Hesse: Annual review 2024 – April to June: Pigeons and pigs in danger – English fans too?

In the second quarter of 2024, fear is running rampant: pigeons and wolves are set to attack, England is naming Frankfurt a zombie city. But there are also many happy faces. Fast forward through the months of April to June.

January, February, March, April – the clock of the year never stops. We already noticed in the first part of our annual review Phrasendreschend that this year, 2024, went by far too quickly.

And since there was a lot going on in the second quarter, we’re continuing to review the past twelve months. Was the war lost in Hesse? At this point we are looking at the wonderful month of May, the EM month of June and the already mentioned April.

APRIL 2024

That moved Hesse

Cheer up, wood: Eintracht Frankfurt and the football world mourn Bernd Hölzenbein. The 1974 World Cup winner, who quickly spent his entire life in various roles at Eintracht and led Hessen to UEFA Cup victory in 1980, died at the age of 78 after a long, serious illness.

April does April things: April will do whatever it wants in 2024: On the first weekend of this crazy month, the temperatures climb towards the 30 degree mark and give Hessians a few summer days in spring. However, the sunglasses and swimming trunks have to be packed up again quickly and exchanged for gloves and scarf, as winter returns less than two weeks later. Hesse is sinking into snow.

Frankfurt? Are you crazy! A few weeks before the start of the European Football Championship, the English tabloid newspaper Sun is warning all English fans against traveling to Frankfurt. The Bahnhofsviertel is “the most dangerous slum in Germany” and Frankfurt is a zombie city. In addition to 5,000 junkies and 300 dealers, shootings on the street were part of everyday life. Such nonsense, says the city, but is nevertheless presenting a package of measures to improve the situation. In June, this much can be revealed, the fans from the motherland of football still feel visibly comfortable in Zombietown.

School trip ends in a ditch: In a coach accident on the A45 between Freudenberg and Olpe in North Rhine-Westphalia, 27 Marburg teenagers aged 14 and 15 were injured, four of them seriously. The trip, which was supposed to end in London, was over after around 90 minutes. The students who are in shock are partly receiving psychological care in their hometown in central Hesse.

And yet they fly: Lufthansa and the Independent Flight Attendants Organization union, which has the name UFO, which is very appropriate for air traffic, have settled their dispute and agreed on a new collective agreement. For all flight attendants this means more money. For all travelers this means more planning security. There will be no more strikes from now on.

For sports

DEL dream? Burst! The Kassel Huskies are once again failing because of themselves and are missing out on their longed-for promotion to the first German ice hockey league (DEL) for the fourth year in a row. Even a change of coach in the middle of the final series cannot avert the defeat against Regensburg. The North Hessians remain second class.

And the culture?

Total Settlers of Catan Inventors: He is considered one of the founders of “German board games”: The game inventor Klaus Teuber from Roßdorf (Darmstadt-Dieburg) dies at the age of 70. With “Settlers of Catan” he achieved worldwide success in 1995. The game is sold in around 70 countries.

And otherwise?

Farmer asks woman: Farmer Christian Stracke from Rauschenberg (Marburg-Biedenkopf) in central Hesse loves discovering the big stage. Instead of simply kneeling down and pulling out a ring with trembling hands, which anyone can do, he mows five words into a field of radishes as a token of his love for his girlfriend. “Do you want to marry me, Jana,” is written there one morning. What followed: A “spontaneous” walk and another word: “Yes.”

MAY 2024

That moved Hesse

Prince Reuss in the dock: The trial against the Reichsbürger group around Heinrich XIII begins at the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court. Prince Reuss. Nine men and women from the so-called “Patriotic Union” are accused of planning a violent overthrow of the existing state order. For this purpose, among other things, the Reichstag in Berlin should be stormed with weapons. Instead, there was a police raid and numerous arrests in December 2022.

The wolf in the state parliament: Since Hessian grazing animals are increasingly in danger, the wolf will become an issue in the state parliament in May. The government will release the Isegrim for shooting, i.e. include it in hunting law. “We need the trend reversal Wolf,” says CDU MP Dominik Leyh. The formal change in the law will follow in October, but there is still no approval from the federal government and the EU to officially release wolf hunting.

