Dinner for One

As I noted in a blog last year, watching the British comedy sketch "Dinner for One" is a New Year's Eve tradition in Germany. The film is broadcast on a number of television stations at different times during the day. Here is a link in case you want to join the annual fun.

Weihnachten 2011

Christmas Tree with lighted candles

The candles on the Christmas tree were lit last night in accordance with the Christmas Eve tradition in this part of the world. We did make a small compromise to tradition this year. While Magda's family tradition holds that the tree is not even put up until Christmas Eve, this year we put the tree up 5 days before. But it was not decorated until Christmas Eve. That was done just to eliminate the need to go out on the streets on the last shopping day before Christmas.

Homemade presents for 2011

Homemade Liqueur

 We did make some homemade gifts for friends and family this year. Three types of liqueur were bottled. These were made from red vineyard peaches, black currants and pears. We were particularly happy with the pear liqueur, probably because were did not have high expectations. But it turned out with a very nice pear flavor.

As mentioned in the previous blog, we made Christstollen according to the recipe out of the 1939 cookbook. But that was not the only baking we did. We put together packages containing 8 types  of cookies. These included Tollhouse cookies because, as every knows, they are Santa's favorite (although they are not seen here in Germany much).

Tollhouse

Snickerdoodles

I also did Snickerdoodles this year as another example of a traditional American cookie. Yes, I know that the Wikipedia page for Snickerdoodles claim a German origin for these cookies, but I don't buy it. I have never seen Snickerdoodles in a German cookbook, nor are they easy to find on Germany cooking web sites. When I have found something call Snickdoodles, they are quite different, containing walnuts and raisins, than the simple sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon and sugar that is typical in the USA.

Magda is a big fan of shortbread, so those had to be included. And what would Christmas be without some cut out butter cookies?.

Add the these some traditional German cookies. Lebkuchen almost defines this time of year in Germany. The ones we made are, like our stollen, based of a recipe from a 1939 Dr. Oetker cookbook. Honigkuchen uses the same spices as Lebkuchen, but uses honey as the sweetener and does not use much ground almonds. Heidesand is a personal favorite. It is a butter cookie with a little marzipan mixed in. They are formed by rolling the dough into a log, covering the outside of the log with sugar and slicing off the cookies. And Schmaltznüsse are a shortbread cookie where half the butter is replaced by lard. In this case, coca powder was added to half the recipe to create the "black and white" Schmalrznüsse.

Frohe Weihnachten!

Butter cookies and Shortbread

Homigküchen

Heidesand

Lebküchen

Black and White Schmalzmüsse

Making Christstollen, a November Tradition

Despite the increasing number and size of the Christmas displays that have been appearing in stores since the beginning of September, I have managed to avoid thinking too much about the coming Christmas season. However, Mid-November is time to start thinking about Christmas baking. While Stollen, the German sweetened bread with nuts, raisins and citron that is very popular at Christmas, can be eaten fresh, it actually is better when stored for a few weeks. The general rule of thumb is to bake Stollen at least 4-6 weeks before it is to be served. So now is the right time to start baking it.

I use a recipe that I have adapted from the Dr. Oetker's Schulkochbuch (School Cookbook) from 1939. Dr. Oetker is sort of the Betty Crocker of Germany. Maybe even bigger in Germany than Betty Crocker is in America since in addition to a historic line of cookbooks, the company also sells cooking ingredients. This year, the Schulkochbuch is celebrating 100 years of publication with its 10th edition. Each edition is a bit different, reflecting the tastes of its time. I like using the 1939 edition (the 3rd edition) because the amounts of sugar and fat used in its recipes are much less than a recipe from current cookbooks. I suspect this is because these ingredients were much more expensive at that time.

The recipe is called "Simple Christstollen". I'll first give the recipe from the book (not a literal translation) and then provide additional insights to the recipe as well as some of the variations that I've used.

Simple Christsrollen

100g Schmaltz

100g Butter

125g Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 container of Dr. Oetker's Lemon Backoil (Backoil is explained below)

500g Flour

1 package Dr. Oetker's Backin

1/4 cup Milk at room temperature

125g Raisins

50g Currants

50g Citron

50g chopped Almonds or Walnuts

• In one bowl, mix the fat, sugar, egg and backoil until creamy.
• In another bowl, mix the flour and the backin.
• To the fat/sugar mixture mix in 3/4 of the flour mixture and the milk to form a wet dough.
• Knead in the raisins, currants, citron, nuts and remaining flour until the dough accepts the remaining flour.
• Form a stollen and place on a flour covered baking sheet.
• Optionally after baking, drizzle with a little additional butter and sprinkle with powder sugar.
• Backing time: 1-1.5 hours in middle hot oven.

Schmaltz is rendered pork fat. It is cheaper than butter and doesn't have a distinct taste. So mixing with butter is quite frugal. Using all butter is fine, as would using margarine.

Backoil is flavoring that is used in baking in Germany. Personally, I find it artificial tasting, especially the lemon and orange flavors. So I prefer using the zest of one lemon.

Backin is German baking powder. It is sold in packages containing 5 teaspoons. This is different than the American baking powder and should not be substituted for each other. Some specialty grocery stores will have packets of Dr. Oetker's Backin (the Andersons in Columbus carries them, or you can find it on Amazon). If not, a reasonable substitute is a 2 to 1 mixture of cream of tartar and backing soda.

