This is it, folks: 2026. It's the year where we revolt against those who made 2025 a living hell. It's the year which we mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in the US, yet we feel less independent than in that time. It's a time where Europe should be an independent entity, but there are outside forces that don't want this to happen.

I found this interesting guide on how New Years is celebrated in Germany, compared with the United States. Have a look at it and feel free to add in the comments section below if there are some things that are missing from the list. We love to hear about it. The Flensburg Files would like to wish you and your family a wonderful New Year celebration and a great start into 2026. Remember, it's all up hill from here. ❤️🎉

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, painter, visual artist, film editor, musician, and actor. Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema, his work is distinguished by a singular surrealist vision that gave rise to the term “Lynchian.” Over […] Stand by me-Celebrities who died in 2025. Dozens of well-known celebrities died during all of 2025. Dirk deKlein summarizes them in this article. 🇪🇺 THE FLENSBURG FILES

Bari Weiss taking over CBS was yet another nail in the coffin of a free press in the United States. We need a free press, for without it we cannot know facts, cannot know what our government is or isn’t doing, and therefore we cannot make informed decisions. Full stop. Dan Rather, a journalist and […] Hear Ye, Hear Ye …

📽️ TRIBUTE One of the best all-time films of the 20th Century is one that was directed by Rob Reiner entitled Sleepless in Seattle. Produced in 1993, it looks at two star-crossed lovers who find their way to each other, despite all the obstacles that were in front of them. One lost his wife to cancer, the other was about to marry someone who was allergic to everything.

The cast of All in the Family. Source: CBS Television, public domain 📽️ TRIBUTE Ah yes, this post provides you with the greatest hits of Rob Reiner as an actor. His biggest breakthrough came when he played Meathead in the TV comedy, All in the Family. He rivaled his counterpart Archie Bunker, played by Carol O'Connor, and the main character of the show.

📽️ TRIBUTE Stand by Me was perhaps the launching point of Rob Reiner's career as a director. Produced in 1985, the film focuses on four young boys who went out on an adventure together to find the body of a missing person from high school. They encountered many things in the story, from bullies and owners with dogs who ridiculed them, to oncoming trains that drove them from a viaduct, to leeches in the lake, to their discovery.

This last word of the week for 2025 could also be the synonym for the political endgame for the Trump regime on the Americans and their standings in the world. Many of us don't know about the word Necropolitics. One should get acquainted with it for it has ties with Hitler's regime in the 1930s which triggered WWII, and it is being used again in the present.

Public trust in the European Union has reached its highest level in nearly 20 years, with strong backing for the euro and a common defence policy, according to the latest Standard Eurobarometer survey. The poll shows that 52% of EU citizens now say they trust the EU, the strongest result since 2007. Support is particularly […] EU Public Support Hits Two-Decade High, Eurobarometer Finds…

Rob Reiner, who played the son in one of the most iconic father/son comedy duos in history, has been murdered. Who over 50 can forget the “sock and a sock or a shoe and a sock” routine or the debates over religion from the TV sitcom All in the Family? Unlike many TV shows from […] Rob Reiner (1947-2025): The Death of a Boomer Icon…

📽️ TRIBUTE As we kick off the tribute to the late Rob Reiner, I would like to present you with an interview that Dan Rather of Steady did with him and his father, Carl in 2020. Dan was a former host of the CBS Evening News before going independent in 2004. Carl Reiner was one of the brains behind the TV sitcom All in the Family, which made its debut in 1973 and ran for ten seasons.

Joan Taylor, Professor Emerita of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism, King’s College London Every year, millions of people sing the beautiful carol Silent Night, with its line “all is calm, all is bright”. We all know the Christmas story is one in which peace and joy are proclaimed, and this permeates our festivities, family […] What world was Jesus born into?

