#enoughabouthistorygettothegoodstuff

[norwegianfriedokra]

Italian Schlager a go-go, with a smattering of historical Leipzig

As the beginning's of Fall starts to tease the northern hemisphere, here I am pondering once again. I haven't written a blog entry in a while, and there have been many a'happenings, thus here I am.

This summer was busy and yet also filled with relaxation and adventure. Sven and I were on the go again, this time in east Germany, particularly Leipzig and Berlin. After that we headed south into the Czech Republic. However the whole thing started with a BANG, at the Zelt Musik Fest in Freiburg in Southern Germany. 

At the Festival we had tickets to one of Sven's favorite bands, "Roy Bianco and the Abbrunzati Boys". It had been his birthday present, and he had to wait half a year to attend.  It was a blast.  I already like the band too (they call it Italian Schlager), but the concert experience was electrifying. The crowd was like corn on a hot pan, and the band's presence delivered a unique experience. After the concert we visited with Sven's sister a bit, enjoyed some delicious fried fish, then headed out to Leipzig, our first stop.

Leipzig is historically a very important city in Germany. Located in southeastern Germany, it has been the home of many protests over the years, often prior to wars with the most recent prominent protest happening right before the wall fell. In October of 1989 on a Monday morning over 120,000 east German citizens walked the streets in protest of the east German government. Interesting side note, many of these protests were somewhat brought about after the Tiananmen Square incident that had happened earlier that year, in June of 1989.

Leipzig is also famous for the historic Battle of Leipzig, where Napoleon was defeated in October of 1813. We briefly visited the monument which exists there…it's HUGE.

In Leipzig we visited a friend of mine called Felix, he is a "Meister Tischler" (Master Journeyman Cabinet Maker/Carpenter). He happened to make my wonderful desk, and currently works privately as a carpenter and cabinetmaker. He, as a Meister Tischler, had to learn historical techniques as well, so that he can repair old furniture, windows and doors in ways appropriate to the era in which they were created. You can view his projects here Tischler Meister Felix Kessler

He also happens to have chickens and lives in a small village outside of Leipzig, on what is called a 4-walled farm (Vierseithof). 

Image courtesy of ernst-stiftung. 

This type of building unit is common throughout Germany, Denmark, Austria, as well as some areas of Poland and the Czech Republic. There are four long walled units, typically with two stories. One side would be for servants the the main owners of the land, and served as housing. The remaining three sides consisted of livestock stalls and storage for food for both the people living there and the animals they cared for.  Often the animals would spend time in the courtyard of the buildings, and the courtyard was otherwise used as a slightly sheltered workspace. 

Okay, enough about history.  Visiting with Felix was great. We had some delicious Spanish Tapas at a local soccer club, and otherwise wandered the city.  Afterwards we headed out to Berlin!