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COUNTRIES and CULTURES of the WORLD, THEN and NOW, VOL. II
Moldovitza Monastery, Romania, mural showing devil chasing nudes
Sibiu, Romania, home of gypsy king 7 gypsy emperor, main square & monument
Romania still has traditional agriculture
[Excerpt, Countries & Cultures, Vol. II, P. 139-147]
REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA
Population 8.8 million (0.7 % per year natural increase); area 112,000 sq. km. (43,000 sq. mi.); GDP $34 billion; average income $3800; literacy rate 96%. It is 33 percent rural including villages, and 67 percent live in towns and cities.
HISTORY. Sofia, with more than a million people, is Europe's oldest capital city, except for Athens. Thracians arrived in the 8th Century B.C. Phillip of Macedonia conquered much of Bulgaria, his son Alexander the Great conquered the rest. Under Romans, who came in 28 A.D., Serbica be came part of Byzantium. Slavs arrived in the 6th Century. The local Bulgars were gradually merged into the majority Slavic tribes. In 865 Boris I decided to become Christian, choosing the Eastern Byzantine Church in Constantinople rather than the Roman Catholic Church. In the 9th Century the brothers Cyril and Methodius introduced the Cyrillic alphabet, which was later adopted by Russia and a few other countries. In the 9th Century the Bulgarian Orthodox Church told priests not to marry, fearing the loss or dilution of church property. However, there were so many problems that the church again or dered all priests to marry, as Eastern Orthodox churches do now. In the 10th Century Bulgaria controlled territory from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. However, in 1014 Bulgarian King Samuel was defeated by the Byzantine Basil II. Basil took 15,000 prisoners, had the eyes torn from all, except that one soldier in each hundred was left with one eye to guide the others home. Bul garians are still angry at Greeks for the atrocity.
Ottoman Turks ruled Bulgaria from 1396 to 1878, introducing Islam. At first Turks, busy with other conquests in the north, did not discourage Christianity. Turks put all Orthodox churches in the Balkans under the juris diction of the Greek Orthodox hierarchy. The Turkish Empire gradually de clined and Bulgarian nationalism revived, beginning late in the 18th Century. In 1878 Russia helped Bulgaria defeat the Turks and it become somewhat in dependent. Bulgarians have ever since been grateful to Russians. In the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 Bulgaria fought several neighboring countries and lost. In World War I Bulgaria fought with the Central Powers, and was forced to give up territory on the Aegean Sea. In World War II Bulgaria sided with Italy and Germany. Soviet troops invaded in September, 1944. Georgi Dmi trov, a Bulgarian in exile in the Soviet Union, became a leader of the Bulgar ian Communist Party and the country. He died in 1949. Todor Zhikov ruled as head of the Communist government until November 10, 1989. He was convicted of abuse of power and imprisoned. Under communism, to buy a car the buyer was required to pay the full price, then wait for 10 to 15 years for delivery.
In January 1990 parliament revoked the power of the Communist Party. Around 1986 Bulgaria began to insist that Turks adopt "Christian" names and to speak Bulgarian if they wanted to remain in Bulgaria. There were reports that Turks were beaten. At least one-third of the one million people of Turkish descent moved to Turkey. We met six of them on a train between Thessa loniki, Greece and Istanbul in 1986. In 1994 Bulgaria had an inflation rate of 120 percent, and 20 percent unemployment. Bulgaria now has "Europe's high prices but socialism's low wages." Bulgarians can now travel abroad, but few can afford it. Many young educated people moved to Germany, Canada, or the U.S.A. A Bulgarian's instinct is to preserve what he has, not to acquire more, as in the U.S.A. Some of the paper money in circulation during our visit in 1995 still had a picture of a hammer and sickle, other levi had only a blank white spot. Bulgaria defaulted on loan payments. The International Monetary Fund in 1996 stopped further aid. The inflation rate climbed to 100%. Crowds demonstrated against the socialist government. Peter Stoyanov of the Union of Democratic Forces defeated the socialist candidate for president late in 1996. Only five percent of the industry was private as of early 1997.
BACKGROUND. Medical services and State hospitals are free. Some physicians and nearly all dentists are private. Parents with a child under 18 get a monthly subsidy equal to about six dollars. Abortions are free, legal, and common, over half of the pregnancies are aborted. We saw only one woman in Bulgaria who appeared to be pregnant. A mother gets three years of ma ternity leave, the first year is with full salary, then it drops. Nearly all return to work after one year, fearing the loss of the job. In poor economic times marriage and children are postponed. School is free and mandatory for the first eight years, but many gypsy children do not attend school. State schools no longer require a uniform. Bulgaria has some 300,000 gypsies. They have more babies, the girls can acquire a dowry, and Bulgarians claim that the boys commit 80 percent of minor crime. Prostitutes are often gypsies or Russians, common along main highways for truckers in the evening. The population is getting older, every fourth person gets a government pension. Excessive drinking is not a problem, but illegal drugs and AIDs is a serious problem. Many young women now smoke cigarettes, a major expense, since most are now imported. Before the tobacco-growing Turks left, Bulgaria was a major exporter of tobacco. The average life expectancy is 69 years for men, 74 for women. "Women live longer because they cry more." Some 34 percent of the land is arable. There are 231 people per square km. of arable land. A newspaper reported that only five percent of industry was privatized as of late 1996.
TRAVELS. On the train from Bucharest we passed near nuclear power plants, said to be a copy of those in Chernobyl that had the "runaway" reactor. Each is "like a bomb ready to explode." Our small group left the train in SOFIA, riding to the Park Hotel Moskva, a Soviet-style high-rise. Later we took a city tour. Sofia has a million residents and nearly half as many cars. Many cars are Ladas, built in the former Soviet Union. Streets are wide, with many trees. In the downtown area Vitosha Boulevard is the the main north to south street, and Silvnitsa is the main east to west street. The Central Square area borders Vitosha, several streets fan out from it to the east, like spokes of half of a wheel.
St. Petra, a small brick church on Central Square, is dwarfed by the Sheraton Hotel, a theological college, the Central Department Store, the National Historical Museum, and other government buildings. During Turk ish rule churches could not be higher than a man on horseback. Many were built partly underground, with no tower. In Bulgarian Orthodox Churches the altar always points to the east, the rising sun. There is a choir but no organ. Altars have several levels of icons. A picture of Mary and baby Jesus is on one side of the doorway, and a picture of Jesus as a man is on the other side of the altar's doorway. Only priests can go behind the altar. Believers make the sign of the cross in the name of the father (touching the forehead), son (heart), and holy ghost (right shoulder), amen (touching the left shoulder). St. George Church, built in the 4th Century, not far away, began as a pagan temple. Turks destroyed many of the frescoes. Nearby are partly-excavated Roman ruins of the 2nd Century. The triangular-shape building is the former headquarters of the Communist Party. On August 26, 1990 student demon strators threw Molotov cocktail gasoline bombs that started a fire in it that destroyed some records. It would soon be the new home of Parliament. A white mausoleum built in only six days in 1949 holds the bones of Georgi Dmitrov, the popular Communist Party leader. The main street is paved with glazed yellow bricks, slippery when wet. Underground tunnels connect all of the government buildings. Not far away, the beautiful Russian Orthodox Alex ander Nevsky Church was built in honor of liberation from the Turks, with the help of Russia. Frescoes show scenes from the Old and New Testa ments, and of the saints. The Patriarch, head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, lives nearby.
The Ethnographic Museum is in the former royal palace. As in Romania, only a small percentage of the people want the royal family to return from exile. The round carved wood ceiling, a typical Bulgarian style, shows the sun in the center. Weddings are on weekends. A bride wore red and a tall headdress of flowers. There is pressure to marry. Bulgarians say "an unmar ried man is not a man." On Sunday village people danced and played at the church. To become a priest, a man trained in religion must first marry. Girls often wore a large decorated metal belt, something like that worn by gypsies. Men sometimes wore an ivy plant on the head. Pointed shoes had turned-up toes, once common in the Balkans. Boys hit colorful boiled Easter eggs together, the boy with the unbroken egg was considered to be the strongest. Easter eggs were not hidden. In a drought a little girl was decorated with green boughs and water was sprinkled over her, to make it rain. During Turkish occupation a Bulgarian clerk saved a town by changing a comma, so the order read "destroy the town not, spare it." We returned to our hotel for a nice dinner with music in the Panorama Restaurant on the 19th floor. None of us ordered the "tomato stuffed with farming products."
