Free Republic

Half-timbered buildings and medieval romance -- that's what the Chinese wanted. But the architecture firm Speer thought it knew better, and built a modern German residential quarter on the outskirts of Shanghai. Now that it is complete, though, nobody wants to live there. Even Oktoberfest was cancelled. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is posing in his tailcoat and laurel wreath, while Friedrich Schiller next to him is clutching a scroll. The two bronze statues proudly guard a cobblestone square surrounded by trees. "Passersby keep asking me who these two gentlemen are," says one café owner waiting for customers on a scorching...

GERMAN sailor Stefan Ramin was on the trip of a lifetime when it turned into a nightmare on an island in the middle of nowhere. He set off on 2008 with his girlfriend and traversed the globe looking for paradise - but it took a horrible twist when he reached Nuku Hiva in French Polynesia. The remote tropical island was the last place Mr Ramin was seen before remains, believed to be his, were uncovered. Experts believe he was "hacked to pieces and burned" and eaten by suspected cannibals. Testing will conclude whether the ashes belong to Mr Ramin, Radio...

Of course you know that Germany and the Ottoman Empire were allies in WWI. With their defeat they were both cut down to size and in the case of the latter, Turkey was all that was left. But did you know that Germany’s historic Middle East policy had always given primacy to German relations to Turkey. Yet these relations are dicey due to the backlash in the EU to accepting Turkey for membership and the current debate in Germany regarding immigration. Paul Williams writing in Family Security Matters on 22 September 2010 reports "Our country is going to carry on...

Germany's top court averted potential disaster for the eurozone Tuesday by clearing rescue packages for struggling economies, as lawmakers in three of Europe's major capitals voted on key finance reforms. Share prices soared across Europe in the wake of the ruling, with German stocks at one point rising by more than three percent. The markets were also keeping a close eye on events in the French, Italian and Spanish parliaments where governments are trying to force through austerity packages in the face of widespread opposition. In its ruling, the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, western Germany, said MPs should have a...

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, speaking at West Point, said last week that “Any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should have his head examined.” In saying this, Gates was repeating a dictum laid down by Douglas MacArthur after the Korean War, who urged the United States to avoid land wars in Asia. Given that the United States has fought four major land wars in Asia since World War II — Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq — none of which had...

A 25-year-old man sued the Gretna Police Department Tuesday, alleging his civil rights were violated by a police officer who sicced his canine on him without provocation, leading the dog to bite

An amateur sleuth armed with determination and intuition helped cops crack the murder of Leiby Kletzky by tracking his path to doom. Yaakov German isn't a cop or a private detective. He's a property manager and father of 12 with a reputation as a do-gooder. By banging on doors and scrutinizing grainy video, he uncovered crucial clues that led cops to confessed killer Levi Aron. "At the end of the day, he should be given the credit for the cracking of the case," said Rabbi Jack Mayer of the NYPD's Clergy Liaison Program. His investigation into the disappearance of the...

“German prosecutors say they have arrested a teenager on suspicion he supported a terrorist organization by posting Islamist propaganda texts and videos on the internet seeking to recruit suicide bombers and otherwise radicalize viewers. Harry M., alias Isa al Khattab, is accused of supporting the Islamic State of Iraq, the al-Qaida front group in Iraq, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan which hopes to create an Islamic state across Central Asia.” SNIPPET: “...arrested in the northern German city of Neumuenster”

There are perils associated with apparently using Google Image Search to get material for your official news broadcast. When a German television news channel, N24, was reporting a story on Navy SEAL Team Six, the unit which spearheaded the operation which ultimately killed Osama bin Laden, the channel accidentally used a fan-made logo for the Maquis, an anti-Cardassian rebel group which originally appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in place of the SEAL Team Six emblem.

The news just boldly went ... somewhere it probably shouldn't have gone. A German newscaster must be wishing his colleagues would beam him up after TV channel N24 accidentally displayed the logo for a 24th century terrorist group depicted on the TV show "Star Trek" -- rather than the real world Navy SEAL team that took out Usama bin Laden. The news team intended to show the logo for SEAL Team Six, the special ops team that ultimately killed the notorious chieftan of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization. Instead, it accidentally used a fan-made logo for the Maquis, an anti-Cardassian...

