Ship of Fools

Fools looking backward populate a ship without sails or a rudder. 

Sebastian Brant, Professor beider Rechte (canon and civil law) at Basel University, wrote the book titled Daß Narrenschyff ad Narragoniam in 1494, on the eve of the Reformation.

 

In his lecture 'The fool as a guide to the right way of life', Professor Nikolaus Henkel gave examples of pages from Brant's book. He started with the first one, alluding to a Büchernarr (sic! a fool obsessed with books), which lamely translates into English as 'bibliomaniac'.

The title of the page 'Of Useless Books' fits Red Baron well.

I walk ahead in the dance of fools, For I see many books around me, Which I neither read nor understand.           Of Useless Books That I sit at the front of the ship, That truly has a special purpose. This is not without reason: I always rely on books, I have a great treasure trove of books, Even if I rarely understand a word, I still hold them in high esteem: I am happy to ward the flies off them. When people talk about the sciences, I say: "I have them at home!" For it is enough for me to be surrounded by books. ... Since I know little Latin. I know that vinum means "wine," Gucklus a fool, And that I am called "domine doctor!" My ears are hidden, Otherwise, one would soon see the miller's animal.

Im Narrentanz voran ich gehe, Da ich viel Bücher um mich sehe, Die ich nicht lese und verstehe.         Von unnützen Büchern Daß ich im Schiffe vornan sitz, Das hat fürwahr besondern Witz. Nicht ohne Ursache ist das: Auf Bücher ich mich stets verlaß, Von Büchern hab ich großen Hort, Versteh ich selten auch ein Wort, So halt ich sie doch hoch in Ehren: Will ihnen gern die Fliegen wehren. Wo man von Wissenschaften reden tut, Sprech ich: »Daheim hab ich sie gut!« Denn es genügt schon meinem Sinn, Wenn ich umringt von Büchern bin. ... Dieweil ich wenig kann Latein. Ich weiß, daß vinum heißet »Wein«, Gucklus ein Gauch, Und daß ich heiß': »domine doctor!« Die Ohren sind verborgen mir, Sonst sah man bald des Müllers Tier.

The other example Professor Henkel showed concerns Procrastination, an art we are all familiar with, and Red Baron in particular with apartment keeping.

Whoever sings "cras, cras*" like a raven Will remain a fool until the grave; Tomorrow he will have an even bigger cap. *lat. tomorrow      On Seeking Procrastination He is a fool whom God commands To mend his ways today And renounce his sins, To embrace a better life, And who cannot mend his ways right away, No, he sets himself a deadline for the next day And sings "cras, cras!" like the raven, Not knowing if he will live that long. Many fools have been lost, Who always sang, "Tomorrow! Tomorrow!" As for sin and folly, People rush to them as soon as possible. As for God and doing what is right, That creeps up slowly now, People always seek to postpone it. "Tomorrow is better to confess than today! We'll learn to do right tomorrow!" So says many a lost son... That same tomorrow never comes, It flees and melts like snow; Only when the soul cannot remain, Then tomorrow dawns, Then the body is oppressed by pain, So that it does not think of the soul. So also in the desert perished Many Jews*, not a single one Was to reach that land Which God promised with a gentle hand. Those who are not capable of repentance today Will have even more to suffer tomorrow. Those whom God's voice calls today Do not know whether it will call them tomorrow. Therefore, many thousands are now lost. Who swore to better themselves tomorrow! *4. Moses 14:22 f

