03 accents

The English Language Journal

for Baden-Württemberg
www.accents-magazine.de
February/March 2005
magazine

Becoming German

Dual nationality for Brits and Irish

Bye-bye UK Consulate
Ballet’s English connection
Parallel parking? Not for Americans
When in Rome,
do as the Romans do –
when in Baden-Württemberg,
read accents magazine

We speak your langauge

accents magazine is
distributed for free, every-
where English is spoken.
At reasonable subscription
rates, you can also have
accents delivered right
to your door step. Ask about
bulk subscriptions for your
company, school, shop or
club.

Subscription Information
accents magazine
Libanonstraße 58
70184 Stuttgart
Tel 0711 3102160
info@accents-magazine.de

accents
magazine
 8 10
Contents
Feature
8 The path to dual nationality 10 Ballet in English
British and Irish citizens
in Baden-Württemberg
can now apply for German
citizenship as well
News and Events
5 UK consulate to
shut down
6 Reprieve for
American Library
6 Karlsruhe’s pancake race
7 Introducing GAWC
Editorial
Dual citizenship: it’s one of
the most hotly debated topics
in Germany. Can I become a
German citizen and keep –
for example – my British or my
Irish passport? The answer,
now, is YES!
In 1999 the SPD-Greens federal
government passed a law to
smooth the path to dual nation-
ality for EU citizens living in
Germany. The implementation
of any citizenship law, however,
takes place at the state level.
In our case, the Baden-Würt-
temberg government had to
issue instructions to councils as
to which EU citizens were to be
given the option of dual citizen-
ship, and which were not. And
they had a problem with the
new law. The sticking point was
accents is sponsored by
accents magazine
Arts and Culture
World famous:
thanks to a South African
and a Canadian
11 Winter reading
accent on…
12 Winter wonderland
Spotlight on the
southern Black Forest
13 Pompeii in Mannheim
“reciprocity”. Not all EU countries
accept dual citizenship but for
those that do, would Germans
living in those countries be able
to apply for dual citizenship with
relative ease? Would a German
living in Greece, for example,
be able to apply for Greek
citizenship (and retain German
citizenship) in the same unhin-
dered way a Greek citizen would
be able to apply for German
citizenship here? The Baden-
Württemberg government be-
lieved not. Until very recently.
Now, a series of court decis-
ions has provided clarity on
reciprocity, and the path to dual
nationality for Brits and Irish,
among others, has been cleared.
We’ve got the exclusive story
of Kevin MacInerney-May, who’s
become the first British citizen
12
Children’s Corner
14 Bring on the snow!
Sledging highlights
14 Make a splash!
Indoor swimming tips
15 Book reviews
Good to Know
21 Money Matters
Opening a bank account
21 StuttgART
Big on the arts
in Baden-Württemberg to
become a naturalised German
without having to give up his
British passport.
Another exclusive: British
Consul-General, Mark Twigg,
comments publicly for the first
time on the decision to shut
down the British Consulate in
Stuttgart at the end of this year.
This is a story we’ll certainly
be following up on.
We also introduce three new
columns in this edition. My Two
Cents, our new language column,
for everyone who speaks
English in Baden-Württemberg,
aims to stir debate on the
rights, wrongs (and maybes) of
words and language.
Money Matters is written by
our new sponsor, the Swedish-
owned bank, SEB. As a foreign
14
Labyrinth
22 Getting a driver’s licence
23 My Two Cents
Our new language column
Regulars
Cover photo: Chris Rynearson
4 Letters
16 accents choice
What’s on listings
18 accents guide
Clubs and contacts
20 Classifieds
bank, SEB specialises in provid-
ing financial advice to many
newcomers to Baden-Württem-
berg. So we’ve invited them
to provide you with banking,
investment and financial tips.
Stuttgart Marketing GmbH, the
city’s tourism promotion com-
pany, is the producer of another
new column, which will focus
in each edition on highlights
and happenings in the Stuttgart
region.
accents 03 also takes you to
the ballet, to the southern Black
Forest and – especially if you’re
from New York – back to driving
school! Happy reading.
accents magazine
editorial team
3
Letters
to the Editor

Hi accents,
I wrote an article to introduce accents magazine to our member- accents magazine
ship in our bi-monthly newsletter. Everyone I’ve talked with seems Libanonstraße 58
delighted with what you have to say, myself included. Many 70184 Stuttgart
thanks and keep up the good work. We need quality magazines editor@accents-magazine.de
like yours.
Bill Ganassin, President, Anglo-German Club, Pforzheim

Dear accents team,

I ran into your magazine at the Corso Cinema in Stuttgart-Vaihingen.
Wonderful job. Great idea.
Grüße, Tom Bloch
Dear accents,
Dear accents, I found the article on Karlsruhe town-twinning (accents 02, p.11)
Thanks for the great magazine! Our American family of 5 is new really well written, interesting, and very informative. Your listings
to Germany and it sure helps having an English speaking publication of all sorts of events in accents choice is of enormous benefit for
to learn about this wonderful place we now call home. We’re old and newcomers to B-W. I wish I had come across such a
looking forward to the next issues. magazine many years back.
Thomas Jaeger, Dettenhausen Rose Schrempp, Karlsruhe

Dear accents, Hello accents,

Your ‘Have a Ball!’ issue made for interesting reading. I loved the
article (on the letters page) about a “Schwäbisch Style Christmas.”
It was something for my conversation pupils to get their teeth
into!
Dorothy Gläser, Schorndorf
I was recently introduced to accents and am thankful there is such
a high-quality publication available in the BW area. My family and I
have been here for five years, with a son in German kindergarten,
so your articles about English in German schools, and moving into
a flat really hit home (and provided a few good laughs.)
Chris Rynearson, Echterdingen

British Consulate to close …
… again
The UK Consulate-General in Stuttgart
will be shut down at the end of this year.
The four-year term of the current Consul-
General, Mark Twigg, will finish at the end
of 2005, and he will not be replaced. Seven
consular staff members in Stuttgart will
lose their jobs.
The British Government announced the
closure as part of an international shake-up
of its network of embassies and consulates.
It will also close its consulate in Frankfurt
and its trade office in Leipzig, and scale
down its representation in Munich and
Hamburg. In the future, British commercial
interests in Baden-Württemberg will be
handled by the consulate in Düsseldorf.
Britain’s ambassador to Germany, Sir Peter
Tory, says the changes are part of a world-
wide review aimed at helping the British
government concentrate on strategic prior-
ities such as terrorism and climate change.
“They reflect a 21st century diplomacy
which is becoming less dependent on fixed
buildings in the age of the internet and
cheap air travel,” he says. “(Although)
some of the changes will be difficult ...
our streamlined network in Germany will
continue to offer the same standards of
service.”
A glimpse of Cardiff
50 years of partnership with Stuttgart
Celebrations to mark 50 years of Stutt-
gart’s city-partnership with the Welsh
capital Cardiff (pictured above) have
kicked off, with the opening of an exhib-
ition in Stuttgart’s town hall. Cardiff’s
Lord Mayor, Jacqui Gasson, joined her
Stuttgart counterpart Wolfgang Schuster
for the opening. The exhibition of photo-
graphs of Cardiff and information about
accents magazine
News and Events
British diplomatic representation in
Baden-Württemberg has been in flux since
the mid-1980s. Britain first shut down its
consulate in Stuttgart in 1984, following
a review of visa and passport operations.
Several years later, because of the eco-
nomic potential of Baden-Württemberg,
it re-introduced representation by opening
up a UK marketing office. In 1990, this was
upgraded once again to consular status
with the return of a career diplomat.
Speaking publicly for the first time about
the decision to close the consulate, Consul- British Consul-
General Mark Twigg told accents magazine General in Stuttgart,
Mark Twigg:
his job mainly involves public diplomacy disappointed at
across Baden-Württemberg – “flying the his government’s
flag for Great Britain” – and trade and decision to close
investment promotion. down Stuttgart’s
consulate.
“I’m naturally disappointed that Stuttgart,
and for that matter Frankfurt, do not figure
in the Foreign Office’s future planning.
I’ve attempted to cover my region from
Friedrichshafen to Aalen, and from Mann-
heim to Lörrach to the best of my ability.
I will be interested to find out from Berlin
how it intends to adequately represent
UK interests in such a politically and eco-
nomically important region as Baden-
Württemberg.”
the city, also focuses on partnership
projects between the two cities.
The exhibition is the first event as
part of a year of celebration activities.
In early July, in Cardiff, Stuttgart will be
promoted at the Celtic Drink and Food
Festival. In late July, in Stuttgart, Welsh
arts and music will become a highlight
of the Summer Festival of Cultures.
News and Events 5
Library’s future guaranteed
but relocation possible
After months of indecision, the Karlsruhe
City Council has promised that the city’s
unique American Library will not be closed
down. But there may well be changes in
store for the institution. The city govern-
ment is investigating the cost of moving
the library, situated in Kanalweg in the
north-west of the city, to another building
close to the city centre. A report is expected
in the coming months.
“We’ve decided as a council that the
American Library is an ‘important cultural
asset’ for Karlsruhe. It won’t be shut
down,” says Ullrich Eidenmüller, the city’s
deputy mayor, responsible for culture. “In
the course of this year though, it might be
moving into new premises.”
A City Council report last year raised the
prospect that the library could be shut down
altogether, due to increasing rental costs.
This sparked a campaign of protest by the
Friends of the American Library, the non-
profit organisation which staffs and raises
funds for the library.
“We launched a letter-writing campaign
and got our supporters to let the council
know what a valuable institution we are,”
says Friends’ chairperson Karen Adams-
Rischmann. “We also submitted an alter-
Flying pancakes
A Karlsruhe tradition
A pancake race? In Karlsruhe? Many Karls-
ruhe residents think participants are mad.
But that doesn’t stop the German-English
Friendship club lining up once a year in
Karlsruhe’s market square – with a mass of
Ready, steady, go!
Pancakes on the
run in Karlsruhe’s
main square.
6 News and Events
Photo: City of Karlsruhe
opened in November 1996. It stocks more
than 40,000 books, CDs, tapes, videos,
magazines and newspapers, and has
become a key meeting point for English-
speakers in the city. The City Council pro-
vides funding for one professional librarian,
but the institution survives thanks to the
work of more than 30 volunteer staff mem-
bers. With proceeds from membership
dues, and financial support from the Robert
Bosch Stiftung and some businesses, the
library is able to raise the more than 10,000
A key meeting point euros needed each year to purchase new
for English speakers: books and other media.
Karlsruhe’s American
Library in Kanalweg. Some library users have expressed
concern that relocating the library provides
the council with a ‘back door’ way of shut-
ting it down. But Adams-Rischmann says
native financial report to the Council to although a move would mean a 20-percent
prove our cost-efficiency. They seem to reduction in shelf-space, the change would
have got the message. But we still need to otherwise be for the better.
monitor what happens from here.” “I don’t have any sentimental attach-
The American Library is a unique institu- ment to the old, former army building.
tion in Baden-Württemberg: it’s the only The move into the city would actually open
library devoted solely to English-language us up to a wider public, and make us more
media that is owned by a city government. accessible to more people in Karlsruhe.
It was donated to Karlsruhe by the US Many residents have no idea we exist. The
Army after it closed down its military bar- important thing is that the library as an
racks in the mid-1990s. It was officially institution remains.
school children in tow – to emulate a wacky day – the Tuesday just before the beginning
English tradition: the pancake race. of Lent – heard the church bell summoning
The tradition dates back to 1445, to the her to confession. She ran to church wearing
UK town of Olney in Buckinghamshire. A her apron and still carrying her frying pan.
woman cooking pancakes on Shrove Tues- Without knowing it, she started a tradition
which has lasted over five hundred years,
Photo: German-English Friendship Club
and is now copied on Shrove Tuesday in
towns throughout the UK. Officially, only
women wearing a dress, an apron and a
hat or scarf may take part in the race. Each
competitor has a frying pan containing a
pancake. It must be tossed three times
during the race, which starts in the market
square at 11:55 am. The first woman to
arrive at the local church with her pancake,
and to be kissed by the bell-ringer, is the
winner.
Karlsruhe has adapted the tradition. The
Friendship Club holds its race – for people
of all ages and genders – not on Shrove
Tuesday but on Schmutziger Donnerstag
(Dirty Thursday.) This year, it’ll be on Feb-
ruary 3. At 11:11 am, the race begins in
front of the town hall, with Karlsruhe school
students joining in the fun. Onlookers just
scratch their heads, laugh, and then help
eat the (surviving) pancakes.
accents magazine
Germany’s oldest transatlantic club
GAWC in profile

