Buchenwald. Book: "The Seventh Well"

Fred Wander was kept in various concentration and labor camps in France and Germany during the World War II era, see his book, "The Seventh Well," reviewed at the New York Times, ://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/books/review/Hoffman-t.html/

The review is far better than any summary we could provide, so we refer you directly to it. And the book. The French work camps - a different angle to the German. The book appeared in East Germany in 1970, and only now is in English translation, by Michael Hofman.

Mr. Wander was in Buchenwald at the time of the Allied liberation, in 1945.

See photos and description at Germany Road Ways, Buchenwald, Labor Camp.

Fritzlar and Alsfeld: And Teutonic Knights of the Era. Roots of Fealty.

Preserved Towns

Where to Lean Does Not Mean to Fall

1. Fritzlar.
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This town boasts a great ring of medieval walls. The town dates from early 8th century. The Fritzlar official site is at www.fritzlar.de/, and shows good photos. The Alsfeld official site lacks photos, so go to Alsfeld at Wikipedia, at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsfeld. Big squares.

Seeing these preserved towns, unbombed, was the best start for a trip in Germany. There has been destruction of entire cities, now reconstructed as best could be done with the money and time and urgency. Half timber is hardest to reconstruct, because the old cities show such bulges and tilted rooms inside, walls and ceilings askew. That cannot be replicated. The botox of reconstruction; but here, not voluntary.

2. Alsfeld.
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This town is a contemporary of Fritzlar, dating from the late 9th century. In both, see later 16th-17th century half-timber houses so big and old that the top floors tilt over the little alleyways and nearly meet (some may even meet at the top).

3. Our interest: Life In Between the foundings and the later merchant eras: Teutonic Knights; Crusades and Post Crusades
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Spending time in these old towns leads to considering what life was like from the many foundings in the 8th-9th Centuries, through the dominance of the Roman Church over the Orthodox Christians, and others, wars against Islam, and the Crusades, see that era at Crusader Characters at ://www.snunit.k12.il/njeru/crusaders_characters.htm. That may be the best site for a fast look at Crusader times.

Then, there is time until the later emerging wealth, independence and merchant eras, seen in the big half-timbered places of the 16th and 17th Centuries. What happened after the fervor and failure of the Crusades, to all those militarists who then had nothing noble to do?
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That era includes most of the Crusades and persecutions of Reform types in Europe; and battle against "Infidels" abroad. Heady stuff. Adenalin, purpose, go!

The Teutonic Knights were separate from other Knights of the Crusades era.

It was strongly ethnic, as opposed to the Templars and the Hospitallers that were more international in character, although it began as a Hospitaller Order. See "The Knights of the Teutonic Order," at ://www.snunit.k12.il/njeru/ef37.htm.

They were recognized in 1199 - is that also when Pope Innocent III ordered their uniforms - the white tunic and black cross. We believe there was a Papal bull to that effect. There were many competitions and power-plays among rulers-sponsors, and it looks like only the Teutons lived on. See ://www.middle-ages.org.uk/teutonic-knights.htm/,

After the Crusades, they moved their center to Venice, and then to Prussia, looking for work and finally finding it. They became a mercenary-militaristic group commissioned to conquer the Orthodox Christians in Eastern Europe* just as they had been after the "infidels" in the Holy Land.

The concept suited, even though those Orthodox were themselves Christian. Kill your brethren; the Grand Master and God so require. A human differential. The "other" is expendable.

They limited their membership to Germans, as Teutonic Knights, so there were no members whose relatives might be involved, to oppose the mission. At their Church of St. Mary, only German speakers received a blessing. This also from ://www.snunit.k12.il/njeru/crusaders_characters.htm/

Is it no accident that our concept of "club" comes from the German, an honored tradition - the old German gelubde, the "bodies of men united by a common vow," see the History of Friedrich II, by Thomas Carlyle, at ://carlyle.classicauthors.net/Friedrich/Friedrich16.html - this from Chapter 6, "The Teutsch Ritters or Teutonic Order."

The Teutch Order. Take time for some serious reading. Go there, at the Carlyle site.

Are these observations about old Germania on point:

• That there are deep roots of fealty to an individual leader, even unto death. This was common in the middle ages, in a feudal social structure; so the question is whether it is more pronounced in Germany than in other European countries. Does loyalty to the leader trump what the follower is asked to do in the name of the leader.Of interest is the evolution of the Teutonic Knights during and after the Crusades. They continued openly, whereas the Knights Templar were destroyed; but the Teutons carried forward in a different and more mercenary and politicized function. Why the differing treatment? Why were the Teutons embraced, but the Templars ground down, as we are told they were. Were the Templars too independent of the rulers of the time, too wealthy, too powerful.
  

• That there are deep roots of the special quality that Germans perceive in their own heritage. The membership in the Teutonic Knights was limited to Germans. Is that mere convenience of locale and common custom, or early Aryanism? This takes more research, and professionals and we are not that. We look and ask.

Did the Knights Templar accept Germans? It was international, so probably so. The Middle Ages site addresses the history of the Teutonics and division from the Templars. The Teutonic Order was originally the Teutonic Knights of the Hospital of the Blessed Virgin.

Was a combination of the Teutonic militarist power with loyalty to God and Mary and the Grand Master, combined with the exclusivity of only German membership, contribute to their amenability to the slaughter of the Orthodox Christians in Eastern Europe, because the Eastern Europeans had not been converted by the Roman branch, and so were considered pagan (but were really just a threat to the Pope?)

See Martin Luther's Stove, Fear the Follower. What, if anything, does the Teutonic Knight or other Crusading experience have on our cultures. Obey the authority. Is that our heritage.

Difficult issues. Look up Saints Cyril and Methodius - their legacy of conversions to Eastern Europe to Orthodoxy is still strong despite all. * Look at the deep wounds from the perception of the Orthodox in the Balkan states during WWII that the Roman branch stood by as the Orthodox were killed by the Nazi regimes. People disagree. Look up Cardinal Stepinac, said to have stood by and converted Orthodox to Roman Catholicism before their deaths, rather than oppose the slaughter; is that so? and Jasenovac, starting with Zagreb, Croatia, and his burial place at Croatia Road Ways, Cardinal Stepinac, St. Stephen's. See also the site itself at Croatia Road Ways, Jasenovac. Is he asking for forgiveness, or giving thanks.

Religion, politics, who the leader, who the follower, who takes responsibility, who is freed from it, if anyone.

These issues do not stop at country borders. We all follow something. Everybody is everybody. Read further Teutonic Knight history, and see its emblem, at The Teutonic Order, at ://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/teutonic.htm/

...........................................................

* Saints Cyril and Methodius:
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They began their conversions in the 9th Century, when all were Orthodox who were Christian, and before the Roman Branch separated itself from the other Orthodox Branches of Christianity.

Starting from Thessaloniki, Greece, they moved north into eastern Europe, and that included parts of Germany and Prussia.
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Read about Saints Cyril and Methodius at Czech Republic Road Ways, entry for Operation Anthropoid during World War II where members of the Czech Resistance were betrayed, found and died in the crypt of this Orthodox Church named for Cyril and Methodius. See http://czechrepublicroadways.blogspot.com/2007/08/prague-at-war-world-war-ii-operation.html

Kassel and The Brothers Grimm

Kassel

Kassel is first mentioned in documents from 913. See its ancient heritage at ://www.abnachkassel.de/en/history.php/. In 1943, British bombers destroyed 90% of the city, most not rebuilt in the old style, but as 1950's. Urban renewal was not helpful - the traffic pattern is hard to follow, but we appreciate the stresses and urgency to rebuild something.

We were interested in The Brothers Grimm Museum. See www.kassel.de/. There are photo galleries at images.google.com/images?q=kassel+germany&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-28,GGGL:en&sa=X&oi=images&ct=titl/  See how the Tales of the Brothers Grimm have been changed over the years, see in particular the Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel posts at Migratory Patterns of Tales.

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There was an illustration silhouette exhibit at the time. If it is part of the permanent collection, do not miss the woodcuts and meticulous, cuticle-scissor-minutely detailed, silhouette-work used as illustrations for the fairy tales, see www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/article, in black, gray, white, and sometimes a tiny yellow in a castle window. That is where she waits.
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That might have been a roving exhibit and no longer there. We do not recall the artist, the superior snipper.
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Nearby is a park that had labeled certain trees that survived the bombings in WWII. It is strangely moving to see them still there.

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 Kassel in the 1500's:

See it before its 1943 bombing at ://www. historic-cities.huji.ac.il/germany/kassel/maps/braun_hogenberg_I_26_2_b.jpg.

In Kassel, see the photo gallery at images.google.com/images?q=kassel+germany&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-28,GGGL:en&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title/

Wartburg Castle - Siege, Architecture, Half-Timber, Cannon. Duke Ludwig

Wartburg Castle, at a distance

Wartburg - the castle on the hill - was founded in 1067 AD by Duke Ludwig de Springer - long before Martin Luther at the start of the Reformation 16th Century  needed it for a safe haven, and translated the New Testament into German here.

If only medieval geneologies were more comprehensible to outsiders.  We looked up Duke Ludwig, and lost our wits in names, cum barba or not (with beard, or not, we think) to find out more about the one who found a fabulous view of the Alps there, and started a fortress on this site.  See://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/THURINGIA.htm  Did the good duke have his wife's first husband murdered so he could marry her? That may have been the "cum barba."

The lands here, known as Thuringia, were part of the Soviet allocation after WWII - East Germany, the Iron Curtain. During the Middle Ages, the castle was known for its minstrel festivals and contests.

Wartburg Castle, defense

See glimpses of Romanesque, Gothic and  Renaissance architecture by now. 

