Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
Ok so there’s these tidal islands in Northern Germany that are connected by little tiny trains that you have to drive yourself, which is already delightfully ghibli-esque.
But then I found out UNTIL THE 196OS, THE TRAINS HAD LITTLE SAILS AND WERE WIND-POWERED?
THAT’S THE MOST GHIBLI THING TO EVER EXIST ON THIS PLANET, BRING IT BACK YOU MONSTERS.
Ok clearly, we just need a ghibli movie set in a world inspired by East Frisia, because in addition to the Sail-Wagons, they also have:
Windmills
Lighthouses
The world’s highest per capita tea consumption, with adorably ghibliesque tea ceremonies
Houses that look like this
Farms that look like this
Heart-shaped waffles (ok that’s everywhere in Northern Germany, but our adorable waffles deserve a ghibli cameo).
I love snow and I love historic railways. This is a pic of the railroad to the Brocken in the Harz-mountains on the border of Germany’s Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt Federal states. The Brocken ist the mountain where on April 30 the witches dance, one of the most important fantasy story in German tradition. The railway still runs as a living monument to the history of German railways. Here’s a little viod of this specific locomotive in winter, in case you want to see more.
Erfurt, Germany. The capital city of Thuringia. The tastiest currywurst I’ve tasted in my life is found here in this city of 200,000 people.
That’s true. The “Original Thüringer Rostbratwürste” are a EU protected regional speciality (Genuine Sausages from Thuringia) with firm rules how to make them and they are really, really good.
Nice pic but could be everywhere in Germany. Why in Wuppertal? Of course there is wooden parklands or real woods like in all places here. What’s interesting in Wuppertal (which by-the-way is an artificial formed in 1929 from the two smaller and historic towns of Barmen and Elberfeld plus 3 others which then had around 180.000 inhabitants in the valley of the river Wupper - thus: Wuppertal, which means actually “Valley of the river Wupper”) is the “Schwebebahn”, public transport train which hovers over and along the river impended on iron rails. Opened in 1901, it’s now under legal protection.
In a historic waggon on the river
Can you tell I was there and rode this “floating train”? It’s really fun and incredibly cheap as it is just a normal public transport system.
Anything related to nazism is considered illegal in germany, the place where nazisim originated yet here in america it’s considered freedom of speech? I’m just so confused. The actual place where it began, and the government that it controlled considers it terrorism and here in American white people are acting like it’s patriotism?
As a German I am absolutely disgusted with what happened in Charlottesville, but just allow me to add a few things:
1. Yes, selling and buying Nazi memorabilia and regalia (swastika flags, uniforms etc) is illegal. Performing the Nazi salute is illegal. If you are caught doing either of them you can get arrested and might face criminal charges.
2. However, neo-nazi groups and other fascist groups still have the right to ‘protest’ (I’m using the broadest sense of the word here) or march because it is a right all Germans have under the ‘freedom of assembly’ law. But since all protests have to be registered beforehand with the local city, it is possible that they may disallow the protest because it disrupts the public peace or because the message of the protest constitute as Volksverhetzung (incitement of the people); which it almost always does.
3. Volksverhetzung is a crime defined by the German criminal law as: Whosoever, in a manner capable of disturbing the public peace: 1. incites hatred against a national, racial, religious group or a group defined by their ethnic origins, against segments of the population or individuals because of their belonging to one of the aforementioned groups or segments of the population or calls for violent or arbitrary measures against them; or 2. assaults the human dignity of others by insulting, maliciously maligning an aforementioned group, segments of the population or individuals because of their belonging to one of the aforementioned groups or segments of the population, or defaming segments of the population,
shall be liable to imprisonment from three months to five years. § 130 section one of the criminal code I don’t know if there is anything similar to this in the US but I’m sure most EU countries have a version of this law as well.
Yesss, yes, yesss, finally the LGBTQ people in my country are allowed to marry and have the same rights as straight people…it took Germany a long time, but today is a very good day for our democracy. Oh, happy day!
At 18.51 nearly at the end of a rather boring press conference the East German politician Günter Schabowski, a Member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party, announces new possibilities for citizens of the GDR to travel abroad.
The communiqué reads as follows:
“Privatreisen nach dem Ausland können ohne Vorliegen von Voraussetzungen - Reiseanlässe und Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse - beantragt werden. Die Genehmigungen werden kurzfristig erteilt. Die zuständigen Abteilungen Paß- und Meldewesen der VP - der Volkspolizeikreisämter - in der DDR sind angewiesen, Visa zur ständigen Ausreise unverzüglich zu erteilen, ohne daß dafür noch geltende Voraussetzungen für eine ständige Ausreise vorliegen müssen.”
(“Applications for travel abroad by private individuals can now be made without the previously existing requirements (of demonstrating a need to travel or proving familial relationships). The travel authorizations will be issued within a short time. Grounds for denial will only be applied in particular exceptional cases. The responsible departments of passport and registration control in the People’s Police district offices in the GDR are instructed to issue visas for permanent exit without delays and without presentation of the existing requirements for permanent exit.”)
A West German reporter asks: “When does that go into effect?” Schabowski answers somewhat perplexed: “That comes into effect, according to my information immediately … without delay.”
(What no one had noticed: this regulation was blocked until 10.11.1989 at 4:00 clock. Only then it should go into effect.)
At first only hesitantly, because they initially didn’t believe that they understood the communiqué correctly, but later more and more inhabitants of East Berlin congregate before the border crossings to West Berlin.
The East German border guards are left entirely to themselves, because they do not have any instructions on how to proceed.
More and more people flock to the border crossings. Later there will be many thousands. They demand “Open the gate!” and assure “We’ll be back!” Although the many people get more and more impatient there is no violence and nobody is injured.
Approximately at 21:20 at the border crossing Bornholmer Straße between the municipal district Prenzlauer Berg (East Berlin) and Wedding (West Berlin) some East Berliners are allowed to go to the West.
At 23:30 the commanding officer - Oberstleutnant Harald Jäger - surrenders before the onslaught of the masses and opens the turnpike - contrary to the laws of the GDR that are still in function at this time.
Thus, the first East German border crossing is open to West Berlin.
During the following hours all border crossings in Berlin open their turnpikes and ten thousands of East Berliners flock to the western part of the city where they are welcomed very warmly.
Total strangers hug, cry, laugh and are completely overwhelmed by their emotions.
Germany celebrates its greatest moment of happiness.
