Land of a Thousand Fires - Why I love the "Ruhrgebiet", against all the odds

In the mid 90s, I did my PhD in Essen, a city in the Rhine-Ruhr-Area (Germany). Back then, I was working on man made precipitation modifications in urban areas. Honestly, back then I did not know really what an “urban area” looks like, and I thought this conglomerate of smaller towns, growing together to one urban cluster could have impacts on the atmospheric boundary layer that modify rainfall patterns. Actually, it does. But that’s a different topic. Earlier this week, meetings and catching up with old friends brought me back to this place after many years. The Rhine-Ruhr-Area is often stigmatized in Germany, as of its industrial history. What’s true is, that it has a heart of steel, but some of the most friendly people. What is also true, is that it was the military industrial power house for two catastrophic world wars. But again, people are amazing. Once you were down in a coal mine, all that counts, is cooperation and team work. You had to take care of your colleagues and in the many tragic cases, also of their widows and their children as a community. Anybody who worked in mining, knows what I talk about. I am really not a trade union supporter, just the opposite these days, but I completely understand why the roots of the German workers’ movement are here. After discontinuing coal mining and large parts of the steel production capacity, the region went through amazing structural reforms. This has not ended. The previous federal industrial ministry pushed for green steel production using “green hydrogen”. That’s a difficult process, very expensive and the market for it is very small, given high prices and fierce competition and trade barriers. Last but not least, the green hydrogen is not available in the necessary amounts. So, the heart of steel is having a serious cardiovascular problems, while other opportunities are coming up, specifically with the new NATO target of spending 5% GDP on defense. History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.

For two hours I dropped by “Zeche Zollverein”, a museum on the premises of the old coal mine. I had the privilege of chatting with one of the last technical mining apprentices from the 1980s, telling me his life story having seen work down in the mines and how is is now serving as a security staff in a museum of his former workplace. I also learned from one of my PhD colleagues, that my former office mate Ewald Zmarsly passed away already in 2018. I remember Ewald as such a great fellow. He wasn’t social. But he was the only Chemist in the department and he had infinite patience to explain anything chemistry to the rest of us when we needed it. Even he was not communicating much, I remember, he had an amazing talent and patience to explain complicated things to beginners in any science field - always helpful, always friendly, but never smiling. He also co-authored multiple textbooks with Wilhelm Kuttler and others, which are all brilliant books. I don’t know much of Ewald’s history and when his family came to the “Pott”. But for me Ewald was prototype of the people here: knowing what he talks about, without talking much. The world needs more Ewalds. Rest in peace.

Carl Hahn

It was more than 26 years ago. As a young manager in Wolfsburg, I had the honor and privilege to be invited to Dr Carl Hahn’s 70th birthday. And when I say “honor and privilege”, I really mean it. This was a surprise invitation for me, as my former girlfriend was his assistant, and she asked me to join her. So, I did, and we chatted, joked, and got to know Dr Hahn’s wonderful American-born Italian wife Marisa and his children, together with other guests. I remember that I borrowed a pen from him in the garden to note something down. It was a cheap one-way pen from the VW office supply, and he handed it with a smile, demanding to return it after use, as it “is valuable”. We had a few more meetings in his office at the Wolfsburg Art Museum, one when I was already in China and returned to HQ for a business trip. Once, he actually fell into a construction ditch the day before and hurt his leg. So, he asked me to hand him the wastepaper basket to put up the leg, and so I sat opposite a pioneer in globalisation talking about China. Carl Hahn initiated the joint venture between Volkswagen and SAIC in Shanghai, becoming operational in 1984. When we celebrated the 20th anniversary in Shanghai in 2004, the CEO of Volkswagen Group, Ferdinand Piëch, put us in a fix. His office informed us that should Hahn be invited, Piëch would not attend. I always avoided Piëch, because when he looked at you, it was so piercing that you may better take an Aspirin before. There were, and for sure still are, a few of these characters at VW. It was the time I learned that organisations are not run through an org chart, but warlords run them. Still, the 2004 celebration turned out to be like living in Martin Posth’s book “1000 days in Shanghai”, describing how the joint venture was set up. Many of the book’s characters became alive in front of me. And they were friends. Of course, I also read Daniel Goedevert’s book “Like a bird in an aquarium”, looking back at his time as CEO at Volkswagen. I never met Daniel Goedevert though.

