1990, EAST & WEST GERMANY MERGE THEIR ECONOMIES

Today, The Grandma has been reading about how East and West Germany merged their economies on a day like today in 1990. 

On 3 October 1990, Germany officially became one country again after more than forty years of division. 

The reunification of East and West Germany was one of the most significant events of the late twentieth century, symbolizing not only the end of Germany's post-war separation but also the collapse of the Cold War order that had shaped Europe since 1945. The story of reunification did not begin in 1990. Instead, it was the result of decades of political tension, ideological conflict, economic differences, and the determination of millions of ordinary people who dreamed of living in a united and democratic country. The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 became the defining image of this transformation, but it was only one chapter in a much larger historical process.

When the Second World War ended in May 1945, Germany lay in ruins. Its cities had been devastated by bombing, millions of people had died, and the country faced political and economic collapse. The victorious Allied powers -the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union- agreed that Germany should be occupied until its future could be decided.

The country was divided into four occupation zones, each administered by one of the Allied powers. Although Berlin was located deep inside the Soviet occupation zone, the city itself was also divided into four sectors.

At first, the Allies hoped to govern Germany jointly. However, growing disagreements between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union quickly made cooperation impossible. Their conflicting visions for Europe's future gradually transformed former allies into rivals.

By 1949, the political division had become permanent. The western occupation zones united to form the Federal Republic of Germany, commonly known as West Germany. It adopted a democratic political system, a market economy, and close ties with Western Europe and the United States.

A few months later, the Soviet occupation zone became the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. Although its official name included the word "democratic," it was governed by a communist regime dominated by a single political party. The state controlled the media, education, and much of everyday life, while political opposition was heavily restricted.

From that point onward, Germany became one of the most visible symbols of the Cold War. Berlin represented the confrontation between East and West more clearly than any other city. People could initially move relatively freely between East and West Berlin. However, many East Germans used this opportunity to escape to West Germany, seeking greater political freedom and better economic prospects. By the early 1960s, millions had already left. To stop this mass emigration, East German authorities suddenly closed the border during the night of 12–13 August 1961 and began constructing the Berlin Wall.

The Wall was far more than a concrete barrier. It became a powerful symbol of ideological division. Guard towers, fences, anti-vehicle barriers, and heavily monitored border zones made escape extremely dangerous. Many people risked their lives attempting to cross, and numerous escape attempts ended in tragedy.

Families were separated overnight. Friends lost contact for decades. A city that had once functioned as a single community became physically and emotionally divided. During the following decades, East and West Germany developed in very different ways.

West Germany experienced rapid economic growth during the 1950s and 1960s, often called the economic miracle. Industrial production expanded, living standards improved dramatically, and democratic institutions became firmly established. The country also became one of the founding members of what would later become the European Union.

East Germany also rebuilt successfully in many respects. It developed strong industries, an extensive education system, and comprehensive social services. Compared with many other Eastern Bloc countries, it maintained a relatively high standard of living.

Nevertheless, the East German economy struggled with inefficiency and limited innovation. Consumer goods were often scarce, travel abroad was tightly restricted, and the secret police—the Stasi—maintained one of the world's most extensive surveillance systems. Many citizens lived with the knowledge that conversations, letters, and even friendships could be monitored.

The 1980s brought major changes across the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In 1985, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced reforms known as glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). These policies encouraged greater political transparency and attempted to modernize the Soviet economy. Perhaps even more important, Gorbachev signaled that the Soviet Union would no longer intervene militarily to preserve communist governments across Eastern Europe. This represented a dramatic departure from previous Soviet policy.

Across Eastern Europe, reform movements gained momentum. In Poland, independent trade unions challenged communist rule. Hungary began introducing political reforms and gradually opened its border with Austria.

These developments deeply influenced East Germans, many of whom increasingly questioned why their own government refused to change. Throughout 1989, public dissatisfaction continued to grow. Thousands of East Germans escaped through neighbouring countries, particularly Hungary, whose newly opened border offered an alternative route to the West. At the same time, peaceful demonstrations spread throughout East Germany. The largest became known as the Monday Demonstrations, especially in the city of Leipzig. Protesters demanded free elections, freedom of speech, freedom to travel, and democratic reforms. Remarkably, despite fears of violent repression, these protests remained overwhelmingly peaceful. As participation increased from hundreds to thousands and eventually hundreds of thousands of people, the East German government found it increasingly difficult to maintain control.

On 9 November 1989, events unfolded with astonishing speed. Following confusion over newly announced travel regulations, government spokesman Günter Schabowski mistakenly suggested during a televised press conference that East Germans could cross the border immediately.

Thousands of Berliners gathered at border crossings demanding passage. Border guards, lacking clear instructions and unwilling to use force against the growing crowds, eventually opened the checkpoints. People crossed freely for the first time in nearly three decades. Scenes of celebration spread around the world. Families embraced after years of separation. Strangers climbed onto the Wall, danced together, and began breaking pieces from the concrete with hammers and chisels.

The fall of the Berlin Wall quickly became one of the defining images of the twentieth century and demonstrated that political systems once thought permanent could collapse with remarkable speed.

