Archive-name: german-faq/part2
Last-modified: 1996/09/13
Posting-Frequency: monthly
URL: http://www.physics.purdue.edu/~vogelges/faq.html
Version: 1996/10




http://www.physics.purdue.edu/~vogelges/faq.html (The original !-)
==================================================================

     This is part 2 of the ASCII version of the FAQ list
     for soc.culture.german. Find the WWW version at

     <http://www.physics.purdue.edu/~vogelges/faq.html>


	Table of Contents - Part 2
	==========================


  4 The Internet
    4.1 Side Remarks on the Structure
    4.2 Finding Germany-Related Information on the Net
    4.3 List of Anonymous ftp Servers in Germany
    4.4 Dedicated People's Pages
    4.5 Email in Germany
    4.6 Getting Internet Access
    4.7 de.* Newsgroups

  5 Geography
    5.1 Some Statistics
    5.2 Daylight Savings Time
    5.3 Maps On-Line and...you know...On-Paper
    5.4 World-Wide Weather
    5.5 Astronomy, As Observed in Germany

  6 Language
    6.1 Literature Search Engine
    6.2 Duden Editorial Board
    6.3 What does the Adjective "German" Mean?
    6.4 German is so Strange...or is it?
    6.5 Listserver LOWLANDS-L for Friesisch and Niederdeutsch
    6.6 Learning German as an Adult


		*  *  *


Subject: 4 The Internet
=======================

   Contents: 
    => 4.1 Side Remarks on the Structure 
    => 4.2 Finding Germany-Related Information on the Net 
    => 4.3 List of Anonymous ftp Servers in Germany 
    => 4.4 Dedicated People's Pages 
    => 4.5 Email in Germany 
    => 4.6 Getting Internet Access 
    => 4.7 de.* Newsgroups 



Subject: 4.1 Side Remarks on the Structure
------------------------------------------


     o ** WiN ** is the "Wissenschafts-Netz," connecting universities,
       Max Planck institutes and other science-related institutions.  
         <http://www.dfn.de/>
       Run by Deutsche Telekom for the DFN-Verein, it currently has
       backbones with bandwidths of 1.92 MBit/sec; some are already,
       many lines are going to be expanded in 1996/97 to 34 MBit/sec. 
       [07/96] 
         <http://www.dfn.de/dfn/home.html>
         <http://www.dfn.de/pictures/dfn-pictures/win-status.gif>
       Connections from WiN to US-based networks usually are 1 to 6
       Mbit/sec fast.  
     o ** DE-NIC ** the network information center for the *.DE domain
         <http://www.nic.de/>
       Their main task is the coordinated distribution of internet
       numbers and services.  They also prepare statistics about the
       hardware constituting the net.  In Nov/95, for instance, there
       where some 400,000 machines with internet access in Germany, 2
       million in Europe; growth is exponential with a doubling period
       of little more than a year.  [12/95] 
     o The NDA - Norddeutsche Daten-Autobahn connects Northern German
       internet services.  [3/95] 
         <http://www.nordwest.pop.de/nda/index.html>



Subject: 4.2 Finding Germany-Related Information on the Net
-----------------------------------------------------------

   Contents: 
    => 4.2.1 Search Engines 
    => 4.2.2 Country Codes etc.  
    => 4.2.3 Cities 
    => 4.2.4 Companies 
    => 4.2.5 Miscellaneous Collections of Data on/from Germany 



Subject: 4.2.1 Search Engines
-----------------------------

   **Germany-Specific** 

     o web.de -- Deutschland im Internet; points to German language
       information pages.  [04/96] 
         <http://Web.de>
     o Deutsche Welle background infos [02/96] 
         <http://www-dw.gmd.de:80/cgi-bin/listfolder/deutsch/news.html?a004>
     o DINO page [09/96] 
         <http://http://www.dino-online.de/>
     o Metamedia 
         <http://hamburg.bda.de:800/bda/int/spon/online/meta.html>
     o Quantum Server 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/>

   **Libraries** 


     o U Karlsruhe; The WWW Virtual Library: German Subject Catalogue
       [02/96] 
         <http://www.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/Outerspace/VirtualLibrary/index.en.html>
     o U Duesseldorf; Virtual Library [02/96] 
         <http://www.rz.uni-duesseldorf.de/WWW/ulb/virtbibl.html>
     o TH Darmstadt; Libraries in Hessen [05/96] 
         <http://www.th-darmstadt.de/ze/lbs.html>
     o U Cologne; university libraries [05/96] 
         <http://www.rrz.uni-koeln.de/bibliotheken/index.html>

   **Generic WWW Searchers** 

   Since there are so many of these robots, I will only give "Meta"
   searchers -- pointers to pointers...  
     <http://info.webcrawler.com/mak/projects/robots/faq.html>

     o Metasearch 
         <http://metasearch.com/>
     o CUSI 
         <http://pubweb.nexor.co.uk/public/cusi/cusi.html>
     o Ralf's collection of spiders, robots, crawlers, etc.  
         <http://www.physics.purdue.edu/~vogelges/searcher.html>



Subject: 4.2.2 Country Codes etc.
---------------------------------


     o phone country codes; from Germany 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/vorwahl-de-int.html>
     o phone country codes; to Germany 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/vorwahl-int-de.html>
     o country codes 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/country.html>
     o currency codes 
         <http://www.epas.utoronto.ca:8080/~werner/trade/currencies.html>



Subject: 4.2.3 Cities
---------------------


     o Arthur Teschler (email Arthur.Teschler@uni-giessen.de) provides
       a neat mailserver which allows for substring as well as soundex
       searches in a database of than 50,000 entries of municipality
       data.  Results provide: Gemeindekennziffer, county, region and
       state, zip code, population, geographical location,
       topographical maps.  For more information send email: 