We forget that, during times of siege, the castle enclosed an entire living space, a mini-town.The defense could be sustained for a long period, so long as the well water and food held out. This cannon, of course, is not medieval. Perhaps 19th Century? See the history of small cannon at ://www.cannon-mania.com/history.htm

Wartburg Castle, half timber 

The half-timber style is durable. Some of the oldest, tiltiest, biggest buildings from medieval Germany are half-timber.  The timber framework was solid, and then the spaces filled with plaster, horsehair, straw, grease, mud, matter that retained some flexibility - instead of a crack that weakened the building when it shifted, it bulged. 

The Vends - Ancient Culture Subserved But With Traces

Imagine our current maps of Germany and Slovenia, with a wide swath of population stretching from Slovenia, where it dominated, through Eastern and Central Germany. These were the lands of the Vends, the Vendic culture, with similarities to the Celts. Here is a fine site: "The Vends and the Germans" at ://www.carantha.net/the_vends_and_the_germans.htm

Maypole - Traces of the Vends, Germany

Read the overview at Slovenia Road Ways, Expunged Ancient Dynasty of Carantania. That reviews the Vendic culture in the area then known as Carantania, and the rights of women to rule and conduct business was identical with that of men. Until another Germanic group, the Swabians, took over and poof- there went the ancient Slavica Lex and its equality. In marched the Germans, tramp tramp.

Place and people names and cultural traces that are Vendic, still there, customs living -

• Buchwald now Buchenwald, the name of the forced labor camp
• Several Berlin street names
  
• The Maypole, the tree of life for the village, sometimes with a wreath beneath (see the "Vends and the Germans" site for pictures). See more Germany maypoles, including with the suspended wreath at the top, at Germany Road Ways, Maypoles.
  
• Veneration of the Linden tree (not the oak, as other celtic groups chose). Note that Hitler had the Lindens cut down before WWII along that great boulevard, UnterDen Linden - and put up flagpoles - see ://www.voicesunderberlin.com/1950.html. Lindens have been replanted in Berlin now, still little ones, but just you wait.
• Language - Ven vill I see you again; and commerce: Vendy's. Lighten up here.
• "House Order of the Vendic Crown" established 19th Century, Mecklenburg-Schwerin roots
• Legend at Schildhorn, read it at the Vends and the Germans site - miraculous rescue from a watery death in it
  

Now - speak German language, and Polish. Earlier absorbed into much of Prussia?

Schwabisch Hall - Swabians

Schwabisch Hall. Swabians. The remains of a Celtic settlement were found here in 1939, dating from 500BC. See www.schwaebischhall.de/History.1943.0. If Schwabisch Hall had been bombed, all that would be gone, just as history is being bombed out elsewhere.

Look at the huge size of these medieval buildings. Schwabisch Hall is a town less commercial-touristy than another medieval town, Rothenberg. See www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/baden_wuerttemberg/schwaebisch_hall for one of the best city websites we found.

Climb the long stairs up to the church, and look back.

Swabians. The Brothers Grimm in 1857 wrote a politically incorrect story about The Seven Swabians. See www.pitt.edu/%7Edash/grimm119. The site says, at the source section, that stories like these are taken in good humor. Doubtful.

They deserve better. They have played a large role in many countries.

Frederick of Swabia, son of Barbarossa, supported the founding of the Teutonic Knights as a medical order to aid pilgrims and the wounded in the Crusades. See grognard.com/zines/ph/p0304.

Many Swabians migrated to Hungary and the Balkans and elsewhere. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube_Swabians.

We found Germanic settlements in Romania, see Romania Road Ways, saxons at www.romaniaroadways.blogspot.com. The names mix - they seem to have been known as Saxons as well as Swabians, so I am not sure of the separation of the ethnic groups there, seelcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+ro0055%29 for more on Saxons-Swabians, Romania (temporary file - may be moved, it says). See the Swabians taking over Slovenia at Slovenia Road Ways, Expunged Ancient Dynasty of Carantania and destroying the grand Slavica Lex tradition of successors to the throne as either male or female . Thanks a lot, German machos.

The Saxons in Romania were known for their fortified churches. I understand many are returning, or financing the rebuilding of the old churches, after expulsions in WWII. This does not look like the Swabian heritage group?

The Swabians also went to Sicily - even ruling there as an extension of the Normans - and other parts of Italy. See Swabians in Italy. That site says that the Swabians in the 12th Century lived in territory extending through Bavaria and Switzerland.

Saxons: This site oriented to schoolchildren, about germanic tribes in Great Britain, uses the same term - Swabians and Saxons. See www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/kids/sax, on Saxons and Swabians. That seems too broad, even for kids.

This next and more comprehensive Teutonic-origins site says that some Saxons were descended from Alexander the Great's army in Macedonia, and some from Danes and Northmen; and that the Swabians also descend from Northmen, but that they (read all about it) undertook a long boat journey to the Elbe and other places - a different sea tack. See www.northvegr.org/lore/rydberg/016. This lays out the Saxon and Swabian Migration Saga. Bloody battles all around.

Dresden - Neustadt and Altstadt. City navigating; War Treasures Reunited.

Where to go from the motorway or secondary road and you see a city near. Aim for "Centrum," or its language equivalent. Skip the maps, the streets, the landmarks. Just get in the middle of it.

Most cities direct traffic to the old town by prominent signs, expecting the new town to be near enough not to require a poster. That works. We aim for the old town sections anywhere. Once there, find any hotel, go in and get a local placemat sized map; and perhaps even stay there. But just get in the middle of it all.

For Dresden, look back at the New York Times "Going to Dresden" in the travel section 10/24/06, at page 13. That is the kind of cartooney map that is the best help when you are starting out. There, the Elbe running through, new town on one side, old town on the other and some bridges. In 2006, the article says that Dresden turned age 800. Nearly fire-bomb flattened in just days, WWII. Think of the history we collectively trashed.

The NYT article says that 300 years ago, a great treasure, known as the Green Vault, was gathered in Dresden by Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony- a part of the Holy Roman Empire in its day - see him on his white steed at -www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/AugustII. The treasure included a 41 carat green diamond and diamond-encrusted swords. All stolen after WWII, and just now put back together at the Royal Palace.

Dresden Lives

Dresden was fire-bombed, carpet-bombed during World War II. Some buildings remained, most were flattened or so gutted that little could be salvaged. See some survivors here.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. died last week - this is an update 4/07 from earlier 12/06 post. He was that fine novelist-icon who happened to be a prisoner of war in Dresden, underground in a meat locker, and who emerged to find the devastation. He said in a rerun on PBS last week, an interview in the 1980's I believe, that noone benefited from that surprise attack. The war was not cut short by a single minute, no strategic goal had been even set forth, no allied effort was facilitated, and the only one who benefited was himself - Kurt Vonnegut who subsequently wrote his "Slaughterhouse Five." See www.vonnegutweb.com/sh5/index

"Dresden Lives" was on numerous street posters when we were there.

For pictures of Dresden, do an images search in Google for Dresden bomb fire.

An overview of the Baroque buildings still standing is at www.pbase.com/bauer/dresden.

Here is the larger photo of the large square.

The Dresden area is a UNESCO World Heritage site, on the Elbe River. See whc.unesco.org/en/list/1156.

Lili Marleen- Small History of a WWI War Protest Song, Defused By WWII and Marlene Dietrich, Idealizing Love in War

Familiar song with a fascination, nationalist propaganda-related history: Lili Marleen. FN 1

The original message of "Lili Marleen," the one we do not hear, was a protest against war, from WWI. Lili Marleen, the song, was originally written by a German soldier headed for the Russian front in World War I, as a "plea for sanity in World War I." See ://www.ingeb.org/garb/lmarleen.

But, over time, as parts of the world revved up for war again, for nationalism, the theme of the message of Lili Marleen was changed from war protest, to presenting a dreamy reverie about love in war. See the changes as they evolved at the ingeb.org site. Parallel verses.

1. The torch rendition. Check your own knowledge. Are you most familiar with Lilli Marleen as a misty torch song. "Lilli Marleen" was sung so memorably that way during World War II, by Marlene Dietrich see FN 2, and Edith Piaf, among others. A steamy soft agony song. A separated by war song. A longing song.

Those froggy voices. For Dietrich, the slouchy hat. The slouch. Hear it now at eri.ca/refer/marlened.MP3. Take advantage of internet audio.

Do an images search for "Marlene Dietrich Lili Marleen." Or Lilli Marleen. Put the two names together. Picture the lamp post, the girl in the mist draped around it, the throaty voice of WWII radio and stage. Both genders, relationships all ways, and always, in important ways, all just humans. Look into the lives of our icons.

2. The Panzer martial march rendition. You may also know it as a German marching song. Hear a Panzer Division sing it. See the Nuremberg stadium as its backdrop here at ://61.139.55.94/dvd/pic1/Lili.Marleen.jpg.

3. The world making it its own. Hear many renditions at the Lili Marleen website, at ://www.ingeb.org/garb/lmarleen. Hear it in Hungarian, Finnish and Dutch.

4. See how the words changed with the times. There are two sites we used:

a. ://ingeb.org/Lieder/lilimarl.html. This has all three versions -
a.1 with the 1915 German, identified as Hans Leip;
a.2 then a 1998 translation of that by "Frank;"
a.3 then a 1944 evolved version translated by "Tommie Connor."

b. Then see the WWI words at www.jazzprofessional.com/report/Norbert%20Schultze.htm#english, as translated by the jazz trumpet player, Ron Simmonds.

5. The World War I.

1913, sometimes told as 1915 (soldier, Hans Leip, lyric, see http://ingeb.org/Lieder/lilimarl.html) for the three parallel versions.

