Notbremse

Following a "vaccination summit "last Friday, Chancellor Angela Merkel predicted, "I would have liked us to get along without the emergency brake, but that will not be possible." This Notbremse - agreed upon two weeks ago between the governors of the federal states and her - should automatically engage when the corona incidence rate passes 100 cases per 100 000 people.

Germany is actually experiencing an exponential increase in corona infections that passed the magic 100 a few days ago.

Following the last conference on March 3
the president of the Bundesrat (Senat), Berlin's ruling mayor Michael Müller,
presented a step-by-step corona opening plan on one sheet of paper.

The emergency brake means that the additional openings in public life envisaged for March 22 would not become effective. Red Baron, still suffering from muscle loss following his hip surgery, would miss, in particular, the opening of Kieser Training.

The situation in Freiburg 10 days ago: The retail sector is open.

But wonders will never cease, for when I looked into their website Sunday night, I had the surprise of my life.

While all Kieser appointments were still blocked last week, I suddenly could reserve two-time slots for this and one for the coming week. Will these reservations remain valid?


On March 22 at 3 p.m., the scheduled video conferencing between Germany's governors and the chancellor started, but their views on the corona crisis were controversial. At a certain point, discontent and referring to the Notbremse, Angela Merkel said, "We resolved today, honoring what we decided last time. That is too little at a time of exponential growth in infection rates. Like this, we cannot stand before the people. "

Merkel demanded a break. Initially, there was talk of 15 minutes that eventually turned into almost seven hours. Meanwhile, the governors continued the discussions in small groups. The full meeting resumed around 1 a.m. on Tuesday and finally reached a compromise. 

Angela Merkel at 2:40 a.m. on March 23

At 2:30 a.m., the chancellor stepped in front of the press and greeted the waiting journalists with, "Good morning, everyone."

"Given the spread of the virus variants and rising infection figures, Germany is in a very, very serious situation," Merkel said. "We have not yet been able to defeat the virus; it is not letting up." The crucial terms are "caution and flexibility," the chancellor added.

Eventually, the governors and the chancellor agreed on the following:

- the present lockdown in Germany will be extended until April 18

- the strict contact rules in vigor are not to be relaxed even for visits to relatives over Easter

- all businesses, including supermarkets, will be closed over the Easter holidays from April 1 to 5, including Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday. These latter days are called Ruhetage. The translation is difficult. Are Ruhetage rest days, days off, closing days, or even quiet days like Henri Miller's in Clichy? They were indeed intended to be like Sundays, i.e., closing days.

The following morning the federal states sharply criticized that the so-called Easter lockdown had not been prepared. Many details were completely unclear: Will there be driving bans for trucks on the autobahns on Maundy Thursday? Would all supply chains be secured? How will hospitals handle the days off? Who will reimburse businesses for extra vacation days? Closed Holy Thursday raised more questions than answered, and even some of Merkel's party members rose in protest. 

Then in the early afternoon and in an about-face, Angela Merkel again went in front of the press, saying these newly decreed Ruhetage were a mistake. "I say it clearly: This mistake is solely my mistake because, in the end, I bear the ultimate responsibility for everything, qua office. And it is important to me to say this here as well: A mistake must be named as a mistake and, above all, must be corrected, and if possible, this must be done in good time."

The beauty of politics is that it is so predictable!
No matter what they do, it's always, always, always wrong!
And you can always, always get so excited!
You also have to praise them sometimes!

"I deeply regret this, and I ask all citizens to forgive me. I regret this additional uncertainty all the more because, unfortunately, we are in the middle of the third wave of the pandemic triggered by the mutation. Once again, I would like to thank everyone whose behavior is helping to slow down and stop the third wave with its deadlier and more contagious mutation of the coronavirus."

Well said, chancellor, although one Catholic journalist wrote Merkel culpa. So the "days of rest" on Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday are annulled. In substance, it means that not much remains of the recent conference.

Botched vaccination start

But there is more trouble in Germany. Let's face it; we lost the vaccination battle. As of today, only 12% of the people got their first shot, while in the States, the figure approaches 35%.

