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National news Eiffelland 1920

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OOC: Eiffelland has a lot of newspapers, mostly on a regional basis. Newspapers sold nationally are the Spiegel des Tages, the Trierer Zeitung, the Weissenfelser Rundschau, the Kölner Zeitung, the Bremer Allgemeine (all centrist), the Weltblick (conservative and rightwing), the Volkszeitung (leftwing), the Wahrheit (communist) and Schau! (tabloid).
Radiosenders are the Eiffellandfunk (news sender on the short wave; state-owned), Radio Eiffelland (three senders, one news, one modern music, one classic music; state-owned), regional senders per province (all state-owned, and all consisting of a news sender, a modern music sender and a classic music sender), and a few non-state-owned broadcasters.
There is a law that guarantees the independence of the state-owned broadcasters. The government has no legal ways to determine what these senders should broadcast, apart from occasional speeches by government members.
 

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What will it be on the Eiffellandian railroads? Diesel or electricity?

Steam power catapulted us into a new era 100 years ago. Nowadays steam power is more and more replaced. The only place where it still plays a major role, apart from the industry and power plants, is on the railroads, but also there alternatives are available. But then the big question: Will it be diesel, or will it be electricity? Eiffelland's most important train builder, Magirus-Deutz, doesn't know it yet. It developed a complete line of electric locomotives and trainsets, but also a line of diesel locomotives and trainsets. What fails, is a diesel locomotive that reaches top speeds of 150 km/h, like the electric MDE 150. On the other hand, the fastest train Magirus-Deutz currently produces is a diesel trainset: The MDTD 200.
The Eiffelländische Bahn doesn't know it, either. On the one hand, it electrified parts of the network in the east. On the other hand, it buys diesel trains as well.
Today there was a press conference at the headquarters of the Eiffelländische Bahn. During that press conference, it was indicated that the major railroads will be electrified, but that the smaller lines in remote areas will be served by diesel trains.
 
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Executioner and aides report themselves ill and resign
Shockwave through Eiffelland's judicial system: Innocent man executed


On 15 March 1911, Siegfried F.'s life ended in the Strafgefängnis Kleinbeeren. He was executed for the robbery and murder of Friedrich Zablonski and his family in 1910. The funny thing was, however, that the prey was never found, nor evidence that showed that F. had already sold the prey. Another funny thing was, that the wounds of the Zablonski family had been inflicted by a right-handed person, while F was left-handed, a thing that was pointed at by F.'s barrister but pushed aside by the public prosecutor and the judges. F. himself always denied that he was the culprit. He indicated that he was with Karl Erbprinz von Weidenbach, the at that time 16 year old eldest son of the Fürst of Weidenbach. But Karl Erbprinz von Weidenbach was out of the country; his father put him on a boarding school abroad a few days after the robbery of the Zablonski family. The Fürst of Weidenbach denied on his son's behalf that there was any friendship between his son and F., who was gardener at the Fürst's estate. It should indeed be said, that it is rare that the heir of a Fürst would seriously befriend himself with one of his father's gardener, so this argument was pushed aside by the public prosecutor and the judges as well. The remaining evidence was considered too overwhelming, not only by the Kreisgericht, but also by the Fürstentumsgericht and the Reichsgerichtshof. A plea for pardon to the King failed as well, but it has to be said that King Lothar hardly pardoned any people who had been sentenced to death. Siegfried F. was 24 when his life ended on the guillotine.
One month ago, Marianne Felsenbach-Zablonski, Friedrich Zablonski's sister, discovered a chandelier in an antique shop that was stolen during the robbery of her brother. She warned the police, which started an inquiry. The police managed to trace the chandelier back to the antique seller who bought it back in 1911. This antique seller managed to indicate that he did not buy the chandelier from Siegfried F., but from somebody else.
Another development was the arrestment of Karl Erbprinz von Weidenbach for homosexual intercourse. He was interrogated again about the night of the Zablonski robbery, and confirmed that F. was with him during the night of the robbery. The Fürst caught them napping while they were making love. F. was fired and immediately removed from the estate. The Erbprinz was sent to a boarding school out of the country. So F. could never have committed the robbery. The reassessment of other evidence also made clear that F. was not the culprit. Another thing that became clear is that the real culprit cannot be found any more, so the Zablonski murder case will remain unsolved.
Karl Erbprinz von Weidenbach was released after his statements. Given the way the prohibition of homosexual intercourse has been phrased in the law, a conviction for homosexual intercourse can only take place when penetration can be proven, and that was not possible in this case.
As soon as the executioner and his aides heard that they had executed an innocent man, they immediately reported themselves ill and resigned. Minister of Justice Julius Böttcher ordered an investigation why this could go so wrong: "Mistakes can be made, but this mistake had horrible consequences. We must know why this happened, so that we can learn from it." He also announced a moratorium on executions.
Also the role of the Fürst of Weidenbach is under discussion: He lied to the police and the court about the whereabouts of his son and F. during the night of the robbery, which means that he hode important information that could have saved F.'s life and could have led to the arrestment of the real culprit. The Fürst is facing a charge with obstruction of justice, something that was unheard of in Eiffelland, and unthinkable before the Velvet Revolution of 1913.
The Zablonski case has given extra fire to the discussion about the death penalty. It was already a development that more and more judges refused to impose the death penalty, but this development is likely to accelerate. It is also expected that the public prosecutors will demand the death penalty less and less, which is also a development that started earlier. On the other hand, especially the far right and the strongly religious groups in the country are advocating to keep the death penalty in place. Meanwhile Chancellor Jung's political party, the Christiandemocratic CDV, has made a turn in this debate: It wants to abolish the death penalty. With its coalition partner, the Sociodemocratic SPE, and the liberal-democratic LDP, there is a clear majority for not only abolishing the death penalty but also taking up a prohibition of the death penalty in the constitution (which has been a wish of the SPE and the LDP since the beginning of the century).
Then one question remains: What to do with the people currently on death row? There are currently five persons facing the death penalty, but without an executioner, their executions are not likely to take place very soon, and maybe even never—who will apply for the job of executioner in the light of an abolishment of the death penalty? Circles around the Regent indicate that he wants to pardon them and convert their punishments to life imprisonment. It is also rumoured that the 16 year old Heir to the Throne Count Philipp is against the death penalty, and that he will pardon all people sentenced to death during his reign and convert their punishments to life imprisonment.
 