Since 1946, the German American Women’s

Club (GAWC) has been a stalwart of trans-
atlantic goodwill, forging understanding
and fostering international relationships
while actively supporting charitable causes.
The club’s charity work helps many small
community organizations survive financially.
There are 34 German-American friend-
ship clubs across Germany, which are
grouped into seven regions. Not all the
clubs are for women only – there are many
German-American men’s clubs as well.
Accents spoke to Maureen Parker and
Barbara Pfisterer, the joint presidents of
GAWC Stuttgart e.V. – which is Germany’s
oldest such club – about their activities.

accents: When and why was the GAWC

Stuttgart founded?
GAWC: In September 1946, a group of
Americans started it up. Immediately after
the War, it was quite a challenge to build
up new relations between Germans and
Americans. But people took up the challenge
to learn to understand each other and
develop friendships beyond national borders.
The members began working together on
charity projects, and the society gradually
began to grow.
What are the club’s guiding principles?
The founding principle is respect for the
cultural differences of people. We support
international tolerance and understanding.
We have 400 members and our volunteer
work focuses on helping people in need in
our community, regardless of faith, race
or nationality.
What are your main activities or projects?
Our focus is to cultivate German-American
friendship. When we were founded 60-odd
years ago, Americans were the ones who
were looking to get in touch with Germans.
Today, it’s our German members who try
to set a good example as ambassadors for
their country. For instance, our members
help Americans who come to live in Germany
to integrate into German culture and life.
We also run a transatlantic exchange pro-
gram for young people and students, which
is now in its 40th year.
What are the main ways in which you try
to help the needy?
Since 1996, during the winter, an initiative
in Stuttgart known as the Vesperkirche
organises food, shelter, clothing, medical
and other support for homeless people.
From day one, our members have been
involved with this project. We prepare food
or help the church (Leonhardskirche) to run
the initiative together with other local sup-
porters. But our most challenging charity
project is undoubtedly our ‘Penny Bazaar’.
We started it in 1969 to offer needy people
the opportunity to purchase clothes and
other everyday items at an affordable price.
The bazaar takes place in October every
year and we raise a lot of money – around
Maureen Parker
(left) and Barbara
Pfisterer, Presidents
of the German-
American Women’s
Club, Stuttgart.
80,000 euros in 2004. The money available
after deducting expenses is given to social
initiatives in the Stuttgart area. We also
manage other smaller projects.
What special role does the GAWC play
in Stuttgart?
We maintain close relations with the up to
30,000 members of the American armed
forces in the Stuttgart area. They represent
an important part of our community, and
that’s been the case since the end of the
second World War. Today we have to focus
on relations between Americans and Ger-
mans in a more global sense. Members of
the younger generation in both countries
should be given opportunities to learn more
about each other. A friendship between
nations is about more than just political
relationships. It’s about personal relation-
ships between people from different count-
ries. That’s what the German-American
Women’s Club in Stuttgart stands for.

Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum
James-F.-Byrnes-Institut e.V.
Charlottenplatz 17
(Inner courtyard, entrance 3)
70173 Stuttgart
Telephone 0711 228180
www.daz.org

accents magazine News and Events 7

Feature
Mr Dual Citizenship
Many UK and Irish citizens who’ve been living in Baden-Württemberg for years can
now apply for German citizenship – and they won’t have to give up their British or
Irish passports. The path to dual citizenship has been eased by the persistence of one
retired Englishman and his trusty typewriter, in Starzach-Wachendorf, on the
Swabian Alb.
Kevin MacInerney-May has an understanding
with his postman. If he leaves a little tag
hanging out of his letter box the postal
officer knows he has to collect some mail
for posting from the Englishman – already-
stamped envelopes which the postman
kindly takes with him. Thanks to this simple
understanding MacInerney-May doesn’t
have to trudge off to the post office every
time he has a letter to send – and he’s
been writing a lot of letters recently. With
the help of his postman, MacInerney-May
has single-handedly helped to speed up the
process of bureaucracy and clear potential
obstacles for other EU citizens seeking dual
citizenship.
MacInerney-May is now a German citizen.
He’s also a citizen of the UK. He’s the first
Briton in Baden-Württemberg to become
a German citizen who’s not had to give up
his British passport. And what he’s done,
as a British citizen with permanent residency
status, is now possible for other British,
A Baden-
Württemberg first:
MacInerney-May
proudly displays his
German naturali-
sation certificate.
8 Feature
Irish, French, Greek, Italian, Swedish and
some other European Union (EU) citizens to
do.
The path to dual citizenship has been
cleared by a series of recent court decisions,
which have brought the law in Baden-
Württemberg into line with federal law. But
MacInerney-May says it’s hard to predict
how long it would have taken for the change
to be put into practice in this state, had
he not embarked on his stubborn, months-
long letter writing campaign. “I am of the
opinion that things did speed up because
I protested in the way that I did,” he says.
The letter-writing begins
MacInerney-May’s campaign started on
June 29, 2004. On that morning he read in
his local newspaper, the Schwäbisches
Tagblatt, about a Stuttgart court ruling (and
a decision by Germany’s Federal Admin-
istrative Court) which allowed a Greek
woman to become a German citizen while
retaining her Greek citizenship. The article
mentioned that the law applied in the case
of the Greek woman because Greece is an
EU country that recognises dual citizenship.
The UK also recognises dual citizenship,
and in the days that followed, MacInerney-
May wrote to and telephoned various local
and regional officials telling them that in
the light of recent court rulings, he would
now like to apply for German citizenship
while retaining his UK citizenship.
In August, he received a letter from his
local council, Starzach, informing him that
the “new legal situation” applied only to
Greek, French and Italian citizens. The letter
referred not to the recent court decisions
but to a “political agreement” between
Germany and the three relevant states,
clearing the way for dual citizenship between
them. As there was no such political agree-
ment with Great Britain, UK citizens would
still have to give up their British passports
to receive German citizenship. The matter
might have ended there and then. But
MacInerney-May was just getting started.
“I felt I had been given a wrong answer
by the local council, and that it was discri-
minatory. I’ve lived in Germany since 1971
and held permanent residency since 1978.
Why should only Greeks, French people
and Italians be granted dual nationality, while
citizens of other EU states that recognise
dual nationality are not?”
Using a typewriter, MacInerney-May
fired off letters to – among others – the
European Commission in Brussels, the
British Foreign Office in London, the British
Embassy in Berlin and his local newspaper.
In his letter to Britain’s ambassador to
Germany, Sir Peter Tory, he wrote: “I regard
the position as set out in the reply from
(my local authorities) ... as unfair, discrimin-
ating against British and other European
Community citizens ... would you please
take the matter up?”
In September, he received a letter from
the relevant British authority, the Consulate-
General in Düsseldorf, stating that consular
officials were unable to become involved
in the interpretation of German law by indi-
vidual German states, but that MacInerney-
May “may wish to instruct a lawyer” to act
on his behalf.
“This was helpful because in telling me
that I should contact a lawyer the letter
confirmed that I was on the right track. It
confirmed my suspicions about the wrong-
ness of my local council’s decision,” says
MacInerney-May. The British consulate also
enclosed a statement from the Federal
Administrative Court, which revealed that
some German states – Baden-Württemberg
being among them – continued to deny dual
citizenship to certain EU citizens, despite
a 1999 federal government law aimed at
easing the way to dual nationality. The
Court had already decided on April 20, 2004
that certain EU citizens had a legal right
to dual nationality. MacInerney-May now
knew that his fight had to be taken up
with Baden-Württemberg’s interior ministry.
“But I did something more effective – and
more economical – than going to a lawyer,”
he says. “I sat down at my typewriter
again.”
He wrote letters to half a dozen more
state authorities, including Baden-Württem-
berg’s premier Erwin Teufel. “I’d ask you
please to tell me,” he wrote to the premier,
“why your government continues to act
in this way. Was the judgement of the
Federal Administrative Court from 20.04.04
accents magazine
 Obtaining German
Citizenship
You are generally eligible for German
citizenship once you have lived in the
country for eight years. You also have
to fulfil other conditions:
• You must possess a settlement
permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis)
or a special residence permit
(Aufenthaltserlaubnis).
• You must be able to guarantee
your livelihood without recourse
to social welfare or unemployment
benefits. There are a few excep-
tions.
• You must have an adequate know-
ledge of the German language.
• You must not be guilty of any
serious crime.
• Generally speaking, you still have
to give up your previous citizenship.
(Although the list of exceptions
is growing.)
• You must be willing to pledge to
respect the democratic values of
the Basic Law of Germany.
If you fulfil these conditions your
application for citizenship cannot be
refused. Spouses and children of
German citizens can be naturalised
even if they have not been living in
Germany for 8 years. For spouses,
the couple must have been married
for at least two years and the spouse
must have been a German resident
for at least three years before an
application can be made. Children
with at least one German parent are
automatically German citizens from
birth. If both parents are foreign
nationals, the child only has German
citizenship automatically from birth if
at least one of the parents is an EU
citizen or has been living in Germany
for at least eight years.
Information on citizenship, foreigner’s
rights and tips for newcomers is
contained in the handbook A Manual
for Germany – a free publication
(you pay only for postage) produced
in a number of languages, including
English, by the German government.
Orders can be placed with:
Commissioner for Migration,
Refugees and Integration
Rochusstraße 8-10
53123 Bonn
Fax: 01888 5554934
Online: www.handbuch-
deutschland.de/form/bestform.php
accents magazine
not clear enough?” Another letter was
written to his local newspaper, whose
reporters also started asking the authorities
questions.
He received a letter from Erwin Teufel’s
office informing him that the interior
ministry would be responding to his query
shortly. Meanwhile, interior ministry officials
were busy poring over the Federal Admin-
istrative Court’s decision.
“One’s got to understand that although
the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig
might issue a decision in April, it takes address in Britain and no longer have the
some months for the judges to write out right to vote there. I feel like I’ve lived here
the reasons for their decision and send in Germany long enough, that I’m a part of
off that decision to the various interior this community, and that I should be able
ministries,” explains Christian Storr, head to vote in all elections like other members
of the office for foreigners’ affairs in B-W’s of the community.
ministry of justice. “Then state officials “I hope I’ve eased the way for other
have to check through the full decision and British citizens living here to follow suit.”
see how it applies to Baden-Württemberg.” MacInerney-May doesn’t have political
On October 5, 2004, Baden-Württemberg’s connections, lots of money or high-tech
Interior Ministry issued a statement, which communications equipment – he doesn’t
cleared the way for MacInerney-May to even own a computer, let alone have inter-
apply for dual citizenship. “After intensive net access. He doesn’t look like someone
examination of the reasons for the (Admin- who is able to shake up bureaucracies and
istrative Court’s) decision,” the statement get them to respond to enquiries from a
read, “citizens from Finland, Great Britain, mere individual. With sheer tenacity and
Ireland, Malta, Portugal, Sweden and patience, MacInerney-May has achieved his
Hungary can, with immediate effect, be goal, smoothing the way for others seeking
granted dual citizenship. The nationalisation dual nationality.
authorities (in regional councils) have now From the living room of his small flat
been relevantly informed.” in a high-rise apartment block in Starzach,
According to Christian Storr, since passage MacInerney-May can enjoy the grand view
of the federal government’s 1999 citizen- he has out over the Swabian Alb in the
ship law, it had always been the intention knowledge that even if (in his words) Britain
of the Baden-Württemberg Justice Ministry were to secede from the EU, no one could
to “show some generosity and understand- take away his right to vote and to live in
ing” towards EU citizens pressing for dual Baden-Württemberg. He’s now, also,
nationality. “Now, these legal issues have German.
been resolved,” he says.
Making it official
An application for German citizenship
needs to be lodged with a regional council.
MacInerney-May applied to his council, in
Tübingen – for the second time within a
matter of months – finally with the know-
ledge that his British citizenship could not
be taken from him. At 9:15 am, on Monday,
December 13, 2004, Kevin John Joseph
MacInerney-May, born in Croydon, UK in
1931, arrived at the Landratsamt Tübingen
to receive his official Einbürgerungsurkunde
(nationalisation certificate). He’s now a
German/British citizen.
“For years, as an EU citizen living in
Baden-Württemberg, I’ve had the right to
vote in local elections and European
parliamentary elections, but not in German
federal and state elections. Now I’ve won
that right without having to give up my
British identity, and that’s important to me.
I was born and bred in Great Britain.
I still feel British. But I no longer have an
Feature 9
Arts and Culture

Ballet – Truly International

Maybe you know that the Stuttgart Ballet is world-famous. But few people know
how much the company has been heavily influenced by native English speakers –
in particular, a South African and now a Canadian – and how important the English
language is in uniting the troupe. Stuart Marlow reports.

