The houses in the village are named after German cities and supposedly reflect regional building styles—or at least kitschy imitations
arrived in Germany from South Korea in 1967 to work as a nurse, Min-ja Fliess was planning to stay for three years before going home to get married. More than 50 years later, she is still there. Sitting in the living room of Sukil Lee, a 90-year-old paediatrician, in Mainz, a small town in western Germany, she talks about her extended stay. “When I arrived I thought German men were intimidating,” she says.
Today Ms Park and Mrs Fliess stress how glad they are to have moved to Germany. But they still appear happier chatting to each other in Korean than in German. A certain unease lingers. Mrs Fliess says her son, though born in Germany and now a doctor, still finds it tricky to live there. “When he was young people used to call us ‘Chinesen’ , and he’d get angry and say, ‘I’m German’.”
The village was built on a hill overlooking a tranquil bay. So long as visitors avoid glancing down at the Korean-looking fishing village on the shore below, the ersatz Germanness is rather successful. There are beer gardens and breweries , a square for Oktoberfest celebrations, plenty of adverts forand a lot of the red rooftiles typical of suburbs in south-western Germany.
As a tourist attraction the village has become quite popular, much like other Korean-themed “folk villages” dotted around the country. Ms Ryu, like many of her neighbours, runs afrom her home. A small museum sponsored by the German government that tells the story of the emigrants draws around a quarter of a million visitors every year.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
Global stocks stall on trade talk uncertainty, German data hits euroGlobal stocks held near the unchanged mark on Thursday, as investors looked for ...
Lire la suite »
German train car arrives in New York for Auschwitz exhibit
Lire la suite »
German February industrial rises on construction surgeGerman industrial output rose by 0.7 percent in February as mild weather helped ...
Lire la suite »
EU worries about recession risks in Italy, German slowdownItaly's economic situation is 'delicate' and needs to be monitore...
Lire la suite »
Euro stuck near $1.12 after weak German dataThe euro remained stuck near a one-month low on Thursday as more signs of weakne...
Lire la suite »
EU charges German carmakers with blocking emissions cleaning technologyEuropean Union antitrust regulators on Friday charged BMW, Daimler and Volkswage...
Lire la suite »
'Upswing at an end' as German institutes slash growth forecastGermany's leading economic institutes slashed their forecasts for 2019 grow...
Lire la suite »
German growth predicted to stall during 2019 in 'significant cooling'Germany's economy could experience a 'significant cooling' in 2019, the country's leading economic institutes have warned.
Lire la suite »
Top German carmakers charged with blocking clean emissions technologyBMW, and Volkswagen face possible hefty fines after EU antitrust regulators on F...
Lire la suite »
UniCredit interest gives German bank merger a pushThe Italian lender is considering a bid for 9 bln euro Commerzbank if talks with rival Deutsche Bank fail, the FT says. A combination with UniCredit’s German arm makes sense but would leave Deutsche weak at home. That redoubles pressure on the government to back a domestic deal.
Lire la suite »