Invitation to Germany 6 of 7
and “great” service in the US. It made us proud to hear, but sad to think other countries have yet to reach our standard of living.
One young lady, who said she had to scrimp and save to feed her family, kept close records of her expenditures. Food for her family of four, cost $480 a month, a lot of money on her and her husband’s very small income. Converted from the D-Mark, they said that a family income of $15,000 would be a living wage, $24,000 an excellent income, and anyone who earned as much as $60,000 would be considered very rich indeed. We had asked the same question in West Germany, and the answers were about $10,000 to $15,000 higher in each category.
Since the price of almost everything is so much more expensive than in the US, we often wonder how the people survive, economically. It pays to remember that most European workers get four to six weeks of paid vacation, over a dozen paid holidays each year, and have job security unknown in the US. It only takes a little bit of “Economics 101” to determine that too many benefits, and too much government enforced job security, also contributes to unemployment. If a company owner has no control over his employees and can not “lay off” unneeded workers when business drops, he will hire just as few as he can.
As a comparison to the standard of living in other countries, one young lady had lived with her parents (an official with the East German government) in Baghdad, Iraq four years, and in Santiago, Chile two years. She said that in both of those cities, there were a few very rich people, and many, very poor people.
%MÜHLENGEEZ SHOPPING CENTER
Between Sternberg and Güstrow we stopped in a very large, brand new shopping center (open only about a month) in the little town of Mühlengeez. Since this town is so small, the center is obviously placed here to draw customers from a wide area. The grocery store building was much larger than a usual US supermarket, and just about anything one would like to buy, was available. In past years, the main items available in East German grocery stores seemed to be potatoes, onions, carrots, and cabbage, and most of that did not appear to be of good quality.
We looked a lot more than we bought, and enjoyed talking to several people, getting their comments and answers to the “Humberd Poll.” On the other side of a very large (full) parking lot, three large buildings, each more or less divided into a dozen stores, were selling all kinds of essentials — clothes, blankets, shoes, baked goods, etc. There were a dozen other stores in smaller buildings, including a table or two at the edge of the parking lot.
Everything in the area is quite clean, and between the parking lot and the stores they had planted a flower garden and constructed a large building for restrooms. As we found first at supermarkets in France, the shopping carts here are chained together, and are disconnected by inserting a coin. That is just a deposit, the coin is returned when the carts are returned to the “cart barn.”
Before these shopping centers were built, no store anything like these, existed anywhere in the East. Many people, here and at stores throughout this part of Germany, appeared to be sightseers, just enjoying the view of abundant things available for sale. The people we talked to (both customers and vendors) were very happy with the change.
%BAD DOBERAN
In the early days of WW II and again in the closing days as the Allies invaded Germany from the West, German citizens who lived where the war would most likely be fought, were evacuated to other parts of the country. In about 1940, Emmy’s cousins (older men, women and children) were sent from Mettlach to Bad Doberan, just west of Rostoch. They were assigned to live with a family for a few months, and a daughter in that family, Vera, has remained a friend ever since.
After the Berlin Wall was erected, and while Vera was still working, the East German Government would not permit her to visit in the West since they were concerned she might not return. After she retired, they would let her buy a round-trip train ticket and take the equivalent of about $5 with her, and then they were concerned she would return. Since she was not a working, productive citizen, the Government would have been very happy if they no longer had to supply her pension and her medical care, and if she did not return, her home would be available for someone else.
During one visit with Emmy’s cousins in Mettlach, we took Vera for a ride to Luxembourg and into France. She was concerned her passport might be stamped by one of those governments, and if so, she might not be allowed to travel any more. As an interesting view into that “system,” a friend of hers was allowed to visit her relatives in the West only because she agreed to do house cleaning for the man who issued the necessary papers.
Vera lived on Rostocker Strasse in Bad Doberan, and that was easy to find. Rostock is the next large city just a few miles east of Bad Doberan. As we found in towns and cities throughout Germany, the street leading into, or out of a city, is often named for the next town or city, down the road. We visited in Vera’s home, met her daughter, then walked around the little town.
Our discussion with a man and wife we met on the street of Bad Doberan, illustrates a problem we have heard several times in Germany. They had been born in sections of what are now Poland and the Czech Republic, that had once been part of Germany. They couldn’t imagine that people living in those countries didn’t want to be reunited with Germany. Most likely neither they, nor their ancestors, had anything to do with establishing those borders, but they can’t change them either, short of starting another war.
We visited the beautiful Roman Catholic church, built in the early 1300s, where Vera and her daughter attended nightly prayer meetings, in the weeks just before the Berlin Wall came down.
ABANDONED PROPERTY
During the time the Communist Government controlled East Germany, thousands of people moved to the West. Some legally, but many escaped, one way or another. After the Berlin Wall came down, many of these same thousands of people returned to the East to reclaim the home or business they had abandoned when they left the East. Now they insisted they should get the property returned to them. Perhaps if they thought freedom was worth more than their home, they should be happy with their choice.
Here in Bad Doberan, an abandoned large beautiful home has been used as a kindergarten during the years since the owners left for freedom in the West. One day the wealthy former owners returned and people thought they might try to reclaim the home they had abandoned a few years earlier. It was obvious the roof was in need of repair, and the original owners were informed that the operators of the kindergarten did not have money for a new roof. Eight days later they had a new roof, compliments of the former owners, and the kindergarten continued.
%KRÖPELIN
Just east of Kröpelin a very large shopping center is being constructed. It appears they are not building temporary buildings as we have seen elsewhere, but a very nice set of permanent structures for a very large center. Foundations and the parking lot cover a large area, and workers were in the process of constructing the first buildings.
%ROSTOCK
This part of Germany seemed to be mainly farmland, but a surprising number of lakes and rivers abound, and Rostock is located on a large body of water. Downtown appeared clean and the main street overlooked the harbor area. A large brick church was closed on Sunday morning, and we saw few people walking or driving through this city. We remember one market square surrounded with interesting gabled buildings.
Along the highway nearby, there were unique houses with low walls maybe 5 feet high, and with steep thatched roofs. The walls were so low, the door was cut into the roof, with a little cupola as protection. As we drove we noticed the crops on the farmland looked to be very good, and fruit trees lined this countryside road. We still saw many piles of the wooden “ladders” that we earlier determined to be used as a snow fence.
%MALCHIN
The town of Malchin has an interesting town gate, and several brick buildings that will soon be under restoration. Here, and across this part of the country, we saw many tall, round grain silos. As best we could understand, the granaries are full of grain for use or sale by Germans, now that the best of the crop is not required to be shipped to the former Soviet Union.
