Festakt

Yesterday, Red Baron was invited to a ceremony at the Aula of the University.

The AYF @ 60 + 3" Anniversary Celebration was surrounded by the music of the Black Forest Badgers, a band composed of AYF students.

Ulli gave a charming speech.

There were many speeches, but I only took a photo of the man who had planned it all: Program Director Ulli Struve.

In the end, Ulli joined his Badgers as a lead singer …

  

… and the older generation started to twist and shout.

Professor James Steakley,
Resident Director AYF 2010/2011

We had an invisible guest at the ceremony, his name was often mentioned, and everybody was looking for him, but in the end, nobody had seen Jim.

The Freiburg-Madison-Gesellschaft organizes events for the AYF students throughout the year. Below I present some photos of smiling students. See more on FMG's Website. Click on the respective years and enjoy.

AYF 2010/2011: Wine Tasting at the Winery Sonnenbrunnen in Opfingen (©JS)

AYF 2011/2012: At the "Schönberger Hof" for a small lunch in the beer garden

AYF 2012/2013: Guided Tour. Historic Places in Freiburg

AYF 2013/2014: Student reception at the Greiffenegg-Schlössle

AYF 2014/2015: Sailing on Schluchsee

AYF 2015/2016: With dignitaries at the 8th International Meeting of Freiburg's Sister Cities

AYF 2016/2017: Student reception at the Greiffenegg-Schlössle

AYF 2017/2018: Hiking tour around the Schönberg on German Unity Day

AYF 2018/2019: Excursion to the Berglusthaus in St. Ulrich on May 1.

AYF 2019/2020: The BFB at the festive Christmas dinner

AYF 2021/2022: After Corona,
happy to be back again at the reception at the Greiffenegg-Schlössle

AYF 2022/2023: The BFB on stage at Freiburg's 10th International Partnership Market (©US)

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De-Risking

It's summertime, and journalists tend to fill the upcoming Sommerloch (summer slump) with attractive news of minor importance.

In Germany, a discussion flared up about the notion of de-risking. Who coined the term first?

Ursula and Olaf in Munich on February 18 (©Anna Szilagyi)

Was it the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, or German Chancellor Olaf Scholz? And being of German mother tongues, how dare they invent an English word?

Our chancellor used the word first at the end of last year, "And that is the policy we need to start now. Building resilience, diversifying in our economic and trade relations; de-risking, to put it this way," and he meant China.

Von der Leyen was second in her Mercator speech on March 30 when she stated, "Our relationship with China is neither black nor white. That's why Europe needs to focus on de-risking rather than decoupling."

So Scholz was first, but he did not invent "de-risking." For some time, the term has been used in the finance sector when banks or investors restrict or completely terminate business relationships to minimize the risk of default.

The US was a long-time advocate of decoupling its economy from China. However, three weeks after von der Leyen's Brussels speech, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen left the strict US line, "We don't want to decouple our economy from China's; a complete separation of our two economies would be disastrous for both countries."

Although a decoupling will be less disastrous for the US than for Europe, two weeks later, National Security adviser Jake Sullivan had another go, "The US is for 'de-risking,' not 'decoupling,'" and he emphasized, "as President von der Leyen recently put it."

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Kochland Germany?

When the other day, Red Baron read an article in Der Spiegel titled Die heimlichen Einflüsterer der FDP (The Secret Influencers of the Free Democrats), Charles Koch was frequently mentioned. His influence on the thinking of a hardcore in our liberal party was extensively discussed.

Multi-billionaire Charles Koch:
According to "Forbes" worth 57 billion dollars (©Axios On Hbo/imago)

I learned that Koch had revered the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises who stated in 1929, "There is no other choice than this: either to refrain from isolated interventions in the play of the market or to transfer the entire management of production and distribution to the authorities. Either capitalism or socialism; there is simply no middle ground."

These ideas are propagated by Frank Schäffler, deputy of the Free Democrats in the Bundestag (Germany's federal parliament), with reference to climate change. As you know, Germany is governed by a three-party coalition, the Social Democrats, the Greens, and the Liberals. Conflicts are frequent between the two latter parties.

Publicly Schäffler last denied climate change in 2014, "I am a climate skeptic." He used vocabulary like "climate hysteria," "guilt complex," and "re-education attempts." Schäffler even strained a phrase that Koch's remote-controlled citizens' initiatives had used in 2009, "The polar bears are becoming more numerous."

Since then, Schäffler became more prudent, but in the traffic light coalition government's attempt to push the Gebäudeenergiegesetz* (GEG = building energy law) through parliament, he sowed uncertainty among the German citizens on June 12, saying, "Recently the chimney sweep was with me; if you want to install a heat pump, invest around 150,000 euros with all the trimmings."
*In principle, from January 1, 2024, every newly installed heating system (in new and existing buildings, residential and non-residential) must be powered by at least 65 percent renewable energy.

