Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Along the Mosel

On May 8, we traveled along the Mosel with our tour group (Eine Reise mit Musik) and visited Trier, the oldest city in Germany and Bernkastel, which is known for its fachwerk structures. There was a market in the center in town and gave us an opportunity to do some shopping or just enjoy some beautiful flowers.

On May 9, we traveled to Westerwald-Hachenburg and were greeted by the Blaskapelle Siershahn and the HaKiJus(Hachenburger-Kirmes-Jungs). The Hakijus were the gentlemen and handed a rose to each lady in our group. Ramona & I decided to give their president a great big smooch for such a lovely gift. We had a tour of the Westerwald brewery that brews Hachenburger Beer and as Peter said, the serve the very best beer in the world... FREI BIER !!!! The Blaskapelle Siershahn and the Hakijus entertained us all afternoon and then we were served a fabulous dinner in the beer hall.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Heino's Cafe

Yes, dreams really come true, but not just in Disney World. When we first signed up to go on this year's bus tour, Elmar was very happy to see that Heino's Rathaus Cafe was on the list of stops. He was hoping that Heino would be there, but no promises were made. Many, many years ago Heino performed in Milwaukee and Elmar took pictures of me with Heino. However, it was back in the days of using film and the film was filled up before Elmar could get a picture of him and Heino. Well, as you can see from the picture on this page, Elmar got that picture with Heino.

Heino and his lovely wife, Hannelore, were very gracious and Hannelore even welcomed our group in English. We had our own room for our 50+ people that were on this tour and Heino when to each person and personnally handed them an autographed picture postcard. This gave everyone the opportunity to speak with him or have their picture taken with him. You only needed to ask and he happily posed for that picture.

We were served the famous Heino Hazelnut Torte. If you look closely at the white chocolate wafers that decorate the torte, you can see Heino's image on them. Heino had studied to be a baker before he became a singer and grew into the super star he is today.

The pictures for the first day of our fabulous 2 week trip are in a Picasa album. I am putting my pictures out here so that other members of the tour can also download some of the pictures I took on the trip and perhaps they can send me some of their pictures and I can put them out here for all of us to share. If you click on the image below, you can go directly to the Picasa album to see that first day.



This fabulous meeting with Heino happened on our first full day in Germany, but the day before we were on the go as soon as we landed and you will see those pictures in this album too. One of the very first things we did was have a tour of the Asbach distillery, a short distance from our hotel. And then a short stop at the Niederwalddenkmal. We even had a boat ride down the Rhein and a glimpse of the Loreley. In the evening Albert Dormann played for our dancing pleasure. on May 6. On May 7, when we went to Bad Muenstereifel to vist Heino's Rathaus Cafe, but in the evening we had a great dinner at the Ruedesheim Lindenwirt where we had the famous Rudesheimer coffee (it has Asbach Uralt in it & the light it & quickly put it out with whipping cream.

Also, that evening a new friend came to visit us. Andrea Ney is the president of the Axel Becker Fan Club " Amore Amore" and takes care of all the webmaster duties. We have been corresponding since last December when Elmar & I went to see Axel Becker in Cleveland for one of Gisela's Christmas shows. It was so nice to meet Andrea, face-to-face. She is a very nice lady, who has a great love for music.


If you were on this trip with us and would like one of the pictures here, just click on the right lower corner and go to the Picasa website to right click and do a save as or send me an e-mail and I can help you. Again a great big thank you goes to Gisela Lewis and Peter Matthai, who truly made this a trip to remember.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Ted Hierl passes away at age 67

It is with a very heavy heart that I am announcing the death of Ted Hierl. I would like to thank Robert Deglau for letting me know of Ted's unfortunate passing. As you can read below in his obituary, Ted was a radio announcer in New Jersey with his own German Radio show for 36 years.

Ted organized annual cruises that featured famous German singing stars such as Heino, Tony Marshall, Alpentrio Tirol, Reiner Kristen, and the Schaefers to only name a few. My heart goes out to his wife, Hilde, and their family during this very difficult time in their lives.


Dear Friends:

It is with great sadness that I am informing you of the passing of our good friend Ted Hierl.

Many of you knew Ted through his activities on the German-American Heritage Council in New Jersey, where he organized and hosted the "Heritage Festival" featuring some of the greatest entertainers from Germany, who had long become his personal friends. His long friendship with Heino - for whom Ted coined the name "Die Stimme der Heimat" -, was a bridge between Ted´s old homeland and an audience of German-Americans that couldn't get enough of the beautiful evergreens.

You might have also known Ted from his German-American Radio Program that he has broadcast for over thirty years. Or from his involvement with the scholarship program for American students of German. Or for his enthusiasm towards all things German-American, from the Heritage Museum in Washington, DC to the many festivals he regularly visited in the Greater New York area.

But Ted was also a great friend and supporter of the German-American Steuben Parade. He talked about the parade on his weekly radio program, he attended the Banquet and the festivities on Fifth Avenue and Central Park for many year, always joined by his wonderful wife Hilde, who had been a pillar of support for Ted throughout their marriage of almost fifty years.

Ted will be dearly missed by the German-American community. We will miss him in the Steuben Parade and at the many events he used to attend. We will miss his voice on the radio and the valued insight and opinion he gave.

Below, please find Ted´s obituary and information on his wake and funeral service.

