Welcome to Das Journal, a German-language publication created to serve the German-speaking communities of Canadians of Austrian, German and Swiss descent.

Continuing on the great tradition of the printed word that originated in Germany and spread across the world, Das Journal is a bi-weekly print publication meant to inform and enlighten by bringing to our readers articles and news that are relevant to their lives.
However, it is also meant to be much more and our goal is to have it become a communal experience through which all German-speakers and those who share a passion for the Germanic traditions can refresh their minds, dive into their language and share in their culture.

“When you lose a language and [it] goes extinct,
it‘s like dropping a bomb on the Louvre.”
Michael Krauss
A people’s language is its principal form of culture. Benjamin Lee Whorf, a noted American linguist, once remarked that it is language that “shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about”.
This same principle echoes in the words of well know German entrepreneur, Karl Albrecht, who famously affirmed: “Change your language and you change your thoughts”.

As someone whose mother tongue is not one of the official languages of Canada, I’m keenly aware of how much the idiom that we use to express ourselves can influence our views of the world and our thought process.

I’ve seen and felt it first hand since uttering my first words in Portuguese – my mother tongue – then later learning to speak English, French and from there developing a keen personal interest in languages that led me to seek instruction in Spanish, Italian, Japanese and, dare I say it, a little German.

These studies greatly expanded my horizons and made me aware of the world, as viewed through different cultures.

We’re privileged to live in the most multicultural nation in the world, but we should never loose sight of the importance of maintaining our unique culture within this richly diverse country.

Language is the most powerful tool through which we can ensure the survival of a culture. Lance Twitchell, a native Tingit from northern Canada once commented that, without the language, “you will never get the culture” and “it will never really be carried on unless the language is carried on. It will just be like a shell of what once was”.

Das Journal joins the ranks of our publications Sol, Goal and Voice, as the latest arrival in a healthy family of well established third-language oriented newspapers to serve the hard working German-speaking communities that helped build this country.

By providing a vehicle for the expression of thought in German, we hope that Das Journal fills a void and galvanize the geographically dispersed Germanic peoples throughout Canada to continue to preserve their language, promote their businesses and maintain their ties to the culture, enhancing their visibility.

In order to do that, we draw upon a staff of experienced professionals of which our Creative Director and Editor, Mark Liechti, will be the most prominent figure, along with our well known Marketing and Sales Manager, Juergen Fuerst. Das Journal is being made primarily by German-speakers for German-speakers or those with an interest in the culture and the language and who wish to further their knowledge and understanding of it.

We hope that you will continue to honour us by reading it, subscribing to it and passing it onto your friends and relatives to spread the word, as it is meant to be – giving it new life and bringing a new impetus to the preservation of German culture through its key element: language.

In an increasingly multicultural world – and in the nation that best symbolizes it – our hope is that Das Journal will grow to become a key defender of the German language and, by association, of the Germanic culture.

In closing, I would like to leave you with one final thought: Our language is, quite literally, food for thought and medicine for the brain.

Happy and healthy reading!

Vasco M. C. Evaristo, Hon. B.A., LL.B.
Publisher