Strasbourg

This year's Museumsreise was a successful excursion to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, followed by a visit to Nancy, the capital of Lorraine. 

Special thanks go to Prof. Ronald Asch and Dr. Karl Schäfer for the well-prepared program.

Our group arrived at the Rotunda of the European Parliament, and before Red Baron could take a photo, they were off to the discussion with Engin Eroglu, an MEP* of the Freie Wähler party associated with the Renew Europe Group. Eroglu is a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament.

*Member of the European Parliament   

MEP Eroglu answered our questions at length

In the field of trade and foreign policy, Engin Eroglu was nominated as one of the 5 most influential members of the European Parliament in the Influence Index 2021.

Blue-eyed Red Baron took a "forbidden" photo of the debate
and was gently reprimanded by a charming female guard

We were then escorted into the plenary chamber, where 720 Members of the European Parliament discussed Urgent measures to strengthen competitiveness and secure high-quality jobs in the EU’s automotive sector. 

This is an issue that particularly concerns Germany’s declining car industry. Each MEP was limited to one minute of speaking time. Note the countdown on the screen, turning from green to red after 60 seconds.

The subject of the debate was of rather secondary importance. The crowning achievement of any parliament is the passage of the budget.

         

On our way out, we crossed the impressive inner courtyard once more.

A view back at the parliament building through transparent walls.

Some of the group had lunch on their way downtown, with the cathedral's spire guiding the way. Time was short. 

For more, here is a link to a trip to Strasbourg in 2023, especially devoted to the Minster church. Therefore, I present only two impressive photos in this blog.

 

The world-famous rose window on the rear facade and a modern depiction of Mary, the cathedral’s patron saint, in the apse.

          

There were two observations on our way back to the bus.

The Italian tagliatelle become French tagliatélles, and the German Knackwurst becomes Alsatian knak. All is served à la crème for just 10.90 euros. Enjoy your meal!!

La gloire de France hangs over Rue d'Austerlitz.

Stay tuned for a more extensive blog about Nancy.

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Can One Serve Two Masters?

Professor Bernhard Uhde delivered his lecture, “Kann man zwei Herren dienen? Can One Serve Two Masters?” - subtitled “Zum Verhältnis von Religion und Demokratie (On the Relationship Between Religion and Democracy)“ — as the keynote address during the 175th Stiftungsfest (foundation celebration) of the Freiburg Fraternity Teutonia.

Their house is located on the lot next to my apartment building, and so it is customary for Teutonia to invite its neighbors to its annual Stiftungsfest.

Despite the summer heat, Lecture Hall 1021 at the university was packed, as Professor Uhde has a reputation for delivering lectures that, while scientifically precise, are easy to understand and, spiced with Bavarian humor, are entertaining.

Bernhard Uhde embodies human warmth and, in doing so, paves the way for peaceful dialogue between people of different religious orientations. He is committed to making religious diversity understandable, fostering mutual respect, and, in the process, keeping traditions visible within the context.

The photo of Professor Uhde was taken during a lecture last year. In Freiburg, too, he delivered his talk while seated, due, as he explained, to a discomfort in his left Haxen (calf). And in Freiburg, as well, he did not begin his lecture without three preliminary remarks - which eventually turned into four.

 
The title of the lecture is a passage from the Sermon on the Mount and can be found in the Gospel according to  Matthew 6:24:

“No one can serve two masters: Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon.”

Democracy is a product of the Enlightenment. It allows people to live together rationally, for it is self-evident that all men are created equal. Thus, all people are equal before God as well - though not within church institutions, since they are not democratic.

The statement in the American Declaration of Independence is generally understood to mean that all people are equal in dignity and entitled to equal rights.

Thus, people live freely within a state, but they are also free in relation to religion, because they can freely choose to believe in God.

However, human beings cannot be loyal to two things at once if they contradict each other. They cannot make both God and another higher authority (power, money, ideology, or their own ego) the supreme standard in equal measure, for then they would find themselves in an internal conflict. Ultimately, the question of the supreme guiding principle in life remains.

Finaly, according to Prof. Uhde, the saying “No one can serve two masters” takes a surprising turn, for religion and democracy are not two masters at all, since they do not claim the same thing.

