From lutterdc@cs.purdue.edu Mon May 3 20:49:35 1999 Path: news.nic.utwente.nl!surfnet.nl!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!nntp01.net-okbr01.exodus.net!nntp01.net-okbr01.exodus.net!131.103.1.118!NewsNG.Chicago.Qual.Net!129.79.6.160!news.indiana.edu!news.iupui.edu!mozo.cc.purdue.edu!not-for-mail From: lutterdc@cs.purdue.edu (David Lutterkort) Newsgroups: soc.culture.german,soc.answers,news.answers Subject: soc.culture.german FAQ (posted monthly) part 3/6 Supersedes: Followup-To: soc.culture.german Date: 1 May 1999 10:35:09 GMT Organization: Purdue University Lines: 1350 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Message-ID: References: Reply-To: scg@cs.purdue.edu NNTP-Posting-Host: proxima.cs.purdue.edu X-Trace: mozo.cc.purdue.edu 925554909 6987 128.10.8.80 (1 May 1999 10:35:09 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@mozo.cc.purdue.edu NNTP-Posting-Date: 1 May 1999 10:35:09 GMT Summary: These postings contain a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and their answers) posted to soc.culture.german. Please read them before you post a question. Originator: lutterdc@cs.purdue.edu (David Lutterkort) Xref: news.nic.utwente.nl soc.culture.german:163598 soc.answers:9360 news.answers:73044 Archive-name: german-faq/3 Last modified: 1999-04-29 Posting-Frequency: monthly URL: http://www.cs.purdue.edu/~lutterdc/scg/ Version: 1999-04 http://www.cs.purdue.edu/~lutterdc/scg/ (The original !-) ================================================================== This is part 3 of the ASCII version of the FAQ list for soc.culture.german. Find the WWW version at Table of Contents for Part 3 ============================= 8. Electronic Language 8.1 Dictionaries (and Word Lists from the Net) 8.2 Encyclopedias, Lexika 8.3 Translation Programs 8.4 Spell Checkers; Thesauri 8.5 Tutorial/Educational Software 8.6 Computer Terminology Dictionaries 8.7 Alphabetizing German Words 8.8 German Fonts 9. Genealogy 9.1 Where is Famous ... Buried? 9.2 How do I Find Out About my Family Name? 10. Phone System 10.1 Public Phones / Phone Cards in Germany 10.2 Nation-Wide Phone-Numbers (Emergency, Information) 10.3 Getting Phonenumbers via Internet 10.4 Importing Phone/Modem/fax to Germany? 10.5 Adapters 10.6 Calling Germany Collect from Abroad? 10.7 Using US Phone Cards in Germany? 11. Political Life 11.1 National Anthem 11.2 The Federal Flag 11.3 Text of the Grundgesetz 11.4 Government Addresses on the Net 11.5 Political Parties Represented in the Parliament 11.6 Upcoming Election dates 12. History, Law -- Internet Resources 12.1 History 12.2 Law 8. Electronic Language 8.1. Dictionaries (and Word Lists from the Net) ftp German word lists and German-English dictionary word lists are available via ftp from the sites listed below. Note that the dictionary at U Ulm (made by Juergen Dollinger) comprises a cleaned up combination of many of the others. Much redundancy removed. This project has just been updated and is now also available as a straight zip file for dos-users. An alternative directory to find these files is ftp://ftp.stud-verwaltung.uni- ulm.de/pub/dict/ . 1997-01 for people in Europe ... o U Ulm 1995-10 o TU Munich o U Cologne o TH Darmstadt o U Muenster o WU Wien o TU Wien and, for people West of the Atlantic... o from Purdue University WWW several other languages at (in experimental stage!): U Frankfurt 1994-11 Also check out: Forwiss, U Passau 1997-02 and FH Darmstadt 1995-3 Oh yes, and then there's Munich! 1995-5 ok and the comprehensive services from TU Chemnitz 1996-05 Travelang has set up a very general translator and also a mirror of leo's service. 1996-10 ispell U Kiel 1994-11 CD-ROM For general mail order places selling CD-ROM's look at `Questions and Answers!' The following companies might have CD-ROM versions of Collins German- English Dictionary: o Bibliographisches Institut & F.A.Brockhaus AG, Dudenstr. 6, 6800 Mannheim 1, tel +49(621)3901 -81, fax -389 1994-11 o EBP - Electronic Book Publishing, 52 Monmouth Street, GB-London WC2H 9EP, tel +44(71)2404-292, fax -138 1994-11 o Harper Collins Publishers, Electronic Reference, 14, Steep Lane, Findon, Worthing, West Sussex, BN14 0UF, U.K., tel +44 (0)903-873-555, fax -633, Compuserve: 100317,1372 Collins themselves have different kinds of electronic bilingual dictionaries. They are only available on floppy disk (they intend to issue a CD-ROM in the future) o Collins On-line v2.20: >40,000 references; >70,000 translations; >1.5Mb disk space;#59 +VAT. o Collins Series 100 v1.1a: >75,000 references; >110,000 translations; >2MB hard disk space; #69 +VAT. Both versions are supplied for use in windows and DOS. I was told that the main difference between the two versions is that although the Series 100 is larger, it does not allow you to add your own entries, whereas the smaller On-Line is not fixed. 