As a follow-up to yesterday's post Wer sind die Schwaben?, here's a wonderful little song, completely in Swabian and entrenched in the Swabian culture.

A few helps for understanding what they're singing:

-Swabians are really frugal, so frugal in fact, that they drop the final 'n' on a lot of words. Thus "Schwabenland" becomes "Schwabeland." "Mein" becomes "Mei." An exception to this is verbs and the final 'n' becomes a 't,' thus "sparen" (to save) becomes "sparet."

-"Wir" is pronounced as "mir" so "Mir sparet unser Geld" translates into German as "Wir sparen unser Geld."

-"St" at the beginning of a word in German is pronounced as "sht" or "scht." Swabians use this rule for any "st" anywhere in any word at all times. So "Du bist" becomes "Du bisch." "Das ist" becomes "Das isch."

-The official motto of Baden-Württemberg is "Wir können alles, außer Hochdeutsch." We can do anything, except speak high German. It's true. Just trust me.

auf Englisch:  Who are the Swabians?

The Swabians are the people of Württemberg, which is part of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. (The folk of the area of Baden are Badisch and their dialect is different.) Each area of Germany has its own characteristics and peculiarities, however since I spent a lot of time there, it's worth spending a bit of time getting to know these hard-working folk. They do not speak what you normally know of as "high German*," but they speak Swabian. It's a dialect far enough removed from Hochdeutsch that many Germans can't understand it.

Swabian is the English translation of "Schwaben." Die Schwaben. A few of their specialties are as follows:

1. Schaffen

Schaffen typically means something is being created, executed, or handled. Not to the Swabians. Schaffen means to work. And work they do. They have a phrase Schaffe, schaffe, Häusle baue:  Work, work, build a house. And that's exactly what they do. They are not stereotypically but in reality a very hard-working people and they have a strong infrastructure and stable economy in Baden-Württemberg.

Deutsch Perfekt is having a special contest for new subscribers to Deutsch Perfekt. When you order a subscription between now and February 28th, you have a chance to win 100 issues of Deutsch Perfekt! That's one copy of every issue they've printed thus far.

(And it's awesome, trust me--I have all 100 myself!)

You also have two options for receiving the magazine, either as a printed copy or as an e-paper and the e-paper costs a bit less than the printed copy.

Click here to read the details in German and to order your subscription! Remember, this offer expires February 28, 2014!

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Do you have questions about Deutsch Perfekt that I can answer for you? Write your qestion in the comments below! I'm more than happy to tell you about my favorite magazine!

Even Leonardo Dicaprio speaks German, which is helpful since his Grandma was from Nordrhein-Westfalen.

The Matterhorn is one of the most famous mountain peaks and it lies in southern Switzerland. Here a Swiss filmmaker has filmed it in timelapse and created a serene, peaceful short film that is sure to take your breath away:

the Peak from Christian Mülhauser on Vimeo.

The White Rose Exhibit is free to school classes, university classes, and the general public. All information is in English and German, and special events will be held at each location. For scheduling and special events information, please contact the organizer at a location that is convenient for you.

This exhibition displays the individuals and activities of the White Rose, a student resistance group that opposed the dictatorship of Nazi Germany. This group actively fought against the oppression of civil liberties and the persecution of Jews, and demanded an end to the war. The White Rose produced and distributed a total of six leaflets calling for resistance against the regime. After being discovered, the core members (six young students and one professor) were executed by the Nazi terror regime. Other members were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

Also note the Wisconsin connection to Nazi-Resistance and the White Rose: Mildred Fish-Harnack.  She was from WI, the only American woman, and was executed on Hitler's orders.

Thanks to Siggi Pivek at the Milwaukee German Immersion School for this information!