Going southeast in a bus, we rode through the Rhodope Mountains. Or pheus, according to a Greek legend, lived in the Rhodopes. He was said to play the lyre so beautifully that even stones and trees moved with the music. On the plateau we passed big fields of corn, sunflowers, wheat, and hay, plus vineyards. Herders followed their sheep or goats. We passed a stork flying near the highway, there was no baby in its beak. Bulgaria lost half a million people in the past five years, most went to Turkey. Storks are a farmer's friend, they eat grasshoppers. In PLOVDIV we each paid the guardwoman five levi to use the hotel's toilets while we waited for our room keys. Each room was supplied with condoms. The city has 380,000 people.
We went uphill to Plovdiv's Old City for a walking tour. A shoeshine man pounded his box to shine our tennis shoes or sandals. The second floor of buildings overhang cobblestone streets, almost meeting in the middle. Turks taxed a building based upon the size of only the ground floor. Potters, weavers, women crocheting, and artists were busy. A church is now an icon museum. Worshippers in Orthodox churches stood during services, except for benches for a few along the walls. A wash basin in the church courtyard was said to have water that cured ailments. Several of the large 18th and 19th centuries homes have been restored. Outside walls have painted pictures. One has a carved wood ceiling, Turkish bathroom with a steam sauna, oriental carpets, dining room with perfumed water in a fountain, parlor, and big carved wood furniture. Some walls had deep couches. Food was stored in a separate stone building, safer in case of fire. Not far away is a partly-excavated Roman theater seating 3,000, built in the 2nd Century A.D. Verdi's operas are sung there in summer. A street is an outdoor bazaar, with busy shops and booths selling hardware, clothing, electronics, food, and al most everything else. Many young women wear miniskirts, only tourists wear jeans. Most of the crowded trams are operated by young women.
Food in local restaurants was worth waiting three to four hours for a "fast" meal. Hearty shopska salad has sheeps' cheese, peppers, olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Burek, green pepper and cheese cooked in dough and olive oil, is tasty. Steak served with cheese and vegetables on top is a specialty. Few local people can afford to eat in restaurants, Bulgarians are thin. As in Greece and Sri Lanka, a nod up and down means "no," shaking the head from side to side means "yes."
We rode north, past poorly-maintained orchards, to the VALLEY OF the ROSES. Early mornings beginning in May the blossoms are picked before the sun comes up. The essence is collected by several methods, including boiling and distillation, then it is used to make everything from perfume to face cream. Kiwi fruit is grown without a cover. Old military camouflage nets are used to provide shade for vendors and little roadside restaurants. The res taurants often have the name of a city in the U.S.A. Some farms have water buffalo, brought by Turks, used for draft animals and for their rich milk. Mules, offspring of a horse mare and male donkey, are the most common draft animals. Some huge barns built for State Farms are still used. Most of the big greenhouses looked abandoned. Walnut, locust trees blooming in July, and mulberry trees were plentiful.
In KAZANLUK we stopped to look at the Thracian Tombs. Around 2,300 years ago a local king died. His favorite wife had to drink poison. Their bod ies were incinerated, their ashes were buried, along with his favorite horse. Well-preserved frescoes show men wearing both a short and a long dress. Nearby we visited a 150 year old peasants home, now a museum. The well in the back yard has a metal crank to bring up the bucket of water. Figs, apples, mulberries, cherries, quince, chestnuts, and flowers grew in the fenced-in rear yard. Cooking was in the kitchen fireplace, the living room had walls lined with Turkish-style couch-beds. Decorated plates were on a high shelf. The rear porch has a loom for weaving. A nearby two-floor home of the same age had a spring for water, a samovar for tea, and a bedroom with wash basin and pitcher of water--common in Europe and North America until recently. Windows have carved wooden bars. Old carriages and wagons were stored in a shed. In the rear yard near blooming lavender plants, women in our group were served liqueur from roses. Men drank schnapps. Near SHIPKA PASS we visited the Russian Orthodox Church with the usual onion domes and beautiful colors. It was built in honor of the defeat of Turks nearby in 1878 by Russian and Bulgarian forces. The altar has 83 icons. On a tapestry the eyes of Jesus seem to follow the viewer in several places.
Near GABROVA the Ethnographic Museum of Etura includes an entire village. Mountain water rushed down a plume to swirl around in a wooden tub, washing any clothes left there, before the water flowed out. A woman made knives by hand. Roofs of the homes are made of flat stones. A man used wooden lathes powered by a water wheel, another ground wheat at a millstone powered by water. The "meat" of walnuts is pressed for the oil. Women made pottery, wove blankets on looms, or baked cookies. Men made jewelry or small wooden musical instruments, sheep herders like to carry a sort of flute. Not far away, the Museum of Humor is decorated outside with bronze statues. One is of Don Quixote on his horse, followed by a dejected Sancho Panza on a mule. Inside, the hundreds of cartoons from all over the world are changed every few months. One shows a faithful dog bringing a condom to his master, who has just begun to kiss his new girlfriend. Local people are said to be so stingy that they stop clock hands at night to save power, they use half-cups to serve guests tea, and they put a lamp in a window between two rooms to save lamp oil. A mother churns butter, the vertical dash is attached by a cord to the cradle, also rocking the baby.
VELIKO TARNOVA, the second capital of Bulgaria, from the 12th through the 14th Centuries, was protected by the Tsar's castle. The small city, founded more than 5,000 years ago, is pleasant, with buildings on the hills, reminding me of some Italian cities. On King's Hill three gates protected the castle entrance. Inside the high walls art and literature were taught. In the evening a sound and light show floods different parts of the wall, the castle, or the church and former home of the patriarch. The university is on a nearby hill. A few kilometers north is the Transfiguration Monastery, one of many on nearby hills. Across the wide forested valley is the nunnery. A few years ago a large boulder rolled down from the cliff, crushing one of the buildings in the monastery. Outside frescoes include the Wheel of Life, showing in the outer circle a typical short life of 30 years, the inner circle shows activities during the four seasons. Ten older monks and young novices live in the monastery. During communion a piece of chocolate candy is given to children.
ARBANASI, also a few kilometers north, is a 14th to 17th Century village museum. We walked a few hundred meters on an old road bordered by stone fences two meters (7 ft.) high, they were twice that height when villages needed more protection. Walls are topped by flat stones or red tiles and rein forced with boards for earthquakes. One 14th Century house uses the win dowless lower floor for storage, like many Bulgarian houses today. Win dows on the upper floor have steel bars projecting outward so the inhabitants can look in all directions, plus heavy sliding wooden shutters. Doors are also heavy. There are no chairs, people sat Turkish-style, often cross-legged, on wide low couches. The entire large families slept on a big bed. The family ate together at a low round table while sitting cross-legged on a couch. Each house has a hiding place for women, children, and money. In the kitchen dough for bread was kneaded in a big trough. The big fireplace has a place for cooking bread and for yoghurt. One house has a triangular-shape hole in two small rooms, used as toilets. Excrement dropped into a pit far below. A new mother stayed quarantined along with the baby for 40 days and nights. Was it too much togetherness? The stone church, built during early Turkish occupa tion, is low, without a bell tower. One of the long narrow rooms with an arched ceiling was only for men worshippers, another was for women. A small private chapel is also divided into sections for men and for women, the altar room for priests is at one end. The frescoes show 5,600 scenes from the Bible. Few people could read, pictures taught Bible stories. The serpent with Adam and Eve has the face of a man. Another fresco shows a man entering a gate of Jerusalem, riding a knock-kneed donkey. Scenes show paradise and hell. Hell has bodies being ripped part with much violence, like today's mov ies. The Wheel of Life shows the Orthodox churches' view that the sun, not the Earth, is the center of the universe. The Roman Church's doctrine for more than 300 additional years, until 1992, was that the Earth is the center of the universe.