Wer singt »cras, cras*« gleichwie ein Rab. Der bleibt ein Narr bis hin zum Grab. Hat morgen eine noch größere Kapp. *lat. morgen        Vom Aufschubsuchen Der ist ein Narr, dem Gott gebeut, Daß er sich bessern soll noch heut Und soll von seinen Sünden lassen, Ein besser Leben anzufassen, Und der nicht gleich sich bessern mag, Nein, Frist sich setzt zum andern Tag Und singt »cras, cras!« des Raben Sang, Und weiß nicht, ob er lebt so lang. Viel Narren sind verlorngegangen, Die allzeit: »Morgen! Morgen!« sangen. Was Sünd und Narrheit sonst angeht, Da eilt man zu so früh wie spät; Was Gott betrifft und Rechtes tun, Das schleicht gar langsam näher nun, Dem suchen Aufschub stets die Leute. »Morgen ist besser beichten denn heute! Wir lernen Rechttun morgen schon!« So spricht gar mancher verlorener Sohn. Derselbe Morgen kommt nimmer je, Er flieht und schmilzt gleichwie der Schnee; Erst wenn die Seel nicht bleiben kann, Dann bricht der morgige Tag heran, Dann wird von Schmerz der Leib bedrängt, Daß er nicht an die Seele denkt. So sind auch in der Wüste vergangen Der Juden viel*; es sollte gelangen Kein einziger in jenes Land, Das Gott verhieß mit milder Hand*. Wer heut nicht fähig zur Reue ist, Hat morgen noch mehr, was ihm gebrist. Wen heute beruft die Gottesstimm, Weiß nicht, ob sie ruft morgen ihm, Drum sind viel Tausend jetzt verloren, Die morgen sich zu bessern schworen! *4. Moses 14, 22 f.

In view of my advanced age, I added the following page.

I'm already standing close to the pit, The executioner's knife is stabbing me in the ass*, But I won't give up my foolishness!          About Old Fools Foolishness won't let me be old; I am very old, but completely unwise, A wicked child of a hundred* years, Show the bells to the inexperienced, I give the children a command And make myself a will, Which I will regret after my death. With bad examples and knowledge I drive what my youth learned. That my wickedness may reap honor, I wish and boast boldly of shame, How I have ruined all the lands and made much water murky; I always practice evil, I am sorry that I can no longer accomplish it as before. But what I can no longer do Should remain recommended to my Heinz. *A modern description of being close to the end is "having one foot in the grave."

Schon steh ich an der Grube dicht, Im Arsch das Schindermesser* sticht Doch meine Narrheit laß ich nicht!            Von alten Narren Die Narrheit läßt mich nicht sein greis; Ich bin sehr alt, doch ganz unweis, Ein böses Kind von hundert Jahren, Zeig dem die Schellen, der unerfahren, Den Kindern geb ich Regiment Und mach mir selbst ein Testament, Das wird nach meinem Tod mir leid. Mit schlechtem Beispiel und Bescheid Treib ich, was meine Jugend lernte; Daß meine Schlechtigkeit Ehre ernte, Wünsch ich und rühm mich dreist der Schande, Wie ich beschissen alle Lande Und hab gemacht viel Wasser trübe; Im Schlechten ich mich allzeit übe, Es tut mir leid, daß ichs nicht mehr Vollbringen kann so wie vorher. Doch was ich jetzt nicht mehr kann treiben, Soll meinem Heinz empfohlen bleiben; *Eine moderne Beschreibung der Todesnähe ist "mit einem Fuß im Grabe stehen".

Well, there are two corrections to the text: I am not 100 but only 90 years old, and my son, named Andreas, passed away and won't inherit anything.

Professor Henkel ended his lecture paying homage to a colleague and friend who died in 2009. Manfred Lemmer was Professor of German literature at the University of Halle in the former GDR.

Manfred Lemmer at the Basler Fasnet 1995.
Chancellor Helmut Kohl holds a copy of the Narrenschiff edition
published by Professor Lemmer in his hands.

Lemmer was a specialist on "Das Narrenschiff" and published an edition altering the woodcut on the title page.

The ship of fools sails under the flag of the GDR. The motto of the GDR was "Forward forever, backward never," although the most backward-looking figure is Erich Mielke, head of the Stasi. Next looking to him stands Justicia*. Both have their nakedness uncovered.

