Twenty Lousy Years

On 9 November...twenty years ago...the wall came down.

This is a big topic right now...the twenty years have passed and there are various parties, celebrations and concerts (U2 in Berlin) scheduled as part of this moment.

The wall has become a curious and forgotten topic. East and West Germany united today....for better or worse.

The vast majority of folks in West Germany today...would say this was not the glory that they anticipated...and the money spent so far...appears to be going into a bottomless pit.

The Easties? Well...they will quietly tell you over a beer...that life was better in the East...than it is today.

I kinda sit there and laugh. Neither group really is happy over the mess. The taxes went up. A vast war over ownership of property in Eastern Germany erupted...with old owners from previous to the war, and those who escaped in the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s...fighting to recover what they felt they owned.

Then the Stassi secret police files continue to amaze folks. Every month or so...so noted person is found to be part of the Stassi effort. Various journalists, sports folks, and even TV stars....are all finding this Stassi label to be negative in some fashion.

I spent a weekend over past the "line" about four years ago. It was an odd feeling...crossing what was a divided country, and then noting a tremendous difference in economic standing. Structures aren't painted...brand new houses exist at one end of town...while the town itself is dark and without much life.

This twenty year period has passed and a entire generation has forgotten the division. My son knows little to nothing over the period. He has simply accepted the country as whole. Teachers don't go into this topic much...spending more time on Rome or German history before 1914.

I'm guessing in another twenty years...this entire event will be forgotten. The money tossed toward East Germany over the past two decades...will simply continue on...and maybe in four or five decades...it might actually start to make a difference. Meanwhile, everyone will grumble about the past twenty lousy years...and sip a beer long and slow while uttering this.

H1-N1 Continued

The chief of the German office for vaccinations (STIKO)...apparently came up and has told German doctors to get themselves immunized against the H1-N1 or Swine Flu virus.

This is part of the current debate going on because a number of doctors aren't taking the same view as the government. As for how legit this order might be....I'd be saying it probably is lacking in authority. There's virtually no one in Germany that can absolutely ordered to take the shot except the German military. The cops and firemen might have some kind of standing order...but so far it's not being advertised.

It's part of this debate being carried on. All of the political figures are pushing for the shot. Journalists are mostly reporting facts and leaving it to the public to decide. If I asked around my village....probably less than half are going to take the shot currently.

Just a Bust

If you ever make a trip to Berlin....there is this museum there....for Egyptian stuff, that you ought to spend a half day viewing.

The place? The Neues Museum.

This week, it got back on the map after alot of renovation and a reopening. The thing about this museum....is that they have a bust of Queen Nefertiti...which excites all the Egyptian-history wannabe experts.

This bust...is not just a $50 job...it's an original, and there in...lies a problem.

The Germans won't really get into a big discussion on this...but a German dude who was digging in Egypt....came up with the bust. The story is....he put a good bit of mud on it...walked it through the Egyptian customs folks there in the late 1800s....and they approved the exit of some old bust in bad shape. Naturally, modern Egyptian history buffs...will laugh over this...and admire it in a mega-million showroom.

The Egyptians? They have put up a pretty good argument over the return of the bust. They want the 3,500-year old bust back. They think the Germans are acting in an illegal fashion...and just ought to correct themselves.

It's a soap opera of sorts. The two groups argue back and forth. The Germans hate ethical debates on this because they lose. The Egyptians hate history lessons because they basically let hundreds of tons of stuff leave the country before they got tough in the past forty years.

Anyway.....if you got three hours to waste in Berlin....stop by the Museum. Just outside, there are five or six coffee & cake joints within five minutes walking and sip some fine German coffee afterward.

Oh, and my impression of the bust? Some dude spent an awful lot of time doing some fine work on this. It is pretty neat.

The Swine Flu Shot

For a week now....folks in Germany have been discussing this two-shot deal for swine flu. Basically, the govenrnment has one shot reserved for government workers and one shot reserved for everyone else.

Now, the government has tried to settle this...saying the "big" shot for government folks has a slightly different formula but then folks ask why, and the scientists have kinda avoided answering this....mostly I think....because they really can't say much. One company made formula A and one company made formula B.

The "A" formula? Reserved for for soldiers, police officers, and essential workers. "B" goes for the rest of the folks.

Then you have a group of experts who claim that neither shot offers much protection.

So a bunch of Germans are standing there...shaking their heads, sipping beer....and wondering if it even matters.

Just a Palace

Once upon a time...in the heart of Germany...Berlin...there stood the Stadtschloss...basically a castle of sorts. It wasn't exactly grand or a four-star establishment. It wouldn't measure up to the Bavarian scale of castles. It was a nice castle...at least for Berlin.

So the war came, and the thing was heavily damaged. After the war....sitting in the DDR section of Berlin and under Soviet control...it was eventually decided not to fix the castle...but to tear it down and build up the Palace of the Republic...some structure for East German political dudes to meet, rubber-stamp policy and gossip.

Ever since Berlin became a hub of activity again...folks kept talking about the old castle. So recently, the political players and the powers of Berlin finally got into the castle-building frame of mind. The Palace of the Republic has been torn down...and the boys want to erect a $750-odd million palace or castle (depending on your definition of things).

This site is over at Museum Island...a center point in Berlin and not a bad location. The old palace that stood there...was build in 1871...and barely lasted 75 years.

The selling point for this expensive structure...to make everyone happy...is that it will look like a palace but actually house most of the works of art and science that other city museums now hold. So it's not a real palace or castle....like you'd think.

The curious thing is that a number of folks have stood up and asked about the cost and really don't want to waste their tax revenue on such a structure. It's not like the government really needs a palace...you know.

Some folks even say it'll go at least fifty percent over budget...maybe even one hundred percent. So a billion might actually be spent on this in the end.

Others say that it's a tourist magnet from day one on. They think it'll draw fantastic crowds and pump up the economy....like that silly little castle down in Bavaria does today.

The amusing thing here...is that you would have thought that a German designer would have been hired for this...but instead, it's an Italian. This is probably another reason why some folks question this whole thing.

Merkel and the new government could cancel this project or delay it. The curious thing is that local city council is mostly SPD and they seem to be very much in the support part of this game. They actually think it's a positive thing and provides jobs for the locals. The project? It would start next October...and be done in four years...if it does start on time.

My guess is that it'll get built...it'll run to well over a billion...and be a huge magnet for the public. And in fifty years...probably need a major renovation effort to fix up problems.