The Christmas Letter: the New Year's Edition

December 30: finally some snow. Richard's collection of ceramic replicas of buildings we know decorates the window sill.

The Good Life
It's 34°F outside, with snow on the trees and everywhere else. The chickadees are hopping around the branches, enjoying what seeds are left. Inside, the borrowed cat sleeps on the sofa, the house is decorated for Christmas and classical music is playing softly on the radio. A warm cup of decaff is steaming next to the computer. The picture above is exactly what Kathy sees as she types this at the dining room table. Richard gets a new little ceramic house from Kathy every Christmas, and the third house from the left is this year's model of the Schlenkerla, a brewery in Bamberg. (Hint: click on any of the pictures in this blog to see a larger version on a separate screen. It's cool!)

We are hosting the downstairs neighbors' cat while they are away. This cat is very attached to her people, so while her personal staff is away, she has adopted us as a substitute. For a couple of days after they leave, while she still thinks they could come back any minute, she stays downstairs in her "lair" and Kathy lets her in and out. After a couple of days, she gets tired of being alone and comes up to spend a few hours a day with us, which then turns into a round-the-clock thing, because she wants company. She also doesn't want to go out in the snow. She has established her favorite sleeping place in approximately the middle of the sofa, which has occasioned some changes in our sitting habits, but she purrs nicely, and it's fun to play with her, so it's a change we can live with for a little while.

The neighbors across the street (the ones with Laika, the cocker spaniel) were away until today, Dec. 30, 2014, so Kathy has been shoveling their front walk, bringing the newspaper in and watering the plants.

As you can tell, we have developed good relationships with the neighbors, so that we take care of each other's pets and plants while we're away. Susanne, Kati and Kathy go walking with Laika (Susanne's cocker spaniel) on most weekdays.

It has been nice to stay in Germany for Christmas. We were enjoying the prospect of having time to relax and visit some Christmas markets after we came back from visiting Richard's family in Iowa for Thanksgiving. For us, it's a time to wind down and spend a couple of peaceful weeks without having to work (mostly). From the afternoon of Christmas Eve until the 26th of December, it's holiday time and stores are closed. Same thing on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Then, on January 6, the Epiphany holiday is another chance to enjoy a day without work. We did travel to visit a couple of Christmas markets; more on that later.

What We Did During the Work Week
Those of you who received Bob Leroux's Christmas letter might get the impression that Richard is in a management position. Luckily, he's not - he just has some young engineers working with him that need his "supervision," because, as he affectionately puts it, "the kids know just enough to be dangerous." Richard is now at an age where he is a member of the second oldest age cohort in the company. The people 10 years older than him are looking forward to retirement in the next year. Because of the vagaries of the nuclear industry, there is no one in between, age-wise. A couple years ago, some young people just out of college were hired; these are the people who come to him for advice. Many of the oldest generation come to him for advice as well. He has often been pulled into meetings, to which he wasn't expressly invited, because they need his unique expertise.

During the fall, Richard took an Italian course at the Erlangen adult-ed school. He enjoyed it so much that he even used an online program to practice at home. The woodworking has been on hold until he can make a trip to the saw mill some 20 miles away and get some more wood. He does go down to the shop to putter sometimes and spend time on a wooden clock and some picture frames he's building.

Kathy continues to do freelance translation work from German into English. Since August, she has been busy translating management-standards training documents for a company in Nuremberg who has recently acquired some overseas offices. Most of the training material involves communication and conflict management. Thanks to her exposure to her dad's psychology background and counseling career, a lot of the terms are familiar to her: Transactional Analysis, I'm OK-You're OK and Parent-Adult-Child are some once-familiar themes that she has been re-encountering. This has been solid, full-time work that promises to continue into 2015. A faithful customer from Richard's company also promises to have several pages of technical work for her to edit and translate in the new year.

In addition to walking with the neighbors and the dog on most weekdays, for fun, Kathy takes a water aerobics course once a week at one of the city pools. The weekly yoga course is also a staple. It sure helps to keep up the strength in the arms, legs and core! In spite of all the years of yoga, though, her flexibility is not what she wishes it was. She is looking forward to the Yin yoga seminars her teacher is offering in the new year. Yin yoga addresses the fascia, the tissues surrounding the muscles, by holding certain "restorative" poses for minutes at a time to allow the tissues to stretch. She also took up weaving again, 14 years after her last class at the arts center in Connecticut, weaving a scarf on her tabletop loom. This in turn inspires her to think about the next project(s)...

