Don't Sleep

Up to now, my understanding of the Energiewende was that the main problem was energy storage when changing from fossil or nuclear to renewable energy sources. The wind may not blow, and the sun may not shine when the demand for electrical power is high. Renewable energy generated during periods of high production and low consumption must be stored and retrievable on demand. In the case of Germany, an aggravating factor is the spatial distribution of renewable energy. Wind parks generating lots of electricity are situated in the north, while the power is needed in the south. New direct current lines must be built, meaning an investment of several billion euros over the coming years.

You can imagine my frustration when I read the other day that a pumped-storage hydropower station (PSHPS) planned in the south of the Black Forest near Atdorf may not be built. The reason is that, due to the current overproduction of electricity, even the 30 existing PSHPSs, with a total potential power of 7 gigawatts, are no longer profitable in Germany. As an example, a written-off PSHPS near Dresden from 1926 is mentioned. In 2009, the unit generated power for 2800 hours, whereas in 2012, it operated for only 280 hours. No wonder the electricity company has no interest in the necessary and urgent installation and renovation work. Under these circumstances, it was evident that private electricity companies wanted to avoid investing 1.7 billion euros in a new PSHPS at Atdorf.

Europe's biggest existing PSHPS, the Schluchseewerk, with a power of 1800 megawatts
 is located in the Black Forest (©BZ).

The situation, however, will change. On June 30, 2011, following the Fukushima disaster, the German Bundestag voted by a significant majority to immediately shut down 8 of Germany's 17 nuclear power stations, with the others to be phased out by the year 2022. When the last reactor is shut down and most coal-fired power stations are scrapped, it is estimated that Germany will need an energy storage capacity of at least 40 billion kilowatt-hours to buffer wind and solar energy production by the year 2050.

This is why many regard the energy policy of the present government as short-sighted, at the least; some would even call it chaotic. PSHPSs may turn the pumped-up water masses into electricity without delay. In addition, most experts claim that these installations are more eco-friendly than power-to-gas solutions, in which abundant renewable electricity is used to produce hydrogen or methane, which is then fed into the existing gas grid.

The argument that the PSHPS Atdorf will fill the pockets of electricity companies
  no longer holds  (©BZ)

From the beginning, the local Greens of Atdorf opposed the PSHPS project, objecting to the decision by the Greens in the Baden-Württemberg State Government. The opposition smirked: The Greens are against green electricity. The local "Not in our backyard" objectors argued for preserving nature.

The electricity company's unexpected decision to withdraw from the PSHPS project left supporters and opponents deeply perturbed. The local Greens suspect a deceptive maneuver and cite Günter Eich: "Schlaft nicht, wenn die Geschäftigen der Welt mit eurer Schläfrigkeit rechnen" (Don't sleep when the busy people of this world count on your sleepiness).

**

100% Democratic?

Back from my memorable trip to Madison, where I enjoyed the opportunity to experience the booming beer culture in the States, I opened my favorite newspaper Badische Zeitung and became depressed.

Two gentlemen and a couple of younger guys drink Warsteiner Bier in Freiburg, whereas our city has two local breweries, Feierling and Ganter, that are still run by families of the same name. The Feierling Bier immediately comes to my mind, for they brew and serve a naturtrübes, süffiges Bier vom Fass (naturally cloudy and pleasant-to-drink draft beer).

Prosten with Warsteiner Pils (©BZ)

Feierling: naturtrübes Bier

The two gentlemen in the photo are well-known in Germany as Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the former Chief-of-Staff in the Schröder administration (October 1998 to October 2005), supporting the other gentleman Gernot Erler in his efforts to gain the seat of the Freiburg electoral district for the Social Democratic Party in the upcoming federal election. The younger guys at the table are Jusos, SPD juniors, trying to follow in the footsteps of the two political heavyweights.

What is so peculiar about the election of Gernot Erler, who has held the Freiburg electoral district for three consecutive terms and is now aiming at a fourth? The German electoral system differs from the UK and the US, where candidates need the majority of votes to represent an electoral district in Parliament or Congress. However, Winston Churchill already knew this system is not 100% democratic but works. It works because it supports a two-party system with stable majorities; it is somewhat undemocratic since substantial minorities not likely to win a direct mandate, such as the Green Party, are not represented in the legislative bodies. A pure proportionality electoral system presenting each party with its weight in parliament according to the votes received is not ideal either. Such a system gave a fatal blow to the Weimar Republic in particular due to the mini-parties presented in the Reichstag to the extent that majorities for stable governments became impossible.

The present German electoral system is a mixture of direct and proportional systems. It tries to be perfect in electing half of the candidates in 299 electoral districts directly, whereas the other half, i.e., 299 candidates are added from lists the various parties set up so that they are represented in the Bundestag (the German parliament) according to the percentage of votes they received in the election. This is why German voters cast two ballots. The first is for the direct candidate, and the second is for the party's strength. For stability reasons, minority parties with less than 5% of the votes will not be represented in the Bundestag.

Red Baron likes persons with character and knows Gernot Erler as such. He supports this man of integrity and knowledge in his fourth run for a seat. However, this is not sure, for in 2009, the votes for the direct seat in Freiburg were split among three candidates: 33% for the Social Democrat Gernot Erler, 28% for the Christian Democrat Daniel Sander, and 23% for the Green Kerstin Andreae. In 2013 too, the Freiburg electoral district will be decided in a suspenseful triangulaire, as the French call it.