1994-11 Languages of the World quotes There is also a CD-ROM, originally put out by Sony in 1989, called Languages of the World. This disk was in DOS and cost US$800 back then, but now it's available for Win- dows with a better interface for about US$40, has German, French, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese (with limited character output), Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish. You can go from any one to any other, but since mostly English-Other Language dictionaries are the base it is best to and from English. The dictionaries are decent student paperback type works, not the quality of the Oxford English Dictionary. For German specifically, it has Harrap's Concise, which I have found to have just about everything I have looked up (and I'm a German major), and Brandstetter's Science and Technology dictionaries. Again, it's top rate, and it can run as a TSR so you can pull it up in any other program, such as a word processor. 1995-3 8.2. Encyclopedias, Lexika Several lexica are available from NBG USA : Microsoft's Lexirom (multiple Duden, Meyer, and Langenscheidt reference volumes, US$300), various Meyer volumes ( US$40 each), the Roche Lexikon Medizin (US$150), and many of the Bertelsman Lexika (generally US$50-100). `(For address see Questions and Answers.)' 1996-12 There is a Bertelsmann Universal Lexicon available on CD-ROM, which can be ordered one from o totronik Torsten Droste, Rotebuehlstrasse 85, D-70178 Stuttgart, tel +49(711)6271980, fax +49(711)616218 o Asix Technology GmbH, Postfach 142, 76255 Ettlingen, tel +49(7243)31048, fax +49(7243)30080 The cost is about DM 150, and they take major credit cards. Airmail shipment arrived within a week. They carry a number of other CD- ROM's also, and a catalog on 3-1/2inch disk is available. 1994-1 Meyer's Lexikon - das Wissen A-Z An experimental online version of Meyer's Lexikon. 1995-3 8.3. Translation Programs For MS-DOS o Translation by Timeworks Inc. For both Macintosh and MS-DOS o Power Translator (PT), German (Globalink) Cost in US: about US$120. Requires: Mac II or better, 31 MB of disk space, 2 MB RAM, System 7. Note: There is also a Professional version (untested, about US$475) for which subject dictionaries are available. o Language Assistant (GA), German (Microtac Software) Cost in US: about US$50 Requires: Mac II or better, 6 MB of disk space, 3 MB free RAM, System 7. Note: Comes with 90 day money back guarantee directly from company. PT is designed for producing rough draft translations, whereas (GA) provides reference tools in addition to trans- lation. PT translates several times faster than GA. PT can (barely) be used as a bilingual dictionary, but GA's dictio- nary is much, much better. PT provides only a single word translation, while GA has multiple definitions and phrases as one would find in a real dictionary. GA also has a useful verb conjugation tool and grammar help. Generally speaking, in this price bracket the software translations range from poetic to horrible. 1995-4 8.4. Spell Checkers; Thesauri For Macintosh o Excalibur For German on the Macintosh, look for Excalibur. This is a spell-checker designed to work with LaTeX documents, but does also handle plain text very well. Communication with just about any editor via clipboard is possible! There are German, Dutch, French, Italian, and many other dictionaries available. (about US$0) ftp://ftp.rrzn.uni-hannover.de/pub/info-mac/text/excalibur-221.hqx For both MS-DOS and Macintosh o Word, WordPerfect and the like offer special modules for several languages, not only German. One can get spell checking and thesaurus modules for German. (about US$100) 1994-2 o Claris' International Language Packs include spellcheckers, dictionaries, thesauri and more. Available also in German and Swiss German. Claris Corporation, Box 526, Santa Clara, CA 95052-9870, +1(800)544-8554 US$50 1995-10 For MS-DOS o Accent 1.0 - Multilingual Word Processor Over 30 different languages. Needs IBM 386 with Windows, 6 to 25MB. Spellcheckers: 17 languages, Thesaurus: 9 languages, Hyphenation: 12 languages, Berlitz(R) Interpreter(TM) (5 language translation tool) Accent file filters allow you to import and export documents to other standard Windows software you are using including: Lotus, Ami-Pro, Excel, Word, Wordperfect, RTF, and ASCII text. The accentwm.zip file is 1.2MB. Send email for more information. 