*Red Baron recognized the female figure as Red Hilda, the notorious Minister of Justice Hilde Benjamin. Professor Henkel disagreed.

In the front left, a People's Police officer is beating a citizen. And in the crowd is bald Johannes R. Becher, Minister of Culture, womanizer, poet, and author of the GDR national anthem: Auferstanden aus Ruinen (Risen from the Ruins). He is groping a female comrade's breasts.

The present world is full of fools at the helm of Government ships. I found a cartoon that takes an iconic painting as its model: King Trump crosses the Delaware River with his Administration, while J. D. Vance drowns Miss Liberty.

Here is a black and white photo of the original painting:

As a strong supporter of Europe's Revolutions of 1848, Emanuel Leutze painted at Düsseldorf in 1849 the Übergang Washingtons über den Delaware, hoping to encourage Europe's liberal reformers with the example of the American Revolution. This first version at the Kunsthalle Bremen was destroyed by fire on September 5, 1942, following a bombing raid.

Is the allegory well chosen? I learned that Washington's crossing was the moment when, by duping the British troops, the American Revolution sailed from near-death to survival. Well, the Trump boat is a Narrenschiff.

**

About Wars and How They End

It was a Sternstunde (great moment) at the Museumsgesellschaft when Prof. Jörn Leonard gave his lecture Über Kriege und wie sie enden.

 
He had clearly structured his presentation and illustrated it with relevant slides. On the topic of "How wars end," he formulated ten theses and defended them brilliantly. I shall report, but I will also give my views and comments.

There are wars of conquest, wars of aggression, fratricidal wars, religious wars, wars of unification, colonial wars, civil wars, you name it. So it is only natural that wars end differently.

 
Frederick II's conquest of Silesia escalated into the Seven Years' War, which, fought on different continents, is often referred to as the first world war.

 

First, the great Frederick ordered his foreign minister, Count Heinrich von Podewils (1696-1760), to come up with a iusta causa for a Prussian military incursion into Silesia. Ultimately, the subsequent non-recognition of female succession to the throne in Austria had to serve as a flimsy pretext for war. 

 In his memoirs, the king writes, "In addition, I was in possession of quick-witted troops, a well-filled treasury, and a lively temperament: these were the reasons that led me to wage war against Theresa of Austria, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary. Ambition, my advantage, and the desire to make a name for myself tipped the scales, and war was decided upon."

Hitler's war of aggression against Poland triggered the Second World War.

On September 1 at 4.47 a.m., HMS Schleswig-Holstein opened fire at the Polish ammunition depot on Westerplatte. Read more.

The armed conflict between Prussia and Austria for supremacy in the empire was a fratricidal war.

Mourning Germania
Prussia and Bavaria faced each other as enemies at Kissingen in 1866.
Commissioned by officers from both sides, Michael Arnold created this figure
 in memory of the battle, which claimed the lives of around 250 people.

Was the Thirty Years' War a religious war?

Golo Mann wrote, "It had always been the thesis of the [Bohemian] rebels that it was only about religion and nothing else; always the counter-thesis of the imperialists that it was not about religion at all, but about secular unrest. Ultimately, as with most wars, it was only about power.

Gustaf Adolf landed at Usedom with an army, coming to the aid of the German Protestants, although they had not called for him. Had he not instead in mind to strengthen his military position on the coasts of the Baltic Sea? Read more in German.

Often, rulers cynically use religious ideology to keep the common man in line, making him docile. Regardless of religion or of no religion, despots do not care about human lives.

After his disastrous Russian campaign, Napoleon commented cynically and coldly on the losses, "A man like me cares little about the lives of a million people ... The French cannot complain about me; to spare them, I sacrificed the Germans and Poles."

 

Can the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 be regarded as a war of unification?

It needed more. It took a lot of money to "convince" stubborn Bavaria. Bismarck offered King Ludwig II 6 million gold guilders (about one billion euros) for his private use. Read more in German.

