Following the Signs

Germans go to the polls today! Coming from a completely different political system, I don't really understand everything that is happening, but I am fascinated by the efficiency and the civility of the process. Political debates seem to stick to the issues, candidates let each other speak, and I didn't hear any personal attacks (or of I did, I didn't understand them!). Compared to what we have become used to in the US, the elections here seem, well, kind-of boring. I miss that.

In the US, we just have a two-party system. Here there are many, many parties; there is even one with pirates! 😊





Here no single party usually gets a majority of the votes, so parties have to form a coalition government (they have to work together?!). That's about as much as I have read about the German political system. So, this is not an in-depth report on German politics; most of my information comes from political signs.  (I'm still learning German, ok? Pictures help!)  Judging by the numbers of signs out there, it's easy to tell which parties are the major ones: the Christian Democrats (CDU), Chancellor Merkel's party; and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), whose candidate for the chancellorship is Martin Schulz.






The CDU is the center-right party. Americans will probably recognize the "Law and Order" slogan (top left), but the rest wouldn't fly in an American conservative party: making things easier for families? Quoting Obama to entice voters? Check out the sign about taxes (bottom right). Roughly translated, it says, "He who has a business here, must pay taxes here." NOWHERE does anyone suggest lowering taxes.











The SPD is center-left, but their signs look like the CDU's in some ways. The SPD is for keeping the EU, and it also mention families (see below). One difference is that the SPD campaigns on equal pay for women.



The SPD family policy is "loud and demanding"... looks like my kindergarten class! 





Political parties were only allowed to put up signs in early August for the September 24 election, which makes for a pretty short election cycle (yea!). You can't get too deep into a party's beliefs with their signs, but you can get feel for their focus, and children and families were a central theme. While the CDU and SPD mention families, the Green Party specifically mentions fighting child poverty.
The Freie Demokratie" Party--the pro-business party--focuses on education ("backpacks change the world, not briefcases.")





The AfD is concerned about children as well, but AfD wants those kids to be German (see below). I don't know much about German politics, but it was pretty easy to pick out AfD as the anti-immigrant party. Babies, bikinis, Dirndls...not exactly a platform. (You can see more AfD signs, including ones that are more crass, here.


Some of their signs in Berlin were vandalized last weekend ("Voting for AfD is so 1933").




Personally, I like the Green party's signs, though I dare say none of these slogans would get any traction in the U.S.



Some of my absolute favorites comes from Die Linke, the left, probably because they would be political suicide across the pond. Have you ever seen a political sign encouraging taxing millionaires to benefit children? Or asking for more workers in the healthcare industry?




There are even more smaller parties, too, though I don't know how many votes they'll get....

The Communist party: "Health as a commodity? That's sick!" 

...and if anyone has any idea what this one is about, please let me know.

Mom's Berlin and Mine

Last year I found some slides in an old, rusty metal box in the closet, and I had them turned into digital photos. To my surprise, there were many photos from my mom's first trip to Europe; several were from Berlin. 

Mom (right) on her European tour, 1966

Once I knew I was moving to Berlin, I thought it would be  fun to take the same pictures that Mom did and compare them. That might be simple in other European cities, but Mom was in Berlin in 1966, only a few years after the Wall was built. These photos are mostly from East Berlin (taken from a train or bus tour, judging from the noticeable glare in a few of them), which is an area that has gone through a lot of transformations since then. A few of the places were obvious, like the Brandenburg Gate:  

   

Brandenburg Gate (the east side)

Berlin Cathedral

The Berliner Dom has undergone a facelift since 1966, but it looks largely  the same. The domes of the Cathedral were bombed during WWII, and were restored after reunification. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (below) was almost completely destroyed in WWII, 


but rather than rebuild, officials chose to leave the tower standing as it was--a reminder of 


the war. Mom's picture is better, since you can see the light come through the tower. That is no longer possible; another modern building behind the church blocks the afternoon sun. 

 Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche 

            

Some buildings  weren't quite as obvious; I almost missed this one. This Humboldt University building in the Bebelplatz was just a facade in 1966. I think Mom took this picture for the square's historical significance; it was heavily bombed during WWII, but it is best known for being the site of the largest Nazi book burning in 1933. 

Humboldt University Law School

In the Nazi era, the building below housed Joseph Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda. The building survived the war and was the site of the National People's Council ("Nationalrat") of the East German state. See those little trees on the right?

Those trees now block the view of the building. Before WWII, it was all on a square, Wilhelmplatz. During the time of the German Democratic Republic, the East German government renamed it "Thälmannplatz" after a German Communist leader. Well, the "Platz" is no more; it has government buildings and streets in its place. The former Goebbels office and "Nationalrat" building is now just another government building; it houses the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. 

 

I'd love to know the story behind this picture! These guys are long gone from Berlin. 

   The closest I could get was this fake memorabilia in Alexanderplatz.

 

Mom visited a small border crossing in what was an American section of Berlin (Kreuzberg). The wall was not very old, and was still crude in some places. This crossing is the current intersection of Bethaniendamm and Köpernickerstrasse. It's hard to imagine that the wall went down one of these streets.  