A lot of people prefer yeast as the rising agent (Magda is one of these). I've used both fresh and dried yeast in place of the backin quite often in this recipe, but doing so means giving the yeast some time to work. I give the yeast a good start by mixing it with the warm (but not hot) milk, and a little bit of the sugar and flour from the recipe about an hour before getting started. This mixture is added with the 3/4 of the flour mixture to form the initial dough. Once fruit and remaining flour is kneaded together, I leave the ball of dough to rise in a bowl covered with a towel for about 2 hours. Then after forming the Stollen, I cover them with a towel and let rise for an additional hour before baking.

Most any dried fruit can be used in place or in addition to the raisins and currants.For example, I've used dried cranberries several times. I do like to soften the fruit a little by soaking in a liquid for a couple of hours. Rum or orange liqueur would be traditional liquids. Orange juice would also be OK, if staying away from alcohol is important. 

Forming a stollen simply means rolling the dough in to a thick oval, the length of the loaf that you want, and lengthwise folding one side of the oval over the other. Let the bottom part hang out a little bit, you don't quite want the top part to cover it completely.

The recipe makes a 1 kg (a little over 2 lbs) Stollen, which is a pretty good size loaf. 2 half kilogram (1 lb) Stollen may make more sense if you are planning to serve groups of 3 to 5. In the pictures below, I made 4 small Stollen that would be just right as a gift to a single person or a couple.

For a number of reasons, bake temperature and time are always a problem when using old recipes. The idea is to bake until the Stollen are golden brown. I use the over and under heat setting on our oven. What I do is pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees C, and then turn the oven down to 175 C when I put the Stollen in. Bake time for the 1 kg Stollen is 40 to 45 minutes. If you make 2 or 4 smaller Stollen, the bake time will be a little less. Obviously, if you use convection, you should reduce temperatures.

Dresden 2011

Our friend, Mark, visited for a week in October. Mark had visited Koblenz in the past and so wanted to see some other part of Germany while he was here. The facts that had seen some pictures of Dresden while watching the Women's World Cup games that took place in the "Florence on the Elbe" and that Dresden is the sister city of Columbus, Ohio, our hometown, made Dresden a logical choice for a visit.

Dresden is almost exactly a 5 hour drive from Koblenz. With Mark arriving on a Monday, returning the following Sunday, spending a day at BUGA, and another day on a hike around Koblenz, that left 3 days to drive to Dresden and see the city.

On a rainy Wednesday mourning, we got into the car and started off to Dresden. Driving east from Koblenz in not the easiest thing. The autobahn system is much more geared to North-South traffic. There is a good autobahn traveling southeast to Limburg. East from there are a combination of  an two lane highways and limited access highways (autobahn "want-a-be"s) that seem to be under continual construction but that does take the traveler through the farmlands of Hessen and the "dead zone" around the former border to the DDR. Then a few kilometers before the former border, the highway becomes a wonderful new autobahn. So new that for a large part of the remainder of our journey, our two year old GPS showed us racing across the green fields of Thuringen at 130 km/hr while it kept trying to correct our route to some abandoned road to the south.'

Dresden's Frauenkirche

We arrived in Dresden in the early afternoon and found our hotel, a newly opened ETAP conveniently located near at the Altmarkt. ETAP is one of the budget chains that is a part of the Accor hotel group. They have opened a number of new ETAP hotels in  major cities across Europe. While these new ETAPs have the ambiance of a youth hostel, they are inexpensive, clean and located near the tourist attractions. Obviously if  you feel that a part of traveling is enjoying drinks at the hotel bar or relaxing in a plush hotel room, ETAP is not for you. The Dresden ETAP had been opened just two months, was clean, had helpful staff, was in walking distance of the major attractions and was quite cheap. While it suited us just fine, I have to agree with the review I read that suggested that the room designs are such that you would only consider sharing a room with people that you are very close to.

After checking in, we took off, map in hand, to get our bearings and to visit at least one museum. The majority of the Baroque reconstructions in Dresden are centrally located in the Altstadt along the Elbe. The reconstruction of the buildings destroyed during the Feburary 1945 bombings started during the DDR time and continues today. Reconstruction of the 18th century Frauenkirche, a symbol of Dresden, took 13 years and was completed in 2005, one year before the 800th anniversary of the city founding.

A large part of Dresden's Altstadt (Old City) is pedestrian only, so it is great for strolling. As I mentioned, the areas is fairly compact, but big enough to have a lot of interesting buildings packed into them. Included in this area are the Frauenkirche, the Opera, the Hofkirche, the Fürstenzug, the palaces containing the major museums, and the river front.  The fact that there is a similarity in the architecture style and construction materials, seems to make it seem like there is more. There are open areas with interesting sight lines, and small streets. There are unexpected and elaborate fountains. The river front is dramatic. There is a thriving restaurant and bistro scene with tables spilling on to the streets and filled with people, even on a cold day. Or if warmth is desired, you can sit behind the large glass windows enjoying your favorite drink and a bit of people watching. The only negative thing about the restaurants in Altstadt is that a number of them seem to be parts of larger restaurant groups as a lot of the names are recognizable if you spent any time in Munich or Berlin.