1994-4 8.5. Tutorial/Educational Software For MS-DOS oak.oakland.edu If you have an MS-DOS platform, an interesting place to look at might be the Simtel Software Repository at oak.oakland.edu and its mirrors, directory: SimTel/msdos/langtutr/ There is free/shareware German, Spanish, Afrikaans, and other language software in this directory: o GERM1-23.ZIP and GERM2-23.ZIP Cover German language topics (mainly verb CONJUGATION and vocabulary exercises.) o VOCAB217.ZIP Has basic vocabulary for several different languages. o GPLUS30.ZIP German Plus v3.0 is a language tutorial featuring review and exercises of over 500 nouns, adjectives, and verbs conjugated in the four major tenses. The program contains a look-up feature for use with the database. (about US$0) o GI-ZERTI.ZIP Basic vocabulary German. The official list of the Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache (ZDaF) of the Goethe Institutes and the Deutscher Volkshochschulen -Verband. You will find all the basic vocabulary with example sentences that show you how to use these words in a context. Very useful for beginners. About 2000 words in hypertext . The program can be loaded resident. Features help, search, index, print and color options. IBM-compatible. (Shareware) o GI-LEHRW.ZIP List of teaching materials of German. Helps students and teachers of German to find all kind of information about teaching materials of German. In hypertext . IBM-compatible. The list is the official Arbeitsmittelliste fuer den Deutschunterricht von Auslaendern 1994 of the Goethe Institutes including prices and publishers. (Shareware) o GI-DLAND.ZIP More facts about Deutschland (Germany.) Helps students and teachers of German to find information about all kinds kinds of political, economic or social issues of German reality. Hypertext . IBM- compatible. o GI-ADRES.ZIP 10,000 addresses of German institutions. Helps students or teachers of German to find addresses in Germany by name, location or any other key word. Hypertext . IBM-compatible. 1995-3 Several German instructional software programs at this Washington gopher site. No idea what it is, though. There are text descriptions for each you can read before down-loading. (about US$0) Gertwol An interactive morphological analysis system for German. 1995-4 Berlitz Conversation Course on CD-ROM (Speak s.c.g-readers:) HyperGlot's Berlitz Think and Talk German package consists of 9 CD-ROMS containing a (rather simple) 10,000 word dic- tionary, the German text for 50 conversations (scenes), and an instructional program. The scenes CD-ROMs are compatible with audio CD players, so you can play them on your stereo, walkman, or computer. They range from the basic Das it ein Wagen, to the complex discussions similar to business discussions. The Berlitz method to teach German consists of 4 steps: o Listen to the scene, o Read the scene, o Write the scene, o Think and talk about the scene. The program seems to be designed for beginner speakers of German. List price is $149.00, but it should be available for less than $90 via mail order. 1995-10 The Rosetta Stone For the early stages The Rosetta Stone was recommend. It's an interactive windows program by Fairfield Language Technology. Comes on CD-ROM and amply uses its multimedia to your advantage. (US$350) 1995-05 For both MS-DOS and Macintosh Transparent Language version 2.0, tel +1(800)332-8851, email 70541.3626@compuserve.com principle: don't memorize -- get involved in a story! main window shows story in original language, (French, German, Italian, Latin, or Spanish) three other windows explain correct meaning of word in context, meaning of sentence, and notes on grammar/root words/etc. You get only three stories for free, additional stories are US$15-35; they have 17 different German stories as of now, adding about 4 every year. Readers from s.c.g have reported positive