Here are some descriptions of some places mentioned in the
story or mentioned in the letters written by the real German girls. It is worth
considering these places, both as they were then and as they are now, as this
gives a greater sense of what it might have been like for these young girls
growing up in Nazi Germany.
A real puzzle is that Hitler constantly argued for more
Lebensraum - “ living room” for
Germans. Yet they had many wide open
spaces. It was also quite difficult sometimes, for those who lived in the
countryside, where bombs were scarcer and food more plentiful, at first at
least, really to realise that they were at war.
The Allgäu
This is the southern part of the area known as Swabia. It is
easily to travel there form Stuttgart and Nuremberg. In the 1940s it was a
popular area for walking holidays. It still is now. There are also several ski
resorts.
Bodensee
In English, this is often known as Lake Constance. It is a
huge lake on the Rhine and surrounded by holiday resorts. It is situated where
German, Switzerland and Austria meet. There are three islands in the lake:
Chiemsee
The Chiemsee is a
large freshwater lake in Bavaria. It has several islands in it, the two most
important being the Herrenchiemsee and the Frauencheimsee.
There are many
opportunities for recreational activities on and around the lake and the
islands.
It came from the primeval Thetis Sea which once covered
almost half of Europe.
Dinkelsbühl
Dinkelsbühl is a beautifully preserved medieval town
situated in western Bavaria on the Wörnitz River. It has old walls and towers.
You can walk round the old walls. In 1962 “The Wonderful World of the Brothers
Grimm” was filmed there. Immediately after the war Dinkelsbühl became a camp
for displaced persons. Most of the town was taken over to provide this
facility. See the report by M. John Sklepkowycz.
The Americans arrived on 21 April 1945.
Dinkelsbühl is often referred to as the smaller neighbour of
nearby Rothenburg.
Feucht
Feucht is situated south west of Nuremberg. Its name comes from the word for spruce. It
ahs many small lakes nearby and plenty of opportunities for fishing. It is
still a vibrant market town today.
Fischbach
The name literally means “Fish stream”. There are several
places called “Fischbach” in Germany. There is also one which is part of
Nuremberg.
Frankenwald
This is an area of forest which provided the backdrop to
many of the girls’ stories. It is in the extreme north-east of Bavaria and links
to the Thuringian forest. It is about 30 miles (50 km) long. The slopes north
and east toward the Salle River Its highest point is Mount Döbra (2,608 feet
[795 m]). Along the centre lies the watershed between the Main and the Saale
basins and between the Rhine and the Elbe systems. The main city is Hof, to the
east. Kulmbach, Kronach, and Bayreuth are to its west. It provides good
recreational walking terrain. Today it is also popular with cyclists, though
you would need a well-geared bike to cope with the hills.
The trees in this forest are mostly deciduous. The rivers
from here eventually flow into the Mainz.
Garmisch-partenkirchen
This is a well-known tourist spot and would also have been
very familiar to the German girls as a place for a weekend outing. It is on the
border with Austria. The two towns maintained a separate identity for many
years and in many ways are still separate but now form one official
identity.
It was used as a base
for the 1936 Winter Olympics. An Olympic ice stadium was built in Garmisch.
Both towns are still good bases for skiing holidays and are
surrounded by fantastic mountain scenery.
Göppingen
Göppingen is near to Stuttgart. A civilian airport was built
there in 1930 and was taken on by the Luftwaffe in 1936. American barracks were
later built there. The barracks were closed in February 1992.
Hasenbuck
Hasenbuck is a recreational spot high up just outside
Nuremberg. It has a railway station.
Haus Lehrs
This is found at 20 Schellberg Street in Stuttgart. Because
Clara Lehrs was considered a victim of the Holocaust a “Stolperstein” has now
been laid near the house. These small cobble-sized copper memorial plaques are
put near the home of a Holocaust victim. The word literally means
“stumbling-block” and the plaques are meant to make you pause and think for a
while.
Persuaded by her elder son, Ernst Lehrs, Clara Lehrs decided
to settle in Stuttgart and she and Ernst built a house together: 20 Schellberg
Street. She sold her jewellery to pay for the house. They received some help
from her older brother and a friend of the family.
Ernst Lehrs had become an anthroposophist and was involved
with the Steiner School movement. Clara Lehrs had had some doubts but building
the new house had helped to crystallise her thoughts. The house was used to
board children from the nearby Waldorf School and also as a meeting place for
the anthroposophists. They moved into the house early in 1928.
After February 1934 Ernst Lehrs was no longer allowed to
teach, as he was non-Aryan. He moved to England. His mother decided to stay out
of loyalty to the children.
Karl Schubert taught a Special Class (severely disabled
children) within the Waldorf School. In 1938 the Waldorf School was closed by
the Nazis. Clara Lehrs immediately offered Haus Lehrs to this class. The
authorities seemed to tolerate it even though the children who visited this
class were as undesirable to the Nazi regime as the Jews. Potatoes in Spring offers an explanation and the story is based
upon one that Renate James (nee Edler) used to relate to show that Stuttgart
was a special place:
A school operated in hiding. The Home Guard were ordered to
clear it out but they refused. The Hitler Youth were then commanded to do this.
