Host Nation Update, March 10, 2023
Hamburg – Shooting at a Jehovah’s Witnesses building of congregation
In Hamburg, eight people were fatally injured, according to police on Friday morning. Among the dead is “apparently also the suspected perpetrator,” according to Hamburg police. “Other people were injured by the crime, some seriously,” it added. During an event in the building of the municipality, the shots had fallen on Thursday evening.
According to information from security circles, the police classified the act as a rampage. The suspected shooter was not known as an extremist. The fact that his name nevertheless appeared in the databases of the security authorities does not appear to have a criminal background, but has to do with the fact that he is supposed to have applied for a weapons permit. This always requires a reliability check, in which references to criminal offenses and extremism are examined. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reacted
“My thoughts are with the dead and their families. My deepest sympathy goes out to them on this day of pain,” and thanked the emergency services on the ground and pointed to the sympathy of the population: “I am sure many people in Germany feel sincere sympathy in these hours. I wish the injured a speedy recovery.”
Several members of a Jehovah’s church fell victim to a brutal act of violence last night,”
Earlier in the day, police continued to secure evidence in front of, behind and inside the three-story building. On the outside of the building, investigators still put up numerous small number boards during the night to mark traces of the violent crime. In the morning, a 3D scanner was also in use to document the course of the crime. The entrance to the Jehovah’s Witness building was covered with a privacy screen in the morning. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Mar 10, 2023)
Baden-Württemberg – Association: poverty rate higher than initially assumed
The consequences of the COVID pandemic for poorer people in the southwest were more severe in 2021 than initially assumed. Compared to the previous year, the poverty rate had increased by 7.6 percent and not, as reported last summer, by 6.1 percent. The background to this is that new data from the Federal Statistical Office now deviates significantly from an earlier version. The proportion of people living in relative poverty in the southwest, the so-called poverty rate, reached a value of 14.1 percent according to the new figures. That would be 1.57 million people in the state. Nationwide, the poverty rate was thus 16.9 percent. After Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg was the second least affected state. In wealthy countries like Germany, poverty is not defined by direct need such as hunger or homelessness. It is much more a question of whether the household income is sufficient for social participation. The at-risk-of-poverty rate indicates the proportion of the population that has to get by on less than 60 percent of the median income. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Mar 10)
Lord Mayor Nopper’s wife wore a Black forest hat with red bowls (Bollenhut) at the Stuttgart Fasching parade – wearing the wrong color still has an aftermath
Gudrun Nopper caused viewers to pull up eyebrows, because she wore a RED “Bollenhut. Actually, this is reserved for unmarried women. The reason was quite simple: the black hats (traditionally, for married women) were not available at the costume rental. She was well aware of the problem with the color, because the Noppers are often on the road to the Black Forest. The Mayor from the Black Forest area stated “I think the wearing of the red Bollenhut on Fasnet by the wife of the Stuttgart mayor we all perceive here with a wink, and she can get away with it, especially during Fasching times. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Mar 10)
Mercedes campaign for equal opportunities
Reema Juffali, Saudi Arabia’s first female racing driver, is the focus of a film for International Women’s Day. Despite numerous advances in the area of equal opportunities in recent decades, the path must be consistently continued. To raise awareness of this, Mercedes-Benz is focusing on three female protagonists. They are all closely associated with the company. Mercedes actively supports them in achieving their goals and dreams, according to a company statement on Women’s Day. In 2006, Mercedes-Benz was one of the first companies in Germany to set itself the voluntary goal of increasing the proportion of women in senior management positions worldwide to 20 percent by the end of 2020. Currently, this figure is close to 25 percent. The advancement of women remains an important and challenging focus topic, as the proportion of women in technical courses of study and professions is still below average. Mercedes-Benz is aiming for 30 percent women in senior management by 2030 as the next step. The Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG is almost 40 percent female: Three of the eight members of the Board of Management are women. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Mar 10)
Attraction between Böblingen and Sindelfingen – The airfield has a new star
For three months, the City Star at Flugfeld will be there until June 11. But since the county celebrates its 50th birthday this year on July 9, it will be extended at least til then. A ride in the City Star lasts about 15 minutes, and after the so-called refill round, it goes around the circle three more times. The entire construction rests on a foundation of six heavy transporters. They are perfectly lined up next to each other, bolted down tightly and placed in the water. With hydraulics and rope hoists, the huge attraction unfolded on top. Within a few days, the wheel stretched up to the sky, spoke by spoke.
The City Star rotates from March 10 to June 11 at the Flugfeld fairground in Böblingen.
Opening hours
Mondays the Ferris wheel has break. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays it spins from 11 am to 7 pm. Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. each.