Danger to life in quicksand: Beate Oetzel from Witzenhausen (Werra-Meißner) becomes a lifesaver during her North Sea vacation in Sankt Peter-Ording. During a morning walk, the 65-year-old heard cries for help and then discovered a person in the quicksand. The North Hessian reacts immediately and saves the woman’s life.

Verdict after the murder of a 14-year-old: After the violent death of a 14-year-old girl in Bad Emstal (Kassel), the Kassel regional court sentenced a 21-year-old to a prison sentence of eleven years and nine months for murder. The body had been on the side of a dirt road in September of the previous year and the perpetrator was an acquaintance of the child.

For sports

Goodbye, SVWW: After a catastrophic second half of the season, SV Wehen Wiesbaden’s collapse ended with relegation to the 3rd league. The SVWW, which parted ways with long-time successful coach Markus Kauczinski at the end of the season, has to admit defeat to SSV Jahn Regensburg in the relegation. After the first leg in Bavaria and a hard-fought 2-2 draw things still looked good, but in the second leg there was a 1-2 defeat and a lot of tears.

Welcome back, Skyliners: The Frankfurt Skyliners prove that it also works the other way around. The Bundesliga basketball players only return to the BBL a year after being relegated to the second division.

And the culture?

75 years – and still “Sexy”: Marius Müller-Westernhagen is back on stage for the first time in five years. During his performance in the Frankfurt Festhalle, the now 75-year-old fulfilled the expectations of his 7,000 audience: he played all the old hits and took his audience on a journey into their past.

And otherwise?

Normal Kasselaners on the 1: The answer to the question of Germany’s best big city is officially: Kassel. In a ranking published by the South German Class Lottery, the North Hessian beauty leaves Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt and of course Munich behind. Accordingly, all people from Kassel feel the happiest in Germany. What have the others not done that North Hesse has done? Even.

JUNE 2024

That moved Hesse

Hard to bear: The murder trial begins at the Darmstadt regional court against a 15-year-old who is said to have killed the homeless Andreas N. on Luisenplatz. The teenager is accused of kicking his victim a total of 87 times in the head and upper body. Trial observers and judges were shocked; the main defendant later received the maximum sentence.

Pigs in danger: African swine fever arrives in Hesse. In mid-June, the deadly virus was detected for the first time in a wild boar near Rüsselsheim. This is followed by numerous other cases and many animals killed. South Hesse is hit hardest.

Pigeons in danger: After months of arguments and heated discussions, 53.5 percent of all Limburgers voted in favor of allowing pigeons to be killed by breaking their necks in the future. Animal rights activists speak of a bad day for animal rights, later there are compromise proposals and rescue operations. The death penalty has not yet been carried out, but after a new count in December there could even be a happy ending for the pigeons.

CDU celebrates the European elections: Although the traffic lights are no more than a possible scenario at this point, the government parties are also doing rather poorly in the European elections. The Greens lose more than ten percentage points and become only the fourth strongest party. The FDP has 6.3 percent, the SPD 16.4. The winner of the election in Hesse will be the CDU (30), the AfD can vote (13.6).

NATO is moving to the state capital: Jürgen Klopp is already there, now a NATO unit should follow. In the future, weapons deliveries to Ukraine and training activities will be coordinated in Wiesbaden. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced this in July. The new unit is to move into the US military base in the Erbenheim district.

For sports

Hesse is becoming a football country: The defining and defining topic of the summer is the European Football Championship in Germany. Thousands of fans from all over Europe are also celebrating in Hesse, transforming the streets and bars into colorful and mostly peaceful fan curves. A total of five games will take place in Frankfurt, including the German group game against Switzerland and a tearful evening from Cristiano Ronaldo. The Frankfurt lawn may cause trouble again, but the rest is a big celebration.

And the culture?

Sugar cube opening: The planning and construction of the Reinhard Ernst Museum took around eight years, and there were repeated delays. In June the time has come: The “Sugar Cube” in Wiesbaden opens its doors. Art should be experienced there by everyone, especially families and children.

And otherwise?

Forget your worries for a moment: Despite all the joy about goals and titles, there are also thoughtful moments at the European Championships. Above all, the German team, which sets up camp in Taunusstein (Rheingau-Taunus) and invites you to an emotional public training session in Wiesbaden, shows that football is just a secondary matter. The players have the ball at their feet, but also always have the war on their minds.