I pay another months rent for the apartment, €560 or $780 and will leave most of my things here when I go Dresden and Berlin. On Thursday I take the bus into town for my class; Manuela is in a good mood, (I’ve never seen her in a bad mood) we talk about what a good time I had in Ladenburg, Wiesloch and Weinheim. She tells me about a TV show that is shown on every channel, every New Years Eve in Germany for the past 30 years called “Der 90th Geburtstag Miss Sophie” (The 90th Birthday of Miss Sophie) and involves a very English woman, Miss Sophie celebrating her 90th birthday, with four guests. However since all her friends are now dead, her butler James plays all the guests. It is now an old black and white film, I guess in English, and very much loved. The two original players were well known actors. I believe this is totally unknown in England. Later I drive back into town, find Alten Synagogenplatz, site of the original Heidelberg synagogue, close to the river and the cathedral. There is a memorial tablet to the old synagogue destroyed on Kristallnacht and a memorial to the Heidelberg Jews murdered in the Holocaust. At the beginning of the Nazi years there were 1,100 Jews in Heidelberg, of which almost half were murdered. Later I have a lovely asparagus dinner at Zum Goldenen Schaf (Golden Sheep) I have Weisse Spagel mit Kartoffeln und Schinken (white asparagus served in a bundle tied with a green onion, Hollandaise sauce on the side, potatoes and a plate of cooked and cured ham) with a beer ($26) and absolutely delicious. Then to Die Aule in der alten Universitat (the auditorium of the old university) a beautiful old wood-paneled room with excellent acoustics for a concert by David Geringas, cello and Keiko Tamura, piano. The concert is also part of the ‘Heidelberger Fruhling.’ The duo plays four cello concertos by Beethoven, Schostakovitsch, Grieg and Alfred Schnittke. The last two, written for Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt” are particularly lovely. I talk to the man sitting next to me with his 17 year-old son, who is to play the cello with the Heidelberg Symphony in Lufwigshaven in a few days. After the concert, I find my car in the garage and pay at the machine, two not-so-easy tasks and drive home.
On Friday I drive to Wiesbaden on the Rhein (in German spelt with an H). There is an inauspicious start to the trip; I miss the Autobahn on-ramp towards Frankfurt and find myself at the entrance gate to Patrick Henry Village, the US Army base with no place to turn around. Two local security guards speaking very little English pull me over, tell me to get out of the car and ask for my passport! I show them my California driver’s license and they search the car including the trunk and look underneath with a mirror. Eventually a uniformed MP drives up, I tell him I’m from Oakland and just want to turn around and get the hell out of there. He laughs and says that he’s from OC (Orange County) “Don’t worry I’ll get you out in a minute.” There is another car in front of me in the same predicament and in a couple of minutes the MP comes back, tells us to follow him to the Commissary Gate. The two security guys lower the bullet proof, steel gate in front of the car ahead of me and we follow the MP all through the huge camp to the other gate where he waves us onto the Autobahn. Now that’s an experience I hope not to repeat!
I follow the Autobahn towards Frankfurt and soon find another highway signposted to Wiesbaden and end up at the Tourist Office in the middle of town, where I pick up maps and brochures. They suggest two hotels close to the town center and I pick the 3-star Best Western Hansa Hotel (€74 including breakfast), which is close by. I park in their free lot, check in and the desk clerk suggests that I take the #1 bus from across the street to the Nerobergbahn (Nero Mountain railway) funicular cable car, built in 1888 and powered by water ballast. Unfortunately during Winter, which includes April, the funicular only runs weekends! However the bus ride through town is worth the trip. As I walk back to the hotel I see my first ‘Stolperstein’ (Stumble stone) a small brass plate in the sidewalk giving the names of Jews that formerly lived there and the place and date of their murder! Wiesbaden is a lovely old town with gorgeous old buildings, beautiful squares, parks and gardens and a pedestrian old town dominated by the Lutheran Marktkirche (Market Church) a spectacular, huge building of red sandstone. There is also the Kurhaus, where one “takes the waters” both by drinking and bathing plus a very fancy Spielbank (Casino), which I do not get to check out! It’s a beautiful sunny afternoon so, at the desk clerk’s other suggestion I catch a #23 bus to Schierstein (pro Sheer-stein) The bus ride takes about 45 minutes and drops me at a charming little river resort on the Rhein, with a main street lined with cafés, restaurants and ice-cream shops facing the water. There are lots of people around and sailboats, rowboats and canoes on the river. I have a drink on the deck of a small café and spend an hour soaking up the sun and enjoying the scene. The Rhein river valley has a more Mediterranean climate than Frankfurt and Heidelberg. I take the bus back and ask the desk clerk for a suggestion for dinner. She tells me to walk a few blocks straight down Bahnhoffstrasse, to the old Market Square, where there are many restaurants. Since I want German cooking, she mentions three restaurants; the first is full of smoke, the second completely full and the third Uhrturm (Clock tower) looks delightful and I’m shown to a table by the window. There is an extensive menu with two specials; roast beef served cold and Rindergoulasch mit Spaetzel und ein gruen Salat (Beef Goulash) that has my name on it! The goulash is delicious with a deep, rich sauce that you can’t find outside of Germany. The menu includes many beers on tap both 3.1 and 4.1 (percentage alcohol) I pick the Furstenberg 4.1 and that goes down very well. Total bill is €13.50 about $20 and not surprisingly every table is full when I leave. Afterwards I walk through the old town and parts of the new pedestrian zone, which are filled with upscale shops and attractive squares with fountains.