- Democracy is based on the sovereignty of the people, majority decisions, and the openness of political processes.

- Religion is grounded in the struggle against transience. It claims to provide guidance based on an ultimate truth.

The two compete with one another only when either religion seeks to seize political power or when democracy elevates itself to the status of an ideological doctrine of salvation.

Prof. Uhde cited Islam as a “modern” example. Where fundamentalist Islam exists, democracy does not.

Abul A’la Maududi held the view that sovereignty belongs to God alone. Therefore, the people cannot create laws at their own discretion. In a “theo-democracy,” democratic procedures are permissible only within the limits of Sharia law.

Ruhollah Khomeini declared that God’s laws must not be replaced by majority decisions, and thus Iran’s political system is based on this principle.

Representatives of the Taliban have repeatedly stated that democracy is a Western system and incompatible with Islam. Instead, they advocate for an Islamic emirate.

Ideological writings by al-Qaeda and the Islamic State also condemn democracy and call for a theocracy.

Prof. Uhde concluded: For a free person, religion and democracy are not contradictory but complementary, because

- Religion seeks to answer questions about ultimate meaning, truth, and ethical guidance for humanity.

- Democracy is the sometimes difficult endeavor to enable people with different views to live together peacefully and to make political decisions.

Thank you, Professor Uhde, for your "enlightening" lecture.
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We're Having a Heat Dome

(©ZDF)

While in Europe in June 2019, we were suffering from a tropical heatwave; we are now smoldering under a tropical heat dome over Europe that has only slowly moved over the last five days.

When Ella sang "Gee her anatomy, made the mercury, jump to ninety three. Yes, sir!" today, the mercury didn't jump to 93 °F (34 °C), but at 6:18 PM it climbed to 36.9 °C (98.4 °F) on my shadowed terrace.

 
The temperature in my living room is 28.9 °C, which is tolerable because the relative humidity is only 50%. Despite the windows being closed, the CO₂ level remains within the green range due to the apartment's large volume.

When I wake up these days at 4 AM, I open the windows at opposite ends of my apartment wide to make a Durchzug (draught). This Querlüften (cross ventilation) improves air exchange.

At 7 AM, it's time to close the windows again because the outside temperature is approaching 30 °C.

©WP

On June 24, the heat dome lingered over France ...

©WP

 ... slowly sneaking into Central Europe and the British Isles by June 27.

©CNN

Temperature records were broken all over Europe

Charming weatherwoman Claire in "2050" (©WP)

In 2014, extrapolating from past data, Météo France predicted a hypothetical heat wave in August 2050. 

A shock. The hypothetical scenario happened 24 years earlier! (©WP)

There are still people who deny climate change and dismiss more frequent, longer heat waves as mere weather anomalies. However, scientists are concerned about the accelerating rise in temperature.

©WP

©WP

©WP

©NYT

Is this year's abnormal El Niño reaching out to Europe?

Unfortunately, the caricature has melted (©Mario Lars)

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Pensionopolis

Last Thursday, Red Baron took part in a guided tour titled: "Von der Bürgerstadt zur Pensionpolis 1800-1914 (From the City of Citizens to a Town of Retired People, 1800–1914)."

None other than Professor Heinrich Schwendemann, the leading expert on Freiburg's urbanization, led a small group from the Haus zur Lieben Hand past the site of the former Katzentor along Wallstraße to the Schwabentor Bridge and back to Johanneskirche.

To begin his tour, Professor Schwendemann presented the Sickinger Plan from 1589.  

Don't forget to click to enlarge.

The map clearly shows Freiburg's old medieval core with the Neuburg suburb attached to the north (left).

To the south (right), toward the Dreisam River, artisans had settled in the Schneckenvorstadt district around an industrial canal that still exists today; they used both water power (for gem cutting) and the water itself, as did the fishers and the tanners. 

Today's names, Fischerau and Gerberau (tanners' meadow), still serve as a reminder, while the tourism industry markets the industrial canal as "Little Venice."

Freiburg had also expanded westward (bottom). The district was named "Lehener" after the nearby village of Lehen, or Predigervorstadt (Preachers' Suburb), after the Dominican monastery built inside and along the medieval city wall.