Our bus took us west and south to Sofia. We passed monuments to war heroes, fields of sunflowers, corn, and alfalfa, with storks foraging for grasshoppers. In town vendors sold Coca Cola and Sprite, often at little road side restaurants with tables outside. Movies and TV programs from the U.S.A. are popular. A goat climbed a low tree to get leaves. Barns have a masonry lower floor, an upper floor of vertical sticks, and a red tile roof. The most common scarecrow is a pole stuck into the ground, with a big piece of plastic tied to it. Villages have wagons with flared sides, and varnished or natural-finish wood, each pulled by a mule. We ate at a complex of two resort hotels, two dirty swimming pools, a lake, and a long row of vendors along the highway. Vendors sold auto parts, fruit, grilled meat, handbags, books, and childrens toys. Everything was "run down," there was much trash.
n SOFIA a policewoman flagged down our bus to scold our driver for not stopping. She said the prime minister was passing by and every other vehicle must stop. Our driver asked how was he to know, there was no police escort or other evidence of an official. Until recently the Bulgarian public was afraid of government officals, now the public speaks up. Our driver said the national football (soccer) team unites Bulgarians, but the politicians divide the people. Later that day secret police followed our group, popping in and out of the private restaurant. They apparently decided that we were harmless tourists. A newspaper article said Bulgarians are worried that they are reverting back to a police state.
The Archaelogical Museum a few blocks from Central Square has a collection of stone statues. Most are Roman, found in Bulgaria, many have a removable head. A large room has exhibits showing the life of ancient Bulgarians--bronze working, making glass and pottery, carpentry, and leather working. The National Historical Museum on the ground floor has many Greek and Thracian stone statues. In a grave near the Black Sea jewelry, many gold bracelets, horses, and wives were buried with a chief 2,500 years ago. An ancient hand-printed book tells of the putting out of eyes of Bulgarian soldiers by Byzantines. A room shows the old and the new Bulgarian al phabets. The archbishop's gold crown with 400 precious and semi-precious stones was so heavy it must have given him a headache. Roman mosaics show the swastika, symbol of the sun and four seasons, with Nike, Greek goddess of victory. A 16th Century Turkish map of the Mediterranean and the Middle East is "upside down," North Africa is above Italy. Why is the Northern Hemisphere usually shown on top? If the Southern Hemisphere had advanced faster, all maps would probably be like the Turkish map. In space there is no "up" or "down." The museum displays many 17th Century frescoes from the Arbanasi church that we visited, one shows the Last Judgment. The museum's ethnography section on the upper floor has a great collection of bright costumes, blue, red, and green, using vegetable dyes. Embroidered blouses were popular, village women still wear an embroidered apron.
The large Palace of Culture was built in 1981, with money from pension funds. In the main meeting hall guests can listen to instant translation of the speaker's message into many languages. The 5th floor decorations include a tapestry that looks like pages of a book, a mural showing writers and painters during the National Revival Period of the late 18th and the 19th Centuries, and a walnut wood carving of the Horn of Plenty, representing Bulgaria's fertile land. The Museum of Icons in the basement of St. Christopher Church has Europe's largest collection. All are from the 12th Century or later. Common subjects are St. George and the Dragon, and Mary and baby Jesus.
One evening we rode to a southern suburb to see traditional dances at the Boyanska Hanche Restaurant. Several youths and young women wearing traditional clothes danced. While village males clapped hands, the girls thumbed noses at and teased each other. Girls danced around a cooking pot, each putting a rose into it. A youth stole the pot, another youth danced with a water jug. At the wedding ceremony the bride wore a veil and gave each guest a piece of the wedding loaf of bread dipped into cumin and olive oil. One youth wore shoes with pointed toes that curled upward.
We rode south of Sofia. In the hilly suburbs near a ski jump we passed big villas still occupied by former communist officals. Small hotels cluster around sulphur mineral bath springs. The large metallurgical plant built in 1910 is inefficient, almost closed. Much tobacco was grown in Bulgaria until costs of production became too high, and many Turks who left in the late 1980s had grown tobacco. Tobacco processing plants now lie idle. All land was nationalized by 1960. In the 1970s farms were incorporated into much larger State farms. In 1990 the Law of Restitution gave land back to the original owners or their heirs, if clear proof of ownership could be provided. The State has retained 40 percent of the land, including forests and all mineral rights. Agricultural production dropped, many people were too poor to buy farm equipment. A mule costs around 1,200 dollars. Apricots were exported, now they are imported. Co-ops were established to share farm equipment. We saw large old State Farm buildings being renovated to reuse. Only the "rich communist officals" acquired State farm equipment, now they work for oth ers, for a fee. Corn and vegetables have replaced tobacco as a crop. Women do much farm work with a hoe having a half-round blade.
We headed east into the mountains, then rode up the valley of the Struma River. Each village home has a grape arbor for shade. Mt. Musala rose 2,925 m. (9,595 ft.) ahead. RILA MONASTERY, elevation 1,147 m. (3,762 ft.), is on the side of the highest mountain in the Balkans. Built in the 10th Century, it is the best-known of Bulgaria's 200 monasteries. It was rebuilt after a fire nearly 200 years ago. The outside is like a fort, to protect against groups of robbers that then roamed the Balkans. There were no roads in the area during Turkish occupation, so the monastery was not disturbed. Later a narrow guage railway brought visitors, it was replaced by a road. There are 300 rooms on three floors, rented as a hotel. Guest rooms were proudly furnished by many cities and towns. The museum has a painting of the founder, without eyes. A blind person asked to have the "eyes" of the "saint," so the eyes were scratched out on the painting. Carved doors from the 14th Century have grif fins and other mythological animals. A wood cross 200 years old, only about 65 cm. (26 in.) high, has 60 scenes from the New Testament and 300 tiny faces, each the size of a grain of rice! We looked at it through a magnify ing glass. A typical room for a monk has a large room with two fire places, a carved ceiling, red carpets, and a side room for a novice monk. Monks sell icons, they bring a higher price when the chest with the 1,000 year old bones of the founder is unlocked and the icon touches the bones, in the presence of the buyer. King Boris, who died of mysterious causes in 1944, was buried in the monastery. His body was stolen but the heart, stored in jars, is buried in the tomb. The large New Church has many levels of icons and frescoes. An outside mural of the Last Judgment shows what happens in hell to a tailor, a grocer, a miller, and others who cheat their customers. The big black chest where money was kept requires five keys to open, each key was given to a different monk. The monks had little faith in each other. The monastery's bakery sells tasty oblong loaves of bread freshly baked in the fireplace.
We rode east to Samakov, then to BOROVETZ, Bulgaria's leading ski re sort. Most of Bulgaria's road and street signs are written only with cyrillic letters. Chair lifts go 1,200 m. (3,936 ft.) above the village, which is elevation 1,300 m. (4,264 ft.). Even in summer the resort is busy, with sev eral huge hotels and a few swimming pools. We returned to Sofia on the "New Road," following the Itska River. One of Bulgaria's many hydroelectric dams created its largest lake. The next day we rode south again, passing vil lages with much trash, many monuments of white stone, and terraced hill sides. The valley became much drier as we approached the border with Greece.
Prague, Czech Rep., Jewish cemetery, since 1439 AD Auschwitz, Poland, Nazi concentration camp
REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
Population 3,300,000 (1.6 % per year natural increase); area 29,000 sq. km. (11,100 sq. mi.); GDP $3.8 billion; average income $1100; literacy rate 100%
HISTORY & BACKGROUND. Albania was settled by Illyrians before 700 B.C. Romans invaded in 167 A.D. The people were converted to the Ro man Church, but in the 8th Century most of Albania followed the Albanian Church when it changed its loyalty to Constantinople. The church in northern Albania continued to be loyal to the Roman Church. Stronger neighboring tribes and countries conquered much of Albania but did not retain control for a long time. Turks captured part around 1400. Gjergj Kastrioti, later called Skanderbeg, born 1405, had been taken to Turkey, lived there for 29 years, served in the Turkish army, then returned home to Albania. He soon or ganized and trained armies of resistance. Modern Albanians claim that he won all 26 battles that he fought against Turks. He organized a system of communications by signal fires from one castle to another, often taking Turks by surprise. Skanderbeg became a hero in Western Europe, since the Turkish army had often defeated European armies. Skanderbeg also liked pretty women, soon developing quite a reputation. More than 100 books have been written in 21 languages about his exploits on the battlefield and in the bed room. Soon after he died in 1468 Turkey conquered most of Albania, and controlled it until local pashas became strong enough to almost ignore Turkey. However, Turkey punished the independent pashas. Albania's national revival movement made little progress until the Balkan Wars of 1912.