experiences, esp. good for not absolute beginners. But the stories tend to be on the serious side. (Kafka didn't have much fun, either!) List price is US$99 -- but mention that you heard of the promotional US$30 price! A number of s.c.g readers have already saved good bucks and paid only US$29.95 + 8.00 S&H. 1994-4 For Macintosh Herr Kommissar(R) 1.5 -- a language-learning software with a difference. tel +1(717)296-2517, tel +1(800)262-3791 A free demo is available. Rather than drill-and-practice or canned lessons, Herr Kommissar teaches intermediate German vocabulary and grammar by immersing learners in a (simulated) conversation in the living language itself. (A vacationing American police detective attempts to help German colleagues in solving a murder mystery.) On-line assistance in vocabulary, spelling, and grammar. Optimized to handle the productions of beginning learners; Herr Kommissar's core syntactic/semantic engine also covers most of more advanced grammatical constructions, such as relative clauses, coordinate sentences, and the passive voice. RAM: >1Mb, System: almost any (US$100), 1995-10 German Tutor -- A self-paced tutorial in German grammar fundamentals On error the program analyses the mistake and automatically generates a review exercise based on the mistake. Online help, list of all possible answers, glossary, and grammar references. RAM: >1Mb, System: >6.0.5, (US$29), 1995-4 MacLang 4.5 -- Create computer-assisted language learning exercises. Possible exercise types: vocabulary, fill-in-the-blank, paragraph, multiple choice, jumble, multi-. Use English and any one of the following German simultaneously. (Also good for a variety of other languages.) RAM: >1Mb, System: >6.0.5, (US$25), 1995-4 8.6. Computer Terminology Dictionaries Vittorio Ferretti's Woerterbuch der Datentechnik / Dictionary of Computing, available got from Springer's office in NYC. 1997-06 Routledge has a CD-ROM version of the Universalwoerterbuch der Technik. 1997-06 IBM Germany used to publish and sell: Fachausdruecke der Informationsverarbeitung, Woerterbuch und Glossar, Englisch-Deutsch, Deutsch-Englisch, IBM Form GQ 12-1044-1, approximately 1700 pages, copyright 1985, no ISBN # IBM Deutschland GMBH, Postfach 800880, 7 Stuttgart-80 (current status unknown) Complete Multilingual Dictionary of Computer Terminology English - French - Italian - Spanish - Portuguese, 900+ pages, (1984); ISBN: 0-8442-9108-0 Passport Books, Trade Imprint of National Textbook Company, 4255 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood, Illinois 60646-1975, 1995-3 8.7. Alphabetizing German Words About the intricacies of constructing good algorithms for alphabetizing international languages have a look at Hans Christophersen's article on the subject! 1996-06 8.8. German Fonts Fraktur Steve Tischer, Kontex International, Box 8898, Atlanta, Georgia 30306, USA, tel:404-874-4164 fax:404-874-4169 email stischer@netcom.com Traditional Fraktur Fonts Series includes four fonts for either the Mac or Pc including Regular, Medium, Medium Lang and a fat version. Both PostScript Type 1 and TrueType for- mats are shipped for each platform. 1996-02 Three more fonts can be found the Yamada font collection 1996-07 Script Find German Suetterlin script fonts (like the Walden Font, (c) Oliver Weiss) and many(!) other Fraktur fonts at www.waldenfont.com . P.O. Box 871, Winchester, MA 01890, USA tel +1(800)519-4575, email walden@waldenfont.com 1997-05 9. Genealogy Tracing yours and others' ancestry 9.1. Where is Famous ... Buried? For burial sites of famous Europeans pick up a copy of the Handbuch der Grabstaetten: 1. Aubert, Joachim; Handbuch der Grabstaetten beruehmter Deutscher, Oesterreicher und Schweizer. 2. Ed.; Muenchen; Dt. Kunstverlag (1977); ISBN 3-422-00335-5 2. Adler; Josef; Die Grabstaetten beruehmter Europaeer; Muenchen, Berlin; Dt. Kunstverlag (1986); ISBN 3-422-00782-2 1996-1 9.2. How do I Find Out About my Family Name? online info Read the newsgroups soc.genealogy.