Saxony

Leipzig does not see a “master’s duty” (neue-deutschland.de)

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Julian Nagelsmann refrained from declaring war on Bayern Munich. With RB Leipzig the coach is still the first hunter of the record champions after the first half of the Bundesliga, but nobody wants to put unnecessary pressure on the Saxons. “We don’t have an obligation to become German champions,” said Nagelsmann after the 1-0 (0-0) win over 1. FC Union Berlin.

Leipzig is four points behind the leader from Munich. Four points that RB unnecessarily gave away in Nagelsmann’s eyes. Victories were possible against Cologne (0-0) and Wolfsburg (2-2), the 33-year-old calculated: “We are basically satisfied with the first half of the season.”

Especially in view of the complicated preparation for the season, Leipzig’s performance stands out. Like FC Bayern, RB played the final tournament of the Champions League in Lisbon in August. There followed a short break and another triple load in the first half of the season.

Nagelsmann wants to build on the good appearance. “We’re trying our best to be successful and to get the most out of the second half of the season,” he said.

The minimum goal is to qualify for the Champions League again. In the end, it is also up to Bayern Munich whether it is enough. “There is still a team above us,” said Nagelsmann, who had no sympathy for the recent crisis debate about Bayern.

Munich would have had a phase in which they would not have shown the usual dominance. But: »You still scored at least four points more than all the other teams. So the crisis can’t be that bad. “

Victory against the favorite scare

Nagelsmann’s appearance against Union gave Nagelsmann the courage to hunt down the industry leader. The league’s favorite scare, which had previously wrested points from FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, also held up well against RB.

But the Leipzig people’s patience paid off. Substitute playmaker Emil Forsberg (70th) broke the spell. For his team, success is “a small maturation process,” said Nagelsmann, who praised the calm of his players.

Union also earned recognition. The Berlin team scored 28 points in 17 games, and the underdog developed into a surprise team. Sixth place and the prospect of a place in the European Cup are proof of good work. The conclusion is “of course positive,” said coach Urs Fischer. Nevertheless, he held on to his mantra. “We’re not through yet. The objective remains the same, that means: staying up, “said the Swiss:” For that you need a few points. We have to work on that. “

There are some things “that we can do better,” emphasized Fischer. »When I look at the statistics and see a pass rate of 91 percent in Leipzig and only 79 percent in our case. You have to be able to get out of pressure situations and remain precise. We can improve that. ”Marvin Friedrich saw it that way too. “It’s getting better and better,” said the defender. The defeat in Leipzig should be made up for quickly. “We’ve got a really big cushion down. We can be confident, but you can also get into a bad phase quickly. Of course we don’t hope so, ”said midfielder Robert Andrich. SID

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Another big one annoyed (new-deutschland.de)

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Sauer: Nadiem Amiri (center) from Bayer Leverkusen and Berlin’s Grischa Prömel (r).

Photo: dpa / Andreas Gora

The supporters of 1. FC Union long for their team. On Friday at the home game against Bayer Leverkusen, a lot of fireworks were ignited in the course of the first half around the stadium An der Alten Försterei, which were probably left over from the corona-related mini New Year’s Eve. The clearly visible rockets and crackers should probably give Union courage again to annoy a top team in the league.

At least that worked in terms of the outcome of the game. The series of surprising point wins against clubs that primarily have qualification for the Champions League in mind continued. Since mid-December, the Eiserne have not suffered a defeat at home games against Bayern Munich (1-1), Borussia Dortmund (2-1), VfL Wolfsburg (2-2) and now Leverkusen.

The team was also realistic about the success against the Werkself. In the first section, Bayer seemed overwhelming. “We were always a tad late. At one point or another we have been very lucky not to concede a goal. We hid a bit there, ”said Union captain Christopher Trimmel.

Shortly before the end of regular time, the substitute Cedric Teuchert was actually able to bring Union to the winning road with his third joker goal this season. With the sixth game without defeat in a row, the Köpenicker consolidated fifth in the table. The gap to the Champions League places three and four, which are occupied by Leverkusen and Dortmund, is currently only one point.

