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Subject: FAQ: soc.culture.german Frequently Asked Questions (posted monthly) Newsgroups: soc.culture.german,soc.answers,news.answers From: vogelges@physics.purdue.edu (Ralf Vogelgesang) Date: 4 May 94 16:05:22 GMT Archive-name: german-faq Last-modified: 1994/04/30 Version: 1.11 ______________________________________________________________________ !!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAQ for SOC.CULTURE.GERMAN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!! !! -- general remarks -- !! !! !! !! !! !! All new lines are marked with a # sign as first character. !! !! Open questions are marked by '???' (use as search string !! !! and send/post answers!) !! !! !! !! !! !! DOWNLOADING the FAQ !! !! !! !! via FTP: (OK: 2/94) !! !! rtfm.mit.edu /pub/usenet-by-group/soc.culture.german !! !! !! !! via GOPHER: (OK: 2/94) !! !! == in EUROPE == !! !! ftp.win.tue.nl /usenet/news.answers/german-faq !! !! == in NORTH-AMERICA == !! !! jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca /FAQ/soc/news.answers.00526 !! !! !! !! via EMAIL: !! !! if you have no other means... you may be able to get !! !! the faq by "ftpmail". Be aware, though, that such !! !! services are not guaranteed to function, nor fast! !! !! It took more than 3 days, when I tried it. (OK: 3/94) !! !! !! !! == in EUROPE == !! !! send email !! !! To: bitftp@vm.gmd.de or bitftp@plearn.edu.pl !! !! with message body: !! !! ftp rtfm.mit.edu netdata !! !! user anonymous !! !! cd /pub/usenet-by-group/soc.culture.german !! !! get F:_s.c.g_F_A_Q_(p_m) !! !! quit !! !! !! !! == in NORTH-AMERICA == !! !! send email !! !! To: bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu !! !! with message body: !! !! ftp rtfm.mit.edu netdata !! !! user anonymous !! !! cd /pub/usenet-by-group/soc.culture.german !! !! get F:_s.c.g_F_A_Q_(p_m) !! !! quit !! !! or !! !! send email !! !! To: ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com !! !! with message body: !! !! connect rtfm.mit.edu !! !! cd /pub/usenet-by-group/soc.culture.german !! !! get F:_s.c.g_F_A_Q_(p_m) !! !! quit !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! WHAT'S NEW? !! !! !! !! Transparent Language story telling software !! !! !! !! Accent Multilingual Word Processor !! !! !! !! German children's books !! !! !! !! Money transfer US <-> Germany !! !! !! !! How to get internet access in germany; pointers to lists of !! !! public unix-systems with internet connection in Germany. !! !! !! !! Langenscheidt's dictionary on WWW !! !! !! !! Telephone adapters !! !! !! !! Address Honorarkonsluat der BRD, Winnipeg !! !! !! !! exchange rates dollar-DM via net !! !! !! !! List of anonymous FTP servers !! !! !! !! Lists of Public Unix Systems !! !! !! !! General naming system of the German academic network !! !! !! !! Finding Train Connections !! !! !! !! Ralf Vogelgesang !! !! West Lafayette, Wed, May 4 1994 !! !! !! !! Last Month's Contributors -- Special Thanks to: !! !! !! !! Bernd Hammerschmid !! !! Christian Hettler !! !! David Weible !! !! Eberhard Wegner !! !! Frederik Ramm !! !! Honer Michael !! !! Jan Richert !! !! Joachim Mugdan !! !! Joerg Hill !! !! John Cowan !! !! Juergen Piesche !! !! L. Jake Jacobson !! !! Mark A Lilly !! !! Martin !! !! Mathias Koerber !! !! Michael Palmer !! !! Michael Roetzer !! !! Norbert Hoffmann !! !! Paul Fisahn !! !! Probal Tahbildar !! !! Rainer "RaMa" Mallon !! !! Rainer Schulze !! !! Rod Lloyd !! !! S. Clarkson !! !! Vera Heinau !! !! Wolfgang Sander-Beuermann !! !! Wolfram Schneider !! !! info@accent !! !!__________________________________________________________________!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _______________________________________ !!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!! !! !! !! FAQ for SOC.CULTURE.GERMAN !! !! !! !!___________________________________!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ ....CITY !_ __! __/ @ KOPENHAGEN \ ...river `! !_\~~~~! ! /~ # ....lake ! / `\_ ! `~\ \ o s t s e e !-! `! ~` ___;~'~- '. ! `, \__! ,-\ ._! KIEL@--._\ ,\__\_! n o r d `\_ ,-'_ ,-~-~ `~---___--~ .............. /~~~`\ HAMBURG~ ~ ! s e e ..',------.!~~~~~U\! `\@_ \ ,' / U !weser `~-_ elbe oder/ /\ !_ @\ `-_ /' AMSTER! ,' _! BREMEN! `\ BERLIN \_ DAM /'@`-' / HANNOVER ! @ ! /_ rhein |_ @ / \___ ~~~~~----_ ! \___ DUESSEL`, @@ RUHR ! elbe~`\ DORF @!@@@@ POTT ! @ `\ @ @@ LEIPZIG `\ BRUESSEL `@KOELN `@ DRESDEN BONN`@_ _! FRANKFURT PRAG _- `\___@_ _ _ @ mosel_- `\ ~!__! `\_! ~~ ! main NUERNBERG SAAR @ `, @ BRUECKEN ,' STUTTGART donau NANCY ,' @ ___--~~~~-_ @ / _-~~ ~~--__ rhein' __--~~ ~~@--_-_ ! ----~~ @ LINZ `\___,-----### boden MUENCHEN @ BASEL @ @ ### see SALZBURG ZUERICH @ INNSBRUCK __Contents__ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 Introduction 2 Mail Order 2.1. Books 2.2. Newspapers 2.3. Audio / Video Tapes 2.4. Miscellaneous 3 Addresses / Phone Numbers # 3.1. Consulates / Embassies 3.2. Goethe Institutes 3.3. Universities 3.4. Miscellaneous 4 Short-Wave Radio / Satellite TV 4.1. Deutsche Welle 4.2. Regional German Radio Stations via Shortwave 4.3. TV via Satellite 4.4. Swiss Radio; Radio Austria 5 Phone System 5.1. Public Phones / Phone Cards in Germany # 5.2. Adapters 6 German zip codes (Postleitzahlen, PLZ) 6.1. Finding PLZs on the Net 6.2. The New Zip-Code System 6.3. The Old Zip-Code System 7 (Public) Transportation in Germany 7.1. Railways 7.1.1. Deutsche Bundesbahn AG 7.1.2. Which Train to Use 7.1.3. Ticket Prices 7.1.4. International Addresses for Railway Travelers 7.1.5. Timetables 7.1.6. The "Poor Man's Version" of the "Kursbuch" # 7.1.7. Finding Train Connections on the Net 7.1.8. Fly and Ride (a Train) 7.1.9. Trains and Bicycles 7.2. Country-Wide/Continent-Wide Bus Travel like Greyhound? 7.3. Regional Bus Service 7.4. Local Transport (Within Cities) 8 Email in Germany # 8.1. Finding Email Addresses 8.2. Getting Email Access 8.2.1. Universities # 8.2.2. Lists of Public Unix Systems # 8.2.3. Private Networks 8.3. List of Anonymous FTP Servers in Germany 9 Electronic Language # 9.1. Dictionaries (Word Lists from the Net) 9.2. Encyclopedias, "Lexika" # 9.3. Translation Programs; Spell Checkers; Thesauri # 9.4. Tutorial Software 10 "de" Newsgroups 11 Fax Numbers in Germany 12 German News via gopher/email 13 German Soccer Results 14 Transferring Foreign Academic Degrees to Germany 15 Questions and Answers 15.1. How to Write Umlauts in soc.culture.german? 15.2. Taking American Electronic Equipment to Germany? 15.2.1. Importing Phones to Germany? 15.2.2. Video Tapes? -- Different Video Norms! 15.3. Calling Germany Collect from Abroad? 15.4. Using US Phone Cards in Germany? 15.5. VAT in Germany? 15.6. What presents to take to Germany? 15.7. Buying a Car for Short Period instead of EuRail? 15.8. How much is Gasoline in Germany? #15.9. How to get German Stock Data via Internet? #15.10. What German Books for Children? #15.11. Sending Money To and From [To skip to a particular question, search for the question number followed by two blanks.] 1 Introduction This posting contains answers to frequently asked questions in soc.culture.german. The answers are neither complete nor tested by me. All information in this FAQ is free and everybody should feel encouraged to distribute it. Please check this posting first before you ask a question in soc.culture.german. Input to this FAQ is always welcome. Please refer to vogelges@physics.purdue.edu if you have questions about the FAQ. The FAQ was prepared by collecting different postings and email messages. 2 Mail Order In this section you will find addresses of mail order stores which sell books or tapes either in German or about Germany (or both). This list is not necessarily based on the maintainer's personal experience. The maintainer of this list is not responsible for the accuracy of this information. You will find general mail order stores below. 2.1. Books German Information Center (see 2.2.) Der Buchwurm (German Books, Music Tapes, CD's, Journal Subscriptions, etc.) PO. Box 268 Templeton, CA 93465 Tel: (805) 238-2353 Fax: (805) 238-9523 Mary S. Rosenberg, Inc. 1841 Broadway New York, NY 10023 Tel: (212) 307-7733 Fax: (718) 857-7163 Mail order, but no credit cards! However, checks do not need to clear your bank before they send merchandise. Schoenhof's Foreign Books 76A Mount Auburn Street Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: (617) 547-8855 Fax: (617) 547-8551 Accepts Visa, MC, and AMEX. French, German, Italian, and Spanish books Adler's Foreign Books, Inc. 915 Foster Street Evanston, Illinois 60201 Tel: 1-800-ADLERS-1 Accepts major credit cards, no current catalogue! International Book Import Service, Inc. 2995 Wall Triana Highway, Suite B4 Huntsville, Alabama 35824-1532 Continental Book Company 80-00 Cooper Avenue Bldg. #29 Glendale, NY 11385 MAIL ORDER KAISER Postfach 401209 80712 Muenchen Germany Tel: +49 89 362001 Mail order bookstore in Germany. Delivery worldwide at German domestic prices. Monthly newsletters. ATS (Associated Technical Services) 855 Bloomfield Ave. Glen Ridge, NJ 07028 Technical Dictionaries 2001 Ferdinand-Porsche-Str. 39 Postfach 61 06 37 60348 Frankfurt/Main Tel: +49 69 4208000 Fax: +49 69 415004 or: Kantstr. 