*; in particular soc.genealogy.german and get their FAQ lists. If your server does not carry these newsgroups, nag your news-admin, then subscribe to one the email gateway listservers; from Europe send email To: listserv@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de with body SUBSCRIBE GEN-DE-L user_name from elsewhere send email To: listserv@mail.eworld.com with body SUBSCRIBE GEN-DE-L user_name Als try this gopher site or the US WWW site www.genealogy.com and its mirror site in Giessen .1996-1 Further you can try to ftp information from ftp.genealogy.com, which has a wealth of information about genealogy. Have a look at the attempt to create a world-wide genealogical databases, dubbed GenWeb. In the USA you may want to... go to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS.) and visit one of their Family History Centers (FHC) and run a computer check to see if your family name appears on the International Genealogical Index (IGI.) This may provide you with the general kingdom, duchy, province, (whatever) where your family name appears. It is then up to you to contact the genealogical association from that area. 1995-4 Be sure to check all available U.S. sources: local church records, citizenship papers, census reports, passenger lists, social security files, war records (civil, WWI, WWII, etc) which may list the origin of birth. 1994-11 >Deutsche Zentralstelle fuer Genealogie Kaethe Kollwitzstr. 82 04109 Leibzig Germany tel +49(341)401 1113 The Center won't provide you with your family tree, but promises to answer specific questions (the more specific, the better your chances of success!) Their collection includes 100,000 personal documents and 16,000 church registers (dating back to the sixteenth century) and basic information on more than 1.4 million people is available. The Conference of Americans of Germanic Heritage P.O. Box 20554 San Jose, CA 95160 tel +1(408)995-6545 fax +1(408)268-9535 email GERMNHERTG@AOL.COM 1994-7 1995-4 10. Phone System About how the phone system works and how it could be improved and ...we could talk endlessly... For more complete information get a copy of the de-telefon-faq. The law: The German phone system used to be operated by the German telekom, only (then government-operated, now privatized). Since Jan/98 there are now also private companies on the market. It used to be that every phone, fax or modem you connect to a phone line needs to be approved by the German telekom. Approved appliances have a special sticker with a BZT number on the back. But I don't know at this point if that's still the case. If someone could fill me in on this please? 1998-01 The German telekom (Deutsche Telekom): They split from the German mail (Bundespost) a couple of years ago. The rates of the Deutsche Telekom are based on a time-unit system with varying periods for the units -- depending on where and when you want to call. Have a look at this nice overview of the current rates (in German).1996-1 10.1. Public Phones / Phone Cards in Germany Public phones in Germany work more or less like everywhere, with a few exceptions (of course): There are now quite a lot of card phones in Germany. Unlike American card phones, they use debit cards. German phone cards can be bought at any post office and most money exchanges at major train stations. They have a given value (12 DM for 40 units or 50 DM for 200 units). Once you have used up this value you must get a new card. All 0130 numbers are toll free. At public phones you might have to insert 30 Pfennigs (the minimum price for a call)... but you will get your money back. At card phones you can't use coins. There is one special phone card which allows you to have the calls you make added to your home phone bill. You need an account at a German bank, however. The set-up fee for this card is about 10 DM. 10.2. Nation-Wide Phone-Numbers (Emergency, Information) There are two nation-wide emergency telephone numbers: o 110 -- Police o 112 -- Ambulance and/or the Fire Fighters The numbers are toll free, in the modern public card-phones you should be able to dial them at any time, without the need for change or a card. 1996-04 In some older pay-phones, though, you may have to insert coins first, but they will be returned after the call. In some phone booths you will find special emergency switch boxes which can be used by simply pulling a lever. 1994-5 o 19444 -- city-netz (see `Transportation') o 19419 -- railway travel information (see `Railways') o 19433 -- touristic information (see `Tourism') 10.3. Getting Phonenumbers via Internet There is now a service available for the yellow pages by Deutsche Telekom which allows you to search the contents of the CD-rom Gelbe Seiten fuer Deutschland. 