Host Nation Update, Oct 12, 2023
Leinfelden-Echterdingen – here’s the program for the upcoming “Krautfest” (Cabbage festival)
Traditionally on the third weekend in October, the people of L.-E. celebrate their Krautfest – this year for the 45th time. From Friday to Sunday, October 13 to 15, everything in the city will once again revolve around the green cabbage. The L-E associations have put an extensive program together. The kick-off is already on Friday evening. As in previous years, the businesses in Echterdingen invite you to late-night shopping until 10 pm. On the town hall stage in Echterdingen, the live band “Safir the Band” will play from 7 pm. There will also be music in Maiergasse. In Leinfelden, the band “Partyblues” will play from 7 p.m. on Friday evening, and there will be food and drinks at “Neuer Markt.” Mayor Roland Klenk will officially open the Krautfest on Saturday, at 2 p.m. on stage at “Neuer Markt” in Leinfelden. However, the children of the Schönbuch School have the right of way, as they will start performing there at 1.40 p.m. onwards. At 3 pm. the official starting signal is given on the stage in front of the Echterdingen city hall. Then the mayor will taste the cabbage, together with Dominique Weig, managing director of Krautfest UG, and Thomas Stierle, chairman of Vereinsring Echterdingen. In addition, the music club plays. Afterwards the girls and boys of the association Echterdinger Tracht will dance. Many stores in Leinfelden and Echterdingen will be open longer on Saturday. On Sunday, the Krautfest in Echterdingen begins at 11 a.m. with a morning pint and a square concert by the marching band of the volunteer fire department on the stage at the town hall. In Leinfelden, the Marching Band will play from 11:30 a.m. on the Neuer Markt. In both parts of the city, businesses invite shoppers to an open Sunday from 1 to 5 pm. The “Spitzkraut Classics” are once again one of the highlights at this year’s Krautfest. Unusual vehicles on four and two wheels will line up on Sunday morning in Bahnhofstraße in Leinfelden – among them are bicycles, Lanz Bulldogs and tractors. Some of the vehicles are elaborately decorated. At 12 o’clock, the engines start and the parade begins to move. The route is chosen so that the visitors of the Krautfest will see the vehicles on tour several times. The vintage car rally is organized by the Bartclub Belle Moustache and the Vereinsring Leinfelden. The Leinfelder shops’ association has organized a Punch and Judy show for children. The performances begin at 3 p.m. on the Neuer Markt and at 6 p.m. at the S-Bahn underpass. There, the lantern parade will start and end at Neuer Markt with a prize-giving ceremony. About 4500 years ago, man began to grow cabbage. Even in ancient Greece and the Roman Empire cabbage was eaten – mainly because it was healthy. From the Middle Ages onwards, the round and even pointed heads developed into the most important vegetable in Germany. It was a staple food, especially among the poorer population. In 1878, when the first statistics on cultivation in the German Empire were compiled, the cabbage was the most widespread vegetable, accounting for a good two-thirds of the total area under cultivation. (Stgt Nachrichten, Oct 11, 2023)
Stuttgart State Parliament: Minute’s silence for victims of Hamas attack
Politicians from all parties in Baden-Württemberg’s state parliament pledge their solidarity with Israel – and call for tough action against supporters of Hamas.
In front of the state parliament in Stuttgart, the Israeli Star of David is illuminated by the brilliant October sun. Framed by the flags of Europe and Baden-Württemberg, the banner of Israel hangs in the middle, a triad that has probably never been seen there before. A triad also dominated the debate in the plenary hall. Grief, compassion, determination. Politicians from all parties represented in the state parliament had placed their speeches under this motto. With different nuances, but united in the result. Israel experienced broad solidarity after the Hamas terrorist attack.
Judaism belongs to Baden-Württemberg, not because of feelings of guilt from the past, but “because I am firmly convinced that we only have a future together,” said Minister President Winfried Kretschmann (Greens). And not only the prime minister directed his gaze to the events in this country and announced: “Whoever celebrates the murders of Jews on the street must expect consequences.”
A view that met with broad approval. SPD parliamentary group leader Andreas Stoch said that no “Islamist muzzlers” were wanted on our streets, and that no money from Baden-Württemberg should flow to Palestinians if it is used to finance textbooks with anti-Semitic content. FDP faction leader Hans-Ulrich Rülke called for the expulsion of non-German supporters of terror, “if necessary, the laws must be tightened.”. He said that anyone who showed solidarity with the terror of Hamas had “forfeited” his right of residence in Germany. Manuel Hagel, head of the CDU parliamentary group, argued along similar lines. “These people have no place in our country.” (Stgt Nachrichten, Oct 12)
Students from Kirchheim (Esslingen district) back from Israel – Out of the war zone on their own
Tuesday evening at around 11 p.m.: after four anxious days, relatives were finally able to embrace the ten young students from Kirchheim again in a sealed-off area of Stuttgart Airport. The 17-year-old exchange students and two teachers from the Jakob Friedrich Schöllkopf School have had an adventurous return from Israel.
“Everyone is happy to be home again,” says the school principal, Jens Kaiser, relieved. This week, the students of the commercial high school are off from classes to recover from the rigors of the past few days and to process their experiences. “But they are all well,” Kaiser informs. Nevertheless, the young people will be offered psychological counseling. The plan was to spend eight carefree days in the town of Givatayium near Tel Aviv. The young people wanted to visit their friends from Thelma Yellin High School, who had been guests in Kirchheim a few months earlier. And suddenly there was war: three days after their arrival, on October 7, the terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel with massive rocket fire. Bernhard Sigel and Anna Oeffling, the two teachers, had since tried many different ways to get the students home as quickly as possible. “Many sides have helped,” emphasizes the principal. For example, a travel agency in Wendlingen checked flight connections and the district administration office in Esslingen mobilized all contacts in its twin town of Givatayim to somehow make it possible for the students to leave the country. But no progress was made. Finally, In the air-raid shelter of their hotel, the Kirchheimers met an Icelandic couple. They told them that their government was chartering an evacuation plane to take stranded citizens out of the war zone. The couple, they said, gave them the phone number for the Icelandic Foreign Ministry. “Our teachers then tried everything they could think of to get a ride,” Kaiser says. The relieving news came at around 3:30 a.m. on Monday night. Then it had to happen quickly: Tel Aviv was no longer available as an airport, so the Icelandic plane was waiting at the Jordanian capital Amman. To get there, the teachers quickly organized a minibus – and paid for the exhausting trip out of their own pockets. According to Kaiser, the group reached the plane just in time.
(Stgt Nachrichten, Oct 12, 2023
A81 near Böblingen – drunk truck driver falls asleep in middle lane
Dangerous incident in the middle of the A81: A drunk truck driver lies down to sleep in his vehicle in the middle lane. The police secured the truck.
A truck driver has gone to sleep with about 3.4 per mille on the middle lane of the highway 81 near Böblingen. As the police announced on Thursday, the stationary semi-truck had attracted the attention of a patrol on Wednesday evening.
Believing it to be a breakdown vehicle, the officers secured the truck. Inside the cab the truth was revealed: the drunk 48-year-old was lying on his mattress, asleep. The officers woke the man and conducted a breath alcohol test. (Stgt Nachrichten, Oct 12)