Fahrvergnügen

My friend Uwe is such a nice guy! He returned to the church in Hohenmocker, near Sternfeld, to look up the 1905 church registry (left page | right page) that contains the record of the birth of my Grandpa Leverenz. Here’s my rough translation of Record #13:

Birthplace: Sternfeld
Father’s Name: [empty]
Mother’s Name: Berta Wilhelmina Leverenz
Baptismal Name: Heinrich Karl August
Birthdate: May 24
Day Baptized: June 24
Baptismal Godparents: Ida Heidel, Emilie Hegermann, Sophie Heiden

We had some great food while in Berlin. Wilmersdorf, where our hotel was located, is a lovely neighborhood (left) with tree-lined streets, gardens, and lots of shops and restaurants. The first night we ate at Hell oder Dunkel (Light or Dark), which had freshly brewed beer from their nearby brewery. Jay had a pork chop with pomme frites (the preferred name for “French fries”) and I had schnitzel. It wasn’t the traditional schnitzel, but very tasty. It was a “Gypsy” version served with mushrooms, peppers and paprika.

At the next German restaurant (Witwe Bolte), where we ended up going twice, Jay had another nontraditional schnitzel: chicken, again with pomme frites. Chicken is their specialty and there was a very nice waitress who kindly spoke English. The first night I had Spaetzle and the second night something more exotic — Leberkaese — which translates as “Liver Cheese,” but contains neither. It’s like a slab of bologna that’s pan fried and then served with a fried egg on top. It was pretty tasty served with side of sauteed potatoes and onions.

And of course you can’t go to Germany without having bratwurst. In Kreuzberg, Jay ordered Weisswurst for breakfast. Luckily, just before we left on our trip, an old friend from high school who travels to Germany often, warned me about Weisswurst: you have to peel before eating. It saved Jay some chewy embarrassment. While Weisswurst is Bavarian, Currywurst is a wildly popular Berlin dish. Our Currywurst from the snack shop at the concentration camp was served with a spicy ketchup, curry powder and a slice of white bread.

Wilmersdorf had just about any ethnic cuisine you could imagine, so we also ate at a Greek place that was just one block from our hotel. The menu had popular Greek terms conveniently translated into German. We also found a small bakery only two blocks from the hotel that was handy for breakfast. The streusel, eclairs, and doughnuts were very fresh and the coffee, even from the machine, was nice and strong, but not bitter.

On Friday morning, Uwe took us to Sternfeld, which is about 90 miles east of Schwerin. My grandfather, Henry Karl Leverenz, was born there in 1905 and came to America in 1925. According to my family, though, his given name was “Heinrich Karl Lewerenz” (with a “w”) and was changed upon arrival at Ellis Island.  Before leaving Schwerin, Uwe took us on a quick drive around Schwerin Castle, a site that has contained some version of a fortress since the 10th century. It now serves as the seat of the state parliament.

It took some effort to keep up with Uwe as we followed behind his Mercedes on the narrow winding country roads. He had no qualms about going 80 mph and passing other cars at every chance. Even though we made good time, it took about 2 and a half hours to get there because there was a little town every 3-5 kilometers. Halfway there, we stopped in Faulenrost (translation: Foul Rust) to pick up Uwe’s brother Gerd. Right next to Gerd’s house we saw a stork roosting on top of a chimney.

Sternfeld has about 10 houses and that’s it. Uwe went to talk to a couple of residents who were sitting on their porch to see if they had heard of the Leverenzes. They suggested asking the oldest woman in town — turn right, last house on the left. Alas, she was familiar with the name, but there haven’t been any Leverenzes around these parts for quite some time.

Next we drove about a quarter mile to Hohenmocker, which isn’t any bigger than Sternfeld, but it has the nearest church, which would be the likely site of any birth or death records. It was a beautiful little church surrounded by a well tended cemetary. A building right next to the church was actually covered with a thatched roof. And the moss covered bell tower was quite idyllic. Uwe and his brothers spoke with what looked like the caretakers of the church and found out the the pastor was not available. But Uwe said he would write to the pastor to see if he could find out any information.

So after five hours on the road that day, it was time to make the two-hour trip back to Berlin. Unfortunately, after parking on the Autobahn and then taking a detour, our drive turned into 4-5 hours. We ended up eating at McDonald’s a second time, only because we were starving and it was the first place we came to after exiting.

