The web site GermanAmericanPioneers.org has been developed by Maria and Walter Brand. Maria has gathered an extensive history of the activities of German American Pioneers in the region now known as Silicon Valley (the City of San Jose, CA and the surrounding Santa Clara Valley).

My husband of 45 years passed away

Oct. 21, 2005. He suffered a cardiac arrest.

     “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” is a German Christmas song that found its way to all corners of the world in all languages. When I was working at the Halekulani  Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii on Christmas Eve, in 1960 and I heard “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht, I had difficulty to keep from crying. When I hear this song for the first time in the Christmas season, I still get a lump in my throat. This has not changed in all the years I have lived in America.

I am sure everyone has a song, a show, a poem or whatever it might be that has the same effect on him or her.

       This is the season we get emotional. Warm feelings fill of our hearts. We might even be more generous toward our fellow men this time of year. Just thinking about the festivities in anticipation, or remembering Christmas of years passed might send a tickle down our spine.

        For some, and here I am thinking of the mothers, the holidays can be frightening. There is so much to do and so little time to do it in; the fathers might think of the money being spend for items we really don’t need; others might worry about family squabbles that might arise at family gatherings; some might have memories of lonely holidays in years past and the void loved ones have left behind by passing on. Some of us might not even have a shelter or a dinnertable to feel at home.

Each one of us has to deal with these unruly feelings in his or her own way.

         Yet, it is how we deal with the situation presented to us that makes the difference between a happy or unhappy life. We have an old German saying:”Das Glueck das heisst Zufriedenheit mit dem was dir beschieden,” meaning: Happiness is, being content with life as it has presented itself to you. It does not mean, being passive, but knowing where the limits are. Who-ever has accomplished this task is the master of his own destiny.

  Most of us have much to be thankful for.

         I am grateful for having had a good Elternhaus, (good upbringing by parents who cared) It is really the foundation on which everything else can be build. I have little formal schooling but what we learned at home, in the school and church and along the way by observing and trying to live by Ten Commandments and the Prussian Virtues we did better than many fellow citizens with a degree.

       Some time ago, I came across the "Prussian Virtues" by accident. I had never heard of them before, yet, when I read them I knew that my parents knew them because they had instilled them in us consciously or unconsciously. These were guidelines that should not be overlooked. It was not all about making money, yet most people fared well observing them. I believe the world would be a better place for everyone trying to live by them..

I like to add them to this newsletter.

                  The Prussian Virtues

I wish all of you a very joyful Christmas season and all the best for the year 2010. Above all else I wish you good health. I learned this past year what it means to be ill. I am much better now and grateful for the chance to keep working.

Thank you for clicking on my website and for reading so many pages.

Sincerely - Maria Brand

Famous German- Americans, ( under construction)

I heard the bells on Chrisfmas Day

Christmas poems, German

Christmas Songs, German

Christmas Stories and New Year's poems, German

Christmas Stories and songs, English, very good

German Woman is Bishop of Lutheran Church,

first time in History