Dritte Deutsche Kulturwoche 2010 in Goa

8. - 12. Dezember 2010

08 December (Wednesday)

Rally Panjim to Anjuna with a VW Bulli,
one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger van, celebrating 60 Years of VW Bulli - 40 Years of the first arrivals of Bullis in Goa - The arrival in 2010 of a German Bulli by land from Germany to Goa
11:30 a.m. - The rally will start at Municipal Garden in Panjim at 11:30 am. It will be flagged off by Mr. Manoj Caculo, Director of Caculo Automobiles, the Goa Agents of Volkswagen cars
At 1 pm there will be a lunch in Anjuna and a presentation of slides of the recent land tour from Germany to Goa in 2010 by the German Niels Melves and his family. Anyone is free to join the rally with his car or motorbike.

09 December (Thursday)

Traditional German Home Pastry Class by German Ladies
9 a.m. - Clube Vasco da Gama, opp. Municipal Garden, Panjim
A morning class that allows you to learn how to make some of the famous traditional German cakes, such as "Bienenstich" (Beesting) or the "Engadiner Walnusskuchen" (Engadin Walnut Pie). Watch the German ladies prepare the cakes at a high-end non-professional pastry class.
Previous registration required. Limited number of participants. Please contact.

Germans in Goa, Goans in Germany: their percepcion of the environmental problems in Goa. Roundtable
Chief Guest: Mr Aleixo Sequeira, Minister for Power and Environment.
5 p.m. - Clube Vasco da Gama, opp. Municipal Garden, Panjim
German residents in Goa and Goan residents in Germany have a special perception of the environmental problems faced in Goa. Their opinion could be relevant for an approach in solving some of the present problems in Goa.
Entry free

10 December (Friday)

Presentation: "From the Arabian to the Baltic Sea - A Story of Indo-German Friendship"
The experience of a DAAD fellow in Germany
10:30 a.m. - Padre Conceicao College of Engineering, Agnel Technical Education Complex, Verna
Professor B. R. Srinivasan from the Department of Chemistry, Goa University, visited Germany as a scientist under DST-DAAD (Department of Science and Technology, Government of India - DAAD German Academic Exchange Service) Indo-German exchange project.
Entry free

"Dr. Elisabeth Dessai Prize in the Opportunity for Women and Promoting the Environment" 2^nd Edition
The function will be presided by Mr. Digambar Kamat, Chief Minister of Goa
5 p.m. - N. D. Naik Hall, Pajifond, Margao (next to IDBI Bank and BIG G shopping ctr.)
The Prize is funded by Dr. Venkatesh Dessai, an eminent Goan surgeon at the Academic Hospital of the University of Duesseldorf, Germany, and husband of late Dr. Elisabeth Dessai. Dr. Elisabeth Dessai, a German, was an eminent social writer dealing especially with the problems faced by women in Germany and in Goa and was actively raising her voice in environmental issues. The prize is awarded every year and is administered by IGSG.
Entry free

German Film: Fontane Effie Briest (with English subtitles). Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
6 p.m. - N. D. Naik Hall, Pajifond, Margao (next to IDBI Bank and BIG G shopping ctr.)
IGSG has great pleasure in presenting this film as homage to its director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who would have been 65 this year.
The film is based on the novel "Effi Briest" by Theodor Fontane. Effi Briest is still far too young to marry when she is betrothed to Baron von Instetten. Her encounter with Major Crampas adds a temporary flurry of excitement to her life. Years later, the Baron learns of their relationship, which is now long over - with dire consequences. Fassbinder stays true to Fontanes novel, yet creates his own unique imagery.
Entry free

11 December (Saturday)

Guided visit to the factory of the German company Siemens in Goa
10 a.m. - Meeting point 10 a.m.at Siemens - Verna Industrial Estate
Siemens has a healthcare factory at Verna Industrial Estate, which manufactures a wide range of X-ray equipments for global markets including Latin America, South Asia, Africa, ASEAN and the Middle East.
Previous registration required. Please contact.

Lunch of former alumni at German Universities
1 p.m. - "Quarterdeck" (Riviera) restaurant, opp. Hotel Mandovi, Panjim
This is an opportunity to share information about professional life and to remember the great times in Germany. It promises to be a great lunch! Open to all former students (including Germans) of German Universities and Fachhochschulen.
Previous registration required. Please contact.