%NEUBRANDENBURG
Perhaps the most substantial city in this part of the country is Neubrandenburg. As we entered the town from the west we saw an area with many apartment buildings that have been built within the past dozen years, but of great interest were the several new, modern, architecturally interesting buildings now under construction. We can’t remember seeing other new buildings as attractive as these in other parts of the former East Germany.
The main city gate was rather elaborate, and built of brick. A main street circled downtown Neubrandenburg, and vehicle traffic was permitted in some parts of the shopping area. As it happened we were here on a Sunday afternoon, and since all stores were closed we only looked as we drove around town. We did see a new Kaufhof department store, part of a West German chain, with attractive window displays — not a sight seen in years past. We would say that Neubrandenburg was one of the more attractive cities in this part of Germany, and the nearby countryside was quite pleasant.
The local campsite near Neuendorf, was several miles from Neubrandenburg, requiring five or six miles per hour on two or three miles of the worst cobble-stone road we have found in all our travels in Europe. Twice we questioned people in cars that were headed the other direction, to determine that we really were going to end up at a campsite. When we finally arrived, the campsite was quite large with hundreds of small buildings and travel trailers, all located on the shore of Tollensee, with Neubrandenburg in the distance across the lake. The large number of ducks and swans were well satisfied with Emmy’s supply of left-over, stale bread.
CAMPSITES IN EAST GERMANY
We have spent from a night or two, to a dozen nights in 600 to 700 different campsites in over 40 of the United States, from Vancouver Island to Prince Edward Island in Canada, and in 26 European countries. Usually, a campsite will be available in or near a sizable town in any of those countries, but here in the former East Germany, they have a different idea.
Except in Dresden and Liepzig, the campsites we visited were located miles from town, usually in a woods and along a lake or river. These were usually very pleasant places for a campsite, with swimming beaches, fishing, and with boats for rent. It’s our understanding that since these people were not permitted, or could not afford to travel to other countries, and visitors from other countries were scarce, campsites were used both for weekends, and for longer vacations. In each campsite small “homes” appeared to be owned by individuals, and these looked as if they had served as vacation homes for many years. Often there were dozens of small travel trailers, more or less permanently situated.
Since these were vacation spots mainly for local people, we rarely found signs directing our way, so had to stop and ask for directions, over and over. Once we arrived we found parking areas, satellite TV, electricity, water, and sewer connections for long time residents, and electricity only for short-time campers. Most campsites have small stores, and often a snack bar, or even a restaurant. It usually appeared we were the only “overnight” visitor, and a couple of places refused to take any money for our night in their campsite.
One night was spent in a very unusual location, a campsite behind a farmer’s barn just outside Bad Doberan. In the nearby field there were two adults and several youngsters, all hard at work with a very old farm tractor, a large farm wagon, and a decrepit old hay baler. They soon delivered a load of hay to the barn, and were very happy to take our eight dollars for the campsite, complete with electricity. We were the only campers that night, but we felt safe, just behind their barn. There were dogs, cows, sheep, and children, but all were quiet at night. By the way, while Jim is more than casually familiar with the job of running a hay baler (and has a tip of a finger missing to prove it), he was satisfied to just watch, this day.
%PASEWALK
What looked like the biggest church in Pasewalk was very much in need of repair. A large part of an outside wall, and most of the roof was missing, but work was under way to correct that, and the newly renovated church would soon be open. In cities, and in small town alike, about the first renovation job was the largest church in the area.
Throughout Europe and throughout the ages, church buildings have almost always been the most beautiful, prominent building in large cities and small towns alike. Eighty to ninety percent of the buildings pictured and described in books that discuss world architecture during the past 2,000 years, are cathedrals, basilicas, and other religious buildings.
A new store had just opened in Pasewalk, and a fresh baked loaf of bread, several breakfast rolls, and a bottle of milk cost less than $1.50 in the local bakery. We do not buy enough groceries to really compare prices, but we did find that many items, especially bread, cost less in the former East than in former West Germany.
Between Pasewalk and the Polish border, we watched them work on the renovation of a beautiful little church. The high pointy steeple was being covered with shiny new copper, the interior was in need of and was receiving a lot of work by artists and craftsmen. Behind the church, what looked like an ancient stone wall, was being carefully restored.
%SZCZECIN, POLAND
There were only a few cars in front of us as we approached the border into Szczecin, Poland. They glanced at our passport covers, did not examine the papers for the vehicle, and the whole thing took just a few seconds. The last time we crossed the border between these two countries, the bureaucratic complexities took three hours.
This is the birthplace of Emmy’s stepmother in about 1890, when this city was called Stettin, and was part of Germany. Emmy remembers Martha telling about washing clothes in the Oder River. By the looks of the river, now the border between Poland and Germany, that’s not something we would want to do today.
While this book is not about Poland, it would be nice if we could describe the difference between Szczecin, and a few of the East Germany cities we have just seen. It appeared to us that Szczecin was in worse physical/economic condition than the East Germany cities, even though it had been German until WW II, and both have been under Communist control for the past 45 years. The streets, sidewalks, and stores just seemed depressing. We looked in stores and found nothing we wanted to buy. A sidewalk vendor was selling drinks of some kind, using and reusing the same one drinking glass.
There should be some words to describe Szczecin other than “gloomy” and “depressing,” (melancholy, somber, discouraging, mournful) because those words might give too strong of an impression. But the really depressing idea is that a billion people in other parts of this world would think Szczecin is Heaven.
We didn’t see a McDonald’s Restaurant in this city, but someone was trying, as indicated by the restaurant named, in English, “Mic Mac Hamburger House.”
This short visit, and a longer visit in Poland later this same year, made us think that East Germany was lucky to have wealthy West Germany to supply the money and expertise needed to speed recovery from 50 to 60 years of Communist neglect.
COBBLESTONE AUTOBAHN
When we got on the Autobahn east of Szczecin to return to Germany, we found ourselves on the only four-lane divided cobblestone highway we have ever seen. Since there were only a small number of vehicles on this few miles of thoroughfare, and at some places grass was growing in the cracks in the middle of the Autobahn, we thought for a moment maybe this highway would dead-end somewhere, but it did continue to the German border.
%EICHORST, EBERSWALDE
Back in Germany, from the Autobahn we could see farmland, many trees, and rivers and lakes. Again, the campsite for the night was situated along the Werbellinsee, near the tiny town of Eichorst, many miles from a town of any size. Since we expected to visit Berlin later the same day, we stopped in the small town of Eberswalde to obtain our daily bread. It was a pleasant little place, with a nice shopping area, and quite nice homes along the tree-lined streets.
