Postings from Germany

Heynitz Weekend

Maybe some of you remember the name - it's a very small village not to far from Dresden. One of Werner's fellow students in the German program at FSU is from there. Well, the family has a little castle there, actually.


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We've been there twice now - once for a "Gator" reunion in 2000 and then in 2005 for Beni's (Benita von Heynitz) wedding. It's a real retreat.

A rearranged class made it possible for us to leave early, so Thursday noon we headed out and stayed overnight in Lutherstadt-Eisleben. There are three "Luther" Cities in Germany - Wittenburg, where Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the cathedral door; Eisenach, where he translated the Bible from Latin to German; and Eisleben, where he was born, baptised, and died.

It's small and half-charming. The Rathaus and market square have been restored, the Luther memorials are well-preserved, but like most cities in the former east, it's half-and-half. Too many people have left so there are too many empty and run-down buildings.

No matter. Lots of interesting sites, including this sculpted over a door: "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" - but here in German (Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott).

Werner noticed we were near the town of Naumburg and said we had to go, it was SIGNIFICANT. As an Art History Person, I was embarrassed to NOT know the significance of the place. But it is - and it was a special stop. Here's one of the most famous statues: Uta. She was one of the sponsors of the construction. This was sculpted in about 1250. It looks so modern! She was lost to view for decades while those who don't know from art or religion used the whole choir as a lumber storage area.

While appreciating the sculptures and windows, a visiting women's choir group performed spontaneously: Dona Pace (Give Us Peace). How appropriate and moving.

A short stop in Freyburg where we visited another lovely church and charming town square, here the colorful door to the Town Hall, but more importantly picked up Zwiebel Kuchen (Onion Tarte) and fresh wine (Federwießer) for our appetizers.

Gotta move! We're gonna be late!

Finally we arrive in Heynitz. The old castle is above, but we stayed in the old sheep barn below that's been partially renovated and restored. Beni and Siegfried have a three-bedroom getaway, just 2+ hours from where they live.

We ate, we walked, we TALKED a lot, we picked plums, Nicole made a tart, we had a glorious relaxing time.

On the way home Sunday, we had one last bit of fun - we ran into an air show in Magdeburg when we had to stop for gas. Lots of dives and twists and old planes and noise. You can see it was a beautiful day. The cap to a beautiful weekend.