Schwarzenau

In spite of cold and wintery conditions, Schwarzenau emitted an amorphous energy. Peter Gehner, our guide was waiting for us just as he had promised, at the large cross-timbered dwelling. As you enter Schwarzenau take the first left. Drive past the pharmacy and turn left again. You will see a large cross-timbered house. Since we were unable to be there during the regular open hours, the first Sunday of each month between 2-5pm, we had made arrangements. Schwarzenau is somewhat difficult to find even online because since 1975 is has been subsumed into the city of Bad Berleburg. Even Schwarzenau has parts though. We had to drive up the hill to upper Hüttental (where poor huts housed 18th century religious refugees). In the late 17th and early 18th centuries Count Henrich Albrecht tolerated the settlement of refugees of faith from various parts of the German-speaking world here in Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein County. As we stepped out of the car we were warmly greeted by a black and white cat who stayed with us throughout our visit. Unfortunately the photos I took of our feline friend are all a bit blurred because she was in constant motion but the energy came through. Although most likely Alexander Mack himself didn't live here, the house dates to his era. He came here from Schriesheim near Heidelberg and founded here a movement, baptizing seven adults in the Eder River which snakes through the valley below. As the movement grew it became evident that this high mountainous terrain could not sustain the greater numbers of inhabitants so they were forced to move on to Krefeld and then on to Pennsylvania where they could escape persecution for their heretical practices and beliefs. Not only did they believe that only as responsible adults should one be baptized but that they should return to the ways of the early Christians. It was in Germantown, PA, where they became known as the Church of the Brethren. The name of the denomination is difficult to translate into German since it never really existed as a church on German soil. Working our way through the three small rooms of the museum we gathered information about local history as well as the visits of innumerable Americans, mostly members of the Church of the Brethren, making a pilgrimage back to the place of origin of their church. There was a two-volume scrapbook filled with clippings documenting these visits and other related events. In the 1950's the Brethren had donated a significant amount of "Deutschemark" for the construction of a local elementary school then named "Alexander Mack Schule". Although the building still stands, the school no longer exists. As I sat down to write my parting paragraph in the guest registry our friend the white and black cat came right into my line of activity clearly unconcerned about folks wanting to write in books. Having shut off the lights and exited, all three and a half of us, we noticed the powerful presence of a full moon on this the day before Christmas Eve, 2007. My photo hardly gives it justice but it does serve to convey a bit of the energy emanating from this place in Hüttental.

School Christmas Concert in the Petrikirche.

Excitement was in the air days, even weeks before the actual event. Grade seven pupils were asking to postpone the big French test because the night before would be the Christmas Concert and certainly what with the length of the concert and the reception afterwards, it would be too much to ask a 12-year-old to take a test the next day. After checking around with various colleagues it appeared that this pupil didn't have a case. And since French doesn't meet everyday, the only other possible day for a test would have to be the day we are assembling our Bûches de Noel (French yule log cakes). So, needless to say, the French test took place as planned and the grade distribution was even better than before. I had been told that to get a seat at the Christmas Concert I would need to arrive about one hour early because most of the parents were delivering their musical offspring at 17:00 for the 18:00 performance. I was fortunate to get a seat at the end of a bench facing the center of the church. Most of the benches faced the center. In fact, music was coming at us from all directions. From my position I could see up into the cloistered interior balcony above where the brass players and the full choir had their seats and from which some performances emanated. At the ground floor level the grade five and the grade six pupils flanked the entire length of the church. The brass choir held us enthralled with music as diverse as Bach and "Friends for life" by Dizzy Stratford. The quality of the playing was superior. These are musicians who far out-play what you might expect from 13-19 year old young people. The tradition of well-polished brass music at Paulinum is long and well-established. We were then treated to a performance by somewhat younger string players, flute, organ and grade five singers. Their songs all hailed from the 16th century. So old music stays young in Germany today. The grade six singers were split into antiphonal choirs, one located in the downstairs alter area and one at the other end of the church up in the organ balcony. The organist from grade 9 and choral directors on each level kept the timing in place. There were no noticeable mistakes. French horn trios by Mozart played by grade 13 virtuosos provided an interlude before the youth choir took over with "Away in a manger" sung in English. This was followed by an Alpine Christmas song, sung in dialect by two boys, one soprano and one alto, accompanied by two of the horn players. You could see the high, rugged mountain peaks as they sang. The full choir which included several of my grade 8 pupils sang several songs in English including "Hark! The herald angels sing". This gave me a bit more courage to sing in English class with the kids. The culminating moment, the finale, came when all the choirs gathered en plenum downstairs and the spectators could join in to sing "Adeste fideles" in Latin, all four verses. It's interesting that German-Latin sounds different than English-Latin. But in any case, the singing, the brass and the high descant of the children's voices brought the house down. The applause was long and rhythmic until finally all the brass players descended the narrow stone steps to join the others on the ground floor. It was perhaps the first time a song in Latin had brought me to tears. From the Petrikirche it is a short walk or ride to Paulinum where we were all invited to an "Umtrunk", literally, a "drink around". I went, I spoke with a few folks, but decided that long lines weren't really my thing and took off into the night. I hear that we are going to have to wait until Easter for the next major music event. Keep in mind that most of this music is prepared outside of regular school time. These groups practice after school. Choir and band are not school classes. I would be singing with them if it were 2009. Apparently the combined adult/pupil choir sings only during alternate years.

