An excursion into German history
It already is quite warm for a May morning before 9 am in Berlin when I walk to Friedrichstrasse station to catch the S-Bahn to bring me to the main station for my onward journey.
Friedrichsstrasse station
Until 1989 Friedrichstrasse was the station where you could enter East Berlin. You were allowed to enter as a visitor for a day trip to the capital area of East Berlin or on the basis of a transit visum, for example if you had the ticket for an onward flight from the Eaast Berlin Airport of Schönefeld. In those years I did both. It was one of the few chances you got to enter the GDR as a citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany if you did not have any relatives, invitations or other reasons.
Monument for the displaced at Friedrichstrasse
The hassle was tortuous. Your passport was scrutinized. Your belongings were screened thoroughly. Books, magazines and everything recorded or otherwise suspicious was taken with high probability. You knew that and could be prepared, for example by not bringing anything. However, even the most innocent, positive minded soul was treated like an intruder, like a criminal. There were queues and no obvious attempt to speed the process up. The tone was harsh, in case of slightest resistance the treatment could get even worse. After all you had to do an obligatory exchange of 10 DM at an 1:1 exchange rate. After leaving the station at the east side, this rate got up to higher than 10:1, depending how far you ventured from the entrance point.
Alexanderplatz station was the main station for East Berlin
Today this has all been turned into commerce. There are no obvious traces of the border control area. Now you get the impression that they have tried to turn the route from the entrance of the building to the platforms into a running the gantlet. Things are not made better when the up-elevator is out of service… and it always seems to be the elevator up, never the one down. My idea is that they want to give a little reminder of how things had been here more than 35 years ago.
The gantlet running gets even worse at Berlin Main station. The S-Bahn is on the upper most level, from where you have to go 4 levels down to the underground level when you want to catch a southbound train. The blue information boards indicating time and the platform of the next departures are as small as possible and hidden away in impossible corners. They disappear behind all the brightly colored advertisements for snack-points, fashion-shops, drugstores and even the odd book store. To avoid distraction from the commercials they have also removed all the big clocks, which were omnipresent in each station. I know that I have to go down to get my train to Nuremberg, so at least the general direction is clear.
The elevators and stairs at Berlin Hauptbahnhof
When I find the right platform it is still occupied by an earlier train to Budapest. It passes 4 European capitals: Berlin – Prague – Bratislava - Budapest. I am tempted to hop on – no problem with an interrail ticket – but apparently many others had the same idea and it is filled to the last spot, so I rather stick to my original idea.
Train to Budapest in the bowels of Berlin Hauptbahnhof
When my train, an ICE from Hamburg to Munich, arrives I head for the bord restaurant right away and I have already ordered my breakfast before the train even has left Berlin. While the train leaves the bleak suburbs of Berlin and heads through the empty flat spaces of Brandenburg I am having breakfast and continue reading the book which I have brought as preparation for this trip: Orhan Pamuk’s citography of Istanbul.
Bistro car
Around me mostly couples probably on a short jaunt for the white sunday weekend. German men and women, probably very clever and efficient, who talk about financial issues, politics or family affairs, creatures who have lost any visible erotic or sexual appeal to such an extend that they should get a separate gender definition.
Breakfast is served
At the table across the aisle a soldier in camouflage suit is having coffee. He carefully marks the books he reads with post-its. His absolutely innocent face does not match his profession at all. He smiles apologetically at everybody.
The flat landscape south of Berlin
There is a short stop at the station of Bitterfeld. Smokers seem to make use of these stops to have a quick fag. Now is it that I cannot really understand how somebody can be addicted to such an extent that he cannot even wait for a train trip of merely 4 hours to pass. But even worse, in Bitterfeld these people do not want to get in when the conductrice is ready to part and they delay the train. An angry announcement for those smokers in carriage number 2 is the result. The conductrice threatens to kick these people out at the next station when this should happen again. And she is a smoker herself.
Ruined station building in Halle
My book draws attention. A young woman walks by and asks whether it is any good. Then a man my age asks to take the seat opposite mine. His eyes catch Pamuk’s book. He has read several of his books but not this one. It turns out that he is a professor for linguistics. One of his research topics are the languages on the island of Vanuatu. On this group of roughly 80 islands they speak 100 different languages. This brings us to a discussion of Jared Diamonds book “Collapse, how societies chose to succeed or fail”. He personally knows the author. One of the topics treated in the book is the ecologic mayhem which happened on the Easter Islands where the supply of native trees was exhausted and extinguished. In contrast to what the books makes you believe the extinction of the trees was not a consequence of the logging practices of the islanders, but of the introduction of rats, which ate the seeds. On some islands the resources and overpopulation are managed very well. On the island of Tikopia they willingly killed all the pigs because they were playing havoc with the environment. He explains that some islands for a long time have avoided overpopulation by sending surplus men away. For most this is a death sentence but it seems to be accepted. I guess that is similar to the current migration movement, where young men leave their overpopulated and exhausted countries and look for opportunities in entirely different societies. The human race has always tried to extend there limits regardless the possible risks. Ancient examples of explorers like Magellan or Columbus who left without any knowledge of what would be their fate are still copied by adventurers who do not mind to participate in risky space missions, for example the one now planned for Mars, where return is very uncertain. But aren’t many tourist trying to go beyond their known world and accept a certain risk of hardship? This is in contrast to the tendency of our own society to reduce every little peril and call for compensation when harm has happened.