What We're Reading
On the recommendation of one of Richard's "kids," he has been reading a fantasy series of 6 books in German by an author named Richard Schwartz. Some of the books are written in the style of a murder mystery and some are pure adventure, with magicians. He chuckles often while he reads. Book 6 is on order at the bookstore while he finishes Book 5. He also has a pile of books on his nightstand by authors and poets from the middle ages containing stories from the period and biographies of various personalities.

Kathy is splitting her time between a Christmas present, Engineers of Victory, about the clever people whose inventions and technological advances were indispensable to the Allies' victory in WWII, and certain books by Sam Harris, such as Waking Up and The End of Faith. Harris's premise is that it is not necessary to subscribe to a particular religion in order to have spiritual experiences that give rise to inner peace and compassion for other beings. In fact, religious doctrine can and has gotten in the way of people realizing that everyone can experience consciousness in a self-transcending, productive way. Meditation is the key. For more details, see the books; he has a lot more interesting and controversial, but well-reasoned things to say.  A recent read was a short German book called The Wolf at the Window, a charming Christmas story about a journalist from New York City and a park ranger whose meeting in Wyoming involves an injured wolf and the ranger's purported Uncle "Claus." On Kathy's nightstand, she keeps a copy of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales in German; it was a gift from a German friend. It came in handy in interpreting some figures we saw at the Dresden Christmas Market.

The Christmas Markets: Esslingen and Dresden
We took two weekend trips in addition to the one-day visits to the local Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets). The first trip was to Esslingen with a former colleague, Daniel S. All the elements of a great Christmas market were available: the food and drink, the handcrafts, the music, the decorations and setting, and the entertainment.

Richard at the Glühwein stand

Let's start with the food and drink. Glühwein (mulled wine) was available at  several booths. One in particular sold the local variation made from apple wine and Calvados (apple schnapps). In addition to tasting good, the roasted chestnuts always smell good and feel nice and warm in your hand. As you might expect in Germany, wild game was also available. Kathy bought a Nutella-flavored liquor at one of the booths selling every flavor of liquor you can imagine.

Roasting chestnuts in a big kettle

Booth selling wild game products

A booth selling hand-carved wooden ornaments.
Notice how ornately the roof is decorated.

Hand-blown glass ornaments

Moving on to the hand crafts, there was a wide variety of wooden toys and carvings, hand-blown glass ornaments, hand-made bobbin lace, and hand-made ceramics. The lace actually was made in the same region as that sold at the Dresden markets.

Ceramic models of local buildings, similar to what Kathy buys Richard every year

Medieval Ferris wheel

The entertainment for the kids was in a medieval setting. The Ferris wheel was hand-powered by two knaves. For the older kids, there were archery and axe-throwing booths.

The setting was especially charming. Esslingen is a beautiful little city with a lot of its half-timbered buildings still intact.

Dresden is also a beautiful city, but of a different sort. It is a baroque city on the banks of the River Elbe. It has several Christmas markets with various themes. The main market in Dresden is called the Striezelmarkt, which takes its name from a treat pictured below. The decorations are especially nice here. Near the Frauenkirche, the Church of Our Lady, was a market where local craftsmen sold their wares. At one stand, we bought two hand-turned plates glazed with a holly motif.

The lights of the markets near the Frauenkirche

This market included some delicacies indigenous to Dresden. One of them was the inside-out cinnamon roll (called a Baumstriezel - wrap on a tree, roughly translated), cooked on a greased wooden core (the tree) over an open fire. They gave off a wonderful fragrance as we stopped to watch. Below you see the tray of nuts, cinnamon and sugar that the rolls are smothered in after being coated with melted butter.

Baumstriezel being doused in melted butter, nuts, spices and sugar

The handicrafts reflect the local history, and the Erzgebirge (ore mountains) of the region provided Germany with some of the most traditional of decorations. 

The miners spent the winter months doing woodcarving, while the women made lace. Numerous stands sold both the hand-carved wooden ornaments (Christmas pyramids by the dozens) and handmade lace, all made locally.

