[meteorite-list] 100-kg meteorite from Westerwald region of Germany (1930)??

From: Robert Verish <bolidechaser_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Sep 30 20:29:02 2004
Message-ID: <20041001002900.58169.qmail_at_web51708.mail.yahoo.com>

Article about - 100-kg meteorite from Westerwald
region of Germany (1930)??

Apologies if this has already been posted.
Bob
 V
 .
---
<http://www.slovakspectator.sk/clanok-17394.html>
RESTAURANT TRAILS:
Waiter - I've found a meteorite in my soup!
By Michaela Brezinová
Special to the Spectator
<http://www.slovakspectator.sk/clanok?cl=17394>
A LARGE lump of "luck".
photo: Michaela Brezinová
<http://www.slovakspectator.sk/vydania/2004037/photo/8.jpg>
Café Soleil
Where: Markušovského 509, Štrba
When: Monday-Sunday 16:00-24:00
Reservations: No
English menu:Yes
Contact: (Božena Neuhausová) 0903/619-959
TUCKED AWAY under the foothills of the majestic High
Tatras lies the village of Štrba. Blink your eyes and
you'll probably miss it. Rest up awhile and you are
quite likely to come across the tiny Café Soleil. From
the outside there seems nothing remarkable about the
place, or anything particularly different from many
other Slovak hostelries. That is, until you enter.
What is immediately apparent is the rather peculiar
atmosphere it conjures, derived from a sort of visual
disorientation. Then as your eyes become accustomed to
the surroundings, you begin to see why. The place is a
clutter of oddly interesting objects. And none less so
than its owner Friedrich W Neuhaus. Originally from
Germany Herr Neuhaus is a collector, or more to the
point, a hoarder with a penchant for historical
artefacts and anything that falls out of the sky.
Everything in his cafe, from an 83-year-old mineral
water bottle, to his prized chunk of meteorite,
provides a constant talking point among the curious
locals, and anyone else who happens to stray inside.
Neuhaus arrived in Slovakia by chance. Being a keen
hunter his original plan was to go on an expedition in
deepest Africa, but fate intervened and he was
sidetracked to Czechoslovakia.
"At first I was scared about coming to a communist
country, but soon found the people very nice and
hospitable," he said.
So taken was he with the Slovaks that he eventually
married one, and off they went to start their married
life in Germany. But after a couple of years in his
homeland they decided to return to Slovakia, bringing
with them the Neuhaus collection of rare artefacts.
They set up home under the Tatras and two years ago,
in keeping with his wife's family background, they
bought the Café Soleil.
"I come from a gastronomic family," Božena Neuhausová
explained. "My grandpa built a tavern and pension in
Štrba during World War II that was the first of its
kind in the region. Even though I studied languages, I
have always been inclined towards gastronomy. But the
café was built and furnished by my husband, it's all
his work."
And her spouse is extremely proud of his collection of
rare oddities. "Each article has its own unique value.
It's hard to tell which one is the most precious," he
said, adding that one item in particular generates the
most curiosity among his customers - his cosmic rock.
The 100-kilogram meteorite, almost half a metre in
diameter, was found in the Westerwald region of
Germany in 1930.
"When my family were working in their fields they
ploughed up this weird stone. At first glance it was
immediately different than other stones," recounted
Neuhaus. "They analysed it at the Justus Liebig
University in Gießen and proved that it really was a
rock from outer space. It's a mixture of various
metals, that's why it is so heavy. And it is black
because it got burned when entering the earth's
atmosphere."
The meteorite happens to be allegedly invested with
other metaphysical properties - luck.
"We get locals and foreigners who come here, and they
all want to touch the meteorite for luck. We also
touched it, and everything worked out well,"
proclaimed the happy couple.
Elsewhere in the café his other numerous earthly
objects attract much attention, ranging from a
pre-historical carving tool to an early radio.
Alongside ancient Celtic receptacles there is a 19th
century tin cup with a glass base through which
mariners used to spy on their mistresses. A measuring
decanter from the Austro-Hungarian period looks
decidedly out of place next to a set of slave's
manacles.
Patrons can also donate their own possessions to the
café providing they meet with the proprietors'
approval. "It has to be interesting, curious and old.
I have newer things too, but these are not attractive
because they lack any story or history," Neuhaus said
with the air of a museum custodian.
Michaela Brezinová is a journralist with the Tatranský
Korzár daily.
[9/27/2004]
Received on Thu 30 Sep 2004 08:29:00 PM PDT


Help support this free mailing list:



StumbleUpon
del.icio.us
reddit
Yahoo MyWeb