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Bombs away! The WWII gift that keeps on giving
30 July 2022 One of the punctuality challenges to the Munich train system, as noted in last week’s post, is unexploded bombs buried in the ground. Yes, you read that correctly. There are so many bombs in the ground that when one is found, rather than panicking, passengers simply groan, “Oh no, not another one!” […]
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Get that rotten banana peel out of the plastic recycling
Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash 13 February 2022 My muesli stuck in my throat listening to a recent National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast on a new recycling initiative in California. Recycling is new? Seriously? The woman interviewed was clearly a recycling newbie, as she left her organic waste in the kitchen and went off […]
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I tried to escape the Oktoberfest. I failed.
15 October 2021 For the second time, the Oktoberfest has been canceled due to corona. But Munich refuses to skip the occasion and is celebrating in restaurants anyway. And Berlin, which knows no greater joy than poking fun at Bavaria, is nevertheless full of Lederhosen and Dirndl-sporting Oktoberfest fans. Any self-respecting Dirndl, the corset-style traditional […]
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The library, the monk and the sandals
14 September 2021 “Take their books! They’re useless propaganda. Get rid of them!” This actually happened. “Duh,” you’re thinking, “everybody knows how the Third Reich banned books.” Not so fast. This did take place in Germany, but I’m not talking about the book burning of the Nazis. They didn’t invent openly regressive politics. This event […]
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The 400-year-old Marketing Flop You’ve Never Heard Of
26 August 2021 They told me in college that marketing was invented in the U.S. The industrial revolution had produced a surplus of goods. Suddenly, stuff needed to be made more attractive to find buyers. Marketed. The whole idea of marketing is associated with modern times. Medieval shoemakers weren’t worried about customers, nor were blacksmiths […]
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Give us our daily bread, but please let it be German
2 August 2021 A good friend of mine recently returned to the U.S. after several years’ absence. “Watch out!” I warned him. “You’re going to have reverse culture shock!” All those huge cars, jammed highways and overfriendly people. It’s a bit scary after you’ve been gone for a while. “Take it easy!” I said. “Don’t […]
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Vaccination Fascination
25 July 2021 A strange thing has set upon us. Suddenly, we’re all doctors. Better yet, we’re virologists. At least you’d think so listening to the conversations around you. Small talk used to revolve around topics such as “How are the kids?” or “How’s work?” Ha! Those were the days. Little did we know how […]
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The Prussian Rock Star in my Wardrobe
18 July 2021 Many people have been using their downtime from the pandemic to tackle long-delayed projects like sort through closets. After years of accumulating, the clothes have become packed to the point of being barely extractable. You have to fight to pull out that blouse and when you do manage to free it from […]
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Grave Thoughts Indeed – Part 3 – Royal rollicking and frolicking
The Alter Südfriedhof dates to the 14th century, but most of its graves tell the tale of Munich’s movers and shakers from the 1800s, a time when the city’s population doubled. More people meant more buildings, streets and institutions. But this was also an era that saw one of Munich’s most famous scandals involving its […]
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How war shaped the Alter Südfriedhof
Grave Thoughts Indeed – Part 2 Small German towns have monuments to the dead of the two world wars, sometimes combined into one, with all the names of the locals who died. The Alter Südfriedhof has no such monuments or graves. But war left its impact nonetheless, beginning with one that came centuries before. World […]
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Grave Thoughts Indeed
The Alter Südfriedhof in Munich is more of an open air museum reflecting the history of both the city and society.
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From Munich to Philadelphia with love
A chat group of expat Americans provides moral support during a days-long chat leading to Biden’s victory.