I wasn’t actually planning on an afternoon post today, but when I saw Robert Reich’s holiday post, I couldn’t resist sharing it. It’s a Wonderful Life We can create kindness and decency, despite Trump By Robert Reich 24 December 2025 For me, the real lesson of Frank Capra’s delightful holiday film “It’s a Wonderful Life” was […] Some Holiday Wisdom Merry Christmas and have a hopefully wonderful start in the New Year 2026! 🎄🎉🇪🇺 🏖️ THE FLENSBURG FILES

Pictures Imperfect presented a rather interesting interpretation of the 12 Days of Christmas. Check this out, as it is right in the Christmas season. 😉 For those who don't know it, here is a post I did a few years ago on it:

And now the answer to the question of what this painting resembles in terms of fairytales. We wanted to know what story behind this painting we saw at Glauchau's Christmas was. The Answer: Sleeping Beauty (German: Dornröschen). Originally from France, this fairy tale was first mentioned in the 14th Century and is the most reinterpreted fairy tale on record as it has been rewritten over a hundred times in at least ten languages.

I would like to bring this Christmas song to everyone's attention. It's one of the most popular songs to listen to on the radio and everywhere at Christmas time. Merry Christmas Everyone was produced by Shakin' Stevens. Known by his original name as Michael Barratt (*1948), the Welsh singer released this song in 1985 and has become a hit ever since, having stayed in the Top 100 in the UK and making its way to the rest of Europe, where one can find it in the radio, in live stream and at the Christmas markets.

Illuminated Christmas decorations in Berlin at night The music world lost another well-known legend on Monday and this Christmas Series genre pays tribute to him. "Driving Home for Christmas" was released in 1986 by Chris Rea, a famous British singer. The music presented brings a feeling of heading home to visit loved ones while enjoying the Christmas beauty behind it: the snow, the houses decorated with lights, children building snowmen, the Christmas shopping and the like.

This is technically Part III of my tirade on TBS (Trump's Bullshit, formerly known as CBS). And it pays tribute to the journalist who broke two stories open: the real one on people being detained in El Salvador and to the network for scrapping the story all ready for broadcasting on 60 Minutes. Sharyn Alfonsi is one of many brave journalists who spoke out against CBS News' decision to scrap the story and even sent a warning shot to the journalists in the US to be aware of possible censorship and retribution by the Trump regime.

Castle Complex Located just east of the state border and 20 km west of Chemnitz is the city of Glauchau. With a population of 22,300 inhabitants, the city on the Zwickau Mulde River has a lot of ch…

Castle Complex Located just east of the state border and 20 km west of Chemnitz is the city of Glauchau. With a population of 22,300 inhabitants, the city on the Zwickau Mulde River has a lot of characteristics that make it charming. It has a lot of historic buildings, especially in the southern part with the villas and the Castle Complex with two castles into one.

Hours after 60 Minutes was forced to pull the segment on the Venezuelans being sent to CECOT Prison Complex in El Salvador, there was an stark outcry by people wishing to see the report, not only from the TV viewers, but also the journalists. W.A. Lawrence of Glass Empires provides the details and countermeasures that are needed right now to force TBS (formerly known as CBS) to retract the decision and broadcast it.

This is CBS. Or at least it was CBS. It has now become TBS (also known as Trump's Bullshit). Once known for its objective and thorough broadcasting, through the likes of 60 Minutes, the Evening News and the sports events including The NFL Today, it has been renamed TBS last night after a segment of 60 Minutes that was supposed to have been televised was killed just three hours before its broadcast.

Roman Birke, Dublin City University The new US national security strategy marks a significant historical turn. It shifts the focus from global overpopulation to anxieties around population decline in the western world. Coupled with renewed criticism of Europe’s military weaknesses, the strategy updates longstanding anti-European narratives. US-European relations have so profoundly influenced the course of […] America’s anti-European attitudes are centred on perceptions of military weakness and the decline of native populations This guest post was first published in CDE News, which you can click on the link to read. 🎄 THE FLENSBURG FILES

It would seem that the U.S. Department of Justice under the auspices of Ms. Pam Bondi has decided that at least half of the people in this nation should be investigated as “domestic terrorists.” That would include me, and maybe some of you. Let’s break this down a bit: Anti-Americanism – I’m not “anti-American”, BUT […] Fascism At Its Finest — The Bondi Memo The post courtesy of Jill Dennison. 🎄 THE FLENSBURG FILES

Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady) in Dresden. Photo taken in December 2011 This page features articles and a tour guide of places in Germany that you should visit. Articles include apsects of trave…