My Trip to Germany 7/26-8/18/1988

This started as an exchange program between teachers in Berlin and teachers in the Sequoia High School District. In April a group of teachers came to our area. Wolfgang and his daughter Conny stayed with us and I showed them around the area including our schools. Eveline stayed with my friend Nancy Allison. In July Nancy and I flew to Germany before the exchange part and visit some of Germany.

Nancy and I left Tuesday July 26, 1988. We left the SF airport at 12:00 noon and flew to LA where we had to get out and walk around the airport for half an hour. We lucked out when we got back on because we didn't have a seat mate so we had three seats for the two of us. It was a good flight (after a very bumpy landing in LA). The food was mediocre and we didn't sleep as it was too noisy. We arrived in Frankfurt 11:30 AM, Tuesday (2:30AM SF Time). We were 1.5 hours late as there was a computer breakdown in LA that delayed us. It was 14.5 hours from SF to Frankfurt, about 5000 miles. Because we only had carryon baggage we were the first through customs but what a surprise, Eveline wasn't there. She thought we were on another airline and since we were late she thought we had missed the plane. When Nancy went to have her paged her friend Julia heard Nancy and so we eventually got together. We then took the train to Bad Homburg and Julia's car and got a bite to eat and then took a three hour hike through a lovely forest. It felt good to walk but boy were we tired. Then we drove to Julia's home village of Rodheim, settled at a pensione (30 DM each), had beer at Julia's and went to bed by 7:00 and slept soundly all night. We did not seem to suffer jet lag, just normal tiredness.

In the morning (Wednesday July 27) we drove to Wiesbaden and took a train to Koln and stayed at a hotel of a friend of Eveline. It was a beautiful drive up along the Rhine. While in Koln we visited museums, cathedrals, and other sights in the town. We had fun trying to buy a bottle of wine since we didn't have a cork screw but we finally found a bottle of cheap Yugoslavia wine which we enjoyed and then had a good night's sleep.

Thursday the 28th. We rode down the Rhine to Wiesbaden. It took four hours but that was rather fast but very pleasant. The hills were beautiful and covered with vineyards behind small villages. There were lots of castles on the hill tops and it all looked just like a picture book. There were lots of barges on the river as much of the commerce is done on rivers. After we got to Wiesbaden we drove to Worms and went to the cathedral there, and then we drove to Neiderbronn-Les-Bains in France and met Eveline's friend. We should have had a visa to get into France but Eveline was in a hurry and since Germans do not have to have one she just waved hello and said we were German and we were in. Of course then we had a problem of getting Francs because whenever we changed money they always asked for a passport. Nancy speaks some French so she went into a bank and said she didn't have her passport and used her drivers license. The clerk told her she should always have her passport but she cashed her money anyway so we made it through a day and a half in France.

Friday the 29th We went to Strasbourg, France - a wonderful old town especially the cathedral. We ate lunch so I can say I have eaten in a French restaurant.. (I had La Cuisse de Poulet au Riesling-spaetzle.) It was all right. We drove back and such pretty scenes, green and lots of trees. We had "tea" with Antoinette's parents and then walked around the town a bit. Had supper with Antoinette and then went to the hotel lounge for a drink.

Saturday July 30 We drove back to Germany crossing the Rhein on a small ferry boat. We then drove to Heidelberg and spent some time walking around the castle there but then it was on to Wurzburg via Miltenberg and Wertheim. We had trouble finding a place to stay outside of Wurzburg but a bar tender in Wurzburg found us a hotel in Wurzburg near downtown.

We spent Sunday July 31 in Wurzburg going to the Cathedral, museum, castle, and residence. What a thrill it was to visit the place of my heritage. We went to a mass at St. Kilian's cathedral and also heard the organ playing there. There were many paintings and sculptures of St.Kilian and we also went to the church where he was buried. It was truly an emotionally filling experience. In the late afternoon we drove to Solz, near Bebra and spent the night with Eveline's parents, sleeping at the neighbor's house.

