The History Just Below the Surface

As some of you have noticed I don't write my blog when I am travelling. This is primarily due to a lack of technology-I don't have a notebook and writing a blog on a blackberry is a step to far for me.

I say primarily, as the trips I take, though certainly under the general title of vacation, still tend to be focused first on relatives, and then on the history/culture of the location, which doesn't mean work, but is not without structure.

I have a strong interest in history and am of the generation in which treaties, wars, victories (and defeats)and the rise and fall of empire form the basis of my historical understanding.

My wife is much more interested in the cultural history, how economics fit into the picture and how this is reflected in the architecture and society of a place.

These two interests combine almost perfectly in 20th (21st) century Europe where the history of the last 200 years and the creation of Nation States culminates in the World Wars-or the 30 Years War of the 20th century as I like to describe them-and the cultural, economic and architectural impact that left in Europe today.

This means that one way or another the role of Germany in Europe gets brought to the fore. With the passage of time I grow somewhat ambivalent about Germany's past.

We shouldn't forget the horrors, but we need to recognise that we are into the thrid post-war generation and not all the old cliches hold true.

So, after a trip to Germany and Poland in June it was very interesting to take a quick trip to visit my sister in the Normandy.

The entire area is full of reminders of the past. Streets named after British or American Regiments; empty concrete gun emplacements from the German defenders; barbed wire and rusted out tanks on the landing or "embarquement" beaches as the French call them; and the reconstruction, be it the planned of Le Harvre and Caen, or the un-planned of Lisieux juxtaposing the past and the present.

My sister's 80 year old mother-in-law remembers going to Honfleur and looking across the Seine estuary and watching the "fireworks" of the British bombing of Le Harve-while I reflect that it is my wife's great-uncle, a DeutschNational, who as Commandant of Le Havre negotiated with the British, unsuccessfully, to spare the city.

As an aside, I went to my octogenarian German-Jewish GP and we somehow got into a discussion of my travels. When we "got to" Weimar she kept saying what an absolute beautiful city it was. How much culture and intellect. She paused for a moment though, and said slowly, "you know it's 15 minutes with the streetcar to Buchenwald from the center of town....and they said they didn't know...".

We reflected for a moment, and then she said, "But you know, if it weren't for the anti-Semitism we would have all been Nazis! It was a rebirth! A feeling of purpose and destiny!.

Sitting there as she took a blood sample I was totally confused. If even she could see that there are at least two sides to the German enigma, what did the rest of Europe think.

Back in Normandy there was an animated discussion on/against Sarkozy. Then they hammered the 35 hour week and the politicians who introduced it. I then asked, given their dislike of Sarkozy, what they thought of Frau Merkel.

"She only cares about Germany!" was the first comment quickly followed by "and if she is a European, it's only if Germany runs Europe!". I hazarded to ask who they thought should run Europe. To be fair, they mumbled about a German/French partnership. But when pressed admitted that it was extremely difficult to work with Sarkozy, let alone trust him. The only thing that was clear that La France would not be led by the Germans.

I suggested that maybe the Germans were efficient, and that might be why Frau Merkel was re-positioning Germany for more of a leadership role. The word "efficient" caused consternation and some national pride and simmering anger threatened to disrupt our picnic.

Then they all agreed if Madame Royal looked more like Frau Merkel than she would have won the election and the French/German partnership would be stronger than ever. I wasn't quite sure to whom this was the greater insult, or compliment! It certainly took the bite out of the discussion and we quickly moved on to a less emotive subject.

The World Cup!