However, those responsible in Berlin are still not singing any European Cup chants. The goal is still relegation. Week after week, the Union is resisting turning to higher ambitions. “In the first 45 minutes it was almost a class difference. Leverkusen was superior in all respects. It could have gone completely in a different direction, ”said Union’s professional football manager Oliver Ruhnert. “The fact is, we have the points we have. Nevertheless, there are big differences in footballing pace, in the way you play in possession of the ball and in the technical quality until the end. “

During the game, Ruhnert was reminded of the 4-0 home defeat in Union’s very first Bundesliga match in August 2019 against RB Leipzig. At that time, his team couldn’t keep up. A year and a half later, she survived critical phases, also because the playful development is unmistakable. In terms of athletics, she still seems to be able to improve. The mileage of almost 128 kilometers was more than eight kilometers over that of Leverkusen. Sure, Union often had to run after them. But that’s also how a threesome comes about against an actually stronger team. »The results are absolutely correct. The 50:50 games are falling on our side right now. We’ll take the moment with us, ”said Ruhnert after the game.

As early as Wednesday (8.30 p.m.) in the next top game at RB Leipzig, Union could provide the next sensation after the first half of the season. Union has nothing to lose there. However, the best squad is still not available, especially on the offensive.

The attackers Max Kruse, Anthony Ujah and Joel Pohjanpalo are still out, even if Ujah and Pohjanpalo were active on the training ground on Sunday. In addition, Sheraldo Becker injured his ankle in the game against Leverkusen. It will not be available to Union for the time being. Since Taiwo Awoniyi is the only one who is currently fit, offensive all-rounder Leon Dajaku was signed on Saturday. The 19-year-old talent, who played two Bundesliga games each for VfB Stuttgart and Bayern Munich, was loaned out by Bayern with an option to buy.

The anticipation for the upcoming English week, which ends on Saturday with the game at FC Augsburg, was generally clouded. Shortly before and after the game against Leverkusen had ended, Unions Florian Huebner and Leverkusen national player Nadiem Amiri clashed. Afterwards, Amiri’s teammate Jonathan Tah said that Amiri had been insulted racially. The DFB control committee is therefore investigating against Hübner.

Amiri said on the Leverkusen homepage that Hübner apologized to him after the game. The only question is what for? “The player said he didn’t say that. For us, this racist issue, as it is now presented, did not exist, «said Union sports director Ruhnert. Both clubs seem to have resolved the matter internally.

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Michael Kretschmer: Among adults (neue-deutschland.de)

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Talking is a wonderful thing. Language holds our society together. We can bridge bridges with it or ask for 500 grams of mixed mince at the fresh produce counter in the supermarket. Michael Kretschmer recently demonstrated what is possible if we keep talking and listen to each other. He took the time, left the snow shovel snow shovel and talked to the citizens at low temperatures, who took the opportunity to talk in a friendly but firm tone about the matter during a wintry “visit” to the private house of the Saxon Prime Minister to demand other Kretschmer’s incarceration.

Conversations with conspiracy storytellers are the new talking to Nazis. And they are just as successful! Although the MP did not comply with the request of his guests by putting on handcuffs on their own, they were so good and chatted with him for a while. You can watch the video recording on Youtube. If you do that, you can see how sensitive Kretschmer can work on people’s souls. It’s a goddamn gift! I myself have pelted young people who were far less penetrative than these angry retirees with organic waste from the window of my ground floor apartment.

Saxony’s first man is made very differently. First he listens. Because nobody is a bad person per se, only because he does not want dark forces in the background to drink away child’s blood excessively. You have to show understanding and try to get those you are talking to back on the right path of democracy. Listen again and again! And then it is allowed to admit the obvious. Yes, Bill Gates looks suspiciously like a reptile, and the fact that he licks his pupil with his tongue every ten seconds doesn’t make matters any better. But that doesn’t mean that he’s striving for world domination or that Windows crashes every time he orders it.

One should be ready to refute people with arguments. If you really want to be prepared, you always have a huge drilling rig on hand during such conversations to prove that not even the leader could survive at the high temperatures in the earth’s interior. Kretschmer only had one snow shovel with him. He has to be accused of that.

Andreas Koristka is editor of the satirical magazine »Eulenspiegel«.

Photo: nd / Camay Sungu

So it might be. Even so, many of its visitors will have gone home with a thoughtful feeling. Perhaps her change did not come immediately. But Kretschmer may have sown the seeds of doubt in them. Now, probably at this very moment, it is opening and growing in their brains. We do not know how many of his interlocutors are signing the CDU’s membership application at this second. We can only guess that almost all of them are.

