Living in Deutschland

From our Schnitzelbahn guest-blogger, BB:

I arrived for the first time March 8th 2004. Ops, take that back, Jan 6^th1966 was the first arrival. And that should explain this short preamble. After an 11 day adventure across the North Atlantic in a major winter storm on a WWII vintage rust bucket troop transport we (860 soldiers and a few families including my 4 month pregnant wife) docked. Bremerhaven was cold and dreary and we boarded a bus to catch a train to Schweinfurt. Bench seats and no heat. 10 hours later a Lieutenant met us at the train station in a jeep and took us to the BOQ. I met my commanding office the next day and was told to report to my unit and the next morning we left for a two week training exercise at Hoenfels. He said the officer wives would take care of her. (My wife). Nevertheless she was hysterical. Bless her heart; the hysteria lasted well into my son’s first year.

Truth be known, I loved Germany, the US Army, the beer, camaraderie, my shiny new Beetle, Tanks, and playing war games, assuming command of a tank company and generally feeling like I was 24 year old hot stuff!

So when the business opportunity arose, I was excited about returning to live and in the intervening years, I had traveled back several times on holidays and Army reunions. I was no stranger! So I have a different perspective about the Fatherland than some of my colleagues. I saw the development miracle over a period of 44 years.  Most of my colleagues are not yet 40!

I saw this country for the first time exactly 20 years after the end of WWII. They were climbing back but it was a slow climb. Restoration was complete or in progress for many partially destroyed buildings and there was a housing boom for multifamily houses in the cities that lacked any attempt at architectural creativity. It was simply a provide shelter exercise.  There were many, many vacant spaces that were evidence of once rubble piles.

This country went from a scientific and industrial power to a destroyed nation in a few years.  There were few young men, many widows and orphans, virtually no infrastructure, services, jobs, an unsympathetic foreign government and military occupation. Add in humiliation, shame, poverty and low morale.

Ok the US and the Allies did provide some leadership and lots of cash--- but what you see today in modern Germany is a testament to the human spirit coupled with an economic miracle! And three generations hence, the guilt is waning. Perhaps the seniors have learned from history, and the young—well they are the young.

We Americans can argue about high taxes, socialism, big brother, rules, holidays, business culture, high costs and more. I will now return to a country that I love above all after God and Family. But I will also be wary of crime, drugs, drunk drivers, the criminal tort system, unusually bad politics, huge disconnect with minorities, a dysfunctional health care system and economic malaise.

Yes, I will miss the calm, safe, ordered society and of course its beauty and its autobahns! I am not embarrassed or sad to return to my beloved America but I wonder sometimes if the answer between our two very diverse systems lies somewhere in the middle.

Advent Calendars for Everyone

Yesterday was the beginning of one of my favorite holiday traditions. Advent Calendars are great for everyone....for kids, it helps pass the time and count down the days till Christmas and for adults, it helps limit us to a piece of chocolate per day. Or is an excuse to eat some chocolate every day. Not sure which, but both are good ideas.   

The Germans have take Advent Calendars to new heights. They are everywhere, beginning in October. But be warned, if you wait until December, you may not find any! 

It's not just chocolate anymore - there really is something for everyone these days. Chocolate advent calendars still are by far the most popular ones, but there are plenty of non-candy calendars or manly calendars on offer. 

My Advent Calendar Guide: 

For Mom:
(probably you should give her a chocolate one, too)

The Tea Party Advent Calendar, which includes tea bags and holders in the shape of famous politicians, artists, and Biblical characters (Queen Elizabeth, Baby Jesus, Rudolph, Sarkozy, Mozart, and Merkel).  

   

For the Hello Kitty fan in your life:
(it's ok to admit it, you know you have one...or are one!)

For Father/Husband/Boyfriend:
The Handyman Advent Calendar. I got Herr J one so we could see what goodies are inside!  

  

For those who don't like chocolate:
(yes, i have met one or two in life...I both envy and pity them) 

Gummi Bear Advent Calendar, from the neighborhood Bears and Friends.    

For the younger brother:
Unfortunately, I really couldn't find a justification to buy one. But there are a few varieties out there of Lego Advent Calendars.  

