Ich bin hindurch

Martin Luther said those words when he was through with the hearings by Johann von Ecken*, Dr. jur. utr., i.e., doctor of both secular and ecclesiastical laws at the Imperial Diet at Worms on April 18, 1517.
*Not to be confused with Johann Eck, Luther's other theological opponent

Red Baron got his first Pfizer/BioNTech jab on January 7 at 8:30 a.m. Exactly three weeks later* on January 28, at 8:30 a.m., he was invited to the second and decisive shot against Covid-19.
*German precision?

January 28 is a historical date for on this day in 1517, the above-mentioned Imperial diet began at Worms.

It is my Saint's day, i.e., instead Blessed Manfred's day.

The name Manfred means "man of peace." This is derived from the Alemannic "man" for man and "fridu"' (Frieden) for peace.

As far as the "blessing "is concerned, we read in the German Wikipedia (translated), "Manfredo Settala, Blessed Manfred of Riva or Beato Manfredo (born 12th century Milan; † January 28, 1217, in Riva San Vitale on Lake Lugano, according to other sources 1450) was a priest and hermit."

Finally, January 28 is a historic Covid-19 date for Germany. In 2020, a brief press release from the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care read, "A man from the district of Starnberg has been infected with the novel coronavirus," adding that he is "clinically in good condition" and "The risk for the population in Bavaria to become infected with the novel coronavirus" is "currently considered low."

©dpa

On January 27, 2020, the German patient zero was a 33-year-old employee of automotive supplier Webasto near Munich who had been infected during a business trip to China. Eventually, the virus spread from Wuhan's Chinese megacity's fish and wildlife market to Germany.


The Covid-19 chronology went as follows:

December 2019: The first infections became known in Wuhan, China.

January 5, 2020: The World Health Organization (WHO) emails the German Joint Federal and State Reporting and Situation Center warning of a "cluster of pneumonia" in Wuhan.

January 9: Experts identify a new coronavirus as the causative agent.

January 11: China's authorities report the first death and seven patients in critical condition.

January 14: The new coronavirus is detected abroad for the first time in Thailand.

January 20: Chinese experts report that the coronavirus is transmissible from person to person. There are now 200 confirmed infections and three deaths in China.

January 25: The coronavirus reaches Europe, with three cases reported in France.

January 26: Germany's Robert Koch Institute, the R.K.I., classifies the Chinese province of Hubei as a risk area. More than 43 million people in China will soon be largely isolated from the outside world. Evidence shows the virus has now reached the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Nepal, Singapore, Taiwan, and Australia.

January 27: When the first German case at Webasto is confirmed, the global death toll is already at 80, with 2,744 cases in China and about 50 more in the rest of the world.

February 11: The disease gets a name: WHO calls it Covid-19,

February 12: Germany's Health Minister Jens Spahn said it is "currently not yet foreseeable whether a regionally limited epidemic in China will develop into a worldwide pandemic or not."

March 11: The WHO officially declares a global pandemic.


How did my second vaccination go?

Today, more people than on January 7, queuing in a double line, counting both first and second jab customers.

More booths for vaccination were open, with people waiting for about five minutes.

Finally, I arrived at the Ausgang to enter the Ruhezone (rest area) for a stay of 15 minutes.

The Ruhezone was more occupied than three weeks ago. The gentleman in front of me is not Bernie with mittens but Bernhard mit Schirm auf dem Schoß.

While waiting, I took my usual (?) espresso. The patron of the kiosk was interviewed by the Badische Zeitung the other day, stating that most old gentlemen are looking for espressi following their jabs. Q.E.D. and Amen.

©Pfizer/BioNTech

As the above graphic suggests, I hope I am now protected against the coronavirus.

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Little Pipe

This is the English translation of the name of my favorite baker. He has several outlets in town and a stand at the Munster Market.

This bread is generally known as Wurzelbrot (root bread) - due to its outer appearance, i.e., contorted by the baker's hand like a root of a tree - that Pfeifle branded Freiburger Bengele (a rascal from Fribourg, Switzerland). Indeed, you buy the most original Wurzelbrot in Switzerland, although not only in Fribourg but also in Basel.

Pfeifle writes about the Wurzelbrot: "Our wheat bar bread with barley malt. Made according to a secret recipe with 'poolish' (soft wheat pre-dough) and 'Levain Naturel' (natural wheat sourdough). We spend plenty of time on the dough for full flavor and high digestibility. Formed by the baker's hand. Baked in a stone oven. Extra crispy on the outside. Silky soft inside. Unmistakable: the rustic taste. Simply to fall in love with," which I did.

The Oberlindenhörnle is a house specialty, with people coming from far buying them by the dozens to fill their freezers. The pastry is not formed like a "croissant" but is shaped individually. It is named after the Upper Linden Quarter, situated at the Schwabentor (Swabian Gate), where Pfeifle's original bakery is located.

Oberlinden is famous with my friends from Madison since Professor James Steakley shot the ultimate photo of the linden tree decorated for Christmas in 2010.

