Host Nation Update, June 25, 2024
The garrison Public Affairs Office provides translated summaries of local news articles for the convenience of non-German speaking community members. The information contained in these summaries is originally written by German-language news sources and does not reflect the opinion of U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart or any of its tenant commands.
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After fatal accident in Stuttgart – Police cars with mourning flags and flags at half-mast
It is the second bereavement for Baden-Württemberg’s police force in just a few weeks: following the fatal knife attack in Mannheim, an officer dies in an accident. Flags at half-mast commemorate him. Following the accidental death of a motorcycle police officer in Stuttgart, police across the state show their sympathy. The day after the fatal incident while escorting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg’s Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) ordered all police buildings across the state to fly their flags at half-mast. Their vehicles should also display mourning flags, the Ministry of the Interior announced. The ministry is also displaying mourning flags.
The 61-year-old police officer had been escorting the state guest with the motorcycle squadron of the Stuttgart traffic police on Monday. During the journey to the airport, a 69-year-old woman collided with the officer’s motorcycle in her car, as reported by the police and the public prosecutor’s office. The incident resulted in the death of the 61-year-old and left his 27-year-old colleague seriously injured. (StN, June 25, 2024)
Survey on food and drinks during European Championship event – Scots celebrate Stuttgart beer: “better than Cologne’s”
We checked with the Hungarians and Scots. Some think Lord Mayor Nopper is a “handsome guy”, others find “Maultaschen” only semi-appetizing. The European Football Championship is in full swing. Three group matches have been played in Stuttgart so far. The Danish, Slovenian, Hungarian and Scottish teams had a lot of fans in attendance for their matches. This led to some great moments. We took Sunday’s match between Scotland and Hungary as an opportunity to ask the foreign fans: What do you think of Stuttgart? And surprise, surprise: everything from soccer drama to gourmet checks was included. Twenty-four hours after it was announced that Scotland would be taking part in Euro 2024, all flights to Germany were fully booked. Some fans’ journeys were correspondingly bumpy. This was also the case for a group of young Glaswegians: “It took us two planes, two trains and two cabs to get from Glasgow to Stuttgart.” While opinions on the food went in different directions, the fans were unanimous when it came to the beer. Stuttgart beer is absolutely delicious: “Beer, that is why we came to Germany.” Some even thought that Stuttgart beer was way better than Cologne’s. “Is better than Cologne’s beer” was the opinion of one young Scottish fan. For others, however, both hop drinks did their job. The beer in the fan zone, however, which is supplied by “Bitburger” throughout Germany, was met with less affection. Some negative comments about the large brewery have been circulating online: “That’s like…water. You can’t drink that.” A group of young Scots particularly like the fact that the Stuttgart fans like to party together with the Scottish fans: “The whole vibe is beautiful. It’s amazing to party with all the Germans.” Hungary fan Ishwan, who has been in the area since the Germany-Hungary game, also likes the atmosphere in the state capital: “The spirit of the city is amazing. There are people all over the place.” (StN, June 25)
Public viewings in the Filder district – Here you can watch the European Championship outside
When the German national team plays its first match in the knockout round of the European Championship at 9 pm on Saturday, you can watch outside and together with others at a number of locations on the Filder. We list a few options:
- Schwanen-Bräu Bernhausen The Schwanen-Bräu in Filderstadt-Bernhausen is showing the German national team’s matches on three large screens on its terrace. The pub is located in the middle of the town center at Bernhäuser Hauptstraße 36. The restaurant serves regional dishes and sources products from local suppliers. They home-brew Schwanen-Bräu Pils and wheat beer.
- Paulaner am Kirchplatz In the Paulaner beer garden on Kirchplatz in Echterdingen, you can watch the national team’s matches on a large LED screen. In addition to countless benches and tables, there is a beer trolley and a barbecue hut in Burgstraße 6. If you want something to eat and drink, you have to help yourself there, reservations are not possible in the outdoor area.
