Marl-Oberhausen, Germany

It has been a busy week, what with the 12-hour days and a missing crate of mandatory material. Working in Germany, or any foreign country for that matter, is quite a bit different than working in the States. Our contacts have certain rules to abide by: They must take breaks at certain times (yes, union dudes in the States do, but they leave us behind) and we have to go with them, as we are escorted. Their smoking room is about a half a kilometer away and all of them smoke. I'm the smart one: I get my nic-fit relieved second-hand... Chemiepark, Marl(NW of 51°40′N 7°07′E)is a location of modern day history and our main contact is a fellow history nerd.

Allow me to digress: Walking back from the aforementioned smoke shack, Herr Meyer related a story about his niece. It goes something like this: She was playing on her bike near her home when she discovered a metal coke bottle. She being a fun-seeking 9 year old, she tied a string to the bottle and the other end to her bike, in order to drag the noise-maker behind her. After cruising for a spell down the street with the metal bottle behind her, she her a "POP!!!," from behind her. When she turned around, the coke bottle was gone, in it's place was a dust cloud. Turns out that the coke bottle was a German grenade from WW 2. And it also turns out that her story is fairly common around these parts. I guess the kids getting splinters at the park is not as big a deal as dragging a grenade behind the ole bike... I about pooped myself when he told me that story. Munitions turn up all of the time in Germany. You actually need a special permit in order to certify that your property is clear, or has been cleared, of munition before you can build on your property. Heck, Herr Meyer even related a story of how his neighbor had a 500 pound bomb encased in concrete, vice having it removed from his basement! Geez, what a conversation starter at a party: Didja ya know that you're standing above a 500-pound bomb? Care for more punch? Or moreover: Wussten Sie, das Sie uber ein 500 pfund Bombe steht? Pflege fur mehr Druck?

Every day, our main contact expects to see American bombers busting out of the clouds to drop their loads on the chemical park. I'm sure his parents were a part of that horror. SO here is the picture that I had alluded to in a prior Facebook post:

Herr Meyer told a story on how people would crowd into these bomb shelters and would be trapped inside by debris. If someone from the outside was assigned to that bunker and they survived the bombing, then that person would be responsible for clearing the rubble in order for the people to get out. They've monuments around this area for the 20+ people (whole families included) that died in the bunkers after a bombing raid. A little piece of history that has not been revealed, until now. True, the German people let a lunatic run and ruin their country, but there were plenty of dead people that were innocents. Stories such as this one are common throughout Germany, Poland, Belgium, The Netherlands, and France.

More pictures for you:

The different colored bricks show when the bomb damaged buildings were repaired. How many times they were repaired is unknown.

This building, and several like it, still shows the battle scars of either bomb blasts or from bullets.

An old warehouse that has not been used since the '40's. Right next to the warehouse is the concrete bomb shelter. The walls are at least 6 feet thick and are reinforced with rebar. The building has not been touched since WW 2, along with several others throughout Chemiepark, Marl. Ghost Adventures would have a good time in this location, eh?

The boiler itself is quite small, maybe 30 feet each side. Most of the ones we work at are 45 - 60 feet on each side. And, of course, it is an outdoor plant. A fun time to be sure, at a latitude the same as Alaska. The sun doesn't get very high in the sky during the day. I'd say about the same as the 8 - 9 o'clock sun in Colorado. The darn thing rises about 9 AM and sets by 4 PM. Strange. And to top it off, the MDC and Rack are located inside of the 700 foot smokestack.

Well, another day is about to show up in about 90 minutes. Can't wait, maybe I'll sleep through the transition... Hopefully our crate of missing things will show up tomorrow.

Thank you for reading,

Kevin