European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 18, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday january 10, 1993 world the stars and stripes Page 11 Complex Laws take dim View of Indr by Tyler Marshall los Angeles times Bielefeld Germany a with the hour approaching Midnight the residential intersection of this sleepy Market town seemed deserted As a tone pedestrian began to Cross. Suddenly out of the darkness came a cyclist who instead of avoiding the pedestrian nearly ran him Down shouting As he sped past a a in be got the right of Way Here a in a nation where the daily rhythm of life is shaped not so much by Courtesy and common sense As by a seemingly endless set of official rules and regulations the pedestrian had committed the Cardinal sin by failing to yield to the bicycle he had violated the German sense of order. Quot order Quot goes a German saying Quot is half of life for those not born into the culture it seems even More. Indeed for outsiders the German penchant to organize regulate and control the routine things in life and then package them in a carefully detailed set of government ordinances is As bewildering As it is frustrating. It is a land where stray dogs and Jaywalker Don t exist where even anarchists Issue guidelines and where a recent Survey found that homemakers spend More time cleaning the family House than their counterparts in any other european country. The complexity of the rules and occasionally the outright resistance of foreigners in adhering to the demands of such a tightly controlled life generate a Low Grade friction that frequently hampers their integration into the society. Among other things integrating Means getting in step with a the emission Protection Law which among other things is the principal guardian of Germany a afternoon Quot quiet time a that period Between 1 and 3 . When the very Young and the very old arc napping. Any noise above 25 decibels measured behind a closed window is forbidden under this Law during these hours As Well As Between 10 . And 6 . A the 19-Page neighbors rights Law which sets rules that govern relationships Between neighbors including the he int of Hedges. A the vital statistics Law which gives bureaucrats at the local Public records office the right to veto a parents Choice for the name of a Newborn child if they decide that the name docs not clearly indicate the child a sex. A the infamous store closure Law which sets retail trading hours nationwide. On weekdays no store May open before 8 . Or remain open after 6 30 . A except on thursdays when 8 30 . Is the closing time. On most saturdays everything must shut by 2 . And stay that Way until monday at 8 . A. A a although Quirky rules exist in Many countries a european Community bureaucrats spent months working on the Legal definitions of what constituted a Cucumber a the real difference is that in Germany they Are taken seriously. A special local government Agency known As the Ordnung amt or order Bureau enforces these and other similar Laws. A. According to Peter Schmitz head of the Bureau in Bonn there Are roughly a thousand such regulations on the books in Germany that dictate everything from How a Chimney is cleaned to controlling animal Protection. Their reach seems All embracing. Mowing one s own Lawn on a sunday afternoon for example could violate three Laws simultaneously a one Banning such work on a Holiday a second Banning afternoon noise and a third that sets scr civic noise limits for Lawn mowers. Violations usually first reported by complaining neighbors before they arc followed up by Bureau staff can Lead to fines ranging from $13 to $650. Schmitz said that in recent years As germans have become More affluent they have become increasingly aware of the Laws that shape much of their lives. As a consequence the volume of complaints filtering into his office has gradually increased. Schmitz noted that in the past three years his office has closed Down four children a playgrounds and a Tennis court in the City for part of the Day after neighbors complained that noise Levels violated the Law. Quot Tennis Isnit a sport normally played by rowdies a he explained. Quot but you know the Blip blog Blip Blogit disturbed . A germans growing preoccupation with enforcing their rights has at times exasperated government leaders who Sec it As part of a larger reluctance to sacrifice for a greater Community Good. Quot people arc so obsessed with their rights under the Law that they be forgotten what generosity to others is All about Quot government spokesman Dieter Vogel commented in la discussion about the reluctance of Many Western germans to help their Eastern cousins rebuild the economically and socially devastated for mar communist Region. But in Matiy ways germans see the carefully protected social order As an important Buffer that Shields the very foundations of the nations successful yet still vulnerable democracy. After All,.germans Are Quick to recall it was a failure to Deal with social disorder that undermined the country a first democratic Experiment the Weimar Republic in the 1930s. Although disorder May be personally irritating on one level on another it is seen As a danger to the common welfare. A foreign student in Bonn experience of watching two other foreign cars Cross against a red Light and hearing a German at the same crossing mutter to his female companion Quot that a the Way it starts.