Frank Nechvatal
The German Club closed this 2021-22 season with a Patio Potluck Party. Members brought side dishes and dessert to supplement the fried and baked chicken, along with potato salad, that the club purchased from the grocery store. Members enjoyed the fellowship of dining together. Thanks to the members who brought great sides and desserts.
Our next season will begin in September, on the fourth Thursday. Yes, that is correct. Remember, we voted to change to the fourth Thursday. That date is Thursday, Sept. 22, at 6 p.m. in the Lakeview Room. The main purpose of the meeting will be to plan for our club’s Oktoberfest in October. Please mark your calendars and bring ideas to the meeting. Our Oktoberfest will be one day during the week of Oct. 24.
We wish our members a fun but safe summer. Stay careful to stay healthy.
This month’s German state we will look at is the third city/state. It is Bremen, which is the smallest and least populated of the 16 German states. The city of Bremen has a large seaport called Bremerhaven. This state is surrounded by the larger state Lower Saxony in Northern Germany.
Bremen has grown into an industrial center and international seaport. This state saw many changes during its evolution to where it stands now in present time. It endured after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 as a free Hanseatic City. In 1811 the French annexed the city state under the power of Napoleon to enforce Napoleon’s Berlin Decree to close off all trade with Britain. By 1867, after the Prussian defeat of Austria, Bremen joined the North German Confederation, which became the German Empire in 1871.
Bremen became an important part of the Nazi rise to power for the purpose of the seaport. Allied bombing destroyed most of the Hanseatic city. The British 3rd Infantry captured the city in April of 1945. Following the War, Bremen became an American controlled port for the supply of U.S. Zones of Occupation in West Berlin and Southern Germany. Bremen was reestablished as the city of Bremen, a state under the New Federal Republic of Germany.
Auf wiedersehen bis September!