German class in the garden with lots of interesting stories!

Today we escaped again to the garden to enjoy a bit of time in nature with our dear Sis Enger.

Today Erika brought some old historical books from her childhood Ward up in northern Germany. She told us the very interesting story of her Great-grandmother, Charlotte Amalie Lange, (b. 8 May 1863) who joined the church in 1928. Charlotte’s daughter (Erika’s grandma) had an illegitimate daughter who became Erika’s mom. The grandmother gave her child to her mother (Erika’s Great-grandma) to raise. Both Charlotte (the Great-grandma) and Erika’s mother learned of the gospel and were baptized in the river on the same day in 1928.

So Erika was taught the gospel because her mother was raised by her faith-filled Great-grandmother. Her grandmother’s generation did not receive the gospel, but Erika did. (This Great-grandma is the one who knitted the booties that Erika now makes.)

This is a photo of the Great-grandmother’s family:

And here are some very old books from Erika’s childhood:

We learned that the common greeting from northern Germany is “Moin.”

After the wonderful history lessons, the excitement began! Erika pulled out this bucket of May Beetle larvae! These were all found in one garden box!

This small bucket probably had 100 larvae in it. They are as big as the end of your thumb (3 cm long). They are white with a golden brown head and rather creepy– translucent things that can move, burrow and squirm. They stay in the ground for 3-5 years before emerging as a May Beetle (like a large June Bug).

Interesting facts: one lady May Beetle can lay up to 30 eggs about 15 cm deep in the ground. The larvae eat roots and become pupae after 3-5 years in the ground, then emerge as Beetles in May. They eat the leaves of Beech and Oak trees and fruit trees. They are heavy little bugs, so they have to fill their lungs with air before they take off to fly. Females live about 7 weeks. Males die first. They have a brown shell and wings and big feelers.

These larvae will be fed to the birds this evening!

The next interesting story we learned was about a man named Till Eulenspiegel (that means Owl Mirror).

From Wikipedia:

Till Eulenspiegel , also Dil Ulenspiegel and Dyl Ulenspegel ( Low German spelling: Dyl Ulenspegel, High German influenced: Til Ulenspiegel ), is the protagonist of a Middle Low German folk book. German studies today speak of a farce or prose novel. According to this collection of farces , Eulenspiegel was a wandering rogue of the 14th century who pretended to be stupid but was actually cunning and always played new pranks on his fellow men. The folk book was first published around 1510 under the title Ein kurtzweilig lesen von Dil Ulenspiegel, geboren vß dem land zu Brunßwick, wie er sein leben volbracht hat […] by the Strasbourg publisher and printer Johannes Grüninger. The book, whose author remained unknown, became a bestseller as early as the 16th century.

Origin and life according to the folk book

According to tradition, Till Eulenspiegel was born in 1290 or 1300 in Kneitlingen am Elm and baptized in the neighboring village of Ampleben in the castle chapel of his godfather Till von Uetze. The baptism is said to have been performed by the abbot Arnold Pfaffenmeyer (or Arnold Papenmeyer) of the Aegidien monastery. According to Götzinger, the folk book about his origins said: “Near the forest called Melme, in the land of Saxony, in the village of Knetlingen, Ulnspiegel was born, and his father was called Claus Ulnspiegel and his mother Ann Wittken.”

In later illustrations, Eulenspiegel is often depicted with attributes such as a fool’s cap . However, he is not simply to be seen as a proven fool. In the stories, he seems to be superior to his fellow human beings in terms of mental strength, insight and wit. Eulenspiegel’s pranks often result from him taking a figurative expression literally. The most common interpretation today is that he used this literalism as a means of exposing the inadequacies of his fellow human beings and venting his anger at the injustices of his time. However, this is by no means always clear. There is also sheer malice to be seen, which has nothing to do with educational criticism, but rather characterizes Eulenspiegel as a person of anarchic nonconformity.

According to the rhymed Middle Low German inscription on a memorial stone from the mid-16th century, Till Eulenspiegel died in Mölln in 1350.

They say Eulenspiegel was buried in a hollowed out log, but when it was being lowered into the grave, the ropes broke and he landed upside down, and they left him that was as a last joke to the jokester.

There are statues and figures in towns all over Germany of Till Eulenspiegel. Usually brass, and usually there is a toe or finger sticking out that you can rub for good luck. It was fun to learn about this little piece of culture.