Auschwitz

We had not planned on visiting Poland, but a young Hungarian couple we met in Salzburg persuaded us that Cracow in particular was not to be missed. Auschwitz is just a hour's drive or so short of Cracow, and so we stopped there at a stellplatz in the visitor center parking lot. Vicki has read or taught a good bit of Holocaust literature and so was intent on the visit. It was a beautiful sunny day; it seemed almost wrong to visit this place of unimaginable suffering and perversion on such a day. There were thousands of other visitors, mostly tours from Cracow or Prague. People visit such places for many different reasons, I suppose. Some were carrying flowers for relatives lost at Auschwitz. Most, like us, come out of a sense of obligation, to witness, to share in the sense of despair, perhaps to gain some understanding or hope. But the Holocaust is not even the most recent instance of genocide.

Auschwitz was originally a Polish army base, taken by the

Germans in 1939 and thereafter converted first to a

concentration camp for Polish political prisoners, then

Russian POWs, then Jews, Gypsies, and others from all

over Europe; "arbeit macht frei" conveyed only this truth:

as long as you could work, you could live; life expectancy

was 3-4 months, although some few survived; when the

Red Army arrived, in January, 1945, Auschwitz had been

closed for several months; only 7000 or so inmmates

remained, most near death

The four-hour tour (English and many other language

choices) begins at Auschwitz I, the original camp, which

could house 15,000 or so; the gas chamber was first used

here; these are canisters of Xyklon B found by the Russians

Eyeglasses of those murdered

Suitcases; the lie propounded was that everyone was being

"re-settled" and thus encouraged to bring along up to 50kg

of valuables per person; later "confiscated" and sent back

to the Reich

Shoes

Guardhouse

In the midst of the 30 or so barracks

The barbed wire fences, everywhere, were

electrified

Swiss Saxony, and on to Poland

We had planned on a day in Swiss Saxony, an area where the Elbe has carved a canyon of unusual sandstone formations, table mountains, a rock-climbing center. But the recent rains, flooding, road closures, and on and on, changed our plans, so we drove straight on (sort of), through a bit of the Czech Republic, then back into Germany, then into Poland, and across a good bit of southern Poland, one vast fertile but very flat plain, all the way to Auschwitz. Driving 3 or 4 hours across this plain, mostly farms, fields, and forests, I was struck by the lack of natural impediments, all the way to the Vistula, and how easy it has been, for millenia, for armies to march or roll across Poland.

Weird formations in Swiss Saxony; and a climber on the

right side of the left-most column

There he/she is

The Elbe, still in flood, below Bad Schandau

Another Day in Dresden

In the baroque Residenz Schloss in Dresden--the royal castle--are more museums, most notably the so-called Green Vaults, the "historical" and the "new" (but both historical, acquired mostly by August the Strong and his 18th century successors). They are, quite simply, the largest royal treasuries in Europe. Room after room--the amber room, the ivory room, the porcelain room, the silver room, the gold room, the garniture room, and on and on. We absolutely rushed through in 4 hours (our timed ticket didn't star until 2 in the afternoon). How all this survived wars and revolutions, and communism, is a miracle. It is stunning, overwhelming. Alas no pix are allowed, but you can get a hint from the two below, or by going on the web. Next time, we'll allow 3 days for Dresden.

In the Green Vaults

Ditto

Old Dresden skyline, from the Elbe

East German crossing signals, as in Berlin

Ditto

The Pfunds Dairy, which we visited earlier

in the day

Renowned for its totally-tiled interior

Of course, not everything in Dresden has been restored; this

100m from the Frauenkirche

What if your car is not an erotic?

Dresden Frauenkirche

Dresden's Frauenkirchen--note the statue of

Martin Luther outside; despite the name, it's

a Protestant church

A beautiful dome that, unlike a lot of baroque churches I

have seen recently, is really worth a look

Skyboxes

Dome

OK, it's a Protestant basilica with skyboxes,

named for Mary, but still worth a look

A Day in Dresden

We proceeded on from Bayreuth, further north and east, to Dresden, in Saxony, and the former East Germany. Dresden--old Dresden--was very largely destroyed by the fire bombings of February, 1945. Its reconstruction did not really commence until the reunification, after 1990. But the "Florence on the Elbe" is now just a brick or two shy of a load.

Of course, to appreciate Dresden, you have to look past a whole lot of East 
German aesthetics

Entering the colossal Zwinger, a huge courtyard surrounded by baroque buildings 
and many, many museums

The Zwinger's "crown"

The Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister--the museum of old masters, which we toured, 
at great length...more stuff than in Munich, but not as striking...I came out 
gasping for a Dali...the main treasure is Raphael's Sistine Madonna, and it largely 
because of the famous cherubs...

Note cherubs

The porcelain museum; Meissner porcelain is just down 
the river

King August the Strong

Outside the beautiful Semperoper--the opera house designed by Gottfried Semper

Above the Semperoper entry

The Hofkirche

Altar painting of Hofkirche

A block-long parade of Saxon kings, electors, and other notables, all tile-work

New buildings, old-style, in the grand square

The Elbe itself, after days of rain, was in flood...none of these river cruise vessels 
could get under the city bridges

Camping in Bayreuth

The Bayreuth Festival is, I hasten to note, very RV-friendly

(note we are at the intersection of Tristan Strasse and

Siegfried Wagner Allee (Wagner's son and director of the

Festival for many years, after Cosima's death))

However, we stayed just outside of town at the--I swear I

am not making this up--Lohengrin Therme, one of the

many mineral hot springs for which the area is notable.

It has a stellplatz, a place for RVs to park, free of charge.

Friday night, after my day in Bayreuth, Vicki and I took

the waters, 4 hours of alternating soaking and reading, and

a break for Apfelsatz. Surprisingly, the water was not very

hot, but it was a pleasant diversion. And we love the

stellplatzes.

Richard Wagner in Bayreuth

I spent the day--all day in rain, sometimes torrential--taking in Bayreuth, Wahnfried, the Festspielhaus, all the ambience I could soak up without getting further soaked.

Wahnfried, Wagner's home in Bayreuth, now the Richard

Wagner Museum; fittingly, one is greeted by a bust of

King Ludgwig II, who footed the bill; the museum is

incredbily extensive, not just of Wagner, but of the Festival

and its history, productions, directors, conductors (there

was an exhibit on Toscanini), and singers

The Museum has a no-pix policy, but I did clandestinely

grab this one looking down upon the great hall

Grave of Richard and Cosima

View of Wahnfried from the park

The drive up the hill to the Festspielhaus is one of the most

beautifully-landscaped I have seen

The park presided over by a larger-than-life

bust of Cosima (she too was larger than life)

The Festspielhaus

The balcony from which three trumpeters

traditionally announce the beginning of the

next act

Me, actually inside the Festspielhaus; the day's

performance, Lohengrin, was still an hour or two

away; I wandered around, trying my best to appear

in need of a ticket; but none appeared; alas, I had

left my tux back in Missoula anyway; I repaired to

the festival restaurant for a coffee and for

self-examination and self-recrimination: if only I

had practiced the piano more! But it was still cool to

be in a special place at a special time.