27 Oct 2026: Germany: 5 Stories

1.  Last night's 'Hard But Fair' public forum show (ARD, public tv)....the topic was....lot of Germans are pulling home-duty....caring for a relative...on their own.  Numbers?  Gov't suggests 10-million are caring for 'someone' in Germany.  So....reform chatter going on....that you should get 'paid' something for this duty.  Gov't says....they don't have the cash to cover this idea.

2.  Kehlsteinhaus/'Eagle's Nest'....debate starting up over re-construction (after the fire).  One part of the story...local region has this as a attraction....with around 350,000 tourists coming up yearly to see the site.  No one wants to really say 'rebuild-the-Nazi-site'.

3.  Sale of micro-cars booming....up 80-percent over 3 years.  Max speed, 45 kph.

4.  Lot of hostility over Audi opening a US plant.

5.  Who will succeed Federal President Steinmeier in January?  Virtually all of the parties are lining up their candidate, and it's about a 99-percent chance that it will be a woman.  

Two Observations From Yesterday

 I was out and about in Wiesbaden yesterday....noting two things.

First, I sat and had a cup of coffee in the shopping district....outside (it's still moderate temperatures).  So....there passed a group of six teenage Germans...probably age group of 15/16. 

As they approached....one of the gals pulled a vape from pants...huffed.  She handed it then to the girl next to her...who did a huff as well.  Then she hands it to a boy in the group.....he does a huff, and passes it on.  All six huffed off the same vape.

No one seemed to worry about passing some flu-bug or disease....from person to person.

From the old tobacco crowd....no one would have shared a half-smoked cigarette.

Second....I was approached by beggars at least six times yesterday.  Up until around 2000....it was something that just never happened in a German city.  

Guys/gals just laying on cardboard?    Yeah, I probably counted a dozen while on this 3-hour walk. Prior to 2000.....you just never saw that in a German city.

Explaining How Expropriation Works

 Example.  

You as a city-council decide that twelve apartment buildings owned by private interest (total of 100 apartment in each....total of 1,200 apartments or resident-renters)....must be public property....to control rent increases.

You file paperwork to consume the twelve.  Judge appoints a expert (or two) to come to a value for each of the twelve.  

The city council hopes for a low-ball number....private group owning the twelve....hopes for a full-value number.

Neither group is happy over the results....property still moves to city-property, but a court challenge now consumes anywhere from one year to ten years.

Eventually, a national court will say the buildings had x-amount of value, and the city is now left to figure a way to pay for this....with the rent going to them.  

How you cover or pay for renovation?  Well....that is the hidden problem.  You (the city council) wake up ten to fifteen years later....with complaints now rising....folks want their building renovated, and the city does not have the cash-flow to cover this.

Eventually....the city is in serious debt issues...asking the state or the federal folks....to cover their stupidity.

Expropriation rarely works, as designed.

26 Oct 2026: Germany: 7 Stories

 1.  PM of the UK gave a talk last week....urging Brits to stock up on 'tinned' food and bottled water...to be prepared.

Then he suggested enough for 72 hours/3 days.  I paused over this....it's not a lot of food or water, if you think about a 3-day supply.

2.  Remember about two months ago....big HYPE at EU....Canada was all peppy about getting 'associate membership' in the future? 

Well....Germany, France and at least six other EU countries are saying 'no'....to this idea of a associate membership....either you are 'IN' or not.

3.  This new 3.8-billion dollar Audi plant in Georgia (US) being built....it'll manufacture Audi Q7, Q8, and Q9 SUVs.  They aren't at the cheaper end of SUVs....Q7 is cheapest one....base model would run $68k (before add-ons, and taxes).  

4.  Berlin-City statistic for 1st half of 2026....just over 500 weapon/gun-shot offenses reported.

5.  Week one of the booze-ban for German train stations....5,000 people were cited in violation.  

Note: train-station or restaurant bars....are exempt.  Once you walk into a station with a bottle, or transit to a subway platform, with a bottle (beer, wine, hard-booze)....you are in violation (as well as entering a train).

Authorities for the Bahn....say it's ok for first week numbers.  To be honest....at the six month point, I expect near 250,000-plus violations on the books.

Oddly, they didn't say a male-to-female number on the 5,000....I'm of the mind....probably 98-percent of the rule-breakers were male.

Some advice....if you are getting off work, and have to clear a train-station to get home, and you prefer a going-home-drink....get a walk-away cup of coffee and outside the station...drop a shot (or two) of your preferred booze into the coffee.  

6. There's talk by the Interior Minister (Dorbrindt, CSU) that a law is to be drafted....where expropriation (where a city or state grabs control of buildings, or property....later compensating the previous owner for it)....would be very limited in carrying out.

