A Decisive Date

August 1 will be the target date for Dominique Strauss-Kahn because the outcome of the scheduled court hearing will be decisive for him.

It is also a crucial date until the American government must find a solution for the increase of the ceiling on the national debt as, otherwise, the US won’t be able to meet its financial obligations. This may result in an uncontrolled chain reaction causing more havoc to the world banking system and economy than the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.

Finally, it is also the date when the Wagenburglers must have emptied the occupied lot at the entrance to the Vauban quarter. They had announced a demonstration in Freiburg’s city center for July 23, protesting their eviction.

The photo below shows the peaceful demonstrators and anti-riot police near the Bertoldsbrunnen. There are estimations that the state of Baden-Württemberg had mobilized a police force of 250 men and women, whereas there were only 200 demonstrators. Obviously, the police had feared the participation of many professional rioters from outside. They did not show up, however. Was it because the weather was cold and rainy, or was the issue not worth a trip to Freiburg?

The Wagenburglers have still not counted their cause for lost. They call for participation at an Anti-Eviction Festival for the coming weekend. Will this stay as peaceful as the demonstration last Saturday?

*

Göthe

When Dante Alighieri is Italy's and William Shakespeare, England's national poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is recognized as such in my country. He was not only a poet but one of the last universally educated geniuses of the German tongue. 

There is not one place in Germany without a street or square named after him. In Freiburg, many regard Goethestraße as the most beautiful alley in town, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. Beautifully decorated houses built in a variety of historical styles line the street.

 This is not true for Munich's Goethestraße, which runs off the central train station, where red light premises compete with cheap electronic stores. It was there where it happened. Road construction work around the station called for a detour signaled by panels showing Göthestraße instead of Goethestraße, which was an obvious mistake. A mistake? Hey, not so fast.

Our national poet was born in Frankfurt on 28 August 1749 as the son of Johann Caspar Göthe. As a young man, Johann Wolfgang changed his name to Goethe, in his father's eyes, a misdeed; he never pardoned his son. 

The reason for Goethe's change has yet to be discovered. As a young man, did he already think of his international renown? Mind you, umlauts are rarely found in other languages if it is not for the Turks or Hungarians. By the way, the Turks are called Törökök in Hungarian. Those Hungarians not only overdo it concerning the frequency of their "ös." In addition to the short "ö" carrying two dots, they also know the long "ő" taking two strokes.

The American keyboards I used during work and later on the Internet forced me to change my name from Höfert to Hoefert. 

Working in the UK, my brother was so annoyed with the umlaut that he dropped the "tüttels" altogether. Maybe he did the right thing because when changing from "ö" to "oe," I suffered from my Dutch colleagues' pronunciation of my name. In their language, the "oe" stands for the phoneme "u." 

Did Goethe consider this fact when he changed from "ö" to "oe"? Did he want the Dutch to call him de oude Goede, i.e., the old Good one?

*

Uta of Naumburg

Two sculptures in two German cathedrals are regarded as being very Teutonic: the Bamberg Horseman and Uta of Naumburg. In my reader, in primary school, their two pictures were shown together and described as the epitome of the German man and the German woman.

After the war, Bamberg was situated in the West, whereas Naumburg was in the East. The two pieces of sculpture were separated and became one of the many reminders that Germans were divided politically but not in their hearts.

With Germany's reunification in 1990, the Rider and Uta have united again. I last visited Uta, regarded as one of the most important works of German Gothic art, in 2003. On that occasion, I read a text written in 1928 by Gertrud Bäumer, a well-known German feminist and not considered to display an excessive Germanness: Uta derives from a relationship with the German woods, with long brutal winters full of loneliness and horror in the dark, long waiting and longing, spring tempest over melting snow, hard and harsh but soaked with inner balminess. Don't worry; the German text is as incomprehensible as my English translation.

The other day I read in the German weekly Die Zeit about an exhibition called The Naumburg Master - Sculptor and Architect in the Europe of Cathedrals. The article showing Uta's picture was headed Très Deutsch, and indeed I expected the old story that this woman is very German. The French très should, however, have warned me, for the article revealed the crushing news that the creator of this German Gothic masterpiece possibly was French!