         To: Arthur.Teschler@uni-giessen.de
         Subject: _GEO_
         1st line: INFO
       [ok 02/96] 
     o postal zipcodes 
         <http://www.quantum.de/cgi-bin/plz>
     o international airports 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/airport-int.html>
     o phone area codes 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/vorwahl-de.html>
     o geographic coordinates 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/koord-int.html>
     o license plate numbers 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/kfz-de.html>



Subject: 4.2.4 Companies
------------------------


     o email-addresses of companies 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/firmen-email.html>
     o zipcodes of companies 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/plz-gross.html>
     o European Banks [04/96] 
         <http://www.wiso.gwdg.de/ifbg/bank_eur.html>
     o German Banks [04/96] 
         <http://www.gwdg.de/~ifbg/go13cb.htm>
     o bank routes ("Bankleitzahlen") using postal codes 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/blz-plz.html>
     o bank routes ("Bankleitzahlen" from Deutsche Bank) [04/96] 
         <http://www.deutsche-bank.de/online_d/blz/index.htm>
     o Bankleitzahlen "pur" 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/blz-noplz.html>



Subject: 4.2.5 Miscellaneous Collections of Data on/from Germany
----------------------------------------------------------------

   Before I re-invent everything ...I'll much rather tell you where to
   find original sources ;-) 
     <http://www.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/brd.html>

   The 1995 version of the CIA world factbook has a section on
   Germany, too.  [03/96] 
     <http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/95fact/gm.html>

   This "DINO page" is also a real saurus...  [11/95] 
     <http://www.wiso.gwdg.de/ifbg/go.htm>

   and DW has put up quite an extensive server, too!  Available in
   both English and German.  Very nice.  [11/95] 
     <http://www-dw.gmd.de:80/cgi-bin/listfolder/deutsch/news.html?a004>

   The Kassandra Project has a number of nice links for various
   topics.  [03/96] 
     <http://www.reed.edu/~ccampbel/tkp/links.html>


Subject: 4.3 List of Anonymous ftp Servers in Germany
-----------------------------------------------------

   Christian Hettler ( email hettler@ask.uni-karlsruhe.de ) maintains
   a list which you can get via ftp from U Karlsruhe or at its WWW
   version or through an email server: send an email (leave subject
   blank) 
     <ftp://ftp.ask.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/info/ftp-list-de>
     <http://www.ask.uni-karlsruhe.de/ftp/ftp-list-de.html>


     To: mail-server@ask.uni-karlsruhe.de

     begin
     send /pub/info/ftp-list-de
     end


Subject: 4.4 Dedicated People's Pages
-------------------------------------

   Here are quite a few people who collect their own URL's on German
   resources.  Chances are, you'll find a lot that is not included in
   this FAQ ;-)..  

     o Stephan Gloge's Homepage [02/96] 
         <http://www.cris.com/~mrglueck/>
     o Gary Kemper's German Resources [02/96] 
         <http://www.deltanet.com/users/gkemper/ger.html>
     o Knut Menard's German Resources at Carleton University [03/96] 
         <http://www.carleton.ca/~kmenard/startweb.html>
     o Carl Butler's collection of German newspapers, magazines, etc. 
       [04/96] 
         <http://www.duke.edu/~cgv/library/>



Subject: 4.5 Email in Germany
-----------------------------

   The pointers and tools described here are mostly of general
   interest in the sense that their scope is not restricted to
   Germany.  

   **Finding Email Addresses** 

   Generally speaking, finding an email address is a non-trivial
   undertaking, but it's not impossible.  Several tools exist and you
   ought to try to them first before you resort to posting a personal
   "I'm looking for a friend" - note on the net.  
     <http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/FAQs/email/finding.html>
   These tools include the more "modern" searchers (handy, www-style,
   recommended): 

     o Four-11 Directory Services [03/96] 
         <http://www.four11.com/>
     o Look Up!  [03/96] 
         <http://www.lookup.com/lookup/search.html>
     o email-addresses of companies 
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/firmen-email.html>

   and the following less easily used tools: 

     o Finger Gateway 
         <http://www.indiana.edu/finger/gateway>
     o KIS - the Knowbot Information Service 
         <telnet://info.cnri.reston.va.us:185/>
     o Netfind 

        + in Germany 
            <telnet://netfind@netfind.uni-essen.de:23/>
        + in the US 
            <telnet://netfind@bruno.cs.colorado.edu:23/>

     o Paradise 
         <telnet://dua@paradise.ulcc.ac.uk:23/>
     o Telephone guides 
         <gopher://gopher.nd.edu:70/11/Non-Notre%20Dame%20Information%20Sources/Phone%20Books--Other%20Institutions>
     o WHOIS 

        + US-based 
            <gopher://sipb.mit.edu:70/1B%3aInternet%20whois%20servers>
        + Whois Gateway 
            <gopher://sipb.mit.edu:70/1B%3aInternet%20whois%20servers>
        + WHOIS servers 
            <telnet://choose option 4(whois)@whois.ripe.net:23/>

     o Worldwide database of directory services (X500) 
         <gopher://gopher.nic.surfnet.nl:70/11/Other.dir.dutch/Name.adres.info/X500>
     o X.400 RFC 822 address converter 
         <telnet://relay.surfnet.nl:4545/>
     o X.500 
         <gopher://gopher.nic.surfnet.nl:70/11/Other.dir.dutch/Name.adres.info/X500>

   The more information you know about your associate (name, place of
   business or school, and so on) the better your chances are!  

