Stefan w hell biography for kids

I was born on 23 December in Arad, a medium-sized, ethnically diverse city in the western part of Romania, directly on the border to Hungary.

Stefan w hell biography for kids

In those days, Hungarian, Romanian, and German were the languages that could be heard on the street in a frequent mix, and most locals — including simple folk — spoke two or three of these languages fluently. Ethnic conflicts were unknown, because until the area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and linguistic and religious diversity was the normal state of affairs.

And after all, it was fun to join in celebrating the holidays of the others. My parents originated from a place a few kilometres further north, where they spoke mostly German, or more precisely, a dialect spoken in south-west Germany in the 18th century.

This is where I spent most of my childhood.