For the teenage daughter/sister:
The Body Shop here has an advent calendar full of small-sized products.  

They seem to be out of them, so I'll just show an even more fun one...the famous Selfridge's advent calendar. Similar idea and cost, just the Body Shop uses their own products.  

Selfridge's Advent Calendar

For the Music Lover:
Or also good for parents who don't want to give more candy to the kids... The Musical Advent Calendar, with a new song each day (38 minutes in total).  

 

For children of all ages, or also for yourself:
The Kinder Surprise Egg Advent Calendar. Full of Kinder Eggs, with Christmas toys and ornaments inside. Also it opens up to have a nice 3D scene and a sleigh to hold a Kinder Egg.  

In the interest of full disclosure....I got one for myself. I love Kinder Eggs and am looking forward to hanging some of the ornaments on my Christmas tree.  Will post later pictures of what suprises are inside.

Kinder has a variety of advent calendars on offer...     Kinder Friends - with Bueno, Bons, Country and Chocolate 

Kinder Mix - with Happy Hippos, Bons, Suprise Eggs, and Chocolate

Or if Kinder is not your favorite, all of the major German and Swiss chocolatiers have at least one calendar on the market....

Ritter Sport

       Milka   Mozart

Niederegger (Marzipan and Chocolate) Lindt, as usual, has a wide variety of advent calendars...dark, light, spiced chocolates, kid's chocolates, pralines, and mini-truffels.

  

And, finally, we have my awesome, homemade Advent Calendar. What's in it? We'll see tomorrow....

The (evil) Zahlteller

In the article on my Corporate Cafeteria, I noted that my company has a small convenience store on site.  It is here that I met my arch enemy.  The old check out lady with the “zahlteller”.  I will battle against her and the forces of crappy customer service until my last breath.

The On-Site Convenience Store

First I will say that it is nice to have a small convenience store on the corporate campus.  If someone has a birthday, there are cards, streamers, paper plates/plastic utensils, and snack foods & drinks available.  Breakfast buns and muffins are available, and if you miss lunch you can get a sandwich and something to drink.  There is an ice-cream freezer for summer treats and a generic section with toiletries too.

Actually, the beverage section is pretty interesting for its location on a corporate campus.  Check out the wine & prosecco selection - it"s probably 15% of the entire tiny store!  

The beer cooler is not huge, but they do have major brands of Helles, Weissbier, Pilsner, and alcohol-free.  Even better, you can pre-order cases of beer for an office party.  I’ve attended a few where the celebrant ordered three cases of Augustiner, another three of Fransiskaner, added six bottles of prosecco, and had the cafeteria cater with some warm snack food.  Nice!

 

On-site convenience, decent selection of goods… so what’s the problem?

The Zahlteller Experience

Let me introduce you to the “zahlteller”, literally, the “counting plate”.  The zahlteller is near the end of the conveyor belt on which the groceries move, between the belt and the scanner in reach between both the customer and the cashier.  (Of course, you do know that in Germany you always bag your own groceries, right? And hurry up, the customers behind you are waiting impatiently!)  You'll see it at the bottom of this photo:  

 

This plate comes in many shapes and sizes, and usually has a brand or product printed on it.  In this case it is for a German brand of chocolate, Milka.  Some acrylic ones allow stores to change the advertisement.  I’m guessing the stores get these free or possibly even receive a small stipend for using a specific type or ad.  Some are flat, some curved, some simple, some fancy.  

               

The theoretical purpose of the teller is to make counting money easier, especially coins.  One party would place either payment or change on the plate, and the other can quickly count it and slide it off onto their hand.  Basically a process step for quality control.  I don’t have a problem with the concept, it’s the implementation.  My first experiences went like this.

Cashier:  [your total is] 5 euros and 40 cents (puts her hand over the plate)

Me:  (puts the payment in her hand, 6 euros)

Cashier:  Danke.  (slams the change on the zahlteller)  Next please!

I scrape the coins off the plate and the person behind me gets on my ass to encourage me to move along (no matter how fast you are, it’s never fast enough).  I’m left wondering:  is the plate only for her to use?  Why not me?