The kids had an area of the main market devoted to the Grimms brothers fairy tales.

The princess and the frog, and Snow White and the seven dwarfs

Kathy found a souvenir at a pottery stand selling blue-glazed pottery. She bought two egg cups.

The roofs of all the stands were so ornately decorated, and we can't resist including this picture.

Some pretty cute pigs were pulling Santa's sleigh on top of this sausage maker's stand.

Kathy's favorite Christmas market in Dresden was the one in the courtyard of the former stables of the residential palace of the Saxon princes. It was small, enclosed and cozy, complete with blacksmith, old fashioned bath tubs that could sit 8 people each, a brass quartet who consistently played very good music, which they sometimes accompanied with a drum, and lots of unusual delicacies.

Part of the medieval market in the Dresden residence courtyard

We had liver grilled with meat and bacon on a skewer, hot mead, and some hot mulled wine. A special treat was a booth selling middle eastern coffee and pastries! We could taste the spices in the coffee - it was much better than anything we've attempted at home. We shared a date roll covered in crushed pistachios. Very tasty! We definitely compensated for our surplus energy intake by walking all day to see the various markets around the entire city.

The bath house has two large tubs that seat 8 people each

The bath tubs were set up under the roof of a shed, which presumably served as a changing room. It took all day to heat up the tubs of water. The Baeder, or bath attendant, explained that in the Middle Ages, communal baths were common. It was a social occasion. The bath attendants at the time offered rudimentary medical services, such as tooth-pulling.  Various tools of this trade were on display. Also on display was a bladder full of water with a tube attached to it - the attendant the attendant offered to show Kathy how it worked, but she gracefully declined.






The Epiphany in Germany

The "Star Singers" go from door to door...

...dressed as the 3 Kings

On the 6th of January, Germany celebrates the Feast of the Three Wise Men as a holiday. Every year we get a visit from three kids dressed up as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Balthasar carries the star that led the wise men to Bethlehem, and Caspar has his face darkened because Caspar was a Moor from north Africa. The kids knock on your door, sing a song introducing themselves as the wandering wise men following the star, and ask for a donation to a charity that helps children in need. This year, the donations supported children in the Philippines. In return, you get a blessing, indicated by the markings in chalk at the top of your door. The inscription reads "20* C+M+B *15" indicating the year, 2015, and the initials not of Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, as we assumed, but Christus Mansionem Benedicat - Christ bless this house.

Final Words
We continue to enjoy the Christmas traditions here in the "Old Country." That these traditions continue to be maintained is part of what we love about living here. There is a sense of continuity and that things are the way they should be that the Germans try to preserve despite all their country's ups and downs. It gives us a comforting sense of stability.

We also appreciate and continue to practice the American customs that we grew up with, such as putting up the Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving and opening presents on Christmas Day (the Germans put the tree up and open presents on Christmas Eve). We also cannot do without colored lights and ornaments of all colors on our tree! When our German friends get to reminiscing about their families' Christmas customs, we realize that we Americans, too, have our own unique customs. We just hadn't recognized that we do have a unique culture until we had another one to compare it with.

We wish you all a happy, healthy and successful New Year!

An American Christmas tree in Germany

Trewin News, Dresden, May 2007

The Germans have not forgotten their violent past. 14 years ago, when Richard was here the first time, the Second World War was not a topic of general conversations, or discussed on TV. Now, however, every month there
is a mini-series or program on TV dramatizing the events of the war. Last year a mini-series movie about the fire-bombing of Dresden was broadcast (which we should have watched). But we recently saw the city for the second time, 14 years after our first visit.
Dresden, Florence on the Elbe

The Dresden Frauenkirche, our main reason for going
Dresden, in the former GDR or East Germany, had limited resources for rebuilding its fire-bombed Old City before the Wall fell, so the Frauenkirche (pron. Frowenker-he: Church of our Lady) lay in ruins until then. Its pile of blackened stones were a monument to the destructiveness of war and to the victims of war, especially the victims of the Feb. 1945 fire-bombing. All the years it was a pile of rubble on the ground, the site was encircled by rose bushes. Churches were not high on the restoration priority list of the communist regime in East Germany. The communists used the firebombing as propaganda for demonstrating the violent and aggressive nature of the British and Americans. (The war was practically over when Dresden was firebombed, which makes the firebombing controversial even in the West.)