Blinded by the gold, the Kini copied the letter of consent Bismarck had drafted to elect the Prussian King Wilhelm I as German Emperor, like a schoolboy, making only minor, insignificant changes, and signed:

With the assurance of my highest esteem and friendship, I remain
Your Royal Majesty's friendly cousin, brother, and nephew

Ludwig 

Hohenschwangau, November 30, 1870

Entire peoples were murdered in the colonial wars of the 19th century in Africa.

The totality of war: Herero survivors after fleeing through the desert in 1904/05

The American Civil War is characterized by its murderous, mechanized warfare. Many fallen soldiers were so badly mutilated that they could no longer be identified and were buried anonymously.

The Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia, looked like a city bombed in World War II, with significant suffering for the civilian population.

Thus, the American Civil War gave birth to three terms now part of the vocabulary of modern warfare: the home front, the unknown soldier, and the unconditional surrender of the Confederate States.

Thesis I

War and Peace: The nature of war determines its end.

Regarding the various types of war mentioned above, this thesis is quite apparent.

Thesis II

Contingent Dynamics: Genuine decisive battles are rare, and the longer a war lasts, the more difficult it becomes to control.

Indeed, Blitzkriegs are ideal. In addition to quick decisions, they conserve resources.

France never got over the humiliation of its defeat in 1871. As Bismarck had expected and August Bebel had feared, France was no longer seeking revenge for Sadova (Königgrätz), but rather revenge for Sedan.

The elderly Victor Hugo proclaimed, "One day, France will rise up invincible. It will take back Lorraine, Alsace, the Rhine, Mainz, and Cologne."

       

For a new round of war, the Supreme Army Command in Berlin had developed the so-called Schlieffen Plan, according to which France was to be brought to its knees in the shortest possible time with a sickle cut. 

The plan failed and instead led to years of grueling trench warfare.

Thesis III

The Search for the Right Outcome: A "bad peace" can prolong the war.

The Treaty of Versailles was not a good peace, as John Maynard Keynes wrote in 1920 in The Economic Consequences of Peace, "The Treaty includes no provision for the economic rehabilitation of Europe—nothing to make the defeated Central Powers into good neighbors, nothing to stabilize the new states of Europe, nothing to reclaim [Communist] Russia; nor does it promote in any way a compact of economic solidarity amongst the Allies themselves; no arrangement was reached at Paris for restoring the disordered finances of France and Italy, or to adjust the systems of the Old World and the New."

Note that some of Keynes's remarks remain relevant. The finances of France and Italy are still in disorder, and President Trump imposes high tariffs to forcibly shift the economic imbalance between the United States and the rest of the world. His "trade war" poses unknown risks for the global economy.

 
Most historians agree: The seeds of the Second World War were sown in the "bad peace" of the First, or the World War lasted from 1914 to 1945.

Thesis IV
The Long End: Those who still see opportunities on the battlefield will continue to fight as long as possible. 

Before American troops arrived in France in large numbers at the beginning of 1918, the Oberste Heeresleitung (Supreme Army Command) sought a decision in favor of the Central Powers on the Western Front in the spring of 1918. 

After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Russia on March 3, 1918, Germany moved about 45 divisions from the east to the west by May.

The "Kaiser's Battle" or Great Spring Offensive of 1918 brought some territorial gains, but by September, it got stuck in the mud of the battlefields.

Thesis V

Planning and Forecasting: Available resources determine the tipping point of wars, but not necessarily the actors' insights.

The Continental Blockade of 1806, an economic blockade against England, had no impact on Napoleon's wars of conquest. Ultimately, it harmed France and its allies more than it did Great Britain.

The far greater production of fighter planes by the Allies in 1943 was a tipping point in World War II; however, it did not lead to Germany realizing that the war was lost.

Thesis VI

Extended Ceasefire: Not every war ends with a formal peace.

German historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler viewed the period from 1914 to 1945 as an "era of world war" with a brief truce in between. 