Chapter 28
Berlin, After the Wall. Not East and West, But a United Berlin
%BERLIN
We entered Berlin from the northeast, in what was for the past 40 years, East Berlin. Amazingly enough, this part of the city, while neither beautiful nor particularly inviting, appeared more livable than many towns in the East. But it’s certainly less inviting than the Western part of Berlin in most any measure we wish to apply. Perhaps if we said the buildings, the streets, and the people just looked tired and unkempt, that would help describe what we saw.
ALEXANDERPLATZ
We wandered here and there through Berlin, generally headed toward city-center, Alexanderplatz. And what a difference we found. A very wide street, Karl Marx Allee (Stalin Allee until 1961, even the East Berlin Government wanted no reminders of him), borders the east side of Alexanderplatz. Between the several lanes of traffic, a wide median strip provided a huge parking lot, right in the middle of the street.
Alexanderplatz is a spacious area, including a hotel, department store, grocery store, Fernsehturm (TV tower), Rotes Rathaus (Berlin’s city hall), the Marienkirche (St. Mary’s Church), a large decorative fountain, the Weltzeituhr (world time clock), several street markets, a huge S-Bahn (elevated railroad) station, and acres of open space. It will be interesting to see if this area reclaims its former status as the city center of Berlin.
SHOPPING IN ALEXANDERPLATZ
Even though relatively little work had yet been done on restoring and renovating this part of Berlin, the difference (compared with what we saw in 1970 and 1980) was staggering. The very bleak, dull, “early warehouse” style of the old Centrum Department Store had already been remodeled by Kaufhof, the western department store chain. This store, its furnishings, and the goods for sale would now be a welcome sight in any major city. We remember this store, in 1980, had windows displays of bolts of fabric, no ready-made clothes and no mannequins were to be seen.
We were able to talk with the store manager for a few minutes. He had just moved here from Hamburg a couple of months ago, and said he expected a very interesting and challenging task to get everything in perfect condition. It was exciting to watch people just “window-shopping” and “walk-shopping” through the store, getting their first glimpse of how the “other half” lived all these years.
In the ground floor of the same building we revisited the grocery store we had discovered ten years ago. To properly describe the difference takes more than just words, please add some imagination. In 1980 we said, “The fruits and vegetables were small and scrawny, … … there were long lines of people, each with two to six items in grocery carts so small they looked like a child’s toy.”
But today, everything was different. This is now a beautiful large grocery store, one that would be acceptable in any town in the US. There were still lines, but these were lines of people with large grocery carts filled with a grand variety of food.
Of some interest were the lines of people waiting to buy barbecued chickens. We have never before seen so many rotisseries in one spot. As many as two hundred chickens were turning and cooking, and two clerks were busily filling the orders of dozens of people buying those dozens of chickens. In several cities south of Berlin, we saw smaller but similar sights, but we don’t remember seeing multiple rotisseries in towns north of Berlin.
HOTEL STADT BERLIN
We walked through the lobby of the 37-story Hotel Stadt Berlin, where we had stopped for restroom duty while on a guided tour in 1970. The 880 rooms with WC (water closet, or toilet), telephone, and radio, rented for between $60 and $200 per night in 1991. In 1970 the expensive hotel looked incongruous when compared to the purported Communist life-style of the East German — we thought it looked far too fancy for the surroundings.
The hotel restaurants look neat and somewhat expensive, and all in all this hotel still looks somewhat out of place. It will require craftsmanship to bring it up to the standards of first-class hotels a couple of miles west of here.
THE OLD SHELL GAME
At several places in Alexanderplatz, and in public squares throughout Berlin, we saw a sight we haven’t seen elsewhere in our travels. Several men (non-German, perhaps Turkish or Greek) kneeled on a small carpet (a Turkish carpet perhaps), using three little boxes to play the old shell game. A lot of money changed hands as the touts and shills did their part to persuade passersby to stop and gamble. We watched carefully as a shill would easily win, then run away, waving a handful of money to show how smart he was.
The regular customer had no idea there was little or no chance for him to win. Even when the “mark” would guess right, the con-man was often able to make sure he lost anyway. They were very unhappy that Jim had taken video pictures of their little operation.
As we mentioned earlier, sometimes the entrepreneurial spirit was applied for the benefit of the Germans, and sometimes for the benefit of the entrepreneur.
FERNSEHTURM (TV TOWER )
About half way up the approximately 1,200-foot-tall (guidebooks disagree by an insignificant few feet) TV tower, Fernsehturm, the multi-story, round, glass-covered ball containing both an observation deck and a revolving restaurant, provided a great spot to look over both East and West Berlin.
To the south we could see the Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof (Berlin Air-lift terminal), to the west, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, and the ultramodern concert hall. To the north, Berlin’s beautiful Protestant Cathedral sits along the River Spree, in what had been East Berlin. A tourist brochure called it Berlin’s “… den neubarocken Dom … ,” or Berlin’s new baroque Cathedral.
Directly west of the Fernsehturm, beyond the Spree Kanal, the Französischer Dom (The French Church) was built in 1705. Near the base of the TV tower, is the red brick Rote “Red” Rathaus, or Berlin’s City Hall from 1859 to 1949. (The word “Red” refers to the brick color of the building, not the label “Red” of the Communist Government.) It served as the East Berlin City Hall during the years of the Wall, and in 1991 the Berlin Mayor and city government moved back to this Rote Rathaus. Across Alexanderplatz from City Hall, is the restored red brick Marienkirche (St. Mary’s Church).
To the east we could see hundreds of 15 to 20 story buildings, both offices and apartments. Over the next several years many of these buildings will be redesigned and renovated, since Berlin again has become the Capital of united Germany. The roof lines of the multi-story buildings that lined the east side of Alexanderplatz, are covered with huge signs advertising consumer products manufactured in several countries. We did wonder when huge, lighted signs that advertise Denon, Sanyo, Philishave, Casio, Heim Electric, and Panasonic, were put in place.
From the Fernsehturm we could see several large office buildings that were partly completed. We were later told the East German government had started the buildings, but now all work was stopped while it was determined whose buildings they were, who would pay to complete construction, and who would own and use the building after completion.
CONVERSATIONS WITH TWO LADIES
The lady in the nearby Tourist Office was happy to help us with brochures and information, but indicated the blending of the two Berlins was not without problems. In a few years life will be better for citizens of the former East, but she would much rather live in the West right now. She feels like a foreigner when she meets people from the West, and is not at all happy with what has happened to her city and country so far. There is so much to do, and the people in the East will suffer a lot more before “things” get better. The telephone systems had not yet been linked in 1991, and lengthy prefixes were still necessary to make a call between East and West Berlin.
This Tourist Office displayed dozens of huge photos, and a three-dimension mock-up of this part of Berlin exemplifying Alexanderplatz before, during, and after WW II.
