Internet and the telephone, Richter
says, “is no real substitute for personal
business contacts,” which have taken years
British interests be hurt in this part of
Germany?
I don’t think it’s right to say that British
interests are going to suffer as a result
of this. All countries have to go through
this sort of very difficult re-structuring,
re-organisation and modernisation. There
are constantly new demands on us in
the former Soviet Union, in Asia and else-
where and just because a network has
been functioning one way for a number
of years doesn’t mean it’s always going
to stay like that.
But still, in recognition of Baden-
Württemberg’s economic potential, the
Dutch government, for example, recently
opened a “Netherlands Business Sup-
port Office” in Stuttgart. How does
your decision to shut down here make
economic sense?
I repeat, the decision to close down
Stuttgart was not an easy one and not
one we took lightly. I can understand
people who say it’s not right to close
down in one of the most prosperous
regions of Germany. In an ideal world we
would not have made this decision. But
we are under enormous financial pressure
and Germany is really one of those high-
cost countries you have to look at. Some
years ago we had to close down our
to build up.
The Baden-Württemberg branch of the
British Chamber of Commerce in Germany
says it hopes the decision to shut down
the consulate “can be revisited” It calls on
the British Embassy in Berlin to set in place
“new diplomatic initiatives” to make up for
the closure of the consulate.
Britain’s ambassador to Germany, Sir
Peter Torry, says the decision to shut down
the consulate in Stuttgart was not an easy
one. “But we are under enormous financial
pressure and Germany is really one of those
high-cost countries you have to look at,
if you want to make savings,” he says.
(See Torry explains, below.) Sir Peter says
a decision on the possible appointment of
an honorary consul-general in Stuttgart is
expected in the coming weeks.
consulates in Hanover and Bremen, for
example, and the world hasn’t come to
an end as a result.
How do you propose maintaining a
representation of British interests in
southwest Germany?
We are going to have to cover this part of
Germany with a combination of our trade
office work in Munich and our consulate
in Düsseldorf. And those of us based in
Berlin will have to come to Baden-Würt-
temberg more frequently. You could make
a case to say that Germany is so similar
and close to Britain that the sort of help
that companies need here could be pro-
vided by an honorary consul, and I think
the appointment of a well-plugged in,
high-profile honorary consul in a place like
Stuttgart would be worth its weight in
gold.
Considering an
honorary consul
for Stuttgart:
Sir Peter Torry,
UK Ambassador
to Germany
News and Events 5
“We do not forget atrocities”
The bombing of Pforzheim
Pforzheim: a town with bland concrete
buildings? It wasn’t always so. Krysia
Diver reports on the commemoration of
the night the ‘pearl’ of the northern Black
Forest was obliterated.
Both Dresden and Pforzheim were flattened
60 years ago, by air raids during World War
II. Dresden’s destruction has been catego-
rised by historians as one of the “terrible
shames” of the war. Its Baroque architec-
ture collapsed in flames leaving 35,000
dead. Pforzheim suffered far worse damage
in relation to its size, but the extent of its
destruction is not as widely known.
Eighty three per cent of Pforzheim was
reduced to rubble and an estimated 17,600
people were killed in just 20 minutes of
bombing, on the evening of February 23,
1945. It was the swiftest and most com-
plete annihilation of any town or city in
Germany during the war. On that fateful
night people as far away as Tübingen saw
the starry skies turn bright orange.
Whereas town planners in Dresden
decided to reconstruct the city’s historical
gems, Pforzheim’s planners opted to give
their town a new post-war image. The
city which formerly boasted Renaissance
buildings and quaint wooden houses, is
today not even a shadow of its former self.
Sixty years after the air raids, British
dignitaries joined thousands of Pforzheimers
on the anniversary of the bombing to com-
memorate the worst night in the town’s
Where the
River Nagold meets
the River Enz:
Pforzheim today
6 News and Events
history. Guided tours, workshops and con-
certs were organised to mark the event.
Doris Pohl, 75, took part in a guided tour
of the town centre. “I was staying with
relatives in an old farmhouse in Pforzheim
when the bombing started. The whole
town was just a mass of flames,” she
recalled. “Events like this help people to
understand the terrible destruction that
war can cause.”
The British ambassador to Germany, Sir
Peter Torry, was a guest speaker at a cere-
mony in the town’s main cemetery. “Such
remembrance days are important,” he said.
“We can show our respect and solidarity
with the victims and the survivors of these
terrible events in both our countries.”
Reflecting on British involvement in
German commemoration ceremonies, Sir
Peter told accents: “Until now, there has
not been a debate about the extent to
which Germany suffered during the war.
One million people died in Germany and 12
million Germans were expelled. Germany
is now trying to come to terms with this.
Today is almost like a process of catharsis.”
The focal point of the commemoration
ceremonies was the presentation of a
cross of nails from the clergy at Coventry
Cathedral – itself gutted by German bom-
bers – to Pforzheim’s city church (Stadt-
kirche.) The cross of nails is a symbol of
peace and reconciliation originating from
the destruction of Coventry Cathedral in
1940. Holding up the cross, the retired pro-
vost of Coventry Cathedral, Dr John Petty,
said: “We are here because we do not for-
get terrible atrocities. On behalf of my city
of Coventry, I am sorry for what happened
sixty years ago. Please, will you find it
within you to forgive us.”
Photo: City of Pforzheim
Blended learning
New training package
Walk into any library or large bookstore
and you’ll find a stack of books designed
to help you learn – or teach – business
English. But up until now, there’s been
no language program which integrates
all three learning media: books for class-
room teaching, software for learning at
home, and Internet-based learning.
A new mixed media or ‘blended
learning’ package, launched by dictionary
and language specialist PONS, is
designed to fill the gap in the business
English teaching market. PONS claims to
be the first publishing house in Europe
to have developed a blended learning
program for business English training,
completely from scratch.
“Everyone talks about this quite
trendy idea of blended learning,” says
Elizabeth Webster, editorial director
of PONS’s blended learning projects.
“We wanted to integrate the strengths
of all the main components – online or
Internet work, CD-ROM work or self-
study, and learning in the classroom –
into one unified package.”
The PONS GET (Global English
Training) package was not developed
for individuals. It’s meant to be used for
in-company business English training.
Private language schools, business
colleges and Germany’s network of com-
munity education schools (Volkshoch-
schulen) are also being approached by
PONS to adopt the program. The learn-
ing package comprises 650 individual
exercises, allowing flexibility for group
work in the classroom as well as learn-
ing alone at home.
Freelance business-English teacher
Karyn Weston – who has no connection
to PONS – uses PONS GET at Daimler
Chrysler’s offices in Sindelfingen. The
automobile manufacturer has just
purchased the PONS package for in-
company English teaching. Weston, a
accents magazine