Nürnberg Haupbahnhof: the crowd of people who want to storm the local express to Munich
When I now look up the specializations my interlocutor studies I must say that I do not understand a word. I am always very proud when I happen to meet and have discussions with clever people by chance, mostly on trains. I am surprised they even bother to share their knowledge with an ignorant like me. When he sat down he had brought forth his laptop. He did not open it until I got out after 3 hours.
Built by Czech Skoda the local train to Munich can run 200 km/h but can be used with a cheap ticket
Neither do I get a lot of impressions of the scenery we rush through. During the stop in Halle I notice a huge, abandoned brick industrial area at the far side of the station. In the Thüringerwald, an area once practically entirely covered in pine forest, I notice the terrifying degree of dead trees on the slopes. But maybe there is less to see since the amount of sound barriers gets bigger and bigger.
Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof
I drop my luggage at a hotel behind the station in Nuremberg and go into town to look for a snack. Nuremberg's regional culinary specialties include gingerbread, pretzels and bratwurst. They are sold at stalls in various places in the pedestrian zone of the old town. Nowadays they have a lot of competition in the shape of French crepes, Vietnamese spring rolls, italian Pizzas and even Spanish Churros, the most tasteless thing the world ever invented to eat. I think of my interlocutor on the train. As a specialist in linguistics he must be horrified by much of what you can read in the street today. Or do we have a chance here? The chance for new creations: “ïtalienischer Geschmack” written on one advertisement board could be changed into “Italmack” or maybe “Geschmitalien”.
Bratwurststand
The sausages are tiny. Freshly fried three come in a bun for €4. Dispensers for mustard or ketchup are available at the counter. The locals use mustard for the sausages. The ketchup is intended for schnitzel or other fried foods sold at the same counter. Only small children and tourists use ketchup on the sacred local sausages. The art is to eat the Bratwurst roll without spilling mustard on yourself. The damage is worse if you have bulges on your body, such as large breasts or a protruding stomach, which is very common among the locals who are used to eating a lot of bratwursts. I hear a soft slap and feel a faint clump on the left side of my stomach. There it is, a big yellow blob of mustard on my nice dark blue shirt.
The dispensers for mustard and ketchup
If you have finished your sausage and managed to get rid of most of the mustard on your dark shirt with the paper napkins providently provided by the stall you can turn around and look at the facade of the enormous church dominating the near end of the street. When I am in Nuremberg I don’t miss to have a brief look and rest inside the church. They ask for a voluntary contribution of 2€. The income from this contribution per year is probably just enough to pay the electricity costs for one day. If I happen to be there close to 2 pm I take an hour to participate in the daily guided tour. The guided tour is held by elderly volunteers and is free. So far I never had the same guide for a second tour. So far each guide has told a different story. Or at least what I can remember is different. I have a bad memory. So here is what I was new for me today.
Lorenzkirche looming behind the sausage stand
This day’s guide is an elderly lady who starts with reviewing the history of the town starting in 1050 with a document freeing a bondswoman called Sigena who was about to marry a free man. Only after being set free their offspring could live as free citizens. The original document is preserved in the city’s archives. I guess such a success story made immigration and the production of free offsprings popular and therefore the city quickly expanded. The two parts subdivided by the river Pegnitz were surrounded with a big wall, most parts of which are still there today and each part got an enormous church. The part closer to the station is called Lorenz, and consequently the enormous church surrounded by Bratwurst stalls where I am now was dedicated to Laurentius, or St. Lorenz.
There are various statues in the church. The oldest from of St. Lorenz of from 1370. There is another one from 1460. Next to him is St. Stephan from around the same time, but he is a bit difficult to identify because he lost the lower arms. The lower arms are important because the medieval saints can be identified by what they hold in their hands. It is usually the means of torture which caused their death. In the case of Laurentius it is the grate of a sausage barbecue. He was grilled to death by emperor Valerian because he did not want to submit the church treasure. To make the whole story a bit clearer the entire process is depicted on a stained glass window in the eastern wall not far from the entrance. Stephan was stoned to death. He usually holds a book on which he displays a pile of stones.
Stephan who lost his arms
The oldest statue of the church is virgin Mary with infant Jesus suspended on a column. It was carved in 1230. The beautiful virgin has long wavy hair falling down over her shoulders. She wears a beautiful gown in the imperial colors blue, red and gold. To make sure people don’t get a wrong idea a crown was added on her head later on. Baby Jesus has this adult mocking expression on his face. They know about the age of the statue because the baby is dressed. From about mid 13th century the babies started to be naked. The 3 statues next to Mary are the three wise men. Later they changed the story a bit and they would be called kings.