41 10625 Berlin 12 Tel: +49 30 3125017 They deliver only to European countries. A Bill will be included on delivery. The value of an order to abroad must be above 50 DM. Only books are delivered abroad, no CDs, tapes or records. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Hindenburgstrasse 40 Postfach 11 15 53 64230 Darmstadt 11 Germany Tel: +49 6151 33080 Fax: +49 6151 314128 Carl Hanser Verlag Postfach 86 04 20 81631 Muenchen Take major credit cars, and offer books from BASIC programming to Object-Oriented methods. Nice little catalog - these are the distinctive bright red books with blue trim. "Die Weisse Rose" Rozengracht 166 Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 20 638 3959 Opening hours: Tue-Fri 10-18, Sat 11-17 2.2. Newspapers Deutschland Nachrichten / The Week in Germany The German Information Center 950 Third Ave. New York NY 10022 Tel: (212) 888-9840 "Deutschland Nachrichten" or its English version "The Week in Germany" is a free 8 page flyer. It features selected articles from various German newspapers, soccer results, and the $/DM exchange rate. The German Information Center also distributes lots of other information (books, maps, ...) for free. They are a particularly helpful resource for those who may have to prepare a school presentation about Germany. Der Spiegel German Language Publications, Inc. 153 South Dean Street Englewood NJ 07631 email: 100064.3164@compuserve.com Published weekly, subscription price for the USA is $280 p.a. There are plans to make the "Spiegel" available via internet. Die Zeit Die Zeit 29 Coldwater Road PO. Box 9868 Toronto, ON Englewood, NJ M3B 1Y8 07631-1123 Canada USA "Die Zeit" is available either via air mail or as international edition via surface mail from Canada. The international edition is much cheaper but contains less pages. The German Tribune does not exist any more ... Die Nordamerikanische Wochenpost Die Nordamerikanische Wochenpost 1120 E. Long Lake Road Troy, MI 48098 3 month trial subscription: $15, one year $42.95 This is a general interest newspaper. The front page generally features news from/about Germany. There are special pages for regional, domestic American news of interest to German speakers (e.g. Florida, New York, Chicago/Milwaukee, and Detroit). Additionally, there's a special page for news from/about Austria. All the major sections that you would expect in any newspaper are represented: politics, sports, the economy, fashion, cartoons, features, editorials, etc. There are also several short-stories and a serialized novel. There's a list of German-language radio broadcasts for North America (US and Ontario, Canada). It also contains a list of German-American associations. Tages-Anzeiger Tages-Anzeiger Abonnentendienst Postfach CH-8021 Zuerich Fax: +41 1 248-5055 prices (Sfr) for all countries, first four issues free. air mail surface mail 3 months 41.74 33.75 6 months 78.50 66.50 1 year 135.00 111.00 Tages-Anzeiger is one of the major Swiss daily newspapers (besides Neue Zuericher Zeitung). Their international edition is published weekly. Others: Stern, Hamburg 100125.1305@compuserve.com Focus 100335.3131@compuserve.com 2.3. Audio / Video Tapes VIDEO: (For conversion of videotapes (NTSC <-> PAL) see 15.2.2.) German Language Video Center 7625-27 Pendleton Pike Indianapolis, Indiana 46226 Tel: (317) 547-1257 free catalogue AUDIO: The Olivia and Hill Press PO. Box 7396 Ann Arbor, Michigan 48107 Tel: (313) 663-0235 Fax: (313) 663-6590 Selection of German-language cassette recordings of novels, plays, and radio plays, e.g. Duerrenmatt's "Der Richter und sein Henker". Free catalogue. Schau ins Land PO. Box 158067 Nashville, TN 37215-8067 Tel: 1-800-824-0829 Monthly audio magazine of news, stories, music, etc. Comes with a written transcription including a vocabulary glossary. Approx. $120/yr. in the US. 2.4. Miscellaneous Quelle: W. Hoeffken Representative for QUELLE PO. Box 999 Oceanside, NY. 11572 The catalogue is $20, which is refundable with the first order (DM 100 minimum). Payment can be made with a personal check drawn on a US. bank or with a credit card. English translations of the product descriptions are provided. 3 Addresses / Phone Numbers # 3.1. Consulates / Embassies The Consulates are very helpful in getting information about anything concerning Germany (travel, politics, laws ...) They're very thorough and supply lots of information in response to requests. The German Information Center (see 2.2.) is sponsored by them. There is a list of all embassies/consulates in the US. You get it from the Department of State. Its title is "Foreign Consular Offices in the United States" and it contains addresses, names of the staff and phone numbers. You might find the booklet in most public libraries. Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany One Union Square, Suite 2500 600 University Street Seattle, WA 98101 The German Embassy 4645 Reservoir Road NW Washington, DC 20007 Consulate General of the FRG 2100 Edison Plaza 660 Plaza Drive Detroit, MI 48226-1849 Tel: (313) 962-6526 Fax: (313) 962-7345 Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany 460 Park Ave. New York, NY Tel: (212) 572 5600 Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany 6222 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500 Los Angeles, CA 90048 Tel: (213) 930-2703 Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany Miami, FL ???? street, phone ???? Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany 676 N Michigan Ave. Chicago Tel: (312) 580-1199 Office hours: Mon-Fri 8.30-12 Deutsche Botschaft Singapur: Far East Shopping Centre 545 Orchard Road #14-01 Singapore 9124 Tel: +65 7371355 Fax: +65 7372653 Konsulat der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Via Solferino 40 20121 Milano, Italy Tel: +39 2 6554434 Fax: +39 2 6554213 Embajada de la Republica Federal de Alemania Agustinas 785 Piso 7 y 8 Casilla 9949 Santiago de Chile Tel: +56 2 335031/5 Fax: +56 2 336119 Office hours: 9-12 am Embajada de la Republica Federal de Alemania Villanueva 1055 CC 2979 Buenos Aires, Argentina Tel: +54 7715054, +54 7715059 Embajada de la Republica Federal de Alemania La Cumparsita 1417/1435 CC 20014 Montevideo, Uruguay Tel: +598 908041, +598 913970 Embajada de la Republica Federal de Alemania Av. Venezuela 241 CC 471 Asuncion, Paraguay Tel: +595 24006, +595 24007 Honorarkonsulat der Bundesrepublik Dtld. Jorge Memmel 631 Encarnacion, Paraguay Tel: +595 25567 # Honorarkonsulat der Bundesrepublik Deutschland # 208-310 Donald Street # Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada # Tel: (204) 947-0958 # weekdays 9:00-12:00 3.2. Goethe Institutes The various "Goethe Institutes" are funded by the German government to provide an opportunity for people outside Germany to become acquainted with German culture. They offer exhibitions, movies, and German classes. To get more information, call one of the following: Ann Arbor (313) 996-8600 Atlanta (404) 892-2388 Boston (617) 262-6050 Chicago (312) 329-0915 Cincinnati (513) 721-2777 Houston (713) 528-2787 Los Angeles (213) 854-0993 New York (212) 439-8700 San Francisco (415) 391-0370 Seattle (206) 622-9694 St. Louis (314) 367-2452 Washington DC. (202) 319-0702 Montreal (514) 499-0159 Toronto (416) 924-3327 Vancouver (604) 732-3966 Kyoto 75 761218-889 Osaka 6 3413051-53 Tokyo 3 3584-3201 or 3 3584-3267 Amsterdam +31 20 623 0421 (Herengracht 470) Singapore +65 3375111 Santiago de Chile +56 383185 Montevideo, Uruguay +598 405813 Wien, (Vienna) Austria +43/222/512-39-82/0 (Stallburggasse 2) (Goethe-Institut der Oesterr.-Amerikanischen Ges.) 3.3. Universities The most accessible listing of the many German universities is probably found in 'The World of Learning', which should be in the reference section of the libraries of most unis in the English speaking world. It lists Universities, faculties, departments, affiliated organizations, as well as academic staff with respective general areas of specialization (eg. structural mechanics). [3/94] 3.4. Miscellaneous Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Kennedyallee 40 53175 Bonn 2 They are something like the NSF in the USA. Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Kennedyallee 50 53175 Bonn 2 Tel: +49 228 8820 German Academic Exchange Office 950 Third Avenue, NY 10022 phone: (212) 758-3223 FAX : (212) 755-5780 Email: DAADNY@NYUACF.BITNET Very important for foreign students who want to study in Germany and also for German students who want to study in another country. They also have an office in New York (check the phonebook for German Academic Exchange Service) Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes Mirbachstr. 