   **Internet in General**, 
   read the newsgroups news.answers and alt.internet.services 
   Get any FAQ list from there.  

   **Email Basics**, 
   Obtain basic information on email on the internet.  
     <ftp://ftp.sura.net/pub/nic/network.service.guides/how.to.email.guide/>

   **From Network to Network**, 
   If you have trouble navigating from one network to another
   (buzz-word "gateways"!), read the pretty extensive Inter-Network
   Mail Guide edited by Scott Yanoff (formerly edited by John J. 
   Chew.)  
     <ftp://ftp.csd.uwm.edu/pub/internetwork-mail-guide/>

   **How to Find Email Addresses?**, 
   One good starting point is the "Sura-guide"; Chapter 2 talks
   extensively about finding email addresses.  
     <gopher://ftp.nic.surfnet.nl:71/00/mirror-archive/resources/suranet-guide/infoguide/chapter.2>

   Another very complete answer is the "FAQ: How to find people's
   E-mail addresses," frequently posted in the newsgroup news.answers
   and also available by sending 
     email        To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
     with body:   send usenet/news.answers/finding-addresses

   **College Students' Addresses**, 
   Try the soc.college FAQ list (this is a second source ); it
   contains only a few German addresses as of now.  If your university
   is not listed, send a detailed description of how to find email
   addresses at that place to dalamb@qucis.queensu.ca.)  If you have a
   person's name and their academic location in Germany, you may try a
   netfind for the domain name 
     <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/soc.college/>
     <http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/FAQs/college-email/college.html>

     o uni-stadt.de for Universitaeten 
     o fh-stadt.de for Fachhochschulen 
     o th-stadt.de for Technische Hochschulen 

   where "stadt" is to be replaced by the name of the town where the
   person lives.  (example: the university of Karlsruhe is
   *.*.uni-karlsruhe.de) [4/94] 


Subject: 4.6 Getting Internet Access
------------------------------------

   Contents: 
    => 4.6.1 Universities 
    => 4.6.2 Internet Provider Lists and Searchers 
    => 4.6.3 Private Networks 
    => 4.6.4 Your Local BBS 

   Public Internet access is (still) nothing you could take for
   granted.  Not even at German universities; although the general
   trend is going towards better service.  Some universities provide
   it and some don't.  The University of Bonn, for instance, provides
   public Internet access only since August 1993.  
   Nevertheless, usually it should be possible to stay on-line in
   Germany.  For a good overview try this gopher service or its http
   version.  [3/95] 
     <gopher://klinfo.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/1M%20klinfo.unix-ag.uni-kl.de%209000%202794%20service>
     <http://klinfo.unix-ag.uni-kl.de:1962/klinfo.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/9000/0>

   Also try reading the newsgroup de.org.sub (see "The Internet" for
   more) [11/94] 


Subject: 4.6.1 Universities
---------------------------

   **Statistics about University-Originated access to the Net** 

   Ralf Taprogge is conducting a survey about internet accessibility
   at German universities.  He posts his results on the WWW.  As of
   early December 1995, the following data had emerged: 
     <http://www.uni-muenster.de/MAG3/ifp/taprogg/info.html>
   For those 47 Universities that had answered...  

     o Some 800,000 students were enrolled total.  
     o About 120,000 students had email accounts.  
     o More than 85% of the universities offer SLIP/PPP for modem
       access.  
     o More than 50% offer students to create WWW-pages.  

   [1/96] If the university offers Internet access, you can be sure
   that the services are not very much like what American students are
   used to.  For example ftp might be very(!)  restricted.  

   Usually you'll have to be a student, postdoc, etc.  to be entitled
   for email access at your university.  Ask for email at your local
   "Rechenzentrum." [3/94] 


Subject: 4.6.2 Internet Provider Lists and Searchers
----------------------------------------------------

   There are numerous options for internet services.  The following is
   just a limited selection ;-) 

   At the U Hannover you find a specialised service which returns
   possible providers according to location.  [04/96] 
     <http://www.rrzn.uni-hannover.de/such-prov.html>

   Network USA's overview over internet-providers around the world
   contains also pointers to German providers.  
     <http://www.netusa.net/ISP/>
     <http://www.netusa.net/ISP/49.index.html>

   More specialized on Europe and Germany is Fokus [04/96].  
     <http://www.fokus.gmd.de/linux/linux-net.html>

   You may also get Wolfgang Sander-Beuermann's lists on public Unix
   access and internet access in Germany.  Currently reports 68 unix
   machines; between 0 and 50 DM/month; generally including mail and
   news service; frequently other services such as UUCP, IP, ISDN)
   (Also on WWW) [5/95] 
     <ftp://ftp.rrzn.uni-hannover.de/pub/special/lists>
     <http://www.rrzn.uni-hannover.de/inet-zu-de.html>

   Also try this http server at U Kaiserslautern or their gopher. 
   [3/95] 
     <http://klinfo.unix-ag.uni-kl.de:1962/klinfo.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/9000/2794.html>
     <gopher://klinfo.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/>

   Read de.etc.lists (see "The Internet" on how) Look for Jan
   Richert's list "publicuucp." 

   And finally look for Benoit Carl LIPS' list of dial-in connections
   in Europe.  Obtain the latest version from the USENET groups
   alt.internet.access.wanted and alt.internet.services or get it via
   WWW or by ftp [4/95] 
     <http://www.earth.org/~lips/>
     <ftp://sumex-aim.stanford.edu/info-mac/comm/info/>



Subject: 4.6.3 Private Networks
-------------------------------

   There are a number of ways besides university connections to stay
   on-line.  Truly commercial providers (like EUnet, etc.)  may be a
   little too complete in service and price for one's personal email
   and news service needs.  Private BBS-based networks like FIDO,
   MAUS, Z-Netz, Comlink...  offer cheap connections to Internet and
   USENET.  Their news and mail service should be satisfactory; IRC,
   WWW, ftp, and such services are usually not provided.  Be aware;
   the telephone bills from the German **Telekom** could prove to be
   nasty.  :-( 


     o "MAUS.NET, SUBNET, INDIVIDUAL.NET" 
       To get access to a NON COMMERCIAL BBS (like MAUS-NET).  You can
       only read or write messages or use email.  Most of these feed
       into "SUB.NET" or "INDIVIDUAL.NET" (IN) ...  which is why you
       might want to consider getting their services directly; their
       internet connection is also faster and more complete.  