Albania declared its independence on November 28, 1912. Turkey recognized the independence seven months later and put Albania under its protection. In 1913 Serbia incorporated nearby Kosovo into its territory, though most of the people were Moslems whose ancestors came from Albania. A Serbian army invaded Albania but was forced to leave. Greece claimed southern Albania, where there are several Greek villages. A conference in London in 1913 established Albania's boundaries almost identical with present boundaries. During World War I several countries tried to partition Albania. After the war internal squabbling in Albania and its recognition of the Bolshe vik government in the Soviet Union gave Yugoslavia, led by Ahmet Zogu (an exiled Albanian), a reason to invade in 1924. Zogu became King Zog I. Italy helped Albania by building roads. Mussolini's army invaded in 1939. King Zog I was ousted. Communists gradually took over the govern ment. German troops invaded in 1944, killing many Albanians. After the war the Soviet Union permitted Yugoslavia to control Albania, until Yugoslavia's Tito split with the Soviet Union's Stalin. Albania, since 1944 led by Enver Hoxha (pronounced "Hoha"), was an ally of the Soviet Union until Hoxha disagreed with Khrushchev's more liberal policies. Albania split with the Soviet Union in 1960, then sought help from China. After Mao's death Alba nia split with China in 1978.
Hoxha died in 1985. The "revolution" in December, 1990, was mostly peaceful. Albanians were given the right to travel abroad, and religion was no longer discouraged. Before communism some 65 percent of Albanians were Islamic. Under Turkish rule anyone who was not Islamic had to pay extra taxes. Some 20 percent were Orthodox Christian, mostly in the south where most of the Greeks live. Ten percent were Roman Catholic, mostly in the north. In 1991 and 1992 communists were ousted from government. Many Albanians left for Italy, Greece, and neighboring countries. Albanians con tinue to emigrate, often arriving in Greece, Italy, and other countries ille gally. Early in 1997 demonstrations began by large groups protesting the loss of their money when an investment scheme collapsed. Large groups of armed people caused anarchy. The government’s prime minister, Bashkim Fino invited in international troops to enforce law and order. Some 21 percent of the land is arable. There are 558 people per square km. of arable land. It is more crowded than most of the Balkans.
TRAVELS. Our small group boarded an old bus at the border with Greece one hot day in 1995. We passed several Greek villages during our ride north to GJIROKASTER, a museum city protected by UNESCO. We saw many of the 70,000 or more concrete dome-shape bunkers that Hoxha ordered fabricated abroad and installed all over Albania. Most are big enough for two soldiers and their guns, others are much larger, with room for six or eight soldiers. Hoxha feared invasion by revisionists, anyone who disagreed with his kind of communism. Gjirokaster had a city wall, built in the 3rd Century A.D. The big Citadel, with high stone walls, on top of a hill, was built from the 6th to the 12th Centuries. An aqueduct was built in the 19th Century to bring water some 12 kilometers (7 mi.) to the Citadel. Albanian museums are locked most of the time because thieves have recently stolen many artifacts, selling them abroad. The lady with the key arrived, giving us a guided tour. The big Citadel with thick stone walls overlooks the small city, with stone buildings, roofs of flat stones, and cobblestone streets. Some 200 families lived in the Citadel until the 12th Century. Most of the weapons in the Citadel's Weapons Museum were captured from an enemy. They include a World War II tank, rifles, pistols, and machine guns. Invading Italian soldiers used mats made from brush to climb over barbed wire. The prison has some 50 large cells. Under German occupation they were filled. In the 1960s townspeople were disturbed by frequent rifle fire coming from the Citadel. They learned that Hoxha's regime had been executing prisoners. After pro tests, the executions were done inside, where the rifle shots were muted. In 1957 a revisionists "spy" plane from the U.S.A. was forced to land. The pilot was released but the small jet is exhibited at the Citadel.
When we explored the fascinating hilly city on foot, our biggest risk was to be hit by an automobile driven by one of the wild drivers. The few cob blestone sidewalks are very narrow. The former Communist Party headquar ters is now home of the city council. Hoxha was born in Gjirokaster, but the big monument with his statue had been removed. We found the lady with the key to the Ethnographic Museum, once the home of Hoxha. All local houses have three floors, the ground floor is used for storage. The next floor is heated with fireplaces or braziers, used by the family. The upper floor is unheated, used by summer guests. Three or four related families often lived in the same house--still common from southeast Asia to eastern Europe. Ceilings are of carved wood. Wool was carded, spun, and dyed to make carpets or blankets on a loom. Each room has a long Turkish-style couch. Each girl had a hope chest for her dowry. Clothing was much like clothing in Turkey, the women wore long dresses of many colors, often with a head scarf. In the din ing room people sat on a low couch around a low table. Wooden spoons, and covered pewter or copper plates were used. Women could watch through inside windows as men sat on low couches drinking coffee with friends. Bread was baked in an outdoor masonry oven. Water from the "sink" made from a flat stone drained outside.
Our university-educated guide threw an empty box out of the open door of the bus. There is no trash collection, trash is littered everywhere. Police stopped us every few miles at a checkpoint, looked at the tourists, usually concluding with ska probleme--no problem. My Italian came in handy, many people speak the language, those with television get Italian stations from across the narrow Adriatic Sea. People shake the head from side to side for yes or pa, or up and down for no or ya--as in Greece and Bulgaria. Men greet men and women greet women with a kiss on each cheek. Men then say "may you have a long life." Many men have a big crooked nose.
Our bus climbed a winding road uphill past big rocks. On some hairpin curves the front end of the bus almost met the rear end. Our guide said:
Don't talk with the driver. The French say its too dangerous. Germans say "have discipline." Chinese say "Chairman Mao says don't." Italians say "you can't talk and drive."
We reached the summit. On our descent to the Adriatic coast we passed a big abandoned trout farm, without water. The terraced hillsides had olive trees that had no care for several years. Seventy percent of the land is hilly or mountainous. Under communism all land and homes were taken by the government. People can now buy land to build a house or they can own a home. Village people often bury a bull's head with horns in the foundation of a new home. Foreigners can lease land for up to 100 years. Peasants can have exclusive use of land and pay tax on it. It was expected that a law would soon be passed permitting Albanians to own private land. Since ownership of agri cultural land is by the government, little of it is cultivated or maintained. Food must be imported, at great cost or by gift. Our guide said "A new de mocracy is like a baby. It needs food and clothing, as Albania now does." Small shops, and many small restaurants and factories, had been privatized.
SARANDA is a pleasant small port in the southwest, only a few kilometers from Greece's hilly island of Corfu. A daily ferry takes foreigners in both directions. Saranda's half-round bay is lined with palm tees, rare in Europe. We ate meals on a veranda overlooking the bay. In the evening men, women, and children promenaded on the pleasant street below, often stopping to talk with friends. Many vehicles also cruised, keeping traffic police busy. The street was almost empty before 10:00. Barking dogs and a wild party during the night that produced pieces of watermelon rind on our balcony didn't keep me awake for long. In the morning a woman sprinkled water onto carpets in the hotel, then swept them. Postage stamps don't have glue, but some stamp sellers have mucilige for customers.
We went to a bank to change money, but the bank refused to change money, stating that they hadn't received the daily notice of the exchange rate. Bank employees hoped to get the information by late morning. They suggested that we change money on the black market. Those of us with cash changed dollars for leks. One man soon discovered that a black marketeer with hands quicker than the eye only gave him half of the amount agreed to.
