In July 1794 Goethe and Schiller left a meeting of the natural science society in Jena together. Goethe explained his idea of the Urpflanze, the original plant. Schiller answered: Das ist keine Erfahrung, das ist eine Idee. That is not an experience, that is an idea. Goethe replied that he could only be glad to have ideas without knowing it. Goethe later described the argument: so ward viel gekämpft und dann Stillstand gemacht … keiner von beiden konnte sich für den Sieger halten. There was much fighting and then a pause, and neither could consider himself the winner. From that conversation grew one of the best-known friendships in German literature. It lasted until Schiller’s death.
Rebuke Your Neighbor
In Luther’s Bible, the command to love one’s neighbor comes in the verse after a command to rebuke him. Du sollst deinen Bruder nicht hassen in deinem Herzen, sondern du sollst deinen Nächsten zurechtweisen, damit du nicht seinetwegen Schuld auf dich lädst. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall rebuke your neighbor, so that you do not bear guilt because of him. Du sollst deinen Nächsten lieben wie dich selbst. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. In the Gospel of Matthew, the rebuke is private. Sündigt aber dein Bruder, so geh hin und weise ihn zurecht zwischen dir und ihm allein. Hört er auf dich, so hast du deinen Bruder gewonnen. If your brother sins, go and point out his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.
Criticism After a Win
In autumn 2012, after a 2:0 win over Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich’s sporting director Matthias Sammer said the team had not played gallig enough, with enough bite, and had been lätschern, limp. Coach Jupp Heynckes disagreed with how he had done it, and told him so. Mit der Form, der Art und Weise war ich nicht einverstanden. Das habe ich ihm auch gesagt. I did not agree with the form and the manner. I told him that too. Er weiß, dass es wichtig ist, diese Dinge in geschlossenen Räumen anzusprechen. He knows it is important to raise these things behind closed doors. That season Bayern won the league, the cup and the Champions League.
Not in the Files, Not in the World
Quod non est in actis, non est in mundo. What is not in the files is not in the world. In German the maxim reads Was nicht in den Akten ist, ist nicht in der Welt. It comes from written court procedure, in which nothing could be considered that was not in the court files. Berlin’s administration puts the same idea in a handbook for its officials. They must keep files and darin ihr Handeln vollständig, nachvollziehbar und transparent dokumentieren, document their actions in them completely, traceably and transparently. In 2017 the legal journalist Martin Rath called the maxim eine billige Weisheit, a cheap wisdom. He also wrote that the file is a Mittel der Vernunft, an instrument of reason.
The Right to a Counterstatement
A person or authority directly affected by a newspaper report in Germany can demand a Gegendarstellung, a counterstatement. The press laws of the German states contain this right. In Bavaria the paper must print it in the same part of the paper and in the same typeface, without additions or cuts, and free of charge. The counterstatement may contain only statements of fact, not opinions. For the right to apply, it does not matter whether the original report was true or false. The editors may add a short note that they stand by their report. Princess Caroline of Monaco was the first person to obtain a counterstatement on a front page.
Tired of the Coalition’s Quarrels
In August 2023 the polling institute Forsa asked Germans about the disputes inside the governing coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP. Thirty-five percent said they understood that the three parties argued because their opinions differed. Sixty-one percent said they were so tired of the constant disputes that they no longer listened closely to what the disputes were about. The coalition broke apart in November 2024.
The Stress Test for Stuttgart 21
On 30 November 2010 the arbitrator Heiner Geißler announced his ruling on Stuttgart 21, the planned underground main station. One of its conditions was a Stresstest. Deutsche Bahn had to prove that the new station could handle a timetable with 30 percent more capacity in the peak hour, with good operating quality. The railway ran the test, and the Swiss firm SMA und Partner audited it. On 29 July 2011 the results were presented and discussed in public, again with Geißler as moderator. The auditors found that the required 49 arrivals in the busiest hour could be handled. Opponents argued that the railway had not kept to its own rules. One group of critics said that the station could handle only 32 to 38 trains in the peak hour.
Starting Over on Nuclear Waste
On 22 February 1977 the state government of Lower Saxony named the salt dome at Gorleben as the only site for a nuclear waste repository. Protest grew in the region and beyond. On 3 May 1980 about 5,000 opponents occupied the drilling site and proclaimed the Republik Freies Wendland, the Free Republic of Wendland. In 2013 a law restarted the search from the beginning. A commission of scientists and representatives of social groups worked from 2014 to 2016. The Site Selection Act of 2017 requires a partizipatives, wissenschaftsbasiertes, transparentes, selbsthinterfragendes und lernendes Verfahren, a procedure that is participatory, based on science, transparent, self-questioning and learning. In September 2020 Gorleben dropped out of the search. The law aims for a decision in 2031. In late 2022, documents of the responsible federal company estimated that the search could last until 2046, or in another scenario until 2068.
The Dictated Peace
The German delegation was not allowed to take part in the negotiations on the Treaty of Versailles. It could only submit written objections after the terms were presented. On 12 May 1919, the head of the government, Philipp Scheidemann, asked the National Assembly: Welche Hand müsste nicht verdorren, die sich und uns in solche Fesseln legte? What hand would not wither that put itself and us in such chains? On 28 June 1919, two German ministers signed under protest, after an ultimatum. Most Germans saw the treaty as an illegitimate and humiliating Diktat. Das Versailler Diktat became a political slogan. Revising the treaty was a declared goal of German foreign policy throughout the Weimar Republic. In 1932, Theodor Heuss wrote that the starting point of the National Socialist movement was not Munich, but Versailles.
Five Years in Münster and Osnabrück
The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years’ War. In December 1641 the warring parties agreed in Hamburg to hold peace talks in Münster and Osnabrück. The envoys met there from 1643. Disputes over rank and titles delayed the opening of the congress for a long time. Then the sides took more than a year to exchange their demands. The real peace negotiations began in June 1645. Both treaties were signed in Münster on 24 October 1648. The ratifications were exchanged on 18 February 1649. A separate congress in Nuremberg then worked out how to carry out the peace, until July 1650. The treaty became a fundamental law of the Holy Roman Empire. Sources differ on how many delegations took part. German Wikipedia gives about 110 delegations from 16 European states. The Münster city museum speaks of envoys from more than 150 states and territories.