Germany Revisited

Next fall I'm planning to visit Germany again after some 17 years absence. I would like to see my cousin Ali and her significant other Ute who now live in my hometown of Marburg. In fact, they moved into into the same apartment that my aunt Lucie lived in until she passed away some thirty years ago. I would also like to touch bases with two boyhood friends Walter and Adolf, who live in the small town of Hungen, located not far from Marburg. They are both retired school teachers whom I got to know way back in 1952 when I was in the second grade, and with whom I was reunited during my last Germany visit in 2007. I would also like to see some of the towns in the Bundestaat Hessen where die Brueder Grimm (the Grimm Brothers) stayed at and lived in. Of course, they are known for compiling those famous German fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Sleeping Beauty which Walt Disney turned into his classic films.

My upcoming Germany visit in 2024 will be very different from the last time I was there since most of the people I saw then have either passed away, or I've lost touch with them. I remember that two of the folks I saw in 2007 were Heinrich and Lina Stey in Wershausen, a small village near Marburg. Heinrich Stey was the son of the woman at whose farmhouse my adoptive dad, mom and I lived in shortly after I was adopted back in 1947. The farmhouse still stood there after all these years, well-cared for by Heinrich. During my visit, I had a chance to witness the erecting of a giant colorful maypole as well as a village procession in which the older women wore their traditional black Trachten (outfits).

Another memorable visit was to a small town in the Bavarian Alps not far from Munich. There I stayed in a beautiful chalet-style apartment that was rented by Evelyn, the woman I used to babysit for way back in the early 1960s when she was a girl in Cincinnati, Ohio. I also had a chance to stay with her dad Arnold who had moved back to the town where he grew up in. Arnold was my dad's best friend whom my dad sponsored when he moved to the U.S. as a young man. Later on, Arnold moved back to Germany with his son and aughter.

Of course, I spent a lot of time with my cousin Ali and Ute who lived in Hamburg at the time. Not only did they show me all the sights around Hamburg, but we also made an side trip to the North Sea where we had a chance to dip our toes in the water.

During my 2007 trip, I had a chance to stay with quite a few people, including family, friends, and acquaintances. I also spent one full day touring Berlin which I hadn't seen since 1971 when the wall still stood, and I had to go through Checkpoint Charlie to get to East Berlin. But now it was all one city. I vividly recall the express train from Hamburg to Berlin which only took about two hours. Ali treated me to the train fare. Some of the things that stood out in my mind during my Berlin tour included all the construction taking place in the rapidly expanding city, the remnants of the old wall, and the unmoving human statues depicting soldiers dressed in East German uniforms. Yes, I packed in a lot into my three weeks' Germany stay