Monday morning we walked around the village and then went shopping in Bebra. Around 1:00 we left for Berlin and crossed at Eisenach. It took us one half hour sitting in line and it cost Nancy and me each 5 DM to travel on the worse road I have ever seen. It is only a transit road for the West and the East is waiting for the West to fix it up. The maximum speed limit at all times in the East is 100 km/hr but at times it was 80 down to 30 on this road. The road side stops are filthy and you have to bring your own food and water as you cannot leave the transit road. When we saw a broken down DDR car Eveline said that would be the first of many and she was right. They don't have the parts to fix them and they just drive them until they fall apart. I noticed that the farms in Est Germany would be all one crop and go on for miles - like the central valley in California. In the West each village would be surrounded by farms made up of a variety of crops. Also red roofs and red flowers on the houses predominate in the West. In the East flowers are rare and everything is drab brown. In the West everything looks well cared for but in the East things look in a state of decay. They do not have materials for private repairs. We arrived at Eveline's home about 8:00 and she called Wolfgang who came to pick me up. I was very nervous but I think I will be comfortable with the Tews. They were very welcoming, Heidi is very pretty and friendly, Conny of course I already knew was a lovely girl, Franzi is like a pixie, very cute and friendly and I shall enjoy getting to know Wolfgang better. They have a nice flat on the top floor; it is about 1200 square feet, three bedrooms, one and a half bath, laundry room, kitchen, large living room, a den and two decks. I have Franzi's room and she put a beautiful red rose in there for me. She is sleeping with Conny for these two weeks. They are a lovely family and a lot of fun to watch interact. The women obviously adore Wolfgang and they all seem to have fun together. The two sisters are really good friends, they are 14 and 19.

Tuesday August 2 We left early and met Eveline and Nancy and crossed to border. What an experience that was! It took about one hour of waiting inline in our car. The line of people in the cars was very subdued and yet friendly to one another. People just pushed their cars forward each move. First a guard checked each car to make sure all passengers had passports. Then while we were in line a woman guard walked up and down collecting passports to bring up to the guard station. She was very friendly and cheerful and even made jokes with the people. I thought that was unusual because all the other guards had been so dead serious and stern. Later even the Tews commented on how unusual she was. In my two weeks she was the only guard or official I ever saw who was pleasant and seemed like she enjoyed her job. Anyway I had to pay another 15 DM for a visa. The first 50 DM was just for the paper work and the right to get a visa. (Divide DM by 2 to get approximate dollar value.) Finally we got to the main check point were the guard looks very carefully at each picture and face. No talking or laughing at this point. Boy is everyone dead serious. There was some discussion about my papers, apparently I had an entrance visa but not an exit visa so I would need to go to the police station in Dresden to get one. Another guard photo copied each passport (the Tews have identity cards instead of passports but they too had to get visas to go to Dresden. They had to apply five weeks in advance and we all had to have a special letter of invitation from the people with whom we would be staying -Heidi's brother. Usually westerners are required to stay in a state run hotel.) Our next stop was the required money exchange. We had to exchange 25 DM for each day in the East so that meant 75 DM for each person. Heidi was going to do it for all of us but the Germans had to go to one building and Nancy and I had to go to another - more bureaucracy. Finally after one more check of our papers we were on our way. What an incredible waste of man power. There were also several guard towers with two guards in each. I was told later in my trip that each guard only works each tower once and never with the same person he has work with before. They work six hour shifts. I would never go through that station without a German with me. I was nervous but the Tews were not - having been doing all that for 8 years. We arrived at Dresden in the early afternoon. Nancy went with Eveline to the Mother of a colleague of hers. We went on to Radebeul, a suburb of Dresden. We stayed in the home of Heidi's brother but they were on vacation. They have the top floor for a flat. The middle floor belongs to his mother-in-law who owned the house and the bottom floor belongs to another related family. The house is 100 years old and in very good condition with a lovely yard. Each level is very large and nicely furnished. The Egberts have all the material comforts and we were very comfortable. This area is very different from most of the other areas we saw in East Germany and from the area where Nancy stayed. All the adults in this building are doctors except for one woman who is a nurse. Heidi's brother is a dentist but he is not practicing because he wants to leave for the West. They would not let a dentist go but who knows if they will let him go, he applied four years ago. Wolfgang thinks he is being penalized because Wolfgang and Heidi left eight years ago. It is obvious from the flat that they live a comfortable life and yet they want to leave. Clearly there are move important things in life than material comfort and people who claim that life behind the iron curtain isn't all that bad just don't know what they are talking about. Anyway to continue with our agenda, after lunch we went to Meissen. What a wonderful old town it is. First we went to the Boroque Mortizburg Castle, a former hunting lodge of the Saxon kings. It was fascinating but sad that the East doesn't keep it up, it may not last another 50 years. Then we went to the town and looked at the old, charming streets and houses. We had a drink at an old winery that had dungeons below and lots of interesting artifacts inside. Then we went to the Meissen Dom and what an experience that was. Wolfgang asked for an English speaking guide for us. The man locked up the church and went and got us one and she was fantastic! The church was started around 1200 AD and oh the thrill of being in something that old. We spent almost an hour there. Then we went back to Radebeul and went out to dinner in a state run restaurant. It was all right and very inexpensive. If we hadn't had reservations there would not have been food for us.