After the siege and capture of Freiburg by François de Créqui, Freiburg became, along with Breisach, a jewel in the crown of the French king in 1677. Louis XIV wanted to complete the ring of fortresses protecting France and therefore ordered his military engineer, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, to transform the city into a modern fortress.

A cut from Grundtriß der Statt und Vöstung Freyburg in Preysgau around 1998

To ensure a clear line of fire, Vauban had the Neuburg and the Predigervorstadt demolished, but incorporated the Schneckenvorstadt into his fortress.

Vauban's masterpiece in 1715

Under the Treaty of Rijswijk in 1697, Louis was forced to return the fortress of Breisach and the city of Freiburg to Austria.

The French occupied Freiburg in 1638, 1677, 1713, and 1744 - that is, a total of four times.

Freiburg in 1825

When the French left the city "definitively" in early 1745, they thoroughly demolished the fortifications.

View along Kaiserstraße from the Bertoldsbrunnen to the Martinstor

Freiburg kept its medieval look and scarcely expanded beyond the former fortification belt; instead, the open spaces were used for wine cultivation.

Demolished in 1842

Our group wandered along Vauban's fortification on Wallstraße (Wall Street!) and passed the corner of what is now Kaiser-Josef-Straße, where the Katzenturm once stood. It was demolished in 1842 to make way for the extension of the then-Kaiserstraße between Martinstor and the Dreisam River.

Lerchplan of 1852

A few years later: New buildings along the southern section of Kaiserstraße

The southern section of Kaiserstraße, laid out as a tree-lined avenue around 1870, formed a magnificent entrance to Freiburg through the medieval Martinstor. The stately buildings were mostly official residences for civil servants sent from Karlsruhe to Freiburg. After the Breisgau region became part of the Grand Duchy of Baden, Freiburg became an administrative center. 

Freiburg before 1900

There was no industry in Freiburg, so the city sought financial resources by promoting tourism.

Freiburg in Baden

200 m above sea level with an average temperature of 10.87 °C.
Interesting medieval buildings.
Excellent theater and superb concerts. 

 A university town with a garrison, situated in an incomparably beautiful location on the Schlossberg, offering a famous view of the city and the surrounding area. Surrounded by magnificent forests and high mountains (Schauinsland 1285 m, Feldberg 1495 m). 

 Starting point of the Höllenthal Railway.

Magnificent 13th-century cathedral with the most beautiful Gothic tower. Located on the Gotthard Route, with excellent inns and guesthouses and the most modern social and sanitary facilities, Freiburg im Breisgau is ideal as a stopover on the way to and from Switzerland and Italy, as well as for longer stays.

 
English Church.
Protestant Church

Heavy streetcar traffic between Bertoldsbrunnen and Martinstor

Enter Otto Winterer, Freiburg's second founding father. During his 25 years as Mayor, he embellished the cityscape with a heavy dose of historicism, evoking a medieval atmosphere and capturing the spirit of the times. Since 1901, Freiburg has operated an electric streetcar.

Winterer's grand entrance to Freiburg via the new Kaiserbrücke,
taking the streetcar through the raised Martinstor

According to Winterer's maxime - "a village has roofs; a city has towers" - he had Martinstor and Schwabentor crowned with tall spires.

During the Winterer era, the Freiburg climate was more pleasant than the cold, damp weather on the northern German coast. Wealthy retired people took the train from Hamburg to Freiburg to spend their retirement in the Breisgau metropolis. The city soon earned the nickname "Pan-German Pensionopolis." "Rennars (retired people)" soon make up 20% of households. 

Prof. Schwendemann closed his guided tour with a visit to Johanniskirche*. Red Baron pulled away. It was too hot. Thank you, Heirich, for your inspiring tour.

*In 2024, I dedicated a special blog to the Catholic church built at the end of the 19th century on the other bank of the Dreisam. 

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12. Partnerschaftsmarkt

Red Baron attended the opening ceremony of the 12th Partnerschaftsmarkt on June 12 at the Platz der Alten Synagoge as an observer. At earlier editions, I was active at the joint booth of the Freiburg-Madison-Gesellschaft and the Carl-Schurz-Haus; this year, I passed the torch to younger generations after turning 91 three days earlier.

