h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Bismarck Towers - A Rash Of Monuments - A53896486
Author: Malabarista - 245 new blobs hunted down and indexed at A53308361 - U1528154

Simply because I find these things so very strange.

I know there's a website in English to link to somewhere, but I'll look for it tomorrow

This entry proves definitively that the German diaspora is truly as far-flung (or nearly) as the Irish diaspora.

Having spent some of my time with native German speakers who had never set foot in Central Europe, I think this phenomenon is noteworthy.

A question: If Friedrich Engels, bless his heart, was a Lokalpatriot, does that mean he was really proud his corner pub?

Inquiring minds want to know.

I've almost certainly seen one, but never thought about them.

Maybe it's an English thing but say Bismark and the word battleship follows instantly behind.

Well, there were a lot of things that float named after Bismarck, from a big rowboat used by the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service to a class of battleships (of which only two were built) in WWII.

(Bismarck with a ck - Bismark with only the k is a city in Sachsen-Anhalt. No connection to Otto von Bismarck, except that he's an honourary citizen there, too.)



As for enquiring minds - I have no idea where Fred's local was nor how he felt about it, but feel it would make a good story...

It's not my fault if the English language so often doesn't *have* the word you need! I'll just claim it's educational.

(Oh, and I changed footnote 4, because Sophie Scholl is younger and thus "later" than either Edith Stein or Konrad Adenauer, the other two candidates. Not too sure, though, as Adenauer only died in 1967 and his services were rendered *after* the war... )

20.000 Marks --> 20,000 Marks

Otherwise no probs

Right. I always forget the comma separator thing, though I usually remember the decimal point.

Thanks for the read, Mal - an interesting phenomenon indeed.

"The size of the tower was to be scaleable to suit different budgets." - What does this mean, exactly? Can't any tower be scaled down? Could you rephrase it (or if not, explain it to me since I'm so dense? )

There are a few minor proof-reading style issues, but I'll go back to them later when anything else is taken care of.

(I think I've a photo of one if it would be any use - but you probably do too.)

Engels does have some interesting quotations about the Wupper valley. I was reading some quotes from his letters recently about the crimson Wupper flowing along full of dye from the factories. Too red even for his tastes, it seems.

"The size of the tower was to be scaleable to suit different budgets." Not entirely sure what they meant, I merely translated it But at a guess, it's the scaling *up* that's the problem. The ten metres were usually exceeded; the tallest one is 50m high. Though they all tend to be a bit squat and solid-looking at whatever size. Also means they should work with and without internal stairs for the viewing platform and so on. Oddly enough, the tallest aren't the most expensive, so maybe the "scaling" works for materials and decoration, too...

I'll have to read through it again - I've been noticing repetitions and things every time I do. It was written late at night, and I'm afraid you can tell

And I finally found the website - badly translated, but there are pretty pictures for those who don't speak German... http://www.bismarcktuerme.de/website/ebene1/indexenglisch.html will add a link to the Entry, too.

(Remember the exhibit in the museum showing a timeline of the city illustrated only by the state of the river? I think Engels was at about the time the fish were all floating bellyup...)

There. Link added, and I went through and broke up some of those horrible sentences. Though they did add, er, authentic period detail.

Hmmm...I'm even less sure about the 'scaleable' rule after reading your explanation. If you're not sure what they were getting at I suppose you can't clarify it though. Is it that ambiguous in the original?

I'd suggest the following is bit of a non sequitar:

"Perhaps the most interesting thing about the strange phenomenon that is the Bismarck tower - and the best evidence that this was not mere patriotism, but veneration of the former chancellor - is that the government was not involved in their building on more than a municipal level."

The fact that the government wasn't much involved in the building just indicates that it was grassroots-based and very popular on the ground. It doesn't give any evidence of what the motivation is - it could still be patriotism.

(And thanks for the Bismarckturm Gallery link. They become quite horrific when you see so many together. )

Oooh, sorry, KB, never saw this for some reason!

If they'd been motivated merely by patriotism, they'd have built monuments of Germania rather than to Bismarck specifically - or taken ol' Willy up on his offer to pay for it if they'd build it...

Unfortunately, I don't *have* the original, just someone's re-telling. But that says "Die Säulen sollten in unterschiedlicher Größe, je nach Spendenaufkommen, zu fertigen sein." - which means different sizes, but not necessarily just smaller.

"If they'd been motivated merely by patriotism, they'd have built monuments of Germania rather than to Bismarck specifically "

That's different from what you said though. As it stood, it didn't really make sense.

"or taken ol' Willy up on his offer to pay for it if they'd build it..."

Again, that *does* follow logically. The way you say it in the Entry doesn't really...

Hmmm. I might have to re-phrase it then. I suppose it doesn't make sense if you don't know the story around it. Which the audience here won't.

Nice one, Mala. I've never heard of these before.

"From 1869 to 1934, these towers spread like towels across the sun loungers of the world,"

"These memorials range from simple plaques to elabtorate" -> elaborate

Footnote five - what's the NSDAP?

"Of the ca. 70% that could be set aflame" I've only really heard circa used in historical contexts to refer to dates - I think it would be better as "Of the approximately 70% that could be set aflame"

"two of the cities that were united in 1929 to form Wuppertal, Barmen and Elberfeld," - this would read better as "Barmen and Elberfield, two of the cities that were united in 1929 to form Wuppertal..."

Great job.

what's the NSDAP? Has it really come to that, someone not knowing who they are?

The NSDAP is the Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands - the national socialist workers' party. Also abbreviated as "Nazis"...



I suppose circa in that context is a Germanism

I'll work on this entry some more this evening, will make the necessary changes then. (Kind of busy now.)

Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, I mean. Sorry.

I just know them as the National Socialist party; I've never heard the acronym before.

That's a positive sign, I suppose! But I'll footnote the footnote, or something...