12 December (Sunday)

Oktoberfest with Bazar
8 p.m. - Clube Vasco da Gama, opp. Municipal Garden, Panjim
Next to the Christmas tree, Oktoberfest is the most popular German custom that Germany has ever exported to the rest of the world. When it comes to a beer festival, Germany has perfected this event.
German music, film screening and information about "Germany and Goa as Tourism Destinations". Traditional German beef "Gulasch", "Frikadelle" (meatballs) and Kartoffelsalat (potatoe salad) will be served at the buffet.
Entry fee 200 Rs includes indo-german-goan buffet. Off the buffet try some tasty and superb German pastry specialities.

TV Partner:

Fotogallerie

Rally Panjim Anjuna

Links: Niels Meves fuhr den VWBulli von Deutschland nach Goa.

Niels Meves zeigt Dias von seiner Landreise Deutschland - Goa

Home Pastry Class by German Ladies

Vier deutsche Damen praesentieren ihre "Kunstwerke"

Roundtable on Environment in Goa

Rechts (Mitte): Goas Umweltminister Aleixo Sequeira verfolgt interessiert die Diskussion

Presentation
"From the Arabian to the Baltic Sea - A Story of Indo-German Friendship"

Professor B. R. Srinivasan spricht ueber seine Erfahrung als DAAD-Forschungsstipendiat an deutschen Universitaeten

Dr. Elisabeth Dessai Prize

Rechts: Dr. Dessai mit den Preistraegerinnen
Arti Balacrisna Pagi (B.Com.) und Vikita Laximen Pagi (B.A.)

Guided visit to the factory of the German company Siemens in Goa

Links: Mr. Usgaonkar, Leiter von Siemens Goa, heisst die Besucher willkommen.

Lunch of former alumni at German Universities

Oktoberfest with Bazar

Presse

IANS - Indo-Asian News Service - 8 December 2010

We felt safe when we stepped into India: German traveller

By Mayabhushan Nagvenkar

He made a long journey from Hamburg to Goa in a Volkswagen Bulli, along the same route the first German hippies took when they came here 60 years ago. Niels Melves, a teacher and avid traveller, says having crossed countries like Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, he felt safer the moment he stepped into India.

Niels, who is in his 50s, has become the face of the Indo-German friendship week that began Wednesday. He said right through the road journey from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iran was the one place where he felt the world changed to an "all male" and "bleak" reality.

"Passing through Iran felt like a country in ruin and reverse. There were no women on the streets. It was dramatic in a very oppressive way," said Niels.

He took five weeks for the Euro-Asian journey along with his wife Anka, daughter Maya, 5, and Florian Surya, 3, who incidentally was born in Goa on an earlier trip to the beach state.

"I did not feel safe in Iran. We were escorted by an armed vehicle when we passed Afghanistan, but we were glad when we passed over into Pakistan. Plus, the drivers in Iran are worse than those in India. They are crazy. The worst in the world," said an emphatic Niels.

The German said while there was no obvious drama or scandals on the journey from Germany to Goa, the relief of stepping into Indian territory was worth cherishing.

"There was no drama. We were not captured by the Taliban or anything like that, but we all breathed a sigh of relief when we stepped into India. From an oppression-filled environment into a country where you don�t have to be scared to say something. We felt free when we stepped into India, at the Wagah border. That�s the magic of India," Niels told IANS.

Niels also said for a German who has seen the Berlin Wall the Wagah border theatrics unnerved him a little bit.

"It would have been a great spectacle if both these countries (India and Pakistan) were not nuclear powers. But it�s a scary prospect now if one looks beyond the theatrics of two countries with nukes to back them," Niels said.

At Anjuna - a popular village in coastal north Goa, 15 km from here, where the first German hippies landed 60 years ago, incidentally also in a Bulli - Niels along with the Indo-German Friendship Society Goa (IGFSG), will hold an exhibition of photographs taken by him on his journeys.

"I have travelled in my motorcar in all continents (except America) over the last five years. I have been from Canada to South America. I have also driven across Australia and New Zealand. China I haven�t driven in yet because it is very expensive to drive your own vehicle," he said.