launched
Canadian, with more than 10 years’ tea-
ching experience, speaks highly of the
new program. “It’s the only product on
the market that has adapted a complete
and practical business English-teaching
course into one single program,” says
Weston. “The content progresses well
from ‘getting to know you’ topics
through to work on meetings and nego-
tiations. It’s exactly what my students
need to know. And the program allows
the trainer, in the face-to-face sessions
with the students, to concentrate on
communicating. There’s not a lot of fluff
in the book.”
PONS sent the GET package to Cam-
bridge University Press, its business
partner in England, for the renowned
publishing house to make its own assess-
ment. “They thought it was authentic,
natural – a really good product,” says
Webster. “They are now trying out one
of the programs for intermediate-level
business English students in France.
It’s actually the first time that a British
publisher has taken on something from
a German publisher that’s related to
English language learning.”
European authorities have judged
PONS GET to be ideal for preparing stu-
dents to take the tests for EU business
English certificates. The new package
has already won a number of German
awards for its “exemplary educational
value” and its multi-media applicability.
The growing importance of English-
language competence in business and
international trade has inspired German
publishing companies, like Stuttgart’s
Klett Verlag, which owns PONS, to start
beating British and American companies
at their own game: namely, producing
innovative books, CDs and computer
packages which teach business people
the world’s business lingua-franca.
accents magazine
For a good cause
In the last edition of accents we intro-
duced the work of the German American
Women’s Club (GAWC). At a recent cere-
mony in Stuttgart, GAWC donated the
proceeds from its last major fundraising
event to local charities.
A snatch of a sentence in German is quickly
translated into English. There are people
in business suits, military uniforms and
elegant dresses. This is no highbrow cock-
tail party in Stuttgart, but an event which
brings together German- and English-
speaking women for a charity presentation.
The German-American Women’s Club
holds a Penny Bazaar each October. The
three day event is a major operation, invol-
ving goods being held in storage months in
advance, the setting up of booths and the
actual selling of a huge range of articles,
from clothes to household goods. Last
year, the Club raised 75,000 euros at the
Penny Bazaar. Now the funds have been
distributed to 35 non-profit organizations,
including the American Red Cross, the Olga
Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Trott-
war newspaper, church charities, student
exchange programs, and youth programs
at various US military bases. “The Penny
Bazaar is an active demonstration of US-
German friendship,” said Stuttgart’s lord
mayor, Wolfgang Schuster, at the presen- Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum
tation event. James-F.-Byrnes-Institut e.V.
The US military, which helps out with Charlottenplatz 17
the Penny Bazaar, was represented at the (Inner courtyard, entrance 3)
charity event by General Charles Wald from 70173 Stuttgart
the European Command base in Stuttgart. Telephone 0711 228180
General Wald said the huge sums of money www.daz.org
raised recently to help victims of the Tsu-
nami disaster in south-east Asia showed
how much Germans and Americans were
willing to assist others in dire need. He
applauded GAWC for demonstrating that
charity does not just mean responding to
disasters. “Being charitable is a day-to-day
fact of life and not something that one
needs to boast about,” he said.
News and Events 7
Feature
The customer is (not) always right
There’s no excuse for bad customer ser-
vice. But there may be cultural reasons
that explain why the customer is not
always king in Baden-Württemberg.
Accents investigates the particular chal-
lenge of serving the customer in south-
western Germany.
It hits many English speaking foreigners
like a slap in the face: receiving what
expats perceive as bad customer service
in shops in Baden-Württemberg is, regrett-
ably, a common experience. Sometimes
language misunderstandings are to blame.
Sometimes there are cultural misunder-
standings, resulting from a formal, more
direct way of speaking to strangers in
Germany than English speakers are used
to. Sometimes there’s no reason at all.
But companies that fail to serve their
customers properly are losing out, accor-
ding to economists and marketing experts.
“The times are long gone when German
Marketing expert
Horst-Richard Jekel:
“It’s seven to ten
times more expen-
sive to win over a
new customer, than
it is to win back or
maintain an existing
one. But a lot of
companies still
don’t understand
that.”
8 Feature
producers simply created new products
which virtually sold themselves,” says
Jürgen Leinwand, a specialist in service
provision at the Chamber of Industry and
Commerce in Stuttgart. “During economic
boom times, the demand was there, Ger-
man companies made excellent products
and people bought them. Now, with globali-
sation, deregulation and the opening up of
markets, leading to increased competition,
businesses large and small see they can’t
just rely on their reputation for quality. They
have to provide better service to customers
to sell their products.”
Baden-Württemberg’s economy is domi-
nated by the automotive sector and by
manufacturing and machine production.
In comparison with other German states,
according to Leinwand, the service sector
of the economy makes up a much smaller
percentage of total economic output. In
short, Badeners and Swabians have some
catching up to do: they’ve made their
money by producing quality products, not
by providing quality services.
“There is this image across Germany
of Baden-Württembergers being quite
word-shy, of not being so out-going,” says
Leinwand. “Your ‘typical Swabian’ locks
himself away in a room somewhere, and
quietly invents something – something
of engineering excellence. But he’s not
someone who can market himself very
well. It is a stereotype, but there’s an ele-
ment of truth there. And from this type of
character you just don’t produce someone
who’s excellent at providing services. It’s
not an excuse for poor customer service,
but it may be part of a cultural, historical
reason why it hasn’t had a high priority
here. I must say though, with people from
other parts of Germany migrating here, and
with overseas influences, customer service
practices are changing.”
US influence
Baden-Württemberg’s businesses are now
striving to improve customer service,
according to marketing and management
consultant, Karlheinz Knöss. German com-
panies have always been good at quality
control when it comes to products. Now,
they are introducing “best service objec-
tives”, says Knöss, thereby acknowledging
that services also need to be monitored.
Knöss, who works with German firms tra-
ding internationally, says customer service
practices originating in the United States
have been a major influence on local firms.
“US companies know that excellent service
and good customer relations generate reve-
nues and profitable growth. It’s taken time
for this message to arrive in Germany.”
German companies could do worse than
to follow the example of Enterprise Rent-a-
Car, a US firm which set up shop in Baden-
Württemberg just six years ago, and alrea-
dy has more than 20 branches across the
state. Enterprise says its focus on provi-
ding top-quality customer service gives
it a market advantage over its competitors.
“Every car rental company has cars –
they’re much the same,” says Zae Perrin,
Enterprise Rent-a-Car’s manager in Baden-
Württemberg. “The difference is in how
the customer feels as soon as he or she
walks into our office.”
Enterprise offers a free pick-up service.
Its staff members don’t just hand over the
keys when the contract is signed; they take
each customer personally to his or her car
to show them its special features. Staff
members are trained to “watch out for the
little things,” according to Perrin, so that
service improvements can be made. Also,
the company has hired an independent firm
to regularly monitor customer satisfaction.
Interestingly, Enterprise Rent-a-Car doesn’t
advertise widely or invest in media marke-
ting campaigns. “We get our customers
from already-existing customers,” says
Perrin. “If you give customers complete
satisfaction they’ll tell their friends or col-
leagues about your business – that’s the
best sort of recommendation you can get.”
Using satisfied customers to expand a
customer base is the best and cheapest
way to expand a business, according to
marketing expert Horst-Richard Jekel. “It’s
seven to ten times more expensive to win
over a new customer, in terms of invest-
ment in advertising and marketing, than it
is to invest in improved customer service
to win back or maintain existing customers.
But a lot of German companies still don’t
understand that.” Professor Jekel runs
his own consultancy firm and lectures in
Customer Relations Management at a
business college (Berufsakadamie) in
Mannheim. He argues that many German
businesses still have a lot of work to do to
reach the customer service standards of
many overseas countries. But he also
argues that German customers are them-
selves part of the problem.
“We Germans are used to paying for
quality products but we’re not used to pay-
accents magazine
ing for quality service. There’s a classic
comparison you can make with the United
States, where in most supermarkets some-
one will pack your groceries into a shop-
ping bag for you – it’s all part of the service.
I talked about this example of customer
service with my students and they all said
they wouldn’t accept someone else doing
this for them. ‘We’d have to pay them! We
could do that ourselves,’ they said. When I
pointed out that tipping or payment wasn’t
involved, they found other excuses: ‘But
they wouldn’t know how to pack it pro-
perly. The stuff would break’ or ‘I wouldn’t
want a stranger handling my food.’ Maybe
it has something to do with our post-war
history and education in which we feel very
uncomfortable about anyone being a ser-
vant to us, especially in public. We are not
very motivated by the idea of someone
trying to ‘sell us’ a service.”
Other marketing experts, like Axel
Gawantka from the University of Hohen-
heim, say that customer service practice
in Germany tends to confirm Professor
Jekel’s claim that German consumers are
not willing to accept many of the ‘perks’ of
customer service. “For many Germans, it’s
denigrating to have someone serve you in
a seemingly slavish way. Germans would
rather ‘serve’ themselves,” says Gawantka.
He points to real-life examples of failed
attempts at customer service. “German
Rail (Deutsche Bahn) introduced a baggage
carrying service a few years ago. You could
pay to have people carry your heavy luggage
– something that would function in the
US where you have a custom of tipping
for good service. Here, they simply had
to scrap this service. People just weren’t
prepared to pay for it. Supermarket bag-
packing just doesn’t work here either. At
a petrol or gas station in many overseas
countries, someone’s there to fill up your
tank, clean your windscreen and check your
oil for you. That just doesn’t happen here.”
However, Zae Perrin from Enterprise
Rent-a-Car, who’s served customers in both
the United States and Germany, says there
are ways of satisfying customers needs in
Baden-Württemberg without resorting to
overbearing service. “In the US, when you
walk into a shop you have someone next
to you straight away who wants to show
you around the entire store. The difference
in Germany is that you have to let people
have the freedom to make their own deci-
sions about purchasing something. There’s
a certain respect you have to afford people
here – it begins in the way you address
people with the formal Sie instead of the
informal Du.
“In high-service stores it really makes a
difference how you speak to the customer.
It only takes one or two sentences: ‘Hello,
how can I help you? If there’s anything
I can help you with, I’m just over here.’
“And then,” says Perrin, “you have a
customer who feels great.”
accents magazine
Enterprising rentals
A case study in good customer service
Enterprise Rent-a-Car hardly advertises.
It doesn’t have it’s name emblazoned
in big, bold letters across its cars. It’s
not necessarily cheaper than other rental
car companies. The rental car market,
in general, is having as tough a time
as the rest of the German economy.
But Enterprise Rent-a-Car’s business is
booming. The company (based in the
United States) first set up shop in Baden-
Württemberg in 1999 and now has more
than 20 branches across the state. Why
is it that this relative ‘upstart’ in the car
hire business is so successful? There
has to be something special that Enter-
prise Rent-a-Car does with its business
which gives it a distinct advantage over
its competitors.
The answer is not a business secret:
it simply invests time and money in
providing good customer service.
“Customer satisfaction is the key,”
says Zae Perrin (pictured above), mana-
ger of Enterprise’s Baden-Württemberg
operations. “Our motto is: ‘We’re the
company that picks you up.’ We under-
stand that if you ring us up because you
need a car, then you can’t get to one
of our offices – you haven’t got a car in
the first place. So we’ll come and pick
you up, for free.”
Perrin says that many rental car com-
panies have the same cars. The diffe-
rence, he says, is to make the customer
feel special as soon as he or she walks
into the office. And to make them feel
like coming back again soon.
“If you give a customer 100 % com-
plete satisfaction, you’ll probably get
70 % of those customers coming back
to you for more business,” says Perrin.
“But what happens if they aren’t com-
pletely satisfied? You drop down to
a 30 % return rate, or less. You lose
customers. If we take our time to pro-
vide absolute satisfaction, it’s an invest-
ment for tomorrow or for 2020, when
that customer might come back to us
next time he needs a car.”
How do Perrin and his co-workers
guarantee that customers remain satis-
fied? By asking them properly. “You can
ask the customer: ‘Were you satisfied?’
or ‘Was everything OK?’ And they might
answer ‘Yeah, fine’. But you can also
ask them: ‘Were you completely satis-
fied?’ Then they might pause and ans-
wer ‘Well, let me think about that.’
Our employees want to know if there’s
something small they might have over-
looked that can be fixed or improved for
the next customer.”
Enterprise Rent-a-Car was founded in
1957 in the United States by Jack Taylor,
whose philosophy was that satisfied
customers are only created by a satis-
fied workforce. The company rewards
initiative, offers its workers a variety of
responsibilities, and promotes from with-
in. Perrin says that he and his colleagues
feel that they are “part owners” of the
company. “And if it’s your own bus-
iness,” he adds, “you work to make it
a success.”
Enterprise Rent-a-Car says it does not
bring American ‘hyper-style’ (what some
might call ‘in-your-face’) customer service
to Germany. “Germans want to have
more freedom than Americans to make
their own decisions about a product,”
says Perrin. “You have to respect that
and leave them more space.”
Regardless of how you adapt custo-
mer-service styles to suit German cultural
sensitivities, the success of Enterprise
Rent-a-Car in Baden-Württemberg
demonstrates that investing in providing
real customer service makes perfect
business sense.
Feature 9
OK, let’s have a whinge…
Customer disservice
In a bridal shop, after realising I was going
to spend only a few euros on hair beads
and not thousands on a dress, the woman
behind the counter became very cold.
Returning later with a friend, to get her opi-
nion, I bought the last remaining packet of
large beads. Then, walking home, I decided
to go back and get the small beads too.
When I entered the shop, the frosty shop
assistant was standing there, arms folded
like a security guard. I asked her if I could
see the beads again and she said no. No?
Why not? Because they’d sold out, she
said. I said that a few minutes ago there
had been a shoe box full of small beads.
Another shop assistant approached. The
cold woman said in a stage whisper:
“Don’t serve her. It’s the third time she’s
been here.” I couldn’t believe what I was
hearing, and I asked to speak to the mana-
ger, but the cold woman got to her first.
She fabricated a story about me wanting
to exchange pearls. I explained that I didn’t
want to exchange anything – I wanted ano-
ther packet of pearls. I was then served
by the manager. I vowed never to set foot
in that shop again.
Christine, English, writer
I went into a sports shop to buy a jacket. I
knew exactly what I wanted – this particular
shop advertised the jacket in question on
a mannequin in a fitness club. After sear-
ching the store I couldn’t find the jacket.
I asked the sales representative if there
were any of the jackets left. She said she
thought not, and didn’t bother looking her-
self. I asked her to call the gym where the
mannequin was located, because I was
prepared to buy that jacket. She said that
was impossible, and that I would have to
come back the next day between 10 am
and 6 pm. I said I worked full-time and
couldn’t come before 7 pm. Could she take
my name and number and give it to some-
one who could call me? No, that made no
sense as she would not see her colleague
10 Feature
directly and they probably wouldn’t get the
message. And so it went on. I just left.
Andrea, US American
I went into a tea shop to buy a new lid for
a tea pot. I asked them if they could order
a purple lid to match the pot I had. They
complained it couldn’t be done, that it was
too much trouble. Eventually, after convin-
cing them that they were, after all, a tea
shop which sold tea pots almost identical
to mine, and that they must be able to order
a simple lid, they took the order. It was
possible after all. Two weeks later I went in
(they hadn’t rung me up) and they’d orde-
red the wrong colour! I re-ordered. But
they still had nothing delivered two weeks
later. I went in another time, with the same
result.
Anna, German
I went into an electronics shop to buy a
modem for my PC. I found it was faulty.
I returned two days later with my receipt to
ask for a new modem. I was told that the
modem would first have to be sent for ana-
lysis. I protested that it wasn’t my problem
that the modem didn’t work, but was told
this was the only possible course of action.
I returned to the shop the following week
to see if they had any news. Nothing. This
continued for about a month until eventually
I tired of it. Three months later I decided to
drop by the store again – no one had called
me in the meantime – to ask if the problem
had been solved. The maintenance depart-
ment had been unable to repair the modem,
so I was free to choose another one – three
months after my initial purchase attempt!
I believe that this shop is no longer in busi-
ness. It certainly doesn’t deserve to be!
Andrew, Welsh, software developer
At the supermarket checkout counter, my
whining two-year-old in tow, I was unloading
the contents of my trolley onto the convey-
er belt when I realised a bag of sugar had
a tear in it – the sugar was pouring out.
In England, I was used to a staff member
being called up for such emergencies to
replace the damaged merchandise. But the
cashier simply put the sugar aside. I insis-
ted that I did actually need sugar, thinking
this might spur her into ensuring I got a
replacement. Her solution was simply to
take a piece of sticky tape, and tape over
the hole. She beeped the sad-looking bag
of sugar through the till. Most annoying
was that I was feeling so hassled that I just
put it into my bag, paid, and took it home.
“Hello, Mr Sainsbury, is that you? Please,
please come over and give supermarket
staff here a few lessons in customer satis-
faction!”
Marianne, Irish, full-time mum
…we can also applaud
Good customer service
My wife went to Kölle, the plant
nursery chain, to buy some very big,
heavy plants. After she’d paid at the
checkout counter, they called up a
staff member to accompany my wife
out to the car park and help her load
the plants from the trolley into the
back of the car. It doesn’t always
happen at such shops, and was an
example of good customer service.
Jürgen, German manager
In comparing prices for new telephone
services, I was pleased to find out
that even late at night and on the
weekend I could reach someone at
the Arcor customer service line to
answer questions. That made a good
impression.
Barry, US American
Our local beverage shop, Getränke
Feirer, in Winnenden, can never do
enough for its customers. There’s
always someone there to unload the
empty crates from the car. If I have
the children with me, they always
laugh and joke with them and give
them a little treat. Once I’ve paid,
they wheel the trolley back out to the
car and load all the crates back in for
me. Gestures like these ensure that
I don’t even contemplate purchasing
beverages anywhere else.
Mary, Irish
When I go into the hair salon in Breu-
ningerland I expect to be pampered,
and I am. I get a courtesy beverage
upon being seated. The stylists there
take the time to provide quality custo-
mer service, offering a complimentary
head massage. Every time I leave,
I have a spring in my step and feel
great. The experience is more pleasant
than going into a salon in the US.
On this score, the US salon industry
could take a leaf out of Breuninger’s
book.
Angela, US American, administrator
accents magazine

