What was first tried out at Chambord Castle in 1952 has since become very popular not only in other regions of France but also worldwide: the illumination of historical monuments utilizing special lighting effects and often combined with background music or storytelling. The sound and light show at the pyramids of Giza, for example, is very well known.

Extraordinary illuminations can be seen at various locations in Lorraine. Different cities use the most modern media technology to offer a spectacle to guests and locals alike, but also to draw attention to buildings and the exciting history of the region in an entertaining and sophisticated way. In summer, for example, there is video mapping at Metz Cathedral, a sound and light show at Toul Cathedral or the illumination at Lunéville Castle.

Hotel de Ville during the illumination, rm, kasaan media, 2019

But one of the most impressive is undoubted "Son et Lumière" on Place Stanislas in Nancy.

Duke Stanislas, former King of Poland, lived in France as Duke of Lorraine between 1733 and 1766. Through his building activities and ideas, he had a decisive influence on the present appearance of Nancy. The Place Stanislas, which was built according to his plans, is an architectural gem due to its uniform baroque architecture and is rightly considered one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. This square, which has also been included in the Unesco World Heritage List or, to put it correctly, the buildings around the square have been providing the canvas for spectacular illumination since 2007. Once only thrown onto the façade of the Town Hall, the show now comprises a total of five buildings, including the Opera House, the Grand Hotel and the Museum of Art.

Nancy Opera on the Place Stanislas, rm, kasaan media, 2019 

Between 15 June and 15 September 2019, anyone can experience the 20-minute event, which is free of charge to viewers, on the square at 10.45 p.m. in the evening, or 10.00 p.m. since 16 August. A warm summer evening with a good meal in one of the many street restaurants and then a spectacle of the extra class. The technology is realised via eight projectors and seven media servers. About eight kilometres of cable had to be laid for this. But an effort that is enjoying increasing popularity. In 2019, around 900,000 visitors were expected to come to Place Stanislas in the evening.  

Scenes from the history of Lorraine are presented in eleven individual sequences and reminded of prominent personalities from the region, including the famous astronomer Charles Messier, who came from Lorraine.   

A particular focus in 2019 will be on a homage to the opera of Nancy, which celebrates its 100th anniversary.

And as the crowning finale to the opera, the Queen of the Night.

Year after year, some of the sequences are exchanged so that a visit is always worthwhile.

Lorraine and the city of Nancy are worth a visit - especially in summer.

Son et Lumière, kasaan media, 2019

 Neunkirchen, the city to live in 

Neunkirchen / Saar - was in the middle of the election campaign when we started this research, in the former steel city, which we had visited several times in recent years. Whoever tells the truth has lost or is denigrated as a Nazi. However, whoever wants to fight the right-wing, the strapping co-step walkers in their dull brown performances must call a spade a spade.

And talk about the child, too. The Republic belongs to all; all are part of this construct, which must be shaped and defended. Bad habits have spread that leave everyone astonished. None of this has anything to do with a democratic constitutional state. Now we asked ourselves, did we want to pour water on the mills of the right before the election? No, of course not.

Capitulation

Especially since the police also surrendered to the houses and streets in question. Public safety, however, is guaranteed by the state and thus even by itself. This guarantee is incontestable.

However, some do not want to accept this. In this example, yet, one can speak of a scandal. We cited three examples from the Saarland in recent years that show why citizens are increasingly fed up with politics in Germany. Only the "coronation" we saved for the end.  

Undefinably many criminal Bulgarians 

A jumble of televisions, constantly changing household objects, washing machines, high-quality electronics on the terrace on the first floor of the intersecting street adjacent to Peter-Wust-Strasse is what the viewer first notices. Except for mountains of rubbish, which combine to form a stinking lump, in between car tyres, engine parts, parts of welded safes, car doors, yellow bags that have been misused. Next to it, barbecue food, which moulds in front of itself, because it remains in the driveway, to the delight of the countless rats.

Until such time the public order office has to take action, also because of the blatant danger of epidemics.

Fat, happily squealing rats, which amid the daily increasing garbage, are eating their food and find a nesting place. The animals are well-fed, and even the crisis-proven public order office can no longer find any possibility of pest control. The temperatures are high. It starts to stink with the arrival of the new season.   

First of all: the police have long since given up and advise, one would not believe it, to leave the street regarding the last German remaining inhabitants. Germans unwanted. This directive is underlined by the fact that a black SUV with Bulgarian license plates stops at the curb and the inhabitants of the surrounding houses are threatened with being sent into prostitution. Of course, that only affects women. Otherwise, it is often necessary to grab the crotch or the breast to emphasize the threat and to carry out vast meat inspection.

Only at the Upper Market (Oberer Markt), where the mayor resides. Yeah, around the corner.  One will not believe it—almost 1,500 metres as the crow flies. 