     o "Sub.Net" 
       SubNet e.V., Geschaeftsstelle c/o Heiko Rupp, Gerwigstr.  5,
       76131 Karlsruhe, fax +49 721 661937, email info@subnet.sub.net
       [10/94] 

     o "Individual Network" 
       About 40 DM/month for IP, possibly less for news and mail only. 
       Regional differences apply in price and service.  [07/96] 
       email in-info@individual.net 
       or write: Individual Network e.V., Geschaeftsstelle, Scheideweg
       65, D-26121 Oldenburg, Germany, tel +49(441)9808556, fax
       +49(441)9808557 [6/94] 

     o "Maus.Net" 
       If you happen to know the license plate id ( Search for
       KFZ-Kennzeichen at the quantum server.)  for the area of your
       interest try the following (note that this method is not
       guaranteed to work!)  
         <http://www.physics.purdue.edu/~vogelges/kfz.html>
         <http://www.quantum.de/zahlen/kfz-de.html>

       SYSOP@[license plate id].MAUS.DE example: SYSOP@K.MAUS.DE for
       service in the Cologne area.  

       In the body of the message ask for the telephone number of your
       local BBS box.  [2/94] 



   **t-online**, 
   All over Germany you can take "Deutsche Telekom" directly with it's
   t-online service ("BTX" included.)  
   Costs: DM8/month + local telephone access + 2 Pf/min t-online + 10
   Pf/min Internet access.  (6 Pf/min t-online before 6 pm.)  Access
   up to 14400 or ISDN but WWW is SLOW (max.  900 cps).  [08/96] 

   **Public Unix Systems**, 
   The following represents a condensed version of the dial-in access
   possibilities in Germany as cited in Benoit Carl Lips' list (see
   "Lists of Public Unix Systems") 

     o "APC/Comlink e.V." 
       Emil-Meyer-Str.  20, D-30165 Hannover email
       support@oln.comlink.apc.org 
     o "CUBENet GmbH" 
       Ohlauer Str.  74, D-80997 Muenchen email info@cube.net 
     o "DFN-Verein e.  V." 
       Pariser Strasse 44, D - 1000 Berlin 15 email
       dfn-verein@dfn.dbp.de 
     o "EUnet Germany (EUnet Deutschland GmbH)" 
       Emil-Figge-Strasse 80, D-44227 Dortmund 
       access: Kiel, Hamburg, Bremen, Oldenburg, Aachen, Frankfurt,
       Dortmund, Berlin, Halle, Leipzig, Muenchen, Stuttgart,
       Bielefeld, Nuernberg, Luebeck, Oldenburg, Rostock, Hannover,
       Magdeburg, Duesseldorf, Duisburg, Koeln, Bonn, Saarbruecken,
       Tuebingen email info@Germany.EU.net homepage 
         <http://www.germany.eu.net/>
     o "GeoNetn (GeoNet Mailbox Systems)" 
       email GmbH@geod.geonet.de 
         <mailto:GmbH@geod.geonet.de>
     o "Individual Network (IN)" 
       Scheideweg 65, D-26121 Oldenburg email IN-Info@Individual.NET 
       access: Aachen, Augsburg, Berlin, Bielefeld, Boeblingen, Bonn,
       Braunschweig, Bremen, Chemnitz, Darmstadt, Dortmund, Dresden,
       Duesseldorf, Duisburg, Erfurt, Erlangen, Flensburg,
       Frankfurt/Main, Friedberg, Giessen, Goettingen, Halle, Hamburg,
       Hannover, Heilbronn, Jena, Kaiserslautern, Kassel, Kiel, Koeln,
       Konstanz, Leipzig, Ludwigshafen, Luebeck, Lueneburger Heide ,
       Magdeburg, Mannheim, Muenchen, Muenster, Nuernberg, Oldenburg,
       Osnabrueck, Paderborn, Passau, Pforzheim, Pirmasens,
       Regensburg, Rendsburg, Rostock, Ruhrgebiet, Saarbruecken,
       Schauenburg, Sauerland, Schleswig, Schwerin, Stuttgart,
       Tuebingen, Ulm, Velbert, Weser-Ems, Wetzlar, Wolfsburg,
       Wuerzburg, Wuppertal 
     o "Interactive Network Information Systems GmbH i.Gr." 
       Spohrstrasse 24, D-60318 Frankfurt am Main email
       info@nacamar.de, WWW, fax 06103-966127 
         <http://www.nacamar.de/>
       Chemnitz, Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Bielefeld, Hannover, Kassel,
       Duesseldorf, Aachen, Bonn, Gau-Algesheim, Koeln, Mainz,
       Frankfurt/Main, Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Wiesbaden, Heidelberg,
       Dreieich, Kaiserslautern, Saarbruecken, Darmstadt, Nidderau,
       Aalen, Stuttgart, Heilbronn, Augsburg, Muenchen, Nuernberg,
       Weiden, Wuerzburg 
     o "Interactive Networx GmbH (unlisys InterNET Services)" 
       Hardenbergplatz 2, D-10623 Berlin email info@unlisys.net 
     o "INS" 
       Ruhr-Area, Germany email info@ins.net 
     o "CompuServe Germany" 
       tel +49(130)864643 (toll free), +49(89)66550-111 
       access: Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, Duesseldorf, Koeln,
       Frankfurt/Main Karlsruhe, Muenchen, Nuernberg 
     o "Lemke &amp; Fuerst GbR" 
       Kleinknechtstrasse 35, 70567 Stuttgart email info@lf.net 
     o "NACAMAR Deutschland" 
       Kirchweg 22, D-63033 Dreieich (near Frankfurt) email
       landi@nacamar.de 
     o "NCS GmbH" 
       Amalienstr.  17-21, 26135 Oldenburg email info@nordwest.de 
     o "NET GmbH" 
       Figarostr.  3, 70597 Stuttgart email info@n-e-t.de 
     o "Netzwerk und telematic GmbH, Geschaeftsbereich Xlink" 
       Vincenz-Priessnitz-Strasse 3, 76131 Karlsruhe email
       info@xlink.net, or no sales@xlink.net their web site tel
       +49(721)96520 fax +49(721)9652210 
         <http://www.xlink.net>