7 53173 Bonn 1 Tel.: +49 228 354091 An important source of scholarships for German students abroad and in Germany. Konferenz der Kultusminister Postfach 22 40 53012 Bonn This is the place where they decide about transferability of foreign academic degrees. Maybe they answer questions. ???? Any experience how helpful this address is ???? Representative of German Industry and Trade One Farragut Square South Washington, DC. 20006 Tel: (202) 347-0247 Zentralstelle fuer Arbeitsvermittlung Feuerbachstrasse 42-46 60325 Frankfurt/Main Tel: +49 69 71110 Fax: +49 69 7111555 This is an important address for people who want to work in Germany. Association for International Practical Training (AIPT) 217 American City Building Columbia, MD 21044-3492 Tel: (301) 997-2200 Chamber of Commerce (Industrie- und Handelskammer) The German-American Chamber of Commerce 465 California Street, Suite 910 San Francisco, CA 94104 Tel: (415) 392-2262 German-American Chamber of Commerce 104 S. Michigan Ave. Suite 600 Chicago, IL 60603-5978 Tel: (312) 782-8557; (312) 641-6673 German-American Chamber of Commerce 909 Fannin Suite 3750 Suite 3418 Houston, TX 77010 Tel: (713) 658-8230 German-American Chamber of Commerce 3250 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 1112 Los Angeles, CA 90010 Tel: (213) 381-2236; (213) 381-2237 German-American Chamber of Commerce 666 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10103 Tel: (212) 974-8830; (213) 582-7788 German-American Chamber of Commerce Peachtree Center Harris Tower 233 Peachtree Street NE Suite 2701 Atlanta, GA 30303 Tel: (404) 577-7228 Camera de Comercio Uruguayo-Alemana Zamala 1379 Piso 4 CC 1499 Montevideo Tel: 405813 Deutsch-Paraguayanische Industrie- und Handelskammer Camera de la Industria y del Comercio Juan O'Leary 409 Estrella Ed. Parapito Piso 2 Oficina 201 CC 201 Asuncion Tel: 446594 Deutsch-Argentinische Industrie- und Handelskammer Camera de la Industria y del Comercio Florida 547 Buenos Aires Tel: 3939006, 3939007 The Chambers of Commerce maintain a list of the German companies in the respective countries along with their addresses which you can purchase. The price varies according to how detailed a list you wish to have. Deutsches Jugendherbergswerk Bismarckstrasse 8 Postfach 1455 D - 32756 Detmold Phone: (+49) 5231 7401 0 Fax: (+49) 5231 7401 49 Germnany For national and international directories of youth hostels. 4 Short-Wave Radio / Satellite TV 4.1. Deutsche Welle The official German short-wave station is the "Deutsche Welle". It broadcasts worldwide in a variety of languages and also TV, using various satellites. It's there not so much for Germans in Germany, but for those people abroad (not only Germans) who would like to keep in touch with Germany. Radio Deutsche Welle gladly sends out a monthly magazine with times/frequencies and stories on broadcasts. If you would like to subscribe (for free) contact them at: Deutsche Welle Oeffentlichkeitsarbeit 50588 Koeln Tel. 49-221-389-0 Germany Fax. 49-221-389-41 55 in North America: Tel. 1-800-545-3765 TV: "deutsche Welle Nachrichten", News from Germany (not only about Germany) North-Americans find it on Mind Extension University (you will need cable), daily at 5:00pm ET, three blocks of 30 minutes: German-English- Spanish. [3/94] Radio: Generally Radio Deutsche Welle comes in loud and clear. 6075 ( 0:00- 6:00) 6085 ( 4:00- 6:00) 6100 ( 0:00- 6:00) 9700 ( 4:00- 6:00) 9730 (22:00- 2:00) 9735 ( 2:00- 4:00) 11795 ( 0:00- 4:00) 11810 ( 4:00- 8:00) 13780 (22:00- 2:00) 13790 (14:00-16:00) 15270 ( 0:00- 2:00) 17715 (12:00-19:00) 17860 (18:00- 0:00) All times are UTC. [2/94] 4.2. Regional German Radio Stations via Shortwave Here are short-wave frequencies for some of Germany's "regional" programs. The stations are nationally operated and mostly serve one of the federal states. 7265 kHz SWF 3 Suedwestfunk / Baden-Wuerttemberg Suedwestfunk Postfach 820 76485 Baden-Baden 6190 kHz Sender Freies Berlin & Radio Bremen Radio Bremen Heinrich-Hertz-Str. 13 28211 Bremen Sender Freies Berlin Masurenallee 8-14 14057 Berlin 6005 kHz RIAS Berlin (100 kW) RIAS (Rundfunk im Amerikanischen Sektor) Kufsteiner Str. 69 10825 Berlin 6030 kHz Sueddeutscher Rundfunk / Baden-Wuerttemberg (20 kW) Sueddeutscher Rundfunk Neckarstr. 230 70190 Stuttgart 6085 kHz Bayerischer Rundfunk (100 kW) Bayerischer Rundfunk Rundfunkplatz 1 80335 Muenchen Consult the "World Radio and TV Handbook" for a complete listing of all short-wave stations. The book is updated annually and can be found in many libraries. 4.3. TV via Satellite Europe: EUTELSAT II-F1 (13 deg. East) Transponder 27, 11,163 GHz, vert. pol, 15-05 UTC, PAL. sound: 6.65 MHz This is a low power satellite; Deutsche Welle broadcasts not for Germans in Germany and so it broadcasts not on the hot bird ASTRA satellite (see below) German TV in Europe / ASTRA There is a hot bird ASTRA TV satellite with nearly all German TV programs (public or commercial) but not with Deutsche Welle on it. An equipment to get all these German TV programs is much cheaper in many areas than an equipment to get Deutsche Welle. Ask local Germans or your satellite dish dealer for ASTRA service. [2/94] North/South America: INTELSAT-K (21.4 deg. West) Transponder H7, 11,605 GHz, North America: hor. pol. South America: vert. pol. 15-05 UTC, NTSC-M Sound: 6.8 MHz North America: SATCOM C-4 (135 deg. West) Transponder 5V, 3,8 GHz, pol. vert., 15-05 UTC, NTSC-M Sound: 6.8 MHz 4.4. Swiss Radio; Radio Austria For Information about Switzerland you might want to listen to "Schweizer Radio International" Swiss Radio International PO Box CH-3000 Bern 15, Switzerland For Austria: Radio Austria A-1136 Vienna, Austria 5 Phone System The law: The German phone system is operated by the German Telecom. There are no private long-distance or local phone companies. Every phone, fax or modem you connect to a phone line needs to be approved by the German Telecom. Approved appliances have a special sticker with a BZT number on the back. The German Telecom (Deutsche Bundespost Telekom): They are a state-owned company which split from the German mail (Bundespost) a couple of years ago. They try to act like a private company but don't quite measure up because of lacking competition and for various historical reasons. Changes relating to the introduction of European Community laws can be expected. 5.1. Public Phones / Phone Cards in Germany Public phones in Germany work more or less like everywhere, with a few exceptions ("of course"): There are now quite a lot of card phones in Germany. Unlike American card phones, they use debit cards. German phone cards can be bought at any post office and most money exchanges at major train stations. They have a given value (12 DM for 40 units or 50 DM for 200 units). Once you have used up this value you must get a new card. All 0130 numbers are toll free. At public phones you might have to insert 30 Pfennigs (the minimum price for a call)... but you will get your money back. At card phones it is not possible to use money. If you have neither change nor a phone card there are nice public phones at post offices. You ask to make a call and pay at the counter after you are finished. Some of them have a (tiny) desk next to them. There is one special phone card which allows you to have the calls you make added to your home phone bill. But you need an account at a German bank. The annual fee for this card is about 15 DM. See also "Questions and Answers" for more on international aspects of telecommunication in Germany! # 5.2. Adapters # # There are cheap(!) adapters available (between 2 and 20 DM.) To build # one yourself is most likely not cost efficient. Be aware of possible # legal conflicts. Your phone is more likely to me illegal than the # homemade adapter. # # connection scheme: # # American plug German TAE-F or TAE-N plug # +------------- ----- # | * yellow 4 / / # | * green 3 4 // 3 # | * red 2 / / # | * black 1 // 2 # +------------- / / # // 1 # for regular voice service / / # connect green/red only! ----- # connect them to the two wires that come into # your house (if you can make out which they are) # yellow/black are for data transmission devices. # impedance is no problem. 