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Charge against Fürst of Weidenbach dismissed

The public procecution of the Principality of Rhön has dismissed the charge against Karl Fürst von Weidenbach. The reason for this decision was phrased in a press release. According to the public prosecution, the statement of the Erbprinz is probably closer to the truth than the statement of the Fürst, but there is not enough evidence to consider one of the two statements the truth. As a result, it is not clear who is lying, and with that whether the Fürst made himself guilty of obstruction of justice or not.
It remains to be seen whether this will have consequences to the Von Weidenbach family. Fact is, that the Erbprinz's homosexuality is publicly known now. That makes his position of heir to the throne of the principality of Rhön unsustainable, apart from the fact that the relations between father and son will probably be troubled.


Protest gatherings after siege of Papal City

Throughout the country, but mainly in the Catholic areas, Tiburan Catholics are protesting against the occupation of the Papal City by troops from the Ponitca Reformed Army. In Trier, people gathered in front of the Remian Embassy. In Heilbron, people gathered in front of the Episcopal Palace. In the Principality of Rheinland, people gathered in front of government buildings. The same happened in the Principality of Rhön, the Province of Sauerland and other Catholic provinces. The protests remained non-violent, but the athmosphere was grim. Chancellor Jung did an appeal on the people to remain calm.


31 October and 1 November in the weekend

Both 31 October and 1 November are important days in Eiffelland. On 31 October, the mainly Protestant provinces celebrate Reformationstag to commemorate that Martin Luther attached his 95 theses to the church door of the All-Saints Church in Wittenberg. It is under dispute that he really did so, but it is a fact that he as a monk sent a letter to his bishop to protest against the sale of indulgences, and that he attached his "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences" (a document that became known as the 95 theses) to his letter. This actually happened on 31 October. This ignited the reformation.
1 November is All-Saints-Day. This is a public holiday in the Catholic provinces, because on this day the Catholics go to the cemeteries to take care of the graves of their beloved ones. This to celebrate All-Souls-Day on the next day. Masses in the Catholic Churches were dedicated to All-Saints and All-Souls. Additionally, the priests read out a statement to call upon the Pontica Reformed Army to leave the Papal City, and additional prayers were performed for the Pope.


Last gap in motorway Bremen-Trier closed

Eiffelland is working hard on building motorways. The plans are ambiutious: A motorway network has been projected all over country, and this plan should have been implemented by the end of the decade. The first motorway ever built in Eiffelland is the motorway between Köln and Bonn. This is still a quite simple motorway without a hard shoulder. As soon as Salen built the first motorway with a hard shoulder, the plans changed in Eiffelland as well. Nowadays, all new Eiffellandian motorways are constructed with hard shoulders.
Also the motorway that is considered the most important one of Eiffelland: The one that connects Trier with the large industrial centre in the Principality of Rheinland. The work on this motorway was intensive, but yesterday the work was ready. Now Trier is connected by means of a motorway not only with the large cities in the coal mining area of Rheinland, but also with Bremen. The last part of this motorway was ceremonially opened by the Regent. The work is not completely ready yet (hard shoulders are still added to the motorway at some locations), but the motorway connection is there.
Meanwhile, motorway construction continues everywhere in the country. Tunnels are even bored through the Harzer Mountains to connect Innsbruck, Starnberg and Salzburg with the motorway network. And on top of that, the parliament approved a law that orders all railroad crossings to be replaced with bridges and tunnels so that road traffic and railroad traffic do not cross at the same level any more.
 

