I’m sure you’ve all seen it, you look at the bottom of a stein or German made product and it says “Made in Germany”. You think you’ve acquired an item that was made in Germany. Right? Not necessarily so!
Whether you are aware of it or not, there are some German manufacturers that actually have their steins manufactured in China! They are then shipped back to Germany where the relief decoration, pewter lids, etc. are applied and before the items are put on the shelf, they are labeled “Made in Germany”.
This practice was only discovered during the late part of last year. A company by the name of Ziler and Born, along with their attorney wrote to all the companies involved and threatened legal action. So far, two of these firms, Armin Bay Keramic & Prasente GmbH and DOMEX Geschenk-Manufactur GmbH, just recently settled out of court after admitting to what they were doing wrong. They have also agreed to pay approximately $26,500 for each future violation.
You may now be thinking that you have nothing to be concerned about, but you should be aware that the agreements signed by these two companies have no application in the United States and you, as an American consumer, really have no protection against the mislabeled steins.
So how do you deal with this problem? The best way is to limit buying steins to those that have the marks of German manufacturers who are well known to be making their own products. Avoid the companies that are known to be outsourcing their steins to China or elsewhere. Below you will see an Armin Bay logo on the bottom of a Chinese made stein and also a picture of a DOMEX logo which came from a stein also manufactured in China.
Another way to be safe about making sure you are getting a stein that was really made in Germany is to make sure that the “Made in Germany” is etched or embossed into the clay. This has to be done before the stein is fired and it is illegal to import into Germany any product which already bears the words “Made in Germany”.
In an article dated May 21, 1999 of the Westerwald Zeitung in Germany, the following was published (this has been translated from German to English):
“Gerz Sells, Only the Name Remains
SESSENBACH/HILLSCHEID. The name of the beer stein manufacturer Gerz, who went bankrupt in Sessenbach, remains preserved, however, apparently not the production. As the Westerwald Zeitung found out yesterday, the DOMEX Geschenk-Manufaktur GmbH in Hillscheid bought the Gerz “mark”.
This means that in the future DOMEX will sell ceramic vessels with the name Gerz. However, these products will no longer be produced in Sessenbach. Oliver Sahm, Managing Partner of DOMEX: “The production is Sessenbach is not profitable. We will purchase the Gerz articles worldwide and finish them in Hillscheid. As much as possible we will use local suppliers for that.” Sahm initially expects to create ten new positions in his company. At present he has sixty employees. In their heyday, Gerz employed more than 200 people.
These steins have already begun to reach the marketplace. Buyer beware!
Countries all across the world celebrate the winter solstice holiday season in their own unique ways. Some such as Christmas and Hanukah are religious celebrations, while others are non-religious celebrations of nature, people and the coming spring solstice. The reasoning behind the various holiday celebrations can sometimes differ greatly, but there are a surprising number of commonalities among the celebratory traditions. Over the thousands of years that man has celebrated the season, each group influenced others with their traditions.
Today each country and faith celebrates the holiday in their own unique ways, but more often than not you can detect common themes shared between countries. In this article we will take a closer look at how Christmas is celebrated in Germany, during which you will see that their traditions are not unlike those shared by England and America.
The youth in many countries celebrate a beloved mystical figure such as Santa Claus and Germany is no different; the German equivalent of America’s Santa and England’s Father Christmas is none other than the kindly Kris Kringle. Unlike Santa, Kris Kringle is not responsible for passing out gifts to excited children - that duty is reserved by another holiday figure: Christkind.
In Germany children will write letters to Christkind (translated as the Christ Child), much like American children send letters to Santa in the North Pole. The German children place their letters into an envelope heavily adorned with glue and sugar. These envelopes are placed on windowsills where they can glitter in the gentle light of the moon.
And as if the German youth didn’t already celebrate enough kindly eternal figures there is yet one more: Saint Nicholas! Traditionally children will stuff their shoes with hay, straw or carrots every Christmas Eve and leave them on their doorsteps. When Saint Nicholas rides by later that evening on his proud white stallion he stops momentarily by each door so that his stallion can feed on the treats left behind. To thank the generous children, Saint Nicholas will replace the eaten hay and/or carrots with delicious candies.
