Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1889-05-23
HOMES IN GERM AMY.
NJ PEN Picture OF FrUgaIfty. Com
rTort, and Domestic Contentment
Tin the Eatherland.

fort. and Domestic Contentment
| tin the Fatheriand-
Most people are inclined TO values house.
either with reference to the impression that
It, exterior will probably make upon an OBJ
servant passer-by, or with reference TO its
fitness TO the needs and 80 the develOpement
CT its occupants.
! 10 those who regard 0aly external aspect
e. German house will generally appear to be
N cold and repellant object, and very grim
and formidable does ths average German
residence stand, nearly devoid of architect
/ u%al adornment, gloomy court in front, a
/ huge front doorway, ane long rows of mar
row. meaningless windows yawEing along
] rs bare, unsympathetic looking sides
1 Within these sombcr buildings, story rises
4 above story, each one occupied by a distinct
! family, while the lower hall is generally
used as carriage house or wine store, or
! is applied to some other economical purpose
\ but once having gotten above the damp and
! gloomy ground hall, and having crossed the
\ vorplatz, or inner vestibule- which guards
the entrance into the private rooms of each
story, the visitor finds himself in such a
nest of comfort, of simple home made
\ beauty, that he can scarcely express an ex
/
/ parlo. there is the pretty floor of mosaic or
of plein wood highly waXed and polished,
| the warm rugs, the easy sofa-the seat OF
honor in a German house-the generous
sized cable, around which family ard guests
are won't TO gather in the evenings with
knitting sewing, or embroidery while music
or re&Sing from some appointed member of
the circle or pleasant talk among all rob
| Al. III Ali
! OF music there is always sure 10 be good
share in these German homes-music from
the old masters, folk melodies Of rhythm TO
suit every mood, sparkling dance music,
and grand old church hymns. Books and
engravings are there, as II TO establish kin
| ship between the family and the new
conner, and all about the room are quaint
and beautiful objects, wrought by the deft
| fingers of some friend or some member of the
| family IL the visitor pass into the sitting
room or into the dining-room there family
| pictures, often with beautiful faces, always
! with quaint costumes, look down upon him;
dainty articles of home creation, and the
same simple, homely arrangement of
things greet him here as in the par
! lor, and should he pass into the
kitchen, he would behold a shining floor, IA
! spotless dresser, rows Of glistening pans,
and oddly shaped crockeryware primly
ranged on shelves and cupboard. Where
| ever space uunllLb tuH NIcfudn mousse mas,
opening from the dining-room, little bal
cony where the family drink coffee and
spend the leisure hours of the day; and
wherever it is possible there is pretty
court, screened from the street, gay with
plants, and blooming flowers and furnished
with seats and tables, and here in pleasant
weather the family have their coffee-drink-
ings and often, also, here thc.' take their
meals. Indeed in many instances where
the balcony or the court is impract!cab.e the
German house holder has fashioned the
roof of his high house into a pOrtico. Here
the coffee is served, and as the twilight APP
proaches lighted lamps are brought up and
the family, unless they go out OH pleasure
walk spend the long summer evenings in
conversation, in singing or in reading. The
whole aim of the Germans seems to be to
beantify and TO simplify existence. They
give TO the commoneSt things kind OF
poetry. Conversation constitutes their
chief home pleasure. In all gatherings and
at all table repasts this is the thing TO be
made sure. We have known German wo-
men, simple and transformations in manner,
thoroughly skilled in all housewifely virtues,
yet so convesant with the poetry, with the
history, and with the philosophy OF their
own land that conversation with them has
been as refrC shing as with spiritual sa-
want
A feature Of the German home, and one
which is dstinctively feminine, is the kranz,
or circle, TO which the mothers and the
bership is not circumscribed and may con
sist of only two members. IL is seldom that
mother and daughters belong to the same
circle; the elderly ladies usually belong 70
one kranZ while the younger ladies belong
10 another On a fixed day of each week
the circle meets at the house Of one of the
members. In south Germany the hour is
usually 3 O'Clock in the afternoon. When
the members are assembled the hostess leads
the way into the dining room, where stands
| IA ai Mi a. 70 oh 10
only Germans can make-is brought in and
served with coffee cakes; sometimes, but
rarely, fruit or whipped cream, in imitation
OF ice-cream, is added as second course.
The refreshments are always of the very
simplest character, it being obviously the
intent on of each hostess TO win prestige
through the personality Of hcrselfa and of her
guests rather than through the triumphs Of
a caterer
At these weekly coffee drinkngs there is
nolagging in the conversation betwee en- those
gathered around the table. The elderly
ladies discuss in turn the crops, the govern
ment of children, the servants, the little pc
culiarities of their own and of their neigh
bors' husbands the last book, the latest
opera, the jests in the last number of
Kladderadeutsch the emperor Bismarck,
the sayings and doings at court And all
this often with wit, but always with vivac-
! lty that comes with personal sympathy.
! When the refreshments are removed the
members remain seated at the table. Some
times one of the ladies will read aloud,
sometimes one will go into the drawing
room and entertain with vocal or with
instrumental music the others, who are
busily engaged in knitting, or in embroidery,
or all will remain seated at the table until
! the hour for adieux has come.
The kranz of the younger ladies will meet
at the same hour of some other day Of per-
mancnt appointment One can imagine the
merry repartees, the chattering, the gossip
| ing-harmless we hope-which distinguish
these feminine gatherings, Generally after
refreshments all the members of this
Younger kranz will leave the table, enter
! the drawing room, and spend the remainder
of the evening in music, in charades, or in
games.
The Germans as a nation are poor, out
their means are adequate because their Joys
are simple and because they have mastered
the secret of making a very little money 60 q
great way in producing comfort and beauty
| They make money slowly and spend 1t
deliberately. They economic openly and
without embarrassment. A German retires
on fortune of $4,000 and to him $4,000
seems a very large sum. The wives and
daughters are willing conservators of the
means which their protectors have gained
by inheritance or by the work of brain or Of