6 German zip codes (Postleitzahlen, PLZ) 6.1. Finding PLZs on the Net = ftp = You can retrieve the original databases from various sites: ftp.germany.eu.net:/pub/packages/plz info2.rus.uni-stuttgart.de:/pub/misc/datasets/PLZ = gopher = The easiest way to get the new zip codes are Gopher servers. They are offered at: gopher.informatik.tu-muenchen.de (here you will also find a map - GIF format - showing the new zip code areas) (OK: 02/94) gopher.rog.rwth-aachen.de (OK: 01/94) (They have also a list of car license plate codes and the phone area codes). = telnet = If you prefer telnet try: telnet PLZ.ISR.UNI-Stuttgart.de login: PLZ password: (not needed) (OK: 01/94) = Mailserver = Thomas Bullinger has written a very handy mail server. To get a zip code send a mail message To: mrbulli@btoy1.rochester.ny.us Subject: #PLZ# <NAME-OF-TOWN> Features: - name of town is case-insensitive - may be abbreviated - no umlauts, hyphens, etc. - only one town per email! Examples: From: hugo@fiktive.site.de To: mrbulli@btoy1.rochester.ny.us Subject: #PLZ# stuttgart This extracts all known PLZ's for Stuttgart (sorted according to street names) and sends it in 5 pieces of max. 1000 lines each to "hugo@fiktive.site.de". Subject: #PLZ# aach All known PLZ's fuer Aach und Aachen. Subject: #PLZ# badhomburg All known PLZ's for Bad Homburg Another mail server is plz@plz.uni-forst.gwdg.de. This one seems particularly suited for numerous address conversions! Send a mail that uses the following syntax: 1st line: Adresse: <optional identifier> 2nd line: <street and number 3rd line: <old zip codes> (including the letter O or W) <name of the town and old post office number> (for larger cities) 4th line: <like 1st line> or QUIT at the end of the mail. You don't need the old zip code if there is only one town with this name. example: Adresse: 1 Hauptstrasse 5 W-1234 Stadtdorf 5 Adresse: 2 Testweg 123 O-7890 Althausen QUIT (OK: 01/94) = telephone = The German "POST" also maintains a toll free number (0130-55555) to ask for a zip code. The number is open from 08:00 to 22:00 only. [2/94] = don't know at all = The old 4 digit zip codes should still work. (Even letters with no zip code at all "should" -in principle- make it through.) No guarantee, though!! Letters will definitely take longer compared to those that use the new code -- if they arrive at all. Some people have already lost mail because of this. [3/94] 6.2. The New Zip-Code System All zip codes have been changed (effective 7/93). The new zip codes have 5 digits. No more additional numbers following city names. There is no easy way to convert between old and new zip codes. One CITY might now have more than one zip code. Then you need the name of the STREET to find the zip code, but long streets have more than one zip code, you need the HOUSE NUMBER; Odd numbers or even numbers have not the same zip code in many cases. In some big towns there are streets with the same name. So you need to know where the street really is, look at the old number of post office behind the name of the town. The zip codes for POST BOXES are different, still. Big COMPANIES (companies with more than 1000 letters every day) get their own codes (as in the US zip code system). If you just look for the address of one of these companies you will get the wrong ZIP code. It seems that these company zip codes were in fact kept secret at first. Only after people started collecting their own listings, the "Post" published a special phone book. An electronic file can be found at some of the ZIP-code gopher sites (see 6.1.). The German Mail service has distributed a (big!) book containing all new zip codes to each German household in May/93. But this book neither contains PO boxes nor the big companies' zip codes... [2/94] 6.3. The Old Zip-Code System Every zip code had one letter, a dash and four digits. The letter was a "W" for former West Germany and an "O" for East Germany. You can get these zip codes via gopher at the infoserver of the RWTH Aachen. The also have them as a file for FTP. Examples: O-1155 Berlin W-1000 Berlin 33 In many bigger cities in the West had a number following the city name for reasons of further differentiation. Mail without the O/W letter took/takes significantly longer (weeks!) (up-to-date as of: Fall 1993) 7 (Public) Transportation in Germany 7.1. Railways !!! The next major change of timetables is on 29. May 1994 !!! (There will be also a minor change in Fall 1994 and some changes during the year.) Trains play a special role in Germany (and in Europe in general.) In terms of traffic they have top priority. They have right of way before any other vehicle. There are lot's of tunnels and bridges for trains and therefore they don't have to stop anywhere between railway stations and can go at rather high speeds... 120km/h (75mph) for regular trains, up to 250km/h (120mph) for the high speed trains. Statistics: former Western: 27,421 km government owned 12,491 km double track 11,501 km electrified 4,022 km non government owned 31,443 km total; former Eastern: 3,830 km double track 3,475 km electrified 14,025 km total; (1988) On a typical day an average of about 32,000 trains are scheduled. The railroad system in Germany is currently under constant change. Most important: there is a program to change the German railroads from a government owned and operated system to a free market. Private and foreign companies are now free to operate on the German railroad net. [2/94] 7.1.1. Deutsche Bundesbahn AG "Deutsche Bundesbahn" (former Western) and "Deutsche Reichsbahn" (former Eastern) joined to become "Deutsche Bahn AG". Despite unification there are still price differences between East and West! The Deutsche Bahn AG is forced to split into several branches (and later into several companies): "Fernverkehr" (Long-distance travel) runs all ICE, EC, IC, EN, IR and D trains. "Nahverkehr" (Short-distance travel) runs all the other trains. "Personenbahnhoefe" (Railway stations) runs the railways stations for all railway companies; rents shops in railway stations. (Remember: It is forbidden by German law to open shops in the evening and on Sundays. But it is legal to sell goods to passengers in airports and railway stations....) "Ladungsverkehr" (Big freight service) "Stueckgutverkehr" (Small freight service) "Netz" (Net) sells the right to travel to railroad companies "Bahnbau" (Track repair etc) "Traktion" (Traction) Rents out locomotives to railways "Werke" Repair of rolling stock material [2/94] 7.1.2. Which Train to Use For the last couple years the "Deutsche Bundesbahn" has been implementing a new philosophy in train travel. One very obvious sign of its modernization are the new cars, which have defined new colors outside and better seats inside. All modern trains have special color codes: red-white = High speed trains (ICE, EC, IC) blue-white = long distance trains (IR, Talgo) green-white = regional trains (RSB, CB, RB) orange-white = urban train (S) It is a good idea to use these if possible. Foreign cars are also nice. Check the label outside! Only the silver cars ("Silberlinge") are real bad. Most trains have some cars where smoking is allowed... There are also first class cars in most trains. You don't really need reservation in most trains. If you found no seat you can ride without a seat or, if you think the train is to full, take another train an hour later... There is no reservation possible for any short-distance trains. Brief overview: Long-distance trains ICE -- "InterCityExpress"; the German high speed train. These trains are integrated in the IC network, but have higher prices than other IC. Ticket prices depend on ICE speed and the speed of other trains at the same distance. EC -- "EuroCity"; an international high quality train. In Germany most EC's are integrated in the IC net. IC -- "InterCity"; an national high quality train. Nearly all IC's run in the IC net. On most lines there is one IC every hour. EN -- "EuroNight"; a night train, there were only 4 such trains in 1993/1994. IR -- "Interregio"; similar to IC. The IR net is much longer and IR's stop at more stations IC's. On most lines there is one IR every other hour. D -- "Schnellzug"; a long-distance train which is not good enough for to be qualified as ICE, EC, IC, EN, IR. In May 1994 most of them will get modernized and become InterRegios. Some night trains or trains with foreign destinations will remain D trains. Short-distance trains RSB -- "RegionalSchnellBahn"; a semi-fast train with good material like a VT 610 (German pendolinio), VT 628 or other modern cars. Some of these trains are as fast as IC, others stop at every station. E -- "Eilzug"; a semi-fast train not good enough to be classified as RSB. Some of these trains are as fast as IC, others are slower and stop at every station. CB -- "CityBahn"; a local train with qualified good rolling material. S -- "S-Bahn"; an urban train in areas like Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich,... RB -- "RegionalBahn"; a local train with qualified good rolling material. () -- (no letter marking) "Nahverkehrszug"; local train with rather poor rolling material [2/94] 7.1.3. Ticket Prices 2nd class West 0.24 DM/km 2nd class East 0.15 DM/km 1st class is 150 percent. ICE price is a little more in 2nd and 1st class. There are special short-distance prices in many areas. In that case the ticket includes local bus and