Few things capture the holiday spirits of people better than the age-old Christmas tree. While millions of people set up their Christmas tree each and every year, a good portion of them don’t even realize that the tradition originated from Germany. Germans love their Christmas trees just as much as Americans and Englishmen… in fact it’s not uncommon to see more than one tree in a German household!
There are conflicting myths about how the Christmas tree first came to be, but one of the most common stories tells the tale of an old woodcutter that stumbled across a young hungry child in the woods. He stopped chopping trees for a bit to befriend and feed the child. Once their meal was finished the two went on their separate ways.
Early during the next morning the child appeared in front of the woodcutter and his wife in the form of a spirit. He identified himself as Christkind and thanked the surprised woodcutter for his act of kindness on the previous day. To repay the woodcutter’s good will, Christkind gave him the sprig of an evergreen tree and told him the tree from which the sprig came would bear fruit year round. In response to this miraculous incident, each year Germans started felling evergreen trees each winter and decorating them with ornaments, candies, candles and more.
Once Thanksgiving arrives in America you can be sure of one thing: virtually every mall and shopping outlet will be adorned with many festive Christmas decorations. Germans know how to kick the holiday shopping system into high gear too… in fact they have a name for this tradition: Kriskringlemart. During this time vendors and merchants will line the various town streets and offer special sales for Christmas. The festive decorations, scents and sounds of the holiday create a true feast for the senses.
What Christmas would be complete without a seemingly endless assortment of tasty foods and drinks? If you were to celebrate Christmas while in Germany you would have your fill of indulgent treats such as spiced cakes, cookies, handmade candies and cocoa. Although all the above are enough to satisfy the palate there are two specialties Germans are renowned for: gingerbread and gluwein (which is a spiced red wine). Bakers also produce a special type of dough called Christbaumgeback, which is molded into various shapes and hung on Christmas trees as adornments.
Each country has their own festive traditions that take place during the winter holiday season, but few are quite as memorable as Christmas in Germany. Those lucky enough to vacation in this wonderful country during the holiday season will leave with memories that will last them a lifetime.
Copyright ? Jared Winston, 2005. All Rights Reserved.
Daryl Plaza asked:
Did you know that there are many group Halloween costume ideas? Many times, friends, relatives, and individuals that work together elect to dress in attire that is similar in theme on Halloween. In all actuality, that is the most important aspect to creating costumes that are appropriate for an entire group…having a similar theme.
If your theme matches, then your group will be successful in their Halloween attire. Having group costumes can be a lot of fun. The most challenging aspect of the whole endeavor in Halloween costume ideas is choosing costumes that are similar in nature. It is often difficult to think of an idea that everyone will enjoy. However, once you have all agreed on an idea, this is a really fun activity that everyone will thoroughly enjoy! Here, you will be introduced to a few popular ideas to get you started on this year’s festivities!
If you grew up in the eighties, there are a number of group Halloween costume ideas that you may enjoy. First, you have the ever-popular Care Bears. There are many different bears to choose from. Surely each individual in your group can find one that truly matches their personality! Then, you have the popular “hair metal bands” that defined this era that you all can dress like. Let’s see, there was KISS, Aerosmith, Motley Crew, Skid Row, Poison, and even Guns N Roses and Metallica!
This can be a lot of fun! If you enjoyed the nineties, you may enjoy dressing like the Power Rangers, popular Disney movies from the decade, and more! If you are a Millennium type group, you may like dressing up like characters from Spongebob Squarepants, and even Hannah Montana!
There are other popular group Halloween costume ideas as well. You may elect to have a Harry Potter theme. This is actually REALLY popular. Then, there is the theme of the World Wide Wrestling Entertainment’s wrestlers like those from Smackdown, Raw, and ECW. John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, and even Batista are great choices for WWE Halloween costume ideas.
It is really easy to think about group ideas when it comes to costumes for Halloween. All it takes is a little bit of creativity and finding out what everyone else in the group likes, and you are sure to discover a group theme that everyone will agree on. If you are searching out group Halloween costume ideas, take these into consideration. Not only will your group be a big hit, but you are sure to have a lot of fun with them!