We like the Ron Simmonds at www.jazzprofessional.com/report/Norbert%20Schultze.htm#english. The occasion for resurrecting the original was the death of Norbert Schultze, 10/14/2002, composer and protector of performing rights. Ron Simmonds died recently. See the coverage of the Schultze tributes, at www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=7762.

Scroll down to the English translation, and you will see the words that mean as much now as they did in 1913, written incorporating the name of the soldier's girlfriend, Lili, and perhaps the name of a mysterious nurse in the mist, Marleen. The Ron Simmonds version of the original, included at that website, reads like this, with line breaks added: Scroll down to the very bottom.

There is a lantern in front of the barracks,
And the big gate, still there.
It does not and cannot figure out what is happening,
"As did once Lili Marleen!"

Is it pride or power
That brings us "out of our senses?"
However we try to get away,
We will be judged.
"Some day, Lili Marleen!"

The dead on sand or beach,
Who buries or counts?
How much more pain
Until we see how stupid and senseless this is.
"Oh God, Lili Marleen!"

And, since copyright permits "fair use," see www.bitlaw.com, this little excerpt is just as it is --

"From the quiet rooms,
From the earth,
There rises before me as in a dream
Your deathly pale mouth. [the other translation avoids that and says, "hale' mouth -see ://ingeb.org/Lieder/lilimarl.html]

Before the swirling mists clear,
Let war and hate come to an end - now,
Today,
Lili Marleen!"

Toggling back and forth between the translations, we think these are close.

1944: Then go to how the song was later used, and changed to meet the needs of both sides in World War II. It became a song of longing - see www:// ingeb.org/Lieder/lilimarl. By 1944 it was a love song. And Marlene Dietrich synonymous with it.

Amen. We have Edith Piaf singing it.

..............................................

FN 1. Bump Bump-a Dump Dump
Bump-a Dumpy Dump.
(BBCDBCBCFD. AABCDFEDCB - now. The rest yourself.)

Bump Bump-a Dump Dump
Bump-a Dumpy Dump!

Bump Bump-a Dump Dump
DUMP DUMP DUMP

A-Dump Dump Dump
A-Dump Dump Dump

A-Dump Lili Marle-e-en
A-Dump Lili Marleen.

etc. Sometimes written as Lilli Marleen.

FN 2 See network channels 3/28/07 - the news word is that Marlene Dietrich, who vanted to be alone, had a letter-writing and perhaps more relationship with Ernest Hemingway. See ABC news, 6:30 eastern daylight time.

Vikings and Geneology - Roots of Names

It is easy to stop with the easiest explanation for a name - but dig deeper. Our "Scharfe" looks German (a variant of the word means sharp, I believe) . But we found in Orkney and Ireland a different connection - Viking. The Vikings traveled and settled and plundered up and down any river and waterway they could find, apparently, and including Germany - and the Scharf is old Nordic for cormorant, with family coming from Ireland (a Viking playground as well as a place for serious settling); and Iceland in the sagas. Look up the surnames of a thousand years ago, and the meanings. See geneology posts at Ireland Roadways; and Orkney Roadways.

Go ahead. Take your name, hunt around, then go wherever you find a connection and enjoy. May be no connection at all, but fun is in the process. Don't worry about spelling differences. Even our folks in Canada added the "e" in the earliest 1900's just to make it easier for the postmaster.

Geneology.
Joke on uncle. Old name his:
Squinty cormorant.

Salute to Ingenuity - German fountains

Salutes. Today, I salute the sheer ingenuity of the Germans. Fun. German whimsy, German fountains.

See Nuremburg, at Germany Road Ways, Nuremburg posts, Altotting post: fountains. In Munich, look up and see some sculptural figure teetering outside the the 5th floor at the corner - just for fun. Imagine the money fountain in Nuremburg - a broad flat slow whirlpool down the center drain, and around the perimeter, the rich pass money between themselves and hide it behind their backs, the poor reach out their arms and never get anything, a man and boy go fishing, the man with some, but fishing for more. You go around and around it, looking more closely, drawn in yourself to the expressions and you think, yes, this is a true universal.

So, today, to German ingenuity. See the marriage carousel fountain, also in Nuremberg, the puppet fountain, and the plague memorial fountain in Altotting. Check the site references for more pictures of them.

In no other country were the fountains such fun, and so true to human nature. Others' fountains may be grander, but they don't tell a story that goes deep inside.

Berg or burg? Nothing ever ends.

Nuremberg: What did it mean. The Law of Atrocity. Leadersorganizersinstigatorsandaccomplices.

 War Criminals

War Crimes

The Law of Atrocity
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LEADERS, ORGANIZERS, INSTIGATORS AND ACCOMPLICES
.

A distorted Mary Poppins
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All are one:  

leadersorganizersinstiragorsandaccomplices
hum diddle diddle diddle hum diddle i

What makes a war criminal. War criminals are not only the wielders of the electric shock wire or other technique; war criminals by law are the leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices. Common Plan or Conspiracy law applies.

Nuremberg Stadium, by the Nazi Documentation Center

See an overview of the entire Nuremberg war crimes trials after World War II.  A good starting site is at nuremberg.law.harvard.edu/php/docs_swi.php?DI=1&text=overview.

See the law arising from the 13 Nuremberg trials at law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/NurembergIndictments. Better, go to the Nazi Documentation Center at Nuremberg itself, by the stadium that still stands. Or see Leni Riefenstahl's 1930's film, "Triumph of the Will," - look it up. Watch, transfixed.

1.  Here is a small fair-use excerpt from the umkc.edu website, spacing changed for clarity: note that not only the immediate actors are the war criminals, but also the leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices.

"The following acts, or any of them, are crimes coming within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal for which there shall be individual responsibility:

"(a) Crimes against Peace: namely, planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a Common Plan or Conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing;

"(b) War Crimes: namely, violations of the laws or customs of war. Such violations shall include, but not be limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave labor or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity;

"(c) Crimes against Humanity: namely, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war,14 or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of domestic law of the country where perpetrated.

"Leaders, organizers, instigators, and accomplices participating in the formulation or execution of a Common Plan or Conspiracy to commit any of the foregoing crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any persons in execution of such plan."

Our issues, given our leadership and those who are expected to follow:

2.  Can or will a soldier or officer refuse to obey. When.

Educate yourself. See, for example, www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/57JQ7H - "Superior Orders and the International Criminal Court."  Look up our human vulnerability to following authority, and in so doing, believe ourselves guiltless.  See The Milgram Study, and here is a paper written about it and its acting out in police work, }Obedience to Authority and Unjustified Police Violence," by David Coady at this Police Ethics site, at ://www.utas.edu.au/philosophy/cape/WORD%20FILES/Police_Ethics.pdf/

Coady's Premise:  The Selfish Person Is Less Dangerous than The Integrative Person.

Coady's thesis is roughly this:  That the "selfish" man is far less a danger to society than is the "integrative" man, the one who surrenders his identity to the leader, or group -

• religious, 
• social, 
• political party, 
• another cause, 
• whatever.

Read the Milgram Study, see "Stanley Milgram's Experiment, 'Obedience and Individual Responsibility,' " at ://www.cba.uri.edu/Faculty/dellabitta/mr415s98/EthicEtcLinks/Milgram.htm/ 

3.  On what grounds can a country decide it will be not subject to that? Again, educate yourself.

We have an officer, Watadi, who refused as to Iraq, now a mistrial. See, for supportive overview, www.thankyoult.org/. ABC news says this:http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2857628. How do those match up with the standard we applied at Nuremberg? And wasn't there a Japanese commander held responsible for atrocities committed far away from his presence as well? Need to keep the consistency going if we are to have a chance.


Update January 2009. Mr. President Obama. Laws cannot be flaunted, or laws fall down. Prosecute. For all our sakes.
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Lighten up perhaps a little because this is so hopeless. Have to. Compelled. A frivolous alternative to hanging is to generate a Shakespearean insult. See william-shakespeare.org.uk/a1-shakespearean-insults-generator.

Update to Remagen Post 10-6 and The Dogs of War. US and Vanishing Atrocities.

Remagen, Germany, where the bridge was

 Remagen. 

The place once spanned by a vital bridge.

Shakespeare's Antony spoke of the dreadful consequences of the dogs of war, in "Julius Caesar:" "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war." Question here: is atrocity another of the dogs of war, that we - as well as our "enemies" - fall prey to, or intentionally indulge in?

That cry, to havoc, signified the shift in old military campaigns from conquest to pillage - to be given permission to cross the fine line that holds back the dogs, and that then the dogs only need only be allowed to "slip" - an almost inadvertent act. Just let them slip. Nobody really responsible.

1. Earlier post, we think, was wrong.


The focus of an earlier post 10-6 criticized the tape recording, at the bridge base, that claims that allies committed atrocities against German prisoners. This apparently is part of the exhibit at the museum that had closed by the time we got there, so we put the coin in the slot for the recording instead.  It sounded, at first, unfair, and misrepresentative of what happened.

2.  We now believe there may be truth in the German tape at Remagen, there that we simply ignore.  

With knowledge now that our own government tortured at Guantanamo (this is a further update January 2009, Obama now president), we look back further.

Explore with us more on that issue. 

We looked up

• Andersonville, the prison during the Civil War operated by the Union; see the Angelfire site at ://www. angelfire.com/ga2/Andersonvilleprison/; and 
• Vietnam My Lai, see hnn.us/roundup/entries/5285, 
• Iraq and Abu Ghraib, and other instances in Iraq. Look up your own news on that.

