Located in south-western Germany,
Saarbrücken is the capital city of the small state of Saarland and makes an excellent base to explore the local area.
Centrepoint of the Altstadt is the St. Johanner Markt, a bustling pedestrian precinct with many shops, cafés and lanes to explore. From the fountain in the the marketplace there is a good view of the palace, which is located across the river and easily accessed via the Alte Brücke. The palace itself is a combination of old and new architectural styles. It serves as an administrative center and a venue for cultural events. The palace wall offers a good vantage point for panoramic photographs of the city. On the same side of the river, the Ludwigskirche (pictured) is the most famous example of Friedrich-Joachim Stengel's architecture in the city. Completely rebuilt after WW2, it is nevertheless a beautiful example of protestant baroque style.
I've added the best of the last couple of months' photos to the Nature of Australia gallery pages. I'm taking some inspiration from some words of the American photographer Walker Evans who described art in photography as "the capture and projection of the delights of seeing".
In each gallery page, click on a thumbnail to show the full size image and description. Left and right mouse keys can be used to quickly go from photo to photo. Please feel welcome to explore!
Open Office 3 was released this week. I have long appreciated the German spell checking in OOo2, and for almost all word processing tasks, have found Open Office Writer to be the match of Microsoft Word.
However, in the English version of OOo3, German spell checking does not work 'out of the box'. While there are dictionary extensions available online, I was looking for an easy solution to recommend.
The
German version of OOo3 does spell check both German and English texts. Open Office is free software.
This is a classroom matching game with a twist! Make two sets of cards, one with ailments, and one with advice. You will need several more cards than there are students in the group. Print them on different colours. Each student gets a card and needs to find someone with a card of the other colour. "Sounds simple", I hear you say. Well, make sure you read on, because there's much more depth to this than a simple game of finding a matching pair!
Sütterlin was named after the graphical designer, Ludwig Sütterlin, although the term is often applied to any old style of Germanic handwriting. Many German-speakers, particularly younger people, can no longer read this handwriting, although the skill is useful when called upon to decipher old letters and other texts.
Lübeck is one of the cities of the Hanseatic League (Hansestadt). This is evident in the Altstadt, with impressive buildings such as the Holstentor, the Rathaus, the Salzspeicher and the Marienkirche. The Holstentor is the symbol of the city and is the western (and only remaining) gate to the Altstadt. It bears the Latin inscription Concordia domi foris pax - "unity at home, peace abroad" and contains the town museum. The brick-gothic St. Marien zu Lübeckis the third largest church in Germany and was built 1250 to 1350. It is where Dietrich Buxtehude was organist from 1667 to 1707.
I've added the best of the last couple of months' photos to the 
Open Office 3 was released this week. I have long appreciated the German spell checking in OOo2, and for almost all word processing tasks, have found Open Office Writer to be the match of Microsoft Word.
This is a classroom matching game with a twist! Make two sets of cards, one with ailments, and one with advice. You will need several more cards than there are students in the group. Print them on different colours. Each student gets a card and needs to find someone with a card of the other colour. "Sounds simple", I hear you say. Well, make sure you read on, because there's much more depth to this than a simple game of finding a matching pair!
Sütterlin was named after the graphical designer, Ludwig Sütterlin, although the term is often applied to any old style of Germanic handwriting. Many German-speakers, particularly younger people, can no longer read this handwriting, although the skill is useful when called upon to decipher old letters and other texts.
Of course, there are many ways to learn German adjective endings, including my favourite, the RESE-NESE method:
