Stolpersteine in Stuttgart

Ein Stein. Ein Name. Ein Mensch.

A few days ago I read in our local paper that the artist Gunter Demnig himself would be in Stuttgart today to lay eleven Stolpersteine in several different locations. At one of those locations, Uhlandstraße 14A, he would be laying six Stolpersteine, two of which were sponsored by students at the Stuttgart High School, an American school on Patch Barracks.

Since hearing about Demnig’s art initiative quite a few years ago, I have looked for the Stolpersteine and told guests and student groups about them. Biographical information is available online about most of the people commemorated by the Stolpersteine, as is fitting to Demnig’s goal that the victims of the Nazi regime not be forgotten. “One stone. One name. One person.”

I arrived early, as I am wont to do, and just as the organizer (Frau Bouché from the Initiative Stolpersteine Stuttgart) started to ask if I was part of the group expected, the American students arrived. I snapped some photos from the background and let their chaperone know who I was, that I was there privately and wouldn’t post photos of the students anywhere. However I gave her my card and said if she emails me, I can send her any photos I take.

Frau Bouché spoke to the students a bit and told them Demnig would probably dash off quickly after laying the stones because he had more to do after these. I told the chaperone I am not shy about asking for certain photos in situations like this, and if I saw an opportunity I would ask Demnig to pose for a photo with the students.

I knew Demnig as soon as he arrived, as he is quite recognizable. He briefly greeted a few people and got to work. 

Gunter Demnig

The Stolpersteine Demnig laid at this spot were for Isak and Johanna Falk, their nearly-adult children Fritz and Carry, and Meier Rosenstein and his daughter Frieda Süß-Schülein.

After he finished he packed up his tools and buckets and I sidled up to him and asked if he’d pose with the American students because they were the sponsors of the two Stolpersteine for the Falk children. He graciously agreed and I got several nice photos. I can’t post them because of obvious reasons and because I told the chaperone I would not.

After Demnig drove off, the ceremony began in which Frau Bouché told us in English about the six individuals and their story. One of the students spoke very good German, welcoming those gathered and introducing her group, and another student read a poem she’d written for the occasion. 

The last thing Frau Bouché told us was that in 1943 her parents and older sister had moved into this very apartment where the Falk family had lived before being forced to leave this home in 1939 to take up positions in a Jewish nursing home near Heilbronn. She said her mother knew a Jewish family had lived there and it saddened her, but they did not ask what had happened to them. It clearly meant something special to Frau Bouché that she has been able to honor the Falk family in this way.

For more information about Gunther Demnig's Stolperstein initiative, click on the links above or here. To learn the stories of the people named on Stolpersteine in your area or ones you come across on your travels, google the person's name along with the word "Stolperstein." It may also help to add the name of the town in which the Stolperstein is found.

Stolpersteine continue to be laid in communities across 21 countries in Europe. It costs €132 to sponsor a stone, which is usually placed in front of the individual's last known residence. 

The 100,000th Stolperstein was laid in 2023.

A Stolperstein for Hedwig

Recently I learned that there would be a Stolperstein laid in a town not far from us, and I knew I wanted to be there. And by being present I met some wonderful people.

I have told many friends, family and students about the Stolpersteine project and the people memorialized through it. Stolpersteine are always a part of the tours I give in Esslingen, Tübingen, Ulm and Berlin.

First let me tell you a little about the project:

The German artist Gunter Demnig remembers the victims of the Nazis by installing commemorative brass plaques in the pavement usually in front of their last known address, sometimes their school. There are now about 100,000  Stolpersteine (as of 2022) in over 1800 towns and cities in 28 countries. The project began in 1992, and since 1996 the stones have been laid with official permission.

Michael Friedrichs-Friedländer is the sculptor who creates each Stolperstein by hand in his studio in Berlin-Pankow. Each letter and each date is pressed into the plague individually. Mass or machine production is out of the question.

Gunter Demnig cites the Talmud saying that "a person is only forgotten when his or her name is forgotten". The Stolpersteine in front of the buildings bring back to memory the people who once lived or studied there. Each “stone” begins with HERE LIVED or HERE LEARNED… One “stone”. One name. One person.

 

Now to Hedwig Levi. Her story is not mine to tell, but all the info I can find about her online is in German and I’d like to tell a little about her in English. Her story was told at the ceremony while the current owner of the house and her son placed her Stolperstein. Afterwards the organizers handed out pamphlets (put together by the Jewish Community in Rexingen) in German and English to those gathered.  

Hedwig was born in Rexingen (the small town not far from us) on August 7, 1879. She married Alfred Levi from Rexingen in 1909 and they lived in his parents’ house in the town, in front of which the Stolperstein was laid on October 30, 2022. Their only child, Irene, was born in 1914. After Alfred died, Irene moved in with her mother to help her for a few years. Irene became engaged to Helmut Kahn, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1939. After Kristallnacht in November 1938 Irene moved back in with her mother out of concern for her safety, and at that time she was preparing for her emigration to the U.S. to join Helmut. From there she tried to arrange her mother’s immigration but was unsuccessful, something which plagued Irene the rest of her life.

Hedwig sold her house in Spring of 1940 as her health was failing, but she was pleased to learn of Irene and Helmut’s marriage later that year. Hedwig spent time in the hospital in Horb in January 1941, but after returning home her health had not improved. Three days after sending her last postcard to her niece in Brussels and with no prospect for better health or escaping from Germany, Hedwig took her own life. She is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Rexingen.

 

the house in Rexingen

Hedwig’s granddaughter, Hazel K., her two daughters, Alison and Jessica, and son-in-law Brent had flown in from the U.S., and family members from the Kahn side, now living in Switzerland, attended as well. Another honored guest was Ursula R., who still lives just down the street from Hedwig’s house and was the only person present who had known Hedwig.

Hazel's family with Simon and Davorka in the middle
and Ursula just behind in the chair

My intent was to stay in the background, take in the experience and take some photos, but I did introduce myself to Hazel and Jessica, thanked them for the touching remarks they delivered to those gathered, and offered to help translate as the Americans and the locals chatted with each other.

The current owner of Hedwig’s house, Davorka P., moved to Germany from Croatia. When she and her husband were contacted and asked if they would be open to a Stolperstein for Hedwig being placed in front of their home, they not only welcomed it but said they would do the cementing of the stone themselves. It was Davorka and her son, Simon, who did this while the organizers spoke about Hedwig.

I was able to provide translation help as Davorka answered some questions about her and her family’s story as well. After doing so, Hazel’s son-in-law invited me to join their small gathering for lunch in Rexingen’s former Synagogue. I sat with Hazel’s daughters and we had a lovely chat! Horb’s Bürgermeister was at the table on one side of us and on the other was a man who said to me, “I think we’ve met. Aren’t you the one with [tapping his arm] the bird?” LOL We had met on the Marktplatz two days earlier when Kaya and I had gone for a walk in town.

Rabbi Brent and I spoke about why Stolpersteine are not welcomed in every community and about the very different ways in which Germany and the U.S. face the demons of their past.

I felt very honored and grateful to be included in the lunch and pleased to make a connection with this lovely family.

The artist Gunter Demnig cites the Talmud as an inspiration for the Stolperstein project he started, saying that "a person is only forgotten when his or her name is forgotten". Now Hedwig Levi’s name and story will not be forgotten.

Book Talk: All the Frequent Troubles of our Days

 

I’ve just finished All the Frequent Troubles of our Days, by Rebecca Donner. For me 2022 has so far been a year of extremely good books, but this one left me in awe. I’m not one for idle praise or liking a book only because I have a connection to it or its author. Donner is a brilliant storyteller, and I was pulled in from the first chapter. She ended the story with touching and poetic words, and, not knowing it was over (there were 74 more pages!), when I turned the page and saw “Acknowledgements” I actually shouted “No!” Although she ended the story beautifully, I was not ready to stop reading. So for the first time in my life I read every one of her acknowledgments and am now going through her end notes.

When I taught high school German in Wisconsin, I alternated the curriculum each year in my combined level 3 & 4 class. One topic was the resistance: one year I taught “die Weiße Rose” (the short novel followed by the 1982 movie), and the next year I taught a unit focusing on the 2000 film “Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace.” Since I was teaching at a Catholic school and we were expected to begin class with a prayer or reflection, I was able to teach my students one of Bonhoeffer’s prayers: “Gott, in mir ist es finster, aber bei dir ist das Licht.” In the film Bonhoeffer prays this prayer through the wall with the prisoner in the cell next to his.

Many of the names in Donner’s book are familiar to me. In fact, when my mom first told me in autumn 2021 that there was a book out about Mildred Harnack, I knew her name right away. Admittedly I was more familiar with her husband and brother-in-law than with Mildred, as she only gets a brief mention – if that – in general sources about the resistance.

Indeed, while reading Donner’s biography about Mildred I found myself wondering many times how it is that I’d never realized her importance in the story of the Circle (known by many as “die Rote Kapelle”). How greatly this would have enhanced my teaching of both stories – die Weiße Rose and Bonhoeffer!

Mildred was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin – 68 miles from the school where I was teaching.
Mildred was the only female U.S. citizen to be executed by the Nazis.
Mildred was the only U.S. citizen to be executed on direct orders of Hitler.

Those points alone would have brought the stories closer to my students.

Now to the book. Rebecca Donner used primary sources where she still could, having found Don Heath Jr., Mildred Harnack’s young courier in Berlin, and speaking with her own grandmother, Jane Donner Sweeny (nee Esch), Mildred’s niece. Additionally, as she tells us in the Author’s Note, she used letters, postcards, memoirs, diaries, and handwritten notes, along with secondary sources such as newspaper articles, archived documents, and the first biography of Mildred Harnack.

The twelve sections of the book follow the people and their stories chronologically, though there are now and then helpful flashbacks or jumps forward that helped me keep track of who everyone was and how they influenced or told about the events. The people involved in the resistance came alive for me on the pages, as Donner described their personalities so vividly. I can only imagine daring what they did under the watchful eye of such a brutally sadistic regime.

We think such a thing as Hitler and his Nazis could never be in power again, and if so we (the western world) would handle things differently. But then I read about how many Germans were unconcerned in the early days of Hitler because he was just eccentric and claimed Germany wanted peace, and later how the western world tried to deal with him first with diplomacy and appeasement. If he gets the Sudetenland, maybe he’ll be satisfied and quit. That rings too many bells at this point, considering Crimea, Ukraine and Putin.

I can recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII history, especially in the resistance movements. Also to anyone wanting to read about women who faced great risks to fight for a better world. I believe those who know the stories of the two most well-known resistance groups better than I do will be intrigued by the connections between them and the names they’ll recognize:

• Mildred and Arvid Harnack
• Falk Harnack
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer*
• Klaus Bonhoeffer
• Hans von Dohnányi** (married to Bonhoeffer’s sister)
• Admiral Wilhelm Canaris
• Hans and Sophie Scholl (siblings involved with die Weiße Rose)

*Well-known German actor Ulrich Tukur acted in both "die Weiße Rose" as Willi Graf, friend of the Scholls and resistance fighter, and 18 years later as Dietrich Bonhoeffer in "Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace." 
**Justus von Dohnányi, the grandson of Hans, is an actor and directer who acted in the film “Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace.”

…as well as details from the resistance story Donner also tells about in her book:

• Falk Harnack meets with Hans Scholl in November 1942 about distributing leaflets and connecting the resistance groups (depicted in “die Weiße Rose”)
• Bonhoeffer secretly sent messages to his fiancé and family by marking one letter every 10 pages in books (backwards) that prison guards allowed visitors to bring to him
• Bonhoeffer and von Dohnányi were involved in the “Valkyrie plot” to kill Hitler, which failed and led to their arrests
• Bonhoeffer, as a Lutheran minister, had conflicting thoughts about being involved in the plot to murder a person even as despicable as Hitler
• Prisoners held in brick cells and carefully watched still found ways to communicate with each other
• forms of active and passive resistance

…and the places that Donner mentions:

• University of Wisconsin, Madison and State Street
• Wannsee, near Berlin
• the KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens, largest department store in Europe)
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Alexanderplatz, Berlin
• the Black Forest, where Mildred and Arvid take a hiking vacation to rejuvenate
• UW-Madison, Sterling and Bascom Halls: Arvid and Mildred met because Arvid mixed up the two neighboring lecture halls

Bascom Hall? Or Sterling Hall?
Madison, Wisconsin

The familiarity of these names, events and places drew me in, but it was the details I did not previously know that made this book special for me. A book only gets a top rating from me when it makes me think more deeply about something or when I learn something valuable from it. And I certainly learned a lot from this book about Mildred’s life, the lives of those close to her and the resistance movement. It's also pretty impossible to read a book like this and not ask yourself what you would have done under those same circumstances.