The formulation that climate policy is a "planned economy" gains respectability within the FDP up to its chairman, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner.

While Germany is slowly progressing and reducing CO₂ emissions in industry and heating, road transport fails to follow. Confronted with the unpleasant situation on national television, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) blamed German drivers, "In 2022, citizens were not able to emit as little as prescribed." "After all," he continued, "it's not politics that drive around with many cars."

Red Baron never read such a radical rejection of the authority of a government by libertarian ideologues, "The government can do nothing to meet its targets on greenhouse gas emissions; the population must manage that on its own."

In this spirit, we still have no general speed limit on our autobahns that would reduce CO₂ emissions. Instead, the FDP demands "Freie Fahrt für freie Bürger (Free driving for free citizens)."

Red Baron is worried about days with temperatures of more than 30 C (86 F) already in June and increasing surface water shortages with groundwater levels falling.

Recent measurements show the unabated rise of CO₂ concentrations in the atmosphere.

Daily surface temperature variations in the Atlantic over the years
and 2023 anomaly in red

And recently, scientists observed an unexplained rise in the surface water temperature of the Atlantic. The consequences are unclear, but warmer water evaporates more rapidly, giving rise to denser clouds and violent thunderstorms. They will discharge their water locally, leading to landslides and inundations, while most parts of the European continent lack rain.

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Stockholm II

On the last but one day of our Swedish trip, the group continued visiting Stockholm. We started in the morning with a guided tour of the city. 

We visited the grounds of the famous Stadshuset (town hall), from where we had a view of the Gamla Stan (Old City).

August Strindberg statue in the Stadshuset Park.

On our way to the Kungliga Slottet (Royal Palace), a reminder of this year's jubilee.

    

The Royal Opera, the Riksdag (parliament), and the Palace (©Apple Maps)

Beautifully restored houses on Stortorget (Large Square)

Svenska Akademien and Nobel Museum on Stortorget

Cheekily, as always, I "trumpeted" that Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen had received the first Nobel Prize. Our guide Tina, on the other hand, said that Henry Dunant was the person. It turned out that both received a Nobel Prize in 1901: Röntgen for his discovery of a new type of rays and Dunant for founding the International Red Cross.

Flag of the Svenska kyrkan, a Lutheran denomination, the former state church of Sweden.

On the Palace grounds, the Storkyrkan (Big Church). On the right side, a monument for Olaus Petri.

Olavus Petri, originally Olof Pettersson, studied theology at Wittenberg and was an eyewitness to Luther's posting of his theses in 1517. He is regarded as Sweden's reformer. Petri was city secretary and preacher at St. Nicolai Church (Storkyrkan) in Stockholm.

Inside the Palace: the throne room.

In 1810, French Marshall Bernadotte was elected Swedish Crown Prince to the childless Wasa King Charles XIII. Charles XIV, John of Sweden, was handsome, but his wife, Désirée Clary, was even more beautiful.

In Sweden, Désirée is known as Drottning Desideria.

A polished marble backside was the desire of all photographers.

The Palace Cabinet Room is only used on special occasions.
According to British practice: the king "goes" to the Riksdag (parliament).

A special event: On October 18, 2022, following general elections, Sweden got a
new Government led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (sitting left to the king)
of the Moderate Party

Little Versailles. Hall of Mirrors in Stockholms slott.

In those many rooms we visited, Red Baron noticed all types of mechanical clocks, all precise within seconds.

Meet the charming Royal Clockmaker. She makes her rounds and "watches" to make sure all the clocks are always on time. Still, she had the time for a little chat, or didn't we interview her?

        

Another reminder. From Wasa to Bernadotte 1523•1973•2023 Culture and service for the realm.

While others stretched their necks to watch the changing of the guards, Red Baron stood at the right corner at the right time and saw them marching by. The men still carry those Prussian spiked helmets; officers show theirs in polished brass. 

We had lunch at Sten Sture on Stortorget and, as a dessert, a little rain shower.

An Evening at the Royal Opera

Benjamin Britten's

LED technology makes those scenes possible (©Royal Opera Stockholm)

During the break, a view from the balcony of the opera house:
Riksdag building and the Stadshuset

Thank you. The applause is well deserved.

Red Baron loves the theater but is not an opera aficionado. Strangely enough, he not only listened to A Midsummer Night's Dream but lately to Wozzeck and the Threepenny Opera.

 
Suddenly, I feel like the Hauptmann von Köpenick, alias Wilhelm Voigt. After he was arrested and interrogated, the head of the commissioner's office slapped his thighs in glee at the shoemaker's audacity. He offered him a glass of red Bordeaux and asked, "How do you like it, Voigt?" Wilhelm answered in his Berlin dialect, "Daran könnt' ick mir jewöhnen (I could get used to that).

On our way out of Sweden, Red Baron noted the following panel:      

Down to earth: AI on everybody's mind.

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