As an elementary school lad, one of the songs we sang when the music teacher paid our classroom a visit was: Ist Das Nicht Ein Schnitzelbank?" The lyrics:
"Ist das nicht ein schnitzelbank?
Ja! Das ist ein schnitzelbank!"
Translation:
"Is this not a schnitzelbank?
"Yes, this is a schnitzelbank!"
One burning question had haunted me all these years: WHAT THE FUCK IS A SCHNITZELBANK?? The only thing I knew about concerning schnitzel was Weiner Schnitzel, basically breaded fried veal. Since I knew a bank was something you put valuables in, I thought it might have been a refrigerator or a freezer. You know: "Schatzi, I'm home! Vere ist mein schnitzel?" "You ist late, Hans. I put it in der schnitzelbank. Heat it up!" Thing is, what if she had made knockwurst. Was there a separate "Knockwurstbank"? Or did they just shove everything in the schnitzelbank?
Well, thank heavens somebody posted the meaning on Wikipedia. In German, a "Schnitzelbank" is a woodworking bench. "Bank" being German for "Bench" and "Schnitzel" being German for "chip" or "Shavings" (Weiner Schnitzel being pounded very thin explains the name for that dish.)
Finally. After 53 years I know what a schnitzelbank is. Why didn't they tell us when we were being taught the damn song?
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