Germany's Allotment Gardens

We marveled at a lot of things as we rode the train around Europe this spring. Heading from Prague to Munich, for instance, we saw along the train tracks, these plots of...neat tended gardens, some with swing sets, grills, flag poles, even landscaping, and always, a glorified playhouse.  
We were fascinated, because the same thing occurred near most every town along the way.  Each plot was interesting, but they went by so quickly we could hardly point em out to each other.  Why along the tracks?  Why so many of them?  They were typically German (to us)--very orderly, all of it done with great attention to detail, and property lines, and with humor.  (You can tell the Google photo, above, is taken from the height of a train).
So, when we got home, I looked it up:

"Most Germans may live in cities, but they still remain attached to nature. That’s why those who can’t afford their own house and garden often have a small allotment, enabling them to get away from the hustle and bustle of their daily lives and work. Generally located on the outskirts of cities, these allotment gardens are grouped into so-called “colonies”.

Read the rest of the explanation at the link--it's pretty cool and very German ☺

An incredible connection

Our world is truly amazing.  Probably 2 years ago, Larry found an online collection of WWII photos...(talking about it this morning, we seem to recall that it was online only temporarily in a bid to sell original photos)...and one was labeled, in German,  "Frau Hesch surveys the destruction..."  Both our memories are fuzzy on this tho.

Anyway, now, there's something called TINEYE, that will find other places online where your photo appeared.

Larry took this picture and ran it thru tineye, and found THESE results, the cover of a book available on Amazon.  (The first link there has to be where we first saw the photo).  WOW.

I would love to find that street again...was it Berlin?

Treasures from 65 years ago

When the troops came home to America after the Second World War, they brought souvenirs:  not only the good and bad memories, friendships, new skills, foods they vowed never to eat again....but also the traditional spoils of war: items found in bombed-out or abandoned homes in Italy, France and Germany.  It was understood--small items that fit in pockets were fair game, and besides, who would know or care? 


There was a cardboard box in my parents' closet where dad's "war stuff" was kept.  There was a collection of paper money and coins from the countries where he saw action, a cream-colored set of those ugly "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" monkeys, and a fancy German dress sword that dad said a dying German officer gave to him. (Dad spoke fluid German--I can imagine he talked to the man who said, "Ich brauche nicht mehr machen - nehmen Sie es"  (I don't need this anymore--you take it)--that was dad's account, anyway. 

There were decks of cards and a few letters home,  a couple of pipes (one that looked like the kind Heidi's Grandfather smoked in the book, with a little metal cover on the bowl** and a piece of horn in the stem)....and there was a delicate woman's wrist watch.  Last night, by instant messenger, Larry and I examined the watch, since the other artifacts were sold after mom died in 1996.
These photos make it look big and less elongated than it really is.  We're pretty sure those are seed pearls around the face, and Larry read that jewelry with 40 pearls (like this) would have been given as a gift on a womans' 40th birthday.  It isn't marked very well as to maker--there are two imprints on the back, but they're poorly stamped, and we think the word SWISS is below the 6, tho it's incredibly tiny.  I wound it last night, and it ran for about 5 hours....incredibly.  A dime covers most of the watch.
  
I've always wondered what town it came from, and whose house, and if anyone missed it....ya know?

**Research always brings knowledge, and new answers for Trivial Pursuits: A MEERSCHAUM pipe is a light colored sort of stone bowl, and a BRIAR pipe is made from the burl or root of Erica Arborea, a member of the heather family. It closely resembles a dwarf tree, since it grows to no more than fifteen to twenty feet high.

Found chiefly on the shores of the Mediterranean basin, its development depends on climate and soil.  The burls are roots just under the ground.

A little German history here--

"The Crown of The Holy Roman Empire, also known as The 'Reichskrone' and

'The Crown of Charlemagne ', this ancient Crown is believed to have been made

at the Monastery of Reichenau for the Coronation of Emperor Otto I, The Great,

in 962. Made of Eight joined plates, four depict enamelled figures of Our Lord

enthroned in Majesty, King Solomon, King David and King Hezekiah and The

Prophet Isaiah. The remaining four plates are set with large precious stones".

(From THIS WEBPAGE)

WHAT got us curious about an old German crown?  Well, Mr. Research and I were looking at German paper money that dad brought home from WWII...(the way this works is we're instant messaging--I show him a picture--theres a short time where I'm the only one commenting--and suddenly, a link appears in the IM window about some cool aspect of the picture.)

Here's the beautiful "Ein Hundert Mark" we were looking at.  The figure is Germania, and Larry noticed her crown.  Yup, it's the same one.  (Click the picture to see all the amazing detail).

I said the crown looked sorta crude--the stones look like agates found on a beach--and Larry reitterated that the thing was made in 962, over a thousand YEARS ago.

Look who else 'wore' it:

Charlemagne, who was German, after all.  Interesting that the crown was made a hundred years after he died.  But, that's the function of symbols, right?