It’s not that these things don’t happen in Germany, but these two were too close for comfort – I even had a meeting the very next day at the town hall to attend!

It made me wonder if this sort of violence was on the increase.  Were these one-off attacks or threats?  I often read the local news and even the police press releases and can’t remember anything on quite this scale for a long time.

And yes, it worries me.  Firstly it worries me that things may have to change in our town.  Our town hall is a very open place with a relatively low level of security.  The receptionist may sit behind a glass screen, but they do not have to let you into the building as is the case in many other official places.

There are no scanners like there are at some courts, no controlled entry points or turnstiles like at the banks’ headquarters in Frankfurt, and nothing like the searches at the British Consulate!

But now there are discussions taking place on what may have to change, and it is going to be a fine balance between security and keeping the place operational.  After all, if everyone had to go through a scanner or deposit their ID card at reception (which would be impractical, because you need it for the more common offices inside the building) it would slow the process of registering a new address or even just visiting the lost property office considerably.

On the other hand, it worries me that I could just have easily been in the town hall a day earlier and caught up in it all.

Except that tightening the security in public buildings only helps prevent things happening there.  Just as I was preparing this post, news came in that a public bus had been hijacked at gunpoint in Kronberg and forced to drive towards Wiesbaden, although the hijacker eventually left the vehicle and stole a car near Eppstein.

I don’t think that any amount of scanning is going to stop something like that happening, and it doesn’t have to be a bus either.  I remember a report quite a few years ago about someone fleeing a robbery and getting into the U-Bahn, only for the driver to stop the train mid-way between the stations to wait for the police to arrive.  The robber was trapped in one of the carriages with the passengers.

So it is not unthinkable to be caught up in something like this in Oberursel as an innocent bystander – and that’s not something I really like to think about.

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• The new face of Oberursel’s administration
• Eppstein Castle at the Hessentag
• How to get to the Hessentag: by bus

After over a year of protests, the residents of the state of Baden-Württemberg will be voting tomorrow in a referendum on the future of the main station in Stuttgart.

The project, called “Stuttgart 21″, plans to demolish part of the station and take the railway lines underground.  The so-called “Kopfbahnhof”, a station where the tracks end and trains go in and out of, would then become a “Durchgangsbahnhof”, where tracks and trains run through from one side to the other, resulting in a number of changes to the rail network in the area.

A year ago, the politicians were saying that the project had been decided on in a long planning process, and that nothing could be changed.  Then there was a conciliation process (“Schlichtung”) where alternatives where looked at, and apart from the railway being required to prove that the new station would really bring a benefit to the network, not much changed.

However after the local elections in March of this year, the political situation in Baden-Württemberg changed considerably, when the CDU/FDP coalition, who had been in favour of the project lost such a large share of the vote, that a new Green/SPD coalition was formed to take control of the local parliament.

And whilst the Green party and the SPD disagree on the future of the station, they agreed that the people should be given a chance to decide, hence the referendum tomorrow.

Except that technically they are not voting on whether the station should be demolished and moved underground, instead they are voting on whether the state should terminate the contracts that it has to finance the project.

So tomorrow the ballot paper will read:

‘Stimmen Sie der Gesetzesvorlage “Gesetz über die Ausübung von Kündigungsrechten bei den vertraglichen Vereinbarungen für das Bahnprojekt Stuttgart 21 (S 21-Kündigungsgesetz)” zu?’

which translates roughly as ‘Do you agree to the draft of the law “Law to carry out the right termination of the contractual agreements for the station project Stuttgart 21?”‘

Or put simply: everyone who is against the new station has to vote JA tomorrow, and anyone who wants the project to go ahead has to vote NEIN.

I hope that all those people who have been saying that they will be voting against the project read the ballot paper carefully, and put their cross in the right place!

For the law to be enacted, and the project stopped, the referendum needs a simple majority for “JA”, and for those votes to come from at least one third of those eligible to vote.

And… since this is a referendum and not an election, the ballot paper has to be put inside a special envelope before it is put in the ballot box!

Let’s hope that everyone understands the process, puts their crosses in the right place, and remembers to put the paper in the envelope before it goes in the box!

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Oberursel’s shiny new (restored) station building
• When does the last train leave Oberursel during the Hessentag?
• Stuttgart 21

For a private household, there is the ever-present problem of the local Rühezeiten, but if a group of children were playing together, then their level of noise could put them on a par with a factory building.

So building a playground or even a Kindergarten near a housing estate was a risky business, because there was always the chance that someone might start proceedings just because the children were too loud.

Of course, you could wonder who would be so annoyed by the sound of children playing, that they feel the need to go to court.

But, as they say, the law’s the law and so Kindergartens often ended up on the losing side and had to erect high sound-reflecting fences around their grounds.  The only way to avoid the problem entirely was to build new playgrounds and Kindergartens away from residential areas, but that rather defeats the object of building them in the first place.

Thankfully Germany’s politicians have seen sense and amended the law to stop this happening in future.

The law, called the Bundesemissionsschutzgesetz, is now contains a list of places that are no longer considered to cause “environmental damage”, which should be of great relief to all parents in Germany and especially to those responsible for the Kindergartens!

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Tips for parents visiting the Hessentag
• Blogging in Germany: Using photos
• KiKa Summer Tour returns to Wiesbaden

I’d like to tell you how I spent that day.

I was at home in my flat at first.  I had left my job at Psion in Bad Homburg and was using up the rest of my holiday allowance.