This hindering the Linke/Green/SPD coalition in Berlin-City?  Yeah.  Their chief agenda was expropriate a great deal of apartment buildings in the city.

7.  Massive riot/demonstration chatter across Germany for Halloween/31 Oct.  Appears to be a copy of the France actions planned.

My advice....if you were traveling around Germany on he 31st....stick to non-urban areas/smaller towns.

23 Oct 2026: Germany: 6 Stories

 1.  Insa poll done nationally.....CDU/CSU: 19 percent (up a point).  AfD: 30 percent (up a point).

SPD: 14 ​​percent (up a point), Green Party at 14 percent, Linke Party at 10 percent (down a point). 

2.  Audi to spend around $4-billion for a production center in the US state of Georgia.

3.  The EU says it wants to make FRONTEX (their border/sea control agency) a deportation agency as well.  You as a country, with X-number of folks for deportation...would alert FRONTEX, and they'd hustle up a plane and 'guards'. 

Cost?  Unknown.  Legal authority?  Well....via EU, they'd have some type of authority.  Where they'd send the deportee crowd to?  Unknown. 

4.  WELT piece....Berlin Linke Party on a agenda to nationalize apartments, and it'd require compensation to 'gift' the current owners.  Some talk indicates they want to pay a minimum amount for the value....which most agree....will lead to a court case (figure 2 to 5 years) and probably a serious debt problem that is handed to the next city government in 5 years.

5. Kehlsteinhaus/'Eagle's Nest'....damage being assessed....pretty much the only thing left are stones/bricks....after the fire.  Something will be rebuilt there, but it'll be a difficult site to deliver construction materials, and work can probably only be done in the spring/summer. 

6. From the gunshots fired a couple of days ago in Paris....police have been busy trying to gather intelligence....from home raids.  So they came to this residence of the number one suspect....inside...they found a copy of the Koran, a Bible, and Adolph Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'.  

Dead/wounded?  One dead from the gun attack, and 5 wounded.

Raid evidence gathered so far?  Cheap machine-gun and a tear-gas grenade. 

Yeah, it'd be an interesting lead-in for a German murder-movie.

One-Day Card Chatter

 Currently, there's a Deutschland ticket....a monthly ticket for 63 Euro....where you ride any bus, tram, or regional train....day or night....for the month (2nd class).  The only trains you can't ride....high-speed long distance trains.

A review is taking place....some folks would prefer a one-day option (like the retired crowd). 

Cost factor?  Unknown....but it's probably in the 7-Euro range (for 24 hours of use).

What Bavarian Police Say Over The Eagle's Nest Fire

 Official report....33-year old local German guy....mentally-challenged guy....had a motor scooter (no tag for it). Had gone to the 'nest' after hours...lit the fire.  Caught going down the hill as fire department was arriving.

Judge will send him off for a mental eval (30 day deal).  I don't expect him to 'pass'.  

As for rebuilding the structure....I'm of the mind it will have some type of shelter/coffee shop, but the grand nature of the original structure....will probably not be built.  

Comparing this guy to the 1933 Dutch guy who burned the Reichstag down?  Well....both were mental cases with issues.

Five Thoughts/Observations

 1.  This past week....while out and about in the Wiesbaden area....I noted three different individuals masked-up (Covid-style).  Just in general....I think a small group of Germans are hyped-up to prevent themselves from illness in the winter months.

2.  This AM...after the 'Eagle's Nest' fire (Berchtesgaden)....the state Interior-Minister has spoken up and said state funds would be used to repair/fix the structure.  Likely to trigger a drama in the state of Bavaria over this idea.  

Personal note...if you asked me over the top twenty things to see upon a visit to Germany....yeah, I rank the 'Eagle's Nest' in the twenty places. It is a 5-hour 'trip' by the time you get to the cable-car...walk around, and return.  I'd also note....you should only make the trip in May to October.

Accused guy?  Still no motive given.  

3.  I was reading a social media comment by someone (non-German)....asking...after Germany was destroyed twice over (WW I/II)....how is it that Germany isn't like Haiti?

I pondered for a minute...looking back over 2,000 years (including the Roman era, the plague) and it's ingrained into German mentality...there is this weird we-will-not-be-held-back (unless by ourselves or our own stupid blundering).

4.  This past week....the Chancellor gave a talk, and said that Moscow is trying to destabilize Germany.

The problem is that half of German society might agree with him....while the other half might suggest that the Chancellor's coalition (CDU-CSU-SPD) is doing a fine job by itself...in destabilization efforts.

5.  If you were a pretty determined enthusiast of Islam-living....Germany has such a built-in maximum power temptation-factor (food, lust, sex, drugs, booze, lifestyle)...that you probably won't survive the temptation business.