subway, but you can use all short- distance trains with a railroad ticket like Interrail etc or a long- distance train ticket. There will be a new price system in a few months. [2/94] 7.1.4. International Addresses for Railway Travelers USA German Rail/DER TOURS, 11933 Wilshire Blvd. LOS ANGELES, CA 90025 Phone:(310)479-41140 Fax:(310)479-2239 Canada GERMAN RAIL/DER TOURS 904 The East Mail ETOBICOKE, ONT. M93 6K2 Phone:(416) 695-1209 Fax:(416)695-1210 Australia THOMAS COOK LIMITED Ground Floor 257 Collins Street MELBOURNE VIC 2000 Phone: (03) 6502442 Fax:(03) 6507050 [2/94] 7.1.5. Timetables There are many timetables you can buy or get for free in Germany. Prices will not be a real problem for travelers, but weight may be a concern, unless you are interested in transporting just timetables.... "Kursbuch Gesamtausgabe"; 15 DM; 3000 g All trains in Germany, no subways, no busses. "Auslandskursbuch"; 10 DM; 800 g A selection of long-distance trains in Europe outside Germany. "Fernfahrplan"; 7 DM; 800 g All long-distance trains in Germany. "Regionalkursbuecher"; 7 DM; 800 g (each) 12 books with timetables. "Regionalfahrplaene"; 5 DM; 300 g (each) 30 books with all trains and all federal bus. (But no local bus etc!) "EC/ICE/IC-Fahrplan"; 0 DM; 200 g A big paper with all the high speed trains in Germany. "Staedteverbindungen"; 0 DM; 250 g Trains from big towns to other big towns. "Staedteverbindungen von ... und nach ..."; 0 DM; 30 g - 60 g 120 booklets about trains from the 120 most important stations to important station "...". Available only at local railway stations. "StreckenFahrplan Strecke ..."; 0 DM; 10 g Specialized table of all trains on just one line; hundreds of these papers exist. Available only at local railway stations. "Oertlicher Fahrplan"; X DM; X g In all towns you can buy local timetables with all the local bus and subway and local trains and all trains from the main local station. Buy it if you plan on staying any longer than just a few hours in an area. [2/94] 7.1.6. The "Poor Man's Version" of the "Kursbuch" The German "Kursbuch" exists on CD-ROM; but even without it one still gets along quite well, following these simple basic rules: - The service in the West is better than in the East. - You can rely on the backbone of the ICE/EC/IC/IR inner net with trains running at least every other hour, usually every one! (In some highly frequented areas three times an hour.) - Some ICE/EC/IC/IR may also connect to less important cities (outer net). - They always run at the same minute after the hour and they are very punctual. - On more than 90 percent of the railway lines there are more than just a few trains every day. Almost certainly there is a service of at least one train every other hour, usually there's better service. - Missed a train? You may or may not be well-advised to take the very next. On many lines there are different trains stopping not at the same stations. (Typically one train may stop at many stations and an hour later the next train stops at fewer stations and the next train after that one stops again *everywhere*... Because of this mixed service it is good advice to check if using a short-distance train is an option when you missed a long-distance train. Check first! Many short-distance trains stop at rural stations and wait to let a long- distance train pass. In that case it would be better to wait for the faster long-distance train.... - Short-distance service is somewhat limited on Saturdays and Sundays and public holidays (no rush hour back-up trains; usual trains run less frequently.) Nevertheless, nearly all long-distance trains usually do run on these days. Check before traveling on less important lines on weekends! [2/94] # 7.1.7. Finding Train Connections on the Net # # If you would like to know about a specific connection in Germany # you can send email to Frederik Ramm who will look it up for you # in the "Kursbuch Gesamtausgabe". Send email to # ule3@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de # [4/94] 7.1.8. Fly and Ride (a Train) Airports with railway stations near or under the terminals: Duesseldorf: S-trains to Duesseldorf und Duisburg and other towns in the area. Frankfurt: S-trains to Frankfurt, Mainz and Wiesbaden and other towns in the area. IC/EC Service to many German towns. Stuttgart: S-trains to Stuttgart and other towns in the area. Muenchen: S-trains to Muenchen. It is a good advice for travelers to the North to check the bus shuttle via Freising Be ready to have German coins. It is not legal to enter an S-train without a valid ticket. So you might want to use the ticket vending machines. Other airports can be reached by local public transport. Taxis cost a lot in all areas and may also be time consuming in some areas. [2/94] 7.1.9. Trains and Bicycles It costs 8.60 DM to transport a bike in an IR TRAIN with reservation and self service, but costs double price without reservation. NOTE: It is not possible to transport a bike in 95 percent of all LONG- DISTANCE, NON-IR TRAINS! It costs 8.60 DM or less to transport a bike in any SHORT-DISTANCE train; no reservation necessary (or even possible). It is possible to transport a bike in 95 percent of all short-distance trains. Some of the RSB and E trains are real semi-fast trains. It is very easy to take a bike across Germany's border by train. Take a train to the last station before the border. Than ride across the border to the next station... It might be possible that there is another method, ask.... In tourist areas it is possible to rent bikes at railway stations or from private. [2/94] 7.2. Country-Wide/Continent-Wide Bus Travel like Greyhound? There is no national or private bus company like greyhound. There are, nevertheless, a few lines run by the European railroads or private companies. Some of the lines you can find in the *Kursbuch* . On many lines there is only one bus every day or even week. Some airport bus lines have real service. In towns with many foreign workers there might also be some bus services to the South, but you have to be a local to know about it. [2/94] 7.3. Regional Bus Service There are regional bus services run by bus companies of the federal railroad. Ask at a railway station about the service. EXCEPTION: In some areas, mostly in the Eastern, there is no regional bus service run by any railway related company. Ask for the local transport company. [2/94] 7.4. Local Transport (Within Cities) In all German towns there are local bus service or streetcars or subways. To get information about it ask local Germans. If this is not possible call the local railway station and ask them for the name and phone number of the local transport company. Then call the local transport. If you stay longer than a day in an area, it's a good idea to buy a local transport timetable and get a map of their local net. [2/94] 8 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. # 8.1. 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. These tool include: Netfind, X.500, rtfm's usenet-addresses search, and WHOIS. 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 newsgroup "alt.internet.services"!!! Get the FAQ-list from there. = EMAIL BASICS = FTP to ftp.sura.net:/pub/nic/network.service.guides/how.to.email.guide to learn the basics of email on the internet. = 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.) Fetch the electronic version of this document by anonymous ftp from csd4.csd.uwm.edu:/pub/internetwork-mail-guide = HOW TO FIND EMAIL ADDRESSES? = A 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 message body of: send usenet/news.answers/finding-addresses = COLLEGE STUDENTS' ADDRESSES = Anonymous-FTP to rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/soc.college/Student_Email_Addresses or send email To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with message body of: send usenet/soc.college/Student_Email_Addresses # If you have a person's name and their academic location, you may try # a netfind for the domain name # uni-stadt.de for Universitaeten # fh-stadt.de for Fachhochschulen # 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] 8.2. Getting Email Access 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. # Also try reading the newsgroup de.org.sub (see 10 for more) [4/94] 8.2.1. Universities 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] # 8.2.2. Lists of Public Unix Systems # # Read de.etc.lists !! (see 10 on how) # Look for Jan Richert's list "publicuucp". # # You may also get Wolfgang Sander-Beuermann's list via ftp # from # ftp.rrzn.uni-hannover.de /pub/special/lists PubUxDe # (currently 43 unix machines; between 0 and 50 DM/month; generally # including mail and news service; frequently other services such # as UUCP, IP, ISDN) # [4/94] # 8.2.3. Private Networks There are a number of ways besides university connections to stay on- line. Private networks like FIDO or MAUS offer cheap connections to the Internet. Only the telephone bills from the German TELEKOM can be nasty. :-( = PDIAL = One source of pointers to these networks is PDIAL, a list of public access providers offering dial-up access to Internet connections (both free and pay services.) I found that this list a very extensive for US areas but tells only a few services for Germany. [3/94] It is posted semi-regularly to alt.internet.access.wanted and news.answers. You may also get it by sending email To: info-deli-server@netcom.com Subject: send PDIAL = MAUS.NET, SUB.NET, INDIVIDUAL.NET = Getting access through a COMMERCIAL usenet provider is advisable only if you want to use the net for business. They are much more expensive than IN and sub.