Most of the Baroque buildings in Altstadt have been built with the same stone. That may not be obvious at first as a number of the buildings are black, while the the newer ones are a light brown. Our first thought is that some of these builds just need a good cleaning, but that is not the case. Rather the stone contains iron that oxidizes when exposed to the air. Over time, all the building will take on this blackness.

After strolling around the Altstadt, it is possible to continue across the Augustus Bridge to Neustadt (New City). The "new" here is relative. This part of Dresden dates back to 1732. There is still a neighborhood of Baroque builds that survived the bombings, although it is necessary to pass though a block of post WWII soviet style buildings to get there. There are a number of small antique shops (most selling Meissen) and other small shops that are interesting to visit. Also a number of restaurants that seem locally owned and are a bit less expensive than in Altstadt.

For centuries, Dresden has been a cultural and artistic center. Through its Brücke artists, Dresden was a very important city in the development of expressionism. For this reason, our first museum we headed for was the Galerie Neue Meister (the Galley of New Masters). Unfortunately, the expressionist collection was not as large as we had hoped. In retrospect this may have been more a problem with our expectation. Expressionism was after all considered "decadent art" during the Hitler years, and likely had little following in the post-WWII authoritarian government. There was a handful of paintings from the Brücke artists, and a number of seldom seen impressionist and post-impressionist to make the trip worthwhile.

Probably the most interesting collection at the Galerie Neue Meister was a special exhibition called the Neue Sachlichkeit (the New Objectivity). During the 1920s, Dresden, Hanover and Karlsruhe became centers for this new artistic style that attempted to depict the emotional reality of the post-WWI life around them. The pictures were of unemployed people, war invalids, as well as working women and children. Some were hard  to look at, others beautiful in their elegant depictions. All showed the wide-spread depression of life in Germany at this time, the Germany that gave birth to Hitler.

The surprising highlight of the visit was the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery). In honor of the 500th anniversary of Dresden's most famous painting, Raphael's Sistine Modonna. Well you might not be familiar with the painting, I'm guessing that most people have seen a part of it. That is the two angels at the bottom might be the most famous two angels ever painted. In honor the this anniversary and the pope's visit to Germany this year, the museum had a special exhibition of Madonnas from a number of famous painters. Included here was another Madonna that Raphael painted at the same time. Since this second Madonna is owned by and has never left the Vatican, this was the first time the two painting have appeared together since they were in Raphael's workshop 500 years ago. 

The Gallery also a wonderful collection of Dutch School paintings that include a number of impressive Rembrandts and delightful Vermeer (Girl reading a Letter at an Open Window). 

Visiting Friends in Normandy

As the son of a history teacher who grew up in the shadow of WWII, when we decided to accept the invitation from a couple of friends to visit them in Normandy, there was little choice about one part of our literary. We did visit Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery near by. It was an emotional experience, but only one of many highlights from our trip.

Two of our neighbors in Columbus were working in France. Jim is a medievalist and Ann is an expert in Gothic art, both former professors of art at the Ohio State University. Jim has spend part of the last 20 years studying the Abbey at Jumièges. So when we got an invitation to visit them and perhaps see a bit of Gothic France through the eyes of these experts, we jumped at the chance.

Tympanum of the central west portal
Amiens Catheral

On the way to Jumièges, we stopped in Amiens to see the Notre Dame Cathedral there. This cathedral, started in the 13th century, has the highest ceiling  of all completed cathedrals in France, and also largest interior volume. The exterior of the cathedral is famous for the quality of the sculpture on the north and west entries, and for the tall central spire. The interior is surprisingly light, with large nave and chancel. The ambulatory around the choir provides access to a number of richly decorated chapels. The floor of the nave features a large labyrinth (walking the labyrinth was equivalent to a pilgrimage to Jerusalem) and swastikas that in the 13th century symbolized the triumph over death by Jesus.

Jumièges is a small town on the Seine. It one major tourist attraction is the ruins of the Benedictine Monastery that was founded in 654 AD. The monastery operated up until the French Revolution (which was as much a revolution against the church as against the monarchy). At the time of the Revolution, it was one of the largest monastery complexes in France, containing two churches, cloister, library, walls, and a number of other buildings made from the white limestone quarried in the area. But after the revolution, it was closed and sold off. The owner used the complex as a quarry, tearing down the buildings and selling off the stones. What is left is impressive and beautiful, but gives only a hint at the former glory, as the slide show below indicates.



On the second day, we made it to Omaha Beach, but not before stopping off in Bayeaux to see the famous tapestry from the 1070s that illustrates the story of William's conquest of England. It is wonderfully displayed    behind glass, but at eye level. The audio guide that is provided as a part of the admission fee explains the illustrations as you walk along the 70 meter tapestry. Afterwards a short film tells a little more about the history of the tapestry.

Cliffs above Omaha Beach

Outwardly, Omaha Beach now appears for the most part to be just another a beach. But there are a few hint to the events of June 6. Most visibly are the two memorials on the beach dedicated to these events. Then is the museum that you pass just before arriving at the beach. And, of couse, there is the constant flow of tour buses, even on a an October day, bringing Americans, mostly my age or older it appears, on their pilgrimage to this hollowed ground in American history. Seeing the cliffs above the beach, you have to wonder how the US troops were able to over come such a disadvantage (and why such a spot would chosen to send these troops). The American Military Cemetery not far away is a reminder of the exactly what it did cost. It is a beautifully manicured cemetery overlooking the ocean and is deeply respectful of the sacrifice of these troops and a reminder for anyone that visits. I wanted to weep. It was only a couple of hours, but it was emotional.