By that time I was so tired, I didn’t quite know what I was doing. Just as I was about to enter the restaurant, one of the young employees screams, “Das Auto!!!!” Turns out I left the car out of gear and with no parking brake, so it had drifted into the car behind it. Luckily for us, there was not a scratch on either car. We eventually made it back to the hotel in one piece. Time to pack and get to bed. We had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to make our 6 a.m. flight.

Thursday morning we headed for Uncle Uwe’s house in Schwerin, which is the capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the northeastern corner of the country. Well, we share the same last name, but he’s not actually my Uncle. One year for fun, I sent Christmas cards to several Leverenzes in the area near where my grandfather was born. One of those happened to be Uwe’s brother Gerd. Uwe is interested in genealogy, so we’ve been emailing each other for more than two years now. For being just pen pals, Uwe and his wife, Gudrun, were incredibly gracious hosts.

Soon after we arrived, Uwe treated us to a delicious steak lunch at the restaurant next to their house. After our total German immersion experience in Berlin, Jay and I were relieved that Uwe’s English was much better than our German. The Leverenzes have a beautiful home and even more beautiful garden right on the edge of Lake Lankower, one of Schwerin’s seven lakes. And Uwe also has a cellar with a seemingly endless supply of Jever, a popular pilsener in the area. After many good stories, many good beers, and many lakeside breezes, it was already time for dinner.

Uwe and Gudrun’s daughter, son-in-law, and grandson joined us for dinner. Much to our surprise, Uwe pulled out the grill and charcoal briquets for a real Texas barbecue. It may have been a little heavier on the pork than you’d typically find in Texas, but our dinner was absolutely mouth watering. On top of perfectly cooked pork chops and bratwurst, were baguette and freshly picked tomatoes from Uwe’s greenhouse. After finishing our meal with Jägermeister (for Gesundheit, Uwe says) and more lively conversation, Jay and I had no trouble sleeping that night on the very comfortable sleeper sofa in Uwe’s study. Jay and I felt like royalty. I certainly hope Uwe and Gudrun will visit us in Texas so we can return the hospitality.

On Thursday it was time for another road trip, first to Leipzig, then Dreseden. Our trusty GPS got us to Leipzig easily. After driving past the main train station, we found a parking garage right next to the Old City and across the street from the Leipzig Opera. According to Wikipedia, the Leipzig Opera was established in 1693, and included Gustav Mahler as one of its directors. The new opera house dates from 1960, though, because all of Leipzig’s theatres were destroyed in an air raid in 1943.

Other interesting sites included the old town hall from 1556, a statue of Felix Mendelssohn, who was conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and of course, St. Thomas Church, where the great Johann Sebastian Bach was cantor.  We were treading on hallowed ground – quite literally, we stepped over the bronze epitaph that contains Bach’s remains underneath. St. Thomas Church has a long history. Parts of the church date to 1355 and the famous St. Thomas Boys Choir dates to the founding of the monastery on the site in 1212. Jay was kind of bored, but he had his iPod to keep him company.

We ate lunch outside at an Italian cafe in Leipzig. Jay had spaghetti and I had pizza with Gorgonzola and broccoli while we were serenaded by an older gentleman with an accordion. But the most amusing part of the day came as we were walking back to the car. As we made our way through one intersection of the Old City, a young man handed us free cold beer — apparently an advertising promotion. Now that’s not going to happen back in Arlington, Texas!

After Leipzig, we made a quick jaunt over to Dresden. The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) dominates the 800-year-old skyline. The original church was built 1726-43, so it stood for more than 200 years before it was destroyed in the bombing of Dresden in 1945 when 650,000 firebombs were dropped on the city. It was reconstructed from 1993-2005 for a cost of 180 million euros, just a fraction of what it cost to build the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington. It’s distinctive polka dot look comes from the use of both weathered stones from the old church and new stones. Not far from the church we had beautiful views of the Elbe River.

Getting back to our hotel took a little longer than expected. Travel hint: Before you get back in your car, make sure you change your GPS from “walk” mode to “drive” mode. In walk mode, the GPS kept wanting us to exit the Autobahn. I didn’t figure it out until after we got back to Berlin. By that time, we had driven through the middle of the city to get back to our hotel.

