h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi TC.

Can you answer a quick German-related question for me? I'm subbing an entry on the Jägerbomb cocktail. It translates 'Kräuterlikör' as herb liquor but I think it should be herb liqueur. Do you know?

liquor = alcoholic drink
liqueur = highly alcoholic, sweet and syrupy drink

Sorry - I only just saw this.

Kräuterlikör is most likely a liqueur, but they're usually quite bitter (have you ever tried Underberg? - it's that sort of thing)

I see you're on line at the moment, so I hope this helps and reaches you on time.

Thanks.

I think liqueur would be a better word. I'll use that.

If it's for a recipe perhaps using a brand name (is Underberg generally known outside Germany?) might be more specific.

It's this: A27637275

I've found the entry now and see that it's about Jägermeister, which is a similar thing.

The description of the drink in the opening paragraph just about sums it up.

There are dozens - maybe even more - of similar types of drink. Each distillery seems to have their own brand of "Kräuterlikör" - although some of them don't actually call them that. There is also the Italian version "Fernet Branca".

Searching around a bit, I find that one website uses the expression "Herbal Digestive" - which is very apt, as these are usually drunk after a heavy meal, and you don't usually have more than the one.

As to the entry - I notice that in the first paragraph of "What you Do", it is recommended that the concoction is "typically downed in one drink". The word "gulp" or even "go" would perhaps be more accurate.

The whole thing sounds quite disgusting!

Whoops - simpulpost. "Hirsch" by the way (footnote) is a stag, not a deer.

Aaah! The Jägermeister ads - they are quite amusing (the two stags on the wall holding a conversation) During the summer months, they were to be found in the fridge at parties.

I've sent it back now, before I read your final comments, but I'll sneak in your suggestions (stag and gulp) when it reaches the front page.

I notice that your home page has a link to my photos of the 20 July 2002 h2g2 Meet in London. That page doesn't exist any more. The photos are now at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eoinmcauley/sets/72157617384839429/

Thank you. Very observant of you!

Hi TC. A quick question: what's the significance of "Engelhorn" in Mannheim?

To most people, Engelhorn is a big department store selling top market clothes and sports gear.

However, Engelhorn (I think his Christian name was Friedrich) was the founder of the BASF which was originally situated in Mannheim before it moved to Ludwigshafen, just over the Rhine. It is now an enormous sprawling chemicals work - you must have seen some of it from the train.

BASF stands for Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik. Baden is the area to the East of the Rhine, whereas the BASF is now on the West of the Rhine.

This is what I remember from my research I did before you all came to Mannheim, and some of it is just general knowledge to people round here.

Here is a translation of the town's official page:

1848

Friedrich Engelhorn sen. founds a factory for Portativgas (any idea what that might be?). In 1860, he started using the tar, which is a waste product from this process, in his "Anilinfabrik". In 1865, this becomes the BASF. Although the BASF factory was built in Ludwigshafen, the administrative offices of the company remained in Mannheim until 1925.

According to Wiki, he was born and died in Mannheim. The entry is only in German, Polish and Swedish. I have not yet found a connection between the chemist/businessman and the department store.

Why do you ask?

PS I have saved all the text from the entry to expand it into a Mannheim entry. This time, unlike most of my other projects, I should be able to finish it quite soon, as the GuideML is mostly in place, and I have hardcopies of the town's historical page, as well as loads of books on the region.

Everywhere I looked in Mannheim I saw the word Engelhorn; one of my photos is even a gilded angel blowing a horn on top of one of the buildings. A quick search showed that the name was also part of the name of one of the museums, so I reckoned there must be something historic about the name. My curiosity was piqued.

According to this site:

http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/artikelNDB_n04-514-03.html

"portativgas" is gas in portable containers. I presume that is like the "gas cylinders" that we now use for propane or butane gas for barbecues, mobile homes and so on. Calor gas is the most common sort in Ireland.

Recently, the Reiss Museum changed its name to Reiss-Engelhorn because the Engelhorn family gave a large donation, IIRC.

The gas was used to light the street lamps, I have since found out. A dead-cert business proposition, and using the waste product was a stroke of genius. It was an English chemist, Perkin, who found out that the tar could be used to produce indigo dye. The indigo dye is famously the starting point of the huge BASF organisation.

The horn-blowing angel is the symbol of the department store, so there must be a connection somewhere. It was quite a dynasty, and some of the family married into money and the aristocracy.

I remember Perkin from the Purple Entry.

I wondered why it sounded familar. And so the circle closes! Small world, isn't it?

No, it's a big and exciting world.