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Edited by Mrph1 on Jan 9th 2024 at 3:24:05 PM
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Not...exactly.....I think former east Germany comes closer to that. The Bavarians are like the Texans, the part of Germany with forms the view of the foreigner...which is pretty annoying if you consider that Bavarians want an extra rule for more or less everything. They are to Germany what the UK is to the EU.
Beware the Crazy Man.
@Zarastro - Thank you for that link. Thats exactly what I was looking for.
Also, when I meant historical, I meant in that some parts of some states were once in other states (like part of the Saarland was once in Palatinate, or several states up north once being Prussia, that sort of thing). I was just listing possible reasons the state borders might change in favor of further merger, the others being economic or linguistic or fraternal.
@Swanpride - Speaking of the Ruhr Valley, if (as unlikely as it is, but humor me a second) the cities there were to eventually merge into one municipality, what name would it take? I assume (but I'm probably wrong) that none of the big ones like Dortmund or Cologne or be allowed to impose their name on the rest of it. But I also feel just calling it Rhine-Ruhr would be....I dunno. Dry? Boring?
edited 26th Feb '17 7:05:00 AM by FFShinra
Final Fantasy, Foreign Policy, and Bollywood. Helluva combo, that...
It would certainly be something with "Ruhr" in the name...but I somehow doubt that they would go for one of the usual monikers, since "Ruhrgebiet" (Ruhr Area) sounds very vague and Ruhrpott or simply Pott a little bit, well, rough. Perhaps they would go with Ruhrstadt (Ruhr-City).
Sell it for what it is: Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft. 
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
Zentralstadtgebiet Ruhr, with the old cities retaining their names as sections with their own under mayors and stuff, probably
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But certainly nothing with "Rhine" in the name....Those are those stuck up guys in Dusseldorf and Cologne. The Ruhr is were the blood is black.
United Earth
Why is it that whenever I read Ruhr I think of robots?
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Because a certain German band known for their robots (and many more things) come from Düsseldorf (which is located in the middle of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region).
United Earth
Beware the Crazy Man.
edited 26th Feb '17 2:03:52 PM by FFShinra
Final Fantasy, Foreign Policy, and Bollywood. Helluva combo, that...
lol...this is the perfect day to suggest that....I would love to see the reaction to an idea like this....
Beware the Crazy Man.
??????????????????????
<confusion intensifies>
edited 26th Feb '17 2:56:10 PM by FFShinra
Final Fantasy, Foreign Policy, and Bollywood. Helluva combo, that...
Tar, feathers and pitchforks...
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
Düsseldorf and Cologne...cordially hate each others guts. Like Scots and Englishman. Or Scots and Irish. And Scots and Scots.
It gets especially loud when:
I. 1. FC Köln plays Fortuna Düsseldorf in football
II. Its Karneval. Its even to the point where Düsseldorfer shout 'Helau' and Cologne shouts 'Alaaf'...confusing the two is very unwise, especially on Rose Monday (Today). Just as ordering the wrong sort of beer in the wrong city
Them going together...would get loud and clear 'Fuck you, No.' from both sides of the Rhine.
Edit and Point of Order; Düsseldorf and Cologne are part of the Rhine area. Dortmund, Duisburg and Essen are part of the Ruhr area. Both are geographically near but are considered very distinct area's and culture who simply happen to be in the same state. In short, the Rhine Area is the 'brain' to the Ruhr Area's 'brawn'
edited 26th Feb '17 3:36:52 PM by 3of4
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It doesn't help that Düsseldorf is the capital of the federal state, despite Cologne being significantly larger. This has been the case since I believe the Prussians took over the Rhineland, since Cologne was too Catholic for them and it's archbishop had a habit of criticizing them too much.
Beware the Crazy Man.
Maybe amalgamate everything into just those three then?
Final Fantasy, Foreign Policy, and Bollywood. Helluva combo, that...
Düsseldorf and Cologne are actually not that close together...Düsseldorf is located fairly close to the Ruhr Cities, Cologne is more or less in the middle of nowhere compared to this...the next cities are Leverkusen and Monheim. Culturally though there is a giant gap between Düsseldorf and the Ruhr Cities, mostly because it wasn't a coal area, it just profiteered from the hard work done in the mines by establishing itself as the place where the actual money business happened.
There is something one has to understand: Germans hate each other guts...well, not really. But the regional pride is pretty strong, often stronger than the feeling for the nation as a while. But that is exactly why Germans tend to shrug with their shoulders when people like the Brexiters argue that they have to protect their identity from the big, evil EU...from our perspective we could be part of one world-wide government, it would still not change our cultural heritage.
