Number two and three were Gitta and Puck. They emigrated from Germany to Toronto in the 1950s and drove us to the German service at the Glebe Road United Church this morning. I wasn’t sure if they still speak proper German, when Gitta opened the car door and asked me: “Na dit is wohl der andere, der ooch mitkommt, wa?” (or something similar). Yes, they speak German. As I used to live in Berlin for almost seven years, I am able to understand this kind of German :)
The service was very interesting, very quick and somehow relaxed. For me as a Catholic it is already a surprise not to eat Christ’s body and not to kneel down for a third of the service. But also for the Protestants Salome and Laura it was astonishing to see the pastor playing piano and singing modern church songs. There were about 30 people in the church, most of them old German emigrants, all of them personally welcomed by pastor Matthias (“Matthias. Geschenk Gottes. Keine Ahnung, was sich meine Eltern dabei gedacht haben”). In his preaching, he mentioned that some have their Bible on the iPhone and that you have a view like god has it when you are standing on the CN Tower. Wow. A priest who knows what an iPhone is. He can’t be catholic. You don’t believe me that he said this? Then listen to the preaching online.
As soon as the service was finished, everybody went downstairs for having coffee, cake and a chat. So we talked with Anneliese, Ursula and all the other Germans, who emigrated from Riga (via Bremen), Stuttgart or wherever to find a new home in Toronto, and especially in the German United Church.
The German Emigrants (or Immigrants?) also have their own newspaper, “Echo Germanica”, “A bilingual bridge between people, generations, cultures & countries”. It presents articles by and for Germans, Austrians and Swiss in the Greater Toronto Area. In the September issue there’s the article “100 Jahre Historische Rosenschau in Forst” on page 3; on page 4, Bernhard explains how to bake “Zwetschgenkuchen altdeutscher Art”; my favourite is the article “Ham Se det jehört” by Eberhard Kurt Walter on page 11. It is about the possible war in Syria and then suddenly, one sentence later, about the plans of Justin Trudeau to legalize Marihuana. The article ends with “Nu hab ick mir wieder so uffjerecht, det ick mir sofort zur Beruhijgung ein Bier mit viel Hopfen hinter die Kehle jiessen muss. Also, daruff eene Molle.“
The comericals in „Echo Germanica“ present the Tanzkaffee of the „Vereinigung der Donauschwaben“ as well as different Oktoberfest Clubs and European Grocery Stores. Volkswagen St. Catharines whiches “To all our Customers and Friends: Enjoy Oktoberfest!”, “The Matterhorn Restaurant”, “Black Forest Inn” and “Schnitzel Queen” are also advertising their offers.
The visit at the German community was one, but not the only highlight of the day: the Germans gave us a tip where to watch the results of the federal election in Germany, which was held today. Due to the time difference the results are presented in Toronto at noon. So we had to hurry up to reach “Restaurant Wurst” on time. Sounds like a joke, but it isn’t! Organised by the German Consulate, this German style restaurant (with Currywurst and Hacker Pschorr) presented a kind of Bundestagswahl-Public Viewing for all the Germans living in or visiting Toronto – and there were a lot of Germans in the hall! And almost all of them applauded when the yellow bar of the FDP stopped at 4 point something percent.
I would have preferred Peer Steinbrück as chancellor and a green government participation (the latter is still possible), but the joy about the FDP’s result is big. Dirk Niebel isn’t Development Minister anymore! Guido Westerwelle isn’t Foreign Minister anymore! Philipp Rösler isn’t Economics Minister anymore! Insofar today is a great day for Germany and its reputation in the world. It was also a great day for us. A very German day.
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