PTI Press Trust India - 4. Dezember 2010

German traveller takes route taken by hippies in 60s

The road route taken by the hippies from Germany to reach Anjuna in Goa way back in the 60s was revisited by a German traveller last week to mark the four-decade of the community''s arrival in this beach haven. Niels Melves, 50, along with his wife and two children, arrived in Goa by Volkswagen (VW) Bulli, a car-model that was hot-favourite with the hippies in those days.

"Melves travelled for almost a month with his family before touching Goan soil this week," Aurobindo A P G Xavier, President, Indo-German Friendship Society, Goa, told PTI. The German traveller will lead the symbolic motorcade drive from Panaji to Anjuna on December 8 as part of the 3rd German Cultural Week planned in Goa. Hippies from European countries first arrived here sometime in the mid-60s putting Goa on world tourism map.

They would take a tedious road route that went through countries like Iraq, Iran and Pakistan before entering Indian territory and then to Goa. Xavier said that Germans have had trade relations with Goa since 16th century and they used to trade in horses, silk, spices and other goods.

Besides, the Germans were the ones to introduce printing machines in Goa or for that matter in India, he said. Some Germans made Goa as their home after three ships in which they were travelling sunk off Mormugao coast during Second World War in 1944.

They settled here and got married to Goan women, Xavier said. Incidentally, Germans account for the major chunk of tourists coming to Goa from European countries.

IBNS India Blooms News Service - 4. Dezember 2010

Motor rally for hippies in Goa

Indo-German Friendship Society (IGFS) Goa will be holding a rally along the North Goa coastal stretch with V W Bulli - one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger van - to mark the arrival of Hippies in Goa.

Addressing a press conference to announce the 3rd Cultural Week beginning from December 8, President Aurobindo Xavier said that the motor cart rally will embark from Panaji to the beach town of Anjuna - where Hippies first settled in mid-60s.

"The first German to start the Hippy culture in Goa was some 65 to 70 years ago. To mark this occasion, a German native is traveling to Goa via land route," he said.

50-year-old Niels Melves along with his family will be arriving Goa after crossing Iraq, Persia, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan in a Volkswagen Bulli car via land route.

"Germans settlers in Goa will join the rally along with many other Goan residents. We have invited German Consulate General in Mumbai to grace the event, but the presence is uncertain as of now," Xavier said replying to a query on attendees at the rally.

The week-long event will have round table conference on environmental issues in Goa, presentation on Indo-German friendship, guided visit to the factory of the German Company Siemens in Goa and others.

IGFS was launched in Goa in 2006 to strengthen the friendship between Germany and India, especially Goa.

(Reporting by John Edwards)

IBNS India Blooms News Service - 4. Dezember 2010

Drugs and sex killing tourism among Germans in Goa

Heaps of garbage, vociferous ambiance, sex and drugs in Goa are becoming a major concern among German visitors here, President of the Indo-German Friendship Society (IGFS) Goa Aurobindo Xavier said here on Saturday.

"Germans are very keen on environment and cleanliness. At the same time, sex, drugs and the noisy atmosphere is keeping them away from visiting Goa," Xavier told reporters on the sidelines of a press briefing to announce its 3rd German Cultural week here.

The IGFS website, which is entirely in German language, has its motto as �good-bye Goa� for the very reason that the internationally acclaimed tourist destination is covered with several unwanted happenings.

Goa being one of most-expensive tourist destinations is also playing a spoilsport as German travelers are now shifting to Thailand. "For Germans, Goa is little expensive than Thailand. This is another reason, why the number of German visitors is deteriorating year-by-year," he said.

Presently, Goa comprises of 6000 to 8000 German tourists, which declines to around 1000 during the off-season.

Goa has had trade links with Germany dating back to 16th Century when the first German ship to Goa opened up the trade between Germany and India.

They usually traded silk, spices and Arabian horses via Port ships and decades later introduced printing machines. History also mentions that three German trading ships sunk in Goan waters during World War II.

(Reporting by John Edwards)

IANS - Indo-Asian News Service - 4. Dezember 2010

'Filthy, expensive Goa no longer attracts German tourists'

Goa is no longer a favoured tourist destination for Germans because it is 'expensive and dirty', the Indo-German Friendship Society Goa (IGFSG) said Saturday.

Speaking to reporters here at a press conference called to announce a weeklong celebration to mark the arrival of the first German hippies to Goa sixty years ago, IGFSG president Aurobindo Xavier said Goa's inability to tackle the garbage disposal issue had affected Goa-bound tourist traffic from Germany.