3.  An invitation.  Help find out.  We want to quantify facts to see what might be true about the Remagen tape recording.

• How many German soldiers were captured and in allied POW camps. 
• Then ask how many were returned. 
• Ask what happened in between. 
• How are the deaths accounted for? Should not be that difficult. But it is.

4.  Your own research.  Try these to get started.

Sites: Disappearing Atrocities.

4.1. Start at nizkor.ort/hweb/people/b/bacque-james/ambrose-.001 (from"Ike and the Disappearing Atrocities", New York Times Book Review, February 24, 1991, on James Bacque's 'Other Losses', a Review by Stephen E. Ambrose).

At this website, claimed atrocities (active and passive death-dealing of prisoners) by the allies are addressed, resulting in the deaths of perhaps hundreds of thousands of German prisoners.

Early numbers about the gap were huge, later numbers were far less - or denied altogether. And the issue is carefully counter-argued. But it still does not go away. In this era of spin and cover-up being the norm, satisfy yourself on your own.

4.2. Then go to Niall Ferguson's War of the World, see review from Amherst college's journal, The Inicator, at halogen.note.amherst.edu/~theindicator/articles.php?date=12072006&page=13.

Or search for Niall Ferguson War of the World. The TV series based on it is outlined at www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/t-z/warworld.

From a fast overview, I understand that German prisoners preferred being caught by British rather than Americans, because word had spread that their survival with Americans would be far less likely.
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Wonderful. Who are we serving when we pretend/turn away/deny, so that each generation of soldiers marches in anew, with an unrealistic view of what they, good folks like us, may well become, when faced with the dogs of war.
 .
5. Now, you take it from here.

Now we have Gitmo and the pattern continuing - laws of atrocity apply to others.  Will President Obama follow along?

Do we serve the next generation by hiding reality, and so continue in enabling war; or is war such an inevitable part of life that we must hide its reality (say, in over-stressing the heroism and patriotism) in order to dupe impressionable young soldiers to go to war for us at all.

The real "war of the world" may be against untrammeled testosterone.

Maypoles: Advantage of Early Spring Trip. The Vends Started It.

Maypole, Germany

First, an update to ourselves, this in 2008.
 .
We recently learned about an ancient people called the Vends, the Vendic culture, in Slovenia and eastern and central Germany.
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Not only did the Vends thrive, with rulers in the line of succession being male or female, no discrimination or prohibition (the Slavica Lex), but many traditions and names survive - including the Maypole.

See what we found at Germany Road Ways, Vends, Ancient Culture; and in the land known as Carantania (Slovenia now, we believe, but boundaries were fluid) at Slovenia Road Ways, Expunged Ancient Dynasty of Carantania.


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May and its high poles go back a long way.

May 1 is May Day- a public holiday since 1889. www.germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/aa042601a.
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Maypole, Germany, Schwabisch Hall

The Maypole on the right is at Schwabisch Hall, as we recall. See Schwabisch Hall post here.



We arrived just after May Day, but many of the maypoles were still standing. No reason to take them down.
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Maypole, Germany, Munich
Some Maypoles are the oldest traditional  type- a real evergreen tree, tall tall, with all branches stripped except for the top five feet or so.
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Much of Europe used to be forested with trees of this height - taken for centuries for ships and building.
,

Maypoles have a long history.

Read about the deep roots of the Maypole at www.lewrockwell.com/barnhart/barnhart11. And details and more details at german.about.com/od/holidaysfolkcustoms/a/mai.

Here is a fancy one at Munich - www.art.com/asp/sp-asp/_/pd--12412179/sp--A/Maypole_on_Viktualienmarkt_Munich_Germany.
Maypoles also are in England, see www.otleymaypole.org.uk/history. This site connects the English maypole with the Saxon invasions, see www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usmi&c=words&id=11291. Scroll down about 8 paragraphs, or do a little "find" for "maypole." Read the site if you don't mind things about pagan, or wicca, origins. I think all information is interesting. The site connects the Saxon use of red and white ribbons with "healing bandages," and the barberpole. It says some maypoles in Germany are 1600 years old.

The witchvox site also credits the origin of the maypole custom with the Basques and ancient Greeks. Must find out more.

Find out about other German holidays, so you can time your trip to see them, at www.germany.info/relaunch/culture/life/G_Kids/holidays.

Pantera Tradition Adding to Christmas - Bad Kreuznach and Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera

Bad Kreuznach; 
Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera

A town we did not see; a person of interest we did not know at the time. Noone ever told us. We put the two together afterwards, however, and look how these trips end in unexpected places. We have found a possible-strained-possible-maybe connection between ancient Germania and ancient Israel. See the Roman historian, Tacitus, on the topic, but he is not unbiased, at www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tacitus1.html/.

The gist:

1. The Place.

First, see Bad Kreuznach. The word "Bad" means that it was a place for bathing, perhaps healing waters. See ://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/Bad/. "Bad" also can mean spa. See odge.info/index.php?ebene=Search&kw=Bad.

See pictures at the US Historical Archive at ://www.ushistoricalarchive.com/photochroms/2116. Do it in two steps: Go to the home page first, at the dot com; and navigate to the photographs on your own. Longer address is to be sure you get to the right place, but a direct search to it may not work.

Where is Bad Kreuznach? It is near Bingen. See www.sims-windsurfing.de/guide_bingen.html. The original grave was discovered in about 1859, in a Roman graveyard, maybe at Bingen. The history around Bad Kreuznach itself long predates the Romans, and is laid out at the website for the base, at www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/bad-kreuznach.htm%20. Bad Kreuznach has a long history of military installations through the centuries, including Nazis before and American after WWII. Scroll down at www.usarmygermany.com/USAREUR_City_BadKreuznach.htm/.



2. The person: Pantera

At Bad Kreuznach is the headstone of one Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera. See encycl.opentopia.com/term/Tiberius_Iulius_Abdes_Pantera. We understand that the "Tiberius" references his Roman citizen status.

A search for "Pantera" shows some interest among archeologists and others in the family ties between Jesus and the last name found in this Roman graveyard, now in a museum. The father of Jesus? See also abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=1815838&page=1 on the book, "The Jesus Dynasty" by James D. Tabor 2006. I am reading the book now. Mr. Tabor himself is an archeologist, not a religious apologist or promoter, an archeologist - report what you find.


3. The juxtaposition: Pantera, a father of note?

Some find enough links to propose that he was the natural father of one later called Messiah, and as to whom a natural birth was not adequate.** So: Go to Bad Kreuznach and report for all of us. We report, you decide. Try further web meanderings from Tabor's book to the Yeshua ben Pantera section in Rabbinic literature - the topic is not new: see www.users.zetnet.co.uk/kking/extern6.html. Then go back to the 2006 Tabor book.


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* Details for the fearless interested: The father of Jesus. Facts add to faith, do not defy it; and simply refine what has to be taken on faith. Is that right? Overviews on most topics are also at Wikipedia, or other online encyclopedia, so I also went to see the non-Christian writings, other sources from the period and what agendas they may or may not have, to see what they said at the time, if anything, and discussion at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus/temp#Non-Christian_writings. Look for the agendas of any writers first, then see what persuasion techniques might be used in order to get their viewpoint accepted - or is it (surprise) a neutral compilation, for you to make your own conclusions.

Marburg -the Clifftop University

The medieval university on the cliff. Type in a search for "Marburg photos" and splendid ones will appear.

Park below the cliffs. Take the people-elevators up. This has been the place of theologians and thinkers for centuries - join them. Paul Tillich at thinkexist.com/quotes/paul_tillich/, Rudolf Bultmann at www.theology.ie/theologians/bultmann.htm, Martin Heidegger at www.philosophypages.com/ph/heid.htm, Martin Luther at www.educ.msu.edu/homepages/laurence/reformation/Luther/Luther, Hannah Arendt at www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/arendt. A place of genius.

Also a place of spaetzle, up the little cobbled streets. Make some: www.aaltonet.com/spaetzle/recipes. Add bacon, the thick, hefty smoky slabs or cubes, not out skinny deprived strippies.

More blogs about Germany Road Ways.

Castles - Here is Burg Eltz. Electors, a Siege, Survival

Burg Eltz

Burg Eltz Castle, in the hills, dates from 1157. The Eltz River used to flow around three sides. It is near the Moselle River, that flows into the Rhine - standing after centuries of wars around. See ://www.great-castles.com/eltz. Here the powerful Electors met to elect the next ruler. As years passed, various branches of the family set up housekeeping in various towers, and now the "Lion Or" branch owns it all.

The family managed, we were told, because they were master diplomats, able to bridge any dispute; and minimize conflict.

The same family has owned the castle for all that time, and ongoing. In the 14th Century, one powerful Elector, Balduin, nephew of Emperor Charles IV, wanted to enforce peace in his Electorate. However, the free knights of the Holy Roman Empire objected. They wanted to retain their rights to private warfare. The Eltzes joined with the free knights group to keep rights of private warfare, and Balduin set up a siege tower on a hill around, and you can see where they lobbed boulders over the walls, and finally cut off supplies.

Eltz surrendered. Charles awarded Eltz to Balduin in 1354. The free knights of Eltz became vassals of Balduin, holding the castle only as a feudal tenure.

The French in the later 30 years' war destroyed many German castles, but this survived. See ://great-castles.com/index.pl?eltz.html/.

There are original furnishings in many rooms; and little windows with little window seats carved out for children.

Cars can only go so far, to a distant lot; then visitors walk down the longish winding road to the castle, with views at the switchbacks. Fine photo gallery at www.pbase.com/sandpiper/burg_eltz.