Next morning I’m ready for the breakfast buffet, typically German and very extensive. I really like the look of Wiesbaden and last night figured that the good weather would continue and I would drive along the Rhein. So I plot a route along the right bank going downstream. First stop is Walluf, then Eltville and Winkel, pretty little riverside towns with ancient half-timbered houses and narrow streets; this is the Rheingau, one of the most famous wine growing regions of Germany. The hillsides along the river are covered with vineyards and on top of the hill outside the village of Winkel is Schloss Johannisberg, a huge castle built in 1718 and the original home of Johannesburg Riesling. Unfortunately the sunny weather does not hold and it starts to rain. I continue along the river till Rudesheim, where it’s raining very hard and I decide to turn back to Wiesbaden and on to Frankfurt and Heidelberg.
The history of Wiesbaden goes back to 40AD, when the Romans erected a border fort as a military stronghold. The natural hot springs, which give the town its name; Wiesbaden - the spring in the meadow were well known to the Romans. By the 1200s the city had become a royal court and by the early 1800s it became the capital of the principality. According to the tourist bureau “the city enjoys a pleasantly mild climate due to its location in the warm-air corridor of the Rhine Valley.” Present day Wiesbaden has a population of approx 300,500 including about 14,000 US military personnel and is an administrative and service center. Mainz across the river is larger and looks to be more industrial.
At home I watch on TV “Bis Zum Letzten Stunde” (“Till the Last Hour” and called something else in the States) the German film about Hitler’s last days in his bunker in Berlin. I remember seeing the film a few years ago. As I discuss with my teacher Manuela, not a day goes by that there is not a newspaper story or TV program about the Holocaust. About a week ago I was watching TV and saw the Israeli movie “Walk on Water”, which I have also seen previously and had forgotten that it’s the German grandson that murders his Nazi Grandfather and not the Israeli assassin!
On Sunday the weather clears up and it’s a lovely sunny Sunday. I drive into Heidelberg, park in the university garage, have a Martini Bianco at my favorite bar on the Marktplatz and decide to go to the afternoon lecture/concert at die Alte Aule in the old university. The lecture/concert, also part of ‘Heidelberger Fruhling’ is a very interesting experience. The lecture is “Heinrich Heines zwichentone (Heine, one of the most important German poets) and about Lieder (songs) written by major composers based on his poems. There are two university professors, one who specializes in German literature of the 18th and 19th centuries, the other a professor in Salzburg and a concert pianist. The professors expound and then a tenor accompanied by a pianist gives the concert. I love the Lieder and the tenor has a gorgeous and expressive voice but the two professors are so esoteric and highly technical that I understand about 10% or less. The hall is less than half full and the enthusiastic audience laughs at humor that goes right over my head!
I thought that Spring had come to Boxberg over the weekend; Sunday was warm and sunny and now all the trees have new green leaves. This morning is nice and sunny and in the afternoon it clouds over.