The third day was spent in Rouen. Maybe it was that I didn't really have high expectations, but I as blown away by this city. It has a incredible wealth of 5-6 story, half-timbered medieval buildings. It just seemed like street after street, on both sides, we were fascinated by one building after another. Then there is the cathedral. You know the one that Monet painted in various lighting. The interior isn't much, but the exterior is pretty special. We were particularly intrigued by the reliefs and sculptures of the north portal. The following slide show contains pictures of some of these carvings that we found interesting.

Too Early for Me

While doing my shopping rounds last Saturday, I stopped in the local Aldi for a few staples. As a rounded to corner to head towards the paper goods, I was confronted by a display 1.3 meter wide, 3 meters long and 1.5 meter high of Christmas cookies and other backed goods.

Taken from Norma's Ad starting Sept. 12

The Sunday, I packed up the week-end ad for another grocery store in the area, Norma, and they were advertising Christmas cookies. You can see part of the ad here. Yes, those are Christmas tree ornaments behind those Nürnberger Lebkuchen.

Maybe it just me and others have a driving need for lebkuchen in early September. Or maybe I'm becoming a bit more like Ebenezer Scrooge as I age. But I for one can wait until at least November before feeling it necessary to satisfy my annual cravings for Nürnberger Lebkuchen.

Be Careful when Digging

Being careful when digging has a whole new meaning for construction projects here. Sure there are the underground wire and gas lines that require marking before you start digging (although a TV ad campaign reminding people on an almost daily basis to make the call doesn't seem to be needed. here). But there are other unexpected things that can be found that could really screw up the plans for a construction project.

250 lb bomb in Koblenz

One of those things is a bomb. Four times in about a 5 week period from late July to end of August, unexploded bombs dropped during WWII airstrikes have been found at sites in and around Koblenz.

The first of these was found on July 20, a Wednesday, while building an apartment house just south of the town center. This was a 250 pound British bomb. The location of this bomb was a bit inconvenient for a city that was trying to get to its 2,000,000th visitor to BUGA (the German National Garden Show). As it was  along the route of the BUGA shuttle, doing something about the bomb meant affecting visitors access to the show. Initially the city wanted to cover the bomb with steel palate and sand bags, then wait until a move convent time. But after a couple of days, plans for an evacuation of 3500 residents and 500 hotel guests were announced for Monday, July 25  was called for the area around the bomb and the bomb was removed.

The second was on August 10 occurred in Vallendar, the village just across the Rhine river from us when an American bomb was found. Then on August 23, at a construction site near the IKEA that is about 2 km from our appartment, a 500 lb British bomb was found. This one seem a bit more dangerous for a couple of reasons:

• one because it was in the middle of one of Koblenz' biggest shopping areas and next to the the major road entering the town from the north,
• and two because the fuse was a chemical fuse, which from the reports seemed harder to deal with. 

A one kilometer evacuation was started immediately and the bomb removed that evening. Since we live 2 km away and outside of the evacuation zone, we had no hint of what was happening and only learned about the bomb the next day.

1 Ton bomb in Osterspai

The forth bomb was found August 29th in Osterspai, just south of Koblenz. This was a one ton American bomb that was found in a field of fruit trees. There had been rumors of an unexploded  bomb in this field for years, but tests had never found anything before. That was until the 29th. The next day a 1 km evacuation that halted train and Rhine ship transports was called for and the bomb removed.

Discoveries on the Way to Meck-Pomm: Lübeck

The first time that I saw Lübeck was returning from a trip to Copenhagen in 1991 (the year that I worked in Germany). I remember seeing the Holstentor (the main gate to Lübeck) from the train. It was impressive, but not impressive enough to make me go back to visit. Boy was I wrong. Walking through the streets of Lübeck is a delight. Perhaps my favorite city in Germany. Certainly on any short list of favorites.

The Lúbeck Altstadt (old town) sits on an island in Trave. It was the capital of the Hanseatic League, the cartel of German and Dutch cities that controlled north-south trade routes in the 13th to 17th centuries. It has maintained much of the medieval character as befitting an important harbor town during this period. The preferred building material was brick, red or glazed black (stone quarries don't exist in the low lands near the ocean), giving the city a feel of architectural unity.

The Hostentor on the west side of the city, was build between 1469 and 1479. It was the second gate of the main entry through the city's perimeter walls (it actually predate the building of the walls). Now it stands in the middle of a small park at the end of the main bridge into the city. Like many of the medieval brick buildings in Lübeck, the Hostentor has quite a lean to it today. Still it is among the most famous buildings in Germany, and so use to be on the 50 deutschmark bill.

The Rathaus (city hall) dating from 1250 sits between the Markplatz and Breite Straße, the main pedestrian shoping street in Lübeck. On Breite Straße across from the Rathaus is Cafe Niederegger, a Mecca for lovers of marzipan (like me).

Marienkirche is the largest, and oldest brick Gothic churches in Germany. It was started in 1250 and was used as a model for 40 some brick Gothic churches in North Germany. The church was bombed in 1942, starting a fire that burned the supports for the bells. This caused the bells to soften by the heat of the fire and to fall from the bell tower.The partially melted bells remain today where they fell in 1942 at the base of the south tower, a reminder to the horror of war.

