Frank Nechvatal
At the September meeting, the club made plans to have an Oktoberfest luncheon. We chose the restaurant BeCe Kitchen, located on Riggs Road just west of Dobson Road. The luncheon will consist of chicken or pork schnitzel along with two sides, such as red cabbage and mixed vegetables. BeCe Kitchen has European fare, such as chicken or pork cutlets, pierogies, stuffed cabbage, hunter’s stew, and Swedish meatballs, along with various sides, including sauerkraut.
We also planned the Christmas Party to be held on Dec. 9. The menu will include a honey mustard chicken covered with cheese and bacon. This includes a salad, potatoes and veggies, and a dessert. More information will follow at the November meeting.
We will continue this month with the outline of the various German states. Our target state is Berlin. Berlin is such a large city with suburban sprawl that it has become a state as well. The city straddles the banks of the Spree River, which flows into the Havel River—a tributary of the Elbe River. There are a number of lakes that are found in the western part of the state, including the Spree, Havel, and Lake Mueggelsee. The climate is considered temperate.
The city of Berlin served as the capital for the Kingdom of Prussia, the Weimar Republic, and the Third Reich. After the end of World War II, Berlin was divided into East and West Berlin, just as Germany itself was divided between the east and west. East Berlin was controlled by the Soviet East Germany region, while West Berlin remained a cut-off part of West Germany.
The city of Berlin is probably the third largest city in the world and is the center for world-renowned universities, orchestras, museums, and entertainment venues. It also hosts the world’s oldest large-scale movie studio complex.
The state of Berlin lies in northeastern Germany. As such, it has been considered historically the area that was east of the Frankish Realm, which was inhabited by several Germanic tribes including the Franks and Saxons. The area east of the Frankish Realm was inhabited by Slavic tribes, which accounts for the many towns and villages in the state of Berlin having Slavic-derived names. Of Berlin’s 12 boroughs, five bear a partly Slavic-derived name: Pankow, Steglitz-Zeldendorf, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Treptow-Koepenick, and Spandau.
Given the cosmopolitan nature of the city of Berlin, multiple languages other than German are spoken, including English, Russian, Polish, Arabic, Kurdish, Serbo-Croatian, Italian, French, Vietnamese, Turkish, and Yugoslavian.
Until next month,
Auf wiedersehen