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, along with his wife, Tatjana; by its vice president, Frauke Feix, and her husband, Günther; and by 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.

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St. Gallen

Red Baron has often been on Leserreisen (trips for readers) with the local Badische Zeitung. The journeys to Hamburg in the far north are particularly popular with people from Baden (see 2020, 2022, and 2023). This time, it was just a day trip to St. Gallen and the Rhine Falls.

The bus ride through the pre-summer landscape was pleasant. Our first stop was St. Gallen, where we got off at the Einstein parking lot. Einstein? What did he have to do with St. Gallen?

Advertising a musical

As we approached the tourist center after a short walk, his famous protruding tongue lit up in the distance.

So my first question to the hostesses was: What does Einstein have to do with St. Gallen? No one could answer me. Finally, ChatGPT came to the rescue: There is no known special or outstanding relationship between Albert Einstein and the city of St. Gallen.

Before visiting the famous abbey library, the actual destination of our trip, our group set off on a walk through the city.

The monastery district

From the 15th century onwards, the city of St. Gallen was the center of an increasingly flourishing linen industry, which reached its peak around 1714 with an annual production of 38,000 cloths. Linen production provided work for farmers who grew hemp and flax, spinners (primarily women) who spun the fibers into threads, weavers who wove the threads into cloth, bleachers who bleached the cloth white in the sunlight, and merchants who finally sold the fabric.

Workers in the "bleaching fields." Painting of the mid-17th century

The lengths of fabric, which were up to 80 meters long, were laid out flat on open meadows to be naturally lightened by the sun, water, and air.

Thanks to rigorous quality controls, the white linen from St. Gall was the finest available and was traded throughout Europe.


Around 610, the Irish monk Gallus came to what is now Switzerland to convert the Alemanni to Christianity. His grave soon became a popular place of pilgrimage, where in 719 the Alemannic priest Otmar founded the Abbey of St. Gallen.

Since its foundation, the monastery has rapidly gained influence. In a donation around the year 720, vineyards in Ebringen, a village south of Freiburg, were bequeathed to the monastery. This deed of donation is the oldest document kept in the Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen. It represents the first real estate acquired outside the monastery and is the oldest written evidence of viticulture between Freiburg and Basel.

During our tour of the city, I took the above photo of grapes on a stone house. When I asked our guide, he explained that in the past, only wine drinkers could afford stone houses because they were "steinreich" (stone rich).

He then continued that the well-known German saying "Wein auf Bier, das rat' ich dir, Bier auf Wein, das lass sein" (Wine after beer, that's what I advise; beer after wine, that's what I dissuade) does not mean that the two drinks must be consumed in a specific order for the total drink to be digestible.

Indeed, there is another English translation, "Wine after beer, that's my choice; beer after wine, never be a slave again," with the correct German meaning describing the social rise or fall of citizens, as identified through their choice of drink.

During St. Gallen's heyday, there were four breweries on the grounds of the monastery. Beer was the drink for the masses, as only citizens who had become wealthy through the trade in white linen could afford expensive wine.


In 1526, the then-mayor and humanist Joachim Vadian introduced the Reformation in St. Gallen.

Matthäus Merian:Topographia Helvetiae, Rhaetiae, et Valesiae. St. Gallen in 1642.
Note that the Schiedmauer surrounds the monastery grounds on the left (©Wikipedia/sidonius)

Initially, the monastery and the city coexisted peacefully, but in 1566, a wall was erected between the two, known as the Schiedmauer (dividing wall).

The quality of St. Gallen linen was good, but it was also expensive. Soon, cheaper competition emerged, including sheets made from cotton. Fewer and fewer white clothes were ordered. By 1798, the bleaching fields outside the city were empty.

St. Gallen experienced a second boom in the early 19th century, when machines began to replace hand embroidery. Many farmers from the surrounding area had such a machine installed on their farms in exchange for a down payment. They supplemented their meager income with the help of their wives and children. Around 1910, the embroidery was the largest export industry in Switzerland, accounting for 18% of the country's total exports. Over 50% of global production came from St. Gallen.

Why is St. Gallen's famous library called "Stiftsbibliothek" (endowed library) and not "Klosterbibliothek" (monastery library)?

Napoleon is to blame for this, as he is for everything else. In the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss (Imperial Recess) of 1803, he ordered the secularization of all ecclesiastical institutions in his territory to satisfy the territorial claims of his allies during the reorganization of Europe.

 
So, monasteries, when they survived, somehow became endowments.

  

Entering the Stiftsbibliothek in felt slippers

Vow!

Immense treasures are on display here:

Around 980

In 1125

1200 to 1300

Around 1510

The above picture shows a neume notation, the precursor to today's musical notation.

