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GERMAN AMERICAN JOURNAL
APRIL/ MAY 2013
ODDS and ENDS Knut Returns as Germany’s Top Crime Life-Sized Display Writer Aims at the U.S. German crime writer Nele Neuhaus is making her U.S. debut with an English translation of ‘Snow White Must Die.’ Nele Neuhaus is Germany’s topselling crime novelist, and her work is catching on throughout Europe and in parts of Asia. After a major German publisher discovered one of her novels in a bookshop in 2008, her sales have been climbing steadily, topping 3.5 million. It has sold a million copies in Germany and has sold to publishers in 18 other countries. Now she aims to conquer the U.S. market, a feat no other German crime writer has pulled off. Minotaur Books released the first English translation of “Snow White Must Die,” a brutal murder mystery that takes place in the village of Altenhain, a small town in Germany. •
1972 - Volkswagen Beetle set a milestone
Knut, the polar bear is still attracting admirers in death: Knut’s hide has been mounted on a polyurethane body and is going on display at Berlin’s Natural History Museum. The statue prepared by taxidermists featuring the famous Berlin Zoo bear's fur and claws, with the synthetic body and glass eyes. Knut was hand-raised after his mother rejected him. He rose to stardom in 2007 as a cuddly cub, appearing on magazine covers, in a film and on mountains of merchandise. He died in 2011 after suffering from encephalitis. The museum dismissed criticism of the decision to display Knut, saying it gives everyone an opportunity to see him. •
February 17th, 1972, 41 years ago the 15,007,034th Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line surpassed the old record set by the Ford Model T, which shut down production in 1927 after a 19year run. It was German Chancellor Adolf Hitler who launched the VW in 1933 when he called on the legendary Ferdinand Porsche to design a low-cost "People's Car," or Volkswagen. Large-scale production didn't begin until after World War II. In 1949, exactly TWO Beetles were sold in the United States. •
What is @ called in Germany? In German, it sometimes used to be referred to as Klammeraffe (meaning "spider monkey"). Klammeraffe refers to the similarity of @ to the tail of a monkey grabbing a branch. Lately, it is mostly called at just like in English. In Swiss German and Luxembourgish, it is commonly called Affenschwanz ("monkey-tail"). •