Although the Wall had fallen, reunification was not automatic. Many difficult questions remained. Would a united Germany remain part of NATO? What would happen to Soviet troops stationed in East Germany? How would Germany's borders be guaranteed? Would neighbouring countries support reunification? The answers required careful diplomacy involving not only East and West Germany but also the four Allied powers that had occupied Germany after the Second World War.

These negotiations became known as the Two Plus Four talks: the two German states plus the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union. After months of negotiations, agreements were reached concerning Germany's borders, military status, and full sovereignty. These agreements removed the final international obstacles to reunification.

Before political reunification, important economic steps had already been taken. On 1 July 1990, East Germany adopted the West German Deutsche Mark. For many East Germans, this represented immediate access to a stronger currency and greater purchasing power. However, the transition also exposed East German industries to intense competition from Western companies. Many state-owned enterprises proved unable to compete in a market economy. Factories closed, unemployment increased sharply, and entire regions experienced profound economic restructuring. Although living standards gradually improved over time, the transition proved far more difficult than many people had expected.

On 3 October 1990, East Germany officially ceased to exist. Its five federal states joined the Federal Republic of Germany under the existing West German constitution. Berlin once again became the capital of a united Germany. Across the country, celebrations marked what Germans now commemorate annually as the Day of German Unity. For millions, the event represented the realization of hopes that had seemed impossible only a year earlier.

Political reunification did not instantly eliminate decades of separation. East and West Germany had developed under entirely different political, economic, and social systems. Integrating these systems required enormous investment. The German government spent hundreds of billions of euros rebuilding infrastructure, modernizing transportation networks, renovating cities, and improving public services in eastern Germany. While these investments transformed many regions, economic differences persisted. Average incomes, employment opportunities, and business activity often remained lower in the eastern states than in the west. Many East Germans also experienced significant personal challenges. Some lost secure jobs that disappeared during privatization. Others struggled to adapt to a competitive market economy after decades of state planning. At the same time, many younger people moved westward in search of employment, contributing to population decline in some eastern communities.

Beyond economics, reunification involved merging two societies with distinct life experiences. People who had grown up on opposite sides of the Wall often held different memories, expectations, and perspectives. Terms such as Ossis (East Germans) and Wessis (West Germans) reflected stereotypes that sometimes complicated integration. Over time, these differences have gradually diminished, especially among younger generations.

Today, many Germans identify primarily with a united national identity while still recognizing the historical experiences that shaped different regions. German reunification transformed not only Germany but also Europe. The disappearance of the Iron Curtain accelerated European integration. Countries across Central and Eastern Europe gradually embraced democratic reforms and market economies. Many later joined both the European Union and NATO. A larger, democratic Germany became one of Europe's leading political and economic powers. Its commitment to European cooperation reassured neighbouring countries that had once feared German nationalism. Rather than pursuing dominance, reunified Germany generally emphasized partnership, diplomacy, and integration within European institutions.

More than three decades after reunification, Germany continues to reflect on its divided past. The remains of the Berlin Wall have been preserved as historical monuments. Museums, memorials, and educational programs help younger generations understand the realities of dictatorship, division, and peaceful democratic change.

Every year on 3 October, Germany celebrates the Day of German Unity, commemorating both the political achievement of reunification and the peaceful civic movements that made it possible. Historians often describe reunification as one of the greatest diplomatic successes of the late twentieth century. Unlike many major geopolitical transformations, it occurred largely without violence and through negotiation rather than war.

German reunification was far more than the merging of two states. It marked the end of one of history's most enduring political divisions and symbolized the collapse of the Cold War order in Europe.

The process was made possible by changing international politics, courageous political leadership, and, above all, the determination of ordinary citizens who demanded freedom through peaceful protest. Although reunification brought enormous economic, political, and social challenges, it also demonstrated that seemingly permanent divisions can be overcome through dialogue, democratic participation, and international cooperation.

Today, a united Germany stands as a reminder that history is not fixed. The peaceful reunification of a country once separated by walls, ideology, and global rivalry remains one of the defining achievements of modern European history and continues to inspire those who believe that reconciliation is possible even after decades of division.

More information: International Mission Board

I remember when the Berlin Wall fell 
and suddenly intractable problems get solved.

Lucy Walker

ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY, 'LE PETIT PRINCE' OF LYON

Today, The Grandma wants to pay tribute to one of the best writers of the 20th century, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of The Little Prince, one of her most beloved and favourite works, who was born on a day like today in 1900.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born in Lyon, a city that The Grandma knows very well from when she studied and worked there.

Lugdunum, capital of Gaul and city of light is a beautiful dynamic and enterprising city that is proud of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and that pays tribute to him in every corner of Vieux Lyon.

These past months, The Grandma has visited Lyon many times for sports. When she lived there some years ago, she became a season ticket holder for its football team and was able to enjoy good French league matches, good derbies (against Saint-Etiénne) and also a women's team that was hegemonic in Europe at the time.

Everything in life is in cycles and it seems that now they can once again have their women's team touching those stars that Saint-Exupéry described in The Little Prince and that remind us day after day that what is truly important is invisible to the eye.

Saint Eixupéry disappeared during a reconnaissance mission over Corsica on 31 July 1944 and although his disappearance has never been considered a closed case, we all know that dying does not necessarily mean disappearing because as long as his work is read, his legacy will live on.

Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900-disappeared 31 July 1944) was a French writer, poet, journalist, and pioneering aviator whose life and work were inseparably linked. Best known as the author of The Little Prince, he is regarded as one of the twentieth century's most influential literary figures, combining philosophical reflection with firsthand experiences of aviation and war.

Born into an aristocratic family in Lyon, Saint-Exupéry lost his father at an early age and was raised by his mother alongside his siblings. The death of his younger brother François during childhood had a profound emotional impact on him and influenced many of the themes that would later appear in his writing. After unsuccessfully applying to the French Naval Academy, he completed his military service and trained as a pilot, discovering the vocation that would shape the rest of his life.

In the 1920s he joined the pioneering airmail service Aéropostale, flying dangerous postal routes across France, North Africa, and later South America. At a time when aviation was still in its infancy, these flights demanded exceptional courage and endurance. The isolation of the cockpit, the responsibility of transporting the mail, and the bonds formed between pilots became recurring themes in his literary work.

Saint-Exupéry began publishing fiction while pursuing his aviation career. His first notable work was The Aviator (1926), followed by Southern Mail (1929). International recognition came with Night Flight (1931), a novel that portrayed the risks and moral responsibilities of early commercial aviation. Rather than focusing solely on adventure, his writing explored duty, friendship, sacrifice, and the search for meaning in human existence.

In 1931, he married Salvadoran writer and artist Consuelo Suncín. Their marriage was passionate, complicated, and often turbulent, yet it remained one of the defining relationships of his life. Many scholars believe that Consuelo inspired the Rose in The Little Prince, symbolizing both love and the challenges of close human relationships.

Throughout the 1930s Saint-Exupéry worked as both an aviator and a journalist. He travelled widely, reporting from the Soviet Union and covering the Spanish Civil War. These experiences deepened his concerns about political extremism, violence, and the loss of human dignity, subjects that increasingly appeared in his essays and fiction.

One of the defining moments of his life occurred in December 1935, when he attempted to break the speed record on the Paris-Saigon route. His aircraft crashed in the Libyan Desert, leaving him and his mechanic stranded with almost no water. After several days of wandering through the Sahara while suffering from dehydration and hallucinations, they were rescued by a Bedouin. The experience profoundly influenced his later writing and inspired several of the desert scenes that would become central to The Little Prince.

In 1938, he survived another serious aircraft accident in Guatemala during an attempt to establish a long-distance flight record. Although he recovered, he suffered permanent injuries that affected his health for the remainder of his life.

His 1939 memoir Wind, Sand and Stars became one of his greatest literary successes, earning prestigious awards in both France and the United States. Blending autobiography, philosophy, and reflections on aviation, the book argues that hardship and shared responsibility reveal humanity at its best.

When the Second World War began, Saint-Exupéry returned to military service as a reconnaissance pilot in the French Air Force. Flying dangerous intelligence missions during the Battle of France, he witnessed the rapid collapse of his country. These experiences formed the basis of Flight to Arras (1942), an account that combines personal testimony with reflections on courage, duty, and the tragedy of war.

After France's defeat, he spent much of the war in the United States. Although he attempted to remain above political divisions among the French resistance movements, he consistently argued for national unity and reconciliation. During his American exile he wrote The Little Prince, published in 1943 in both French and English. Although presented as a children's story, the novella explores universal themes including friendship, love, loneliness, imagination, responsibility, and the importance of seeing beyond appearances. Saint-Exupéry also created the book's distinctive watercolor illustrations, which have become inseparable from the story itself.

Despite being older than the permitted age for combat pilots and suffering from numerous physical injuries, Saint-Exupéry insisted on returning to operational flying. In 1943 he joined the Free French Air Force, flying Lockheed P-38 Lightning reconnaissance aircraft on high-risk photographic missions over occupied Europe.

On 31 July 1944, he departed from Corsica on a reconnaissance mission over southern France in preparation for the Allied invasion of Provence. He never returned, and his disappearance became one of the enduring mysteries of the Second World War. For decades numerous theories surrounded his fate. 

In 1998, a fisherman recovered Saint-Exupéry's identification bracelet near Marseille, and in 2000 divers located wreckage identified as his aircraft on the Mediterranean seabed. Although these discoveries confirmed the approximate location of the crash, the precise circumstances of his death remain uncertain.

Saint-Exupéry's principal works include The Aviator, Southern Mail, Night Flight, Wind, Sand and Stars, Flight to Arras, Letter to a Hostage, The Little Prince, and the posthumously published philosophical work Citadel, compiled from his unfinished manuscripts.

Today, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is remembered not only as one of the great pioneers of early aviation but also as a writer whose works transcend generations and cultures. The Little Prince has become one of the most translated and widely read books in history, while his broader body of work continues to inspire readers with its reflections on humanity, responsibility, courage, and the enduring value of compassion.

Download Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Download The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, 
the zest of creating things new.

 Antoine de Saint-Exupery

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT IN BARCELONA, RELEASE THE STARS

Tonight, Claire Fontaine and The Grandma have gone to El Port Vell in Barcelona to listen to Rufus Wainwright, the American-Canadian singer, songwriter, and composer who has oferred an amazing show promoted by Blaumarí Music.

