What’s in a name?

People have asked us over and over again what einmaleins means.

Good question. Here is the answer:

einmaleins means: one times one.

That’s the mathematical answer: one times one equals one.

But in German the word einmaleins is also used to describe the most basic rules; like the 101 or the ABC of… cooking, baking, decorating, fixing a car…

Makes sense?

Well, there is another reason too:

My friend Werner and I opened a bookstore in Germany many, many years ago and we called it ONE bookstore. Well the bookstore is still around and we wanted to honor it and play with the name. In Germany a store with an English name, over here in the US a store with a German name, but with the same meaning: ONE.

Or how Bono puts it:
We’re one, but not the same, we got to carry each other…

Being ONE as people and enjoying the beauty in simplicity, that’s the meaning and spirit of einmaleins and ONE.