Next to the church is the Buddenbrookhaus. This house was owned by the grandfather of Heinrich and Thomas Mann. The brothers were frequent guests in the house in their youth. Thomas Mann used the house in his famous book Buddedbrooks about the rise and fall of a patrician family in Lübeck.

Henry the Lion laid the corner stone of the Romanesque Cathedral in 1173. The cathedral was finished in 1230. Henry the Lion was the Duke of Saxony from 1140 to 1180 and Duke of Bavaria from 1156 to 1180. In addition to founding Lübeck, he is credited with the founding of Munich, Lüneburg and Braunschweig. The 'Paraise', the Gothic entrance way to the north trancept was added in 1260. In the interior of the church is a large Gothic Crucifix made between 1470 and 1477. The south tower has a noticeably southern lean to it. Two large steel beams connecting the north and south towers have been added to prevent further leaning. I haven't found anything that explains to the reason for this lean. My speculation would be that it is connected with the bombing of 1942 that damaged east and north sections of the church. Reconstruction was delayed several years because priority was given to Marienkirche. It was finished in 1982.

Two other churches worth noting are the Katharinenkirche and Petrikirche. The 14th centruy facade of Katharinenkirche contain rows of niches that hold statues. The first three left of the lowest row of niches hold statues made by Ernst Barlach, a late 19th to early 20th century expressionist sculptor, printmaker and writer. Petrikirche has an elevator that takes the visitor to an observation tower in the top of the tower, offering fantastic views of the city.

But this list of sights does not do justice to the feeling one gets just meandering the small winding streets of this ancient city with their brick row houses. Or setting at a table in an outdoor cafe along the Trave, watching the boaters while the city towers are reflected off the still waters of the river. It is a truly beautiful city.

Frannie's favorite thing was the park that had been created where one of the city wall use to stand. The city invites people to let their dogs run off leash in this park, a rarity in Germany.

Interestingly, shortly after we returned from our vacation, the New York Times Travel Section had an article about Lübeck. Click here to take a look at their advice.

Discoveries on the Way to Meck-Pomm: Bremen

A little over a week after returning from Switzerland, we took a second trip during Magda's school summer break. Friends of ours have a vacation apartment in a "castle" in Meck-Pomm. Meck-Pomm is short for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, one of the former East German Bundeslands (sort of the German equivalent to a State in the USA) that were incorporated into German Republic after the collapse of East Germany.

It was about an 8 or 9 hour drive to the castle. For a couple of reasons, I have grown to prefer making such longer drives on a Sunday. The biggest reason is that there are very few trucks on the autobahn on Sunday. On the other days of the week, there are so many trucks on the autobahn that the right lane is often unusable by regular autos. As Sunday is a national day of rest in Germany, most workers (including truck drivers) are not allowed to work. The second and related reason is that because the businesses in a city are also closed, it becomes easy to slip into a city to walk around for a few hours and see the sights (restaurants, museums, and other tourist related businesses are allowed to remain open).

So looking for a way to break up our drive, we noticed that Breman and Lübeck, two cities that I had never visited  were on our route. Lübeck is one of the 3 star cities according to Michelin Green Guide (Michelin's highest rating for a town or attraction). It and Bremen (two stars) are two of German's Hanseatic League cities. The Hanseatic League was a alliance of cities along the North Sea and Baltic Sea that controlled north-south trade routes from the 13th to 17th centuries. The drive to Bremen would take about 5 hours and Lúbeck would take an additional hour, a pretty good chunk of the anticipated 8-9 hour drive to the castle. The idea was to visit Breman on the way to Lübeck, staying two nights in Lübeck before heading on to Meck-Promm.

After a pleasant 5 hour drive one Sunday morning in late July, we arrived in the Bremen Markplatz. Bremen is a relatively large city, the 10th largest city in German with approximately 550,000 inhabitants, on the banks of the Weser river. It is Germany's oldest maritime city with market rights from 965. Trade with the USA started in 1783. If you have German ancestors that immigrated to the USA in the 18th or early 19th century, they most likely came on a boat from Bremen.  In 1358 it joined the Hanseatic League. You can see the early importance of the city in the large Markplatz surrounded by historical buildings. The Rathaus (i.e. City Hall, "Rat" is the German word for "advice", not a reference to the animal), that was originally a Gothic brick building built between 1405 and 1410, dominates the north side of the square. However,the facade with many decorative gables in the Weser Renaissance style was added in the 17th century.  In front of the Rathaus is the 10 meter high statue of Roland holding the sword of justice. On the west side of the Rathaus is statue of the Bremen Town Musicians made famous in Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Next to the City Hall in one corner of the square is the Cathedral St. Petri. Construction on the Cathedral started in the 11th century in the Romanesque style. In the 13th century, additions to the Cathedral in early and late Gothic were built.

On the south side of the Markplatz is the Schütting, an elegant 16 century building with a Flemish inspired facade that use to house Bremen's Guild of Merchants. East and west are pubs (serving Becks beer, of course), cafes and restaurants.