Churchill wrote in the preface to his book The Second World War, "One might almost say that the Second World War was the Second Thirty Years' War of 1914–1945." 

He later reiterated, "The Second World War was the continuation and the vindication of the First."

Thesis VII

The Ambivalence of Signs: There is no peace without communication, and those who humiliate the defeated turn peace into a ceasefire.

William Orpen: The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors

With the signing of the peace treaty in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, where the Second German Empire had been proclaimed in 1871, the French victors humiliated the Germans to such an extent that it was not only right-wing circles in the Weimar Republic who spoke of a Schandfrieden (shameful peace).

This obviously supports Thesis VI.

Thesis VIII

Fall Height and Disillusionment: Overburdening peace with expectations can prolong the shadows of war.

The general world peace was concluded in 1814.

The genius brings the olive branch so long desired by the people to the high Allied Powers. France, clad in the mantle of lilies, restores its rightful king to the throne. The enemy warriors now embrace each other like brothers. But the destroyer of the world is hurled into the abyss, and with him the eagle and the tiger, which German bravery will continue to guard.

 

High hopes, but this general world peace as a result of the Vienna Congress could not last forever, because if you look at the map of Europe in 1814, there were many unresolved problems: 

 The multi-ethnic state of Austria-Hungary, the situation in the Balkans, Italy and Germany were fragmented into small states, divided and disunited. 

 Still, the Vienna general world peace lasted 39 years. It was not broken in Central Europe, but in the "exotic" Crimean War of 1853, in which Russia fought against an alliance of Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia-Piedmont.

Thesis IX

Doing Peace: Once the treaties are signed, the work of peace begins. 

Peace work begins after a ceasefire. This peace process is generally a laborious one, involving nitty-gritty details, which, as we know, are where the devil lies.

Following the collapse of the multi-ethnic state of Yugoslavia, it has not yet been possible to achieve a self-sustaining peace there. 

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, EUFOR Althea is securing the country in accordance with the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement. 

In Kosovo, NATO-led KFOR troops are stationed to secure peace between the Serbian and Albanian populations.

Thesis X

Paradoxical Endings: Not every victory is a win, and some defeats become opportunities.

German Instrument of Unconditional Surrender

Red Baron's example is the unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan in 1945.

What was an absolute low point in the national history of both countries turned out to be a stroke of luck in retrospect.

To date, both countries have developed into stable democracies. Will these democracies be able to withstand the current autocratic trends?

Survey on party preferences from October 2

In Germany, political parties on the right (AfD) and left (Die Linke, BSW) are steadily growing, which brings back bad memories. Will, in the end, the democratic center (CDU/CSU, SPD, Grüne) be crushed between the two extremes, as in the Weimar Republic?

God forbid.

**

The Never-Ending Kashmir Conflict

When, after World War II, the European states reluctantly granted independence to their African colonies, the people awoke within borders drawn by the colonial powers in the 19th century to demarcate their interests. These borders cut through entire ethnic groups and often forced Muslim and Christian populations into unnatural state structures. As expected, numerous border conflicts in Africa have not ended to this day or are flaring up again.

I still remember well the bloody Biafra conflict from 1967 to 1970, in which the predominantly Christian southeastern provinces of Nigeria declared independence as the Republic of Biafra. Although it was a struggle for power, oil, and mineral resources, the civil war was stylized into a religious one in which the Muslim north raided the predominantly Catholic south. Images of massacred women and starving children flickered across television screens in Western living rooms and triggered a wave of solidarity among all Christian churches around the world.

The Swiss arms manufacturer Oerlikon-Bührle supplied weapons to this war zone: anti-aircraft and ground-support guns that were technically outdated but still fully functional and lethal. These guns were initially ordered and paid for by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, but could not be delivered before the war ended.

The Nigerian federal army was desperate for arms to fight the secessionist Biafra, and Oerlikon-Bührle saw an opportunity to get rid of these old WWII-era stocks, selling the guns twice.

