(That I am so sad.)
Sadness, ah, there's a thing
Look, I won't be deserting J. Brahms, L. van Beethoven, R. Schumann, J. S. Bach, R. Wagner, G. F. Handel, P. Hindemith, R. Strauss. K. Weill (tunesmiths), C. Ludwig, B. Fassbänder, U. Lemper, P. Schreier, DF-D, F. Wunderlich, W. Kempff, W. Backhaus, A-S Mutter, W. Furtwangler, H. von Karajan, E. Jochum, (musicians), M. Schumacher, S. Vettel, E. Degner, H-H Frantzen (vroom-vroomers), T. Martin, J. Voigt (pedallers), H. Schmidt, A. Merkel (presidents), D Bonhoeffer (modern martyr), W. Heisenberg (physicist), G. Grosch (cartoonist), Der Spiegel (muckraker), A. Durer, P. Klee, H. Holbein (daubers), B. Brecht, F. Schiller, W. G. Sebald, H-H Kirst, T. Mann, G. Grass (scribblers). Or the Pollmeier family, Hattingen-Ruhr, with whom I stayed in 1953...
... but the political connection which I cherished will be lost.
Just back from Cologne where I grabbed lapels and asked if watching Great Britain shrink into Little England would be a sad experience? Yes, definitely, said the Dortmunder I met in a bar (see pic). Yes, said the lady at the tourist office. Yes, said the waiter at the Chocolate Museum. Yes, said the lady on the next seat at Fruhstuck (Who happened to be an Amsterdam academic but you get the idea.)
I went to bed that evening warmed by drink and Rhine-borne affection.
We remainers all experience sadness in different ways I suppose - for me I am constantly reminded on my walks when I see worthwhile and beneficial projects and community developments with a sign informing me that these were achieved with EEC involvement.
ReplyDeleteSir Hugh: I agree. Also when I reflect (more abstractedly) on legislation like the minimum wage and various safety measures in our lives. What was different is that this was face-to-face with real people whom I didn't know and who didn't know me. What's more I felt emboldened to ask, convinced that no one would regard it as an intrusion. All responded immediately and with passion. And I might add with sympathy.
ReplyDeleteThe brief visit was, as usual, dotted with examples of German taking time out to do things which were beyond their immediate obligation. I tell myself that I love France and have spent a good deal of money proving the point; but it's a clear-sighted, rather wry form of love. In Germany it's a much more visceral, perhaps because of a musical foundation, an area where France is distinctly inferior.
I felt the same walking round Wales. Time after time people would go out of their way (put themselves out) to help me as well as the general run of engaging in conversation with pleasantness and interest in what I was about - all that more so than in any other region I have visited.
ReplyDeleteWau! This is quite the list ...
ReplyDeleteRW (zS): Germany deserves a big list. A force for good in Europe for the last fifty years.
ReplyDelete