With Eliane in Heidelberg and Speyer

Monday is a wonderful day, warm and sunny and we decide to drive to Speyer, which Manuela my teacher) mentioned as worth visiting. The town was also mentioned in the Jewish Museum in Berlin as having one of the oldest Jewish communities in Germany. Speyer is delightful; we take a look at the Dom (cathedral) the largest Romanesque cathedral in Germany, which is huge and very interesting. We then walk into the beautiful old town located immediately in front of the cathedral. We buy some postcards and Eliane finds several bargains at a local boutique. After lunch at an outdoor café we walk to the Medieval Jewish Court, where the city has preserved a Mikveh (Jewish ritual bath) and the only remaining wall of the synagogue, which were built between 1110 and 1120! In the Middle Ages Speyer was one of the most important Jewish communities north of the Alps. The community became important as a center for Torah study producing many important scholars. The community flourished till the beginning of the 16th Century, when the Jews were expelled. The communities of Speyer, Worms and Mainz formed an alliance, known as the “Shum”, named after the Hebrew initials of the three towns, which was considered an authority in religious matters all over Germany. Of the 77 Jews living in Speyer in 1939, 51 were deported and all but 15 were murdered by the Nazis. No Jewish community exists today. The ruins of the Jewish Court have been preserved and protected by a large glass roof designed by a local sculptor.
On the way home we stop at the Famila Center, a huge shopping center with an enormous supermarket located on the highway near Boxberg. We buy a few things and have a quiet dinner at home.

Next day is also warm and sunny and we drive to Heidelberg and Eliane does some last minute shopping, while I sit by the river and read the newspaper. In the evening we drive to Ladenburg, the Roman city where Henry and I had such a good traditional German dinner. We have an aperitif in the village square and talk to a local couple enjoying a cup of coffee and huge pieces of cake. They are very friendly, they live in the little town and he works in Heidelberg. They recommend a Greek restaurant, however when we got there, they’re fully booked and cannot fit us in. We walk over to Zum Sackpfeife (at the bagpipes) the same restaurant that Henry and I visited. This time we are shown to a table out in the courtyard and have a fabulous dinner. We start with a white asparagus appetizer; the best asparagus to date because it’s cooked to order and served al dente. Then, from the menu section “for two or more” choose Alemannspies, which includes six small broiled steaks of beef, pork and lamb, over Risotto, which is more like rice pilaf and 4 or 5 different salads all served on a huge carved wooden board. It’s delicious and we certainly do it justice!

On Wednesday Eliane finishes packing and we drive to the Crowne Plaza hotel in Heidelberg to catch the Lufthansa shuttle to Frankfurt airport. In just over an hour we arrive at the airport for Eliane to check in at United and then go downstairs for lunch at Marché, which is her last chance for Bratwurst und gebrattene Kartoffle. I walk her as far as security and she leaves for Los Angeles and I have a Haagen Dazs icecream before catching the shuttle back to Heidelberg.

Photos:
Dinner at Ladenburg 2#160
Dom, Speyer 2#130
Mikveh, Speyer 2#147
Mikveh, Speyer 2#143

Dresden and Berlin...Berlin 3

And more Berlin photos.

Photos:
The Wall 2#061
Brandenburger Tor 2#066
Berlin 2#0078
Berlin 2#080

Dresden and Berlin...2

More photos.

Photos:
Berlin 2#036
Jewish Museum 2#050
Schloss Charlottenburg 2#055
Schloss Charlottenburg 2#094

Dresden and Berlin...Berlin

On Sunday morning it’s off to Berlin. In 2 hours we’re at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof and find a taxi to Heerstrasse 17. Frau Rolle, mother of the owner is waiting for us at the curb and shows us around the flat, basically one room plus kitchen and bath! We spend the rest of the day exploring the neighborhood, most of the shops are closed and have dinner at a lovely little restaurant run by two women, where Eliane has Spargel Kalbschnitzel (white asparagus with a veal schnitzel) and I eat Konigsberger Klopse (meatballs in a caper cream sauce) which is delicious and reminds me of my Mother. We also buy two 7-day tickets for the Underground and buses. The buses are on strike and we manage only one ride; however the U-Bahn (underground) works very well and we use it daily. After the opera the trains still run at about 10 or 12-minute intervals. (BART are you listening?)

