Deutsch 2. Fall

[Jeanett Fite]

TodayI would like to present a couple of German fall/autumn traditions that I experienced growing up. Maybe you can add to the list and/or tell us about the traditions in your home country or culture?

The German Erntedankfest has existed since the 3rd century when people started to thank God for the harvest that was brought in. In Germany, we usually celebrate it on the first Sunday in October.

There are corn labyrinths, wine stands and a lot of fun activities in small and larger cities to celebrate this day.

Also, a big thing for German kids is to collect chestnuts and create different figures and toys and play with them. I remember various primary school projects where chestnuts and toothpicks were involved, what about you?

The fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago this week brought far-reaching social and economic changes to communist East Germany, and people on both sides of the former barrier say the changes that have occurred since 1989 have had a positive influence on living standards in their country, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. But that does not mean the former East and West Germany are on equal economic footing today.

Unemployment is persistently higher in the former East Germany than in the former West. In 2018, the average unemployment rate was 6.9% in the six states of the former East Germany, compared with 4.8% in the 10 states of the former West Germany. (In all economic statistics in this analysis, Berlin is counted in East Germany, even though the city was divided during communism and is not directly comparable to other parts of East Germany.)

East-West differences in unemployment rates cut across demographic lines including age and gender. Among people ages 15 to 24, for example, the average unemployment rate in the former East Germany was 7.7% in 2018, compared with 4.1% in the former West. And while 7.5% of East Germans ages 55 to 64 were unemployed in 2018, the share was 5.3% among West Germans in the same age range.

Put another way, people in the former East Germany earned 86% the after-tax income of their West German counterparts in 2017. That percentage has changed little in recent years, but is far higher than in 1991, when per-capita disposable income in the former East was only 61% of that in the former West.

While its per-capita productivity remains lower than that of West Germany, the former East Germany has made major gains since unification. In 1991, per-capita productivity in the former East was less than half (43%) of productivity in the former West.

People in the former East Germany are also less optimistic than their counterparts in the former West on a variety of measures, including whether children today will grow up to be better off financially than their parents. In the former East, 42% of adults say the next generation will be better off, compared with 50% in the West who say this.

A slip, trip, and fall injury is common in New York. While some slip and fall accidents arise from weather conditions such as snow and ice, others are due to property owner negligence. Neglecting to maintain reasonably safe premises can cause a preventable fall accident. If you or a loved one has broken bones, had head injuries, soft-tissue injuries, sprains or other injuries from a fall, contact our New York premises liability attorneys for a free legal consultation.

First, you must have proof that the property owner was negligent in maintaining safe premises. This includes proving that a dangerous condition existed at the premises and that the owner of the premises or tenant knew, or should have known, of the dangerous condition and failed to remedy it in a timely fashion. In legal terms this is called notice. You then must prove that this dangerous condition caused your injuries.

Before the courts will consider your slip, trip and fall accident claim, they will check to see if you met your statute of limitations. In the state of New York, a statute of limitations puts a time limit on your right to file a premises liability lawsuit. You must bring your injury claim within at least three years of the date of your fall. If the accident occurred on a city street, or in a government building you may be required to file something called a notice of claim. This puts the government on notice of you potential claim and must be done within 90 days of your accident.

After a bad slip, trip and fall accident, the attorneys at Fiedler Deutsch, LLP are here to help and support you. At Fiedler Deutsch, LLP, we have more than five decades of combined experience handling premises liability cases in New York, and are committed to helping you recover maximum compensation for your injuries and related damages. Call (914) 993-0393 to request a free consultation about your recent fall. We also respond promptly to online contact requests.

We are celebrating the end of our first quarter back at the newly restored Denny Hall where the Germanics department has been located since the University of Washington was founded in 1861. Among its most remarkable features are a grand modern staircase and state-of-the art classrooms, along with the beautifully restored loft, which now serves as a common space for the TAs of all departments housed in the building. Please come and see for yourself and we will gladly show you around the department and the new Denny Hall. And I hope you will peruse some of our fall quarter news here. In the Q and A session of her annual address earlier this fall, UW President Ana Mari Cauce underscored the importance of foreign language learning and its ethical and cognitive dimensions. Languages matter. They create possibilities for cross-cultural understanding and respect. And they create marketable skills as well. In a time of new challenges we are emboldened by our amazing students and the success of our alums. Happy Holidays and best wishes for the New Year. We look forward to your continued support.

The opening of the Iron Curtain between Austria and Hungary at the Pan-European Picnic on 19 August 1989 set in motion a peaceful chain reaction, at the end of which there was no longer an East Germany and the Eastern Bloc had disintegrated. After the picnic, which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test the reaction of the USSR and Mikhail Gorbachev to an opening of the border, tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans set off for Hungary. Erich Honecker dictated to the Daily Mirror for the Pan-European Picnic: "Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West." The leadership of the GDR in East Berlin did not dare to completely block the borders of their own country and the USSR did not respond at all. Thus the bracket of the Eastern Bloc was broken.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

Following the summer of 1989, by early November refugees were finding their way to Hungary via Czechoslovakia or via the West German embassy in Prague. On 30 September, following negotiations with East Germany and the Soviet Union, the West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher went to the Prague embassy to personally inform the thousands of refugees that they were allowed to leave for West Germany. His speech from the embassy's balcony, which included the line, "Wir sind zu Ihnen gekommen, um Ihnen mitzuteilen, dass heute Ihre Ausreise..." ("We came to you, to let you know that today, your departure...") was met with loud cheers and jubilations. The next day, the first of the embassy refugees left Prague for Bavaria.[8][9]

On 1 November, Krenz authorized the reopening of the border with Czechoslovakia, which had been sealed to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West Germany.[13] On 4 November, the Alexanderplatz demonstration took place.[14]

On 6 November, the Interior Ministry published a draft of new travel regulations, which made cosmetic changes to Honecker-era rules, leaving the approval process opaque and maintaining uncertainty regarding access to foreign currency. The draft enraged ordinary citizens, and was denounced as "complete trash" by West Berlin Mayor Walter Momper.[15] Hundreds of refugees crowded onto the steps of the West German embassy in Prague, enraging the Czechoslovaks, who threatened to seal off the East German-Czechoslovak border.[16]

On 19 October, Krenz asked Gerhard Lauter to draft a new travel policy.[17] Lauter was a former People's Police officer. After rising rapidly through the ranks he had recently been promoted to a position with the Interior Ministry ("Home Office" / "Department of the Interior") as head of the department responsible for issuing passports and the registration of citizens.[18]

On November 7th, the East German Politburo enacted a portion of the draft travel regulations addressing permanent emigration immediately. Initially, the Politburo planned to create a special border crossing near Schirnding specifically for this emigration.[19] However, Interior Ministry officials and Stasi bureaucrats charged with drafting the new text concluded the proposal was not feasible, and instead crafted new text relating to both emigration and temporary travel. The revised text stipulated East German citizens could apply for permission to travel abroad, without having to meet the previous requirements for those trips.[20] To ease the difficulties, the Krenz-led Politburo decided on November 9th refugees could exit directly through crossing points between East Germany and West Germany, including between East and West Berlin. Later the same day, the ministerial administration modified the proposal to include private, round-trip, travel. The new regulations would take effect the next day.[21]

a. Privatreisen nach dem Ausland knnen ohne Vorliegen von Voraussetzungen (Reiseanlsse und Verwandtschaftsverhltnisse) beantragt werden. Die Genehmigungen werden kurzfristig erteilt. Versagungsgrnde werden nur in besonderen Ausnahmefllen angewandt.

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