Here is a recent and sad Corona photo of the site.

Pfeifle describes the Oberlindenhörnle as follows: "A successful liaison of short pastry and puff pastry with fine marzipan. Baked with brand butter. Finished with delicate coconut flakes. Particularly finely chopped due to the elaborate touring of the dough-butter layers."

A Quarkballen is a Berliner (doughnut) made from yeast dough, adding white cheese and cinnamon, a pastry instead prepared during the Carnival season. The quark makes this fritter fluffier than the original Berliner.

You all know President Kennedy's struggle with the meaning of the word "Berliner." The people from Berlin call the spherical fritter made from yeast-dough Pfannkuchen, so pancake is the wrong translation. In Northern and Western Germany, the pastry is called Berliner Ballen or simply Berliner.

What do the Berliners call their pancakes? They call them Eierkuchen, translating to egg cakes.

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Maskgate

While Germany's somehow successful fight against the pandemic is praised by many countries, we still started it badly. I am talking about the wearing of face masks.

Although in Asiatic countries, face masks are standard and proven effective in preventing airborne infections, people wearing a mouth-nose-coverage in western countries were rarely seen at the beginning of 2020.

When the first wave of the pandemic swept through Europe, the Robert-Koch Institute (RKI) president, Lothar Wieler, said at the end of February on the subject of masks in everyday life, "There is no evidence whatsoever that this is helpful in any way."

On March 11, our Minister for Health, Jens Spahn, said that surgical mouthguards or medical masks provide "only manageable protection, to put it that way."

These statements by the federal government and the RKI on wearing face masks were not driven by facts: The aim was to prevent a run on masks so that the scarce commodity stayed reserved for those who needed it most urgently, the medical staff.

At that time, face masks were known to protect efficiently against aerosols contaminated with the Coronavirus. On March 22, a study in the medical journal, The Lancet stated, "Universal use of face masks should be considered. "This was not communicated: we, the people of Germany, we're screwed!

It was perfectly clear that wearing an Alltagsmaske (everyday mask, mostly homemade) could at least protect other people to a certain extent. Germany's Fauci, Christian Drosten, acknowledged this fact for the first time in his famous radio podcast on March 23, adding that FFP2 masks could even protect oneself from being infected by others.

Red Baron proudly wearing an Alltagsmaske on a streetcar on April 10.
This "elegant" everyday mask was produced by a Turkish tailor in my quarter.

Only at the beginning of April did the RKI change its strategy and recommend "everyday masks." On April 17, Saxony became the first German state to make masks mandatory with some success regarding the Coronavirus spread.

Above: Medical or surgical mask
Below: FFP2 mask certified in the European Economic Area (CE)

So by now, it is common knowledge that wearing appropriate masks reduces the risk of infection with Corona. Last Tuesday, in a video conference with all 16 state governors, our federal government took this into account. It imposed wearing medical or FFP2 masks in public places, i.e., public transport, hospitals, administrative buildings, and supermarkets. 

 
There were nine months between the beginning of April when the RKI came around to recommend masks. This leads to the crucial question: How can it be that Germany has not managed to provide the population with the cheapest, demonstrably effective means of containing the pandemic in more than nine months? How many lives could have been saved by wearing masks?

There is always at least one governor marching to a different drummer. Bavarian Markus Söder declared an obligation for an FFP2 mask in all public places where people cannot observe a sufficient distance.

Here is a defeatist remark by the president of the RKI, "FFP2 masks are masks used for medical, occupational safety. They have high efficiency if they're worn correctly and if the people who wear them are well educated about how to wear them."

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Vaccinated

On Sunday night, December 27, I read an article in the daily Badische Zeitung (BZ) on my iPad titled: Questions and answers concerning Freiburg's Central Vaccination Center. This article appeared in its paper edition only the following Monday.

One paragraph headed "How can I register?" found my full attention:

Registration is possible online via a central web platform that can be accessed at http://www.impfterminservice.de. Appointments for the vaccination center in Freiburg can be booked there. However, only for those over 80 years of age, people in need of care, and those working in care. Entitlement will then be rechecked in detail on-site at the vaccination center.

Note the date and time of the email.

I immediately started to look for an appointment when the trouble started. After a long hour of frustration on the computer, I suddenly received a twelve-digit code and was assigned an appointment for February 7 at 8:30 a.m. Then, the system asked me to reserve the date for the second shot of the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine too, but there I failed.

Some friends aged above 80 but mostly younger than me tried in vain the following morning to reserve a date at the Impfzentrum.

Freiburg's Central Vaccination Center is located at the Messehalle (Hall for Fairs and Exhibitions on Madison Allee) 

Waiting at a distance outside

This morning I arrived 20 minutes early at the Impfzentrum. A few people were in front of me, so I had to wait in line. The reception was as described in the BZ article:

The code and any certificates will be checked before entry to the exhibition hall. Inside, registration takes place at set-up counters, where the health insurance card is scanned. The vaccination center may only be entered wearing medical mouth-nose protection, which everyone should bring. If someone does not have such protection, it will be provided by the center. All employees will wear FFP2 masks. A fever measurement will be taken at the entrance. Anyone with a body temperature above 37.5 degrees centigrade will not be allowed into the hall.