If you were lucky enough to have been
watching the ballet show Stravinsky
Inspires you would have witnessed the rare
spectacle of four innovative ballet pieces
drawing a full house in a traditional main-
stream venue – rare, that is, unless you
happen to live in Stuttgart. In very different
atmosphere, on the same day at Stuttgart’s
Theaterhaus, the matinee performance of
E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Nutcracker Suite played
to a good audience, which was pretty
impressive given that most of the world
was out Christmas shopping. In short, as
far as the performing arts goes, Stuttgart is
a cultural Mecca. International success in
the field of ballet, however, is due to the
remarkable legacy of a gifted choreographer
and to those who have kept his influence
alive from 1961 until the present.
The key figure was South African-born
choreographer John Cranko, who made his
debut at the University of Cape Town with
a ballet piece set to Stravinsky’s suite from
The Soldier’s Tale. In 1946, aged just 19, he
moved to London to further his studies at
the Sadler’s Wells School. In 1955, he went
on to produce for the Paris Opera Ballet
before creating his first full-length work,
The Prince of the Pagodas for the Sadler’s
Wells Company, which had by then become
The Royal Ballet.
It was in 1961 that Walter Erich Schäfer,
the general director of the Württemberg
State Theatre, recruited John Cranko for
the position of ballet director in Stuttgart.
Cranko started by creating short ballet
pieces and building an ensemble of talented
dancers. Prominent among them was the
young Brazilian Marcia Haydée, who was to
become a major influence on Cranko’s art.
In 1962, the highly acclaimed world premiere
of Romeo and Juliet firmly established the
international reputation of Stuttgart as a
centre for lovers of ballet. Cranko’s genius
expressed itself in various ways: the fine
art of story-telling and dramaturgical clarity.
It was in 1969 that a young Canadian
dancer, Reid Anderson, was recruited by
Cranko. “John was not only a great choreo-
grapher and a great director,” remembers
Anderson, who’s the current director of the
Stuttgart Ballet. “He was also very amenable
and always willing to listen. Having no
office you’d always find him in the canteen.
There was none of this rigid sense of
hierarchy you find in most top ballet com-
panies. John hated that.”
Cranko and his young Stuttgart entourage
became key players on the world’s stages.
Then, in 1973 disaster struck, when Cranko
died suddenly during a return flight from
a successful American tour. It plunged the
world of ballet into a period of mourning.
A hard act to follow
Reid Anderson took over as ballet director
in Stuttgart in 1996. He had stayed with the
Stuttgart Ballet, as a dancer, for 17 years,

