Before leaving home arrangements had been made for DW TV (Deutsche Welle) to join us during our European Tour at Eisenach, the birthplace of Bach, and the location of the Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther was held in protective custody.
Choristers Cara and Andy Blackwood had agreed to be the focus for Uta, our camera toting reporter from DW. She followed our chosen couple around for about four hours on March 15th. Later we were told that the feature called Our Eisenach would be broadcast as part of the show, Discover Germany. The German version of this program is called Hin und Weg and the five minute segment, Unser Eisenach. We were informed that once the show had been broadcast (on or around April 10th), it would then be accessible on-line through the DW TV website starting after the broadcast, and right through to the end of December 2010.
Elfrieda and I had several years ago arranged to receive DW TV through Rogers Cable (Channel 195). For this extra service, we pay about $5 per month. It is always very interesting to view the world through the perspective of central Europe, and at the same time - because many of the shows are broadcast in German and then at another time in English - it has helped both of us improve our working knowledge of the German language. A few months ago I was watching DW TV, and came across the show, Discover Germany. At the end viewers planning a trip to Germany were invited to let them know of this pending visit because "you just might be featured". Within five days the positive response came, and the rest of the arrangement was handled through back and forth e-mails.
Well, the first broadcast of this show was set for 7:30 PM (our time) on Saturday April 10th. Consequently we invited fellow travellers and choristers to come to our house to see the show (albeit in the German language) and to celebrate this world premiere of Mein Eisenach, featuring Cara and Andy Blackwood and the Grand River Chorus.
That's why the two of us - along with our six guests, Richard Cunningham, Thelma Silverthorne, Lynda Newhouse, Margaret Canning, Jane Daw and Lou Knechtel, waited in anticipation for the start of the show. Because this 26 minute show featured the Brantford bit near the end, we decided to drink some wine and then celebrate with some champagne to toast the accomplishment of being part of this world premiere television event. We had no idea what to expect because Uta Geiser, the camera reporter had recorded about 4 hours of material for this 5 minute segment. When I had first contacted DW TV about this they had said that they could not feature the choir, as this kind of a show concentrated on the emerging impressions of an individual or couple about what they were seeing and experiencing in Germany. But even before we had left Canada, Uta had checked it out and informed me that DW TV had agreed to film our choir singing a number, so that she would have some material to work into the segment if possible.
As the broadcast began on Saturday, we were delighted to see that near the beginning, the host gave a short preview about what to expect, and lo and behold we, at that time already, saw footage of the choir. That made me really happy - to find out that Uta had come through for us. In the last five minutes of the show, Hin und Weg, we saw how skilfully Uta had woven the story together, and how enthusiastically the Blackwoods had participated in this venture. That called for another toast, and it was good that there was a bit of that champagne left to help out.
During the period April 10 - 12, the DW TV program guide showed that 2 broadcasts in German and 2 in English were indicated, the last being at 2:30 PM on the Monday April 12th. We didn't know if DW TV would wait until all four of these broadcasts were completed before making the program available on-line through 'Video on Demand'.
Well, it didn't take long to find out! The next day, one of our guests, Jane Daw, informed us that she had been contacted by Christine Schütz, our Austrian Tour Guide, to let us know the segment (German version) was already on the DW TV website. Today the English version was also posted, and now both can be viewed through the 'video on demand' feature.
For the segment, Our Eisenach, use this link: http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_single_mediaplayer/0,,5455674_type_video_struct_9822_contentId_5407350,00.html
To see the Unser Eisenach version, use this link: http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_single_mediaplayer/0,,5454352_type_video_struct_0_contentId_5454376_start_1215_end_1535,00.html
To see the whole of the Discover Germany show (so as not to miss the introduction of our segment) use this link: http://www9.dw-world.de/tagesvideo/index.php?t=episodes_en&s=681 Once the page shows up, look to the right for the list of shows listed from the most recently broadcast down. Then drag down the grey slider until you see 'Discover Germany' 11.04.10. Click on it and the program should start. You can watch the whole thing, or wait until the intro part about Cara & Andy is finished, and then use the slider along the bottom to pull it to the right until you are at about 6 miunutes from the end. You will then see the segment about Eisenach. It's simpler than it sounds.
Please take a look and let us know what you think!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
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