Don't mention the war...

The second installment of my jaunt was Bonn, just in time for the end of Karneval in nearby Cologne. Unlike the rest of Nord-Rhine Westfalen, I'm sure you will be aware dear reader, Bonn was left relatively intact after the war, and that, and its central position within West Germany made it the best choice for the capital, as my German friends reliably inform me. Bonn is also the birthplace of some guy called Beethoven, and has a not-bad Universität, and so had plenty going for it other than the pretty houses which would be omnipresent elsewhere were it not for the RAF.

We spent a morning in Bonn, all costumed up, like the rest of the revellers, listening to some fantastically cheesy German music, before heading through to Cologne for their celebrations, which are the biggest in the country. More than a million people descend on the streets to eat (sweets, or kamelle, thrown from the various floats), drink (Kölsch, lovely stuff) and be merry in a way which would seem to be most un-German. It was hard not to fell as if stuck in some sort of epic episode of Eurotrash as the tunes, mainly sang by bands like De Höhner, pumped out and the locals, men, women, young and old had a blast.

It was, as I said, most unlike the dour Germany we are led to believe is the only one that exists. Getting pissed with all these friendly Germans allowed me also to indulge in my cheekiest habit in Germany - mentioning the war. I know it could be misconstrued as being little unconstructive in the scope of all us getting along with each other, but trust me, try it with any German / Italian / French people whom you know well enough, and a good time can be had by all. It is fascinating to hear the stories of what everyone else's grandparents got up to - and to hear the stories they were told about us over here. I was able to teach meine freunde the words to 'Hitler has only got one ball', they were able to fill me in on all the war time insults they had for the 'Tommies', most of which, like our German stereotypes, persist to this day. The British Isles are / were it seems, the place of the dark satanic mills, and we were the 'Island Monkeys'.

Most Germans, cannot of course understand why we are still so obsessed with the war, and reminding them of it at every opportunity. All I could offer was that the British press is perhaps baffled as to why Britannia and its allies could have beaten Germany to a pulp, yet it is, 60 years after, the economic powerhouse of Europe. The Germans are the only people whom it is seemingly acceptable to mock without reproach, and they of course are, not only from those commentators on the right , from where it can only be expected, but also from those who really should know better.

Talking of the war with German people of my generation leads inevitably to the expression of regret for the heinous actions of a government they had nothing to do with, and so it probaly should be. But how far should modern Germany go to atone for the sins of the (grand) fathers? And is it not time our government acknowledged the unecessary brutality of some of its own actions, during and after the war? Where are the Channel 5 documentaries about the rape ofGerman women and pillaging of German property? Why no 'The Bombing of Dresden in colour'?

It is obviously very sensitive ground on which to tread, but I see no reason why any expression of regret by the UK Government cannot be made, and why, as many would contend, that this would somehow lessen the expression of guilt made my the German, Italian or Japanese governments. The European project is seen to be most miraculous because it has reconciled people and governments who were at war not so long ago, and could, undoubtedly, become even more remarkable if we could all agree we did certain things wrong all these years ago.