After 1989, in the rush of joy over reunification, it was at last decided to rebuild the church. It stands again as the highpoint of the city skyline, its clean new sandstone contrasting with the blackened surrounding churches and palaces. Now that I think of it, the old churches and palaces that withstood the attack must still be black from the fires of 1945, not just from the pollution of automobiles and smokestacks. Cleaning is progressing slowly.

The decision to rebuild the Church was controversial. Opponents wanted to leave the ruin as a monument to national reconciliation and the destructiveness of war. In the end the decision to rebuild was based in part on the importance the church has to architecture. That is why it was reconstructed exactly as it was originally, and as much as possible of the original church was reused. The original plans and materials were used, and no modern improvements were incorporated into the design. The effort was enormous. The ruins became a modern archaeological site, with each stone numbered and photographed in its original location and orientation. (14 years ago, we saw rows and rows of stacked pallets with individual stones on them, each stone labeled.) Sophisticated computer models were used to simulate the church's collapse. (The church survived the immediate explosions of the 650,000 firebombs, but the fires reached 1,800 F and the outer walls shattered a couple of days later.) The photo shows one of the original sections, which are dark in color. The altar was only partially damaged, and was restored. Statues got their noses and fingers rebuilt. In order to recreate the doors, mortar, and pigment for paint, such documents as old purchase orders and wedding photographs were used. As in the 18th century, a tremendous amount of eggs was used for the paint. And the British donated a replica of the orb and cross for the top of the church (see top photo), which I think was a very nice gesture. One of the craftsmen who worked on the orb, and who is a son of one of the bomber pilots, said "I think what we have been able to do has had a very considerable healing effect not only for the Dresdeners but also for the British people involved."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/641423.stm

A Renaissance City
We're not talking about the time period, but about Dresden. The city itself is experiencing a rebirth as its former splendor is restored, and controversial modern buildings are being added to the cityscape. Unemployment is still at 15% but it is again becoming a technology center as it was before the war (optics were the high-tech industry then). Investment in the city is on the increase. Since reunification in 1989, Dresden has been on the upswing, but it will take years until the renewal reaches all the areas that need it.
Dresden is one big construction site. Where the reconstruction has not yet reached, not so far from the city center, remain many abandoned buildings with broken windows, sprayed with graffiti. We theorized that before 1989, nobody had easy access to spray paint. One probably needed a permit from the government. Now they do, and the results are all over, some of it quite colorful and attractive.


One of the best City Museums I (Kathy) have ever been to is the Dresden City Museum. Not only does it chronicle the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche in as much detail as one can absorb, with supplemental info for the engineering/restoration-architect crowd, but it had a relevant exhibit on the many new buildings being added, and the many critiques that were published about these projects as they were planned and executed. Daniel Liebeskind dropped one of his crystal spaceships on the Military History museum, and a "deconstructivist" fire escape adorns the end of the Landhaus that houses the City Museum itself. Below is the UFA Palast, a newly built controversy that seems to be a movie theater.Sir Norman Foster's refurbishment of the main train station is more pleasing to the eye. He stretched synthetic fabric over the existing vaulted ironwork of the old station - very graceful. Unfortunately, the new synagogue is a monolithic, almost windowless grey concrete modern building, with even less grace than the new one in Munich (pardon my kvetching, but see our previous post ). See the Wikipedia article link below for some excellent pictures of Dresden "now and then."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden
The City Museum includes a thorough but concise story of the city's development, employing actual artefacts. And what I found impressive, visually oriented map-nut that I am, was a computer graphic projected on a 3-D map of the Elbe valley and surrounding plateaus, that traced the influence of geography and development of settlements from prehistoric times to the modern. The narration was excellent (albeit in German, not so accessible for English speakers).

The Germans have not forgotten their violent past. The museum chronicles the war times, and the antisemitic edicts issued with increasing frequency as the war wore on. At one point, Jews were prohibited from buying flowers, patronizing non-Jewish businesses, and speaking to non-Jews. And it just got worse from there, of course.