In an outdoor marketplace we talked to a beautiful young college student who lives in the East, but attends college in the West. When Jim complemented her on her attractive clothes and hair-style, she said that she, and others in the East, can not yet afford the new styles of clothes and hair. But just as soon as they can afford it, they will adopt the Western styles.
The demise of the Berlin Wall is not all good!
MARIENKIRCHE, ST. MARY’S CHURCH
When we were here ten years ago, this church was in need of repair and was closed to the public. The second oldest church in Berlin, its cornerstone was laid about 1270, and it was consecrated in 1292. Over the centuries St. Mary’s has been damaged by fire several times, and church records say the 1661 lightning fire was put out by worshippers carrying both milk and water. During his visit to Berlin in 1747, Johann Sebastian Bach loved to play the church organ because of its excellent acoustics.
BERLIN’S CATHEDRAL, THE DOM
When we visited inside the Dom, we found a most exquisite house of worship, under restoration. Considering the couple of hundred cathedrals and large churches we have toured, when completed, Berlin’s Dom will rank with the most beautiful.
The building was originally completed about 1905, then extensively damaged in WW II. In 1944 the dome was set afire by a direct hit by a bomb. Makeshift repairs were made in the 1950s; the outside was restored in late 1970s to early ‘80s; and the inside of Berlin’s Cathedral is planned to be completely restored by 1992.
During our 1991 visit to The Dom, a special presentation of thousands of photos presented the impact of WW II and its aftermath, with a jolt uncounted millions of words could not equal.
FRANZÖSISCHER DOM THE FRENCH CHURCH
This church was built as a symbol of friendship between Prussia and the French Protestant Huguenots, and it is still used by the small French Huguenot community in Berlin. There are noontime concerts played on the 60 bronze bells of the carillon, Glockenspiel and trombone concerts on certain days, and inside the church there is a restaurant, and a museum.
UNTER DEN LINDEN
The famous street, Unter den Linden (66 yards wide, a mile long), is situated just east of the Brandenburg Gate. (The dictionary says: A Linden tree is a shade tree having heart-shaped leaves, drooping cymose clusters of yellowish, often fragrant flowers). This part of Berlin was heavily damaged in WW II, and was not rebuilt in its original form by the East German Government. Before WW II, Unter den Linden was lined with shops, cafes, restaurants, and the homes of famous people, but now, while it is still lined with trees and is busy with tourists during the day, at night it is almost deserted.
The famous Hotel Adlon, first opened in 1907, was burned to the ground just after WW II by drunken Soviet soldiers who had raided the famous, abundant wine cellar. The Kempinski Hotel chain spent $300,000,000 to rebuild the Adlon on the original site, and it opened in 1997. The hotel is the first of many new places of interest that will open for business on this beautiful street. The US Embassy is to be rebuilt next door, between the hotel and the Brandenburg Gate, where the Embassy stood before WW II.
BRANDENBURG GATE
The Brandenburg Gate (215 feet wide, 36 feet thick, and 85 feet high) was built starting in 1788, with the Quadriga (four horses pulling a Roman chariot) on top. In 1806 Napoléon “claimed” the Quadriga, packed it in 14 boxes and moved it to Paris. After his defeat in the Battle of Waterloo in 1814, it was returned to its place on the Gate, but then suffered heavy damage in WW II.
A West Berlin foundry recast the Quadriga in 1957, using the original plaster models, stored in the West. It was again damaged during the over-ambitious victory party (celebrating the removal of the Wall) on New Years Eve 1989, so for the third time it was removed and repaired. The Quadriga was returned to its proper place on the Brandenburg Gate in time to celebrate its 200th anniversary on August 6, 1991.
In 1991 there were street vendors by the dozens, on both sides of the Gate. They offered hats, coats, and brass emblems of Soviet Army uniforms, and small pieces of the Wall (they said), for sale to tourists. The most prized segments of the Berlin Wall were those with some paint, the remains of graffiti. We wondered if all the little shards of concrete, complete with paint, were really authentic, or were they the result of entrepreneurial and artistic skill.
In 1991 vehicle traffic was not allowed through the Gate, an easy detour was available. For 30 years the Berlin Wall stood in the middle of the street, a few yards west of the Gate. It is both exciting and stirring to stand where the Wall had stood all those years. We have seen Berlin both with and without the Wall. Believe it, we prefer without!
REICHSTAG
A block north and a little west of the Gate, the Reichstag, Germany’s long-time Capitol, awaited the return of the Government from Bonn. They planned to return before the year 2000, and in September 1999 they made it.
Billions of D-Marks were spent preparing Berlin to again be the Capital of Germany, and hundreds of millions of D-Marks were spent on the renovation of the Reichstag before it could be occupied by the German Bundestag (Parliament). The chamber where the parliamentarians meet is crowned with a huge shining, glass and mirrored dome, designed by a British architect. Visitors can traverse a circular walkway up to the very top, which affords a stunning view of the entire city.
Tens of thousands of people, or at least their jobs, were transferred from Bonn, which had been the Capital for nearly 40 years. Offices and buildings of various kinds were constructed, and existing buildings were redesigned and renovated for their new function.
When we visited the Reichstag in past years we saw dozens of large before-during-and-after-WW II photographs of the Reichstag and other parts of Berlin. We certainly hope they are still on display in the new and shining Capitol building.
SOWJETISCHES EHRENMAL, SOVIET WAR MEMORIAL
On Strasse des 17 Juni, just a block or two west of the Brandenburg Gate, the Sowjetisches Ehrenmal (Soviet War Memorial) was built as a memorial to the 20 million Soviet victims of the War. Until 1990, Soviet soldiers (guarded by British soldiers) stood guard, day and night. Now that the Soviets have left, it is maintained by the German government.
The two Soviet tanks on marble pedestals are represented to be the first two that entered Berlin from the East, and they tell an ironic story. The cannons on these tanks were produced by the German Krupp company, and had been sold to the Soviets several years earlier.
TIERGARTEN
The Soviet War Memorial is located in the Tiergarten, a huge park in the middle of Berlin. In or bordering the Tiergarten are many memorials, some Embassies, a church or two, Berlin’s famous Zoologischer Garten, and the Philharmonie, the home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Orchestra plays, surrounded on all sides by the audience.
The Assembly Hall (Kongresshalle), called the “pregnant oyster” by Berliners, was built on the edge of the Tiergarten in 1957, and nearby the Schloss Bellevue and the Schlosspark, served as the home of the President of the Federal Republic, when he visited Berlin. Perhaps it will serve as Germany’s “White House” now that the Government has returned to Berlin.
In a traffic circle in about the middle of the Tiergarten, the 222 feet high Victory Column (Siegessäule) celebrates wars in the 1800s. After climbing 285 steps to the top, there is a wide view of the park, the city of Berlin, and weather permitting, the Wannsee (lake) to the west.