So the next time I purchase something, I blatantly stretch out my arm with an open hand to get the change.  Without looking, the cashier slams the change on the plate again.  The time thereafter, I place my open hand DIRECTLY OVER THE PLATE, and she takes considerable effort to slide her hand under mine and put the change on the plate again.

Finally, on the fourth go-around, I prepare lots of small change (rather than pay with a bill) and when she tells me the total, I went under her hand and slammed the change on the plate.  Her look was daggers, and the exchange went like this:

Cashier:  Put it in my hand next time.

Me:  But I always have my hand out and you never to that for me.  Why is it good enough for you but not for me?

Cashier:  (Glowering)  Next please!

It’s funny that when I was looking for pictures for this post that I found this from Switzerland.  That’s all I wanted!  I later found that this is similar in Italy... and those in the industry have a different take altogether. 

          

Links:  Change Plates in Italy, and thoughts on Point-of-Sale Chang Management 

Not surprisingly, the American firms here don’t do this mutch (e.g., Starbucks).  Many German shops also have let the practice go, so perhaps it was a generational thing.  Or perhaps this specific store had some customers complain about getting wrong change so they force their cashiers to stick to such a process.  In any event, for the next time you see a zahlteller, you have been warned.

Late Night Shopping Festival

At the end of September, we did something highly unusual in Germany…we shopped at night.  Yes, once a year in central Munich, it's shopping till midnight.

Because the food generally is fresher and has fewer preservatives here (I’m a big fan of that!) and the refrigerators are the size of an average college student’s dorm fridge (not a fan!), you’re at the grocery store/baker/butcher pretty often.  All of which close by 8pm and on Sundays. So, there’s usually a mad rush at 7:45pm to hunt and gather dinner.  That leaves Saturday as shopping day for all your other wants and needs. (I won't even try to describe the chaos of a Friday night when Saturday is a holiday!)

But one night a year, Munich residents can go out for dinner, drinks, and THEN go shopping.  Even better, it’s basically a giant block party so we can do all three at once! With bands, beer gardens, fashion shows, circus acts, and of course portable ATMs since many places do not accept credit cards.

Acrobats above the cosmetics department at Ludwig Beck

I’m not sure why the merchants don’t ask for this more often…nothing helps stimulate consumption like mixing beer gardens and shopping.  Obama wants the Germans to buy more? Talk to Angie about having more “Culture – Shopping Nights” in Germany! 

But this night is more than just later closing hours...it's an event, a real festival to celebrate this ordained breaking of the rules! There are bands, entertainment at many major stores, and outdoor beer gardens. Really, it's a big block party, but with a set schedule of events.  The crowds were quite impressive and in late September you never know if this will be the last warm day of the year or not.

The highlights:

“Authentic American Music” (acoustic country and bluegrass) at Ludwig Beck department store

Cuban and “Fiery Salsa” at the bedding store

“Modern Nostalgia” with lounge music and a vintage VW bus at the Eyewear store

And at the womenswear store, a capella cover versions from Elvis to Michael Jackson.

And “Cowboy and Cowgirl Feeling” with a Bull-riding competition at the denim store

Truly something for everyone…

I've learned to find most of the things I need here, but whenever someone asks me what I miss from home, the answer after "friends and family" is "Wow, I miss going to Target at 10pm and loading up the car with a month's worth of supplies and groceries."  Alas, today you find me walking to the store almost daily and carrying it home in environmentally friendly reusable fold-up shopping totes. But at least I have some cool shopping bags - and, for the record, I never make Herr J carry the pink Hello Kitty one. 

UPDATE:

Apparently Dresden has us beat, by taking it one step further and having an annual Sunday Shopping Day...oh, the heresy....and I so want to go!

 

The Company Doctor

At times, the cultural divide between the U.S. and Germany can be amusing, frustrating, or just plain interesting.  Recently, however, I felt like it could almost kill me.

