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Count Zeppelin Visits America and Goes for a Balloon Ride

Count Zeppelin Visits America and Goes for a Balloon Ride

by | Mar 6, 2023 | | 0 Comments


I never knew that the German inventor of the rigid-frame airship named for him, Count (Graf) Ferdinand von Zeppelin, had spent time in the United States during the American Civil War. But it turns out there are a lot of things I didn’t know about the illustrious count before now.

Count Zeppelin was, after all, a military man of noble birth, so I suppose it should not be a surprise to learn that the native of Württemberg crossed the Atlantic in 1863 to serve as an observer with the Union’s Army of the Potomac in Virginia. Nevertheless, it did surprise me when I accidentally discovered this bit of German/American historical trivia.

Hotel Steigenberger, Konstanz

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was born in this building in Konstanz, Grand Duchy of Baden in 1838. Today it is the Steigenberger Inselhotel on the German shore of Lake Constance. PHOTO: Harke (Wikimedia Commons) CC-BY-SA 3.0

As a young first lieutenant in the Württemberg army, Count Zeppelin spent several months in the US, traveling as far west as Michigan and Minnesota (where he made several tethered gas balloon ascensions), after having met President Abraham Lincoln and then serving as an military observer in Virginia.

But we should start at the beginning.

Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin (whew!) was born on 8 July 1838 into a family whose nobility and name can be traced back to the obscure tiny village of Zepelin (yes, one p, and originally Cepelin) located near the town of Bützow in the northern German region of Mecklenburg (now part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). Remote to this day, the rural community still exists, and a memorial marker for the count was placed there in 1910. But the noble von Zeppelin family had left Zepelin behind by 1792. And in any case Count Ferdinand was not born anywhere near Zepelin or Mecklenburg.

Ferdinand’s father was Friedrich Jerôme Wilhelm Karl Graf von Zeppelin (1807–1886), a Württemberg minister of state in Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and textile factory owner. His mother was Amélie Françoise Pauline (born Macaire d’Hogguer) (1816–1852). In 1837 the family moved from Sigmaringen to Konstanz, which was Amélie’s hometown, located on Lake Constance (der Bodensee), where the Rhine exits the lake near the border with Switzerland.

So it happened that Ferdinand was born in Konstanz, or more precisely, on a tiny island (246×100 m) known as Dominikanerinsel in what is today the Steigenberger Inselhotel. The island and the hotel today are right next to the Old Town of Konstanz. When little Ferdinand was born there, the building was a former Dominican monastery (until 1785) that, along with the island, had come into the possession of his mother’s Macaire family in 1813. And that’s why the Zeppelin family was living there when Ferdinand was born in 1838. At the time, Konstanz was in the Grand Duchy of Baden.

Two years later Count Friedrich’s father-in-law gave the couple Schloss Girsberg, a manor house in nearby Emmishofen, as a Christmas present. Young Ferdinand grew up in the Emmishofen mansion (in Switzerland) with his older sister Eugenie von Zeppelin (1836-1911). His brother Eberhard was born there in 1842. All the children received private tutoring at home. read more…

Lesser Known German Meals

by | Feb 20, 2023 | , , , | 0 Comments

When researching this post I came across other articles pointing out “Weird German Foods” or “Strange German Foods You Should Try At Least Once”. That’s not really what I am focusing on here. Most of us have heard of Schweinshaxe (roasted pork knuckle), Kartoffelsalat (potato salad), and – of course – Bratwurst. These are the classics you see at Bierhalle that have made their way to international fame and are proudly displayed in German restaurants around the world.

But there is so much more than these Bavarian-centric specialities. I wanted to cover a mix of German comfort foods and meals I enjoy eating at German restaurants that I had never heard of before coming to Germany.

Frankfurter Grüne Soße

Frankfurter Grüne Soße

PHOTO: Benreis, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Amidst another fairly bleak winter, Berlin has been experiencing glimpses of Frühling (Spring). This has awakened my appetite for something I now consider a quintessential spring dish, Frankfurter Grüne Soße.

I had read about it before I tried it on the ever educational A Sausage Has Two German food blog. A cold sauce composed of several finely chopped or pureed herbs mixed with oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper, it is usually served with boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs. Also known around its origin of Frankfurt am Main as Grie Sosse (and a PGI protected dish), the vibrant green of the herbaceous sauce looked like a plate full of new life.