They also refused. Then it was the turn of the BDM girls. They daren’t refuse:
the Nazis were getting impatient. So, the girls set fire to the cellar where
the class took place, but not before they had rescued all the children and all
of their books and learning equipment. The school continued openly immediately
after the war. She never told us which school that was. It seems likely that it
was the school in Haus Lehrs.
In 1939, Clara Lehrs, renamed Klara Sarah Lehrs by the
Nazis, had to sell the house. She sold it to Emil Kühn, a friend of the family
and the Chairman of the Waldorf School Organisation. She was able to rent a
room within the house until 1942.
The school for the disabled children continued at 20
Schellberg Street after the war. It finally moved to a new home in 1969.
The Isar Valley
The Isar flows though Bavaria. It also flows through
Munich.
Killesberg park
The Killesberg Park is a small park in north Stuttgart. It borders the city’s fairground The park dates back to the horticultural show of 1939. Before the show, a large area of the park had been a quarry. It was transformed into a park with exhibition sites for the show, and has remained, hosting horticultural events on a regular basis, including the Bundesgartenschau, the National Garden Show.Thousands of Jews were gathered here and transported to concentration and / or death camps in 1941 and 1942.
Kitzingen
Kitzingen in the Main / Franken region. It was badly bombed
on 23 February 1945. A military flying school was set up there in 1936. This
was taken over by the Americans in 1945. The US Army finally left the base in
2005.
Kronach
Kronach is a town and an area in Bavaria. It is surrounded
by the Frankenwald. It is another small and historical town with interesting
architecture. Its walls are complete. The fortress there was used as a prison
during World War II and Charles de Gaulle was imprisoned there. It was the
birthplace of Lucas Cranach the Elder.
Three rivers flow together in Kronach. Many festivals take place there
throughout the year.
Ludwigshöhe
A popular place for climbing.
Michael Hall School Minehead
In September 1939 the Michael Hall School, a Steiner School,
moved to Minehead. Minehead was a typical English seaside town in those days
and the children could enjoy fishing, swimming and walking along the beach. The
students were billeted with local families. The school was housed in a big old
house.
Mostviel
Mostviel was the place in the country where the Wilhelm Löwe
School would take the girls for summer school. Normal lessons took place but in
a more relaxed way. There were plenty of opportunities for nature study and
long walks in the Bavarian countryside. The girls also benefitted as normal
from spending some time at a residential centre. They were accommodated in an old farmhouse.
Neuendettelsau
Neuendettelsau is 20 kilometres southwest of Nuremberg.
Nordbahnhof Stuttgart
The North Station. More than 2000 Jews were deported via
this station between 1941 and 1945. It had always been a station for goods
trains. There is now a memorial to those people who were murdered during the
Holocaust who were deported via this station.
Nuremberg
This is a key place
in the story.
- It is where Reante grew up until she left for Englan ehen she was 13 ½.
- It is where the big rallies were held, inlcuding for the Hilterjugend and for the BDM.
- It was here where the new laws were introduced in 1935, the Blutschutsgesetz and the Reichsbürgergesetz, which made Renate stateless.
- And it was here after the war that many of the Nazis were brought to justice.
The Nazis were very fond of Nuremberg. They thought it was
an ideal German town and for that reason chose it as an administrative centre.
Hitler commissioned his favourite architect, Albert Speer to construct the big
rally grounds. Hitler always stayed in the Deutscher Hof Hotel, near the
station. From there he could watch all of the troops march to the rally ground.
A special balcony was constructed for him at the hotel.
The main square was renamed the Adolf-Hitler-Platz from
1933-1945.
Nuremberg was
severely bombed. A particularly bad a attack was on 2 January 1945. The
features in one of the girls’ letters: Sabine,
27 January 1945. Even by 1947, much of the city lay in ruins. Raids took
place on:
29 August 1942
26 February 1943
9 March 1943
28 August 1943
30/31 March 1944
3 October 1944
2 January 1945
20 February 1945
16 March 1945
5 April 1945
The twins’ aunt and uncle in their
story lose their home in one of the raids. Over 6,000 people lost their lives
in the raids on Nuremberg.
Piloty School
Karl Von Piloty (1826 – 1886) was a famous Munich
painter. The Piloty School often means a
particular group of artists. However, it would be perfectly reasonable to name
a school after Piloty. Some letters written by real German girls (not the ones
in the story!) kept referring to the Piloty school and it soon became clear
that this was a school that specialised in teaching girls household duties. To
this day, such a school exists – though it no doubt also teaches boys today –
on Piloty Street in Nuremberg.
Rexingen
This is where Clara Lehrs lived for a short time after she
had to leave Stuttgart and before she was transported to Theriesenstadt. It was
traditionally the home of a huge Jewish community. It lies on the Neckar and
today is a pleasant rural small village on the edge of the Black Forest.