Wednesday August 4 We spent the day in Dresden. First we had to go to the police station to get my exit visa. I was nervous but Wolfgang and Conny were not having been through this kind of stuff eight years ago and now being free of it. The officials hardly looked at me and didn't speak to me at all. They just filled out a bunch of forms and stamped my passport again. I now have two full pages of stamps from the DDR in my passport. Then we walked through the shopping mall (magazine) a very modern area. At 9:30 AM people were already standing in line for the 10:00 opening of the large department store. There are shortages of everything so it is important to be the first in line. We walked to the train station and met Eveline and Nancy. Then we started on Dresden. We looked at the old buildings in the center of town. They look old but the ones that are complete have been restored since the bombing of WW II. They are all coal black from the pollution. They use lots of brown coal which is softer coal from wood and their cars still use leaded gas and there are lots of industrial smoke stacks everywhere. The Elbe is also polluted. East Germany is a dirty country - There seems to be a haze all the time. The smell would get to me after a while. Anyway we then started the process of standing in line ourselves. They only let a limited number of people in the museums at a time. It was raining and there were no overhangs so we were glad of umbrellas. Nancy and I felt a lot of people starred at us and we did not see or hear any other Americans in Dresden. A lot of the people visiting there are East German people and also from Czechoslovakia. We stood in line for one and a half hours to see the Dresden collection in the Albertium but what a wonderful sight that was. As an aside they do not use AD and BC on dates but use UZ (our time) and VUZ (before our time). Anyway such riches as were in the collection, just beautiful and very nicely displayed. When we finished we went to lunch where we again stood in line for one hour. It was a state run restaurant and even though there were empty tables there were only two waitresses so they only let a few people in at a time. The meal was all right and certainly very inexpensive. Then we went back to see the old Masters from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. They used to be housed in the Zwinger but that is being restored so the paintings are in the Albertium. Again we waited in line almost an hour. What a wonderful experience to see these famous old masters and be so close to them. I would love to spend a lot of time there. Afterwards we walked around the Zwinger palace and the town. Such former glory and beauty existed there and what a tragedy war is. It is sad how little restoration they have done compared to other cities in Western Germany that were also totally destroyed. That night we ate dinner at a privately run restaurant that was rather attractive. But at this point I need to admit that I cannot be enthusiastic about any German food I ate, East or West. It was too heavy, salty, and rich for me.