Burg Eltz Castle, Germany

There is a rose symbol above a door in the imposing council room. That rosette shape means confidentiality: what is said here, stays here, a custom stemming (ahem) from Roman times. For more on sub rosa, see www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sub1.

We may be more familiar with the now-commercialized uses of rose traditions, for example, this site from a florist: www.northsideflorist.com/The%20Meaning%20of%20Roses.

An English speaker who does not want to wait for an English tour to gather, gets a laminated card with the information that is being given in the other languages. A read-along. Works fine.

Buchenwald - Forced Labor Camp

Buchenwald. See www.jewishgen.org/Forgottencamps/Camps/BuchenwaldEng. Labor Camp. WWII. Just outside Weimar. Outlines of barracks and buildings. One, reconstructed or preserved, houses the museum - the personal items, the collections of shoes, memorabilia, passports, photos, letters.

Labor cart. This was primarily a labor camp, not an extermination camp with gas chambers. Death was an integral part of the setting, however. See historical film footage: www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005198. Another is www.dunkirkma.net/inreview/features/night_and_fog. This is Alain Resnais' "Night and Fog". Check around yourself and make your own judgments on which films or sources are best in this area. We just lay out some that spoke especially to us. We include in our trips anywhere, time with those parts of history that we prefer to think never happened, and certainly were not and could not be inflicted by people like us. Not? Go there.

Little zoo. This stone structure at Buchenwald, with the low walls here, is the little zoo, right outside the fence to the camp itself. It had little bears in it, we were told, to amuse the children and families of the staff. There the children sat with governesses and mothers, and played, and fed the bears.


Buchenwald is near Weimar, some 6-7 miles out perhaps. The people said they didn't know. How much do we block out?

Pebbles for remembrance. There are memorial stone slabs for the different countries of origin, with the pebbles remembering. The roots of that fine tradition are at www.templesanjose.org/JudaismInfo/time/Life_Cycle/pebbles. And at www.myjewishlearning.com/lifecycle/Death/Burial_Mourning/TombstoneUnveiling.

See this site for a virtual tour of Jewish history in Germany. The site also connects to Jewish history in Eastern and Central Europe. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/germany.

Current topics include holocaust deniers, see the World Association of International Studies site at cgi.stanford.edu/group/wais/cgi-bin/index.php?cat=211.

For a gallery of photos on Buchenwald, the interiors of some of the buildings, see ://www.pbase.com/arodri3/germany.

Wartburg - A mighty fortress and a hurdy gurdiy

Wartburg, at Eisenach - that great castle where Martin Luther found refuge, and wrote, they say, "A Mighty Fortress." This is a World Heritage site, see whc.unesco.org/en/list/897, where Martin Luther found refuge 1521-22.


On the way up was an organ grinder, a hurdy-gurdy. There is a website on organ grinders at www.floraco.com/organs/history.








Here is a musical site for organ grinder music, if you have the plug-in. www.pulseplanet.com/archive/Aug02/2729.. Note that the use of "hurdy-gurdy" in connection with the grinder's barrel organ is deplored my many. See this site, a maker of real hurdy-gurdies: www.midcoast.com/%7Ebeechhil/vielle/

Here are sound samples. www.midcoast.com/%7Ebeechhil/vielle/. Here is someone who makes them. Elegant. See the closeup at www.hurdygurdy.farmcom.net/(looks like a dulcimer. This one called a synphonia, looks very different. Also listen. www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/hurdy.htm for a square hurdy gurdy.

See the post here on Cologne (Koln) for a big hurdy-gurdy.

Wittenburg - Martin Luther: 95 Theses Church, Home, Stove

Wittenburg, the home base of Martin Luther, is a World Heritage site. See whc.unesco.org/en/list/783. With damage from WWII, it has many reconstructed buildings in a minimalist (read "botox") style, but much of that plain, stretched look is dictated by the cost of renovation, and the flavor of Martin Luther's old city remains. Some call the Reformation, to which Luther's work gave focus and momentum, a revolt against the established Catholic hierarchy. Others call it a needed course correction, back to original intents, since the original J never espoused hierarchies, authority, acquisitions or force in the first place. All in the name.

Here are the church where Luther is buried and where he posted his 95 Theses (Schlosskirche, or "castle church"). The doors are reconstructions..

Here also is Luther's stove, prominently and theologically located in the home that he shared with his wife.

See Martin Luther's Stove for what began as a light-brained review of the uses of the stove in great thinking; now delving into serious matters of what original texts really say - transliterations, word for word, rather than someone's interpretive translation.

Theology blooms around the heater.

Here, in this house, he served as mentor to many who gathered in the room. For Aga lovers, see www.aga-ranges.com/aga/history.asp, this predecessor probably rates deification.

Luther's home dates from the 16th century (probably before, since he lived there in the 16th century), on monastery grounds in Wittenburg.

See a photo gallery about Martin Luther's Wittenburg, and the interiors of some of the buildings he knew well, at ://www.pbase.com/arodri3/germany. There is also a picture of the stove there. Armando Rodriguez - fine job there.

Wittenburg - reconstructions

Wittenburg: Martin Luther in the foreground, the Schlosskirche behind the new buildings.

It is not a smooth transition between the reconstructed buildings, and the old, in East Germany. How could an entire country be rebuilt as it was, and with the same detail and materials, and this sector did not value preservation of religious sites.

Wittenberg chose to reconstruct - but in the simple, evocative style. It takes your eye from the old church, rather than lead you to it, but there was not enough money to create ambiance, especially here, in the old East Germany. That is Martin Luther in the center. We wish they had focused at least on recreating the old in this critical space. Other towns did combine both, the old half-timber and the new, so the some of the old tone remains. Not here, yet.

Wittenberg is in the old East Germany, however, and funding and interest in those things was limited.

It still is jarring, though, when you do see the very old. Nothing can compare.

What a waste. A culture decimated.

There are constant reminders of the wars, with most of the focus (we thought) on the Allied damage, and not why they were there in the first place. In Wurzberg, there is an entire room with a model of the city; then, in the next room, the model of 22 minutes later, after the bombing. Devastation, but perhaps a reference as to why the bombs fell, even if it had been overdone (I have no idea, but it was awful) would be helpful to the next generation.

Sans Souci, Potsdam - palaces, parks. WWII

Sans Souci is a collection of palaces, parks, and other monuments from the 18th and 19th Centuries, near Berlin. The settlements of World War II took place near this area, at Potsdam. These are UNESCO World Heritage sites. See whc.unesco.org/en/list/532, and home.bawue.de/~wmwerner/english/heritage/potsdam.

Voltaire stayed at one of these buildings, known collectively as Sans Souci,without worry, to old French students, or in Wikipedia, without cares: see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans_Souci The complex was built by Kaiser Wilhelm IV. Negotiations settling WWII were worked out at a smaller half-timber residence. Sans Souci and Potsdam.

Links, posts, archives

We write out site links. Please copy and paste in your own search bar to get to the reference. We are concerned with copyright issues, see bitlaw.com.

Post dates reflect a trip chronology, but those change when we change the post. A post date is not necessarily the date of first posting on the topic.

Archives - do read. These complete the trip - showing how and where we ended up.

Technorati Profile

Berlin - Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie

The Berlin Wall. Sections remain, not contiguous. One, open; another has two parallel paths, one for faster walking, another a close walk, to read the memorials and informational entries. See its history at www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/. Here is a timeline. www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/berlinwall-timeline. Here is a narrative approach at userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/BIW/wall.


The Brandenburg Gate. See www.berlin-landmarks.com/brandenburg_gate. There is surprisingly easy parking here, as they have put broad diagonal parking rows in the center of the huge boulevard. See its evolution in photos from the 1700's to date at www.dailysoft.com/east-berlin/mitte/bgate.

Why do walls. They end up as memorials to all those who died trying to cross them.

Berlin -Checkpoint Charlie, facades, reconstruction, Unter Den Linden,

The passage point from the Russian Sector to the Allies. See www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/checkpoint-charlie.

The museum at Checkpoint Charlie, see www.mauer-museum.com/index-english, makes a commendable effort to keep the exhibits honest - they even show a VW with bullet holes, the car used to take people across from the old East Germany (bisected the city) to West Germany, where the wall was. They explain that the bullet holes were added later by someone trying to make the point more strongly, and that the museum in no way countenanced it.



Unter den Linden Boulevard - This majestic avenue is reconstructed, but the old pictures' glory is gone. Some buildings remain, this one not on Unter den Linden, but near. The words mean under the lindens, lindens being trees. Some of the trees were 250 years old, replaced by Hitler with flags. Another landmark street - Friedrichstrasse.

Strategy for finding hotel: go into a good one, then ask the clerk for a recommendation to a less expensive one. They often will even call ahead for you, to the other hotel, and give instructions.

Much of Berlin's reconstruction is imaginative. For a walking tour of Berlin, click away at www.berlin-tourist-information.de/cgi-bin/sehenswertes.pl?id=13400&sprache=english.

Berlin's Jewish Memorial Museum

The Jewish Museum in Berlin. The off-kilter square columns, on the slanted floor, that disorient you. This is an experiential museum. See www.travellady.com/Issues/August05/1751TracingJewishBerlin. There is an exhibit where you step into a long rectangular area, that gets dark and enclosed and the end, and is filled with 7-9" iron disks.

Each disk each has shaped holes for different kinds of eyes and mouth shapes, forming faces, and expressions from horror to disbelief, to all the rest that people feel in their situaiton. You step in, they move and sounds are made. If you move faster the sounds get louder. So you tiptoe. There still are sounds. You go back to the dark part, and suddenly you are there.




We had come there from Weimar and Buchenwald, in the fog. Do go to Berlin.

