German Halloween Activity 2
German Halloween Tombstone Project
Halloween in Germany > Halloween Glossary > Activities
Aktivitäten/Aktivities - Games
• Halloween Graveyard Tour
• Halloween Tombstone Project (below)
• German Halloween Songs
Halloween Tombstone Project
While our virtual graveyard tour concentrated on the final resting place of some famous Germans, Austrians, and German Swiss, this tombstone activity focuses more on the people. Don't worry! We'll help you with some advice and some Web tools.
Your task is to select a person and learn more about a famous or not-so-famous Germanic person. You'll spend some time doing research on the person you have chosen, and you'll also learn a bit about the cemetery (Friedhof) where the person is buried.
This Halloween Tombstone project will introduce you to a famous German-speaking person and his or her accomplishments. Because this is a "tombstone" project, you must select a person who is no longer living.
The Activity
Printable version of this activity
Introduction - Unlike the similar graveyard activity, this project concentrates less on the cemeteries and more on the famous people who have found their final resting place (die letzte Ruhe). Here are the steps required for Activity 2:
1. Select a famous person who was born in German-speaking Europe but is no longer alive. Use the Web and other resources to do this.
2. Find a photo (or make a copy of a photo) of the person you are researching. Don't forget to give proper photo credits!
3. Make a tombstone that is about 12 inches tall. Extra credit is given for a cool three-dimensional tombstone that stands up on its own. Use cardboard, plastic foam, or other materials.
4. The following information should be on the face of your tombstone: (a) person's full name, (b) date and location of birth and death, (c) burial place (not always where the person died!), (d) either a real epitaph or one you make up for that person (keep it short). See our resource links for help.
5. On a typed or computer printed standard sheet of paper, write out at least six complete sentences in German with the following information: (a) dates of birth and death, (b) place of birth and death, (c) occupation and/or achievements, and (d) a quotation by the person or a comment about the person.
6. On a 3x5 card, write out two questions (and answers) in German about your person. (If you are doing this as a classroom activity, please put your name on the back of the card. Be prepared to read your question out loud.)
NOTE: The person must have been born in Austria, Germany, German Switzerland, or any other German-speaking country.
TEACHER TIPS: Teachers may wish to make the presentation of this project a fun, spooky event in a darkened classroom with eerie music, flashlights (brought by students), electrically lighted pumpkins, and other Halloween/graveyard decorations. Tombstones must be turned in no later than the day prior to presentations. They can be arranged to form a "graveyard" the students can walk through during their presentations.
How do you find these people? You can start with our list of resources and Web search engines (don't forget Google.de!), but you also should use your school or local library for reference materials in print (encyclopedias, periodicals, etc.) and other media resources (CD-ROM, microfiche, etc.). If you are doing this as a classroom project, ask your teacher for advice.
MORE > Graveyard Tour Project (Activity 1)
MORE > Halloween in Germany
Related Pages
Famous Austrians, Germans, German-Swiss
A list of the famous and less-famous to give you some choices for your search. Also see German-Americans.
German and Other Inventors/Discoverers
A list of many inventors and discoverers. Who invented the track shoe or the first programmable digital computer?
Graveyard Glossary
A special German-English dictionary of terms you may find in your graveyard search.
More Customs and Traditions
A month-by-month guide to German celebrations.
More Glossaries
English-German glossaries on a variety of topics, from your Guide.
Wort des Tages
What's today's German word of the day? From your Guide.
NEXT > November (Martinstag, Thanksgiving)
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