Visit to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France & Luxembourg in 2010 by Edward W. Lollis August 2010

This web page describes and illustrates 82 peace monuments in Europe (Southern Germany, western Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, northeastern France & Luxembourg).

Fourteen of the 82 peace monuments are "museums for peace," and two are the sites of former museums for peace. Only three of these (19%) are believed to be (to to have been) afilliated in some way with the International Network of Muesums for Peace (INMP).

Schera and I visited 33 of the 82 monuments in August 2010. We drove 2,764 kilometers (1,717 miles), and our approximate route is shown below. You can use the controls to zoom in and out of this Google Map, as well as pan back and forth. Click the box to see our entire route at the same time.

A = Frankfurt am Main & Kelsterbach (Germany) B = Steinheim, Besigheim & Stuttgart (Germany) C = Tübingen & Rottenburg am Neckar (Germany) D = Reutlingen & Bad Urach (Germany) E = Dachau & Munich (Germany) F = Garmish-Partenkirchen & Zugspitze (Germany) G = Innsbruck (Austria) H = Füssen im Allgäu (Germany) I = Wertach (Germany) & Jungholz (Austria) J = Blaichach & Bad Hindelang (Germany) K = Lindau (Germany) & Bregenz (Austria) L = Heiden, Au & Koblach (Switzerland) M = Feldkirch (Austria) & Vaduz (Liechtenstein) N = Luzern/Lucerne & Hertenstein (Switzerland) O = Interlaken & Thun (Switzerland) P = Bern & Biel/Bienne (Switzerland) Q = Delémont & Basel (Switzerland) R = Colmar, Gunsbach & Dambach-la-Ville (France) S = Strasbourg (France) & Kehl (Germany) T = Natzweiler/Struthof (France) U = Sarrebourg (France) V = Saarbrucken (Germany) W = Schengen (Luxembourg) X = Trier (Germany) Y = Kelsterbach & Frankfurt Airport (Germany)

Europe - August 2010 - 1,998 km View Larger Map

Our trip had many objectives -- attend a wedding, make an Hiroshima Day presentation, take a vacation, see the Alps, etc. Insofar as my interest in peace monuments is concerned, we pursued four objectives:

(I.) Try independent peace tourism. There is increasing talk about "peace tourism," and we though we'd try this on our own, i.e. by following a travel itinerary designed to maximize visits to peace monuments and other peace sites -- something analogous to a "golf vacation" or visiting cathedrals or seeing many Civil War battlefields on the same trip. To see how this might work in a previously unvisited area, I identified as many peace monuments in advance as I could, and we followed an appropriate "peace itinerary" after the wedding. (Click here to see the itinerary as planned before our trip.) In my opinion, the plan worked beautifully, and -- as with any plan -- the seeking out of specific and sometimes out-of-the-way locations led to serindipitous "discoveries" which we would never have made otherwise. Our choice to travel (as we do in the USA) in a self-sufficient "van conversion" (a relatively small recreation vehicle or "RV") had advantages and disadvantages. We were free to go anywhere at any time, and we were completely independent of hotels, of the need to make reservations, and of the labor required to pack, repack and handle baggage. On the other hand, it was often difficult to park -- particularly in central cities (altstadts) -- and it was difficult to receive the benefits of visiting tourist information offices (which in Europe are rarely on highways and are usually in railroad stations and other central city locations).

(II.) Collect monuments for this website. I endeavor to maintain an on-line database ("Peace Monuments Around the World") of every peace monument in the world, but of course I am learning about and adding "new" peace monuments all the time. The planning for this trip identified 47 peace monuments on or close to our intended route (of which we actually visited 19). In the course of this trip, we identified 35 more peace monuments (of which we actually visited 14). The "discovery" of "new" monuments was greatly assisted in and near Tübingen (Germany) by our new friend Mark R. Hatlie. Six of the newly "discovered" monuments were not near our route at all but in Paris, Compiègne, Vienna, Italy, and Egypt and on the border between Germany and the Netherlands.

(III.) Compare memorialization of WW-II in Europe & Japan. Peace monuments (including "museums for peace") are frequently related to war, and -- since the WW-II experiences of Europe and Japan are very different -- one would expect the post-war evolution of peace monuments to be very different. Ironically, it's a mere accident of history that many post-war monuments in Japan (particulary museums which interpret Hiroshima, Nagasaki, other aerial bombing, and/or Japanese aggression) are generally named for "peace" (heiwa), whereas monuments and museums in Europe (which interpret Nazi attrocities, deportation, racism, and wartime resistance) -- not to mention museums in the USA (which interpret the story of Native Americans, slavery, the immigrant experience, the Holocaust, the civil rights movement, and the environment) -- are rarely if ever actually named for "peace" (e.g. frieden, paix & pace). (See "Trip to Japan in October 2008.")

(IV.) Visit and learn from museums for peace. We visited five "museums for peace," passed two others, and leraned about yet one more (which closed in 2009). Two of these eight museums (Lindau & Nurnburg) are general "peace museums." Three (Gunsbach, Heiden & Kaysersburg) memorialize Nobel Peace Prize laureates. One (Bad Hindelang) presented the stories of multiple peacemakers. And two (Dachau & Struthof) interpret man's inhumanity to man. Neither the name nor the logo of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP) was visible at any of these sites -- including the "peace museums" file drawer at the museum in Lindau (qv). The INMP changed its name in 2005 in order to embrace "museums for peace" which do not have the word "peace" in their names, but no result of this decision is yet visible on the ground. It will take some effort on the part of the INMP to demonstrate that these museums have a common purpose. Until then, a great marketing opportunity for peace education and appreciation is being lost, and museums are not realizing their potential to help bring about peace and justice.

The physical forms of the 81 peace monuments include:

one angel (Munich),
five bells (Heiden, Kronplatz, Mösern, Sinai & Vienna),
two bridges (Frankfurt & Strasbourg/Kehl),
six burial places (Basel, Munich, Natzweiler, Tailfingen, Tübingen & Zurich),
four churches (Dachau, Frankfurt, Rottenburg & Sarrebourg),
one column (Munich),
four concentration camps (Dachau, Hailfingen-Tailfingen, Hinzert & Natzweiler),
two courthouses (Nurnburg & Strasbourg),
three Nazi deserters monuments (Stuttgart, Tübingen & Ulm),
two fountains (Saarbrucken & Tübingen),
five government buildings (Frankfurt, Munich, Strasbourg & two in Luxembourg City),
one hotel (Luzern/Lucerne),
four houses or villas (Gunsbach, Heiden, Kaysersburg & Lindau),
one invisible monument (Saarbrucken),
one library (Augsburg),
three mahnmals/warning monuments (Hailfingen-Tailfingen, Tailfingen & Saarbrucken),
three murals (Kelsterbach, Tübingen & Ulm),
three museums for peace - general (Lindau, Nurnberg & Schirmeck),
three museums for peace - Jewish history (Frankfurt, Munich & Paris),
five museums for peace - Holocaust (Besançon, Compiègne, Dachau, Esch-sur-Alzette & Struthof),
three museums for peace - peacemakers (Gunsbach, Heiden & Kaysersburg),
one obelisk (Lindau),
three peace studies institutes (Ludwigsburg & two in Frankfurt),
two peace trails (Lindau & Mösern),
five plaques (Frankfurt, Hertenstein, Missen-Wilhams & two in Tübingen),
one pyramid (Hailfingen-Tailfingen),
fifteen sculptures (Basel, Dachau, Esch-sur-Alzette, Heiden, Gronau/Losser, Hailfingen-Tailfingen, Kehl, Natzweiler, Offenburg, Saarbrucken, Schengen, Ulm, Zurich & two in Luxembourg City),
two sites of former museums for peace (Bad Hindelang & Luzern/Lucerne),
one site of a former synagogue (Tübingen),
four squares (Frankfurt, Munich, Saarbrucken & Tübingen),
one stained glass window (Sarrebourg),
one stones (Hochberg & Rottenburg),
two streets (Nurnburg & Saarbrucken),
one telephone box (Beisigheim), and
one tree (Frickenhausen).

As usual, visiting a selection of peace monuments proves the amazing variety in which the human ideal of "peace" has been celebrated and preserved by different people at different times. My peace monuments website contains (or will soon contain) photos, hot links, and other specific information about these and other peace monuments. The various pages of the website place each monument in its thematic, geographic, and temporal contexts.

Capsule descriptions and illustrations of the 82 peace monuments (and selected other things of interest) are shown below in the order in which we visited them. By no means does this web page show all of the peace monuments in Germany and adjacent areas. Click these links for web pages which attempt to display all peace monuments in their respective areas: Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and European Community.

Symbols used below:

= Peace monument which we visited on this trip. = Peace monument which we did not visit on this trip.
= Other site which we saw on this trip. = Other site on our itinerary but which we did not see on this trip.

= Museum for peace already identified with the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP).
= Peace monument in some way identified with the Nobel Peace Prize.
= Peace monument in some way identified with the Red Cross.
= Peace monument in some way identified with European Union.
= Peace monument in some way identified with Nazi Germany.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

- Fly on American Airlines (AA) from Knoxville (USA) via Dallas/Fort Worth to Frankfurt-am-Main (Germany).

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

- Arrive Frankfurt Airport. Take train to main railroad station (hauptbahnhof). Visit Oskar Schindler plaque. Visit Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (HSFK)/Peace Research Insitute Frankfurt (PRIF). Meet Babette Knauer who informs us about a Jewish musuem and nearby Friedensbrücke (Peace Bridge) in Frankfurt. Walk from hauptbahnhof to Paulskirche. Lunch at ratskeller in Frankfurt city hall (rathaus). Visit Paulskirche. Take train to Kelsterbach & come across peace mural in Kelsterbach train station underpass. Pick up RV from DRM in Kelsterbach. Drive from Kelsterbach to Heilbronn. Shop at ALDI store in ______. Drive through Heilbronn (mostly industrial). See Necker River. Sleep on street in Heilbronn.

Decide not to visit Friedensbrücke (Peace Bridge), Jewish musuem & Deutsches Albert Schweitzer Zentrum in Frankfurt due to lack of time. Drive past Mannheim & Heidelberg.

P L A Q U E

September 10, 1996 - Oskar-Schindler-Gedenktafel, Hauptbahnhof 4, Frankfurt am Main (Germany). Inscribed, " In this house lived from 1965 to 1974, Oskar Schindler. During the period of National Socialism, he saved over 1,200 Jews from death in Auschwitz and other camps A tree grows in Israel, which says what can courage. A tree grows at Yad Vashem, the inertia of deeply ashamed. A tree grows in Israel, which asks who will help today. Dieter Trautwein." From Peter van den Dungen: "There is a plakette / plaque dedicated to Oscar Schindler [1908-1974] on a building opposite the central railway station, if I remember correctly. It is in any case in the city centre, where I happened to come across it."

O F F I C E

1970 - Peace Research Insitute Frankfurt (PRIF) Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (HSFK), Baseler Straße 27-31, D-60329 Frankfurt am Main (Germany). Phone: 069-95 91 04-0, Fax: 069-55 84 81, E-Mail: info@hsfk.de. From Peter van den Dungen: "Two Gandhi sculptures, at least.. The building itself may also be a peace monument in your collection." "HSFK reports contain scientific analyses of current problems and offer recommendations for dealing with them. PRIF has been publishing reports in English since 1987." Click here for the Hessian Peace Prize.

Comment: Certainly not a musuem, although lobby on an upper floor contains a bust and some photos of Gandhi.

Date? - Ratskeller, Frankfurter Römer, Paulsplatz, Frankfurt am Main (Germany). "Frankfurter Römer is not just one of the best known town halls (rathaus) in Germany, but it has also garnered a name as a top-end event location. Famous people from all over the world, starting with US president John F. Kennedy and going on to the Dalai Lama, Michael Gorbachev and many more have already visited these historic premises in this world-class metropolis."

C H U R C H

1850 - Paulskirche, Paulsplatz, Frankfurt am Main (Germany). From Peter van den Dungen: "Seat of course of the 1848-49 parliament [the first publicly and freely elected body of Germany], but also of the August 1850 international peace congress (of the peace movement). If I remember well, there are some reminders of this inside the building. I visited it at least once, when I received an invitation to attend the award of Germany’s most important peace prize, the one awarded by the German book trade (Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels). The annual ceremony is being held here. In my view, it comes second, after the Nobel, in terms of the elaborateness of the ceremony, the dignity of the occasion, the standing in the country, the documentation which is produced, etc. It follows the Nobel at some distance, but that is inevitable (no royalty involved, the prize money is less, the outside world hardly takes notice, etc.). It has interesting origins, not long after WW-II."