Off the south side of the Markplatz is the Böttcherstraße was transformed in 1923–1931 by the coffee magnate Ludwig Roselius. He commissioned local artists form the near by artist community of Worpswede  to convert the narrow street into a mixture of Gothic and Jungendstil (i.e. the German equivalent to the French Art Nouveau). It was considered degenerate art by the Nazis. Today, the street is one of Bremen's most popular attractions.

Not far from the Marktplatz is the the Schnoor. This is a small, well-preserved area of crooked lanes that in the 17th and 18th centuries was occupied by fishermen and shippers. It is now occupied by cafés, artisan shops and art galleries. Reminded a lot of German Village in my hometown of Columbus.

After spending a couple of hours in Bremen, we headed to the village of Worpswede, 20 km north. In the late 18th century, this village began attracting artists, many of which made important contributions to the Jungendstil movement in the early 19th century. Still a center for artists, we happened to arrive on the week-end of the annual open house where artists open there workshops to visitors. The most interesting artist for me was an man in his 70s who worked in wood inlay in the way that "his father and grandfather taught him". Using different types of woods and stains, this gentleman recreated photos and drawings in unbelievable detail. One that I could not take my eyes off of was the recreation of black and white photo of a tree. My eyes kept moving back and forth between the photo of the tree and the wood inlay next to it. It was hard to believe the detail of the photo that he was able to capture  in the inlay.

We would have liked to stay longer among the thatch-roofed houses of Worpswede, but we needed to get to Lübeck, the subject of the next blog.

Real Switzerland, Experiencing Heidi Moments

Peg, one of our friends from Columbus, visited us in late June. Peg has wanted to see Switzerland for sometime and wondered if it was possible to combine the visit to Koblenz with a trip to Switzerland. Magda and I said sure, but what is it that you want to see or do in Switzerland. "I'd be happy sitting at a cafe with a view of some mountains while having a cup of coffee" was her response. This became known as our search for a "Heidi Moment."

To be honest, driving 6 hours to reach the Swiss mountains for cup of coffee and then driving back seemed a little extreme. Then there is the "vignette" or the toll for use of the Swiss autobahn that would increase the cost of that cup of coffee. And in point of fact, everything is Switzerland is pretty expensive.

Figuring that we were in for a penny in for a pound, we started looking for something more that a Heidi Moment, more of a "Heidi Experience". We came upon a offer from Ameropa for a 4 day trip that included train from Koblenz to Davos, 2 nights in Davos in a 4 star hotel, free use of public transportation in Davos, first class reservations on the Glacier Express to Zermatt including a 3 course meal for lunch, one night in Zermatt also in a 4 star hotel, and the train back to Koblenz.

While Davos it self is not the prettiest town, its setting near a small lake in a high valley surrounded by mountain peaks is hard to beat. The breakfast room at our hotel with its floor to ceiling windows looking over a small park to a near by peak and snow-capped range of mountains took full advantage of this setting. Enjoying this view over breakfast realized a Heidi Moment for Peg.

Davos has a Museum containing a collection of works by the German expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Magda and I became interested in Kirchner after attending a exhibition of his works in Frankfurt. However, as I was not feeling well that morning, Peg and Magda went to the museum while I rested for hiking in the afternoon. Magda was very impressed by the collection and still mentions this as a high point of the trip.

The free use of public transportation in Davos included the use of "Bergbahnen". These are the cog wheel trains or cable cars that go up and down the mountain. In the afternoon we took the cog wheel train to Schatzalp on the north side of the valley, returning by foot on a short trail through lupines, mountain orchids, and other wild flower, past a waterfall, and that was guarded by carved wooded figures. Later we took a cable car up the south side of the valley to Jakobshorn. From here we had a fantastic 360 degree view of the peaks and mountains. Really did not want to come down from here. Talk about a ultimate Heidi Moment.

The next day, after another breakfast with view (or view with breakfast), we boarded the Glacier Express for Zematt. The Glacier Express bills itself a the world slowest express train as it travels 7 hours between St. Moritz or Davos and Zermatt through untouched mountain landscapes, delightful valleys, 91 tunnels, and across 291 bridges. While the Glacier Express uses the same tracks as the regular Swiss trains, it offers panorama wagons with large glass windows that allow a more complete view of the landscape. While great for viewing, these windows cause reflections in any photos taken along the way.

While the whole train ride was beautiful, my favorite part was the first part from Davos to Chur. During this part the train travels through forests, crossing several deep gorges using stone bridges. In Chur, the train changes engines to one with a cog wheel to climb and descend the Oberalppass (2033m), the highest point on the journey. Descending to 650m at Visp, the Glacier Express then climbs approximately 1000m to Zermatt (1604m). Really stunning scenery the whole way. But to be honest, it is hard to concentrate on the scenery for that long. Which is to to say that we didn't enjoy the trip, and we were certainly able to add several more Heidi Moments along the way.

What can you say about Zermatt? I suppose it is a place that people will either love it or hate it. Once again a wonderful setting  in a high valley surrounding by high mountain peaks. A walk to the end of town to see the Matterhorn made the stay worthwhile for me. What a mountain. Like Davos, I only wish we could have had more time to do some serious hiking in the area.

The town itself is another story. While Zermatt has banned automobiles on its streets (autos are parked in about 5 km away and then people take a train into the town), it is hard not to call it a tourist trap. Almost every storefront is a restaurant or shop catering toward the tourist. Even the grocery store is stocked more for the tourist than an inhabitant. But some people love rummaging around shops like these. Even for me, the collection of outdoor shops was interesting to see.