Wednesday was our first road trip with the Passat. We headed about 30 km north of Berlin to Oranienburg, site of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Of course it was also our first time on the famous Autobahn. Contrary to popular belief, there are often speed limits on the freeway, especially close to cities (usually about 100-130 or 60-80 mph). But once we got out on the open road I couldn’t resist taking it up to 200 km/hr (about 120 mph) just to see what it felt like. That was about as much as the Passat (and I) could take. A more relaxing cruising speed was 100-105 mph. The crazy thing was that, even at that speed, there were Audis and BMWs that would pass you as if you were standing still.

As you might expect, the concentration camp was a sobering experience. The Sachsenhausen camp was primarily used for political prisoners, so one of the exhibits included a lot of anti-Nazi propaganda. It wasn’t originally intended as an extermination camp, but about 200,000 passed through Sachsenhausen between 1936 and 1945, with 30,000 victims, mostly Russian prisoners of war. Ironically, prisoners were greeted at the main gate, which contains the slogan, “Arbeit macht frei,” or “Work will set you free.”

One of the creepiest moments was viewing the Execution Trench. It’s basically a concrete ditch that slopes downward to a wall composed of large posts set on end. Turns out the posts were there to catch the bullets. Equally frightening was the Neck Shot Facilities. A prisoner would think they were undergoing a medical examination, including weight and height measurements. Instead, when their height was being recorded, an officer on the other side of the wall would open a secret door and deliver a lethal gunshot. Our tour ended with the nearby creamatorium and gas chambers.

After Sachsenhausen, we got back in the Passat and headed for the House of the Wannsee Conference, where the “Final solution to the Jewish question” was devised. Unfortunately the main entrance of the museum was closed. We had trouble finding the temporary entrance and eventually gave up. We did, however, get an excellent view of  Lake Wann before heading back to the hotel.

For dinner, we decided to try McDonald’s, of all places, just to see how it compares to U.S. restaurants. We had used up our 3-day pass for the subway, so we decided to walk the mile-long trek to the McDonald’s near the Zoological Garden. Jay had a McChicken and I had a Quarter Pounder, although in Germany it’s called the Hamburger Royal TS. The food was very similar to what we’re used to, but the general quality of the ingredients was better. Jay liked the large packets of ketchup they gave us, rather than those baby packets that are only enough for two french fries.

Leaving McDonald’s, we glimpsed the towering Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The original church was built in the 1890s, but it was badly damaged by bombs in 1943. A new church was built on the site in the early 1960s and the old spire, which is 370 feet high, was retained as a memorial.

Our Tuesday was reserved for the area of Potsdamer Platz, an historically busy intersection of Berlin that was divided by the Berlin Wall and became a wasteland. After the wall fell, it became one of Europe’s largest construction projects and is now dominated by the eye-catching Sony Center. We took a quick tour through the Sony Store, then headed for the “Topography of Terror.”

On the way, we passed a remaining section of the Wall and the Martin-Gropius Bau. Now an exhibition hall, it was built by architects Martin Gropius (great uncle of Walter Gropius) in an Italian Renaissance style in the late 1800s. It sits across from the state parliament for the State of Berlin.

The Topography of Terror is an open-air exhibit on what used to be the grounds of the Gestapo and SS. As the brochure says, “It was here that the genocide of the European Jews and the systematic persecution and murder of other sections of the population were planned, here that the persecution of political opponents in Germany and occupied Europe was organized and here that the ‘Special Units (Einsatzgruppen) of the Security Police and SD’ sent reports of their mass murders in Poland and the Soviet Union.”

After lunch at the Sony Center, we walked past the Berlin Philharmonic and the State Library towards the Memorial to the German Resistance. If you saw the movie Valkyrie, you might recognize this historic courtyard (right), which was the site of the attempted coup to overthrow Hitler on July 20, 1944. In fact the street in front was renamed “Stauffenberg” after Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the Tom Cruise character in the movie. Unfortunately, most of the permanent exhibit was auf Deutsch only, so we took just a brief, self-guided tour then headed back to the subway.

After our whirlwind Sunday, Jay and I scaled back a little on Monday. First, we returned to the Deutsche Bank ATM, which is walking distance from the hotel. It was closed on Sunday and we were in danger of running out of Euros. We decided the day would be spent at Alexanderplatz since that was where we ended up the day before.