The slogan of the Social Democrats for the election in 2013 is Das Wir entscheidet (It's we that counts) against self-interest and greed. When leaving the pub, Erler jokingly modified the slogan to Das Bier entscheidet (Beer decides). Did he really mean Warsteiner Pils instead of a local Freiburg brew?

*

That's Not My Beer

Das ist nicht mein Bier, people say in Germany when they mean something does not concern them. 

What follows will not continue my previous blog; it will simply be about beer. Although I blogged about beer in the past when I reported on a Beer Tasting and mentioned the Reinheitsgebot (German purity law) in my blogs about Thuringian Food and Baguette de Tradition today, I must come back to beer because of some recent information and experience.

The other day I read an article with the same heading as this blog, in which the author sharply criticized the purity law: People claiming that German beer is a cultural heritage should admit that the beer brewed in our country tastes the same. The reason is that although many traditional brand names still exist, they are managed by only a few multinational food companies that produce uniform stuff. 

People drink a premium bottled beer from Brau Holding International, e.g., a Fürstenberger brewed in Donaueschingen, in a restaurant in faraway Berlin. However, for preservation, beer shipped over long distances is filtered several times, depriving the liquid of most of its proteins. These proteins give beers their characteristic taste, body, and Mundgefühl (mouth-feeling) and make them süffig (very drinkable). Therefore, my father taught me the first rule of beer drinking: Always drink local! Local beers are less filtered.

Red Baron likes to drink naturtrübes Hefeweizen ohne Alkohol (naturally cloudy alcohol-free wheat beer), a beer with two issues. Firstly, this beer does not conform to the German purity law published on April 23, 1516, in Bavaria. In olden times, wheat and rye had to be reserved for making bread. This was the main reason the Gebot only allowed barley - generally fed to the horses - for brewing beer. Secondly, alcohol is a flavor carrier. So alcohol-free wheat beer tastes different from the real stuff, but drinking alcohol during the day makes me sleepy. 

Over the last few years, alcohol-free beer has become increasingly popular in Germany, as it is isotonic, meaning the ions your body naturally eliminates are replenished when you drink beer, with or without alcohol.

I still well remember the time when American beer had no taste. Don't protest. The story goes like this: It must have been thirty years ago. On my way to a conference in the States, my incoming plane was late, and I missed my connecting flight. Stranded in Kennedy, they put me in a hotel near the airport. I was frustrated, and I went to the bar for a beer. 

I am trying to remember whether the bottle the barkeeper took out of the fridge was a Schlitz, Miller, or Budweiser, but I recall the glass he lifted out of the deep freeze. When he placed it in front of me, beautiful frost patterns formed on its surface. He poured the cold beer into the glass. I drank. The beer was cold but had no taste. 

In later years, whenever I ordered a beer in the States, I asked for a warm glass until a waitress corrected me: I'm sorry, sir, but we can't warm it for you. During my recent visits to the US, T. S. familiarized me with a Boston brew called Samuel Adams, so that my atavistic American beer experience slowly faded away.

Coming back to the article mentioned above. The author wrote that German beers received poor marks in recent years compared to brews from Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, and above all, the US. German beers are simply dull compared to the experimental beers in these countries. In the States, there are 2400 craft-beer brewers. Here comes my practical experience:

Ale Asylum's beer menu

A few days ago, when I was in Madison, Wisconsin, with a delegation from Freiburg celebrating the 25th anniversary of our sister city relationship, I had the occasion to participate in a pub crawl that our hosts, being proud of their microbreweries, had arranged for us. 

The by-now classical German idea of selling beer by the meter in aligning enough glasses on a wooden plank to achieve the proper length became a new experience at Madison's Ale Asylum. It was not that the length of the American plank is measured in feet, but instead in meters; it was the glasses. They were not filled with a uniform dishwasher but with eight different beers of the ten the Ale Asylum generally has on tap. In choosing, you could arrange your private beer tasting. 

What made our tasting doubly exciting and even scientific was the presence of a Belgian beer expert in our drinking team making notes on a napkin. Indeed, you had to write down your impressions, particularly when we later moved on to the KARBEN 4 microbrewery for further testing.

Beer on the wooden plank at KARBEN4. Admire the various shades of beer.

All the beers we tasted were a unique experience. I would only like to single out a brew named Hopalicious. As the name suggests, this beer was extremely bitter. Actually, it was so intensely hopped that our Belgian expert explained that when drinking Hopalicious, the taste buds become saturated, so you will no longer be able to taste other beers well.* 

*The same is true for cheese tasting. Take the Emmental first and the Munster last.

Suddenly, my memory came back to me about iced beer blocking the taste. Does history repeat itself? Are the Americans overdoing it again? It does not matter, as people love the taste of Hopalicious; it is the big seller, but Das ist nicht mein Bier. Red Baron prefers a fein gehopftes Pils (finely hopped lager).

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Idiomatics

In high school, our English teacher had us read Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Eliot; we knew everything about British and American history, but when I left school, I could not order a beer in the UK. Instead of making conversation, we were writing compositions. When the teacher handed our exercises back to us, he always had two complaints: prepositions and idioms. 

He admitted that using the correct preposition was the most challenging thing in any language. As far as idioms were concerned, Dr. G. told us that only one German expression translates literally into English and keeps its meaning: Im Bilde sein (to be in the picture).