 

Plötzensee Memorial, Berlin

When I was on the student exchange in 1986, the coordinator of the exchange in Esslingen (now my Schwiegermutter/mother-in-law) took us to Berlin for 5 days. While there, we visited the site of the Berlin prison, Plötzensee. I took a few pictures of the site, as well as the large memorial urn that contains dirt from each of the concentration camps, but didn’t know much about the significance of it then. That is where Mildred and Arvid Harnack were executed.

Memorial urn at Plötzensee
"Die Urne enthält Erde
aus deutschen Konzentrationslagern"

Lastly I will mention, though it is not important to Mildred’s story or Donner’s book, I share a family connection to Mildred and Rebecca if you dig through the family tree thoroughly enough to explore the Esch and Jung lines. Apparently Rebecca and I are 4^th cousins, meaning we share an ancestor. 

The book will be available in Germany in August 2022, and Rebecca Donner herself told me the German translation will be released in September 2022!

Gott, zu dir rufe ich!
In mir ist es finster,
aber bei dir ist das Licht;
ich bin einsam,
aber du verlässt mich nicht;
ich bin kleinmütig,
aber bei dir ist die Hilfe;
ich bin unruhig,
aber bei dir ist der Friede;
in mir ist Bitterkeit,
aber bei dir ist die Geduld;
ich verstehe deine Wege nicht,
aber du weißt den Weg für mich.

     ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Could you become a German??

I don't put my birthday on social media because I don't want anyone wishing me a happy one just because a machine told him or her to do so. However, I turned 49 this year, and what was one thing on my wish list? This game...

This board game is based on the 330 questions that make up the Einbürgerungstest, or German citizenship test. Each card has one of the actual questions from the test, the four multi-guess possible answers, and the correct answer. Players roll the die and move their little Spielfigur around the board, answering a question on each space they land on. When a player answers a question correctly, he keeps the card. The first player to collect 17 cards wins.

Why 17? For the actual Einbürgerungstest, takers need to answer 33 questions (30 about Germany in general and 3 about the state in which they are taking the test) and get at least 17 correct. That's 51%. 59% was a failing grade in the school I taught at in Wisconsin. Happily, the majority of my students have scored very well on the test - most 90% and higher.

There are special spaces on the game board, indicated by several symbols.

• two Bundesadler = das "Bonusfeld" - the player landing on this space gets to answer two questions in a row.


• three hearts = das "Nachbarschaftsfeld" - the player landing here can ask her neighbor for help if she doesn't know the answer. Awkward when playing with just two people, one of whom is holding the card with the answer.


• a four-leaf clover = das "Glücksfeld" - one correct answer yields two cards.


• an airplane = das "Reisefeld" - "Friends decided to take a last-minute vacation. The player [landing here] unfortunately has no visa and therefore can't join them. Sit out one turn."


• an alarm clock = das "zu spät" Feld - the player landing here showed up late for the Einbürgerungstest. He sits out one turn."


• Lady Justice = das "Gerichtsfeld" - the player who lands here has defied the law. She must give up one of her cards.


• a circle with a red X = das "Wahlfeld" - it's election time in Germany! Unfortunately the player landing here does not have citizenship and therefore cannot vote. He sits out one round.

Since November 1st is a holiday in Germany and M didn't have to go to the office, he agreed to play a round of this game with me that morning. It could definitely be fun, but since both of us knew all the answers that came up, I guess it was a little dull.

What livened things up was that I kept landing on the special spaces - and NOT the good ones! In no time at all M had amassed seven cards, and I had only two! After I grumbled good-naturedly (I'm possibly the least competitive person in the world), with my very next roll I landed on the Gerichtsfeld and had to give up one of them! I protested when I landed on the "zu spät" Feld, because I would NEVER be late for something as important as a test! (In truth, I would rather be an hour early than five minutes late to anything. I just find a quiet spot and read the book I always have with me.) But how appropriate for a German game that a player gets punished for the very idea of being late.

In the end we actually both counted up 18 cards, but M had got there first.

I had to laugh every time M said, "Why the hell does a foreigner need to know that?!" For instance, since which year have we been paying in cash with the Euro? What possible need could there be for a Syrian refugee or an immigrant from Scotland to know that? It's enough to know that we pay in Euros now. Who cares "since when"?

Here are two more: What is a Gerichtschöffe and who can be one? Well, that's a special assistant to a judge who needs to decide on a case. It's kind of like a jury member or volunteer judge, but there are only two of them who listen to the evidence and give their inexpert input. Who can be one? Not a foreigner, unless she is naturalized and speaks/understands German at the level of a native speaker.