Judge Files Complaint against Merkel over Bin Laden Comments A Hamburg judge has filed a criminal complaint against Chancellor Angela Merkel for "endorsing a crime" after she stated she was "glad" that Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces. Meanwhile a new poll reveals that a majority of Germans do not see the terrorist's death as a reason to celebrate. Schadenfreude, the enjoyment of others' suffering, may be a famously German concept, but it is apparently not a feeling that many Germans aspire to. The political and public fallout following Chancellor Angela Merkel's statement on Monday that she was...

“I am ashamed that he (Muslim thug) can stand here and speak like Hitler. Do you want Germany to be like all those countries from which they came? Germany, you have to rise, RISE UP GERMANY!” ("We need a billion more like her, all over the world~!")

Last night I watched this German movie called “Downfall”. It’s about Hitler’s last days and the battle of Berlin (not just from the Bunker). I have seen other similar films, but this one to me is clearly the best. I know you have already seen other films on this subject before, but I think it’s well worth your time to watch it. It’s a German film so it’s all Subtitles (don’t let that discourage you… It’s like the movie Das Boot). Oh and be sure to use a headset too. That way you feel like you are in the theater....

Odd. Default google.com is now opening up aswww.google.de (German language version).... Nothing especially wrong with that - except it is further proof for the conspiracy groups that Obama's "discussion/fundraiser at San Jose in early March with all of the Internet company CO's really was his start of a "new world disorder". 8<)

The U.S. Army has been forced to apologise over what they have deemed as 'repugnant' photographs of grinning American soldiers standing over bloodied and partially-naked Afghan bodies they had allegedly killed. The pictures were published by German news organisation Der Spiegel and were among 4,000 they have obtained. Meanwhile, commanders in Afghanistan are bracing themselves for a public backlash and possible riots over the 'trophy' photographs, especially since it has been alleged that the Afghan civilians were unarmed and innocent. Senior officials at Nato's International Security Assistance Force in Kabul have compared the pictures published by the German news weekly...

The attack came as the bus sat outside Terminal 2 at the airport, according to Frankfurt police spokesman Manfred Fuellhardt. The bus driver and a passenger were killed, and one person suffered serious wounds and another light injuries, he said. A source tells Fox News that the shooter yelled "Allah Akbar" when opening fire on the U.S. military personnel. He then dropped his gun at the scene, ran into the terminal and was subdued. U.S. Air Force Europe spokeswoman Maj. Beverly Mock said all four victims were airmen. They were all based at the Lakenheath military base in Britain. A...

Today marks an anniversary of true bravery for the cause of liberty. On February 22, 1943, Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans, and Christoph Probst were executed by guillotine in Munich, Germany. Their crimes? Anonymously distributing leaflets criticizing the German government at the University of Munich. They were members of the White Rose, an underground student group that should inspire every American who loves the cause of liberty. The three who were executed on February 22, 1943 The White Rose was comprised of a dozen or so University of Munich students, including Probst and the Scholls. They were active when...

Adventurers try to trek across Australia all the time – but few attempt the journey in a wind-powered electric car. Two Germans, Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer, recently wrapped up an 18-day drive that took them 3,000 miles along the southern Australian coast in a vehicle that used the breeze to juice up its battery. The total electricity cost for the Wind Explorer vehicle came out to less than $15. In addition to an 8-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, the car is equipped with a kite system and a portable wind turbine with a 20-foot bamboo mast.

Excerpted website: A German state yesterday became the first region in the country to ban Muslim women from wearing burkas. The country has been gripped for several months by an angry debate on multiculturalism with many Germans voicing their concerns over immigration. Hesse, a state run by Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, has now became the first German region to ban Muslim face veils for public sector workers. Hesse Interior Minister Boris Rheinsaid it was 'not acceptable' for a teacher in Frankfurt to wear a face veil because 'public sector workers are obligated to have neutral religious and political views'.

A new book about the closing days of WW2 chronicles how German civilians murdered many concentration camp survivors as they moved through their towns and villages on infamous 'death marches' back into the shrinking Reich. The violence shows how even with their nation in ruins, the Allies advancing on all fronts and the war hopeless, ordinary people were so indoctrinated with Nazi hate they were prepared to kill defenceless people in cold blood.