1997-01 For searching white pages: That has recently become available; for example at o www.teleinfo.de o www.teleauskunft1188.de Says one scg-reader: Somewhat clumsy to use and slow, but it works 1997-06 Users of Btx/DatexJ may call *ETB# and do a local search in the German white&yellow pages, as well as the telefax and Datex-J registers. Current rate: DM 0.20/minute. The nation-wide search under *ETV# may also be available. 1995-3 If you are looking for an Austrian phone number, you can use the following BTX-gateway or this telnet connection For Swiss numbers you may use the following telnet gateway. 1995-3 10.4. Importing Phone/Modem/fax to Germany? You may own any phone but you may not connect it to the public system unless it has a BZT number (Old phones: ZZF). You may not own radios or cordless phones which are not approved. The number is usually found on a sticker at the back of the case. Problems are possible with Hong Kong or British pulse dial phones because the pulses there are not exactly the same as in Germany. But the phone system is very tolerant and with most of these phones you can switch to the other system anyway (same for modems). Tone dial is not yet available everywhere...gaps narrowing, though. Might be a good idea to get a phone/modem capable of both pulse and tone dial. Cordless phones are a real problem. In Germany, cordless phones operate on different frequencies (900 MHz) than in most other countries. In the bands that many foreign phones use (80 MHz for cheap US-phones) are a number of official channels (police, emergencies, radio, TV ...). It is punishable to own and use an illegal cordless phone! Therefore, use only approved cordless phones !!! or they will get you !!! On a lighter note: it is possible, for more money, though, to obtain a 900 Mhz phone abroad. In the US, for instance, these are about twice as expensive as the 80 MHz phone; however, you may expect to still cut a deal, compared to German prices ;-) 1996-1 The wall outlets for phones in Germany have a different shape than the usual modular plug. Adapters are available in Germany (from 2.50 to 20 DM). These adapters are no problems with phones. But legal and illegal things might not work together on the same line. fax machines usually work in Germany, too. Typically you'll need a new power adapter, though. 1995-3 If you plan on using a Modem, make sure it's at least 14,400! (You'll remember this advice when you get the next telephone bill ;-) Soon 28,800 baud will be standard... Watch out for the 16kHz timer signal, which the telekom sends to allow for your own tracking of billing periods. If the modem doesn't filter this signal you might lose connection every 90 seconds (or at multiples thereof.) If you don't actually use this signal for your billing counter you can ask the telekom to switch it off. 1995-5 Teleadapt (http://www.teledapt.com) has a device called TeleFilter, which filters the Accounting signal used in the german phonesystem, useful for modems that do not have the filter built in (e.g., most non-german modems). The same device is also sold by Blackbox (http://www.blackbox.com). 1998-04 10.5. Adapters There are cheap(!) adapters available (between 2 and 20 DM.) To build one yourself is most likely not cost efficient. Be aware of possible legal conflicts. Your phone is more likely to be illegal than the homemade adapter. connection scheme: American plug German TAE-F or TAE-N plug +------------- ----- | * yellow 4 / / | * green 3 4 // 3 | * red 2 / / | * black 1 // 2 +------------- / / // 1 for regular voice service / / connect green/red only! ----- connect them to the two wires that come into your house (if you can make out which they are) yellow/black are for data transmission devices. impedance is no problem. 10.6. Calling Germany Collect from Abroad? The most convenient way for German tourists to call home is the Deutschland direkt Line. You can reach it toll-free from the US at o 1-800-292-0049 o 1-800-766-0049 o 1-800-927-0049 From Canada it is o 1-800-465-0049 Note that this service is very expensive. The cost is supposedly around DM 2.10 per minute, plus a flat fee of DM 3.00. Collect calls are possible. It is also possible to use a special phone card and password. Ask your local 'telefonladen' for details. 