We rode south on the arid hillside, past seemingly abandoned olive and lemon trees, with the sunny empty beaches far below. The fences made of vertical brush are not maintained. A wild plant looks like yucca, a tall plant is like the Century Plant. Butrinti Lake, eight kilometers (5 mi.) long, is brackish, with a natural channel connecting it to the sea. Mussels are still grown, hanging below floating containers. In the 6th Century B.C. Illyrian tribes built BUTRINTI, a city with high stone walls, a market place, and a theater on the lake's shore, near the Adriatic. Romans captured it, expanding the city and the baths where sailors liked to dally. Byzantines, then Venetians, captured Butrinti. The lower walls with big stones, and Roman bricks above, reminded me of Inca and Spanish ruins near Cuzco, Peru. Lions Gate has a carving of a lion on a big lintel stone. A Venetian fort was built on top of a hill, a small Venetian fort lies across the natural water channel.
e rode 25 km. (15 mi.) east of Saranda to BLUE EYE, where a big spring boils out of the ground, forming a clear river. No one knows where the water comes from, but it is at the foot of a mountain. Nearby we met a black cow with a bow around her neck proudly leading 20 goats and 50 sheep to a different pasture. A shepherd trailed behind. Sheep are dumb, they need a goat, cow, or other animal to lead them. A second large trout farm and vineyards, still owned by the State, appear to be abandoned, while Albanians eat imported food. Most of the hotels and restaurants are still owned by the State. An Albanian said many are rundown, "so they can be bought cheaply when they are privatized."
We rode north along the hilly, sunny coast for a few hundred kilometers. Men rode sidesaddle or straddling a burro. Sometimes they rode on the ani mal's shoulder, in front of a load of hay. Some gravity irrigation systems were in use. Many irrigation ditches were dry, though it was in the middle of the growing season. Irrigation pumps had broken down and were not repaired. Villages with stone homes perched on terraced hillsides high above the sea. Our guide, as a student "volunteer," had helped to build one village, Lukofta. Education is free, and mandatory for eight years. University students must pass an entrance exam, tuition is free, but they must buy books and pay for a place to live. Men at age 19 must serve a year in the military, those who avoid it cannot get a passport. Soldiers must wear long-sleeve shirts and long trousers even in the hot summer. Until recently university students were ex pected to do volunteer to work on Sundays and at least one month each sum mer. Hospital care is free, but all physicians expect a substantial payment or "gift." Families usually have two or three children. There are few unmarried mothers. Divorce is rare. Few people express interest in any religion.
Near a 17th Century castle built by Ali Pashna, referred to in Dumas' The Count of Monte Christo, we saw an abandoned Soviet submarine base. When Hoxha split with Khruschchev he insisted that the Soviets get out but leave half of the submarines that were stationed at the base. Likewise abandoned is a big plant that until recently pressed olives for the oil. We enjoyed the pleasant Greek town of HIMARA, though the beach was littered with trash. Local women wore bikinis, they have probably never been in a mosque. Beyond the high stone walls each home in the village, like most in Albania, has a grape arbor. Restaurants are often protected by a painted evil eye. The plentiful roadside shrines, indicating a death in an automobile accident, often have flowers. Roadside spring-fed fountains provide cooling water. We climbed over Llagara Pass, 1,050 m. (3,444 ft.) above the sea. On the north side the humidity supports a pine forest. We ate lunch in the delightful Llagara Vil lage, operated by Albturist, the government tourist agency. A big monument honors Albanians killed in a 1943 battle against Nazi Germany. Older local men wear a black furry military-style cap.
Boys dove from rocks into the sea. Oleanders bloomed nearby. We passed through a tunnel and were in VLORES, Albania's main seaport. Many boats are said to leave from Vlores at night, taking Albanians to Italy in the dark. Piles of dirt and trash mix with Hoxha's concrete bunkers. The next town, FIER, has oil. Local men are said to have become rich by selling oil to war ring countries in the former Yugoslavia, which were willing to pay more be cause of the blockade by the United Nations.
We turned west, going 12 kilometers (7 mi.) to APPOLIANO. In a town a statue honors an Albanian, Mother Theresa, well-known in India. A pretty girl herded ducks down the road. Vehicles were slowed by geese and turkeys, herded by girls carrying sticks, and wagons pulled by mules. Men cut hay by hand with a scythe, it is hard work and slow. A tall bamboo-like plant grows along irrigation ditches. In the 4th Century B.C. 40,000 Corinthians lived in Apolliano, sailing up the river from the Adriatic. An earthquake 800 years later changed the course of the river, moving it farther from the city. The ancient Roman city was on a hill, providing a view of any enemy. The 100 hectare (247 acres) site was protected by a city wall six to 10 m. (19 to 32 ft.) high and four km. (2.5 mi.) long. Julius Caeser defeated the local Corinthians, his son went to school in Apolliano. The four bases of the Roman's Arch of Triumph, part of the theater and the library, and the 4th Century B.C. boulevard remain. The agora or market had many stone stalls for vendors. Only two percent of the site is excavated. The site includes a 12th Century Byzantine church and monastery where monks lived. On a column the devil is shown with big ears. Some local men wear a white or blue skull cap, or an Arab ghutra white cover for the head and neck.
We rode uphill to Ardenica Monastery, now a hotel. Local boys carried our bags up the cobblestone street to our rooms for a small tip and gifts of baloons and candy. We looked through window screens at the town and fields below, and mountains, never far away in Albania. It was hot and the breeze was weak, even on the hill. The African-size locusts finally went to sleep. My breakfast scrambled eggs floated in a sea of grease. Leaving, we passed three women stacking hay on one of the many pointed haystacks supported by a pole. Two of the women didn't want to be photographed, but the youngest and prettiest woman posed on the haystack.
LUSHNJE is in a rich agricultural valley. Wagons often have a cab like a truck's cab, the reins pass through one of the front windows. They are nice for bad weather, but the mule is out in the weather. Harvested fields are burned to kill weeds. The large greenhouses have only a framework, the plas tic has worn out and blown away. Not far from a village we stopped at a large market. More than a thousand people brought farm animals and produce to sell or trade for things made in the city. Some shoppers arrived in wagons, some rode a mule with a saddle, others came by bicycle, bus, or walked. A policeman wasn't happy when we parked near the road, but our guide said we were a group of American investors, investigating Albania. The policeman welcomed us, we gave him several U.S.A. flags. He asked for more, for his nephews.
BERAT is a "museum town" on a hill, settled by Illyrians in the 7th Century B.C. In a nearby field a woman slaved over a short-handle hoe as in Africa. Her work would be much easier if the handle were longer! Many local girls wear a Russian-style large hair ribbon, or a beret. Enver Hoxha's name in 1995 still appeared in big letters on the side of a mountain. Our bus climbed to near an entrance to the walled city. We entered a 14th Century Orthodox church, with a carved wooden altar and many pulpits and icons. Onufri, a well-known 16th Century painter, did most of the icons. In the church re ligious books written in the 6th and 9th centuries were found. Outside, an elderly widow dressed in black, sitting with a little girl, consented to be pho tographed. Some of the children, trained by previous tourists, were pests, continually asking for baloons, stylos (pens), and gum. We walked along the Citadel's stone wall built 2,600 years earlier, with the New City and the town of Goritz far below. At the summit we enjoyed pop on the porch of a restau rant.
On slippery worn cobblestones we walked halfway downhill to the Ethnographic Museum. It is in a typical big house, with stone windowless walls on the ground floor, a big porch and family living quarters on the next two floors. Typical things made in the home by craftsmen are shown. Some made shoes with turned-up toes or with a red or black furry ball on the toes. Other men mended clothes or made bronze pots. A man pushed a big mill stone with his feet to crush olives for oil. A bride wore dark purple made from indigo dye. The kitchen had a big cast iron pot for cooking flat bread in the fireplace, coals were also put on the lid. Women in an upper room looked through windows at men smoking with a water pipe and drinking during their meeting. Albania, known for blood feuds that lasted for generations, had strict rules of conduct. Guests checked their weapons upon entering. The host gave his besa or his word to protect any invited guest, even if the guest had killed his brother. The fueds are said to still be common in the hilly north. Continuing downhill to the New Town, we looked up at the "one thousand windows" of the Old Town on the hill. My wife, with a calculator, estimated that there were only 800 windows.
