Just thought I'd introduce you all to some more of the places I visit as I interview my German refugees.
This is Altenburg, just south of Leipzig. I was really surprised by how cool/pretty it was and hence it's included here. It is a very 'romantic' German town I'd say...big castle on the hill, little market places all over, cool churches.
Wikipedia says: The town (civitas Altenburg) was first mentioned in a deed to the bishop of Zeitz in 976. Remains of a Slavic castle on the Schloßberg demonstrate that the town was probably a Slavic foundation, the capital of the shire of Plisni, taken over during the conquest of Meißen by Henry I....
The town's location on the imperial road between Halle and Cheb in Bohemia gave Altenburg economic importance in the salt trade....
Altenburg is noted for produced playing cards. The Altenburger Spielkartenfabrik was founded in the year 1831. Today it is a subsidiary company of Cartamundi and market leader in Germany.
(That is really true. I told a couple in my church that I had been in Altenburg and they're like 'OH, where playing cards come from!' ;)
Here is the town's theater. There are a lot of buildings from the 'turn of the century', funny how that we still say that, but we mean 1900...anyway....definitely a place that had/has money and business going on....
Street....
This is the market, with the City Hall on the left...cool I thought...
This is the 'Brothers Church'. A church has been here forever, but I thought it was cool because the bells play a hymn that I know....
VERY pretty church inside and out, I thought...
The altar was the Last Supper...there's Judas with the 'bag' in the right top...
REALLY nice glass-stained windows....
And this is the office where I did the interviews at. I interviewed people from 'Sudetenland' (area of today's Czech Republic), Schlesien (today's Poland) and Bessarabia (today's Ukraine).
In their office they had made little outfits from their former homelands to show people what their ancestors used to dress like.
These are from 'East Prussia' (today's northern part of Poland).
And from Bessarabia - today's Ukraine...
Although I am tired as can be at times, I am enjoying seeing the country and getting to know so many people.
In 'Snow White' she offers to make the Dwarves 'gooseberry' pie. I never knew what gooseberries were until I came to Europe. This is a bottle of gooseberry juice - it's good...kind of like a not so sweet, white grape juice....