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. Sub.Net info@subnet.sub.net INDIVIDUAL NETWORK in-info@individual.net # 40 DM/month for SLIP access # 300k mail and news free. # or: # Oliver Boehmer # Linkstr. 15 # D-65933 Frankfurt (Germany) # Tel. +49 69 39048413 # email. info@rhein-main.de [4/94] MAUS.NET If you happen to know the license plate id ("KFZ-Kennzeichen") for the area of your interest try the following (note that this method is not guaranteed to work!) 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] 8.3. List of Anonymous FTP Servers in Germany This list is maintained by Christian Hettler (hettler@ask.uni-karlsruhe.de). FTP ftp.ask.uni-karlsruhe.de /pub/info/ftp-list-de URL http://askhp.ask.uni-karlsruhe.de/ftp-list-de.html email (leave subject blank) To: mail-server@ask.uni-karlsruhe.de begin send /pub/info/ftp-list-de end 9 Electronic Language # 9.1. Dictionaries (Word Lists from the Net) = gopher (OK: 1/94) = There are on-line dictionaries available via gopher, e.g.: gopher.tu-chemnitz.de "Weitere lokale Infos (Woerterbuch)" gopher gopher.informatik.tu-muenchen.de 70 "ISAR Gopher"/ "Services"/ "Englisches Woerterbuch" = ftp (OK: 1/94) = In general for ftp sites assume the following, unless stated otherwise; login: anonymous password: <your-own-email-address> German word lists and German-English dictionary word lists are available via FTP from the sites listed below. for people in EUROPE ... ___site___ ___directory___ ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de /pub/doc/dict ftp.uni-kl.de /pub2/packages/doc.tum/dict ftp.th-darmstadt.de /pub/dicts/German ftp.uni-muenster.de /pub/comp/doc/dict mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de /public nestroy.wu-wien.ac.at /pub/lib/info/dict and, for people WEST OF THE ATLANTIC... ___site___ ___directory___ arthur.cs.purdue.edu /pub/pcert/dict/German/ftp.informatik.tu- meunchen.de # = WWW (untested) = # # Langenscheidt's German-English/English-German Dictionary # # German-English: xmosaic http://www.fmi.uni-passau.de/htbin/lt/ltd # English-German: /lte 9.2. Encyclopedias, "Lexika" There is a "Bertelsmann Universal Lexicon" available on CD-ROM, which can be ordered one from totronik Torsten Droste Rotebuehlstrasse 85 Tel: 0711-6271980 D-70178 Stuttgart Fax: 0711-616218 or Asix Technology GmbH Postfach 142 Tel: 07243-31048 76255 Ettlingen Fax: 07243-30080 The cost is about DM 150, and they take major credit cards. Airmail shipment arrived within a week. They carry a number of other CD-ROM's also, and a catalog on 3-1/2" disk is available. [1/94] # 9.3. Translation Programs; Spell Checkers; Thesauri Translators For MS-DOS you can buy translation programs (German-English). "Power Translation" by Global Link Inc. "Translation" by Timeworks Inc. (??? anybody ever used these programs? Experiences? Costs? ???) "German Assistant" by MicroTack Sold as a simple translator. Its real values are the hot key bilingual dictionary, verb conjugator and grammar help. These features work with any word processor. The translations range from poetic to horrible. (about $60) [2/94] Spell Checkers and Thesauri For German on the Mac., look for EXCALIBUR. This is a spell-checker designed to work with LaTeX documents, but does also handle plain text very well. Communication with just about any editor via clibboard is possible! There are German, Dutch, French, Italian, and many other dictionaries available. (about $0) FTP-sites for that program: sumex-aim.stanford.edu mac.archive.umich.edu wuarchive.wustl.edu Word, WordPerfect and the like offer special modules for several languages, not only German. One can get spell checking and thesaurus modules for German. (about $100) [2/94] # Accent 1.0 - Multilingual Word Processor # # Over 30 different languages. Needs IBM 386 with Windows, 6 to 25MB. # Spellercheckers: 17 languages # Thesaurus: 9 languages # Hyphenation: 12 languages # Berlitz(R) Interpreter(TM) (5 language translation tool) # # Accent file filters allow you to import and export documents # to other standard Windows software you are using including: # Lotus, Ami-Pro, Excel, Word, Wordperfect, RTF, and ASCIII text. # For more information send email to: info@accent.co.il [4/94] # 9.4. Tutorial Software If you have an MS-DOS platform, one interesting site to look at might be: oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/langtutr There is free German, Spanish, Afrikaans, and other language software in this directory; GERM1-23.ZIP and GERM2-23.ZIP cover German language topics (mainly verb CONJUGATION and vocabulary exercises). VOCAB217.ZIP has basic VOCABULARY for several different languages. (about $0) # Transparent Language version 2.0 # 1-800-332-8851 # 70541.3626@compuserve.com # for DOS and MAC # # principle: "don't memorize -- get involved in a story!" # main window shows story in original language, (French, German, # Italian, Latin, or Spanish) # three other windows explain correct meaning # of word in context, meaning of sentence, and notes on # grammar/root words/etc. # You get only three stories for free, additional stories are # $15 to $35; they have 17 different German stories as of now, # adding about 4 every year. # # Readers from s.c.g have reported positive experiences, esp. good # for not absolute beginners. But the stories tend to be on the # "serious" side. (Kafka didn't have much fun, either!) # List price is $99 -- but mention that you heard of the promotional # $30 price! [4/94] 10 "de" Newsgroups 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 available in Germany and at some sites in the US. = NNTP = (??? couldn't access any of these??? 2/94) For a list of these sites send email to ju8025@csc.albany.edu or ftp to xray.phy.albany.edu = 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') Subj.: CBM help Internet address: CHAMAS@vmxa.hrz.uni-oldenburg.de = gopher = (OK: 2/94) There are a number of US gopher sites that carry many newsgroups. I haven't found a single one in the US, yet(?), that carries "de" newsgroups. So the only remedy is to connect to a news feeder in Germany. Please use these services as little as possible if you are located outside of Europe...for sake of satellite bandwidth! Note that gopher provides only reading permission. You cannot post to "de" newsgroups. Here's how you do it: Connect to uni-trier, select one of the German sites, and select the "de" newsgroups of your choice. Type=1 Name=NEWS: Public Access USENET News all over the World Path=1/Gateways/News Host=kleopatra.uni-trier.de Port=70 11 Fax Numbers in Germany Frederik Ramm generously offers to provide fax numbers of companies and institutes in Germany as they are printed in the official books by Telecom. Send an email like the following to his address: To: ule3@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de Subject: FAX request Name: Firma Tiny Ort: Klein-Hoppenstaedt 12 German News via gopher/email NOTE: if you read soc.culture.german on a regular basis, please disregard this! The information available at these places is also fed into the newsgroup. You won't be missing anything! = gopher = (OK: 2/94) news.gwdg.de (URL: gopher://news.gwdg.de) Under menu point "Verschiedenes" you find *lots* of valuable information... a real gem among gopher services ;-) Proceed to "Aktuelle Nachrichten" for news transcripts in German These news are provided on a daily basis by a team of volunteers around Rainer Mallon. They take news from radio stations and type them in (yip; manually!). = email = (OK: 2/94) send email To: LISTSERV@vm.gmd.de with body SUB GERMNEWS This will subscribe you to the list. DON'T DELETE THE AUTOMATIC REPLY! You'll need that information if you want to get off the list again. 13 German Soccer Results If you ask Thomas Hofmeister (hofmeist@zorro.informatik.uni- dortmund.de) he will send you the most recent soccer results via email. His postings are also archived on a WorldWide-Web-Server: URL is http://ls2-www.informatik.uni-dortmund.de/Buli/Buli.html. [2/94] 14 Transferring Foreign Academic Degrees to Germany (Because this is only important for Germans, I write this in German. There are just too many special legal terms involved to do it in English ...) ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? Hier fehlen mir noch Literaturhinweise (Gesetzestexte) und Beispiele. ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? Hier einige wichtige Fakten, die ihr wissen solltet. Fuer alle Bundeslaender: - Um einen auslaendischen akademischen Grad in seiner Originalform fuehren zu duerfen, bedarf es einer "Erlaubnis zum Fuehren ..." - Diese Erlaubnis erteilt das Kultusministerium des Bundeslandes, in welchem der erste Wohnsitz liegt. Fuer Personen, die nicht in Deutschland wohnen, erteilt das Land NRW die Erlaubnis. - Die Erlaubnis kostet etwa 100-150 DM Bearbeitungsgebuehr. Die Bearbeitung dauert etwa einen Monat. - Die Erlaubnis besagt nichts ueber eine Gleichwertigkeit. Sie stellt lediglich fest, dass der Titel rechtmaessig erworben wurde und gibt an, in welcher Form er verwendet werden darf. Zum Beispiel wird aus einem Master of Science, der an der State University of New York at Albany erworben wurde, ein "Master of Science at State University of New York at Albany". Gleichzeitig werden auch zulaessige Abkuerzungen mitgeteilt (Bsp: M.S. (SUNYA)). Fuer alle Bundeslaender ausser Bayern: Es gibt noch den zweiten Weg (ausser in Bayern): Ihr koennt einen im Ausland erworbenen Titel als einem deutschen gleichwertig anerkennen lassen. Die Bearbeitung ist dann im allgemeinen etwas aufwendiger (laenger, teurer). Das Ergebnis ist, dass ihr euch dann statt Ph.D Dr. phil nennen duerft (oder auch Dr. rer. nat.). Die Details sind von Bundesland zu Bundesland sehr verschieden. Diese Anerkennung kann auch abgelehnt werden. In einem Beispiel (Baden-Wuerttemberg) wurde ein amerikanischer Master (in Computer Science) in einen Magister umgewandelt. Dies wurde mit der Studienzeit begruendet, welche kuerzer war als die Regelstudienzeit fuer einen Diplom-Informatiker. Wer nicht in Deutschland gemeldet ist, muss sich an das Kultusministerium von Nordrhein-Westfalen wenden. Es wird dann ein Nachweis verlangt, dass man wirklich im Ausland lebt. Da es in vielen Laendern (speziell USA) keine Meldepflicht gibt, muss normalerweise der umgeschriebene Pass vorgelegt werden (Kopie reicht). Andere Nachweise sind zum Beispiel ein Auszug aus der DMV-Kartei (im wesentlichen besagt dieser, dass man einen amerikanischen Fuehrerschein hat, welcher auf eine amerikanische Adresse ausgestellt wurde). Die Adresse in NRW: Ministerium fuer Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes NRW Postfach 101103 (Voelkinger Str. 49) 40002 Duesseldorf Tel: +49 211 896-4335 Fax: +49 211 896-4555 Verlangt wird in NRW (wie sonst auch): Beglaubigte Kopie des Abiturzeugnisses und der Verleihungsurkunde fuer den amerikanischen Grad, Kopie eines Wohnsitznachweises, ausgefuelltes Antragsformular. Nach der Bearbeitung wird eine Gebuehr verlangt (war 150 DM). Ein Ph.D. wird in Dr. rer. nat. (USA) umgewandelt. Die Bearbeitung dauert etwa 3-4 Monate. 15 Questions and Answers 15.1. How to Write Umlauts in soc.culture.german? As you may have noted, there are various ways to write umlauts. There is no generally accepted way to do this in soc.culture.german. Periodically, therefore, you will observe hard-fought battles on this topic in this group. Here are the two methods most often used: "common" Version ae oe ue AE OE UE ss or sz TeX Version "a "o "u "A "O "O "s Please! if you have a German-style keyboard with umlauts, and if you're using it to, say, post something in soc.culture.german, DON'T use the umlauts. They probably won't get displayed correctly on terminals in, say, North America. 15.2. Taking American Electronic Equipment to Germany? If you wish to use domestic American electronics in Germany you will encounter difficulties such as: - German plugs have a different shape. - The medium wave (AM) frequencies have different spacings (9 kHz vs. 10 kHz). This will cause problems with digital receivers. - The voltage / frequency in Germany is 220-240 V / 50 Hz and not 110 V / 60 Hz as in the US. Improper voltage / frequency could result in serious damage. - TV uses the PAL norm. American TV uses the NTSC norm. These two norms are incompatible. Therefore an American television will generally not work in Germany and vice-versa, although multi-norm TVs are available in Europe. 15.2.1. Importing Phones to Germany? You may own any phone but you may not connect it to the public system unless it has a BZT number (Old phones: ZZF). You may not own radios or cordless phones which are not approved. The number is usually found on a sticker at the back of the case. Pulse dial phones should work in Germany. Tone dial is not available in many areas. This is changing, however. Cordless phones are a real problem. In Germany, cordless phones operate on different frequencies than in most other countries. The frequencies many foreign phones use are used by others (police, emergencies, radio, TV ...). It is a crime to own and use a cordless phone! Therefore, use only approved cordless phones !!! or they _will_ get you !!! Problems are possible with Hong Kong or British pulse dial phones because the pulses there are not exactly the same as in Germany. But the phone system is very tolerant and with most of these phones you can switch to the other system anyway (same for Modems). The wall outlets for phones in Germany have a different shape than the usual modular plug. Adapters are available in Germany (from 2.50 to 20 DM). These adapters are no problems with phones. But legal and illegal things might not work together on the same line. 15.2.2. Video Tapes? -- Different Video Norms! PAL format videotapes will not display properly using an NTSC based VCR and vice-versa. There are services where video conversion from any format to any other format can be made for a fee (VHS, VHS-C and 8 mm types of cassettes.) This will allow playback of videotapes made overseas using US TVs and VCRs (PAL, SECAM --> NTSC) and vice-versa (NTSC --> PAL, SECAM, etc ...) It is also not too expensive to get a VCR which is able to play NTSC and PAL tapes. Only very few VCRs are able to record and play VHS tapes in NTSC and PAL (e.g. Panasonic W1, about DM 5000). Cheaper VCRs are able to play different formats (NTSC, PAL, SECAM). DO IT YOURSELF With this setup you can transfer from NTSC to/from PAL at reasonable cost. Dont expect studio quality though: Akai VS R110EM is a three system unit - PAL, NTSC, SECAM , costs about 200 dollars mailorder (smile video, nyc). AIWA MG360S also 3 systems, costs about 450 us dollars (mail order, j/R music world, nyc, 1 800 221 8180) [3/94] Another VCR that is "reasonably" priced is sold by Radio-Shack. The VCR is available through special order only; and not all Radio Shack employees know that this machine even exists. If they don't, have them look in the current catalog for #16-706. The cost is $600. (Need a second VCR for conversions.) [3/94] COMMERCIAL CONVERSION International Video Conversion 520 Harvest Lane Raleigh, NC 27606-2217 Tel: (919) 233-8689 Fees: $20.00 + $5.00 S&H (Price of a High Grade Cassette Included, 2hrs or less) Delivery: Mailed back the next day, express shipping at request. Payment: Check, Cash or Money Order mailed with tape. sasjrm@unx.sas.com does it for $5 per hour + $3 for the blank tape. (Formats: NTSC, PAL, NPAL, MPAL, SECAM, MSECAM) Conversion Labs 2250 Monroe St #263 Santa Clara, CA 95050 Tel: (408) 985 2098 $20 per tape (up to 2h, each add. hour $ 10). Tape, S&H included. Mail only, next day shipping, overnight available. Check, cash, money order. Does: NTSC (8mm, Hi8, VHS) -> PAL (VHS) Give your local shops a try! I found a *Camera Shop* that does PAL <-> NTCS conversions; a bit expensive, though ($20/h). But if you need something the very next day... [1/94] 15.3. Calling Germany Collect from Abroad? The most convenient way for German tourists to call home is the 'Deutschland direkt' Line. You can reach it toll-free from the US at 1-800-292-0049. A German speaking operator will connect your call. Collect calls are possible. It is also possible to use a special phone card and password. Ask your local 'Telefonladen' for details. If you want to call a German '130' number from the US, you need to call either the above mentioned service or your long distance operator. '130' numbers are Germany's version of the US '800' numbers. But if you call them from another country you will have to pay the usual fee for operator asst. long distance calls. Some of the German '130' numbers are linked to US '800' numbers so you can actually call them for free in the US. It is also not possible to reach US '800' numbers from Germany. You will have to use an operator. If you own a US phone card use one of the numbers listed (see 15.4.) Otherwise use the German long distance operator. 