Dresden's newly-opened Saxon State Library, designed to convey the appearance of books in bookshelves. The largest studying area is below ground, under the skylight at the bottom of this picture
What a blast. If it wasn´t for the fact we had a limit of 300km on the Bimmer, I would have spent the entire time listening to SatNav lady and driving aimlessly around Germany without getting lost. But we are still tourists, and there are things to do. Wednesday, we trained it to Leipzig, but thanks to my poor planning missed the things we really went to see.
So, all we had time for, was a look through the "GDR museum", a collection of sometime bizarre, sometime moving and sad, but most always interesting exhibits from communist East Germany and the Berlin wall.
Now, being in "former" East Germany means conversations invariably end up involving the GDR (German Democratic Republic, the "western front" of communism). After all, there will always be a western fascination with oppresive regimes, political prisoners and secret police, and I am no exception. When the Berlin Wall fell down, I didn´t even know it was up in the first place, let alone be at all interested. I was too busy chasing girls and cars. But now, the world looks different, and the significance of these events becomes clearer.
To try and be brief, we have met and conversed with lovely German people who were (and are still) angered with German sycophancy, the turn-a-blind-eye approach of good little socialists who ignored the oppression, who will not hesitate to tell you with horror the atrocities they endured, especially with survelliance and manipulation.
We're happy little socialists... Original GDR mural in BerlinWe have also met some lovely German people who are puzzled by western belief in unimaginable East German living conditions, spies for neighbours, and no opportunity. They laud the existence of "no unemployment", cheap child care, and very little crime.
And there are those, like the Loebe family with whom we have been blessed to stay, who talk about the GDR retrospectively with almost objective, but dismissive humour. They will point to an ugly apartment building and say "GDR architecture!", or laughingly point to a Trabant.
But, it certainly seems, most are happy that it´s gone.
On the way back from Leipzig, we had another "blonde moment" much like the one on the train to Augsburg (see here). We met a very chatty student, whose name I am ashamed I cannot remember. She approached us in the impressive Leipzig Station, obviously clued up on the day ticket system and asking if she could "travel with us" so as not to have to buy a ticket. Very resourceful, these German students. Or maybe it's just that neccessity is the mother of invention. Naturally we remembered what happened here and were glad to oblige. The ticket inspector looked suspicious but we put on a good act of looking like we'd all known eachother for years.
Ironically, we conversed as though we had known each other for years. This bright young lady was the daughter of a pastor, we presumed in a Lutheran or kirche evangelische. Under the GDR, they were investigated, spied upon, and denied some provisions and job opportunities. They could not trust their neighbours. This girl, despite being barely 9 or 10 when the wall came down, experienced the dark side of socialism. And she was not backward in displaying her anger towards the "good little socialist" attitudes of her peers. Here she was, baring her scars to two Australian tourists, scars of dismay at how nobody knew what was going on.
"Ach Liebe!! He's talking about communism again"
We have, yet again, enjoyed the privalege of knowing some lovely (and well connected) people. At Moritzburg yesterday (yes, another postcard castle on a lake), we were reunited with another missing link from the famous MCG football night, the lovely Katja Frühauf. Her father is the Commisioner for the Preservation of Antiquitarian Documents for the Saxon State Library. That´s not his official title, just an abbreviation.
Schloss Moritzburg
"Let me guess...he keeps asking you about communism too?"Katja Fruehauf and Claudi
So, this morning, we bid farewell to the Bimmer. I must mention at this point, that Germans are exceptionally good at getting to know you. If you mention even only in passing that you are interested in something, or you saw something that amused you, they will not forget. They will stick it in their memory banks until it´s time to buy you a gift, or organise a surprise for you. Claudia´s friend Uwe, the top honcho who arranged the car for us, couldn´t help remembering that I salivated over the sight and sound of a rare M6 Coupe blasting past us at the Nürburgring. Claudi had, no doubt, told him. So Uwe cheerfully lead us through the inner garages of BMW´s Eastern HO, out into the massive car park, a sea of Bimmers, and showed us thier M6.
OK, I couldn´t drive it, but to look at it and touch it is enough. Uwe let me sit and rev the guts out of the sweeeeet big V10. Even after working in his job for 25 years, he still gets a smile out of showing tyre-kickers like me.
Anyhoo, Katja picked us up and drove us to meet her "Daddy", as she charmingly calls him, at the new (opened 2002) Saxon State Library, and gave us a grand tour. The esteemed Wolfgang Frühauf spoke quite eloquently, despite limited English with Katja occasionally playing interpreter, which was fun. The highlight? The inner sanctum, or treasure room as they called it. Closed to all but a select few dignitaries, this rooms contains original antiquities such as;
- a 4000 year old Mesopotamian inscribed object
- papyrus from the Greek Empire around 100 BC, being some kind of ancient delivery order
- A massive Jewish prayer book from around 12 century Europe, from a Jewish Ghetto
- One of Martin Luther´s notebooks
- A First-Copy of the medical journal of the physician of Caeser Marc Aurel (199 AD I think)
- countless original Christian Codexes from 9th century, and
- original musical manuscripts handwritten by JS Bach, Vivaldi, and Richard Wagner.
Martin Luther's notes. On the second page about three lines down it says "These Catholics think they know everything..."
Rarely is anyone allowed to take photos. But we were!
Indiana Jones wuz 'ere
Of course, Katja´s Daddy mentioned that he was with the State Library under GDR days. Yes, there were less books there. Yes, the GDR allowed only 5000 new publications per year compared to the West´s 50,000. But, nowadays, not all books are good or reputable. Some books are rubbish (I quite agree). There are no such books in the Saxon State library. And the darkly-secretive Stasi? Well, secret or covert police organisations are everywhere! Every country has them- even Australia, Wolfgang mentioned, and I suppose he is right (although there is a difference between protecting your citizens from terror or protecting the regime from opposition).
12th Century Jewish book, I suspect part of the Mishna, from a European Jewish GhettoAnd unemployment? There was no unemployment in the GDR. Katja and her brother had a safe upbringing, and were always exposed to literature and learning. And they had the assurance of provision.
All of this made reasonable sense, and you couldn´t deny it. Quite a contrast from our girl on the train.
But, the final comment by Wolfgang- as we said goodbye to him and his magnificent library, was the most telling; "In the GDR we lived a good life. Now, we lead a luxurious life. We don´t want the GDR back".
There must be many Wolfgang Frühaufs out there who are finally receiving the income they deserve. Now there is unemployment, now there is crime. The price of freedom.
On Tuesday when we followed Claudia home after picking up the BMW (did I mention we hade a 5-series Bimmer for a few days?!) going up a hill, she was pointing wildly and gleefully to something on the road up ahead.
It was a Trabant, struggling to get up the hill, holding up a snake of begrudgingly patient traffic, and spewing clouds of smoke. When we got home, Jörg and Claudi said excitedly "There... you have seen your first Trabi!" And then "I think, that is why East Germans are glad the GDR days are over..."
And I´m glad they are over. If they weren´t, I would never have met these people.
Beautiful, beautiful Dresden
