Month: December 2023

The Warmest and Wettest Holidays on Record

Photo by ana simona bevecz on Pexels.com

Vast parts of the United States, especially in the Midwest (where I grew up) experienced Christmas without snow this past holiday season. With temperatures hovering between 10 and 15°C, it was also the warmest Christmas on record.

In Germany (and parts of Europe), we not only had the two, but we now hold the title of having the wettest Holidays on record. Massive thawing in the mountain regions of the Harz, Alps, Fichtel and Ore, combined with massive rainfall before and during Christmas has put all but the northern part of Germany under water. No matter where drivers went, they were greeted with flooded streets, sandbags, and fields turned into lakes and ponds.

While much of the flooding was focused on the regions in the south and east over Christmas, the hardest hit areas are in the northern and central parts of the country at the time of this post, especially in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony Anhalt and Hesse. In Dresden and Hamburg, floodwaters overran the banks and flooded streets and markets. Some villages in Lower Saxony became islands only accessible by boat. Reservoirs were also full, resulting in the releasing of water downstream.

It’s the event everyone wishes to forget, especially as the country was already facing damages from the storms that hit northern Germany in October, but it serves as a reminder of what we will be facing in the future, as global temperatures rise and with that, such extremities, like drought, flooding and forest fires, just to name a few. Already 2023 set an all-time high for the warmest on record with 2024 projected to surpass that.

The start of the year will definitely be a continuation of the holiday floods, especially as major rivers like the Rhine and Elbe will rise and cause flooding. But winter is expected to return by mid-January. Whether it will be like in November with record snowfall and cold remains open.

Links:

DW: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-grappling-with-flooding-amid-heavy-rains/video-67856874

W&R: https://www.weatherandradar.co.uk/weather-news/severe-floods-in-germany-towns-evacuated-and-dykes-reinforced–4bb86647-1cb5-49ec-aee2-41b1ac1244d4

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Banning Fireworks on New Year: A Practical Solution or An Infringement on our Freedoms?

New Year’s- a time to celebrate with family and friends. A time for Dinner for One with a good Kasseler with potato salad, a typical local beer, sect with mandarine oranges, and lastly, the most important ingredient to ring in the new year- fireworks!

For two days- the 31st of December and the 1st of January- much of Germany can experience the glaring colorful lights and the kabooms of fireworks no matter where you go. In the park, in the city center, in the residential areas and in the open landscape, one will find individuals setting off rockets, firecrackers, wonder candles and all- some made in Germany and some imported from the east. And every year, we have reports of injuries by mishandling them, stress on the animals, the elderly and the children because of the noise, and vandalism caused by those who throw firecrackers and the like at (or sometimes in) buildings, historic sites and in rare cases, Christmas trees standing in the market square.

Fireworks have been a German tradition for over three decades- since the reunification of Germany to be exact. However, especially since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, fireworks at New Year’s have become a very abusive tradition with people throwing fireworks at other people, causing injuries and stress. The rescue crews and the police have been targets of the malice behavior. It makes a person wonder whether fireworks should be banned or at least restricted. There are some advantages and disadvantages to banning fireworks:

Advantages of banning fireworks include less noise and air pollution, less stress for the most sensitive people as well as the rescue crews and law enforcement, and more protection for natural habitats and areas that are highly sensitive, such as hospitals, nursing homes, homes for the disabled and the like.

Opponents of banning fireworks can be divided up into skeptics and critics. Skeptics doubt the ban would be enforced because of the lack of law enforcement and attempts of bootlegging or smuggling fireworks in from outside Germany. Critics are of the opinion that fireworks are a tradition and setting them off is an expression of their personal freedoms. In some cases, people use fireworks as rituals to rid the old year, laden with toxic people and events they wish to forget.

While there were fewer incidents involving fireworks this year unlike in the last year going from 2022 to 23, reports of attacks on people using fireworks, people injuring (and in one case, killing) themselves setting off the fireworks, and stress on the environment makes a person wonder if such traditions like fireworks for the New Year should be eliminated for the safety of others, and if so, how.

And henceforth, the first Flensburg Files Frage für das Forum for 2024. Click on the link and submit your votes. There are two questions plus space underneath, where you can write in your statements. You can also state your opinions in the comment section of this article if you wish, as long as the statements are appropriate. We will reveal the answers in February. Without further ado:

Question 1: Should there be a general ban on fireworks?

Link: https://strawpoll.com/PKgl3kV39np

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Question 2: In the event that there is a ban on fireworks, how should it be enforced?

Link: https://strawpoll.com/e7ZJGApGMy3

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German New Year’s Traditions

What do Germans do for New Year’s Eve (Silvester) and New Year’s Day (Neujahr)? Read here about German New Year’s traditions, from Dinner for One to eating Berliner.

German New Year’s Traditions

A look at how New Year is celebrated in Germany, courtesy of Anika Rieper of More than Beer and Schnitzel.

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2024 Everyone! 🥂🎊🎆❤️😊

🇩🇪 THE FLENSBURG FILES

Germany sees Hydrogen in its Future

Above Illustration: Public Domain  Illustration of inputs and outputs of electrolysis of water, for production of hydrogen (H2) and Oxygen (O2) from water (H2O) with no greenhouse gas. Both of the Hydrogen and Oxygen byproducts are important in manufacturing processes in general. Germany, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (the H4) are investing heavily in H2 […]

Germany sees Hydrogen in its Future

Courtesy of Phil’s German World, this article looks at Germany and its quest in investing in hydrogen technologies, known in German as Wasserstoff. More on this here….

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World population on New Year’s Day will stand at more than 8 billion

Data released by the US Census Bureau on Thursday said the world population grew by 75 million people over the past year. On New Year’s Day it will stand at more than 8 billion people. The projected world population on January 1, 2024 is 8,019,876,189, up by 75,162,541 (0.95%) from New Year’s Day 2023. At […]

World population on New Year’s Day will stand at more than 8 billion

Some interesting and shocking facts about the world population as we enter 2024. Something to think about.

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Vienna is Number 1 Again!

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/vienna-most-livable-city-2023-180982434/ The link above is to the Smithsonian Institute’s report which declares Vienna to be the World’s most livable city for 2023. The following information is based on that Smithsonian Magazine report which itself is based on the Economic Intelligence Unit’s findings. The Smithsonian Institute report was written by Sarah Kuta on June 27th 2023 […]

Vienna is Number 1 Again!

Vienna, Austria has been nominated as the most livable city in the world. The criteria and the reason can be explained in the article above 👆

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Veteran German politician Wolfgang Schaeuble dies at 81

BERLIN, Dec 27 (Reuters) – Veteran German politician Wolfgang Schaeuble, who served as a member of the Bundestag parliament for over half a century, has died aged 81, German media reported on Wednesday. Schaeuble, who spent much of his career devoted to re-unifying his country and later served as former chancellor Angela Merkel’s frugal finance […]

Veteran German politician Wolfgang Schaeuble dies at 81

He was one of the main fixtures of the Christian Democrats for over 55 years. Famous for his Black Zero policies on financing.

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Caspar David Friedrich sketchbook a national treasure?

German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich is known for his motifs of sailing ships, graveyards, forests, clouds and the moon. With his sketchbook being sold at auction, we take a closer look at his life and work. Click on the link below to read further. Courtesy of DW News.

Caspar David Friedrich sketchbook a national treasure?

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