Tickets and prices
These are available via www.easyticket.de and at all known advance booking offices. A ticket costs twelve euros, reduced nine euros and six euros for children aged three to eleven. Family tickets are available for 32 euros. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Mar 10)
Sindelfingen: The skylight hall becomes a TV studio
During the 2023 Easter vacations, it will transform the skylight room of the Sindelfingen Gallery into a large TV studio. This is not just any studio, but a TV teaching studio entitled “Sim TV – Live”. Children and young people can experience an active creation of their own TV show here and to take advantage of valuable learning and experience opportunities through their participation. The team of the Kinderfilmakademie will transform the Oberlichtsaal into a real TV studio within one week. On 240 square meters, a TV teaching studio will be created, in the planning, construction and technical implementation of which the young participants will have the main responsibility. The aim is to combine media education and cultural education goals and to give the children and young people a realistic look behind the scenes of a TV studio. The media pedagogical concept of the Children’s Film Academy envisages that the participants get to know the processes of a TV program and can direct and co-determine them themselves. The focus is on integrating productive and receptive media work. “Sim TV – Live” offers children and young people the opportunity to produce and design their own TV shows, starting with studio set-up and ending with moderation. The project will take place during the Easter vacations from Monday, April 10 to Saturday, April 15 in the Oberlichtsaal at the Sindelfingen library. So if you fancy an unusual vacation experience and would like to discover your talents in the field of TV production, the “Sim TV – Live” TV teaching studio is definitely not to be missed! Further information and registration on the website: www.simtv.de on the Internet.
(Sindelfinger/BB Zeitung, Mar 10, 2023)
Upcoming Time table – dance evening, classical music and cover rock:
The weekend is approaching and with it the question: What are we going to do? In any case, no one must be bored. Here are our tips.
You could ring in the weekend at the Schwarzer Schaf in Ottenbronn, for example. There the Poetry Slam starts on Friday, 10 March at 20.30 o’clock. Under www.schaf-ottenbronn.de there is further information.
On Saturday, March 11, 8 p.m. at the Pavillon Sindelfingen (Calwer Straße 36) there will be something for the ears. “No beauty” is the name of the band that provides its listeners with cover pop and rock. More under www.igkultur.de
Chamber music of the classical era for strings and winds: an ensemble of the Sindelfingen Chamber Orchestra awaits the audience on Saturday, March 11, 7 p.m. in the Odeon of the SMTT (Wolboldstraße 21) in Sindelfingen. On the program of the concert of the series “Music for Sindelfingen are works by Luigi Boccherini and Conradin Kreutzer. Tickets are available at the i-Punkt on Sindelfingen’s market square, telephone number 07031/94-325 or i-punkt@sindelfingen.de.
The Musikverein Ehningen invites you to a dance evening with a big band on Saturday, March 11, starting at 8 p.m. in the Turn- und Festhalle Tickets can be ordered in advance at 10 euros by mail vvk@mv-e.de (specify name and number, the cards will be deposited for payment and collection until 19.30 at the box office). A table reservation is possible. At the box office there are remaining tickets at 12 euros.
Guitarist and singer Jule Malischke, who hails from Heidenheim, will give a solo concert on Saturday, March 11, 8:30 p.m. at the AWO-Haus in Böblingen (Eugen-Bolz-Strasse 1). She is considered one of the most exciting discoveries of the current guitar and singer-songwriter scene in Germany. As a solo performer, Jule Malischke impresses with her versatility. With her brilliant guitar playing, she moves effortlessly between virtuoso concert guitar literature, complex fingerstyle arrangements and her own songs, which she performs with her extraordinary voice. Tickets (15 euros, reduced 10 euros) can be reserved at info@awo-bb-tue.deinfo@awo-bb-tue.de or by phone 0 70 31/72 59 31.
The Museum Ritter in Waldenbuch invites on Sunday, March 12, at 11:30 a.m. to an artist talk with Şakir Gökçebağ followed by a drink. On the occasion of his solo show Twists & Turns, Turkish artist Şakir Gökçebağ will enter into an open exchange about his artistic work with collection curator Hsiaosung Kok, surrounded by his works at Museum Ritter. Şakir Gökçebağ has found a refreshingly original play on minimalism in his art. The artist arranges simple everyday objects such as umbrellas or toilet paper rolls into subtle compositions at the intersection of abstraction and figuration.
Participation in the talk is included in museum admission, registration requested by calling 07157/53511-40 or at the museum box office. More at www.museum-ritter.de
Otto’s Pug – a quirky and enjoyable journey through the world of poetry: The story quintet Kolibri is once again a guest at the DAT School of Art. In the Städtischer Feierraum Böblingen is the musical-scenic guest performance on Sunday, March 12, 15 clock to see. Admission costs 14 euros, 10 euros reduced, and the family ticket for adults with their minor children living in the household 35 euros. Tickets are available at www.reservix.de or at the box office. (BB/Sindelfinger Zeitung, Mar 10, 2023)