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Ten Ways That Germany is Different

by | Feb 6, 2023 | , , , , , | 2 Comments


Germans have their own way of doing things. True, not all Germans are alike, but… The German way of life is not the same as the American way of life, nor should it be. But US Americans (that’s a German influence I’ve adopted as a US American) and other foreigners living in Germany quickly learn that the German way of doing things is not the way of doing things back home.

Expats in Germany can either learn to adapt – or complain about the differences and be miserable. Is the German way better or worse than the homeland way? That’s not really the point. The point is that expats need to understand that there is a reason why Germans do something one way, while other cultures do it a different way. Claiming one way is “better” than another is simply making a judgment based on your own background and experiences. Cultural comparisons do not mean the differences are good or bad.

Apartment house

An apartment complex in Berlin-Friedrichshain. More Germans rent their residence than buy. The rent/buy percentage is almost the opposite of the rate in the US. PHOTO: Hyde Flippo

Yes, I sometimes personally think the German way of doing things may be superior or inferior to the USA way. (See The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.) But I’m an American with an American perspective – despite my years of experience traveling and living abroad. Germans, Austrians, French people, Japanese, Mexicans, or Argentinians may have a very different opinion. The point is to understand two things: (1) You can’t change local ways of doing things, and (2) there are historical and cultural reasons for the way it’s done. Different does not have to mean better or worse. It also can mean just plain different. “Andere Länder, andere Sitten” – the German equivalent of “when in Rome…” – means “different countries, different customs.” Different, not better or worse. read more…

A Love Letter to Berlin Photo Booths

by | Jan 23, 2023 | , , , , | 0 Comments

One of my favorite parts about living abroad is that you get to make your own traditions. Deciding we really aren’t fans of turkey, we still host an annual Thanksgiving party but usually buy a half dozen halbes hähnchen (half a roasted chicken) from the nearest Döner shop to feed our guests. For Christmas we are inundated with German traditions and pick and choose which we participate in – Nikolaustag yes, opening presents before the morning of December 25th no. And on Valentine’s Day we have traded non-existent candy hearts and mushy cards for a tour of Berlin’s photo booths or Photoautomaten.

Berlin Photoautomat

Berlin Photoautomat PHOTO: Erin Porter

Traditional it is not, but it has become an annual pilgrimage for first myself and my boyfriend – now husband – and now we lug two kids along in the often freezing February temperatures. There are several booths within walking distance of Schönhauser Allee, a short distance from our house, so we usually bundle up and start there. We have quite the collection of photos at this point which proudly hang above our bed so we try to add some variety with silly props like a captain’s hat, comically large glasses, maybe some fairy wings. You can easily get by on just a plan for different faces. Like “good photo, sad, mad, kissing/looking at each other”. That’s part of the fun that you can be as creative as you want. There are no bad photos at a Berlin Photoautomaten (…ok maybe there are but I will get into that in a minute.)

We used to drink some beers along the way in the grand tradition of wegbiers from Spätis (convenience shops) and end with a celebratory meal out somewhere informal which I highly recommend. But with two small kids we’ve nearly frozen to death and only kept going with the promise of sweets we often just trek home with our photos as prizes. Both ways are pretty enjoyable (but go with the one that comes with beer).

And there is no wrong time to visit a photo booth. We might make a big deal about it once a year, but I have friends who hit one up every time they have a guest from out of town, every date night, or whenever the urge strikes. Walking into a Berliner’s home you can often spot a random strip tucked into a mirror or a multitude collected in a frame. The French movie “Amélie” has a whole subplot based around the stories of photo booths in Paris and the mysterious Nino who collects unwanted strips, but Berlin has its own love affair with the Photoautomat. Berlin photo booths are an institution and taking a picture in one is both an inexpensive souvenir and authentic Berlin experience rolled into one.

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Texas: German Names and Connections

by | Jan 9, 2023 | , | 0 Comments

Texas Germans and the German Belt in Texas

At various times in the past Texas was French (1684–1689), Spanish (1690–1821), and Mexican (1821-1836). From 1836 to 1845 it was the Republic of Texas – before becoming the 28th US state on December 29, 1845. But Texas was/is also German in many ways. German-speaking immigrants began arriving in the 1830s, long before the Republic or statehood.