   [4/95] 

   And here you can find a **whole lot** more commercial email
   providers.  
     <http://www.nordwest.pop.de/nda/cz/ls/emailanbieter.html>

   For my taste a truly exquisite WWW-server finder can be found at
   the freie U Berlin![9/95] 
     <http://www.chemie.fu-berlin.de/outerspace/wwwde_e.html>


Subject: 4.6.4 Your Local BBS
-----------------------------

   If you don't have email access, you might want to pick up the
   latest issue of C'T computer magazine to look up the list of phone
   numbers of all network systems.  Then dial into the appropriate BBS
   and ask the local sysop about fees for connection.  
     <http://www.ix.de/ct/>

   Cost?  
   A typical user, reading news from de.* and sci.* might want to
   expect about 10DM connection fee and 15DM in telephone charges
   (using an off-line reader!)  


Subject: 4.7 de.* Newsgroups
----------------------------

   The de.* newsgroups are a good idea if you would like to know more
   about Germany and you are able to read and write German try the
   newsgroups in the de.* hierarchy.  Those newsgroups are mostly
   available in Germany and at some sites in the US.  Specifically
   parts of the hierarchies maus.*, fido.* and cl.* are fed into
   international news channels.  (Note that these groups usually
   converse in German-only mode...)  
   You can also send mail to info@world.std.com, see about getting a
   private account on this commercial provider (about US$1 per hour). 
   You can telnet login from your current system: they have all the
   newsgroups, including several hundred(!)  from Germany,
   Switzerland, Austria.  [11/94] 

   **NNTP**, 
   Try to set your nntp server to some "news.uni-stadt.de" ...some
   universities do, some don't.  And don't announce the one you find
   to all the world -- they will only shut down their service on you
   if load gets too big!  "news.fu-berlin.de", for instance,
   discontinued world access to de.* groups for that reason.  
   Also be aware that this is a ...  let's say ...  not very
   responsible use of the transatlantic lines if you read de.* groups
   regularly this way.  

   The best thing to do is nagging your sysadmin, though.  He/she
   should be able to set up a direct feed from some german university
   and provide the hierarchy throughout your subdomain more
   efficiently!  [04/96] 

   **email** (unchecked) 
   You can also subscribe to a special service that lets you read
   those newsgroups by email.  Send a mail to CHAMAS@DOLUNI1.Bitnet. 
   Send a mail like: 
       To: CHAMAS@DOLUNI1.Bitnet   (<- you might not have to use 'Bitnet')
       Subject: CBM
       help
   or email to: CHAMAS@vmxa.hrz.uni-oldenburg.de 

   **gopher**, 
   Does anybody know of gopher sites outside of Europe which carry the
   de.* hierarchy?  Note that gopher provides only reading permission. 
   You cannot post to de.* newsgroups.  

   at U Heidelberg [04/96] 
     <gopher://gopher.urz.uni-heidelberg.de:4323/1nntp%20ls%20de%20>
   at U Kaiserslautern [04/96] 
     <gopher://gopher.uni-kl.de:70/1exec%3a-g%20de%3a/News/.bin/gonntp>

   In Japan you can use: Internet News from Reitaku.  [04/96] 
     <gopher://gopher.cs.reitaku-u.ac.jp/11/usr/news>



Subject: 5 Geography
====================

   Contents: 
    => 5.1 Some Statistics 
    => 5.2 Daylight Savings Time 
    => 5.3 Maps On-Line and...you know...On-Paper 
    => 5.4 World-Wide Weather 
    => 5.5 Astronomy, As Observed in Germany 



Subject: 5.1 Some Statistics
----------------------------

   Contents: 
    => 5.1.1 The 16 Federal States 
    => 5.1.2 Cities with >100,000 Citizens 



Subject: 5.1.1 The 16 Federal States
------------------------------------

               State           Area  Population Capital    
                              [km^2]                       
               Schleswig-   15738.68    2694875 Kiel       
               Holstein                                    
               Hamburg        755.33    1702887 Hamburg    
               Niedersach   47605.91    7648004 Hannover   
               sen                                         
               Bremen         404.23     683096 Bremen     
               Nordrhein-   34071.50   17759300 Duesseldor 
               Westfalen                        f          
               Hessen       21114.25    5967305 Wiesbaden  
               Rheinland-   19845.38    3925863 Mainz      
               Pfalz                                       
               Baden-       35751.39   10234026 Stuttgart  
               Wuerttembe                                  
               rg                                          
               Bayern       70547.44   11863313 Muenchen   
               Saarland      2570.02    1084522 Saarbrueck 
                                                en         
               Berlin         889.11    3475392 Berlin     
               Brandenbur   29481.22    2537661 Potsdam    
               g                                           
               Mecklenbur   23169.47    1843455 Schwerin   
               g-                                          
               Vorpommern                                  
               Sachsen      18408.61    4607660 Dresden    
               Sachsen-     20445.85    2777935 Magdeburg  
               Anhalt                                      
               Thueringen   16175.15    2532799 Erfurt     
                    total  356973.54   81338003 Berlin     
   Residence of the parliament is still Bonn.  Source:
   Fischer-Weltalmanach [12/93] 