 

The concert has been fantastic and Rufus has performed classics such as Poses, Cigarretes and Chocolate Milk, Going to a Town; a wonderful Complainte de la Butte; premieres such as Seasonal Pain in the Ass, Look Down at the Stars and Raining in Athens, and two very special songs: Leonard Cohen's Hallellujah and Barcelona, ​​a song he dedicated to the Catalan capital in 1998.

Claire and The Grandma have always followed Rufus and whether at the Auditori de Sant Cugat del Vallès, the Teatre del Liceu and the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona or his concerts in Montréal, ​​it is always a pleasure to listen to this great artist who yesterday had an added challenge: singing at the Port Vell on a terribly warm night and a humidity that made both his guitar and his piano suffer. 

Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is an American-Canadian singer, songwriter, and composer.

He has recorded nine albums of original music and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set Shakespeare's sonnets to music for a theater piece by Robert Wilson. He is the son of musician and actor Loudon Wainwright III.

Wainwright's self-titled debut album was released through DreamWorks Records in May 1998. His second album, Poses, was released in June 2001. Wainwright's third and fourth studio albums, Want One (2003) and Want Two (2004), were repackaged as the double album Want in 2005.

In 2007, Wainwright released his fifth studio album Release the Stars and his first live album Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall. His second live album Milwaukee at Last!!! was released in 2009, followed by the studio albums All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu (2010) and Out of the Game (2012).

The double album Prima Donna (2015), was a recording of his opera of the same name. His ninth studio album Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets (2016), featured nine adaptions of Shakespeare's sonnets. Rufus' 10th studio album, Unfollow the Rules, was released on July 20, 2020.

Wainwright is the son of musicians Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, and the older brother of singer Martha Wainwright.

Wainwright was born in Rhinebeck, New York, to folk singers Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III. His parents divorced when he was three, and he lived with his mother in Montreal for most of his youth. His father is a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, the 17th century Dutch governor of New Amsterdam, later New York. Wainwright has dual US and Canadian citizenship.

He attended high school at the Millbrook School in New York, and later briefly studied piano at McGill in Montreal. He began playing the piano at age six, and started touring at age 13 with The McGarrigle Sisters and Family, a folk group featuring Rufus, his sister Martha, his mother Kate, and aunt Anna.

His song I'm a-Runnin', which he performed in the film Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller at the age of 14, earned him a nomination for a 1989 Genie Award for Best Original Song. He was nominated for a 1990 Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year.

Through weekly shows at Cafe Sarajevo, Wainwright was on the Montreal club circuit and eventually cut a series of demo tapes produced by Pierre Marchand, who later produced Wainwright's album Poses. The resulting tapes impressed his father Loudon, who passed them on to his friend Van Dyke Parks. Parks sent the recordings to Lenny Waronker, the DreamWorks executive who eventually signed Wainwright to his label.

Wainwright lived in the Chelsea Hotel in New York City for six months, during which he wrote most of his second album.

On June 5, 2001, Wainwright's second album, Poses, was released to critical acclaim but limited sales.

In 2003, Rufus released the full-length album Want One. Then Wainwright's album Want Two, from which four songs were released as the EP Waiting for a Want, was released by DreamWorks/Geffen on November 16, 2004.

More information: Rufus Wainwright

Wainwright's fifth studio album, Release the Stars, was released by Geffen on May 15, 2007. The album was produced by Wainwright and featured Richard Thompson, friend Teddy Thompson, sister Martha Wainwright, mother Kate McGarrigle, Neil Tennant, Joan Wasser, Julianna Raye, Larry Mullins, and actress Siân Phillips.

In November 2009, Wainwright announced that he had finished recording his sixth studio album, and was calling it All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu.

In December 2009, Wainwright appeared with sister Martha Wainwright and mother Kate McGarrigle at the Royal Albert Hall in London, raising $55,000 for the Kate McGarrigle Fund, which was established in 2008 to raise awareness of sarcoma, a rare cancer that affects connective tissue such as bone, muscle, nerves, and cartilage.

In July 2011 a 19-disc box set called House of Rufus containing all his studio and live recordings as well as previously unreleased material was released.

In 2015, Wainwright launched a new version of his first opera, accompanied by a film directed by Francesco Vezzoli, featuring Cindy Sherman as the Prima Donna.

Almost a year after releasing stand-alone single Sword of Damocles in October 2018, Rufus signed a record deal with music publisher and record label BMG Rights Management for a new album.

In February 2020, the album, Unfollow the Rules, was announced alongside the release of Joni Mitchell inspired single Damsel in Distress and was slated for an April release.

On March 7, 2023, Wainwright announced his eleventh studio album, Folkocracy, would be released in June 2023.

Wainwright's opera, Dream Requiem, premiered in 2024. A soundtrack album is due for release in February 2025; actress Meryl Streep is featured.

On 21 November 2025, Wainwright released the live album I'm A Stranger Here Myself: Wainwright Does Weill, in collaboration with Pacific Jazz Orchestra. The album contains performances of songs written by Kurt Weill. 

More information: Instagram-Rufus Wainwright

 

Life is a game and true love is a trophy.

Rufus Wainwright

DAVID SUCHET'S 'POIROT AND ME', THE LITTLE GREY CELLS

The heatwave continues to affect Central and Mediterranean Europe, and Barcelona is no exception.

