Tim Kretschmann recognized on OnMilwaukee.com

OnMilwaukee.com recognized founder of TKPNPodcast.com and host of the PageantCast and local radio program, the Stimmung Stunde, as one of the "100 Milwaukeeans you need to know." Check it out on http://onmilwaukee.com/buzz/articles/100people2.html

All of us over here would like to thank OnMilwaukee.com for this mention and the mention last year (Kretschmann's radio hour helps maintain German traditions) and wish them continued success.

Germany advance to round of 16

SOURCE: The Week in Germany

Substitutes Oliver Neuville and David Odonkor combined to score a last-gasp winner over ten-man Poland on Wednesday, clinching a place for host nation Germany in the World Cup's second-round knockout stage.

Oliver Neuville celebrates after scoring the winner in Germany's 1-0 victory over Poland. dpa photo

The stunning 1-0 victory in front of a 70,000-strong crowd in Dortmund's cavernous Westphalenstadion ended Germany's ten-year dry spell against its European rivals in the final stages of a tournament —and sparked elation across the country.

Germany , looking for a second successive win in Group A following last Friday's 4-2 victory over Costa Rica, missed a handful of chances before Neuville scored in the second minute of stoppage time, latching onto Odonkor's cross.

Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann said was proud of his team for a deserved win.

"I am proud of the team, the way they kept trying to force the goal," he said. "The result was thoroughly deserved as we kept our rhythm and our tempo. In the end, with our opponents down to ten men, we chased after the goal and it paid off."

Neuville, though, said Germany should have made more of its chances.

"I am not a hero — we should have scored more," he said. "I missed a great chance ten minutes earlier. Thank God it worked out as I got an important goal a minute before the end."

Just as it looked like Germany would have to settle for a scoreless draw, Neuville grabbed the winner. dpa photo

Germany now top Group A after two victories from two matches, but Klinsmann said a win in the final group stage game against Ecuador in Berlin on June 20 is essential — even though Ecuador's 3-0 win over Costa Rica on Thursday ensured Germany's place in the second round.

"We will enjoy this win and focus on Ecuador," he said. "We want to finish on top of this group."

Winning the group would likely allow Germany to avoid a possible second-round matchup with England, which beat the hosts 5-1 the last time the two sides played in Germany, in a qualifier for the 2002 World Cup.

Yet whether Germany meets England, Sweden or Paraguay in the second round, Klinsmann said the team could count on a tide of home support.

"We've got the support of the fans behind us and the atmosphere in the country is fantastic," he said. "They want to make things happen and the team will give their all for them. It is a big party."

Links:

Play by play: Germany beats Poland in cliff-hanger (from Germany Info)

	Interview: World Cup a time for fun and friendship, says Ambassador The one million international soccer fans expected to attend the World Cup in Germany can expect a hearty welcome — and a fun, festival-like atmosphere, Germany's Ambassador to the United States, Klaus Scharioth, has said.
	Huge fests offer party atmosphere to ticketless fans Even soccer fans without a ticket are flocking to Germany to soak up the party atmosphere of the World Cup at huge fan fests in towns and cities across the country.
	Environment a World Cup winner Germany is set to stage the most environmentally-friendly World Cup ever, with plans to limit waste, promote public transport and curb emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
	U.S. team enjoys warm welcome in Hamburg From U.S. expats and tourists to star-struck German school kids decked out in American flag t-shirts, a crowd of 1,000 people cheered on the U.S. soccer team at its first and only public practice ahead of the World Cup.
	Harness the magic of soccer, urges Annan UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has urged people around the world to harness the magic of soccer for the greater good, saying the World Cup being hosted by Germany has the potential to bring people and nations together.

Schlager singer/songwriter Deutscher dead

SOURCE: The Week in Germany

Germany last week said goodbye to pop legend Drafi Deutscher, a singer known as much for his infectious melodies as for his gossip-page scandals.

Deutscher created a cult hit with "Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht."

Deutscher, 60, died of acute heart failure last Friday at a clinic in Frankfurt after lying in a coma for several weeks. He had been in poor health since suffering two heart attacks in 1998.

Born in Berlin in 1946, Deutscher led a life out of a fairy tale, beginning with a childhood in which he was shuffled around between foster homes. As a teenager, he lived for a time in a homeless shelter before a scout discovered him at a talent contest in 1963.