Comment: Absolutely no physical evidence at Paulskirche of the 1850 peace conference or of the annual Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels. No plaque, not part of the many bilingual photo displays (devoted almost entirely to the 1848-49 conference and to the destruction by allied bombs and fire in 1944), not part of the multilanguage film, no mention in English language brochure. This was confirmed by the attendent on duty -- who at least knew of the 1850 peace conference. The Paulskirche may therefore be a "freedom monument," but it hardly serves as a "peace monument." Click here for all peace conferences.

O F F I C E

S Q U A R E

S C U L P T

June 1, 1998 - Euro Tower, Willy-Brandt-Platz, Frankfurt am Main (Germany). Headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB). "Dominating the square is the large Euro symbol, well-known by tourists." Willy Brandt [1913-1992] received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971.

O F F I C E

Date? - Deutsches Albert Schweitzer Zentrum, Wolfsgangstraße 109, Frankfurt am Main (Germany). "Reverence for Life means: I am life that wants to live in the midst of life that wants to live." Albert Schweitzer this movement as the central message of his thinking left." From Peter van den Dungen: "By the way, there is a large office promoting Albert Schweitzer's work in Frankfurt. I visited it once, and it also has a permanent exhibition, if I remember correctly. But it is not in the list of peace museums." Albert Schweitzer [1875-1965] received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.

M U S E U M

Date? - Jüdisches Museum / Jewish Museum, Untermainkai 14, Frankfurt am Main (Germany). "One of the three major Jewish museums in Germany. Prior to World War II the city of Frankfurt had the highest percentage of Jewish inhabitants with over 26,000 Jewish citizens. /// The open character of its internal architecture was intentional, and gives the sense of accessibility to all interested visitors. However, owing to its subject matter, the museum - housed in two classical mansions - is a high risk target for vandals, terrorists and the like. This creates a balancing act that requires exceptional understanding from decision makers when it comes to security precautions. The building is necessarily secured by 360° video surveillance."

B R I D G E

March 1, 1951 - Friedensbrücke/Peace Bridge, Main River, Frankfurt am Main (Germany). Original bridge served as major access route by US Army in 1945 because it was only partially damaged by the retreating Nazi army, causing the reconstructed bridge to be named for Peace.

M U R A L

August 2005 - Peace Mural, Underpass, Banhhof / Train Station, Kelsterbach (Germany). Near Franbkfurt Airport. Contains the word "peace" in 20 different languages and hands colored as the flags of many nations. (Only one of four sections is shown in the image.) Created for or during Weltjuendtag / World Youth Day. "World Youth Day 2005 was a Catholic youth festival August 16-21 which took place in the Archdiocese of Cologne. Advance meetings were held August 11-15 in all the German dioceses."

Deutsche Reisemobil Vermietungs GmbH (DRM) ("der größten deutschen Wohnmobilvermietung"). Frankfurt depot, Kleiner Kornweg 2-4, 65451, Kelsterbach, near Frankfurt Airport (Germany). Like the van we rented.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

- Drive from Heilbronn to Steinheim an der Murr. Shop in Ludwigsburg with Cynthia for pillows at large IKEA store, buy cell phone in adjacent mall & have lunch at seafood cafeteria. Dinner at Besenstube Deiß in Ilsfeld/Abstetterhof. Sleep on street in front of Alex's & Frank's apartment in Steinheim an der Murr.

Decide not to visit Schloss Monrepos in Ludwigsburg.

Date? - Steinheim an der Murr (Germany). On the river Murr, 9 km northeast of Ludwigsburg. The Steinheim Skull was found near Steinheim an der Murr. Home of bridegroom.

Date? - Breuningerland Ludwigsburg, Heinkelstrasse 1, Ludwingsburg (Germany). Large indoor mall -- exactly like malls in USA -- with adjacent IKEA store (no air conditioning).

Date? - Besenstube Deiß, Ilsfeld/Abstetterhof (Germany). Village restaurant in former cow barn. Owned by cousin of the bridegroom. 10.7 km north of Steinheim an der Murr. Nothing like this in USA!

December 1958 - Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen zur Aufklarung von NS Verbrechen / Central Office of the State Judicial Administration for the Clearing-up of National Socialist Crimes, Ludwigsburg (Germany).

Friday, August 6, 2010

- Drive from Steinheim an der Murr via Beisigheim, Ludwigsburg & Stuttgart to Tübingen. Attend Cynthia's & Alex's wedding at city hall (rathaus) and wedding luncheon at Olive Cafe Restaurant in Beisigheim. Visit red telephone box representing Beisigheim's sister city relationship with Newton Abbey (England). Drive through Ludwigsburg & Stuttgart. Drive past Schloss Monrepos in Ludwigsburg. Meet Dr. Mark Hatlie in Tübingen. Make Hiroshima Day presentation (comparing Hiroshima & Oak Ridge and emphasizing Norman Cousins, Barbara Reynolds & Alvin Weinberg) at the Schlatterhaus in Tübingen. Sleep in parking lot near Mark's apartment in Tübingen.

Date? - Rathaus, Marktplatz, Besigheim (Germany). Scene of wedding on August 6. Lunch afterwards in "Olive" restaurant (pink building in right of image), Marktplatz 2, 74354 Besigheim.

Date? - British Telephone Box, Rathaus/City Hall, Besigheim, Baden-Wurtemburg (Germany). Symbolizes Besingheim's sister city relationship with Newton Abbey (England).

Date? - Stuttgart (Germany). See guide books. "Stuttgart Region has a population of 2.7 million, the third biggest urban area in Germany after the Ruhr Area and Berlin. Spread across a variety of hills (some of them vineyards), valleys and parks - unusual for a German city and often a source of surprise to visitors who primarily associate the city with its industrial reputation as the 'cradle of the automobile'."

July 16, 1904 - Bismarcktürme / Bismarck Tower, Killesbergpark (Höhenpark Killesberg), Stuttgart (Germany). "Bismarck Towers are a unique German monument genre, to honor the ex-chancellor Otto von Bismarck [1815-1898]. Approximately 250 of these towers were built between the German unification and the National Socialist takeover, between 1869 and 1934. They were built in various styles, on four continents (Australia, South America, Africa and Europe). Of those 250 about 170 remain." Also in Tübingen.

1953-1957 - Birkenkopf / Rubble Hill, south west of Stuttgart (Germany). Plaque says, "raised 40.2 meters from 1953 to 1957 / by piling up 1.5 million cubic meters of rubble from Stuttgart which had been 45% destroyed by 53 air attacks during WW-II." There is a path going up to the cross at the top. Now a popular area for short hikes. Refered to locally as "Monte Scherbelino," a jocular Italian-sounding name based on the German word Scherbe, meaning "shard" - "Mountain of shards." Info & Image from Mark Hatlie.

August 30, 2007 - Memorial to Deserters, Theaterhaus, Stuttgart (Germany). Smaller "postive" figure in front of larger "negative" figure. Awaits a more permanent location in downtown Stuttgart. NB: More than 15,000 men were executed for desertion by the Nazi regime. This monument was opposed by all political parties. The federal government argued that "Deserters are people who avoid their responsibility to the community." Info & Image from Mark Hatlie.

Date? - Tübingen (Germany). See guide books. "A traditional university town." Eberhard Karls University was founded in 1477.

August 6, 1948 - "Memorial Monument to the Victims of the Atomic Bomb [at] Hiroshima Municipal Girls High School", Peace Boulevard, Hiroshima (Japan). Shows three girls in school uniforms. One holds a dove of peace, and one holds a "soul-solacing wreath." Middle girl holds a box inscribed "E=MC squared." (The words "Atomic Bomb" would have been denied by the occupying authorities.) Built as a tower by parents at the high school in 1948, dedicated on 3rd anniversary of the bomb, and moved to present location in 1957. #35 of 56 "cenotaphs & monuments" on the Virtual E-Tour. Photo taken by EWL on October 11, 2008. Click here for all peace monumentsd in Hiroshima.

Comment: By all accounts this is the oldest peace monument in Hiroshima (Japan). This image was shown as part of the PowerPoint presentation in Tübingen on August 6. Man in the image is Gerard Lössbroek of Bergeijk (Netherlands), who wrote, "Permission to use the picture is gladly given. Mit herzlichem Friedenswunsch."

Saturday, August 7, 2010

- Tour monuments near ____ & in Tübingen led by Mark Hatlie, including KZ-Außenlager Hailfingen-Tailfingen (concentration camp). Shop for blanket & other supplies in Tübingen. Drive from Tübingen to Ulm. Drive through Ulm. Dinner at ____ Italian Restaurant near cathedral in Ulm. Sleep on street in Lehr (small suburb just north of Ulm).

Hatlie, Mark R. (date?), "Deconstructing historical markers: How to question historical places, monuments, memorials, and museums", Tübingen (Germany). "Hatlie is an American who has been living in Old Europe for over 18 years [m Feuerhägle 1 D-72072 Tübingen, +49-7071-792696]." Click here for on-line text.

Hatlie, Mark R. (ongoing), "Sites of Memory: Historical Markers, Memorials, Monuments, and Cemeteries", website, Tübingen (Germany). Click here for home page.

Hatlie, Mark R. (ongoing), "Sites of Memory: Readings and Resources", website, Tübingen (Germany). Hot links to many websites about memory and monuments (including this one).

C H U R C H

1947 - Tannenrainkapelle, Tannenrain Hill, Oberndoff (part of Rottenburg), between Herrenberg & Tübingen (Germany). "Wayside chapel 'in honor of the Mother of God, a Via Dolorosa'" constructed after this small town was hit by stray bombs during WW-II. Connected to feelings of guilt about the nearby concentration camp, in which locals were complicit?

S T O N E

Date? - Memorial to Michael Sattler, B28 highway, near Rottenburg am Neckar (Germany). Plaque on a crude roadside boulder. Michael Sattler [c1490-1527] left the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation to become one of the early leaders of the Anabaptist movement. He was involved in missionary activity around Rottenburg and Horb [25 km west] and eventually traveled to Strasbourg. In February 1527 he chaired a meeting of the Swiss Brethren at Schleitheim, at which time the Schleitheim Confession was adopted. In May 1527, Sattler was arrested by Roman Catholic authorities, along with his wife and several other Anabaptists. He was tried, sentenced and executed as a heretic."

C A M P

June 6, 2010 - KZ-Außenlager Hailfingen-Tailfingen (concentration camp), Hailfingen-Tailfingen (Germany). Site of Nazi airfield constucted by forced labor. Operated November 1944 to February 1945 a sub-camp of Natzweiler-Struthof (qv). Left image is recent mahnmal. Right image is plan by US Intelligence during WW-II.

Comment: This was the first & smallest of three Nazi concentration camps which we visited on this trip. We were alone at this site, with scores of others at Natzweiler-Sturthof, and with hundreds at Dachau.

C E M E T E R Y

June 3, 1945 - Friedhofes / Municipal Cemetery, Tailfingen, near Tübingen (Germany). Google translation: "After WW-II a mass grave of 74 bodies were recovered [from KZ-Außenlager Hailfingen-Tailfingen] and at the local cemetery in Tailfingen buried." "In early June 1945, the supervision of the French military administration, the death of a mass grave at the airfield safe under. Men and women from Tailfingen, Hailfingen, Oberndorf Bondorf and had to dig out the dead and lay in coffins. The population of Hailfingen and Bondorf, but from other towns was also led to the airfield and the exhumed concentration camp prisoners face. A French soldier explained to the group of about 50 people, as the dead were killed had probably life: some were buried alive, some others were by hanging or strangulation. On Sunday, 3rd June 1945 coffins were several military trucks loaded and in the funeral procession, accompanied by a military honor guard, through the village to the cemetery TAILFINGEN driven. The population of the dead guard of honor to stand for the honor. 1986 is the grave in the cemetery TAILFINGEN redesigned and memorial stones have been provided with." Translation of plaque (lower image): "To the victims of the 3rd Reich in memory, [to the] the living a warning!"

