Yesterday I took a stroll around the neighborhood, and took a few pictures of ephemera:
Time Capsule Bilk/Unterbilk, October 2018
Month: October 2018
“Bilk Stays Dirty”
Mysterious things happen in my neighborhood, Bilk, the hippest, hottest place in Düsseldorf, the finest city on the Rhine. It’s vibrantly diverse, in the good way!
About a week ago, I crossed the Merowinger Bridge over the Düssel river, and saw this attached to it:
“bilk stays dirty”.
I have no idea who put it there, or why (anyone know?). It’s gone now, either to a landfill or an art gallery
Just one of those odd things that sometimes happen here.
Europeans Love ‘Columbo’, and Who Can Blame Them?
If you want to strike up a conversation with any European, just mention ‘Columbo’. I have yet to meet any European who doesn’t know and love the rumpled, quizzical gumshoe. Even Hungarians.
A few theories as to why he’s so popular:
- Pragmatic: The show seems to have been broadcast everywhere in Europe for much of its storied 32-year run. Can’t become a pop icon without everyone seeing you. The broadcast rights must have been fairly affordable.
- Linguistic: ‘Columbo’ and most of the characters spoke relatively slowly, without too much slang. This makes them easy to dub or subtitle.
- Universal cultural references: Everyone across the world likes Los Angeles, and knows (or thinks they know) enough about it to get most of the references.
- Universal themes: Everyone gets greed, duplicity, jealousy, and hate.
- Non-political in a vaguely leftist way: ‘Columbo’ was one of the few American TV series which was broadcast in Communist countries: “Hungarians love the series because it’s ‘thinking’ television, one in which the audiences enjoy watching the detective solve a murder…. ‘Columbo,’ like ‘The Saint,’ was among the few TV series allowed on the airwaves during the reign of communism — both shows were apolitical and painted the West as a den of murder and mayhem — making Falk a favorite uncle for Hungarian viewers over 30.” ‘Columbo’ was one of the few cultural products that were the same on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
- ‘Thinking’ television. Europeans have far less tolerance for gore and violence than Americans do (this is slowly changing). There was never any violence on ‘Columbo’; and he solved crimes by using his noggin. His European Jewish noggin. Not his giant American revolver.
- ‘Columbo’ was a real human:
He had a glass eye, slightly stained teeth (at least in the 1970s), rumpled clothes, strong opinions, a sharp tongue, faults, and moods. Europeans distrust and dislike shiny happy beautiful thin fun-loving perfectly suntanned Americans with their terrifyingly straight rows of blindingly white teeth. They like their heros to be slightly-above average schlubs, like Columbo was.
All told, ‘Columbo’ was probably one of the most effective American cultural exports of the late 20th century. And the show’s still pretty fun to watch.
Musil on Socialism
I’m dipping into the English translation of the diaries of Robert Musil, a handsome book published in 1998. Here is his discussion of socialism from the 1919-1921:
Ideology of socialism
- ) All people are equal
- ) Love thy neighbor as thyself.
1. is a downright untruth. The real true meaning of this assertion has become apparent in the meantime. Trials by jury, councils, parliament, the pupil often cleverer than the teacher. Take, from time to time, a spiritual purgative to clear out all knowledge. Spirit is destructive, and only constructive through setting up a collection of solutions from which practice makes its selection. When left to its own devices, spirit is a feud without end. (From this follows the position of the creative writer and the philosopher in socialist society.)
2. This principle has never been realized. It is not only unsuitable for the ethics of everyday life but also for the ethics of those who are most advanced. The only way it is realized, if at all, is in the exaggerated form: “Love thy neighbor more than thyself.” But then it is no longer pure, for here an idea is loved, an issue. Moreover, it denotes a condition, that of love.
This should be replaced by a principle that is, in ethical terms, of much less consequence but, in practical terms, more important: “Act in solidarity.”
Accordingly, the ethics of socialism rest on 2 practical maxims. That corresponds to the tasks of a political movement.
Hatred of the oppressors, feeling for the subjugated—all these ideas so dear to the socialist, his elan? First of all, these ideas all belong to the “status nascendi” of socialism, not to the finished society. [. . .]
Cycling the Rotthäuser Bachtal
The Rotthäuser Bachtal is a nature preserve just east of the Düsseldorf suburb of Gerresheim. Trails accompany a creek valley whose Western bank is made up of steep cliffs made of sandy yellowish soil with many erosion paths. The east flank of the creek is largely flat, and dotted with pastures. The area is heavily forested, mainly with splendid old beech trees. As the soil has eroded beneath them, many of these trees have begun to tip over at hair-raising angles, and some have been uprooted entirely by storms. If the fallen tree blocks the trail, then so be it: most of the fallen trees have been left where they are, and you just have to climb under or over them.
The trail is twisty, with moderate ups and downs, plenty of tree roots, and some marshy areas, so it’s something for my 10-year-old Trek mountain-bike, Tapio, not my cross-bike, Elfriede. The creek has been dammed to create a series of fishponds which attract many native bird species, including a magnificent gray heron which exploded into flight right next to me as I skirted one of the ponds. There are also some protected plant species, like the odd-looking horsetail plant, with its long, spiky “leaves”. Of course, marshy areas mean mosquitoes in late summer, but they’re more of a nuisance than anything else.
The southern part of the trail skirts the Gerresheim Forest Cemetery, which opened in 1906. The idea behind a German forest cemetery is to leave large parts of the forest intact, and to spread graves around in a random-seeming manner, as if they had been scattered about by natural forces. The trails run up and down 20-meter inclines around the outside fence of the cemetery, which extends across the crowns of several hills. Owing to the height difference, the cemetery offers a free bus service for people who don’t fancy climbing to the higher graves on their own.
After snaking around the trails next to the Forest Cemetery, you descend into the idyllic pastures surrounding Pappendelle Farm, with its two large ponds, half-timbered farmhouse, and contented cattle munching grass.
If you live in central Düsseldorf, your ride home takes you through the former Glassmaker’s Quarter in Gerresheim. This used to be a massive glass factory drawing workers from all over Germany, but it has been torn down to make way for new apartments. All except for the former water-tower, which is now a protected landmark.
The Rotthäuser Bachtal is one of the gems to the east of Düsseldorf, in the outskirts of hilly Bergisches Land territory. The trails are well-marked, the scenery diverse, and the ups and downs make for a solid workout. If you haven’t paid it a visit yet, now’s the time — the fall foliage is just coming in.
German Joys 