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Germany I
2005 |
 June
2, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,
Just a quick note before we head off to Israel. Finding reasonably priced
internet service in Germany was more of a challenge than I had expected.
I am sending a number of older e-mail entries that I had written earlier
in the trip with some of the pictures attached. Unfortunately, the second
floppy disk that I intended to use is not working and buying floppies has
not been that convenient either.
The last few days have been something of an exercise in frustration. The
days on the motor coach have been long and our visits at museums and city
tours have been too short. The last two days in Bavaria and the Black
Forest have been the most scenic of all, but we have had very little time
to get out and enjoy the country.
I'm sure that I will have time and the internet access to catch up when I
get to Jerusalem. Our flight tomorrow is direct from Frankfurt to Tel
Aviv and we should be able to get a sheroot into Jerusalem before the
Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday.
I will definitely get in touch once we get "settled in" at Pastor Russ
Siler's apartment tomorrow afternoon.
--Bob Jones, at the end of one adventure and the beginning of another.
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 May
25, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,
Just one final note before leaving Hamburg--a friend from Cottonwood
suggested that I make a special point of visiting St. Michael's Church in
Hamburg. We actually stopped there three times: It is a remarkable
place. The bell tower affords a view of the entire city, and we took the
elevator up there for a view on our first night there. We returned the
next day to actually see the interior of the church which features a
pulpit that is designed like the front
 of
a ship--not unlike the pulpit in MOBY DICK. There is also a wonderful
statue of Martin Luther near the entrance and a dramatic sculpture of the
Arch Angel Michael slaying the Devil.
I wish that I could have taken pictures
of the interior of the church, but unfortunately, my cheap digital camera
does not have a flash feature. I am attaching pictures of both the Luther
Statue and of St. Michael. I'll get back in touch from Berlin!
--Bob Jones, in Germany |
 May
24, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,
Today was very full and eventful much as I had expected. The Boat Tour of
the Docks of Hamburg was amazing. We got up close and personal with a
number of the large shipping vessels that are currently at the Port of
Hamburg. Home of the largest port in Germany, Hamburg is actually a city
of interconnected islands at the mouth of the Elbe River and is still
several miles from the Baltic Sea, though it obviously has a number of
deep, wide channels with direct access to the sea.
I was amazed at how large the port is and how many people it seems to
employ. It also has a personal and family significance since this is
where my ancestors emigrated from northern Germany over 150 years ago.
Hamburg is the only major German port that still maintains emigration
records since the 1850's. Unfortunately, I believe that my people left
Germany before that, so family genealogical research still incomplete.
It was also a very powerful experience to head up to Lubeck through the
farm country of Schleschwig-Holstein. This was the country where a number
of my family originally came from. Although tour books describe the
country as flat, I found that it was actually rolling hills filled with
bright yellow fields of canola. Somehow, I doubt that it looked quite
like that in those days over 150 years ago.
Lubeck was a remarkable experience. The historic town is entirely on an
island in the middle of a river. The seven church spires dominate the
skyline, but, interestingly enough, since it was predominantly a trade
city, the merchant's church is actually taller (and more important) than
the Bishop's. I have to admit that I was touched by the musical history
of the town--it was the home of J. S. Bach's wife, and our town guide told
the story of how Bach came all of the way from his home to find a student
and found a wife instead. One of Lubeck's churches also houses a pipe
organ that Dr. Albert Schweitzer played prior to leaving for his medical
work in Africa. I'm attaching a picture of the spire of that church.
Lubeck was also the home of one of my favorite German writers--Thomas
Mann, though I have to admit that I have never read his story of the
decline and fall of one of the prominent families of Lubeck, THE
BUDDENBROOKS. The stories that I'm far more familiar with are DEATH IN
VENICE and JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS.
Supper was a wonderful Halibut and beer at one of the great Shipping Halls
from 1532.
Well, again I had better close. I hope that I will be able to get these
e-mails sent soon. They are starting to pile up.