C E M E T E R Y

1952 - Gräbenfeld X / Cemetery X, Tübingen (Germany). Has military sections for WW-I and WW-II. Also "served as the cemetery for the anatomical institute of Tübingen University from 1849 to 1963. People who had donated their bodies to science were buried here. But the 1077 people who were buried here from 1933 to 1945 died as victims of the Nazi regime -- starved or killed in POW camps, in hospitals, in concentration camps, work camps, etc. More than 70 were hanged or beheaded by military courts for resistance or openly doubting military victory in the war. 44 of the people here were murdered by the German secret police without trial. 156 were POWs or forced laborers who died of various diseases or of exposure and exhaustion in their camps and were buried here after use by the anatomical institute." "The three crosses were the first indication of a memorial at this site. They were added in 1952. It is hardly visible on the photo, but they read '1939-1945,' giving the impression that this is a war memorial."

M U R A L

Date? - Peace Mural, near Holzmarkt / Timber Market Square, Tübingen (Germany). Painted by local peace activist organization (according to Mark Hatlie, who is posing in the image). Contains the German word for peace / friedens (visible in the image behind the bicycles) but is otherwise devoid of obvious peace symbols. Somewhat overgrown and neglected when visited & photographed on August 7, 2020.

P L A Q U E

1983 - Plaque, Holzmarkt / Timber Market Square, Tübingen (Germany). Erected for 50th asnniversary of National Socialism (Nazi party). English translation: "University City Tübingen. In memory of our Jewish fellow citizens who were exiled and murdered during National Socialist rule. As a constant warning to us and an obligation to defend against racial hatred and intolerance. 1933-1945-1983"

P L A Q U E

1995 - Plaque, Tübingen (Germany). Erected for 50th sanniversary of end of WW-II. English translation: "Sinti and Roma were murdured during the period of Nazi rule. They were subjected to forced sterilization and oppression. People from Tübingen were among those who were murdered and oppressed. Members of the university were among the organizers of racist madness. People in our city were among the perpetrators. 1933-1945-1995"

Comment: These two plaques are side-by-side on a prominent wall in the Holzmarkt, a small square often used for gatherings of different kinds. Mark stressed how monuments evolve -- in this case between 1983 & 1995. I asked him what might happen in the future, and replied that monuments have not yet actually named the perpetrators of crimes during the Nazi era. An "ISLAM INFO STAND" was was set up very near the two plaques, and I asked the two men at the stand for their nationalities. They said Saudi Arabian and Egyptian and gave me an English-language tract, "The Spirit of Islam" (pp. 24) published in Saudi Arabia.

S Y N A G O G U E

November 2000 - Synagogue Memorial, "Synagogenplatz," Gartenstrasse, Tübingen (Germany). At site of Tübingen's former synagogue. From the large metal box to the metal column on the street, there is a narrow channel for water to flow under metal plates bearing the names of victims and down this simple waterfall in the foreground. Commemorates not only the building and its destruction, but also all the Jews of Tübingen who were murdered in the Holocaust. The synagogue was burned down during the Reichskristallnacht of November 9, 1938. Tübingen Nazis threw the Torah rolls into the Neckar, arrested five Jews and sent them to Dachau, and set the synagogue ablaze. After the war, Tübingen courts sentenced three of those involved to prison terms of 20 to 32 months. Info & Image from Mark Hatlie.

Comment: This monument apparently occupies an entire city lot. An apartment house on one side uses the actual footprint of the synagogue. Crowding the monument from the other side is an Indian restaurant with a large Nandi bull in its outdoor seating area.

S Q U A R E

October 21, 2008 - Platz des unbekannten Deserteurs / Unknown Deserters Square, Französisches Viertel / French Quarter, Tübingen (Germany). Created at the initiative of an American woman. Name not used as address for mail of residents. The street sign reads, "In the years 1944 and 1945, when the criminal war of the National Socialists was nearing its end, many soldiers of the German armed forces deserted. They were mercilessly persecuted as 'deserters' and sentenced to death. More than 20,000 sentences were carried out. / There were soldiers in the Tübingen barracks who also no longer wanted to make pointless sacrifices for the National Socialist regime. It is not know how many there were, nor do we know their names. Witnesses report several cases. The deserters were shot in a clearing not far from here. / In memory of this, the Tübingen city council resolved to name this square in July of 2007."

Date? - Segnende Hände der Kohanim auf einem Grabstein, Baisingen (Germany). "On Jewish tombstones you will sometimes see a symbol showing two hands arranged for the Priestly Blessing like the example here. This is a symbol of the Kohen or Cohen (Hebrew for priest). The plural form is Kohanim or Cohanim. Kohanim are assumed to be direct male descendants of Aaron, who was the first Kohen and the brother of Moses. Some Jewish surnames frequently associated with this symbol are Conn or Cohn (Kohn), Cahn (Kahn), and Cohen (Kohen), but you will find the symbol on the grave markers of people with other surnames."

T R E E

1871 - Friedenslinde / Peace Linden Tree, "Our Lady" Protestant Church, Town Square, Frickenhausen, near Stuttgart (Germany). Translation of plaque: "Nature Monument and Symbol of Peace / This linden tree is a protected natural monument. Primary purpose is securing and maintaining it as typical for the landscape. The top of the tree is of particular importance. / This linden tree was planted in 1871 in memory of the end of the war and peace with France. That is why it is called the 'Peace Linden.'" From Mark Hatlie "Perhaps I am too cynical, but I strongly suspect that the tree was originally a Siegeslinde / 'Victory Linden' and was only later, after WW-II, re-interpreted. But I am sending an e-mail to the local pastor. Maybe he can tell me more." Note: Many other linden trees were planted in Germany about this time to mark the end of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871).

-->	Date? - Ulm Cathedral, Ulm (Germany). Ulm is on the Donau/Danube River.

S T O N E

1992 - Memorial stone for Josef Ruf, next to the Maria Geburt / Mary's Birth Catholic Church, Hochberg, Bad Saulgau-Hochberg, Sigmaringen district (Germany). Placed by Pax Christi. Born in Hochberg (now part of the city of Bad Saulgau), Josef Ruf [1905-1940] was a religiously motivated conscientious objector executed by the Nazis. German inscription says, "Lived for peace, died by violence."

Sunday, August 8, 2010

- Visit deserters monument at botanical garden in Ulm. Drive from Ulm via Gunzberg, Augsburg & Dachau to Munich. Visit Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site (Konsentrationslager (KZ) Gedenkstätte Dachau). Receive hard rain. Sleep at RV park (Campingplatz Nord-West) in Munich.

Decide not to try to find the Ulmer PACE-Zaun für den Frieden / Ulm PACE Fence for Peace. Decide not to visit Nurnburg (too far off route from Ulm to Dauchu).

S C U L P T

November 19, 2005 - Memorial to Deserters, Lehrertal entrance, university botanical garden, Ulm (Germany). Creation of Hannah Stuetz Menzel. Memorializes men who deserted the Wehrmacht during World War II. (15,000 were executed.) Information courtesy of Mark Hatlie.

M U R A L

March 28, 2004 - Ulm (Germany). Ulmer PACE-Zaun für den Frieden / Ulm PACE Fence for Peace, Bauzaun/Münsterplatz-Neue Strasse / Cathedral Square-New Road, Ulm (Germany). "A permanent location at the Meeting House of Ulm in the Open Court "firmly united with nature." Thanks to the team of the Meeting House for the loving care and care there!" Related to the Internationale Ärzte für die Verhütung des Atomkrieges / International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).

Date? - Augsburg (Germany). See guide books. "College town & home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. As of 2008, the 3rd largest city in Bavaria with a population >264,000. After Trier, Germany's second oldest city. Only German city with its own legal holiday, the Peace of Augsburg [1555], celebrated on August 8 of every year. This gives Augsburg more legal holidays than any other region or city in Germany." Image shows Hercules Fountain & Church of St. Anna.

Comment: We realized we'd be passing through Augsburg on the city's unique legal holiday -- the Peace of Augsburg -- but we saw no sign of the holiday and no place to inquire. Gradually we recogized that European cities generally have only one tourist information office (i) and that that's usually in or near the central railroad station, and sometimes even in a pedestrian only section of the central city (altstadt). Apparently international and state borders never have welcome centers! This -- plus the general lack of signs along the highways -- makes it very difficult to obtain local information while traveling by motor vehicle. The only tourist information offices we saw on highways were both in Austria -- just north of Seefeld & coming into Innsbruck, and they were very helpful, though neither had any information except for their local areas. The only central city offices we were able to use were in Füssen & Lindau.

L I B R A R Y

Date? - Die Augsburger Friedensgemälde — Tradition und Bedeutung im Rahmen der Erinnerungs- und Gedächtniskultur des Westfälischen Friedens / Paintings of the Peace of Augsburg--Tradition and Meaning in the Realm of the Memorial Culture of the Peace of Westphalia,, Library, University of Augsburg, Augsburg (Germany). "A work that was directed at local school children. Most of the works are allegorical in nature, but they taught recent religious and political history as well. These images specifically pertain to the Peace of Augsburg [1555], the city's role in its formation and its importance to order in the German world."

- Nürnberg / Nuremberg, Bravaria (Germany). See guide books. On the Pegnitz river and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal. Franconia's largest city.

1933-38 - Reichsparteitagsgelände / Nazi party rally grounds, Southesat of Nürnberg / Nuremberg, Bravaria (Germany). Eleven square kilometre site where the Nazi party rallies were held.

C O U R T

1945-46 - Justizpalast / Palace of Justice, Fürther Strasse 110, Nürnberg / Nuremberg, Bravaria (Germany). "Before 1945, the city of Nürnberg (Nuremberg) was most famous for producing a type of gingerbread called Nürnberger Lebkuchen; now the city is known the world over as the location of the proceedings before the International Military Tribunal where German war criminals were put on trial in the aftermath of World War II."

S T R E E T

October 24, 1993 - Straße der Menschenrechte / Way of Human Rights, Germanisches Nationalmuseum /German National Museum, Nuremberg (Germany). "Sited on the street between the new and old buildings of the musuem, connecting Kornmarkt Street and the medieval city wall. Consists of a gate, 27 round pillars made of white concrete, two pillars buried in the ground showing only a round plate, and one columnar oak, for a total of 30 pillars. Engraved in each pillar is one article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "Part of Nuremberg's efforts to shake off its Nazi-era reputation as the 'City of the Party Rallies' and reinvent itself as a 'City of Peace & Human Rights.'" "By Israeli sculptor Danny Karavan. See similar use of stone pillars by Karavan at Nitzana Settlement in the Negev Desert (Israel).

M U S E U M

1998 - Friedensmuseum Nürnberg / Nürnberg Peace Museum, Kaulbachstrasse 2, Nürnberg (Germany). Documents the German peace movement. Affilated with the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP).

C A M P

M U S E U M

S C U L P T

1965 - Konzentrationslager Dachau / Dachau Concentration Camp, Dachau, Bavaria (Germany). First Nazi concentration camp. Now called Gedenkstätte Dachau / Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site.

Date? - Dachau Memorial, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem (Israel). By Nandor Glid.

Comment: Dachau is very impressive. Large crowds obviously moved. As at Hiroshima. Immense new parking lot is on east side of the camp, requiring visitors to walk half way around (in woods) to enter the camp through the famous Arbeit Macht Frei gate on the west side. An American-style visitors center contains a cafeteria and an apparently good multi-lingual bookshop, but it was closed when I emerged from the camp. I talked to three members of an interfaith (Jewish & Muslim) group from the USA: Nasreen I. Badat (US Department of State), Suhail Khan (Institute for Global Engagement, Washington, DC) & Imam Suhjaib Webb (San Francisco Bay area), who were preparing to say a prayer in front of the International Monument (shown above).

