Abenteuer in Deutschland

Die Feuerzangenbowle (1944)

This past week Stef and I spent some time with one of our friends, Chris (I know, what a great name!). Anyway, we took the train over to his house from Tübingen and met him and his girlfriend Francesca (I think I butchered the spelling) and his friend Andy. We talked for a while before we finally asked him, “So what is Feuerzan… whatever?” When he invited us over, he didn’t really explain. We were of course speaking in German, so I couldn’t understand everything he was trying to say, but he did a good job of helping me and speaking at my level.

He told me that in Germany during the second World War, the vast majority of movies made were for the most part nonsensical. They were made to get the mind of the German people off what was going on. One of the most famous was “Feuerzangenbowle” which means either “Punch Bowl” or more literally “Fire Tongs Bowl”. And its about a group of older well to do men talking about the good old days when they discover one of them never went to school because he was home-schooled. He decides (at age 40ish) to pose as a high schooler and go back to school. Craziness then ensues. Its hilarious, but that is not the best part…

Ours wasn't this fancy!

The film is named after a drink that is now famous because the movie is so well loved. What Feuerzangenbowle is, is a pot of wine with slices of oranges and lemons with cloves heated up. You then put a wire mesh on the pot… then a rum soaked sugar cone on the mesh… then you light the sugar/rum on fire and it becomes a ball of fire with sugar melting into the wine. Of course Chris made some for us before we watched the film and it was quite a show! There has never been a time I have wished I hadn’t forgotten my camera as much as last Thursday!