ELBASEN (One that Rules) is Albania's 3rd-largest city, with 85,000 people. The many bicycles were made in China. A policeman gave our driver a ticket and insisted upon cash payment for parking on the boulevard. Other vehicles were also parked there, but the policeman apparently needed money. Many streets are lined with trees. A vendor refused payment for the tomatoes that my wife and I bought. She welcomed the Americans. We gave her gifts. The language school now teaches mostly English, few people now study Rus sian or Chinese. We crossed the Shkumbi River, which divides Albania. The geks living in the mountainous north are considered to be less civilized than the tosks who live in the hilly south. The large metallurgy plant, built in 1978 and 1979 for trading with China, was almost shut down. It once employed 12,000 people and filled the air with smoke. We crossed another mountain pass on a road built by Italy in 1940.
In TIRANA, the capital and largest city, population 250,000, our hotel was only a block from Skanderbeg Square. As the sun sank low people of all ages promenaded in the evening on the tree-lined street near our hotel. Nearly all of the buildings on the main square were built during the Italian occupation. The next morning we rode out of town, passing vendors selling automobile parts and accessories. Near a village women and girls carried buckets of water from a river, almost dry. Vehicles stop and park for a short or a long time on the narrow pavement, without any warning signal or sign. A few cars had autoskolle signs, most of the drivers need to go longer to driving school.
Our bus climbed to the town of KRUJE, and to the 12th Century castle. A big monument shows Skanderbeg, the great 15th Century fighter of Turks, on his horse. The castle's museum has bronze weapons and shields of 700 B.C. A big mural shows a local battle with Romans. Another mural shows one of the 26 battles in which Skanderbeg defeated Turks. He had diplomatic relations with 28 European countries and spoke five languages. Skanderbeg com municated by smoke signals with people in other castles, including his sister in a castle some 20 km. (12 mi.) west. Outside the castle an ancient street, like a bazaar, sells carved, woven, and crocheted goods. A bottle of vodka, grappa, or raki each cost only about one dollar a bottle. Local men sometimes spend all day in a coffee house.
In Tirana the former Hoxha Museum is now the cultural center, with many activities for children. The main building of the university has an M shape, for Mussolini, Italy's dictator when Italy built it. Many students, from distant cities, live in dormitories--relatively rare in Europe. The Italian em bassy had a waiting line for visas. At the War Memorial on a hill, the Mother Albania statue is big and white. There are many tombs of martyrs, most of them died in World War I or II. Hoxha's body was dug up and reburied in a common cemetery. Tirana's National Museum shows that as Albania changed from a hunting society to an agricultural society women became more impor tant. In 1,000 B.C. women wore little decorated bronze bras. The next floor shows that on Albania's flag the two-headed black eagle guards against both Turks and Europeans. Parliament voted a few years earlier to remove the hammer and sickle from the flag. In the mountainous north the big stone tow ers are still used for protection, by as many as 30 families in a tower. Al banians call themselves Sqiptare.
We rode west, to DURRES, the 2nd-largest city, with 90,000 people. The textile plant, built by China, was almost closed. Workers live nearby but few have a job. South of Durres a new private hotel overlooks sandy beaches. In a village I saw men with a wagon loading trash to haul away! Albania, with both scenery and an interesting history, has great potential for tourists from Europe and elsewhere, but it needs more hotels, restaurants, and to clean up trash and rubble. Our small group was apparently the only "Western" tourist group in Albania, in July! PROZHINA has one of Albania's busiest markets, near the highway and river. Bullocks and mules pulled wagons bringing more customers. Some vendors, as well as workers in big fields, built small shel ters of brush. BALISH has many new oil wells. Nearby, a creek was filled with what looks like crude oil. Much of Eastern Europe is not yet concerned with environmental pollution. Smoke from the refinery was black. We fol lowed the Viose River through dry hills, passing a coal mining town. Every few kilometers we were stopped for a police check. Each policeman makes and enforces the law. One fined our driver because members of our small tour group didn't have individual bus tickets. At the border with Greece we left the old bus, carrying our bags to a modern air conditioned bus.
[Excerpt, Countries and Cultures, Vol. II, P. 204-207]
Travels. [East Germany]. My wife and I, in a bus operated by Jugoslavia Tours, crossed the Oder River on a bridge built by Nazis. We entered East Germany in May, 1990. The Autobahn, with four lanes, was designated as a military landing strip. A tall observation tower and a TV relay station overlooked the birch and evergreen forest and big fields of potatoes. Village homes were old, of unpainted stucco or concrete. A few signs advertised the small Skoda car, made in East Germany. The waiting line to buy was several years for either the Skoda or the Trabant. The Trabant, or paper car, made of plastic, required the mixing of oil with gasoline for its little two-cycle engine.
In EAST BERLIN we rode through several kilometers of big grey apartment houses lining wide, almost empty streets. We passed a city park where males and females tried to get a suntan all over. Young men and women stood in streets to hitch a ride. We crossed the narrow Spree River, soon arriving at the Grand Hotel. It was beautifully restored inside by Swedes using Japanese money. The lobby has a magnificent wide red carpeted stairway, an open court with six balconies that go all around, and a skylight. Our large room had bathrobes, slippers, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and an orchid and a telephone in both the room and the bathroom. Our TV received two English channels, a channel for the U.S.A. military stationed in Germany, one from France, two of rock music, two East German channels, and two West German channels. We changed dollars for Ostmarks, East German Marks.
The Wall separating East and West ran mostly north to south. The main east to west street is called Unter den Linden in the East, it changes to 17 of June St. in the West (honoring East Berliners killed in a 1953 uprising), and Kaiserdam farther west. Brandenburg Gate was in the East and the nearby Reichstag was in the West. Checkpoint Charley near Freidrichstr. was for many years the main transfer point between East and West. In the West, Tiergarten is a big park with many trees. In the East, Humbolt University occupies several restored old palaces. Marx-Engels Platz and Alexander Platz have room for big demonstrations.
We took a tour of East Berlin with a local guide. We rode down Unter von Linden street to the Brandenburg Gate, leading west to Brandenburg. It had scaffolding and was closed for reconstruction, damaged by people seeking souvenirs of The Wall. We passed Humboldt University, stopping at the Pergamon Museum. Turks gave preference to German archaeologists for excavations in Asia Minor in the late 19th Century. Pergamon's large Greek temple, built about 159 B.C., was reconstructed in the museum. The bas reliefs and statues show the struggle of gods, with the help of Hercules, against the giants. Another large room in the museum has a reconstructed temple from Miletus, and its market place, built during the reign of Rome's Emperor Hadrian. A long room has the original tile walls of Nebuchadnezzar II's Babylon Temple, built about 604 to 562 B.C. Lions, bulls, and other animals are displayed in bas reliefs.
Heavy three-floor concrete bunkers, with tiny windows, are still standing. They were used during World War II for protection from air raids. We passed the ice skating palace, the German Theater (for classics), the homes of the Komische Opera and the Berliner Ensemble, the statue of Frederick the Great, the 361 m. (1,184 ft.) tall TV tower with a revolving round restaurant near the top, Berlin University, the medical school, a monument to Dr. Virchow (local 19th Century pathologist), the International Trade Center, and much reconstruction of buildings damaged in World War II. We rode on Leipzieger Straße, past the 13th Century Town Hall, Alexanderplatz, several tall buildings built by Soviets in the 1950s, the former Stalin Avenue, a statue of Lenin still standing, the former Lenin Avenue, the 13th Century St. Mary's Church, and the Ministry of Foreign affairs. A big brown building, former home of the Communist Party, housed East Germany's parliament. We saw the Music Hall, the German-French cathedral, the Soviet Embassy, and a big nearby sales display by Yamaha. We returned to the Brandenburg Gate to watch East and West Berliners crossing, their papers were checked quickly by guards. Foreigners could not cross there.