From German beer (Pearl and Spoetzl) to German place names (Heidelberg, Minden, New Berlin, Weimar, etc.), Texas continues to this day to reflect its German heritage. German-speakers began arriving in what is now the Lone Star State in its earliest days. They were Germans, Swiss, and Austrians looking for a better life in North America.

1903 poster: Norddeutscher Lloyd - Bremen

Norddeutscher Lloyd steamships brought many German-speaking immigrants from Bremen to Galveston, Texas between 1880 and 1886. From Galveston the new arrivals settled in various parts of Texas, particularly in what is now called the Texas Hill Country. Learn more below. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons

In part this was due to Reise nach Texas (Journey to Texas), a book published in 1834 by the German Detlef Dunt (real name: Detlef Thomas Friedrich Jordt). Encouraged by another German, Friedrich Ernst, who had crossed the Atlantic before him and written letters home, Dunt went to Texas to see it for himself. While not entirely inaccurate, Dunt’s book portrayed Texas as a wonderland of milk and honey, a land of potential wealth, and other exaggerations. Its publication in Germany helped lure many Germans to Texas. (An English translation of Dunt’s book is available from Amazon.com: Journey to Texas, 1833 – Kindle)

Der Mainzer Adelsverein (1842-1853)
Not too many years after Dunt’s book, Hessians and Lower Saxons were sent to Texas by the Adelsverein, officially known as the Verein zum Schutze deutscher Einwanderer in Texas (Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas). First organized on 20 April 1842, by 21 German nobles (one of them female) in Biebrich on the Rhine, near Mainz, the Society represented a serious if delusionary attempt to establish a German colony in Texas by means of mass emigration. The Germans settled along a corridor stretching 100 miles northwestward from New Braunfels and San Antonio, through Fredericksburg along the axis of a former Indian route known as the Pinta Trail. One of the Society’s noblemen was Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, whose surname is seen today in the city of New Braunfels in the Texas Hill Country.

The German Slave Plantation in Texas

Nassau Plantation book cover

Nassau Plantation: The Evolution of a Texas German Slave Plantation by James C. Kearney. IMAGE: Amazon.com

We don’t usually associate German-speakers with slavery. German immigrants tended to be abolitionists opposed to the ugly practice of human slavery they encountered in the Republic of Texas and other parts of the American South. But the Nassau Plantation, near what is now Round Top, Texas, was owned and operated by the Adelsverein and its agents, primarily Joseph Count of Boos-Waldeck and Viktor Count of Alt-Leiningen-Westerburg, who arrived in 1842 to scout a location for a plantation in northern Fayette County.

Although the Society was successful in settling thousands of Germans in Texas between 1845 and 1847, the brief slavery experiment ended in catastrophe. In his interesting 2010 book, Nassau Plantation: The Evolution of a Texas German Slave Plantation, James C. Kearney describes how the Nassau Plantation ultimately failed, but also became a collection of small farms and homesteads, even becoming a hotbed of resistance to slavery. In the end Nassau became an important resource for supporting the greenhorn settlers in the Texas Hill Country until they could make it on their own.

To Boos-Waldeck’s credit, he did come to believe it unwise and overly ambitious for the Society to try to establish a German colony based on a land grant contract with the Republic of Texas. He expressed that in writing in reports back to the Society’s leadership in Germany. He eventually resigned from the Society after he was unable to persuade the leaders to abandon the land grant plan. read more…

Unemployment in Germany

by | Dec 26, 2022 | , , , , , , | 0 Comments

Not the most upbeat topic for the day after Christmas, but one that has been on many people’s minds as we emerged from the pandemic into an initial economic upswing, quickly followed by a collapse in many industries. I work as Talent Acquisition (an internal recruiter) for a Berlin startup and have heard too many heartbreaking stories these last months of people unexpectedly losing their jobs. So many job seekers have told me about not making it out of the typical 6-month probation as entire departments are cut, offers rescinded before they start a new role but after they have left their last position and moved countries… it’s brutal out there.

Freelancer working with a Mac

Working in Germany PHOTO: Christin Hume on Unsplash

As unpleasant as this whole business is, at least the unemployed can take comfort in the strong social security system that exists in much of Europe. There is a well-established net to catch the many affected as – of course- unemployment is not a new thing as Sarah reports in her post back from 2014. It is not perfect and has its own intricacies to navigate, but here is an overview and guide on how to apply for unemployment in Germany.