Monday morning we start with breakfast in our new home then figure out the U- Bahn and take the U2 line from Theodor-Heuss-Platz, about two blocks from the apartment to Potsdamer-Platz to see the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This is a very moving memorial of about 2,700 concrete slabs, each 95 centimeters wide and 238 centimeters long (about 3 feet by 8 feet) in tight rows; their heights range from ground level to 4.5 meters (about 15 feet) high. Each slab sits on its own foundation. The memorial was designed by Peter Eisenman of New York and in its own way is just as moving as the Viet Nam war memorial in Washington DC. We spent a long time at the memorial although the Information Center, underground and beneath the memorial is closed (it being Monday) From the memorial we take the U-Bahn to Halesches Tor to see the Daniel Libeskind designed Jewish Museum. We spent several hours in the museum; the exterior is quite amazing and thought provoking; however the inside is very confusing and the gallery tour very difficult to follow. On the way home we buy sausages, potato salad and fresh rolls for dinner and visit the supermarket downstairs for supplies for breakfast.

On Tuesday morning we decide to check out Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg castle) which we find by U-Bahn and bus and are delighted to see young people in costume selling tickets for the dinner/concert in the castle’s Orangery; we buy tickets for Thursday evening. After looking at the outside of the castle we do the Bergruen Museum directly across the street. This is a delight; it is one of Berlin’s newest, a collection of works by Picasso, Matisse and Paul Klee formerly owned by Heinze Bergruen, the Paris and Berlin art dealer. The audio guide, in English, has many explanations of the pictures by Bergruen and details of his acquisition. Outside the museum we pick up the Severin & Kuhn double deck bus tour and start our Berlin city tour. We decide to hop off outside the KaDeWe (Kafhaus des Westens – Department Store of the West) the largest store in Europe. We have a lot of fun starting out on the 6th floor, the food hall! We look around and find a Paul Bocuse café and La Notre patisserie from Paris; however we have Wurst und Sauerkraut (sausages) for lunch. Then continue the city tour back to our starting point and bus and U-Bahn back home.

Today (Wednesday) we take a look at the Gemalde Gallerie, the national gallery of old masters, which is huge and full of paintings by all the old masters. We look at beautiful Durers, Rembrands, and Rubens then take a break. In the evening we have opera tickets, bought on-line months ago. We take the U-Bahn to Under-den-Linden (Under the Lime Trees) and pick up our tickets. The Don Giovanni at the Staatsoper under den Linden is totally amazing; in modern dress with absolutely minimal scenery and costumes; the entire emphasis is on the singing and the music!

On Thursday morning Eliane goes to the Gemaldegallerie (Gallery of New Masters) while I stay home and take it easy. In the evening we go to the dinner and
concert (Berliner Residenz Schloss & Konzerte) at the Schloss Charlottenburg
It’s very grand and we get all dressed up! First there is a sit-down dinner by
candlelight served in a very grand room. Then we move into another part of the
Palace for a concert of Baroque music including Mozart, Bach and Handel played
by candlelight with the orchestra in costume. It is totally delightful and a lot of fun.

On Friday morning we visit the Neue Synagoge – Centrum Judaicum, museum and community center on Oranienburger Strasse, which we have no trouble finding. Jews have lived in Berlin since 1295 and when the Nazis came to power in 1933 about 172,000 Jews lived there, about one-third of all German Jews. In 1939 there were more than 100 synagogues. It is estimated that 55,000 Berlin Jews suffered deportation and death at the hands of the Nazis. About 6,000 survived in Berlin, most of them because of their marriage to Gentile partners and some in hiding. Today Berlin has the largest Jewish community in Germany. The huge Rykestrasse synagogue in the former East Berlin was recently completely restored however is rarely open to the public. The very grand Neue Synagoge, which we visited was built in 1866 and was heavily damaged by the “Reichskristallnacht Progrom” (Night of Broken Glass) in 1938. The security at the synagogue is a bit crazy-making; there are 3 policemen outside and metal detectors inside. However the people are very pleasant and helpful. The building has been only partially restored including the magnificent dome, which we reach by way of elevator and very steep circular staircase. There is also a very interesting exhibition of Jewish life in Berlin before the war.

