German Unity Day at Frankfurt 2015

[chattius 2,523]

The Fall of the Wall was when I was at army and we had high readiness - serving at a airbase with Rescue Helicopters. A big concern was that UK and France were strongly against a reunion at that time and the fall of the wall came as a sudden not planed event.

The first real celebrations I did on the formal Unity Day 3rd of octobre 1990. This year all is 25 years ago and I considered it a wise idea to pick the whole family and move with the kids to my sister at Frankfurt for a long weekend. Every year another state holds the celebrities for the whole country and this year it was quite close at Frankfurt.

3 days of free concerts and great photo shows with pictures of 1989 and fireworks at the river banks of the Main in Frankfurt. My favourite was when they did 25 bridges made from light across the Main river.

[gogoblender 3,069]

I love reading posts like this. Historical import and the celebration it means to your family.

the bridges display sounds spectacular

 

 

gogo

[chattius 2,523]

Sometimes it makes a lot of difference if you are mid in or just watch TV pictures. I was watching the footage of our state TV at youtube. The real life talking with other people where they were 25 years ago and what they were doing at the time is something you can't get at watching TV. But mid in the crowd you can't have the total look of it all. So being there live and then watching TV coverage while all is still fresh in memory is nice

[podgie_bear 184]

So chattius, how are things in Germany with the migrant crisis? I saw in newspapers that some areas of Germany close to civil rebellion because of pressure of so many migrants with no consideration for locals. That particularly young women advised to not go out alone, and various other problems. Then suddenly no more on subject almost like news blackout. What's it really like over there and are the problems real or just being blown out of proportion?

[chattius 2,523]

The problem is winter and volunteers. The mass of refugees can't be managed without volunteers. You can volunteer for red cross, malteser, disaster units (tents, toilets, field kitchens) or similiar for some weeks without being exhausting yourself or getting trouble at your real job. But the much needed volunteers are now getting tired and the real problems with people still in tents and winter approaching just start. So in my opinion the Dublin law should be followed from now on again. They have to ask for asylum at the first country they reach in europe. Then there should be quotas for every country how many they have to take. By not knowing if you are send to romania or germany you can sort out and send back people who want to move to germany to live from social help which is more than they earn with work at their home countries.

I have the feeling that for one real refugee there are two persons who want to use the social help. So even it is hard to them, in my opinion we need more asylum judges and speed the process to sort out the real refugees. The trouble is less from the refugees but from the people who want to immigrate by faking being a refugee. They know they are probably being send back and have a nothing to loose mentality sometimes.

It is discussed that our community of 6 villages with 3000 people should get 500 refugees. The problem is there is just not so much room. So an old supermarket, the community hall and the schools's sport hall are probably turned into living rooms. We have not a single policeman and including my wife just 3 docs. My wife is doing 3 days at university hospital. The rest she does local people. She can't switch from one day to the other to full local work. Most kids from refugees don't speek german. So how to do the school for them...

As I said I was spending one evening a saturday to do technical help at a camp. But I am also volunteer firefighter, have a job, 5 kids, .... And honestly many many of the volunteers ask why they spent their free time when two third of the people in the camps didn't even clean toilets, kitchens and throw all waste everywhere.

You know yourself, if you get tired because of too much work you will get angry sometime. And sometime the politicians will recognize that people spending a lot of money can't replace the help of volunteers. And the volunteers can't do their current help for ever at this amount.

[podgie_bear 184]

I had wondered because at first all stories were refugees from war, then stories admitted 2/3 maybe more were economic migrants not refugees and were destroying their papers so couldn't prove otherwise. Then all stories stop dead, like "shut up, don't let truth be told because we politicians messed up and have made things worse!". After such a build up about the crisis to suddenly go quiet was very suspicious.

[Spock 271]

I would be more concerned about the supposed ISIS infiltrators. Have you had any extra political unrest due to the migrants?

[chattius 2,523]

Not at our district. But the camps which keep the people until they are spread all over the countries have problems, too many people with different cultures on not much room.

The main impact for me is that the district owned youth camp will be used as a home for 300 children who fled without their parents. We planed to bring the kids to the camp and do a one week trip without kids to celebrate our 20 years of marriage. Monday we got letters that there will be no autumn camp this year because of preparing the camp to hold 300 kids and caretaking people.

[gogoblender 3,069]

The problem is winter and volunteers. The mass of refugees can't be managed without volunteers. You can volunteer for red cross, malteser, disaster units (tents, toilets, field kitchens) or similiar for some weeks without being exhausting yourself or getting trouble at your real job. But the much needed volunteers are now getting tired and the real problems with people still in tents and winter approaching just start. So in my opinion the Dublin law should be followed from now on again. They have to ask for asylum at the first country they reach in europe. Then there should be quotas for every country how many they have to take. By not knowing if you are send to romania or germany you can sort out and send back people who want to move to germany to live from social help which is more than they earn with work at their home countries.

I have the feeling that for one real refugee there are two persons who want to use the social help. So even it is hard to them, in my opinion we need more asylum judges and speed the process to sort out the real refugees. The trouble is less from the refugees but from the people who want to immigrate by faking being a refugee. They know they are probably being send back and have a nothing to loose mentality sometimes.

It is discussed that our community of 6 villages with 3000 people should get 500 refugees. The problem is there is just not so much room. So an old supermarket, the community hall and the schools's sport hall are probably turned into living rooms. We have not a single policeman and including my wife just 3 docs. My wife is doing 3 days at university hospital. The rest she does local people. She can't switch from one day to the other to full local work. Most kids from refugees don't speek german. So how to do the school for them...

As I said I was spending one evening a saturday to do technical help at a camp. But I am also volunteer firefighter, have a job, 5 kids, .... And honestly many many of the volunteers ask why they spent their free time when two third of the people in the camps didn't even clean toilets, kitchens and throw all waste everywhere.

You know yourself, if you get tired because of too much work you will get angry sometime. And sometime the politicians will recognize that people spending a lot of money can't replace the help of volunteers. And the volunteers can't do their current help for ever at this amount.

 

 

I can' imagine how tired the volunteers must be, and how disparaging it can be at the center of offering aid, but good on you for you and your villager's heart for helping these families!

 

gogo

[chattius 2,523]

Officer Shabbovsky died

 

 

The real person behind the Berlin wall quest (http://www.sacredwiki.org/index.php/Sacred_2:Berlin_Wall) died short after the 25th annuary of the german reunion.

Günter Schabowski as the press speaker of the east german government got a short information that movement from east to west would be made a bit more easy.

When asked to be a bit more precise about when the new law would be in effect he didn't know it but said: I think right now.

Hours later the german german border was overrun by people who wanted to try it out and who met uninformed border troops who asked higher ranks what to do

but they weren't informed either and said let them pass.

 

So a last tribute to the person who accidently reunited germany.