Thüringen

15/8/2020 – Quedlinburg – We take a winding road through the Harz Mountains. Trees, trees and trees and a hint of communist passé. We pass through Schmalkalden, where local protestant princes made a fist against Emperor Charles the V. The village is old and worn and still has some smoking Trabants. If it were not in the history books, one would never look for it. We move on to Quedlinburg, a UNESCO dream town with 1400 half-timbered six century old houses. We check in at the Schlosshotel zum Markgrafen. The owner leaves us speechless and tells us about his childhood dream of becoming a castle lord. The castle is in great shape, the rooms are modern and the atmosphere knightly. A harness with sword and spear watches over our room. I compliment the owner on his work and he replies: ‘Yes, but it did not make me a rich man!’. Our room is under the roof and has a small window through which we see all the towers of Q. Having dinner is not easy. Because of COVID-19 all outside terraces are fu...

14/8/2020 - Jena - We go to the Zeiss Planetarium, the oldest in the world and from 1926. When projectors were developed, moving celestial objects as well as fixed stars could be depicted on the inside of a dome. They sprung up everywhere in the world and knocked over the ignorant. Today planetariums are used to project anything, from stars and planets to rock concerts. The weather is unpleasantly damp, and we have half an hour before ‘Planeten, Expedition ins Sonnensystem’ starts. We walk past the botanical garden of Jena, where Goethe planted a ginkgo biloba. The ginkgo is a living fossil, over 100 million years old. Goethe was particularly interested in it. He also messed around with the flow of the Saale river, or is messing around disrespectful? He was, after all a multitalented man. The area around the Planetarium is posh and full of renovated art nouveau buildings. Lawyers, doctors and tax consultants replaced the proletarians of the GDR. I peep into a white building and see an ...

14/8/2020 – Jena – A blond long jumper with long legs from a long forgotten past. This can count as an alliteration. Heike Drechsler, famous long jumper, wearing a white shirt with red diagonal stripes, the colours of SC Motor Jena. I think of her when we enter town. Jena is built in what the Germans call a ‘Kessel’, a pot. Hills surround the town, whatever direction you look in. I am dreaming about athletics and old red gravel tracks when all of a sudden I am with my car in a shopping street. I am literally window shopping with the engine on. The satnav directed me into this street, and I am only metres away from Zur Noll, our hotel for the night. On the phone, the receptionist calms me down and says to move on and turn right. We reach the backyard of the hotel and park. Sabine and Frank arrive at the same time, on their bikes from Weimar. They look fit enough and after a shower we go out for a walk. Jena is dominated by the Jentower, a cylindrical tower built to become a research fac...