Last year I was still in touch with Dr Hahn’s office to arrange a meeting. One point I wanted to convey was to thank him for being an inspiration and role model to me. Even sometimes during my travels, when it became tough, I thought of him in his 80s going somewhere in rural Tajikistan to negotiate setting up a shoe factory for Deichmann. Due to the Covid protocols, our meeting was postponed several times.

Yesterday, on January 14 2023, Dr Carl Hahn passed away in his home in Wolfsburg, aged 96. He follows his wife Marisa Traina Hahn. He leaves behind his children, grandchildren and friends. The world lost one of the great industrialists and visionary managers. And many lost their mentor and godfather of their careers. I regret, I could not thank him in person.

Paul continues his Great Journey - Rest in Peace my friend

I am deeply saddened that my dear friend Paul Forster passed away after a short sickness. My thoughts are with Claire, John and Vivien who lost their dad and life companion. Paul was deeply involved in questions of business ethics and the preservation of the environment. We had endless tea breaks to debate “the good, the bad and the evil” and philosophised about life, which now sadly ended prematurely for him. After I left Asia, we always stayed in touch, met annually in Hong Kong and constantly exchanged messages on where and how we were. Like this, Paul joined me on some of my strolls through the history of Malta or German forests by video stream. We always wanted to go out to these places together one day, once Paul has time to visit me in Europe. This would have been philosophical walks of nearly ancient Greek character. Clearly, it would have been me, who is the students in these dialogues. I was always impressed by Paul’s clarity of argument and sharpness of his questions, against the backdrop of his kindness and wisdom. We lost a true friend and his students a great Professor, a real educator, who cared passionately about preparing them for an uncertain future. Paul was often torn by injustice and truly wanted to make the world a better place. I know that, according to his Buddhist fate, he believes that he will be reborn and continue his journey. He is probably already around us again continuing his work. What a comforting thought this is. But, Paul, don’t forget to take a break - a short one at least. Rest in Peace - for a while.

Prof. Paul Forster on his staff profile at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) where he served the last 20 years (photo with kind permission)

Memento mori

Cemetraries are some of my favorite “hangouts”. They provide solitude, good perspective on many aspects of life, memories, tell stories and also say a lot about the local culture by how people treat their ancestors. Military graveyards additionally remind us of the nonsense and horrors of war. There is many of all this on the Capuccini Naval Cemetary. But what is special for me, is that here lies Henry Ernst Wild who survived the Shackleton expedition and then died of typhoid in Malta.

Capuccini Naval Cemetary, Kalkara (Malta)

Sad news from the Strasbourg Christmas Market

I am sadened to hear the reports on yesterday's terrorist attack on the Christmas Market in Strasbourg which left 3 dead and 12 injured. I was there myself on Saturday, like all others enjoying the beautiful city, the market and the peaceful Christmas time. On entrance to the city center, bags were checked on the bridges. But to my surprise, we could just go in by tramway without being checked at all. I even made a bad joke on the "Frenchness" of the security concept. Now I regret, that I only made a joke and did not act on this by reporting it to the officer in charge to close such a loophole. I hope those hurt, of which 8 are in a critical condition, recover soon and get well again, and those who lost their lives, rest in peace.

Sascha Weidner - Was übrig bleibt (What remains)

Sascha passed away on the 9th of April, 2015, aged 40. We last met a year earlier to his final day in Beijing, during his residency in the Three Shadows in Chaochangdi. The Fotografie Forum Frankfurt shows some of what remains: his photos. The exhibition will be still on until January 29th. As Sascha has put it before: "The perfect moment has to vanish. Otherwise we would just stay". Sascha was a romantic traveller with a camera.

1001 photos by Sascha Weidner.