Separation day

Männertag mit Bollerwagen (Steffen Gebhart/public domain)

And there it is again, the very day that allows men to be just what they want. It’s Herrentag (Man’s day) in the Eastern part of Germany. (In the rest of the nation it is Father’s day or Ascension Day.) And like every other year men start in hordes, armed with beer cases preferably on a Bollerwagen (a wodden cart, see above), into the nature. It’s the trip itself that counts not the finish line. And at the end of day nobody is truly sober anymore. In fact, and that is for me the most frightening aspect of all, it is dangerous to be downtown when day is nearing its end. Especially in Chemnitz. Youngsters just don’t seem to know their limits, and police isn’t able to do anything against the situation.

But what are the women doing when their counterparts proof their manhood? According to what I heard they’re pretty much enjoying the day themselves, of course, with various of actions. So it’s a real Separation day first off.

Labour day in Eastern Germany

erster_mai

Labour day is traditionally a very active day for all the associations that support the worker’s rights. And since the town of Chemnitz was called Karl-Marx-Town during the socialist part of Eastern-german history one would think that it would be a very special day there, too.

erster_mai_2

One only thinks! In fact it was sobering to see that the worker city, which is from time to time also called Saxon Manchester, has lost it’s reactive spirit. Now I’m not really attributable to all these socialist movements but I believe in the idea that everybody should stand in for their beliefs and be active in society, no matter which political direction they point at. And honestly I also had a keen interest in learning what they think about Europe. Sadly enough – Europe didn’t take place.

erster_mai_3

From all the parties and association they were only two mentioning Europe: the Social Democats (SPD) and attac. (Latter only in their fight against the Bolkestein Directive, and SPD comparing minimum wages across Europe.) That is frustrating and shows once more that we really need to bring Europe and European issues closer to the people.

At least there was a crêpes and a lángos stall. And people liked that! :)