Deutscher had a couple of hits long before he turned twenty, but his big breakthrough occurred in 1965 when his now standard "Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht," went to number one on the pop charts.

That song that experienced a second wave of popularity in the Schlager revival of the late 1990s, also appearing on U.S. hit charts under the title "Marble Breaks and Iron Bends," making Deutscher the first German pop singer to have a hit across the pond.

In the decades that followed, Deutscher took a step back from the limelight, concentrating on composing and songwriting to advance the careers of Tina Rainford with "Silver Bird" in 1976 and "Fly Away Pretty Flamingo" by Peggy March. He made a star out of Italian singer Bino with the song "Mama Leone."

In later years, he made headlines for a messy divorce from his second wife Isabell Varell and for neglecting to pay his taxes, but he continued to produce hits, sometimes under as many as twenty different pseudonyms.

Obituaries in German newspapers remembered Deutscher as a man committed to his music, whose hits — love them or hate them — are perennial party hits.

"First comes the music, after that nothing for a long time," he once said.

Museum exhibitions take on soccer, for kicks

SOURCE: The Week in Germany

Germany's museum landscape is awash with exhibitions celebrating the many facets of soccer in German life, from the sport's ability to build bridges between people and cultures to the integral role played by the referee as arbiter. Several major German cities are doing their part to support the idea that soccer is as much culture as it is sport.

Soccer Globe at the Pariser Platz at Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

Image courtesy of 3deluxe

Lit up by some 20,000 LEDs lights, Germany's Soccer Globe has become one of the most popular soccer destinations outside of the 12 World Cup stadiums. Designed to resemble a regulation soccer ball — with 20 hexagonal and 12 pentagonal panels — the Football Globe is a museum featuring interactive games, virtual installations and panoramic projector shows. Exhibits inside give fans the chance to take the referee's whistle, meet the stars, test their virtual shooting prowess and feel the roller-coaster emotions of fans all around the world.

"Is the ball round?" at the Technische Sammlung Dresden

This interactive exhibition, geared towards kids ages 5 though 12, introduces young people to aspects of soccer they might not have been familiar with through hands-on experiments. Among other parallels between soccer and the worlds of politics, science, and culture, "Is the Ball Round" shows visitors to the Technische Sammlung Dresden how a good understanding of physics makes it easier for a young player to control the ball.

"Goal! Soccer and Television," at the Berlin Museum for Film and Television

The first- ever temporary exhibition hosted by the German Film Museum is "Goal! Soccer and Television." The multimedia presentation strings together archival footage of Germany's most exciting soccer matches over the past few decades and asks how the popularity of soccer as a sport has changed the way we watch television.

"Soccer: One Game — Many Worlds" at the Munich City Museum

This exhibition looks at how various cultures around the world interpret, play, and watch a soccer game. The sport's implications for world politics and the ways in which it reflects a particular society, "One Game — Many Worlds" is said to be an exhibition "for those who love soccer and those who hate soccer."

"Lord of the Rules — The Soccer Referee" at the Leipzig City History Museum

The first ever exhibition to focus on the role of the referee in soccer also looks at the development of rules of the game throughout the sport's history. The multimedia presentation traces the history of refereeing from its beginnings in ancient Greece and introduces visitors to some of the top names among the men and women who make the calls.

"The World Language of Soccer," at the Gasteig cultural center, Munich

The photography exhibition "The World Language of Soccer" is on the last leg of its dozen-country tour, introducing audiences around the world to a series of graceful mid-motion shots while depicting soccer as a sport that unites nations and connects people across cultures. "The World Language of Soccer" has already made stops at 143 Goethe Institut cultural centers in 77 countries around the world.

"A Heart is Not a Soccer Ball" by the Berlin theater group "RambaZamba/Sonnenuhr, August 1-4 at the Berlin Kesselhaus

Staged by one of the most innovative and engaging theater troupes working today, "A Heart is Not a Soccer Ball" imagines what would happen to a group of people who prepare for a soccer tournament, only to discover that the ball has gone missing.