Ironically, I had just watched the film “Independence Day” and turned on my computer to look at my e-mails.  At that time I was still using an analogue modem to go on-line, and I believe my browser was set to load a page called “My Yahoo!” where I had, amongst other things, a news ticker.

It was on that news ticker that I first read about the attacks in New York.  At first the headline just spoke about a plane flying into the World Trade Center, and I imagined something the size of a Cessna.

But then I turned the television on.  It was just before the second plane flew into WTC2.  I knew then, that the planes were a lot bigger.

And after that I sat there, glued to my computer screen and television.  I read Yahoo! News and BBC News, and I watched channels like n-tv and CNN.  I remember thinking “get everyone out!”

Then I watched as the South Tower collapsed.

Half an hour later I watched  as the North Tower collapsed.

It left me stunned, not really knowing what to do with my plans for the rest of the day.

I had a meeting to go to in the evening in Mainz which was due to start a 7.30pm.  I waited for the phone to ring or an e-mail to come, saying that it had been cancelled.  But it didn’t happen.

So not knowing what sort of panic might ensue on the roads around Frankfurt with its own sky scrapers, I got in my car at around 5pm and drove to Mainz.  With over an hour to wait, I headed to Mainz-Lerchenberg near the ZDF studios and went into Media Markt.  There, I stood with a group of maybe 20 people, just watching the rows of televisions and trying to make sense of what was happening.

It was a strange feeling to be part of that group.  The only thing that connected us was being in that store watching the coverage from New York.  We didn’t really talk much either.

And then the time came to go to my meeting, and it was “business as usual”.  I don’t know if the others present had not heard about the attacks, but no-one spoke about it.  We carried on with our meeting as if nothing had happened.  Perhaps, just like me, the rest didn’t want to be the first one to bring up the subject.  We wanted to get on with our work and get home again.

Almost immediately the events affected life in Germany, at least in Frankfurt.  Very quickly, a rumour got out that the sprinklers in the tower blocks here only had a decent amount of water pressure up to the 10th floor if the main water pipes ruptured and the system relied on the fire brigade’s hoses.

Just over a week later, I flew on holiday and was prepared for the tightened security at the airport.  I decided to reduce my hand luggage as much as possible and put everything in the hold to make my security clearance easier.  It made my suitcase slightly over the weight allowance, but at the check-in desk I pointed out my lack of hand luggage and everything was OK.

Anything sharp, such as nail scissors, had to go in the hold anyway, but ironically there was a manicure set being advertised in the on-flight magazine.  Obviously it had been too late to take the advertisement out, but one passenger asked if it really was available.  And it was, although the stewardess thought for one moment, before removing then from the trolley.

And then came the economic downturn.  Whilst I was on holiday, the IT job market in Germany seemed to collapse.

So much so, that when I turned up for my new job after I got back, I was turned away on my first day.  I spent the next month job hunting, took the first opportunity that came up, and then spent another 6 months looking for something better.

Each year, when the anniversary comes around, I think back to that day, and how it had an affect on my future career, if not on my life in Germany in general.  Many of the recent security issues, either in air travel or in the IT industry, can be traced back to that day and the events surrounding it.

The World changed, and even though I was not there and didn’t know anyone in the buildings or aeroplanes, my life changed with it.

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Important travel information for Frankfurt am Main 16th – 20th May
• Violence in the Taunus area
• Lufthansa’s excellent customer service

Preparations for the British Club of the Taunus’ celebration of the marriage between HRH Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton started in January this year. As the Charles and Diana party had been so successful in 1981, it was decided to again hold the BCT celebrations in the home of one of our long-standing members. It did not take long for such a member to offer her home to us for this illustrious occasion and soon plans were being made for erecting pavilions in the garden and televisions and beamers in the living room. Getting 40 chairs together was quite a feat, but not as difficult as telling the ladies that although hats would be most appropriate, stiletto shoes would not go well with the parquet flooring!

Red, white and blue would be our colours for the day, but we also wanted all our non-British members to be represented so preparations went underway to gather the individual flags of all our members to be displayed with the Union Jacks. A decision was made to break with the traditional British wedding breakfast and ask our members to bring individual dishes for a wedding lunch, for example coronation chicken, a dish created for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953; Eton’s mess, a dessert of ice-cream, meringue, strawberries and cream named afer Will’s school; cucumber and salmon sandwiches (named after John Montague, 4th Earl of Sandwich) and, of course, Earl Grey tea, believe it or not named after Earl Grey!!! The Wedding Cake, I’m afraid, is still a well-kept secret until the 29th!

The British Club of the Taunus is celebrating the marriage between Kate and William without pomp and ceremony, but with dignity and joy. We join the Royal family in wishing William every happiness with his chosen bride and just as all parents would do, hope that this will be a marriage made to last. No doubt there are many critics who only see Disneyworld castles and extravagant princes and princesses, but for some people the union represents the possibility of a new, modern Royalty that will continue to provide continuity in a world that is ever changing. Politicians come and go. The monarchy is here to stay. At least in Great Britain. Kate and William have requested that in lieu of presents, donations be made to charities, a decision welcomed by the citizens of Great Britain and wholeheartedly supported by the British Club of the Taunus e.V.

You can find out more about the British Club of the Taunus e.V. by visiting www.british-club.de.  The drawing is the winning entry for the BCT Royal Wedding Children’s Design-a-Card Competition by Chloe Sprokel, age 6.

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Violence in the Taunus area
• New Taunus Information Centre at the Hohemark