The number of deaths due to corona declining both in the States and in Germany shows the effect of vaccinating the older generation. However, this positive trend is poorly compensated by people of the younger generation getting over proportionately infected and filling the intensive care wards instead.

Due to the massive vaccination, it is likely that soon the decreasing corona incidence rate in the States will fall below the rising one in Germany. The model student of last year's March is becoming the last in class this year.

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When Is the Beginning of Spring?

Many people will say that the calendrical beginning of spring is today, March 20. This is the day of the vernal equinox when the sun shines directly on the equator, and the length of day and night is nearly equal.

Well, there are actually two official dates for the beginning of spring. The meteorological date is always March 1.

I recently read an article in Die Zeit referring to a local date for the start of spring in Hamburg. This brought back memories.

 

La Treille today (©Loris von Siebenthal)

When I resided in Geneva, spring was officially announced when the marronnier de La Treille showed its first bud. The Grand Conseil de la République et canton de Genève explains how this came about on the Internet. Here is a translation of the essential details:

La Treille then (©Bibliothèque de Genève)

In 1720-21, two rows of chestnut trees (marronniers) were planted on the old fortifications in La Treille, a quarter of the old town. The climate of the time was harsh; Europe was going through the Little Ice Age, which lasted until the middle of the 19th century.

Poor Genevans in the 1800s! They suffered terrible cold weather in addition to the French occupation, which ended with severe winter as the Cossack winter. The worst was still to come in 1816 with a summer without the sun; the sky remained darkened by the dust of the colossal explosion of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia, which was unknown at the time.

In poorly heated houses, long and dark nights, watching the chestnut tree with its first leaf announcing spring - some must have feared that it would not return - brought the hope of beautiful days.

©Loris von Siebenthal

The first official observation of marronnier budding was noted in 1818, and those observations became a tradition.

©Bibliothèque de Genève

Note the climate change in Geneva. Over the years, the "local" spring date changed from the beginning of April to the beginning of March.


Back to Hamburg. When in this port city, a forsythia shrub near the traditional Lombardsbrücke* is in bloom, then there is officially the beginning of spring.

*Spanning the water link between the two lakes formed by Außen- and Binnenalster

Forsythia is an indicator plant blooming when there is no more frost. The soil has to be warm at seven degrees centigrade, even at night, because the roots won't absorb any water before then. So the most accurate determination of the beginning of spring is phenology based on the flowering, for the plants feel what man cannot determine.

©Die Zeit

Die Zeit continues, "The man reporting the beginning of spring is Jens Iska-Holtz; he is 81 years old. He has been coming here for 37 winters, every day in January, February, and March, to his forsythia, a family of oil-leaf plants, two meters wide, three meters high. This story can only be told as that of the two of them. Without the old man, the shrub is nothing, and the old man is nothing without his shrub. "

Jens is one of 1100 phenological observers in the land reporting to the head office of the German Weather Service located in Offenbach near Frankfurt. Most of them look at and serve as messengers for whole regions; Jens only looks at his shrub.

Red Baron has a personal phenology spring indicator looking out of his kitchen window. Every year a splendid magnolia tree starts to blossom from the end of February to the beginning of March. This year it is unusually cold for the season – we were spoiled by climate change in recent years – the first buds became visible on the ides of March. Spring has finally arrived in Freiburg!

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Ampel-Angst

Yesterday was a black day for one of Germany's major parties. This time, I am not writing about the Social Democrats but the Christian Democrats (CDU), Konrad Adenauer's, Helmut Kohl's, and Angela Merkel's once-dominant party.

Distressed top Christian candidate Susanne Eisenmann (©Ulli Decke/dpa)

During long periods in the past, the CDU was the governing party in the two states Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg; yesterday, the Christian Democrats had historically bad results of -4.1% and -2.9% resp.

This morning on national television:  
CDU chairman and candidate for the chancellorship Armin Laschet
 trying to downplay the crushing defeat.

Winfried Kretschmann's Message: You know me

The elections confirmed that governors have an advantage of incumbency, particularly in times of crisis. While in Rhineland-Palatinate, Ministerpräsidentin Malu Dreyer successfully defended her "red" traffic light coalition (rote Ampelkoalition)* Ministerpräsident Winfried Kretschmann was triumphant with his Greens in the Ländle.
*Social democrats (SPD, red), the Greens, and Free Democrats (FDP, the Liberals, yellow)

Here are the results for the Ländle.