Our hotel in Zermatt was the Hotel Alex. A wonderfully run hotel, with a great breakfast (although without the kind of view we had in Davos), but with the most eclectic decor I have ever seen. Peg thought it was the most interesting and beautiful hotel that she had ever stayed in. Magda had a more negative impression or the decor. Once again, love it or hate it.

Around noon on the fourth day of our trip we boarded the first of our trains to Koblenz. The second leg of our journey was interesting because it was in one of the new Swiss high speed trains. These really nicely designed trains. The third leg was on a German ICE, so we could make a direct comparison with the Swiss. The ICE is showing its age in the comparison. Of course it didn't help that the ICE broke down just before Mannheim causing use to miss our connection. The DB (the German train company) did give us 12 euros to help with a dinner while we waited 3.5 hours for the next connection. And later, they refunded 10 euros each. Of course, the extra 3.5 hours did mean we got back pretty late, and needed to get Peg to the airport early the next day.

Little Switzerland

Little Switzerland refers to the region on either side of the Sauer river that defines the border between Luxembourg and Germany. This region with its rocky outcrops, craggy terrain, thick forests and small streams resembles, at least to some, its namesake country. One big difference is altitude. The highest elevation in Little Switzerland is 414 meters above sea level. Compare that to 4634 meters for Switzerland.

But this comparison should not be viewed as a negative. In fact for the average hiker, Little Switzerland might be more enjoyable that hiking in Switzerland. On the Luxembourg side there is a system of well marked and interesting wooded trails through the terrain, often around, under or through the rock outcrops. While there are no huge altitude changes, there are constant changes as you climb up and down the rocky trails. It reminded me of the Smoky Mountains. We noticed that we hiked a bit slower here due to these constant elevation changes and the sometimes rocky trails. Trails on the German side were not as well marked, but just as interesting and less traveled.

The area also offers things for the history buff. Echternach is Luxembourg's oldest town. There you can find a fine example of a Romanesque Cathedral and a nicely preserved old town. While Little Switzerland is a bit south of the Ardennes, it was still involved in the Battle of the Bulge during WWII.

For the social observer, the region provides some interest, as well. For instance gas prices in Luxembourg are much cheaper that in Germany. As a result, there are no gas stations near the border on the German side, well there are a number on the Luxembourg side (often right next to a bridge crossing the border). As salaries are higher in Luxembourg and housing prices cheaper in Germany, a larger number of people live on the German side, but work on the Luxembourg side (EU offices are less about 30 minutes away). Very striking is the difference in grocery stores between the two countries. The French influenced stores on the Luxembourg side offer a far richer variety of items that the discount driven stores on the German side.

All and all, this is a great get-away place for us, less than a two hour from Koblenz.

BUGA is here

BUGA (short for the Bundesgartenschau) is the German garden show that occurs every 2 years in different German cities. This year's show is taking place in Koblenz. The city has been preparing for this for well over a year, closing roads and bridges, changing parking regulations, refurbishing buildings and pedestrian walkways. So for residents of Koblenz, the opening BUGA a couple of weeks ago brought a sense of relief, if for no other reason than the removal of the orange barrels.

It is a big show distributed in three locations in the city. One part is near Deutches Eck, a second part around the Bishop's Place, and the third and largest part around the Fortress Ehrenbreitstein. The first two parts are connected by a walkway along the Rhine, but as Ehrenbreitstein lies high on the hill across the Rhine, connecting visitors to this third part required an interesting solution, a hanging cable car system was installed.

We made our first appearance last week and were quite pleasantly surprised. Since we have a season pass, we didn't feel the need to visit all of the show in the first day. So we concentrated on Deutches Eck and Ehrenbreitstein this time. Here are some pictures and impressions:

• The gardens along the sides and back of St. Kastor were a highlight. Both were tulip gardens at the time. One was a explosion of colors with the 1200 year old Romanesque church as a backdrop. The other was much more contemplative with all white tulips.
• Behind the church was a story board that summarized the 5000 years of human inhabitation in Koblenz. This also reveal a new discovery that had been made in preparation for BUGA. There has long been documentation of a Roman temple that was built about 2000 years ago near the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle, but the exact location was never known. In preparing the gardens, it was found. The choir of the church was built directly over the temple.
• The cable car is a nice solution to connect the city with the fortress. The ride provides some unique views of Deutsches Eck and the city. Since this is was built within the areas that UNESCO designated as a world heritage site, the agreement is that the cable cars will be taken down at the end of the show. However, some are questioning if they should stay. On the positive side, providing such an easy connection between the city and the fortress (with its 3000 year history) would be a positive for tourism. On the negative side, UNESCO could withdraw their designation if the system stays.
• Ehrenbreitstien has been restored wonderfully, and the view of the city from the courtyard is as good as ever.
• The new observation platform on the northern end of the BUGA site around Ehrenbreitstein gives a different view of the city, but also an unexpectedly interesting view of the Rhine valley to the north.
• One area of the show, and a pretty popular one at that, was devoted to graves. This might be surprising, unless you understand that maintaining the grave sites of loved ones has long been an important part of the German culture, although it is a part of the culture under some stress right now as people become more mobile.
• Two large temporary building housed the various show plants. How judges decide a difference between gold, silver and bronze is hard (impossible) for me to see. Even the bronze orchids look good to me. Do you think a fly would feel better about being caught by a gold winning pitcher plant, than a silver of bronze one?

