Pictures from Germany: The Reunion and the Pfahlbauten

Greetings once again from the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express in Singen! I haven’t been able to post for the last few days, but now that I have a few minutes, I figured I’d try to catch up with pictures from the social event of the season: Agnes’s class reunion and the excursion to the famous Pfahlbauten open-air museum and historical site in Unteruhldingen on the shores of the beautiful Bodensee (Lake Constance).

Class reunions in Germany – at least in this small town – are done a bit differently than in the States. This was advertised as the 60^th reunion of the class that was born in 1951 (as opposed to our class reunions at home, which usually are marked from the high school or college graduation year). Things started up with an informal get-together on Friday evening at the Gasthaus Gems in the nearby town of Arlen, intended mainly for those arriving from out of town … as it happened, though, a large crowd showed up that did not include many people from “out of town,” as most of the members of Agnes’s year group have remained settled in the small towns in the local area. Agnes was the one who came the farthest, and because she left town right after graduation, moved successively farther away over the years, and had lost contact with almost everyone, she was concerned that she wouldn’t recognize anyone, nor would they recognize her. As it turned out, she was partially right … there was much shaking of hands, cocking of heads, and narrowing of eyes, followed by the phrase I must have heard a zillion times: “Ach! Die AGNES!!” ... followed in turn by much happy laughter and exchange of information about children and grandchildren.

Things really got underway on Saturday, when we all reconvened at the Gasthaus Gems in Arlen for a champagne breakfast and reception ...

followed by a short bus ride to the old school for a brief visit and a group photo ... Agnes is in the front row, second from the left.

Then it was back onto the bus for a ride to the town of Bodman on the Bodensee for a very nice lunch at the hotel restaurant Seehaus overlooking the lake. I wasn’t sure we’d actually make it to the lunch … the bus driver insisted on driving us right to the door, which involved making an impossible turn from the narrow street into the even-narrower driveway (he missed the hotel sign with at least 3.75 Angstroms clearance) ...

... and down the hill into a tiny parking lot that was already crowded with cars. We hopped out, enjoyed the lunch (included in the price of the reunion package), and then came out to discover that the driver had somehow – and I have no idea how – managed to get the bus out of the parking lot and back up the hill, where it was parked majestically at the side of the road ...

I can only assume that Capt Kirk somehow beamed him out of the lot.

We re-boarded the bus and were transported to the town of Unteruhldingen, site of the famous archaeological site called the Pfahlbauten – an entire Stone- and Bronze-Age community protected by a double wooden palisade and built on stilts over the surface of the Bodensee. The site has been extensively excavated and studied, and much of it has been rebuilt as an open-air museum that has recently been recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site. This is a view of the site from the lake side ...

And here are a few views showing details of some of the structures. The first two pictures also show something of the palisades which protected the settlement from wild animals and other enemies ...

It’s an absolutely fascinating place, although not for the faint of heart – most of the connecting walkways (and some of the houses) are a bit rickety, and actually sway in the currents ...

We had a guided tour of the site, which included lectures and demonstrations of how the Stone Age residents made their tools and crafted the buildings, and then had about an hour and a half to wander the site and explore on our own. We did a little exploring and then – it being a very warm day – we joined the rest of the group on the shaded forecourt of a nearby hotel for cold drinks while we waited for the ship which would take us back across the Bodensee to Ueberlingen, where we'd meet our bus.

We boarded the ferry and enjoyed the trip back across the lake. One of the men from the class, who was either very well-connected or very brazen or both, invited me forward of the successive lines of “no admittance” warning signs, ropes, and gates and marched me into the wheelhouse, where he introduced me to the captain as his American friend. I got a hearty handshake from the captain, who then ignored me while he went about the business of driving the boat. I was able to take a few pictures in and from the wheelhouse, but my favorite was this one, which I took over his shoulder as he stood at the remote steering unit on the starboard side to guide the ship to its berth in Ueberlingen. Very exciting!

We disembarked from the ship and had about a 20-minute wait until the bus was to pick us up for the ride back to Arlen. This being not a lot of time, we all hung around the harbor area, where I discovered yet another of the amazingly ugly sculptures which seem to plague this part of Germany. Trust me…you’ll thank me for not including any close-ups of this one …

The bus appeared right on time, and again managed to successfully negotiate the narrow, twisting streets and multiple traffic circles to get up the hill from the harbor and on the road back to Arlen. The driver didn’t need GPS – he had a busload of highly-opinionated 60-year olds who shouted directions (sometimes including advice to turn in opposite directions) until we finally got out of town and back to the autobahn. Eventually, we ended up back again at the Gasthaus Gems, where we enjoyed a light dinner before catching a taxi back to the hotel and collapsing in utter exhaustion.

Bottom line: we loved it. Agnes managed to reconnect with old friends she hadn't seen in many years, and I was accepted unconditionally by everybody ... even my linguistic gaffes were forgiven in the general excitement that there was an Ami who actually spoke German. Everything was well-organized and well-planned without giving the feeling of being regimented. And no matter what stereotypes you may have of dour, unsmiling Germans, this had to be one of the happiest and loudest bunches of people I've seen in a long time.

And that will have to be enough for now. Tomorrow is our last full day here in Germany before we head back home on Wednesday. You'll be able to hear the kicking and screaming from wherever you are.

Tomorrow, I'll try to post a few assorted pictures and observations from the last two weeks ... but if I don't manage it, hang in there - the next guaranteed post will be on Thursday, once we've gotten back home.

Have a good day. More thoughts (and more pictures) coming.

Bilbo