It was a scandal, and Switzerland was shaken. It took them years to come to terms with this affair.

But I digress. The topic of this blog is the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan, presented at the Museumsgesellschaft by Dr. Arndt Michael, an expert in Asian politics.

He gave a comprehensive historical introduction, but I will shorten it to focus on India's independence from British rule on August 14/15, 1947, and its aftermath. 

After World War II, two political groups — the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League — were deeply divided over whether India should remain united or be partitioned.

The British government sent Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last British Viceroy of India, to negotiate a quick and workable solution.

 
According to his plan, British India was divided into two dominions: Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan, with minorities of the other religion in each. This partition laid the ground for future conflicts, particularly as the two provinces of Punjab and Bengal, with mixed Hindu and Muslim populations, would be split between India and Pakistan.

So far so bad, but the situation was worsened because of the Kashmir province.

Maharaja Hari Singh in 1946 (©AP)

The princely state of Kashmir was ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu, over a majority Muslim population (about 75%). Under the Mountbatten Plan, he had to choose between joining India or Pakistan, based on geography and his people's wishes.

The Maharaja tried to remain independent, signing "Standstill Agreements" with both dominions to maintain trade and communication while he delayed his decision.

Some people hated to wait. So, in October 1947, tribal militias from Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, backed by some elements in Pakistan, invaded Kashmir to force its accession to Pakistan.

 Without going into detail about this First Indo-Pakistani War, it lasted until January 1949 when the UN eventually established a ceasefire.

As a result, Kashmir was divided. India controlled about two-thirds of the territory, including Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, and Ladakh. Pakistan controlled the rest, known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit–Baltistan. The dividing line became known as the Line of Control (LoC).

Ongoing military tension and political instability led to two more open wars over Kashmir in 1965 and 1999. They were, however, short-lived, since, as Dr. Michael informed us, the Americans quickly reprimanded their ally, Pakistan. The US would not tolerate conflicts in the region because of its military activities in Afghanistan, where it needed Pakistan as an army base for Operation Enduring Freedom.

Terrorist attacks followed in subsequent years, culminating in the 2008 terrorist attack on the Taj Mahal Hotel in India by Islamists. The wars and attacks have claimed around 50,000 lives to date, including civilians, soldiers, and terrorists.

The latest open conflict to date between India and Pakistan took place from May 7 to May 10 of this year.

Pakistan, as a so-called failed state, is on China's drip. Still, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan boasts of fighting to the end in the Kashmir conflict and thinks it is time to teach India a lesson. The Chinese support the Muslim country because they have a great interest in securing access to the port of Gwadar in Pakistan as part of their Silk Road project.

India, on the other hand, now the most populous country on earth, is stretching its limbs. According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in office since 2014, India is a great role model for growth, progress, and peace, even though corruption, economic injustice, and injustice towards women and minorities are on the rise. India's economic boom is driven primarily by imports of cheap Russian oil. In return, India supplies Russia with military equipment. Modi is pursuing exclusively national interests. What Russia is doing in Eastern Europe does not affect India. The country is benefiting from the war in Ukraine.

Because energy and labor are cheap in India, more and more Western companies (Apple!) are moving manufacturing from China to India.

The four-day war in May 1925 started with an air battle in which 125 Indian and Pakistani fighter jets remaining within their national air spaces engaged in dogfights with long-range missiles. The Indians lost six of their most modern aircraft. It looks like modern Chinese technology was behind these shootdowns. In the following days, the fighting continued with drone attacks and artillery duels at the LoC.   

 Kashmir has no oil or mineral resources, and a high unemployment rate of 23%. This mainly affects younger people, who also have poor career prospects. The country has beautiful landscapes haunted by Indian honeymooners. 

 India is doing everything it can to get Kashmir under its control. The imprisonment of undesirable politicians and human rights violations are commonplace. Gerrymandering favors candidates of the pro-Indian party.

