Spaetzle, wie es sein soll (Spat. as it should be)

  Stuttgart, Germany
Saturday, February 16, 2008

My second stop on my journey took me to Stuttgart, where my great-aunt and her relatives live.  I had never met these people before, but I was anxious and excited to get to know relatives from Germany! 
 
My time in Stuttgart was very much a trip back in time.  I visited my great-aunt, Tante Lydia, as well as her children and their lovely families.  Tante Lydia taught me some Schwaebisch with the help of Nina (her granddaughter), which presented me with many difficulties.  I just got used to the dialect in Graz, and then to be hit with another foreign dialect was pretty tough, but I did learn "a bissele" Schwaebisch, so now I can understand Opa a little better!  I also heard many family stories and took a trip to where my Opa's boyhood home used to stand.  Unfortunately, the house that stands there today seems to be another cookie cutter house and lacks the character of the house I saw in the old pictures.  Tante Lydia also took me to the cemetery where my great-grandparents and my great-uncle (Opa and Tante Lydia's younger brother) were buried.  They don't rest here these days-in Germany, burial space is limited and at a premium, so plots are rented out for 20 years and after that, the bodies are interred. 
 
Stuttgart for me was a culinary extravaganza.  All the German cooking I grew up with were there and a few surprises that have never crossed my taste buds before.  Highlights include Spaetzle, a cross between a noodle and a dumpling.  I ordered Spaetzle in Graz, but what I got was hardly what I would call Spaetzle-the noodles were smooth and resembled long worms.  The texture of Spaetzle in Stuttgart was just right and just as good as home cookin'.  Another delight I tried was Maultaschen, literally "mouth pockets".  This is basically a German variation of ravioli (I'm convinced every culture in the world has something similar to the ravioli) and of course, coffee and cake with my newly discovered family! 
 
The granddaughter of my great aunt (still trying to figure out what that makes Nina and I...brownie points to anyone who figures it out!) Nina and her boyfriend showed me around Stuttgart.  I would have to say my favorite part of the tour was an elevator that continuously ran!  I even got to ride in it, but I have to say it was a little nerve-wracking getting on and off the elevator!  Another interesting part of the tour was Birkenkopf-a large hill in Stuttgart with great views of the city.  Now, what's so special about a hill you ask?  Well, I was just getting to that part!  The hill is made from the remains of buildings from WWII, that's what's so special.  Stuttgart was heavily destroyed and what to do with all those remains?  Why not build a hill?  Another definite highlight was seeing the musical Wicked in German.  I had already seen the musical in Chicago (dragged my whole family in fact!), so what I couldn't understand in German I could easily recall the English.  What I found so interesting, was that some songs sounded better in English, while others sounded just as good (or sometimes better) in German.
 
I also took a trip to Tuebingen, which is at its core a university town.  In fact, most of the buildings are in some way related to the university and as Nina put it, "It seems that time seems to slow down in Tuebingen."  I also learned about the fraternities (aka Bruderschaft/Brotherhood) here-not only are the frat houses prettier than most houses I have seen, they take different names and different traditions.  The names, instead of being derived from the Greek alphabet, are taken from German states, towns or even the country itself.  Tack an "ia" at the end and voila!  You have a name of a fraternity!  Most frat guys in Tuebingen are really into fencing and part of the initiation process includes fencing against other members and many new members leave with scars to prove it.  Another tradition with the brotherhoods is canoing.  In spring, each fraternity has a boat and enters in a race.  The winners get to host a huge party that evening and the losers, well, the losers have one big glass of liver juice waiting for them. 
 
Stuttgart offered a little family history and lore, little taste of Schwaebisch cooking, and a lot of fun.  Many thanks, vielen Dank again to Tante Lydia, Nina and all of the Webers in Stuttgart!