Driving in the Bundesrepublic

Of course, it’s not all bad here. I mean, yes, a lot of the back roads are narrow, getting a driver’s license is expensive and time consuming, you have to wait until you’re 18 to drive a car ( you can drive a moped, or a so called “moped car”, that is, a very light car designed with a top speed of 30 mph, at 16) and you need a license and a registered vehicle to drive on trails.

But, other than that: a lot of vehicles that would not be allowed on the road in America are allowed here, for example: all terrain vehicles, and specially equipped go carts. I’ve been looking at a couple of vehicles I’d like to have, to use for running out to the garden and for going out in the woods.

The first is a type of dune buggy like vehicle, with two seats, a tubular steel frame, and a 150 or 250 cc motor. A pretty cool little rig, though I’d need a trailer to carry my gardening tools.

The second is a Piaggio Ape 50, a little 50 cc pickup truck, one seater, and three wheels. Little italian rig, fun to drive and a bed on the back for the tools.

Neither vehicle would be allowed on US streets.

The other nice thing about driving in Germany is the Autobahn, the famous road with no speed limit. It is, in fact, not one road, but a whole network, similar to the US interstate system. It is the German freeway, and does, for the most part, have no speed limits. They do exist in areas of high traffic, at night in some areas where noise is a problem, and during rush hour in other areas, where it makes sense. The night speed limits are indicated by signs, the temporary “rush hour” limits by switchable indicators over the Highway.

Fishing

How about going fishing? It’s not as easy as you think, after the socialists have taken over.

Here in Germany, you need a state fishing license to fish, and it’s not cheap, In Bavaria the life license costs between 32 and 300 euro, depending on your age (the older you are, the less you have to pay, based on how long you’ll probably need it) plus a “fischereiabgabe” of 35 euro. To get the lisence, though, you first need to complete the necessary education, about six months long, twice a week. Then, you need to qualify by taking a test, which covers all the topics from the seminars, including fish identification, fish diseases, knowledge of lakes and rivers, including biology and geology. You need to be well informed about fishing tackle, technique, and baits. And, you need to know the law inside and out. The test has about a 10% fail rate, that by a test that the takers want to pass!

After you have the state license, you need a permit to fish. I pay 100 euro a year for my club waters, which include three small, manmade ponds (each about the size of a small farm pond), and about 10 miles of a small river (what we’d call a brook back home). We can fish for pike and zander in the fall, catfish, carp, and perch year round, plus the ever (in Europe) popular bream, roach and rudd, species that would be considered trash fish in America. Allowed are 1 pike, zander, or catfish, three carp, 4 tench (I haven’t caught 4 tench in the whole time I’ve been fishing here), and two trout per week. That’s if you can catch that many. There are not enough fish in the waters for every member to catch their limit every week. The most part of the fish population is stocked by the club every year.

Catch and release is not allowed in Germany, it is considered to be cruelty to animals. The animal rights activists have a strong lobby in Germany, and it is only a matter of time before hunting and fishing are completely forbidden. The rules on how to handle fish are very strict, only a trained individual is allowed to kill a fish, the fish must first be numbed with a knock on the head, and then killed by bleeding, with a cut to the neck, into the heart. The fish must be killed before the hook is removed, but after measuring. They do have length limits. They have rules as to what strength line is to be used for each species of fish, to limit the stress the fish has to endure during the fight. Hooks should be of a certain size for each species, to prevent undersized fish from swallowing them. Every fisherman has to have, with him at all times, a priest to knock the fish on the head, a knife to bleed the fish, a tape measure or ruler to measure the fish, a landing net, and the paperwork (Germans, like all socialists, love paperwork). If you do not have any of these items, the warden can make you stop fishing.

The German fishing laws are draconian and intrusive, like all liberal, socialist programs. America take heed!

Hello!

This is my first report on the new Blog. I plan to concentrate this blog on my observations on the political and economic life in Germany, intended as a warning to American conservatives to never cease their vigilance and never allow the liberals to advance their socialist agenda.