Famous for a grand castle that currently serves as the seat of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament, Schwerin is a town in northern Germany of some 90,000 people. In the mid-1800s, many residents moved to the United States, including Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Today Milwaukee and Schwerin are sister cities. At the end of World War II, Schwerin was taken by U.S. troops and then turned over to the British who handed it off to the Soviets after occupation zones were designated. The city became part of the so-called German Democratic Republic (GDR). Democracy acquired true meaning with the reunification of Germany in 1990. Evidently many Schweriners still cling to their memories of life under communism. How else to explain opposition to removing a statue of Lenin, on display since 1985, even after reunification? City Hall has also opposed removal. Here’s Mayor Angelika Gramkow: "You see him and ask: Why is there a Lenin statue still here? What was it he...(Read Full Post)