P.S.: On September 17, I received the following news story (quoted here in part): "Jews, Muslims make pilgrimage to Auschwitz" by Jeff Diamant: CARLSTADT, NJ (Religious News Service, August 17, 2010) The scenario might have seemed unlikely: prominent Muslims and Jews from the United States, trekking across the Atlantic in mournful, spiritual solidarity to visit two Nazi concentration camps. Together. The trip to Dachau and Auschwitz was meant to combat the rise in Holocaust denial that has popped up in various Muslim and non-Muslim circles around the world—and online—in recent years. “The best way to convince someone about the truth of something is to let them see it for themselves and experience it for themselves,” said Rabbi Jack Bemporad of the Center for Interreligious Understanding in Carlstadt, who organized the trip... On their return, the eight imams released a statement citing the 6 million Jewish deaths in the Holocaust, among 12 million Holocaust deaths overall. It added, “We condemn any attempts to deny this historical reality and declare such denials or any justification of this tragedy as against the Islamic code of ethics.” “Almost everybody was in tears,” said Imam Muzammil Siddiqi, of the Islamic Society of Orange County, CA. “I laid a wreath of flowers there at the wall and recited the words from the Quran which says killing one person is like killing all of humanity and saving one life is like saving all of humanity..." Also during the trip, which was sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Center for Interreligious Understanding, the imams met with the Roman Catholic cardinal of Krakow and the chief rabbi of Poland, who hosted them for dinner on the first night of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Some participants, including Hannah Rosenthal, the US State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, said they felt the trip itself was of historical importance. “I know of no other time that a group of imams experienced the camps, and prayed at the camps, and came out with a strong statement that condemns Holocaust denial, Holocaust justification, Holocaust comparison and anti-Semitism,” Rosenthal said. “I know of no other time that’s happened in history.” The sight of Muslims praying at Dachau stopped other passers-by in their tracks, she said. (Jeff Diamant writes for The Star-Ledger in Newark, NJ.)"

C H U R C H

April 30, 1967 - Evangelische Versohnungskirche / Protestant Church of Reconcilliation, Dachau (Germany). Designed by Helmut Striffler. Dedicated by the Rev. Martin Niemöller [1892-1984], one of the most famous prisoners in Dachau and the first sent to Sachsenhausen after he was convicted of treason for preaching against the Nazi government. One of five religious monuments on the grounds of Gedenkstatte Dachau; the other four are Katholische Todesangst-Christ-Kapelle (1960), Kloster Karmel "Heilig Blut," (1965), Judische Gedenkstatte (1967) & Russisch-orthodox Kapelle (1995).

Marcuse, Harold (January 2000 & ongoing) "Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, (KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau) 1933-1945-2005," Department of History, University of California, Santa Barbara, California (USA), webpage.

1997 to Date - Stolperstein / Stumbling Stone, Dachau & many other cities (Germany & Austria). "Artist Gunter Demnig [b.1947] has given this word a new meaning, that of a small, cobblestone-sized memorial for a single victim of Nazism. These memorials commemorate those deported and killed by the Nazis, mostly in Nazi concentration camps or extermination camps, including Jews, Sinti and Romani people (also called gypsies), members of the Resistance during World War II, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christians in opposition to the Nazis and the disabled. The list of cities that have stolpersteine now extends to several countries and hundreds of cities and towns." Demnig laid some 15,000 stones in over 345 towns by August 2008. Click here for a Goethe-Institut article about stolpersteine.

Comment: Mark Hatlie told us about stolpersteine, but we never spotted one during our trip. A map poster just outside the Dachau concentration camp showed the locations of two stolpersteine in the City of Dachau.

Monday, August 9, 2010

- Drive from Munich via Icking & Ettal to Garmish. Drive through Munich, including university district. Lunch at post house near Icking [name?]. Visit Ettal Closter. Buy beer & liqueurs. Shop at ALDI store in Garmish. Sleep on street near railroad station in Garmish.

Attempt to visit Viktualienmarkt (Munich food market), but no parking found. Drive several kilometers into forest attempting to find ____ Lodge in Garmish.

Date? - Munich (Germany). See guide books.

Date? - Viktualienmarkt, Munich (Germany). Open air food market. Near the Jewish Museum & Peterskirche.

C O L U M N

After 1871 - Friedensengel / Angel of Peace, on opposite side of Luitpoldbrücke over Isar River, Munich, Bavaria (Germany). "Rising above the terraces in the axis of the Prinzregentenstrasse is the 38-metre 'Angel of Peace,' which is the dominant feature of the park and is often regarded as a symbol of Munich. Created to mark the 25 years of peace after the 1871 Treaty of Versailles, it is mounted on a 23-metre column above a small hall, and is modelled on Athena, goddess of wisdom and peace, but also goddess of 'strategic' war, and she holds Nike in her hand, the goddess of victory. The Friedensengel provides a spectacular view of the city, and is sited above a superb terrace, which is unfortunately marred by heavy traffic."

Date? - Temple of Peace?, Maximilian Park, Munich (Germany). What & where is this?

S Q U A R E

S C U L P T

Date? - Geschwister-Scholl-Platz / Scholl Siblings Square, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Ludwigstraße, München/Munich (Germany). In front of the main university building. Includes Memorial to the White Rose resistance group (tile reproductions of White Rose pamphlets scattered on the ground).

G R A V E S

1943 - Graves of Hans Scholl [1918-1943], Sophie Scholl [1921-1943] & Christoph Probst [1919-1943], Friedhof am Perlacher Forst / Cemeterty in Perlacher Forest, next to the Stadelheim Prison, Munich (Germany).

M U S E U M

2010 - Jüdische Museum München / Jewish Museum Munich, St.-Jakobs-Platz 16, Munich (Germany). "On our three exhibition floors, visitors gain a world of insights into Jewish life and culture in Munich. A special section geared towards young as well as adult audiences provides in-depth information on Jewish history and religion. On each gallery floor there will be a study area."

September 30, 1938 - Führerbau, Munich (Germany). "Hitler's office was in the room just above the balcony. The Nazi eagle and swastika can be seen at top center." Also where the Munich Peace Agreement was signed on September 29, 1938, by PM Neville Chamberlain, who proclaimed, "My good friends, for the second time in our history a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time." Building is now a school, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.

Date? - Ettal (Germany). Ettal Abbey is famous for brewing beer. "During the winter of 1940-41, the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer [1906-1945] spent some months at the monastery as the friend and guest of the Abbot. Like Bonhoeffer, a number of those in the Ettal community were involved in the conspiracy against Hitler. While at Ettal, Bonhoeffer also worked on his book Ethics. Catholic priest Rupert Mayer was kept at the Abbey from 1939 to 1945 by the Nazis to prevent him for [sic] further anti-Nazi preaching."

Date? - Scloss Linderof / Linderof Palace (Germany). Smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one of which he lived to see completion. Name of restaurant in Farragut, Tennessee (USA).

Date? - Oberammergau (Germany). Oberammergau Passion play every ten years, including 2010.

Date? - Garmish-Partenkirchen (Germanry). "Already a popular German ski resort area, the growing city became a U.S. military garrison in 1945. Since then it's evolved into the US Army Garrison Garmisch (USAG) and currently shares the kaserne with the Bundeswehr's Gebirgsmusikkorps of the First Mountain Division."

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

- Take Bayerische Zugspitzbahn (cog railway) to summit of Zugspitze (2,962 meters) & return, in part via cable car to Eibsee. Drive from Garmish via Partenkirken, Mittenwald & Mösern (Austria) to Innsbruck. Visit Friedensglocke des Alpensraumes (Peace Bell of the Alpine Region) in "Friedens Dorf" (peace village) Mösern [one hour too early for the bell's daily ringing at 5:00 pm]. Sleep on street in Innsbruck.

Attempt (before leaving home) to contact Prof. Laurie Cohen at University of Innsbruck, but she is vacationing in Scotland. Attempt to eat in garden of Gasthaus ____ on ___ Strasse in Innsbruck, but one of our dinners was never served, and the other was not as ordered.

Date? - Zugspitze, Grainau (Germany). Highest mountain in Germany, at 2,962 metres above sea level. There is a cog railway (Zugspitzbahn) leading from Garmisch-Partenkirchen all the way to the peak. There are also two cable cars that go to the peak from the base of the mountain: One ascends from the German side of the mountain at the lake Eibsee (Eibsee Cable Car), and the other ascends from Austria near Ehrwald (Tyrolean Zugspitze Cable Car). The peak is regularly crowded with tourists.

Comment: We were waiting for an elevator at the summit when a group of black men and women emerged led by an English-speaking German guide. I thought they must be Americans and spoke to one of the gentlemen who said they were all from Lagos, Nigeria. When I said that I'd lived in Lagos, the gentlemen said we had to talk. He pulled me aside and proceeded to tell me how many years he'd been in charge of infectious diseases for WHO, both in Lagos and in Geneva.

Date? - Mittenwald (Germany). Said to be the most beautful town in Germany. "Connected with the violin. There is a violin-making museum near the centre and Mathias Klotz, the founder of the industry, is commemorated by a statue next to the church. Also a town built on trade, straddling the old commercial route from Germany via the Seefeld plateau south into Italy. Its medieval prosperity, like so many other towns, was founded on the granting of a market charter."

B E L L

October 12, 1997 - Friedensglocke des Alpenraumes / Peace Bell of the Alpine Region , Hotel Habhof, Mösern bei Seefeld, Upper Inntal Valley (Austria). Commemorates the 25th anniversary of the ARGE ALP agreement signed in Mösern by eleven Alpine states to "seek joint solutions in the fields of culture & economy, agriculture & traffic." Rings every day at 5:00 pm. Cast at the Grassmayr Foundry in nearby Innsbruck. Second image shows spectacular view from the bell of the Inn River Valley.

T R A I L

After 1997 - Fridensglocken-Wanderweg / Peace Bell Hiking Trail, Mösern bei Seefeld, Upper Inntal Valley (Austria). Mösern calls itself "Friedens Dorf" / "Peace Village" because of the 1972 treaty and the 1997 Friedensglocke des Alpenraumes / Peace Bell of the Alpine Region. The trail is designed to cover scenic spots, takes about 90 minutes to hike, and ends at the Peace Bell.

Date? - Innsbruck (Austria). See guide books.

Date? - Institut für Politikwissenschaft / Institute for Political Science Universität Innsbruck / University of Innsbruck, Universitätsstrasse 15, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria). Dr. Laurie R. Cohen, Tel.: +43 (0) 512 507 - 7072, Fax: +43 (0) 512 507 - 2849, Raum: w 2.20, laurie.cohen@uibk.ac.at

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

- Visit Grassmayr Glockengiesserei (Grassmayr Bell Foundry & Museum) in Innsbruck. Drive from Innsbruck via Obsteig, Lermoos & Bichlbach to Füssen im Allgäu (Germany). Lunch at post house near Obsteig [name?]. See Mark Hatlie briefly in Bichlbach. Picnic dinner in park on lake shore (Forggensee) near Füssen im Allgäu. Drive around a smaller lake (Hopfensee). Sleep on street in Füssen im Allgäu.

Decide not to visit Neuschwanstein Castle or Hohenschwangau Castle.

F O U N D R Y

M U S E U M

1599 - Grassmayr Bell Museum & Sound Room (Glockenmuseum und Klangraum), 53 Leopoldstrasse, Innsbruck (Austria). Grassmayr bell works in Innsbruck since 1599. Located at the south end of central Innsbruck, a tram ride or walk from the old town. The foundry tour (by appointment) and the small museum are free of charge, open during business hours from 9 to 5 Monday to Friday.

Comment: The foundry, museum, garden, shop, and company offices occupy a cluster of adjacent buildings on a prominent Innsbruck intersection. The museum displays two letters from Berlin c.1939 (which end "Heil Hilter") ordering the company to discontinue casting bells. The shop sells bells in all sizes but offers no replica of the famous peace bell in Mösern, so we bought only a small bell we thought to be similar. We asked about peace bells and were introduced to Johannes Grassmayr (seen above in the museum's "sound room") who was very nice and showed us the actual foundry (which was relatively quiet due to the absense of employees on August holidays). He told us about the peace bell in Eqypt (see below) and promised to email information about other peace bells.

B E L L

1951 - "The Pummerin," North Tower, Stephansdom / St. Stephen's Cathedral, Wien/Vienna (Austria). "By the Turks guns originating from material and its casting in the early days of the Second Republic, it is also a symbol of peace, freedom and the country as a gift from the province of Upper Austria for the St. Stephen's Cathedral was destroyed in World War II as a symbol of the reconstruction [Google translation]." Called "The Voice of Austria." At 21,383 kg, the third largest bell in Western & Central Europe, after St. Petersglocke in Cologne Cathedral (24.000 kg) and Maria Dolens (qv) in Rovereto, Italy (23.000 kg).

B E L L

About 1991 - Peace Bell, Chapel of the Holy Trinity, Musa Gebal / Mount Sinai, Sinai Peninsula (Egypt). Cast by Grassmayr Bell Foundry (qv) of Innsbruck (Austria). From plaque: "PEACE for everyone in the world!" From foundry brochure: "On Moses' Holy Mount of three religions (Judaism, Christianity & Islam) a bell rings for peace."