Thursday August 4 We went to Konigstein Fortress (in what is called Saxon Switzerland) for a Marvelous walk through and around the old fortress. Then we drove to the mountains near the Czechoslovakia border near Bad Schandau. There we climbed and viewed beautiful Sandstone columns like nothing you have ever seen before. Then we headed "home". I was afraid to take home the East German marks I had not spent so Wolfgang added it to his and gave it all to Franzi! Heidi also "smuggled" two old wine glasses and a bunch of towels. It is really funny how this situation can affect you. We took about one hour in line to get through but they only briefly looked in the engine and trunk. they didn't even check inside the car and we were on our way. I admitted to being relieved when we were done. The few experiences I had connected with the lack of freedom in the East was a very powerful experience for me. Nothing I had read or seen on TV or heard from others affected me as much as experiencing it myself. I am very glad for the experience and I hope I never forget it or take for granted the freedom I do have.

Friday August 5 We slept late and I got settled in and unpacked. I also did some laundry. Then Wolfgang and I rode bikes over to his school so he could get his schedule and he showed me his classrooms and the school. The building reminds me a lot of Sequoia. No teacher has a classroom as it is the teachers who move from room to room. As a result most of the classrooms I saw in all the schools have very little done to them in the way of posters and so forth to make them attractive. After the school we went to the post office to get the package I had sent them because it had arrived! What great timing. The postman couldn't find it but I saw it in the back and pointed it out. The bowl was a great success as Heidi really liked it. In the afternoon Conny took me on the bus and U-baun to Checkpoint Charlie and the wall museum. What an experience that was and how poignant are the stories of the escapes. What people will do to be free. Going there was a very worthwhile experience but somewhat depressing. Friday night Wolfgang, Heidi, and I sat at the table for 2 or 3 hours and had a very intimate and revealing discussion about our prejudices and opinions of Germans/Americans, feelings of East/West, and so on. I really enjoyed this discussion and appreciated the sharing. I hope I can change some of Heidi's dislike of Americans. We talked about what Americans know about Germany, the Jewish problem from the war, and the East/West situation and again Wolfgang repeated what he had said in California about being surprised we were even interested in the situation let alone knowledgeable about it. Heidi expressed the same feelings. As an example of what people know I told them that "diary of Anne Frank" is required reading for all our students and probably a good many of California students if not Americans in general. That really surprised them and I heard Wolfgang repeat that information to other people. If one of the goals of the ITC program is to promote better understanding between peoples of the two nations I really feel the Tews and the Bowens have achieved that goal.

Saturday August 6 We met the California group and had a 3.5 hour tour of the city. Berlin is a very large city and has almost everything you could wish. There are some beautiful old homes, woods, lakes, a very busy downtown area, and lots of memorials to the war and the past. In the afternoon Nancy and I went shopping at the "Kan-Do-We" which is the third largest store in the world. I didn't buy much as there are really no bargains because the dollar is not all that strong and I found very little in Germany that I'd want that I can't get in California. Saturday evening we had a pot luck dinner at the Illings for the Americans and their German hosts. It was a very pleasant affair. (For the rest of the Berlin trip I will only add occasional comments as the schedule will indicate where I went with the group.)

Sunday August 7 I went to church with Wolfgang. It was very poignant to be worshipping in a church half-way around the world from my home, taking communion with them and not understanding the language but understanding the meaning of everything. We all worship the same God, I'm glad I went. In the afternoon we had a nice walk through the botanical garden which was pleasant. In the evening we went to an outdoor concert by Yehudi Menuhin with a fireworks display afterwards. Heidi's mother went with us and it was nice to meet her although she too speaks no English but she seems very pleasant.