The next day we rode to the small Checkpoint Charley, where our passports were checked before entering West Berlin. We returned late in the day. East Berlin had less trash on streets, and the people were better dressed than in West Berlin. The East Berlin Berliner Zeitung newspaper of 16 pages included three pages of general ads and two pages of classified ads--help wanted, cars for sale, and apartments for rent or for sale. Leaving Berlin, we rode south along The Wall in East Berlin, passing several kilometers of dark brick and stucco apartment houses with many chimneys, and factories for heavy industry. Posters advertising the S.P.D. (Socialist Democratic Party) and other political parties were affixed to The Wall's masonry portion. We rode past East Berlin's International Airport.
In August, 1992 I returned to East Berlin with my class and teacher from a language school in Weimar. Our teacher, in his late twenties, grew up in East Berlin near The Wall. Our bus on the Autobahn passed fields of wheat, sunflowers (for oil), corn, and potatoes. Patches of oak, evergreen, and birch trees broke the monotony. We stopped for coffee and toilets at a Mitropa. The huge border checkpoint near Berlin was abandoned, leaving a large paved lot and dilapidated buildings. Parts of the high wire fence that separated the two Germanys remained. We passed a tall TV tower and modern convention center, in heavy traffic near Tegel Airport and the Siemens Electric factory.
When grass was mowed in the lawns and parking strips we knew we had arrived in West Berlin. East Berlin had many trams, West Berlin had none. A large new stadium hoped to attract the Olympics in 2000 A.D. We walked along the little Spree River to the Reichstag and the War Memorial. Some 258 people were killed there, 1962-1989, allegedly upon orders of East Germany's President Honecker. Honecker had recently returned from shelter in Moscow to Berlin. (He was not tried for war crimes due to his poor health.) Students in my class had basic rooms in a hospice some three blocks from the Reichstag. My room had a red plastic wash basin, for washing clothes or whatever, common in East Germany. We walked to Alexanderplatz, relaxed with beer, then took the elevator to the top of the TV tower. We had a great view of Europe's largest city, in area. In a bus we toured Berlin for several hours, making several stops, in the East and West. Scaffolding had been removed from the Brandenburg Gate. The running horses pulling a chariot were still above the gate. Several segments of The Wall remained, with artistic graffiti. Our teacher said the huge Soviet-style apartment buildings have a high crime rate, and the "Russian Mafia" operates half of the bars in East Berlin. The East German STASI spy organization employed more than one-fourth of East Germany's citizens, another million or so were paid informers. Germans ran a much more efficient spy network than the KGB in the Soviet Union. Our teacher asked why we saw almost nobody on the streets of East Berlin. Most of us guessed that they were shopping in West Berlin. "No," he said. "They're in their apartments, watching VCR-TV movies from the U.S.A. and Western Europe that were unavailable until recently."
The next day we made another tour of East Berlin in our bus. We rode up Schönhauser Straße and went on a walking tour. An apartment house was the Soviet army's first command house. Nearby is a restored former Jewish school, with the Star of David. Berlin had 200,000 Jews in 1938, now there are perhaps 1,200. Graffiti in German included "Foreigners Out." Street signs had been removed or the names were deleted with black paint to confuse outsiders. Homosexuals had their headquarters in a large apartment building. Police in a nearby station assigned skinheads to clean them out, with bombs and fire. A little girl roller skated on cobblestones while pushing little sister in a buggy (pram). In an old red brick veneer complex we were entertained by musicians. We visited rooms where TV programs were filmed and broadcast. Many girls had punk hairstyles dyed red. We saw the restored St. Sophia Church, and several houses where Jews had once lived. We visited a cemetery with the tombs of Bertolt Brecht (playwright, 1896-1956, he adopted Marxism and left Nazi Germany), Georg Hegel (philosopher, 1770-1831, he influenced Karl Marx), Hans Fisher (chemist, 1881-1945), and others. Brecht moved to the U.S.A. in 1941 but in 1947 was required to testify before the House Un-American Committee, often called the "Un-American House Committee." He returned to East Berlin to found the Berliner Ensemble, a theater. Jewish tombs had small rocks on top, to keep the soul from leaving.
[Excerpt, P..212-216]
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
Population 82 million (66 million in former West, 16 million in former East Germany), united Oct. 3, 1990; area 371,000 sq. km. (138,000 sq. mi.); former West Germany had 70% and former East Germany had 30% of the area. GDP $1.34 trillion; average income $16,600; literacy rate 100%. Germany is divided into 16 states, six were in East Germany, 10 were in West Germany.
HISTORY. The ancient Neandertal man was named after a skeleton was found in 1856 in the Neander Valley west of Düsseldorf, Germany. When bronze axes were used around 1800 B.C. forests could be cut easier and villages and agriculture expanded. German tribes sometimes crossed the Rhine River to defeat Roman soldiers. In the 5th Century A.D. they migrated to the south, ending the Roman Empire. In the 8th Century many of the Germans became Christian. By the end of that century Charlemagne (Karl der Große) had conquered most of the area that is modern Germany, France, and Italy. His second capital, with a great palace, was built in modern Aachen, west of Cologne. However, he lived mostly on horseback, leading his army. In 799 he rescued Pope Leo III, who was charged with adultery and perjury. The next year the pope crowned Charlemagne as emperor. Later much of central Europe became known as the Holy Roman Empire.
When Charlemagne and his son Louis I the Pious died, in 843 the grandsons divided the kingdom. Charles the Bald governed the West Franks (France), Lothair I got the middle kingdom (part of modern France, Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy), and Ludwig (Louis) got the eastern kingdom
--most of modern Germany. In the 10th Century the eastern kingdom split into smaller kingdoms. The Saxon kings became powerful, defeating the Hungarians, then the Moslems at the eastern border. When the Hohenstaufen dynasty ended in 1250 A.D. local rulers became more powerful. Feudal lords owned the serfs who lived on the land. The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) killed many people in Germany in 1349. In some European countries it killed more than half of the people, 1347-1350. Maximilian I of the Habsburg dynasty expanded his rule, 1493-1519, by marriage, war, and the establishment of a bureaucracy.
On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther, a professor of theology, first publicly protested against the sale of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church. Priests sold the remission of sins from punishment, even for a person already dead, using an alleged stock of merits accumulated by deeds done by "saints." Luther was excommunicated in 1521, but many people and kings supported him. In 1521 while hiding from the Catholic Church in Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany, Luther translated the New Testament into German so common people could read it, not merely Greek or Latin scholars. With the help of Jewish scholars he later translated the Old Testament into German. He standardized the German language, helping to unify the many dialects. Around 1455 another German, Johan Gutenberg, had invented printing from moveable type. The printing press permitted the economical printing of many copies of the Bible or other books. The Reformation began. The Lutheran Church was formed. John Calvin, of France and Switzerland, organized the Presbyterian Church in 1533. Other Protestant churches were formed. Soon local governments became stronger and the Catholic Church became weaker. During the next 130 years several wars were fought in much of Europe, especially Germany, between Roman Catholics and Protestants. Protestants sometimes fought other Protestants. The Thirty Years war, 1618-1648, ended the medieval and feudal period. In 1648 Germany had to give Alsace to France. [In 1871 Germany took it back, in 1918 it lost Alsace, in 1940 it got it back, in 1945 it lost it again.] The Holy Roman Empire, with Germany at the center, largely ended.
In the 18th Century the Protestant Frederick the Great of Prussia expanded Germany's territory. During the Seven Years war, 1756-1763, he took away Silesia (mostly the modern Czech Republic) controlled by the Roman Catholic Habsburgs of Austria under Maria Theresa. He got part of Poland during its first partition, in 1772. He modernized Prussian law and established an efficient civil service. When the French under Napoleon were defeated in 1814, the Congress of Vienna gave Prussia part of Rhineland and part of Saxony. Prussia lost part of what is now Poland to Russia. In the almost-peaceful "revolution" of 1848 in Prussia the liberals became more powerful.
Otto von Bismarck in the 1860s began to modernize Prussia and its army with breech-loading rifles, defeating the conservative Austrians in 1866. The constitution of 1867 helped to modernize Prussia, by universal voting, the creation of a parliament (the Reichstag), and weakening the king. France was easily provoked into a war in 1870. Prussia moved 150,000 men behind the French lines, trapping the French army. In June, 1940 Nazi Germany used a similar tactic, moving tanks around and behind France's "impregnable" Maginot Line. Prussia got Alsace-Lorraine in 1871. Bismarck persuaded Wilhelm I of Prussia to become Kaiser of all Germany--the Second Reich.
