Ups and downs, but definitely mostly ups

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Grüße Gott! I read, but had forgotten, that this is how German-speakers in Bayern (Bavaria) and Austria say "hello", so it was quite disorienting at first since I had come to expect, and had practiced, "Guten Morgen" (good morning) or "Guten Tag" (good day) as used in the north. Now I think I have the hang of "Grüße Gott" (which literally means, "greet God") as well.

In fact, I think I have officially learned just enough German to be dangerous, as I'm able to ask rather complex questions now... the obvious problem with this being that I get back rather complex replies in German. However, I did successfully ask a young man at the Drogerie (drugstore, but really only a toiletries store) whether they had contact-lens solution there or if I needed to go to an Apotheke (pharmacist), and I even understood his reply that either an Apotheke or an Optiker would carry it although I didn't follow what I think were his directions to the nearest Optiker. I just hopped into the first Apotheke I could find (I swear there are 20+ of them within 2 blocks of the Hauptbahnhof) and they fixed me right up.

And, somehow, the nice waiter at the Eiscafé (ice-cream parlor) took "eine Moment, bitte" to be an order for something which he then brought. I truly have no idea how that happened, but he was sorry and I did eventually order in pidgin and got the tasty sundae I wanted.

In other mundane news, my cold is progressing in the usual manner, although I'm jealously hoarding the Sudafed I brought with me because I am afraid to try to tangle with another Apotheker. A new couple moved into the hotel room next to mine and made a godawful racket for at least several hours last night starting at 23:00, so I didn't sleep much. The problem is, the street outside our windows is outrageously noisy all night. Wonderful European-style windows seal out all that noise, allowing for peaceful slumber, except when the folks in the room next door do not know this trick, and leave their windows open, and therefore have to blast their TV and yell at each other (in Japanese, in this case) in order to be heard in their own room. I eventually opened my own windows and let the street noise drown them out. I really don't know whether there is a protocol for asking fellow hotel guests to keep quiet, either here or at home.

In any event, I had to get up early, no excuses, for the morning Radius Tours group trip to the Dachau concentration camp memorial, northwest of München. Let me just say that it is simply not ever OK to skip seeing a concentration camp due to illness or fatigue. Consider these things as enhancing and personalizing the experience. So I got up and I went.

Back in the mundane world for a moment, let me pause to extol the virtues of the traditional fancy German breakfast. Mmmm. All varieties of Brötchen (rolls; literally, "little bread"), butter, several types of thinly-sliced sausages (what we would consider luncheon meats), at least a few types of sliced cheese, and/or honey, jam, marmalade, and Nutella, plus juice and coffee or tea. Both Drea and the Schröers served this when I stayed at their homes, and it's among the offerings at my hotel buffet here. I think on a typical day, a typical German is more likely to grab some joghurt (yogurt) or Müsli (a particular type of cereal which one can also get in the U.S. by the same name). Latté-to-go hasn't really caught on here, except at the McDonald's on Na Přikopě street in Prague (do not ask how I know this). Anyway, the Brötchen breakfast is cool because it is satisfying, and easy to sample a fun variety of toppings without the portions getting out of control (I cut my Brötchen into fourths for optimal topping-to-bread ratio).

The Frühstück-Zimmer (breakfast room) at my hotel makes me think my mom should open a hotel. It's all decorated with cherubs, flowers and handicrafts, and Frau Sevdas goes way out of her way to make her guests feel like they are being served at home or at least while visiting a dear friend. It's exactly how mom would do it. (Hotel Monaco website is here, click "Rooms" at the bottom of the page for photos.)

On to Dachau. Like all camps in Germany, it was primarily a labor and transit camp rather than an extermination camp (the latter, the Nazis hid deep in Poland and other occupied countries, away from view of the world and their own citizens). Oddly enough, it has a complete setup for showers with Zyklon B leading straight into crematorium ovens, just like Auschwitz, but the tour guide and the notes at the site say there is no evidence the facility was ever used. Dachau was used as a test facility to hone the brutal efficiency of the Nazi killing processes in numerous other ways, so this may also have been one. A smaller crematorium was used to dispose of the bodies of prisoners who died by other means, until they ran out of coal at the end of the war and couldn't operate the furnaces. Like Terezín, the number who died at Dachau was relatively small, between 35-43,000; the high-efficiency operations into the millions were to the east, where many (most?) Dachau prisoners were eventually shipped. (Auschwitz could have killed Dachau's 12-year total in about a month. In fact, it did.)

The memorial site is powerful and informative. I'm not sure I agree with the complaints I've read that it is too artificial, but I have heard that some of the more out-of-the-way camps are left in a more barren state, to speak more for themselves, and not having seen those (nearly all require a car), I can't compare. I think I prefer interpretive materials, though. The place was packed with teenagers; Drea tells me that all German schoolchildren are required to visit a concentration camp. That seems like an excellent idea and I wish we could do it for American kids as well.

My only minor naysaying is with the memorial plaque reading "Never Again" in several languages. I don't object to the sentiment, it's just that genocide has already happened again many times, had happened again before the plaques were erected, is happening now, and doesn't seem to be slowing down. The existence of "Never Again" plaques doesn't really make me hopeful, just sad. There is a statue near the crematorium with an inscription in German which our tour guide translated as, "to honor the dead and admonish the living". The German word for "admonish", he said, has a special double meaning: to remind, but also to warn. I like it very much.

I actually managed to make a few friends on the tour, and after we returned, we went out for a beer before exchanging emails and parting ways again. It was just about the perfect amount of companionship for me (a confirmed major introvert, just ask Myers-Briggs)... enough, but not too much.

Tomorrow, I'm up even earlier to catch the Euraide bus tour to Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Wieskirche. I've already met our guide and he's outrageously outgoing and helpful, plus the itinerary is great (no pointless stops for forced tchotchke shopping), so I am really looking forward to the all-day trip. Tschüss (bye) until next time!

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Photos

Arbeit Macht Frei, part 2
The cruelly ironic motto appears again, this time at Dachau.

To remind, but also to warn
This memorial at Dachau carries, for me, a stronger message than "never again" does. The strange glow at the bottom was caused by the angle of the sun into my lens; I thought the photo would be ruined, but it turns out I like the effect.

Comments

[Mom]

"Hello" in English
Very interesting trip so far! Hope your feet hold out for the rest of the way. Saw pictures and descrip. of castles! Exciting! News warning: Stinging invasion - A popul. explosion of poisonous caterpillars in central Germany has led athor. to close schools & kinderg. and to dispatch exterminators dressed in head-to-toe gear. Oak processionary caterpillars were once confined to S & Cent. Europe, but climate chg. & an unusually warm & dry 2003 caused them to multiply by the 1000s in Germany's Hesse state. Any contact with the insects' stiff-haired spines can cause skin rashes, eye infec.& asthma attacks, accord. to a spokesman for the infested town of Dreieich. Be careful! Yes, Mom still cares : )