The successor was also already agreed upon, Mr Aumann, he reckoned high chances for the succession and also belonged to the same party. So was he, the new mayor. The relay was handed over at the end of September 2019.

In a somewhat quirky style, Mr Fried, the former mayor, hands over the completely run-down town of Neunkirchen, degenerated to the point of wretchedness. Well, let's not forget the terraces. And the World War II bomb that was found in the process on the river Blies. A small thank you for the musical project should not be missing either. Quite beautiful to look at - but a few meters further, the abyss begins, almost opposite the station. In a side street, where there is still a pub, the drunks tell themselves cute stories from days long gone, which remind of the ballad by Reinhard Mey "Dieter Malinek, Ulla und ich" from the 1980s.

 A completely annoyed employee of the almost unreachable and retiring mayor chokes the conversation will end after a few moments. There is no interest in the concerns of citizens. Why too? Everybody thinks of themselves, only I think of myself.

Fried, the big star of the completely failed Neunkirchen politics, is going into a well-deserved retirement. Everybody agrees and wishes him at least in retirement a happy hand and proper rest.    

At night, when it gets dark outside 

If you grill with gasoline, it can already cause a deflagration. Quick barbecue. The meat then stews, as do the Bulgarians who handle 20-litre canisters of petrol, who, according to their statements, don't give a damn about the laws in Germany, and the cartridges which are visibly hoarded outside the door are a potential danger to the public.

Never mind!

There are threats over the garden fence if the engine parts are not allowed to be turned off. Where the pieces come from and who should dispose of the leftovers is written in the stars. Oil seeps into the ground, but the illegal garage thrives. Crowds of customers pour into the hard-working moonlighters from Bulgaria. It smells of excrements, here and there people sometimes cook on the garbage, also sometimes urinate from the 2nd floor. It pleases the rats. They squeak loudly.

Excess garbage in the Peter Wust Street in Neunkirchen, kasaan media, 2019

In Peter-Wust-Straße the existentialism of the eponym is not far off. With gasoline, barbecues are barbecued almost daily between stolen goods and waste. Preferably the spicy cheese sausages. A memory of the Balkans, it hisses so nicely to the squeal of the other inhabitants, who hide between the piled up bags and wait for their safe chance. Soon more rats than humans live in the two houses. Missed: Buses arrive, fully loaded, the goods are collected on the spacious terrace on the 1st floor of the property. Anything moveable that can be carried quickly away without much hassle. A year ago, a car burnt down without further ado, a tenant told us. The Bulgarians stood around and watched the lively fire. Applause surged when firefighters came with an excellent service.

Wealthy parasite

The not insignificant beneficiary of this rather unbelievable story is a landlord who only looks at the money. But he owns the house next door. According to the telephone directory, he has a company in the Saarland. What he does, nobody knows. But it's drafty in the apartments. The cheap substance he offers for a lot of money. It's Thomas J.'s favourite. He loves money most and racial talk from the right-wing. He was collecting the money from the poorest of the poor. And a little bit more maybe. Over and over again. At first sight, Thomas J. seems friendly and like a warm person, but his greed for money is indescribable. This quality hurts. He is one of the unscrupulous profiteers of the no-go system. Thomas J. rips off to stay for apartments where people would be afraid to visit. He squeezes the last bit out of people without any restraint. That's what he takes, the nice landlord. It can always be a little more. J. is not social, but the social office of the district mediates the flats.

Nice cabriolet

A lady in a smart convertible arranged the apartments. They are not interested in tenancy agreements; it is concealed that women who live there are exposed to an incalculable risk of rape and sexual assault. It's a life of violence and hate. For the blonde in the convertible they are just cases, for Thomas J. it's other victims he can gut. A symbiosis in these days when everything seems to be twisted. It doesn't matter if there is shooting, like a tenant on the first floor shortly after Christmas 2018, the police didn't even want to come. The projectile stuck somewhere in the ridge of the roof. It was the tenant's fault she heard it. The officer on the telephone of the Neunkirchen police was disinterested. The war profiteer Thomas J. did not care, it was cashed for January 2019, and he did not give a damn about the fate of his tenants. With him obligated property at best to make money in his pocket. But even for one of the war winners in this game, there is the threat of considerable adversity. Not only because his constructions seriously injured a tenant, in the meantime, the building police and the public prosecutor's office also investigated him after he was reported to them. Personal injury, fraud and coercion are only minor offences.

There is some manipulation and embezzlement of the bail, as we, unfortunately, have to acknowledge. J., who even had a tenant from the prostitution milieu in Neunkirchen, which is rampant in the area due to the Balkan gangs, parked together with a pimp in the building next to the House of Horrors, is looking forward to this with easy words. In an emergency, he can once again invent a story that nobody believes him anymore.

Car repiar on petite Balkan