May 1, 2022
Day 19: Hopfenberg to Hameln
Der Rattenfänger von Hameln
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We noodled about Hopfenberg for just a bit before setting off in ernest. A sign for the synagogue caught our attention, and we tracked it down. There were a few points of interest about it. First, it existed. The sign says it was restored in 1998-2003, by the State and by a foundation for nature conservtion, homeland, and culture. Next, it did not appear to be in use. There are no times for services posted, just an opening time of Sunday 4-6 p.m. We have not taken the time to research the full story, but it seems like it's destruction, restoration, but ultimately de faco destruction. For the record, the various posters and stickers on lampposts we have randomly seen on the trip so far have all stressed anti-fascism and anti-anti-semitism.
(Ok, I checked a little more. The first synagogue at this site was in 1652, while the current building is from 1845. It was wrecked inside in 1938 and sold, but by 1990 was in ruins. The restoration serves as a museum.)
Next thing we spotted was an appliance store. So what? It is that in North America things like washers and dryers are found stuck in the back of Home Depot. In eastern Germany you don't see them at all, but in western Germany they are an item for display on the high street. Also the appliances are much smaller, though probably higher quality than in North America. Pricing seem roughly the same.
Cycling today was the by now par for the course lovely. For sme part of it we were neither struggling through cities nor riding the dikes with the sheep. Rather it was just what you would want - a simple (paved!) path by the river. Here are four shots, to create the idea:
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We reached the town of Minden and went to check out the downtown. This is one of those places where almost everything is post-war. Well at least it had a quite open and accessible feel. This was of course amplified by it being Sunday, with most everything closed.
There was however one obviously very old and elaborate building, this one:
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2 years ago
Whereas from Leipzig we day tripped out to the east side of the Harz Mountain area, we have now cycled north and west around it and south down the other side. So we once again see hills around us. High on one of these hills was a strange structure that turned out to be a monument to Wilhelm I.
This was built around 1892, shortly after the death of the Kaiser. For some reason it is considered an important monument. Well at least, as we have read, they recently put in a restaurant.
Since this was a Sunday, lots f folks were out on the radweg south of Minden. Most were using ebikes. In fact even the rack of bicycle availabilty bikes was all ebike.
There were lots of "radler treffs" along the way, spots where cyclists could get a snack. One enterprising fellow, Axel Koch from Minden, had set up a mobile wood fired bake oven. We got some stuff from him and much enjoyed looking at his kit.
Now in Rinteln we also had a peek at downtown, which was nice. But clearly the town had not wholly escaped the war, as we saw from its bridge.
It was a bit of a stretch (30 km) from Rinteln to our place in Hameln. But here we have a really beautiful apartment in the altstadt. Tomorrow we will have a look around Hameln, which of course is known for the Pied Piper, who is known here as Der Rattenfänger von Hameln.
The Pied Piper is of course one of the stories collected by the Brothers Grimm. The brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm did their work mainly in the early 1800's. They were ethnographers, really, and collected hundreds of folk tales, mostly from the Weser valley, where they lived. The ten most famous stories are described in this great website, and of course many were covered so effectively by Walt Disney. Frankly there are a couple of these I don't know, so I will have to study.
- Hansel and Gretel. This story was recorded by Dortchen Wild, a storyteller who married Wilhelm Grimm. ...
- Rumpelstiltskin. ...
- The Pied Piper of Hamelin. ...
- Death's Messenger. ...
- The King of the Golden Mountain. ...
- The Frog Prince. ...
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. ...
- The Town Musicians of Bremen.
- Rapunzel
- The Elves and the Shoemaker
Some of the stories that were collected in a specific place as a story of that place have the place name in the title. But others will still have some geographic roots, somewhere in the valley. We saw a poster in a shelter that seemed to set out location for various stories. There must be room in this for a Grimms radweg.
Tomorrow in Hameln we will look for some traces of the Piper. By the way, see the local spelling of Hameln, which differs from the English Hamelin. It's actually not that easy to pronounce Hameln!
Good night from our lovely spot: what gives meaning to our lives today? Coming to a beautifully set up stop for the night.
Today's ride: 85 km (53 miles)
Total: 1,087 km (675 miles)
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I think the Grimm Radweg if it were to exist would be between Hamlin and Hanau (where they were born). All along the way there are reminders of their work. Tomorrow don’t forget to look across the river at Polle where you can see the castle where Cinderella went to the ball
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