The German Cultural Garden continued to experience improvements primarily in the Goethe-Schiller Square.  On both sides of the Square the level was raised with 4 cubic feet of top soil so that perennials’ could be planted.  Among the perennials’ were hosta’s, Iris, day lilies and bulbs in the fall. Unfortunately 21 of our hosta’s and 20 plants of our petunias’ were stolen.

We also improved the flower beds around the gate and rearranged the flower bed on the upper and lower level of the sign.

In the fall we planted quite a few new perennials’ on the side beds.

On July 12 we staged a free concert at our garden which was well attended, however improvements will have to be made for the 2010 concert to attract more people. For example we would like to invite the seniors from the Judson Home and the German “Altenheim” home of the aged.On November 20^th we observed the traditional “Welttrauertag” “World Mourninf Day”. Here we also have to see if it can be improved to attract more people to give tribute to all the people who have suffered innocently and died because of politics.

Total donated working hour to the German Cultural Garden 175 of which the German organizations have contributed 59 and the Kopp family 116.

Reported by Chairperson Hans Kopp

Today, we are asking the Gardens community to help us identify details of some of our photos.  We have quite few images for which we know the date, the name of the place and/or the name of the event, but oftentimes we know nothing about individual the people depicted.  Many of us have visited, volunteered, and read extensively about the Gardens, while others have rich personal and family connections that go back in time.   Some of us know all the major historical themes, while others hold only small pieces of trivia about individual gardens, groups, people, and events.  But working together, we can answer questions that are both big and small.  Please click on the title or the “more” button to see the images and use the comments feature below to share your thoughts, insights and answers.

(more…)

Excerpts from Hans Kopp’s July 14, 2009 report on the concert:

A respectable crowd of native Germans, neighboring cultural garden members, and people touring the garden on foot or on bike. who took time out to enjoy this concert presented by Cleveland’s: “Deutscher Musikverein”.

The concert, under the direction of Rosie Wittine, was well received. It featured music from Vienna to the Rhineland and the North Sea. The selection ended with the rousing Radetsky March of Johan Strauss, Sr.

Christine Rappel, the president of the Musikverein, was thrilled that the band was given the opportunity to perform in the German Cultural Garden. She wants Musikverein to perform again in 2010 with an even larger band by augmenting Musikverein with additional musicians instrumentation from other local German bands.

To increase the attendance of those who would enjoy it, it will be publicized to a broader audience by using, for examples, flyers distributed at Judson sites and the German Altenheim.

July 12, 2009, from 1 to 3 PM: Free string orchestra concert celebrating the legacy of Conrad Mizer, one of the early Cleveland founders of the Cleveland Orchestra, among others. Bring your own folding chairs–no blankets, please. No rain date. Free parking on East Blvd; near North Blvd.