10 Arts and Culture accents magazine

 before leaving in 1986 to work in Canada.
“I needed new challenges and I needed
to broaden my experience. I went back to
Vancouver and produced a new ballet for
a fledgling company. Then within a couple
Photo: Stuttgart Ballet
of years, I found myself director of the
National Ballet of Canada. I learnt so much
about things we never had to do in Stutt-
gart: developing a new company, public
speaking to raise money – it was all a huge
learning curve.”
“I was very happy in Toronto, but grants
and subsidies to the arts in Canada have
been reduced at a rapid pace. So in this
respect, it was a relief to come back to
Stuttgart where I could dedicate my time to
teaching and coaching again. I have com-
plete freedom here. As long as I stay within
my budget, the board of governors doesn’t
interfere in any way with what I do.”
Stepping into the footsteps of John
Cranko, Anderson took up a heavy mantle
of expectations. But Anderson says Cranko’s
legacy has never daunted him. Much more
daunting, in 1996, was the challenge of
rejuvenating the Stuttgart Ballet. “The com-
pany was calcified at the top. I had to fire
25 people in a revitalizing operation to keep
the company young and dynamic, but it
wasn’t easy.” Twenty-one new, young
dancers were brought in, which made the
company look decidedly young by traditional
German standards.
“Six of my principle dancers have
been with me since they were teenagers.
They’re now in their prime at 26, 27 years
old. Behind them we have to bring in new,
young dancers. This keeps the average age
of the company at around 24.”
The success of Reid Anderson’s policy
was visible within his first two seasons
Blurring Reality
Book reviews
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason,
by Helen Fielding
Picador, 422 pages
State of Fear, by Michael Crichton
Harper Collins, 603 pages
No one wants to be misinformed, but
how well informed are we? Bridget Jones,
who is not well informed, tries hard to
keep abreast of things, even if it involves
quite a lot of ludicrous guessing. This is
her second diary, through which we
learn that she finally has a boyfriend: the
incredibly desirable Mark Darcy. However,
the wonderful Mark never washes up
and, embarrassingly for Bridget (who
tosses her clothes on the floor) neatly
folds his underpants before going to bed.
Worse, Bridget suspects Mark of either
having another girlfriend or of being gay,
accents magazine
back in Stuttgart. He staged eight world
premieres, nine German premieres, and
received almost universally positive critiques.
Full houses were further proof of artistic
success. After 19 years, the Stuttgart Ballet
made its return visit to New York under
Anderson’s leadership. The highly demanding
level of productions has continued right
through until 2005. This season alone will
see seven new ballets, which is very high
by German standards.
“The dancers are expected to learn the
choreography of any given piece quickly,
because we have so much to do,” says
Anderson. “Sometimes it’s a bit scary, but
we always get there in the end.”
Maintaining quality
The Stuttgart Ballet enjoys great popularity
and economic success with its present
schedules and pricing policies. However,
there are a number of warning signs. At
the moment, the ballet depends on a large
number of regular season ticket holders as
well as government grants, at a time when
the shadow of budget cuts for the arts
looms large. The scene may be healthy in
Stuttgart, but there is no room for compla-
cency. Only a few years ago, nobody would
have thought that Cologne would lose its
resident ballet company, but it did. In Leip-
zig, the ballet school has also been closed
down. For Anderson the dangers for ballet
are always there.
“I fear that both ballet schools and ballet
companies tend to be the first target for
cuts. Stuttgart is a positive exception. But
few people realize what happens when you
start cutting. One key example is cutting
subsidies to ballet schools. In doing this,
after she finds a naked Filipino boy in his
bed. Bridget and her friends formulate all
sorts of mad ways to explain each incident
with disastrous consequences.
The Bridget Jones story has evolved
from a newspaper column into a novel.
Though fictional, Bridget, with her array
of self-help books, weight problems and
inability to trust her own instincts is as
real as the friend who calls every time a
fingernail breaks.
In State of Fear there are characters
who provide a perfect counterpoint to
Bridget. They have no problem believing
they are well informed. Michael Crichton’s
latest book is a story about righteous
environmentalists who, in order to con-
vince people that global warming is
endangering the planet, rely on unorth-
odox methods rather than on scientific
evidence. Crichton peppers his fictional
story with a battery of footnotes, appen-
dixes and graphs to produce an essay on
how non-scientific information disguised
as factual evidence can sway public
policy. In a way, this is a novel parading
as a quasi-research paper. How can we
Stuttgart Ballet
Company director,
Reid Anderson.
Opposite page:
a scene from Le
Sacre du Printemps .
you remove a pillar of support for the local
ballet company. Large casts draw upon a
pool of dancers from the school, in our
case the John Cranko School. A company
of sixty dancers plus a local school can do
almost anything. Without the school, a com-
pany has to concentrate on small shows.”
Dance and learn English
One unique aspect of this Stuttgart com-
pany is the role of English as a lingua franca.
Anderson calls his troupe ‘The United
Nations of Ballet’. With 26 nationalities,
a common language has to be found for
dancers to communicate with each other
and with their directors. For many, English
is the first or only foreign language they
know when they arrive. German dancers
within the troupe also get used to speaking
English.
“It’s amazing how quickly young people
learn good English,” says Anderson.
“Using English also means that nobody is
disadvantaged. The working harmony bet-
ween the different nationalities and cultures
is incredible. I wish our company were a
microcosm of how the whole world could
function socially.”
predict weather conditions a hundred
years from now when we have trouble
with predictions for the next 12 hours?
As a thriller, State of Fear has all the
required action-packed car chases, dense
jungles scenes and high-tech hideaways.
The characters are thin and the plot is
fast. But Crichton’s conclusions are
thought-provoking. Is Crichton really
behind US President George Bush’s
environmental policy? Or is he like Bridget
Jones, just trying to right a wrong the
best way he can? Maybe Crichton –
despite the book’s flaws – is simply tell-
ing us to be more critical of scientific
information we take in.
Arts and Culture 11
accent on…
Baden-Württemberg’s Winter Wonderland
Titisee and Feldberg
Black Forest
tourism links
Details of all offers mentioned here,
and much more on the area, are
available from any of the local tourist
information offices.
Some useful websites include:
www.feldberg-schwarzwald.de
www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info
www.feldberg.skischule.de
www.liftverbund-feldberg.de
www.suedbadenbus.de
www.titisee-neustadt.de
12 accent on
The southern Black Forest: the poor
man’s Val d’Isere or just good fun for the
whole family? Thomas Ravel, our man
on the piste, investigates.
I bear no more than a passing resemblance
to Garfield, the comic-strip cat (in good light)
but one thing we both have in common
is that we have to be dynamited off a
comfortable warm couch on a bitingly cold
winter’s day. So do I get to report on limbo-
dancing on a sun-kissed Caribbean island?
No, I get to go up to the snow-covered Feld-
berg, on a windy, minus-four-degree day.
The offer of a winter sports holiday
normally sends the same shudder down my
spine as the words “closing time” at my
favourite bar. But in sleuth-like pursuit of
the huge numbers of people who, each
winter, load up their cars with skis, snow-
boards and children and head off to the
heights of the Black Forest, I decided to
see what I was missing.
First stop, the lakeside town of Titisee.
It’s listed in a tourist brochure as one of
the “For (sic) Beauties in the Black Forest”
(the other three, by the way, are Feldberg,
Hinterzarten/Breitnau and Schluchsee.)
Titisee has no shortage of guest houses
and plenty of good restaurants providing
Black Forest cuisine. If you visit on a day
so cold that your breath freezes, a stop at
the Bergsee Restaurant, on the shore of
the lake, provides hearty meals at reason-
able prices. The good news about Titisee,
given its popularity with tourists, is that
prices are not exorbitant and shops are
open on Sundays. The bad news is that
most shops sell the sort of amusing trinkets
you tire of within two days. You stow them
away in a deep, dark cupboard or if they’re
noticed by a guest, pretend your least
favourite aunt bought them for you. And
yes, there are cuckoo-clocks a-plenty.
Young children are completely fascinated –
parents, you have been warned!
accents magazine
 Just south of Titisee, at 800 metres
above sea level, are the towns of Hinter-
zarten and Breitnau with beautiful scenery
everywhere. Here, both beginners and
experienced skiers, cross-country skiers,
snow-boarders and sledging (or taboggan-
ing) enthusiasts are offered endless fun.
There’s no shortage of winter sports, but
the main event on the calendar is the FIS
ski-jumping World Cup held in Titisee every
January. Up to 25,000 ski fans enjoy two
days of thrills and spills at the ski jump.
Up the mountain
For those looking for some action of their
own, the Feldberg awaits. Undeterred but
wincing slightly at the sight of four-year-
olds with seemingly perfect balance zoom- network throughout the upper regions of
ing down the slopes, I slid my way gingerly the Black Forest – particularly valuable if
into the warm refuge of Co-Co’s bar.
Après ski without the skiing. Excellent.
At 1,493 metres the Feldberg is Baden-
Württemberg’s highest mountain. It’s 28
ski-lifts cover 50 kilometres of slopes, and
cater for all sorts of winter sports fun. Even than 140 destinations and attractions for
non-skiers can don snow-shoes and take
part in guided tours along any part of the
60 kilometres of pre-prepared winter hiking Gasthaus Waldvögel to gorge myself on an
trails. Many of the hotels and guest houses enormous slab of black forest cherry gateau.
offer saunas or thermal baths to ease away Hasta la pista!
A Natural Disaster
Pompeii exhibition
Weeks after a tsunami smashed against
coastlines in southern Asia and eastern
Africa, newspapers and radio and televi-
sion stations were still reporting on the
devastation in countries bordering the
Indian Ocean. While future generations
will have a detailed record of what may
be the greatest modern natural disaster,
archaelogists looking back in time to one
of the great calamities of Ancient Rome
– the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79
AD – have had to rely on a limited record
to tell the story of the unlucky residents
of Pompeii.
An exhibition in Mannheim, Pompeii:
The Final Hours, represents a comprehen-
sive attempt to bring both the culture of
the Romans and the power of a volcanic
eruption to life. Rather than presenting
artifacts in isolated vitrines, the creators
of the exhibition place each piece within
the context of the location where it was
found when the eruption occurred. For
each object, there’s a description of the
occupants or possible owners of the arti-
fact. Vistors are virtually taken on a tour
of Pompeii – its alleyways, villas, taverns,
accents magazine
the aches and pains of the day’s exertions.
Photos: Courtesy of Titisee-Neustadt
There are great offers available for week-
end breaks or a week away with the family.
From February 28, 2005 through April 3,
you can take advantage of weekend deals
from 130 euros per person, including break-
fast. Or there’s a four-night break from 173
euros with ski-lift tickets for five days.
And if, like me, you arrive on the mountain
with nothing more than a bobble-hat and a
moth-eaten pair of gloves, you can hire
everything you need for 26 euros per day.
The Feldberg boasts a super programme
of events running from the first weekend
of snowfall in December until April 3. A
highlight is the “King of the Forest” snow-
board meet from February 27-28.
There is a fairly good public transport
you’ve paused for just a little too long in
one of the après ski huts. As with visits to
other parts of the Black Forest it’s worth
considering investing in a Schwarzwald-
Card. This handy item covers entry to more Above and page
opposite: scenes
from Titisee-
day trips all over the Black Forest. Neustadt in all its
As for me, I’m off to the very cheery winter glory.
a craftsman’s workshop, a gladiator’s
theater – and they get a sense of how
quickly people can be overcome by
a natural disaster. The audio tour in
English is recommended, providing a
wonderful source of background inform-
ation about the cultural and social
context.
Pompeii:
The Final Hours,
24 August 79 AD
Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim
Runs until April 17, 2005
Tues-Sun, 11 am - 6 pm
Adults: 7 euros
Children: 2.50 euros
Family Ticket: 13.50 euros
Audio guides (4 euros) are available
in English and German.
accent on 13
Children’s Corner
You say sledging, I say sledding …
Tips for winter fun (Part I)
One of the ‘cool’ things about Baden-
Württemberg is that every winter we’re
just about guaranteed to get enough snow
to go sledging or skiing. You probably have
your favourite slope, but if you want to try
out a new spot we have a few suggestions.
Skizentrum Pfulb,
Schopfloch (Swabian Alb)
Tel. 07026 7533
www.skizentrum-pfulb.de
Three lifts, with runs suitable for beginners
and more advanced skiers. You can actually
ski here until 10 pm thanks to the flood-
lights! Also great for sledging, and of course
there are places to eat.
Skilift Halde,
Westerheim (Swabian Alb)
Tel. 07333 6455 (or 07333 6039
for the current snow report)
www.westerheim.de
This is really easy to reach if you live in the
Indoor pools
Tips for winter fun (Part II)
Of course, we get our fair share of gloomy,
wet, cold days, and weekends that seem to
stretch out forever (great for the grown-ups
but kind of boring for the kids.) Well, you
can always go swimming. Here are a few
suggestions. Check with the pools for ope-
ning times and prices.
Aquatoll,
Wilfenseeweg, Neckarsulm
Tel. 07132 20000
www.aquatoll.de
Lots of action under a big glass dome.
There’s a black hole slide with light effects,
a wild water channel, a pool with a water-
fall, an area for little kids, and a really warm
(slightly salty) pool where you can swim
outside. This is great fun in winter when
it’s cold or rainy and the water steams.
Atlantis,
Wiblinger Straße 55, Neu-Ulm
Tel. 0731 985990
www.atlantis-freizeitpark.de
Well worth a visit. It has a nice area for
small kids, slides for both big and small
kids. On one of the slides you go down on
big rubber tyres. There’s also a wave pool.
14 Children’s Corner
Stuttgart region, as it’s very close to the A8