©BZ/Rita Eggstein

Yesterday, Red Baron cast his vote at the Walter-Eucken-Gymnasium (high school). Here are the results of constituency 46, Freiburg east, and Upper Black Forest:

The Greens topped their previous result from 2016 and left Manual Herder far behind. He commented, "It was obviously not the ideal time for me to run for political office. Nevertheless, I don't want to miss a single day of this election campaign; it allowed me many conversations and insights into our society that I would never have had otherwise. I take the result as it is." 

The Social Democrats limited their losses, the right-wing Alternative for Germany was trimmed, and the socialists, Die Linke gained 2%. More and more splinter groups try their luck in elections, but they have to gain individually at least 5% to be presented in a German parliament. Nevertheless, all their votes amount to an impressive 6.1%.

Malu Dreyer's "red" traffic light coalition in Rhineland-Palatinate was successful. So the father of the Ländle Winfried Kretschmann may be tempted to opt for a grüne Ampelkoalition in Baden-Württemberg.

To take up Karl Marx's text, "A specter is haunting the Christian Democrats in Baden-Württemberg - the specter of a "green" traffic light coalition." In fact, the CDU is full of Ampel-Angst, i.e., losing participation in the state government.

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Vandalized Election Posters

Tomorrow the people of Baden-Württemberg are called to the polls, and so is Red Baron. The state elections in Germany's southwest start a super-election year.

Due to Corona, the election campaign was moderate. There are no rallies, no discussion with the parties on Freiburg's Kaiser-Josef-Straße, and surprisingly few election posters on lamp poles.

Here are some photos of vandalized election posters.

Manuel Herder, great-great-great-grandson of Bartholomäus Herder, the founder of the still active publishing house in Freiburg, is running in the state elections for the Christian Democrats (CDU).

Manuel Herder and Edward M. Alford at the Greiffenegg-Schlössle in 2011

I know Manuel personally, for, in 2011,   we addended a dinner at the Greiffenegg-Schlössle honoring US Consul General Edward M. Alford. Later in 2014, Manuel gave us, members of the Museumsgesellschaft, a guided tour of his publishing house.

Manuel, showing his self-cartoon.

He actually said he likes that voters see him differently and wrote, "Next year, I'll be in my mid-fifties. I have built up talented technical and managerial staff at the publishing house."

Manuel Herder with an added gloriole. Do it like me: join in.

"This has given me the freedom to become actively involved in politics. I want to give something back to our country and its people."

Huh, content. The main thing is that the photo is correct.

Manuel is not the only one trying to start a new political career. Perceived, Professor Dr. Johannes Gröger, running for the Free Voters, has more lamp pole posters in town than any other candidate.

 

The Free Democrats (FDP), traditionally strong in Germany's southwest, present two young psychedelics (?). Their poster is decorated with stickers in English.

What will be the outcome of this state election? While it was clear from the beginning that the Greens would again get the majority of the votes im Ländle (Baden-Württemberg), the CDU will only end up as a poor runner-up this time. Lately, three lobbying cases in conjunction with corruption cast a poor light on the Christian deputies in the federal parliament and will cost them votes in the coming elections.

That shit policy has been going on for 50 years.

The unfriendly stickers on the CDU poster denounce lobbyism and coal burning. 

Expulsion &FRONTEX (European Border and Coast Guard Agency)

That shit policy has been going on for 50 years.

The three deputies of the Bundestag were forced by their colleagues to resign, but the damage has been done. CDU's top candidate Susanne Eisenmann (ironman), is challenging incumbent Governor and father of the Ländle Winfried Kretschmann of the Greens in vain.

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Insignificance

As mentioned before, 2021 is a super-election year with six state elections and one federal election. For the latter, on September 24, Germany's political parties are already in their starting blocks.

The party I favored mostly during my life was the Social Democrats (SPD); Germany's oldest party was founded in Leipzig on May 23, 1863.

