Oelsnitz - A Very Special Day

This is lengthy, so I don't blame readers if they decide they don't have time for a wordy post.  Hopefully the pictures will entice you...

Ed and I took the train from Prague to Dresden, Germany.  From the train station we walked to our hotel – the Taschenbergpalais Kempinski.  This is a five-star hotel, and we received an upgrade upon arrival.  Very nice room, but only for one night.

Taschenbergpalais Kempinski

 

The next day we had a delicious breakfast at the hotel and then walked around Dresden just to see some main highlights in a speedy fashion.  I am naturally drawn to organ music, and it just so happened that at the Dresden Cathedral there was to be an organ concert.  We only stayed to hear two pieces.  I recognized the first piece – Bach, as it was one I worked on back in the day.  

Dresden Cathedral

We had to keep going since we needed to get our rental car from the airport, so we didn’t stay for the whole concert.

Took a taxi to the Dresden Airport.  It was absolutely dead in there!  But there was one person running the counter at EuropCar – an affiliate of Alamo.  We thought we were getting a Mercedes A-Class, but instead we got a Turbo Opel. 

Turbo Opel

That’s so funny because when I grew up we had an Opel.  How fitting that an Opel would take us to the place of my Father’s birth – Oelsnitz!

First we went to Plauen and checked into the ParkHotel-Plauen for the night.  Then we drove to Oelsnitz just to see what was there.  Not much activity – a very quiet town.  We found St. Jakobi Church right away with its two tall spires.  We parked the car to get out and snap some pictures.  As we were walking around the church I heard organ music!!  I did not think anyone was in the church – there were no cars nearby.  All doors were locked.  On the front gate there was a sign announcing a 6:00 pm organ concert!!

 

It was 4:30, so we had time to find a bite to eat and then return for the performance.  But NOTHING looked open!  We drove around a bit on this beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon.  Found some teenagers in the main square in town and they pointed to the Chinese restaurant across the way.  We were not interested in Chinese food, so we continued on.  Then we found Sperk!!

The door was open so we went through to the back courtyard.  There were five tables out there and only two other people were seated.



The owner came out and told us (in German, of course) we could have a seat and get some dinner.  Turns out, this was one of the best dinners we have had so far!!!  Check out this picture of our meal:

Martie's salad

Ed's salmon, potatoes and fried cauliflower

 Ed strikes up a conversation very easily with most people he meets – now that’s a skill.  The two gentlemen next to us were from Bavaria and they were musicians.  In fact, they had a gig tonight but they did not remember the name of the location.  They went on their way and Ed and I enjoyed our delicious dinner.

The St. Jakobi Church bell tower was announcing 6:00 pm and also that there was an event.  

So we ran over, sat down, and the organ began to play.  Wow.  I began to cry!  You see, THIS church was where my father was baptized in 1925!  THIS was the church where his brother Paul and sister Anne were baptized.  THIS was the church where his parents, Albert and Bertha were married in 1909!  I am talking about my paternal Grandparents whom I have never met!  For the first time in my life I am seeing a part of my Father’s life that I had always wondered about...  Wow!!

St. Jakobi church was beautiful inside.  The organist was excellent.  He played pieces that were similar in time period.  Listening to the organ is one of my favorite things – after all, I am an organist, too!

Jehmlich Brothers organ (Dresden, Germany) from 1930 and overhauled in 2005.  
It is the largest organ of the Vogtland with 4102 pipes and 65 registers.

After the recital I made contact with someone who spoke English -- Gabriella.  Most people here speak only German, and that can be difficult…  She was eager to hear my story about my Father and offered to help me find out a little more.  She invited me back for church the next day. 

Ed and I continued to walk around Oelsnitz and took many more pictures.  Then we came across a poster hanging on a street lamp pole – it was the two guys we met at the Sperk!!  

The poster gave the address of the venue:  Friebad Elstergarten and so Ed and I decided to check it out.  Why not?!  With the help of our GPS we found the spot.  The band was called Tom Parsons and the Rat Cats. There weren’t very many people there – in fact, the Polizei almost out-numbered the crowd!  Since we had met two of the band members at the Sperk, we were introduced to the rest of the band, and they came over and sat down at our picnic bench to talk!  They were a little bummed there weren’t more people there.  They spoke English quite well, so we had a very nice conversation with them until it was time for them to start playing. 

We stayed for a little while – they played Rockabilly music.  Both Ed and I are battling foot blisters, so we were not interested in dancing.  Since Ed had a few beers, I got to drive our Turbo Opel back to Plauen.  Mind you, this car has a standard (manual) transmission!  I haven’t driven one of those for years, so this was quite fun!

We had breakfast the next morning and then headed back to Oelsnitz for the 10:00 am church service.  I could tell today that it was a different organist, although I could not see who it was.  The hymns were rushed and the timing was off – bothersome!  Of course, the entire service was spoken/sung in German.  I can fake it, but had NO idea what I was hearing/singing.  Plenty of time for reflection…  

Martie in front of St. Jakobi Church

The baptismal font is from 1833. My Dad was baptized here!

The ceiling is not symmetrical -- and quite beautiful!

It was a two-hour service – complete with Communion, but Ed and I did not partake because we weren’t invited.  Or if we were, it was in German and we did not understand.

Now the interesting part of the day happened when the service was over.  Gabriella, who we had met yesterday, handed me a slip of paper with my Grandfather and Grandmother’s name – and there was an address, too!  I did not have any other information except for the church record prior to this, so it was very exciting to get this slip of paper!  Gabriella introduced me to two people,  Roswitha and Gerd, who offered to lead us to the location where my Grandparents lived.

Martie with Roswitha and Gerd

We drove up and took pictures of the street name.

Then we got out of the car to see where the address was, but it was all over grown and only a small part of the foundation was standing:

Elster Str

Not much there, but it is SOMETHING!!

That was it!  We think so, anyway.  Now on to the second address.  Actually, they thought this address was for the factory where my Grandfather worked – and they thought he must have lived there, too.  There really wasn’t much to see at this second location.  Still, this was very exciting! 

The countryside was beautiful, and now I have an idea of where in Germany my Father came from.  A piece of the puzzle has been found!