The splendor of the Saxon rulers
We stood in line for 2 hours to see the 17th and 18th century Grünes Gewölbe (green vault), and it was worth it! I've (Richard) never seen such a collection of gems, precious stones, amber, ivory and gold, even in London (the Crown Jewels, no less), Paris, Rome and America. All of the different materials were made into beautiful display pieces by German craftsmen, except for the many rock crystal pieces, which were crafted in Milan back when the Milanese were the best polishers. The Green Diamond is the largest of its kind in the world, and the several Jewel Garnitures, one set each of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, are the only complete sets in Europe. The Garnitures are the jewels worn by the Saxon princes for formal occasions on buttons, on walking sticks, sword handles and scabbards, and on brooches for the ladies. The Grünes Gewölbe is a treasure vault consisting of 10 rooms. Its treasures were carefully stored during the war and so escaped the bombing. (although the treasures were confiscated by the Soviet army in 1945, but were returned to East Germany in 1958, so at least one good thing came out of the division of Germany.) The security is inconspicuous, except for the double doors with an air lock big enough for 2 people. (We wondered what was going on for those 5 to 10 seconds spent in the air lock.) Because the windows on the street side of the treasury were closed, only minor damage occurred on that side during the firebombs. But a couple rooms facing the courtyard were demolished by the intense heat in the confined space. Again, the restoration was meticulous, including mercury backing for the mirrors on the walls. Kathy saw a documentary on TV about the restoration, in which she saw the precious pieces being lowered into place on their tables and plinths; the paint being matched and restored, the paper-thin gold sheets being reapplied to the moldings, and the mirrors being dipped in a solution of mercury and tin to give them the same soft reflective quality that the old mirrors had. Some paintings of the Saxon princes had to be recreated by copyists based on other known works.


We went to the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (painting gallery of old masters in the Zwinger palace) for a rare opportunity to see a Vermeer. The paintings were beautiful, of course. So were the paintings by Rubens and Rembrandt. The play of light used by each painter was masterful, and each was unique. Richard found out what it means for a woman to be "Rubenesque". We decided to see some of the first Renaissance paintings north of the Alps (the very first is Nuremberg homeboy Dürer's "Adam and Eve", but you have to go to Spain to see it). So we went to the rooms with Dürer and Cranach the Elder. It was a great chance to see the transition in one man's work from late gothic to early renaissance. It was interesting to see blood veins and tendons in the hands painted for the first time by a master. But the best was yet to come. We trekked to the other end of the museum to see some Renaissance paintings by some of the greatest artists of all time. We marveled at the beauty of Rafael's "Sistine Madonna", and came away with tears in our eyes. Her eyes express peace, sadness, resignation, and compassion, all at the same time. She's holding a toddler-aged Jesus, who also has sad eyes. It is much more beautiful and enigmatic than the Mona Lisa (sorry Leonardo), and pictures don't do it justice. (I don't know why.) Anyway, a picture is included. And, by the way, the famous Putti at the bottom of the scene are cute too. But why the putti made it on postage stamps and not the Madonna, I'll never know.

Once again, the building itself is a work of art. The Zwinger Palace includes one of the old fortress walls of the city, and the Crown gate has a drawbridge over the old moat.


Opera fans all know of the Semper Oper. Many famous premieres were performed here. We just had to see a performance; unfortunately the production at the time was the American opera, Dead Man Walking. The Semper Opera is said to have wonderful acoustics, even better than La Scala in Milan. We were in the very front row, which was a little too close to the orchestra to enjoy the acoustics, and the singing was a little drowned out. But the performance was better than I expected. And the building is beautiful. There is an unusual statue of Dionysus with panthers pulling his chariot at the top of the building . I guess the building is more a monument to celebrations than to the arts.




We went to a cafe afterwards. The apple strudel with vanilla sauce was delicious.

Dresden was not about the food...Guess we didn't go for the food, not having secured a guidebook prior to getting on the train. For once, we didn't spend our time trudging across town to get to some exquisite eatery. But we enjoyed a local delicacy (dessert, of course) and found a funky café in the New City art district. The dessert: Eierschecke (Eye´er sheck e), an eggy but light cake, kind of like a fallen soufflé (recipe included at the end of this post). The café: the Scheune Garten - eclectic eats and funky decor. Weekdays after 4pm get your own drinks from the bar in the courtyard, and order your choice of Indian dishes from the menus on the tables. Mornings a buffet brunch with traditional German cold cuts and rolls, warm vegetarian dishes, spicy cheese fritters, and some Indian rice and chicken. We sat in the colorfully painted courtyard (see pictures below) with fountain which drew all the kids instantly, and a view of a colorfully graffitoed wall on the building opposite.



