Postings from Germany

Friedrichstadt

I'm trying to figure out how to keep this post readably short. It seems it ought to be at minimum a travel book, though I'm afraid there wasn't enough conflict, angst or tragedy for a novel. Not even that much comedy, though there were the predictable wrong turns and missed exits and the what-did-we-forget-to-pack puzzler. Mostly it was a four-day getaway that was wonderfully relaxing, incredibly sunny, and as usual a history-and-discovery trip.

We've been to Friedrichstadt before and stayed in the same bed and breakfast. But that was before I started the blog. Eons ago. The B+B is small (four rooms), furnished more or less in Victorian style, LOTS of stuff around, lots of personal touches. Frau Kahle is a talented craftsperson/artist and the walls are full of her water colors, her silk patchwork and appliqued pillows adorn the chairs, soapstone sculptures sit on mantles and shelves. None of it is kitschy or amateurish. She serves a superb breakfast, starting with a "boat" of a quarter apple topped with whipped cream and an orange slice sail, and small langustinos scattered around. Silver and crystal, Royal Copenhagen china. Good coffee. Plenty of rolls and sliced meats and eggs and cheese and homemade jams and jellies. A great start to the day.


But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Getting there is perhaps not half the fun, but it is fun. We stopped in Oste on the way, what was formerly a busy sea way and, in order not to get in the way of commerce, they constructed a hanging ferry - the iron construction has a platform hanging from it that ferried people and cars and trucks over the river. It was saved from destruction in the 1970s by the intervention of the King of Spain, of all people! Now of course, it is a museum piece.



But remnants of the glory days are still to be seen. The church is a wonder of hand-carved pews and private compartments, a wonderous organ and an altar piece worthy of a much larger city.

Then across the River Elbe on the regular ferry on water. I found the ferry's name interesting: Ernst Sturm. A perfectly regular German name, but translated it's: Serious Storm. We didn't have a storm, thank goodness.

So. Onward. We did a "Star Tour" on our bikes, one of four recommended by the Tourist Center; one took us back and forth to see sites on the north and east of the town. At 35k, perfectly doable.

We visited Tönning where there was (behold!) another church with organ and altar from so many hundred years before our time.

And a sculpture that was really funny. Friesiens are sort of ridiculed here - a bit like Southerners in the US are - and are thought to have less than a full deck. They do entertain themselves rather simply. This celebrates jumping across the gullies between the fields and farms because there weren't bridges everywhere. Frankly, I think that would take a lot of guts to do this.

North Germany is kinda like small towns in south Georgia or Alabama - churches everywhere: St. Leopold, St. Annen, St. Laurentius. They have each their own character, their interesting cemeteries, their individual histories.

There were two churches that had sculptures representing Peace. Good for them. This sculpture has peace doves sitting on a rifle bound by the bricks. Not a bad idea. Just cement those guns in a wall!

There were reminders of historical violence in pastoral settings. This is what remains of the Jewish cemetery in Friedrichstadt. There had been a thriving Jewish community once though by the time WWII broke out, the community was already small; what remained was totally eliminated. All of them died in concentration camps.

But the history of the town also includes its Dutch influence and the little canals and bridges and houses are just lovely.

But don't think for a minute it is all old stuff here. We saw uncountable wind turbines for the power grid.


And on one bike tour we came across this. We couldn't tell what it was from a distance, but when we got up to it, we saw it will be a really big array of solar panels. Getting away from fossil fuels is on the agenda here, regardless of the party in power. Yeah, solar.

But in the end it was about relaxing and unwinding and getting away. And that it was. Here, our peaceful room and a peaceful sunset from the dock.