World politics in English
Empire Study Group
The rise and fall of empires throughout
history has brought about great revolutions
in human affairs. Three years ago, an
English-language discussion group, run by
Laurence Stallings at the German-American
Institute in Tübingen, began to examine the
question of empire closely. We found that
everyone was talking about the pros and
cons of globalization from an economic
perspective. Yet globalization is more than
an economic phenomenon, it also trans-
forms political, social, and cultural relation-
ships across geographical borders every-
where.
The historical relationship between
globalization and empire is one of cause
and effect. We contend that empire is the
cause and globalization the effect. In a nut-
shell, globalization has been promoted by
Western imperialism. And we are a group
of people – without any particular political
bias – who want to place imperialism and
empires at the center of the study of world
history.
We’ve therefore formed the Empire
Study Group. We have a Website:
www. empire-institute.com. We meet
once a month, on a Friday, at the German-
American Institute (Karlstraße 3, Tübingen).
And we welcome anyone who wants to
take part in an enjoyable, intellectually
stimulating discussion to come and join us.
For further information look up our
Website or contact Scott Stelle at
sstelle@hotmail.com.
The Round Table
Players of Aalen
performing
Mrs Meadowsweet ,
by David Campton
accents magazine
English theatre in Aalen
The Round Table Players
Although Aalen, at the foot of the east
Swabian Alb, is a relatively small town
in terms of population, it boasts at least
two cultural magnets that many a larger
town would envy: the smallest municipal
German-speaking theatre in Germany, and
an English amateur theatre. The latter saw
the light of day in the 1993, as an offshoot
of “The English Round Table”, which was
started by Cornishman Adrian Williams.
The small but eager group of would-be
thespians gave themselves the name “The
Round Table Players” (RTP).
The first performance, of Alan Ack-
bourne’s one-act play A Talk in the Park,
was staged in October 1993. The group
went on to perform at regular intervals,
usually once a year. Ackbourne was a
favourite, but plays by other authors, for
example A Slight Accident, by James
Saunders, were also put on. In those early
days we were a predominately British/
German troupe. Now we have American,
Australian, British, Canadian and German
members and this is mirrored in our choice
of plays.
This year the group will be performing a
British one-act play, The Visitor, by Maureen
Lee, and an American one-act play with a
surprisingly British name: Not my Cup of
Tea, by A.F.Groff. The dates and times of
the performances are: April 6, at 7 pm and
April 8-9, at 7:30 pm. The venue is the
Paul-Ulmschneider-Saal on the ground floor
of the Torhaus in Aalen. Tickets cost 8
euros. Hope to see you there!
Jennifer Hügler, Artistic Director,
The Round Table Players, Aalen
Bulletin Board
Wanted
Women for a new club
We read with interest the article about the
German American Women’s Club in the last
issue of accents. It just so happens that we
are in the process of setting up an Inter-
national Women’s Club in Stuttgart. It will
be a club encompassing all nationalities.
Newly arrived, with children and work com-
mitments, we felt that there was nothing
on offer for an international woman, be she
professional, non-working or family-minded.
We have taken the opportunity to address
this and are seeking women of all ages and
nationalities, interested in creating a multi-
cultural and diverse association, to come
along to an initial brainstorming session.
It will take place at 8 pm, on Wednesday,
April 13, 2005, at the Eltern-Kind-Zentrum,
Ludwigstraße 41-43, Stuttgart. We are
looking forward to a good turnout. For
more information you can contact us at
iwcstuttgart@gmx.de or 0711 6566340.
Anne Waldek-Thill and
Caroline von Falkenhausen
Bulletin Board 11
Arts and Culture
Shakespeare exposed…
If there was one thing you learnt in
school about Shakespeare, it was that
he was called William, and he was born
in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. Well, it
seems you didn’t learn anything. The real
writer of the Shakespeare plays – accor-
ding to a growing number of scholars –
was not the man from Stratford, but the
17th Earl of Oxford, a man by the name
of Edward de Vere. Baden-Württemberg
is becoming a witch’s cauldron of Shake-
speare sceptics. One of the doubters is
Sindelfingen-bred Hollywood director
Roland Emmerich. Another is arts editor
Stuart Marlow – who himself has written
a play about the ‘Shakespeare myth’.
After sitting on the jury at this year’s
Berlinale, film-maker Roland Emmerich has
gone off to England to stir up a hornet’s
nest. Emmerich is making a film which
threatens to blow the cover on one of the
most clumsily constructed myths in the
history of literature. The film, Soul of the
Age, is due to be released in 2006. It will
contend that William Shakespeare, the
great playwright, was not the man from
Stratford but a high-ranking dramatist and
poet within the court of Queen Elizabeth,
Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.
The myth that William Shaxper of Strat-
ford was the poet and playwright William
Shakespeare served a purpose in 1623,
when the First Folio of works of the great
dramatist was compiled. The aim was to
protect the identity of the real Shakes-
peare, and his son, who were at the centre
of power struggles so ugly and violent they
threatened to blow apart the secrets of the
court of Queen Elizabeth and her successor,
Andrew Golledge
(right) as Edward
de Vere in the
Stuart Marlow play
Ghost Writing
Hamlet
12 Arts and Culture
King James.
Edward de Vere wrote and produced
plays for Elizabeth’s Royal Court which
were performed in private theatre venues.
He was a patron of many writers and
several distinguished acting companies.
He was referred to by a contemporary
scholar, Gabriel Harvey, as a ‘spear-shaker’,
a hidden spirit behind the theatre. One of
de Vere’s family emblems was a lion sha-
king a broken spear. From an aristocratic
insider’s perspective, de Vere/Shake-Spear
dramatized the violent power struggles
and corruption which characterized Anglo-
Norman rule, from early feudalism to the
onset of the Renaissance. His plays used
the language of the courts and dealt with
issues that preoccupied the aristocracy of
the day.
The multi-lingual young earl was one of
the very few people privileged enough to
have the time, the resources, and the aca-
demic background to complete his projects
in the way he did. De Vere’s father was
a patron of the dramatic arts. His mother
came from a family of translators with
access to original French and Italian plays.
De Vere traveled widely in Italy collecting
material that was to form about forty per-
cent of Shakespeare’s plays. Above all, his
biography is retold with amazing accuracy
in many Shakespeare plays, Hamlet being
perhaps the most weighty example. Court
intrigues, corruption and thwarted ambition
form the main themes of Hamlet. De Vere’s
biography also surfaces in All’s Well That
Ends Well, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo
and Juliet, Richard II, Measure for Measure,
and King Lear.
Looking more closely at William of
Stratford’s life, the absurdity of the claim
that he was the playwright Shakespeare
becomes clear. William was the son of an
illiterate tradesman and at least one of his
daughters was illiterate. There is no proof
that he ever went to the small, local gram-
mar school in Stratford-upon-Avon, which
has now become a monument to him. Why
was no reference made to the Stratford
man as a writer during his lifetime? Ten
leading figures of the day, who knew Strat-
ford-upon-Avon and the London theatre
scene well, never mentioned the man from
Stratford. How could he have written about
the royal court with the greatest range of
academic vocabulary in the history of the
English language? Why would a man who
had never been to Italy have set forty
percent of his work in an Italian setting
that few beyond the nobility would ever
have experienced? This is not a snobbish
attempt to attack William of Stratford’s
modest background but historical reality. It
was long after William of Stratford’s death
in 1616 that people began to construct
the legend of the local Stratford-upon-Avon
genius. A whole industry was built up
around the legend. But why?
Ben Jonson (1573-1637) was the writer
who helped collect and edit the Shake-
speare manuscript – the First Folio – pub-
lished in 1623. He knew the political danger
the 17th Earl of Oxford had been in, and
his son the 18th Earl was also in serious
political trouble in 1620 for opposing King
James I. It would have been far too risky
to associate Edward de Vere with Shake-
speare while his son Henry was in danger
of being executed. It’s Jonson’s dedication
to Shakespeare, in the First Folio, as the
“Sweet Swan of Avon“ which is used to
bolster the argument that the playwright
was indeed William of Stratford-upon-Avon.
But there are two Stratford on Avons.
Stratford-Sub-Castle, on the River Avon in
county Wiltshire, was once part of the
estate belonging to a poet and radical thin-
ker, the Countess of Pembroke, who was a
close friend and later a relative of Edward
de Vere. Further, it was the Countess of
Pembroke’s successor who commissioned
Johnson to compile the Shakespeare Folio.
Both the Countess and her brother had
been ‘swans’, which means important
poets. With this in mind, Jonson’s dedi-
cation takes on a whole new meaning:
Of Shakespeare’s mind and manners
brightly shines
In his well-turned, and true-filed lines;
In each of which he seems to shake
a lance,
As brandish’d at the eyes of ignorance.
Sweet Swan of Avon! what a sight it were
To see thee in our waters yet appear,
And make those flights upon the banks
of Thames,
That so did take Eliza and our James!
Ben Jonson was a satirist who often used
bitter irony to mock fellow writers and
actors. Shaking a lance could be a reference
to de Vere’s radical ‘spear-shaking’. Was
the Swan of Avon a reference to the group
of writers who met on the Countess of
Pembroke’s estate? The same group which,
afterall, had paid Jonson to put together
the First Folio?
Whatever the truth, there is a storm
raging with otherwise peaceful academics
at each other’s throats. It’s the Oxfordians
against the Stratfordians with daggers
drawn! Roland Emmerich’s film will certain-
ly add fuel to the fire under the cauldron.
accents magazine
 Schiller events, 2005
Stuttgart
April 13 to June 30
Württembergische Landesbibliothek
Exhibition: Traces of a Mind (Geistes-
spuren). Schiller in the collection
of the Württemberg State Library.
May 8, 4 pm, Schillerplatz
Readings from Schiller’s works
May 8, 6 pm,
Mozartsaal, Liederhalle
Lecture: Friedrich Schiller and
Stuttgart, Info/tickets 0711 2991786.
June 4, 6 pm till midnight,
Staatsgalerie
KunstNacht (Arts Night). Starting in
the Staatsgalerie, visitors are taken by
bus to Schiller’s birthplace at Marbach
am Neckar to enjoy live music and
other entertainment.
Until July 24, Württembergisches
Landesmuseum (in the Old Palace)
An exhibition of 180 pictures, sculp-
tures, drawings and documents focus-
sing on Schiller’s education and early
writing career in Stuttgart.
Ludwigsburg
April 23 - May 9, Rathausplatz
Exhibition “Eine Bank für Schiller” (A
bench for Schiller.) Forty-six benches
will be set up on the town hall square.
Created by artists in memory of
Schiller’s 46 years.
June 4, 8 pm,
Forum am Schlosspark
Opening concert of the Ludwigsburger
Schlossfestspiele. Title: Beethoven,
Schiller and the French Revolution.
July 23, 9 pm, Seeschloss Monrepos
Open-air classical music concert and
fireworks. Overtures, arias and duets
from several ‘Schiller operas’.
Marbach am Neckar
April 23 - October 9,
Schiller National Museum
Special exhibition: Schiller 1759-1805.
Manuscripts, prints, documents, pain-
tings and sculptures depict Schiller’s
career and life. Info 07144 102250.
June 4, 6:30 pm,
Schiller National Museum and
Schiller’s birth place (house)
KunstNacht (Arts Night.) Guided tour
through the city of Schiller’s birth.
June 5 - November 20,
Schiller’s Birth Place
Comic strip exhibition. Comic-strip
artist Horus depicts Schiller’s escape
from Stuttgart to Mannheim.
More information about Schiller
events in Baden-Württemberg at
www.schiller2005-bw.de
accents magazine
…Schiller dressed-up
Events will be held this year across
Baden-Württemberg to commemorate
the 200th anniversary of the death of one
of Germany’s greatest writers, Friedrich
Schiller. Along with Goethe, Schiller and
his works are valued above all else in
German literature. Accents introduces
the “poet on the Neckar” – and his
connection to Shakespeare.
“If ever we’re going to expect to find a
German Shakespeare, this is it!“ bellowed
one theatre critic in 1782 upon seeing
Schiller’s first play, The Robbers. Incredibly,
Schiller wrote this play while he was a
school student in Stuttgart. His chief inspir-
ation was Shakespeare’s King Lear. Indeed,
Schiller might well be dubbed Baden-
Württemberg’s very own “Shakespeare”.
Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller was
born in November, 1759, in the town of
Marbach am Neckar. He completed his
schooling in Stuttgart, at the elite military
academy of Karl Eugen, the tyrannical Duke
of Württemberg. The Robbers was first
staged in Mannheim in 1782. It was seen
as such a challenge to the authority of the
Duke that Schiller was forbidden to write
anymore. He decided to flee Württemberg.
But this corner of Germany still counts
Schiller as one of its own.
For many German secondary-school stu-
dents, Schiller’s blank verse comes across
as antiquated and old-hat, in much the
same way as Shakespeare’s plays appear
irrelevant and mystifying to many a 15-year-
old school kid in Anglophone countries.
But at the same time, Schiller’s early life
and work appeals to many young people.
Schiller hated his militaristic schooling.
He felt hemmed in and stifled in Stuttgart,
always under the watchful eye of the Duke,
who was a petty tyrant. And so Schiller
rebelled. He’d wander off into the forested
hills around Stuttgart, to sit with his friends
and read them drafts of The Robbers.
The play became a stirring protest against
convention, corruption, and the abuse of
power. It caused a sensation, sweeping
aside anything that had come before it in
German literature in its breadth – and its
cheek. Schiller was a political writer, who
continued to plead for freedom of thought
in his plays, and for this reason he’s consi-
dered a leading voice of the Enlightenment.
It’s been argued that Germany didn’t need
a revolution, like neighbouring France,
because Schiller brought Germany and Ger-
mans into an age of enlightened thinking.
Schiller’s writing may not be well-known
to people from English-speaking countries,
but his influence is certainly international.
His plays Mary Stuart and William Tell have
been performed in many languages the
world over, both as theatre and opera. His
drama Don Carlos is currently the hit of
London’s West End. The Schiller poem Ode
to Joy was set to music by Beethoven in
his ninth symphony. Schiller, in turn, drew
his inspiration from international events,
and from the writings of a particular English-
man, William Shakespeare.
There’s a fascinating account of the
young Schiller’s early encounters with
Shakespeare in a recent biography of
Schiller by Rüdiger Safranski. Schiller was
but a young teenager when a teacher first
read extracts from Shakespeare’s Othello
to him. “He was all ears - absolutely
captivated,” reported the teacher. No soon-
er had the reading ended, than Schiller
snatched the book from his teacher and
disappeared to study it for himself. From
that moment on, he read Shakespeare with
uninterrupted vigour. He is quoted as saying
that, as a schoolboy, he read King Lear six-
teen times. As he set off on a long journey
by coach, from Mannheim to Leipzig in
1785, a friend recommended that Schiller
take something to read. “I don’t need any-
thing,” replied Schiller, matter-of-factly. “If
time seems to be dragging on I’ll write out
scenes from Shakespeare’s plays and read
them back to myself.”
What was the compelling attraction of
England’s greatest playwright for the young
German writer? In Shakespeare, Schiller
discovered the world stage, a world beyond
the confines of restrictive, repressive
Württemberg. He discovered passion, love,
hatred and jealousy, all set against a back-
drop of political power struggles and courtly
intrigues. From Shakespeare, Schiller learnt
what he later defined as the essence of
great drama: to catch out the soul as it’s
planning its most secret operations.
Photo: Stuttgart Marketing GmbH
Schiller in
Schillerplatz,
Stuttgart
Arts and Culture 13
Prize winners
Spring reading
Best-selling British author Jeffery Archer
was in Stuttgart recently to talk about how
to write novels. He was supposed to read
from his latest book, but changed his mind
at the last minute and started talking about
writing and what makes for good story-
telling. He started by asking the audience if
they knew who had won last year’s Nobel
Prize for Literature. A few hands went up.
Then he asked how many people had read
the works of the prize winner. Even fewer
hands went up. He nodded and added that
great writing does not always guarantee
great storytelling.
So is prize-winning writing really any
better than everything else? Is there a
difference between great writing and great
storytelling? We’ve chosen to look briefly
at three novels that have won prizes in very
different categories.
Eve Green, by Susan Fletcher
Harper Perennial, 280 pages
English-language theatre
Premieres to watch out for
Old Times
The New English American Theatre
(NEAT) presents Harold Pinter’s 1971 play,
Old Times, at: KKT Bad Cannstatt from
April 28 - June 18 (Ten performances).
Deeley and his wife Kate sit waiting in
their seaside house for the arrival of Kate’s
old friend, Anna. Kate hasn’t seen Anna
for 20 years. Deeley is almost obsessed
by Kate’s former friendship with Anna,
and tries to find out as much as he can
before Anna turns up. When she does
arrive, a battle of wits between Anna and
Deeley seems to manipulate and change
Kate, and her recollections of the relation-
ship. NEAT will be taking this production
to Hamburg later in the year to compete
in the Festival of Anglophone Theatre,
FEATS 2005.
Directed by Sophie Marie Chaumette.
Featuring: John Doyle and Greta Red-
14 Arts and Culture
Whitbread prize winner for a
First Novel, 2004
This is a story about a young woman trying
to come to terms with the mysteries of her
past. Her mother dies while she is still a
young child and she is sent to live with her
grandparents, whom she’s never met. Eve
confronts the secrets her mother kept and
tries to find out who her father is. The
narrative is written from Eve’s perspective
as she awaits the birth of her first child.
Throughout the book, clues about the nar-
rator’s identity are dangled in front of you,
only to be whisked away just as you feel
you’re ready to pounce on them. A stylistic
cat-and-mouse tension keeps you focused
on the story and drives you to read on.
The Line of Beauty, by Alan Hollinghurst
Picador, 501 pages
Man Booker Prize winner, 2004
A good Oxford education is supposed to
spoon-feed you intelligence, good taste
and the confident ability to fit in socially.
But things don’t always work out the way
they’re supposed to. This book is written
with such a fragile delicateness that it’s
nearly unbearable to read. It’s the story of a
gay man named Nick, who is invited to live
mond. Tickets from NEAT. KKT, Kissinger-
straße 66. Tel 0711 634320.
Fallujan Women
As part of an international plea for genui-
ne freedom of the press and democracy,
ACTS presents the multi-media-backed
play Fallujan Women at: Theaterhaus
Stuttgart, April 28-30, 2005.
A story of love, hate, loyalty and
betrayal, against a background of eyewit-
ness accounts of the recent fall of Falluja,
in Iraq. Fallujan Women (echoing Seneca’s
tragedy Trojan Women and Shakespeare’s
Troilus and Cressida) tells the story of
three women caught between the ferocity
of colonial history and the fervor of
human passion. The women are hiding an
Iraqi journalist, who is wanted by US-led
Coalition Forces, in the cellar of their
house. In charge of the search for the
in London with his Oxford University friend
Toby, and his family. Toby’s father is a Mem-
ber of Parliament in Margaret Thatcher’s
Britain of the 1980s. It’s a very British
book, exploring the inherent charms and
flaws of high society – and the sexual, racial
and political differences between those
who come from an aristocratic or upper-
class background and those who don’t.
The Small Boat of Great Sorrows,
by Dan Fesperman
Black Swan, 458 pages
Crime Writers Steel Dagger Award, 2003
This is a book with a wonderfully different
world view. It tells the story of Petric, a
former policeman from Sarajevo, who lea-
ves his war-torn city to start a new life in
modern-day Berlin. His job as a construc-
tion worker there comes to an abrupt end
when he is asked by an American lawyer,
who is working for the International War
Crimes Tribunal, to go back to Sarajevo to
help uncover secrets from the Second
World War. What Petric discovers sheds
light on the complex and often bewildering
pattern of hatreds and loyalties inherent
in the Balkans conflicts. History becomes
intelligible, and the reader gains insights
one wouldn’t expect from a thriller. This is
a book about a contemporary conflict pre-
sented with intelligence and compassion.
So are these novels ‘good stories’? Yes,
if you expect a good story to leave you
thinking and wondering. There are no tidy,
happy endings. These books finish because
a particular tale is over, and the characters
must live with their discoveries. We, the
readers, are left to ponder the beauty and
fragility of life.
journalist is a heroic but war-weary
Marine captain escorted by an eccentric
young army chaplain. The power of con-
flicting emotions gets tangled up with the
shocks of war as the captain falls in love
with one of the women. The play includes
eyewitness reports from the Iraq War
that have never been published.
Directed by Stuart Marlow. Featuring:
Samieh Jabbarin, Peggy-Anne Graham,
Eva Zurek, Andrew Carey-Yard, James
Merkle, Jadranka Cubrilo and Martin
Stettner. Tickets from Theaterhaus,
Siemensstraße 11, Stuttgart. Tel 0711
4020720.
accents magazine

