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History and Background Information

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January, 1999

The German Corner (http://www.german-usa.com or http://www.germancorner.com) is a home port for all Germans or German-Americans living abroad. This website, written in English, contains a nationwide resource guide for German goods and services in the USA and Canada, a club index, as well as a monthly bi-lingual magazine, a German recipe and poetry collection, an events calendar, free personal ads, and much more. The German Corner doesn't limit itself just to Germans - they also include Swiss, Liechtensteiners, Austrians and other Germanic people.

A little bit of the history of this site: When the creator and founder, Katharina Davitt, came to the US in 1992 she found herself longing for some of the German goods and German culture she was used to. Her husband, having slightly more basic needs, missed German beer. When she started her search for those 'homey' items, she never once thought about going onto the Internet, even though her technical background is in computer science.

In November 1995, while reading the German bulletin board on a popular on-line service Mrs. Davitt noticed that other Germans living in the United States were constantly searching for familiar items too. After sharing all her accumulated information with those interested, she started searching the Internet and was unable to find any useful information. Since the on-line service she used allowed some webspace for private webpages, she created her own small webpage with German resources and hints. Almost instantly people began to visit (200 in the first month) and she received a fairly large amount of positive feedback which was the impetus for Mrs. Davitt to design and consequently launch the German Corner. Her goal is to provide a place for anyone who is interested in Germanic culture regardless of their heritage.

To date the website has evolved from it's small beginnings into a professional site, which counts numerous companies among it's customers. The German Corner is presently comprised of more than 2,400 pages, over 15,000 business addresses, over 2,000 subscribers to the monthly e-mail newsletter, and welcomes more than 15,000 visitors each month, thus creating the first and largest German-American magazine and resource guide nationwide. Companies and organizations trying to reach a German-American audience will find a true home here.

The monthly magazine contains both German and English columns and deals with our German heritage. Some of the columns are written by professional writers. Elisabeth Castleman, a professional food writer, culinary consultant, and culinary historian, hails originally from South Tirol, Austria. Elisabeth's column "Culinary Roots of the '90's" presents a Germanic food and cuisine topic every month. Ferol Austen from Maine and Charlotte Kohnhorst from Washington State write columns about personal expericenes. Last, but not least, in the magazine you will find Mary Ann Lindner Allen, a homemaker born in the US who writes "Memories of Days Gone By" about the experiences of her father who came from Germany. She focuses her comments on drawings which her father created around the turn of the century.

Continuing through the magazine you will find news (provided by the German Information Center), descriptions of famous German-Americans and German traditions. While the columnists write in English, some of the other pages already mentioned are written in German. The magazine is still growing and Mrs. Davitt is always interested in suggestions and/or articles about the activities or history of clubs.

The magazine is not the only thing you will find on this site. Here is a snapshot of other services provided:

• Resource Guide - provides a listing in Yellow Page format of German goods and services.
• Cultural Pages - information about clubs, radio shows, events and bands.
• Travel section - information about regions, towns, national parks and other attractions in the US, Germany, and Austria.
• Educational Information - tips about student exchanges and language information.
• Kitchen Corner - conversion charts, recipes and other useful tips.
• Personal Ads - a free place for anyone to place an ad.
• Listserver - a place were interested parties can talk about German-American related issues, or just for fun.

The German Corner recently added a shopping mall, where German goods are sold at a special discount to the readers. This promotion is done in conjunction with known German-American companies.

As the German Corner forges ahead into the future, we invite you to become part of our family. Visit often, list your clubs or businesses with us. If you are running a business dealing with Germanic goods, consider becomming a member or advertise on this site and thus reach a whole new generation of German-Americans. Be part of the future!

Paul Davitt
Marketing Manager