The Grandma can't stand the heat -in fact, she dislikes summer- but it returns every year, and she has learned to cope with it in the best way possible: reading on the sofa under the air conditioning.

Today, she has chosen a fantastic book titled Poirot and Me, written by the extraordinary English actor David Suchet, who played the famous Belgian detective in the series of the same name. And it is that some books tell a story. Others reveal the story behind the story.

Poirot and Me is David Suchet's heartfelt account of the twenty-four years he spent bringing Hercule Poirot to life. It is not simply a memoir, but a tribute to Agatha Christie's extraordinary detective and to the responsibility of portraying him with authenticity, precision, and respect.

What shines through every chapter is Suchet's unwavering commitment to the character. His meticulous preparation, his deep admiration for Christie's writing, and his genuine affection for Poirot explain why so many readers and viewers regard his performance as the definitive interpretation.

Before filming the first episode, Suchet carefully read every Poirot novel and short story, compiling a detailed notebook of the detective's physical appearance, habits, and personality. He kept it with him throughout the entire series to ensure his portrayal remained faithful to Agatha Christie's original creation.

For anyone who has enjoyed watching Agatha Christie's Poirot, this book offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes and an even greater appreciation of the care and passion that made the series so memorable.

A wonderful read for every Christie enthusiast.

David Suchet (born 2 May 1946 in London) is an acclaimed English actor, best known worldwide for his portrayal of Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013). Widely regarded as the definitive screen Poirot, Suchet dedicated himself to portraying the detective as faithfuly as possible to Agatha Christie's original character.

After training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Suchet built a distinguished career in theatre, television, and film. In addition to Poirot, he has received critical acclaim for performances in productions such as The Way We Live Now and Maxwell, and has appeared in numerous Shakespearean plays.

Suchet comes from a family with strong artistic and intellectual interests. He has been married to Sheila Suchet since 1976, and they have two children.

Beyond acting, he is an accomplished narrator and completed the remarkable achievement of recording the entire New International Version of the Bible. He has often spoken about the importance of his Christian faith in both his personal life and professional career.

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to drama, Suchet was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2002 and was knighted in 2020, becoming Sir David Suchet.

More information: The Guardian

When you're doing characters from famous novels, 
you have a responsibility as an actor to make it 
what the writer intended. 
And then you add and expand from there to create 
a three-dimensional performance.

David Suchet

1886, HENRI MOISSAN ISOLATES ELEMENTAL FLUORINE

Today, The Grandma has been repairing one of the faucets in her house using a very curious material, Teflon.

This Teflon reminded her of Henri Moissan, the first French Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, who first isolated fluorineon a day like today in 1886.

Fluorine is a relatively new element in human applications. In ancient times, only minor uses of fluorine-containing minerals existed. The industrial use of fluorite, fluorine's source mineral, was first described by early scientist Georgius Agricola in the 16th century, in the context of smelting. The name fluorite (and later fluorine) derives from Agricola's invented Latin terminology. In the late 18th century, hydrofluoric acid was discovered. By the early 19th century, it was recognized that fluorine was a bound element within compounds, similar to chlorine. Fluorite was determined to be calcium fluoride.

Because of fluorine's tight bonding as well as the toxicity of hydrogen fluoride, the element resisted many attempts to isolate it. In 1886, French chemist Henri Moissan, later a Nobel Prize winner, succeeded in making elemental fluorine by electrolyzing a mixture of potassium fluoride and hydrogen fluoride. 

Large-scale production and use of fluorine began during World War 2 as part of the Manhattan Project. Earlier in the century, the main fluorochemicals were commercialized by the DuPont company: refrigerant gases (Freon) and polytetrafluoroethylene plastic (Teflon).

Some instances of ancient use of fluorite, main source mineral of fluorine, for ornamental use carvings exist. However, archeological finds are rare, perhaps in part because of the stone's softness. Two Roman cups made of Persian fluorite have been discovered and are currently exhibited at the British museum. Pliny the Elder described a soft stone from Persia used in cups that may have been fluorite. Fluorite carvings from about 1000 AD have been discovered in the Americas in Indian burial grounds.

The word fluorine derives from the Latin stem of the main source mineral, fluorite, which was first mentioned in 1529 by Georgius Agricola, the father of mineralogy. He described fluorite as a flux -an additive that helps melt ores and slags during smelting.

Fluorite stones were called schone flusse in the German of the time. Agricola, writing in Latin but describing 16th century industry, invented several hundred new Latin terms. For the schone flusse stones, he used the Latin noun fluores, fluxes, because they made metal ores flow when in a fire. After Agricola, the name for the mineral evolved to fluorspar (still commonly used) and then to fluorite.

After 74 years of effort by many chemists, on 26 June 1886, Henri Moissan isolated elemental fluorine. Moissan's report to the French Academy of making fluorine showed appreciation for the feat: One can indeed make various hypotheses on the nature of the liberated gas; the simplest would be that we are in the presence of fluorine.

Moissan's 1887 publication documents reaction attempts of fluorine gas with several substances: sulfur (flames), hydrogen (explosion), carbon (no reaction), etc. Later, Moissan devised a less expensive apparatus for making fluorine: copper equipment coated with copper fluoride.