I like idioms and have translated German expressions for my English- and French-speaking colleagues at CERN. My favorite was "Nägel mit Köpfen machen" (to make nails with heads), meaning that after all those long discussions, we finally have to get down to work. When I tried my translation on my colleagues, I looked into blank faces. Why should they be impressed when there are three English idioms expressing the same thing: We really do need to get down to brass tacks, we need to put wood behind the arrow (that will increase its momentum and boost its impact), and we must put our money where our mouths are.

Then there are a few askew comparisons of the so-called false friends that are not lost but are misleading in translation: Does auf den Busch klopfen (beat on the bush) translate as "beat around the bush"? Both expressions are taken from the hunting jargon, but their meanings differ. While auf den Busch klopfen is done in German to sound things out and get information, beating around the bush, in English, means avoiding clear statements or talking around an issue.

Idioms are deeply rooted in a language, and their translation into other languages is seldom successful. One typical example is the German proverb: Morgenstund' hat Gold im Mund, which translates to "The early bird catches the worm." However, something strange happened. The English "early bird" and the "worm" slowly but surely replace the German "morning hour" and the "gold coin." Is it the archaic picture of a gold piece in the mouth or simply the threefold alliteration* in the German translation: Der frühe Vogel fängt den Wurm that has made this expression so popular in Germany?
*Alliteration was the archaic form of rhyme in Germanic languages before the end rhyme took over. Famous examples of alliteration are: Brot und Butter (bread and butter), Himmel und Hölle (heaven and hell)

Red Baron and others also like to play with or experiment with languages. There are three German sayings that the vernacular has long since combined: Das schlägt dem Fass die Krone ins Gesicht > That hits the crown into a barrel's face. Here are the three ingredients:

Das schlägt dem Fass den Boden aus > that knocks the bottom out of the barrel > this takes the bloody biscuit, i.e., something outrageous happens. In olden times, knocking the bottom out of a barrel was practiced by controllers who wanted to be sure about spilling a lousy wine or an untaxed beer.

Das setzt dem Ganzen die Krone auf > that crowns everything, i.e., will add the finishing touch.

Das ist ein Schlag ins Gesicht > that is a slap in the face.

Sorry, folks, I went back to my old habit of trying to translate German idioms into English again.

**

A Cryptic Poster

The other day my friend Kendall made me aware of a German-American association. Looking through their photos, I found a fascinating poster. The poem's quality could be better, but the sailing ship caught my eye. It flies St. George's Cross and the Bundesflotte (Federal Navy) flag of 1849.

Going back in history, 1848 was a year of revolution across Europe. Following the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna in 1815 restored power to the former princes and dukes with the constraint that they should become constitutional. The 38 German States were bound together in a Confederation and represented in a Bundestag (Federal Assembly) that met in Frankfurt under the presidency of the Austrian Emperor.

The constitutions the princes imposed on their people were sometimes not worth the paper they were printed on. In the case of Baden, which had the most progressive constitution in Germany, the Grand Ducal government frequently ignored the liberties granted. However, in the spirit of the American and French heritage, people demanded democracy and equal rights.

The revolutions that broke out in 1848 in most German states were violent and bloody, as in Berlin (Prussia), Vienna (Austria), or Dresden (Saxony). Although the rulers eventually managed to quell the uprisings, they nevertheless were shocked and consented to the universal election of a Nationalversammlung in all German territories. This National Assembly likewise met in Frankfurt.

Without going into the details of the many verbose deliberations at the Paulskirche (St. Paul's Church), where the delegates met, the First Danish-German War profoundly shaped the Nationalversammlung. The Danish king had annexed German-speaking Schleswig, ignoring the motto of the two territories, Schleswig and Holstein: Op ewig ungedeelt. The slogan "Eternally unseparated," expressed in Low German, remains valid today.

A federal intervention army soon came to grips with the Danes on land, who, however, remained masters of the seas, blocking the German harbors. The Confederation had no navy.

Admiral Brommy (©Wikipedia)

On June 14, 1848, the National Assembly, by a vast majority, authorized a credit of 6 million talers (possibly more than 6 million dollars) to construct a German navy. Besides, private sponsorship, born of a national feeling, became important. On March 18, 1849, Rear Admiral Karl Rudolf Bromme (called Brommy) became Commander-in-Chief of the North Sea Flotilla with his flagship Barbarossa in Brake, Lower Saxony. The seaport of Brake became, at this time, the provisional naval base of the first German fleet. Brommy had served in the Greek navy and spoke fluent English, which he had learned while working for the American merchant marine.

The flag of the Federal Navy showed the colors black-red-gold and the Imperial Eagle. By 1849, the fleet consisted of a couple of steam frigates and corvettes, but was particularly proud of two sailing ships: the frigates SMS Eckernförde and SMS Deutschland.

Frigates SMS Eckernförde and Deutschland (©Wikipedia)

Due to financial and political problems, the first German navy had a short life. Most ships were sold, and on March 31, 1853, Brommy signed the dissolution order. On April 1, the history of the first German navy ended with the disestablishment of all naval authorities and the release of the personnel still in service.