There is a distinct cultural difference about how to deal with an illness – specifically, going to work and going to the doctor.  At least in my experience, workers in the U.S. show up for work when they are moderately ill.  You don’t want to spread the illness around, but you do duty and try not to burn sick/flex days.  Plus, you figure that you’ll probably shake the bug in a few days and tough it out.  If you don’t get better (or possibly get worse) over a few days, then you might take a day off and probably go to the doctor for some medicine.

In Germany, the orientation is completely the opposite.  If you are feeling the slightest bit unwell, by all means stay home from work (or go home early).  Call the doctor immediately and get an appointment… because he/she will give you a written order stating you must stay home (legally binding, and probably adds an extra day or two) and you can make sure the Black Plague has not returned.  I would love to see statistics on sick days taken between the U.S. and Germany… but Spiegel.de does have a funny take on the matter.

“Unable to Work Certificate” that German doctors sign for workers

Backtrack:  Frau A and I cooked dinner for German friends last weekend:  my colleague, his wife (expecting twins in November), and their 3-year old daughter now in “kindergarten”.  The little one, of course, is bringing home all sorts of new and exciting colds from the other kids, and I caught something.  No problem… just hang in there a few days and get through it.  I chugged water, downed lots of vitamins, and got to bed early every evening.  Nonetheless, after three days my chest was still really tight and I had one of those coughs that completely prevent you from sleeping.  I got 2 hours sleep for three straight nights (and was tortured by German late night television, so started a new book).  Not getting better, I went to the doctor on the Siemens campus.  Enter the cultural divide.

The doctors assumed that I just started experiencing the symptoms.  So their recommendation?  Sit ten minutes with an infrared lamp (looked like a radar gun) heating my chest and neck.   See my Blackberry photo below.  You can see the infrared lamp, the timer bar to the left, and the red glow on the wall and chair!

Infrared light treatment 

After the “infrarot-therapie” I spent another ten minutes inhaling steam from a mask connected to something looking and sounding like an aquarium pump.  It emitted Darth Vader sounds, which were pretty cool.

Inhallation treatment 

Then they gave me a couple of throat lozenges, smiled, and said “see you tomorrow for more infrared and inhalation”.  Huh?  Going on a week of an illness that was NOT getting better, I wanted some real medicine.  I realize these are legitimate treatment options, but not in this situation IMHO.

So I tried one more night – the “treatment” had no effect, of course.  No sleep at all.  So I went back again and they offered more French-fry lighting and the vapor-inhaler-thingy.  I complained, but they were adamant that you apply homeopathic remedies first.  I complained louder (Germans always say no at first – keep trying) so they relented a bit and gave some prescription medicine to help the coughing, but would not go to antibiotics.

Let me say more directly – this is the difference between what I got, and what I wanted:

Hint for readers under age 30: "Aloha, Mr. Hand"

So I will head home again tonight and hope this works.  If not, then tomorrow they will (hopefully) prescribe antibiotics.  If I had gone to the doctor on day 1, things would have worked much better.  There are, of course, some German doctors that will take more aggressive treatment, and I’m not saying that the U.S. way is better.  You just need to understand a system to be successful in it.  Hope I survive another evening to try again.

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It is now two days later, and things are somewhat better.  The stronger medicine to loosen up the chest and stop coughing was pretty good, so they think I’ll get through without antibiotics – but they admit that it would be totally gone by now if they had prescribed them right away.  Good enough to actually look forward to the weekend. 

Also, I did a little research and the steam inhaler and infrared light are legitimate therapies… I guess I need to learn to start these right away to try and prevent whatever bug from getting worse.  But guys are never that logical.

It appears that I am not the only one with interesting experiences with Germans and illness:

-   Germans can “schedule” their sick time

-   UK averages 7 sick days per year compared with Germans averaging 8.4 (20% more)

-   Germany are getting more clever and having doctors keep them away from work due to stress

One more cultural learning:  when I’m ill and really need to sleep, I turn to Nyquil (and take more than the recommended amount).  This is not available in Germany (the equivalent is prescription) so I always return from the U.S. with at least 2 bottles, hoping they will last.  This time, of course, I ran out.  Frau A recommended the “southern Nyquil” elixir, that comes in various forms:

           