Local yet international
English at the LBBW
Unbeknown to many, Landesbank
Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) is the fourth
biggest bank in Germany. Although it’s
a regional bank, it also operates inter-
nationally. And that means its staff need
English. Accents spoke to LBBW board
member Joachim E. Schielke about the
importance of English in the bank.
Walking into a branch of your local bank in
Aalen, Ravensburg or Bruchsal to carry out
a simple transaction will not require any
English. But even ‘local’ banking is beco-
ming increasingly international, especially
when it comes to corporate banking. And
as companies explore international markets
overseas their ‘local’ bank has to explore
with them.
“Baden-Württemberg’s economy is very
export oriented, and so many more compa-
nies – even in smaller towns and villages –
expect their house bank to help them out,
to accompany them when they venture out
overseas. Increasingly, English becomes
extremely important,” says LBBW board
member Joachim Schielke, who’s respon-
sible for the bank’s European corporate
operations and trade finance business.
LBBW refers to itself as „a regional
bank with global activities“. The necessity
to operate globally has arisen from services
it provides not necessarily to big corpora-
tions, but to small and medium sized busi-
nesses. “Many of these businesses are
family owned,” explains Schielke. “They
make top-quality products but they don’t
have the expertise or the international
background to enter an overseas environ-
ment. For this, many of them rely on us,
their bank, to ‘take care of them’ interna-
tionally.”
Taking care of smaller businesses in
foreign markets has led LBBW to pioneer a
new type of service, the so-called German
Centres. There are three such centers,
one each in Singapore, Beijing and Mexico
City. They are modern office buildings with
rooms for rent, laboratories, and exhibition
and storage space, which offer tenants a
full-range of telecommunications, secretarial
and translation services. The aim is to help
ease the way for smaller companies to
begin to gain a foothold in foreign markets.
accents magazine
English at Work
world of banking does not only involve
learning to talk about business and finance.
According to Joachim Schielke, bankers
need to learn how to socialize in English as
well.
“If you want to develop a business rela-
tionship with people, you can’t talk forever
about your product or your bank. You have
to chat to people, to make friends, to find
out what you have in common with them.
And for that, social English, chit-chat and
small-talk is very important.”
LBBW is not planning to become a global
“English is now player of international renown, such as Citi-
a part of everday bank for example. It’s proud of its regional
banking life”
LBBW board heritage and customer base. Nevertheless,
member, Joachim English is to become a working language in
E. Schielke it’s own right within the bank.
The pressing need for Baden-Württem-
berg’s small and medium sized businesses
– the so-called German Mittelstand – to
look beyond Germany’s borders for new
market opportunities has forced banks and
other financial service providers to look
LBBW also has international branches in overseas as well. And venturing outside of
other key centres of world finance, such as Germany – no matter where you do busi-
London and New York. Detailed business ness, according to Joachim Schielke –
proposals and reports from all of these requires being competent in English.
overseas posts, which arrive at the bank’s
headquarters in Stuttgart every day, are not
translated into German due to time and
cost considerations.
“Our staff – including members of the
board – have to deal with credit applications
from our international offices, in English.
They are analyzed or commented on by the
bank’s German staff, in English, and brought
to the board members for discussion in
that format,” says Schielke.
“Beyond this, banking supervision autho-
rities in foreign countries expect records
and credit files to be maintained and upda-
ted in English. So we have to keep figures
and files in English here centrally as well.
More and more of our medium sized clients
in Baden-Württemberg are having to set up
group balance sheets in English to present
internationally. We have to be able to analyse
their reports. English is really now a part of
everyday banking life.”
All of this requires the bank itself to
be ‘top-fit’ in English. Besides placing
emphasis on proficiency in English for new
employees, at any one time at LBBW, more
than 400 members of staff are enrolled in
English courses. That amounts to a consi-
derable investment in in-house language
training for a bank anchored in Baden-
Württemberg. Individual and group courses
are offered, depending on the needs of
staff. Many of LBBW’s English learners do
not have to travel overseas but need to
speak English on the phone. Special cour-
ses are therefore offered in telephoning in
English. However, learning English for the
English at Work 15
accent on…
The Swabian Alb
Baden-Württemberg’s spring wander-land
Our couch-potato, Thomas Ravel,
meanders his way along some of our
best walking tracks.
What is it about fresh air? No sooner had
I thawed out from my trip to Feldberg (in
the last edition of accents) than I was being
despatched to tramp through tracts of end-
less greenery (‘bug-country’, to us city-
dwellers.) I would require eyes in the back
of my head to avoid joggers and kamikaze
cyclists, travelling at speeds not allowed
on most stretches of the A8. When would
I ever get to write the article I wanted to
write: “Great pubs and warm fireplaces”?
OK, let’s try to be positive about this.
The Arctic wasteland that was visited upon
us this winter has receded. Shovelling
snow is a distant memory. Spring is in the
air. Rejuvenation. Yes, even indoor-types
like me can admit to feeling invigorated by
the freshness of the air, the vividness of
colour, the sights and sounds that spring
16 accent on
produces. With this comes a desire to
get out into the spring sunshine. Whether
your bag is stuffed with guides to flora and
fauna, or sandwiches and a six-pack of
beer, Baden-Württemberg offers excellent
opportunities for a day’s hiking.
So with the smell of pub-smoke already
fading I took a closer look at some hiking
trails in a very small part of the Swabian
Jura (Alb). My tourist guide book boasts
that the Swabian Alb offers an unparalleled
area of diverse natural beauty: gently rolling
mountains and hills, meadows, scrublands,
woodlands and valleys. The area around
Bad Urach, in the Reutlingen region, offers
at least seven planned trails which vary in
length from a manageable 2.3 kilometres to
a shocking 85 kilometres, which I refuse to
accept can be achieved by any means other
than car or helicopter!
A great option for starters is the 2.3 km
Uracher Alb trail which provides a stunning
view of Bad Urach from the Michelskäppele
Swabian Alb
“Alb” – comes from the Celtic word
“alpis” which means a nurturing
mountain. The Swabian Alb is the
central part of a Jura chain stretching
across western Europe. It’s 220 kilo-
metres long and up to 80 kilometres
across. On the northern ridge, it
reaches heights of 700 to 1000 metres
above sea level. The southern ridge
is between 400 and 500 metres high.
The first traces of human habitation
date back around 35,000 years.
www.badurach.de
www.schwaebischealb.de
www.schwaebischer-albverein.de
www.tourismus-
baden-wuerttemberg.de
accents magazine
and takes in the beautifully picturesque
centre of Bad Urach. Don’t forget to take
a look at the nearby waterfalls too. Then
there’s the more challenging 7.9 kilometre
Sonnenbühl route. The high point (quite
literally) of this hike is the splendid Schloss
Lichtenstein. With a parking area next to
the castle and places to recharge your
batteries en route, even I found this walk
manageable. I also persuaded myself to go
into a cave. The Nebelhöhle cave, when
you reach it, on the north-west side of the
hiking trail, is well worth looking into. A
small detour will bring you to Germany’s
first Easter egg museum in Sonnenbühl-
Erpfingen. There are more than 1100 per-
manent exhibits, and a further 400 in a
special animal-themed exhibition. A treat
for kids. (The museum is open from mid-
March until the end of October, Tuesdays
to Sundays, 1-5 pm.)
If you’re a hardy rambler, the superbly
scenic, 10-kilometre-long Großes Lautertal/
Zwiefalter Aach trail is probably for you.
Deposit the car in the pleasant little village
of Hayingen (reached by the L249/B312
from Reutlingen) or at the Wanderparkplatz
at the Hayinger bridge. Pick up the start
of this trail off the L249, on the small road
to Pfronstetten, and keep your eyes peeled
for badgers, foxes, deer, hare and wild
boar which my guide book said would be all
around me. I only saw an occasional sign
of where they might have been, but you
might have more luck. The trail goes on
through a wooded valley, past more caves
Photos: www.schwaebischealb.de
(the Bärenhöhle and the Glashöhle,) past
the pretty Wimsen mill, and through the
Albhochfläche with its abundance of plants
and birds.
Either it’s my rebellious nature or a
deeply frugal streak that refuses to see me
decked out in all that kit that ‘professional’
walkers and cyclists sport. But definitely
take a warm jacket with you, even if you
think the weather’s going to be fine. The
Alb tourist authority’s description of a “bra-
cing climate throughout the Swabian Alb”
turned out for me to be chillingly accurate
on the days I went out to hike. (Although,
having scoffed at all that gear, I must say
I was hugely impressed to see a designer
“hydration pack” that one fellow had
strapped to his back. It was an amazing
contraption with a tube connected to an
internally-stashed water bottle. It looked
the business, if a tad maternal.)
So, the Swabian Alb awaits! Geologists,
historians and even twitchers (bird-wat-
chers) are all catered for. Next I’m off to Above:
Sigmaringen, a little further south, where In the Bärenhöhle.
10 well-mapped walks await. Maybe I’ll Opposite page:
also try out the Danube valley route, sin- A trail near
ging as I go. “Oh I love to go a-wandering/ Bad Urach in the
Along the mountain way…” There’s Swabian Alb.
nothing worse than an eager convert.
accents gratefully acknowledges the assist-
ance of the Schwäbische Alb Tourist
Authority in the preparation of this article.
Children’s Corner
What to do with a hundred euros
Children and consumer habits
With our feature story in this edition of
accents focussing on customer service,
we thought it would be interesting to
find out what sort of customers kids say
they are. Maki Kuwayama reports.
Children can be a marketing manager’s
dream or their worst nightmare. Companies
able to discover the next product, the next
trendy game or toy or brand name, which
every kid in Germany has to have, stand to
earn millions of euros. It’s estimated that
each German teenager currently has, on
average, about 2000 euros at his or her
disposal. Not only do children have consider-
able spending power, but their parents
contribute to youth consumer trends by
buying gifts for kids.
We decided to ask a group of young
readers of accents magazine what they
Prize winners
Books for spring
Fergus Crane,
by Paul Stuart and Chris Riddell
Doubleday, 215 pages
The Star of Kazan, by Eva Ibbotson
Macmillan, 388 Pages
Millions, Frank Cottrell Boyce
Macmillan, 250 Pages
These three books are all prize winners,
and deservedly so.
Fergus Crane (Smarties prize winner,
2004) is a great adventure story for anyone
aged 8 or older. Fergus is sent to a sus-
picious looking school located on a ship
called the Beatty Jeanne – a school with
teachers who wear eye-patches, who have
one ear pierced with a golden hoop, or
who have names like Captain Claw. Fergus
18 Children’s Corner
would do with 100 euros. What would kids
spend the money on? The results of our
small survey are surprising. We didn’t
discover the latest trend in kids’ purchasing
habits. But it appears that children’s spen-
ding habits very much reflect those of their
parents in these tough economic times.
The question to each child:
what would you do with 100 euros?
“I would save most of it. Maybe buy a
small toy.” A 7-year-old
“I would save most of it but if I had to
buy something I would buy Legos or Poke-
mons.” Peter, 9 years old
“I would buy a pet – a cat or a rabbit. But
I’m not sure my parents would allow it.
meets up with a mysterious uncle and ends
up rescuing his classmates – also shipmates
– from great danger. This is a beautifully
illustrated, wildly imaginative story. And it’s
great fun.
Of course, young boys are not the only
ones to lead lives of adventure. The Star of
Kazan (also a Smarties award winner, 2004)
is set in Vienna at the beginning of the
1900s. Annika is an orphan who was found
in a small chapel in the Alps. She is brought
to live with a cook and a housekeeper in
Vienna, who attend to three elderly pro-
fessors. In this cozy environment, Annika
is taught how to bake, prepare sumptuous
meals and keep a tidy house. Though con-
tent, she dreams about her lost mother.
Then, a beautiful and elegant aristocrat
arrives, claiming to be Annika’s mother, and
takes Annika with her to Germany to intro-
I would save it, in the end. I want to buy a
car when I turn 18. Or maybe a horse“
Susan, 10 years old
“I would save the money, maybe to buy a
computer in the future.” A 10-year-old
“I’d put half of the money in the bank and
use the other half to buy some books and
some DVDs.” Jenny, 15 years old
While our small sample cannot be said to
reflect the consumer habits of a generation,
it is interesting to discover the cautious,
careful, savings-oriented attitude of our
young consumers. Maybe those television
advertisements for savings plans and
savings schemes appeal to children as well
as adults in Baden-Württemberg!
accents would like to thank
Marianne Riordan for contributing to
the last issue of Children’s Corner
duce the girl to the rest of her family. All
is well, but strange facts keep coming to
light, and Annika must resolve for herself
whether blood relations are really more
important than her adoptive family in Vienna.
The book is a pleasure to read – as rich as
the pastries described throughout. Annika’s
adventures are wonderful, reminiscent of
those created by Alexandre Dumas or
Charles Dickens.
Finally, another book that comes highly
recommended is a bittersweet story about
two brothers, Damian and Anthony, who
find so much money that they don’t know
what to do with it all. Millions won the
2004 Luchs Prize, awarded by the German
newsweekly Die Zeit. After the death of
their mother, Damian and Anthony learn
to cope with their sadness by adopting
singular habits. Damian judges himself and
everyone around him by the lives of saints.
There is, after all, a saint for everything
(except lying.) Anthony, on the other hand,
decides that only financial security can
bring about emotional security and judges
everything around him by its market value.
Then they find the money. They each react
to their newfound wealth in their idiosyn-
cratic ways, making this book incredibly
witty and endearingly sad, as avarice takes
over and begins to taint all of those around
the brothers. A book for adults and children.
accents magazine

