Berlin

Obama’s in Berlin Tomorrow

After much waiting, it’s been decided. Obama will make his speech at the Winged Victory Monument at 7PM here in Berlin.
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Winged Victory
I’m so excited. Barack Obama is my candidate of choice, he’s inspirational, and a lovely orator. And not only will I be there to hear and see the speech, I’ll be volunteering for the Obama Campaign. I’m not sure if I’ll be doing crowd control, handing out flyers and/or balloons or just what yet, but whatever it is, I’m so there – and in my Obama girl outfit. Either way, this is my ONE chance to see him speak in person – and I’m taking it. Now, I’m just hoping that it’s all I want it to be.
In the meantime, here’s a lovely op-ed piece by William Kristol to chew over – in anticipation of what Obama may be pontificating at the monument.
More either Tomorrow or Friday – and hopefully with Pictures…..
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The War May be over.. but… the Bombs are still here.

As a foreigner in Berlin, these articles never cease to amaze me. By some estimates – British and American Bombers dropped over 2 million tons of bombs on Germany during WW2. As the city of Berlin (and other locations) continues to grow and have new construction, they’re still being found – unexploded – and do pose a risk to the public.
This is the latest instance – and makes me wonder… How safe is Berlin really – do I want to go walking through this empty lot? Do I want to plant a garden in my backyard? It also makes me wonder – if this much damage was done during WWII – and there’s still unexploded ordinance around – how exactly do we as a population (after a war) – make sure that the bombs are properly cleaned up and disposed of?
The Local Article –Thousands of Berliners had to find a place to sleep on Tuesday night after they were evacuated so police could defuse a 500-kilogramme (1,100-lbs.) bomb from the Second World War.
Tram lines and major roads were shut down and residents barred from their homes in Berlin‘s Wilmersdorf district for 16 hours while police bomb experts worked to defuse the complicated chemical detonator, police said on Wednesday morning.

Excavators found the bomb at a Mecklenburgstrasse construction site on Thursday afternoon, and police began evacuating the neighborhood at 10 pm. Residents were forced to stay at emergency accommodations or with family and friends.

The city mobilized a large-scale deployment of police, fire department and rescue workers that included some 400 emergency vehicles to help secure the neighbourhood. Water and gas companies were also alerted.

Bomb experts had initially hoped to defuse the bomb on site, but decided to transport it with a special vehicle to the nearby Wilmersdorf park to avoid having to evacuate a hospital near the bomb.

Police reported that the bomb was successfully defused via a controlled detonation early on Wednesday morning.

More than 60 years after the end of World War II, weapons recovery remains an important task for police and private companies throughout Germany. City-state Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg, were some of the most heavily bombed parts of the country during the war.

The entire city of Berlin is considered potentially dangerous by bomb clean-up experts. Allied forces dropped more than 2.7 million tonnes of explosives across Germany during the war. Much of the ordnance did not explode and has become increasingly dangerous with time and corrosion. .. –> Article End –> .. –> Author Start –>

according to an old article in the USA TODAY

In Berlin, an average of 900 explosive cleanup operations take place each year. Of these, about 100 unexploded bombs are deemed too dangerous for removal — a job for “sprengmeister,” explosives experts like Mehlhorn and Neumann, who blow them up on site.
It then goes on to say:

Berlin, which was bombed heavily throughout the war and then captured by the Soviet army in a bloody battle in April and May 1945, has the most hidden bombs. The entire city is categorized as potentially dangerous.

The problem gets trickier with time as bombs corrode and destabilize. In an ongoing effort to find and remove the unpredictable relics, Luetzen’s office pays private firms $2.87 million each year. The companies uncover an average of 87 tons of weaponry each year in public and private projects. In 2004 alone, workers found 160 bombs, 2,400 grenades, 1,500 explosive devices and 2,700 guns and other weapons.

According to some estimates – getting Berlin off the “dangerous” list may take until well into the 22nd Century. In a word – Yikes.

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Tell me Something I don’t know

A new study out this week highlights how popular Berlin has come for foreigners. The City’s Fast Paced urban lifestyle has been compared to New York City of the 1980’s and this study is simply more to reinforce (as an American living in Berlin) something most of us immigrants already knew – one in four people living here are not native German.

From The Local (a German English Newspaper) at: http://www.thelocal.de/12829/20080701/

Of the capital city’s 3.35 million residents, 863,500 have “immigration background,” the city-state’s immigration and integration official, Günter Piening, said in a statement. This 25.7 percent includes foreigners, naturalized Germans, and their children.

The city’s central Mitte district has the highest proportion of residents with foreign background with 44 percent. The Neukölln and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg districts are follow closely with 38.7 percent and 36.6 percent of residents boasting non-German heritage. In these three districts, a surprising 60 percent of children under age 18 are part of immigrant families.

That being said, Germany has policies related to something called Integration Policy and Law, and a whole industry has sprung up around it. In essence, there are several requirements – including 600 hours of German Language courses, many hours of integration courses (where you learn about German culture and how to do things the German Way), 60 hours of German History, all commonly paid for by the person who has come to the country – if they want to stay more than on a single year visa. While some countries are exempt to portions of it (thank goodness the USA is one of them because I can’t afford the classes which must be done in your first year) others, including mostly middle eastern ones are treated quite differently and resent this effort at “forced” integration.
So, why are so many immigrants coming to Germany? Its central location? Mild climate? Guest Worker Program? Fabulous nightlife? Hard to say since my job transferred me here. As best as I can tell, Germany has an aging /declining population, and a simple need for skilled workers that are willing to go above and beyond. (By Above and beyond – in my case I mean high productivity and long hours – and on salary no less because of our different working philosophies.)

Now, being an American and seeing the debates about stopping illegal immigration to the US, including building a wall to prevent people from entering into the country and so on – I think some of the German efforts are good (language courses) and others bad (really, how many people want to become more German?) -it has me pondering what the US itself could do to help and offer services to immigrants (legal ones) arriving in the USA.
It also has me questioning is the German method of “forced” integration really the best way to handle things? Does it encourage or discourage those who come from a foreign country and are trying to make a life here, or simply discourage and frustrate them and have the opposite effect (thereby making the foreigners become even more entrenched in their own culture, language, and etc.)? In some ways, is it not offensive for the German government (and population behind this) to say you must become more German – as if your own homeland and/or culture isn’t good enough?
Many questions, yet no answers are arising, and most likely won’t for quite some time.
Otherwise, for a copy of one of the English websites (link for English at top) on the German integration policy and law, you can check here:
http://www.integration-in-deutschland.de/
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