Subject: 5.1.2 Cities with >100,000 Citizens
--------------------------------------------

                     1 Berlin   29         57         
                     3475392    Augsburg   Wuerzburg  
                                264764     128875     
                     2 Hamburg  30         58         
                     1702887    Braunschwe Goettingen 
                                ig 256267  128419     
                     3 Muenchen 31 Krefeld 59 Cottbus 
                     1255623    249565     128121     
                     4 Koeln    32 Kiel    60         
                     962517     248931     Wolfsburg  
                                           128032     
                     5          33 Aachen  61         
                     Frankfurt/ 246671     Recklingha 
                     M. 659803             usen       
                                           127150     
                     6 Essen    34 Rostock 62         
                     622380     237307     Regensburg 
                                           125337     
                     7 Dortmund 35         63         
                     601966     Oberhausen Remscheid  
                                226254     123610     
                     8          36 Luebeck 64 Gera    
                     Stuttgart  217269     122974     
                     594406                           
                     9          37 Hagen   65         
                     Duesseldor 214877     Heilbronn/ 
                     f 574936              N. 122396  
                     10 Bremen  38 Kassel  66         
                     551604     202158     Schwerin   
                                           122189     
                     11         39 Erfurt  67 Bottrop 
                     Duisburg   200799     119676     
                     536797                           
                     12         40         68         
                     Hannover   Freiburg/B Salzgitter 
                     524823     . 197384   117684     
                     13         41         69         
                     Nuernberg  Saarbrueck Pforzheim  
                     498945     en 190902  117450     
                     14 Leipzig 42 Mainz   70         
                     490851     185487     Offenbach/ 
                                           M. 116870  
                     15 Dresden 43 Hamm    71 Ulm     
                     479273     182390     114839     
                     16 Bochum  44 Herne   72 Siegen  
                     401058     180539     111845     
                     17         45         73 Koblenz 
                     Wuppertal  Muelheim/R 109807     
                     386625     . 177175              
                     18         46         74         
                     Bielefeld  Ludwigshaf Ingolstadt 
                     324674     en 168130  109666     
                     19         47         75 Fuerth  
                     Mannheim   Osnabrueck 108097     
                     318025     168078                
                     20 Bonn    48         76 Zwickau 
                     296859     Solingen   107988     
                                166064                
                     21         49         77         
                     Halle/Saal Leverkusen Reutlingen 
                     e 295372   161761     107607     
                     22         50 Neuss   78 Moers   
                     Gelsenkirc 148560     106631     
                     hen 295037                       
                     23         51         79         
                     Chemnitz   Oldenburg  Hildesheim 
                     279520     147701     106303     
                     24         52         80 Witten  
                     Karlsruhe  Darmstadt  105807     
                     277998     139754                
                     25         53         81         
                     Wiesbaden  Heidelberg Bergisch   
                     270873     139429     Gladb.     
                                           104991     
                     26         54 Potsdam 82         
                     Magdeburg  139262     Erlangen   
                     270546                102383     
                     27         55         83         
                     Muenster   Bremerhave Kaiserslau 
                     267367     n 131492   tern       
                                           102370     
                     28         56         84 Jena    
                     Moenchengl Paderborn  100093     
                     . 265312   130130                
                          total 26027788              
                                people                
   Source: Fischer-Weltalmanach [12/93] 



Subject: 5.2 Daylight Savings Time
----------------------------------

   From 1996 on, daylight savings time will start on the European
   continent on the last Sunday of March 1:00 UTC (2:00 MEZ) and end
   on the fourth Sunday in October 1:00 UTC (3:00 MESZ).  At these
   times all clocks are to be set one hour "spring-ahead" or
   "fall-back." 


Subject: 5.3 Maps On-Line and...you know...On-Paper
---------------------------------------------------

   **on-line** 

   Goodness, yes, there are maps...  tons probably...  like this
   zoomable world-overview map or this monster of political map
   (257kB) A very nice overview of all German states also gives you a
   lot of WWW pointers to more information "by-state"!  Check it out! 
   [5/95] And this map of German WWW servers lets you click for
   information on individual cities.  [6/95] 
     <http://pubweb.parc.xerox.com/map/ht=90.00/lat=52.50/lon=10.16/wd=180.00?280,106>
     <http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/europe/Germany.jpg>
     <http://www.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/bl/bundeslaender.html>
     <http://www.leo.org/demap/>

   There are some city maps available,too: 

     o Stuttgart 
         <http://www.uni-stuttgart.de/Ist/Maps/mn29-30.gif.html>
     o Passau 
         <http://httpserver.forwiss.uni-passau.de/passau/stadt/plan/uebersicht.html>


   [03/96] Quite a number of historical maps, which might also be
   useful in genealogical research, can be found at the FEEFHS web
   site.  [02/96] 
     <http://dcn.davis.ca.us/~feefhs/masteri.html>

   **on-paper** 

   All of Germany is available on topographic maps of 1:25,000 scale,
   and a large part of it even on 1:5000 scale.  Find the right map
   for you by using Arthur Teschler's email-server, (see
   Internet/Search Engines) then contact the corresponding
   **Landesvermessungsamt**; they are in the state capitals.  [02/96] 

   Another option is to contact an international map shop, like 

       RV Geocenter Munich,
       tel +49(89)431890
   [3/95] 



Subject: 5.4 World-Wide Weather
-------------------------------

   A quick text-based international weather summary (including Berlin,
   Bonn, Frankfurt, Munich) might just be all you need.  
     <gopher://wx.atmos.uiuc.edu/00/International/Foreign%20Temp%20and%20Weather>

