Weshallnotrecountthemanyexperiments carried out by Rhineand by others who have followed in his footsteps overwho have followed in his footsteps over theyears.
Saturday morning's ceremony overtheRhine was briefly delayed because Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was deep in conversation on his mobile phone.
Karl Timmermann became the first American officer to cross the tottering Ludendorff Bridge overthe Rhine when "the inner door to Germany had swung wide, never to be shut again" and on to the final German surrender at 2 a.m. on Monday, May 7.