US EMBASSY
Information received from the National Archives at College Park, Maryland shows that in 1930 the US Embassy, then located on nearby Wilheim Strasse, was moved to a new home, the Blücher Palais located on Ebert Strasse at Pariser Platz, right next to the Brandenburg Gate to the north, and next to the famous Hotel Adlon to the east. This Embassy building was damaged by a fire in 1931, then was demolished in WW II. The rubble was removed and the Berlin Wall was built in the middle of Ebert Strasse, on which the Embassy fronted. Had it survived, the US Embassy building would have been behind the Berlin Wall in East Germany, all those years, but this space has remained as vacant ground since the war.
The US Government will spend an estimated $100,000,000 to build a four-story, cream-colored Embassy in the same space where the US Embassy was located before WW II. A notable feature will be a large copper-tinted lantern which will burn day and night, a reminder, perhaps, of the light at our Statue of Liberty.
This is a prime location. It is just a couple of blocks from Germany’s Capitol, The Reichstag. On the west the Embassy will face Ebert Strasse and the Tiergarten beyond. To the east, they spent $300,000,000 to rebuild the 337 room Hotel Adlon, on its original site. The hotel opened in August 1997 with $300 per-night rooms. (We hope our State Department doesn’t find a need for too many of those rooms.) On the north, it adjoins the Brandenburg Gate and Pariser Platz. On the south the huge new commercial development planned for Potsdammer Platz, will rise from the ashes of WW II, and the tragedy of Communist rule.
POTSDAMER PLATZ
The quarter mile between the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz, was still vacant land in 1991. There were grandiose construction plans, but we can be sure that Potsdamer Platz reincarnate will look not one iota like the old.
The public protested that the still-vacant land was almost “donated” to companies such as Sony Europe, Hertie (the department store chain), a heavy electrical equipment manufacturer, and Daimler-Benz (Mercedes-Benz), now called Daimler-Chrysler. In their own special brand of humor, some Berliners call this “PotsDaimler Platz.”
By 1999 several of the world’s largest corporations were in the process of constructing curved, mirrored office towers in this city-center. None of the pre-WW II charm survived, but the office towers and shopping arcades will draw life and commerce back to this geographic core of the city. According to newspaper reports, from an information kiosk nearby it’s possible to view the construction site, and a multimedia exhibit displays the construction plan for Potsdamer Platz.
KURFÜRSTENDAMM
When the Berlin Wall was built, the Kurfürstendamm became the main street of West Berlin. This beautiful, wide, tree-lined street is also lined with restaurants, sidewalk cafes, and excellent department stores. In the late 1800s, after Otto von Bismarck visited Paris and the Champs-Elysées, he ordered all buildings along the Ku-Damm to have exactly four stories, to have a garden in front, and the corner houses to have a domed roof. Unfortunately, only about 48 of the original 250 “imperial buildings” survived WW II. The Kurfürstendamm streetlights are imitations of the originals that were taken down and melted into cannons, during WW II.
In the 1920s the Kurfürstendamm was the cultural center of Berlin, with coffee shops from one end to the other. Those coffee shops now have been joined by McDonald’s, Burger-King, and Häagen-Dazs, among dozens more, and the nearby Woolworth Store is an additional reminder from home.
In Germany a bakery is called a Bäckerei, a pastry shop is called a Konditorei, a butcher shop is a Metzgerei, so it was not much of a shock to see a store in Berlin with the name, Computerei.
UNPARKING CARS
A block or two from Kurfürstendamm, in the parking lot in front of the Zoologischer Garten, Berlin’s famous Zoo, Jim watched as flat-bed trucks used self-contained cranes to remove illegally parked cars. (Bet that’s the last time that Italian parks his Japanese car in the wrong place in Berlin.) When Jim remarked to the “Police-lady” who appeared to be in charge that, “We drive a RV and it’s too big for those tow trucks.” She laughed and said, “For you, we would just get a bigger truck.”
KAUFHOF DES WESTENS
The Kaufhof Des Westens, a six story department store known as “KaDeWe,” is as fine a department store as we have found anywhere. It’s part of the Hertie store chain, and is one of the three largest department store in Europe (the others are Galeries-Lafayette in Paris, and Harrods in London). Jim joked that when Cousin Hugo died he would go to Heaven, but when his wife Maria died, she would go to KaDeWe to shop.
In addition to five floors of excellent quality department-store-products of every category, the sixth floor is filled with food of all persuasions. There are a dozen counters for what we would call “deli meats.” Counter after counter are filled with fresh meat, seafood, cheese, and a hundred kinds, shapes, colors, and sizes of bread. The fresh fruit and vegetable section goes on forever. Aisle after aisle is lined with fancy canned and baked goods from countries everywhere. A dozen “lunch counters,” each specializing in one thing or another, permit a leisurely snack, or a complete meal.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there were more than a 1,000 different meats and cheeses, more selection than we have ever seen in any store, anywhere in the US. Even small stores in Germany have a wide variety of meats and cheeses, and many times in Germany we have had the “privilege” of waiting in line behind matrons who each ordered a small piece, or three slices, of a half-dozen different items. A typical German breakfast, supper, or snack, will often consist of sliced meats and cheeses.
KAISER - WILHELM - GEDÄCHTNISKIRCHE
Near the Tiergarten at Breitscheid Platz, the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Memorial-Church) is a monument to the horrors of war. Due to the shape of the remains of the tower, Berliners affectionately call it, “The hollow tooth.”
The replacement church, with a campanile and 20,000 small dark-blue windows, was consecrated in December 1961. During our visits in 1970 and 1980 the ruin was just that, with some trash and dirt seen through the fence, in what little remained of the church and its tower. By 1991 they had renovated the area under the ruin of the tower and the small room nearby, and a museum was already in place.
Many large photographs showing wartime damage to the Cathedral and to Berlin, were displayed in this museum. Most pictures we have seen (in Nürnberg, Berlin, and in Dresden, among others), concentrated on damage to buildings and other man-made objects. Here, one special photo, with a message that really stuck in our minds, shows the desolate, bombed out city with a dejected, disconsolate man lying on a bench. It was entitled with but one word, “Wohin?” Where to.
THE STRASSEN - BAHN
We tried to re-visit our 1980 S-Bahn ride from the Anhalter Station, through the Potsdamer Platz and the Unter den Linden stations, on our way to Friedrichstrasse and Alexanderplatz. At that time these two stations were closed to public use, and it was a frightening feeling as we rode slowly past the dimly lit, trash-strewn platforms.
In 1980 those stations were closed because of the Communist-built Berlin Wall, but this time (1991) the whole section of the subway was closed for renovation. Now that the Wall no longer divides Berlin, and with the planned development of Potsdamer Platz, these U-Bahn stations must be restored and enlarged. Each day tens of thousands of people will descend on Potsdamer Platz, Unter den Linden, the Reichstag, the US Embassy, and the Brandenburg Gate.