My vaccination booth.
The waste bin is marked Data Protection Garbage.

Following all this, I have been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-19 once and shall receive an invitation for my second shot.

Recovery space and coffee bar at 8:57 a.m.

Before we inoculated persons were allowed to leave the hall, we had to sit on chairs at appropriate distances. So I helped myself to a well-deserved espresso served at a small kiosk near the exit.

©BZ

I was positively impressed by the staff's diligence, competence, and friendliness. The center could easily inoculate 2000 persons a day but is limited by the quantity of the vaccine delivered so far. In the meantime, they discovered that instead of five, they could squeeze out six (!) doses from a flacon.

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Renaming

Let me start by wishing you all a healthy 2021.

The topic of my first blog in the new year is "renaming." Red Baron has written about the renaming of streets in Freiburg and Berlin. This time two small towns carrying names that no longer seem acceptable are presented.

For safer traffic.
Please, don't drive too fast! (©Kurier/Österreich)

The first village, named initially Fucking, is located in the so-called Innviertel (Inn quarter), an area that has belonged to Bavaria for centuries. In 1779 the territory became Austrian in the Treaty of Teschen. This is why Hitler, born in Braunau am Inn, had Austrian citizenship. For more information, read the appendix.

Wikipedia knows: The village's name was particularly popular with British tourists; as a local tour guide explained, "The Germans all want to see Mozart's house in Salzburg; the Americans want to see where The Sound of Music was filmed; the Japanese want Hitler's birthplace in Braunau; but for the British, it's all about Fucking." Augustina Lindlbauer, the manager of an area guesthouse, added, "The area has lakes, forests, and vistas worth visiting, but there is an obsession with Fucking." She once told a British tourist, "There are no Fucking postcards."

Place-name signs were frequently stolen. So in August 2005, all eight signs at the four entrances to the village were secured against theft by setting them in concrete, riveting, and welding them.

The settlement Fucking is believed to have been founded in the 6th century AD by Focko, a Bavarian nobleman. Initially, in 1070, the village's name was documented as Vucchingen, as Fukching in 1303, as Fugkhing in 1532, and it got its modern spelling in the 18th century. The ending -ing is an old Germanic suffix meaning the people belonging to the place of Fuck, i.e., Fuck's people. In German, the vowel "u" in Fucking sounds like "book" in English.

The name was frequently used in German with an English connotation. A brewery fermented a Fucking pale lager beer and sold it as Fucking Hell. An effort to make Fucking into a spa (bath) ended badly with Bad Fucking.

Men at work (©Reddit)

On November 17, 2020, the municipal council decided to rename the village Fugging as of January 1, 2021.

(©Sauerland Kurier)

The other village, still to be renamed (?), is an idyllic spot in the Sauerland region, close to the popular Biggesee, with hiking trails in the greenery. The place called Neger is located in the valley of the river Neger and is divided into Unterneger, Mittelneger, and Oberneger. The names are several centuries old. No one accuses the 400 inhabitants of racist tendencies. However, in the face of everyday racism and increasing linguistic sensitivity, the village's name causes confusion.

Where does the name come from? It has been documented for 700 years. The disturbing word is formed from a stem "Nag-." Nothing exact can be said about the origin and original meaning of Neger except that there isn't any derivation from the Latin word "niger," which means black or dark.

Other place names could be controversial, like Mohrkirch and Negernbötel in Schleswig-Holstein or Groß Mohrdorf in Mecklenburg-Pomerania. These places are small and little known. Although place names should be treated as proper names, some linguists claim that today's origin plays a less important role than its current meaning.

The place name Neger existed when its racist, personal designation in German was not yet known. The present-day meaning, however, is unambiguous.

A proposition goes like this: If the name can be derived historically from "Nag-," then why not "Nager"?* Then one could possibly say at some point: "Welcome to the Nager Valley!"
*Nager in German are rodents


Appendix:

Hitler (right) and his Bavarian comrades in France (©SZ)

Hitler, having renounced his Austrian citizenship in 1925 after he had served during the First World War as private first class and Meldegänger (reporting officer) in the German army in a Bavarian infantry regiment, ended up as a stateless person living in Germany.

In 1932 he eventually was made a German in the Free State of Brunswick with the help of his right-wing friends being employed as a Regierungsrat (state council) at the Landeskultur- und Vermessungsamt (state cultural and surveying department). He was supposed to be on duty as a clerk at the Brunswick state representation in Berlin, an appointment he never held.

The new state servant was sworn in on February 26, 1932, receiving at the same time the "citizenship in the Free State of Braunschweig," which simultaneously made him a "citizen of the Reich" under state law.

The "fascinating" story of Hitler's strive for German citizenship is well documented.

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