So the appeal goes to us! We need to talk to people more. We need to know their point of view. Is Corona an invention of the media, the Chinese or the Jews? Is the virus non-existent, not so bad, or is it supposed to contribute to the fact that we are all vaccinated, murdered or rendered sterile? If we know about these facts, we make ourselves competent interlocutors at eye level.

Dissonances between the awakened and sleeping sheep have to be discussed. Nobody should call the police just because a few people are besieging their own property. People’s thoughts hang sideways. You have to help them! If someone insults you in the S-Bahn for no reason and makes animal noises, then you don’t turn to the security service or change the compartment, but clarify the matter calmly and sensibly among adults.

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Fraktur: In the no-go zone

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WHow much the 1989 revolution is lived in Saxony can also be seen from the fact that the Prime Minister personally shovels snow here. At least there is some again, because in contrast to the Ice Age in socialism, the white splendor is a rare commodity in capitalism, but it is especially annoying when it piles up in the driveway to your own home.

Stefan Locke

Correspondent for Saxony and Thuringia based in Dresden.

Michael Kretschmer may have been happy at first when a Timur squad of two dozen people approached his house on the weekend in the morning, but they didn’t want to lend a hand, but just wanted to talk, as in the past in the party apprenticeship year, and just like then about things that have nothing to do with reality.

What would have been a wrong no-go?

This assessment is even shared by the left, which in Saxony has never agreed to the CDU, but in this case verbally defended the Prime Minister, partly in the language and syntax of the former class enemy. “The protest in front of Kretschmer’s private house was a real no-go!”, Said parliamentary group leader Rico Gebhardt. However, we were left at a loss as to what, in contrast, would have been a false no-go, quasi a fake no-go, and whether such a thing might have justified the crazy casserole.

Let’s assume that Kretschmer, the inventor of political listening, would have gone to the citizens to shovel snow and cleared a place with them for the next anti-corona demo. Then the left would have found itself in a dilemma, on the one hand to appreciate the joint effort, but to have to disapprove of the purpose. An opposition no-go?





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But political certainties have long since ceased to exist. Kretschmer recently stated in a conversation with the Chemnitz newspaper “Freie Presse” – which was also called that when it was, well, a no-go for the former publishers – that he would have wished earlier before the extent of the pandemic to have been warned, and that one should not rely solely on notes: “Then it goes wrong.” Seldom has an administration been so appreciated, although Kretschmer may have been surprised that after the austerity orgies of his predecessor, he still had one such has.

“The Chancellor was right”

The regent in the neighboring Free State of Thuringia is already a step further and, in the style of Stalinist self-criticism, takes all the blame for the messed up crisis management: “The Chancellor was right and I was wrong,” said Bodo Ramelow in the FAZ, which in turn raises the question whether Thuringia can now also be officially designated as an injustice state.

For a politician like Ramelow who is keen on extreme distinction, an unjust state standing alongside the federal state and the Free State as a unique selling point in the federal structure should develop its own charm. There is already preliminary work on this, namely by Gerhard Schröder’s former government spokesman Uwe-Karsten Heye, who already a decade and a half ago described the region in which the incidents described here took place as a “no-go area”.

We do not dare to judge whether this assessment was also fueled by the personal experience of his boss’s Thuringian cousins, even if Schröder himself, if we remember it correctly, immediately after this meeting and immediate consultation with Joseph Fischer (“I am not convinced! ”) put the vote of confidence in the Bundestag.

„To go“ als No-Go

Finally, there remains one more crucial question for Germany as a location for science: If a “real no-go” occurs in such a no-go zone according to Heye, as recently at Kretschmer, has it actually taken place? Twice minus results in plus, that is one of the few truths that we have retained from analog math lessons, which in turn was a real no-go for us.

And while retailers all over Germany these days are handing their customers “to go” goods ordered online or by phone through the back door gap, the same is still “an absolute no-go” for Saxony’s government alone. However, not only in this respect we think: The monotony of this no-go and what it all means should be put to an end.

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Saxony: A divine break in the St. Marienthal monastery

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Whe comes here for the first time in the romantic valley of the Neisse in the border triangle Germany-Poland-Czech Republic, rubs his eyes in amazement. On the German side of the river, close to the border with Poland, there seems to be a fairytale castle. With domes, towers and decor in the Bohemian Baroque style.

