Country Discussion: Germany

[FrenchDarrenBent]

The true enemy of peace.
Once they figure out how to cross a Porsche with a tank they'll conquer the world.

I warned you.

 

[Old Blue 2]

Wow - great story and no mate they wouldn’t have let the likes of me into one of those parties. The Rugby club was the height of my social standing.

Whilst I was there we were told don’t trust anyone as the entire place was littered with intelligence agents and general miscreants. Didn’t make it a problem - it only added to the mystique of the place.

All the accommodation blocks at Gatow had interconnecting underground tunnels, the walls of which were covered in messages scribbled there by German troops (messages to their loved ones) in the last days of the fall of Berlin, just before the Russians poured petrol into the tunnels and fired them.

I was back in Berlin the following year to attend the Gemeinschaft der Jagdflieger Treffen (German fighter pilots reunion) that was being held in (a unified) Berlin for the first time. The afternoon was spent at Gatow, which was most impressive. Then we moved on to a cemetery which was in the old East Berlin for a dedication at the grave of Werner Mölders led by his brother, Victor. In the evening the main event took place, and I met the likes of Adolf Galland, Herbert Ihlefeld, Dietrich Hrabak, and other 'names' of the WW2 Luftwaffe, who moved into the post-war Luftwaffe under NATO. Met many other 'big' names over the years during my visits to Germany.

 

[chicoazul]

I used to drink in a German bar often and to be honest found them pleasing company. That they and Japan have turned out much kinder progressive societies than ours tells much of the ills of post war hegemony and imperial drunk society.

 

[Billy Dean]

oh aye, a fine memory to hold.


deffo...most folk haven't even heard of Köpenick, even some Berliners lol



how so?



yeah, tho' due to my 17-year absence during formative years i have an odd-to-place accent and even sometimes struggle - or rather have given up on - correct placements of endings (ein/eine/einen etc) and der/die/das, i just go for what sounds familiar rather than bother looking it up.

No one's arsed, mind, as no meaning is changed by it. It's a needlessly overly-complex grammar anyway.

I don't speak it much these days because I no longer have a German gf and I socialise and work in English. I also just guess the endings and articles lol It's way too much effort to learn them properly. I think a lot of things in Germany are needlessly over complicated tbh not just the grammar lol

Interesting. When I lived in Germany and registered at the Rathaus, one of the questions was my religion (I’m Catholic). Sure enough, there was a Protestant proselytizer (maybe Jehovah’s Witness) at my apartment door the very next day. A little unnerving tbh.

Really enjoyed the Corpus Christi procession in the city I lived. Beautiful churches throughout the city.
In the map above, do you happen to know the Catholic island near the former border?

No I'm not quite sure mate, do you? Yeah I do find that too much value is placed on religion in Germany still, although I guess that's me coming from a relatively secular culture.

 

[Alan Whittle]

I used to drink in a German bar often and to be honest found them pleasing company.

 

[gianthogweed]

They make the filthy porn das gud ya