motorway. Up to four lifts operate, depending
on how much snow has fallen, and you can
have great fun sledging as well.
Witthoh, Emmingen-Liptingen
Tel. 07461 5733 (ski lift)
or 07461 76660 (ski hut)
www.witthoh.de
www.skiclub-emmingen.de
This is a beautiful winter wonderland in the
snow, where adults and children can learn
to ski or snowboard from about 17 euros
a day. It’s not as well-known as other ski
areas, so it doesn’t get as busy. It’s also
great for cross-country skiing and sledging.
Feldberg im Schwarzwald
www.feldberg.de
At 1493 metres above sea level, this is the
highest mountain in the Black Forest. It’s
got 28 lifts and 50 kilometres of piste. It’s
a serious snow-lover’s paradise. Skiing and
Photo: www.solemar.de
Indoor swimming:
also an option in
winter.
Snow guaranteed
in the Black Forest.
snowboarding lessons are available for
around 40 euros (100 euros for five days.)
Besides participating in all the winter sports
on offer, you can also go for walks around
the mountain accompanied by husky dogs!
Badkap, Beibruck 1, Albstadt
Tel. 07431 1601930
www.badkap.de
This bathing centre also has a wave pool –
the water gets deeper gradually, just like at
the beach. There’s also an 86-metre-long
slide and a wild-water river.
TuWass,
Mühlenweg 1-5, Tuttlingen
Tel. 07461 9665566
www.tuwass.de
This centre has five separate pools: a kids’
pool for tiny tots; a ‘fun’ pool; a sports
pool; a pool for relaxing, and an outdoor
area, which can be used in winter. The fun
pool is where the action’s at. There are two
169-metre-long waterslides: your standard,
wild ‘blue line’, and the ‘black hole’ with
flashing lights and music. 100% fun!
Solemar,
Huberstraße 8, Bad Dürrheim
Tel. 07726 666292
www.solemar.de
The water in Solemar is very salty, so you
can float easily in it. There are no special,
fun features here – it’s designed as a place
for you to float around and do nothing!
accents magazine
There are ten separate pools, including a
kids’ paddling area.
Meersburg Therme,
Uferpromenade 12, Meersburg
Tel. 07532 44600
www.meersburg-therme.de
A new pool on the edge of Lake Constance.
The huge windows along the lake side of
the pool make it seem as if you’re swim-
ming in the lake. The water is warm, and
there are lots of fun features, including a
‘current canal’ to help you swim twice as
fast. There’s also a kids’ pool and a sauna
area for mums and dads who need to ‘chill
out’.
Book Reviews
Tips for winter fun (Part III)
We’ve reviewed three books: one about
young cats in love, another about an orphan
and his mad guardian, and a third aimed at
keeping the winter cold out.
The Whisperer, by Nick Butterworth
Harper Collins, 30 pages
Meow! A despicable sound for Rat. He
lives in a neighbourhood of two families of
cats, gingers and black-and-whites. Luckily
for him the cats are constantly fighting,
and ignore him. Life is dandy until a ginger
cat named Amber meets a black-and-white
named Monty and they fall in love. This
won’t do. A peaceful tribe of cats is not
what Rat needs. So he devises his own ratty
ways to prevent any feline reconciliations.
Brilliantly illustrated, this book is dedicated
to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a leader of
the anti-apartheid movement. It has deeper
insights than a simple description of the
plot would suggest.
Measle and the Wrathmonk,
by Ian Ogilvy
Oxford University Press, 198 pages
This book should become a timeless child-
ren’s classic, like Winnie the Pooh, Mary
Poppins or Paddington Bear. It’s that good!
Ten-year-old Measle lives alone with his
awful guardian Basil, because his parents
were “killed by an encounter with a deadly
snake”. Basil dresses in black, is as pale as
accents magazine
La Ola, Horstring 2, Landau
Tel. 06341 55115
www.la-ola.de
Book Orders
This is actually just over the border in neigh-
bouring Rheinland-Palatinate, but it has
been voted one of the best pools in Ger- Books reviewed in accents
many. It has a 100-metre-long ‘black hole’ magazine can be ordered through
slide, a wave pool with five different kinds our partner company CliC
of waves, a toddlers area with extra-warm
water, an outdoor pool with water heated Bridget Jones E 14
to 32°C, a 25-metre-long pool for ‘real’ State of Fear E 30.50
swimming and diving, and a warm learners’ The Whisperer E 19
pool. Measle E 15.50
Great Art Scandal E 22.50
Football: Ultimate Guide E 15.50
For orders up to 20 euros there is a
handling and postage fee of 3 euros.
Orders beyond 20 euros are sent
free of charge. A percentage of the
proceeds is donated to children’s
literacy projects in Baden-Württem-
berg. The deadline for orders is
March 12, 2005. To order, write to:
CLiC
death, and has dark clouds hovering over Immenhoferstraße 22
him and rain falling on him whenever he 70180 Stuttgart
goes out. Measle is not allowed to bathe, clic@accents-magazine.de
the elastic in his underpants is broken and
he sleeps on the kitchen floor – the warmest
spot in the house. Partying cockroaches
keep him up at night. Then Measle dis-
covers Basil’s toy train set and that Basil is
a wrathmonk, a wizard gone mad. When
Basil finds Measle tampering with his
beloved trains he shrinks Measle down to
the size of a train set figure. The adventure
begins: Measle must fight off hungry bats,
Football Quiz
psychotic cockroaches and, somehow,
outsmart Basil. The book is cleverly illu-
strated with cockroaches appearing at the Many thanks to all who participated
edges of pages. It also has a trendy, neon- in the Kingfisher football quiz. Three
green, soft plastic cover with rounded readers were able to send in correct
edges. answers to all ten questions: S. Her-
mann and R. Baumann from Stuttgart,
The Great Art Scandal, by Anna Nilsen and N. Plattek from Pforzheim.
Kingfisher Publications, 48 pages Congratulations! You each win a copy
Maybe looking at paintings is not your idea of Football: The Ultimate Guide to
of fun but this detective search is a great the Beautiful Game, by Clive Gifford,
way to while away the cold, winter days. published by Kingfisher.
You are asked to help Molly Adams, curator
of the City Gallery of Modern Art, to solve Here are the answers:
a crime and thereby save the gallery from
ruin. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know 1. Arsenal
who Andy Warhol, Claude Monet, Edward 2. 1992
Hopper or any of the other painters are. 3. Michael Owen
By the end of the book you’ll be an expert. 4. SV Werder Bremen
5. FC Porto
6. Greece
7. Portugal
8. Cacao
9. Kevin Kuranyi
10. David Beckham
Children’s Corner 15
accents
choice
Events
Fellbach
Event
Internationale Ostereierbörse
Easter Egg Exhibit and Sale
Mar 11, 2-7 pm, Mar 12-13, 11-5 pm
Schwabenlandhalle
Herrenberg
Pferdemarkt mit
Zuchtpferdeprämierung
Horsemarket with horse-breeding
award, Feb 8, downtown
Karlsruhe
Traditional “Pancake Race”
Deutsch-Englischer Freundeskreis
(DEF), Feb 3, 11:11 am sharp,
Karlsruhe Market Square
volunteers please call 0721 74623
www.def-Karlsruhe.de
St. Patrick, Oscar Wilde
and Whiskey
Mar 16, 7:30 pm, American Library,
Kanalweg 52
Leonberg
233rd Leonberger Pferdemarkt
Horse market with riding compe-
titions, exhibition, parade, etc.,
stores open on Sunday, Feb 4- 8
Stuttgart
Willow-Creek-Church Seminar
With Bill Hybels and team,
Feb 17-19, Schleyer-Halle,
www.willowcreek.de
Grand Opening
Kunstmuseum Stuttgart
Mar 5, Schlossplatz
Long Night of the Museums
Art, culture, music with shuttle
bus to museums and galleries
Mar 19, www.lange-nacht.de
Waiblingen
Ostermarkt Easter Market
Open stores, pottery,
arts & crafts market, Mar 13,
11 am - 6 pm, downtown
Exhibitions
Exhibitio
Karlsruhe
Max Beckmann
Prints from 1914 -1924
Feb 19 - May 22, Staatliche
Kunsthalle, Hans-Thoma-Straße 2
www.kunsthalle-karlsruhe.de
Mannheim
Pompeii
The Final Hours
Nov 28 - Apr 17,
Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, D5
Schwäbisch Hall
Old Masters
Fürstenberg Collection
Oct 16 - May 5, Kunsthalle Würth
www.kunst.wuerth.com
Stuttgart
“Funny Cuts”
Cartoons and comics
in contemporary art, Dec 4 - Apr 17,
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
www.staatsgalerie.de
Tübingen
Mexico!
Tina Modotti and Edward Weston
16 accents choice
Photography
Opening night Dec 10, 7:30 pm,
Exhibition Jan 10 - Feb 11,
Deutsch-Amerikanischen Institut,
Karlstraße 3
“Bordell und Boudoir”
Exhibition with works from
Cézanne, Degas,
Toulouse-Lautrece and Picasso
Jan 22 - May 22, Kunsthalle
www.kunsthalle-tuebingen.de
Ghost Towns of the American West
Photography by Geo-photographer
Berthold Steinhilber
for the Smithsonian Magazine
Opening night Mar 3, 7:15 pm,
Exhibition Mar 4 - May 6, Mon-Fri
9 am - 6 pm, d.a.i., see above
Stage
Aalen
Stage
Just One Small Step
By The Round Table Players
Apr 6, 8 and 9, 7-7:30 pm,
Volkshochschule im Torhaus,
tickets at VHS office 07361 95830
Göppingen
“EASY or Whatever happened
to Barbie and Ken?”
German-American cabaret
Feb 26, 8:30 pm, ODEON,
Altes E-Werk, www.odeon.fto.de
Heidelberg
Mrs. Bubble and Bones:
Erika Stucky
Feb 10, 8:15 pm, Deutsch-
Amerikanisches Institut (d.a.i.),
Großer Saal, Sofienstrasse 12,
06221 60730, www.dai-heidelberg.de
The School for Scandal
by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Feb 25, 26 and Mar 4, 5, 11, 12,
18 , 19, 7:30 pm, Mar 6, 13 at 3 pm
Patton Barracks, Bldg 109,
general public welcome,
tickets 06221 175020,
www.roadsidetheater.com
Stuttgart
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Feb 11-13, 18-20, 25-27, 7:30 pm
Stuttgart Theatre Center – Kelley
Theatre, Kelley Barracks, Vaihingen
general public welcome,
0711 7292825, www.kelleytheatre.de
An American in Stuttgart
George M. Baileys new solo program
Feb 18, 8 pm, Wilhelma Theater,
Neckartalstraße 9
www.wilhelma-theater.de
Charles Dickens’
The Pickwickians at Manor Farm
With Brian D. Barnes in English
Mar 13, 14, 8 pm,
Theater der Altstadt
ACTS + AC-T-CENTS
People in the Stuttgart area
who are interested in English-
language theatre or writing
theatre reviews for accents ,
should mark Tuesday, February
15 in their diaries. At the
Hochschule der Medien
(Nobelstraße, Stuttgart) at
7:30 pm, in the Hard Cut
Theatre, the theatre group
ACTS will be staging the last
performance of its show,
Ancestors. Also, a local theatre
school will present Jean
Genet’s The Maids. The
entrance fee is 5 euros.
www.acts.hdm-stuttgart.de
Send your events to
Mar 7, 3 and 7 pm, Mar 8, 10 am,
Landestheater Tübingen,
choice@accents-magazine.de tickets at d.a.i.
Our next issue is Apr/May
Deadline for info: March 7th
Mar 8, 8 pm, Theater am Ring
Villingen-Schwenningen
Mar 9, 7:30 pm, Theater Heilbronn
Mar 10, 4 and 7 pm,
Mühlehof Mühlacker
accents Mar 11, 7 pm,
Konzerthaus Ravensburg
magazine Mar 15-18, 4 and 8 pm,
Wilhelma Theater, see above
9th International Music
Solo Dance Theater Festival
Mar 17-20, Treffpunkt Rotebühlplatz
www.treffpunkt-rotebuehlplatz.de
Flight El 101
Music
Aidlingen
An Evening of Irish Theatre and Sydney Ellis and Band (Quintett)
Entertainment, NEAT New English Blues and Gospel, Mar 12, 8 pm,
American Theatre and Guests Schlosskeller
Mar 18 -19, 8 pm,
kkt – Kommunales Kontakt Theater,
Kissingerstraße 66a Bad Cannstatt
Fellbach
Giora Feidman
Mar 21, 22, 8 pm,
www.kkt-stuttgart.de Schwabenlandhalle
Rocky Horror Show Freiburg
The Original London Production The Harlem Gospel Singers & Band
Mar 18, 8 pm, Liederhalle, Feb 13, 8 pm, Konzerthaus Freiburg
Hegelsaal J.P. Bourelly’s “Vibe Music” feat.
Father of the Bride Cindy Blackman & T.M.Stevens
Based upon the novel Funk Rock, Feb 16, 8 pm, Jazzhaus,
by Edward Streeter www.jazzhaus.de
Apr 1-3, 8 -10, 15 -17, 7:30 pm Stokes
Stuttgart Theatre Center – Irish Folk
Kelley Theatre, see above Feb 22, 8 pm, Jazzhaus, see above
Mamma Mia (in German) Geislingen
Musical with 22 songs by ABBA Battlefield Band
Tue, Thur, Fri 8 pm, Wed 6:30 pm, Mar 4, Rätschenmühle
Sat 3 and 8 pm, Sun 2 and 7 pm, Göppingen
Palladium Theater, SI-Centrum, The Saints
tickets 0711 2228246 Australian (Punk)Rock
www.stageholding.de Feb 11, 8:30 pm, ODEON, see above
Elisabeth (in German) Chris Speed Trio “Iffy”
Musical, all year beginning Mar 6, Swing, Jazz, Avantgarde, Funk,
SI-Centrum, Apollo-Theater, see above Klezmer
tickets 0711 2228243 and -242 Feb 18, 8:30 pm, ODEON, see above
On tour in the region Josh Roseman Unit
Night of the Dance Apr 29, 8:30 pm,
Broadway Dance Company & ODEON, see above
Dublin Dance Factory
Feb 1, 8 pm, Forum am
Schlosspark, Ludwigsburg
Mar 16, Stadthalle Göppingen
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
American Drama Group Europe
www.adg-europe.com
Feb 14, 4 and 8 pm, Wilhelma
Theater, Stuttgart, see above
Mar 15, 7 pm, Offenburg
Apr 11, 8 pm, Ulmertheater
Pygmalion
American Drama Group Europe
Feb 25, 8 pm,
Stadttheater Pforzheim
Apr 27, 11 am and 4 pm,
Altes Schauspielhaus Stuttgart
Jungle Book
American Drama Group Europe
Ideal for kids 7th - 9th grade:
Mar 7, 11 am,
Fachoberschule Memmingen
May 4, 11 am,
Stadthalle Waiblingen Karlsruhe
For ages 16 and up: Wishbone Ash
Apr 8, 8 pm, Theater Fischbach Feb 2, substage, Karlsruhe
Friedrichshafen www.substage.de
Moon Palace by Paul Auster Leonberg
American Drama Group Europe The Big Chris Barber Band
Feb 28, 11 am, Ulmertheater Feb 19, 8 pm, Stadthalle
Mar 1, 3 and 7 pm, Mar 2 at 7 pm, Lörrach
Bürgerhaus Seepark, Gerhart- The Flying Pickets
Hauptmann-Straße 1, Freiburg Feb 27, 8 pm, Burghof
Advance booking: Ludwigsburg
BZ-Kartenservice 01805 556656 The Magnets
Mar 3, 4 and 8 pm, London a cappella, Feb 9, Scala
Theater Baden-Baden Fast Eddy’s Blue Band
Mar 4, 8 pm, Feb 11, 9 pm,
Bahnhof Fischbach Friedrichshafen Music Podium am Bahnhof
accents magazine
Möglingen Feat. Les Holroyd Meets Asia
Irish Folk Festival Feb 2, 8 pm, Capitol Mannheim
Mar 13, 7 pm Bürgerhaus, Feb 3, 7:30 pm,
info 07141 486433 Stadthalle Memmingen
Stuttgart Feb 4, 8 pm, Theaterhaus Stuttgart
Jon Lord & the Gemini Orchestra Irish Spring-Tour
Feb 7, Theaterhaus Gráda, Diedre Starr,
Alfred Brendel Meabh O’Hare & Conor Byrne,
Plays Mozart, Schumann, Darren Maloney & Joe Brennan
Schubert, Beethoven Mar 3, Kulturhaus Osterfeld,
Feb 10, 8 pm, Pforzheim
Liederhalle, Beethovensaal Mar 4, Die Halle,
Kelly Pardekooper & Band Stuttgart-Reichenbach
Feb 12, Merlin Mar 17, Burghof, Lörrach
Eddy Wilkinson (solo) John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
Feb 12, 9 pm, Cuckoos Nest Mar 5, 8 pm,
Vanessa Mae “Choreography” Schulturnhalle, Winterbach
With band and Neue Philharmonie Mar 8, 8 pm, Jazzhaus, see above
Frankfurt, Feb 14, 8 pm, Thin Lizzy
Liederhalle, Hegel-Saal Mar 10, Festhalle Durlach, Karlsruhe
Susan Cowsill Mar 13, 8 pm, Longhorn/LKA
Folk-Rock Mar 23, 8 pm, Konzertfabrik Z7,
Feb 18, Laboratorium Pratteln
7th Stuttgarter Bachwoche Moya Brennan
“Sadness and Joy” Apr 9, Karlstorbahnhof, Heidelberg
Opening concert with J.S. Bach’s Apr 22, Schloss, Laupheim
orchestral works, Feb 19, 7 pm, Apr 23, Bahnhof Fischbach,
Liederhalle, Beethovensaal Friedrichshafen
Various other Bach concerts Paddy Goes To Holyhead
(cantatas) Feb 20-27 Apr 9, Festspielhaus, Simmersfeld
Gedächtniskirche and Stiftskirche June 11, Kulturhaus Osterfeld,
www.bachakademie.de Pforzheim
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Apr 10, 8 pm, Stadthalle,
Photo: Jo Goertz

