Dear Doves,

 

... the storm in N-W Europe – at least - until now... was not as quite heavy as expected...

 

(thank God) and – at least here in South-West Germany the storm already calmed – we had only little damage – thank God

 

North Sea flood tide fears recede

Flood alerts remain in force in the UK and the Netherlands, but latest reports suggest fears of storm-driven tidal surges have not materialised.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7086175.stm

 

however the forecasts: heavy snow expected for the weekend....

 

greetings

friedrich/germany

 

... please look at the report and news below... what a timing... amazing, isn’t...

 

 

Germany's Day of Destiny

Nov. 9 marks the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but the date has been an important one in German history long before. Since 1848, at least four other significant events took place on that day.

Nov. 9, 1989 wasn't meant to be a watershed in German history. While the communist leadership of East Germany had decided to allow citizens to travel freely on that day, the change in policy was not supposed to take effect until Nov. 10 to give border guards time to prepare.

But Günter Schabowski, a member of the East German politburo, who announced the decision at a press conference had not been present at the meeting. Asked by reporters when the new regulation would take effect, he said: "Immediately."

Watching Schabowski's statement on television, thousands of East Berliners rushed to crossing points to West Berlin, where overwhelmed border guards soon decided to let them pass.

 

Thus, Nov. 9 yet again became a German "day of destiny" marking the first, triumphant steps towards the country's reunification. But while Germans had a reason to celebrate on that date in 1989, another event that took place 51 years earlier on Nov. 9 remains one of the darkest in the country's history.

 

1938: Reichskristallnacht   (69 years ago...!!!)

 

Using the Nov. 7, 1938 assassination of a German diplomat in Paris by a German-Polish Jew as an excuse, the so-called Reichskristallnacht two days later rang in the Nazis' brutal persecution of Jews that would eventually end in the murder of millions of people.

 

While the 1935 Nazi race laws had already severely curtailed the life of Jews in Germany, members of the Nazi SA militia across the country now torched synagogues and destroyed Jewish stores. About 100 people were killed during the pogrom and about 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.

 

1923: Hitler putsch

Nazi leaders, including Adolf Hitler, had meanwhile gathered in Munich to commemorate the 15th anniversary of another Nov. 9 event: Hitler's failed putsch attempt of 1923.

 

.....more at

  

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1389348,00.html

 

see also

 

http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/nov2006/friedrichw1110.htm

 

  

 

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Trans-Atlantic Relations | 09.11.2007

Merkel Heads to Bush's Ranch to Wrangle Over Iran

 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President George W. Bush are both positive about this weekend's meeting at the president's Texas ranch, but neither side is predicting any policy breakthroughs.

The nuclear standoff in Iran is expected to remain at the top of the agenda during the informal two-day visit that begins Friday, Nov. 9. Both leaders have said they want to keep nuclear weapons out of Tehran's hands.

 

.....more at 

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2881932,00.html