When skyping with my American customers, I am often asked to say something in German, just to give them an idea of what it sounds like. To meet their needs, I decided to make a spoken-word recording of an old letter and publish it on my blog. Of course, this is not the kind of German that was spoken at the time the letter was written. And, although the writer had an excellent school education that enabled him to speak and write in High German, he probably spoke a lower German dialect called Prignitzer Platt (which I am unable to speak…..). Still, it might give my listeners an idea on how (High) German sounds today. And those of you, who do speak German, may just want to close their eyes and listen to a wonderfully written piece of American history.
And now, finally, here it is: the ultimate version of the “Letter from America“. Words from Albert Stange in 1854, read by the artist known as the rootseeker….