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Mark Twain in Berlin and Vienna

by | Dec 12, 2022 | , , | 0 Comments


Mark Twain, whose passport bore the name Samuel Langhorne Clemens, crossed the Atlantic Ocean 49 times. In Europe the American writer visited many German-speaking cities, from Berlin to Vienna, and many points in-between.

The future globetrotter’s first foreign trip was a voyage across the Pacific to the Sandwich Islands as a journalist for a Sacramento newspaper in 1866. Twain wrote ecstatically about his Hawaii trip and his time in Maui: “I never spent so pleasant a month before, or bade any place good-bye so regretfully.”

Book: Mark Twain in Berlin

Mark Twain spent five months in the German capital. He and his family remained in Europe from 1891 until 1895. Learn more about his Berlin stay and this book by Andreas Austilat below. PHOTO: Amazon.com

The very next year, in 1867, Twain made his first European journey and Atlantic crossing, funded by San Francisco’s Daily Alta California newspaper (1849-1891), when he visited France, the Mediterranean, and the Holy Land. That trip, which did not include Germany, resulted in Twain’s first humorous, bestselling travel adventure, The Innocents Abroad (1869, published in Germany in 1875 as Die Arglosen im Ausland). It would become one of his all-time bestsellers, outselling even his Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn novels.

Mark Twain in Berlin

Eleven years later, in 1878, Twain again sailed across the Atlantic, this time visiting Central and Southern Europe. That trip resulted in A Tramp Abroad (1880, German edition 1892, as Bummel durch Europa), which included tales from Germany and Switzerland, plus Twain’s infamous essay “The Awful German Language.”

Mark Twain in 1907

Mark Twain in 1907. PHOTO: LOC

Twenty-four years and several books later, in fall 1891, bedeviled by money and health woes, seeking escape and new book material, Mark Twain boarded a steamer bound for France. He and his family would remain in Europe until 1895, visiting mainly France, Germany, and Italy, with longer stays in Berlin, Florence, and Paris. Twain arrived in the capital city of Germany at a time when that nation had been unified for barely two decades.

By the 1890s, Mark Twain was already famous and an experienced world traveler. For this trip he was joined by his wife Olivia (“Livy”) and their three daughters (Susy 19, Clara 17, and Jean 11), residing in the German capital for five months, learning what he could about Kaiser Wilhelm’s Berlin – and the German language. The two older girls were already familiar with German from their first trip to Germany, in part thanks to Rosa, their German nanny at that time. Their father, on the other hand, was less familiar with the spoken language, although he could read German well enough to follow most of the news in the German Zeitungen (newspapers).

Before leaving the United States, Twain had closed down his expensive Hartford, Connecticut mansion and secured a paid offer for the publication of a series of six European “travel letters,” one of which would be from Berlin (“The Chicago of Europe” in the Chicago Daily Tribune, April 3, 1892). Although by then Twain had earned a significant amount of money from book royalties, he was a terrible investor. He had lost a fortune – his own money and that of his wife – through poor investments and the failure of his own publishing house. The 1891 European trip was an escape from debt and an attempt to find new material for future books and income. read more…

Realities of the Energy Crisis in Europe and How to Stay Warm this Winter

by | Nov 28, 2022 | , , , | 1 Comment

This weekend we held our annual Friendsgiving of Americans abroad (as well as other nationalities) at our home in Berlin, It also marked the first time we turned on the heat this year. This is a game we play every year of waiting til we really can’t stand the cold to finally turn on our heater.

We lasted remarkably long this year considering we already had our first snow. Temperatures are regularly hovering just above freezing and my family has been huddling under blankets for much of this fall, fingers growing icy cold as we type away in our respective home offices. But along with the usual reluctance to submit to the chilly season, this year we have the added incentive of skyrocketing energy costs and the passive fight in the war against Russia.

While the news cycle is always quick to move on, people in Europe are still very much aware of the situation happening within our borders. Donations are needed to support Ukrainians who have made their way to Germany, as well as those that have remained in their country. And now that the freeze has truly arrived, the average citizen can help the war effort by avoiding using excess energy to avoid euros funnelling directly into gas-supplier Russia’s coffers. There is also the likely chance that Vladimir Putin will turn off the gas supply to the continent as he has previously threatened. It is estimated that Europe will have enough gas to survive most worst case scenarios (Germany’s stores are currently 93% full), but the message to conserve is still of utmost importance.

Winter wear

Keep warm this winter! Photo: Erin Porter

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