? bas les barricades!

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Claudia and Scott have already noted that this day marks the breach of the Berlin Wall (and, as Claudia notes, a lot of other important events in German history). Let me chime in with my felicitations to the German people, and a couple of thoughts.

In 1989, the German Democratic Republic saw a revolution. The citizens of a state that claimed to be run for and in the name of the People took to the streets to remind their government that ‘We are the People!’ At first the state responded in the usual way (truncheons to the head, etc.) But in the end it surrendered, and down came the wall. The breaching of the wall is surely one of the great icons of revolution, worthy to stand next to the storming of the Bastille, the ‘shot heard round the world’, the arrival of Willem van Oranje and subsequent flight of James Stewart.
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A very German day

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November 9, 1848

Robert Blum is executed in Vienna. One of the more prominent members of the Frankfurt National Assembly, he was in Vienna to observe how the Austrians dealt with the revolutionary forces. Not objective at all, he spoke to the revolutionaries and even took part in street fights. His diplomatic immunity was ignored. His death ultimately marks the end of the 1848 revolution.

November 9, 1918

The first day of the German republic. The Kaiser abdicates (not quite voluntarily) and flees the country, Friedrich Ebert becomes Reichkanzler. It’s the culmination of the German revolution.

November 9, 1923

Hitler’s march to the Feldherrnhalle. His coup fails, Hitler is sentenced to five years imprisonment.

November 9, 1938

Kristallnacht.

November 9, 1989

The Wall falls.

Tragedy, terror, and glory. It’s not just any day for Germans.
(Via Die Zeit)

The continuing partition of Berlin

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Reparlez-moi des roses de Gottingen
qui m’accompagnent
dans l’autre Allemagne
? l’heure o? colombes et vautours s’?loignent.
De quel c?t? du mur, la fronti?re vous rassure…

Tell me again about the roses in Gottingen
that come with me
into the other Germany
when the doves and vultures part ways.
From whichever side of the wall, the border comforts you…

– Patricia Kaas, D’Allemagne

Today is the 15th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and as Tobias notes, political unification has not created the single, new Germany its authors so fervently hoped for.

Fifteen years ago today, I watched the news from my dorm in Strasbourg, having, only the day before, decided to cancel my planned trip to Berlin that weekend. Otherwise, I would have had a valid train ticket to the street party of the century. By the time the wall came down, it was impossible to get train fare or a room anywhere in the city, and going was simply out of the question.

Damn.
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The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg Gotha

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A week after Queen Elisabeth II’s fourth state visit to Germany The Times is stunned that Germans hailed her as one of them (story including statements by the inevitable Nazi), while The Independent takes its readers on a detailed journey through time, attempting to uncover the exact extent to which the Windsors may in fact still be the Saxe-Coburg Gothas (links via Viewropa). Reassuring note to British readers: there’s no need to burn your 1918-1945-1966 t-shirt 😉

Autodaf

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Rocco Buttiglione, who resigned as Italian candidate for EU commissioner last week, now believes he can turn his political defeat into victory and form new religious movement in Europe (see related afoe post here). According to the Guardian –

At a debate entitled “The trial of the Catholic witch” in Milan’s Teatro Nuovo on Saturday, Mr Buttiglione said what happened to him in the EU was “a gift from God”, which he hoped would force debate over the religious discrimination in “politically correct Europe”.

He said he had received thousands of letters of support from sympathisers across Europe and from Muslim and Jewish leaders in Italy. “You can’t have a political community without a conscience and without values,” he said, inspired by the role of the Christian vote in the US election.

Very true. Let me repeat that: You can’t have a political community without a conscience and without values. It’s just that both terms are simply labels whose meanings are as individual as it gets.

And we shall keep it that way.

Good Cop, Bad Cop.

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In addition to being a valuable opportunity for the western world to revisit important enlightenment concepts like religious tolerance and the importance of secular government, the re-election of President Bush could also lead to a more effective transatlantic division of diplomatic labour in the Middle East outside Iraq, as – possibly – indicated by this weekend’s sort-of-agreement between the EU Troika (UK, France, Germany) and Iran, in which the latter pledged to freeze its uranium enrichment programme until a longterm agreement has been reached (see the Guardian).
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Another Brick In The Wall.

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The Berlin Wall.To be sure, this was a busy week for the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder. In addition to the obligations caused by a state visit of Queen Elizabteth II, which, not unexpectedly, took place in an atmosphere of tabloid turmoil on both sides of the channel, the autumn European summit in Brussels, and the political digestion of the US election, he managed to upset pretty much everyone in political Germany – and beyond (Bild.de) – with the most bizarre proposal to – sort of – abolish the German national holiday, October 3, in order to boost GDP growth and, as a consequence, eventually meet the fiscal criteria set out in the stability and growth pact.
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Warning Labels

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Everybody knows cigarette warning labels. They are a fact of life, although evidence of their effectiveness in preventing people from smoking is scarce. Frankly, no one knows if they really have any significant effect given that, these days, everyone already knows about the health endangering nature of smoking. In fact, at least in Europe, warning labels are also supporting scores of accessory designers, who now create and sell special cigarette cases. It’s hard to believe, but they have become something of a fashion item…

Now, after the re-election of President Bush, will the US lead the world in creating another accessory category? Lyssa may well have the definitive “four more years” entry.

Now don’t say Germans can’t be funny.