ziggy and richey: Report from Intemanns, Lauenbrueck, sent 7/22: Did you receive it?

Juni-July 2007

With cousins Almut and Arthur Inemann in Lauenbrueck

Our next adventure took us a short train ride Southwest to Lauenbrueck near the Lueneburg Heather. Here our cousins Almut and Arthur Intemann welcomed us into their beautiful country home where they spoiled us royally in their exotic rural world: their gentleman's farm complete with a trout brook meandering right through their backyard. --- How much you, Walt, would love to fish here!

You can imagine our surprise and great pleasure when we spotted the large California flag fluttering its welcome from a high pole at the entrance to the property. So typical touch of Almut and Arthur! A small herd of Heidschnucken graised nearby. Almut raises this ancient breed of local sheep. What an idyllic setting.

The Intemann"s comfortable home is a converted farmhouse which still retains its original country charm. The first impression is deceptive, because this house is equipped with all the latest modern conveniences and technology one can imagine. The veranda is our favorite place: extending out from the kitchen-den-dining area, this most comfortable 'glass'room, literally, has side and roof panes which consist of a number of glass plates; these respond automatically to weather and temperature inside and out, adjusting and changing according to preprogrammed settings. Absolutely beautiful in all weather conditions, conveying a feeling of sitting outdoors in perfect comfort.

As you can imagine, Almut and Arthur love their home and the Lueneburger Heide (which reminds somewhat of Scotland) and they are great guides to this starkly beautiful region which has been settled since "Urzeiten", e.g. very ancient times. Today, many houses still have thatched roofs and are shaded by old oaks and linden trees; we saw one oak tree which is said to be more than a thousand years old. Nearby was a spring, the insignificant-looking birthplace of a stream. Some of the small country towns and churches are equally old and memorable, including the crown of the area, Lueneburg. This well-preserved medieval town saw its hay-day during the Renaissance, when it became wealthy and important through lucrative mining and trading of salt.

Almut is a retired school principal whose hobby it has become to raise Heidschnucken, an ancient local breed of sheep. Shortly before our arrival, a tiny lamb was born whose mother had rejected it: Almut adopted this cute black woolly ball, named it "TWENTY" and raises it by bottle; whenever she calls its name, it comes racing to the gate to get fed. I learned to call and feed this little critter, an activity which pleased me immensely.

I was curious about the strange name. Apparently, every season some lambs get rejected by their mothers. Almut then bottle-raises these, thus their name, "Buddel-lamm". Like a dog, a lamb responds to its name and comes racing to the caller. But why the number-name, I asked? Almut claims that over the years she raised so many of these Buddellamms that she has run out of names -- and with her special sense of humor -- she now calls her lamb-babies by a number.

Arthur' s hobby is gardening and he raises -year round- most of the family's vegetables in his large garden and green house. Almut explains that it helps him sort his thoughts and clear his mind, to relax and "invite his soul," an important activity for this busy lawyer.

Another hobby of the Intemanns is gourmet cooking. One day they treated us to an amazing meal of a local delicacy: mushrooms. This was our first and probably last feast of "all you can eat" mushrooms! As always, it was beautifully served with fresh, delicious homegrown vegetables and salads. The meal was topped off by a dessert of freshly picked strawberries and whipped cream.

Earlier we discussed the rail transportation system of Europe; now Almut introduced to us to its water transportation system. Europe has developed an extensive river-canal system which crisscrosses the continent and interconnects its rivers and lakes by way of canals and a series of locks. In addition to pleasure boats, the waterways are used for shipping of heavy, bulky goods like coal and sand and large industrial products. Not only do these facilitate the shipment of bulky materials; transporting by "ship" costs much less than shipping by rail or by truck. Of course it also takes longer.

Almut treated us to a boat-ride through a canal lock in the area. We watched with fascination as this gigantic brand new lock picked up a large ship --- simultaneously with our small passenger boat --- in a huge bathtub like trough by raising the water level (and us) some thirty meters up to the higher level of the upper canal. At one point the canal even crosses OVER the highway below; we took a photo of that point, and it will help you jog your memory of having seen this very unusual and amazing scene before in American magazines. It is truly fascinating to see such a feat of engineering. These canals and locks function as water-super-highways and interconnect the country from North to South and East to West.

Yesterday we went on an emotional and impressive visit to the Bremerhafen Emigration House. Over the centuries seven million Germans and Central Europeans set sail from here for an uncertain future in North and South America. The museum is built in the shape of a large ocean liner with accommodations in first, second and third class. Noises of weather and water are simulated and accentuated the realism of the situation. The only part missing was the actual movement of this ship-like museum. We are sure we would all have gotten sea-sick in the crowded, cramped, dark, smelly quarters.

The third class quarters were especially shocking and depressing. These low-cost accommodations were located in the belly of the ship, where long wooden platforms served the poorest passengers as living-sleeping accommodations on their long voyage. What a contrast to the first class accommodations on the upper level of the ship; these were light and spacious and quite luxurious.

The simulated atmosphere of a passage in this museum forced us, the visitors, to vicariously experience the moans and growns of seasick passengers while tossing on this fragile bark in the North Atlantic. Our forefathers were indeed brave and hearty souls.

In an adjacent "computer library" one could research the names of passengers and find many interesting facts about them. We did not do so since Richey does not have enough information about the emigration of his forefathers.

It was a haunting experience mainly for Almut and Sigrid whose vivid imagination had them experience vicariously the hardships and the dangers which our ancestors had so bravely shouldered. Even this morning they were still disturbed by images of those poorest emigrants and their desperate determination to find a new and better life in the Americas. All the other interesting experiences with Almut and Arthur pale in emotional intensity with the one of the Overseas Museum.

The eve before our departure, while sipping a glass of good wine, Arthur gave us some shocking news: We had received a telephone bill from T-mobile for over 6 000 Euros (10 000 $). Yes, you read correctly! We were stunned. How was this possible? There had to be a mistake somewhere! (This sum has in the meantime risen to 10 000 Euros = 15 000$)

Almut tried to calm us by saying: "nichts wird so heiss gegessen wie gekocht" ("nothing gets eaten as hot as it is cooked") and wonderful Arthur offered his professional help. He checked our agreement and bills with T-Mobile which had been paid monthly -automatically- by our German bank. It appears that the itemized extra charges accrued through our use of the Internet during the two months in France and Poland. Nowhere was there an exclusionary reference to extra-fees for these countries.

Being a lawyer, dear Arthur used his office stationary and had already prepared a letter of complaint and request for clarification to T-Mobile. Lateron, he received the answer with some ridiculous explanation from this company; but it agreed to lower the amount to Euro 300 (450$), a sum with which we could live. We are still waiting for a written statement, though, but we know that we are in good hands with Arthur.

This morning we had to bid farewell to the Intemanns. How could so many wonderful new experiences have fit into ONE single week?! And what a beautiful, memorable week it turned out to been! Thank you, dear Almut and Arthur!

The day before saying our farewells to Almut and Arthur, we had made a quick one day trip to Berlin to see Rita Baker, one of Richey's former students from Duke University. She and her husband Merrill (also a former Duke student), just bought an apartment in the center of Berlin and are now in the process of renovating and furnishing it. They have kindly invited us to use this apartment when they are not in town, which possibly means most of the year except Christmas and summer vacations. What a tempting offer this is! Just the idea makes our departure from the 'Old World" easier and sweetens our farewells from friends and relatives.