Monday - Friday. One would have to consult the "official" schedule as we (the group of teachers) were very busy. I found it all most interesting. Visiting the schools was interesting and informative. I have a book detailing the Berlin Schools so I won't o into details here about the school divisions. In some ways their schools are very much the same as ours. In the classes I observed you could not tell what country you were in until you listened to the language. Since they divide the students into ability at an early age the upper level schools only have the more able students so of course they teaching is much more academic than our high schools. There are no bilingual classes so foreign students must learn German before they can learn the subjects. Everyone we asked about this said that was the students problem - not theirs. Their system may offer more of a challenge for the advanced students but locks in the others to trades at an early age. Their teachers have much more prestige than we do and a better salary. They are civil servants so cannot be fired and they cannot strike. They do not teach the same number of hours every day and are not required to be at school a certain number of hours. It is assumed that they can do some work at home. They do have to substitute for each other when they are absent. They have much more money available for education and as one teacher pointed out, even though their taxes are high - about 25% they do not have to support a military as the Us does that. Therefore more of their tax money is used for education. All students who pass the arbitur are given a free university education. They also have some excellent trade and apprentice schools. We went to one that trains students in three years to be technicians in physics, biology, or chemistry. The classes are small, under 20 and if the lab has spaces for 12 there are only 12 students in the lab. It is really a dream school. We also enjoyed spending some time talking with some students about their school life. I think I enjoyed the museums and art lessons the most. I knew so little about the art world of 1400-1800 that I really learned a lot. Berlin has a rich and old cultural history that is exciting to see. We walked a lot everyday, getting home about 6:00 just too tired to do anything at night. One day Nancy and I took the U-Bahn to Friedrichstrasse station which is in Est Germany. We stood on our side of the platform and watched two guards walk along the train on the other side inspecting it. They had a large German Shepherd dog that they unmuzzled and the dog walked under the train inspecting it for people. Overhead we saw the guards in the towers on a bridge watching all the action. I just cannot get over these physical evidences of the lack of freedom. One day Nancy and I went shopping for her binoculars and had such a nice time meeting interesting people. The clerk she bought them from was so helpful and we spent a long time talking with him. He said it was his dream to visit California and that is a common dream with Berliners. Nancy bought a pair of DDR binoculars because they are just as good as the West ones and were half the price. It was a lot of fun and a neat experience - one of those special memories of a trip.

On Saturday August 13 Wolfgang and Conny took me to the Spandau district. It was formally its own town but is now a part of Berlin. It has the citadel, the tower of which was started in the late 1100's and the church is the oldest town church in Berlin. We were lucky enough to arrive at the church at the start of a 30 minute organ recital. How I love hearing the organ play in all these old churches. In the evening Wolfgang and I took a tour of the Kreuzberg area, a poorer section of Berlin where many of the turks live. This area is along the wall and Æ took every opportunity to climb the platform to look at the situation. In one small area I counted 11 guards, one looking at me with binos as I looked at him with mine. What a waste of manpower. During this time Wolfgang shared more with me of his desire to leave East Berlin many years ago and I can better understand his situation now. Here is his story as pieced together over two weeks in California and two weeks in Berlin. Some of my dates or facts are a little mixed up but this is his story in the main. Both Wolfgang and Heidi were born in 1944. They were married about 1968 in a church in East Berlin. Wolfgang was teaching math and physics in East Berlin and had been for about three years when in 1968 the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia. Dubcek was the Communist Party Chief and had been giving too much freedom so Brezhnev ordered the invasion. There was a lot of world wide outrage to this action including from young people and intellectuals in East Germany. It was during this time that Dr. Andrei D. Skharov wrote his pamphlet "Thoughts concerning progress, peaceful coexistence and intellectual freedom". This was the first major even that started Wolfgang on his road to requesting permission to leave East Berlin. As a school teacher he was required to bring his students to watch the Soviet Troops return from this invasion and applaud the troops. Then all the faculty was asked to sign a document in support of this situation and he refused to sign, so he lost his job. I'm not sure how he spent the next four years but part of that time he was in the military but he was a conscientious objector. He worked on road repair in the Dresden area but as a result of his belies he could not get a job and was helped by the church for a couple of years and he worked with mental patients in a hospital. He then worked for twn years in the academy of science in East Berlin as a physicist. During this time he worked on his Ph.D.. I read two summary papers on his thesis titled: "Electron-energy-loss spectroscopy of different AL2P3 modifications" One paper is by W.Tews & R.Grundler, the other is by W.Tews & R.Zimmermann. The work was done at Zentratrastitute for Elektron-Nenphysik der Akademee der Wessenchafter der DDR and published in 1981. It is probably in the Stanford Physics library. The second major even that helped him decide to leave was the policy the government had requiring students to take a class like the church's class but this class required the students to pledge allegiance to the state first and foremost, above all else. He applied to leave East Berlin and was allowed to leave one and a half years later in 1981 - just a short while before his thesis was printed. He thinks he was allowed to leave in such a "short" time because of the intervention of a minister friend of his who worked on the East-West church relationships and knew someone in the government. They were allowed to take all their possessions with them but they had to have a complete detailed inventory which was carefully checked. They sent the van over one day and the next day they took the S-Baun, the same one we took on our trip to East Berlin and back, to West Berlin and freedom. The West helps support families for three months. During that time he looked for a job in physics but could only get jobs with a limited time contract. With a family to support he felt he needed a more secure job so that is why today he is teaching and he seems to enjoy it very much. I find this story fascinating and feel privileged to know someone who is a part of a significant piece of current history. It has meant a lot to me that Wolfgang was willing to share his story with me.