Next day is class; we talk about “The 90th Birthday of Miss Sophie” also known as “Party for One” which Manuela has looked up on Google DE. I tell her about my drive through the Rhinegau near Wiesbaden and she suggests I go look at the wine region between Spyer and Wurms. Just west of Heidelberg. Later I take a bus to Pedagogische Hochschule located in “Im Neuenheimer Feld” across the river. Of course I go to the wrong, get this, Pedagogische Hochschule. I go to the new one and the Thomas Hampson master class is at the Alte (old) Pedagogische Hochschule. The Masterclass is a blast. Hampson speaks mostly German breaking into English when he has difficulty expressing himself. I listen to three male singers, all in their early 20s and all senior students that have already sung opera or Lieder. Hampson is terrific coaching them, so that even I can hear the difference. The students are generally very stiff and formal and Hampson tries teaching them to relax. He tells one student, “Singing is a state of being, not of singing” I leave after two-and-a-half hours and there are still three students to go. It’s a very wonderful experience; then it’s two buses back to Boxberg.
Photos:
Alten Synagogenplatz, Heidelberg 1#069
Stolperstein, Wiesbaden 1#073
Marktkirche, Wiesbaden 1#080
Schierstein near Wiesbaden 1#079
On Friday I drive to Wiesbaden on the Rhein (in German spelt with an H). There is an inauspicious start to the trip; I miss the Autobahn on-ramp towards Frankfurt and find myself at the entrance gate to Patrick Henry Village, the US Army base with no place to turn around. Two local security guards speaking very little English pull me over, tell me to get out of the car and ask for my passport! I show them my California driver’s license and they search the car including the trunk and look underneath with a mirror. Eventually a uniformed MP drives up, I tell him I’m from Oakland and just want to turn around and get the hell out of there. He laughs and says that he’s from OC (Orange County) “Don’t worry I’ll get you out in a minute.” There is another car in front of me in the same predicament and in a couple of minutes the MP comes back, tells us to follow him to the Commissary Gate. The two security guys lower the bullet proof, steel gate in front of the car ahead of me and we follow the MP all through the huge camp to the other gate where he waves us onto the Autobahn. Now that’s an experience I hope not to repeat!
I follow the Autobahn towards Frankfurt and soon find another highway signposted to Wiesbaden and end up at the Tourist Office in the middle of town, where I pick up maps and brochures. They suggest two hotels close to the town center and I pick the 3-star Best Western Hansa Hotel (€74 including breakfast), which is close by. I park in their free lot, check in and the desk clerk suggests that I take the #1 bus from across the street to the Nerobergbahn (Nero Mountain railway) funicular cable car, built in 1888 and powered by water ballast. Unfortunately during Winter, which includes April, the funicular only runs weekends! However the bus ride through town is worth the trip. As I walk back to the hotel I see my first ‘Stolperstein’ (Stumble stone) a small brass plate in the sidewalk giving the names of Jews that formerly lived there and the place and date of their murder! Wiesbaden is a lovely old town with gorgeous old buildings, beautiful squares, parks and gardens and a pedestrian old town dominated by the Lutheran Marktkirche (Market Church) a spectacular, huge building of red sandstone. There is also the Kurhaus, where one “takes the waters” both by drinking and bathing plus a very fancy Spielbank (Casino), which I do not get to check out! It’s a beautiful sunny afternoon so, at the desk clerk’s other suggestion I catch a #23 bus to Schierstein (pro Sheer-stein) The bus ride takes about 45 minutes and drops me at a charming little river resort on the Rhein, with a main street lined with cafés, restaurants and ice-cream shops facing the water. There are lots of people around and sailboats, rowboats and canoes on the river. I have a drink on the deck of a small café and spend an hour soaking up the sun and enjoying the scene. The Rhein river valley has a more Mediterranean climate than Frankfurt and Heidelberg. I take the bus back and ask the desk clerk for a suggestion for dinner. She tells me to walk a few blocks straight down Bahnhoffstrasse, to the old Market Square, where there are many restaurants. Since I want German cooking, she mentions three restaurants; the first is full of smoke, the second completely full and the third Uhrturm (Clock tower) looks delightful and I’m shown to a table by the window. There is an extensive menu with two specials; roast beef served cold and Rindergoulasch mit Spaetzel und ein gruen Salat (Beef Goulash) that has my name on it! The goulash is delicious with a deep, rich sauce that you can’t find outside of Germany. The menu includes many beers on tap both 3.1 and 4.1 (percentage alcohol) I pick the Furstenberg 4.1 and that goes down very well. Total bill is €13.50 about $20 and not surprisingly every table is full when I leave. Afterwards I walk through the old town and parts of the new pedestrian zone, which are filled with upscale shops and attractive squares with fountains.