   For more extensive coverage you may also try the MeteoSat 5 images
   of M`et`eo-France.  [ok 10/95] 
     <http://www.meteo.fr/tpsreel/tpsreel.html>
   or the report from FU Berlin.  (In English.)  [4/95] 
     <http://www.met.fu-berlin.de/english/Wetter/index.html>

   And from Edinburgh you may obtain the current visual image of
   Northern Europe, as seen by MeteoSat.  (Large!)  [7/95] 
     <gopher://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk:70/I/weather/met.ed.ac.uk/images/jpeg/eurvis.jpg>


Subject: 5.5 Astronomy, As Observed in Germany
----------------------------------------------

   Astronomical events, visibility and positions of heavenly bodies,
   calculated for your location in Germany, international holidays and
   anniversaries, local festivals, birthdays of famous Germans,
   religious holidays and feasts ...  all in a handy pocket diary
   [06/96] 
     <http://www.rat.de/apd/apd.htm>


Subject: 6 Language
===================

   Contents: 
    => 6.1 Literature Search Engine 
    => 6.2 Duden Editorial Board 
    => 6.3 What does the Adjective "German" Mean?  
    => 6.4 German is so Strange...or is it?  
    => 6.5 Listserver LOWLANDS-L for Friesisch and Niederdeutsch 
    => 6.6 Learning German as an Adult 



Subject: 6.1 Literature Search Engine
-------------------------------------

   So far it serves only documents from the universities of
   North-Rhine-Westphalia...some 22,000 and growing.  Reach the server
   at the center for parallel computing of the U Cologne.  [05/96] 
     <http://www.zpr.uni-koeln.de/Harvest/paper.html>
     <http://www.zpr.uni-koeln.de/>


Subject: 6.2 Duden Editorial Board
----------------------------------

   The most widely accepted authoritative answers to questions about
   the German language are provided by the 
       Sprachberatungsstelle der Dudenredaktion,
       Postfach 100311,
       68003 Mannheim,
       Germany,
       tel +49(0621)3901426
   [03/96] 


Subject: 6.3 What does the Adjective "German" Mean?
---------------------------------------------------

   The origins of the German language are quite manifold as various
   peoples have influenced it throughout history.  Conversely, there
   is an impressive variety of expressions for the meaning of the
   adjective "German" in those languages.  

    1. The **German** "deutsch" or (ancient) "teutsch," has developed
       through history in several stages, referring first to the
       language, then to the people and finally to the territory.  It
       stems from the old German word "thiutisk" or "theudisk," which
       the West Franks used since the 9th Century to refer to their
       language, "the common language," as opposed to the "educated"
       language Latin.  Karolus Magnus (Karl der Grosse, Charlemagne,
       Charles the Great, 742-814 AD) took it to name his multilingual
       and multicultural empire as "deutsch" because this did mean
       just "the people" and had no specific reference to any
       particular nation living in his empire.  
       Other derivations from "theudisk" found their way into a number
       of other languages, as well: 

         o **Scandinavian**: "Tysk" 
         o **Italian**: "Tedeschi" 
         o **Dutch**: "Duits" 

    2. Tribe names; many European peoples adopted the names of
       Germanic tribes living close to their own territory: 

         o **Latin**; "germanus" in Latin meant the tribes settling in
           central Europe.  Probably originally adopted from the
           Germanic expression "spear-bearer" (ger-man.)  
         o The **English** word "Dutch" is related to "deutsch" and
           originally meant "German." Since Holland became an
           independent country in the 17th century, it was used for
           that former part of the German empire only.  The new word
           for Germany in English was adopted from Latin.  
         o **French, Spanish and Portuguese**: "Alemans" was the name
           for the southwestern German tribe, next door neighbour to
           the French.  
         o The **Baltic peoples** picked a different German tribe as a
           word for all of Germany: "Saksalaiset." (Hence the "Saxons"
           as in "Anglo-Saxons"...)  

    3. In **Slavic** dialects, the root "*nEm-" generally means "mute"
       (unable to speak), dialectal data and the Church Slavic
       literature strongly suggest that this root also means
       "incomprehensible for the listener," and, by extension,
       "speaking a foreign language." 

         o **Russian**: "Njemzij" 
         o **Polish**: "Niemzij" 
         o **Tchechian**: "Nemci" 
         o **Slovak**: "Nemec" 
         o **Croatian**: "Nemac" 
         o **Serbian**: "Nijemac" [06/96] 
         o the **Magyars** took this term and called them "Nimetek" 


   [1/96] 


Subject: 6.4 German is so Strange...or is it?
---------------------------------------------

   **Long Words!**, 
   The notorious "Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitaensmuetze"
   in all its possible extensions is often cited as evidence how the
   German language uniquely burdens all non-native speakers with what
   seems to be nothing but curious absurdities.  
   What do you know?  English, does not, either, regard this type of
   word as excessively sesquipedalian...Richard Lederer (in "Crazy
   English") tells us that even "antidisestablishmentarianism" is not
   very hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian.  -- Hmm?  Oh, German words are
   "simply" concatenated?  Well, that, as well, is not that unique. 
   Ponder, for instance,
   "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" ...  it is not to
   be floccinaucinihilipilificated!  
   Really, very very very (...you get the picture) long words are not
   used in German, despite their possibility -- anything comprised of
   more than two parts (like "Gedanken-anstoss") is rare.  [07/96] 


Subject: 6.5 Listserver LOWLANDS-L for Friesisch and Niederdeutsch
------------------------------------------------------------------

   This email forum discusses those germanic languages and cultures
   that originated from costal areas around the North Sea and the
   Baltic Sea, including Frisian, Dutch, Lower Saxon, Afrikaans, and
   more.  

