Day Four, Part 1: Sat. June 7th -March

pic found online from March looking south toward Freiburg and the Black Forest

Glad to finally be getting back to the story... : )

So, to begin with I wanted to talk about little bit about geography. That was one of the things I was really curious about...Were there similarities between this area of Germany and Missouri that caused so many Germans to settle there?




On this map you can see how Leipzig (the first place we stayed) is just south of Berlin...and then we traveled down to Freiburg, which is in the southwestern corner of the country...not far from either France or Switzerland.


View Larger Map

On this google map you can see right where I am about to talk about...the street where Helmut lives...and if you zoom in you can even make out the church I will talk about shortly...

On Saturday morning, first thing after breakfast at our pension, Irene took us over to meet Helmut and the rest of her immediate family and to see the family's house and village, March.


This Helmut's house where he lives with their mother, Maria. Basically, Maria lives on the bottom floor and Helmut lives on the second floor. In this picture you have a good view of the solar panels that he just installed on the roof. The power is not directly for the house but he sells the electricity back to the city.



Side driveway.



Back of the house. When I took this picture I would be standing where there was a barn previously. That had recently been torn down and the yellow part of the house and deck added.



Above the front door is the names of the builders of this house in 1929. I believe the M.H. stands for Maria's husband's father (both were named Martin Hunn), and the Th.G for his wife named Theresia Gaymann.

The white marking on the door is somehow related to a Christmas ritual each year...kinda like passover but different. All the houses in the area have these markings left by kids to bless the house year round.



Here is all of us (click for a bigger picture).
Back row: Helmut and Irene's sister Lydia, and Irene
Second Row: me and Maria
Third Row: Helmut's granddaughter, Helmut, and Helmut's son


The doorbell.



After we all meet each other and got a tour of the house we walked just down the block to the village church. The foundation of this little cathedral dates back to sometime around 1100. This is where all the records would have been made for family genealogy. It was a really beautiful little church that is still regularly used.









And just across the street from that is the two houses who was owned by our distant shared relations...the two brothers Anton and Paulus. I don't remember now which lived in which house...but one lived in this one...



...and the other lived in this one next door on the right. Keep in mind Anton moved to the States in the 1840's so these houses have to be at least that old. Most of the houses in this area are the same, very old and very well maintained.

By Hand

Last Thursday I decided to choose a direction (NE) and ride my bike in that direction until I was lost or tired. I do not know which one happened first but I saw a lot of the city that I had not seen before. I made it all the way out to Weißensee (White sea) which is a small lake near the edge of the city. Along the way there were lots of social housing complexes mixed in with older neighborhoods. In one of the courtyards of a housing complex I saw this monument and thought it was worth posting.



I guess Ernst Thälmann was part of the German Communist party in the 1920-30's and was jailed for speaking out against Hitler and the Nazis. Remember, Nazis and Communists are not synonymous; in fact they did not get along. It is an impressive monument but the kind of heroism and display of power that are looked down upon with American monuments.

Also, did you ever wonder how German sidewalks are made????? Well, now you know. By hand. Every single stone is pounded into place forming distinctive patterns. This photo was taken out of our window. If you want to know what the process sounds like, come sleep in our bedroom for a night. On second thought, you might not get much sleep.

Day in Photos

Yesterday I spent most of the day riding around the S-Bahn loop that circles the city looking for locations to buy studio materials and took some photos.

German Technology

This will be a short post about some "new" technology we spotted in Alexanderplatz yesterday, and some older East German technology that was "newly" discovered.

First up, a robotic billboard that moves around in public space freely. It even has sensors so as not to bump into people mesmerized by its dance.



Second is a massive nuclear bunker just outside of Berlin that was built to house the East German government in case of nuclear attacks. Have you ever seen the move 'Cube'? Well it is no longer fiction. I do not want to give away too many of the details but this is the most impressive thing I have seen in a long time.



UPDATE: OMG! I just signed up for the last two available tickets to tour the bunker. It will be resealed indefinitely in October to preserve the interior.