A True German Crisis

The Iran conflict is ruining German vacation plans!

Call in the Germany military – to get German vactioners out.

Iran war: Tens of thousands of German travelers stranded – German tour operators say at least 30,000 customers have been left without travel options after thousands of flights were canceled across the Middle East because of the US-Israel war with Iran.

Tens of thousands of people on trips organized by German travel agencies have been affected by US-Israel war with Iran, a leading trade group said on Monday.

Figures from the German Travel Association suggest that some 30,000 tourists are unable to fly home amid the hostilities, which have prompted several countries in the region to close their airspace, while many airlines have put flights into and out of the crisis area on hold.

German flagship carrier Lufthansa is among those airlines. The company said that airspace over Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the Saudi airport of Dammam will not be used by Lufthansa and its subsidiaries until at least March 8. United Arab Emirates airspace will be avoided until March 4.

Join?

Yes. Maybe.

But only after everything’s all over.

Germany said considering joining Israel-US campaign against Iran – Germany is seriously considering joining the US-Israeli campaign against Iran if the regime does not cease attacking countries in the region amid the conflict, German political and military sources tell Israel’s Army Radio.

Planning for possible military action with the United States is already underway, ranging from joining bombing strikes to providing military and aerial assistance, officials in Germany’s foreign ministry and members of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee tell the radio station.

A Tale of Two Headlines

“German business lobby warns of unfair trade practices by China” vs. “China overtakes US to become Germany’s top trading partner.”

China has overtaken the US as Germany’s most important trading partner, according to figures released by Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Friday.

The sum of exports and imports between the two countries last year totaled €251.8 billion ($296.6 billion), a 2.1% increase, according to Destatis.

China was Germany’s most important trading partner from 2016 all the way through to 2023. In 2024, the US briefly held the title.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also set to visit China next week, where he is set to discuss trade and other topics.

Only silver for the USA?

No way. We were robbed!

US now ranks behind only Russia as top world peace threat in German eyes, researchers find.

Two-thirds of Germans view the United States as one of the greatest threats to world peace, surpassing China and edging closer to Russia, according to a nationwide opinion poll. The survey by the Allensbach Institute, a German market research firm, revealed that 65% of respondents named the U.S. among the countries they believe could pose the greatest threat to global peace in the coming years.

German humor at its best

German media and sensitivities. It’s a long and troubled history.

Greenland police fine German satire show for US flag stunt – A German public broadcaster has been fined while filming a show in Greenland after a satirist sought to raise a US flag in public. The incident unfolded amid heightened sensitivity over statements from the US president…

At no point during filming was it intended that the satire was aimed at Greenlanders,” the broadcaster stated. “The editorial team expresses its regret to the people of Greenland should this impression have been created.”

“It is not funny. It is immensely harmful.”

German of the day: Sich auflösen

That means to disintegrate.

Klingbeil: Transatlantic relations are currently disintegrating – Federal Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Klingbeil has described relations with the US as severely damaged.

At an event held by the German Institute for Economic Research, the SPD leader said that transatlantic relations as we know them are currently disintegrating. Klingbeil referred to the US military intervention against Venezuela, the conflict over Greenland, and the US government’s new national security strategy. The Trump administration is making it clear that it wants to dominate the Western Hemisphere and is increasingly turning away from Europe politically and culturally, Klingbeil said.

American colonialism bad!

European, not so much.

Greenland’s colonial past could be Washington’s way in – Greenland’s legacy of Danish colonialism, forced relocations and cultural trauma may now become the opening Donald Trump needs to pull the island away from Europe’s orbit.

When US President Donald Trump first mused about a Greenland takeover, the initial reactions were a blend of disbelief, bemusement and nervous laughter. It felt like yet another outlandish flourish, and marginally more realistic than annexing Canada.

But beneath the jokes sat a truth few confronted: Greenland’s position within Europe is fragile. The island bears deep scars from Danish colonialism, depends heavily on Danish funds and exists in a constitutional limbo: tied to Denmark, yet outside the EU’s political system. Those unresolved tensions leave Greenland politically unanchored, and exposed.

Germany’s concern is the greatest

It has made concern great again.

Germany expresses ‘greatest concern’ on Venezuela – Germany is following the US military operation in Venezuela “with the greatest concern,” a Foreign Office source said on Saturday after US forces bombed targets in the country and seized President Nicolás Maduro.

A crisis meeting was being held in the Foreign Office. “We are observing the situation in Venezuela very carefully,” the source said, adding that the Foreign Office was in close contact with the embassy in Caracas.

Germany was consulting with partner countries on the situation, which remained unclear, the source said.

There are fireworks…

Then there are fireworks.

German Spies Detonated 2 Million Pounds of Explosives in New York Harbor in 1916: The Statue of Liberty’s Torch Has Been Closed Ever Since – Just after 2 a.m. on July 30, 1916, a freight car loaded with TNT exploded at a munitions depot on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor. The blast registered as a 5.5 magnitude earthquake and was felt 90 miles away in Philadelphia. Windows shattered from Times Square to Brooklyn. The Statue of Liberty took shrapnel damage. Firefighters were blown out of their boots.