Having taught the Orientierungskurs twice now - and my third course will start in December - I am very familiar with the 330 questions and answers. And I'd like to suggest the gang of sadists who came up with those questions be tarred and feathered. Some day I'm going to go through those cards and make a pile of questions I consider important enough that someone applying for citizenship should know just to see how many are cruel. The writers of the test should each receive three lashes for every unnecessary question.

I like the fact that there's a game available to practice for this test, and it could be a fun party game for a mixed crowd of immigrants who have taken the Orientierungskurs and Germans. Too bad we don't have parties. Obviously I plan to use it in my class.

In other news, I'm nearly wetting myself over the new pile of thick books I have to read.

My head is spinning because I don't know which one to start with. To make matters worse, I am smack dab in the middle of a 600-page book about Katherine of Aragon, and this would be a dumb time to stop in order to start on a different really long book - or two! Dan and Ken should really plan this better and publish their new novels six months apart and when I have time to read them. Poor me with my First World problems...

I just found a box of civics questions for the US citizenship test. I might put that on my Christmas wish list! I'm a sucker for trivia games.

Have you found any good trivia games lately? 

Do you enjoy playing games that show you how much you still have to learn?!?

Loving Southern Germany 5: Castle Ruins

Most tourists who come to Germany visit the well-known castles and palaces - Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Nymphenburg in München, Charlottenburg in Berlin... Many visit castles along the Rhein as well. They are expensive to visit, but it's nice to see how the upper crust lived many years ago. I don't begrudge anyone wanting to see these castles and palaces, but I am glad I will not ever again need to visit the over-rated Neuschwanstein, having taken enough student groups there over the years.

Neuschwanstein, Bavaria
This palace isn't even very old - it was built after the American Civil War ended!

Nymphenburg, München, Bavaria

Pfalzgrafenstein, on the Rhein, Rheinland-Pfalz

Personally I prefer the castle and fortress ruins - the more rustic and ruined, the better. They each have a history, sometimes steeped in mystery, leaving visitors to use their imaginations.

Many ruins are free-of-charge, and others charge a nominal fee to help with upkeep and maintenance. And they're all over, at least in southern Germany.

Within walking distance of our home not long after I moved here, we found Ruine Eutingen. To learn about the more remote ruins, you need to know German because they are not tourist attractions and little or no information is available in English. This Burg (fortress) was built in the second half of the 13th century and was the seat of the Lords of Eutingen. It was destroyed by Graf von Hohenberg in 1350 but eventually rebuilt, changed hands a number of times over the centuries, and abandoned and sold off in 1818. Today one can find the remnants of a tower and wall, a cellar vault, rounded window arches, and Schießscharten (arrow slits).

This turned out to be a nice afternoon's walk and adventure on my birthday a few years ago, because although we knew about where it was, we had to search and backtrack a few times before we found it hidden on a hill among the trees.

When fellow blogger Adventures of La Mari and I decided to meet, we chose the ruins at Hohentwiel near Singen. Our husbands and their pug Abner joined us to explore the ruins. This one is well-enough known that info is available in English. The first castle on this site was built in 914 and first served as the seat of Swabian dukes.

My Schwiegermutter enjoys exploring ruins as much as I do, and we made an excursion together to Klosterruine Hirsau, near Calw. The origins of the monastery go back to 830, and in 1091 the large church was built. These ruins are an architect's delight, with clear and preserved examples of Romanesque and High Gothic windows and elements.

Just right of center are the rounded arches of Romanesque style windows.
Just left of center in reddish brick you see the pointy Gothic arches of the Kreuzgang (cloister).
Marienkapelle in the background.

Some might see all this as piles of rocks, but I see Germany's romantic and turbulent past. And part of the beauty of southwestern Germany for me is that whenever I have time, I can check out a new one or visit an old favorite. They are easily accessible by train and bus, and an extra bonus is often a lengthy walk or climb to get there from the station, which is about the only exercise I ever get.

Nagold is a beautiful little town not far from us, and the ruins on the hill above town are worth the forest climb.

watch tower and oven of Hohennagold

cemetery at the Remigiuskirche with fortress ruins in the background

Although I haven't visited them yet, we did pass below the ruins of Hohenurach on a walk to the Urach waterfall on a lovely autumn day. I'd rather wait until the renovations are finished anyway.

