Germany National Anthem

Soccer's World Cup fever hits the New Orleans area

An exception can be made, though, at an Irish pub when there's a big soccer match set to begin.

Such was the case last week when the U.S. women's national team beat France, 3-1, in the semifinals to advance to today's World Cup final in Frankfurt, Germany.

When the U.S. team takes on Japan today at 1:45 p.m., Americans -- including many who don't realize soccer balls no longer are covered with black and white pentagons -- will be watching.

In south Louisiana, quite a few sports fans are leaving the black and gold in the closet -- OK, maybe just for a day -- to don the red, white and blue while cheering on Abby Wambach, Hope Solo and their teammates seeking the U.S. team's first title since 1999.

The excitement kicked into a fever pitch last weekend when the American women capped off one of the greatest comebacks in soccer history. Trailing Brazil by a goal in extra time, Wambach headed a ball into the back of the net to tie the score. The amazing finish was culminated with a U.S. victory in the tie-breaking penalty-kick session.

ESPN reported that its showing of Wednesday's semifinal game was the most-watched soccer match ever for a weekday on its network, and it had the fourth-highest rating for any Women's World Cup match.

The team has captured the interest of not only seasoned soccer fans, but also young players and others who normally don't follow the sport. With the stress of a difficult national economy, some Americans are looking for a feel-good story to latch onto, and the team's success may be just the tonic needed to elevate the country's mood.

"There are a good bit of newbies, for sure. People have come to me and told me this is the first time that they've gotten into soccer," said Stephen Peterson, manager of Finn McCool's Irish Pub in Mid-City, a place where many soccer enthusiasts hang out. "If you're watching at home, you don't get the atmosphere. When you're watching in the pub with everyone else. It's almost like being at the game itself."

Across the New Orleans area, there is a hope among club and high school soccer coaches that Solo, Wambach and other members of the U.S. women's team who have become the darlings of the sports world will generate more interest in playing the sport. The more exposure and the better Americans fare, so the thinking goes, the more youngsters will want to become involved.

"From the coaches I have talked to, kids seem to be watching and paying attention, especially girls," said Jim Barrouquere, the new girls soccer coach at Hahnville High School. Barrouquere spent the previous 13 years coaching at Mount Carmel, Dominican and Archbishop Chapelle high schools.

The Last Crown Prince's Funeral : GERMAN WORLD MAGAZINE

Through all the hardships, being stateless at some point, pursued by National Socialist Germany, irking Hitler by refusing to meet him and who ordered that former crown prince should be shot on sight, he followed Roosevelt’s invitation and spent the war years in the United Staates and even without his throne, he was an emperor at heart, always fighting for the unification and against extremism.

He died July 4th at the age of 98 surrounded by his family. He started his life as Crown Prince of the multinational Austro-Hungarian Empire, fought actively against National Socialist Germany, even if Adolf Hitler made intense efforts to gain the prized approval of the Habsburg and ended it as the Father of the multinational European Parliament. His body will be laid to rest in the Habsburg Crypt – Kapuziner Gruft in Vienna’s center. In Habsburg tradition is heart will be laid to rest separately. In Hungary’s Pannonhalma Abbey.

The new head of the Habsburg household and sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece is his son Karl. The Order of the Golden Fleece was founded in 1430, there exist two branches the Spanish one with Juan Carlos I of Spain as its Sovereign and the Austrian one. Karl is married Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, an art collector TBA21.org and the only daughter of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, a European industrialist and wellknown art collector, Madrid’s Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza . The have three children Eleonore, Gloria and Ferdinand.

The fourteen year old Ferdinand, named after the crown prince who’s assassination in 1914 started World War I, read a part of the bible.

An American Historian John W. Boyer weighs in – Habsburg a godsent to the tourism industry and a comprehensive Economist article.

At the end of the service the royal anthem: “Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze unseren Kaiser unser Land” was played, the famous Haydn piece is now the German National Anthem.

Music and German national identity

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Word and music studies defining the field, proceedings of the First International Conference on Word and Music Studies at Graz, 1997