The Federal Navy parading on the Lower Weser near Brake (©Bundesmarine)

Coming back to the poster. Following the collapse of the 1948/49 Revolution in Germany, many participants fled to France or Switzerland, from where they emigrated to the States. Some of those Forty-Eighters became known in the US, such as Gustav Struve as a journalist, Friedrich Hecker as a farmer and publisher, Lorenz Brentano as a member of Congress, and Carl Schurz as US Secretary of the Interior. He also fought in the Civil War like many others, such as Louis Blenker, Alexander Schimmelpfennig, and Franz Sigel. They all came to the States on British or French carriers.

Unfortunately, the poster does not show a historical event. Nevertheless, it makes me dream of some Freiburgers who - following the occupation of their city on July 7, 1849, by Prussian troops - fled and eventually embarked for the States aboard a ship of the Federal Navy flying the Federal Insignia and Freiburg's flag, with St. George's Cross too.

Click on the following links to read more about the Revolution in Baden or about the Bundesflotte in German.

**

Damenbad

Did you know that there is segregation in Freiburg? For example, the Lorettobad in the Wiehre neighborhood has a separate ladies-only pool.

Sommer, Sonne, Damenbad published by Lavori Verlag

As far back as 1980, a student challenged this gender segregation in court, possibly because he felt deprived of seeing girls in bikinis. He eventually lost the court case. According to the Municipal Code, installations may be dedicated and used as such. Furthermore, no gender is excluded from swimming, for the Lorettobad has other, larger pools accessible to everyone. Therefore, a Damenbad does not violate the principle of equality enshrined in the Grundgesetz (the German constitution).

In addition to his lost case, the student was mistaken about Damenbad's clients. As the name says, the users are ladies, while girls prefer the open area of the Lorettobad, for they like to be seen in their bikinis, particularly by students.

Today, there was an exception. The Badische Zeitung had arranged a visit to the Damenbad for its readers only, from 6 (!) to 9 a.m., before the official opening. So Red Baron, living nearby, walked to the Lorettobad and arrived at 6:02.

I arrived at the Damenbad at dawn.

Many ladies were present and greeted the male guests, but the promised coffee and the croissants were still missing.

First contacts under the moon at 6:06 a.m. (©BZ)

Two other gentlemen were there and started undressing, but they were told to change in the public area of the swimming pool. When they returned in their swimming trunks, Red Baron was tempted to swim, too, despite a water temperature of only 21 degrees centigrade.

Red Baron hesitating

The swimming pools are not heated. In 1990, the Lorettobad was refurbished; the old concrete basins were replaced with stainless-steel pools. The advantage of the latter is better hygiene and a heating effect. The sun is not only reflected off the metallic surfaces of the walls and the ground, but the red and infrared parts of the spectrum, going back and forth, are partly absorbed by the water. This is why the pools look bluish.

So in our Green City, only the sun warms the pools, with their water continuously circulating and passing through cleaning filters. Since stainless steel is a bad heat conductor, the water keeps its temperature over extended periods.

After the swim: Red Baron climbs out of the Damenbad (©BZ)

Technical details about water circulation and cleaning.
Red Baron listens skeptically to the explanations of the pool supervisor (©BZ)

When I left at 7:30, the sun had taken over.

For Freiburg, the Lorettobad, particularly the Damenbad, is a cultural heritage site. It is sponsored by the Freunde des Lorettobades.

  

Fundraising concert arranged by the Friends of the Lorettobad (©Freunde des Lorettobades)

**

Madisonallee

Freiburg continues to enlarge its streetcar network. From April 2014, the existing line, number 2, will run beyond its present terminus, Zähringen, to the village of Gundelfingen. Meanwhile, the construction work on a new line number 4  has started connecting the Technical Faculty of the University and the buildings of the city's Trade Fair with downtown Freiburg. The line will branch off line number 5 to the University Medical Center. However, this new streetcar project suffered a delay of at least one year for two reasons.

The old planning clearly shows the Beißschrecken Bent (©BZ)

The City Council discussed at length the fate of the protected Braunfleckige Beißschrecke (Platycleis tessellata) living in the area of Freiburg's airfield. To not startle the grasshopper, the new streetcar line was initially planned to approach the Trade Fair via a turn of 300 degrees (see above), quickly nicknamed Beißschrecken Bent. Such a sharp turn will cause considerable wear to rails and wheels.

Platycleis tessellata (©Wikipedia)

The second reason was the recent planning of a new soccer stadium for SC Freiburg and the need to pass the new line close to the projected site. Now, streetcar number 4 will run on tracks parallel to the three-lined road named after Madison. One of these days, streetcars will show the terminus Madisonallee and remind Freiburgers of our sister city in Wisconsin.

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Giorgiomania

I intended to address the aftermath of Georg Gänswein's visit to Freiburg for Archbishop Robert Zollitsch's 75th birthday by adding a paragraph to my earlier blog. However, when today's Badische Zeitung printed two articles about Don Giorgio being in town, I decided to dedicate a separate blog to our guest.

Don Giorgio's apartment on Herrenstraße

Presently George is spending his vacation in the region, living in an apartment he still keeps on Freiburg's Herrenstraße. This is a decent place for a Curial Archbishop, for the street was named after the clerical dignitaries - like those of Freiburg's Chapter - who once had their houses in the shadow of the Münster Church.

George's doorbell

Vacation? No way! On yesterday's Assumption Day (August 15), it was natural that Archbishop Robert invited his colleague George to preach in the Münster Church. St. Mary's Assumption Day is the patronal festival of the Münster and hence one of the highest church holidays in Freiburg. It is the only day of the year when there is no Münstermarkt. The square stayed absolutely empty; however, the Münster Church was packed with 2500 people, and many women had come to catch a glimpse of handsome George.

