P-day Visit to Marburg, Pt. 2

View from the Landgraves' Castle

We wandered around St. Elizabeth's Church for some time before we made for the old city and the castle atop the hill. When we left the church, we heard a band and followed our ears to a celebration at the base of the old city. They were great musicians and they and the crowd were having a great time -- maybe that was the beer they were drinking before noon.

Lots of big brass horns

Lederhosen and dirndl - It's traditional

Most Americans wouldn't think of Germans as whimsical people, but Marburg certainly has its fun side. There are statues in various parts of the old city with connections to Grimm Brothers fairly tales or other fantasy figures. They are nice surprises.

The Frog King

For Aschenputtel (Cinderella) - reminded us of Jessi for some reason

Could be a postman?

The Wolf and the Seven Kids

A plaque said "Trinkwasser" or drinking water - we passed

There is a dark side to the town, too. We found the old "Alley of the Jews" whose name was changed in 1933. At the top of that alley was an excavation of a medieval Jewish synagogue. The top of the excavation was roofed over and surrounded by glass walls so that you could look down into it. There wasn't much to see, but we noticed that people had pushed hundreds of Euro coins through the spaces between the glass panels -- a sort of penance or expression of sympathy? We thought about this Jewish community that had been in Marburg since the Middle Ages but was wiped out during the Third Reich.

The narrow way to the Castle leads up the path -- Jews Alley until 1933. A reminder of another history here.

The climb to the castle was steep and on rough cobblestone streets -- hard on the feet.

You need rigid soles to walk on these things

We assume the mirror above the bench was for Snow White

Whew!

The view from the top of the hill was worth the climb. We met a nice couple from the former East Germany and Janet gave them a pass-along card. Elder Jarrard and Jeff stopped to chat with an older woman carrying a large basket in which there was a puppet. She was intrigued by our name tags, so we told her who we are and what we are doing. When she clued in that we were Mormons, she smiled and moved away quickly. Ah, we're so dangerous looking.

The view from just below the castle is worth taking in for a while - especially on a warm sunny autumn day.

The fortification on the top of the hill was begun in approximately 800 AD. It was expanded over time until it became this beautiful castle. It is now a university building, but it contains a large museum dedicated to German history and culture.

It's definitely fall

We love the flowers everywhere

We got tickets to the museum as "seniors." That still feels odd to us -- are we really senior citizens? Of course, we enjoy the small discount. Following are just a few items from a very large collection in the museum.

The chapel at the palace is pink - interesting color choice

The arches supporting the roof come together in this colorful pieces.

Kochherd - a ceramic stove for heating. The firebox would have been behind it in a kitchen or serving area.

Collection contained a lot of furnishings - This piece dates from the 17th century. Magnificent craftsmanship. Imagine making all of those inlays with only hand tools.

18th century painting of Marburg -- either the river has been moved, or the artist tried to cram everything he could into one view that is completely unreal. St. Elizabeth Church is even facing the wrong direction.

Entire top of the table was this detailed needlepoint under glass

A dollhouse size toy kitchen

Kaiser Wilhelm I who united Germany in 1871

Kaiser Wilhelm II who led Germany into WW I and set the stage for the rise of fascism

Before the drive back to Frankfurt, we walked back down to the old city and ate outdoors in the central plaza near the old Rathaus (City Hall).

The leaning buildings are not an optical illusion

Nice to see families with young children out together

The beams on the exterior of this house from the 1500s are warped from centuries of settling

You can almost reach across the alley and touch another house - and people live in these. They aren't museum pieces.

The van with the open rear doors was broadcasting a message about cruelty to cows while people ate sausages and cutlets at the outdoor restaurants. 

They had no where to expand, so some of the houses creep forward in the upper stories.

Sister Jarrard is studying the menu pretty hard. 

This was a wonderful day with our new friends and was capped off by General Conference. The Saturday morning session was live here at 6pm. We watched both Saturday general sessions live in our apartment via the internet, although Janet drifted off before the afternoon session was over at midnight. We waited to watch the Priesthood meeting until Sunday morning.

General Conference was inspiring. We are grateful for our church leaders and the inspired guidance they give to the church and to the world. There are those who mock, but I can't find anything but good in these addresses that would lift and ennoble the world if they would only pay attention. More about our conference impressions later.

P-day Visit to Marburg, Pt. 1

Castle of the Landgraves (Counts) of Hesse

Saturday, October 3, was the Day of German Unity, a national holiday commemorating the unification of Germany. The goal of a united Germany was promoted by the Prussian King Wilhelm I in the late 19th century. Two great wars and the Cold War ended that dream. But when the wall fell in 1989, Germany rushed to reunite the East and West portions. A treaty signed by the two Germanys on October 3, 1990, finalized that reunification. This was the 25th anniversary of that treaty, so there were supposed to be a million people in the Frankfurt city center Saturday. We left town.

Marburg is an ancient city about 1 1/2 hours north of Frankfurt on the Lahn River. The old part of the city is incredibly picturesque. There were local celebrations, but it was much tamer than Frankfurt would have been. We joined 3 other senior missionary couples there for the day. We wish we had pictures of the beautiful farmland and forested hills we passed through to get there.