In June, 1914 the heir to the Habsburg throne was assassinated in Sarajevo. Austria and Russia had long vied for supremacy in the Balkans. Germany, led by the young Kaiser Wilhelm II, promised to help its ally Austria if needed. World War I began shortly after July 23, 1914 when Austria accused Serbia of helping in the assassination. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey lost the war. In the 1919 Peace of Versailles, Germany lost the Alsace-Lorraine to France, and its military was limited in size. Germany's constitution of 1919 made it a republic, with its capital at Weimar--the Weimar Republic.
Germany suffered runaway inflation in 1922 and 1923, causing much suffering. French and Belgian troops entered the Ruhr district to force the continued payment of reparations for war damage. Adolph Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party, published his Mein Kampf (My Struggle) in 1925 and 1927. He insisted that Germans needed more room--more territory, and he blamed many minority groups, especially the Jews, for Germany's problems. Bismarck and other Germans had complained that they were not united and were not a seafaring nation when other European powers were colonizing Africa and much of Asia and Latin America. In elections in 1928 the Nazi Party received the 2nd-greatest number of votes. In the 1932 elections the Nazis received the greatest number of votes. On January 30, 1933 Hitler became Germany's chancellor--the Third Reich. Germany suffered economically in the Great Depression in the early 1930s. Hitler made a speech to leaders of German industry early in 1933, promising to get their factories busy again. The industrialists supported his program of rapid militarization.
Germany annexed Austria in 1938, invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939, made a secret deal with Stalin to share Poland, and invaded Poland on September 1. Two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. World War II had begun. After much suffering around the world, the war ended for Germany by its defeat on May 8, 1945. (See German Democratic Republic for background of the period 1945-1992.)
Eisenach, Germany, Martin Luther's home Malbronn Monastery, near Stuttgart
Salzburg, Austria, Hohensazlzburg Gastle
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BACKGROUND. The well-disciplined German pedestrians wait patiently for a traffic light to change. Cars nearly always yield to a pedestrian who has the right-of-way. When I first arrive in Germany from Asia I notice how quiet are German cities--no horn blowing or loud mufflers. German women often greet each other with a kiss on both cheeks, like the French. Many cars in Europe park in the evening with the parking and tailight on for only one side of the car. November 11 was celebrated as San Martin's Day, children go to a park for music and goodies, something like Halloween in the U.S.A. France has a similar holiday on an early Sunday in November. France also celebrates Armistice Day--the end of World War I, Germany does not.
Germany has one of the best passenger rail systems in the world. It is possible to live in a village, bicycle on a pleasant paved path to the train station, and commute to the city for work. No car is needed. However, Germans like cars almost as much as North Americans. There are too many cars. Traffic jams are frequent. Local radio stations often announce a Staub or traffic jam. Germany also has a great system of water transportation. The canal connecting the Main and Danube rivers has been completed. Big barges or small ships can now travel from the North Sea at Rotterdam, up the Rhine and Main past Frankfurt, to the Danube and down it, past Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade, to the Black Sea and Istanbul. The Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal, connected the same two rivers in 1845. However, it could not then compete with the new railways.
Polls that Germans are among the least patriotic people in Europe. I have seen rude students in my language schools call German students "Nazis" or "warmongers." It failed to make the innocent students angry. Yet, they are much different from two older generations. Germans have made great progress in the past 50 years. They should be proud of their country. One of the reasons for Germany's success is the willingness of its large banks to lend money for expansion or modernization of industries or commercial firms, as well as to individuals. However, recent poor investments and loss of money by the giant Deutsches Bank has reduced confidence in banks.
I like German food, there is not a great variety but it is tasty. I tried to avoid a lot of Wursts (sausages), tasty but too fattening. Germans have at least 20 recipes for cooking Kartoffeln (potatoes), all are good except french fries--they're bad everywhere. Steamed potatoes, red cabbage, and Schnitzel (cutlet) are tasty. Germans always remove the skin and its vitamins before eating potatoes. The Stuttgart area serves some Schwäbisch food, using pastries and Nudeln (dumplings), fewer potatoes than the north. Hefezopf ("yeast head") is a Schwäbian specialty--the dough is used to make dolls, especially of girls with braided hair. A town in Ecuador, Calderon, makes dolls, animals, and other figures from similar masapan dough; after drying it is painted. Smoking has been permitted nearly everywhere in Germany, and the percentage of smokers is high. Recently smoking has been prohibited in many indoor areas. Cigarette vending machines are often low enough to be reached by a 12-year old child. In restaurants I always try to find the place with the best ventilation.
Some 34 percent of the land is arable. There are 1,748 people per square km. of arable land, it is very crowded.
At the Post a letter is weighed, the amount of postage varies with the number of grams weight and the destination--common in Europe. On September 30 we celebrated Erntedankfest or Thanksiving Day, honoring the harvest. The newspaper reported that we would have freundlich (friendly) weather. Germany doesn't have Indian Summer, it has Old Woman's Summer. Countries throughout the world have a harvest festival.
To enter a university a student must have an Abitur, requiring 13 years of study. A male student is also required to serve a year in military service. German universities don't give a bachelor's degree, after five years or so they have something like a masters degree, with a government exam. The typical student studies seven years to get the first degree. An average student is 29 when he gets the first degree, compared with age 23 in France or the U.K. Universities also award doctor's degrees. Universities are free for Germans--common in Europe. Students may get a loan for books and living expenses, which must be paid back within 10 years after leaving school. Germany has around 1.9 million university students and 1.7 workers in apprentice training.
Germany has a complicated system for health care with some 1300 insurance funds. Insurance premiums are paid partly by the employee and partly by the employer. Premiums for unemployed are paid by the unemployment office. Premiums for the retired are paid as a percentage of pension payments. Contributions are based upon an individual's income, regardless of sex or health. Families are covered. Patients pay a small portion of the cost of prescription drugs but never see a physician's bill or a hospital bill. Costs are rising, but as a percentage of GDP, costs are still far below the U.S.A.
German taxes are high for individuals and businesses. Taxes were once low. Now a typical middle-class worker pays taxes equal to 40 percent of his income. Some 8 or 9 percent of the Lohnsteur or workers income tax is to support churches, and 7.5 percent is the Solidarität tax, to pay for the expense of bringing East Germany up to West German standards. A typical German family pays 47 percent of the household income in taxes, social security, and other levies by the government. (See Europe) East Germans are called Ossies, West Germans are Wessies. Germany's deductions for depreciation encourage frequent modernization of buildings and equipment. Banks freely loan money for modernization. The savings rate has recently dropped to about nine percent, but it is still high. Blue collar workers have usually completed an apprenticeship, resulting in high quality work. Most managers are trained in science, engineering, or production, they did not only study business or law.
Stores and other businesses have closed by 13:00 (1:00 P.M.) on Saturdays for the weekend. A new law permits them to stay open until 16:00 on Saturdays, and until 20:00 (8:00 P.M.) on weekdays.
Parliament includes (1) the Bundesrat or upper chamber with around 41 seats appointed by the 16 states, and (2) the Bundestag, a lower house with around 662 seats elected by the voting public. The Bundestag and deputies from state parliaments elect the president of the republic. He serves a five year term. Roman Herzog has been the president since 1994. The Bundestag elects the chancellor (prime minister), who may serve until there is a positive vote of no confidence by the Bundestag. The chancellor has the real power. Helmut Kohl has been the chancellor since 1982. He is tall and heavy. Each year he follows a diet program to lose weight gained during the year. He is considered to be a good cook and is co-author of a book on German cooking. Unlike most educated Europeans, he speaks only one language, German. The main political parties are the Christian Democrats, the Social Democrats, the Free Democrats, and the Alliance (Greens and Democratic Socialists). The government provides payments to any political party that gets 5 percent or more of the vote.
Jurmala, Latvia, young performers
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Oslo, Norway, Vigeland Park
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