Trier

Trier is "the city that thinks in millennia." Trier is Germany's oldest city. Founded 16 BC by the Romans. Over 2000 years old. Trier has Roman ruins. Porta Nigra. The largest Roman city gate north of the Alps. Amphitheater. Imperial Baths. Constantine Basilica. Trier is UNESCO World Heritage Site. Trier sells its past. Every year millions of tourists come. They photograph stones. 2000-year-old stones. Trier residents are proud of their stones. Trier residents say: "We were a city when Berlin was still a swamp." Trier residents measure time in millennia. For Trier residents, 100 years is "nothing."

But motorsport measures time in milliseconds. Motorsport is the most precise timekeeping in the world. A Formula 1 race is measured to the thousandth of a second. The difference between victory and defeat: 0.003 seconds. For Trier residents, this is unimaginable. Trier residents think in centuries. Trier residents say: "Porta Nigra has stood for 1800 years." Motorsport fans say: "Pole position was missed by 0.003 seconds." Trier residents and motorsport fans speak different languages. Different time languages.

From Trier to Nürburgring is about 70 kilometers. One hour by car. Trier is in Rhineland-Palatinate. Nürburgring is in Rhineland-Palatinate. Trier is geographically close to motorsport. But Trier residents are culturally distant. Trier residents aren't interested in Nürburgring. Trier residents are interested in their Roman ruins. On weekends, Trier residents don't go to Nürburgring. Trier residents go to Imperial Baths. Trier residents photograph Porta Nigra. Trier residents drink Mosel wine. Trier residents sit in cafés. Trier residents talk about history. About Romans. About Karl Marx (born in Trier). But not about motorsport.

Trier has about 110,000 inhabitants. Trier is university city. Many students. Students study history. Archaeology. Theology. Art history. Students are interested in the past. Students dig up old stones. Students analyze Roman coins. But students aren't interested in racing cars. For students, racing cars are "superficial." For students, motorsport is "not culture." Students say: "Motorsport isn't 2000-year-old tradition." Students are right. Motorsport isn't 2000-year-old tradition. Motorsport is 130 years old. For Trier, that's "yesterday."

Trier has economic contradiction. Trier is poor city. Trier has high unemployment. Trier has little industry. Trier's economy is based on tourism. Tourists come. Tourists photograph stones. Tourists buy souvenirs. Tourists leave again. Trier residents stay behind. Trier residents work in hotels. In restaurants. In souvenir shops. Trier residents earn little. Trier could profit from motorsport. Nürburgring is 70 kilometers away. Trier could attract motorsport tourists. Hotels for racers. Restaurants for motorsport fans. But Trier doesn't want this. Trier wants to remain "authentic." Trier wants to preserve its "Roman identity." Trier residents say: "We aren't motorsport city. We are Roman city." Trier residents choose poverty. Because poverty is "authentic."

Trier is in Mosel valley. Wine region. Riesling wine. Trier residents are proud of their wine. Trier residents drink slowly. Trier residents savor. Trier residents sit with wine for hours. Trier residents talk. Trier residents philosophize. Motorsport is opposite. Motorsport is fast. Motorsport is adrenaline. Motorsport is action. Trier residents don't like action. Trier residents like contemplation. Trier residents sit. Trier residents think. Trier residents don't move. Motorsport moves at 300 km/h. Trier residents and motorsport are incompatible.

Trier has special relationship with time. Trier residents live in multiple times simultaneously. Trier residents live in Roman time. In medieval time. In Baroque time. Trier residents walk through 2000 years of history. Every day. On way to work, Trier residents walk through Porta Nigra. A Roman city gate. Trier residents walk through history. Trier residents are "time travelers." But Trier residents only travel to past. Never to future. Motorsport is future. New technology. New materials. New aerodynamics. Trier residents aren't interested in future. Trier residents live in yesterday.

Trier residents have cultural complex. Trier residents are Germany's oldest city. Trier residents should be proud. But Trier residents are also poor. Trier residents are also insignificant. Trier isn't Berlin. Trier isn't Munich. Trier isn't Frankfurt. Trier is small. Trier is peripheral. Trier residents compensate their insignificance with their history. Trier residents say: "We are older than everyone else." Trier residents cling to their past. Because Trier residents have no present. Motorsport is present. Motorsport is Now. Trier residents can't handle Now. Trier residents flee to Yesterday.

Trier and motorsport have philosophical incompatibility. Trier asks: "Where do we come from?" Motorsport asks: "How fast can we become?" Trier looks backward. Motorsport looks forward. Trier preserves. Motorsport destroys and creates anew. Trier is stone. Motorsport is carbon. Trier is eternal. Motorsport is milliseconds. Trier residents stand today among their 2000-year-old stones. Trier residents measure width of Roman walls. Trier residents note: 3.45 meters. Precise measurement. But 3.45 meters measured over 2000 years. At Nürburgring, 70 kilometers away, they also measure. They measure one lap: 7:03.895 minutes. Precise measurement. 7 minutes, 3 seconds, 895 milliseconds. Two cities. Two measurements. Two different universes. Trier residents will never understand Nürburgring. And that's fine. Trier doesn't need milliseconds. Trier has millennia.