Chemnitz - Meet Mr. Marx

Chemnitz: The city was 90% destroyed by WWII bombing. Many such places were reconstructed with bare approximations of the old manner, but Chemnitz decided to start over. Instead, mostly, they rebuilt in a new socialist style and renamed the town, Karl-Marx-Stadt.

This seems to have worked because the town is thriving, and its wide streets and fine office buildings have brought business. Sterile at first look, much like Plymouth in England (also rebuilt to accommodate predictions of traffic needs for a new city, rather than preserve-recreate historic areas)(see England Road Ways. But I don't think Plymouth ever recovered.

This head of Mr. Marx, at the new City Hall, is several stories tall. Wikipedia has a good reference section for Chemnitz at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemnitz. The city name means "stony brook" says the site.

The area of Saxony: How to make sense of all the germanic states and tribes? Start at home.carolina.rr.com/wormold/germany/. That site says, in summary, that a large tribe, the Franks, ruled much of what later was France and western Germany and Italy. Big King: Charlemagne in 800A.D crowned as emperor. Empire split into the West Frankish, evolving into French, and East Frankish ("Franconians, Saxons, Bavarians, Swabians, and several others") evolving into German and electing a Franconian, Conrad I, as king after Charlemagne's descendants. See chronology of German history, overview, at www.germany.info/relaunch/culture/history/milestones.

We were headed from Berlin and Dresden, going south. It got dark, so we stopped here by chance. Excellent choice.

Nuremberg: Hitler stadium; 1937-1942 - Propaganda and education

Nuremberg houses the Documentation Center, focused on the history of Nazi activities, founded in 1991, see www.kubiss.de/kulturreferat/reichsparteitagsgelaende/englisch/dokuzentrum. There are documents, films, library, recreated scenes, photographs. An era of manipulation and horror recreated so it may not be repeated, but do we ever learn. The stadium where Hitler addressed crowds is behind and would look familiar if you have seen old films of Hitler's parades and displays in the 1930's and 1940's. For a thorough re-chilling, see
www.margaret-marks.com/Transblawg/archives/000178 for Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will." The entire (I think) film on the events here in 1934-35 or so, with the speeches and parades, all authentic, are on this site. There is a short beginning, and then download the full 1 1/4 hours or so, as you may wish. See video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9076835539195533187.

The Nuremberg Trials. The topic of war crimes and what is and what isn't, is always current. See the Nuremberg Trial issues at www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/nuremberg; and at www.museen.nuernberg.de/english/english/reichsparteitag_e/pages/prozesse_e.

Persuasion, propaganda. How did the rulers persuade/distract the populace? Persuasion skills became an art form through people like Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, in 1928 here - and that followed years of use of the techniques. See www.pentaside.org/article/propaganda-bernays-1928; and www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2006/09/06/bernays_propaganda_how_the_media_molds_your_mind_1928.htm

From 1937-1942 our government through its Institute for Propaganda Analysis educated us citizens about persuasion techniques we could spot it and not be taken in. The techniques were listed and explained. See www.propagandacritic.com/articles/index.

Sampling: Note the propaganda techniques list at that site, against which the US citizens were warned:
1. Word games (name calling, generalities, euphemism),
2. False connections (transfer, testimonial)
3. Special appeals (plain folks, bandwagon, fear)

And logical fallacies. Do all these sound like a current political playbook?

Nuremberg: Old City; Duhrer house, Marriage Carousel sculpture

Nuremberg: the old city. Find its thousand-year history at www.nuernberg.de/internet/portal_e/buerger/city_history. Hitler's choice of Nuremberg, the "Imperial City," for his place of choice to address crowds, see other Nuremberg post here, was no accident, given its totemic stature in German history.

The old city walls are still there, with gaps, and with the covered walkways and towers. A hostel is inside one section of the walls - a great location for quick bunking. We have not used hostels yet, but hear good things about them.


The Albrecht Durer house, Duhrer 1471-1528.

Now, see it (watercolor and gouache) in 1496, when it was by a pond. Go to www.abcgallery.com/D/durer/durer17. And another - so it must be true - www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2003-02-durer-fishermans-house. Here is his hare. Go to gardenofpraise.com/art53. Now see his life and more works at www.artchive.com/artchive/D/durer. If you have something around the house with the commingled real AD logo, you may be wealthier than you realize. Go look.











Then, in the old town there is a fountain - The Marriage Carousel. I would have taken pictures but couldn't find a discreet angle. Scant clothes. I wore them, but not the subjects.

"Bittersweet Married Life," 1541. The fountain is an allegory of life and marriage, based on this poem by Hans Sachs, a Nuremberg meistersinger (member of a musical or poetic guild) 1494-1576, see www.nuernberg.de/internet/portal_e/reiseziel/ctz_704; and www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Biographies/hans_sachs. See views at www.flickr.com/photos/21461797@N00/343909536/; www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=Nuremberg+fountain+marriage&btnG=Google+Search. Here is another at www.margaret-marks.com/Transblawg/archives/000178. The poem, or part of it, is also at that last site.

Bamberg and outdoor frescoes

Bamberg is a UNESCO World Heritage site. See whc.unesco.org/en/list/624; and thesalmons.org/lynn/world.heritage. The US Army has a garrison here, with a fine homepage to orient newcomers at www.bamberg.army.mil/sites/local/.

The cathedral and square are in the Old Town. These sections are often up a substantial hill. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamberg. When lost in an old city, aim for the high ground. Just keep driving up. Cathedrals, main squares, often there to facilitate defense.

The City is proud of its beer-brewing tradition - beginning at monasteries in the 10th Century. And for its outdoor frescoes, on the sides of entire buildings, look at this sample on the riverside . For more on frescoes, this technique of painting on wet (or dry) plaster, that lasts for centuries if done right (also done indoors), see www.noteaccess.com/MATERIALS/Fresco.

Regensburg: The Pope in 2006; and the oldest sausage place in Germany

Regensburg is a UNESCO World Heritage site. See whc.unesco.org/en/list/1155. Here is the Goliath House - huge outdoor fresco - see www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/bayern/regensburg.

The Pope was here in 2006 and Muslims took note. Read the Pope's speech at www.guardian.co.uk/pope/story/0,,1873277,00.

Regensburg boasts a sausage establishment said to have started out when the 11th century bridge, just behind, was being constructed - to help feed the workers. Excellent sausage still served, beginning at 10AM when we were there. Began to fill up as we left. Added them to an already splendid breakfast. See www.bbc.co.uk/education/languages/germany_insideout/south2.

For sausage, see www.germany-tourism.co.uk/pages/culinary_germany_1396.

Altotting - Black Madonna; Plague; Berchtesgaden

Many fountains and statues commemorate the Plague in Europe - Plague began in Constantinople in about 1334 and was spread by Crusaders returning to Europe.

Some estimates provide that, in 20 years alone, half the population of Europe was decimated.

This fountain shows the skeleton of death in various modes, going around and around. I believe it was in Altotting, but am not sure.

The painted alpine building may mean closer to or at Oberammergau, where the dramas memorialize the Black Death era and the city's survival. See http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm

This Black Madonna is at Altotting, south, near the alpine region - found by chance. There were many pilgrims here. Am trying to find research on why so many black madonnas are in France -- dark-skinned family makes sense, but it not part of our regular tradition. Legends say that Mary Magdelene went to France - are there villages where she is said to have given accounts or other stories put the color at the forefront?

The guidebooks do not always tell when there is a black madonna. Many seem to be from the 12-15th centuries, smaller ones (as in Guadalupe, Spain) far earlier- even in the first centuries after.

We also found black madonnas in France and Spain. always looking for these, and we found more. Internet sites for Black Madonnas offer listings of those known to date, and possible explanations.

The Black Madonna is in this church-type setting. I recall it more as a "housing" for it.





Berchtesgaden: You may want to plan trips that include higher Alps for late May at least. We were there in early May - this eyrie was supposed to be open, but weather stepped in. Snow still blocked the higher reaches of the Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden, see www.berchtesgaden.de/en/0bdc1363-087c-bab2-2b92-18496490c6bc. This is where Hitler had his headquarters. Had been there in earlier year, but sorry to miss this time.

Munich - Marienplatz; and Hofbrau, of course

Marienplatz, the main square. Great clocktower, or glockenspiel. For a visual tour of Munich, go to www.galenfrysinger.com/munich. Bookmark the site for photos of most everything anywhere, it seems.



Drive right into town, find the Hofbrau House, and then locate the nearest hotel. Best way. In any new town, find a local attraction, and house yourself nearby. Park it and forget it.

Munich is big tourist attraction, well rebuilt, fine square.

When you need a break from driving, walking and sightseeing and finding places, come here and just sit back, keep the wursts coming and watch the world for a few hours. See www.discover-munich.info.

Castles: Linderhof; Hohenschwangau; Neuschwanstein

Once you get used to saying these names, they come easily. All stem from 1845-1886: Ludwig II, "Mad Ludwig," the builder of castles; he of the mysterious death in Lake Starnberg. See www.german-way.com/ludwig.


Linderhof. A secluded hunting lodge built by Ludwig II. See www.castles.org/castles/Europe/Central_Europe/Germany/germany12. See also images.google.com svnum="10&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGGL%2CGGGL%3A2006-28%2CGGGL%3Aen&q=Mad+Ludwig&btnG=Search.











Here is Hohenschwangau. See www.neuschwanstein.com/english/castle/surrounding/hohenschwangau,where Ludwig II spent summers. His largest castle is Herrenchiemsee, see www.schwangau.de/618.0. Too big and glitzy for us. Maybe a visit next time. His dream castle apparently was Falkenstein, and he could not finish it. Died first. See www.schwangau.de/618.0.