One of the couples joining us this week is serving in Weisbaden doing record capture for FamilySearch. They work 8 hours a day Monday through Friday capturing digital images of old records in a government office there. They volunteered for this mission in particular, and they have been here a year already. They're only complaint was that their backs hurt after a long day. They stand a lot of the time as they prepare the documents for photographing. Ouch!

We all met at the Church of St. Elizabeth built between 1235 and 1283 over the site of the grave of St. Elizabeth. It is the first church built in a purely Gothic style in Germany.

Twin spires of the Church of St. Elizabeth

Still used for worship 730 years later

Main entrance at the western end

The detailed stone work is impressive

There are five altar-triptyches in the church (three-part pieces originally designed for small areas of worship along the side walls of the central nave.  A local artist named Ludwig Juppe carved the center sections and Johann von der Leyten painted the side panels (wings) between 1509 and 1514. Okay, we admit that we am stunned by the age of these works of architecture and art. And they are beautiful.

The colors in this were breathtaking

A large altar dedicated to Mary. The bottom section is a pieta.

Close up of the pieta

Life of John the Baptist - beheaded at right

Birth of the Baptist

Life of St Elizabeth

The "French" Elizabeth (ca. 1470)

The choir (used by the choir and clergy between the nave and the high altar -- we're learning Gothic church architecture here) contains spectacular 13th and 14th century stained glass windows. It also contains 54 original 13th century oak choir stalls used by the Knights of the Teutonic Order. The high altar was made of sandstone in 1290 and is painted in original colors.

Scenes of the creation and the Garden of Eden

The high altar (1290)

Elder Kirk considering joining the Teutonic Order. Sitting on an 800 year old bench is pretty cool.

Looking back toward the nave from the choir. The screen in between is called the rood. 

In Pt. 2 we'll move on to the Landgraves' Castle and the town. But think about this incredible monument built in stone 700 years ago. This was a massive public work, but it was also a labor of faith and determination. And someone had a vision of what this great edifice would be. There is a story that is told that goes as follows:

A man came upon a construction site where three people were working.  He asked the first, “What are you doing?” and the man replied: “I am laying bricks.” He asked the second, “What are you doing?” and the man replied: “I am building a wall.” As he approached the third, he heard him humming a tune as he worked, and asked, “What are you doing?” The man stood, looked up at the sky, and smiled, “I am building a cathedral!”

We are here to fill a role, but we want to build a cathedral. One of the senior missionaries talked today about the great desire he has to lead people to joy and happiness as members of the Church of Jesus Christ. But then he quoted Alma, who expressed this wish, "O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!"

But then he concluded the following: "But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me."

We are supremely happy to play whatever role the Lord has for us here and pray to know what He would have us do.

First Week on the Job

Hard at work

We started work in the mission office in earnest this week. The Jarrards come in from Mainz a couple of days a week to help with the financial stuff and with things like the mission newsletter, the blog, and the mission history. Notice Janet is making good use of a German dictionary to prop up the computer screen. The monitor we have is not adjustable.

Beyond Jeff's mechanical ability

So, after the first day, Jeff was trying to lock the file cabinets. He succeeded in locking them, but inadvertently changed the combination -- on both drawers. When we arrived Tuesday morning, dear Sister Fingerle was a little excited when we could not open the drawers. Opening them is key to starting the day and the work really doesn't proceed until we have access to keys that are locked in the cabinets. Oops! So, Jeff stood at the cabinets for more than an hour dialing combinations in succession until he managed to open both of them. That's the price you pay for being ignorant. The good news is that he learns and will not make that mistake again.

The work is complicated. We have a lot to learn. And resolving issues on the phone with vendors, banks, insurance companies, and others requires more vocabulary than we have. The prospect of our sweet German couple leaving the office in our hands as they end their church service mission is terrifying. They complete their mission in November, so we have to learn fast and hope that the Swiss elder who works part time in the office will step up and help us out from time to time.

One morning we went to the local government office to register. There was much stamping of documents and the woman stared for a long time at our marriage license (we were told to bring a certified copy). I'm not sure what was on there that was so important. When we left the office, there was a small open air market right outside, and we found a pastry with a poppy seed filling that was pretty good.

Flower, baked goods, sausage, and fresh raw chicken

The Woolseys came into the office one day, too, and Elder Woolsey tried to train me on fleet management. Well, that's something else to learn. There aren't very many cars, but they are problematic. Germany loves what people refer to as "Blitzboxes." These are cameras that monitor intersections and are tucked away in other places and equipped with radar cameras. Tickets are mailed to the area office, and the area office forwards them to us to pay. We have to track all of the tickets and report periodically to the president. This is a very efficient fund raising tool for local governments, but the traffic and parking fines are much smaller than in the US. The ticket comes with your picture on it, so it is hard to deny - Smile, please!

Following is a short pictorial tour of the mission office. We are here from 8:00 until about 4:30 every day (or longer). We are trying to protect the sacred funds used to support the missionary effort. We start each day with whoever else is here and have a short devotional and prayer together. Then it's time to go to work!

Welcome to the office

We have a small kitchen

The conference room we use for weekly staff meetings

Reception and Mission Secretary's office

President's office - rarely used as he is out with the missionaries all the time