EU

EUrope for Beginners:

→ Europe for Kids! → Geography! with Music → History in Years!

Pictures: Satellite, Europe at Night, Euro-map

Well, I am a great supporter of the EU! I was born on April 11, 1950 in the small but beautiful Saarland, the very heart of EUrope: →geographically, →politically, →psychologically!

a) geographically:

Saarland in German map

Saarland

Saar Loop ...with the Saarschleife, the famous loop of the river Saar – a gentle twist of geography where even the river seems to hesitate before moving on.

b) politically:

After World War II, the Saarland came under French occupation again and became the Saar Protectorate. As a coveted coal and steel region that shifted back and forth between Germany and France, it was also here that the idea for the future EU was born. On May 9, 1950, - my calculated birthday! :-) - French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman announced the plan named after him, which was essentially developed by Jean Monnet: Europäischen Gemeinschaft für Kohle und Stahl = a European Coal and Steel Community, the “Montanunion,” as the cornerstone for the economic and political unification of Western European states.

Saar flags

	1920–1935	Territory of the Saar Basin
	1947–1956	Saar Protectorate

	1957–	Flag of Saarland	The flag of Saarland is based on the flag of Germany and is a black, red, and gold (yellow) horizontal tricolor. In the center of the flag is the coat of arms of Saarland.

	1919–1933 1949–	Flag of Germany See also: List of German flags	It was officially re-adopted on 23 May 1949, and subsequently used by West Germany while the country was divided into East and West before reunification in 1990. The tricolour flag was designed in 1832, and the black, red, and gold colours were taken from the uniforms of German soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars Out of the blackness* of servitude through bloody battles to the golden light of freedom.* or taken from the coat of arms of Holy Roman Empire.

Euro flag

	1955–	Flag of the Council of Europe	A circle of 12 upward-oriented 5-pointed golden stars centred on a blue field: represents the continent beyond the organisations as the Flag of Europe 1986–Flag of the European Union.

Charlemagne embodied a proto-European vision whose vast empire shaped names, borders, and ambitions across the continent for centuries. Long before coal and steel united Europe in treaties, it was sword and crown that imposed a sense of order — yet the same yearning for unity already glimmered beneath.

His realm stretched across modern-day France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and deep into northern Italy – a symbolic ancestor to today’s European Union.

Leibniz, called universal genius, greatest polymath in history (with only Leonardo da Vinci as his peer), was a visionary mind centuries ahead of his time. While developing binary mathematics – the foundation of all modern computing and artificial intelligence – he also envisioned a Europe bound not by conquest but by common principles: peace, prosperity, and rational governance.

He proposed a supra-national authority that could secure political unity through diversity – long before such notions became mainstream. For Leibniz, the key to human flourishing lay in balance: – a balance of Christian traditions, a harmony of cultures, and a stable European order in which enlightenment could take root.

His federalist ideals – decentralized yet united – are now seen as a profound intellectual precursor to the modern European Union. Where Charlemagne ruled with the sword, Leibniz dreamed with the mind. Together, they mark a historical arc from imperial dominance to cooperative sovereignty – from Christendom to EUrope.

I have several geographical identities or as I like to call them: 'My Homelands':

I am born in the Saarland, writing from the Philippines. European by heart, global by mind, cosmic by curiosity... :-)

0 Völklingen (0-2, district Luisenthal)

This is where I was born - within sight of a mine shaft, in a house (with a park!) right beside the railway line. Just a few hundred meters from the Saar River and almost on the French border.

→ Altenkessel (2-22):

This community was founded in the 19th century as a coal mining village.

From here also Frank Farian! 1941 - 2024 Miami. Music producer, composer, and singer, founded Boney M. and Milli Vanilli, sold > 800 million(!) copies worldwide.

→ Saarbrücken: Altenkessel became 1974 part of the capital of Saarland.

I grew up here and completed my Master's in Psychology in the excellent Saarland University by the age of 22, with additional studies in Philosophy, Sociology, Education and later a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology.

MY EUrope... begins right here - in space and in time! - directly linked to the birth of the European Union, forged in coal, steel, and post-war cooperation.

My later life continued to trace borders, crossings, and convergences:

Mittenwald, on the border with Austria - where I completed my doctorate, nestled at the foot of the Alps.
Lake Constance, near Switzerland - where I worked as a research assistant at the prestigious Allensbach Institute (Prof. Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann).
Aachen - my home for 27 years, once the residence of Charlemagne, who was crowned Emperor in 800 AD - and located at the heart of the border triangle between Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

* * *

Identities:
My 'Journey from Lowlands to Highlands' :-)

1 Saarlander →Münsterlander →Mittenwald!, Lake Constance →Highsauerlander(!)

2 German favorites: 1978 Mittenwald! → 1985 Aachen! /
Berlin!, Sylt, Munique, Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne, Potsdam, ...