Next morning I’m ready for the breakfast buffet, typically German and very extensive. I really like the look of Wiesbaden and last night figured that the good weather would continue and I would drive along the Rhein. So I plot a route along the right bank going downstream. First stop is Walluf, then Eltville and Winkel, pretty little riverside towns with ancient half-timbered houses and narrow streets; this is the Rheingau, one of the most famous wine growing regions of Germany. The hillsides along the river are covered with vineyards and on top of the hill outside the village of Winkel is Schloss Johannisberg, a huge castle built in 1718 and the original home of Johannesburg Riesling. Unfortunately the sunny weather does not hold and it starts to rain. I continue along the river till Rudesheim, where it’s raining very hard and I decide to turn back to Wiesbaden and on to Frankfurt and Heidelberg.
The history of Wiesbaden goes back to 40AD, when the Romans erected a border fort as a military stronghold. The natural hot springs, which give the town its name; Wiesbaden - the spring in the meadow were well known to the Romans. By the 1200s the city had become a royal court and by the early 1800s it became the capital of the principality. According to the tourist bureau “the city enjoys a pleasantly mild climate due to its location in the warm-air corridor of the Rhine Valley.” Present day Wiesbaden has a population of approx 300,500 including about 14,000 US military personnel and is an administrative and service center. Mainz across the river is larger and looks to be more industrial.
At home I watch on TV “Bis Zum Letzten Stunde” (“Till the Last Hour” and called something else in the States) the German film about Hitler’s last days in his bunker in Berlin. I remember seeing the film a few years ago. As I discuss with my teacher Manuela, not a day goes by that there is not a newspaper story or TV program about the Holocaust. About a week ago I was watching TV and saw the Israeli movie “Walk on Water”, which I have also seen previously and had forgotten that it’s the German grandson that murders his Nazi Grandfather and not the Israeli assassin!
On Sunday the weather clears up and it’s a lovely sunny Sunday. I drive into Heidelberg, park in the university garage, have a Martini Bianco at my favorite bar on the Marktplatz and decide to go to the afternoon lecture/concert at die Alte Aule in the old university. The lecture/concert, also part of ‘Heidelberger Fruhling’ is a very interesting experience. The lecture is “Heinrich Heines zwichentone (Heine, one of the most important German poets) and about Lieder (songs) written by major composers based on his poems. There are two university professors, one who specializes in German literature of the 18th and 19th centuries, the other a professor in Salzburg and a concert pianist. The professors expound and then a tenor accompanied by a pianist gives the concert. I love the Lieder and the tenor has a gorgeous and expressive voice but the two professors are so esoteric and highly technical that I understand about 10% or less. The hall is less than half full and the enthusiastic audience laughs at humor that goes right over my head!
I thought that Spring had come to Boxberg over the weekend; Sunday was warm and sunny and now all the trees have new green leaves. This morning is nice and sunny and in the afternoon it clouds over.
Next day is class; we talk about “The 90th Birthday of Miss Sophie” also known as “Party for One” which Manuela has looked up on Google DE. I tell her about my drive through the Rhinegau near Wiesbaden and she suggests I go look at the wine region between Spyer and Wurms. Just west of Heidelberg. Later I take a bus to Pedagogische Hochschule located in “Im Neuenheimer Feld” across the river. Of course I go to the wrong, get this, Pedagogische Hochschule. I go to the new one and the Thomas Hampson master class is at the Alte (old) Pedagogische Hochschule. The Masterclass is a blast. Hampson speaks mostly German breaking into English when he has difficulty expressing himself. I listen to three male singers, all in their early 20s and all senior students that have already sung opera or Lieder. Hampson is terrific coaching them, so that even I can hear the difference. The students are generally very stiff and formal and Hampson tries teaching them to relax. He tells one student, “Singing is a state of being, not of singing” I leave after two-and-a-half hours and there are still three students to go. It’s a very wonderful experience; then it’s two buses back to Boxberg.
Photos:
Alten Synagogenplatz, Heidelberg 1#069
Stolperstein, Wiesbaden 1#073
Marktkirche, Wiesbaden 1#080
Schierstein near Wiesbaden 1#079
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