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11NOV1920

The 11th of the 11th; start of the Carnival Season


It is called Fastelovend in Köln, Eiffelland's Capital of Carnival. It is called Fasching in Southern Eiffelland, and Mardi Gras in Les Vosges, Eiffelland's Francophone Principality. But the rest of Eiffelland, as well as the world, knows it as Carnival. But did you know that Carnival consists of more than the three days before Ash Wednesday? In fact, Karnival starts on the 11th of the 11th. It is celebrated as a carnival light. Everybody goes out in costumes, and there are sessions everywhere. From now on until the end of Carnival, the Carnival Greet Alaaf is allowed. There will be sessions each weekend until Carnival. The only exception is the Advent period, when the Christmas Markets takes up the attention of the people, and the period from Christmas until Epiphany.


14NOV1920

Eiffelland commemorates the end of the Great War


Eiffelland was among the victors of the Geat War, but never turned the commemoration of the end of the Great War into a big party. Back in 1918, the first really democratic government of Eiffelland, the Cabinet Jung I, determined the form of the commemoration. It decided to point the focus on commemorating that people suffered, and on honouring the soldiers who fought in that war, of whom many gave their lives or came out of the war mutilated. There are no big celebrations; the Cabinet Jung I decided not to make them part of the celebrations out of piety towards the losers of the war and the people who died or came out of the war traumatized or mutilated. Chancellor Jung said about it in the Reichstag: "It is unnecessary to push their defeat into their faces. It is unnecessarily insulting, and only heats up revenge feelings. Furthermore, after 25 million deaths, there is nothing to celebrate."
There will also be a commemoration to celebrate closing the peace agreement on 19 December.
 
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Non-stop from Trier to Caladboig?

Well, that is not possible yet. But Air Eiffelland does start services from Eiffelland to Ivernia. Two flights will be flown from Trier to Caladboig; one with a stopover in Le Vieux Bourg (Petits-Pays) and one with a stopover in Dulwich (Engellexian Republic). Furthermore, a non-stop flight will be offered from Köln to Caladboig, and a flight from Bremen to Caladboig with a stopover in Tingsted (Jutegn) will be offered as well. These flights will be performed with what has become the backbone of Air Eiffelland, the Darner L200 Condor, a plane that has a reach of over 3500 km and has a cruise speed of 335 km/h.


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The Darner L200 Condor
 
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20NOV1920
Death penalty abolished in Eiffelland and League Mandate Al-Magrab


Eiffelland has set a record, at least for itself. Well, actually, two records. It has never happened before in Eiffelland's parliamentary history that a law was approved 32 days after its very first letter was written down, and it has never happened in Eiffelland's history that the Head of State signed a law within ten minutes after Parliament approved it. But this was what happened. Eiffelland drafted and approved the abolishment of the death penalty within 32 days, and Regent Von Walsrode signed the law into law just ten minutes after Parliament approved it. The guillotine goes to the museum.
But not only in Eiffelland. Also in the League Mandate Al-Magrab. A separate law was voted upon to abolish the death penalty there. The regent was present at the parliament meeting, and signed the laws immediately after they had been voted upon.
There is also relief for the people currently on death row: Their punishments have been converted to life imprisonment. Also this applies to both Eiffelland and Ak-Magrab.
 
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Start of the advent: Christmas markets open

Christmas is a big thing in Eiffelland. It is celebrated exuberantly, with the Christmas tree (which is built up on the day before Christmas), many other Christmas decorations, Glühwein, Weihnachtsgebäck (special cookies and bonbons for Christmas), the carp with potato salad at Christmas Eve and the Christmas Goose at 25 and 26 December.
But the festivities start earlier. The four Sundays before Christmas mark the advent period. During this period, the advent wreath hangs in the churches and lays on the tables in the houses. This is a wreath decorated with fir branches and four candles. At the first Sunday of the advent, the first candle is lit. The second candle is lit on the second Sunday of the advent, then the third candle on the third Sunday of the advent, and eventually the fourth candle on the fourth Sunday of the advent.
The last Sunday of NovemberA big part of the tradition is the Christmas Market. This market is usually built up from Mid November onwards, but the official opening of the Christmas Market is the Monday after the first Advent. The Christmas Market consists of a large number of wooden market stalls decorated with Christmas decorations. The market stalls sell christmas decorations, art, christmas sceneries, but also Weihnachtsgebäck, Aachener Printen, Glühwein, hot chocolate milk, punch and more kinds of food.
This year the Christmas Markets will open on 30 November. Everybody looks forward to them: The traders, the public, and also the tourists.
 
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