Curial Archbishop Georg Gänswein (right) co-celebrating the Latin Mass (©BZ).

In his homily, Gänsewein addressed the complex topic of Pope Pius XII's Dogma on the bodily Assumption of Mary into heaven promulgated in 1950. Admitting that this dogma nowadays somehow "stands in the way," he explained that the tenet means God knows and loves the whole person, soul and body. Nothing precious to men and women will perish with death. God's love is the foundation of eternity, and those who love God will not perish. George spoke in German, but the Mass - did you expect anything else? - was read in Latin.

Following the festival service, Freiburg's Financial Mayor, Otto Neideck, invited Gänswein to the city's oldest town hall to sign the Golden Book. A Freiburg official whispered: Never before have I seen so many press photographers in our venerable Gerichtslaube.

Born in the Black Forest, George acknowledged his roots: Those who cut roots cut life. With this remark, he passed a plate to Neideck, who immediately filled it, mentioning the succession to Archbishop Robert. Yesterday, George modulated his previous statement about his future somewhat: "I have never striven for a position (That's what they all say). My previous jobs were all entrusted to me."

Get moving, Pope Francis!

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch and Financial Mayor Otto Neideck watching
Curial Archbishop Georg Gänswein signing Freiburg's Golden Book (©BZ).

You will find more about Georg Gänswein in two previous blogs on Pope Benedict's visit to Freiburg and President Joachim Gauck's visit to the Vatican.

**

Footprints

©Hermann Monument

There is a 32-foot statue of Hermann the Cheruscan - the Romans called him Arminius - at New Ulm, Minnesota. Hermann's story goes like this:

Hermann, a Cheruscan chieftain, negotiated an alliance between the Marsi, Bructeri, and Chatti tribes and his own warriors to defend Germania against Roman conquest. In September of 9 AD, Arminius' cunning strategy led to the ambush and defeat of the 17th, 18th, and 19th legions of imperial Rome under the command of Publius Quinctilius Varus. This running battle, fought amid the Teutoburg Forest, ended abruptly in the Narrows near the Kalkriese Berg, initiating a change in Tiberius Caesar's foreign policy. Although Caesar sent eight more legions to Germania, Arminius and his brave warriors continued their fight for freedom. Increased casualties and a dwindling treasury during subsequent battles between Arminius and Germanicus Caesar convinced Tiberius to abandon Germania in 17 AD. The alliance faltered in the absence of a common foe; intertribal strife and jealousy led to Arminius' assassination by his kinfolk.

Our freedom from the Romans was so definitive that Germany's "Roman" neighbors still hold it against us that we are totally ignorant of Latin culture.

Hermann's footprint at New Ulm (©Bring me the News)

Coming back to New Ulm, Minnesota. The City's Convention and Visitors Bureau manager informed the press that a footprint of Hermann had been located in a basement during cleanup and that it possibly was cast in Germany. He had put the 4-foot-long footprint on display on the wall outside his office with a note: Deutsche haben mehr Spass. Do Germans have more fun just because we have larger feet?

Later, New Ulm's tourism chief admitted that he had the mold cast by a local artist and added, "I felt terrible all along." You know, I was an altar boy for six years. I feel very un-altarish. 

It seems Red Baron's father was right in a remark he made about radiologists: They start as altar boys, later learn to lie, cheat, commit perjury, and then take X-rays.

Hermann der Cherusker near Detmold (©Wikipedia)

The New Ulm "altar boy" quickly recovered: It's been a fun promotion. We're expecting significant reactions at the local Oktoberfest. Did he get "his" idea when he had heard about another footprint of Hermann, larger than the one at New Ulm?

The footprint in Germany was cast in 2009, the Varus Year, commemorating the second millennium of the famous battle. It is permanently displayed at Detmold, the city near the Hermann Memorial in the Teutoburg Forest. Hermann's statue on top measures nearly 27 meters (88 feet), with his footprint corresponding to 2.1 meters (7 feet). Like in New Ulm, the foot was sculpted to attract tourists.

Looking for more and other footprints, I came across carbon or green footprints. You can calculate your personal ecological footprint using two programs I found on the Internet:

The UK program gave the following result: I need 1.71 planets or use a surface of 3.08 ha (7.6 acres) for my resources, broken down into food 26%, home 21%, travel 12%, and stuff 41%. My carbon footprint is 6.1 tons per annum.

The German program resulted in my personal footprint of 2.43 "earths" (4.37 ha, 10.8 acres), with food accounting for 24%, home for 33%, travel for 13%, and stuff for 30%. It is only a little comforting that, at 5.1 ha (12.6 acres), the average German citizen has a larger footprint than I do.

I know that my travel figure is low, for I use my car only for 5000 km (3000 miles) a year, walk what is accessible on foot, and take the train for longer distances. My apartment is built according to current environmental standards, and we keep temperatures low in winter.

Having already switched my incandescent bulbs, starting as early as 1999, to neon (actually mercury) tubes, I now change to LEDs whenever possible. Elisabeth and I eat more fish than meat and keep locally produced fruit and vegetables for our groceries. On the other hand, I like my electronic gear and am always looking for more speed and efficiency.