Brahmssaal, Karlsruhe
Apr 11, 8 pm, Liederhalle,
Beethovensaal, Stuttgart

Tickets can be bought at

Booking offices, by calling
Easy-ticket service 0711 2555555,
www.easyticket.de
SWR 1 ticket service 0180 5929211

Lectures / Discussions

Freiburg
Lecture
Jesus Christ Movie Star
Violence as Spectacle: Mel Gibson’s
The Passion of the Christ
Lecture in English with video clips
with Dr. Terri J. Hennings, Freiburg
Feb 1, 8 :15 pm, Lecture Hall 3044,
Denison Witmer KG III, University bldg
Feb 22, Hi, Nadlerstraße 20 www.carl-schurz-haus.de
Scott Hamilton & Allotria Jazzband Heidelberg
Jazz im Süden- Festival 2005 Discussion group with Dr. Steven
Feb 23, 8 pm, Altes Feuerwehrhaus Bloom
Parade der Nationen Feb 8: Should parents and children
International Military be allowed to legally divorce once
and Brass Music Parade children are eighteen years old?
Feb 27, 3:30 pm, Schleyerhalle Feb 15: St. Valentine’s Day special –
www.bundesmusikparade.de What is love?
Good Charlotte Feb 22: What is the difference
Mar 6, 8 pm, Longhorn/LKA between religion and superstition?
Jimmy Eat World Mar 1: Is it possible to outlaw war?
Mar 8, 8 pm, Longhorn/LKA Mar 8: Int. Women’s Day – Can
Botanica men and women ever be “equals”?
Mar 13, 8 pm, Laboratorium Mar 15: Are animal rights activists
Cradle Of Filth “fanatic”?
Mar 16, 8 pm, Longhorn/LKA Mar 22: Should people be allowed
Dwarves to buy and sell sex freely?
Mar 17, 8 pm, Röhre Mar 29: Are human beings actually
Willy deVille and an intelligent species?
the Mink deVille Band 6 pm, Deutsch-Amerikanisches
“The Crow Jane Alley Tour 2005” Institut, library, Sofienstraße 12,
Mar 21, 8 pm, 06221 60730
Liederhalle, Hegel-Saal www.dai-heidelberg.de
Eighteen Visions English-Language Video
Mar 31, Röhre Discussion Group
Tübingen Feb 2: The Am. Revolution – Part 4
Chicago: Black & White Feb 9: The Am. Revolution – Part 5
Matt Smith and band Feb 16: The Am. Revolution – Part 6
Mar 18, 9 pm, Hauptbahnhof Feb 23: The Congress – Part 1
On Tour in the Region Mar 2: The Congress – Part 2
Barclay James Harvest Mar 9: The Monkey Trial – Part 1

