Did you know that for the past 9 weeks, we have been posting weekly Westcoast German “Mini” Newsletters for the reader in a hurry? Here is the latest one for the week of June 6th.
Every week, I try to include new “picture stories”, new events, new visits to German-related businesses, restaurants and stores. These mini newsletters also include opportunities for advertising etc. You can contact me at admin@westcoastgermannews.com.
You can also read stories on this blog. Stories that centre around the German, Austrian and Swiss Community in Western Canada. Whether it is about charities and churches, like the Martin Luther Church. Business and business-related entities, such as the German Canadian Business Association. Or just about people doing great things, I want to share it here. The biggest section of my blog has always been about events. What is coming up in the future and what happened in the past. I am trying hard to be the German archives representative here in Vancouver.
This brings me to my second book “75-German-Speaking Influential People in Western Canada” that I am writing right now. This book will contain stories of BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan and the Germans, Swiss and Austrians who came here for a better life and made Canada a better place to live. Inspired by Karl May, many Germans came here for the wide-open spaces and the beautiful landscapes and raised families here; had children and grand-children and even great-grandchildren before they left it in the hands of the next generation.
Let’s keep their memories alive, as well as the memory of the German monuments, buildings and reputations they built, some of which are being torn down, forgotten or ignored by young people. One things Germans did not do well, in my humble opinion, is pass the baton to someone younger, who could be an apprentice and learn how to take care of and maintain what we have. The Vancouver Alpen Club is one of the latest victims, as well as the Immanuel Baptisten Gemeinde, built with the hands of immigrants who used their skills and their time and money to make something to replace the family many had to leave behind.
Then, the Bauhaus Restaurant & Blenheim are now gone and Robsonstrasse with the Heidelberg House Restaurant & Schnitzel Haus left us years ago. German churches are getting harder to find and the Deutscher Platz Committee has stopped organizing annual events. Broadway used to have the Bavarian Room Restaurant and West Point Grey had “The Katzenjammer Cafe”. We even used to watch German movies at the Hollywood Theatre on Sunday afternoons. When I first got to Vancouver, I briefly joined the “German Canadian Congress”, which shut down. Then I was part of a Deutschfest Committee which never happened. The German Chamber of Commerce used to have an office here, but not anymore. We even had a Multicultural Museum that tried to set foot in Vancouver, but due to lack of funding it closed down.
What we need are an engaged group of people ready to use their vision and mandates to set up a German Cultural Centre and the funding to go with it. Someone who would be willing to leave their legacy towards building up a place that can replace all the things that have shut down and closed down forever. Do you know someone who would like to take on this important job? If yes, please contact me. In the meantime, let’s support what is left and do our best to leave a proper foundation for the next generation.
Support the Westcoast German News Blog with a donation, if you want to read more articles like this one.
Ein schönes Wochenende wünscht euch Elke Porter.
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