Then we take a look at Checkpoint Charley, the most visited spot in Berlin. It’s wall-to-wall people and in one of the many souvenir shops I found the kaki bag that I saw on many people and buy one for Lysa. In the evening we go to the dinner and show at the Winter Garten Cabaret at the suggestion of my teacher, Manuela. Dinner is served in an upstairs dining room, all red plush and then we go downstairs to the theater, where we have a tiny table for two to watch the show; of course we order a glass of champagne, actually German sparkling wine! The theater is full, all tourists I think, and the show consists of song and dance numbers plus a high-wire act, amazing jugglers and a guy who jumps and does multiple somersaults from a narrow board held on the shoulders of two other guys.

On Saturday we decide to do some major shopping. We start out at Wilmersdorfer Strasse, a pedestrian zone with several big department stores, small shops, cafés and restaurants. At the Karstadt department store I buy a bright red knit shirt for €20. In the middle of the pedestrian area there’s a Biergarten with live music, which is doing a land-office business. I sit and enjoy the music while Eliane shops. I love this street; it feels genuine with very few tourists. After lunch we take the U-Bahn to Ka de We and continue shopping. Next door at Peek & Cloppenburg I buy a beautiful blue tie to go with the new blue shirt. The tie is only twice the price of the shirt!
Later we take the U-Bahn to Deutche-Oper station, about 3 stops; have dinner at a small Italian restaurant across the street, and see Marriage of Figaro at Berlin Opera. This is done in traditional style with traditional scenery and costumes. Susanna is a bit weak, however all of the other singers are top class!

Sunday is our last day, we order a taxi for 8AM by phone and of course he’s already there when we come downstairs. The train trip to Frankfurt is a bit of a disaster. First of all the elevator and escalator up to the platform are both out of order (very un-German!) I speak to a railway guy and he says “don’t worry, have patience and come back in 20 minutes” Twenty minutes later two women guards push our heavily laden luggage cart to another elevator take us up to another platform and across to our train for Frankfurt. Did I tell you that there are no direct trains from Berlin to Frankfurt Airport? We have to change trains either at Frankfurt Main or Hannover and decide on Hannover. So we get off the train in Hannover and I cannot find a luggage cart; we drag our many suitcases to the elevator and go down to the main level where I find a luggage cart and we take the elevator up to the correct platform to see our train to Frankfurt Airport leave. The next direct train is in two hours (we do not want to deal with another change) so we got downstairs find a café and have a second breakfast; a Deutsches Fruhstuck fur zwei (German breakfast for two), which consists of, are you ready: two glasses of Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine) two boiled eggs, a plate of sliced meats and cheeses plus fresh rolls with butter and jam and coffee. It almost makes it worthwhile to miss the train! We catch the next train to Frankfurt Airport, pick up our rental car and drive to Heidelberg with only one minor getting-lost.

Photos:
Our Berlin Apartment 2#100
Theodor-Heuss-Platz 2#34
Memorial to the Murdered Jews 2#037
Memorial to the Murdered Jews 2#042

Dresden and Berlin...Dresden 2

More pictures from Dresden

Photos:
River Elbe, Dresden 2#014
Dresden 2#032
Frauenkirche 2#033
Lilli, Dresden 2#022

Dresden and Berlin...Dresden

On Wednesday morning I leave for Frankfurt. The weather is warm and sunny and the traffic on the Autobahn terrible. I drop off the car at the airport, take a train to the Hauptbahnhoff and catch a tram to old town for a ham and egg crêpe and cafe au lait at an outdoor café and watch the people go by. Later I walk into the central shopping district and look for a haircut. My only option is on the top floor of the Gallerie department store. I get my hair washed, cut and beard trimmed by a lovely youngish Turkish woman who does an excellent job and takes all of 15 minutes for the entire operation; total cost €34 plus a €3 tip or about $60. Some things here are not cheap! Eliane arrives in the evening and so starts the next part of the adventure.