Money Matters
Planning to Invest?
“Fore!” is a golfer’s way of saying “Watch
out!” if a ball is heading towards other
golfers. It’s an appropriate warning to pass
onto you, if you’re planning to invest your
money. Staying with the golfing metaphor,
if you’re playing on a new course, you
familiarize yourself first with all of its twists
and turns. You plan a strategy to decide
how best to reach the 18th hole with as
few strokes as possible. The same goes
for your investment: familiarize yourself
with the obstacles that lie ahead and plan
a strategy to best suit your needs.
If you plan your strategy on your own,
be sure to answer these questions. Is your
investment long term or short term? Do
you need continuous access to your money
or is your investment purely speculative?
Do you know how the investment will be
taxed? What will it yield after tax? Have
you calculated the inflation rate of the
currency you’re investing with? Will this
investment match your personal plans in
life? Does it compliment other investments
you already have?
Can you answer these questions with no
problem? Then an online bank might be the
Champagne baths
in Stuttgart
Even the ancient Romans knew of the
healing powers of Stuttgart’s mineral
baths. Stuttgart has the biggest deposit
of mineral spring waters in Western
Europe. Twelve different natural spas
have been officially recognised for their
soothing, healing qualities. One-hundred-
and-fifty years ago, the city on the Neckar
experienced its boom time as an inter-
national healing and bathing centre – it
became a meeting place for kaisers and
kings. Today, the mineral bathing tradition
accents magazine
right choice for you. Just as in other coun-
tries, in Germany you can choose between
an online bank and a local branch bank.
Whereas an online bank can usually offer
cheaper transaction and account fees,
a local branch bank can provide you with
a personal financial advisor, who can guide
you through the above questions step by
step. Plus, a branch bank often has its own
online bank with better conditions. I recom-
mend approaching your own bank about
the conditions they offer.
In order to purchase securities, stocks,
or bonds, you will need to open a securities
account (Wertpapierdepot). Be sure to
inquire about transaction and accounting
fees, as these can reduce your yield. When
opening a securities account, your financial
advisor will ask you about your investment
history. It is important to discuss any ques-
tions or concerns, openly, with your financial
advisor or broker before you make a final
decision. Even golf professionals listen to
the advice of their caddies!
If you’re interested in investments
I recommend you look up the following
Internet sites: www.boerse-stuttgart.de
and www.deutsche-boerse.com. (There are
English translations.) These sites provide
detailed information about securities,
stocks, and bonds traded on German stock
exchanges. Also, the trade fair “Invest”,
at the Messe-Stuttgart, (www.messe-
continues. There are two city-owned
mineral baths, Leuze and MineralBad
Cannstatt as well as Mineralbad Berg,
which has been a family-owned business
for over a hundred years. Each of these
baths have whirlpool spas, cold-water
baths, fitness rooms, steam baths, a
solarium and a sauna, a cafe-restaurant –
everything the heart and soul desire.
In the summer months, before or after
a refreshing mineral bath, get along to the
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart to see “Bathers
– Myths in the Sea” (Badende – Mythen
im Meer), a spectacular special-exhibition
of works by Spanish master painter
Pablo Picasso. It’s on between June 18
and October 16, 2005. Bathing and beach
scenes – one of the main artistic pre-
Good to Know
Gunter Spieth,
Director,
SEB Bank Stuttgart.
Email:
Guenther.Spieth
@seb.de
stuttgart.de/invest) offers a unique oppor-
tunity to learn more about investment
options in Germany. On April 8, the trade
fair halls will be open for institutional
investors, and for private investors from
April 9-10. I can offer a limited number of
free tickets to interested readers. Send me
or accents an E-mail. I look forward to see-
ing you at the stand of our investment sub-
sidiary SEB-Invest! (www.seb-invest.de).
Finally, I’d like to thank you for the posi-
tive feedback I received to my first column
in the last issue of accents. Please write
in with any questions or concerns you may
have on financial issues in Germany.
SEB Bank is a sponsor of accents magazine.
With over five million customers and
20,000 employees, SEB is one of the big-
gest financial service providers in northern
Europe. www.seb.de
Photos from left to rigt: Mineralbad Leuze, MineralBad Cannstatt and Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
occupations of Picasso – form the focus
of this exhibition of around 120 works,
being gathered from great museums
and private collections around the world.
Never before has such a theme formed
the basis of a Picasso exhibition. Related
works by artists who inspired or influenced
Picasso, such as Cézanne, Matisse,
Renoir, Braque, Léger and Miró, complete
the panorama of this unique exhibition.
Written for accents by:
Stuttgart-Marketing GmbH
Tourist Information, ‘i-Punkt’
Königstraße 1A, 70173 Stuttgart
Tel 0711 2228-0, Fax 0711 2228-253
info@stuttgart-tourist.de
Good to Know 19
accents
choice
Events
Balingen
Event
International Folk Dance Festival
Apr 30 - May 5, Stadthalle,
Info 07433 4353
Bodensee
17th International
Bodensee Festival
concerts, theater, readings,
exhibitions, Apr 22 - May 16,
www.bodenseefestival.de
Eisenbach (Black Forest)
Internationale Uhrenbörse
(Clocks and Watches Exhibit and
Sale) Apr 23, 9-5 pm, Apr 24,
10 am - 4 pm, Wolfwinkelhalle
Karlsruhe
Book & Bake Sale
good second-hand books and
yummy home-baked cakes
Apr 30, 10 am - 2 pm,
American Library, Kanalweg 52,
www.american-library.de
Cycling tour through Hardtwald
May 1, 12 pm, meeting point
Castle tower on the Castle grounds,
distance: 30 km. Deutsch-Englischer
Freundeskreis (DEF), 0721 74623,
www.def-Karlsruhe.de
Europa-Tag
with an information stall of the DEF
English tea and sweets are offered.
People willing to assist should ring
0721 74623 DEF, see above
May 9, 10 am - 6 pm,
Karlsruhe Market Square.
Europäische Filmtage
“Calendar Girls” in English
shown by the DEF, see above
May 12, 8 pm, Landesmedien-
zentrum, Moltkestraße 64,
entrance “Behördenzentrum”
Ludwigsburg
Pferdemarkt
Horse market with arts and crafts,
medieval games, amusement
park, coach rides, coach and
horse-breeding award, May 20-23,
Marktplatz and Bärenwiese.
Info 07141 917510
Offenburg
Latein Cup der Professionals
Latin Formation Dance Event
with World Champions attending
Apr 30, Oberrheinhalle
Stuttgart
Stuttgarter Frühlingsfest
(Stuttgart Spring Festival)
Apr 16 - May 8, 11 am - 11 pm,
Cannstatter Wasen
Apr 20, 27 and May 4
family days with reduced prices
www.fruehlingsfest-stuttgart.com
Sindelfingen
Australian Wine Tasting
by the German-Australian
Friendship Club, Australian
hors d’ouvres, Didjeridoo music
and videoshow, 16 euros (18 euros
at the door) 07031 607521,
daf-info@teksolv.de, April 23,
7:30 pm, Stadthalle, Kleiner Saal
20 accents choice
Exhibitions
Exhibitio
Freiburg
Purple Hearts
photographs by Nina Berman,
New York, of Iraqi war veterans
who were severely wounded
in the Iraqi War, annotated by texts
written by soldiers. Mar 21 - Apr 15,
Mon - Fri, 9 am - 5 pm, Carl-Schurz-
Haus, Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 266
Karlsruhe
Max Beckmann
Prints from 1914-1924
Until May 22, Staatliche Kunsthalle,
Hans-Thoma-Straße 2
www.kunsthalle-karlsruhe.de
Pforzheim
Lovis Corinth
Mar 11 - Apr 24, Reuchlinhaus
Schwäbisch Hall
Old Masters
Fürstenberg Collection
Until May 5, Kunsthalle Würth
www.kunst.wuerth.com
Stuttgart
Funny Cuts
cartoons and comics in
contemporary art
Until Apr 17, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
(Stuttgart State Gallery),
www.staatsgalerie.de
Arrived – The Collection
in Our Own House
Until Jul 31, Kunstmuseum
Stuttgart, Kleiner Schlossplatz
www.kunstmuseum-stuttgart.de
40 Years with the U.S. Army
photographs and painted pictures
by Uka Meissner, opening night
Apr 25, 6 pm, exhibition until
Jun 30, Tue-Thu 2 - 6 pm,
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum
(DAZ), Charlottenplatz 17,
0711 228180, www.daz.org
Tübingen
Bordell und Boudoir
exhibition with works from
Cézanne, Degas,
Toulouse-Lautrece and Picasso,
Jan 22 - May 22, Kunsthalle
www.kunsthalle-tuebingen.de
Purple Hearts
Nina Berman’s photographs
of Iraqi war veterans
Car-Schurz-Haus, Freiburg
Ghost Towns
Photography exhibit by
Berthold Steinhilber at the
German-American Institute,
Tübingen
Ghost Towns
of the American West
photography by Geo-photographer
Berthold Steinhilber
for the Smithsonian Magazine
Opening night Mar 3, 7:15 pm,
Exhibition Mar 4 - May 6,
Mon-Fri 9 am - 6 pm, d.a.i.,
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut,
Karlstraße 3
Stage
Balingen
Stage
The Flower Power Musical Story
Musical in English
Frank Serr Showservice International
Apr 20, 8 pm, Stadthalle
www.stadthalle.balingen.de
Heidelberg
The “Great American Game Show”
Comedy Mystery
Hosted by the Roadside Theater
with two guest artists from
the U.S. with participants from
the Heidelberg community
Mar 28 - Apr 3, Building 109,
Patton Barracks
Improvised audience participation
event presented as a dinner
theater production for the general
public on Apr 1 and 2,
tickets 06221 175020,
www.roadsidetheater.com
Beehive
Rock and Roll musical review
Apr 1-2, 8 pm,
Apr 3, 2 pm and 8 pm,
Karlstorbahnhof, tikk-Theater,
Am Karlstor 1
Coser y Cantar
by Dolores Prida
Spanish-English, Apr 7, 8 pm,
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut,
Großer Saal, Sofienstraße 12,
06221 60730,
www.dai-heidelberg.de
Raw Boys Dael Orlandersmith
Apr 15, 8 pm, d.a.i., Großer Saal,
see above
F**k the Disabled
An Evening with Greg Walloch
Apr 21 and 22, 8 pm, d.a.i.,
Großer Saal, see above
The Annual US Forces
“Toppers” Award
Tournament of Plays awards gala
review of productions presented
between the last week of February
through the first week in April,
2005, Apr 23, at 7 pm,
Village Pavilion
www.roadsidetheater.com
A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum
based on the plays of Plautus
May 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28
and June 3, 4, 10, 11 at 7:30 pm
May 22 and 29 at 3 pm,
June 5 at 6 pm
Roadside Theater, see above
Stuttgart
Father of the Bride
based upon the novel
by Edward Streeter
Apr 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17
at 7:30 pm, Stuttgart Theatre
Center – Kelley Theatre, Kelley
Barracks, Vaihingen, general public
welcome, tickets 0711 7292825,
www.kelleytheatre.de
You Can’t Take it With You
by Moss Hart & George Kaufman
Apr 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24
at 7:30 pm, Stuttgart Theatre
Center – Kelley Theatre, see above
Pygmalion
American Drama Group Europe
Apr 27, 11 am and 4 pm,
Altes Schauspielhaus
Fallujan Women
multimedia acting and dance
production about three women in
Iraq, based on Seneca’s tragedy
Troades, Apr 28, 29, 30 at 8:30 pm,
Theaterhaus, Siemensstraße 11,
tickets 0711 4020720,
www.theaterhaus.com
Old Times
NEAT presents Harold Pinter’s 1971
play. Apr 28 - Jun 18 (10 shows)
KKT Bad Cannstatt, Kissingerstaße
26. Tickets and info 0711 634320
School House Rock!
A Broadway in Concert Production
May 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29,
June 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12 at 7:30 pm
Stuttgart Theatre Center –
Kelley Theatre, see above
T.C. Boyle reads from his
new novel “Dr. Sex”
Jan Josef Liefers reads the German
text, May 24, 8 pm,
Theaterhaus, see above
Mamma Mia (in German)
Musical with 22 songs by ABBA
Tue, Thur, Fri at 8 pm,
Wed at 6:30 pm, Sat 3 and 8 pm,
Send your events to
choice@accents-magazine.de
Our next issue is Jun/Jul
Deadline for info: May 10th
accents
magazine
accents magazine
Sun 2 and 7 pm,
Palladium Theater, SI-Centrum,
tickets 0711 2228246,
www.stageholding.de
Elisabeth (in German)
Musical, all year beginning Mar 6,
SI-Centrum, Apollo-Theater,
see above
tickets 0711 2228243 and 242
Theater der Welt –
Theatre of the World
An event to watch out for, from
June 16 - July 10, in Stuttgart
Tübingen
Amadeus
by Peter Schaffer,
co-production of the Tübingen
Anglo-Irish Theatre Group
with the Provisional Players
Apr 22 - 24, LTT, www.anglo-iren.de
Acoustic Storm with special
guest: poet Keith Armstrong
from Durham
Live music & live poetry
Apr 23, 9 pm, Saints & Scholars
Irish Pub, Wilhelmstraße 44
The Importance of Being Earnest
by Oscar Wilde
Tübingen Anglo-Irish Theatre Group
May 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, Brechtbau
Theatre, Wilhelmstraße 50,
www.anglo-iren.de
On tour in the region
The Crucible (Arthur Miller)
American Drama Group Europe
www.adg-europe.com
Apr 5, 7:30 pm, Theater Heilbronn
Apr 11, 8 pm, Ulmertheater, Ulm
Jungle Book in two versions
American Drama Group Europe
www.adg-europe.com
Apr 8, 8 pm,
Theater Fischbach Friedrichshafen
May 4, 11 am,
Stadthalle Waiblingen
Jerry Harmon, USA – Appalachian
Musician and Storyteller
Apr 24, 8 pm, d.a.i. Heidelberg,
Großer Saal, see above
Apr 26, 7:30 pm,
DAZ Stuttgart, see above
Apr 28, 8 pm, O’Dwyers,
Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 278, Freiburg
www.jerryharmon.com
Lord Of The Dance
Apr 27, 8 pm,
Ortenauhalle, Offenburg
Apr 28, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
Beethovensaal, Stuttgart
May 3, 8 pm, Donauhalle, Ulm
May 4, 8 pm, Rosengarten,
Mozartsaal, Mannheim
May 6, 8 pm,
Schwarzwaldhalle, Karlsruhe
May 7, 8 pm, Greuthalle, Aalen
May 8, 8 pm, Stadthalle, Freiburg
May 9, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
Beethovensaal, Stuttgart
Music
Music
Böhmenkirch
“Hot’n Scot’n Music”
with Caledonix, Apr 9, 8 pm,
Dorfhaus Steinenkirch
Bühl
International Bluegrass Festival
feat. The Crooked Jades (USA)
and Lost Highway (USA)
Apr 9, Bürgerhaus Neuer Markt
Filderstadt
Kieran Halpin
Irish singer-songwriter
Folk, blues and rock
Apr 23, 8:30 pm, Alte Mühle
accents magazine
Vdelli
Blues and Rock&Roll
from down under
in Freiburg and Reichenbach
Freiburg
Vdelli & The Deadflowers
Blues & Rock n Roll
Apr 25, 8 pm, Jazzhaus
www.jazzhaus.de
Randy Hansen
Bluesrock, Apr 29, 8 pm,
Jazzhaus, see above
Göppingen
Josh Roseman Unit
Apr 29, 8:30 pm, ODEON,
Altes E-Werk, www.odeon.fto.de
Karlsruhe
Iron Butterfly
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
May 5, 8 pm, Substage
Lenny Kravitz
Electric Curch Tour 2005
Jun 22, 8:30 pm, Europahalle
Langenargen
Bachelors Walk
The Crooked Jades
appearing at the International
Bluegrass Festival in Bühl
Apr 13, Münzhof
Lörrach Stuttgarter
Willy DeVille Kammerorchester
Apr 5, 8 pm, Burghof Benefit Concert for the
The World Famous Olgaele Stiftung
Glenn Miller Orchestra 26 April, 8 pm
May 30, 8 pm, Burghof Music: Mozart, Hayden
Ludwigsburg and Dvorak
Giora Feidman and the Prices from 12 to 25 euros
Russian Chamber Philharmony To buy tickets contact
St. Petersburg Kulturgemeinschaft Stuttgart
Apr 22, 8 pm, Tel 0711 2247715, -19,
Forum am Schlosspark -20 or -21
Bill Haley´s Original Comets
May 27, Scala
Magstadt
Stuttgart Singers
with the Forest of the Dean
Male Voice Choir, Gloucestershire,
England, May 29, 5 pm,
Protestant Church
Reichenbach
Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack
Apr 8, 9 pm, die halle, Beethovensaal, see above
Kanalstraße 10, 07153 958256, The Musical Box performs
www.diehalle.de Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down
Vdelli on Broadway
Australian Blues-Funk-Rock 30th Anniversary Tour
Apr 28, 8 pm, die halle, see above Apr 9-10, Liederhalle, Hegelsaal,
Uriah Heep Berliner Platz 1-3,
May 6, 8 pm, h20, www.liederhalle-stuttgart.de
Heinrich-Otto-Straße 3 Ticket line 0731 9676429
www.h20-diehalle.de www.wiventertainment.de
BeeGeesMania Bobby McFerrin & Chick Corea
Stayin’ Alive Jul 25, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
“The Australian Bee Gees Story” Beethovensaal, see above
May 25, 8 pm, h20, see above Tübingen
Schorndorf Giora Feidman/
Mike Watt (USA) Matthias Eisenberg