Date? - Füssen im Allgäu, Bravaria (Germany). Highest town in Bavaria (808 m above sea level). The famous castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau are located near the town. Terminus of the Romantic Road. The Forggensee is a man-made lake which was built to prevent flooding. It is the catchment area for all the melting snow in the spring.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

- Drive from Fussen via Wertach & Jungholz (Austria) to Blaichach (Germany). Shop at ____ store in Wertach. Buy wooden souvenir from Bein Brunnenmacher (leg fountain maker?) shop just outside Wertach. Drive through Jungholz (a tiny ski area with two banks). Visit Drs. Jutta & Horst Lehmann. Dinner with Jutta & Horst at Obere Mühle, a country restaurant in an old mill & barn, in Bad Hindelang. Sleep in home of Jutta & Horst in Blaichach.

Date? - Jungholz (Austria). Tiny Austrian village (and ski slope) entirely surrounded by Germany except at a single point at the summit of a mountain (right image).

Date? - South of Kempten im Allgäu, Allgäu, Bravaria (Germany). Home of Drs. Jutta and Horst Lehmann, Martinstreet 8. 87544 Blaichach, telefon (0049) O8321/88118, email samoa60@yahoo.de. Image shows the Alpenglow viewed from Allgäuer Berghof in Blaichach.

B E L L

2000 - Glocke für den Frieden "Concordia" / Concordia Peace Bell, Summit of Kronplatz [2,272 m], Bruneck/Branico (Italy). In German speaking part of Italy. Designed by artist Paul de Doss-Moroder from Gröden and cast by bell foundry Glockengiesserei Oberascher in Salzburg (Austria), the bell weights over 18 tonnes and is set on an 11 m wide panorama platform. Inscribed "Donet deus populis pacem" / "God gives peace to the people." Has view of the wonderful mountain landscape between the Zillertaler Alps and the Dolomites. Rung on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday at 12:00 am. Originally identified by Dr. Jutta Lehmann of Blaichach (Germany).

Date? - Obere Mühle, Bad Hindelang, Bravaria (Germany). Country restaurant in an old mill & barn. Dinner with Drs. Jutta and Horst Lehmann. Three of us order the Allgäuer Trilogie.

M U S E U M

1999-2009 - Friedenshistorisches Museum / Peace History Museum, Ortsteil Bad Oberdorf, Hindelangstgraße 20 87541, Bad Hindelang (Germany). From Peter van den Dungen, August 26, 2010: "I was surprised to see that you were in Bad Hindelang (and had a meal there). You could have seen the building which housed, until recently, the Friedenshistorisches Museum, now closed down." From museum website: "Instead of the story as a result of of wars and conflicts represent, to the life and work known and unknown path-ready peace and the reconciling justice more in the public consciousness shifted be [Google translation]." From Yamane (2008): "The Friedenshistorisches Museum honours and commemorates peace figures and peace initiatives from two millennia. Memorable may be here the opening of the museum's fifth summer season in 2003, with a lecture by the peace museum director, Thomas Wechs [Jr.], about the English bishop Dr. George Bell [1883-1958] and his strong protest in the British House of Lords against British bombing on German civilian population during Second World War. (With thanks to Gerard Lössbroek)"

Comment: Thomas Wechs [Jr.] apparently created peace museums in Bad Oberdorf and in Lindau (see below). I assume that he is the son of famed architect Thomas Wechs [1893-1970] who built churches in both places. Note the museum website is still on-line but gives its "Contact" as Friedenshistorisches Archive, Burgkmairstraße 14, Augsburg 86152 (Germany), e-mail info * friedensmuseum.de.

The website features (and presumably the museum featured) these 18 individuals and pairs: Cain & Abel, François Fénelon [1651-1715], Bertha von Suttner [1843-1914], Truus Wijsmuller-Meijer [1896-1978], Bishop George Bell [1883-1958], Martin Luther King, Jr. [1929-1968], Saint Marcellus the Centurion [c. mid 3rd century-298 AD], Archbishop Denis Auguste Affre [1793-1848], Popes Pius X & Benedikt XV, Franz Reinisch [1903-1942], Elisabeth von Fuchs Kemény [dates?], Reinhold Schneider [1900-1958], Francisco de Vitoria [c1483-1546], Florence Nightingale [1820-1910], Mahatma Gandhi [1869-1948], Nagelkreuzgemeinschaft / Cross of Nails Community (see below), Bishop Pierre-Marie Théas [1895-1977], and Werner Heisenberg [1901-1976].

Friday, August 13, 2010

- Drive from Blaichach via Lindau (Germany) & Heiden (Switzerland) to Feldkirch (Austria). Drive through island portion of Lindau in Lake Constance (Bodensee). Visit Friedens-Raeume (peace museum) in mainland portion of Lindau. Visit nearby Coventry peace monument on edge of Lake Constance (Bodensee). Purchase "Pax Christi: Orte des Gedenkens, Begens und Handelns" / "Pax Christi: Places of remembrance, prayer and action," pp. 93, 2008. Visit Henry-Dunant-Museum in Heiden. Dinner at China Restaurant Hu Xin in Feldkirch. Sleep on street in Feldkirch.

Decide not to visit Zurich.

M U S E U M

1980 - Friedens-Raeume, Villa Lindenhof, Lindenhofweg 25, Lindau (Germany). Former Friedensmuseum Lindau / Landau Peace Museum. Operated by Pax Christi, Diocese of Augsburg. In the mainland portion of Lindau on the Bodensee / Lake Constance. From Peter van den Dungen: "Once I was invited to give a talk [on July 2, 1996] for the annual summer opening of the Lindau Peace Museum (when my good friend, Thomas Wechs [Jr.], was director; I have not seen the Friedensraeume in the same building which has replaced the original museum, in 2000 or thereabouts). At that time also, the Zeppelin museum opened, and I was lucky to attend." Affiliated with International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP).

Comments: Using the slogan "Mehr als ein museum" / "More than a museum," the Friedens-Raeume (literally "peace spaces") occupy about four rooms on the left side of the ground floor of a lakeside villa apparently owned by the City of Lindau. (The psychiatrist who occupies another part of the villa displays his card at its main door.) If there were ever a "museum" without artefacts, this would be it. Displays are made up almost entirely from words, photos, art and furniture. All signs (and presumably all recordings) in the Friedens-Raeume are in German (obviously limiting the comprehention of all non-German speakers).

The young lady who sold me a ticket and gave me a poor English translation of the "museum" brochure was very proud to demonstrate two filing cabinets near the entrance. Each cabinet had multiple drawers containing information typed (in German only) on non-removable laminated cards.

One cabinet had a drawer for each of 14 peacemakers -- Petra Kelly [1947-1992], Nelson Mandela [b.1918], Dorothee Sölle [1929-2003], Gonsar Rinpotsche [b.1949], Paulo Suess [b.1938], Hildegard Goss-Mayr [b.1930], Sophie Scholl [1921-1943], Hans Scholl [1918-1954], Sumaya Farhat-Naser [b.1948], Smail Balic [1920-2002], Astrid Lindgren [1907-2002], Konrad Link [unidentified by me], Anna Starke [1905-1993] & a mirror for sie / you!

The other cabinet had 16 drawers for various peace topics, none of which I could read except for one drawer listing other peace museums in Germany, Japan, the USA, and few other countries. This "directory" was years out of date, listing, for example, defunct peace museums in Chicago, Detroit, and Lincoln, Nebraska, and failing to name the Dayton International Peace Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

The only part of the Friedens-Raeume which appealed to me was an exhibit of the 1,000 women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. This was in part because a copy of "1000 PeaceWomen Across the Globe" (2005) in English was lying nearby. The index of this book contains a long list of 96 "keywords" which provide the most comprehensive modern definition of "peace" that I have ever seen (e.g. as categories of "museums for peace"). Click here to see the list of 96 "keywords." Click here to see the on-line version of the book, with 1,000 biographies arranged using the list of "keywords."

T R A I L

After 1990 - Friedensweg / Peace Trail, Lindau, Bravaria (Germany). Leads from Friedens-Raeume at Villa Lindenhof & the Coventry Peace Monument (left image) to sites on Lindau Island in Lake Konstance (Bodensee).

O B E L I S K

November 14, 1990 - Friedenszeichen / Coventry Peace Monument, Lake Konstance (Bodensee), Lindau, Bravaria (Germany). From Peter van den Dungen, "Very near to where the Friedensmuseum Lindau (Friedens Raeume / Peace Rooms) is located. Sculpted by Dietrich Foerster, the winner of a competition organised by the Akademie der Bildenden Kuenste in Munich. A bronze plaque explains that it was unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Coventry cathedral, and concludes with 'Dona Nobis Pacem.'"

Comment: There are no words of any kind on the obelisk, and the small plaque does not explain why the aerial bombing of Coventry (England) is memorialized on the shore of Lake Constance. The missing link was provided by searching on-line for the meaning of "Nagelkreuzgemeinschaft" -- one of 18 peacemakers celebrated at the former peace museum in Bad Hindelang (see above).

According to a Google translation, "Nagelkreuzgemeinschaft" means "Cross of Nails Community" in English. The translation goes on to say: " The Coventry Cross of Nails is a Christian symbol from the Coventry Cathedral. It is the idea of völkerweiten / reconciliation after the Second World War. The story of the Cross of Nails idea began on 14 November 1940 with the German bombing of Coventry in England, in which 550 people died and many buildings were destroyed, including St. Michael's Cathedral. In cleaning up the debris mediaeval church, the then provost, Richard Howard three large carpenter nails in the roof, the debris were rescued out of the, composed of a cross. He also had the words "FATHER FORGIVE" write to the choir wall and assemble a large cross made of two charred beams. While the wooden cross of the ruins of the old cathedral was in, nail the original cross is now on the altar of the newly built cathedral next door in 1962 and is considered a sign of reconciliation and peace. Worldwide, have ecumenical religious groups formed as a Cross of Nails Community. You are in Germany from 52 communities in 36 cities at present, worldwide there are currently over 160. The nail cross is awarded in recognition of the Community to parishes. As an outward symbol of this bond is passed to each of the communities nail cross a cross of three nails from Coventry, which is modeled on the original cross."

August 1, 1914 - Insel Mainau / Mainau Island, Meersburg, Lake Constance (Germany). First conference of the Church Peace Union (CPU). "The timing of the CPU's founding was significant. On the very eve of World War I, Andrew Carnegie [1835-1919] sought to make war obsolete for all time. For its inaugural international event, the CPU sponsored a conference to be held on the shores of Lake Constance in southern Germany. As the delegates made their way to the conference by train, Germany was invading Belgium." "Delegates met on 1st August, the day the Kaiser ordered mobilisation. They were allowed to leave the country on the last train to France, and then boarded a steamer for London." [Peter van den Dungen 16Jul10].

Comment: Peter told us about this conference in case we went to Insel Mainau and had time to look for a monument or any other evidence of what had taken place in 1914. But Mainau is 96 highway km from Lindau -- near the western end of Lake Constance -- so there was never much chance of our going there to search a monument to a peace conference which never really took place 96 years ago. On September 10, we received a postcard which my daughter and her new husband mailed from Mainau on August 12 while on their honeymoon -- thirty days for a transAtlantic postcard! Of course the honeymooning couple also learned nothing about the 1914 peace conference.

May 2003 - Versohnungs-kunstwerk / Artwork of Reconciliation, Gronau/Westfalen (Germany) & Losser (Netherlands). By Ahaus artist Andreas H. Groten. Created by Pax Christi groups in the Diocese of Muenster and by the "Christeen aan de grens" / "Christians at the Border" ecumenical initiative. The result is a work of art on a proposal by Manfred Laumann from Ahaus, who has been advocating for years for the Dutch-German reconciliation.

Comment: We "found" this monument in "Pax Christi: Orte des Gedenkens, Begens und Handelns" (Pax Christi: Places of remembrance, prayer and action). It's also on the book's cover and on the cover of a Pax Christi Augsburg brochure which we also obtained at the Lindau museum. It inspired me to create a new web page for all peace monuments made from steel plate. Of course I also added it to my existing web page for all Pax Christi monuments.