Moissan also constructed special apparatus -5m long platinum tubes with fluorite windows- to determine the slight yellow color of fluorine gas. The gas appears transparent in small tubes or when allowed to escape. The colour observation was not repeated until the 1980s, when his result was confirmed.

More information: UNT Digital Library

Will fluorine ever have practical applications?
It is very difficult to answer this question. 
I may, however, say in all sincerity 
that I gave this subject little thought 
when I undertook my researches,
 and I believe that all the chemists 
whose attempts preceded mine gave it 
no more consideration.
A scientific research is a search after truth, 
and it is only after discovery 
that the question of applicability can be usefully considered.

Henri Moisson

MALTA & THE ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF SAINT JOHN (II)

In 1301, the Order was organized in seven languages; by order of precedence, Provence, Auvergne, France, Aragon, Italy, England, and Germany. In 1462, the Langue of Aragon was divided into Castile-Portugal, (Castilian) and Aragon-Navarre (Catalan).

The English Langue went into abeyance after the order's properties were taken over by Henry VIII in 1540.

In 1782, it was revived as the Anglo-Bavarian Langue, containing Bavarian and Polish priories. The structure of languages was replaced in the late 19th century by a system of national associations.

When the Knights first arrived, the natives were apprehensive about their presence and viewed them as arrogant intruders. The Maltese were excluded from serving in the order. The Knights were even generally dismissive of the Maltese nobility. However, the two groups coexisted peacefully, since the Knights boosted the economy, were charitable, and protected against Muslim attacks.

More information: IEC

Not surprisingly, hospitals were among the first projects to be undertaken on Malta, where French soon supplanted Italian as the official language, though the native inhabitants continued to speak Maltese among themselves. The Knights also constructed fortresses, watch towers, and naturally, churches. Its acquisition of Malta signalled the beginning of the Order's renewed naval activity.

The building and fortification of Valletta, named for Grand Master la Valette, was begun in 1566, soon becoming the home port of one of the Mediterranean's most powerful navies. Valletta was designed by Francesco Laparelli, a military engineer, and his work was then taken up by Girolamo Cassar. The city was completed in 1571. The island's hospitals were expanded as well. 

The Sacra Infermeria could accommodate 500 patients and was famous as one of the finest in the world. In the vanguard of medicine, the Hospital of Malta included Schools of Anatomy, Surgery and Pharmacy.

Valletta itself was renowned as a centre of art and culture. The Conventual Church of St. John, completed in 1577, contains works by Caravaggio and others.

More information: Saint John of Jerusalem-Eye Hospital Group

In Europe, most of the Order's hospitals and chapels survived the Reformation, though not in Protestant or Evangelical countries. In Malta, meanwhile, the Public Library was established in 1761. 

The University was founded seven years later, followed, in 1786, by a School of Mathematics and Nautical Sciences. Despite these developments, some of the Maltese grew to resent the Order, which they viewed as a privileged class. This even included some of the local nobility, who were not admitted to the Order.

In Rhodes, the knights had been housed in auberges, inns, segregated by Langues. This structure was maintained in Birgu (1530–1571) and then Valletta, from 1571.

The auberges in Birgu remain mostly undistinguished 16th-century buildings. Valletta still has the auberges of Castille, 1574; renovated 1741 by Grand Master de Vilhena, now the Prime Minister's offices, Italy, renovated 1683 by Grand Master Carafa, now the Malta Tourism Authority, Aragon/Catalonia, 1571, now Ministry for EU Affairs, Bavaria, former Palazzo Carnerio, purchased in 1784 for the newly formed Langue, now used as the Government Property Department, and Provence, now National Museum of Archaeology. In the Second World War, the auberge d'Auvergne was damaged, and later replaced by Law Courts, and the auberge de France was destroyed.

More information: Museum Saint John (United Kingdom)

Charity begins at home, 

and justice begins next door. 

Charles Dickens

Their Mediterranean stronghold of Malta was captured by Napoleon in 1798 during his expedition to Egypt. Napoleon demanded from Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim that his ships be allowed to enter the port and to take on water and supplies. The Grand Master replied that only two foreign ships could be allowed to enter the port at a time. Bonaparte, aware that such a procedure would take a very long time and would leave his forces vulnerable to Admiral Nelson, immediately ordered a cannon fusillade against Malta. The French soldiers disembarked in Malta at seven points on the morning of 11 June and attacked. After several hours of fierce fighting, the Maltese in the west were forced to surrender.

Napoleon opened negotiations with the fortress capital of Valletta. Faced with vastly superior French forces and the loss of western Malta, the Grand Master negotiated surrender to the invasion. Hompesch left Malta for Trieste on 18 June. He resigned as Grand Master on 6 July 1799.

The Knights were dispersed, though the order continued to exist in a diminished form and negotiated with European governments for a return to power. The Russian Emperor, Paul I, gave the largest number of Knights’ shelter in Saint Petersburg, an action which gave rise to the Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller and the Order's recognition among the Russian Imperial Orders. 

The refugee Knights in Saint Petersburg proceeded to elect Tsar Paul as their Grand Master, a rival to Grand Master von Hompesch until the latter's abdication left Paul as the sole Grand Master. 

