Updated: Jun 19
The German Stammtisch Canberra meets on once a month at different places around Canberra.
It is a great opportunity to speak German and meet other Germans and German speakers!
This month's Stammtisch is on 11 June 2025 at 6:00pm at the Old Canberra Inn. The following Stammtisch will be on 10 July. More information here.
Join Spielwelt families and friends for a traditional German Lantern walk outside the Turner Scout Hall on Saturday 21 June.
"The tradition of Laternelaufen, or lantern walks, dates back to at least the Middle Ages. In some regions, lanterns would be made out of turnips to mark the end of the autumn harvest, similar to Hallowe’en traditions with pumpkins. The tradition became associated with St Martin’s Day, held around the middle of November to celebrate Martin of Tours, a Roman soldier living in Gaul in 316 AD. According to the legend, Martin slit his cape in two, and shared it and his bread with a shivering homeless beggar in the depths of winter."
"The Lantern walk therefore celebrates the warmth in our hearts, the light of hope and the importance of helping others when it is cold and dark. In many parts of Germany, the lantern walk is often accompanied by someone dressed as St Martin in his red cape, on a horse, with a bag full of bread that is passed to the children. Spielwelt has honoured this tradition for over a decade in Canberra, albeit in June rather than November!" (from Spielwelt website, Lantern Walk 2024)
Drop in to the library and read the latest editions of leading German magazines Der Spiegel and Der Stern, or enjoy the latest in the German women's magazine Brigitte.
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. Founded in 1947, it is famous for its investigative journalism and has a circulation of around 724,000 copies.
Der Stern is an illustrated weekly current affairs magazine published in Hamburg, Germany, by Gruner + Jahr, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann. Founded in 1948, its emphasis is on providing in-depth background on a wide range of social and life-style issues.
Brigitte is a fortnightly women's magazine from the same publishing stable as Der Stern. It was first published in 1886 under a different name, mainly targeting housewives, relaunched in 1949 and later renamed Brigitte in 1954. Brigitte is the best-selling German women's magazine which covers lifestyle topics such as cooking, knitting, fashion and family issues.
Big book and magazine give-away: We give away older editions of these magazines and a range of books - check out our "Free to Take" shelves near the entrance of our library!
Our library is open Wednesday and Thursday afternoons plus before and after events and language classes. As the library is run by volunteers and we cannot always garantuee that we are open, feel free to ring us at 02 6230 0441 to confirm. (If you want to leave a message, please make sure you say your name and contact details as our answering machine does not record your number!)
