Thursday, March 12, 2009

Purfle

To Purfle is to
pur⋅fle 
 /ˈpɜrfəl/
1.
to finish with an ornamental border.
2.
to decorate (a shrine or tabernacle) with architectural forms in miniature.
–noun
3.
Also called purfling. an ornamental border, as the inlaid border near the outer edge of the table and back of a stringed instrument.

I would rather not go back to Germany's war-like past, but the first culturally related item regarding "Purfling" is Germany's addition of an ornamental border in the form of the Sudatenland, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.

Germany invaded the Sudatenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia in order to add ornamentation around the borders of Germany. Germany began purfling further when it added Poland, sparking the ire of the rest of the world in 1939, bringing war upon the addition of what it considered it's lands. In early April, Germany began invading Denmark and Norway and began turning what was once ornamentation (Poland), into part of the cloth, interning thousands of Jews at Auschwitz. Germany then overran BeNeLux into France during mid-Summer. Those who believed the ornamentation should be left alone and de-purfled, fought back and overturned Germany at Normandy, then Paris, and Brussels.

Purfling is no longer in the German targets, it is now a patchwork of cloths with the European Union.

4 comments:

  1. Wow. I never really thought of purfling in that light, but you make an excellent point. Ornamentation and decoration don't have to be good things. Sometimes in purfling it can be possible to go too far....

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  2. And as Germany took on those countries, it took on treasures of all kinds to try and add to its purfling...treasures which, to this day, have never been found... Interesting connection and symbolism you've made here, Adam...

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  3. Wasn't this "purfling" of land directly contrary to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

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  4. Hey this is a great way to look at that word. I mean really!!!! In a very childish manner it reminded me of Risk. Anywho I wonder if Germans would consider their acquiring of lands as purfling....(is that how to change purfle into a verb??? ) lol

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