Day 3
this time an autobiography
Many recognize the surname
Some know that he was also politically active
Manfred Rommel
Despite everything cheerful
When I was about 20 years old, I was very interested in how a man with a heavy historical name dealt with such a past
1/?
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si_irini
in reply to si_irini • • •Manfred Rommel the son of Erich Rommel (the desert fox) and Lord Mayor of Stuttgart for over twenty years.
He divided opinion and was loved by many.
A former colleague, however, didn't like him so much, she didn't like his sayings, but that was something I really liked. Short, to the point, concise, sometimes cynical.
2/?
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si_irini
in reply to si_irini • • •It was interesting to read what his father was like, he also describes the moment when his father was taken away by the SS.
There are many things in his autobiography that I remember, won’t forget them.
3/?
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si_irini
in reply to si_irini • • •One of these stories were of encounters after the Second World War and how he was met, the son of the famous soldier. When some Allied soldiers learned his name, they shook his hand to honor his father, this story taught me a lot, for many reasons.
4/?
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si_irini
in reply to si_irini • • •Manfred Rommel left a lasting mark on Stuttgart, whether you liked him or not.
Stuttgart would be very different today if it hadn't been for him.
I was born in Stuttgart during the Rommel era, in a climate that was friendly to foreigners and cheerful, a climate that he shaped. I am very grateful to him for that.
5/?
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si_irini
in reply to si_irini • • •The title alone says so much about him, his attitude to life and his own past and that of Germany after the Second World War.
6/?
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si_irini
in reply to si_irini • • •After my colleague at the time said she didn't like him and his sayings (she also lived in Stuttgart, unlike me) I asked her, but what about all his achievements?
How many of these world companies would still be here if it wasn't for him? He has secured many jobs.
Stuttgart is a quiet and safe city, has a subway that doesn't just run underground and so on….
7/?
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Mina
in reply to si_irini • • •Rommel surely was one of the few mayors in Germany to be known beyond his city walls.
Without doubt, he was pretty charismatic.
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si_irini
in reply to Mina • • •Before I read the biography I was not so positive about him…
I wondered how a man with such a father could get so far, I didn't draw such a distinction at the time as to who Erich Rommel was and what he stood for.
I also didn't remember if we talked about the Desert Fox at school.
🧵
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si_irini
in reply to si_irini • • •After reading the book, I put my attitude and my prejudices aside
That book also influenced me a lot
It taught me "not to judge a book only by its cover" ask, learn, research...don't have prejudices right away
Each of us knew what Stuttgart stood for....boring, work work and build a houses....
but with him came the cheerfulness 😊💜
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