With the exception of Hohentwiel, none of the ruins I've mentioned charge an entrance fee. Even Hohentwiel costs only €4,50, while Neuschwanstein will set you back €13, which doesn't include all the tourist crap Gedöns bits and bobs you'll be tempted to buy in the shop.

Let that stand as the fifth thing I love about living here in southwestern Germany, though there are plenty of ruins in other parts of the country as well.

For more on this thread, see:
  Beautiful Towns
  Landscape
  Food
  Holidays
and
  Wegkreuze

11. November, Martinstag

Martinstag sneaked (snuck, for American and Canadian readers) up on me this year! I should have wished M well, I should have made a reservation at the restaurant, I should have prepared or purchased a small gift and a lantern...but since I still use an American calendar (yes, one of those old-fashioned paper ones) which doesn't mention Martinstag, I'll be scrambling this morning to make up for my forgetfulness. I've already noted it in next year's calendar, so I will have no excuses then.

So if you'll allow me, I will re-publish last year's post about this special day. I was pretty thorough, and I don't know what more I could write anyway.

On November 11th Americans celebrate Veterans' Day. This date is special in Germany as well, as it is Martinstag, or the Feast Day of St. Martin. If your name is Martin, this is your day!

The tradition of the Namenstag goes back to the Middle Ages. Birthdays were not seen as very important, and often a person didn't even know his own birthday. Perhaps this was because the mortality rate among infants and children was rather high, and by the time a child had made it through the most critical period, the family members may not have recalled on exactly which day the child had been born. Dates other than significant church calendar dates weren't terribly important anyway.

A child named Martin therefore celebrated his Namenstag on 11. November every year, because that was the day assigned to the name Martin (to honor St. Martin of Tours). The Namenstag or feast day was normally assigned based on either the baptism date (as in the case of St. Martin of Tours) or the death date of the saint. Although the custom began with Christian origins, it has become more of a cultural thing than a religious one nowadays. At the same time, the Namenstag tradition is more common in Catholic regions and in Catholic families. Protestants don't have to feel guilty about recognizing the day, though, since Martin Luther was baptized on 11. November.

There is at least one saint assigned to every day of the calendar, but some Namenstage are more significant than others and recognized with various traditions or rituals. One that's known throughout the western world is, of course, Nikolaustag, or St. Nick's Day, which is celebrated on 6. December. There's a really lovely story behind the tradition of hanging stockings by the fire that are filled in the night with treats, which I'll write about at the appropriate time.

In Germany Martinstag is (somewhat surprisingly) not a holiday, but it is recognized and celebrated by many. Like the American holiday of Thanksgiving, a bird is the traditional beast to be consumed, but while Americans prepare and eat turkey, Germans cook and serve goose. And of course there's a story behind that!

"Die Gänse haben St. Martin verraten, dafür müssen sie jetzt braten."

St. Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier who was baptized when he was an adult and became a monk. When the citizens of Tours wanted to make him a bishop, he did not feel up to the task and ran away. While his pursuers were hot on his tail, he hid in a barn full of geese thinking they'd be thrown off the trail. Unfortunately the noisy beasts weren't too thrilled with their visitor who was stepping on their food and stinking up the joint, and they honked their disapproval and annoyance. His goose was therefore cooked, as they say, and he sheepishly accepted the ordination.

The quote above is "Because the geese St. Martin betrayed, today they land upon our plate." (I tried to make it rhyme, but it sounds much better in German.)

"Run, damn you! RUN!"*

*Photo credit

November also happens to be the time of year when geese are fattened and ready for eatin'. Not everyone could afford a fattened goose, so it was also common to serve a duck or chicken. And not everyone wants to eat goose. It's a very fatty bird, with about 30% fat to its meat. In its defense, though, it's also high in protein and minerals such as iron, magnesium, and zink. M has had goose on his Namenstag before, but I have never tried it and don't recall ever seeing it on a menu in the U.S.. Last year we had dinner at our favorite restaurant, where they served a special Martinstag menu of Martinsgans. It was delcious! (We're hoping to dine there again tonight, but I since I forgot to call for a reservation, I might be baking a bird myself tonight. Hopefully they'll still have a table available, but I'm not going to bet on it.)  Update: They do have a table! My bird's back in the freezer (and by bird, I mean two duck legs).