P L A Q U E

August 1987 - A plaque for Michael Lerpscher, at the catholic church, Missen-Wilhams, Sonthofen district, Bravaria (Germany). This is the home community of Michael Lerpscher [1905-1940] who was a religiously motivated conscientious objector executed by the Nazis. Inscribed in German: "Laienbrüder der Christkönigsgesellschaft - Märtyrer für den Frieden Christi [Pax Christi]."

M U S E U M

c2000 - Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen, Friedrichshafen (Germany). From Peter van den Dungen: "You should consider making a diversion to Friedrichshafen and visit the Zeppelin museum. Nothing to do with peace, but this is where the originals were built, and today they are in the same business."

M U S E U M

1969 - Henri Dunant Museum, Asylstrasse 2, Heiden (Switzerland). The museum is in the nursing home where he lived from 1892 until his death in 1910. "Edited by Appenzeller Section of the Swiss Red Cross. [sic]... A special room is devoted to his vision of a world without war and social need." From Peter van den Dungen: "Heiden: good to visit this, in this anniversary year. I saw the Dunant room many years ago, and have not seen the expanded and renovated rooms dedicated to him since." 1901

Date? - Henry Dunant Denkmal / Henry Dunant Memorial, Dunant Place, Seeallee, Heiden, Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden (Switzerland). Created by Swiss sculptor Charlotte Germann-Jahn [1921-1988]. Depicts Henry Dunant [1828-1910]. "It has been set up so that is visible in the background of the monument of Lake Constance. Right across from the monument in the park there are stones of various sizes with metal plates on which statements are reproduced Henry Dunant. [sic]" 1901

Comments: This "museum for peace" occupies the front half of a large three-story building (about six rooms in all). All signs are in German (obviously limiting the comprehention of all non-German speakers). Switzerland may be bi-, tri- or quadi-lingual, but apparently there is no compusion, as in Belgium and Canada, to accomodate non-local language(s). I was therefore not able to read any of the museum's exhibits, but they appeared to be informative, attractive and recently revised.

There were two special exhibits in an adjacent tent commemorating this year's centennial of Dunant's death -- one entitled "Kinderzuge in die Schweiz 1945-1956" about the transport of displaced children to Switzerland after World War II.

The other exhibit -- a timeline of 73 photographs presenting the history of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) -- was entitled "Im Feld (In the Field) von Solferino bis Guantanamo." According to the web, this exhibit also exists at the International Museum of the Red Cross & of the Red Crescent in Geneva (Switzerland). As an American, I was sobered to see that the most recent example of the ICRC's work relates to a "concentration camp" operated by my own country. The exhibit features a quotation from ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger who was born in Heiden in 1944.

B E L L

March 29, 2009 - Friedensglocke / Peace Bell, Heiden (Switzerland). Google translation from Appenzeller Zeitung, 31.10.2009: "The Henry Dunant Museum Heiden replaced after many years of contact with the Red Cross and the authorities of Japan Nagasaki given a copy of the Angelus bell. The famous original is in one of the oldest Christian churches in Japan. The bell was during the atomic attack on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945 recovered with very few losses in the rubble. Since 1988, duplicates and cast away to places which fell by war or natural disaster victims, such as Hiroshima, Chernobyl, Leningrad, or Honolulu. /// As a big exception receives Gentiles, in honor of Red Cross founder Henry Dunant [1828-1910] such a peace bell. Gentiles shall carry forth the spirit of peace further into the world. On 13 October 2009 was the 100-kg bell of a delegation of the Henry Dunant Museum (John and Marlis Böhi Hörler Böhi), the Red Cross both Appenzell (Jessica Kehl) and of the hospital Heiden (Dr. Othmar Eagle's deputy. Director, Head Medicine) at a ceremony in the Faculty of Medicine Nagasaki passed. The necessary funds were made by members of the medical faculty of Nagasaki University and residents of the city. /// Over six weeks, the voyage of the Peace Bell took on the freighter, "Louise Schulte" from Nagasaki to Hamburg via train to Rorschach Heiden. Since Monday 29 March 2010 the Peace Bell of Nagasaki, Japan, in the entrance hall of the hospital Gentiles. At a later date will receive the Peace Bell at their final location Henry-Dunant-Museum, and there inaugurated." 1901

Date? - Zurich (Switzerland). See guide books.

1910 - Grave of Henry Dunant, Friedhof Zürich-Sihlfeld (Switzerland). Henry Dunant [1828-1910] founded the Red Cross in June 1859 and received the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. 1901

October 3, 2008 - Friedens-Ei / Peace Egg, Grossmünster place, Zurich (Switzerland). Made by Peace Brigades International (PBI). "The 2.5 meters wide and 80 kilo anniversary egg was at the University of Berne under the direction of Dr. Stefan Stankowski, professor of physics and director Fachschaftssitzung physics, science and research and Giorgio Insom, Researcher, University of Applied Sciences Berne planned and assembled. The interplay between technology and peace is unique and illustrates the fragility and vulnerability of human rights."

Saturday, August 14, 2010

- Drive from Feldkirch via Vaduz (Leichtenstein), Luzern/Lucerne (Switzerland), Weggis, Hertenstein, Interlacken & Thun to Bern. Visit Vaduz Castle (schloss) on hill above the City of Vaduz. See Walensee lake. Drive through Luzern/Lucerne twice. See Vierwaldstättersee (Lake Lucerne), Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge), Verkehrshaus der Schweiz (Transportation Museum) & Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Luzern (Culture & Congress Centre Lucerne) -- site of the first peace museum. Visit Europa Union plaque at lake boat landing in Hertenstein. Long multi-day rain begins. Sleep on street in Bern.

Do not see the Löwendenkmal (lion monument) or visit Bourbaki Panorama due to lack of parking in Luzern/Lucerne. Attempt to stay at campingplatz just outside Luzern/Lucerne, but manager worries about potential flooding by rain forcast later this evening. Drive past Interlacken & Thun.

Date? - Vaduz (Liechtenstein). See guide books. "Smallest German-speaking country in the world and the only alpine country to lie entirely within the Alps. It is also the only German-speaking country not to share a common border with Germany." Right image shows Vaduz Castle.

Date? - Walensee (Switzerland). We saw this beautiful lake both from the autobahn and from a much higher local road (after taking a wrong turn).

Date? - Luzern / Lucerne (Switzerland). See guide books. From Peter van den Dungen: "Luzern! Wonderful. One of my favourite cities (even if Bloch's museum had not been there)." Image shows the Kapellbruecke/Chapel Bridge and Wasserturm/Water Tower.

1881 - Bourbaki Panorama, Löwenplatz 11, Postfach, Luzern/Lucerne (Switzerland). "Huge circular painting by Edouard Castres... At once a stirring denouncement of war, and a moving testimonial to man`s capacity for humanitarian actions." "Worth seeing, and you could even consider it as a peace monument of some sort. It is a humanitarian episode during the Franco-Prussian war. It is impressive." [Per PvdD]

M U S E U M

June 7, 1902 - International Museum of War & Peace, Luzern/Lucerne (Switzerland). Although created by Ivan Bloch, aka Jean de Bloch [1836-1902], a Polish-Russian entrepreneur & author of the 6-volume master work, La Guerre Future / Is War Now Impossible? (1898), Bloch died in Warsaw at the beginning of 1902, and the museum was inaugurated in Shooting Festival Hall by Frédéric Passy & Bertha von Suttner (who respetively received the 1st & 5th Nobel Peace Prizes in 1901 & 1905). Museum moved to Museggstrasse in 1910 & closed in 1920 due to lack of patronage during World War I. Site is now Culture & Congress Centre by French architect Jean Nouvel (1998). See "The International Museum of War and Peace at Lucerne" by Peter van den Dungen, Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Geschichte, vol, 31, pp, 185-202 (1981).

H O T E L

1911 - Hotel de la Paix, Luzern / Lucerne (Switzerland). "The [39-room] hotel is located in the heart of Lucerne, near the lion monument, at the entrance of the old quarter and 200 metres from the famous Vierwaldstätter lake." "You might consider staying [here]. This will be 100 years old next year, and was named because of the new Bloch peace museum that opened in 1910, almost next to it. This is where I have stayed a couple of times, also recently. The Bourbaki Panorama is opposite the hotel." [Per PvdD]

M U S E U M

Date? - Rosengart Museum, Luzern/Lucerne (Switzerland). "Several Picassos and much else. Also worth visiting."

M U S E U M

Date? - Verkehrshaus der Schweiz / Transportation Museum, Luzern (Switzerland). From Peter van den Dungen: "Lifesize monstrous engines of all kind are on display. Trains, Ships and Airplanes... At the side of it, and part of it, is a museum dedicated to the art work of Hans Erni. Both are well worth a visit. I may have mentioned him before. He was 100 years old last year, and we saw a wonderful exhibition in Lucerne last year. When I was in the city the other day, I visited for the first time his museum. Because much of his work is about peace, this could also be seen as partly a peace art museum."

June 6, 2009 - Peace Fresco, Entrance, Palais des Nations, Geneva (Switzerland). By Hans Erni. "His signature dove, the symbol of peace, is a recurring theme on the fresco. "I want all those people going in there to work every day to see it and think about peace," he told a group of foreign journalists who recently visited him in his home city of Lucerne. "I want them to be inspired." (PvdD: "We saw sketches last year and liked them a lot.")

Date? - Vierwaldstättersee / Lake Lucerne, Luzern/Lucerne (Switzerland). "The best and most pleasant way [to get to Hertenstein] is to go by boat from Lucerne and get off at this stop (the second one, after Verkehrshaus; it takes perhaps 15 minutes). In Lucerne you take the boat opposite the railway station, and imposing KKL (where once stood the castle-like building where Bloch's museum opened in 1902. I am making efforts to have a bust of Bloch inside this building - now one of the world's top concert halls)."

P L A Q U E

October 2, 1976 - "Europa-Union" plaque, near boat landing, Hertenstein on Lake Lucerne near Weggis (Switzerland). Partly hidden by bushes. Erected on 30th anniversary of the 1946 conference of "militant federalists from 14 European countries." The idea of a Union of European Federalists (UEF), and also the concept for a Swiss "Europapolitik" (the Hertenstein Programme), were born at the historic conference. From Peter van den Dungen 07Aug09. "Just outside the city, perhaps you will want to have a look at the Hertenstein memorial stone. As you already know, it is nothing special, but going there will be fun." Translation of plaque: "EUROPA-UNION. In September 1946, European Federalists met for the first time here in Hertenstein, this quiet place on the lake, as a place of reflection and in the hope of a peaceful, federal, cosmopolitan, social and united Europe. The idea of a Union of European Federalists (UEF) and the concept a Swiss European Policy (Hertenstein Programme 1975) emerged here. May every visitor to Herteinstein dedicate himself to the idea of a united Europe. 30th Anniversary of the Conference, October 2, 1976."

Date? - Pilatus Mountain, Luzern (Switzerland). "Top can be reached with the Pilatus Railway, the world’s steepest cogwheel railway from Alpnachstad, operating from May to November (depending on snow conditions), and the whole year with the aerial panorama gondolas and aerial cableways from Kriens. Pilatus has the longest summer toboggan track in Switzerland (0.88 miles or 1,350 m) and the biggest suspension rope park in Central Switzerland. During the summer, the "Golden Round Trip" - a popular route for tourists - involves taking a boat from Lucerne across Lake Lucerne to Alpnachstad, going up on the cogwheel railway, coming down on the aerial cableways and panorama gondolas, and taking a bus back to Lucerne."

Sunday, August 15, 2010

- Visit Bärengraben/BärenPark (bear pits) in Bern. Drive through Bern. Drive from Bern via Biel/Bienne, the Jura Mountains, Delémont, Basel, Fessenheim (France) & Ottmarsheim to Mulhouse. Visit Schifflandte/Débarcadere (boat landing) on Bierlersee/Lac de Bienne (lake) in Biel/Bienne. Lunch at Hôtel-Restaurant du Midi in Delémont. Drive past Centrale nucléaire (atomic power plant) in Fessenheim. Come across three large former church bells (at least one of which cast at Fonderie M. Gripon in Brest-Finistere) mounted on sidewalks in Ottmarsheim. Drive through Basel & Mulhouse. Sleep on street in Mulhouse/Drouot.

Date? - Basel (Switerland). See guide books.