 

©Konkan Railway Corporation Limited/Wikipedia

In 2023, the imposing Chenab Bridge connecting Kashmir with the rest of the Indian railway network was opened. With 359 meters above the river, it is the highest railway bridge in the world.

 
The dispute over Kashmir is an unsolvable conflict between two nuclear powers that are supported by China and Russia, respectively. So the May skirmish looks like a proxy war. 

 **

Celebrating Twice

The stages of a man's life (Click to enlarge).
From the present exhibition, Old Age, in the graphic arts collection of the Augustiner Museum.

The text for the 90-year-old man reads:

At ninety, weak, bent, and lame, 

My rotten life is nothing but sorrow.

Sorry, my life is not rotten. Yes, the dizziness is real, but I'm not quite that bent over as the guy in the picture.

On Friday, the 13th, I invited friends from Freiburg to dinner at the Oberkirch Restaurant for a second celebration of my 90th birthday.

The first celebration already took place on June 9, with my close family also at this first address on Münsterplatz.

None of my guests suffered from Paraskevidekatriaphobia, because everyone accepted my invitation and came to the dinner party.

A general welcome (©TS)

Some guests are looking for their seats (©TS)

The long shot (©TS)

The left-hand side (©TS)

The right-hand side (©TS)

Regarding this second celebration, I asked my guests not to be disappointed about their silver medal, as I still have a bronze medal to award. I will celebrate with the French-speaking part of my family in Geneva on June 20.

 

©US

I continued my welcome speech, sticking to sports.

Watch my eyes. I look at you and not on my cheat sheet (©RSW)

There are 23 friends present today. This number brings to my mind a soccer team that must be registered for major championships. Such a cadre (Kader in German) often consists of players from two major clubs, who are then joined by individual outstanding players from other clubs, thus completing the Kader.

Am I laughing at my own jokes again? (©US)

Here, the comparison is a bit off, because tonight no clubs are present, but societies (Gesellschaften), i.e., members of the Freiburg-Madison-Gesellschaft and the Freiburger Museumsgesellschaft*.
*Founded as a reading society in 1807

And have you ever heard of players playing for two clubs? With societies, this is possible. Tonight, at least ten of my guests have dual membership, which will help to generate lively conversations between the two Gesellschaften.

In clubs, it's frustrating when key players are absent.

For a birthday party, it is just sad when guests have to cancel:

Among them are

- The director of the Carl-Schurz-Haus, Friederike Schulte, whom I greatly admire, is on a well-deserved vacation with her family

- The president of the Museumsgesellschaft, Professor Gerald Urban, and his wife, Birgül. They are on a family mission in Turkey and

- My good friend Thomas Becker is bicycling in the south of Sweden.

Above all, I miss the vice president of the Museumsgesellschaft, Professor Sabine Wienker-Piepho, who passed away in Freiburg on May 21 after a serious illness. Here is my obituary.

Since most of you knew Sabine, I would like to ask you to rise for a moment of silence in her memory.

I thank you.

The two Freiburg societies presented here enrich my life and have been an anchor, especially after the death of my wife, Elisabeth.

While the president and vice president of the Museumsgesellschaft are not with us, many other eminent members are here tonight.

The Freiburg-Madison-Gesellschaft is represented by its president, Toni Schlegel, and his wife, Tatjana; its vice president, Frauke Feix, and her husband, Günther; and many well-known members.

And then we have a couple of the most valuable players completing tonight's Kader.

Please feel free to compose your dinner from the menu card. Regarding the white wine, I made an egotistical choice and ordered my favorite Gutedel (Chasselas), which pairs perfectly with white asparagus. Like many Germans from the north, I fremdle (feel alienated) with red wines. So I asked landlord Toni Schlegel, who made a good choice for you.

I wish you all bon appétit. Enjoy your meal.

While my guests were choosing their menu, Toni started to praise me.

During Toni's laudatio, Tatjana is admiringly amused,
Red Baron is slightly embarrassed, and Rotburg is sternly interested (©US).