There is one scene within the Hani strand of the story where
Clara is living in Rexingen and is visited by Hani Gödde and her mother.
In 1938, several Jews left form there for Palestine and established
a community in what has now become Israel. Many Jews were rounded up in 1941
and transported to concentration or death camps.
A monument in the village shows when groups of Jews left.
August 1942, the date when Clara Lehrs left, is mentioned.
Rexingen is home to one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Baden-Württemberg.
Roth
Another pretty little place with plenty of opportunities for
recreational activities. It is 25 kilometres tot eh South of Nuremberg.
Salzburg
Although in Austria, not Germany, this would have been a
place to visit for many of the German girls. Charlotte goes there with her
father shortly after her mother’s death.
They both need some time out. (Charlotte 18 August 1943)
Salzburg is a town of churches – 19 are listed on many of
the tourist web sites describing the town. Charlotte and her father spent quite
a lot of time looking at various churches in Salzburg.
Like Oxford, Salzburg is a town full of spires. It is also a
town full of bells and music.
It also has a cathedral which boasts four organs and creates
a surround sound experience when all four are played at once. Mozart was the
organist there for two years and he was also baptized there.
Allied bombing destroyed 7,600 houses and
killed 550 inhabitants. 15 strikes destroyed 46 per cent of the city's
buildings mainly around Salzburg train station.
American troops entered
Salzburg on 5 May 1945. However, much of the city survived.
Salzburg Alps
This would have been another favourite recreational place
for the German girls. They are sometimes referred to as the Slate Alps. There
is forest land, lower hills, lakes, streams and the bigger mountains such as
the Grossglockner in the area. Charlotte (Charlotte
18 August 1943) did not attempt to climb this on their short holiday. They
decided to tackle mountain climbing another time.
Schliersee
This is a lake, and a town named after the lake, in Bavaria.
It is a popular place for cures. It is about 42 kilometres south east of Munich
and is about 800 metres above sea level. It is a good base for walking, water
sports and in the winter, skiing. The lake is considered to be one of the most
important in Germany. The girls could certainly have had a good holiday here even
during war time and would probably have spent their time swimming and hiking.
Schwabach
Schwabach is a town that today has about 40000 inhabitants.
It is close to Nuremberg. A river of the same name runs through the town. In 1500 the Schwabacher font was invented and
used in many religious works.
It was bombed in 1941.
In 1980 it received the European Union prize for Cultural
Heritage.
Spessart
The Spessart is a low mountain range in north-western
Bavaria. Würzburg is nearby. It is designated as a Naturschutzgebiet – a natural area that is protected. It was and still is a favourite place
for hiking. There are many small vineyards along the Main.
It is quite a fairy tale land and rumour has it that this is
where Snow White lived. One of the many trails is named after her.
Another is called the Donkey Trail. This takes the route of
the donkey caravans which transported salt from the medieval salt works at Orb
and Fulda to the shipping ports along the River Main.
Starnbergersee
The Starnbergersee is Germany’s fifth largest fresh water
lake. It is 25 kilometres south west of Munich. It is the nearest of the big
lakes to Munich. It is therefore the most popular lake with people from Munich.
The Roseninsel – Rose Island – is quite a romantic spot for
day trippers.
Steiner School Streatham
The Michael Hall Steiner School was first located in
Streatham. It was then evacuated to Minehead during World War II. After the
war, it was relocated to Kidbrooke Park, Forest Row. The school was opened in 1925 in Streatham
and was called the New School.
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is an industrial town so was an interesting target
for allied forces. It was attacked on:
22 November 194211 March 1943
15 April 1943
6 September 1943
8 October 1943
26 November 1943
21 February 1944
2 March 1944
16 July 1944
5, 10, and 12, September 1944
19-20 September 1944
9 December 1944
January 28 1945
Stuttgart was saved to some extent by its shape. It was not
an easy target because of the way it is built on seven hills. However, it did
not escape damage.
Wallenfels
Another beautiful little spot, surrounded by woodland. It is in Bavaria and roughly 284 kilometres
south-west of Berlin.
Würzburg
Würzburg is situated in the north of Bavaria. The Main River
passes through it. It is the centre of an agricultural area noted for its vineyards.
Its Romanesque church was severely damaged during the war in
the bombing of 16 March 1945. 5000 people were killed.
There is a university there where Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered X-rays.
Much of the town’s
architecture is rather grand.
Zugspitze
This is 2962
metres above sea-level. It is jsut south of Garmisch-Patenkirchen. It was
first conquered on 27 August 1820. Now, three cable car systems take you to the
top. At least one of them was already in existence in 1943.
Although you do not need to know a lot about climbing
technique the route to the top is still quite tough. The way up starts on a
quite gentle footpath. Higher up, you actually need to use crampons.
The summit is high enough that you might get a headache or
feel light-headed up there.
It can be very cold up there. On 26 May 1943, it was -6C.
Within the same month the temperature went up as high as -6 C.
Have you visited any of these places?
What is your impression of them?
Have you visited any of these places?
What is your impression of them?
No comments:
Post a Comment