And here it is. Goose, stuffing, dumplings, roasted chestnuts, Rotkohl, and gravy.

For those who want more history and tradition...the Martinsgans was served traditionally on 11. November as the last big meal before the Advent fasting time. At the end of Advent, goose was served again - on Christmas Eve. If I'm not mistaken, the "Christmas Goose" is mentioned near the happy end of the well-known Dickens tale. Nowadays approximately 10 million geese land in an oven or pan between Martinstag and Christmas.°

In the Middle Ages the traditional Christmas dinner was a Schweinbraten - pork roast. Why was this replaced by goose? The most popular explanation is that Queen Elizabeth I was in the middle of a Christmas feast of goose when she received the news that her navy had defeated the Spanish Armada. She took this as a good omen and declared the goose as the Christmas Roast in 1588.

I can't end without mentioning another Martinstag tradition that those of you living in Germany may see in your villages - the Martinsritt. Elementary school children make paper lanterns (with candles inside) in school and then gather - usually in the early evening - with their teachers, classmates, and parents, and parade through the streets singing songs about St. Martin. There is almost always a rider dressed in a Roman costume with red cloak on a horse leading the procession. The parade ends with a bonfire and snacks for all. This tradition reminds people of the story of St. Martin before his conversion, when he was a Roman soldier who came upon a poor man freezing in the cold winter. Martin stopped his horse, split his cloak down the center with his sword, and gave the homeless man half of his cloak to keep warm. The next night as Martin lay sleeping, he saw Jesus in his dream wearing the half of the cloak he had given the homeless man. This story (yes, told even in public schools) helps to teach young children the value of sharing and being kind to strangers.

My daughter The rider is wearing a red sweatshirt instead of a red cloak,
but this will have to do until I actually witness a Martinsritt.

Had I known of this story when I was a child, I would have asked my dad to tell it to me over and over again. My mom would have felt touched that I wanted to hear a story about sharing, but really it would have been because there was a horse in it.

11:11 (am) on November 11th every year is also the official start of "the Fifth Season", or Fasching. Things don't get nutty until the weeks before Ash Wednesday, but the season has begun nonetheless.


°Source: "Dem heiligen Martin zu Ehren." Schwäbisches Tageblatt; Südwest-Presse/Neckar-Chronik. 31. October, 2014.

the Great Polish Map of Scotland

If I told you that you can walk from John O'Groats in the north of Scotland to the Scottish Borders in the south in less than a day and see the islands of Skye and Mull besides, would you believe me?

What if I told you it's possible to walk the entire coastline of the Scottish mainland and view Ben Nevis from all sides in less than an hour?

You'll think I've gone daft, but it is possible - sort of.

Even if you have been to Scotland recently, you may not yet have heard of this unique attraction. The Great Polish Map of Scotland is the largest terrain relief map in the world. It was created between 1974 and 1979, forgotten about, rediscovered in 1996, and is now being lovingly and painstakingly restored by a group of dedicated volunteers. It is located in the town of Eddleston 17 miles from Edinburgh and 12 miles south of Rosslyn Chapel (making for a nice half-day trip from Edinburgh), and well worth a visit.

aerial photo credit: Robbie Macdonald

used with permission

The story of the map is fascinating, and you can read all the details on the restoration group's website as well as watch a BBC show (Secret Britain) featuring the map from April 2015. The map was the creation of Jan Tomasik, a former builder who had served as quartermaster in WWII with the 1st Polish Armoured Division which had been stationed in Scotland for a time before being deployed to Normandy in 1944. The 1st Polish Armoured Division was under the command of General Stanislaw Maczek.

View this 2-minute fly-over video of the map with music and place labels.

In the early 1940s about 17,000 Polish troops had been responsible for defending Scotland's east coast in case of a German invasion. After the war many of these Polish soldiers, including Tomasik and General Maczek, decided not to (or could not!) return home to Communist Poland and made their homes in Scotland and the rest of the UK. Tomasik had married a nurse from Edinburgh and became a successful hotelier in Edinburgh. His hotel bar was frequented by Polish veterans in the area, including Maczek, and they became good friends.

This is my Schwiegermutter's cousin and our dear friend Keith,
who is leading the restoration project. Ben Nevis is just behind him
(the white pole sticks out of it).

In 1968 Tomasik bought the Barony Castle Hotel located in Eddleston, which had been used as a training college for Polish forces staff officers from 1942 to 1945. General Maczek and his family were regular summer guests and stayed in a room in the family accommodations.

