Notre Dame and WW2 bombs evacuating German cities

First...

In case it's not common knowledge, Notre Dame does not belong to the Catholic church. They rent it from the French government. And who pays for the repairs is most likely a huge insurance mess now - whether the workers were negligent and caused the fire. That takes time to debate, years even.

It's true that the Catholic church has more money than the Protestant, but my opinion as an ignorant immigrant is the insurance agency should pay damages, because most likely the contractors were to blame.

In Europe church and state are more affiliated than in America, we have "church tax" here, what you can choose to pay to either the Catholic or the Protestant church. My husband pays Protestant, I pay nothing because I would rather align myself with the "free churches" I've blogged about repeatedly, free churches do not collect taxes. 

We were horrified to see it burning, I kept thinking about our Dom here our city of Cologne. Unfathomable.


***


Got this in my mailbox:


U.S. Embassy Berlin, Germany

Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Removal of Unexploded Ordnance

April 11, 2019

The Embassy alerts U.S. citizens living in or traveling to Frankfurt am Main and Wiesbaden, Germany that German officials report unexploded ordnance at two locations in Wiesbaden and Frankfurt am Main.  Authorities discovered ordnance at a site near Leipziger Strasse in Wiesbaden-Bierstadt and in the Frankfurt am Main city center, in the Main river near the “Alte Bruecke” bridge.  The German authorities will disarm and dispose of the ordnance in Wiesbaden on Thursday evening, April 11, 2019, and as a routine and standard precaution, they have ordered the evacuation of the area beginning at 13:00hrs.  Authorities will dispose of the ordnance in the Frankfurt am Main city center on Sunday, April 14, 2019.  German authorities have not yet identified the timeframe for Sunday’s ordnance disposal.  U.S. citizens are advised to follow media sources regarding further details about the timing of the defusing and to expect disruptions in the city center on Sunday.
The Embassy advises U.S. citizens in both areas to comply with official directions and avoid the area during disarming.  U.S. citizens in Germany are urged to comply with police directions and street closures at all times, maintain a high level of vigilance, take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security, and monitor local news stations for updates.

***

My Embassy is so nice to me, always sending me helpful notes about places to avoid danger (usually protests - this is the first bomb warning).

I recently volunteered at the Embassy to help in an emergency situation. I said I could offer language assistance, first aid, housing, transport, and a good place to land helicopters (my field). My husband really wanted me to take that part out but I assured him we're talking armageddon here, so it's fine.

Anyway it is true that WW2 bombs continue to be found here regularly. It makes me wonder if we have one on our land. Per Wiki:

Germany has a specialized unit for defusing bombs called (Kampfmittelbeseitigungsdienst (KMBD), Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service). It is considered one of the busiest worldwide as it deactivates a bomb every two weeks.

Thousands of UXOs (unexploded ordnances) from the Second World War are still uncovered each year in Germany.