Alexander Knappe grew up in Cottbus and had a promising career in soccer, until an injury when he was 18 years old forced him to give it up. He was later on X-Factor and finally got his big break with this song, “Weil ich wieder zu Hause bin” (“Because I’m back home again”), when it reached number 79 in the German pop charts in June, 2012. Kopfhörer aufsetzen, Musik aufdrehen!

These are not a bunch of free-ranging hippies, on the contrary: the World Wide Fund for Nature organized the event in Grugapark in Essen with a very clear goal in mind – to publicize the need to protect our forests as wildlife habitat. What better excuse do 848 people need to hug a tree? Viel Spaß!

In the mid-1970s disco ruled and roller skates were so big they made science fiction movies about them, in fact the movie Rollerball is still a huge cult film. Well now roller skates are back in a big way. Forget inline skates: if you think it is “easier” because you have four wheels, well think again! This video gets into a roller skating class in Berlin whose teacher is trying to change put Berlin clubs on wheels! Viel Spaß! Copyright: Deutsche Presse Agentur [The German Press Agency]

Yabla's very own Eva takes us on a nice stroll though an autumnal German park and fills us in on the best things about the German vocabulary for this time of year. Enjoy!

Hochheim, a small town in Hessia, is the annual scene of the lively Hochheim Wine Festival. Rhein-Main Szene reporter Thomas Raudnitzky is there to show you the chainsaw wine angel sculpture and to interview the Hochheim Wine Queen. Prost!

Not too long ago, American actress and film producer Katherine Heigl, best known for her work in Grey's Anatomy, visited Esslingen, the birthplace of her grandfather. Now she is back visiting Germany, where she particulary prizes the food: bratwurst, sauerkraut, and above all, spaetzle. Guten Appetit! Copyright: Deutsche Presse Agentur [The German Press Agency]

The class continues working out the details of the relative clause pronouns dessen and deren. Mia finds herself rebuffed when she suggests that the woman whose husband has disappeared is now entertaining another woman, leading to a discussion of the difference between unterhalten and sich unterhalten. Viel Spaß beim Lernen!

Imagine discovering an old animal footprint in a rock, and then finding out it is 316 million years old! An amateur geologist in North-Rhine Wesphalia was out walking with his kids and discovered exactly that: the footprint of a pre-dinosaur, which when it lived was about the size of a pig. This sensational discovery will be exhibited soon in Bochum’s German Mining Museum. (Video copyright dpa)

The German Schlager duo Die Amigos are an excellent example of the kind of music that appealed to your grandparents’ generation, yet for some reason still command an audience today in Mitteleuropa. Strictly for fans of the surreal! Kopfhörer aufsetzen, Musik aufdrehen!

The soccer champions BVB Dortmund and FC Bavaria Munich both have their eyes on the prizes again this year. Hear some of the club managers tell their strategy to get to the championship game, which will take place at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on May 12th this year.
Copyright: Deutsche Presse Agentur [The German Press Agency]

Check out this interview with members of the indie rock band Madsen, who were about to go on stage at the Hessentag Festival with German bands Juli and Wir sind Helden. Brothers Johannes and Sascha Madsen discuss their music plans and how it’s best not to think about it when you are on the stage in front of 50,000 people. A short clip from their song “Mein Herz bleibt hier” [“My Heart Stays Here”] is included. Viel Spaß!

Kitsch or cult? Since the major role of a garden gnome in the (ironically French) film Amélie, and the trial of artist Ottmar Hörl for his garden gnome giving a Nazi salute, gnomes have been a constant presence in the media. Protest gnomes giving the middle finger or baring their behind have led to court trials, and judging from a few of these dirty little gnomes in the video, you can see why! Viel Spaß!

Barbara leads the students through further examples of relative pronouns, with a nice detour through film history, discussing the merits of Hitchcock crime films versus horror films. Jacob tries to say "Film Noir" in German, but nobody gets it when he says "ein schwarzer Film". A brief foray into the passive verb tense has everyone on their toes: To be continued... Viel Spaß beim Lernen!

The third single from their third record, the song “Krieger des Lichts” (“Warrior of Light”) was a top-ten German hit for Silbermond, a pop band from Bautzen in Saxony. Kopfhörer aufsetzen, Musik aufdrehen!

In many cities around the world there are groups of tourists running around on these strange, silent two-wheeled things that look more like pogo sticks than a means of transportation. Welcome to the Segway, a two-wheeled, self-balancing, battery-powered electric vehicle. This video report from the Darmstadt-South-Hesse Magazine gives us a Segway driving lesson and takes us on a Segway tour of some of the beautiful tourist attractions in Darmstadt. Gute Reise!