NOLLENDORFPLATZ U - LAHNHOF
By 1991 the old railway cars had been removed from the Nollendorfplatz U-Bahnhof (subway station), Berlin’s Antique Market was gone, this elevated railway station was again in very busy operation. As at other places in Berlin, huge photos taken before and during WW II were on exhibit in the renovated station. These oversize photos confirm the power of the Allied Air Force.
OLYMPIA STADION
Located a few miles directly west of the Brandenburg Gate, the 100,000 seat Olympic Stadium was built for the 1936 Olympics, where Jesse Owens worked his magic. For the 1974 World Cup, the World Series of Soccer, it was modernized and partially roofed.
BERLIN WALL
After twenty-eight years and three months (from Sunday, August 13, 1961, to November 10, 1989), the Berlin Wall finally came down. Well, politically it came down then, but of course it took a while longer for most of the physical Wall to be demolished.
We visited the location of the former Checkpoint Charlie and found the guard house, and most of the wall nearby had already been removed. A small museum was in place, displaying some of the artifacts from this infamous border crossing point. We asked a Berlin Policeman if it was possible for us to “liberate” a piece of the wall, somewhere in the neighborhood. As he gave us directions to nearby Mühlen Straße, he put his hand over his eyes, as if to say, “If I don’t see you … … .”
With his tacit permission, we helped remove the Wall. On September 4, 1991, two 10” pieces from what remained of the Berlin Wall joined our collection, along with the hammer that did it.
A mile or two of Berlin Wall still stood along the right bank of the River Spree, on the west side of Mühlen Straße, across from the Ostbahnhof (East Berlin Train Station) and the Post Office. On the river bank side, there was trash and several goats eating the high weeds. On the street side, the Berlin Wall was painted with a hundred different scenes, some artistic, some political, many imperceptible.
The portion of the Wall built right across the many-lane Straße des 17 Juni, at the Brandenburg Gate, was built much thicker than elsewhere. (Remember the news pictures of the celebration when the wall came down? Celebrants were dancing on top of the several feet thick wall.) Since the wide street permitted a vehicle to gain high speed, East Berlin authorities had been afraid someone would drive a bulldozer, or an Army tank down 17 Juni at high speed, crash through the Wall, and celebrate at the Brandenburg Gate, just a few yards away. The Wall they built in front of the Brandenburg Gate, was much too thick for any vehicle to crash.
At the time President John Kennedy made his very effective statement, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” (I am a Berliner), it was most important to build the spirits of Berlin residents. But perhaps President Ronald Reagan’s demand, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall,” issued during his visit to Berlin on June 12, 1987, had a more lasting effect on world history.
During the years of the Wall, about 5,000 East Germans escaped to the West each year. Most escaped from countries they were visiting, where the border was not guarded so closely. In spring 1984, 27,000 were permitted to leave under a special one-time happening, and for many years the government permitted old, sick people to leave without much argument, so they no longer had to care for them. All in all, since East Germany was founded in 1949, over 3,000,000 people (1/6th of the population) left for the west, most before the Wall existed.
A little known avenue of escape was the purchase, by the West German Government, of friends or relatives of West Germans, who wanted to leave the East. In this case, rather than people being sold from freedom into slavery, they were being sold from slavery into freedom. After several years of bureaucratic struggle the West German Government purchased the freedom of a friend of our friend Margit. After the wall came down, it was found the Stasi had compiled a file on Margit.
MINISTERIUM FÜR STAATSICHERHEIT
MINISTRY FOR STATE SECURITY,
“STASI” FOR SHORT
East Germany’s ominous surveillance organization had 85,000 full-time staff, 109,000 paid informers, and had a file on about 1 in 3 of the people. About 1 in 80 East Germans worked for the Stasi, and it was feared by them as well as the other 79.
On January 2, 1992, a crowd of 100,000 people broke into the headquarters in protest to the secret information in the 50 miles of files in Berlin alone. The opponents to the release of the files feared people would attack Stasi informers, while proponents argued it was important to let the people see their own files, as thousands have, since then. Individual files were finally made available, and even today, each month a thousand people still apply to see what their neighbors thought of them.
There is much animosity between the citizens of the East, and the people who previously ran their Government, especially those suspected of being in the “Stasi” or the secret police. The East German guards who killed people trying to escape over the Wall have not all gotten off Scot-free either. Recently, newspapers have published articles about guards being convicted and punished for their actions, years earlier.
In one recent case a West Berliner has been tried for shooting an East German guard (several years ago), who was preventing the West Berliner’s wife from escaping to the West.
It’s too bad that the major political figures managed to escape, either to another country, or by death from old age.
Chapter 29
South of Berlin
%SPANDAU
This western suburb of Berlin is best known as the location of Spandau Prison, the penitentiary home of many top Nazis who had been sentenced at the Nürnberg Trials, at the end of WW II. For many years the three Western Allies and the Soviets took turns guarding the prisoners. Some war-criminals died, others served their terms and were released, and just one, Rudolph Hess, remained well into the 1980s. The Soviets insisted he remain at a cost of millions of dollars per year, and would not permit this weak, sick, old man to be moved to a hospital, or other facility that would not require so much man-power and money.
Within days of his suicide in 1987, the prison was leveled to make sure it was not available to anyone who might want to consider it a shrine to the former Nazi Government.
SPANDAU FLEA MARKET
Just a few blocks from the prison site at a streetside flea market, Jim bought a beautiful cane, an excellent addition to his collection. It looks to be quite old, and has weaved and braided silver wire that decorates 2 and 3/4 inches of the cane. The man said 25 D-marks, Jim said 15 ($9), the man said sold, and Jim said thanks. An elderly man we later met in France had an exact same cane, but with a smaller (only 3/4 inch), but exactly the same decoration. He was 94 years old, his cane had belonged to his grandfather, and he “knew” it was very old and very valuable. He was sure Jim’s cane, which also has a silver tip (at least it’s silver color) must be at least as old, and even more valuable.
As we were boarding the plane in Frankfurt, Germany for our trip home that year, they thought the cane meant Jim was handicapped. They told him to board early, and let Emmy take care of the luggage. Boy, was that tempting.
%POTSDAM
Immediately to the southwest of Berlin, downtown Potsdam was certainly a surprise. This “City of Palaces” has many beautiful old buildings, buildings that will be spectacular when they are restored to their former glory. At the entrance to the main shopping street is Potsdam’s Brandenburg Gate, constructed in 1770, and the neo-Gothic Nauen Gate, built in 1755 as part of the town wall. The town hall, churches, and other beautiful buildings line the Havel River.