"Theater Sport — World Cup" at the Munich Volkstheater June 26-July 7

As part of the official World Cup cultural program, the Munich Volkstheater will kick off a marathon of improvisational theater involving 16 teams from around the world in a program called "Theater Sport — World Cup." The festival will kick off in Munich June 26 and will see 55 matches in all in Berlin, Bremen, Dresden, Goettingen, Halle, Hamburg, Hanover, and Nuremberg.

New research finds possible health benefit in beer

SOURCE: The Week in Germany

One of the main ingredients found in the hops used to make beer may help prevent prostate cancer and enlargement, according to a new study. In the meantime, German brewers have already developed a new brew featuring a higher amount of the substance.

Drink to your health! Visitors to the Oktoberfest taking a swill.

Oregon State University researchers announced early this week that the compound xanthohumol inhibits a specific protein in the cells along the surface of the prostate gland. In doing so, it prevents the protein from signaling uncontrolled cell growth that often leads to cancer.

"Xanthohumol is one of the more significant compounds for cancer chemoprevention that we have studied," said Fred Stevens, a researcher with the Oregon State Linus Pauling Institute. "The published literature and research on its properties are just exploding at this point, and there's a great deal of interest."

The new research is further evidence in a series of studies that links xanthohumol to lower instances cancer and cell growth in rats.

Unfortunately, researchers estimate that people would have to drink as many as 17 beers to acquire enough of the substance for it to make a difference.

"We can't say that drinking beer will help prevent cancer," Stevens said.

Still, the substance's cancer-fighting properties could be developed into a successful nutritional additive or supplement, they say.

Some domestic U.S. beers already have higher levels of these compounds than others, especially porter, stout and ale brews.

German brewers aim to make beer healthier

German brewers in the meantime have developed what may soon be marketed as healthy beer — or beer with higher concentrations of xanthohumol.

Working with the Weihenstephan brewery, the oldest brewery in the world, researchers at the Technical University of Munich have brewed a new beer, called "Xan," which contains from ten to thirty times as much xanthohumol as traditional brews. Brewed according to Germany's strict beer purity standards, Xan went on sale in May — but at a cost 80% higher than the competition.

Still, many more studies need to be completed before companies can bring products containing high levels of the compound, according to Dr. Clarissa Gerhaeuser from the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg.

"These were all cell culture tests — in the human body, the result could end up completely different."

Links:

Oregon State University

Weihenstephan Brewery

Germany Info iPod Giveaway!

You don't have to score a goal to be a winner in this contest.

Just subscribe to one — or all — of our Germany Info newsletters:

• The Week in Germany (News from Germany, in English)
• Deutschland Nachrichten (News from Germany, in German)
• Germany in Class (News and information for teachers, in English)

As a NEW subscriber between June 19 and July 9, you could win an iPod Nano!

Germany Info will choose at random three people who subscribed during this period and award them a super-slick black iPod Nano inscribed with www.germany.info.

One entry per household. Employees or dependants of the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany are ineligible.

SOURCE: The Week In Germany

An eye for trouble disguised as a nose for news

By Mike Moore

Maybe I'll have to start carrying a badge. I'll need to take off a couple of days to perfect flipping it open and shut in one fluid motion.

Don't want anybody mixing me up with Jeff. "Jeff from the Journal" is how the caller introduced himself when he dialed up a couple of contestants from the recent Miss ChocolateFest pageant.

There are a few blind spots in my view of the newsroom, but I'm fairly sure nobody by that name snuck in and commandeered a computer here. Yes, he could've meant that other paper, but he didn't.

The guy wasn't a local at all. A few of his questions made that clear.

"The girls could tell he didn't know what he was talking about," said Caitlin Morrall, who won the pageant last year and got involved in coaching this time.

Street smarts and good looks? I'd develop a twitch while interviewing women like that.

Except it wasn't the caller's professional polish that prompted the contestants and their families to get off the line. It was the kinds of questions he asked. I don't recall a chapter on "Uncomfortable Prying" in the Newswriting 101 textbook.

"He knows a lot of information about these girls that he would've had to do a lot of digging to get," Morrall said.

While she's never received one of those calls, this sounds to her like the same guy who strikes up conversations with her at pageants. That one's a regular on the circuit, although not a welcome one.

Morrall said the guy sometimes asks her for an autograph, although on those occasions he wants to be called Chris. Starting to sound like a Vegas commercial, eh? "It doesn't harm anyone. It's just odd," Morrall said, though she does wonder how far he'll go.