Apple was here, still unbitten.

St. James's scallops showed the way to the Stiftskirche

St. Gallen is a station on one of the many routes to Santiago de Compostela.

       

Unpretentious Baroque

Triumphant Christ with St. George's banner or Freiburg's colors?

Erie reflections in the baptismal font

OLMA Bratwurst, Rösti, onion gravy, and St. Galler monastery beer

I had lunch in memory of my late son, who studied at the Hochschule St. Gallen and who initiated me on OLMA* Bratwurst. 

*This acronym initially stood for Ostschweizerische Land- und Milchwirtschaftliche Ausstellung and is now the annual Schweizer Messe für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (Swiss Fair for Aagriculture and Nutrition)

The food was excellent, but since I was eating in Switzerland, I paid more than for a steak in Germany, and the onion gravy was charged extra, at CHF 5.

After lunch, our group continued to the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen.

Spectacular

We took the boat ride.

Spectecular

Choppy river waters

Watching others from the safety of the shore

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90

Today I celebrated my 90th birthday with my family. It has become small, so I've invited former classmates and close friends as well.

I celebrated my 70th birthday with Elisabeth ...

... Nicole and Andreas ...

... and my oldest grandson, Emmanuel. He is with his Apo above the rooftops of Freiburg at the Greiffeneggschlössle in 2005.

Here is a group photo of my family taken on Münsterplatz on my 80th birthday, before we entered Oberkirch for a lavish lunch.

At the table, Andreas is in deep thought. Did he foresee?

The celebration of my 90th birthday also began with a festive meal.

I made it! (©JW)

Buttoning my jacket for the welcoming speech (©BB)

My guests are in a good spirit (©BB)

And Wulf began his eulogy (©JW)

Emmanuel and his Apo 20 years later in 2025

After lunch, I guided my guests on a tour of the Minster Church.

The most beautiful steeple in the world

The south side, i.e., the decorative side of the cathedral
with the Romanesque transept and the Gothic style raised rooster towers.

Building the window frames of the nave from right to left;
starting in "Freiburg" Gothic and changing to "Strasbourg" or French Gothic.

The challenge: How to change from Romanesque to Gothic style?
Addition of another element to the Romanesque column capital.

"Professor" Geiges's deadly sin (Read the full story here)©miJoergens/Wikipedia

Then we relaxed and sat in front of the Oberkirch on the Münsterplatz in mild 22°C weather and enjoyed Kaffee und Kuchen in the German tradition.

Lively discussions continued into the evening hours.

I was richly endowed with great affection. Thank you.

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Friedrich Trumpf

The German news portal T-Online reported:

Friedrich Trumpf in 1902 (©Max Lederle @ Lederle & Flocken company)

In 1885, Friedrich Trumpf traveled from Germany to America. The then 16-year-old did not want to do military service and was therefore banished by the Bavarian state.

He left his home in Kallstadt in the Palatinate for New York, where his son Frederick was born some 20 years later.

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office (©Nathan Howard)

Not doing military service sounds familiar. Frederick's great-grandson, Donald, is spending his second term as the 49th US president in the White House that 140 years ago, no one could have known.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin (Archive Image ©Annegret Hilse)

Today, another Friedrich travels from Germany to America. Not to emigrate, but to sound out the most powerful man in the world, Friedrich Trumpf's great-great-grandson, on his views on Europe and Germany.

For German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, this is his first delicate and decisive trip to Washington. It is intended to lay the crucial personal foundation for everything that needs to be accomplished with this US administration in the coming years, including joint trade, tariffs, cooperation in NATO, support for Ukraine, and addressing relations with Russia, China, and the Middle East.

©IMAGO

Will Merz offer Trump his private plane, a Diamond Aircraft DA62, as an inaugural gift?

According to sources close to Trump, Merz is seen as an "upgrade." His long absence from German politics and his work for the American investment firm BlackRock give him a certain authenticity. Trump is said to appreciate that Merz, like himself, has not always been part of the political class, at least not continuously.

There is a side issue to the discussions. Germany's domestic intelligence service, BfV, designated the far-right Alternative für Germany (AfD) party as a "right-wing extremist" entity. The AfD was labeled as such due to its attempts to "undermine the free, democratic" order in the country.

Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio wrote on X:

Consequently, Rubio recently received the German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, in Washington rather coldly.

Will President Trump confront Chancellor Merz with this German interior affair as he had previously attacked the Presidents of Ukraine and South Africa in the Oval Office on their "home" issues?

Elon Musk shared JD Vance's Twitter.

Or even worse, will Trump send his Vice President, JD Vance, to the front line?

Trump and Merz, it would be better if you got along.

Have a good trip and good luck, Fritze Merz

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