'A lot of the feedback that the society gets is that Germans no longer want to come here because Goa cannot solve its garbage problem,' said Xavier, who teaches at a university in Munich.

Garbage and other waste is disposed in the open in Goa, which has no garbage processing plant. Strewn garbage and heaps of litter is an ugly, but common site along the state's roads and near sites of tourist interest.

'A lot of German tourists, who have come to Goa in the past, say that it is now time to bid Goa goodbye,' he added.

The earliest wave of tourism in Goa, which evolved with the coming of the hippies in the 1960s, contained a majority of German tourists who in the 1970s were attracted by the pristine beauty of its beaches. British tourists got the Goa-bug in the early eighties and after a couple of decades, Russians outrank every other nationality when it comes to foreign tourist numbers here.

The number of German tourists over the years have witnessed a steady decline, according to Xavier. 'The garbage situation and the increase in the number of Russian tourists has led to the decline of German tourists here. Also, other beach destinations like Thailand are much cheaper than Goa,' he said.

Goa in 2005 received nearly 15,000 German tourists, but the number has shrunk considerably over the last five years, according to Xavier.

Goa received 2.4 million tourists annually, out of which nearly half a million are foreigners.

Germans say goodbye to Goa due to filth: Experts

PTI - Press Trust of India - 4. Dezember 2010

The filth on Goa beaches and expensive holidays have made the state less preferred vacation gateway for the Germans, an expert said.

"The Germans who have arrived on their holiday in Goa recently have written on our website that they are saying good bye to the state," Aurobindo A P G Xavier, President, Indo-German Friendship Society, Goa, told PTI.

He said that the website run by the society (www.igsg. org) has been receiving articles by German visitors who find the state as filthy.

"Moreover, it's expensive destination. Tourists find Thailand cheaper than Goa, so they have now changed their choice," Xavier, a Goan-based in Germany, said.

Xavier is amongst the batch of Goans who were studying in Portugal when Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule.

He later travelled to Germany to eke out living and has made the European state as his home.

He said that there many German tourists who come to Goa and cut short their trip and venture to other destinations as they find garbage around as menacing.

"Germans are conscious about the environment," Xavier added. Goa, which receives 24 lakh tourists annually, is grappling with the garbage issue and tourism department has itself conceded that litter on the beaches is not welcomed by the tourists.

Xavier said that the drug menace on the beaches also discourages Germans. "There is lot of drugs and sex on the beaches which is driving away Germans," he said.

Russians are the largest chunk of foreign tourists visiting Goa followed by UK. As per a rough estimate, Goa receives around 8,000 German travellers.

IANS - Indo-Asian News Service- 4. Dezember 2010

Celebrations to mark arrival of first German hippies in Goa

A German tourist adventurer and traditionally-dressed fraus and frauleins are all set to whip up Germanic fervour here Dec 8 as part of celebrations to mark 60 years of the arrival of first hippies of German origin in Goa.

The Indo-German Friendship Society, Goa, (IGFSG) has planned week-long celebrations which will include discussions, seminars, workshops on issues of India-Germany interests and entertainment events.

Speaking to reporters in Panaji, IGFSG president Aurobindo Xavier said that the highlight of the celebrations would be the arrival of a Volkswagon-made cargo-passenger van Bulli, driven by an adventurer, to Goa via the land route across Europe and Asia.

'The German hippies first came to Goa in a Bulli 60 years ago and stayed in Anjuna. We wanted to recreate the same magic. A German, Niels Melves, and his family has come all the way from Germany, driving across Iraq and Pakistan,' Xavier said.

Other events on the occasion would include a German pastry making session conducted by women from the European country.

'Germany is famous for its traditional pastries, so we will have German women and girls in traditional Bavarian costumes teaching people how to make pastries,' Xavier said.

'German trading vessels used to trade with Goa by travelling with the Portuguese. The trade was for Arabian horses, spices and silk. So, it is not true that the regions have no ties at all,' said Xavier, who holds a doctorate and teaches in a university in Munich, Germany.

'In fact, not many know but three German trading vessels were sunk by the British off the coast of Mormugao in 1944 during the World War-II. Several sailors who were aboard the targeted vessels chose to settle down in Goa and marry the locals,' he said.

Gomantak Times 30/11/2010