It might yet harm the caller himself. Detective Sgt. Bret Maus said, if Burlington city police can connect the pageant stalker to the local calls, the guy could be charged. Until they're sure, it's not fair for me to name him.

I don't need a name to flog him with my keyboard. Go pretend to be someone else, buddy. It's bad enough you're creeping people out. Leave us journalists out of it. We're still busy trying to finish off the ghost of Jayson Blair. (That silver bullet has to be in the filing cabinet somewhere.) Besides, you're killing the aura. Real writers just sit back and wait for the women to come running. Making sure to trim their fingernails every few weeks while they're waiting, of course.

If you're going to pose as a reporter, there are more productive ways to do it. One online message board suggests posing as a member of the press to get access to your favorite celebrity.

Better yet, you'll find all the curves you can handle with the free access to scientific charts and journals.

Just know your limits. There's a movie scheduled to come out soon called "Black Dahlia," about a grisly murder in the 1940s. Rumor was the victim, an aspiring actress, had been posing as a reporter to get access to murder cases.

However tame the pageant hound has been, Maus said Oshkosh police appreciated the heads-up so they can try to prevent the man from bothering anyone at the Miss Wisconsin event later this month. Morrall will compete for that title.

I'm trusting, after these intrusions, everyone can still distinguish a nose for news from an eye for trouble.

Mike Moore's local news column runs three days a week. He can be reached at (262) 631-1724 or by e-mail at: mike.moore@lee.net

SOURCE

Chancellor launches weekly "podcast"

SOURCE: The Week in Germany

In what is believed to be a first among world leaders, Chancellor Angela Merkel has begun "podcasting" her wit and wisdom via downloadable video clips.

The weekly podcast, called "Die Kanzlerin direkt," or "The Chancellor Direct," will typically feature Merkel's thoughts on political topics.

"New technologies like this are fascinating, and not just to young people," Merkel said in launching her inaugural podcast on Thursday. "I also get a kick out of them."

The new clips, available for free from the German leader's bundeskanzlerin.de website and Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes music store, can be played either on a computer or, more typically, Apple's ubiquitous iPod portable music player.

The idea is "to be true to the original democratic principle and make information available to everyone so that they can form their own opinions," government spokesperson Thomas Steg told reporters.

The weekly podcast, called "Die Kanzlerin direkt," or "The Chancellor Direct," will typically feature Merkel's thoughts on political topics.

In the debut video, however, Merkel muses on the soccer World Cup that opens Friday in Munich and runs through July 9.

"We're coming down to the wire. The World Cup kick-off is immediately ahead of us," she says. "Millions of people have been waiting for this moment — not only here in Germany, but everywhere in the world.

"All of our players are highly motivated and I am firmly convinced they will give their very best. And we should as well. You know, the fans are something like a twelfth man on the field.

"We all want to show that Germany is capable of putting in a top-class performance."

Merkel said Germany was looking forward to welcoming an expected one million international guests at the tournament. "We want to show them what this widely diverse country has to offer," she added. "Both in sporting and cultural terms."

The World Cup is the most-watched global event and runs through to the final on July 9 in Berlin. The tournament's 64 matches will be held in 12 cities across the country.

Since taking office in November, Merkel, a physicist by training, has worked to increase Germany's profile as a high-tech hub. Besides launching her weekly podcasts, she has increased funding for research and development.

Links:

Germany.info podacts (from Germany Info)

bundeskanzlerin.de

German-built space lab arrives in U.S.

The German-built Columbus space laboratory — Europe's biggest single contribution to the International Space Station — has arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for one last pit stop on its way to a final destination in the inky depths of space.

Columbus is scheduled to be flown aboard a space shuttle to the station in the second half of 2007.

The lab, which took ten years to complete, will allow researchers to conduct a broad range of scientific experiments in the weightlessness of orbit.

"We made Columbus today so that tomorrow we can find answers to questions we today do not even know," said Alan Thirkettle, from the European Space Agency (ESA), at a ceremony marking the module's arrival in Florida last Friday.

Columbus is scheduled to be flown aboard a space shuttle to the station in the second half of 2007. Once in orbit, its operations will be managed from the new Columbus Control Center in the Munich suburb of Oberpfaffenhofen.