I must admit this concoction did help.  I see it on the Web with Jack Daniels or Makers Mark, and I would guess SoCo would work too.  Unfortunately, I had left my scotch at Frau A’s place – we had a scotch tasting with some friends and I never brought it back.  So I turned to cognac as the base, and it went down quite smoothly.  It’s not a pure cognac:  the Remy Martin website describes Coeur de Cognac as an “elixir” with essence of apricot and pear.  Works for me.  I’m not a huge cognac drinker, but this is a good middle ground and I like it even when not coughing up my lungs.  Give it a try.  I did try it with traditional German/Austrian schnapps, and recommend against this alternative unless you have a titanium esophagus.  Schnapps in Germany & Austria is NOT like that in the U.S. – no sugar added at all – this is on the back burner for another post… until then, “gute Besserung”.

                                                           

The Company Cafeteria, Part I

As with any experience, after enough repetition you get desensitized.  I was reminded of this when Frau A came to visit me at the office, and we went to the cafeteria for lunch.  I can stomach most of the items available, but I thought she might starve!  I’ve since roasted lobster tail and made her other nice dinners to make up for it…

I am located at a large corporate site: about 20 buildings with their own data center and almost 11,000 people working there.  Below is an aerial photo of the campus – it has its own post office and postal code!

There are a lot of mouths to feed, and German efficiency is in full force trying to keep things cheap and fast for the employees (you definitely get a lot for your money here).  Also, lunch is very important in Germany as a social event – bringing food from home and eating at your desk is taboo.  When the clock reaches 11:59, time to head to the cafeteria, get your plastic tray, and line up!

For institutional food, it’s not too bad.  Quality control is strict:  they freeze a bit of each item daily and keep it for a month, so that if there is an outbreak of anything they can thaw out the samples and test them to verify what happened (no problems since I’ve been here).  Let's see what's on the menu.

The Salad Bar

The first thing you need to know is that in Germany – everywhere, not just my company – the salad bar is quite different.  Instead of having lettuce with toppings and other things to mix in, Germans treat salad bar items almost as small side dishes.  For example, you will see lettuce, tomato and feta cheese, but not too many other ingredients for an American mixed salad.  Instead, you will find:  whole boiled eggs, mix of radish and onion, mix of julienne carrots and cucumbers (in a little vinegar), mix of shredded cabbage in vinegar (“kraut”) with onion, and sliced red beets – lots of ‘em.  They do not mix these things in with the greens, but load them in a bowl side-by-side and eat each one separately.  Same thing in restaurants:  salad is often some mix of cabbage, onions, peppers, cucumber, (and often corn!) in oil and vinegar – not a greens/lettuce based mixture with “dry” add-ons and choice of dressing.  And don’t forget the beans….white, kidney, chickpeas, various sprouts, etc.

Likewise, the salad dressing station is quite different too.  The U.S. will typically have oil & vinegar, Italian, French, and maybe parmesan, raspberry vinaigrette, or blue cheese dressings.  Oil and balsamic vinegar are available here, but the Germans have different tastes and definitely like a LOT of dressing.  No German salad bar is complete without the “white dressing” in a generic pour container.  What is it?  I have no idea.  Definitely not a creamy Italian or a ranch.  I think it usually has yogurt or condensed milk, and uses a German “krauter” (herbs) mix that tends to toward dill and chives (and maybe a little garlic/onion).  Frau A hates it – she usually uses a few spoonfuls of the liquid in the feta/bell pepper/cucumber mix, creating a light vinaigrette.  You’ll see in the photo below that there are five variations on that theme in the cafeteria, all in large pitchers to make sure you can drown everything in sight.  Oil & vinegar are on the right, and there is one vinaigrette pitcher in the front, all by itself…

 

There are some croutons today, but they are rare and have no herbs/spices, just plain bread.  Too bad, because good croutons can hide so many sins…

Speaking of bread, you knew this was coming:  pretzels are available every day.  The German rolls (called “semmel” in Bavaria) are also standard.  Pretzels and rolls are located at the soup station.  There is usually one soup, almost always some cream-based vegetable soup with a very mild flavor.  But there is a distinctly German seasoning sauce called simply by its brand, Maggi.  It is a generic flavoring almost like soy sauce (but using other hydrolyzed vegetables) that is frequently added to anything to give some kick.

