The Soul of Kiel (6)

Not much writing today, that will come again after the weekend. Just some sketchbooking: a little note here about the trumpeteer that I noticed on regular times playing the military reveille. I guess it's from the marine base, about half a kilometer from my rental. But then it's pretty obtrusive and I'm sure the (some) citizens around not too keen about it. Like you can be about churchbells or chants from a mosque. Have to look into this.

Below a very rough sketch of the Gewerkschaftshaus in Regienstrasse, belonging to the German workers union DGB. A site connected to the sailor's mutiny in 1918, as the revolutionary councils took seat here. (See previous post for more)
The building has a commemorative plaque on the street wall. And a discreet 'Kein Ort für Neo-Nazis' shield next to the entrance :-)
The portrayed Lothar Popp played a central role in the events from the worker's side.

The Soul of Kiel (5)

In the sketchbook a little ditty on how Kiel got its name. Apparently it hasn't to do with the keel of a boat, but comes from the old German name of fjord: kyle. A wedge of sea in the land. The ancient inhabitants could have imagined some god of the waters cut it out in a fit of rage or something. The Germans don't have such a deity, but the Danish do: Aegir, god of the sea and of beer (!).

But onward to more serious stuff.

I don't think Kiel is much of an insurgent place now, but it was at the Great War's ending. In fact the sailor's mutiny in the first week of November 1918 sparked a revolutionary wave that rolled southwards over Germany, straight down to Munich. And which led to the end of the German  monarchy and establishment of the Weimar Republic.

With peace in sight the battle-tired soldiers of the German fleet got word of a 'letzte Endscheidungsschlacht' against the Royal Navy that was secretly planned by admirals Scheer and Von Trotha. Refusing to be senselessly sacrified mutiny broke out on several ships of the Third Squadron in Wilhelmshaven. It was soon smothered under force and the ringleaders arrested. After the squadron had sailed to Kiel their comrades demanded the release of the imprisoned and joined up with Kiel socialists and union workers in a demonstrative march to the military prison, November 3. Seven of them were killed and 29 severely injured when troops opened fire, an event which is regarded as a turning point. A general revolt broke out and worker and soldiers councils took over the town.

I have been looking around today of visible remnants of this significant piece of history, which fortunately is well documented.
First visit was the Nordfriedhof, where some of the victims of the revolt are buried. On the picture a sailor's grave, well embraced by a tree. The portrayed Karl Artelt was one of the central figures of the revoltion, he died in 1981.

Will be continued!

The Soul of Kiel (4)

Today I cycled off the Stadtplan Kiel, which I got at the tourist information and which will define the limits of my project here. I rode through a wooded area, then passed fields that stretched to the horizon and turned back. This was near Knoop. I don't know where the German name stems from, but in Dutch it means 'button' or 'knot'.
Anyhow, my object was to look around the canal locks of the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, a man-made freshwater passage that cuts right through Schleswig-Holstein. There is a small ferry to take you over, when you are on foot or bicycle. But before embarking I followed the fences around Kiel's marine base, reached a dead-end where a lot of campers (mobile homes) were parked and senior citizens hung around a teagarden quietly overlooking the shipping activity, passed an overgrown railtrack and industrial sites. On the other side of the canal there is the dyke (familiar!) and village and lighttower of Holtenau.
Nice trip, but not much I could work on in my function as comic-reporter. Which actually wasn't the intention as I had other assignments for the afternoon and evening.
Still, here some fresh landscapes:

looking back at Kiel from the other side of the canal

under the Prinz Heinrich bridge, view on HaGe factory

The Soul of Kiel (3)

Trainride sketches entry September 1

The subject to start off this project with just dropped in my lap.
I arrived in Kiel yesterday evening and being too busy installing and settling in I first noticed it when going out to get breakfast this morning: a massive black 5-storey bunker right across the road of my rental apartment. Overgrown as it is -there are even trees growing on the roof- it sits there silent and intimidating between the housing blocks. Makes it impossible to not mention the War while I’m here. Because evidently the structure was build for protection against the explosives that came raining down on the city towards the end op WW2.

There are plenty of bunkers in Kiel, still standing. Yes, we have them in my home town too, but not this big, and not so many. Here they are all over, permanent reminders of an era of fear and hate, or for the generations that have grown up in peace: places to fantasize about. Rectangular shaped autonomous zones dropped there from outer space, concrete mazed caves waiting to be explored, Pandora boxes filled with who knows what. Any which way, they certainly make an imprint on the collective mind.

Naturally there is a group of enthousiastics documenting the bunkers in the city.

PS about the quality of the pictures: I have no scanner at my disposal at the moment so take snaps with my phone.