The cylindrical, 26-foot-long module was built by EADS Space Transportation in the northern port city of Bremen at a cost of approximately $1 billion.

It provides enough space for three crew members to conduct experiments under zero-gravity conditions.

In the laboratory, scientists can carry out investigations in all disciplines of basic research such as biotechnology, medicine and materials science as well as experiments in applied technology projects.

German astronaut Thomas Reiter will spend several months aboard the International Space Station. NASA photo

In a separate development in Germany's efforts to unlock the mystery and wonder of space, officials said German astronaut Thomas Reiter is about to become the first European to live and work on the International Space Station (ISS) on a long-duration mission.

Reiter will reach the ISS on a space shuttle flight currently planned for July, with his return to Earth scheduled for February, the ESA said in a statement.

It will be Reiter's second long-duration mission on board a space station, following his six-month stay on the Russian Mir ten years ago.

"I am confident that this mission will give Europe a lot of operational experience and scientific results which will further prepare us for the exciting and challenging times ahead," he said.

Links:

Merkel touts aerospace industry on high-tech tour (from Germany Info)

European Space Agency

SOURCE: The Week in Germany

Huge fests offer party atmosphere to ticketless fans

Even soccer fans without a ticket are flocking to Germany to soak up the party atmosphere of the World Cup at huge fan fests in towns and cities across the country.

Germany's open-air fan fests are expected to attract up to eight million people, more than double the number expected to attend the 64 matches themselves. dpa photo

The massive open-air gatherings in the 12 World Cup host cities — from Hamburg in the north to Munich in the south and Leipzig in the east to Cologne in the west — will feature live broadcasts of matches on big screens, giving German fans and their international guests a chance to experience the thrill and magic of soccer together.

According to conservative estimates, the fan fests will attract up to eight million people, more than double the number expected to attend the 64 matches themselves.

			2006 FIFA World Cup™ Click above to visit Germany's 12 Host Cities of 2006 FIFA World Cup™. From Hamburg to Munich, there are so many things to be discovered! World Cup 2006 in Germany From the German government Soccer in Germany From the German Foreign Office Official World Cup site From FIFA German Tourist Office Start planning your trip now!

The fun kicked off on Wednesday in Berlin, where the area around the Brandenburg Gate has been transformed into an open-air "fan-mile" with enough room to accommodate 100,000 people.

The German capital has set up a 180-square-foot screen at the famed gate itself, as well as three additional screens along the length of the Tiergarten, Berlin's answer to Central Park. It is also offering diversions like beach volleyball.

The other 11 host cities have their own unique plans, with some offering artificial beaches with cocktail bars and others massage tents for tired fans.

In Cologne, a city that stands out for its friendly townsfolk and enthusiastic soccer fans, the festivities will center on the cafe-ringed Heumarkt, or Haymarket, but another huge screen will also show games right next to the Koelner Dom, the city's imposing Gothic cathedral.

Not to be outdone, the Northern city of Hamburg is planning to host up to 50,000 people at a time in a "fan city" the size of 11 soccer fields, located close to the city's harbor.

The historic eastern German city of Leipzig has meanwhile set aside space for up to 10,000 fans on Augustusplatz, near the city's opera house. Another 5,000 fans can follow the action from an area near of the landmark Gewandhaus concert hall.

SOURCE: The Week in Germany

The Old German Beer Hall named one of two venues in the Nation

May 26, 2006- For the first time in history Hofbräu Munich Brewery will bring its
Summer Beer to America and Milwaukee’s Old German Beer Hall is proud to announce
that it has been named one of two places in the entire nation to offer the beer. To
commemorate the event, Mayor Tom Barrett will drive the spigot into the first barrel ever
tapped in the USA on June 13th, 2006.

Prior to the upcoming keg tapping, the summer beer was a seasonal specialty found in the
beer gardens of Munich. Brewed with hot summer days in mind, it is a light, aromatic
beer enjoyed well chilled in half-liter steins by the citizens of Bavaria. Unfiltered and
bottom fermented, the Summer Beer is naturally cloudy and carries a rich creamy head.

