Fever

Appoline Schöser lives in the French town of Angoulême and is an artist. She is active in diverse areas ranging from plastic arts to video arts. Appoline's creative talent can be witnessed in a video clip on Youtube featuring her contribution in the competition "concours sortir piano" in 2008. In the clip, she gives her own unconventional interpretation of Peggy Lee's song Fever of 1958.

La passion de l'électronique ancienne

Patrice Schöser of Sarreguemines at the French-German border has a passion for old consumer electronics. Recently retired, he uses his free time to collect and repair old transistor radios, tape recorders, record players etc.

*8 March 1952 in
Mulhouse/France

The collection of pictures on his website gives a good overview of the post-war history of consumer electronics. Should you still have an old radio somewhere in the attic, Patrice would be all too happy to come and get it.

What's in a name?

What is the meaning of Schoser? There is little doubt that Schoser is a German name. Both its spelling and its genealogical traces point to this. German family names often derive from professions. Examples are the family names 'Schlosser'/ 'Schlösser' (locksmith) and 'Schösser'.

JSB - vilifying Schosers? 

At the end of the middle ages, 'Schösser' designated a 'tax collector'. It was derived from the term 'Schoss' meaning direct tax. While the terms ' Schoss' and 'Schösser' are no longer used, the latter happens to have survived in a piece of classical music. Johann Sebastian Bach's Peasant Cantata blamed the 'Schösser' for making the lives of poor farmers even more miserable.

One hypothesis is that 'Schoser' is a variant of 'Schösser'. The latter anyway seems to exist in different variants, notably as 'Schöser', 'Schoeser' and 'Schößer'. Since the underlying term 'Schoss' does not have an umlaut the noun would not seem to require one either. (Just as 'Schloss' is the basis for both Schlosser and Schlösser.) On this assumption, Schoser would be equal to Schösser - and they would have been just as unpopular!

But all this is of course pure speculation...

On holiday at Schösers

While Schosers are not known to be in the tourism business, this is the case for Schösers. Haus Schöser and apartment house Schöser in Hippach im Zillertal, Tyrol, Austria look like the perfect holiday destination. As they are situated in the Alpine Zillertal valley, they are worth a stay both in summer for hiking or in winter for skiing. In total, Marianne Schöser rents out four apartments and some individual guest rooms. The option of a ‘lavish, extended’ breakfast may be included. More info at: http://www.apartment-schoeser.at/