DAY 231 - VOLKLINGEN TO MERZIG: 20.4 MILES (40,800 STEPS)
10 December, 2011
20.4 (Total: 2281.3 miles)–40,800 (Total: 4,909,601 steps)
The whole of the Saar valley was a literal power house for German industry hosting, as it still does, the largest working coal mine in Europe; barges still carry coal up and down the river to the power stations. As I set off from Volklingen railway station, I encountered an unlikely UNESCO World Heritage Site—not a cathedral or an ancient fort, but the Volklingen Iron Works. My initial reaction was to roll my eyes and think UNESCO! But the more I thought of it, the less ridiculous it seemed.
People need two things as Tony Campolo says ‘roots’ and ‘wings’ and the iron works was most definitely a deep-rooted part of the local culture and identity. As in Consett, in County Durham, the iron and steel works were part of a shared identity, a shared culture, a shared sense of belonging. Not because of the blast furnace, but because this was what they did and there was a pride in it because it was hard work and very good quality. When such a place, a shipyard, a mine or a car plant goes, then in many ways the whole raison d’être for the town is brought into question, the roots are torn up and a cloud of despondency sinks in. The only antidotes I am aware of in such situations is education and enterprise. For far too long in the UK, successive governments have wanted to turn their backs on the industrial legacy and doled out tea, sympathy and social security rather than world-class education and enterprise support, all based on a solid pride and honour of the former heavy industry. UNESCO may actually have taken a step in the right direction with their recognition in Volklingen, provided the government step in with the education and the enterprise, and the people take responsibility for their futures, rather than wallowing in the mud pools of blame.
Again when I had set off that morning I had been too ambitious, thinking that I might make it all the way to Mettlach. I walked along the cycle path that ran alongside the Saar. It was a busy day as it was a Saturday so there were many cyclists out and a few runners too so the journey wasn’t lonely, but I have to say it was boring. Until that glorious moment when things looked up and I saw the iconic yellow lettering on blue background spelling ‘IKEA’ just outside of Saarlouis. I had my fill of meatballs and chips and was then on my way again. David had been in Trier, the oldest city in Germany, for the day. I was quite envious as it was a place I would have loved to have visited, but with impeccable timing I reached Merzig railways station a few minutes before his train coming back from Trier to Saarbruken did and so we got the same crowded service, full of festive shoppers on their way too and from Christmas markets and Christmas shopping. It is one of the most striking things about France and Germany that there seems to be a greater depth and width to their celebration of Christmas. In the UK, it is invariably expressed through Christmas decorations and offers in the shops; it is commercial rather than cultural perhaps, but on the continent there seems to be an entirely new socio-eco system that emerges at Christmas time, which on the surface appears more cultural than commercial
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