And yet St. Marienthal is nothing less than that. Behind the magnificent facades, simplicity, obedience and renunciation prevail. Women who have dedicated their lives to God and their community live here.

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Tesla in Grünheide: The German fear of the Fall

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Birgit Dietze would like to talk to Tesla boss Elon Musk about a lot. She is the head of IG Metall in the Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony district. And the world’s fourth so-called Gigafactory of the electric car manufacturer is currently being built. The tranquil community of Grünheide, a few kilometers east of the capital, is to become part of the tech visionary’s success story.

Musk plans to have half a million cars built here per year as early as 2022, with around 12,000 new jobs initially planned. This is actually good news for Germany as a business location. But for Dietze and her union, the project is also about something else: the question of power.

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Five years of “Storming Connewitz”: Slow reconnaissance

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Five years ago neo-Nazis attacked the Leipzig-Connewitz district. The processes involved are tough, open questions remain.

On January 11, 2016, the right wing rioted in Connewitz – the arrest was prompt Photo: Jan Woitas, dpa

LEIPZIG taz | The evening of January 11, 2016, will be remembered for a long time to Leipzig-Connewitz. Under cover of darkness, armed with slats and iron bars, masked and dressed in black, more than 200 neo-Nazis roam the left-wing alternative district and smash windows of bars, shops and snack bars, demolish houses and set fire to cars.

After a few minutes, the police arrive and arrest 200 suspects. What remains is a picture of devastation: some injuries, 113,000 euros in property damage and a shock that will stay with the residents of the district for a long time to come. It was the biggest neo-Nazi attack since the 1990s.

That was five years ago. Actually, a long time for law enforcement when the suspects were arrested and identified minutes after the attack. However, not all of the perpetrators have been convicted and the process is slow. Those already convicted have so far got away with relatively mild sentences.

124 parties have been convicted, 66 proceedings are pending

According to the Evangelical Press Service (epd), 124 defendants have been convicted of a particularly serious breach of the peace. Most of them received suspended sentences of between one and one and a half years.

Most recently, a co-organizer of various right-wing rock concerts was only sentenced to a fine of 900 euros in October. In contrast, there is still no trial date for 66 suspected attackers. A court spokesman told the epd that each judge would decide for himself when a trial would be opened.

For Juliane Nagel, a member of the Left Parliament, who has her own citizen’s office in Connewitz, the processes are “now pure waste”. The negotiations were “shortened with questionable deals” while the victims were still waiting for clarification. To date, there is no knowledge of the organizational structure of the attack.

Why didn’t the authorities stop the attack?

It is also unclear why the authorities did not prevent the attack on Connewitz. There were enough indications: mobilizations in chat groups and an assessment of the situation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution indicated that right-wing extremists were approaching nationwide for the evening. In the letter from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which the Leipzig city magazine kreuzer published for the first time, it says: “This should contribute to a considerable increase in the potential for violent people in Leipzig, whose direct encounter with the political opponent – even violent – is to be feared.” Why The police claim that they did not know anything about the attack, is still unclear.

In addition, the neo-Nazis who were detained were well networked: through camaraderie, which has since been banned, the martial arts and hooligan scene to the right-wing terrorists of the Freital vigilante group. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution also confirmed the right-wing extremist references of some of the attackers. Investigations in the direction of right-wing extremist networks have not yet become known in the trials.

Also a prison officer among the perpetrators

Instead, they brought other scandals to light: The correctional officer Kersten H. is said to have been involved in the attack on Connewitz – and still worked for three years in a prison. Here he could also have had contact with accomplices.

In addition, the prospective lawyer Brian E. was convicted, who was able to start his legal clerkship at the Chemnitz District Court in 2018 despite the ongoing proceedings. Photos show E. with relevant neo-Nazi tattoos at an event of the right-wing extremist martial arts scene. However, the public prosecutor’s office stopped investigations at the beginning of 2020. Neither for Brian E., nor for the more than 200 other neo-Nazis who devastated Connewitz on January 11, 2016, the trials have so far had really serious consequences.

The wound in the district remains deep. Activists are planning a theater rally for the coming Saturday. The action is named after the statements of numerous attackers in court that they just cheated on the right-wing mob: “The longest last row in the world.”

