April 04, 2009

Germany, the biggest country in the universe

I'm editing a guidebook to Germany. It's 800 pages long. While you ponder how that can possibly be possible, enjoy these fun facts:

1. There's a place called the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim. It's devoted to jewelry, which makes me wonder if calling someone a schmuck might have been a compliment back in the day. Or . . . wait . . . maybe you're watching me discover the etymology of the expression "family jewels." See how my brain did that?

2. Mainz, the birthplace of printing-press inventor Johannes Gutenberg, hosts an annual festival called
Johannisnacht. Newly graduated printers are initiated in mysterious ways (not detailed in the book), and students just learning the craft are dunked in vats of water. Nothing like a little biblical hazing.

3. In Frankfurt, the Museum für Moderne Kunst has a number of pieces by Blinky Palermo. I think that might be the best name anyone's ever had. I hope it's real.

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