In response to my mother's comment, they did discuss Kristallnacht at small group in addition to the fall of the wall (Mauerfall). Actually, this comment prompted the following conversation:
M: Don't you remember? We talked about it for a few minutes.
D: And by "we", presumably, you mean those of you who speak German?
M: Aah, yes. Sorry.
It also came up in church this morning. Our church follows a church calender, and these next three weeks (the last three before Advent) are supposed to include reflection on prayer, peace and grace. For this purpose, we had a series of moments of silence. One of these moments was preceded by a reminder of both Mauerfall and Kristallnacht, the former as a sign of unity and the latter of deep disunity. Just before initiating the silence, the speaker said something about needing a "safe place. "(Again, I often only get the basics). During this time of reflection , I found myself praying the words to the song "You are my hiding place." (Psalm 32) The next thing I know, the piano began to play and we all sang the song, in German, together. It was very powerful.
I have done a bit of research, and it looks as if it really is just a coincidence that Mauerfall and Kristallnacht share an anniversary. That's a pretty incredible coincidence. The actual reunification of Germany is not celebrated on November 9th, but on October 3rd. This, it seems, is when political unity was acheived--the October following Mauerfall.
On a much lighter and totally unrelated note, the Goethe Gallery has been taken over my model trains. There are no less than half a dozen different displays, each incredibly intricate and expansive.
I've tried to piece together the photos above to give you a sense of how long some of the tracks are. That one is actually not the largest; one stretched out for at least 40 feet, making a loop of about 100 feet. These trains are set-up throughout the first floor of the mall, with one giant one on the ground floor. You can look down upon it from the promenade.
That one had fairly large trains; they stood about 8 inches tall.
Each of these stations represents a different model-train club in Jena. (Did I mention that there were at least half a dozen stations?)
All of this prompted Michael to ask: "What do these men do, that they can be here with these trains on a weekday afternoon? My first response: "Well, we're here on a weekday afternoon...what do we do?" My second response: "Mandatory Retirement."
It is true that Germany has some form of mandatory retirement, though I have not been able to get clear on all of the details. It looks as if many (or all) family owned businesses, including BMW, have mandatory requirement at the age of 60. This is not true universally, but Germans are eligible for pensions at around 67 regardless of their position. In addition to this, there are a number of financial incentives offered to older workers who are willing to retire early.
This system, it seems, may prove problematic; the number of retirees is growing and the number of young workers diminishing.
In the meantime, there does seem to be at least one upside to mandatory (or strongly encouraged) early retirement. I don't believe I've ever lived anywhere with quite so many model train clubs.
It is true that Germany has some form of mandatory retirement, though I have not been able to get clear on all of the details. It looks as if many (or all) family owned businesses, including BMW, have mandatory requirement at the age of 60. This is not true universally, but Germans are eligible for pensions at around 67 regardless of their position. In addition to this, there are a number of financial incentives offered to older workers who are willing to retire early.
This system, it seems, may prove problematic; the number of retirees is growing and the number of young workers diminishing.
In the meantime, there does seem to be at least one upside to mandatory (or strongly encouraged) early retirement. I don't believe I've ever lived anywhere with quite so many model train clubs.
No comments:
Post a Comment