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ARDITI :: Reinforce Video by Thorsten Krüger

Locations: (Germany) Berlin – Brandenburg Tor, Berlin Konzerthaus, Berliner (Metropolitan) Weihnachten, Hamburg – Rathaus Weihnachtsmarkt, Hamburger (Metropolitan) Weihnachten, Lübeck – Lübecker (Metropolitan) Weihnachten, Colonge – Köln Weihnachtsmarkt, Straßburg – Strasbourg Weihnachtsmarkt, München – Munich Weihnachtsmarkt, Coburg Weihnachtsmarkt, Heidelberg (Winter), Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt + Frankfurt bei Weihnachten, Gengenbach Weihnachtsmarkt, Hinterzarten Schwarzwald (Winter), Dresdener Weihnachtsmarkt. (Austria) Wien – Vienna Weihnachtsmarkt. (Belgium) Brussels Weihnachtsmarkt. (Switzerland) Zürich Weihnachtsmarkt. (Denmark) Copenhagen Julemarked. (Sweden) Stockholm Julemarked. (Norway) Bergen Julemarked & Lofoten (Eternity of Winter).

Closing Overlays: ( Julbock Illustration: https://julialundgren.se/ ) Vintage German Advent Karten & Scandinavian Julbock Karten. German Steam Locomotive: https://www.hsb-wr.de/

The eternity of Winter & the magic of this season notwithstanding of draconian lock-down mandates.

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–Sections:

1. Forward – Yule Festivities & Morale, An important seasonal message!

2. Honorable Mentions (Weihnachten Europa) locales not covered in my Yule video.

3. Closing – The Coming New Year (Narrated P.S.A. Preview).

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Thoughts on Yule: It seems people who claim “European Pride” only do so when it applies to “bitching” & complaining, constantly serving up the proverbial Black pill, which translates into pure defeatism. Apparently, many people who claim to value European Traditions do not strive to promote the very tradition which focuses upon celebrating the rebirth of light.

Yes, the status quo we are currently living in is less than ideal but as a memorable saying goes

“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once & we should call every truth false which was not accompanied with at least one laugh” – Friedrich Nietzsche

That being said, what better time is there to inspire by spreading words of hope & positivity than Yule? Which is one of our oldest most revered European traditions, honored & celebrated by all Germanic people. Yule season reminds oneself of a time when the nights grow longer & the cold brisk wind’s blow; I am often reminded of falling asleep to the sound of crackling wood, soothed by the warmth of the flames, waking to the dying embers with a renewed sense of hope & of looking forward to days ahead, as did our earliest ancestors. It is said that Yule is as old as Germanic people itself.

Sadly, it seems that many of us have forgotten the importance of peering onward with a “renewed sense of hope” looking back to some of our ancestors oldest Yule traditions there was such great significance placed on “hope” as they were readying themselves for a New Year filled with promise, ambition & new-found achievements. Rather it seems that many of our European brothers & sisters have abandoned all sense ambition because of some jaded notion that any form of progress is deemed “corrupt” & therefore unworthy of being pursued; most unfortunately many of whom are calling themselves allies, are either willingly or unwillingly reinforcing these detrimental notions by seemingly portraying all future prospects in a pejorative light.

I strongly affirm my convictions that having such a defeatist attitude towards the future will not inspire European greatness, quite the contrary. There was such a period in history when Europeans were consumed with defeatism, when the masses saw extraordinarily little hope in the future & abandoned all belief in progress, giving into the despair, that time in Europe was known as “The Dark Ages”. European Greatness was never achieved by fearing what lies ahead or by shying away from the challenges & changes which come from advancement. In juxtaposition to the Dark Ages, we have the glorious European Renaissance which rose European civilization out of the bottomless pit of darkness/nothingness, came forth a time of cultural rebirth & rich poetic light.  A time when succeeding at all future endeavors was not only palpable, but it was also fully achieved.

