Following Luther in Wartburg and Eisenach

From 5th till 9th October we were visiting Eisenach to commemorate Luther and his work.

Eisenach
View over Eisenach with Wartburg castle to the left
Coat of arms
Eisenach
State	Thuringia
District	Urban district
Eisenach was an early capital of Thuringia in the 12th and 13th centuries. Martin Luther came to Eisenach and translated the Bible into German. In 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach was born here. When Eisenach still belonged to the DDR, many houses were in bad shape. After the war many buildings were in ruins, some houses were empty , because the owners had fled and never returned. We could see those houses which were in a deplorable state. Nobody cared about them and little by little they deteriorated. Luther plays the lute for his wife and three of his 7 children Luther at work Luther with his family Luther's birthplace was here but the original house had disappeared Walking through these streets with such colourful houses made us remember of the time that Eisenach was part of the DDR, when all those buildings were still dreary, sad and colourless. We saw so much and heard even more that I couldn't remember all the facts and stories about the famous  men that lived here. There were for instance Bach and Händel, Goethe and Schiller and of course Luther.   Welcome to Our World Tuesday! This meme continues in memory of the work of Klaus Peter, whose "that's My World" brought people together from around the world every Monday to share the wonders therein--big and small.Please click on our  logo for "Our World Tuesday" in the sidebar.

Solstice

Today is the longest day in the year.

UT date and time of equinoxes and solstices on Earth[1]
event	equinox		solstice		equinox		solstice
month	March		June		September		December
year
	day	time	day	time	day	time	day	time
2010	20	17:32	21	11:28	23	03:09	21	23:38
2011	20	23:21	21	17:16	23	09:04	22	05:30
2012	20	05:14	20	23:09	22	14:49	21	11:12
2013	20	11:02	21	05:04	22	20:44	21	17:11
2014	20	16:57	21	10:51	23	02:29	21	23:03
2015	20	22:45	21	16:38	23	08:21	22	04:48
2016	20	04:30	20	22:34	22	14:21	21	10:44
2017	20	10:28	21	04:24	22	20:02	21	16:28
2018	20	16:15	21	10:07	23	01:54	21	22:23
2019	20	21:58	21	15:54	23	07:50	22	04:19
2020	20	03:50	20	21:44	22	13:31	21	10:02

The Solstice occurs twice each year (around June 21 and December 22) as the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. The seasons of the year are directly connected to both the solstices and the equinoxes.

Sunset

Sunset

The term solstice can also be used in a broader sense, as the day when this occurs. The day of the solstice has either the most sunlight of the year (summer solstice) or the least sunlight of the year (winter solstice) for any place other than the equator. Alternative terms, with no ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context, are June solstice and December solstice, referring to the months of year in which they take place.

Sunrise

Sunrise

At latitudes outside the tropics, the summer solstice marks the day when the sun appears highest in the sky.
The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the seasonal movement of the Sun's path (as seen from Earth) comes to a stop before reversing direction.

International Women's Day 8th March

On 8th March we celebrate International Women's Day by supporting those women who are  living in very difficult  circumstances all over the world.

 

.Women celebrate IWD because even if your country and mine might treat men and women as equal partners, there are many women who are considered to be inferior to men. In many African and Asian countries women don't get equal schooling, sometimes no education at all. The Taliban in Afghanistan forbids girls to go to school. They, don't get medical help, they are not allowed to work. This is so stupid, for women are half of the population of the world, they have the same talents, brains and potential powers as men. Even in my country we have to deal with religious groups who forbid women to vote, to work outside the house, to study more than only elementary education. In Africa women work hard they have to look after their husband and children, to walk miles to fetch water, to walk miles to go to market and sell products of their fields. We celebrate IWD because we support  women all over the world. It's not so long ago, that it was discussed if women had souls.In the women's concentration camp we noticed that it was normal for soldiers to beat women. And we felt it ourselves. One of our women didn't take it lying down and beat the soldier back.That was bad for her. The soldier was surprised and not used to that. Greece and many European countries are better but the fact that you say:" I don't understand women, because they have equal rights".. means that you have never realised, THAT THIS ALL HAPPENED BECAUSE WOMEN  HAVE FOUGHT FOR IT.

 

If you don't understand women, you can't understand men either. When do humans see men and women as people, who are two equal parts of humanity, who have to work together , and therefore respect each other. Respect for women! That's what we miss..

Some time ago a young woman was raped in a bus by a group of men . Nobody helped her and she died.

Does it matter where this happened? No! It happened!! Some days later a six-year old girl was raped by a group of men and left on the streets more dead than alive. Does it matter where it happened? No! It happened!

 

At Christmas my Australian daughter gave me a book. Its title is: Return to Dignity. written by Marilyn Skinner.

It deals with stories about brave  women who were abused by soldiers or were trained to fight as child soldiers.