Our first stop was the Berlin Cathedral. It is not strictly a “cathedral” since it has never been the seat of a Catholic bishop, but at 381 feet tall, it is an enormous presence on the museum island. The present building dates from 1905. One of the domes was bombed in 1944 and reconstruction was finally completed in 1993. An interesting fact to me is that the church is home of the unified Protestant church in Germany, so you’ll find likenesses of both Luther and Calvin in the sanctuary. The main sanctuary organ is huge and was the largest at the time (built by Wilhelm Sauer with 113 stops). I sure wish I could have heard that thing.

Well, Jay was pretty bored with the details, but he was, however, willing to take the challenge and climb to the top of the cathedral (I think the audio guide said 278 steps). The steps just kept snaking around and around. You even had to duck your head at one point to fit into the small space near the top. The burning thighs and sweaty brows were well worth it. It was a rainy day, but we had spectacular views of Berlin and lots of fresh, cool air. I don’t think it got above 70 degrees that day.

Once we climbed back down, we headed over to the DDR museum (better known to us Americans as the GDR or just East Germany). The museum was small and very crowded, but nonetheless interesting. It gave you a sense of what life was like living in East Germany, including a real Trabant, the most common car. It’s body is made of Duroplast and it has a two-stroke engine. Top speed is 60 mph.

For a late lunch, Jay and I ended up at an American-style steak house called “Block House.” It wasn’t typically American in that portion sizes were much smaller, the ingredients fresher, and the sauces and seasonings seemed more refined, although maybe we were just extra grateful for the food after surviving the cathedral workout.

We continued our tour with Ralf yesterday by taking a nice leisurely boat ride on the Spree river. The Germans have engineered a system of locks on the river that has prevented flooding for the last 100 years. From Kreuzberg, we floated into the historic center city past the Museum Island and on to the German Parliament building (Reichstag), which dates to 1894, but was rebuilt in 1999 after the reunification of Germany. It now includes a stunning glass dome that offers 360 degree views of the city.

Then we cruised alongside the “Animal Garden” (Tiergarten), which is equivalent to New York’s Central Park. The Parliament building is just on the edge, but it also includes the Chancellor’s office and the residence of the German president (Germany has a president?). Finally, we hiked about 200 kilometers (it just felt like it) through the Tiergarten to the Brandenburg Gate, which of course is one of the main symbols of Berlin and Germany, and one of Europe’s most famous landmarks.

Next to the Brandenburg Gate is a large Holocaust Memorial built in 2004. It was designed by architect Peter Eisenman and is controversial for several reasons–mostly that it is very abstract. As a memorial, it contains no obvious symbolism to signify the event. It is nearly 5 acres of plain concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern. As you place yourself inside the blocks, though, it does convey a sense of enormity and disorientation.

Our trek continued through the beautiful Linden trees of “Unter den Linden” boulevard, past the State Opera house, the Museum Island, Berlin Cathedral, and finally Alexanderplatz, a large public square and major commercial center (where we spotted both a McDonald’s and a Burger King). You can’t miss the huge TV tower that is that tallest structure in Berlin.

Ralf was an excellent tour guide, but Jay and I were so exhausted we were grateful to be sitting on the subway ride back to the hotel. After a late dinner, Jay fell asleep at 10 o’clock without even trying.

Yesterday we had the distinct pleasure of meeting Ralf, Birte and their daughter Kalin in Kreuzberg where they live. It was one of the poorest quarters of the city in the late 1970s, but is now known for its youth, diversity, and tradition of counterculture.  We’ve seen some graffiti here and there, as in any big city, but in Kreuzberg it’s everywhere! And much of it is more art than graffiti.

Before taking us to the bank of the river Spree, through a flea market, and then a local art festival, Ralf showed us areas where the Berlin Wall had stood 20 years ago, including one of the old guard towers. Of course we’ve all heard about the Wall a lot in the last century, but I never really had a true sense of the horribleness of it all until experiencing it firsthand. Finally, we walked  by the last remaining section of the Wall, which has become a memorial and art gallery.

Other interesting sites in Kreuzberg included hookahs and kebabs in the park (lots of Turkish immigrants in Kreuzberg) and the 5-Euro footlong at Subway (Ralf says hardly anyone goes to Subway, but they manage to stay open somehow).