Apr 15, 9 pm, Apr 20, 8:30 pm, Stiftskirche
Manufaktur Schorndorf, Ulm
Hammerschlag 8, Blues Festival
www.club-manufaktur.de Jay & the Bluejays Apr 12,
Feist (CAN) R.J. Mischo & Band Apr 19,
Apr 16, 9 pm, Manufaktur, Sherman Robertson Apr 26,
see above Tino Gonzales & Band May 3,
FME (USA/N) Sharrie Williams & Band May 10,
Apr 26, 9 pm, Manufaktur, all shows 8:30 pm,
see above Begegnungsstätte Charivari,
Patrick Wolf (GB) Stuttgarter Straße 13
Apr 29, 9 pm, Manufaktur, Winterbach
see above Sherman Robertson Band (USA)
Holy Golightly (GB) Apr 22, 8 pm, Cafe Bar 4208
May 20, 9 pm, Manufaktur, Robin Trower & Band (USA)
see above “Living out of time” Rock
Vetiver (USA)
feat. Devendra Banhart
May 30, 9 pm, Manufaktur,
see above
The Go-Betweens (AUS)
Jun 5, 9 pm, Manufaktur, see above
Stuttgart
The Very Best of Queen
Apr 15, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
Hegelsaal, Berliner Platz 1-3,
www.liederhalle-stuttgart.de
Black Lipstick
Apr 18, Universum
Magnum
Apr 18, 8:30 pm, LKA/Longhorn
Stuttgart Singers
Apr 29, Patch High School Forum
on Patch Barracks
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
May 2, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
Beethovensaal, see above
Geoff Farina/Karate
May 2, Schocken
Herbie Hancock Quartet
“Jazz Nights” Sherman Robertson Band
May 8, 8 pm, Liederhalle, Zeydeco grooves
Beethovensaal, see above with the blues on top
Paradise Lost at Cafe Bar 4208
May 17, 8:30 pm, LKA/Longhorn in Winterbach
Destiny’s Child
“Destiny Fullfiled… And Lovin’ It”
Tour 2005, May 21, Schleyer-Halle
Pat Metheny Group
May 26, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
accents choice 21
May 7, 8 pm, Schulturnhalle
Peter Frampton (USA) Rock
Jul 8, 8 pm, Zeltfest Bierzelt
On Tour in the Region
Utah Symphony Orchestra
Apr 5, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
Beethovensaal, Stuttgart,
see above
Apr 6, Graf-Zeppelin-Haus,
Friedrichshafen
Paddy Goes to Holyhead
Apr 9, Festspielhaus, Simmersfeld
Apr 23, Café Nepomuk, Reutlingen
June 11, Kulturhaus Osterfeld,
Pforzheim
Aug 18, Alte TÜV-Halle, Böblingen
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Apr 10, 8 pm, Stadthalle,
Brahmssaal, Karlsruhe
Apr 11, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
Beethovensaal, Stuttgart
Joe Cocker “Heart & Soul”
Apr 19, 8 pm,
Schleyerhalle, Stuttgart
Apr 22, Oberschwabenhalle
Ravensburg
Apr 23, 8 pm, Stadthalle Freiburg
Moya Brennan
Apr 19, Karlstorbahnhof, Heidelberg
Apr 22, Schloss, Laupheim
Apr 23, Bahnhof Fischbach,
Friedrichshafen
Porcupine Tree
Apr 20, 8 pm, Substage, Karlsruhe
Apr 22, 8 pm, Konzertfabrik Z7,
Pratteln
Nigel Kennedy &
The Polish Chamber Orchestra
“The Vivaldi Experience”
Apr 21, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
Stuttgart, see above
Apr 23, 7 pm, Festspielhaus
Baden-Baden
Runrig
Apr 22, 8 pm, Badner Halle, Rastatt
Apr 26, 8 pm, Roxy, Ulm
Geraldine MacGowan Band
May 6, Hauptbahnhof Tübingen
May 7, Club Bastion, Kirchheim/Teck
June 9, Traumzeit-Theater,
Backnang
June 16, Kulturhaus Osterfeld,
Pforzheim
Trevor Richards Classic Jazz Giants
Evenings of Jazz, Jun 22, 8 pm,
accents forum
Let us hear your accent!
This informal meeting is
open to anyone who would
like add their voice to our
magazine. Comments,
criticisms, and contributions
are all welcome!
Friday, April 8th, 7 pm
Biddy Early’s Irish pub
Marienstraße 28, Stuttgart
Friday, June 10th,
time and location to be
announced
accents
magazine
22 accents choice
Sparda-Bank, Stuttgart
Jun 23, 8 pm, SpardaEventCenter,
Karlsruhe
Kansas
Jun 21, 8 pm, Konzertfabrik Z7,
Pratteln, Jun 25, 6:30 pm,
Freilichtbühne Killesberg Stuttgart
Styx
Jun 25, 6:30 pm, Freilichtbühne
Killesberg Stuttgart, Jun 27, 8 pm,
Konzertfabrik Z7, Pratteln
Tickets can be bought at
Booking-offices, by calling
Easy-ticket service 0711 2555555,
www.easyticket.de
SWR 1 ticket service 0180 5929211
Lectures/Discussions
Freiburg
Lecture
Meet the Author:
John Weisman, Virginia, USA
The World of Spies and
Spy Craft in Fact and Fiction
Reading and lecture in English
Apr 11, 8:30 pm Buchhandlung
Schwanhäuser, Bertoldstraße 23
The Dynamics of
International Labour Migration
Lecture in English by Gervais
Appave, International Organization
of Migration (IOM), Geneva
Apr 21, 8 pm, Hörsaal 1199,
KG I der Universität
Religion Among the Ghetto Poor
Lecture in English with slides
Camilo Vergara, USA
May 24, 8 pm, Hörsaal 1199,
KG I der Universität
Masters or Magister? Tuition or
not? Private or public institutions?
Comparing universities in the US,
Germany and elsewhere, Apr 13,
6:30-8 pm, Carl-Schurz-Haus library,
Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 266
So sue me!
Are Americans the only ones gone
court crazy? Apr 27, 6:30-8 pm,
Carl-Schurz-Haus library, see above
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s
the best-dressed of them all?
Can you recognize an American on
the street just from his appearance?
May 11, 6:30-8 pm,
Carl-Schurz-Haus library, see above
From welfare to billionaire:
the gap between poverty and the
filthy stinking rich
June 1, 6:30-8 pm,
Carl-Schurz-Haus library, see above
Heidelberg
Discussion group
with Dr. Steven Bloom
Are there some problems
that can’t be solved? Apr 5
What can be done about
extremist groups in a democratic
society? Apr 12
Should there be any limits
on scientific research? Apr 19
Do children need
more discipline? Apr 26
Have ideas about masculinity and
femininity actually changed? May 3
Do we get the politicians
we deserve? May 10
What is the best way
to deal with anger? May 17
Are there any arguments in favor
of arranged marriage? May 24
Are we better people than
our ancestors? May 31
6 pm, d.a.i., library, see above
English-Language Video
Discussion Group
American Roots Music - 1, Apr 4,
American Roots Music - 2, Apr 13
American Roots Music - 3, Apr 20
American Roots Music - 4, Apr 27
Africans in America - 1, May 4
Africans in America - 2, May 11
Africans in America - 3, May 18
Africans in America - 4, May 25
Africans in America - 5, Jun 1
6 pm, d.a.i. library, see above
Karlsruhe
LitNight in English
reading and discussing literature
Apr 5 and 12, 7:30 pm,
May 3 and 17, 7:30 pm,
American Library, see above
Stuttgart
The World of Spies
and Spycraft in Fact and Fiction
with John Weisman
John Weisman will read from
Jack in the Box
and talk about American secret
and intelligence services
Visiting a farm
in the Swabian Alb –
Apr 12, 7:30 pm, DAZ, see above
a fun option for kids.
North American Indian Art:
A Question of Integrity?
with Prof. Alfred Young Man, PhD
Apr 18, 7:30 pm, DAZ, see above
Nuclear Waste Disposal
in the US: What’s in
Every American’s Backyard?
with Prof. Dr. Donald A. Friend
Apr 19, 7:30 pm, DAZ, see above
Conversation Circle crafts and games, Apr 22, 4 pm,
Earth Day: Cui Bono? American Library, see above
Apr 22, 6 pm, DAZ, see above Stories for Kids
Tübingen ages 6 and up, May 13, 4 pm
An Evening with a Good Book “The Gardener”,
Literature with Walter Nilson American Library, see above
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Stuttgart
(d.a.i.), Karlstraße 3, 07071 795260, Reading Club for ages 9 and older
www.dai-tuebingen.de 3-4 pm, 1st Saturday of the month
frances.buttle@celstuttgart.de
Molly Moon’s hypnotic adventures
Workshops by Georgia Byng, Apr 2
Books by Jacqueline Wilson, May 7
Heidelberg
Work Children’s English Library (CEL),
Etzelstraße 25-27,
www.celstuttgart.de
Script Analysis Listen in reading
3 week course in for kids 3-6 with parents,
“How to read a script”, a related activity follows, selected
Apr 2 and 30; May 7, 11 am - 2 pm Saturdays, 3:30-4:30 pm
Roadside Theater, see above Bouncing bunnies, Apr 16
Registration is required. Mummy Month, May 14
Call the theater Tue-Fri 12-5 pm, CEL, see above
or respond by e-mail to Chicken, Chips and Peas
Richard.J.Roberts2@us.army.mil German-English Picturebook-Show,
Karlsruhe for children with first knowledge
Applying for work experience of English, Apr 18, 10 am,
and holiday jobs call in to sign up 0711 2165326
in English-speaking countries Stadtteilbücherei,
with Thomas Obieglo, College Bezirksrathaus, Löwen-Markt 1,
Council, May 10, 2-6 pm, Stuttgart-Weilimdorf
American Library, see above Mrs. Jellybelly Eats Breakfast
Please register in advance! Play in English for ages 6-10,
Stuttgart Apr 21, 10 am, Stadtteilbücherei,
Crazy Quilts Burgunderstraße 32, Multimediales
Sewing, embroidery, embellishment Lernstudio, Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen,
Bilingual workshop with Halina 0711 2168122
Judith Schmitz & Judy Ehmer Earth Day Workshop
Apr 8, May 12, Jun 3, 9-12 am, kids ages 5 and up will go
DAZ, see above on a clue trail around CEL!
Apr 23, 2-4 pm, Children’s
English Library (CEL), see above
Kids contact pam.grimes@celstuttgart.de
English Afternoon
Karlsruhe
Kids play and fun for children aged 3
and older, Apr 29, 3-4:30 pm,
Förderzentrum Echterdinger
Storytime in English! Straße 53, Filderstadt-Bernhausen,
Children aged 2-5 years 0711 3270977
Apr 13 and 27, 4 pm, Waiblingen
May 11 and 25, 4 pm,
American Library, see above
Jungle Book
American Drama Group Europe
A Story for Bear
children aged 6 and older
www.adg-europe.com, ideal
for kids 7th-9th grade, May 4,
A celebration with food, 11 am, Stadthalle Waiblingen
accents magazine
accents
guide
Emergency
Emerg
Police 110
Fire Department 112
Ambulance & Emergency
Medical 19222
Poison Hotline 0761 19240
English Speaking Poison
Control 06131 232466
Doctor for House Calls
0711 2628012
Consulates/Embassies
sulates
Australia
030 8800880, Wallstraße 76-79,
Berlin
Canada
0711 2239678, Lange Straße 51,
Stuttgart
Ireland
030 220720, Friedrichstraße 200,
Berlin
New Zealand
030 206210, Friedrichstraße 60,
Berlin
South Africa
030 220730, Friedrichstraße 60,
Berlin
United Kingdom
0711 162690, Breite Straße 2,
Stuttgart
United States of America
069 75350, Siesmayerstraße 21,
Frankfurt
Schools & Preschools
ools
International School
of Stuttgart e.V.
0711 7696000, Sigmaringer Straße
257, Stuttgart, www.international-
school-stuttgart.de
Botnanger Kinderbetreuung
Bilingual Kindergarden
0711 699340 Gina Kussi,
Griegstraße 18, Stuttgart
Internationaler Montessori
Kindergarten e.V.
0711 93150510, Sulzgrieser
Straße 114, Esslingen
Little English House Gerlingen
English & Art for kids 3 and up
0711 816253, Hauptstraße 18/1
European School Karlsruhe
0721 680090, Albert-Schweitzer-
Straße 1, Karlsruhe
Little English House Aalen
English & Art for kids 3 and up,
07361 610165,
Stuttgarter Straße 116
English Garden
English and music lessons, 0761
8866181, Hasenweg 34, Freiburg
Oberlin Kinderuniversität
0761 85648,
Am Mühlbach 13, Freiburg,
www.oberlinkinderuniversitaet.de
accents magazine
International School
of Kreuzlingen Konstanz
0041 71 6722727
Hauptstraße 27, Kreuzlingen,
Switzerland, www.iskk.ch
English for preschoolers
and first graders in Freiburg
0761 1378177 Cathy Plog,
plogs@t-online.de
Libraries
Librari
Children’s English Library e.V.
0711 3582215, Etzelstraße 25-27,
Stuttgart, Tue 4-6 pm, Fri 3-6 pm,
Sat 2-5 pm, www.celstuttgart.de
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum
Charlottenplatz 17, Stuttgart,
Tue-Thu 2-6 pm
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Tübingen
Karlstraße 3, Tue-Fri 1-6 pm,
Thursdays 1- 8 pm
Karlsruhe American Library
0721 72752, Kanalweg 52,
Tue-Fri 2-6 pm, Wed 10-12 am,
Sat 10 am-2 pm,
www.amerikanische-bibliothek.de
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Heidelberg
Sophienstraße 12, Mon-Fri 1-6 pm,
Wed 1-8 pm, Sat 10 am-2 pm
Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg
Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 266,
Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 1:30 pm, 3-6 pm
Clubs & Organizations
Clubs &
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum /
James-F.-Byrnes-Institut e.V.
0711 228180, Charlottenplatz 17,
Stuttgart, www.daz.org
Metropolitan Club e.V.
0711 9980124 Mathew Dorrman,
18-35 years, www.metclub.de
Stuttgart Conversation Club
0711 8892252 Ed Wilson,
35 years and up, www.metclub.de
Baltimore Beauties
Quilting bee at the DAZ, Stuttgart,
every 3rd Fri of the month,
9 -12 am, 0711 243242 Judy Ehmer
Stuttgart Book Club
Helen@StuttgartBookClub.de
German-American Club 1948
0711 814270 Eberhard Stein
German-American
Women’s Club Stuttgart
info@gawc-stuttgart.de,
www.gawc-stuttgart.de
Anglo-Stuttgart Society
0711 568113 Günther Jaumann,
www.jaumann.de/ass
British Club Stuttgart
0711 455464 Alison Seyerle
Asia Circle International Club
07156 29164, asia-circle@web.de,
www.asia-circle.de
International Choir of Stuttgart
0711 769600912 Carola,
int_choir_stuttgart@hotmail.com
Stuttgart Singers
07159 44991 Kathy Williams,
www.stuttgartsingers.de
Stuttgart German-American
Community Chorus
0711 463463 David A. Beckner
German-American Seniors Club
0711 2560867 Hildegard Göhrum
English Round Table, Esslingen
Conversation group,
0711 3451344, Claudia Stadelmann,
info@bueroservice-jaeschke.de
Is your group missing?
Freundschaft Pfullendorf
07552 6249 Dr Gary Anderson
Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg
Then tell us all about it!
info@accents-magazine.de
0761 31647, Kaiser-Joseph-Straße
266, www.carl-schurz-haus.de
Freiburg English Club
0177 6553688 Terrence Barr
www.freiburg-english-club.org
Network of English-Speaking
Women e.V.
07664 962450 Candice Siegenthaler,
neswomen@gmx.de
British International
Villingen-Schwenningen
07721 53278 Carol King,
www.bivs.gmxhome.de
Deutsch-Irischer Freundeskreis (dif)
accents 0711 2361736, www.dif-bw.de
magazine Region Schwaben, Verband der
Deutsch-Amerikanischen Clubs e.V.
07156 29164 Mi-Kiyoung Wöhler,
www.schwaben-vdac.de.vu
Fáinne Irish Dance Group Stuttgart
0711 483901, www.fainne.de Theater Groups
Irish Dance Ceili, Stuttgart
every 3rd Saturday of the month
www.danceirish.de
German Conversation Group
Theate
A.C.T.S. Anglophone
07032 77919 Elena Fieres
ELTAS e.V.
English Language Teachers’
Collaborative Theatre of Stuttgart
0711 6858370 Stuart Marlow,
smarlow@hdm-stuttgart.de
Association Stuttgart, www.eltas.de Kelley Theatre
International Toastmasters Club, Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart,
Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, 0711 7292825, www.kelleytheatre.de
Freiburg, Ulm N.E.A.T.
presentational skills in English, New English American Theater
www.toastmasters-stuttgart.de 0711 634320, Stuttgart,
English-Speaking Stammtisch urban.spy@z.zgs.de,
S-Untertürkheim www.neat-theater.de
0711 3041337 Derek Evans Outcast International
Deutsche Australische 0711 634409, Stuttgart,
Freundschaft e.V.
07031 607521 Jeff Gomes,
www.deutsch-australische-
www.outcast-theater.de
Anglo-Irish
Theatre Group Tübingen
freundschaft.de 07071 67968 David Hegarty,
Friends Club International e.V. dave@anglo-iren.de,
Böblingen-Sindelfingen www.anglo-iren.de
07031 806522 Jan W. Boon The Round Table Players, Aalen
“Here We Are” Eva Schumm,
International Group Esslingen schumm@vhs-aalen.de
07163 8580 Alison Unrath Roadside Theater
English Morning Tea Aidlingen Patton Barracks, Heidelberg,
07034 7339 Ellen Zeller, 06221 175020,
Wed 10 am - 12 pm www.roadsidetheater.com
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Tübingen
07071 795260, Karlstraße 3,
www.dai-tuebingen.de
Anglo-German Club Pforzheim
07231 472155 Dr Maurice Claypole,
www.agc-pforzheim.de
Pro Country e.V. Deutscher
Country & Western Dachverband
07150 33212 Ralf Russig,
www.pro-country-ev.de
English-Speaking Circle Starzach
and Landkreise Freundenstadt,
Tübingen & Zollernalb
07478 8290 Kevin MacInerney-May
Schorndorf English Club
07181 64440 Marion Rube
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Heidelberg
06221 60730, Sofienstraße 12,
www.dai-heidelberg.de
Deutsche-Britische Gesellschaft,
Heidelberg
06221 864761 Prof. Manfred Liedtke
German-English The Anglophone
Friendship Club Karlsruhe Collaborative Theatre
0721 74623 Christa Fuß, of Stuttgart (ACTS)
info@def-karlsruhe.de, presents Fallujan Women ,
www.def-karlsruhe.de April 28-30,
International Women’s Club Theaterhaus Stuttgart
Karlsruhe e.V.
Annemarie Frenzel, Postfach
110448, 76054 Karlsruhe
Verein Deutsch-Amerikanischer
accents guide 23