The different cultures makes Germany a pretty interesting place to visit, btw.
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Well, the Brits seem to enjoy Germany quite alot...
The Brits hurrying to become German citizens
"So, when are you becoming German?" It's one of those questions that always seems to crop up when I'm chatting to British friends here in Berlin these days. Most are either applying for German citizenship or counting the days until they've spent enough time here to be eligible.
That's because no-one knows what will happen to them once Britain leaves the EU. These are not the bronzed "expats" of the tabloid imagination - living it up in the sun, glass of gin in one hand, golf club in the other. They are young freelancers worried that if they need visas their work will dry up. Or pensioners living in rented flats, surviving on fixed incomes tied to a shrinking pound.
Esme was the most organised of any of us. She made her first appointment with the German authorities the week before the referendum. She took the citizenship test, submitted all the documents, and a few weeks ago became German in a ceremony in her local town hall, in the Berlin district of Neukoelln.
What surprised her was how emotional she felt about it. About 50 people, of 22 different nationalities were being granted German citizenship: Syrians, Americans, Iraqis, Turks, Italians, French - even a few other Brits.
The local mayor gave a speech welcoming everyone, and reflected on the meaning of Heimat, or homeland. And as she quoted from the German constitution, and talked about how all people were equal, regardless of gender, origin or ethnicity, Esme felt tears in her eyes.
A cellist and a pianist played the 22 different national anthems of those present - by then, Esme was almost sobbing. And finally a singer came in to give a moving rendition of the European anthem, Beethoven's Ode to Joy - by which time Esme was in pieces.
Not bad for an out-and-out liberal, who's usually pretty sceptical about flag-waving.
Not so very long ago, saying to other Brits that you're becoming German would almost inevitably lead to some tired gag about Nazis or towels on sun loungers. And although some British headlines might still use those cliches - and you can expect a few more if Brexit talks get nasty - today, modern Germany is seen more often as a bastion of tolerant values: international, democratic and open to immigrants.
Of course, there are people outside and inside Germany who criticise Angela Merkel's decision to allow so many foreigners in. But for those new British-Germans, themselves migrants, a country that welcomes foreigners is attractive.
As for me, my own citizenship status is a bureaucratic muddle. It's no doubt my own fault for moving around too much, but growing up in a globalising world I had thought passports, borders and notions of citizenship were losing their importance.
Today though, as I scrabble together previously unheard of documents to avoid suddenly becoming an illegal alien, I can see I was wrong.
There have been a lot of people sharing their experience...apparently the German authorities make it really easy for the Brits as long as they fulfil the basic rules....
A little bit surprised to hear about the ceremony, though...I think that one is fairly new. I remember watching a documentary two years ago about German politicians taking a look at the immigration system in Canada in order to see what they can learn and one of the things noted in it was that there was some sort of ceremony in Canada, while there was nothing like it in Germany, and how this is psychologically problematic because the immigrant never gets a sense of being truly accepted. Either they do it differently in Berlin, or they actually learned something and added the ceremony.
Oh, bother.
Gotta admit, that story tugged the ol' heartstrings a bit. 
Germany welcomes Turkish academics 84 years after Atatürk did same for Jews fired by the Nazis
Until fairly recently, a lot of young highly educated Germans whose parents emigrated from Turkey tended to leave for Turkey. Not only has this tendency apparantly, stopped, but it might actually be reversed.
This is of course not a good thing for the future of Turkey, but might benefit Germany and other countries who offer shelter to intellectuals.
edited 28th Feb '17 11:37:48 AM by Zarastro
There's also reports of around 40 Turkish military officers seeking asylum in Germany and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, EU’s small steps toward (whisper it) a military HQ.
The Military Planning and Conduct Capabilities (MPCC) unit would be responsible for the EU training missions in Somalia, Mali and Central African Republic, and EU countries have agreed on all the major outstanding issues, according to four diplomats and two EU officials who spoke on condition of anonymity as they are involved in the talks.
edited 28th Feb '17 11:44:31 AM by TerminusEst
Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
That German citizenship ceremony does sound like the ones we do in Canada. In fact a while back I was surprised to hear that more countries don't do that.
Its nice to see that they have such a positive impact on people though.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Which undermines my theory that we lifted it directly from the Canadian system.
United Earth
Well I think it's a brilliant idea and more countries should do it.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.