In the 19th century, the SPD was the working class's party and opposed Bismarck. Although he had the Social Democrats forbidden between 1878 to 1890, the party's followers remained loyal.

So the Iron Chancellor changed tactics and tried to cut the ground under the social feet of the SPD by introducing a state health care and old age system for the working class from 1884 to 1891. These two pillars of social security still exist but, with time, were enlarged and are now available to all Germans.

The SPD was the supporting party of the Weimar Republic after World War One and the only party voting against Hitler's Ermächtigungsgesetz (enabling act) in 1933.

After the Second World War, the Social Democrats were one crucial pillar of democracy in the Federal Republic. On a few occasions, they even became the strongest party in the Bundestag (parliament) and provided the chancellor, i.e., Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schröder.

However, the blue-collar workers, SPD's traditional electorate, melted down with time. Today some people regard the party program as not being socialist enough. Other voters found their harbor with the Greens. So the once-proud SPD is down from 45% in 1972 to a mere 16% today.

What is the present electoral platform of Germany's GOP? Social democrats want to be social, digital, and climate-neutral, i.e., progressive. Their "Program for the Future" consists of 48 pages and is peppered with sometimes concrete ideas:

They demand a speed limit of 130 km/h on Autobahns.

In areas with a "tight housing market," they want a rent freeze.

Students and trainees shall travel free of charge on local public transport.

Landlords must pay the CO₂ price of their apartments.

The government must guarantee the supply of gigabit internet lines.

Public buildings shall be fitted with solar panels.

Top managers are to receive a maximum of 15 times the average wage in the company.

There shall no longer be fixed-term employment contracts without reason.

There should be a legal right to 24 home office days a year.

There will be a headwind from those who don't like to be called regressive: Car drivers, landlords, local authorities, and employers. But the real problem is that the triad of "social, digital, and climate-neutral" is not catching on.

All democratic parties claim the topic climate for themselves. The SPD wants to make Germany climate-neutral by 2050 - the Greens are already discussing a 2035 target.

Digitization is not a winning issue for the Social Democrats either. Gigabit lines in rural areas are long overdue. Besides, the SPD's concrete proposals on digitization mainly concern data protection and control of Internet corporations.

That leaves social justice. Even though the SPD is now calling for a citizen's income, a minimum wage of twelve euros, a wealth tax, and a transaction tax, they have been left behind regarding content. The Die Linke (the Left Party) is showing much more edge - and is already calling for a 13-euro minimum wage. The SPD wants to keep the pension level at 48 percent, and the Left Party wants to raise it to 53 percent. Many people agree that Die Linke is more committed.

The fatal thing for the Social Democrats is that other parties always are one step ahead of it.

One slogan greatly influenced the voter in previous federal elections, "Auf den Kanzler kommt es an," i.e., which major party had the most convincing person to become Germany's chancellor.

While the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Greens still are cagey about their candidate for chancellor in the upcoming federal elections, the Social Democrats rushed ahead by putting the present Vice-Chancellor and Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on the pedestal.

Markus Söder and Olaf Scholz (©Sven Simon/IPON/imago images)

During last Wednesday's video conference on Corona policy between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the 16 governors, it came to a showdown between Olaf Scholz and the Christian Democrats' hopeful Bavarian Ministerpräsident (governor) Markus Söder.

Backed by Angela, Olaf made it clear, "No one needs to dream that the federal government will set up an account from which everything will be paid. There will be no consensus other than proportional financing of Corona expenditures by the federal government and the states. ""

Markus Söder asked why Scholz was so upset since it wasn't his money. Olaf coolly dismissed him, "No, it's the taxpayers' money." This emphatically cool dripping put Markus into a rage, who is not used to much contradiction in Bavaria. He likes it even less from a Social Democrat.

"I don't know what you've been drinking," he insulted Scholz, "You're not the chancellor." He got into a bit of a tirade, attendees report. "You are not the king of Germany or ruler of the world," Söder raged, "There's no need for you to grin like a Smurf. " 

Let's face it, Scholz's chances are zero to become Germany's next chancellor, and the Social Democrats will be insignificant. Too sad.

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