Theaterhaus TiG 7
0621 154976, Theater Trennt e.V.
G7, 4 b, Mannheim, www.tig7.de
The maniACTS Freiburg
University English Department,
www.maniacts.de
Kids & Playgroups
ygroups
English Playgroup Stuttgart-West
0711 6361169 Bryan Groenjes,
EKiZ Ludwigstraße 41-43,
0-6 years, Wed 4-6 pm
English Playgroup Stuttgart
0-9 years, www.englishplaygroup.de
English Playgroup at the DAZ
Stuttgart
0711 228180, 4-6 years on Tue
3-4 pm, 6-8 years on Tue 4-5 pm
English Playgroup Böblingen
07031 287647 Stefanie Spence,
0-7 years, Wed 3:30-5 pm
English Playgroup Sindelfingen
07031 873823 Christine Mitlacher,
2-5 years, Tue 3:30 pm,
Mitlacher-sifi@t-online.de
English play- and activity group
in Altdorf
07031 818763 Liane Kamin,
0-7 years, Thu 3:30-5:30 pm
St. Georg MKK English
Playgroup in Bonlanden
Tue 3:30-5:30 pm,
0-5 years by Nicki 0711 3270748,
5-10 years by Mhorag Heger
24 accents guide
siness
07127 960046
English Playgroup
Herrenberg/Nebringen
07032 77452 Erika Laudenbach,
0-5 years, Mon 3-5 pm
Meet, Chat and
Playgroup Waldenbuch
07157 8561 Elaine Rauhöft,
Fri from 4 pm onwards
English on a Friday Afternoon
Tübingen
07071 930466 Günter Henke,
Fri from 3:30 pm onwards
English Reading Group Freiburg
Mütterzentrum Weingarten,
Krozingerstraße 11,
0761 286803 Amanda Lampert or
07666 99126 Fredi Trenkle
Political Groups
Political
American Voices Abroad Tübingen
fritz.hackert@arcor.de,
www.americanvoicesabroad.org
Democrats Abroad
Heidelberg,
06221 3780 Charles Keene,
Stuttgart,
0162 3640812 Dennis O’Donohue,
www.democratsabroad.org
Republicans Abroad
Stuttgart,
07146 20677 John W. Gerrish,
www.republicansabroad.de
Business Organizations
American German Business Club
e.V. Stuttgart, Heidelberg,
Karlsruhe
0711 2486078 Peggy Stinson,
President, stuttgart@agbc.de,
www.agbc.de
American Chamber of Commerce
in Germany e.V.
0711 1667156 Prof Dr Roderich
C. Thümmel, Regional Chairperson,
www.amcham.de
British Chamber of Commerce
in Germany e.V.
0711 25540460 Ralf Steppart,
Regional Chairperson,
www.bccg.de
USA forum Tübingen
07071 55970 Bernd Zeutschel,
www.usaforum.de
Religious Services
St. Catherine’s Church
Reli
(Anglican) 07151 68973,
Katharinenplatz 5, Stuttgart,
www.stuttgartanglicans.de
City Chapel e.V. Stuttgart
0711 6142956 Roland Krumm,
Marienstraße 12, www.citychapel.de
International Baptist Church
Stuttgart-Vaihingen:
0711 6874365 Pastor Jay McFadden;
Heidelberg-Sandhausen:
06224 51516 Pastor Richard Blake;
www.ibcstuttgart.de
St. Antonius Church
0711 4597152 Odilo Metzler,
Catholic Mass in English
1st Saturday every month, 6:30 pm
Paracelsusstraße 87,
Stuttgart-Hohenheim
First Church of Christ, Scientist
0711 6207921 Heinz Clauss,
www.christian-science-stuttgart.de
Evangelical Methodist Church
Stuttgart: 0711 251984
Dr Hans-Martin Niethammer;
Reutlingen:
07121 78546 Harald Rückert;
Karlsruhe: 0721 43721 Peter Vesen;
www.emk.de
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints
Stuttgart:
0711 3419240 Ralf Gierschke;
Mannheim:
06223 809040 Dr Frank Heckmann,
www.lds.org
Get involved!
accents magazine
is seeking your support.
If you’re a doer,
then get involved!
info@accents-magazine.de
Seeking
Advertising Sales Rep.
A partner for selling ads
accents
magazine
Church of the Nazarene
0711 551147 Mary Schaar,
Friedenskirche, Bad Cannstatt
Evangelical Students
Community Tübingen
07071 61928 Heidi Abe
English Vesper Service Tübingen
Sun 6 pm, during the university
semester, 07071 51475,
www.institut-urchristentum.org
Jewish Observance,
Learning & Meditation, Tübingen
07071 968590 Martin H. Potrop,
SPIRITSHUL@aol.com
St Columban’s
Mission Karlsruhe
(Anglican) 0721 28379
Dr Hanns Engelhardt
Calvary Chapel Freiburg e.V.
0761 7071333 David Pham,
www.ccfreiburg.de
Anglican Church of Freiburg
0761 904693 Minister Rev Robin
Stockitt, Katharinenstraße 9,
www.anglicans-fr.org
English Church Heidelberg
Erlöserkirche, Plöck/Schießtorstraße
06221 804146
Movie Theaters
Movie
Corso, Stuttgart-Vaihingen
0711 734916, Hauptstraße 6,
www.corso-kino.de
CinemaxX Bosch-Areal, Stuttgart
0711 22007979, www.cinemaxx.de
Kommunales Kino Stuttgart
0711 221320, Friedrichstraße 23 A,
www.koki.de / filmhaus
Kommunales Kino Esslingen
0711 310595, Maille 5,
www.koki-es.de
Schauburg Filmtheater Karlsruhe
Marienstraße 16, www.schauburg.de
Scala Filmhaus Mühlacker
07041 3884, Bahnhofstraße 65
Kino-Center Weil der Stadt
07033 2241, Badtorstraße 21
CinemaxX Freiburg
0761 20281400, Bertholdstraße 50
Friedrichsbau-Lichtspiele
0761 36031, Kaiser-Joseph-
Straße 268
Sports
Sports
American Football Verband
Baden-Württemberg e.V.
0621 7624567 Andreas Stehle,
www.afv-bawue.de
Baden-Württembergischer
Baseball- und Softballverband
0711 705682 Jan van den Berg,
www.bw-baseball.de
Basketballverband
Baden-Württemberg e.V.
06224 975150 Roland Dopp,
www.bbwbasketball.net
Heidelberg International
Ski Club Charter
06221 767539 Margaret McGinley,
www.heidelbergski.com
Rugby Association
of Baden-Württemberg
0172 7384207 Jimmy Collins,
www.rugby-bw.de
accents magazine
Classifieds To place an ad