Now back to he activities in Berlin. Monday August 8 we went to East Berlin. Thank goodness Wolfgang was our leader as I just cannot get comfortable with that situation and even though Wolfgang teased me about it I noticed I was not the only person who was a little nervous. The government has made a showplace of the center of East Berlin. They have done wonderful reconstruction and have some lovely areas. But just a few blocks away there are apartments with outdoor plumbing and many vacant and decaying buildings. The Pergamon Museum was a highlight, the Alter was a marvel. Wolfgang's friend is the director of the islamic division of the museum and he gave us a wonderful tour. We went to many closed areas. The "standing goddess" and the "sitting goddess" of Berlin' marble statues from about 200 BC still have paint on them. There was so much to see and it was such a wonderful day but again I say how sad it was to leave the East and again watch the guards search all the trains. What a world. The next day we heard Peggy's story. The guard in the box kept her passport and told her to go back. When she finally found a guard who spoke English he checked into it and found out that the guard in the box didn't like the 5 that was written on her visa by the guard in the box in the AM. They argued about it and finally let her through. Meanwhile Mary was waiting for her on the other side and not knowing what was happening. Wolfgang may have laughed at my nervousness going through but I would have burst into tears and then had a stroke if I had been Peggy!

All in all the Berlin experience has been a wonderful experience for me. It has been educational and for me it has taught me that I can do things differently and adapt when necessary. The friendships I have felt with the Tews has been very special. My first trip to Europe was a success and I do hope I go again - next time with David. On my last night in Berlin Heidi went to a lot of trouble to cook a "typical German dinner" and we had beer and later champagne from Radebeul. It was a bitter sweet evening - a lot of fun but I'm sad about leaving. I will miss these people. Thursday morning I had four goodbyes, one is hard enough but since each person left individually I said goodbye four different times. They are all such a warm loving family. Wolfgang took me to the airport so I said goodbye to him there. I feel I have left some really special friends in Berlin. At the airport the ticket taker did not like our tickets. We knew they were all right but because we had not used our original flight from Frankfurt to Berlin it said "void" in that space and he felt we were missing a ticket. He had to go check while we and the whole line waited five minutes until he finally decided it was all right. Good thing too or Gisela would have been on his case. Anyway we got on - then off t Frankfurt. Nancy got her tax money back on the binos - we exchanged our DM for $$ and left 45 minutes late for LA. (We had to wait for air space over the Atlantic.) It was a long trip home. We arrived in SF 17 hours after we first boarded in Berlin and what a thrill to see David waiting for us 25 days after I had said goodbye. By the time we went to bed that night we had been in daylight for 25 hours.