1995-3 If you want to call a German '130' number from the US, you need to call either the above mentioned service or your long distance operator. you call them from another country you will have to pay the usual fee for operator assisted long distance calls. Some of the German '130' numbers are linked to US '800' numbers so you can actually call them for free in the US. It is also not possible to reach US '800' numbers from Germany. You will have to use an operator. If you own a US phone card use one of the numbers listed (see `Using US Phone Cards') Otherwise use the German long distance operator. 10.7. Using US Phone Cards in Germany? If you have an American phone card you can get connected to an English speaking operator from any phone by dialing: o AT&T Direct: o 0130-0010 (operator) o 0130-0011 (phone cards) o 0130-850 058 (customer assistance) o MCI Direct: 0130-0012 o US Sprint: 0130-0013 o Canada Direct: 0130-0014 The following countries offer an equivalent service by dialing: 0130-800-### (### is the international access code. For two digit access codes dial 0##. Example: Australia 0130-800-061) Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Rep. of Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Denmark Many other international long distance companies provide the same service. Ask your long distance carrier for the right number. 11. Political Life I am gladly a patriot, but first I am human, and where the two are incompatible, I always go along with the human. (Hermann Hesse, 1877-1962) 11.1. National Anthem The origins of the German national anthem -as well as of the official banner- date back well before the revolution of 1848. The Lied der Deutschen was composed by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben on the island Helgoland in 1841, based on a melody by Joseph Haydn. The melody, the so-called "Kaiserquartett", a quartett for strings in C-major, op. 76,3. was composed 1797 at the request of Count von Saurau, the imperial High Chancellor of the Hapsburg empire. The hymn was first sung on the birthday of Kaiser Franz II 12. Feb 1797. Haydn later set the melody with variations as the slow movement of the string quartet. The melody was based on a Croatian folk song, "Vjutro rano se ja vstanem." It was the national hymn of Austria before it was adopted as the German one. 1997-06 The first stanza begins with Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles -- which in the light of that time (Germany was split into a patchwork of many small states) has to be interpreted as an expression of the desire to employ the best forces and emotions towards a unified Germany. After the first world war the first President of the Weimar Republic, Friedrich Ebert, proclaimed the Lied der Deutschen national anthem. However, in the course of history particularly the first stanza was frequently misconstrued. And after world war II, in 1952, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and President Theodor Heuss --while confirming the Lied der Deutschen as the national anthem of the Federal Republic of Germany-- declared only its third stanza to be sung at official occasions. With the event of the re-unification of Germany the subject was reconsidered. In their correspondence of August 1991 President Richard von Weizsaecker and Chancellor Helmut Kohl acknowledged the tradition of the Lied der Deutschen, noting that --as a document of German history-- all three stanzas form a unit; however: The third stanza of the Lied der Deutschen by Hoffmann von Fallersleben with the melody by Joseph Haydn is the national anthem for the German people. The lyrics of the national anthem of the Federal Republic are: Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit fuer das deutsche Vater- land. Danach lasst uns alle streben, bruederlich mit Herz und Hand. Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit sind des Glueckes Unterp- fand. Blueh' im Glanze dieses Glueckes, bluehe deutsches Vater- land. 1995-4 11.2. The Federal Flag Article 22 of the Grundgesetz states that The federal flag is black- red-golden. This stems back to the early 19th century; among the many forces fighting in the 1813-1815 wars that raged through Europe to end the Napoleonic government the Luetzower Jaeger were particularly popular. The numerous students from Jena in this group continued wearing their uniform -- black and red, with golden ornaments -- even at school. When in 1817 students from all over Germany assembled at the Wartburg, those