The Renaissance was a time when men were not cowed by defeatism & wetting themselves over the thought of future progress. Instead, Europeans rose up to the challenge & dominated in architecture, literature, music, science, philosophy & art. Understanding that we have fewer limitations when we are in positions of leadership. One can certainly be proud of all the great things our ancestors have done, they laid down a strong foundation for us. A strong foundation for which we can learn, grow from & even build upon. What we cannot do is become complacent & continuously take credit for their achievements without any contribution of our own. It is not enough to simply born “European”, the bar cannot be set so low. A dangerous narrative which is being pushed as of late is “Simply being European is enough”, I beg to differ, if you are European but are nothing more than dead weight, you do not have the right to ride the coattails our great men & women of the past.

That is a true Red pill, the most difficult of which to digest. European men & woman today must make their own greatness within this era, if they wish to continue that legacy; what better time than this Yule season to bring forth a different message than one already presented by many.

(Yule does not end on Yule day by Pagan European custom it is formally concluded with the 1^st week of January following the New Year).

When we look at some of our oldest Yule traditions such as Wassailing (yes heil) Let us first go way back to when mead was passed from horn to horn giving honor to Bragi asking him to bless us with music, eloquence, poetry & song; the Horns then lifted in unison honoring Odin. Kinsmen promised Odin mighty victory in all future battles, with each sip of mead their valor grew with all their might men & women cheered to the Gods until their limitations were dispelled in turn all future attainments became possible.

Another form of Wassailing involved filling a communal bowl known as the “wassail bowl” with either, warm mead, mulled cider (with sweet spices) or Glühwein, depending on the regions. This large handmade bowl, made from either wood, stoneware or porcelain was passed around, much like the horns of old were passed around. Then men, women & even children whose parents felt were old enough, all drank from this bowl. After everyone drank from the communal bowl thanks was given to the Gods, honoring them with hopes for a bountiful harvest & wishing for the New Year to be filled with blessings, good health & honorable endeavors.

As we can see this one simple Yule tradition which was practiced in subtle different ways amongst Germanic people yet seemingly all sharing the same message. One which is a message of “Hope” for the future. Hence this is exactly why I chose to elaborate on this one Yule tradition. Stressing importance upon having hope for the future, is precisely how I commenced this post, thus a fitting closure. Also, given I chose to use one of Nietzsche’s quotes to open with, it seems to me that closing with such is only appropriate.

“Being Nationalistic in the sense in-which it is now demanded by public opinion, would it seems be for us who are more spiritual not only mere insipidity but dishonesty, a deliberate deadening of our better will & conscience”

– Friedrich Nietzsche

Those words now ring truer than they ever have; I felt they were above & beyond valid, therefore needed to be heard. I thought to perhaps leave it at that, as it was important to deliver a message of truth despite the difficulty in which it might be received. Nevertheless, that only after one is able to hear & process some hard truths, only then will one become blessed with a White pill. Therefore, given we are in the Season of Yule, I leave you with this last uplifting quote from the Master (Nietzsche); A Message of Hope.

“Without Music life would be a mistake; The German even imagines Gods as singing songs”

-Friedrich Nietzsche

There you have it, a Black, Red & White pill all presented in proper context of one another for this season of Yule most coincidentally Schwarz, Weiß, Rot – the true banner of the Fatherland!

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Honorable mentions (Weihnachten Europa): I had covered numerous locales in my video however much was cut out due to constraints of video length & schedule, below are some of my favorites insofar to Winter themed & Christmas Markets from elsewhere within Europe which either did not make it in time for processing or did not meet the proper standards for video production.

(Germany) Aachen, Trier & Ludwigsburg, (Austria) Innsbruck, (Italy) Südtirol, (Netherlands) Maastricht & Amsterdamnse, (Luxembourg) Luxembourg City, (Leichtenstein) Madul (Winter Alpine).

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Earlier this year I made “Das Letzte Einhorn” with my dearest narrating an improvised piece of her own accord, we had both originally intended on making a second video for Yule along the same lines insofar to narrated content however due to constraints of the looming schedules pertaining to Yule this specific project was shelved in favor of a “Post New Year” piece, our own take on 2020, what are our expectations & plans for 2021, stay tuned for more updates on this project!

Content (as outlined under sections) for this post will remain void for the time being until past Weihnachten & the week prior to the end of this month. I usually do not post at all during the day-light hours here however, this is the only moment which will grant me free-time during this season’s family events, December has been a busy month for myself as I am certain it has been fore everyone else just as well. Warmest regards stay safe folks!