Please keep Ted, his wife Hilde and the entire family in your thoughts.

Yardville - Detlef "Ted" A. Hierl, 67, died peacefully on Sunday, May 30, 2010 in Trenton, NJ, surrounded by his loving family after a courageous 4 year battle with cancer. Born December 7, 1942 in Bonn, Germany, he was the youngest son of the late Willibald & Christine Hierl (Sauder).
After Ted completed his schooling and apprenticeship near his hometown Bruehl, he received his Master Certificate for machine building. A few years after immigrating to the USA with his wife and daughter in 1962, a son was born, and the family became US citizens.

Ted's first job was working for Crossley Machine Company in Trenton. In 1966 he became the plant manager for Coronis Building Systems in Columbus, NJ till his retirement in 2008. Ted was also a partner in the "Take it Easy Bar & Liquor Store" in Yardville, NJ for several years.

In addition to his professional life, Ted was especially active in the German-American Community in the Delaware Valley. He became the voice of German radio for 36 years performing the two-hour live show each and every Sunday morning. Ted started broadcasting over WTTM Radio, Trenton, NJ in 1974. During his Christmas Eve specials former Trenton Mayor Arthur Holland usually visited the studio. In 1997 the German Radio program moved to WNWR- AM 1540, Philadelphia, PA and hopefully will continue with the help from his family. From 1982 till 2000 he also broadcast a 2nd German-American Radio program over WJDM, Elizabeth, NJ.

Another event dear to his heart was the German Heritage Festival at the Garden State Arts Center, now known as the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. After attending the 1st festival in 1974, Ted decided to become involved in the event and the German Heritage Council of NJ. At first as Master of Ceremonies, additionally Program Chairman in 1977. He became Program & Vice Chairman in 1979 and was the General & Program Chairman from 1985 to the present, with the last German Heritage Festival being held in 2007 featuring Heino. Over the years, Ted was able to bring some of the best German speaking entertainers to NJ. With the help of the dedicated committee, the festival was well known throughout the Tri-State area and beyond. Attendances up to 15,000 people generated proceeds used to award numerous scholarships each year and support the Garden State Cultural Center Fund in their fundraising.

Over the years Ted also coordinated many various German shows in the tri-state area, mostly during Advent, and cruises with well known German speaking entertainers from overseas. In earlier years he coordinated shows for Trenton Heritage Days, Trenton Parks and the State Fair, sometimes broadcasting live from events. Besides supporting the German-American Steuben Parade in New York and Philadelphia, he was also involved for a few years in the German Alps Festival at Hunter Mountain in NY and Action Park in NJ.

Ted was appointed by NJ Governors Kean, Florio, Whitman and McGreevey as a member of the Ethnic Advisory Council. In 1990 he represented NJ Gov. Jim Florio at the reunification of Germany in Berlin. Through his involvement, Ted met numerous Presidents and Dignitaries, including President Clinton, German Chancellor Kohl, and Dr. Henry Kissinger.

In recognition of all his efforts to uphold the German traditions in the USA and endeavors to sustain the friendship between the two Countries, Ted was honored with numerous awards. In 1989, he received "The Federal Republic of Germany Friendship Award" presented by the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2001, Ted was honored by the United German-American Committee of the USA, Inc., at the Council of 1000 Banquet as the "Distinguished German-American of the Year". German President Richard von Weizaecker awarded Ted with the most prestigious recognition, "Das Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse - Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1st Class" on September 10, 1991.

With his involvements, Ted was made Life Time or Honorary member of many of the German-American Clubs in the Tri State Area. He was also a Free and Accepted Mason of the Herman-Humbold Lodge, No.125, the oldest German speaking lodge.

Ted had a great passion for traveling, often visiting family in Germany, cruising to Alaska, Hawaii, the Panama Canal and the Caribbean. His greatest joy was visiting Florida with his grandchildren. All through his life Ted was an avid soccer fan. His other hobbies included bowling, visiting the Metropolitan Opera and swimming.

He is survived by his wife of almost 50 years, Mathilde S. Hierl (Erkelenz),
daughter Elke C. Born and husband Christian,
son Ralph J. Hierl and wife Elizabeth,
proud grandfather of Werner Born, Eric & Ryan Hierl, who he enjoyed spending time with, and son-in-law of Anna Jackson.
The youngest of 8 children, he was predeceased by sisters Marie, Hanna and Ernie and brothers Willibald and Heinz.
He is also survived by sister Malie Palmersheim, brother Franz Josef Hierl,
several in-laws, many nieces and nephews, including his Godson Horst Hierl, all in Germany.

Instead of flowers, donations should be made in Ted's memory to the German Heritage Council of NJ for scholarships, the German-American Heritage Foundation of the USA for the museum in Washington, DC or the Herman-Humboldt Lodge No.125 all in care of PO Box 9855, Trenton, NJ 08650.

Visitation hours are from 2-4pm and 6-9pm on Thursday, June 3, 2010 at Knott Colonial Funeral Home, 2946 South Broad Street, Hamilton, NJ. The funeral mass will be held at 11am on Friday, June 4 at St. Raphael's Church, 3500 South Broad Street, Hamilton NJ, followed by interment at the Princeton Memorial Park, Robbinsville, NJ.
If you would like to sign the Guestbook at Knott Colonial Funeral Home... CLICK HERE.