3 EUropean favorites: Malta!!, Venice!, Rome/Vatican!, Barcelona!,
Paris, London, Prague, Salzburg, Amsterdam, ...

4 Earthling! (ask Aliens!) →2013 to the Philippines!!
where my German! wife Lilian was born!
→ now a proud Lukban Highlander!! → A Wonderful Town!

5 Solar System (Proxima Centauri isn't exactly around the corner)

6 Milky Way, our humble galaxy (one of trillions!)

7 Local Group (Neighbor Andromeda is getting closer and closer!)

8 Virgo Cluster (which is part of...)

9 Laniakea Supercluster →3-D-Video!

10 Observable Universe → only ~93 billion light-years across.

11 Total UNIverse →The Cosmic Wednesday(!) + Ultima's Dream (!)

12 'Multiverse': un/provable?! :-)

2-D: Laniakea 'home supercluster'!

Signs:

^tc ^{transcontinental}

# visited! :-)

€ 20 x EURO currency

30 x NATO (& US + CAN) = underlined

07 x EU ohne Euro

27 x EU → Data: Eurostat

24 x nicht EU → Data: IMF = International Monetary Fund

Rank #	Country EU € + NATO	Capital ^tc= transcontin.	GDP^nombn $	Popul. Mio	GDP $' perCapita
1	Germany €	Berlin	4,591.00	84.4	54,396
2	United Kingdom	London	3,592.50	67.9	52,909
3	France €	Paris	3,130.60	66.2	47,282
4	Italy €	Rome	2,330.40	58.9	39,565
5	Russia	Moscow^tc	2,056.90	144.2	14,264
6	Spain €	Madrid	1,607.40	48.4	33,211
7	Turkey	Ankara ^tc	1,326.80	86.0	15,428
8	Netherlands €	Amsterdam&The Hague	1,126.90	17.9	62,955
9	Switzerland	Bern	939.0	8.8	106,705
10	Poland	Warsaw	843.5	37.8	22,315
11	Sweden	Stockholm	609.1	10.7	56,925
12	Belgium €	Brussels	608.2	11.8	51,542
13	Norway	Oslo	595.6	5.5	108,291
14	Ireland €	Dublin	566.2	5.2	108,885
15	Austria €	Vienna	536.8	9.1	59,008
16	Denmark	Copenhagen	432.0	6.0	72,000
17	Romania	Bucharest	368.6	19.1	19,300
18	Finland €	Helsinki	307.0	5.6	54,821
19	Czech Republic	Prague	304.7	10.8	28,213
20	Kazakhstan	Astana ^tc	295.6	19.8	14,929
21	Portugal €	Lisbon	288.6	10.5	27,486
22	Greece €	Athens	237.9	10.4	22,875
23	Hungary	Budapest	215.1	9.6	22,406
24	Ukraine	Kyiv	188.4	37.9	4,971
25	Slovakia €	Bratislava	135.2	5.4	25,037
26	Bulgaria	Sofia	105.9	6.5	16,292
27	Azerbaijan	Baku ^tc	91.0	10.4	8,750
28	Croatia €	Zagreb	88.0	3.8	23,158
29	Luxembourg €	Luxembourg City	86.8	0.7	124,000
30	Lithuania €	Vilnius	84.1	2.9	29,000
31	Serbia	Belgrade	79.4	6.6	12,030
32	Belarus	Minsk	78.4	9.4	8,340
33	Slovenia €	Ljubljana	68.9	2.1	32,810
34	Latvia €	Riga	46.5	1.8	25,833
35	Estonia €	Tallinn	42.6	1.3	32,769
36	Iceland	Reykjavík	35.8	0.4	89,500
37	Cyprus €	Nicosia	34.6	0.9	38,444
38	Georgia	Tbilisi ^tc	34.0	3.7	9,189
39	Bosnia & Herzegovina	Sarajevo	30.6	3.2	9,562
40	Albania	Tirana	27.2	2.8	9,714
41	Armenia	Yerevan	25.5	2.8	9,107
42	Malta €	Valletta	21.0	0.5	42,000
43	Moldova	Chișinău	18.0	2.5	7,200
44	North Macedonia	Skopje	17.0	2.0	8,500
45	Kosovo	Pristina	12.0	1.8	6,667
46	Monaco	Monaco	8.7	0.04	217,500
47	Montenegro	Podgorica	8.6	0.6	14,333
48	Liechtenstein	Vaduz	7.5	0.04	187,500
49	Andorra	Andorra la Vella	3.8	0.08	47,500
50	San Marino	San Marino	2.0	0.03	66,667
51	Vatican City	Vatican City	0.001	0.001	not listed