1536? - Tomb of Erasmus, Basler Münster / Basel Minster, Münsterplatz, Basel (Switzerland). Desiderius Erasmus [1466/1469-1536] was a Dutch Renaissance humanist. "He spent several years in Basel and died here in 1536. Although he stayed a Roman Catholic, he was buried in the Minster that was by then the main church of the Protestants in Basel. His bones were lost following changes to the church during the 19th century. They were only positively re-identified in 1974 and now rest under his epitaph." Information courtesy of Gerard Lössbroek.

After 1999 - Globe atop Breitling Orbiter Monument, Arleshiem, Canton of Basel (Switzerland). "Breitling Orbiter was the name of three different Rozière balloons made by Cameron Balloons to circumnavigate the globe. The first two balloons never made it, while the third was successful in 1999." The Orbiter is in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (USA).

- Dreilandeeck / Tripoint, Rhine River, Basel (Switzerland). Point common to three countries (Switzerland, France & Germany).

Date? - Mulhouse, Département de Haut-Rhin, Alsace (France). See guide books. "Nicknamed "the French Manchester" Mulhouse is famous for its museums, especially the Cité de l’Automobile (also known as "Musée national de l’automobile") and the Musée Français du Chemin de Fer (also known as "Cité du train"), respectively the largest automobile and railway museums in France."

Monday, August 16, 2010

- Drive from Mulhouse via detour along Rhein River, Colmar, Gunsbach, & Dambach-La-Ville to Strasbourg. Shop at Carrefour store in Mulhouse. Visit Albert Schweitzer House in Gunsbach [closed Mondays]. Drive through Colmar. Visit Caveau Nartz in Dambach-La-Ville (on Alsace wine route). Meet winemakers Gaby & Michel Nartz. Buy Pinot Noir & Gewurztraminer. Visit Chapelle Saint-Sébastien just outside Dambach-La-Ville. Walk across the Rhein River on the Passerelle des Duex Rivers linking the Jardin dex Deux Rives in Strasbourg (France) and Kehl (Germany) & return. Drive through Strasbourg. Dinner at ___ restaurant in Strasbourg/Neudorf. Meet "Pamela Dabysing". Sleep on street in Strasbourg/Neudorf.

Decide not to visit Schweitzer birthplace museum in Kaysersberg.

Date? - Colmar, Département de Haut-Rhin, Alsace (France). See guide books.

Date? - Judensau / Jew Pig (représentation de juif) ornant la façade occidentale de la cathédrale de Colmar, Haut-Rhin, Alsace (France). "Testament to the troubled history of Jews in Alsace, is the presence of two Judensäue, one in the shape of a gargoyle, the other as a corner sculpture of a portal" of Saint-Martin Church (same as the cathedral?).

M U S E U M

1967 - Musée Albert Schweitzer / Albert Schweitzer Museum, 8 route de Munster, Gunsbach, Département de Haut-Rhin, Alsace (France). Operated by the Centre Internationale Albert Schweitzer. "Albert Schweitzer [1875-1965] fit construire cette maison en 1928 avec l'argent du Prix Goethe de la ville de Francfort." Schweitzer received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. 1952

Comment: I tried the door, but the Schweitzer museum was locked tight, and we saw nobody to talk to. So we drove away. On November 22, 2010, Gerard Lössbroek wrote from the Netherlands to tell me about the Albert Schweitzer Footpath, and, by Googling it, I learned about the 1969 monument on the Kanzrain rock just north of the museum.

T R A I L

Date? - Sentier Albert Schweitzer / Albert Schweitzer Footpath, Gunsbach, Alsace (France). "A footpath for walking and meditating about the thought of Albert Schweitzer [1875-1965] . It starts at the old presbytery, 3 rue du docteur Albert Schweitzer, and leads us across the village of Gunsback to the Albert Schweitzer house [museum], 8 route de Munster, passing by the rock of Kanzrain. It is lined with 16 panels [in German & French], which recall important moments in the life of the doctor. The whole route is approximately 920 m, the walking time takes about one hour." 1952

M O N U M E N T

1969 - Monument d'Albert Schweitzer / Albert Schweitzer Monument, Le Kanzrain, Gunsbach, Alsace (France). "A cinq minutes à pied de la maison se trouve le Kanzrain, un rocher du haut duquel on jouit d'une magnifique vue sur la vallée de Munster. C'est là qu'a été érigé, en 1969 le monument que le disciple de Rodin, Fritz Behn a taillé dans la pierre rouge des Vosges. En 1958, Albert Schweitzer [1875-1965] écrit à ce sujet : "C'est la-haut que taillé dans la pierre, je voudrais pouvoir accueillir mes amis, c'est la qu'ils voudront bien avoir une pensée pour moi et écouter le murmure de la rivière qui a, si souvent, accompagné le vol de mes pensées. C'est la qu'est née ma philosophie culturelle, c'est la que j'ai compris Jésus en son temps. C'est la que je me sentais totalement chez moi." 1952

1981 - Musée Albert Schweitzer / Albert Schweitzer Museum, 126, rue du Général de Gaulle, Kaysersberg, Alsace (France). "Ce lieu présente l'œuvre hospitalière du docteur à Lambaréné (Gabon) de 1913 à nos jours. " Next door to Schweitzer's birthplace. Albert Schweitzer [1875-1965] received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.
Date? - Dambach-la-Ville, Bas-Rhin, Alsace (France). "If you can, you should stop by Dambach-la-ville and go downtown to the Nartz winery and B&B (right image) at 12, place du Marché. (Cousin Gabby Nartz & ___ share the same great-grandfather.) Another winery in the same town is Petterman [9, rue de Dieffenthal]. (His grandmother and ___'s grandfather were brother and sister.) It's a beautiful little town, and from the looks of your itinerary, you will be very close."
Date? - Dambach-la-Ville, Bas-Rhin, Alsace (France). "Head out the Val-de-ville Road (from Chatenois) and look for the medieval castle ruins on the hill -- this is where we had our photo (left image) taken, and where ____'s great grandfather had stood almost 100 years earlier (middle image)! Check out Chapelle Saint-Sébastien just outside Dambach (west side). It boasts a rather interesting ossuary, which completely freaked out my kids! ____'s dad always loved the Bras de lumière on the walls inside the chapel -- unique to say the least."

B R I D G E

2004 - Passerelle des Deux Rives / Gateway of the Two Banks, across Rhine River between Strasbourg (France) & Kehl (Germany). "Permanent artistic installation, a bond between two countries for which the border formerly seemed & wanted to be insuperable. According to Roland Ries, then mayor of Strasbourg, 'Here, it is indeed Europe, because this bridge connects two countries that have been torn apart for a long time; the reconciliation of these two countries is today one of the surest supports of the European construction.'" Not to be confused with the Bridge of Europe which is a highway bridge a few hundred meters downstream (right image).

Comment: Another mystery! This is a fantastic work of engineering, two curved foot bridges using millions of Euros of structural steel, presumably to represent the union of Europe or at least of France and Germany. Yet there's not a single word of explanation or dedication on either end of the bridge or in the middle of the river where the two countries presumably come together. The only words I found -- on the French side -- are on a series of eight signs representing the proportional distances between the Sun and seven closest planets of the Solar System. Only at the extreme western end of the Strasbourg park -- at least 300 meters from the river -- are there flags of France, Germany & the European Union. Even the name -- "Gateway of the Two Banks" -- completely misses the opportunity to say something significant about Europe, Germany and/or the establishment of peace and union.

July 1, 1994 - Denkmal "Begegnung" / "Rencontre" / "Encounter," Kehl, Baden-Württemberg (Germany). The statue sits in a riverside park at the German end of the Passerelle des Deux Rives. Translation of plaque: "The bronze of the Munich sculptor Josef Fromm [b.1932]...depicts the profound need for men to be moved by peace, friendship, and harmony, as well as their will for dialog and mutual trust." Its name, location, plaque & iconography (two men embracing) imply the relationship between Germany & France.

Date? - Freiheit Männlich-Weiblich / Male-Female Freedom Statue, Platz der Verfassungsfreunde, Offenburg, near Rammersweier, Baden-Württemberg (Germany). Die 20 m hohe Aluminiumskulptur des amerikanischen Künstlers Jonathan Borofsky. "Commemorates the role Offenburg played in the democratic development of Germany. Composed of two intersecting 65 foot tall silhouettes (1 male and 1 female), each 'drawn' in 10 inch diameter aluminum pipe. As the viewer walks around the sculpture, the image changes from male to female and back again, and of course, one of the most interesting aspects of this sculpture is that you can see and walk right through it."

Date? - Strasbourg, Alsace (France). See guide books. We drove by the old city looking (unsuccesfully) for a restaurant with nearby parking.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

- Drive from Strasbourg via Natzwiller, Le Struthof & Sarrebourg to Saarbrücken (Germany). Find "Verdun: 24 octobre 1916" by Arthur Conte, pp. 467, 1988. Visit Konsentrationslager (KZ)Natzweiler (called Le Struthof in French, only Nazi concentration camp in France) & associated museum of the Centre Européen du Résistant Déporté (European Center of the Resisting Deportee) in the Vosges Mountains [in clouds while we were there]. Purchase "Struthof: Guide de la Visit", pp. 61, 2007. See Vitrail de la Pais by Marc Chagel in the Chapelle des Cordeliers [closed Tuesdays] in Sarrebourg. Buy Falk Plan map of Saarbrucken. Sleep on street in Saarbrücken/Ottenhsn.

Obtain brochures of previously unknown museums in Paris, Besançon, Compiègne & Schirmeck. Learn about previously unknown memorials at the Musée national de la résistance in Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg) and at Hinzert Concentration Camp in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany). Decide not to search for the European Union & "Walking to the Sky" monuments in Strasbourg.

C O U R T

1995 - European Court of Human Rights / Cour européenne des droits de l’homme, Strasbourg (France).

1999 - European Parliament, Immeuble Louise Weiss, Quartier Européen / European Quarter, Strasbourg (France). "Parliament has two meeting places, namely the Louise Weiss building in Strasbourg, France, which serves for twelve four-day plenary sessions per year and is the official seat, and the Espace Léopold (Dutch: Leopoldruimte) complex in Brussels, Belgium, the larger of the two, which serves for committee meetings, political groups and complementary plenary sessions."

1992-2008 - "Walking to the Sky." (#1) 1992 "Man Walking to the Sky," Kassel (Germany). (#2) "Woman Waking to the Sky," Strasbourg (France). (#3) 2004 "Humanity Walking to the Sky," moved from Rockefeller Center, New York City, & Nasher Collection, Dallas, Texas. 2006 Carnegie-Mellon University, Warner Hall, Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pensylvania (USA). (#4) 2008 Kiturami Homsys Company, Hwagok-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul/Yonhap (South Korea). Sculptures by American Jonathan Borofsky. The sculpture in Seoul features people of different ages and ethnicities, including three Asian people. The pole is angled at 75 degrees, because "the idea is to walk to the sky, not to the building across the street,'' Borofsky joked.

M U S E U M

2005 - Mémorial de l'Alsace Moselle, Schirmeck, Bas-Rhin (France). "Un musée interactif ou l"Histoire s'écrit au Présent... Pour saisir l'atmosphère des évacuations de 1939, découvrir la vie dans un fort, de la Ligne Maginot, sentir l'oppression de la nazification et se sentir interpellé par le drame de l'incorporation de force, des déportations et de la guerre totale, suivre le fil de la réconciliation franco-allemande et de la construction eropéenne." Museum motto: "Le signe fort d'un siècle fou."

Comment: From its brochure & website, this appears to be quite a museum! We drove right through Schirmeck (giggling about its name) en route to Natzweiler, and we could have stopped, but we knew nothing about this museum until days later when we sorted & read brochures obtained at Natzweiler.

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P June 27, 1965 - KL-Natzweiler / Natzweiler Concentration Camp, Natzweiler-Struthof, Alsace (France). Camp openeed by Nazi Germany on April 21, 1941. "Lieu de mémoire et de recueillement, le site de l'ancien camp de Natzweiler est le témoin inscrit dans le paysage vosgien des faits qui se sont déroulés, il y a plus de soixante ans, au coeur de l'Europe."
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M April 2005 - Museum of the "Centre Européen du Résistant Déporté dans le System Concentrationnaire Nazi (European Center of the Resistant Deported into the Nazi Concentrationary System), Natzweiler-Struthof, Alsace (France). Adjacent to KL-Natzweiler / Natzweiler Concentration Camp.