The whole story I found on the Naumburg Exhibition website: The sculptors and stonemasons associated with the name "Naumburg Master "had an outstanding reputation throughout medieval Europe. From the 1220s on, German masters trained in the sculpture workshops of the Northern French cathedrals situated in Île de France, Champagne, and Picardie. Their journey to Germany took them across the borders of the French kingdom via Mainz to Naumburg and Meissen. Their legacy is a body of work that is of outstanding quality and worldwide importance. The sculptures of the west rood screen in Mainz Cathedral, the relief depicting the sharing of St. Martin's coat in Bassenheim, the tomb slab of the Ritter von Hagen in Merseburg Cathedral, the statues in the choir and the octagon chapel of Meissen Cathedral and above all the unique west choir of Naumburg Cathedral with the Passion reliefs of the rood screen and the statues of the founders (Uta!) are impressive examples of the outstanding quality of workmanship from these medieval masters.

When looking at the Strasburg cathedral, Goethe once admired the Gothic style as native German, but he was severely mistaken. Gothic architecture was born in France; it splashed over the Rhine River and subsequently spread over Europe. In the beginning, German stonemasons educated in the Romanesque style tried to imitate the new French style. The result can still be seen when looking at Freiburg's Münster church. Not until they called in the masters from the other side of the Rhine did the construction of the windows get the lightness of style so admired at the Reims cathedral.

The stonemasons at Freiburg's Münster worked from right to left,
starting with heavy German Gothic for their windows.
When the French specialists took over,  the tracery in their windows became more refined.

That Gothic means France is emphasized in the continued text on the exhibition's website: During the first half of the 13th century, Reims cathedral, which hosted the coronation of many French kings, became increasingly the focus of German building work, until it was eclipsed, in the middle of the century, by architectural activities in generating the metropolis of Paris. The adoption of designs and sculptural ideas from France was certainly not only due to a general fascination with the French cathedral creation, which eclipsed all previous architecture, but also to the high esteem in which the sacrally distinguished French royalty was held.

So eventually, it's European. The Naumburg Exhibition, in fact, is under the joined patronage of our Chancellor and France's President.

©Wikipedia/Berthold Wener

What about the Bamberg Horseman? I am sure that next year some experts will come up with the story that the guy and his horse were sculptured by an Italian.

*

Wagenburglers

The name Vauban melts in the mouths of many of my friends in Madison. When they arrive in Freiburg these days on an ICE (LOL) from Frankfurt Airport soaked because the air conditioning on the train is broken* they cannot wait to visit the greenest quarter of our Green City. It is easy to get there. 

*This is the contribution of our Federal Railway to fight climatic change

Just walk south on the platform, avoid taking the escalator to the bridge's deck spanning the central station's track field - since you are already soaked anyway - but rather climb those 40 steps at a temperature of 30 degrees centigrade (86 Fahrenheit). Then mount a red (!), not green (!) marked streetcar named Vauban. It will take you to the entry of Vauban in just 15 minutes.

Stepping off streetcar number 3 at Paula-Modersohn-Platz.

When stepping off the streetcar at Paula-Modersohn-Platz, you may suffer a cultural shock: the gate to Vauban looks like a fort protecting a couple of wagons. This is the home of the Wagenburglers (people living in a wagon fort?). They live in their densely parked or instead packed camping cars and old buses on a lot that eventually will be covered with a multipurpose Green-Business-Center, including a hotel and shops. 

The construction plans date back a few years but often have changed with changing investors. When until May 2009, nothing happened, the empty lot started to attract people looking for a place suited to live their alternative lifestyles.

The Wagenburglers claim their right to a self-determined life
and oppose the Green Party's policy of expulsion

When the construction plans for the Green Business Center were finalized at the beginning of this year, it was clear that the Wagenburglers had to leave the place. A hectic search went on (and still is on) for a site where these people could move. 

The city immediately said that they had already set aside three lots carrying such poetic names as Eselwinkel (donkey's corner), Biohum (bio humus), and Schattenparker (shadow parker). These places, however, are already filled with fellow Wagenburglers. Private people who were asked for some land to lease wearily signaled their refusal.

Although Vauban remains green, the Wagenburglers are mocking the Christian Democrats and the Green Party, accusing them of a zero-tolerance for space to place their wagons.
Their mocking cumulates in the phrase: Gypsies back to Africa

The last deadline for the removal of Fort Wagon is July 31. So the pressure is building up at the Rathaus: They must leave and, if necessary, be forced by law countered by the Wagenburglers: We shall fight to stay. They have already announced a demonstration in the city center for July 23. It is to be feared that more actions will follow, particularly when the Wagenburglers will call in professional demonstrators from all over Germany who like nothing better than bashing the police.

Please stay tuned for any future development.

