New Year’s Teddy Bear slaughter Part 2: The recycling

German streets, sidewalks, alleyways, courtyards, forecourts, balconies, rooftops, parklands, ponds, creeks, streams, rivers, deltas and beaches are about to be covered in filth for the next week or so before the annual multi-million-euro taxpayer-funded cleanup operation removes most – but not all – of the noxious crap for another year.

Yes, it’s New Year’s in Germany!  Time for an otherwise sensible folk to spend millions and millions of euros letting loose with a few whizz-bangs for the kiddies and those who prove you’re only young once, but can stay childish forever.  Shooting off as many fireworks as you can cram into the half-hour or so around midnight on New Year’s Eve is a tradition as time-honoured as getting good and loaded in the hours beforehand.  No wonder the hospitals are full.

I would wait until January 1 to post an updated photo and report of the mayhem from the night before, but why bother?  Regular readers will appreciate recycling, won’t they?

Besides, it’s the same procedure as last year, same procedure as every year.

Trotzdem – nevertheless – Happy New Year!

Masked Monday

Monday, November 9, 2009 is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

As life-changing that event has been for this country and for the world, as much as life for millions has changed in the two decades since the old order fell, 20 years is but an afternoon in Europe.

This year is the 2,000th anniversary of the Varus Battle – or the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest -  in which a band of Germanic warriors defeated three Roman legions in 9 AD at Kalkriese, in northwestern Germany near Osnabrück.

That long-forgotten battle also changed the direction of history.  It was a decisive clash which put an end to Roman expansion into Northern Europe.

Those three masks are reproductions of a magnificent Roman cavalry mask at the centre of a display of Roman artifacts unearthed at the battle site.

If you’re anywhere near Osnabrück, go to the museum site for a day and marvel.  It’s really worth it.  I’ve been back four times and find something new every time.