FOLLOWING IS A LETTER FROM MY FRIEND WOLFGANG, CURRENTLY LIVING IN WEST BERLIN. HE WAS BORN AND RAISED IN EAST BERLIN AND SPENT TEN DIFFICULT YEARS IN EAST GERMANY AFTER HE APPLIED TO LEAVE TO THE WEST. HE HAS LIVED IN WEST BERLIN ABOUT SIX YEARS. THIS LETTER (COPIED AS WRITTEN) WAS WRITTEN IN RESPONSE TO THE BREAKING DOWN OF THE BERLIN WALL.

Berlin, Dec. '89

Dear Penny,

Exciting news come from Germany - the Wall has big holes!! I will never forget the day of 9.Nov.1989! In the evening we heard news in the TV. Mr. Schabowski the new information-man of the government of the GDR said incidental(!) that the citizen of the GDR instantly can travel without a special passport in each country! I thought, what's the matter? -- Immediately and to West Berlin too? We phoned friends in East-Berlin and said: Come to West-Berlin! Our friends went to the Wall and they met many peoples which had the same idea (the time was 5:00 P.M.). After some talks with the officials on the boarder-, the officials opened the boarder!! Our friends were at 10:00 P.M. in our flat -- it was incredible. After 28 years went down the Wall and the announcement happened in a subordinate clause. After some talks with our friends we went to the Kurfurstendamm--(?can't read the rest). In the city met thousands of people from the West and say hello the East, which came with car and drove through the city. They kept drinks and flowers and hearty welcomes. I can't sleep the whole night! It is impossible to give a realistic description. The days after the 9.Nov. were fulfilled with visiting of the center of West-Berlin, which was overused from peoples from the East, and the boarder. Before the 9.Nov we had 5 or 6 crossings and now I think more than 20! On the streets you can meet "Trabers" (cars which are built of plastic) remember you (?) and the other east-cars. The buses and undergrounds are overcrowded. You can say, in these days the peoples living East have showed, that we are one nation! Some days later I had to go to Munich (to a computer-science- conference). I'd like to go with my car through the GDR to Munich. I had to wait may hours on the boarder to West Germany because thousands of East-cars would drive to the West! The boarder near towns (Hanover or Coburg) were overcrowded (Hanover has 60,000 citizens and 65,000 visitors!). The situation will be slowly normalized. In the stores, which have cheap offers, you can meet with many Easts. Our state gives each citizen from East 100, DM as so called welcome money. You can think, each bank or postoffice in which you can obtain the money, has long long lines. When a new transition through the Wall was opened the people were assembled and made music and dancing. Sometimes it was possible that we could go East without check-ups. The citizens of East-Berlin come to us in any case without check-up. I think, this time you need to have no horror for the officials like in Dresden, remember you?

The newest information is that we can go to the East without a visa and compulsory exchange. But the first day will be the first journey. I hope that the politician allow the possibility already by Christmas! I think of course that this regulation is valid only for Germans and not for you (when you will come) - at the very least until now. But the time and all information are very quick- living- tomorrow it is possible, that we have complete new decisions.

Sorry, I would like to write earlier, but the translation of my ideas take many time! Well many news, every day.

Heidi and I say hello to you and David!

Wolfgang

Germany issued a new stamp honoring St Kilian. Wolfgang sent me one along with an article about it. I had a student translate the article for me. (Kilian was my maiden name and my great-great-great grandfather,John Frederick Kilian, was from Bavaria )- As Follows:

THREE NEW STAMPS OF THE GERMAN POSTAL SERVICE

JUNE 1989

The German postal service offers only three new stamps this month from the program of the year 1989. The distribution will have begun by Thursday of this week.