Visiting Annette von Droste-Hülshoff

When Hannes came to town I knew it was time to visit the birthplace and the later home of Annette, the well-known poetess, who is some ways reminds one of Emily Dickinson. Annette was of the nobility but lived a rather reclusive, conservative country life. Hannes had driven north from the Odenwald and was on the trail of local history. Hannes and I, we have this nose for history in common. With Hannes at the wheel and me juggling three maps, we set out in his little red Opel with automatic nothing. In fact Rüschhaus, the widow's house, where her mother was forced to live after the early death of Annette's father, and where Annette came to live and keep her mother company, is not that far from Münster. I could have ridden my bike but the Opel was much more comfortable. The first site you see is the back of the house, looking rather like a barn entrance. You must walk about the side garden to the front to see the impressive and noble facade built by Johann Conrad Schlaun, well-known area architect, who had built the house for himself some years previous to Annette's family's stay. We weren't too surprised to find that Annette was on vacation and the interior of the house would remain a mystery to us. The garden was still quite green but the statuary had been put away for the winter in tall wooden sheds reminding the visitor of silent sentinels. The house appears to be built on an island for there is a quiet pond which surrounds much of it and where a diverse collection of ducks have their home. Nearby we discovered a small plot of "Wedding Trees". A couple can purchase a tree and have it planted in their name. Annette never married. The young man who was her muse, influenced her writing significantly and after he married someone else her writing definitely took a turn towards the somber. Just a few kilometers up the road we found Haus Hülshoff the large family compound where Annette had been born. The oldest son inherited it upon the early death of their father and the widow and Annette had to move out. The large fence surrounding the compound was very securely closed so all we could do was gather a few glimpses from afar. It appears Annette's life was dramatically down-sized by the move to Rüschhaus. But perhaps this suited her. She called her room there "The snail house" and her poetry is permeated with images from nature, another reason to consider her in the same frame as Emily Dickinson. From there we decided to explore further to the west and see which sites could be located using our "historical sites map". After a somewhat disappointing stop at the Longinus Tower, the highest point in Munsterland, we happened upon a jewel of an inn called "Marienhof". It was fully top-of-the-line, post-modern interior, interesting works of art displayed for sale, and a fine menu. We decided on the tomato-mozzarella salad, savoy cabbage meal and the prawns in pasta, but of course accompanied by a local dark beer. I was told that one drinks dark beer leading up to and through lent since you are giving up meat. It will tide you over. Of course you don't have to be a Catholic to drink dark beer. In fact, early on, people drank only dark beer. Getting into the car to leave proved to be a problem since the keys were nicely and carefully inserted in the ignition and locked inside the car. The owner of the inn came to our rescue, pulled out his ADAC (the equivalent of AAA), top-level membership card and the call was placed. We knew we could easily have to wait a while since the rescue worker could be called to a more urgent call which would take priority over us, since after all we weren't really in any danger or discomfort. We moved into the room with the fireplace and made ourselves comfortable: coffee, cake, and a fire to tend. Once the ADAC man arrived it took him one minute to open the door and then he was able to sell Hannes a membership which he can choose to keep after a year or not, but it saved him having to pay for the service call. By then it was dark and we had given up the hunt for monasteries and churches and headed back to Münster. The idea was to have one more beer to bring the day to a relaxing end. As Hannes drove and I navigated, we took a couple of turns down very narrow and oddly-angled streets. But what really entertained us was that within a few minutes we stumbled across the same service provider from ADAC, a totally random meeting. He was changing someone's battery. For future historical expeditions, how will I go: by bicycle or by car? Only Annette knows.