I never had trouble pronouncing the word...and didn't know there was a discrepancy over the pronunciation...but I lived in FRG (West Germany) years ago. I lived in Vogelweh (pronounced fo-gel-vay...long "o" sound...hard "g" as in "gelding"...not hair "gel"...and long "a" as in "say")...and I heard the language spoken a lot.
How funny, though, to see expressions when you tell people your gorgeous looks-like-a-dog is a (dam building) "beaver"...