Comment: Finding Natzweiler/Struthof was like driving in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee & North Carolina. We headed for the Village of Natzwiller where (after asking for directions) we took a lesser road up the mountain. Both the camp and the museum are world-class monuments, and -- once we got there -- we saw scores of other visitors (and a large parking lot), but how they found their way there, we still don't know. There are absolutely no signs for Natzweiler/Struthof on the main roads or on the mountain roads leading to the camp and museum. (There are signs leading a nearby Musée des Traditions -- whatever that is.) We wanted to learn why the Nazi's only concentration camp in France was in such a remote mountainous locale. First answer: It wasn't really in France since Nazi Germany had "permanently" annexed Alsace in 1940. Second answer: A SS geologist discovered granite in the mountains, and the camp was originally constructed in 1941 to house quarry workers -- not to be convenient to cities or railroads. Today's French seem to get their revenge by ignoring the German language (as well as all other languages except French). All signs at Natzweiler/Struthof are in French (obviously limiting the comprehention of all non-French Speakers). The museum's French only bookstore is very poorly illuminated and weirdly presented (a single book about every two feet on a series of otherwise bare countertops). BTW, the Struthof museum deserves an award for "most convoluted name."

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M 1971 - Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation, Citadelle de Besançon, rue des Fusillés, Besançon, Franche-Comté (France). "Established at the initiative of Denise Lorach, a former deportee. Evokes the emotions and depth of this dark page of history. The museum is one of the top five in its class in France and receives an average 65,000 visitors per annum."
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M February 23, 2008 - Mémorial de l'Internement et de la Déportation - Camp de Royallieu, 2bis avenue des Martyrs de la Liberté, Compiègne (France). Between Paris & Lille. "La caserne de Royallieu a été construite en 1913 et regroupe 25 bâtiments sur une surface de 16 hectares. De 1941 à 1944, elle fut transformée par l'armée allemande en l'un des principaux camps de transit de France. Près de 45000 personnes y ont été acheminées: internés politiques, résistants, pour beaucoup communistes, civils russes ou américains et juifs. Déportés, soumis au travail forcé et aux mauvais traitements, près de la moitié décède pendant le transport ou dans les camps."
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M January 27, 2005 - Mémorial de la Shoah / The Shoah Memorial, 17 rue Geoffroy-l'Asnier, Quartier du Marais, Paris (France). "The largest research, information and awareness-raising centre in Europe presenting the history of the genocide of the Jews during the Second World War." Includes "Wall of Names" engraved with 76,000 names of Jewish men, women, and children deported from France. Motto: Understanding the past to illuminate the future." Brochure is bilingual (French & English).
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2005 - Memorial de la Shoah / The Shoah Memorial, 17 rue Geoffroy-l'Asnier, Quartier du Marais, Paris (France)./center> 1976 - Vitrail de la paix / Peace Window, Chapelle des Cordeliers, Sarrebourg (France). Créé par Marc Chagall [1887-1985]. Compare Chagall's peace window at the United Nations in New York City (USA).

Comment: At the edge of a town north of Sarrebourg (Sarre Union?), I glimpsed a large open space at the side of the road (very rare in Europe) and a small sign which said "For gens de voyage, two day maximum stay" -- or words to that effect. I would not have known what this means had I not just read a news story on the inside page of a French newspaper which we bought in Mulhouse (the first newspaper we'd seen in a language other than German since we left Frankfurt) reporting the French government's recent forced deportation of gens de voyage to Romania (& Bulgaria?). A female spokesperson was quoted as saying, "We are French citizens and have the right to remain in France." I did not know Roma (Gypsies) are still roaming in bands, that space is set aside for them in some places, and that their presense is still controversial. Having recently seen monuments in Tübingen which very carefully parsed lanugage about victims and perpetrators, having just come from a French museum about Nazi deportation, and en route to a German monument against racisim, we thought the current news about Roma deportations ironic at best. An irony of much less importance is the fact that we were sleeping (as unnoticibly as possible) on a different residential street every night. Were we temporary gens de voyage? Could we have parked overnight in the space reserved for gens de voyage? And, if we dared, would we have been safe?

PS: On Sept. 14, 2010, "Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice, attacked the Sarkozy government over the mass expulsions of Roma people and accused it of duplicity in its dealings with Brussels. Reding likened the recent deportation of almost 1,000 Gypsies to Romania and Bulgaria to Vichy France's treatment of Jews in the second world war. She said Brussels had no option but to launch infringement proceedings, meaning that France could be hauled before the European court of justice." Click here for source of this quote in the Guardian newspaper.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

- Drive from Saarbrücken via Veckring (France), Schengen (Luxembourg), Trier (Germany) & the Hunsrück Plateau (setting of the TV series Heimat) to Russelsheim (between Mainz & Frankfurt). Visit Mahnmal gegen Rassismus / Monument against Racism at Saarbrücken Castle (schloss). Visit Gros Ouverage Hackenberg (part of the Maginot Line) at Veckring [too early for the daily tour by underground railway at 3:00 pm]. Visit the Schengen monument on the Moselle River in Schengen. Lunch at De Schengener Restaurant overlooking the Moselle River in Schengen. Drive down the Moselle Valley & through Trier. Sleep on street in Russelsheim.

Obtain brochure of previously unknown Ouvrage de Simserhof near Bitche. Decide not to search for the Solar Peace Sculpture in Saarbrücken. Decide not to visit Bitch or Hunspach. Drive past Kaiserslautern & Mainz.

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1993 - Mahnmal gegen Rassismus / Monument against Racism, Schlossplatz, Saarbrücken, Saarland (Germany). Also called "Invisible Warning Monument." "Designed by Jochen Gerz in collaboration with students of the College of Fine Arts. On the back of 2,146 paving stones the names of Jewish cemeteries are engraved, which existed before the Second World War in Germany." Outside the castle which used to contain a Gestapo prison.

Comment: Incredibly, not a single word in any language identifies this fountain (which is placed incongruously in a depression pressed into a formal 18th century courtyard) or the 2,146 invisible names of Jewish cemeteries to which it was presumably constructed to bear witness. Why build a monument if visitors have no way of knowing what it means? Isn't this an insult to the thousands of racism victims in whose memory the paving stones were labeled and the fountain constructed? There is a little cube at one corner of the fountain begging parents not to allow their children the drink or bathe in the open water. (This is good example of poor monument design -- the deliberate creation of safety hazzard.)

2007 - Solar Peace Sculpture, Saarbrücken, Saarland (Germany). Sponsored by Matter of Trust (San Francisco). Sculpted by Fred George (Saarbrücken & New York City). "Appeals to the global citizen as well as politicians around the world. Symbolically, in addition to the commentary on current wars, this piece represents a call to the world to embrace alternative energies. Standing 50 feet tall Constructed of 120 oil barrels, with a solar energy panel mounted on each barrel. The solar energy produced from the panels will feed into the electrical grid of the city, with the monthly proceeds donated to various local charities. Current proposal locations include Saarbrücken, New York City & Shanghai."

1930's - Ouvrage Schoenenbourg, Maginot Line, Hunspach, Alsace (France). "At the east end of the Alsace portion of the Maginot Line, its neighbor is the Gros Ouvrage Hochwald. It is the largest such fortification open to the public in Alsace. Officially recorded as an historical monument, it retains all its original structural elements."

1930-1936 - Gros Ouvrage Hakenberg, Maginot Line, Veckring (near Thionville), Lorraine (France). "Volunteers have maintained one block functional, with a working elevator and a turret turnable and lift table. The movement of the turret is shown to visitors. One of the four generators is equipped with a post-WWII engine and also running during sightseeing tours. The electric train in the mountain is used in the tour to transport visitors from the ammunition entry to the functional turret."

Comment: Very impressive. Entrance and parking area includes monuments to US troops, British troops, and 70th anniversary in June 2010 of this undefeated bastion's being ordered to surrender after France's amistice with Germany.

	1930's - Ouvrage de Simserhof, Maginot Line, near Bitche, Moselle Department (France). "One of the largest fortifications along the Maginot Line... Only surrendered on June 30, five days after the cease-fire, because they had been orderd to do so by the French General Staff. Today affords a three-hour visit..."
	Date? - Citadelle de Bitche, Bitche, Moselle Department (France). "A massive, gray fortification looming over surrounding homes, shops and restaurants. Withstood assault after assault by Bavarian forces for some 230 days following the collapse of the French army in the war of 1870. Visitors today are treated to a multi-media tour through the extensive fortification."		Date? - Jardin pour la Paix, Bitche, Moselle Department (France). "Situé au pied de la Citadelle de Bitche, ce jardin contemporain vous propose de découvrir un audacieux festival de créations thématiques et éphémères." Included with tour of the Citadelle de Bitche.
	Date? - War Memorial, center of town, Bitche, Moselle Department (France). "Represents the military and civilian casualties of the three big conflicts to sweep through the town -- the Franco-Prussian War, World War I, and World War II. In the center are three comrades, lowering a mortally wounded soldier to the ground. To the left is the wife and family, mourning the soldier but also a symbol that life and the native village will live on. On the far left, is France liberated from her chains, a symbol of World War II, and next to her is Lorraine liberated during World War I. On the right [not visible in image] are symbols of the Citadel de Bitche resisting during the 1870-71 seige." Bitche was on the Maginot Line constructed after World War I. Click here for visit of US veterans of WW-II.

1965 - Bâtiment Alcide de Gasperi (ou bâtiment "Tour" du Parlement européen), Quartier Européen du Kirchberg, Luxembourg City (Luxembourg). "Construit de 1960 à 1965, constitue avec ses 22 étages le premier 'gratte-ciel' de la ville de Luxembourg." Houses the Secretariat of the European Parliament.

Date? - L'ancien hémicyle du Parlement européen à Luxembourg, aujourd'hui un centre de conférence européen.

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Date? - Musée national de la résistance, Place de la Résistance, Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg). "This museum-cum-memorial commemorates the resistance to the Nazi occupation of Luxembourg, and includes information on the fate of the country’s Jews. Opening hours may be limited or appointments required."

1956 - Le prisonnier politique, Musée national de la résistance, Place de la Résistance, Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg). By Luxembourg artist Lucien Wercollier [1908-2002].

1969 - Le prisonnier politique, Cimetière Notre-Dame, Limpertsberg, Luxembourg City (Luxembourg). Part of the Monument national de la résistance et de la déportation. By Luxembourg artist Lucien Wercollier [1908-2002]. Hinzert Cross is also visible in the image.

After 2002 - Le prisonnier politique, Neumunster Abbey, Luxembourg City (Luxembourg). By Luxembourg artist Lucien Wercollier [1908-2002].

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December 10, 2005 - Konzentrationslager Hinzert / Hinzert Concentration Camp, Pölert, Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany). "30 km from the Luxembourg border. Between 1939 & 1945, 13,600 political prisoners between the ages of 13 and 80 were imprisoned at Hinzert. Many were in transit towards larger concentration camps where most would be killed. However, a significant number of prisoners were executed at Hinzert. The camp was administered, run, and guarded mainly by the SS, who, according to Hinzert survivors, were notorious for their brutality & viciousness." A memorial & documentation center (right image) was opened on the site in 2005. Designed by the architect firm Wandel Hoefer Lorch & Hirsch, the modern steel building houses a permanent exhibition of camp artefacts, photos & explanation notes.

After 1985 - "Schengen Agreement" monument, near Moselle bridge, Schengen (Luxembourg). "Three steel pillars, each with a star represent the first participant countries of the Schengen Agreement, being France, Germany and the Benelux countries, who met here in the triangle where the borders of Germany, France, and Luxembourg meet... This is a treaty signed in 1985, on the river-boat "Princesse Marie-Astrid," providing for the removal of systematic border controls between the participating countries."

Date? - De Schengener Restaurant, Schengen (Luxembourg). Lunch overlooking the Moselle River. A fitting end to our visit to Europe. (Fancy website -- no images to use here!)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

- Drive from Russellsheim to Kelsterbach. Turn in RV to DRM in Kelsterbach. Fly on American Airlines (AA) from Frankfurt-am-Main via Chicago (O'Hare) to Knoxville (USA). AA serves "Alpine Spring Water" bottled by Crystal Geyser Roxane, LLC in Benton, Tennessee. Boarding pass marked "SSSS" requires "special" security inspection in Chicago. One TSA inspector says "this could be for any of 30 different reasons, but I assure you that it's not random." Another TSA inspector seizes our two small bottles of "Alpine Spring Water" from Tennessee.

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