The weather was cold and rainy. Before Freiburg's Mayor Martin Horn welcomed dignitaries and guests on stage, the Big Band of the Deutsch-Französisches Gymnasium (German-French High School) set the tone. 

Patrick Seeger of the City of Freiburg took the "official" group photo showing the dignitaries who traveled to this year's Partnerschaftsmarkt. While on stage, they gave speeches of varying lengths on the history and the promising future of their partnerships.

Martin is the odd one surrounded by concentrated women's power (©Stadt Freiburg)

From left: Satya Rhodes-Conway, Mayor of Madison (USA), Jane Tyson, Mayor of Guildford (UK), Freiburg Mayor Martin Horn, Elisa Campoy Soler (City Councilor, Granada, Spain), and Emmanuelle Meunier (Deputy Mayor for International Relations, Besançon, France).

While waiting for the opening ceremony, Dick told Uwe and Helmut about warmer Partnerschaftsmärkte in the past. Indeed, Dick is documented in the 9th, 10th, and 11th editions. This man is indestructible.

Eventually, Mayor Martin Horn took the stage and opened the 12th Partnerschaftsmarkt in the presence of several representatives* from Freiburg's sister cities, who, despite the cold, rainy weather, were in good spirits.
*As for their names, consult the official group photo above.

 

Sheltered under an umbrella, visitors to the opening ceremony listened to the speeches, with Marathon Man (Who else?) Dick standing in the front row.

 

A veritable storm broke loose when Madison's Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway began to unfold her notes. She was firm in her statements. Even a nasty meteorological event cannot blow the friendship between Madison and Freiburg.

In the end, Martin Horn bid farewell to charming Ariane Hötzer. During the city's meetings with representatives from Freiburg's Partnerschaftsvereinen, Red Baron witnessed her expertise and competence in planning these Partnerschaftsmärkte. Goodbye, Ariane, and all the best for your well-deserved retirement.

©EF

The following Saturday, the Partnerschaftsmarkt was bathed in sunlight. Visitors' faces couldn't have been more radiant as they watched the folkloric performances from the various sister cities on stage.

©EF

FMG's Vice President, Frauke Feix, and newly elected President, Eberhard Fugmann, embrace Anke Wiedemann, Head of the International Affairs Team in Mayor Martin Horn's Office, at the Freiburg-Madison booth.

©EF

As in the past, the FMG relied heavily on assistance from students of the Academic Year in Freiburg. Visitors at our booth were greeted with a burst of charm. Thank you, students, for your valuable help.

©EF

And here comes the future. Eberhard's high school students are ready to take the American education challenge and become future FMG members.

For Sunday, Eberhard organized a trip for our visitors from Madison to Freiburg's local mountain, the Schauinsland.

Bringe mich hoch (Take me up high)(©VAG)

Breathtaking view of Freiburg and the Vosges mountains across the Rhine River in neighboring France

Before our group began the uphill walk to the Schauinsland lookout tower, Satya and Eberhard thanked everyone who had contributed to the success of this year's Partnerschaftsmarkt, while Anke carried the youngest participant.

Apotheose and obligation: the group photo (©FS)

©CJ

To wrap up the delegation's visit from Madison, the city of Freiburg invited our guests from overseas to dinner at the beer garden of the Kybfelsen restaurant.

©EF

After those exciting but also exhausting days, a bit of fatigue began to set in.

©EF

In the end, happy faces following another successful Partnerschaftsmarkt: Professor Charles James, president of the Madison Sister City Committee, Frauke, and Eberhard smile into the lens of a smartphone.

Charles sent me a couple of photos of the other activities the delegation from Madison went through during their official visit. Their coverage is not the subject of this blog, but one of Charles's photos caught my attention. 

©CJ

It shows Satya and Martin at the Mundenhof, Freiburg's "zoo", in front of the Bison enclosure. In 2018, the city took the representatives of the Partnerschaftsvereine on a walk to the Mundenhof and to the bison living there on a mini prairie.

Proudly, Satya presents the Mundenhof certificate of sponsorship by the City of Madison, Wisconsin, USA, for the Norton American Prairie Bison, while Martin holds firm to a fluffy bison, possibly thinking of his children.

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