Christmas

Christmas Lunch - duck, dumplings, red cabbage, brussel sprouts
After lunch we walked up Kottmar - see photos below. This one shows why Christmas in Germany - snow, fir trees, lights.... awwwww....

So after all that excitment Joerg and I headed out for a beer. We went to the "Old Bakery" a bar/cafe converted from a bakery (hence the name!) into an alternative hangout including a cinema. Sounds cool hey? Well remember where I am. In the former East Germany these sort of places are not "cool" they are a political statement, and in a way a lot of the self-expression I love about Germany is also bourne as a reaction to totalitarianism. The simple decision of where you have a beer can affect the rest of your life – political awareness was forced on the young adults here as they were growing up and everything involved a choice and a stance of what you believe in. For example people not being allowed to finish high school since they wouldn’t take a “coming of age” oath (would you promise to further and promote socialism?), or their high school certificate wasn’t recognised because they went to a church high school. The wooden toys and chocolate shot glasses you've seen in the photos were nearly impossible to get in this time since they were used for export (or for senior Party people). Luckily the young generation now are not only able to enjoy all the joys of Christmas, but also will be free from the political pressures and the need to be clear about what you believe in, although losing that awareness will be a shame in a way.

In this region there have been several different kings, rulers, governments all with different belief sets - after an invasion your ruler may be Catholic instead of Protestant, he may be less or more tolerant of religious differences. In addition families (including my family) which come as refugees or migrants become used to assimilating into a culture so they can become part of the community - sometimes they adopted the beliefs around them, sometimes they changed them by adding parts of their own beliefs, sometimes they continued in their own ways either in public or secret. Perhaps that’s why people managed to survive socialism and then overthrow it, it was just another “religion” forced on people.