�?�. A. A. A a although not main cause of the present xenophobic attacks in Germany the inability of foreigners to slip quickly and willingly into such a tightly controlled environment docs bring its tension. Joachim Der Flor is mayor of the Northern town of Molln where three turkish. Nationals died in a right Wing arson attack in november. Searching for answers As to Why foreigners had not become better integrated into German society he said in an inter View Quot we germans have to organize cd cry thing. The better the organization the happier we feel. It could be that foreign cars done to fit into this. A this is not a live and let live society a he added. But in november one of Germany a highest courts seemed to draw the line on German order. A Federal appeals court ruled against a resident of the Southern town of ingols Tadt who had demanded the Quot deportation of frogs from a Faical Pond because their nocturnal croaking exceeded Legal noise limits. For environmental reasons the court ruled the frogs could stay put. Changed attitudes doomed mafia fugitive bombings of investigators helped galvanize italian Public Rome apr during the nearly 24 years Salvatore Quot Toto Quot Riina lived As a fugitive he married in a Church fathered four children born in the same clinic circulated freely in Palermo Sicily and ruled As dictator Over the mafia investigators and former mob members say. A that Freedom ended with his arrest Friday. A Day later amid the Banner headlines and expressions of Joy Many italians were asking How the powerful Boss known As Quot the beast Quot a and the country a leading wanted Man a could have avoided capture so Long. Quot Why did it take 20 years to arrest him who protected him a wrote commentator Roberto Martinelli in the Turin daily la Starha. Meanwhile Riina was transferred to a secret location in Rome the news Agency Ansa reported saturday state television snowed Lum being hustled aboard a helicopter in Sicily As he clutched a coat Over his head. He was expected to appear before judges authorities must now face the threat of mob Talia Tion against the state and the possibility of bloodshed As Riina a enemies Settle accounts. Observers noted that Riina had posted his men in areas All Over Sicily to impose his will in the territory of other Bosses. Riina a arrest was a big morale boost to a country troubled by a sinking Economy and yearlong nationwide political scandal. Quot it is a fact of fundamental in fior Tance for Faith in the future of All of us a prime minister Giuliano Amato said in a speech at the University of Pisa but As a headline in the newspaper la Lodi pen Dente put it saturday Quot Riina captured 23 years too late Quot the mobs infiltration of the establishment Riina a Power and a Lack of political will in the fight against the mafia combined to protect him. However events in the several mobsters who collaborated with the slate said the crimes prompted them to talk. Riina s Propin Sily for violence also May have helped. Riina last year have deeply affected italian society and created the conditions that fed to the 62-year-old Boss of Bosses arrest while being driven Down a Busy Street in Palermo. Riina has been implicated in the bombings that killed two italian heroes a mafia investigators Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in May and july a As Well As More than 50 other killings. The mob has murdered other officials before but these attacks were particularly horrendous. Falcone s wife and three police officers perished in a huge explosion and five of Borsje Lino a guards were killed. Against Riina with signs sayings Quot thank you Carabiniero Quot referring to the paramilitary police Force that arrested Riina. Mafia expert Pino Alacchi said on state television that Riina a arrest could mean an end to the mafias Quot polity of massacres a which he instituted. Police officials at a news conference Friday said informants helped them Zero in on the Boss. Asked Why Riina had been arrested Only now paramilitary police commander Antonio Viesti said Riina so network of cover Quot had finally been penetrated. The government pressured by slipping popular support has shown new resolve in the anti mafia fight. Mobsters were moved to far away prisons. Soldiers were sent into Sicily As a show of Force. Special units were set up to track important longtime fugitives about a half dozen of whom have been captured. New anti mob Laws allowed hundreds of millions of dollars in assets to be seized. But five other Quot super fugitives Quot Are on the list of authorities and Many officials lamented that Borsellino and Falcone were not alive to enjoy the arrest of the Man they had investigated. 1
