Re: [Cz-L] Cold in Czernowitz

What I found most interesting about the postcard described by David is the
bad quality of the German, the sender wrote. He mixed up feminine and
masculine, got the prepositions wrong, did not use articles properly.
It is as if he had translated word by word from another language, yet his
name is German.

In correct German he should have written:

 Sehr geehrter Herr! (here there should have been the name of the person he
wrote to)
Bitte entschuldigen Sie, dass ich Ihnen nur jetzt Antworte, aber unsere
Stadt war wegen des vielen Schnee und der Kälte, einige Tage von der ganzen
Welt versperrt. Es war -40 bis -45 Kälte.

Mimi

On 10/31/10 9:07 AM, "David Glynn" <glynn_at_spontini.co.uk> wrote:

> Regarding cold weather memories of Czernowitz, my mother Erica recalled the
> rigours of walking to and from school in the extreme cold of one
> particularly cold winter. This might well have been the winter of 1928-9.
>
> Erica was delighted to have her memory confirmed by an old Czernowitz
> postcard which I purchased. The card shows the memorial on Str. Regina
> Maria, and is addressed to Herrn Fred Voigt, Löbau in Sachsen, Deutschland.
> On the back is written, in remarkably neat handwriting:
>
> 19 II 1929
> Sehr geehrter Herr!
> Ihre Karte habe ich dankend erhalten. Bitte mir entschuldigen daß ich nur
> jetzt Antworte aber unser Stadt war wegen den großen Schnee und Kälte einige
> Tage von ganzen Welt verspert. Wir hatten -40 bis -45 Kälte gehabt.
> Mit herzlichen Grüßen
> Ihr
> Z. Schimpl
>
> which translates as
>
> 19 II 1929
> Very esteemed Sir!
> I received your card with thanks. Please excuse me that I am only now
> answering but our town has been cut off from the world for several days on
> account of the great snow and cold. We had -40 to -45 degrees of cold.
> Cordially
> Yours
> Z. Schimpl
>
> ------
>
> David
>
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Received on 2010-10-31 08:59:42