Enchantment in Germany

Klaus, Petra, and Lute: together they spelled magic for me when I visited Germany during early March. They rent an apartment here in Sicily, and we have become close friends. They live in Viernheim, near Mannheim, where they work together in a CAD business that specializes in architecture.

During my stay with them, Klaus took me on a short tour of Mannhiem, including the Cathedral, which was gorgeous, and which had been bombed twice by the Americans in January of 1945, and which was somehow restored beautifully. After a fine German lunch, we drove into the Odenwald, where I wanted to discover a bit of my mother's past. She told a story about saving her little brother Phillip from falling on top of Kaiser Whilhelm when she was 5 years old (1910), and we went to Michelstadt to try to find where this might have happened.

Michelstadt is a beautiful old town, almost undisturbed by the massive bombings of WW II. Many of the old half timber buildings still stand in the center of town, however we were not able to discover the hotel my mother described. Finally, we went into a
coffee shop for a cup of coffee, and Klaus asked the proprietor if he knew of a hotel that had been around in the early 1900's. He pointed across the street to a building that was no longer a hotel, but which had been a hotel in 1910, and at which Kaiser Wilhelm had stayed. We were looking right at the balcony, perhaps the same balcony my mother talked about.

We also visited the beautiful little town of Heppenheim, Lute's hometown, and then went on to Mòrlbacher, Petra's home town, where we visited Petra's mother, and then the four of us had dinner at an incredibly fine German restaurant. It was there that I realized that the Odenwald was where the knights of the Nibelung (Wagner's Ring Cycle) went hunting, and as my father got his middle name from them (I will not reveal his middle name, thank you), I was thrilled, and decided I needed to get a copy of the Ring Cycle.

The next day we headed for Speyer, famous for its Cathedral. Indeed, the Cathedral was beautiful, as was the gate to the city opposite it, and the old Roman wall behind it. The Cathedral had been destroyed many times, and was always brought back close to its original state. Of course, to follow along with the idea of this being an enchanted visit, I went into a book store hoping to find a book on the Odenwald in English, but came out instead with a fourteen CD copy of the complete Ring of the Nibelung by Wagner, for only 15 Euros. What a buy, what magic.

We then went on to the Rhine wine country, as clouds formed over the hills, and rain splashed lightly on the windshield. Another fine German meal was had, and of course the wine with the meal was nothing short of spectacular. As we headed back to Viernheim, and more wine at Klaus' spotless apartment, we chased rainbows across the valley, including the double rainbow that is just barely visible here.
Sunday was a huge family dinner at the office, with Petra's parents, brother and his family, Klaus' son and his girlfriend, Petra's aunt and uncle, and some of their employees. Almost everyone spoke English, and it was a wonderful time.

They truly shared some of the magic of Germany with me, and I had a wonderful time with them before heading down the river toward Lamberthiem, where my friends Gene and Nancy Mehlenbacher live. More on them in the next post.