Mosel bridge – good news

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23 May – See this report in the New York Times that summarises the current precarious state of play.

I'm delighted to report that our press briefing at Hot Spot in Berlin on Sunday evening seems to have borne real, juicy, anti-bridge fruit.

Not only did it result in a front page report on the influential Süddeutscher Zeiting, it also engendered favourable coverage in Die Welt, Der Spiegel, Bild and this morning a most sympathetic piece in Die Zeit by Ijoma Mangold, who was at the event on Sunday, in which, Stuart Pigott (pictured) explains, 'he charts the history and politics of the Hochmoselübergang mit razor-sharp precision. He ends with the plea, "the Hochmoselübergang must not be built in the 21st century!"

'Another direct hit on Hendrik Hering [the Rheinland-Pfalz minister in charge of both wine and transport]! In combination with yesterday's excellent piece in Bild, this is a deadly combination. Just imagine simultaneous blows from The Times and The Sun.'

Here are links to some of the relevant articles that resulted:

http://www.welt.de/die-welt/vermischtes/article7158806/Das-Himmelreich-aus-Beton-bald-an-der-Mosel.html

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,688501,00.html

http://www.fr-online.de/in_und_ausland/panorama/2536357_Joschka-Fischer-kaempft-um-Weinberg.html

Older coverage:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/08/wine-germany-riesling-autobahn

http://www.tagesspiegel.de/weltspiegel/Mosel;art1117,3079134

http://www.taz.de/1/zukunft/umwelt/artikel/1/albtraum-fuers-himmelreich/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/7569807/New-German-motorway-threatens-prime-riesling-region.html


And Stuart Pigott is scheduled to debate the bridge with Hendrick Hering on SWR TV on 21 Apr, next Wednesday, at 16:00.