Hans Weissgerber III is the indelible force behind this new generation of German
Heritage. As one of his chief goals in opening The Old German Beer Hall (located at
1009 N. Old Third World Street), Hans and his team want to remind Milwaukeeans how
fun Germans and their culture truly are. After all, Milwaukee is "the most German city
in all of America." The Old German Beer Hall will also unveil the Hofbrauhaus Mural
and traditional benches and bar stools recently shipped in from Oktoberfest in Munich.

Festivities will begin at 5:00pm with the official tapping at 5:30pm. Following the
official keg tapping with all the pomp and ceremony benefiting so significant an event,
free beer will flow and Milwaukee’s Brew City Polka Kings will perform live!
So come and discover how MUCH fun German culture truly is by experiencing
Milwaukee’s only traditional beer hall.

For more information visit: www.oldgermanbeerhall.com.

Mobile TV in German debut

Germany's largest cell phone companies have launched trials of a service broadcasting live digital television to the tiny screens of specially-equipped mobile phones.

Germans are excited about the prospect of watching TV on their phones. dpa photo

Select customers of T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 and E-Plus can choose from among the 16 television and radio programs, including broadcasts of the upcoming soccer World Cup, news agency dpa reported.

Germany is the second country in the world, after South Korea, where mobile TV services have become available.

The pilot broadcasts are only available in four cities — Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Hanover — and will only run through August 31.

The service uses a technology called DVB-H (digital video broadcasting, handheld) to compress regular TV programs to fit on tiny screens — and display them without draining too much of the devices' battery power.

Phones capable of receiving television pictures are set to go on sale next year, with monthly charges likely ranging from $7 to $19, according to a spokesman for phone operator T-Mobile.

DVB-H is expected to be launched later this year in Finland, Italy and New York City. Electronics manufacturers hope that watching TV will become the next "essential" feature in mobile phones and other portable devices.

Links:

DVB-H

Source: The Week in Germany

How do I love thee, Germany, let me count the ways

From supermodel Heidi Klum and Bavarian-born Pope Benedict XVI to Birkenstock sandals and Bratwurst sausages, there are at least 250 reasons to love Germany, according a new book.

Supermodel Heidi Klum: One of 250 reasons to love Germany. dpa photo

The book, called "The Best of Germany," also includes entries on garden gnomes, Munich's Oktoberfest, high-speed autobahn highways, aging crooner Udo Juergens and even plastic wall-plugs.

Its publisher, Florian Langenscheidt, said the book aims to spark an "emotional turnaround" in Germany as it prepares to welcome an expected one million international guests at the soccer World Cup kicking off June 9.

"Whenever they are abroad, Germans are always talking about a lack of innovation, high taxes and the ageing population," Langenscheidt told Reuters. "But the people you talk to say, 'For us, Germany is still paradise.'"

"This contrast made me think of producing the book," he continued. "It doesn't say what we should be doing — but rather celebrates what is good in Germany."

Yet the book isn't only meant for domestic consumption.

An English-language version of 527-page guide will also be handed out to journalists arriving in Germany to cover the World Cup, while hundreds more copies will be sent out to German embassies and cultural centers around the world.

The 250-strong list was selected by a blue-ribbon panel of prominent Germans, including soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer, television newswoman Sabine Christiansen and former Siemens CEO Heinrich von Pierer.

Interestingly, it includes only events and people who have made their mark after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, with publisher Langenscheidt arguing that there is no need to "dwell on the past."

Accordingly, Chancellor Angela Merkel, fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn are included in the book, while Goethe, Schiller and Beethoven don't make the cut.

Bavarian-born Pope Benedict XVI made the cut as well. dpa photo

The entries on Germany's proudest moments, too, refer only to events that took place after reunification — and include author Guenther Grass winning the Nobel Prize for literature and Boris "Boom Boom" Becker's first victory at Wimbledon.

"The Best of Germany" comes on the coattails of another high-profile effort to promote Germany among Germans, last year's enormous "Du Bist Deutschland" (You Are Germany) campaign.

With a budget of $36 million, "Du Bist Deutschland" sought to spread good cheer through posters, newspaper advertisements and a television commercial set to the tune of the bittersweet piano theme of the 1994 hit "Forest Gump."

A separate advertising drive "Germany — A Land of Ideas," is meanwhile seeking to polish Germany's image abroad.

Links:

New ad campaign aims to boost German spirits (from Germany Info)

Germany — Land of Ideas

Source: The Week in Germany