Helen Grant: The Vanishing of Katharina Linden

Thinking about my friends in Germany is always a little painful because I can’t help but remember the goodbyes, just as you can’t watch a sad film a second time without thinking about the ending. So I don’t often think about Bad Münstereifel, about Stefan, and Herr Schiller, and Oma Kristel. Or about Herr Düster, the last time I saw him, standing on the doorstep of our house in the Heisterbacher Strasse, with his Tyrolean hat in his gnarled old hand.

“ Auf Wiedersehen , Herr Düster,” I had said, very politely, before he stepped out of my life forever. And he had looked at me very solemnly and said:

“Hans. Please, call me Hans.”

aber but

Abitur high school graduation examination

Ach, Kind Oh, child!

Alte Burg The Old Castle

Ach so! Aha! I see!

Angsthasen “Scaredy-rabbits”-the German equivalent of “scaredy-cats”

Apfelstreusel apple cobbler

auch also

Auf Wiedersehen Goodbye (formal)

Bis gleich! See you in a minute!

bitte please

Bitte schön You’re welcome

Blödmann stupid fool

Blödsinn stupid tricks, messing about

böse bad, angry

Bürgermeister mayor

Danke Thank you

dein yours

doch yes, indeed

Dornröschen Briar Rose, the sleeping beauty

Du bist pervers You’re sick

Dummkopf blockhead, idiot

etwas seltsam something strange

Fachwerk half-timbering

Fettmännchen small coin (now obsolete)

Fettsack Fatso

Frau Mrs., Ms.

Fräulein Miss

furchtbar terrible

Gönsebraten roast goose

gerne willingly, gladly

Gott God

Grossmutter Grandmother

Grundschule Elementary school

Guten Abend Good evening

Guten Morgen Good morning

Guten Tag Good day

Gymnasium the most academic type of high school, offering the university entrance exam

Hasse hate

Hauptschule less academic type of high school, often leading to vocational training

Heckflosse tail fin

Herr Mr.

Herr Wachtmeister Constable

Hexe witch

Hilfe! Help!

Himmel! Heavens!

Hör auf! Stop it!

Ich gehe mit meiner Laterne I’m going along with my lantern

Ich hasse euch beide I hate you both

Ich kenn’ dich nicht, ich geh’ nicht mit I don’t know you, so I won’t go with you

Ich meine I mean

Ihr beide seid auch Scheisse You’re both shit too

Ihr seid total blöd You (pl.) are totally stupid

In Gottes Namen In God’s name

Jägermeister a German liqueur made with herbs and spices

Kaufhof a well-known German department store

Kind child

Klasse great, fantastic

Köln Cologne

Kölner Stadtanzeiger a regional newspaper

Komisch funny

Leberwurst liver sausage

Liebe Dear

Lieber Gott Dear God

Maibaum a May tree

Mäuselein “Little mouse;” a term of endearment

meine my, mine

Mein Gott My God

Meine Gute! My goodness!

Mein Licht ist aus, ich geh’ nach Haus My light is out, I’m going home

Mensch! Wow! Oh boy!

Mist crap

natürlich Of course

Na, und? So what?

Nee No, nope (informal)

Nun Now, well

Oberlothringen Upper Lorraine

Oder? Right? OK?

O Gott Oh God

Oma grandma

Onkel uncle

Opa grandpa

Pause break time

Pech gehabt! Hard luck!

Pfarrer Father (i.e., a priest)

Quälgeister pests

Quatsch nonsense

Ranzen school satchel

Rathaus town hall

Rosenmontag Karneval Monday

Sankt saint

Sankt Martin ritt durch Schnee und Wind St. Martin rode through snow and wind

Schätzchen “My treasure;” a term of endearment

Scheisse shit

Scheissköpfe idiots (rude)

schön good, lovely

Schrulle hag or crone

seltsam strange

sicher certainly

Stollen fruit loaf made at Christmastime

Strasse street

Tal valley

Tante aunt

Teufelsloch Devil’s Hole

Tor gate or archway; in Bad Münstereifel each tor is a tower with an archway underneath it

Tschüss! Bye! (informal)

Tut mir Leid I’m sorry

Um Gottes Willen! For Heaven’s sake!

und and

unverschämt shameless, brazen

Verdammt! Damn!

Verdammter bloody (rude)

verflixten blasted, damned

verstanden understood

Vorsicht! Look out!

weggezaubert made to disappear by magic

Werkbrücke Works Bridge-a Bad Münstereifel landmark

Wie, bitte? I beg your pardon?

Wo ist meine Tochter? Where is my daughter?

Wurst sausage

Zöpfe pigtails or braids

Baron Münchhausen(Chapter One) was an eighteenth-century German baron renowned for his extravagant tall tales.

Frau Holle(Chapter Twenty-one) is a character from a German fairy tale. She is an old woman who lives down a well; she rewards her hardworking servant girl with a shower of gold and her lazy servant with a shower of pitch.

Decke Tönnes(Chapter Twenty-nine) is a shrine to St. Anthony, located high on a hill in the woods near Bad Münstereifel.

Karneval(Chapter Six) is the carnival season, which starts on November 11 but reaches its climax on Rosenmontag, the Monday before Ash Wednesday. Karneval is celebrated by Sitzungen , which are shows incorporating dancing, singing, and comedy turns, and also by Karneval processions, which take place on or around Rosenmontag.

Kristallnacht(Chapter Thirty-three), November 9-10, 1938, was the infamous night during which the Nazis murdered and deported Jewish people living in Germany, and ransacked thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues. The name Kristallnacht (“Crystal Night”) refers to the huge amount of broken glass from shopwindows.

The Ruhrgebiet(Chapter Twenty-four) is a heavily industrialized area associated with coal mining and steel production. It belongs to the same German state as Bad Münstereifel (North Rheinland Westphalia) but lies north of the Eifel.

I would like to thank Camilla Bolton of the Darley Anderson Agency for her support, encouragement, and honesty. I would also like to thank Kate Burke Miciak, vice president, editorial director of Bantam Books/Delacorte Press, for her unbounded enthusiasm and vision. Thanks are due to my husband, Gordon, for his unflagging support and for believing in The Vanishing of Katharina Linden right from the beginning. Last but not least I would like to thank all my friends in Bad Münstereifel, for helping me to learn so much about the history, legends, and culture of the Eifel.