Volkstrauertag

Originally thought up in 1919 to commemorate the dead soldiers of WWI the idea had a slow start in the 20's when it was held  5 Sundays before Easter. One needs to remember that the various states of Germany had been at war with one another until 1866and  a state known as Germany was only founded in 1871 and was thus about as old at the outbreak of WWI as the time the UK has been in the EU.

The Nazis hijacked the day and made it "Hero's Day", no longer sorrow and half mast flags but celebration and full mast. Post WWII it reverted to it's previous character but then in 1952 it was moved to it's current date (2nd Sunday before Advent) and to remember the soldiers and citizens who lost their lives in two world wars as well as the victims of all violent oppression in all nations.

Sadly yet again I got to the village church too late, just as the procession had laid wreaths at the memorial on the outside church walls and was about to set off for the second memorial in the village. Farmer Franz is one of the village "Veterans Society" main organisers (he's younger than I am and born in the 1950s) and was busy getting the procession lined up. I was having great difficulty in getting a photo as the spray rain/sleet was being blown by a strong breeze directly on to the lens.

Shame as the procession was lead by two young girls in splendid looking traditional, "solemn", Dirndl dresses and the band dressed in smart Lederhosen and Jackets.

We had been discussing the future of such organisations yesterday. Angie's father Sepp is the leading light in his towns society. They only have about 40 members in a town of 20,000+ and he can't find anyone prepared to take over his role as Secretary & Treasurer. I suspect our village of under 2,000 has more members.

It is to be hoped that as with the UK saying from Armistice - Remembrance day: "Lest we Forget" is the most important message of this day. As apt today as it was in 1918 or 1945 - the immigration crisis of the last two years (and the rise of nationalism/brexit/trump) is largely a direct result of war - Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria...... We seem to forget quickly, at least we let fear help us forget.