The Einstein Tower, built in the 1920s, is where Albert Einstein carried out some of his early experiments. One building, built in 1685 had an exhibit of Disney films the day we were there. A Potsdam suburb, Babelsberg, was the center of the German film industry, before WW II. It’s not hard to imagine a connection between the Biblical “Tower of Babel” and the film industry.
SOVIET ARMY BASE
Potsdam was an important headquarters of the Soviet occupying forces, and there was a large Army base nearby. Here again, as we approached Potsdam from Berlin we saw members of that Army picking fruit from trees that edged the road. It reminded us of a story told by Emmy’s cousin who was imprisoned in the Soviet Union long after WW II was over. Köbus told his captors that in Germany, before the war, if someone wanted two loaves of bread or three loaves, they just bought whatever they wanted, no problem. The Russian’s response, “That can’t be true, there’s not enough bread for anyone to have as much as he wants, and only the very rich could afford it, if it did exist.”
CECILIENHOF, AND THE POTSDAM CONFERENCE
At the end of WW II, in July 1945, the Potsdam Conference was held in the Cecilienhof, in the New Gardens, in Potsdam. This 176-room Marble Palace and the New Garden, was built in 1787 between the Heiliger See and the Jungfern See. The brick construction shows exceptional design, especially the 55 very diverse chimneys with twists, spirals and a cable-like motif, created from bricks .
Many years ago, the owner of this palace was so smitten with her stateroom on an ocean liner, that she had one room built to those exact specifications. Interesting, but it looked out of place in a brick palace.
We toured the rooms where President Truman, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill (soon replaced by Clement Attlee), held that important conference. The guide spoke only German, which made it difficult for us to learn much, but at the end of his talk, with the help of others, we asked if he had changed his story since the Berlin Wall fell. His response, “A little.”
We would like to ask our guide at Livadiya Palace in Yalta, Crimea, USSR (where the Yalta Conference took place in February 1945, and where we visited in 1989) the same question. Her truthful answer would have to be, “Almost everything I say has been changed.”
HOTEL SCHLOSS CECILIENHOF
One of the buildings in this group is now the expensive Hotel Schloss Cecilienhof. In 1991 the rate sheet said the 42 rooms ranged in price from $200 for an Einzelzimmer (single room) to over $1,000 per night for the multi-room Cecilien-Suite. The restaurant menu indicated a meal would also be very expensive. We wondered who stayed here during the years of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, and how much did a night’s stay cost in those days?
SANSSOUCI PARK
Across town from New Gardens, in the 717-acre Sans Souci Park just west of downtown Potsdam, there are seven palaces, including the Sans Souci Palace, built by Frederick II. The beautiful French Garden at Sans Souci is a terraced vineyard, the centerpiece of the entire grounds. (Sans Souci means “without care” in French.)
The New Palace, built on the west side of Sans Souci Park between 1763 and 1769, is now in need of much repair. The New Palace consists of a huge set of buildings, some with grass and weeds growing in a gouge here and a notch there, and bushes and small trees growing from cracks and crevices. At the time of our visit, several buildings were being renovated by a large work crew. A lot of work remains to be done.
AN INTERESTING CONVERSATION
Near the New Palace we met a man and his wife who live just below the Wagner Festhalle, in Bayreuth, Germany. Our 45-minute conversation illustrates what we have found other times in Germany. Strangers try not to talk about what they do for a living, and about their way of life. At the end of our long conversation, they had neither told us what they did for a living, nor did they ask about our occupation.
Maria and August had recently returned from an African Safari with a tour-group of Germans. Not until the tour was nearly over did anyone mention their profession, their way of life, or in any way indicate their social or financial status. There could be no class distinction, there would be no call for “freedom from the neighbors” among the members of the tour, if they knew nothing about each other.
We not only aren’t bashful, but while we travel we are interested in where and how people live, and what they do for a living. We are interested in both the country and the people, and how do we learn if we don’t ask? We have been told by Emmy’s cousins and others, that Americans are much too eager to discuss subjects that Germans consider too personal to discus with strangers. We’ve had interesting conversations, but sometimes our questions have resulted in a shocked look on the faces of our “new friends.”
%BRANDENBURG
As we found in other places, there was so much construction underway in Brandenburg. Many streets were closed to traffic, and parking spaces near downtown were non-existent, at least for our larger-than-a-car RV. We didn’t get to see much of the city, but we were able to drive on several streets, and what we saw was interesting. As in most cities in this part of Germany, when the restoration and renovation are complete, Brandenburg will be well worth a return visit.
In the countryside around Brandenburg, miles of farmland appeared to be filled with excellent crops, and along the road small fruit stands were doing great business.
Just outside Brandenburg we saw the start of construction of what may be the largest shopping center, not only in former East Germany, but maybe in all of Europe. The parking lot and building foundations seemed to go on forever, but the project was not complete enough for us to determine if it was an enclosed mall, or separate buildings. There were what looked like acres of foundations and floors, but as yet only a few walls or pillars.
In all of Europe we have seen several enclosed malls like those so popular in the US, but in Brussels, Paris, Milan, Rome, Istanbul, among others, they have enclosed, architecturally exciting shopping Galleries that date from a hundred years ago, and more.
CHECKPOINT BAKER
We drove past the former Checkpoint Baker at Drewitz. Like the other former border crossings, we saw large buildings and huge parking lots incarcerated beyond the chain-link fence. Unlike our other two visits to Checkpoint Baker, there were no guards to order Emmy to take off her glasses. To make sure she did not feel neglected, doing his best guard imitation, Jim barked, “Ohne Brille!”
We also remember the guards high in the gun towers at Checkpoint Baker in 1970, who held machine guns in one hand and threw kisses to the two Lindas with the other, as we drove across the border into Berlin.
%FRANKFURT - AN - DER - ODER
The Autobahn from Berlin to Frankfurt-an-der-Oder (on the Oder River, at the border with Poland) was still in bad shape in 1991, and much of it was under repair. Sometimes there was no center divider, sometimes just two lanes, and sometimes it was very bumpy, not yet much improved since we drove this road six years earlier. They were constructing large gasoline stations along the Autobahn at a couple of places, but at the rest stops the “facilities” sometimes consisted of temporary, portable out-houses. For reasons we will never know, the farm land and crops along here did not look nearly so abundant as others we saw north and west of Berlin.
Here again, the most prominent buildings in Frankfurt seemed to be churches with their tall, steep pointy steeples. One especially had a very tall spire, with a small copy at each corner of the tower, at the base of that steeple. Right in downtown Frankfurt they were building a huge gas station with twenty or more pumps, and there were the expected blocks of 10 to 15 story apartment buildings built in that “early Socialist” architectural style. Something we don’t remember from our other (very short) visit to this city, were several large fountains, and flower beds by the dozens. But since we left here in such a hurry in 1985, maybe we just weren’t paying too much attention to anything but getting back to the West.
