Dear Reader
When we brought our first issue of Echo Germanica to the printer
one fine day in April of 1990 the night was illuminated by a
full moon. We were excited about our new endeavor. It promised
to be an adventure, and was – in hindsight - sometimes more than
what we bargained for.
I had written for 8 years a weekly column in 2 other
publications and realized that our ranks were shrinking and that
we needed to expand our horizon to continue to exist. After much
surveying the idea was born, the name chosen - also by survey -
and we plunged into the bridge building business to unite the
younger generation with its parentage and other cultural groups.
Our hope was to give relevance to the German community beyond
its language bound perimeters.
 Let us not forget that 20 years ago interest in all things
German were not as great as they are now. The last 2 decades
changed a lot in the way the world perceived Germany and the
German culture here and abroad. This is due to the good work of
many organizations, some of them with a political role and
others in the cultural arena. To forward some of the relevant
points and illustrate what goes on in our local German culture
has been our great pleasure these past 20 years.
We covered the activities of our local German clubs and official
organizations, as far as they promote to us. This latter
endeavor has had its up and downs since it depends largely on
the personal interest of whoever is at the helm. For instance,
we had a great relationship with the Goethe Institut. At that
time we also were close to the German Canadian Chamber of
Commerce, who now only promotes to its members, but never to the
German local media at large. We had wonderful Consul Generals in
the past that took great interest in the local German culture
and solicited it to help its own cause, but also contributed by
showing an interest in our local affairs.
Each set of circumstances presents its own set of problems and
solutions that need to be found or created.
We especially enjoy helping artistic venues with German content
or otherwise. The creativity in our ranks and around us is
astounding and continuously demands our admiration. We have
often been told that our contributions help keep the German
culture alive. That is quite a compliment and we actually do
believe that this is true in parts, because we gave ourselves
only 10 years from the start before we thought the community
would be no longer be in existence to any degree. So we all need
to give ourselves a pat on the shoulder for keeping it going
this long.
Our concept of bilingual content won awards at Canadian
government levels as well as other professional organizations of
a cultural and political nature. We are continuously thanked for
allowing families of mixed heritage to share in our culture.
We are also considered a source for non-German organizations who
want information on our group, including other media. Our
popularity expanded vastly when we started our website (www.echoworld.com)
10 years ago (April 2000). Here again we took only our public
into account and not the commercial value of it. Its commercial
value is estimated by experts as substantial with over 2000
unique visitors daily, which surprised us to find out. Its
usefulness could be vastly extended – we have lots of ideas but
little personnel.
Looking back there have been a few stellar moments in our
existence. I am not talking about the many recognitions and
awards we received, I mean those other moments that give purpose
and special meaning to our work. I recall the exhilaration we
felt when we were the only “ethnic” paper invited to a press
conference with Mr. Gorbachev and then, when only 3 publications
were chosen to ask a direct question it was our correspondent
Klaus Hofer who was allowed to do so, and he could do it in
Russian!
I had an opportunity to address the students of Upper Canada
College on the subject of “Art and War” and was able to do so
about the historical facts of the past as well as of the current
victims of a then still apparent cold war, which was barely over
and still had much fallout.
I recall voting as a “German” with other members of the Canadian
communities at a CBC Radio Show before the historic vote of the
United Nations decision was to take place on the war in Iraq.
I remember interviews with great artistic people like tenors
Mark DuBois and Michael Schade and Baritone Russel Brown,
conductor Erich Kunzel and piano virtuoso Anton Kuerti.
 Our work also afforded us opportunities of different types of
work, like working on a TV project about the Canadian Charter of
Human Rights, (coproducing the German version, translating,
directing talent in German and doing voice-overs) which won an
award; subsequently an online learning tool followed; or a solo
project about Bonhoeffer, a German Pastor who died at the hands
of henchmen of the 3rd Reich on the very day I was
born; narrating a concert of Austrian composers in a church with
tenor, conductor and artistic director Geoffrey Butler.
There are so many very special moments and a lot of people to
thank who contributed to the work we do as a team or
individually. I want to thank the many editorial contributors
that have enriched the paper with their point of view. I
definitely need to thank our business partners, who so loyally
stood by us in good and in bad times. I hope they will all
continue to help us do our work for the community.
There are many highs to recount in our 20 year history. We
experienced together a few milestones like the fall of the Wall,
the unification of Germany, a soccer world championship and many
other events that had an influence on our daily lives.
We hope to continue this work, even though it changes, as do the
challenges, all the time. We have to re-invent ourselves
occasionally, add something, and edit something out. But we
always hope that our work remains interesting and appreciated.
We thank you, our readers, for being there!
The team at Echo Germanica
Rolf Rentmeister, Dr. Richard Altermann, Sybille
Forster-Rentmeister
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