Schnitzel Republic: The 'Elephant' Door

Thursday, August 13, 2015

The 'Elephant' Door

Somewhere on the northside of Dresden, there's this charming old house...probably built around 1905 to 1910. The doorway....the standard tall door of the era. The artsy work? This was the odd thing....a giant elephant piece over the doorway.

Some story? You'd sit and ponder over this. This original guy...probably from 1905....who built the house....probably had some years in India or Africa. Maybe he was a safari guy, or just some zoo-manager in the local area of Dresden.

A nifty symbol of the house? Well.....today, I bet everyone within a mile of the home......knows of the elephant over the door, and has some invented story of who this guy was.

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About the Collection of Essays

First, note that this is NOT a blog....it's a collection of essays similar in nature to what the Greek Plutarch attempted to write.

Second: NO, there will be no Facebook connection to the essay collection. Besides the negativity with FB, there is just too much potential in the future for censorship with FB.

Third, this log of essays is written by an American (not a German). If you are a German seeking commentary written by a German, on Germans....look elsewhere.

Fourth, I will offer wit and sarcasm on Germany, Germans, Germanology, German political figures, German TV, German beer, German food, German humor (or lack of), German habits, German weirdness, German news, German autos, German brilliance, German stupidity, German customs, German Nazis, German history, and German stubbornness.

Fifth (new), the essays are not about ethnic pathways to your grandfather or great-grandmother who was German. It relates present day Germans. If you are trying to get some understanding to your ancestor who packed up and left sixty years ago from the old 'homeland', then this blog is probably not for you.

I was one of those Americans who did over twenty years of military time....married a German....and eventually returned as a retiree.

I'm one of the few who stood under the German umbrella.....paid German taxes for some years.....German social security.....and felt the various pains like Germans.

So, this is my all-purpose commentary essay, designed for non-Germans mostly (and those Germans who accidentally discover it). I tend to put German culture into the spotlight of sarcasm, wit and humor. I'm simply pointing out the richness and craziness of life in Germany, which even some Germans can't understand.

The amusing thing is that I'm merely repeating the exercise that Mark Twain performed in 1880, when he published "A Tramp Abroad". Various comments were dished out on the Germans....which apparently did not trigger any wars, chaos, climate change, or ill feelings.

Final note: I generally only delete comments that are spam-related, or hype over pure Nationalist Socialist agendas. I generally won't support one-sided arguments/agendas. I also don't think accusations of racism or nationalism are generally proven, and can reflect poorly upon the person making the accusations.