*

The Last Habsburg

When strolling through Freiburg this morning, I noticed a strange flag with a mourning band flying from a bookshop. When I came nearer, I recognized the Austrian Imperial banner and had my light bulb moment (mir ging ein Licht auf): The bookseller wanted to remind the passers-by that the last of the Habsburgs, Otto, grandchild of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, had passed away on the 4th of July at a biblical age of 99.

Polyglot Otto von Habsburg had lived through the last days of the Austrian Empire, survived the Nazi rule, had nearly become the president of Hungary, and was elected as a German (!) Deputy into the European parliament, where he fought against communism and for a strong united Europe.

My friend Jim took both photos,
particularly one of the shop windows displaying Otto von Habsburg's portrait.

Freiburg had been under Habsburg rule for 438 years when, in 1806, Napoleon ordered the Anschluss of the Breisgau to the Duchy of Baden. The Catholic population accustomed to the "mild" Austrian hand (Vienna was far away!) suddenly felt dominated by Protestant Badeners. It is reported that many a man wasn't ashamed of his tears.

One of the means of integrating the Breisgau into the Duchy was the creation of a reading society (Lesegesellschaft) to marry the Protestant North with the Catholic South as the poet Johann Georg Jacobi then wrote. In those days, the Lesegesellschaft, nowadays named Museumsgesellschaft, united the civil servants from Karlsruhe with the local intellectuals. It still exists and now is Freiburg's oldest civic society.

The Habsburg rule is still felt in Freiburg, with historical buildings sometimes showing the Austrian colors red-white-red, the Vienna cuisine, and the fine bakery.

*

National Holidays

That the US community in Freiburg celebrated their 4th of July holiday this year already on the 2nd certainly had to do with the fact that a sunny Saturday afternoon is better suited than an even brighter Monday. Nevertheless, a festivity being moved forward disturbs me somewhat, although it is customary in Germany to celebrate birthdays conveniently after the due date.

The ongoing "crazy hazy days of summer full of pretzels and beer" (Brezel und Bier) remind me that the past German national holidays never were sunny.

As you may recall, Germany became a rather late nation by creating the 2nd Reich in 1871 but with no national holiday. Eventually, on September 2, the Sedantag was accepted as the day of the decisive victory over Germany's Erbfeind France. 

However, the Freiburg people preferred February 18, when in 1871, the fortress of Belfort eventually surrendered to the German coalition army. Belfort is nearer to Freiburg than Sedan concerning distance and being closer to their hearts.

Philipp Scheidemann standing in a window of the Reichstag
 on November 9, 1918, proclaiming a German republic

When on November 9, 1918, Germany lost the First World War, Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed a German republic. This was a date many country fellows considered appropriate as the day on which Robert Blum, deputy of the Frankfurt National Assembly and a strong advocate of a German Republic, had died in front of a firing squad in Vienna in the aftermath of the 1848/49 revolutionary uprisings.

The Nazis, however, always regarded November 9 as the date of surrender and national shame. They attempted a Putsch in Munich on this same date in 1923 that broke down in the machinegun fire of troops loyal to the republic. However, when Hitler came to power in 1933, November 9 didn't change as a national holiday since it became the day of the martyrs who had died in Munich for the Nazi cause. 

It became a day of bad emotion and infamous in 1938 when in the so-called Reichskristallnacht - the night from November 8 to 9 - not only the windows of Jewish shops were smashed, but most of the synagogues were burned to the ground.

The war and the nightmare over, the Federal Republic of Germany, after defining the day of the passing of our constitution (Grundgesetz) as the new national holiday, spontaneously switched to June 17, 1953. 

On that date, a general strike in East Germany against the communist regime - they hadn't been as lucky as we in the West with a teacher telling us how a federal state should work - was brutally crushed in the fire of Russian tanks. For years West Germans used the June date as a day of recreation than commemoration, for it had the advantage of the summer season compared to November.

But November 9 remained the day of German fate when in 1989, after twenty-eight years of separation, the wall between the East and the West came down. Germany became unified again. In my and many other people's opinion, it would have been most appropriate to switch back to November 9, a date illustrating German history's highs and lows.

When on October 3, 1990, the first freely elected parliament of the GDR voted that East Germany shall adhere to the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kohl administration decided to make that date our national holiday. This was a wise, politically, and seasonally correct decision to give the importance that it deserves to the last democratic vote of the East German parliament. To the people, the date provides a chance to visit a chestnut-shaded beer garden during a day of the Golden October (Germany's Indian summer).

Wikipedia tells me the remaining country still celebrating November 9 as a national holiday is Cambodia, but in a much warmer climate than Europe.

*