I know this poem! It comes up in my reading! It is indeed famous. It's quoted in full and in translation in the Frederick II bio I read, and the first phrase is cited in that bio of Henry the Lion I mentioned (not the one I'm reading now, the less academic one).
Lehen! I'm proud of your German vocabulary triumphing over the English expressions.
I thought you would be! :DD I've hardly read any history in English in the last year, only German (and increasingly French).
Okay, speaking of English and German, though, yesterday I heard from the Brandenburg archive in answer to a question I sent them in English, and it was again in German. Given that you said this the first time I got up my courage to write someone in Germany in English and got a reply in German:
Also, I am tempted to explain the lack of English on the part of your corrspondents by stating that Frankfurt an der Oder is in the very east of East Germany, and depending on the age of your correspondent, that means they might have learned (some, if any) English late in life. Whereas if you were corresponding with a historical society located in Frankfurt am Main (aka Mainhattan), I would be seriously disturbed if they had not replied to you in English.
...how surprising or unsurprising is it that 4 out of 5 separate archivists in Berlin and Potsdam, some of whom have "Dr." in their title, respond to English emails with 2-3 sentences in German?
Re: Byzantine tales, brought to you by virtue of me having finished the available podcast
Lehen! I'm proud of your German vocabulary triumphing over the English expressions.
I thought you would be! :DD I've hardly read any history in English in the last year, only German (and increasingly French).
Okay, speaking of English and German, though, yesterday I heard from the Brandenburg archive in answer to a question I sent them in English, and it was again in German. Given that you said this the first time I got up my courage to write someone in Germany in English and got a reply in German:
Also, I am tempted to explain the lack of English on the part of your corrspondents by stating that Frankfurt an der Oder is in the very east of East Germany, and depending on the age of your correspondent, that means they might have learned (some, if any) English late in life. Whereas if you were corresponding with a historical society located in Frankfurt am Main (aka Mainhattan), I would be seriously disturbed if they had not replied to you in English.
...how surprising or unsurprising is it that 4 out of 5 separate archivists in Berlin and Potsdam, some of whom have "Dr." in their title, respond to English emails with 2-3 sentences in German?