Next morning we take the shuttle to the airport and walk across to the train station. The train ride to Dresden is very relaxing and passes through Fulda, a place that my Mother used to talk about; Bad Hersfeld, where my Great-grandfather was a kosher butcher; Erfurt - birth place of Johan Sebastian Bach and Leipzig. I start a conversation with the German couple sitting next to us and they give us some interesting insights into growing up in East Germany. They speak very little English because when they were in school they learnt Russian! In about 5 hours we reach Dresden main station and take a taxi to Steigenberger Hotel de Saxe, a lovely brand-new hotel on the Neumarkt (New Market Square) and right across from the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) A fabulous location that we really appreciate in the following days because everything is within walking distance. We look at the schedule of events and ask the Concierge to get us tickets for two concerts. The weather is lovely and we spend the rest of the day walking around getting our bearings. Later we walk along the terrace facing the river and enjoy a very German dinner at an outdoor café on the block-long restaurant row leading from the Frauenkirche to the river.

In the morning the hotel’s breakfast buffet is a delight; even more extensive than at the airport hotel. We want to see Die Grunes Gewolbe (Green Vault) one of the main tourist attractions. However this becomes very confusing; first there are two of them, the Neues (New) and the Historisches (Old) and separate tickets with a specific time are required. I pick the Historisches, because we can go right in! It’s fascinating; six or eight rooms filled with jewelry, jewel encrusted swords, paintings and many other treasures. There is an entire room crammed with objects made of amber including an entire desk! Needless to say we were so satiated that we never make it to the Neues. Nor to the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister (Gallery of Old Masters) which contains one of the most famous of all paintings – the Sixtine Madonna by Raphael, which has the two cherubs at the bottom. The security at the Grunes Gewolbe is amazing, at the entrance and exit there are double doors and the first has to be closed before the other opens!
At noon we meet Lilli in the lobby and walk to Cosel Palais, a lovely and very elegant café for Kaffe und Kuchen. I order one slice of chocolate truffle cake with three forks and the three of us can hardly finish it. It’s lovely seeing Lilli again and we talk about bringing her “Book of Memory” - Dresden and the Holocaust exhibition to San Francisco. Afterwards, Lilli gets her bike and walks us to the start of the City Bus Tour. The weather is still sunny and warm. The city tour on a London-type double-deck bus is great and gives us a good feel for the city. By the way, there are also tours by an antique horse drawn double-deck bus, as well as horse drawn carriages. Dresden is very much a tourist town with many visitors from all across Germany, and I’m told, quite a few Brits and Americans, although we meet very few.
Later we go to a concert by the Dresden Philharmonic in their new concert hall located across the square from the hotel. The orchestra plays the Beethoven First and Fifth piano concertos with Rudolf Buchbinder as soloist and conductor. The very modern hall is huge and almost completely full. We have very good seats and think the concert marvelous.

Saturday morning we go to the Stadtmuseum Dresden (the City museum) and are the only visitors. We only look at two floors of the recent history of the city, which includes very extensive coverage of Jewish life before the Nazis, a 12-minute film about Hellerberg, the Nazi work camp where my Father was held before being transported to Auschwitz. There is also extensive coverage of the Allied bombing of February 1945. Although painful to look at, I feel that the museum covers these subjects in excellent detail; however on the evidence of us being the only visitors on a Saturday morning, who is listening? I will certainly consider leaving my few pieces of memorabilia to this museum. We then walk over to the shopping area on Pragerstrasse and I buy a beautiful blue striped long-sleeved dress shirt. In the evening we have dinner in a Tapas restaurant near the Frauenkirche and attend a concert by the Dresdener Staatscapelle (State Orchestra) in the Frauenkirche. A fabulous concert of the Mozart Vesperae solemnes and the Schubert Mass No. 6 with soloists and full choir lead by Sir Charles Mackerras.

Photos:
Train to Dresden 2#011
Lunch on the train 2#010
Hotel de Saxe 2#018
Eliane, Lilli and pastries 2#021

Another week in Heidelberg...plus Wiesbaden 2

More pictures


Photos
The Rheingau 1#082
Winkel 1#084
Schloss Johannisberg in Winkel 1#088
Thomas Hampson Masterclass 2#002

Another week in Heidelberg...plus Wiesbaden

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