©US

In his humorous speech, Harald went back in history (©TS)

N.B.The photos are a belated birthday surprise by Tatjana (©TS), Ulli (©US), and Renate (©RSW), who shot them to document this memorable evening. I thank you all.

 
I took the liberty of selecting a few of those photos, editing them, and adding them to this blog. If any of my guests does not want to see his/her picture on this blog, please let me know. I shall delete the photo(s) immediately.

**

Rascal Voltaire

Following le plat de résistance at CERN, the participants of the Museumsgesellschaft's summer tour 2025 savored an excellent dessert by visiting the Château de Voltaire at Ferney the following day.

When entering the château, you find the entrance door framed by statues of the Vieux Patriarch and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Voltaire looks mockingly at the reading Rousseau.

Although both men were enlightened and shared some common ideals, such as critiques of the Church and traditional authorities, they had very different philosophies, temperaments, and views on society, which led to sharp personal and intellectual clashes.

Voltaire took on Rousseau after the publication of Du contrat social ou Principes du droit politique: "One longs, in reading your book, to walk on all fours."

Rousseau, in turn, regarded Voltaire as insincere, elitist, corrupted by luxury and salon society, and accused him of orchestrating a conspiracy to ridicule him.

Despite their mutual dislike, both giants of the Enlightenment profoundly influenced the French Revolution and modern democratic thinking. Voltaire, being the liberal, reformist strand, and Rousseau, the radical, populist one.

Their disputes reflect the epoch's broad debates between reason and emotion, civilization and nature, and elite reform and popular revolution.

Here are some photos from the exhibition at the Château:

Voltaire et ses amis. The Patriarch enjoyed good company.

I recognized le Père Adam, l'Abbé Mauré, d'Alembert, and Diderot (For details, read here in German).

Henri IV accueillant Voltaire aux Champs-Élysées

The assassinated Henri IV receives Voltaire on the banks of the River Lethe. The Huguenot king stands here as a symbol of Voltaire's fight against l'Église.

Le Triomphe de Voltaire 1775

Also called The Apotheosis of Voltaire, led by Truth and crowned by Glory. In the center, Melpomene, muse of tragedy, leads Voltaire towards Apollo. On the right stands the Temple of Memory with its central niche vacant, flanked by Sophocles and Euripides on one side, with Corneille and Racine on the other.

Catherine the Great. The inscription reads: paint à dinant par
Pierre-Lyon-peintre-de Sa Majesté Limpératrice Reine J:R:A
 donné à M. de Voltaire, le 15 juillet 1770

Madame Denis's bedroom, Voltaire's mistress

In stepping out of the castle, Ferney's old village church catches the eye. Since it obstructed the view of his castle, Voltaire wanted to have it torn down. However, the local authorities would not allow him to do so.

The Patriarch had the building restored and erected a monumental façade bearing the inscription, "Deo erexit Voltaire MDCCLXI (Erected by Voltaire to God in 1761)." What a scandal, Voltaire's name was written with larger letters than God's.

A fake inscription: This is not Voltaire's tomb.

On the right side wall of the church, Voltaire had a half-pyramid installed, which is said to symbolize his troubled relation with the Church: "Half of me is in, half of me is out.

Voltaire was a hypochondriac all his life. As he grew older, his fear of dying and being buried in a mass grave grew. So he decreed that when he was dying, he should be taken to Geneva. After his death, he was to be transported back to Ferney. Thus, rascal Voltaire wanted to die a Calvinist but be buried a Catholic. 

However, things turned out differently. Following Voltaire's triumphal return to Paris at the beginning of February 1778, he died there on May 30. The Parisian clergy, as expected, opposed a church funeral. Only through deception was Voltaire's family able to bury his body in the Abbey of Scellières (Champagne).

During the French Revolution, Voltaire's remains were transferred to the Pantheon. His tomb lies opposite that of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 

Finally pacified in death?

**