Nearby was an art district, called Kunsthof Passage, where local artists went crazy with the decorating of several linked courtyards. Each courtyard (Hof) has a different theme, like

• Hof der Fabelwesen (fairytale beings)
• Hof der Metamorphosen (metamorphoses)
• Hof der Elemente (elements)
• Hof des Lichts (light)
• Hof der Tiere (animals)

...Dresden is about the porcelainThe names "Dresden" and "Meissen" are often used interchangeably, even though there is technically a difference. The secret of hard paste porcelain, previously the secret knowledge of the Chinese and Japanese, was reinvented in the city of Dresden. The first porcelain-producing factory was begun fifteen miles away in the city of Meissen, in 1710. However, most Meissen china was sold in Dresden. The Dresden style is typically associated with the blue crown stamp. The famous "Dresden lace," is real lace coated in liquid porcelain and then applied by hand to ceramic figures. The result looks fantastic, but the fragile decoration can be damaged by even a light touch. Hence the need for the signs in the windows of china stores. See the picture below.


Much of the splendor of Dresden was created when August der Starke (English: Frederick Augustus I) was the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. His name means "August the Strong", a name he got from his great strength; he is said to have broken horse shoes with his bare hands. A statue of him is at the end of the main bridge.

If you are wondering why he is smiling, the rumor is that he had 365 children. That might be another reason that he was called "der Starke".

Back in Erlangen: The Swindle, or a funny thing happened on the way to the library...
As I (Kathy) was wandering down a downtown side street one fine day in April, absorbed in my mental shopping list, I passed a woman walking towards me on the sidewalk. Just as I got past her, she said, "Look! A good luck piece," and picked something up from the ground. I turned and saw she had dark hair and olive skin. She was holding a man's gold ring, "Look, it's 585 gold, worth something --good luck piece. Here, you take it, good luck." Her German was accented, her grammar wasn't correct. I protested, no I don't want it; I wanted to say it should be turned into to the Police, but she insisted. She shook my hand. "Good luck from me to you. Now for luck, give me money for coffee." I fished a 2 Euro coin out of my wallet, handed it to her. "Not enough. Three!" I gave her another Euro. Broad daylight. No one else on the street. I left the ring on the window ledge of the building. I was steamed, mostly at myself for not being able to ward her off. Wonder how many times she pulled that one that day. Didn't see it coming; I am not equipped with big city instincts. Checked later, ring was still there. Such an incident is out of place in Erlangen. Would have expected and been prepared for something like that in Rome, Paris, Cologne.

Unfortunately, there are a few Nazi heirs
The Germans have not forgotten their violent past. The Nazi party is banned. Denying the holocaust is illegal, as is the Swastika and the Nazi salute. (The German police were given cultural-awareness training before the Soccer World Cup last year, so that they wouldn't arrest any inconsiderate foreigners (namely, the Brits) who were unaware of the law.) Unfortunately, though, there are a few Nazi heirs: the radical right National democratic Party of Germany, NPD. They are a minority party, most popular where there is high unemployment. They're against capitalism, foreigners in Germany, and a lot of other things, too. What they do want is to revise history to make the Germans the victims of WWII. As a legitimate party, when they plan a march through a city, they must file a route plan. The opposition turns out in much greater numbers. On the most recent NPD march through Nuremberg, police protection was out of proportion to the couple hundred radical right-wing marchers. The rational Germans who say "Never again" had printed a 100 sq. m banner depicting a pile of concentration-camp corpses and hung it on the buildings in the plaza where the NPD stopped to make its speeches. When they first arrived in the square, they were flustered for a few minutes. The NPD is hated. Their processions are accompanied by numerous police to protect them from the even more numerous opposition, who have on occasion thrown bottles and rocks.
Since I've been here, I've learned that Hitler's regime lasted 12 years, from 1933 to 1945. It was my illusion that he showed up first in 1938 and started his evil deeds then. I guess that was when the events significant to the US WWII war history started happening.