15.4. Using US Phone Cards in Germany? If you have an American phone card you can get connected to an English speaking operator from any phone by dialing: - AT&T Direct: 0130-0010 (operator) 0130-0011 (phone cards) 0130-850 058 (customer asst.) - MCI Direct: 0130-0012 - US Sprint: 0130-0013 - Canada Direct: 0130-0014 The following countries offer an equivalent service by dialing: 0130-800-### (### is the international access code. For two digit access codes dial 0##. Example: Australia 0130-800-061) Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Rep. of Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Denmark Many other international long distance companies provide the same service. Ask your long distance carrier for the right number. Ask these companies for details. 15.5. VAT in Germany? In Germany every retail price includes 15% (1993 value) Value Added Tax (Mehrwehrtsteuer, MwSt). If you buy goods in Germany and plan to take them with you to a foreign country it is possible to get a refund for the VAT. In some places you even get a discount in the shop. To get the VAT refunded you usually need some proof that you life not in Germany (Passport ...) and a special receipt from the store. It is possible for Germans to get a refund if their Passport shows a foreign address. Then ask for your refund at the border or airport (if the store did not deduct the tax already). Please ask the customs people for details. This refund might be not available for residents of European Community member states. 15.6. What presents to take to Germany? T-SHIRTS, sweat-shirts, baseball-caps, mementos from such places as the Monterey Sea-Aquarium or the Museum of Modern Arts or the Air & Space or Smithsonian museum (or whatever is in your neighborhood) COMPUTER: software and paperback books about software and hardware. publications by your favorite computer users group (BMUG, BCS, whatever) BOOKS: paperbacks (non-fictional mostly), cartoons, cooking, travel guides, historical, biographies, etc... MUSIC: CDs are much cheaper here, especially if you do one of those mail-order 'buy 8, pay for 1/2' (and what do you mean I forgot to tell you about shipping&handling), and some cannot be easily found overseas. support your local starving-musicians and buy some of their stuff (CDs, Tshirts) at the next gig you in your favorite music hang-out... POSTERS: from museums, art boutiques, Natl. Geo, Smithsonian, MAGAZINES: Sunday NYT, last years Natl. Geo., Air&Space, Smithsonian, Architectural Digest, Texas (or whatever is published monthly with your state's name on it - with lots of pictures and local lore...) RAGS: CACM, IEEE, Foreign Affairs,... specialty rags (Private Pilot, Sailing, WoodWorking, Beer and Wine Making,...) and if you are a photographer, why not make a couple of 8 x 10" prints of some of your best (sign them and put them in a frame) ?!? 15.7. Buying a Car for Short Period instead of EuRail? [Summary of a thread from Fall 1993.] The overall tone of the responses was pessimistic. In particular: * REGISTRATION and INSURANCE are difficult to arrange for FOREIGNERS without residency * GAS is expensive * PARKING can be a hassle. Here are selected parts of the responses: Driving in Germany is not cheap! A tank of GAS that would cost you about $12 (~20 DM) in the USA would cost you about $50 there (~80 DM) in Germany (Assuming a rate of 1.60 DM per 1$.) --- If you don't buy a car from a dealer you do not pay VAT anyway. For that kind of money [DM 2000-2500, USD 1200-1500] don't bother about SHIPPING it to the States. It would be so old that it wouldn't have a catalytic converter. --- Your INSURANCE will be astronomical just because you're a foreigner. [...] You've also got to pay property TAXES on the car. That means you must have an address in Germany where you are "angemeldet" [residency]. There also may be some legal hang-ups against buying a car if you're just using it to travel. In addition to these thoughts, the BUYING process is also quite different. You can't just walk into a car dealer and come out with a car -- like you can in America. There's quite a bit of paper work that needs to be done before you can even test drive the car. You'll have to come back a couple of days later to do that and then afterwards you can negotiate the transaction. --- Primarily central parts of the CITIES are closed for cars. --- PARKING can be a hassle. --- To my knowledge, you have to be RESIDENT of the Fed. Rep. of Germany in order to REGISTER a car. [...] RESELLING the car can be quite a hassle. There are times (not particular seasons, though) when the market is not really in favor for sellers. [...] RENTING a car might be worth considering. --- It should be no problem to get a car which is still running for this price. Make sure it has some state inspection time left, otherwise it will not be REGISTERED. [...] You will need INSURANCE, of course. This is based on the hp of the car. For 40 hp it will be about 100 DM per month. You must also pay car TAX, this is based on the cc of the engine. For 1 liter is it about DM 200 per year. You get a refund, if you sell the car earlier for the unused time. --- I personally would not recommend buying a very cheap car, because it will likely BREAK DOWN. --- I would look for a REALLY CHEAP CAR (<1000 DM), which will last for the time you are in Germany. --- > Are there Mercedes diesels from the 70s that are reasonably priced? They are about DM 2000-6000 [USD 1200-4000] ... maybe more if in very good shape. --- I lived in Germany for over a year and one of the nicer things [...] about living there is the fact that you DON'T NEED a car. 15.8. How much is Gasoline in Germany? Diesel...: DM 1.18 (+/- 0.06) per liter ??? what are the other typical values ??? [2/94] #15.9. How to get German Stock Data via Internet? For WWW-browsers available... use URL: http://www.wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de/AG/JWGI/JWGIhome.html (daily updated info; the data seem to come from www.win.tue.nl) ??? when I checked, I didn't find any direct exchange rates ??? ??? and what is "mrt" anyway? ??? [2/94] # For exchange rates in Amsterdam: # http://www.win.tue.nl/cgi/tt2www/nos/tpage/569 # [unchecked 4/94] #15.10. What German Books for Children? # # by Ottfried Preussler # Die kleine Hexe # Das kleine Gespenst # Der starke Wanja # Krabat # Der kleine Wassermann # by Max Kruse # Urmel aus dem Eis (and more Urmel books) # by Michael Ende # Jim Knopf und Lukas, der Lokomotivfuehrer # Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13 # Die unendliche Geschichte # Momo # Der satanoluegenialalkohoellische Wunschpunsch # by Erich Kaestner # Das fliegende Klassenzimmer # Emil und die Detektive # Puenktchen und Anton # der kleine Mann # and the classic books by Astrid Lindgren # [4/94] #15.11. Sending Money To and From # # To Germany (e.g. to mailorder places that don't accept plastic)? # # Ruesch International Financial Services will issue a draft in DM # (and other currencies) at the current rate of exchange, plus a # service charge of only $2 per transaction. Telephone the U.S. # headquarters (in Washington, DC) at 1-800-424-2923 to set up an account. # Regional offices: # Atlanta (404-222-9300) # Boston (617-482-8600) # Chicago (312-332-6900) # Los Angeles (310-277-7800) # New York (212-977-2700) # Washington, DC (202-408-1200) # Switzerland: Ruesch Devisenhandel # Schipfe 7 # CH-8023 Zuerich # Tel. 01-212-5300, Fax 01-212-5406 # (They charge 5 sfr for a check.) # # Other ways to get US$ across the ocean are: # * sending an American personal check # may or may not work....if you like to gamble then this is your way ;-) # * branches of German banks abroad # if you are lucky you find a major German Bank in your City, then you # may try direct deposit like it is customary in Europe. # * Eurochecque # Send one of your own Eurochecques; possibly you can get them from # a German banks branch. Catch: Need to have a German bank account. # * American Express travellers checks # Go to a local American Express office and purchase DM travellers # checks. You can get single checks, 20's and above. No service fee, # but a few points off the bank exchange rate. Make sure to fill out # the "Pay to the order of:" field for security! # Problem: You may not get the exact amount you need, like DM 57.66. # * American Express money orders # Are well accepted by German banks. # For long term you might consider opening a Germann bank account and # depositing a regular payment with American Express money orders. Then # you can pay German bills off of that account. # # From Germany # * international money orders # Available at every post office. Charge is about $5 for small # amounts. Note that int. money orders are nt issued by American # post offices. # * have a credit card withdrawing from your German account. Try to # avoid cash advances (extra fee) but buy things with your card (only # the currency exhcange rate is applied.)