**

The Hesitant Brave

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch (©BZ)

On Archbishop Robert Zollitsch's 75th birthday, Freiburg's Sunday paper Der Sonntag published a full-page article two weeks ago. The article was titled: Der zaghafte Mutige (The hesitant Brave), meaning that Archbishop Robert epitomizes the dilemma of the Catholic Church. He stands for minor reforms that eventually run into the sand.

During my stay in Switzerland, I helped prepare the Swiss Synode 72 in the 1970s. As an introduction, the Swiss bishops wrote: We need your support and collaboration to prepare. All suggestions and requests will be carefully examined and evaluated. After long debates, the discussion groups produced well-balanced reform proposals. The Catholic episcopate politely took note and expressed thanks, but fundamental changes in the Church's roots and branches were not even started, except for mere outer appearances.

In Freiburg in April this year, a Diocesan Assembly demanded, above all, courage. The Catholic Church should no longer see modern society's political and social liberties as a danger but as an opportunity for reform. After three days of intense debate, it was the same old story: Archbishop Robert took note but said his hands were tied.

Shaken by child abuse, financial scandals, and an internal Mafia (why did Pope Benedict step down?), the Catholic Church is muddling through. Meanwhile, the number of people leaving the Church is increasing, and churches without parish priests remain empty. So far, imports from Poland have somewhat compensated for the lack of priests, but as I reported earlier, the last Polish Franciscans will leave Freiburg soon.

The other evening at a recent Stammtisch of the Freiburg-Madison Gesellschaft, I learned that Americans continue to trust in God. Religious life is thriving. People assemble in manageable-sized congregations and live in the Sunday community with their ministers like the early Christians. Personal cohesion and solidarity are most important in a parish, whereas the Catholic Church in Germany tries to compensate for the lack of priests by aggregating parishes. 

These larger entities, called pastoral units, are counterproductive to forming a community. Robert Zollitsch said that the size of "pastoral" units in his archdiocese was based on the assumption of twenty new priests per year. Now he admits that the number is considerably lower.

Although the Protestant Church in Germany has problems, too, there is still the recollection of the traditional Lutheran parsonage where the pastor preached the Gospel and his wife exercised her charitable role. 

Why does the Catholic Church not abolish celibacy? Soon, when the last old men try to keep the Catholic ship afloat, they will regret not allowing priests to marry. It is comforting to read that Archbishop Robert, who had previously said that celibacy is not "necessary" for the priesthood, at least allows his sheep to discuss the issue. In the same interview, Robert considered God quite capable of working miracles.

Georg Gänswein congratulates Robert Zollitsch.
George said he liked his work in Rome very much
when asked about his future plans. (©BZ)

Archbishop Robert turns 75 today, and I wish him all the best for his future. At that age, he must propose his retirement to Pope Francis, who may take it or leave it. Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne will retire too. Many Catholics hoped the Vatican's George Clooney, Georg Gänswein, would return to Germany as a bishop in this situation. Although he is considered conservative, like his former master, Pope Benedict, is he a flicker of hope?

On August 10, the Badische Zeitung reported on Robert Zollitsch's birthday festivities. The President of the Central Committee of German Catholics said nothing other than what I wrote: Robert dares to walk his way; he is open, always constructive, creating a new culture of discussion within the Church. In his laudatio, Cardinal Walter Kasper went a step further: We cannot build a new Church, but we should become a new kind of Church, drawing our force from our roots. As Pope Francis said: The Church must go to its limits. 

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The Banana Peels of Language

Yesterday I read a one-page article in the Badische Zeitung about Die Fettnäpfchen der Sprache (The banana peels of language) discussing political correctness in talking or writing. I once spoke at the Stammtisch of the Freiburg-Madison Gesellschaft about whether political correctness could be overdone. Yesterday's article shed new light on the topic.

There are two words for black men (Schwarze) in German that are no longer politically correct: Neger (nigger) and the archaic Mohr* (moor).
*The word moor originates from the dark-skinned Muslim Moors (Mauren) who invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the early Middle Ages.

However, the other day, a quarrel started when publishers began to change the text in classical children's books following the American practice where the nigger in Huckleberry Finn mutated into a slave and negroes became persons of the African race. Yet, race does not work in German because Rasse has been a taboo word (Unwort) since 1945. Will they change the word Mohr in Die Geschichte von den schwarzen Buben (The Story of the Inky Boys) in Heinrich Hoffman's Der Struwwelpeter?



As he had often done before,
The woolly-headed Black-a-moor
One nice fine summer's day went out
To see the shops and walk about;
And, as he found it hot, poor fellow,
He took with him his green umbrella.

Now, Edward, William, and Arthur followed him.

And kept on singing - only think! -
"Oh, Blacky, you're as black as ink!"

Now tall Agrippa lived close by -
So tall he almost touched the sky;
He had a mighty inkstand, too,
In which a great goose feather grew;
He called out in an angry tone
"Boys, leave the Black-a-moor alone!
For if he tries with all his might,
He cannot change from black to white."
But, ah! they did not mind a bit
What great Agrippa said of it;
But went on laughing, as before,
And hooting at the Black-a-moor.




Then great Agrippa foams with rage ...
He seizes Arthur, seizes Ed,
Takes William by his little head;
And they may scream and kick and call,
Into the ink, he dips them all;
Into the inkstand, one, two, three,
Till they are black as black can be.