Grand Master Paul I created, in addition to the Roman Catholic Grand Priory, a Russian Grand Priory of no fewer than 118 Commanderies, dwarfing the rest of the Order and open to all Christians. Paul's election as Grand Master was, however, never ratified under Roman Catholic canon law, and he was the de facto rather than de jure Grand Master of the Order.

By the early 19th century, the order had been severely weakened by the loss of its priories throughout Europe. Only 10% of the order's income came from traditional sources in Europe, with the remaining 90% being generated by the Russian Grand Priory until 1810. This was partly reflected in the government of the Order being under Lieutenants, rather than Grand Masters, in the period 1805 to 1879, when Pope Leo XIII restored a Grand Master to the order. This signalled the renewal of the order's fortunes as a humanitarian and religious organization.

On 19 September 1806, the Swedish government offered the sovereignty of the island of Gotland to the Order. The offer was rejected since it would have meant the Order renouncing their claim to Malta.

In 1834, the order settled in Rome. Hospital work, the original work of the order, became once again its main concern. The Order's hospital and welfare activities, undertaken on a considerable scale in World War I, were greatly intensified and expanded in World War II under the Grand Master Fra' Ludovico Chigi Albani della Rovere, Grand Master 1931–1951.

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, better known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), is a Roman Catholic lay religious order and the world's oldest surviving order of chivalry. Its sovereign status is recognised by membership in numerous international bodies and observer status at the United Nations and others.

 

More information: Foreign Policy

The Order maintains diplomatic relations with 107 countries, official relations with 6 others and with the European Union, permanent observer missions to the United Nations and its specialised agencies, and delegations or representations in many other international organizations. 

It issues its own passports, currency, stamps and even vehicle registration plates. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta has a permanent presence in 120 countries, with 12 Grand Priories and Sub-Priories and 47 national Associations, as well as numerous hospitals, medical centres, day care centres, first aid corps, and specialist foundations, which operate in 120 countries. 

Its 13,500 members and 80,000 volunteers and over 42,000 medical personnel, doctors, nurses and paramedics, are dedicated to the care of the poor, the sick, the elderly, the disabled, the homeless, terminal patients, lepers, and all those who suffer. 

The Order is especially involved in helping victims of armed conflicts and natural disasters by providing medical assistance, caring for refugees, and distributing medicines and basic equipment for survival.

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta established a mission in Malta, after signing an agreement with the Maltese Government which granted the Order the exclusive use of Fort St. Angelo for a term of 99 years. Today, after restoration, the Fort hosts historical and cultural activities related to the Order of Malta.

More information: Independent

True charity is the desire to be useful 

to others with no thought of recompense. 

Emanuel Swedenborg

MALTA & THE ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF SAINT JOHN (I)

Today, The Grandma wants to talk about one of the oldest European orders: The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem whose history in Malta has left lots of footprints in these islands. It's an amazing part of our history that The Grandma wants to share in a two-parts story.

The Order of Malta maintains a unique status in international law: it is a sovereign state without territory. It has diplomatic relations with 115 states and is a permanent observer at the UN. This allows its members to act with complete neutrality, impartiality and political independence, facilitating the delivery of aid to anyone, regardless of their ethnicity or religion (whether Christian, Muslim or Jewish). 

The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, also known as the Order of Saint John, Order of Hospitallers, Knights Hospitaller, Knights Hospitalier or Hospitallers, was a medieval Catholic military order that became the modern Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which remains a sovereign subject of international law, as well as the Protestant members of the Alliance of the Orders of Saint John of Jerusalem. It was headquartered variously in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, on the island of Rhodes, and in Malta, and it is now headquartered in Rome.

The Hospitallers arose in the early 11th century, at the time of the great monastic reformation, as a group of individuals associated with an Amalfitan hospital in the Muristan district of Jerusalem, dedicated to John the Baptist and founded around 1023 by Gerard Thom to provide care for sick, poor or injured pilgrims coming to the Holy Land. 

Some scholars, however, consider that the Amalfitan order and hospital were different from Gerard Thom's order and its hospital. 

After the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, the organisation became a religious and military order under its own Papal charter, charged with the care and defence of the Holy Land.

 

More information: Order of Malta

Following the conquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces, the knights operated from Rhodes, over which they were sovereign, and later from Malta, where they administered a vassal state under the Spanish viceroy of Sicily. The Hospitallers were the smallest group to colonise parts of the Americas; at one point in the mid-17th century, they acquired four Caribbean islands, which they turned over to the French in the 1660s.

The knights were weakened in the Protestant Reformation, when rich commanderies of the order in northern Germany and the Netherlands became Protestant and largely separated from the Roman Catholic main stem, remaining separate to this day, although ecumenical relations between the descendant chivalric orders are amicable. 

The order was disestablished in England, Denmark, Sweden and elsewhere in northern Europe, and it was further damaged by Napoleon's capture of Malta in 1798, following which it became dispersed throughout Europe and Russia. 

It regained strength during the early 19th century as it redirected itself toward religious and humanitarian causes. In 1834, the order, by this time known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, acquired new headquarters in Rome, where it has since been based.

In 603, Pope Gregory I commissioned the Ravennate Abbot Probus, who was previously Gregory's emissary at the Lombard court, to build a hospital in Jerusalem to treat and care for Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. 

