European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Observation sold names Are too often gone with the whim Joseph Owen stall writer when my Hometown was called Harrington in the late 18th Century residents of a nearby City mockingly dubbed the Riverside Community  the crestfallen residents exhibiting typical Yankee practicality changed the towns name. The Relief was Only temporary of course human nature being what it is. The renamed Community a Augusta Maine a became the state capital in 1 827, and a mental institution opened there later. Those two developments in an otherwise unremarkable City one that even today has fewer people than Bostons Fenway Park during an average red sox game endowed it with nicknames so biting they probably embarrassed the few remaining Harringto Nivans right out of the state. I thought of this w Hen i read about Chemnitz. East Germany a communist government changed the name of that country a fourth largest City from Chemnitz to Karl Marx Stadt in 1953 to Honor the ideological father of the communist movement. Any Chemnitzer who objected were free to complain to their prison cellmate. After the peaceful november 1989 revolution indignant East germans began striking names like Quot Lenin Boulevard Quot and a German soviet comradeship Square from their signposts and Street maps. Karl Marx Stadt citizens voted in april by a 3-to-l margin to restore the City s former name As fast As possible. There is some irony Here. First a a Chemnitz had vanished Only on paper because most residents still use the name. Even those who said a Karl Marx stadts often shortened it to a a Ems a which if spoken quickly sounds like a a Chemnitz in local dialect. Second the vote called for restoring a name with a slavic origin instead of a German one. Third while Marx never visited Chemnitz and his political notions were debatable few can deny that he shed Light on major social ills of his time. Naming a City after him is hardly less honorable that naming one after say Sam Houston. But i sympathize with the Chemnitzer. You just done to mess with Peoples sense of identity. A parallel Case exists in the United states. After president John Kennedy a 1963 assassination the . Spacecraft launching site Cape canaveral fla., became Cape Kennedy. The residents were not pleased. But after a decade or so when space flights seemed mundane and Kennedy a Halo had faded substantially. Cape canaveral was Back on the map. People seem to care less about a names meaning than the Way it fits into the context of the times. Consider professional sports teams. When basketball a lakers were in Minnesota and jazz were in new Orleans their names made sense. Then the jazz moved to Utah for better or worse the nations in jazz Iest state and the lakers went to parched los Angeles. You know a City of the  but whose Angels Charlies the old Boston braves baseball team took its name from the Boston Tea party at which the instigators dressed up As indians another Misnomer. But what do braves have to do with Atlanta the teams current location speaking of the City Sherman a troops burned in 1864, what do hockey a flames mean now that they re in Calgary not Atlanta Are we talking Prairie fires Here or what that vain alteration has a million echoes in our own Era. Actors disc jockeys novelists athletes and would be presidents remember Gary Hart Pence change their names As casually As they put on fresh undershirts. Even nations do it. The former upper Volta is now Turkina faso a the land of incorruptible men a a strange name for a country heavily dependent on foreign Aid and prone to military coups. Chemnitzer think this nonsense has gone too far. So do i. Its time to turn Back the clock. Other cities should ditch their current irrelevant names and resume using the old ones. Leningrad was a a Petrograd Between the october 1917 bolshevik revolution and Lenin a death in 1924. Its a perfect name for a City where Winter seems to petrify everything for nine months a year. Besides �?o0 Grade Means a Zero degrees in German. Toronto used to be  that Yuppie Metropolis is now a vacuum for the rest of Canadas Talent wealth and resources so the old name would be More fitting. New York was called a new Amsterdam in the 17th Century. Now i ask you is there a City with a reputation that typifies life on the lower Hudson better than Europe a flesh peddling drug store Amsterdam simply put names should not be lies. If you have thoughts on this subject Send them to me at the vacation Lodge in be booked in Lush tropical  for writing the sunday Magazine has received such a Good response to its request for guest columns that a backlog has developed. If you Haven to seen your column yet be patient if it is selected to be published it will be appearing soon. Feedback have you taken any foreign language courses while in Europe staff sgt. Leslie King 564th civil engr so Einsiedler Hof West Germany i thought about it when 1 first got Over Here but then you get involved in things and done to think about it any More. I do have some German friends and in be Learned some German from them. Petty officer 1st class Nicki Barnett june overseas duty support program assistant Naples Italy i took Gateway i. When i was stationed Here before i knew enough to be understood in restaurants and i used. Basics such As a where is and Quot what is and some hand language and facial expressions. War a . Santiago employed by the department of Engineer and housing in Mainz West Germany i took some language courses in the military. Most germans know some English if you try to speak with them and get in trouble  come out and help. But you should try first. Capt. Stephan Rodgers 302nd tac missile so Comiso air station Sicily in be picked up a few words. My wife is the primary linguist in our family. She a taking a College level course in italian and already knows Spanish and latin. Most of what i know comes from watching italian to. Staff sgt. Freddie . Anderson 2nd in 4th inf Heilbronn West Germany i took some from the University of Maryland but that Wasny to what i needed. I Learned More from my German wife. Compiled by stars and stripes staff c sunday june 3, 1990