--Bob Jones, on Tour in Germany |
 May
23, 2004
Dear Family and Friends,
The trip from Cologne to Hamburg via Bremen was fairly uneventful. Our
Guide pointed out when we drove by the turn-off for Bielefelt, the home of
the von Bodenschwink Institute Bethel Home for Disabled People. We
didn't stop there, of course. It wasn't on the original tour itinerary,
but I was pleased that our guide was willing to comment on it.
Bethel was one of those pockets of resistance to the NAZIS back in World
War II. It was a Lutheran Home for Disabled People that dated back to
1867 but during the NAZI extermination of Disabled People, Pastor von
Bodenshcwink was able to shield the residents in his institution by
fighting the NAZIS with their own bureaucratic red tape. He and the
citizens of this community effectively hid the disabled under their care
throughout the war.
Bremen with it's focus on the traditional Grimm's Fairy Tale -- "The
Musicians of Bremen" was very enjoyable. It is also known for it's
semi-legendary medieval hero, Roland. I am attaching a picture of his
statue from in front of the Rathaus in the Historic Center of Town.
We arrived in Hamburg in time for supper, a brief spin on an exercise bike
in the hotel exercise room, and an evening looking over city from the
great bell tower of St. Michael's Lutheran Church, a visit to the St.
Pauli (Red Light) District of Hamburg, and a show of the musical fountain
at the City Gardens near the University. Prostitution is legal in Hamburg
(and in Germany in general), but I was struck by how young the prostitutes
and their clients looked--the whole scene looked much like a Junior High
School Dance with clumps of young men egging each other on and young women
primping themselves and flirting with the men.
Our City Tour Guide pointed out that there are serious social problems
with legal prostitution (abusive pimps and women unable to Â"get outÂ" of
the profession), though the police and health departments work hard to
regulate it. The Salvation Army conducts Sunday Morning Services at one
of the Strip Joints in the St. Pauli district. And the whole district is
named after a Roman Catholic Church that also serves the community.
The Musical Fountain was a fountain and light show much like the ones you
would see on the Strip in Las Vegas, but the music is entirely classical.
Well, IÂ'd better call it a night. Tomorrow is busy with a daylight visit
to the Docks of Hamburg and a tour of Lubeck, the medieval Â"Queen of the
Hanseatic League of Free CitiesÂ". In other words, today and tonight have
been very full and tomorrow promises to be very full as well.
--Bob Jones, in Germany |
 May
22, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,
Hello from Germany! My mother and I have been through some interesting
adventures on our way--we missed our original connection from Atlanta to
Frankfurt because of weather problems that closed the airport and forced
our initial flight to the Birmingham airport to refuel and wait out the
storm in Atlanta and then we missed connections to catch a back-up flight
two hours later. As a result, we had to stay overnight in Atlanta and
catch a flight 24 hours later. This caused us to miss the first day of
our Tour of Germany. We took a high speed train to Koln (Cologne),
Germany to catch up with our group.
Koln is a very bike friendly town--I'm attaching a picture of our driver
from a Cycle-taxi that we took from the Dom, the Gothic Cathedral down by
the Rhine River back to our hotel. I'm also attaching a picture of the
old Cathedral itself. I apologize for the poorer quality of the
pictures--these are not from my Olympus Camera which had not made it back
in time from repairs after my last adventure down to the bottom of the
Grand Canyon.
We sat in on a part of the 5:00 PM Mass at the Cathedral which featured
some wonderful organ music and the bells of the church. The food here is
excellent--very German and very plentiful: Schnitzel, red cabbage, hot
potato salad, smoked salmon, pastries, breads, and on and on.
Prices are a bit high and the dollar is weak at about 1.4 dollars to the
euro, but it looks like I may be able to pick up a replacement camera in
Hamburg. They have a duty-free system in the port that allows me to take
a refund on the 16% value added tax when I leave the country. In other
words, I can spend up to $232 for a $200 camera.
Since I haven't run into free internet service in the hotels here, I will
probably be sparing on my use of the internet. As a result you will not
hear very often from me until we get to Israel.
Well, I'd better get going--I was thinking about checking out the exercise
room here to see about doing some "spinning" on an exercise bike before
supper.
--Bob Jones, on tour in Germany |
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