LL-L "History" 2012.08.09 (04) [EN]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L - 09 August 2012 - Volume 04
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: History

Dear Lowlanders,

This morning I watched an interesting episode of the series "Weltbilder" at
the Hamburg website of Nordeutscher Rundfunk (
http://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/livestream223.html).

This documentary was about ethnic Germans who live in a German region of
Siberia. Mennonites and non-Mennonites and their language varieties were
distinguished. Locals would talk about their histories. Those that had
decided not to immigrate to Germany after the demise of the Soviet Union or
had returned to Siberia from Germany gave their reasons. The main reason
was that rural life back in Siberia was simpler, despite being materially
poorer. A widowed Mennonite father of ten explained (in Plautdietsch) that
he had visited Germany and thereafter decided to raise his family in their
ancestral faith and that this was more easily done away from Germany and
its temptations.

Within the documentary was a fascinating story with a botanical twist.
Almost all Germans in the area grow *Physalis* which they themselves call *
Junibeere* ("June berry") in German, while in the local Russian variety it
is called *немецкий ягоды* (*nemeckij jagody* "German berry") because it is
associated with German farmers.

In other German dialects:
*Kapstachelbeere* <http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapstachelbeere> ("Cape
gooseberry"), *Andenbeere* ("Andean berry"), *Andenkirsche* ("Andean
cherry"), *Judenkirsche* ("Jewish cherry"), *Peruanische
Blasenkirsche*("Peruvian bubble cherry")

In other Russian dialects:
*к**апский крыжовник*<http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%81_%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9>(
*kapskij kryžovnik* "Cape gooseberry")

Now, considering the full botanical name *Physalis peruviana* as well as
the fact that this plant is closely related to the tomatillo (*Physalis
philadelphica*), we can safely assume that the plant in question is of
Latin American origin. Whih makes me wonder how it acquired its connection
with the Cape (supposedly Southern Africa's Cape of good hope).
Furthermore, at least in Siberia the plant is associated with Germans and
it seems to be assumed that it had been introduced by them around one
hundred years ago. What about this Lowlands angle?

I assume that the plant reached Europe, or at least certain parts of
Europe, from Latin America via Southern Africa and then (like the potato:
German *Kartoffel* > Russian картофель *kartofel'*) came to be introduced
to Eastern Europe, Siberia and Central Asia.

I am not aware of this plant being particularly popular in German, at least
not for long. Might the Lowlands link be rooted in Mennonite and Dutch
contacts among "Germans" in the east?

*Physalis peruviana*
English: *Cape gooseberry* (South Africa), *Inca berry*, *Aztec berry*, *Golden
berry*, *Giant ground cherry*, *Peruvian groundcherry*, *Peruvian
cherry*(U.S.),
*Pok pok* (Madagascar), *Poha* (Hawaii), *Ras bhari* (India),
*Aguaymanto*(Peru),
*Uvilla* (Ecuador), *Uchuva* (Colombia)
Dutch: *kaapse kruisbes* ("Cape gooseberry"), *goudbes* ("golden berry"), *
ananaskers* *
*Afrikaans: ?*
*Swedish: *kapkrusbär* ("Cape gooseberry"), *guldbär* ("golden berry"), *
lyktbär*  ("lantern berry")*, **incabär* ("Inca berry")
Norwegian (*bokmål*): *barbadoslykt *("Barbados lantern")

I myself have tasted home-grown Cape gooseberries and found them very
tasty. It would be nice to know more about its immigration to the "Old
World"

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