Mom in bottom right corner; guard behind her  

Border crossing spot, August 2017

There is no way to know what happened to the parts of the wall Mom visited, but it's good to know they are all used for a better purpose now. ❤️ 

The Berlin Wall, 1966 

 

   

The Berlin Wall, 2017

To Texas and Back Again

It's been nearly three years since I moved away from Germany. I did a lot in those last few months in the country, but I didn't feel much like writing. I moved back to Texas in June 2014 because I wanted to be near my mom; she had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer six months earlier. She was an excellent patient and had such determination, and I was so glad to be home with her. Though she outlived her prognosis by nearly a year, Mom succumbed to the disease in April 2015.

One thing I inherited from Mom at an early age was an appreciation for all things German. Mom loved Germany, and she loved visiting me when I lived in Germany. Neither one of us liked to have our picture taken, but thankfully, when you are on vacation, you have to take a few!

Mom in Würzburg, 2011

Mom and me in Rothenburg ob der Tauber 

Mom and me in Czesky Krumlov

This summer I'll be moving back to Germany to teach again, this time in Berlin. The countdown has begun...I leave in about 6 weeks! I've been to Berlin a couple of times as a tourist, including once with Mom, but the one picture we took together on the Spree was not flattering for either of us. So, I'll just post the photo that everyone who has ever visited the Reichstag has taken...

...and promise to have better pictures of Berlin and more adventures to write about soon. 

Bis bald!

 

Eisenach

I love castles, and there are so many in Germany. One that has been on my list for a long time is the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach.

downtown Eisenach

Eisenach is a picturesque town in its own right, but most people go to Eisenach to see the Wartburg Castle. The thing about castles is that they are usually way above the town...

The hike up there is worth it for the view, though.

Even for a castle, the Wartburg is REALLY old: the main hall was built in 1155.  The castle is pretty well-known thanks to a famous visitor it had nearly 500 years ago. In 1521, Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church, and he hid out in the Wartburg Castle.  He used his time at the Wartburg to translate the New Testament of the Bible into German.

Martin Luther's room at the castle, presumably where he wrote his translation of the Bible

chapel inside the castle

It's a BIG castle!

Road Signs

Road construction seems to be a constant just about everywhere. At least in Germany they have a sense of humor about it.

Six more kilometers of construction work :(

four more kilometers....

it's getting better...

DONE! :)

Freyenstein

When I went to Freyenstein for the first time in 2003, I didn't really know what I was doing. I knew that my great-grandmother's family had come from a town called Freyenstein; I just didn't know which Freyenstein (there are two in Germany, one in Switzerland).  I was on a mission, though, and within 48 hours of arriving in Germany, I set out on the Autobahn in a rented Fiat and headed for the nearest Freyenstein, determined to find the birthplace of my ancestors.

After a few construction detours, confusing one-way streets and traffic circles, and an almost complete inability to ask for (or understand) help, my resolve began to give way to frustration and fear.  “What am I doing driving around by myself in a country whose language I don’t speak?  What if this isn’t even the right town?  Why can’t I get this car to go in reverse???” 

Just then, as I passed the same building for the third time in Freyenstein’s neighboring town, Wittstock, a song began playing on the radio that I had never heard before. It was Harry Belafonte singing: Ma-til-da! Ma-til-da! Matilda, she take me money and she go Venezuela!  Everbody! Ma-til-da…

Matilda—as in my great-great-grandmother whose parents and in-laws came from Freyenstein, as in the woman my grandmother was named after.  I didn’t know if the Germans believed in “signs” like other cultures do, but at that moment I smiled and thought, if there ever was a sign from above, this was it.  I was headed to THE Freyenstein. 

the road to Freyenstein (not the main road--I have no idea how I found this one)

I had a good time in Freyenstein. A few weeks before going, I had emailed the town's librarian, Christine, and told her that I was trying to find out some information about my ancestors. Christine had arranged all kinds of things for me--first, I was given a tour of the church, and then the castle; I was even interviewed by the local newspaper.  While I was being interviewed, Christine went to the hair salon next door and told everyone there why I was in town, and one of the ladies came over and let me know we were probably (very distantly) related.

Town square in Freyenstein (2003)

Before I move back to Texas, I wanted to visit Freyenstein again. This trip was a lot more subdued than the last one. There weren't as many cars on the square or as many people on the streets. It seems that more and more people in this former East German town are doing the same as my great-great-grandparents: moving away in search of better opportunities. Though it appeared almost deserted, Freyenstein still had its charm.

town square in Freyenstein (2014)

St. Marienkirche, across from the square

the old castle

side street two blocks from the town square

the "new" castle (built in the 15th century) getting a facelift

One thing that Freyenstein has now that was not around in 2003 is an archaelogical park.  The original Freyenstein was destroyed in 1287 and residents then decided to move the town to its current location (across the lake).  Old Freyenstein is now carefully being dug up and displayed. There is still a lot of work to be done there, but Freyenstein is hoping this will bring more people to the town.

old East German mural on the partially-remodeled school building where the archaeological museum is
 

more work to be done at the park