Karneval in Koblenz

The days prior to Ash Wednesday and Lent have different names in various parts of Germany. In and around Koblenz, they are called Karneval. Although the Karneval season officially begins each each at 11:11 on 11/11. This is when Karneval prince and princess are anounced and the Karneval clubs begin their planning for Karneval celebrations, including figuring out their theme for the coming celebrations, preparing their costumes and float, and planning their parties.

The actual Karneval celebrations begin the Thursday before Lent with "Schwerdonnerstag" (Hard Thursday). Many businesses close at noon, schools arrange in-service days so that the students don't have to be in school. Things begin with a symbolic storming of the city hall by the Karneval clubs. With the club members in costume, firing confetti cannons, the Karneval Prince demands the key to the city from the mayor. Women take the lead the rest of the day. Some women will go around carrying scissors, cutting off any ties worn by men on this day. At the parties later, women choose their dance partners.In fact, some folks refer to this day as Weibekarneval (Wife's Karveval).

Parties continue on Friday and Saturday. The foods most associated with this time of year are Berliners and Naunzen. Berliners would be recognized by Americans as a jelly doughnut, round pieces of yeast dough that are deep-fried, filled with jelly and sprinkled with sugar. Naunzen use the same dough as Berliners and like Berliners are fried and sprinkled with sugar, but unlike Berliners, are irregularly shaped and are not filled. By the way, Berliners are root of the Urban Legend that JFK called himself a "doughnut" when he said "Ich bin ein Berliner" before the Berlin Wall in 1963. In truth and in that context, there was no confusion for Germans. A Berliner is also a resident of Berlin and use of the adjective "ein" placed an emphases on his oneness with the people of Berlin. Exactly what he was trying to say. It remains a moment remembered in German history books and has a display devoted to it at Bonn's "House of German History".

On Sunday, parades get added to the entertainment. In our village of Wallersheim, there is a kids parade. Although I'm not sure what makes it a kids parade, other than the selection of the parades prince and princess, who were young kids. There are more adults than kids in both the parade and audience. A good percentage of the audience, young and old, are in a costume. And certainly, beer and wine are flowing in both groups. As the parade passes, everyone waves a hand over their head and shouts the greeting for Koblenz, "Oula" (in other parts of Germany the greeting would be "Hela").

Whereas in other parts of Germany, the celebrations are still rooted in the idea of scaring away the evil spirits of winter (see last years post on Fastnacht in southern Germany). The Karneval parades in this part of the country tend to be about political satire or current topics. Sort of reminds me of the Do Da parades on the 4th of Jully in the USA. This is one reason that even today many of the clubs still dress in costumes inspired by French or Prussian military from the 1700s. Karneval was used  as an opportunity to make some fun of their occupiers back then. This year, the current topic in Koblenz is the the upcoming national garden show, BUGA. So it is no surprise that to see a lot of costumes and floats with flower themes in this year's parade.

Smaller towns and villages have parades on either Sunday or Tuesday. Rosenmontag, the Monday before Ash Wednesday, is the parade day for the larger towns. Cologne's and Mainz's parades are shown on TV. In Koblenz, the parade attracted 100,000 watchers this year. Prior to the parade, the downtown was closed off to traffic and special buses carried people to and from the parade.

Hochwasser and The Lady Gets Another One

During the middle of January, we where experiencing flooding along the Rhine and Moselle. Neuendorf and Wallersheim (where we live) was particularly hard hit as they are the villages just below the confluence of these two rivers. The waters reached the 7.5 meter mark, well below the record flood levels of around 9.5 meters. but still enough to cover the first story of most of the homes along the Rhine. Our building is high enough that were relatively unaffected. However, Franny did have to experience a change in her routine walks.

For many affected, this was nothing new. The fire department came in before the flood waters reached the town and build walkways allowing people to access the second floor of their homes. People along the river have learned to live mostly on the second floor anyway. Rooms on the first floor only contain furniture that can easily be moved to the second in case of floods. Cars were moved to parking areas on higher ground. And many people stayed in their homes.

Probably the most disruptive event occurred on the Rhine, a few miles upriver, at the base of the Lorelei cliffs. This is a place where the Rhine river narrows and turns as passes around the cliffs. As long as the Rhine has been used by boats, the swift water and turn on this particular section has been a problem for boat captains. The accidents gave rise to the legend of Lorelei, the naked siren with cooper hair that would sign such a beautiful song that she would boat captains into a accident in the swift waters.

 

On January 18, Lorelei got another. This time it was a tanker, the TMS Waldhof,  carrying 2000 tons of sulfuric acid. The big problem here is that the combination of sulfuric acid and water can be explosive, and a couple of the tanks developed leaks that was allowing water into them. It took awhile to get the necessary equipment into place to stabilize the situation. During this time, boat traffic was not permitted along the river at this point, and detours were set up for auto route along the river.. Many boats have had to dock and wait until it was safe. That occurred on Friday morning around 9:30 am. The Waldhof is still in the water, but the tanks have been drained and it is now safe to continue the rescue.