accents magazine accents choice 17

Mar 16: The Monkey Trial – Part 2
Mar 23: Empire of the Air – Part 1
Mar 30: Empire of the Air – Part 2
6 pm, d.a.i. library, see above
Karlsruhe
Slide show on Mauritius Island
Feb 15, 7:30 pm, DEF,
Haus der Jugendverbände,
Anne-Frank-Haus, Moltkestraße 24,
room 4, www.def-Karlsruhe.de
Lecture on Wales
By the DEF Karlsruhe
Feb 17, 7:30 pm, 0721 74623
The making of
“Welcome to Karlsruhe”
Photographers Stephan Wenz
and Richard Besserer talk about
their book “Welcome to Karlsruhe:
Begegnung mit einem Dorf”
Mar 2, 7:30 pm,
American Library, see Kids
Living with handicapped
students at a US High School
Talk by Caroline Ertsey
Mar 10, 7:30 pm,
American Library, see Kids
Stuttgart
Alternative Energy Sources:
Are They Cost-Effective?
Feb 18, 6-7 pm,
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum,
Charlottenplatz 17, 0711 228180,
www.daz.org
The Long Journey: The African
American Novel and History
With Prof. Dr. Maryemma Graham
Feb 15, 7:30 pm, DAZ, see above
Tübingen
An Evening with a Good Book
Literature with Walter Nilson
Feb 4, 6:30 pm:
Henry James: Portrait of a Lady
Mar 4, 6:30 pm: Margaret Atwood:
The Handmaid’s Tale
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut
(d.a.i.), Karlstraße 3, 07071 795260,
www.dai-tuebingen.de
Toni Morrison
and New World Writing
Lecture on African-American
literature, Dr. Maryemma Graham,
Univeristy of Kansas
Feb 14, 8:15 pm, d.a.i., see above
Talk at Eight: Discussion Group
on Current Issues
With Laurence Stallings
Feb 23, 8:15 pm, d.a.i., see above
Mar 16, 8:15 pm, d.a.i., see above
Study Group: Imperial Democracy:
accents forum
Let us hear your accent!
This informal meeting is
open to anyone who would
like add their voice to our
magazine. Comments,
criticisms, and contributions
are all welcome!
Sunday,
February 13th, 8:30 pm
o’reilly’s Irish pub
Reuchlinstraße 27, Stuttgart
Friday, April 8th, 8:30 pm
Biddy Early’s Irish pub
Marienstraße 28, Stuttgart
accents
magazine
18 accents choice
The Domestic Factors of Empire
With Laurence Stallings
and Scott Stelle
Feb 25, 6:45 pm, d.a.i., see above
Mar 18, 6:45 pm, d.a.i., see above
Matthew Sharpe:
The Sleeping Father
(Eine amerikanische Familie)
Reading with German translation
Mar 10, 8:15 pm, d.a.i., see above
Let’s Talk Business!
Understanding American and
German Business Communication
Styles in Business, Lecture by
Patrick Schmidt, Düsseldorf
Mar 15, 8:15 pm, d.a.i., see above
Workshops
Stuttgart
Work
Crazy Quilts
Sewing, Embroidery, Embellishment
Bilingual workshop with Halina
Judith Schmitz & Judy Ehmer
Sessions: Feb 11, Mar 17,
Apr 8, May 12, Jun 3, 9 -12 am
Registration by Feb 4, info@daz.org,
DAZ, see above
Kids
Kids
Karlsruhe
Storytime for Kids ages 2-5
Feb 10 and 24, 4 pm
Mar 10 and 24, 4 pm
Storytime for Kids ages 6 and up
Feb 18, 4 pm
Edward the ‘Crazy Man’
Mar 18, 4 pm
Eggs Mark the Spot
American Library, Kanalweg 52
www.american-library.de,
0721 72752
Stuttgart
Curious George
Double Weekend Felting Event
Kids 5-7 with parents,
8 and up can come alone
Feb 12 and 19, 3-4:30 pm,
Children’s English Library (CEL),
Etzelstrasse 25-27,
phone 0711 3582215,
www.celstuttgart.de,
herbe@yahoo.com
Performing Poetry
Through costume and acting,
poetry will be brought to life with
Steven Trevallion, ages 6 and up
Mar 5, 1-3 pm, please contact
pam.grimes@celstuttgart.de
Listen in
Reading for kids 3-6 with parents,
a related activity follows
Feb 26, 3:30-4:30 pm,
Roaring dinos
Mar 19, 3:30-4:30 pm,
1...2...3... numbers
Children’s English Library (CEL),
see above
Book Club for 9-12 year-olds
fbuttle@celstuttgart.de,
Children’s English Library (CEL),
see above
Waiblingen
Jungle Book
American Drama Group Europe
www.adg-europe.com
Ideal for kids 7th - 9th grade:
May 4, 11 am,
Stadthalle Waiblingen
accents
guide
Emergency
Police 110
Emerg
Fire Department 112
Ambulance & Emergency
Medical 19222
Poison Hotline 0761 19240
English Speaking Poison
Control 06131 232466
Doctor for House Calls
0711 2628012
Consulates/Embassies
sulates
Australia
030 8800880, Wallstraße 76-79,
Berlin
Canada
0711 2239678, Lange Straße 51,
Stuttgart
Ireland
030 220720, Friedrichstraße 200,
Berlin
New Zealand
030 206210, Friedrichstraße 60,
Berlin
South Africa
030 220730, Friedrichstraße 60,
Berlin
United Kingdom
0711 162690, Breite Straße 2,
Stuttgart
United States of America
069 75350, Siesmayerstraße 21,
Frankfurt
Schools & Preschools
ools
International School
of Stuttgart e.V.
0711 7696000, Sigmaringer Straße
257, Stuttgart, www.international-
school-stuttgart.de
Internationaler Montessori
Kindergarten e.V.
0711 93150510, Sulzgrieser
Straße 114, Esslingen
Little English House Gerlingen
English & Art for kids 3 and up
0711 816253, Hauptstraße 18/1
European School Karlsruhe
0721 683001, Albert-Schweitzer-
Straße 1, Karlsruhe
Little English House Aalen
English & Art for kids 3 and up,
07361 610165,
Stuttgarter Straße 116
English Garden
English and music lessons, 0761
8866181, Hasenweg 34, Freiburg
Oberlin Kinderuniversität
0761 85648,
Am Mühlbach 13, Freiburg,
www.oberlinkinderuniversitaet.de
International School
of Kreuzlingen Konstanz
0041 71 6722727
Hauptstraße 27, Kreuzlingen,
Switzerland, www.iskk.ch
English for preschoolers
and first graders in Freiburg
0761 1378177 Cathy Plog,
plogs@t-online.de
Libraries
Librari
Children’s English Library e.V.
0711 3582215, Etzelstraße 25-27,
Stuttgart, Tue 4-6 pm, Fri 3-6 pm,
Sat 2-5 pm, www.celstuttgart.de
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum
Charlottenplatz 17, Stuttgart,
Tue-Thu 2-6 pm
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Tübingen
Karlstraße 3, Tue-Fri 1-6 pm,
Thursdays 1- 8 pm
Karlsruhe American Library
0721 72752, Kanalweg 52,
Tue-Fri 2-6 pm, Wed 10-12 am,
Sat 10 am-2 pm,
www.amerikanische-bibliothek.de
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Heidelberg
Sophienstraße 12, Mon-Fri 1-6 pm,
Wed 1-8 pm, Sat 10 am-2 pm
Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg
Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 266,
Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 1:30 pm, 3-6 pm
Clubs & Organizations
Clubs &
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum /
James-F.-Byrnes-Institut e.V.
0711 228180, Charlottenplatz 17,
Stuttgart, www.daz.org
Metropolitan Club e.V.
0711 9980124 Mathew Dorrman,
18-35 years, www.metclub.de
Stuttgart Conversation Club
0711 8892252 Ed Wilson,
35 years and up, www.metclub.de
Baltimore Beauties
Quilting bee at the DAZ, Stuttgart,
every 3rd Fri of the month,
9 -12 am, 0711 243242 Judy Ehmer
Stuttgart Book Club
Helen@StuttgartBookClub.de
German-American Club 1948
0711 814270 Eberhard Stein
German-American
Women’s Club Stuttgart
info@gawc-stuttgart.de,
www.gawc-stuttgart.de
Anglo-Stuttgart Society
0711 568113 Günther Jaumann,
www.jaumann.de/ass
British Club Stuttgart
0711 455464 Alison Seyerle
International Choir of Stuttgart
0711 769600912 Carola,
int_choir_stuttgart@hotmail.com
Stuttgart Singers
07159 44991 Kathy Williams,
www.stuttgartsingers.de
Stuttgart German-American
Community Chorus
0711 463463 David A. Beckner
German-American Seniors Club
0711 2560867 Hildegard Göhrum
English Round Table, Esslingen
Conversation group,
0711 3451344, Claudia Stadelmann,
info@bueroservice-jaeschke.de
German Conversation Group
07032 77919 Elena Fieres
ELTAS e.V.
English Language Teachers’
Association Stuttgart, www.eltas.de
International Toastmasters Club,
Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe,
Freiburg, Ulm
accents magazine
presentational skills in English,
www.toastmasters-stuttgart.de
English-Speaking Stammtisch
S-Untertürkheim
0711 3041337 Derek Evans
Deutsche Australische
Freundschaft e.V.
07031 607521 Jeff Gomes,
www.deutsch-australische-
freundschaft.de
Friends Club International e.V.
Böblingen-Sindelfingen
07031 806522 Jan W. Boon
“Here We Are”
International Group Esslingen
07163 8580 Alison Unrath
English Morning Tea Aidlingen
07034 7339 Ellen Zeller,
Wed 10 am - 12 pm
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Tübingen
07071 795260, Karlstraße 3,
www.dai-tuebingen.de
Anglo-German Club Pforzheim
07231 472155 Dr Maurice Claypole,
www.agc-pforzheim.de
Pro Country e.V. Deutscher
Country & Western Dachverband
07150 33212 Ralf Russig,
www.pro-country-ev.de
English-Speaking Circle Starzach
and Landkreise Freundenstadt,
Tübingen & Zollernalb
07478 8290 Kevin MacInerney-May
Schorndorf English Club
07181 64440 Marion Rube
Deutsch-Amerikanisches
Institut Heidelberg
06221 60730, Sofienstraße 12,
www.dai-heidelberg.de
German-English
Friendship Club Karlsruhe
0721 74623 Christa Fuß,
info@def-karlsruhe.de,
www.def-karlsruhe.de
International Women’s Club
Karlsruhe e.V.
Annemarie Frenzel, Postfach
110448, 76054 Karlsruhe
Verein Deutsch-Amerikanischer
Freundschaft Pfullendorf
07552 6249 Dr Gary Anderson
Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg
0761 31647, Kaiser-Joseph-Straße
266, www.carl-schurz-haus.de
Network of English-Speaking
Women e.V.
07664 962450 Candice Siegenthaler,
neswomen@gmx.de
British International
Villingen-Schwenningen
07721 53278 Carol King,
www.bivs.gmxhome.de
Deutsch-Irischer Freundeskreis (dif)
0711 2361736, www.dif-bw.de
Verband der
Deutsch-Amerikanischen Clubs e.V.
07156 29164 Mi-Kiyoung Wöhler,
www.verband-dt-am-clubs.de
Kids & Playgroups
ygroups
English Playgroup Stuttgart-West
0711 6361169 Bryan Groenjes,
EKiZ Ludwigstraße 41-43,
0-6 years, Wed 4-6 pm
English Playgroup Stuttgart
0711 613955 Oona Roxburgh,
Schubartstraße 12/14, 0-9 years
www.englishplaygroup.de,
English Playgroup at the DAZ
Stuttgart
0711 228180 Kirstin Fuchs,
4-8 years, Tue & Thu 3-4 pm
English Playgroup Böblingen
07031 287647 Stefanie Spence,
accents magazine
The maniACTS Freiburg
Photo: Jungle Book
University English Department,
www.maniacts.de
Political Groups
Political
American Voices Abroad Tübingen
fritz.hackert@arcor.de,
www.americanvoicesabroad.org
Democrats Abroad
Heidelberg,
06221 3780 Charles Keene,
Stuttgart,
0162 3640812 Dennis O’Donohue,
www.democratsabroad.org
Republicans Abroad
Stuttgart,
07146 20677 John W. Gerrish,
www.republicansabroad.de
0-7 years, Wed 3:30-5 pm
English Playgroup Sindelfingen Business Organizations
07031 873823 Christine Mitlacher,
2-5 years, Tue 3:30 pm,
Mitlacher-sifi@t-online.de
English play- and activity group
siness American German Business Club
in Altdorf e.V. Stuttgart, Heidelberg,
07031 818763 Liane Kamin, Karlsruhe
0-7 years, Thu 3:30-5:30 pm 0711 2486078 Peggy Stinson,
St. Georg MKK English President, stuttgart@agbc.de,
Playgroup in Bonlanden www.agbc.de
07127 960046 Mhorag Heger, American Chamber of Commerce
0-7 years, Tue 3:30-5:30 pm in Germany e.V.
English Playgroup 0711 1667156 Prof Dr Roderich
Herrenberg/Nebringen C. Thümmel, Regional Chairperson,
07032 77452 Erika Laudenbach, www.amcham.de
0-5 years, Mon 3-5 pm
Meet, Chat and
Playgroup Waldenbuch
British Chamber of Commerce
in Germany e.V.
0711 25540460 Ralf Steppart,
07157 8561 Elaine Rauhöft, Regional Chairperson,
Fri from 4 pm onwards www.bccg.de
English on a Friday Afternoon USA forum Tübingen
Tübingen 07071 55970 Bernd Zeutschel,
07071 930466 Günter Henke, www.usaforum.de
Fri from 3:30 pm onwards
English Reading Group Freiburg
Mütterzentrum Weingarten, Religious Services
Krozingerstraße 11,
0761 286803 Amanda Lampert or
07666 99126 Fredi Trenkle
St. Catherine’s Church
Reli
(Anglican) 07151 68973,
Theater Groups Katharinenplatz 5, Stuttgart,
www.stuttgartanglicans.de
Theate
A.C.T.S. Anglophone
City Chapel e.V. Stuttgart
0711 6142956 Roland Krumm,
Marienstraße 12, www.citychapel.de
Collaborative Theatre of Stuttgart Anglican Church of Freiburg
0711 6858370 Stuart Marlow, 0761 904693 Minister Rev Robin
smarlow@hdm-stuttgart.de Stockitt, Katharinenstraße 9,
Kelley Theatre www.anglicans-fr.org
Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, International Baptist Church
0711 7292825, www.kelleytheatre.de
N.E.A.T.
New English American Theater
Stuttgart-Vaihingen:
0711 6874365 Pastor Jay McFadden;
Heidelberg-Sandhausen:
0711 634320, Stuttgart, 06224 51516 Pastor Richard Blake;
urban.spy@z.zgs.de, www.ibcstuttgart.de
www.neat-theater.de First Church of Christ, Scientist
Outcast International 0711 6207921 Heinz Clauss,
0711 634409, Stuttgart, www.christian-science-stuttgart.de
www.outcast-theater.de
Anglo-Irish
Theatre Group Tübingen Is your group missing?
07071 67968 David Hegarty,
dave@anglo-iren.de, Then tell us all about it!
www.anglo-iren.de info@accents-magazine.de
The Round Table Players, Aalen
Eva Schumm,
schumm@vhs-aalen.de
Roadside Theater
Patton Barracks, Heidelberg,
06221 175020,
www.roadsidetheater.com accents
Theaterhaus TiG 7
0621 154976, Theater Trennt e.V.
magazine
G7, 4 b, Mannheim, www.tig7.de
Evangelical Methodist Church
Stuttgart: 0711 251984
Dr Hans-Martin Niethammer;
Reutlingen:
07121 78546 Harald Rückert;
Karlsruhe: 0721 43721 Peter Vesen;
www.emk.de
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints
Stuttgart:
0711 3419240 Ralf Gierschke;
Mannheim:
06223 809040 Dr Frank Heckmann,
www.lds.org
Church of the Nazarene
0711 551147 Mary Schaar,
Friedenskirche, Bad Cannstatt
Evangelical Students
Community Tübingen
07071 61928 Heidi Abe
English Vesper Service Tübingen
Sun 6 pm, during the university
semester, 07071 51475,
www.institut-urchristentum.org
Jewish Observance,
Learning & Meditation, Tübingen
07071 968590 Martin H. Potrop,
SIRITSHUL@aol.com
St Columban’s
Mission Karlsruhe
(Anglican) 0721 28379
Dr Hanns Engelhardt
Calvary Chapel Freiburg e.V.
0761 7071333 David Pham,
www.ccfreiburg.de
Movie Theaters
Movie
CinemaxX Bosch-Areal, Stuttgart
0711 22007979, www.cinemaxx.de
Corso, Stuttgart-Vaihingen
0711 734916, Hauptstraße 6,
www.corso-kino.de
Kommunales Kino Stuttgart
0711 221320, Friedrichstraße 23 A,
www.koki.de / filmhaus
Kommunales Kino Esslingen
0711 310595, Maille 5,
www.koki-es.de
Scala Filmhaus Mühlacker
07041 3884, Bahnhofstraße 65
Kino-Center Weil der Stadt
07033 2241, Badtorstraße 21
CinemaxX Freiburg
0761 20281400, Bertholdstraße 50
Friedrichsbau-Lichtspiele
0761 36031, Kaiser-Joseph-
Straße 268
Sports
Sports
American Football Verband
Baden-Württemberg e.V.
0621 7624567 Andreas Stehle,
www.afv-bawue.de
Baden-Württembergischer
Baseball- und Softballverband
0711 705682 Jan van den Berg,
www.bw-baseball.de
Basketballverband
Baden-Württemberg e.V.
06224 975150 Roland Dopp,
www.bbwbasketball.net
Heidelberg International
Ski Club Charter
06221 767539 Margaret McGinley,
www.heidelbergski.com
Rugby Association
of Baden-Württemberg
0172 7384207 Jimmy Collins,
www.rugby-bw.de
accents guide 19
 Classifieds
Courses
Ashtanga Yoga Classes taught
in English. Heidelberg area.
Contact Louise 0621 8448861
English Courses for native and
non-native children offered. For
information contact Pam Grimes at
pam.grimes@celstuttgart.de
Englisch für Kinder! Learn by
playing, English and French, in
Stuttgart-Degerloch. For kids 2-12
years. Weekly courses and holiday
camps. (Places still available
Fasching, Feb 7-11, and Easter.)
Conny von Scholley 0711 6491537
www.spielendSprachenlernen.de
Business Services
U.S. INCOME TAX RETURNS
Professional Preparation
Tubingen/Stuttgart 07071 968590
or ZEELIG@aol.com
Need financial advice? Whether
you require German or international
solutions to your insurance and
investment requirements, we can
help plan your strategy. You have a
wide choice of products from an
independent advisor who knows
the market. Irys Ehmann, Indepen-
dent Financial Advisor, Eberhardstr.
47, Stuttgart, Phone 0711 6333643
info@irys-ehmann.com.
Claudia Ade Team translations.
English, French, Italian, Spanish,
Dutch, Russian. Tel: 0711 2568247
E-mail: Adeteam@aol.com
Welcome! We organize trips and
events for your company, for dome-
stic or international guests. Guided
tours, excursions, wine tastings
etc, in virtually any European or
Asian language. Call Claudia Ade or
Cornelia von Scholley: 0711 3803772.
www.welcome-stuttgart.de
Contact with Others
Looking for native English speaker
in Stuttgart for tandem-learning
English-German. Petra. E-mail to
pesuho@web.de
Get involved!
accents magazine
is seeking your support.
If you’re a doer,
then get involved!
info@accents-magazine.de
Online Editor
A manager for our website
Advertising Sales Rep.
A partner for selling ads
accents
magazine
20 Classifieds
To place an ad
Please send the text for your
classified ad to classifieds@
accents-magazine.de or fax
it to 0711 3102161. Please
include the category and
the issue in which it should
appear. One line of text con-
tains approx. 34 characters,
including spaces, full-stops
and commas.
Non-commercial
(personal) ads
Price for three lines E4
Each additional line E 0.90
Frame around ad E5
Commercial text ads
Price for three lines E 15
Each additional line E2
Frame around ad E7
Commercial designed ads
Your designed ad in black
and white or colour.
Column width 45.5 mm
or 95 mm for two columns.
Price for 30 mm E 59
Additional millimeter E 1.50
For 3 placements save 5 %
for 6 placements save 10 %
Add 16 % VAT to all prices.
Classified ads must be paid
in advance. For direct debit
send us your bank details
and signature or transfer
payment to:
accents media GbR
LBBW Stuttgart
bank code 60050101
account no. 2227094
The deadline for the Apr/May
2005 issue is March 7th.
Native speaker wanted for con-
versation. You correct my English,
I correct your German. 0711 832296
Employment
Native speakers wanted with
financial/technical/business
experience and excellent inter-
personal and language skills.
Freelance work. Contact: andrina.
rout@fokussprachen.com
For Sale
Beveled edged mirror in solid
wood frame (mahogany faced),
108 cm x 81 cm, EUR 120 ono.
Tel: 0711 4209779 or 0170 8006046
Employment Opportunities
Looking for someone, male or
female, Stuttgart area, interested
in a partnership in a Mobile Catering
Unit – with a difference! NOT
kebabs and rote Wurst: English
food! No bullshiters please. Tel
0711 4209779 or Fax 0711 5852756
accents magazine