The statue of virgin Mary
The artwork in medieval churches is usually a donation of rich patricians who hoped to compensate for their sins by donating at life time. They don’t do that any more. Nuremberg was a town full of rich merchant families. One were the Tuchers. They are the Heinekens of Nuremberg and gave their name to the town’s last surviving big brewery. In 1517 Anton Tucher ordered a wood carving from the local artist Veit Stoß, at the time probably the world’s best wood-cutter. Poor Veit had had a little legal problem and as a fine they just had punctured both of his cheeks with a red-hot iron. He was in need of a good job and cut the 450 kg sculpture from one lindentree in a single year. Anton was so pleased that he not only paid the enormous price of 700 Guilders but also an additional 70 as a tip. The wood carving of a diameter of around 4 m was suspended from the ceiling of the church and since that time threatens to fall down on it’s admirers, usually a group of Asians. The locals prefer to more concentrate on the Tucher family’s most famous current product.
The story of St. Lorenz in one of the stained glass windows
The carving displays a more than life-size Mary and archangel Gabriel announcing the conception. Mary is so flabbergasted that the book she was reading is about to fall out of her hand. The couple is surrounded by beds of a rosary. The friendly face of Godfather looks down on them to see whether his envoy tells the correct story. His look is symbolized by sun rays. To make sure that nobody forgets that sin is never far away the infamous snake which is responsible for all this mess around us is coiled up below the couple’s feet holding that apple from which Eve has already taken her bite. Now just take the time to slowly reflect about the connection to that trade name symbol of a certain electronics producer and ask yourself where they have hidden the snake….
The Engelsgruss
To illuminate the whole work of art, Veit Stoß has designed a huge chandelier for 55 candles. In the center again Virgin Mary. However, the Engelsgruss, as the sculpture is now called, was to be displayed only on those days consecrated to Mary. The rest of the year it was to be hidden.
Chandelier for illumination of the Engelsgruss with Mary in the center
In 1525 the town of Nuremberg decided to turn Protestant. The protestants did not like sculptures in their churches. However, since Nuremberg was a liberal town and, more probable, because the sculptures where the donations of the towns most influential rich, they remained in the churches not to be adored, but as means for instruction. However, for 300 years, the Engelsgruss was hidden under a canvas cover.
Another great artist of the time was Adam Kraft, a stone mason. Above his left shoulder St. Stephan again with the stones piled on his book
In 1816, after Napoleons final defeat, Germany was reorganized. Strangely enough, the Bavarians, who had been amongst Napoleon’s strongest supporters in Germany, got Franconia and Nuremberg. That is how politics works. However, with the deal came the enormous debt, which the once so affluent town had collected during all those wars of the 16th to 18th century. The Bavarians took revenge and moved all valuable pieces of art into their residence in Munich. Fortunately for Nuremberg, the Engelsgruss was too big. They tried to move it to another space in Nuremberg, which was owned by Bavaria, like the castle, but eventually returned it to the church.
The final assault came in world war II. Fortunately the town of Nuremberg was clever enough to built an art bunker into the rock beneath the castle and removed all the works of art that could be moved. In the bombing raids at the end of the war the church was destroyed, but the works of art were safe. After the reconstruction of the church they wanted to put back the Engelsgruss. However, they couldn’t find back the chain with which it had been suspended from the ceiling for hundreds of years. As replacement they used one of the ropes for suspending the church bells. The rope broke and the Engelgruss shattered to pieces. It took some time to glue it all together again. I guess they have used a better rope now because it has been there now for half a century.
After I get out of the church I marvel at Nuremberg’s other famous monuments, After about 85% of Nuremberg’s buildings were destroyed in the war, they made the decision to actively restore their medieval town. A bit further on, in the direction of the station. Is the Mauthalle, a huge grain warehouse. The medieval city had 3 of those. They are all preserved. The magistrate was eager to have a big supply of grain stored for times of shortage.
Historic Mauthalle and monumental Kaufhof department store
However, not everything was preserved. Next to the Mauthalle they decided in the 1960’ies to built a brandnew concrete and glas department store. In fact they built 2 of those. Kaufhof and Hertie. Hertie went out of business a long time ago. Its location was rebuilt into a shopping mall. The shopping mall went out of business and is empty. Kaufhof recently decided to close their Nuremberg store. Around the corner is a Karstadt department store, owned by the same company, which is enough for one city. Now the Kaufhof store is empty too. It serves one last use: it’s overhanging roofs protect the homeless and beggars who sleep and sit there and wait for a donation.
The problem is that Nurenberg cannot demolish the Kaufhof building. Meanwhile it is a designated monument.
I head for the station. The most important thing when you have to catch a train is that you are on time. That is why railway companies usually had a huge clock somewhere on the station facade. In some countries like France they built beautiful clocktowers for that. The station of Nuremberg had a beautiful clock. They removed it, probably because they wanted to save money and thought everybody has his mobile phone anyway. But how can at the same time pull tow trollies, walk and look at your phone? They did not think about things like that. It is not so serious. Very few trains of Deutsche Bahn are actually on time.
The station lacking its clock
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