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DER KÜCHENCHEF
Star Chefs Spice Up Kitzbühel Resort
The ski resort of Kitzbühel in Tyrol, Austria is hoping to provide visitors with both a luxurious snowy and foodie experience this winter season with their snow pass packages.
DER BLOGGER
Who Wants War with Iran?
Appearing alongside CIA Director David Petraeus before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said of Iran: “We don’t believe they’ve actually made the decision to go ahead with a nuclear weapon.”
WANDERLUST
Following in the Footsteps of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach wrote musical history and continues to delight people today. Some locations are, even today, strongly connected to the composer.
GERMERICANA
German Americans Cheer Bismarck's Triumph
Members of New York's German American groups came out in force to celebrate the end of the Franco-Prussian war that established Germany's unity. A report in The New York Times of April 10, 1871 make for interesting reading. Please click HERE
GERMERICA LINKS
RSS FEED
"Old Fritz" Portrait Sells for $1 Million
Sun, 10/11/2009 - 09:33 —
The only portrait of Frederick the Great painted during his reign as Prussian King fetched €670,000 ($1 million) at an auction in Bremen on Saturday.
The 1763 work by painter Johann Georg Ziesenis was “extremely important in art history terms,” said Jenny Dietze, spokeswoman for the auction house Bolland & Marotz, where the painting was sold to an anonymous bidder.
Frederick II, popularly konw as Der alte Fritz (old Fritz) sat for a portrait just once during his reign from 1740 to 1786. The painting is recognized for its intimate quality that shows a more private and human side to the monarch.
As such, the condition of its sale was that it must remain in Germany, as it was a valuable cultural asset, said Dietze.
The portrait was painted during a visit by Frederick II to his sister, the Duchess Philippine Charlotte of Brunswick at her summer castle, Salzdahlum.
At his sister's request, Frederick II made an exception to his rule of not sitting for portraits – a habit he had repeatedly explained in letters to his friend, the French writer and philosopher, Voltaire.
The public finally got to see the portrait in the State Museum of Hannover in 1937.
The Local/German media
News In Brief
DAS BUCH
What Caused World War I?
Many historians consider WWI to have been inevitable. Not so, maintains author Jack Beatty, a news analyst on National Public Radio, in his delightfully contrarian account, The Lost History of 1914.
STAMMTISCH
German-American Runs for President!
By Don Heinrich Tolzmann
How many U.S. Presidents have been of German descent? There are several of them, including Hoover and Eisenhower. How many know that a German-American is running for President today? His name is Ron Paul.
DAS KINO
'Farewell My Queen' Opens Berlinale
The curtain rose on the Berlin Film Festival Thursday with a lavish period drama telling the story of the French Revolution through the eyes of Maria Antoinette's servants, launching the 10-day Berlinale.
FUSSBALL
KULTUR
Guggenheim and Deutsche Bank to End Berlin Partnership
Once hailed as the mecca of contemporay art, Deutsche Bank AG and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation announced plans to close the Deutsche Guggenheim exhibition space on Berlin’s Unter den Linden boulevard when the current contract expires at the end of this year. The partnership between the two institutions began 14 years ago.