See, there they are, and there they run!
The Black-a-moor enjoys the fun.
They have been made as black as crows,
Entirely black all over, eyes and nose,
And legs, and arms, and heads, and toes,
And trousers, pinafores, and toys -
The silly little inky boys!
Because they set up such a roar,
And teased the harmless Black-a-moor.

For me, changes in the wording of works of literature are unacceptable. I once read the politically corrected lyrics of Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind: From the original, How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man? The words were perverted to the grammatically incorrect text: How many roads must an individual walk down before you can call them an adult?

In Germany, we should now say Sinti or Roma and no longer use the word Zigeuner (gypsy). Nevertheless, I still like to order my Zigeunerschnitzel mit Pommes Frites und Salat (Gypsy schnitzel with fries and salad). What is wrong with that? 

Do we really think that by "officially" changing names or words, we will change the attitude of men and women toward people of other mentality, colors, and religions? Our languages become poorer when we replace grown words with artificial constructs. In his book 1984, George Orwell introduced the language Newspeak: Do you know that Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year?

One example of the so-called rat race of euphemism is the downgrading of the wording for schwer erziehbare Kinder (children who are difficult to raise or challenging to educate). As time went by, this was softened to verhaltensgestörte Kinder (children with behavioral disturbances) and continued through verhaltensauffällig (children with behavioral issues) to the ridiculous word verhaltensorginell (children of inventive or original behavior). It is all so frustrating, for the change in the wording does not change the behavior of these children a bit or transform them into clever kids, as the word inventive suggests.

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Get Your Kicks at Bayreuth

Red Baron loves the theater, or should I write loved? I still remember the Golden Sixties of German stagecraft. Theaters in Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich performed classical pieces by Lessing, Schiller, and Brecht, and modern pieces by Dürrenmatt, Frisch, and Kroetz. I was in Munich then and watched actresses such as Therese Giehse, Elfriede Kuzmany, and Edda Seippel, and actors such as Rolf Boysen, Thomas Holtzmann, and Romuald Pekny perform on stage. 

They are all long gone, but I shall never forget their fine acting and articulate speech. These artists had been educated at renowned institutions such as the Otto-Falkenberg-Schule, the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar, and the Folkwang Universität der Künste.

What a discrepancy between the past and today. Actors and actresses of the new generation prefer performing on TV, just moving around the set and mumbling their words. 

As far as theater performances are concerned, I no longer recognize the classical authors when stage directors rewrite the texts in what is called Regietheater in German. However, there are laudable exceptions. I remember a performance of Schiller's trilogy Wallenstein here in Freiburg, where the stage director had reduced the text so that the three-evening show fitted into one evening. In limiting the storyline to just two threads, the personality of Wallenstein and the love between his daughter and General Piccolomini's son, the plot gained density and depth. Eventually, it was only a detail that, in the end, the Irish Colonel Butler dressed in a World War I uniform killed Wallenstein with a six-shooter instead of using a halberd.

Coming back to Bayreuth. There is a crucial difference between spoken theater and opera: stage directors do not change the music. However, they compensate for their frustration by transposing archaic plots into modern times, as in this year's Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung at the Bayreuth Festival. In Rhinegold, the first part of the tetralogy, you meet some sluts and get your kicks in a motel on Route 66 instead of Wotan's Valhalla. Wotan is a noble rogue, and the Rhine daughters are saloon sluts. Black-and-white movies project gunmen onto a screen.

Rhinegold stage set 2013 (©Bayreuther Festspiele)

If you think this is going too far, look at Siegfried's set. A communist Mount Rushmore featuring Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao intrigued bourgeois spectators and elicited some boos. Siegfried whacks Fafnir, downgraded from a terrifying dragon to a mere crocodile, using a Kalashnikov AK-47 (Crocodile Siegfried?). Following a spaghetti and red wine orgy, the "Norne" Erda (Urd), wearing a blond headdress, gives Wotan a blow job. 

Critic Alexander Dick writes in the Badische Zeitung that Richard Wagner's music and Frank Casdorf's stage set have nothing in common, but so far, that is the only thing that hurts.

Siegfried stage set 2013 (©Bayreuther Festspiele)

Yet the real Wagner aficionado is not concerned. He will simply close his eyes and enjoy the music.

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Hot Bayreuth

Another round date anniversary in 2013 is Richard Wagner's 200th birthday on May 22. Although somewhat late, yesterday's opening of the 102nd Richard-Wagner-Festspiele in Bayreuth was something special.

Remember my blog about Marx?
This time, artist Ottmar Hörl merchandises his plastic Wagners for 300 euros.
In the back is the venerable Festspielhaus (©BZ).

I love classical music, but Wagner has always been too big for me. Many of my countrymen and -women feel alike: I find his music overblown, bombastic, and sometimes flatulent, and I do not like his ant-antisemitism (Ameisen-Antisemitismus), as Stefan Mickisch called it in this year's introductory lecture.

The Brits and the French particularly adore Richard's music as typically German, or should I instead write Teutonic? They pay a fortune to sit in the Bayreuth Festival Theater (Festspielhaus) on the Green Hill without air conditioning on wooden seats. Yesterday, with temperatures approaching 40 degrees centigrade, they devoutly listened to The Flying Dutchman together with Germany's high society.

From left to right: Bayreuths Oberbürgermeisterin Brigitte Merk-Erbe,
Bundespräsident Joachim Gauck, Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel and
Ministerpräsident Horst Seehofer facing Richard Wagner's birthday cake (©DPA).

