We are now in Saxony, with 20,000 residents, many of whom work in Berlin, Dresden, or Leipzig. The high-speed railway connects Germany beautifully. Of course, we’re doing it the very slow way…no high-speed railways for us. 

Famous products of the area are: Villeroy & Boch china, glass, and beer. Another big employer is security, and prisons… the guide says as he assures us that we are safe. 

Simple facts: 

There was no war destruction in Torgau. Every single house here is original—most have been rebuilt and repaired. One architectural style: from 1516. There was a big fire here, and everything was rebuilt all at once at the same time, in the same architectural style.

Torgau is not a tourist town. There are a lot of German businesses here, all family-owned, including Porsche, BMW, and Volkswagen.

The toy store has a sign that reads “Family owned for 347 years, thank you for your business!” We all would have bought something there, but sadly it was closed. 

Christian told us about German education and especially about East German education. It’s very rigorous and he did extremely well. The exams are 5 hours long per subject, so his success means a lot. We both thought he was a bit angry about his lot in life though. 

Since this area was Soviet controlled, there was no Marshall Plan to help people rebuild. Every success here was made by the people. Christian was very proud of that fact.

He also gave us a little lecture on the Euro. All the countries had to agree, so this is what they came up with for illustrations on the Euro bills: 

Classical architecture  5€, Round Romanesque 10€, church windows 20€, Gothic, neoclassical architecture 50€ , baroque 100€, modern 200€

Location of the first Lutheran church. All others were converted Catholic churches. We climbed all the way to the top of the open-air spiral staircase across the plaza. 

At the end of the tour, after we saw the bridge where the soviets and Americans had a standoff that ended peacefully and defined their relationship, Christian gave us a lecture about what he really thought about the US and Soviets. He absolutely hates the Soviets, but faults the US for letting them have his part of Germany. He’s probably 50 but qualifies as an angry young man. His final thought was don’t vote for idiots. They ruin the world. We all clapped and gave him a big tip.

Another terrific day. Even though our cruise is no longer a cruise, we are soaking up heaps of knowledge. Still waiting for the castles though… Good night.

Going inside church. Katherine Luther is buried in here somewhere we don’t know where. Listened to the choir. Glorious.

1945

Let’s just stay away from each other to avoid a misunderstanding neither side stuck to that Soviets came right to the river American patrol came right up to the river. The German troops who had left to go blown over the bridge neither side move because the Germans showed up to standoff Americans got a hold of prisoner for him who could speak

Russian and said these are just Americans no threat. American leadership had said we’re going to stay away from each other and the American patrol made contact direct orders court martial offense.

Because of the pictures, Marshall Bradley, we guess we can’t court Marshall him because he’s on the cover of Stars & Stripes magazine. It’s a goddamn hero