Going home

[V8mate]

(Hopefully this will stay away from the NP&E radar)

I'm of German extraction and, although I've lived the vast majority of my life in England, always planned to retire to Germany. An early retirement - possibly starting a small business - was also deemed a possibility and my English wife has always been as committed and excited by the prospect as me.

We visit Germany 2 or 3 times a year; staying in both rural areas and major cities. The last time we came over was last June though, and the intervening events have really shaken the dream.

Are things different there? Is there a genuine feeling of a cultural impact having happened? Is there a greater perception of crime (because perception is as damaging to happy living as the actuality).

I know this sounds crazy but, from the comfort of our English house, we've been spooked, and we're almost feeling... 'scared', I guess, of even visiting for a holiday/break.

How are things at community level?

[V8mate]

Who you calling Jessie? ;-)





Adenau is *very* rural

Whilst we love Berlin, Cologne is more often than not our German 'city' destination. The slide there has been noticeable for some time now, with a lot of reports of 'street crime' type issues.

I fear that it's the smaller and medium sized towns which have most affected though; as in England, their infrastructure in more easily overwhelmed and the historic standard of living more likely to lead to social divisions.

Thanks for the positive message though

[V8mate]

anothernameitist said:

Its a year or so since I've been to germany.

On a UK v Germany basis, its a no brainer ... Germany.

I mean pletiful wine and beer ( Bit Burg) good food great scenary.

My 2 pence or 2 marks

It's easy to get caught in 'holiday mode' though; surprising how much 'real life' you don't even see when the beer and pretzels taste so good Look at how many people decide that moving to Greece/Spain/wherever is a good idea after a week's holiday!

The last couple of years we've been having longer periods there, renting 'normal' flats in cities and just getting on with more normal life (insofar as you can, when you're not actually doing your normal life). No rose-tinted glasses here: Germany has changed a lot over the last ten years! There may have been a decade or two's delay, but the whole chav/delinquent/tattooed single mum/oi what you lookin at thing is properly on the rise. And that was before any cultural invasion.

[V8mate]

[V8mate]

I think the replies by JMGS4 and krallicious confirm my concerns that whilst the cities may face certain issues due to volume of newcomers, they are better able to spread them amongst existing communities.

Smaller towns, however, simply don't have enough space or slack in their infrastructure to cope properly.

[V8mate]

We're not fixed on a location, but within half an hour of the Rhein, between Cologne and Mainz, seems to offer much of what we want.

[V8mate]

krallicious said:

If you like your wine, then Bingen is very nice but the choice between Mainz and Köln is huge. Just be wary of straying too far west as they be funny around those parts

Yeah, I heard that Adenauer spent the first five years looking for the tower

Wine-wise, we have a strong preference for reds from the Ahr and whites from Alsace (which *is* a part of Germany!)

krallicious said:

Limburg is also worth a look as is the Taunus area but you get good VFM in the Pfalz.

I'm very unfamiliar with the middle of Germany. Looking at a map, I think I've pretty much stuck the outer 100 miles all the way round

[V8mate]

My wife loves the German weissburgunders.

The wine from Elsass we most covet is Muscat. Tiny part of their production (c2.5%) but it is truly heavenly to drink. Quite unlike anything else.

Though you don't need to pay much at all for a fun and highly drinkable Sekt!

[V8mate]

JMGS4 said:

Couldn't agree more about Muscat, the alsatian ones are wonderful. You should also try Crémant d'Alsace, worth every penny and better than most Champagnes nowadays.

I have, and agree totally. I think their Crémant has always been better than Champagne, in fact!

JMGS4 said:

If you're travelling down almost to the CH border I can give you the name of my favourite Winery in the next village, I can get you a tour as well). His Weissburgunder and Gewürz are my stock wines (as well as his Spätburgunder)

Thanks, I may do that

We often come right down to spend time on der Bodensee during the summer. We love open water swimming and the lake is just marvellous! Though the smaller volcanic lakes up in the Eifel are also great. Much chillier(!), but their smaller, enclosed nature gives much more of a 'secret', escapist experience.

[V8mate]

JMGS4 said:

We're in Lörrach, not quite Bodensee, southern Black Forest. Good food, good wine, good hooning roads... what more do you need? (apart from the seaside!)

Sounds great. Unfortunately, this doesn't...

JMGS4 said:

We are also suffering with a huge amount of immigrants (% to population) which we're having problems with to feed, shelter and re-educate. Also problems with immigrant crime!