All of them managed to overcome their problems and terrible memories. All of them are now strong, caring and  loving women, mothers and worthy members of society .

 

-------------------

A Polish member of the European Parliament showed himself to be a sexist hater by  saying the following words:"women should earn less because they are weaker, smaller and less intelligent". 

 
An investigation is underway, and a decision to ban him, could be made any moment. On International Women's Day, let's show the EU this isn't just an internal issue anymore -- people *everywhere* want them to ban this sexist hater.

 
This isn't just about one man -- this is about people coming together and showing our politicians we completely reject the Trumps of the world normalizing hateful, misogynist and xenophobic rhetoric. To make matters worse - he's even given a nazi salute inside the chamber!

Mr. Korwin-Mikke's hateful speech violates the EU parliament's regulations, and they have the responsibility to hold him accountable with the highest possible sanctions. He can be suspended directly by the President of the Parliament, and if 2/3rds of the MEPs agree, even kicked out permanently!

Let’s use this International Women’s day to stand together and kick sexism out of the European Parliament, and politics everywhere! Then share this with friends and family who also reject sexism and xenophobia -- let's make our call impossible to ignore!

 
Just a few weeks ago, Avaazers all around the world joined a global women’s march all around the world. Let’s make sure our political leaders stand with women against hate.

 

 

 

Our World Tuesday., ABC Wednesday, L of Lonely Lady

A Lonely Lady

One afternoon I heard a strange and horrible story of my gardener. Last year he had to do a very bizarre job in a neighbouring village . An old lady had died some time before the neighbours noticed that there was something wrong. She was discovered  a few weeks after she had died. She had no relatives, kept herself to herself, and  had neglected her garden in such a way that the undertaker was not able to remove her body from the house. There was only a very narrow path leading to the frontdoor. The gardeners were asked to remove all the weeds, bushes and plants from the garden and clean it as well as possible. It was a hell of a job and the first time they had to do this.

 They often clean gardens for people who want to buy a house of which the former owner had died, but never a job like this.

It is a sad and almost unbelievable story. How lonely this lady must have been, and how difficult to live next to a person who doesn't want to have any contact with neighbours. She was a real recluse and nobody could get near her.

Welcome to Our World Tuesday! This meme continues in memory of the work of Klaus Peter, whose "that's My World" brought people together from around the world every Monday to share the wonders therein--big and small.Please click on our  logo for "Our World Tuesday" in the sidebar. Thank you Team of O. W. T.!

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and thanks to Roger. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar. This week we are looking for words beginning with  L.

Our World Tuesday, ABC Wednesday, E for Eye of London

 

Opposite the Houses of Parliament

In the factory of Hollandia in the Netherlands.

After 2000 the Eye of London became a landmark of the City of London. At that time I happened to teach English to a group of adults,of whom several men were involved in the construction of this enormous wheel. Every week they informed me about its progress. I even got  newspapers with the latest news. Enough material for my lessons.

Wikipedia says:
"The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the Thames on barges and assembled lying flat on piled platforms in the river. Once the wheel was complete it was lifted into an upright position by a strand jack system made by Enerpac. It was first raised at 2 degrees per hour until it reached 65 degrees, then left in that position for a week while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift. The project was European with major components coming from six countries: the steel was supplied from the UK and fabricated in the Netherlands by the Dutch company Hollandia, the cables came from Italy, the bearings came from Germany (FAG/Schaeffler Group), the spindle and hub were cast in the Czech Republic, the capsules were made by Poma in France (and the glass for these came from Italy), and the electrical components from the UK.^[27]"

On our last day in Great Britain in 2007, we were in London, where we made a short trip on the Thames. Here I saw for the first time the Millenium Wheel or The Eye of London. The guide told us that the construction of  the Eye of London was sponsored by British Airways. I was waiting to hear that he would tell where it was constructed, but in vain..

It was made in Holland at the factory where my eldest daughter was a draughtswoman, who had actually drawn a small part of the Wheel.At that time we were very anxious to see if it could be constructed at all.

 It was designed by David Marks and Julia Barfield, who were architects. 

 A well known Japanese company was first asked to do the construction, but they turned it down. Too difficult!! Then Hollandia in the Netherlands offered to do the job, after the engineers studied long and hard on the project.They even made a model of it. It was going to be the biggest wheel in the world. With a splendid ceremony the green light was given on January, 28th, 1999.The work had to be finished before the beginning of the new millenium.It was an enormous challenge.

The wheel was finished in December 1999 and opened on 31st December.

 

This photo shows the assembly of the last section

 on a special platform in the river.

The above photo shows one of the four rim sections, which had to be taken to London from Holland. The right photo shows the first section arriving in London.


The London Eye stands 135 metres (443 ft) high on the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in London, England, between Westminster and Hungerford Bridges.

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar  This week we are looking for words beginning with E.