from Jena prevailed with their colors taken to symbolize the Allgemeinen Deutschen Burschenschaft (the head fraternity). By 1832 (Hambacher Fest) black-red-golden had become generally accepted as the (revolutionary) German colors. The 1848 federal assembly (in Frankfurt) declared black-red-golden as federal colors. (During the 1848 revolution the colors were often meant to signify gunpowder- black, blood-red, and future-golden.) The official German colors changed through history, however, a number of times. In 1871 the German Reich choose black-white-red as national colors; the Weimar Republic again opted for black-red-golden and Nazi- Germany re-instated black-white-red. Finally, both parts of after- WWII Germany decided (in both cases) to use black-red-golden. 1996-04 11.3. Text of the Grundgesetz In German, o at compuserve.de 1999-02 o from U Saarbruecken 1999-02 In English, o from spies.com 1995-5 ok o U Wuerzburg 1999-02 In French, o from U Saarbruecken 1999-02 11.4. Government Addresses on the Net The German Government (Die Bundesregierung ) 1996-04 Several German ministries 1995-5 ok A nice collection about politics and on-line political organizations 1995-5 ok Starting September 1995, the project Abgeordnete im Internet presents six parliamentarians of the Deutschen Bundestages, also to be reached by email. Further you will find info on the various committees, parliamentary groups, and commissions. 1995-9 11.5. Political Parties Represented in the Parliament CDU Christlich Demokratische Union 1999-02 Die Gruenen 1999-02 F.D.P. Freie Demokratische Partei 1999-02 SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands1995-8 PDS Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus 1999-02 11.6. Upcoming Election dates 1998-03 12. History, Law -- Internet Resources 12.1. History A starting point may be the Guide to German History Resources on the Internet by Katie McBride (email kmcbride@umich.edu). Date State, Kind Of Election Period (years) Apr/26 1998 Sachsen-Anhalt, Landtag 4 Sep/13 1998 Bayern, Landtag 4 Sep/27 1998 Bundestagswahl 4 Fall 1998 Brandenburg, Kommunal 4 Fall 1998 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Landtag 4 Spring 1999 11.Bundesversammlung (Wahl des Bundespraesidenten) 4 Spring 1999 Bremen, Buergerschaft 4 Spring 1999 Bremen, Stadt, Kommunalparlament 4 Spring 1999 Hessen, Landtag 4 Spring 1999 Sachsen-Anhalt, Kommunal 5 Spring 1999 Mecklenburg-Vorp., Kommunal 5 Summer 1999 Saarland, Kommunal 5 Summer 1999 Thueringen, Kommunal 5 Fall 1999 Baden-Wuerttemberg, Kommunal 5 Fall 1999 Rheinland-Pfalz, Kommunal 5 Fall 1999 Europaeisches Parlament 5 Fall 1999 Saarland, Landtag 5 Fall 1999 Sachsen, Landtag and Kommunal 5 Fall 1999 Thueringen, Landtag 5 Fall 1999 Nordrhein-Westfalen, Kommunal 5 Fall 1999 Brandenburg, Landtag 4 Fall 1999 Bremen-Bremerhaven, Stadtverordnetenversammlung 4 Fall 1999 Berlin, Bezirksparlamente 4 Fall 1999 Berlin, Abgeordnetenhaus 4 Spring 2000 Nordrhein-Westfalen, Landtag 5 Spring 2000 Schleswig-Holstein, Landtag 4 Spring 2001 Hessen, Kommunal 4 Spring 2001 Rheinplandpfalz, Landtag 5 Spring 2001 Baden-Wuerttemberg, Landtag 5 Fall 2001 Hamburg, Buergerschaft und Bezirksversammlung 4 Fall 2001 Niedersachsen, Kommunal 5 Spring 2002 Bayern, Kommunal 6 2003 Schleswig-Holstein, Kommunal 4 Upcoming state and federal elections in Germany Historical records about the anti-Nazi resistance group known as Weisse Rose (Also in this location ... and here. ) It's a hypercard stack usable only on a Macintosh, created by Brian Thomas. It contains leaflets they handed out, court records, and letters, etc. written by the Scholls and others. 1995-10 ok 12.2. Law Angela Schmidt has put out a very impressive collection of many(!) HTML-enhanced German law texts . 1999-04 The RAVE project at the law school of the U Duesseldorf provides an extensive database of citations about public international and European law. The same site also provides a catalog of annotated legal links 1999-04 The Anwaltssuche contains a directory of attorneys, searchable by location and specialization. -- ** David Lutterkort Dept. of Computer Science Purdue University ** ** email: lutter@purdue.edu url: http://www.cs.purdue.edu/~lutterdc/ ** You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him walk on it. G. Larson You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think. D. Parker