Please send the text for your

classified ad to classifieds@
accents-magazine.de or fax
it to 0711 3102161. Please
include the category and
the issue in which it should
appear. One line of text con-
tains approx. 34 characters,
including spaces, full-stops
Classes/Courses and commas.

Non-commercial
Halpin School of Irish Dance (personal) ads
Children and Adult Irish Dance Price for three lines E4
Classes. Beginners, Primary Each additional line E 0.90
& Intermediate Classes. Frame around ad E5
Starts 5th and 7th April 2005.
Tel 0711 483901 Commercial text ads
Email ainehalpin@aol.com Price for three lines E 15
www.danceirish.de Each additional line E2
Frame around ad E7

English courses for kids from the Commercial designed ads

age of 1-12. Helen Doron method – Your designed ad in black
Children learn English with fun and and white or colour.
games. Weekly & holiday courses Column width 45.5 mm
available. Tel 07151 2765445 or 95 mm for two columns.
Polly Hasselkuss Stuttgart or Price for 30 mm E 59
0711 586207 Susanne Walter Additional millimeter E 1.50
Rems Murr area, www.hdee.de For 3 placements save 5 %
for 6 placements save 10 %
English Courses for native and non Add 16 % VAT to all prices
native children offered. For further
information contact Pam Grimes Classified ads must be paid
at pam.grimes@celstuttgart.de, in advance. For direct debit
www.celstuttgart.de send us your bank details
and signature or transfer
English for Kids! Learn by playing, payment to:
English and French, in Stuttgart- accents media GbR
Degerloch. For kids 2-12 years. LBBW Stuttgart
Weekly courses and holiday camps. bank code 60050101
New English playgroup for kids 2-3 account no. 2227094
for native and non-native speakers. Planning a trip to Britain?
Conny von Scholley 0711 6491537. The deadline for the Jun/Jul
www.spielendSprachenlernen.de 2005 issue is May 9th
Save time and money Attractions Britain Direct GmbH
by buying your tickets Madame Tussauds, Ruhbergstraße 8
Business Services before you go! We London Eye, Tower of 69242 Mühlhausen/
offer: London, London Dun- Kraichgau
geon, London Pass Tel 06222 678050
Welcome! We organize trips and
BritRail Passes info@britaindirect.com
events for your company, for
Regional passes for Touring Passes www.britaindirect.com
domestic or international guests.
England, Scotland or Great British Heritage
Guided tours, excursions, wine
the whole of Britain Pass, National Trust,
tastings etc, in virtually any Euro-
plus single/return English Heritage,
pean or Asian language. Call Claudia
tickets Historic Scotland
Ade or Cornelia von Scholley 0711
3803772. www.welcome-stuttgart.de
London Travelcards Also available
and Airport Transfers Accommodation
Contact with Others Guides, Maps and
Posters
Native speaker wanted for
conversation. You correct my
English, I correct your German.
0711 832296 U.S. INCOME TAX RETURNS
Professional Preparation
Tubingen/Stuttgart 07071 968590
Employment or ZEELIG@aol.com

Fluent in English and love working

with Children? Teaching with the
Helen Doron Early English method,
we offer a first-class training and
the chance to earn good money.
Tel 07151 2765445 Polly Hassel-
kuss Stuttgart or 0711 586207
Susanne Walter Rems Murr area.
www.hdee.de

For Sale

Children’s used books, videos,

PC games in English for sale.
Send e-mail for complete list.
marion.park@pfoertsch.de

accents magazine Classifieds 25

Labyrinth
I feel sick
Health insurance
Germany’s health care system is undergoing
reform. But still, there’s no better place to
get sick than in Germany! You’ll receive
world-class treatment from your local doctor,
dentist, medical specialist or hospital,
whether you’re rich or poor. But you must
have health insurance – what is known in
German as Krankenversicherung. In fact,
health insurance is required by law.
There are two health insurance pro-
grams in Germany: the standard, national
program which is subsidised by the govern-
ment, (80% of the population is covered
under this program) and private health
insurance.* You are only eligible to take out
private health insurance, and partake of its
special privileges, if you are a public servant
Don’t open the window!
Deutschland’s Dangerous Draft
The cover picture on the last issue of
accents – of someone wearing Birken-
stocks with woolly socks – made me take
a good look at myself in the mirror. Am
I becoming German just because I wear
socks and sandals? Then I got to thin-
king, it’s not just the socks and sandals,
it’s the scarf I wear around my neck to
protect me from sudden gusts of wind.
You see, there are a lot of things here in
Germany that make me sick, that didn’t
in America.
The only time I can remember going
to the doctor when I was young was
when I broke my little toe. I tried to hide
it from my mother, because it was ten
o’clock at night, and I was supposed to
be sleeping, not doing cartwheels in the
living room. But unfortunately, the toe
was sticking out at a ninety-degree angle,
making it impossible to walk, much less
26 Labyrinth
or if your salary is more than 3800 euros a
month, or if you are self-employed. There
are many health insurers to choose from
but, frankly, there are only slight differences
in the services offered and the contributions
you have to pay. All basic services are
covered by law.
If you are employed, your health insurance
contributions are taken out of your pay, and
amount to about 14% of your income. Your
employer pays half and you pay the other
half. And your spouse and children, if they
have no income, or they earn very little, are
automatically covered by your insurance.
You and each of your dependents receive
a health insurance card, and anyone who’s
sick must produce their individual card
upon visiting a doctor, dentist or hospital.
Everyone living in Germany is also obliged
to buy nursing-care insurance (Pflegever-
sicherung.) This is also deducted from your
pay and matched by your employer.
Under reforms introduced at the begin-
ning of last year, each adult visiting a doc-
tor must now pay a flat fee of 10 euros per
quarter year. So, if you visit the doctor two
or three times between April and June you
pay the fee only once – on the first visit.
Another new stipulation is that you have
to get a referral from your local doctor to a
specialist, if you don’t want to pay the fee
twice. Children are exempt from this fee
and their medication is free of charge.
Private health insurance, which provides
for preferential treatment at hospitals,
hide. My sister and brothers operated
on the same principle – if it didn’t need
stitches or a cast, we didn’t visit the
doctor. So it amazes me now to think just
how many hours I spend in the pedia-
trician’s waiting room with my children.
I realize there are some universal things
that will automatically make you sick no
matter what country you live in. But I
believe that in Germany there are some
one-of-a-kind ways to get sick. Such as
opening a window. Any window, in the
car or the house. This will cause what is
known in Germany as a Zugluft, commonly
known in English as a draft. When I lived
in the United States, sitting in a room
with the windows open never made me
sick. But it does here. The dangerous
German draft causes a sore throat, back
pains, and a stiff neck. Kids are particularly
susceptible to draft-related illnesses.
among other privileges, allows you to tailor
your insurance to meet your health needs.
Premiums are not based on your salary but
on your age, gender and state of health.
Monthly payments might generally be quite
high but you are also eligible for refunds if,
you don’t need to visit a doctor for a long
period of time. In short, private health in-
surance offers greater flexibility and for this
reason it’s preferred by many foreigners
working in Germany. One disadvantage of
private insurance is that you are not cover-
ed – or only partly covered – if you get sick
outside of Germany. If you go abroad, you’ll
have to take out travel insurance.
German health care has developed an
international reputation for being luxurious.
Legend has it that, in days gone by, the
first sign of a work-related headache was
enough to earn you a ticket to six weeks
of rest and relaxation (er, sorry, treatment)
in some secluded health spa in the Black
Forest. Those days are long gone. Still,
Germany’s health care system doesn’t
generally bar people from receiving good
treatment just because they don’t own a
credit card.
* For questions about private health insu-
rance, accents recommends contacting
Matthias P. Klumb, DKV Service Center
Mannheim, Tel 0621 291653, E-Mail
matthias-p-klumb@web.de. DKV is a private
health insurer, and a supporter of our
magazine.
When my children were younger, I dres-
sed them in so many layers of clothes,
they walked like Telly-Tubbies. I started
with an undershirt, then Strumpfhose
(tights, stockings), then a turtle-neck,
a sweater, socks, fleece-lined pants, and
suede slippers lined with sheep’s wool.
Another way to get sick in Germany
is to wear a wet bathing suit. This will
cause a bladder infection. As will sitting
on anything cold. Speaking of cold, you’ll
get cold feet from not wearing slippers,
and that will certainly lead to another visit
to the doctor.
Back in the USA, the bedrooms were
heated at night in the winter (instead
of left at just above zero), and we never
owned a pair of slippers. We walked
barefoot in the summer and stayed in
our bathing suits all day long if it was hot.
Since I moved to Germany, I have stopped
doing all of these things because I’m
getting sick of people telling me that I am
going to get sick. Mirror, mirror on the
wall, am I German after all?
By Liz Gaiser
accents magazine
My Two Cents
By Katharine A. Schmidt
accents
magazine
Published by Advertising Founding Sponsors
I’m sorry, Ms L. – and anyone else who accents media GbR Enquiries EnBW
Bryan Groenjes Bryan Groenjes Energie Baden-Württemberg AG
was inconvenienced by my last column. Ms Maki Kuwayama ads@accents- www.enbw.de,
L. was roused at 6:30 am by her German Geoff Rodoreda magazine.de Ernst & Young AG
husband, who demanded to know, “What Webmaster Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
do you call a ‘beamer’ in English if you Libanonstraße 58 Andrew Golledge www.de.ey.com,
70184 Stuttgart webmaster@accents- Ernst Klett Sprachen GmbH (PONS)
don’t call it a “beamer?!” It’s a “digital Tel 0711 3102160 magazine.de www.pons.de,
projector” – a beamer, for native English Fax 0711 3102161 Website Euchner GmbH+Co KG
speakers, is a BMW car. info@accents- www.accents- www.euchner.de,
magazine.de magazine.de FKS Generalplaner GmbH
LBBW Stuttgart Graphic Design www.fks-gp.de,
“Beamer” was just one of a set of Bank code 60050101 Brucklacher Visuelle Knöss International Executive Consultung
“pseudo-English” words I left you with: Account no. 2227094 Kommunikation www.knoess.org,
• A handy is a “mobile phone” (Brit.) www.brucklacher.de SEB AG Stuttgart
or a “cell phone” (Am.). Editor Prepress www.seb.de
Geoff Rodoreda CGS Möhrle
• Going to dinner with another pair, editor@accents- Vesoulerstraße 4 Advertisers and Corporate Subscribers
should be “couple.” magazine.de 70839 Gerlingen Adolf Würth GmbH & Co.KG
• Being mobbed so badly that you need Arts Editor Biddy Early’s Irish Pub
to see a psychologist. “Harassed,” is Stuart Marlow Cost Corso Cinema International
Children’s Editor free Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum/
the right word, in this case. One of my Liz Hawighorst Published James-F.-Byrnes Institut e.V.
dictionaries also lists “mob” as meaning Copy Editor every two months European School Karlsruhe
“surround and attack,” but I’ve never Katharine Schmidt Circulation International School of Stuttgart e.V.
heard the word like this. More typically, Contributors 10,000 Landesbank Baden-Württemberg
Krysia Diver Distribution O’Donovan’s Irish Pub
one would say of a crowded bar, “The Dagmar Fritz everywhere o’reilly’s Irish Pub
place was mobbed.” Liz Gaiser English is spoken: Piccadilly English Shops
• Going to football training, for Americans Rebecca Perrin subscribing firms, Robert Bosch GmbH
is “practice”. Although Australian and Thomas Ravel cultural institutions, SEB Bank
Chris Rynearson shops, pubs, clubs, Solution Factory GmbH
British children do go to football training. Alex Woodruff theatres, hotels
In the USA, professional baseball teams and selected
go to Florida for several weeks of tourist centres
“spring training”, but kids go to baseball
“practice” every week.

Some readers sent in their own bits of

pseudo-English. My favorites were “show-
Subscribe
master” for “master of ceremonies” or
“emcee” or “game/talk show host.” Also
“oldtimer” for an antique car, rather than
an old man, or a person who has been to accents magazine and have all of Baden-Württemberg delivered right to your doorstep.
around for a long time. One-year subscription for 6 issues: 20 euros (Germany). You may pay by direct debit or deposit
check. Checks made payable to: accents media GbR, Libanonstraße 58, 70184 Stuttgart.
Meanwhile, I received one query about
exchanging e-mails in English with German
correspondents. Ken R., an American, Name
asks why Germans bother to write “Hi” or
Street
“Hallo” at the beginning of a message and
“greetings” at the end, rather than simply Postal code City/Town
starting with “Ken” and a comma. I would
imagine it’s because German is a more State/Country
formal language, with a Sie and a Du form Telephone Fax
of address. Sometimes I feel slighted when
I receive a message without even a “Hi”, Account holder (if different from recipient)
and I do appreciate “rgds” or “bests” in
Account no.
place of “Best regards” in the sign-off.
Checking my e-mail responses, I discovered Bank code (BLZ)
that some US colleagues don’t even bother
with a first name! I’ve done this myself Name of bank
during a rapid-fire exchange. But in general,
I think it’s best to maintain some formality I hereby give accents media GbR permission to directly debit the above noted amount from my
in e-mails. That slight brake on the flow of account for a one-year subscription. Subscriptions are automatically renewed for one year if
words might help avoid a common pitfall not cancelled in writing 8 weeks prior to expiry.
with e-mail: saying something you didn’t
mean to. Date, Signature

Comments, questions, and suggestions

to: mytwocents@accents-magazine.de
or accents magazine, Libanonstraße 58,
70184, Stuttgart.

accents magazine 27