What we remember most about the bridge over the Oder River in Frankfurt, was the three seconds it took to cross in 1991, compared with the three hours it took to complete the bureaucratic formalities in 1985. The three hours were compliments of the then Communist East Germany, and the three seconds, a favor from the no longer Communist Poland.
Chapter 30
Southern Part of Former
East Germany
%GOTHA / ERFURT
When we drove through these cities in 1991 a lot of reconstruction was underway, and there was still a lot to do when we re-visited in 1995. During our first visit, as in other cities in the southern part of East Germany, street repair and automobile and truck traffic made driving and parking almost impossible, in great contrast to the rather light traffic in towns and cities in northern East Germany. In 1995 there were fewer Trabants (the infamous little car manufactured in East German), but there were a lot more vehicles of all kinds, and driving conditions in 1995, especially in the cities, was even worse than in 1991.
As compared to the northern part of the country, a lot more construction (buildings, streets, highways) was underway in this area. We don’t know any reason for this, but there was no doubt more money was being spent, and a lot more work was underway.
In 1991, in the city center of Erfurt the Western Department store, Hertie, was already open in several different buildings, and there really was a parking lot nearby.
New buildings of some note were the new McDonald’s and Burger King we found in this area in 1995. We can’t remember others, even in the US, that would compare. We have seen dozens of McDonald’s restaurants in other parts of Germany, but rarely do they have drive-through counters, here called “McDrive.” Also, in most countries in Europe, it’s impossible to buy an Egg McMuffin, or breakfast of any kind in a fast-food restaurant, but our breakfast in Gotha was excellent.
A new town, or at least a suburb, was being built near Gotha. It was not complete enough to see more than a dozen building cranes and many walls sticking up from foundations.
RIGHT TURN ON RED
In East Germany, as in other Eastern European countries we have visited, they often have a green right-turn arrow, painted (not a light) on the bottom of the traffic signal, permitting right-turns when the light is red, and traffic permits. (As invented in California.) This is something unheard of in West Germany, so it was determined the arrows would be removed by January 1, 1992. Later we read the government changed its mind, and permitted the painted-green-arrow right-turn after all. We wish Germany would adopt that improvement for the whole country
%JENA / WEIMAR
In 1991 we managed, slowly and with great difficulty, to drive on many streets in both Jena and Weimar. We found not one space where we could park, even illegally, within a mile of the center of either town. We had to double-park just to buy groceries in a small store. Construction on streets and on buildings was everywhere.
When we returned in 1995 we had a similar experience. Many buildings had stores open on the ground floor, but the upper part of the building would still be wrapped in scaffolding. We again drove on many streets, detoured around others, and saw building and street construction work under way, but we still couldn’t park, and couldn’t see much improvement over what existed four years earlier.
The one exception was the huge Globus Store (combined grocery, hardware, and department store) just outside one town, that was under construction in 1991, and completed and very, very busy in 1995. The name Globus is intended to indicate a large store, and throughout Germany, the Globus stores we have visited certainly fill that bill.
In many places in East Germany, very large “Home Improvement” stores (hardware and lumber) were either under construction, or were completed and quite busy. In just the past few years, stores of this type have been sprouting up all over Germany, and in other European countries too. Near Jena we did see a Holiday Inn open for business, and signs advertised a concert soon to be held by the “Beach Brothers.”
But we don’t know what had been accomplished in the previous four years. We remember the same feeling in Leipzig, and in other cities in the East. A lot of men and equipment had been busy, but very few projects seem to be completed. We remember in Mettlach, while the Saar Canal was being constructed and when a new street was built around the village center, work seemed to take forever, but finished quality was excellent.
One thing we saw that was different, was a couple of horse-drawn farm wagons that seemed to be on purpose, and actually doing real farm work. We had seen horses in use in Germany a couple of times “just for fun,” but here at Jena, near Stadtilm, and in downtown Cottbus, are the only times we remember farm horses that were actually at work in Germany.
INCONGRUOUS
As a statement on something; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), the poet and author is buried at Weimar; Friedrich Schiller (he wrote “Ode to Joy” featured in Beethoven’s Ninth), made Weimar his permanent home; Franz Liszt, celebrated pianist and composer was appointed musical director in Weimar and lived there for years; the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzche lived and died in Weimar. The headquarters of Germany’s Shakespeare Society and the Goethe-Schiller Archives (1896) are located in Weimar.
And on the hill above the city of Weimar is the Buchenwald National Memorial commemorating the 50,000 who died in the Nazi concentration camp located there from 1937 to 1945. In the 1930s and early ‘40s a few men, at the head of state, turned Germany into the most hated nation in the world. Its almost frightening to see how few men it takes. A handful of men (and millions of honorable citizens) converted Germany into a decent society during the decades since.
%BUCHENWALD
The mountain-top memorial to the people who died in this Concentration Camp, was visible from miles away, and we just headed cross-country, toward that mountain top. The road was rough and twisty, and after a wrong turn we found ourselves in the middle of a large Soviet Army Camp. The very friendly guard, from Kiev, Ukraine, gave us instructions as best he could, but we could see he was just as frustrated as we were not to be able to communicate beyond the names of our hometowns.
At the Buchenwald memorial, on the top of the hill, there are three large areas marked as mass graves. The Soviet Government had erected huge concrete markers, depicting, the sign said, each of the 18 European countries whose citizens were killed here. These memorials were high on a hill overlooking the town of Weimar, and miles of farm land. It is hard to believe the horror that occurred within just a few miles of such beautiful, tranquil scenery.
When we visited what remains of the actual camp (on the “other” side of the hill), the sign there said people from 35 different countries were killed at Buchenwald. We should have checked more carefully, but if we remember correctly, the 18 countries shown at the memorial are only those countries dominated by the Soviet Union. There were no monuments to any “Western” country. In one building inside the camp, there are a dozen or more plaques on the wall, giving names, countries and dates, apparently installed by friends or relatives of some of the deceased.
The remains of this camp are not as terrifying as others we have seen, such as Auschwitz, but it’s still horrifying beyond belief.
%HALLE
In AD 806, Charlemagne had a fortress built to guard the valuable salt springs near Halle, whose name means “saltworks.” The nearby area contains rich deposits of potash and lignite, in addition to salt, and Halle is an important center for the manufacture of chemicals and machinery. As we neared what appeared to be downtown Halle we missed a turn and found ourselves on a long, high viaduct, crossing a narrow deep valley. From here we could see a lot of the city, and it did not look too inviting.
Halle appeared dirty and no
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