  

     



The Main Course

The cafeteria has a typical mix of entrees:  Always a German pork dish and varying alternative dishes (e.g. Turkish döner, Italian pastas, or Chinese stir-fry).  They usually have a pizza of the day (flammkuchen on Fridays – awesome!) and get crazy at times with theme weeks, such as “Mediterranean Week”.  Side dishes include daily variations on rice and potatoes of course  (there usually are several potato options!), with the most common vegetables being carrots, cucumbers, and cauliflower.  Warning:  whether it’s for an entrée or a side, Germans take a LOT of sauce.  No kidding, they put it on your plate with a big soup ladle!  For pasta that might be expected, but they use this for tzatziki, jus, or anything else with low viscosity.  Your know your schweinebraten will be swimming!

At times the cafeteria manager must know some of the main dishes will not be too popular, and sets up a “wurst” option – and there is always a huge line.  Who doesn’t want a nice bratwurst with mashed potatoes or fries?  And the Bavarian brats are a foot long!

 

Dessert

This topic overall deserves its own post, because German desserts are probably underrated as a whole.  Unfortunately, the same doesn’t hold true for the mass-production cafeteria versions.  There is always fresh fruit available (Germans really eat healthy in this regard), but the bulk of the options here are puddings/yogurts, of the German “quark” which is actually cheese but tastes like yogurt.  In the first example they offered quark, “griess pudding” (semolina-based, kind of like cream-of-wheat pudding), a couple fruit yogurts, hazelnut/vanilla/chocolate pudding, plus more that I didn’t write down!

 

In the second example they changed from long & narrow tubs to bowls, and offered plain yogurt with fruit, griess pudding again, strawberry pudding, caramel pudding, and cherry quark.  Notice a trend here?  Lots of sauce on entrees, liquid desserts… and I can tell you they are experts at filling those white bowls to the absolute top.

The cafeteria sometimes has slices of fruit cakes or torts, and I always jump on the “bienenstich” (literally, “bee sting”) when they make it.  I think this would be a hit in the U.S…. two layers of a light cake with honeyed almonds on top and a layer of vanilla custard/whipped cream in between (pic courtesy of Wikipedia).  Maybe Frau A can find a recipe…

In the summer things get even better, because they open a small Mövenpick ice cream stand!  The lesson, as always:  don’t schedule an important meeting after lunch.

Beverages

What to wash it down with?  No, there is no beer served.  However, they do have fresh fruit and vegetable smoothies made daily with cool names like Orient Express, Hawaii Cocktail, and Vitamin Power!  In addition to the requisite water/juice/soda, Germans will self mix a “spezi” which is Coke and Fanta, or buy the bottled equivalent from Coca-Cola called Mezzo Mix (Coke with Orange flavor).  Not to my taste but popular with the younger crowd.

            

If you want beer or the trendy Bionade (non-alcoholic drink brewed/fermented with the approach as beer), you have to go to the coffee shop next door (off campus) or to the small 7-11 style store on site.  There are two coffee bars on campus offering Segafredo espresso drinks that are incredibly crowded between 12 and 1, and a great place to have an informal afternoon meeting if you have a small group.

Look for more German food posts coming up.  Frau A loves schnitzel and that deserves a thread, plus the amazing diversity of German breads.  Until then, if you’re ever in Munich, let me know – stop by and you can experience my corporate cafeteria for yourself.  Guten appétit.

Understanding the Beer Bracket, Part II

This is a continuation of the post where we describe the major German beer regions and brewers by comparing them with their counterparts in NCAA basketball.  It's now time to look at the northern breweries and their NCAA basketball counterparts.