In 800, Emperor Charlemagne enlarged Probus' hospital and added a library to it. About 200 years later, in 1005, Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroyed the hospital and three thousand other buildings in Jerusalem. 

In 1023, merchants from Amalfi and Salerno in Italy were given permission by the Caliph Ali az-Zahir of Egypt to rebuild the hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital, which was built on the site of the monastery of Saint John the Baptist, took in Christian pilgrims traveling to visit the Christian holy sites. It was served by the Order of Saint Benedict.

The monastic hospitaller order was founded following the First Crusade by Gerard Thom, whose role as founder was confirmed by the papal bull Pie Postulatio Voluntatis issued by Pope Paschal II in 1113. 

After centuries from place to place in Europe, the knights gained fixed quarters in 1530 when Charles I of Spain, as King of Sicily, gave them Malta, Gozo and the North African port of Tripoli in perpetual fiefdom in exchange for an annual fee of a single Maltese falcon, the Tribute of the Maltese Falcon, which they were to send on All Souls' Day to the King's representative, the Viceroy of Sicily.

The Hospitallers continued their actions against the Muslims and especially the Barbary pirates. Although they had only a few ships they quickly drew the ire of the Ottomans, who were unhappy to see the order resettled. In 1565 Suleiman sent an invasion force of about 40,000 men to besiege the 700 knights and 8,000 soldiers and expel them from Malta and gain a new base from which to possibly launch another assault on Europe. This is known as the Great Siege of Malta.

 

More information: Sovereign Order of Saint John of Malta 

  

 Take this sword:

In Brightness Stands for Faith

Its point for hope,

Its guard for Charity,

Use it well...

Hospitaller Rite of Profession

At first the battle went as badly for the Hospitallers as Rhodes had: most of the cities were destroyed and about half the knights killed. On 18 August the position of the besieged was becoming desperate: dwindling daily in numbers, they were becoming too feeble to hold the long line of fortifications. But when his council suggested the abandonment of Birgu and Senglea and withdrawal to Fort St. Angelo, Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette refused.

The Viceroy of Sicily had not sent help; possibly the Viceroy's orders from Philip II of Spain were so obscurely worded as to put on his own shoulders the burden of the decision whether to help the Order at the expense of his own defences. 

A wrong decision could mean defeat and exposing Sicily and Naples to the Ottomans. He had left his own son with La Valette, so he could hardly be indifferent to the fate of the fortress. 

Whatever may have been the cause of his delay, the Viceroy hesitated until the battle had almost been decided by the unaided efforts of the knights, before being forced to move by the indignation of his own officers.

On 23 August came yet another grand assault, the last serious effort, as it proved, of the besiegers. It was thrown back with the greatest difficulty, even the wounded taking part in the defence. The plight of the Turkish forces, however, was now desperate. With the exception of Fort Saint Elmo, the fortifications were still intact. 

More information: Medieval Warfare

Working night and day the garrison had repaired the breaches, and the capture of Malta seemed more and more impossible. Many of the Ottoman troops in crowded quarters had fallen ill over the terrible summer months. Ammunition and food were beginning to run short, and the Ottoman troops were becoming increasingly dispirited by the failure of their attacks and their losses.

The death on 23 June of skilled commander Dragut, a corsair and admiral of the Ottoman fleet, was a serious blow. 

The Turkish commanders, Piali Pasha and Lala Mustafa Pasha, were careless. They had a huge fleet which they used with effect on only one occasion. They neglected their communications with the African coast and made no attempt to watch and intercept Sicilian reinforcements.

On 1 September they made their last effort, but the morale of the Ottoman troops had deteriorated seriously and the attack was feeble, to the great encouragement of the besieged, who now began to see hopes of deliverance.

More information: St John's Co-Cathedral

The perplexed and indecisive Ottomans heard of the arrival of Sicilian reinforcements in Mellieħa Bay. Unaware that the force was very small, they broke off the siege and left on 8 September. The Great Siege of Malta may have been the last action in which a force of knights won a decisive victory.

When the Ottomans departed, the Hospitallers had but 600 men able to bear arms. The most reliable estimate puts the number of the Ottoman army at its height at some 40,000 men, of whom 15,000 eventually returned to Constantinople. 

After the siege a new city had to be built: the present capital city of Malta, named Valletta in memory of the Grand Master who had withstood the siege. In 1607, the Grand Master of the Hospitallers was granted the status of Reichsfürst, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, even though the Order's territory was always south of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1630, he was awarded ecclesiastic equality with cardinals, and the unique hybrid style His Most Eminent Highness, reflecting both qualities qualifying him as a true Prince of the Church.

Having gained Malta, the knights stayed for 268 years, transforming what they called merely a rock of soft sandstone into a flourishing island with mighty defences and a capital city, Valletta, known as Superbissima, Most Proud, amongst the great powers of Europe. However, the indigenous islanders had not particularly enjoyed the rule of the Knights of St John. Most Knights were French and excluded the native islanders from important positions. They were especially loathed for the way they took advantage of the native women.

More information: Malta Uncovered

 

 

 In Malta, the Wars of Religion reached their climax. 

If both sides believed that they saw Paradise 

in the bright sky above them, 

they had a close and very intimate knowledge of Hell.

Ernle Bradford