Money Matters
Opening a bank account
This issue, accents introduces Money
Matters, our new column on finance writ-
ten by Günther Spieth, Stuttgart director
of the SEB Bank.* Our aim is to provide
help and advice on banking, taxation and
financial management for expatriates
living in Baden-Württemberg. Please
write in with questions and concerns!
You know the situation. You’ve arrived in
Baden-Württemberg, met your colleagues in
the office, and have just begun to feel as if
things were starting off rather well. Then
you get a phone call from the personnel
office. “What’s your bank account number?
Where shall we transfer your salary?” You
probably haven’t thought much about ope-
ning a German bank account. Up until now,
your account in your home country has
suited you just fine. Welcome to Germany!
If you want to get paid here, you need to
open a bank account (Girokonto.)
Germany has about 2,500 banks to
choose from. That doesn’t make the pro-
cess of choosing one any easier! The web-
site www.germanbanks.org offers a good
overview, in English, of all the banks in
Germany. You may even find that your bank
back home already has a branch here in
StuttgART
Big on the arts
Baden-Württemberg’s capital, Stuttgart,
is an exciting city to visit. For one thing,
because it’s a wonderfully located city –
built in a valley – with stunning palaces
and parks, and attractive architecture and
market squares. For another, because of
its variety of top quality arts and culture.
Eagerly awaited is the opening of Stutt-
gart’s new art gallery (Kunstmuseum) on
accents magazine
Germany. If so, you’ll still need to open
a new account with the German branch.
(Most employers insist on a German
account, and transferring funds to a foreign
account is expensive.) In general, local
branches of international banks are exper-
ienced in dealing with expatriates – regard-
less of nationality. If you need to choose
a new bank, you should consider the follow-
ing. Do you need a simple Girokonto to
transfer your monthly earnings into? Or
do you need more? Do you, for example,
need a credit card that directly debits your
account on a monthly basis? What about
internet banking, telephone banking, a
securities account (Wertpapierdepot)? Do
you need a loan or a personal consultant?
If you’re out of the country, you still need
to take care of your banking and have cash
readily available at low cost.
Time and again, I find that it’s helpful to
have a personal banker, who can advise you
on the steps to take, especially when you
have just arrived in a foreign country. It
makes the whole process easier, more per-
sonal. In any case, be sure to make an
appointment with someone when opening
an account at your new bank. There’s
always more to talk about than you think.
March 5, 2005. The new ‘glass cube’
(pictured above) building in the Schloss-
platz will in future house the city’s highly
prized art collection.
The legendary “Long Night of the
Museums” takes place on March 19,
allowing a midnight trip through 60
selected museums, public art galleries
and private galleries. It provides an ideal
opportunity to get to know Stuttgart’s
vibrant arts scene, in a great atmosphere.
The State Gallery (Staatsgalerie), one of
Germany’s most-visited art galleries, pre-
sents the exhibition “Funny Cuts” until
Good to Know
Gunter Spieth,
Director,
SEB Bank Stuttgart.
Email:
Guenther.Spieth
@seb.de
What documents do you need to open a
bank account? You’ll certainly need your
passport and your certificate of residence
(Meldebestätigung). You’ll also need to
bring along your residency permit (Aufent-
haltserlaubnis) and your last three salary
statements (Gehaltsabrechnungen). If you
do not have these yet, then ask about alter-
natives. A provisional residency permit and
a copy of your employment contract should
suffice on an interim basis.
*SEB Bank is a sponsor of accents magazine.
With over five million customers and
20,000 employees, SEB is one of the big-
gest financial service providers in northern
Europe. www.seb.de
April 17, 2005. It’s an extraordinary
exhibition on the subject of cartoons and
comics in contemporary art.
The art of celebration is best understood
in Stuttgart. Best then to mark down
April 16 - May 8 in your calendars:
it’ll be time to visit the exciting Spring
Festival (Frühlingsfest).
Written for accents by:
Stuttgart-Marketing GmbH
Tourist Information, ‘i-Punkt’
Königstraße 1A, 70173 Stuttgart
Tel 0711 22280, Fax 0711 2228253
info@stuttgart-tourist.de
Good to Know 21
Labyrinth
Behind the wheel
Getting a driver’s licence
When it comes to driving as a foreigner
in Germany, EU citizens have got it good.
They will never have to swap their licence
for a German one – no matter how badly
they drive! Others who arrive in Germany
with a valid driver’s licence from another
country can use that licence here – at least
for six months. If you’re here for longer
than six months but less than a year,
you can get your foreign licence officially
extended for another six months. Enquire
at your local police station.
After a year, non-EU citizens need to
acquire a German driver’s licence (Führer-
schein). For some, that involves simply
exchanging a foreign licence for a German
one. Others need to take a written exam, a
driving test or both. The lucky ones – who
get to do the straight swap – are citizens
of particular European countries, US states
and Canadian provinces deemed to have
the same learning and testing standards
as Germany. So, if you’re from Alabama,
Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware,
Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts,
Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota,
Utah or Virginia you’re supposed to have
learnt driving like a German. You simply
swap your licence for a German one.
You can trade in your license
but not your driving skills
Just because you’re American doesn’t
mean you can swap your driver’s license
for a German one. As you see from the
article above, for the German authorities,
some US drivers are clearly better than
others. I thought I was one of the lucky
ones with my quick license swap. But
honestly, I am a seriously handicapped
driver.
Maybe I should hand over a few
thousand euros to a driving school. If I
do, will they teach me how to drive 180
kilometers per hour on the Autobahn?
Will I finally get the hang of those traffic
circle things that have popped up every-
where? Will people stop pulling out in
front of me from the streets on my right,
while simultaneously telling me off?
Will I finally be able to park my mini-van?
The German authorities might not be
so quick with a license trade-in if they
22 Labyrinth
If you’re from the District of Columbia,
Connecticut, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska,
North Carolina, Oregon or Tennessee you
need only pass the written exam to obtain
a German licence. All other US drivers need
to pass the exam and the practical driving
test.
Canadian drivers from British Columbia,
Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec also have
to take both the written and the practical
road test, whereas their compatriots from all
other parts of Canada get the straight swap.
Drivers from all other non-EU English-
speaking countries – including Australia,
New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Singapore,
Ghana and Nigeria – all need to pass theory
and practical road tests. For South Africans,
it’s a little confusing: on some lists they’re
among the lucky ones, on others they’re
among those who have to take exams.
In fact, all these lists are continually being
updated, so check with your local police
station to see whether you’ve been ‘up-
graded’ or ‘downgraded’.
The good news is that holders of a foreign
driver’s licence don’t have to register at
a driving school to take part in weeks of
expensive driving theory and practice, legally
required of any beginner in Germany. You
knew that 99% of Americans learn to
drive at the age of 16. Either in the school
parking lot, the back fields of cousin
Joe’s farm, or, worse yet, on the streets
of New York City – where a honk and a
wave of the middle finger signal the right
of way. Our written test consists of
questions like: “What does the big red
octagon-shaped sign mean with the letters
STOP on it?” And when we take our
driving test, we parallel park for the first
and last time of our lives. No one is going
to need that sort of skill in a Wal-Mart
parking lot! As for New Yorkers, they
don’t parallel park, they double park. We
certainly don’t need to park, parallel or
otherwise at the bank, we use the drive-
thru. Prescription drop-off and pick-up:
drive-thru. Movie return: drive-thru. And
anyone in America with children old enough
to say “Happy Meal” is on a first-name
can just register for the various tests.
However, you do need (actually) to know
German road rules. Best book yourself into
a few lessons at a driving school.
Once you’ve worked out whether you’re
privileged (straight swap) or not privileged
(take the tests), make sure you go to the
trouble of getting a German licence within
three years of living here. After three years
as a resident with a foreign licence, you are
classed as a raw beginner. You’ll have to
register at a driving school, learn all that
theory, drive the required number of hours
with a nervous instructor and pass the
tests. But look on the bright side: once
you’ve weathered the storm you’ll have a
licence for life.
basis with the girl at window number one.
They are actually thinking of officially
changing the road tests in America. You
will not be required to parallel park, but
rather clear the drive-thru at a safe speed,
while dipping into your super-size order
of fries before pulling back into traffic.
What if someone from Baden-Württem-
berg’s driving authorities reads this, and
I am the cause of thousands of revoked
driver’s licenses? OK, since I’m starting
to get paranoid, I need to wrap this up.
Follow the advice in the article above and
if a written test and driving school aren’t
required, stick to grocery stores with big
parking lots.
And watch out for a future accents
article on using German public transpor-
tation. No parking required!
By Liz Gaiser
accents magazine
My Two Cents
By Katharine A. Schmidt
accents
magazine
Published by Advertising Founding Sponsors
Welcome to My Two Cents, our new accents media GbR Enquiries EnBW
Bryan Groenjes Bryan Groenjes Energie Baden-Württemberg AG
language column in accents. Maki Kuwayama ads@accents- www.enbw.de,
Geoff Rodoreda magazine.de Ernst & Young AG
Do you ever find yourself stumbling over Webmaster Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
an English word you hear in conversations Libanonstraße 58 Andrew Golledge www.de.ey.com,
70184 Stuttgart webmaster@accents- Ernst Klett Sprachen GmbH (PONS)
with friends and acquaintances here in Tel 0711 3102160 magazine.de www.pons.de,
Baden-Württemberg, or perhaps chuckling Fax 0711 3102161 Website Euchner GmbH+Co KG
at the use of an English expression in info@accents- www.accents- www.euchner.de,
advertising aimed at German speakers magazine.de magazine.de FKS Generalplaner GmbH
LBBW Stuttgart Graphic Design www.fks-gp.de,
– a “Happy End,” for instance, instead of Bank code 60050101 Brucklacher Visuelle Knöss International Executive Consultung
a “happy ending?” As a journalist and Account no. 2227094 Kommunikation www.knoess.org,
native New Yorker who has lived in Baden- www.brucklacher.de SEB AG Stuttgart
Württemberg for more than 10 years, I’ve Editor Prepress www.seb.de
Geoff Rodoreda CGS Möhrle
witnessed some strange twisting of the editor@accents- Vesoulerstraße 4 Advertisers and Corporate Subscribers
English language – among native and non- magazine.de 70839 Gerlingen Adolf Würth GmbH & Co.KG
native speakers alike. Arts Editor Biddy Early’s Irish Pub
So here is “My Two Cents,” a column Stuart Marlow Cost Corso Cinema International
Children’s Editor free Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum/
in which we will talk about how we use the Liz Hawighorst Published James-F.-Byrnes Institut e.V.
English language, whether in the pages of Copy Editor every two months European School Karlsruhe
accents, or in everyday life. In the months Katharine Schmidt Circulation International School of Stuttgart e.V.
ahead, we could look at common ex- Contributors 10,000 O’Donovan’s Irish Pub
Dagmar Fritz Distribution The Open University Business School
pressions that cause difficulties between Liz Gaiser everywhere o’reilly’s Irish Pub
speakers of British and American English, Gabriele Knöss English is spoken: Piccadilly English Shops
pick through the creative and sometimes Rebecca Perrin subscribing firms, Robert Bosch GmbH
dreadful vocabulary that crops up in busi- Thomas Ravel cultural institutions, SEB Bank
Friederike Rook shops, pubs, clubs,
ness writing, or simply delight in slang Chris Rynearson theatres, hotels
from all over. Then there are those pesky and selected
questions of capitalization, spelling and tourist centres
punctuation, or broader issues such as
gender equity and political correctness.
But I want to get your “two cents’
worth” into this space, too. Whatever your Subscribe
background tell me about the worst ear-
grinding words and expressions you come
across on the job, in advertising, in the to accents magazine and have all of Baden-Württemberg delivered right to your doorstep.
classroom, or a pub. If you want to take One-year subscription for 6 issues: 20 euros (Germany). You may pay by direct debit or deposit
check. Checks made payable to: accents media GbR, Libanonstraße 58, 70184 Stuttgart.
issue with something in this column or
elsewhere in accents, all the better. I pro-
mise to consult with other English-speaking Name
colleagues, and to check reference works
Street
for answers and alternatives.
Right now I’d like to take on “pseudo- Postal code City/Town
English.” By this I mean words and expres-
sions that sound like some kind of standard State/Country
English, but really aren’t - words whose Telephone Fax
meanings have been tweaked by adoption
into a German context. Some examples: Account holder (if different from recipient)

Account no.
Could you give me a call later on my handy?
My husband and I are going to the dinner Bank code (BLZ)
party with another pair.
Will I be able to use the beamer during my Name of bank
presentation?
Jonathan was mobbed so badly at work I hereby give accents media GbR permission to directly debit the above noted amount from my
that he needed to see a psychologist. account for a one-year subscription. Subscriptions are automatically renewed for one year if
“Hurry up, Mom, we’ll be late for my not cancelled in writing 8 weeks prior to expiry.
soccer (football) training!”
Date, Signature
Whaddaya think?
The first 10 subscribers in February win a PONS dictionary.
Please send your comments, questions,
and suggestions to:
mytwocents@accents-magazine.de or
accents magazine,
Libanonstraße 58, 70184 Stuttgart.

accents magazine 23