With the encouragement and assistance of Polish glaciologist and geomorphologist Mieczystaw Klimaszewski from Krakow University, the idea to build a great open-air relief map on the grounds of Tomasik's hotel in Eddleston was born. The work began in 1974 and continued throughout six summers. A team of young Polish geographers was led by map designer Kasimierz Trafas from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Construction started with the help of hotel staff, local people, and members of Tomasik's family. The completed concrete map was coated with a plastic resin, the surface was painted (green for forests, cities outlined in brown, etc.), and the lochs and major rivers were painted blue and had water flowing through them. Sadly, shortly after completion the Tomasik family sold the hotel and subsequent owners took no action to preserve the map. Thus it was almost lost as a victim of neglect, frost weathering, vegetation and atmospheric pollution.

I will leave my map as a gift to the Scottish people." ~Jan Tomasik

The restoration of the map is now a work in progress, but the seabed is sealed and soon they'll be doing a test flood of the area around the map as well as the lochs and rivers. In their long-range plans is also building an observation platform so that visitors can view the map from above*. I cannot wait to see that! Truly, it is one thing to see pictures and videos of the map, and quite another to actually stand there and walk around it!

*Update: The viewing platform was completed by 2017.

Keith is pointing at Mull of Kintyre

The map is built of concrete on a scale of 1:10,000 with a x5 vertical exaggeration, which was standard for relief maps created and used during the war. The vertical exaggeration makes the relief features and general topography more readily visible. The map measures roughly 50m x 40m (164ft x 131ft).

This lobster-like shape is our beloved Isle of Mull!
It's lighter in color because frost damage required extensive repairs.

I have a photo of me sitting on Mull, but I like this one better.
I can now say that I did reach the peak of Ben Nevis,
Scotland's highest mountain!

The map was rediscovered in 1996 when our friend Keith was at the Barony Castle Hotel for a conference. He went for a walk around the grounds during a break and basically tripped and fell onto the weed-covered map.* When he stood up he noticed that the strange surface in front of him was shaped a bit like the Mull of Galloway. He explored further, growing astonished with each new discovery - the Isle of Arran, Ben Nevis, Cape Wrath... When he realized what he was looking at, he made fruitless inquires at the hotel but eventually found others who knew of the map's existence. So he started gathering a team of enthusiasts with the goal of saving and restoring the map.

*If you knew Keith, it would not surprise you at all to hear that he literally stumbled across this hidden international treasure and is now driving its restoration. Although he is retired from his career in the nuclear power industry (most recently as safety and technical manager of a nuclear power plant), he still runs up and down mountains and cycles - often on a tandem with his wife - around Europe in his free time. One journey some years ago took them to Krakow to find surviving members of the map's original design and construction team. His fascinating life and experiences would fill the pages of a blog for years...

In the foreground in reddish brown is the Isle of Skye.
In this view I'm standing at the west coast of Scotlandand looking north/northeast.
The Barony Castle Hotel is visible through the trees.

In 2012 the map was granted Category B listed status with Historic Scotland, and it is supported entirely by grants, donations, and the hard work of devoted volunteers.

There is no charge to visit the map, but donations for the restoration project are welcome. Set your GPS to Barony Castle Hotel in Eddleston and park in the hotel parking lot.  You can otherwise enter the postcode "EH45 8QW" into your navi or Google Maps for further help in locating it. Bus X62 gets you from Edinburgh to Eddleston in a bit more than an hour. There is not extensive signage yet, but we were able to find the map without a problem. 

To make a day of it from Edinburgh - stop at Rosslyn Chapel (made famous by Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code), drive on to Eddleston to visit the Great Polish Map of Scotland and have lunch or a coffee at the Barony Castle Hotel, and go on to the lovely little village of Peebles where you can stroll along the banks of the River Tweed.

I want to leave you with this (appropriately) concrete poem written by Christine De Luca, who met Jan Tomasik and saw the map in the 1970s. The words of her poem form the shape of Scotland, and if you're well familiar with Scotland's topography, you'll be able to identify in the layout of the words the isles of Lewis, Skye, Mull, and Islay and the Mull of Kintyre.

The map was also recently featured on the ITV show "Border Life". 

Thank you, Keith, for the time you took to personally show us the map and explain your team's progress and future plans, answer my questions, and offer corrections and clarification for this blog post!