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Dangerous neighbor: we finally have to talk about the Czech Republic

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DTo this day, no important German politician has spoken openly about this: The second Corona wave started in West Germany, but the wave that came from the Czech Republic to Germany developed much greater force. Initially affected – and to this day mainly affected – are districts in the immediate vicinity of the Czech Republic, especially in Saxony, but also Thuringia and Bavaria. Getting the dynamics under control there is also difficult because it is constantly getting new food: across the open border with the Czech Republic. The third wave is now raging there, with an incidence value of 829 the Czech Republic has the second highest 7-day incidence worldwide.

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Saxony: Kretschmer speaks plain language with corona deniers – politics

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Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer is known for his closeness to the citizens. Before the Corona period, the CDU politician had traveled across Saxony almost every week to listen to the concerns of the population. The fact that he also sought dialogue with those who made no secret of their contempt for democracy earned him a lot of criticism. Also that he met again and again with corona deniers and conspiracy mythologists until summer 2020.

They just went on their own journey last Sunday. “Michael Kretschmer gets a visitor” is the title of a YouTube video that is currently making the rounds in social networks. It shows how around 30 people walk through the small community of Waltersdorf in Upper Lusatia on Sunday morning, some wearing hats or jackets in the colors of the Reich flag. You position yourself in front of a snowy driveway. It leads to the prime minister’s residence. He’s shoveling snow with his son.

Kretschmer agrees to talk to the group. Except for him, nobody wears a mask. They wish each other a good morning and a happy new year. When one of the ringleaders told Kretschmer that they wanted the lockdown to be ended as quickly as possible, Kretschmer replied: “We agree on that.” Then he talks about his visit to an intensive care unit shortly before New Year’s Eve, explaining that the aim is to relieve the health system. Kretschmer is interrupted again and again. His arguments are “pulled by the hair”. He calls on other questioners, the prime minister initially acts like a moderator.

There are people in the hospitals who have falsely tested positive for Corona, and the elderly are no longer cared for in the nursing homes. “Which of you works in a nursing home?” Asks Kretschmer angrily. He knew of a home with 100 residents, 25 died of Corona. “In your age.” Kretschmer points to the group. Nobody has died from Corona, one yells. “To Corona,” says Kretschmer.

In the end, Kretschmer was no longer so determined

His voice sounds sharp. This goes on for 20 minutes, until the police arrive and Kretschmer turns around and walks back to the house. 20 minutes in which the Prime Minister appears with a clarity and certainty that he has sometimes lacked in recent months. Also when assessing the pandemic situation in Saxony.

The state has been a corona hotspot for weeks. In many counties, the incidence is over 400. The Vogtland recently broke the sad record of 800. Hospitals and crematoriums are working to the limit.

In spring 2020, Saxony was considered to be rather inconspicuous, with comparatively low incidences. Nevertheless, the state government imposed a tough lockdown. A course that Kretschmer corrected with the approaching summer. He swore the population to take responsibility and solidarity. “No hysteria, please,” he demanded in mid-October, shortly before the Chancellor wanted to discuss new measures with the Prime Minister. The number of infections was already rising again. In December they were so high that Saxony had no choice but to tighten the contact restrictions further. Schools and shops were closed earlier than in other federal states.

“We were still too hesitant in autumn,” said Kretschmer recently in an interview with the Free press. That was like an admission. Unlike Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Die Linke), who at the same time publicly apologized for the mistakes in dealing with the pandemic, Kretschmer received no praise.

Because his interview revealed a certain organizational chaos in the state government that he leads. He was badly informed about the situation in the country. The fact that the staff at the hospital in Aue had already worked to their limit in November only became clear to him during a personal visit on December 11th. “You can’t just rely on notes, then things go wrong,” says Kretschmer.

His favorite role: moderator

The coalition partners SPD and Greens also complain about problems. There is talk of constant back and forth. The criticism is directed against Kretschmer himself, but also against the State Chancellery. In times of crisis, their task is to coordinate cooperation with the various ministries in order to prevent confusion, as was the case last with the winter holidays.

Without waiting for the agreements in the cabinet, the Minister of Education, Kretschmer’s party colleague Christian Piwarz, announced that he would cancel the vacation. The Prime Minister supported him. Outraged parents spoke up. The government agreed to split the holidays, a compromise between the CDU, SPD and the Greens. Kretschmer is said to have appeared in his favorite role during the negotiations, that of the moderator.

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