Ludwig's most fairy tale castle (Sleeping Beauty-type, although other castles in other countries claim that Disney-fueled fame as well, see France Road Ways), is Neuschwanstein, see www.german-way.com/neuschw.html. The former owners were the Schwangaus, and the swan (schwan?) was a favorite of theirs.

Oberammergau, Garmisch, Alps

The road near Oberammergau:
Take the small roads. See your own Alps.

Wieskirche (Rococo church) Bavaria, trumpet voluntary

If you want a looping everlasting little baroque trumpet voluntary as you read this, go to the site at http://www.wieskirche.de/ in a separate window, and it will begin. And go on and on and on. Why not?

This is in the area where the other fairy-tale castles, most by Ludwig II, are also found, in the alp areas of southern Germany. It is off the usual path. This is a pilgrimage site, stemming from events in 1738, see www.wieskirche.de/ - tears reported, the "Statue of the Scourged Savior." Click for the English home page, then on "history" in the left menu.

This church dates from mid-18th Century and the interior is said to be among the world's most beautiful - Rococo (very fancy, gilt and many angels). See this gallery of photos at www.molon.de/galleries/Germany/Bavaria/Wieskirche/. Splendid organ. Concerts. Ludwig's Castles nearby. Need a site for a destination wedding?

Augsburg - Back to Celtic and Roman; big on Renaissance

Augsburg is in the south, Bavaria, and gets so much Renaissance-type attention, www.hhog.de/en/showCity_en.php?cityID=10005, that the older Celtic and Roman and Medieval times get lost.
We like the older.

Here is the Cathedral.In the Cathedral, The Dom of the Holy Virgin I believe it was called. 'Way below floors, are columns with old Celtic design, the "Irish" swirls, from the earliest church there.



















And carving bits through the years.
There was the old Via Claudia or Claudius through here, leading from Germania to Rome. My notes say that the stonework shows those times, in the outside courtyard where the Cathedral now stands. Not sure.










Here is the list of bishops since 697 A.D. or so.

Rothenberg, Dinkelsbuhl, the Tourist "Roads"

The Gate at Rothenberg.


Some of the best old cities were not bombed. Prime examples are Rothenberg and Dinkelsbuhl. Be amazed, as we have been, at the size of medieval buildings. See also the Schwabisch Hall post here.

A good overall site for Germany and the towns and regions is www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/0_de.


These are also taken at Rothenberg www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/bayern/rothenburg. Rothenberg. Huge tourist attraction.

The town of Dinkelsbuhl, at www.pbase.com/spider/germanydinkelsbuhl, is nearby, and smaller.

For those who like external organizers for trips, the German Tourist Bureau offers several "routes" for touring Germany:

1. Romantic Road that covers lovely medievel sites like these,
2. Fairy Tale Road that covers Grimm and the rest,
3. Wine Road with the most stops, www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/rheinland_pfalz/weinstrasse_sw., 1st 20 miles, Wine Road, and www.germany.info/relaunch/info/publications/infocus/travelroad/wine.
4. Romanesque Road at www.germany.info/relaunch/info/publications/infocus/travelroad/romanesque; and
5. Castle Road at goeurope.about.com/od/mapsofgermany/l/bl_castlerd_map.

We did not do those. Instead, we checked their itineraries and noted which places were in our own path. Otherwise, too much time is wasted sign-watching, and you miss what is in between.

We liked Fritzlar - not so fixed-up; buildings look more their age. Fritzlar is north of Frankfurt, near Marburg, the houses are so big and old that they tilt toward each other at the top, nearly touching. The guidebooks point out the different kinds of facades in the cities. Also see Alsford, nearby. Huge half timber.

Wurzburg -

Wurzburg. We visited the model display of the city before and after it was bombed in World War II. They are set up in adjoining rooms, so the impact is greater on seeing the devastation. Here is an article addressing why the bombing, and when: findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IBR/is_1_34/ai_115566410. Any country justifies its nationalism and outrage, and here it takes the form of an omission, of why there were attacks on Germany at all. See also the history at world66.com/europe/germany/bavaria/wurzburg/history. That still does not remove the need of the victors to analyze why so great a devastation.

The palace residence (The Residenz) here is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It escaped the bombing. See whc.unesco.org/en/list/169.

The city is in the middle of a highway mixmaster, lending itself to a quick run-through so we can get back to a countryside. We did - on a little ferry - just got off the highway and drove.

See lovely photo gallery at www.galenfrysinger.com/wurzburg. This is, to me, the world's best website for Germany photos and succinct information. Check out all the other cities there as well. Better yet, go to his home page and write him about his fine work. www.galenfrysinger.com/. I am no relative, don't even know him, but I salute. Scroll down to all the other categories - Roman world, all over the world.

Heidelburg

Heidelburg - familiar name, lovely city. See www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/baden_wuerttemberg/heidelberg. The US army also does a nice website on Heidelburg. There is an army base there. Still? www.heidelberg.army.mil/sites/about/city.asp.

Flicks. "The Student Prince in Old Heidelburg" was a movie in 1927, see www.imdb.com/title/tt0018451/; and "The Student Prince" came to us on moving celluloid again in 1954 with Mario Lanza ("Drink!" three times). See www.imdb.com/title/tt0047537/.

This was the one city where we found no hotel room - so we did our walking and seeing, had a cafe snack and people-watch, and went on to Speyer. No problem. Distances are not great.

Go here for a free Heidelburg jigsaw puzzle. It says.freejigsawpuzzles.com/beta/heidelburg_germany_puzzle.

Heidelburg, Speyer - Jakob Spilger, Pilgrim

Speyer, Cathedral, Germany

Near Heidelburg is Speyer, where the Cathedral at Speyer is a UNESCO World Heritage site. See whc.unesco.org/en/list/168. Any new Bishop, we were told, was expected to fill that large fount with wine, and the burghers (we thought it was all the town) emptied it in themselves. See also en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speyer_Cathedral.

The tradition of pilgrimage gets passing attention now, but there used to be medieval pilgrims walking thousands of miles through here or from here. One route - in its entirety - was from Germany (or even Scandinavia) to Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. Here is a statue of Jakob Spilger, that kind of pilgrim. See www.campus-germany.de/english/4.22.3.885, for more on the statue of Jakob Spilger.






Jakob Spilger, Pilgrim, Speyer, Germany

Speyer itself is 17th century in look, with its wide streets. We were told that planners in those days would level most of a town in order to recreate it. Like now.

In 1084, the Bishop of Speyer awarded by charter land and privileges in a specific location to the Jews in the area, to bring them in and foster the growth and prestige of the new town. See the Medieval Sourcebook at www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1084landjews for information on Grant, Bishop of Speyer 1084.

Wine font, Speyer Cathedral, Germany

We were told that a huge font n front of the church was filled with wine each fall, for community celebrating.

Here is a different one with a little man on top. Need to check photo. See www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Germany/photo148491. More history, overview: www.speyer.de/de/tourist/geschichte?switch_language=en

Worms

This is Bishop Burchard at Worms. Say "Vorms." Or "Verms." Please. Here is the story of his life, written soon after he died in 1025: do read it aloud for a while, at www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1025burchard-vita. He wrote a collection of canon law., among other achievements. If you like odd bits, with your history, try en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burchard_of_Worms. It says that he left his sister, in his will, a hair shirt and chains. Follow the links and you find that these were reminders of penance and mortality. There is also reference to the violence of the day in accomplishing one's goals.

Other Worms phrases, places and events that come to mind:

1. Diet of Worms. That means the Reichstag or legislative body there. The Diet of Worms in the 16th century declared Martin Luther an outlaw for refusing to withdraw his statements of belief, leading to the Reformation. and read more at the usually-helpful starting point, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worms,_Germany. A summary of that event, is at another generally good starting point, www.answers.com/topic/worms-germany; and http://www.answers.com/topic/diet-of-worms.

2. Coat of arms. Early times in summary: Worms originated with the Celts, was captured by the Romans, became a Christian bishopric in 600-something. Coat of arms, history and legendary beginnings -- the locksmith who foiled the dragon who wanted the queen - all at www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de-rp-wo. Pay attention to heraldry. The site says that five-pointed stars were used by the French, six-pointed stars, as shown on the Worms flag, are German. Way back when.

3. Heiliger Sand - founded in about the 11th Century, and believed to be the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe. See www.worms.de/deutsch/tourismus/bildergalerie/galerien/Judenfreidhof__Heiliger_Sand_/index.php?navid=138
Much of the Jewish section of Worms was destroyed in Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, see www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/knacht, in 1938, that killing, razing and destruction pogrom that many believe was the beginning of the holocaust against the Jews.

4. Niebelungen. Many scenes for it are set here - read about Richard Wagner's opus at www.worms.de/englisch/tourismus/nibelungen/index. There is a Niebelungen museum here, but we did not go in.

Worms area ferry : Follow the rule

If you see a ferry sign, you have to take it.

This is the one found after the cloverleaf-mixmaster around Worms, as we aimed in vain toward Aachen and Charlemagne. Finally said, Enough.

And got off and just went cross-country - and found a ferry. Great idea. It left us at a place called Bruhl, see 1575 etching and maps at historic-cities.huji.ac.il/germany/bruhl/bruhl, and found our way beyond to Aachen easily from there.

Only our car, and one motorcycle on board. Ahhh.

Trier, Romans and WWII

Trier - the WWII allied breakthrough here was, to the German soldier writing here, about one of the greatest catastrophes of WWII. See www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/accounts/hansvogel.


