Book Banned in Germany

Photo of Alte Bibliothek in Berlin courtesy 123rf.com

Publication of Mein Kampf is banned by law in Germany.  This law was upheld today by a German court.  For more information click here.

Christkind

Photo courtesy Loadtr.com

One thing that Christmas celebrations around the world have in common is a gift-giver.  Most Christmas gift-givers are Saint Nicholas- or Santa Claus-type figures, but in Germany the gift bringer is called Christkind, which means "Christ child", and she's a little blond girl with angel-wings and a golden crown.  For more information click here and click here.

Who is the gift-giver in your country, and what is that person called?

Earliest Mechanical Calculator

Photo courtesy FreeImagesLive

The earliest attempt at designing a mechanical adding machine was probably by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), according to some of his notes found in 1967 in the National Museum of Spain.  The next two documented attempts were by the German Wilhelm Schickard (1592-1635) in 1623.  The location or existence of the two prototypes are unknown.

In 1642, the 18 year old Frenchman, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), invented the first "arithmetical machine", and subsequently developed it further.  About 50 of these machines still exist.

Thanksgiving in Germany, Austria, & Switzerland

Photo of church altar Erntedank display
courtesy Elena Kortels and German-Way.com

Thanksgiving celebrations in Germany and other German-speaking countries occur in September or October, sometimes as late as November, and are not "official" holidays like they are in the United States.  In both large cities and small towns, Thanksgiving, called Erntedankfest (Harvest Thanksgiving Festival), is a celebration hosted by Christian churches.  In rural towns there may also be a parade and a country-fair type of celebration, including dancing and the crowning of a harvest queen.  Unless they live in rural areas or are church-goers, many Germans only experience Erntedankfest by seeing it on television.

For more information, see the German-Way.com website, and the German Holidays page of the Tulane University website.