The foreign aficionados came for the music, and the politicians came to be seen. This is why Bavarian Governor Horst Seehofer invited the latter to an official reception (Staatsempfang) at the Neues Schloss (New Castle). 

"Tricky Horst" (Finten-Horst) and Bayreuth's Lord Mayor Brigitte Merk-Erbe offered the first slices of Wagner's birthday cake to our President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel. Jochen and Mutti (Mom) said that they liked the performance of Der fliegende Holländer but did not comment on the cake.

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How to Boast with Statistics

Red Baron, in France too (©Schulz).

Anybody concerned with statistics has read Darrell Duff's book How to Lie with Statistics. Darrell wrote it in 1954, and since then, it has become the best-selling book about the abuse of statistical data.

Despite this somewhat pessimistic introduction, I proudly present to my loyal readers the popularity ranking of my 183 blogs to date, limiting myself to the ten most visited. Although Red Baron's Blog has only twelve registered followers, some of the articles must have been read by many more people and stand out as rather popular.

As Google reports, and they are not lying (?), here are the ten most visited blogs:

1. Annoying the French 2124

2. My Fairy Tales 1323

3. The conquest of space and time 829

4. Uta of Naumburg 814

5. Deutscher Wald 771

6. Saltworks and Hunting for Tympana in Southern Burgundy 758

7. Dueling is crazy 728

8. The Lost Cause 667

9. Döner, a German Food 510

10. Pirates! Prepare to Board 401

(©Scott Johnson 2013)

Why is my blog about Stephen Clarke's book 1000 Years of Annoying the French so popular? To find out, I googled the blog title instead of its web address. I found many bookshops that wanted to sell me the book.

Not until item 62 on the list is a reference to my blog given, but I learned that Clarke had written a sequel to his bestseller, Annoying the French Encore. Considered an addendum to the original book, the new pages are available as an e-book. For a mere 99 euro cents, I loaded the booklet on my iPad and started reading. In his encore, Clarke stuck to just four topics:

1. The merger of the English-French navies. The French simply forgot that all good things come in threes and repressed the memory of the humiliating Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and the British bombing and sinking of their tricolor fleet at Mers-el-Kebir in 1940.

2. The Dominique Strauss-Kahn affair. As an American-French issue, it has nothing to do with British-French relations. Nevertheless, Clarke likes to see the Americans pillory a representative of the French establishment for his amoral conduct. However, the author's advocacy for women's rights comes off as "put on" and needs to be more credible.

3. The French as royalists. They will always regret having guillotined their Bourbon king, which, according to Clarke, explains their hype for the royal wedding and the jubilee in 2012. At the William-Kate wedding, Clarke served as an expert, explaining the ceremonies to French commentators, but he had his difficulties: the name of the Goring Hotel, where Kate had spent the night, the French pronounced as if it had been named after the former head of the Luftwaffe. No, no, I repeatedly told them the Royal Family may be of German origin, but they really wouldn't book the future princess into ze 'Otel Goering.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
plus Hanover, represented by the Lower Saxon horse
(©Wikipedia)

My fellow countrywomen are at least as enthusiastic about the Royals as the bonnes menagères outre Rhin. 

And apropos German origin, our pulp magazines wrote that the brand-new baby (direct quote: David Cameron) is German, referring to the House of Hanover, which ruled Great Britain starting with George I in 1714. The new prince even got the two names of his x-times-great-grandfather: Georg Ludwig (George Alexander Louis). Do not forget other German males in the line, such as Albert von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, husband of Queen Victoria and the baby's great-grandfather, Prince Philip, with his roots in the House of   Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. 

Will the French - coming in not even second but third in naming the prince - consider Louis as a compliment or an affront? I am sure Stephen Clarke will enlighten us with another sequel to his book.

4. David Cameron, the defender of the British pound. At a euro summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, seconded by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, wanted to impose taxes on financial transactions, but the British Prime Minister refused to cooperate with the plan. 

Angela watched the two boys quarrel until David left the meeting at approximately 4.48 a.m. Sarko was said to have called Cameron a gamin buté, which I saw translated in the British press as an obstinate kid ... At 6.50 a.m., Cameron went to bed at the British Embassy (his symbolic island retreat), and, at 8.15, the triumph of triumphs, he ordered a full English breakfast. Oh yes, when England has its back to the wall and is being attacked by the somber forces of continental Europe, it throws the namby-pamby Mediterranean diet out of the window and goes for good old British cholesterol. No doubt those other frustrated European leaders were either still in bed or nibbling at muesli, croissants, or pickled herrings. You could almost hear 'Rule, Britannia!' playing in the background.

Here, Clarke got one detail wrong: For breakfast, Angela had a crusty buttered Schrippe followed by a Schusterjunge with crackling fat; both spreads are loaded with German cholesterol.

The Economist magazine, which has a high profile in Paris, went one stage further - in humiliating the French - and splashed a headline across its cover – 'What France needs' – next to a picture of Margaret Thatcher. As for Germany, our Angela was an acceptable ersatz, although her ministers call her Mutti (mom) instead of Eiserne Dame.

Finally, the popularity of my silver-medal Fairy Tale Blog may have to do with the pictures from my fairy tale book, which was published in 1937. Here are two more:

Aschenputtel (Cinderella)

Der Wolf und die sieben jungen Geißlein
(The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids)

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