Every school child spends several months learning about Germany's Second World War history. Age-appropriate school visits to former concentration-camp sites are common, where the photographic documentation apparently leaves adults in tears. Formerly, for the post-war generation, there often wasn't enough time left in the curriculum at the end of the school year to cover the 1930's and 1940's. Our German teacher, born in 1952, thought that this might be because the memories of the war times were still fresh in the teachers' minds, and that many had guilt about what they did or felt forced to do during those years.

Other Germans have told me that they felt that Germany was an "observed" country since the end of the war, and that being the object of observation made the people very cautious. (Of course, it was not only the observation that made people cautious.) Thus the avoidance of any hint of nationalistic displays, even of the German black, red, and gold flag. Up until the hosting of the World Soccer Championship last year, that is, when the flag was displayed in patriotic support of the soccer team. The flags of many other countries were also hung from windows, and people wore the colors of their favorite teams from whatever country. So many flags have not since been seen. A former Bundespresident said: Patriotismus ist Liebe zu den Seinen; Nationalismus ist Hass auf die anderen. (Richard von Weiszaecker). That is, Patriotism is love for one's own; Nationalism is hate for the others.
..........
That's the news from Erlangen, where all the pastries are low-fat, all the women are thin, and the gypsies are sneaky.
..........

Recipe for Dresdner Eierschecke(Eye´-er sheck-e) Dresden Egg Cake
(from The Authentic German Kitchen, Saelzer and Ruschitzka, 2007, aprinta Druck GmbH & Co.KG, Wemding. ISBN 3-8289-1187-0) I apologize for the metric units; I haven't made this recipe myself.

For 20-25 pieces:
For the yeast dough:
400g flour
40g cake yeast (see the Joy of Cooking for a conversion to packet yeast)
1/4 liter lukewarm milk
80g sugar
80g butter
1 pinch salt
1 egg

For the Quark* layer:
1 kg Quark (20% fat)
100g sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar, about 10g (see + below)
2 egg yolks (keep the whites)
1 untreated lemon
a pinch of salt
100g almond slices
50g raisins or currants

For the pudding-egg mixture:
250g butter
100g sugar
1/2-3/4 liter milk
80g vanilla pudding powder (German pudding powder has no sugar)
4 eggs, separated
2 egg whites, from the Quark layer above

Also:
70g butter for greasing the cake sheet and for brushing on the cake
50g sugar

*Quark is a dairy product similar to yogurt but milder, thicker, and with more protein. You could try drained yogurt mixed with a little softened cream cheese, or drained ricotta.
+ Vanilla extract is not used over here (not the real thing, anyway). Instead, sugar with vanillin added, or in which a vanilla bean has been "marinated" for a few days is used.
Note: the finished cake is about 2 inches high. You might have to use (a) baking pan(s) with higher sides. Sorry, I don't know appropriate pan dimensions. Let me know how it goes.

Preparation time: around 2-1/2 hours.
At 25 pieces, 330 calories per piece.

1. For the yeast dough: Sift the flour into a bowl. Make a well in the center and powder the yeast into it. Add half the warm milk and half the sugar. Mix gently. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 20 min.
2. Melt the butter. Mix it with the rest of the milk and sugar, the salt and the beaten egg. Add this mixture to the batter from step 1 above. Beat well with the dough hook of a hand mixer, or your Cuisinart, or Kitchenaid mixer. Let it rest again for a little while.
3. For the Quark layer, mix until foamy the Quark with the sugar, vanilla sugar, egg yolks, some lemon zest, a few squeezes of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Fold in the sliced almonds.
4. For the pudding mixture, heat the milk with the butter and sugar. Mix the pudding powder in some cold milk and add it to the warm mixture. Heat it until it bubbles (?) and let it cool. Preheat the oven to 175 degC, about 350F.
5. Roll the yeast dough out onto a large buttered baking sheet. Spread the Quark layer over that and sprinkle the raisins/currants over the Quark. Mix 4 egg yolks into the cooled pudding mixture. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them carefully into the pudding. Spread this pudding-cream over the Quark layer.
6. Bake the Eierschecke in the oven at moderate heat for about 80 minutes until golden brown -- more gold than brown! While it's still hot, brush it with butter and sprinkle the sugar over it.
7. Enjoy with coffee on a terrace overlooking the Elbe.