Nordrhein-Westphalia & Rheinland-Palitinate = The Big East

Nordrhein-Westphalia is the state in germany with the greatest population (18 of Germany’s 80 million) and the center of “liberal” politics in the country – think Northeast corridor in the U.S..  The breweries here, like Big East schools, often are located outside the large cities.  The brewing towns may be small, but the production is immense.  Despite having only about 10% of the 1200 breweries in Germany, they crank out 2.7 billion liters of beer each year (25% of German production volume).  Here’s who were talking about:

Warsteiner and Krombacher = Connecticut and Syracuse

These two brewers are located in the region north of Frankfurt (the NYC of Germany) and are the #2 and #1 volume leaders in Germany respectively. Each makes 450 million liters annually, with Warsteiner exporting 80 million of that.  Marketing is the priority here and it is executed to perfection – these brands are always on television with expensive commercials, sponsoring sports teams and events, and reminding everyone how good they are.  Their pilsners are good, though are missing the feeling of tradition and cultural integration like that found in Bavaria.  But it’s consumed and enjoyed in volume by locals and foreigners alike.

Bitburger = Pittsburgh

 

The town of Bitburg is in Rheinland-Palatinate, a state often overshadowed by it’s larger and richer neighbor Nordrhein Westphallen.  (Hello, Pennsylvania.)  The culture here is distinctly more blue collar, and the beer reflects that.  It’s the brew that factory workers grab after their shift.  Bitburger has a stronger presence of hops giving a, well, more bitter taste, and many northerners claim it is the real thing – not like the glossy offerings of Warsteiner and Krombacher.

Veltins = Villanova

Veltins is the seventh largest brewer in Germany and is strongly associated with the soccer team FC Schalke 04 which has a broad base of fans.  Why the match with Villanova?  Both Schalke and Villanova have blue colors. Like Villanova, Schalke is known for an open (rather than defensive) style of play.  Finally, Villanova is a catholic university… and Pope John Paul II became an honorary member of Schalke's Fussball Club after celebrating a mass in the stadium.  God, football and beer. 

Best of all, Schalke plays in the Veltins Arena, which seats 61,000 people, has a slide-out field, a Teflon-coated retractable roof, and was the first stadium with the four screens above the pitch (the new Cowboys stadium super-sized this concept).  More importantly, it has a 5km long beer pipeline, direct from the brewery to the stadium, which pumps 52,000 liters of beer to the concession stands during each home game!  Despite the fact that it’s yet another large sports-oriented beer, I have never actually tried one – but am looking forward to the tasting in our tournament.
 

 

Cologne and Düsseldorf

A final note on Nordrhein-Westphalia:  Are you familiar with the Rheinheitsgebot from 1517?  It defined “what is beer” and anything that did not conform to its definition was not recognized as beer.  Well, Cologne and Düsseldorf are not interested in obeying orders.  They’re like many teams in the Big East that will try any approach to basketball.  Stick to a zone defense (‘Cuse), go with a 4 guard lineup (‘Nova), run & gun (Louisville), or just cut and paste a football offensive line as your starting five (Pittsburgh)?  No problem.  Likewise, Cologne has “kölsch” and Düsseldorf “altbier”, neither of which conform to the RHG, and that’s just how the locals want it.  The are served in special kinds of glasses too, to make sure everyone knows this is not your grandfather’s lager.  In fact, these are not even clearly an ale or a lager, as they use mixed production techniques.

One more metaphor is quite useful for the Schnitzelbahn Beer Tournament: 

Franconia = Midwest/Grain Belt Basketball

              

Franconia is a region, not a state, comprising parts of Baden-Wüttemburg, southern Thuringia, and northern Bavaria.  Small towns, lots of local flavor, purist mentality – I think of kids shooting hoops in the driveway, no showboating or hard fouls, just great passing and accurate jump shots.  The city of Bamberg is the spiritual center of beer here (not sure if I would make this Indiana or Kansas…) and coincidentally has one of the best professional basketball teams in the German league!

Frau A and I have actually heard both Bavarians and northern Germans admit that they think Franconia has truly the best beer in Germany – and one colleague at work actually takes beer tours through the region!  Locals claim that it’s the pure water that makes the difference (water is the main ingredient in beer, after all), and everyone seems to take advantage:  there are more breweries concentrated here than anywhere else in Germany, though typically smaller (often a brewery/bar combo) and with limited or no distribution outside the region.  This is truly the heartland of beer, and Frau A & I are looking forward to a beer tour here – we will post when we do.