   To subscribe to the listserver...  

         send email    To: listproc@lists.u.washington.edu
         with body     subscribe lowlands-l
   For more information email H.A.Y.  Wolf [1/96] 
     <mailto:H.A.Y.Wolf@stud.let.ruu.nl>


Subject: 6.6 Learning German as an Adult
----------------------------------------

   Summary of experiences as reported by various readers of s.c.g
   (winter 95) 

   **Courses** and **tapes** recommended 

     o Berlitz "Think and Talk German" 
     o InLingua 
     o The taped exercises with the Deutsch 2000 course; available at
       better stores in the US 
     o The Goethe Institutes (find their addresses in the section on
       Goethe Institutes) 
         <http://www.goethe.de/>
     o Mind Extension University (cable TV) has about 1.5 hours of
       German language a day, and sometimes even have German classes;
       get info at +1(800)777-MIND 
     o Concordia language camps in Minnesota.  Excellent immersion
       camps.[10/95] 
     o The National Registration Center for Study Abroad evaluates and
       coordinates immersive study programs at a variety of language
       schools around the world, including Germany.  You can get more
       information from their web page [10/95] 
         <http://www.execpc.com:80/~nrcsa/>
     o The "Volkshochschulen" offer courses for foreigners.  [11/95] 
         <http://www.vhs.de/>

   **Reading** 

   Reading German as a means to learning spoken German was high on
   everyone's list.  The following were recommended: 

     o children's books 
     o comic books 
     o trash novels 
     o "Schau Ins Land" - a monthly small magazine and cassette out of
       Nashville is good for building vocabulary once you are at an
       intermediate stage.  
     o the German edition of "Mad Magazine." 
     o annotated anthologies 

   **Factors to success** 

     o be motivated 
     o set goals 
     o some period of total immersion in the spoken language 
     o visit Germany 
     o unlike English, German is pronounced as written; learn the
       pronunciation of letters and diphthongs 
     o work through and learn German grammar; there is no way to
       escape this 
     o do a daily word list 
     o work in a language course trip to Germany 
     o let your ear govern whether or not your mouth is doing the
       right thing 
     o remember the article for every noun!  

   **Miscellaneous experiences:** 
     : I am learning German in the US, and though I have the
     : benefit of a German wife, she speaks such good English,
     : that we never talk in German.  I get children's books from
     : the library (including picture dictionaries!), and I try
     : to watch as much German TV as we get on cable: **(Mind
     : Extension University.)** We also get the international
     : channel, which has other German shows.  Also, get a short
     : wave radio and tune into **Deutsche Welle,** which
     : broadcasts worldwide.  I decided that it's like learning a
     : language as a kid.  Kids hear the language constantly, and
     : absorb it all like sponges; kids don't even speak until
     : they've been hearing a language for 12 to 24 months, so i
     : figured I'd do the same, and did a lot of listening, so it
     : would seep into my soul, and now, about a year later, I'm
     : starting, with croaking voice, to speak, and it's fun.  
   [end quote]

     : I learned German as an adult through a language 'school'
     : called "Inlingua" (they're like Berlitz).  They offer
     : instruction by native speaking teachers and it is taught
     : by 'total immersion', i.e., only German is spoken in
     : class.  This is the best method to learn although it can
     : be expensive (my company picked up the tab).  If taking a
     : formal class such as I did is not an option, I strongly
     : suggest that while you are learning German through tapes,
     : community college courses, etc., take every opportunity
     : you can to speak German.  In the car, to
     : spouse/kids/partner/ roommate, family, or even to
     : yourself.  I would come home from class and tell my wife,
     : in German, what I learned in class or did at work that
     : day.  I got some strange looks, but it really helped me to
     : start thinking in German.  When you start dreaming in
     : German, you'll know you making good progress.  
   [end quote]

     : I have had German exchange students, and have had great
     : experiences with them.  I would not recommend them as a
     : way to learn German, however, as they are interested only
     : in speaking English.  
   [end quote]

     : I learned to speak German in a small village outside a
     : city that had itself a rather "boese" dialect.  I learned
     : the local platt, and found that I got on better with that
     : than I did with my attempts at high German.  When speaking
     : dialect I was always mistaken for someone from a farm town
     : over the next hill, however on the rare occasions when I
     : tried to speak High German, I was spotted immediately as
     : an Ami.  
   [end quote]

     : I've had good experiences renting from the German Language
     : Video Center (see Audio / Video Tapes.)  They also sell
     : documentaries from Deutsche Welle TV for US$16.95, which I
     : think is the same price Deutsche Welle sells them for. 
     : You can also get the documentaries on some PBS (Public
     : Broadcasting System) stations - in the San Francisco area,
     : channel 60 broadcast two episodes of Schauplatz
     : Deutschland starting last night at 11 p.m.  It's in German
     : with English subtitles.  
   [end quote]

   [3/95] 

     : After I had gotten somewhat into the basics of the
     : language, I started to read books that I had already read
     : in Norwegian.  This enabled me to keep most of my mind on
     : the language, since I already knew what the story was.  
     : In addition to this, it would come in handy if you can
     : listen to German on the radio, and after some time, and
     : practice, you should of course go to Germany for a month
     : or three.  
     : NB: When going to Germany, go **alone**!  I was in Germany
     : once, travelling with a group of other Norwegians, and
     : whenever we were two or more Norwegians in one spot, we
     : would speak Norwegian.  I therefore made it a rule for
     : myself to keep away from my fellow travellers as much as
     : possible.  Otherwise I would not have gotten full benefit
     : of my stay.  
   [end quote]

   [07/96] 


--
         *  *      ralf <mailto:vogelges@physics.purdue.edu>
          *Q *
        *_/|- 	   maintainer of the soc.culture.german FAQ:
          / ! 	   <http://www.physics.purdue.edu/~vogelges/faq.html>