The Roman gate here, built as part of a much larger building, is known as the Black Gate. See www.world66.com/europe/germany/rhinelandpalatinate/trier. Click below the picture at the Trier online site there for an album of the area. Now, it looks like the gate is cleaning itself, the effect of cleaner air, as I see in Pittsburgh over the past decades.

Roman monuments in Trier are also World Heritage sites. See whc.unesco.org/en/list/367.

Burg Eltz - The Survivor Castle. Tribute to Diplomacy.

Burg Eltz Castle, toward the Rhine area - standing after centuries of wars around. great-castles.com/eltz.

The family managed, we were told, because they were master diplomats, able to bridge any dispute. The same family has owned the castle for all that time, and ongoing. Original furnishings in many rooms. Cars can only go so far, then visitors walk down the longish road to the castle. Fine photo gallery at www.pbase.com/sandpiper/burg_eltz.


There is a rose symbol above a door in the imposing council room. That shape means confidentiality: what is said here, stays here, a custom stemming (ahem) from Roman times. For more on sub rosa, see www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sub1.

We may be more familiar with the now-commercialized uses of rose traditions, for example, this site from a florist: www.northsideflorist.com/The%20Meaning%20of%20Roses/.

Aachen: Charlemagne, his Gate and family values; the Romans

Charlemagne's burial chapel, at the Cathedral at Aachen. See details of his life, and the burial here at the Medieval Sourcebook site, www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/einhard.html#Burial. Scroll up to the full menu. This site notes some disagreement on where the remains are, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen.

The Cathedral - Hear the choir at www.aachener-dommusik.de/index40-0.aspx.
There are four selections. I tend to find a music site, put it on in a separate window, and just lean back for a while. The home page is www.aachendom.de/. The Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site. See thesalmons.org/lynn/world.heritage.









The fortress-type gate on the left is Charlemagne's Gate at Aachen. It had been part of an entire city wall system.










Find Charlemagne's geneology at shocking.com/~gregbard/genealogy/fam00398, and note his father, Pepin the Short, or Pepin III (Broadway?), King of the Franks; and his mother, Bertha "Bigfoot" of Laon. His son is also Pepin. Is that Broadway? No, that is Pippin. See numerous Pepins/Pippins at www.answers.com/topic/pippin.


Charlemagne: In sum, a great medieval king, with a vast interest in education. He had palaces at Aachen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, see Netherlands Road Ways, and Ingelheim. His favorite was at the capital, at Aachen, and his cremains are there. Aachen's Cathedral is a World Heritage site. See whc.unesco.org/en/list/3. He was an early Christian, and the chapel is also still there. He was 6'2" tall.

Charlemagne and family values: a biography of the historian, Will Durant, says as follows - this little quote surely being fair use, out of the huge work as a whole, and this trifle not discouraging anyone from going to the original:

"He was so fond of his daughters that he dissuaded them from marriage, saying that he could not bear to be without them. They consoled themselves with unlicensed amours, and bore several illegitimate children. Charlemagne accepted these accidents with good humor, since he himself, following the custom of his predecessors, had four successive wives and five mistresses or concubines. His abounding vitality made him extremely sensitive to feminine charms; and his women preferred a share in him to the monopoly of any other man. His harem bore him some eighteen children, of whom eight were legitimate."

Little excerpt quoted from Will Durant's biography in the 1950's, found at www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne.

See the Chemnitz site here for more on Charlemagne and the other Germanic groups.

Cologne: Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral, a World Heritage site, see whc.unesco.org/en/list/292. Read about Cathedral architecture in Europe at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_architecture.

We were told at Cologne and elsewhere that many tall churches were left intact during WWII. This was not out of reverence, but because the spires helped the bombers locate targets. There is a very dark Madonna inside, maybe not as clearly "black" in color as the other medieval black madonnas, but might be. Look up Black Madonnas and find out? This one is the old triangular shape, as in Guadalupe, Spain, and a very tiny, tiny Jesus. The remains of the Three Kings are here - 3 skulls, 3 crowns. Claimed.


This organ grinder is from Cologne, or Koln. See post at hurdy-gurdies and organ grinders at the post here on Wartburg Castle at Eisenach.

Fountains: Puppet and money fountains, Aachen

German fountains - these at Aachen. The puppets are all hinged - participate!

You can adjust their positions. Arms up, down, out, bent, legs askew, horses leaping. All the component occupations and people of the town: cleric, old man, old woman, fool, king, rooster, intellectual.

There is also a flat, round "circulation of money" pool and fountain - Three rich and fat ones pass money back and forth, and behind their backs, on one side. There is a gentle but insistent whirlpool in the center sucking down the drain The poor on the other side reach out but never get at the money, and a father and child (father with some money) watch. Watch it yourself. See Aachen guide at www.railbookers.com/breaks/guides/aachen.

PBS has an article on the value of public art in public places. See www.pps.org/info/newsletter/Sep_2003/Sep2003_Aachen. The World Equestrian Games were held in Aachen in 2006 - see pictures of fountain there at www.marketing-aachen.de/en/index.php?c=20.

Other cities follow suit - See the plague fountain at the Altotting post here; and the marriage carousel fountain at the Nuremberg post. And the whimsy of figures holding on to the sides of buildings that you may happen to see looking up, especially in Munich.

Dark sides of a people, and of all of us. Light sides of a people, and of all of us. In the same space.

The Rhine: Castles, Traumerei

The Rhine River. Castles on both sides as you drive down. See castle views at www.rhine-castles-germany.european-vacation.net/rhine-river/index. The owners of this castle collected tolls. That is the bathroom, the dark turret showing here at top left just below the main tower, overhanging the river. Very sensible. An arrangement usual in any castle, best with working moats. There is a funny place in a castle in Ireland, where they have educational wax figures all over doing castle chores, set in little scenes. Go up the small stairs and suddenly there is the WC complete with king with crown askew, bloomers at ankles, looking up at you very surprised. Or was he looking out the window at that one? Can't recall. Kids love it.

Or take a cruise. We like the flexibility of driving. We follow whims, but often find out reasons to visit somewhere after we are home.

Traumerei. Traumerei means reverie or dreams, and so the title of a lovely piece of music, Schubert's Traumerei. Find it, if you like, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq7ncjhSqtk; and also ia311526.us.archive.org/3/items/AlJolson/AlJolson-ThatLovinTraumerei.mp3, for Al Jolson's rendition. A drive or cruise down is dreamlike in the unfolding of castle scene after castle scene, and river bends.

Remagen and Revisionism - The bulkheads of the old bridge, the movies, and spin.

The bridge over the Rhine at Remagen - the last access to Germany in World War II's closing days. Allies managing to hold it, deflect/otherwise neutralize enough explosives so the bridge stood long enough for equipment and soldiers to cross. See update at Germany Road Ways, Update to Remagen.

We found alone piper down the promenade. This is not "the bridge." The bridge itself is gone, leaving just bulwarks on both sides of the river, long expanse of gap between. Remagen, at least the name, may be familiar - go to the movies: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_at_Remagen; stories.

But at the bulkhead at this side, there is a little museum and, when you get there after hours and it is closed, you put in a coin and hear a little presentation. The presentation begins with the atrocities of the Allies against German prisoners at the end of the war. Reaction: No, no, can't be. What are the Germans doing, at this site, where Allies were heroic, and the Germans to blame for the War - think we. This is manipulative, propagandistic revisionism at its worst, think we.

And in the town, at a square, a vicious sculpture (fountain also? not sure) of a sleeping, benevolent German soldier, and monstrous, leering allies in fatigue hats and with knives in their mouths, sneaking up on him. Should have taken a picture, but the perceived"revisionism" was so repulsive to me at the time, that I did not even show it to Dan.

The museum and the sculpture may be right in some ways, maybe not. Either way, worth pursuing. They raise the old issue -- what is unleashed in battle. "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war." A history of that phrase, beginning with the medieval battle cry signifying the line between attack and now go ahead and pillage, to Shakespeare (Antony's speech in "Julius Caesar"), is at phrases.org.uk/meanings/105600. Then do an images search for "dogs of war" and Europe, for the moving poster from World War I. Some with that theme are at the Perrone WWI museum in France, at the Somme area, see France Road Ways. What really are the dogs of war - we see them loosed in others, and point fingers, and deny (Swiftboat) those people who point them out in ourselves.

The heritage of Remagen. The spin depends on the spinner. In the town, children are credited with putting up that monument to the "victims" of the Remagen Bridge. We all spin our histories. I cannot find that statue on the internet. Go look. Not in the town center, off to the side.

So - this is Remagen, famous for its bridge - now only two hulk shapes on either side of the river. More about the 1969 film at www.imdb.com/title/tt0064110/. One German soldier wrote that the loss of this Bridge in WWII, and the loss of Trier, were the two greatest catastrophes of the war. See www.militaryhistoryonline.com. Best to read direct accounts.

Now: with that negativity out, go back to a nice photo gallery by a tourist in 2004 - all of Germany - at www.pbase.com/hosmer/germany_2004. We missed the Scallywag Fountain that I later read about in Remagen - a fountain where a boy spits on passers by at random.

Itinerary After the fact

Frankfurt, Marburg, Fritzlar, Kassel, Wartburg, Weimar and Buchenwald, Wittenberg, Potsdam, Berlin, Dresden, Chemnitz, Bamburg, Nurnberg, Regensburg, Altotting, Berchtesgaden, Munich, Oberammergau, Garmisch, Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Schongau, Wies-Kirche, Augsburg, Dinkelsbuhl, Rothenburg, Wurzburg, Schwabisch Hall, Heidelberg, Speyer, Trier, Aaachen, Koln, Burg Eltz, Koblenz, Rhine castles, Mainz and Frankfurt.

See also www.europeroadways.com.