- Schwabengarten in Leinfelden, it’s not just Germany fans who get their money’s worth. The public viewing at Stuttgarter Straße 80 offers “all matches live and in full length”, according to the website. The screen on which the games can be seen is the largest in the Filder region, it continues.
- Katzenbacherhof You can also cheer on the national team in the beer garden at Katzenbacher Hof in Stuttgart-Vaihingen. The location is one of the largest beer garden in Stuttgart.
- (StN, June 25)
Weather forecast – Showers and thunderstorms in the Southwest
This week, the weather in Baden-Württemberg is set to be dominated by showers and thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are also possible due to the heavy rain, according to the German Weather Service (DWD). Along the High Rhine, in Upper Swabia and South Baden, people will have to prepare for heavy rain with precipitation of 25 liters per square meter, squalls and small-grained hail on Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to the forecast, Tuesday will start mainly sunny and dry with temperatures of up to 30 degrees on the Upper Rhine. Towards the late afternoon and evening, clouds are expected to form in the south. Then, according to the DWD, local showers and thunderstorms will begin, which are also expected to persist south of the Danube during the night into Wednesday. In the north, it will often be clear during the night.
According to the information, it will become very cloudy on Wednesday morning. In the south, there will be showers, some of them thundery. In the north, the weather will remain clear for the time being until showers and thunderstorms develop there during the course of the day. Gusts of wind are also expected with the thunderstorms. According to the experts, the heavy rain brings with it the potential for severe weather.
Heavy rain and squalls are expected to continue in the area of the Heavy rain and squalls are expected to continue in the area of showers and thunderstorms on Thursday night, but will gradually subside. According to the DWD, the day will start mostly clear.
Towards midday, there could be more showers and thunderstorms with locally heavy rain. Maximum temperatures of up to 32 degrees are expected in Kraichgau. (StN, June 25)
Schönbuch brewery in Böblingen – Summer beer lust: The brewery is running out of bottles
The weather is finally summery, the European Championship matches are in full swing and it’s the perfect time for beer lovers. The employees at Schönbuch-Braumanufaktur are also noticing this, with sales increasing by around five percent in such good conditions, according to Managing Director Werner Dinkelaker when asked.
However, not all beer drinkers and drinks retailers seem to be taking the return of deposit bottles and crates of beer so seriously at the moment. “We are missing around 50 pallets a week,” says Werner Dinkelaker, calculating that one pallet can hold around 40 crates, i.e. 800 bottles. This means that the Böblingen brewery is currently missing 2000 crates, or 40,000 bottles. Schönbuch-Braumanufaktur has therefore published an appeal on social media: “Attention! Attention! To all Jäger, Lucky and Cola Mix fans, we need your empties back. Otherwise we won’t be able to fill any more for you. We look forward to your excellent support.”
Werner Dinkelaker emphasizes that the return rate at the Böblingen brewery is generally very good; almost all of the returnable bottles and crates are returned to production, where they are cleaned, checked for damage and then refilled. “As a regional brewery, we have a very high utilization rate. Our returnable bottles are refilled 30 to 50 times,” says Dinkelaker. The fact that there is sometimes a shortage of bottles and crates during the summer beer season has also happened from time to time in recent years. “If people are particularly thirsty for beer, then we have the issue,” says Werner Dinkelaker. Why doesn’t the brewery simply buy more bottles? “You can do that, but then they stand around in winter,” says the brewery boss.”We try to have exactly what we need for sales – plus X.”
The brewery grows every year and this is factored into the calculation. If growth turns out to be even better than expected, then there could be a short-term shortage of bottles. “People celebrate our beers, which makes us happy,” says Dinkelaker. “If they like our beers, then we’re doing it right.” If the beer mood continues and more is drunk than is returned, the worst-case scenario could be that a variety is not available in stores for a certain period of time. “only for a week at the most,” says Dinkelaker, reassuring all lovers of the regional Schönbuch beer. (StN, June 25)