Guten Tag Michael,

You wrote :

> Guten Morgen Christian,
>
> you are absolutley correct.
> I was born and raised in Karlsruhe, which is right at the
> border to France
> (Alsace). I always enjoyed visiting there and eat
> "Flammkuchen" and new
> wine.

If my German is not too rusty, the word "Flamekuchen" means "Flame Cake".

> The people in the Alsace are very special in many ways and there
> native dialect has many german words.

Yes, to the best of my knowledge (but I can't claim much expertise...)
Alsatian and German have common roots.

> For many many years, the border is now gone and we loved it that way.

When I worked in Böblingen, Germany, I would cross the border with or
without noticing it. Most of the times, I noticed that I had crossed the
border when my cell phone switched from "D2" to "France Telecom Itineris"
(now Orange). Even when the border was in existence, even the not-so-locals
(I am from the Paris area) were rarely stopped. I have crossed that border
perhaps 50 times by car between 1985 and 1997.

> Even when there was still a border-patrol, many of the local
> where never
> checked. Many Germans moved to Alsace because the prices for
> housing was
> much cheaper. Also many french worked in Germany.
> I once worked for Siemens in Karlsruhe and in some
> departments, half of the
> work-force was french. They had shuttle-buses to pick up the workers.

One of my customers also has a plant in Karlsruhe, and they have a
mutli-national work force, with lots of German and French nationals. At the
time I was in Böblingen, I think that the 5,000 or so employees represented
37 distinct nationalities.

> It was wonderful and nice to grow up in such a nice and peaceful
> environment. I never experienced any hatred on either side.

Neither did I. My teen years are scattered with memories of vacations in
Germany. My parents would send me over for a few weeks each summer, to get
some practice in your language. That's how I got acquainted with places like
Mainz, Rüdesheim, Schlangenbad, Wiesbaden, etc.

Long gone are the days before WWI when my mom's dad (who later fought WWI)
would say out loud at each glass of wine "Here's one more the "Boches" (old
slang for Germans) won't have".

Partnership sounds better than revenge.

And that is good.

> It is wonderful to see, how our countries grew togehter from "natural
> enemies" to the current relationship.
> We had a terrible useless war on our soil and remember or
> know from the
> stories what war in your own neighborhood is like.
> Therefore you don't ask for it slightly. Not unless there is no other
> choice.

This is exactly my point. We could not agree more, I guess.

> Einen schönen Tag und ein schönes Wochenende.
> Mit freundlichen Grüssen
>
> Michael

Have a nice weekend too, and please don't challenge my lousy German (how do
you spell LOL in German ?)

Christian

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