root2 – Page 2 – Über’n Tellerrand • Off the trodden track

“Journey through the past” (Berlin 1931) / #2

No one would associate these pictures with the genocide to come: Many girls having fun at a birthday party. I also found these pictures in the photo album of my mother. It shows Lili Cassel (first in the row, picture on top) with her friends in May 1931 in Berlin. My mother is the second to last. Fortunately Lili Cassel could escape to England with her sister Ewa. Later the whole family emigrated to the U.S.

In 1952 Lili married Erich Wronker and was in her professional life a renowned illustrator of books and a Hebrew calligrapher and typograph. She got an obituary in the NY Times when she died in January 2019. Shalom, Lili

A letter to Lili’s nanny from 1933 can be seen here.

Boeing 737 Max hassle not yet over

Last year, the 34 year old Boeing engineer, Curtis Ewbank, complained officially about shortcomings in the design and control of the Boeing 737 MAX production. According to the Seattle Times he now again has revealed severe and fundamental critics concerning this same jet in a report to a U.S. Senate committee.

Moreover, he criticizes the FAA heavily: “If the FAA was truly regulating in the public interest, it would take action against Boeing for its continued deception and gross errors in the design and production of the 737 MAX by withdrawing Boeing’s production certificate.”

See also Designfehler wie für ein Lehrbuch (German).

What had happened to the Jewish friends? Berlin 1931 #1

In the beginning of the thirties my mother lived in Berlin Dahlem. She attended the Volksschule Lansstraße (?) in this quarter. Looking at two atmospheric pictures from her photo album I wondered what might have happened to her Jewish school mates, Martha Esther Hirschberg and her brother Walter Joseph (“Seppl”) Hirschberg. The photo was labeled “Mit Martha und Seppl Hirschberg Juli 1931” (“With Martha and Seppl Hirschberg July 1931”).

Looking on MyHeritage I got to know to my relief that both had survived World War II and the Shoah: Martha Esther Hirschberg died in 1979 and Walter Joseph Hirschberg in 1998. Apparently, Walter Joseph Hirschberg emigrated to San Diego. It would be nice to gain more information on both and the school they attended. I would be happy to send my photos to relatives of the Hirschberg siblings.

Siehe auch -- see also 
English -- Seppel (Joseph) Walter & Martha Esther Hirschberg  
Deutsch -- Seppel (Joseph) Walter & Martha Esther Hirschberg  

English -- Whereabouts of Lilli Cassel 
Deutsch -- Hintergründe zu Lilli Cassel 

English -- Class mates on an excursion / List of all class mates 
Deutsch -- Klassenfoto vom Ausflug / Liste aus Fotoalbum

Lankum – a love affair

No, you won’t see them in the O2 arena. They definitely prefer smaller places to perform like clubs or pubs. I’m talking about Lankum the amazing band from Dublin consisting of singer Radie Peat, Ian Lynch, Daragh Lynch (both are brothers) and Cormac MacDiarmada. They master a variety of instruments and are – well – a kind of folk band with many influences from other genres. The Guardian wrote they were the ?perfect house-band for a Coen brothers’ folk-horror movie?.

Enjoy my collection of music tracks from youtube.

• Lankum – The Old Main Drag

• Lankum – Rosie Reilly – Live at The Parlour

• Radie Peat :: Dark Horse (This Ain’t No Disco)

• Radie Peat :: My Bonny Boy

• Lankum – Drinking Song from The Tomb (rough mix)

• Lankum – Sergeant William Bailey – Sidmouth FolkWeek 2015

• Lankum – Medley @ The Séamus Ennis Arts Centre

• Lankum – Hunting the Wren

• Lankum – Déanta in Éireann

• Lankum – Cold Old Fire

»Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves…«

The Wall – British dystopia with new way to be read

An epoch-making, somehow vague event in the past divides the country in a time before and a time after the Change. The whole British island is protected by something reminding the Chinese wall: the Wall. Beaches are something from old ages, as far as the young are concerned. Every young woman and man has to serve on this Wall for two strenuous years. Consequences are extrem: If the Others – the foe – can overcome the Wall, the people from the Guard will be punished by set on tiny boats on the ocean.

This is the sound of John Lanchesters novel published in the mid-Brexit UK. In Covid19 times future readers might read it in a simular way: the time before and the time after Covid19. Gloomy dystopian novelle, a little bit soothed by the story of a couple – the word love story would be too much. Covid19 time is reading time.

Forget about Galway, book the moon

Nothing is that bad that it could not have any benefit.

“Nix is esu schläch, dat et nit für irjendjet joot wör” like the koelsch proverb goes.

Dorotheenstaedtischer Friedhof Berlin – a small Père Lachaise-like burial ground

Wikipedia (in German) lists all graves of famous writers, philosophers, poets and members of the German resistance that can be found here. There is one mistake about this burial ground: W. Biermann wrote about this place as “Hugenottenfriedhof”. But the real burial ground with this name is to the south-east of Dorotheenstaedtischer Friedhof. Moreover, don’t mix up this burial ground with ”Dorotheenstaedtischer Friedhof II“. This extension of the burial ground can be found in Liesenstrasse, not in Chausseestrasse.
A tiny cafe behind the chapel of this burial ground can be recommended: nice cakes and a lot of books are on display that are related to the people of this burial ground.

Happy birthday, Ralph Towner

It happens to me again and again: The heroes of my youth seem to remain as young as noticed at the first contact. Of course, that’s nonsense. Nevertheless, I noticed with some astonishment that Ralph Towner had his 80th birthday yesterday. So, happy birthday, Ralph Towner, and may you keep good health in the future. Perhaps you will enrich the musical world with other pieces of your great music.

Thanks for the solo concerts, your contribution to Oregon and your piece Anthem. No one should miss it. The recording above only gives a reduced idea of it. If triggered buy the cd or download the file.

Other releases worth listening to: Trios / Solos (ECM, 1973), Solstice (ECM, 1975), Anthem (ECM, 2001)