Rhine valley earthquake - On 22 February an earthquake was measured at 5.4 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre in Eastern France. The shaking was felt by the population along the Upper Rhine and in the mountains on either side (Vosges and Black Forest) but buildings were only slighly damaged. The Rhine valley is a seismic rift where earthquakes are known to occur, the last big one being in September 1978 (5.7 on the Richter scale).

Sparkasse to close 14 local bank branches - Last year, after financial mismanagement, Lahr’s Sparkasse (savings bank) was taken over by the Sparkasse Offenburg/Ortenau. As part of its re-structuring and updating, it is now planning to close down a total of 33 outlets, either completely or replacing them with self-service centres. In the Lahr area this means that 14 small branches will disappear: Lahr-East (near Burgheimer Strasse), Kuhbach, Reichenbach, Mietersheim, Langenwinkel, Schmieheim, Altdorf, Münchweier, Ringsheim, Kappel, Kürzell, Nonnenweier, Meissenheim and Oberschopfheim. The new management claims that tellers are to be retrained in other jobs and will not be made redundant.

Business bankruptcies - Business is bad everywhere in Germany at the moment, including the Lahr area where several firms have recently declared bankruptcy, including Hauffe (carbon-paper production), Schmalzhaf (aluminium window manufacture) and MdS (furniture making and selling). The Barco company, based in Belgium, will soon shut down its Kippenheim subsidiary where 23 workers will lose their jobs. Of course, this means a continuing rise in unemployment.

Baden Airpark also bankrupt (again) - The company that currently runs the former Canadian Forces airfield in Baden-Soellingen is also facing liquidation and needs at least 160 million euros to stay afloat. The original company responsible for the regional airport for Karlsruhe-Baden-Baden went bankrupt some years ago and was rescued by the provincial government. It is still mainly publicly owned, 64% by Stuttgart Airport and 34% by local communities. These community councils are now expected to invest more money to keep the passenger charter services running there.

Politics are obviously playing a major role here. Black Forest Airport Lahr would like to arrange passenger flights (especially for the Europa-Park in Rust) but the Stuttgart government has only given official permission for cargo flights to take off and land in Lahr.

Rhine Valley railroad to be widened - The main north-south railroad along the Rhine is being improved to four tracks (two in either direction) to increase freight traffic and to meet the technical standards demanded by the ICE international high speed trains. The northern part is nearly complete so planning is now taking place in the section Offenburg-Freiburg. It is causing a great deal of public protest due to the proposed loss of land and buildings as well as the extra costs of constructing new bridges at a time when community funds are particularly low.

Lahr crime rate drops - The crime statistics for 2002 show a drop in the number of offences and an improvement in the crime-solving rate, which was due to the additional 14 policemen who were on short-term loan to the regular Lahr police force. However, despite government budjet cuts, the city of Lahr is demanding a permanent increase in Lahr police staff whose number (76) has remained the same since the Canadian Forces departed, despite an increase of about 10 000 in the population to be policed.

Lahr Teddybear world vice-champion - Cindy Kaczmarczyk (aged 23, clerk at SWF radio station in Baden-Baden) and her mother run a small teddybear boutique with own products made in their spare time, located in Fichtestrasse near the Kaserne in Lahr. At the Teddybear Design World Championship held in Wiesbaden in March Cindy won the silver medal for her “Unlucky Fellow” (25 cm tall) with a sad expression and an arm in plaster.

Peace demonstrations - As the Iraq conflict escalated to hostilities, anti-war demonstrations took place in most German cities, including Lahr where the Women’s Peace Movement and students from local schools were prominent.

H & M fashion store opens - This young people’s fashion chain, founded in Sweden in 1947, has 840 stores with 34 000 employees in Europe and the USA. This year H & M is opening 110 new stores worldwide. Its first German store was opened in 1980 and the one in Lahr (opened 13 March) is the 223rd in Germany. It is located in the former “Kaufhaus Ruch” in downtown Lahr (Marktstrasse) - see our video and photos of Spring Sunday (Blüten-Sonntag).

Super ski season - There were huge snow falls in the Black Forest and the Alps at the beginning of February and then nearly three months of high-pressure weather that guaranteed clear skies, bright sunshine, cold temperatures and therefore good skiing conditions until Easter (which is late in April this year)! Black Forest and Alpine ski resorts are more than satisfied with this record season!

New Lahr Canadian website links - We have installed links to four Canadian websites in the Lahr area: the Legion Gasthaus Go-98, Canadian artist Maryse Forget, Canucks Canoes and One way train Canadian-german rockgroupe. Check them out for a look at some familiar faces and places!