One stamp is dedicated to the composer Friedrick Silcher, who became 200 years old on June 27. (In the readily ensuing announcement of the new stamp in the Steglitzer local notice the past week, the name Silcher was inadvertently printed on the name Schiller. We ask for patience.) The second stamp is a remembrance of the 100 year old passing of legal pension insurance and the third stamp records 1300 years since the mission and martyrdom of the Ranken apostles Kilian, Kolonat, and Totnan. Here in the continuation there is a detailed description of the new stamp.

The occasion for this commemorative stamp is the 1300th anniversary of the death of the Franken apostles Kilian, Kolonat, and Totnan. The 1300th anniversary is an occasion that is an important historical event for both countries and which was deemed mostly of an equally motivated German-Irish stamp distribution. The two stamps differ only through the German and Irish lettering.

The work of the Franken apostles, Kilian, Kolonat, and Totnan 1300 years ago is part of a greater establishing action, that contributed influentially in the development of Germany and Europe. The Irish-Scottish mission conveyed the European continent into its great crisis at the dawn of the Middle Ages along with the Christian message and important cultural and artistic goods.

As the only country which had not belonged to the Roman Empire, Ireland became Christianized in the course of the late classical period by Palladius and Patrick. The Irish variation of Christianity was biblically orientated and formed by monks. Repeatedly missionaries set out from Ireland in the seventh century to win the German people for evangelism. Kilian, Kolonat, and Totnan, who came to Mainfranken around 686 to announce the Christian beliefs in that area, also belong to this missionary action. Two biographies from the eighth and ninth centuries, of which the older passage is the major and is no doubt truthfully detailed while the newer legendary passage is the minor, instruct us of their lives. According to them the Frankenapostels from Ireland came to Franken, converting the prince Gozbert to Christianity and announced in Mainfranken the belief in the three part God. The impact excited the missionaries to demand that Prince Gozbert had to let his wife Geilana go since she had been married to his brother in her first marriage. Kilian incurred the anger of the Princess, who had him, together with his companions, secretly murdered.

However, the burial plot was known and on July 8, 752 Bishop Burklard, who was in the retinue of the holy Bonifatius, came to Germany to exhume their remains. Since then pilgrims have streamed to the graves of the Frankenapostels, who are revered as bishopric patrons. Over the burial place the Neumunster, which was begun by Bishop Bruno and consecrated as a cathedral in 1188, was built and where the high mass has been celebrated since the middle ages.

The cult of the holy Kilian spread in Germany and beyond in the eighth and ninth centuries, especially because the tomb of the Frankenapostels is the only martyrs' tomb in medieval Franken. Soon Kilian became the patron of the Padergonnen Cathedral.

In the course of history the adoration of the Franken apostles has experience many high points. Since 1935 pilgrims have come every year during the Kilian week -- around July 6-- out of the bishopric and beyond to Wurzburg to revere the leader of the Franken apostles, who is visibly exhibited in that week. Since the rebuilding of the cathedral the skull rests in the high alter of the cathedral; for the Kilian relics in the new cathedral a new shrine was created by the artist Heinrich Gerhard Bucker in 1987 which ties into the great medieval shrine in Aachen and Koln through its form. Through Irish monks and pilgrims the cult of the Franken apostles arrived in the land of their origin already in the Middle Ages, but a stronger mark was found first in the 19th century. The Primas of Ireland, Cardinal Thomas O'Fiaich will come to Wurzburg to inaugurate the Kilian-week and lead the main mass for the Franken apostles in the dome of the Neumunster. Three exhibits in Wurzburg will make alive not only the religious, but also the cultural meaning of the Irish-Scottish missionaries for the early medieval Europe.

The picture motif shows the three, Kilian, Kolonat and Totnan, according to an account from the Passionale of the Hirsau monastery, inserted with the shamrock, the symbol of Ireland, with which the Irish-Scottish missionaries had explained the Trinity to Christian converts.