Hansa City Hamburg

Hamburg is one of 9 remaining city states in Europe. These independent cities date back to medieval times. The photos show the wealth that came to Hamburg from its location overseeing shipping on the Elbe into Europe.

Ratsweinkeller

My father worked as a purchasor for the elegant restaurant in the City Hall of the free city of Hamburg. David and I visited this restaurant.

Harbour Festival

Hamburg's harbour celebrated its 719th birthday while we were there. David and our friend Renate Hendricks are eating pickles at the festival; our friends Paul and Gerlinde Schwartz of Speyer are dancing in the Fish Market. Tall ships were visiting from all over the world. It was a great time!

Jewish Graveyard in Hamburg

It was locked and it was secured. Such is the state of Jewish institutions. There was a two person police station outside the Talmud Torah school on Grindelhof in Hamburg. This school had only one class and a kindergarten.

The Gang

I was honoured by those who came to Hamburg to celebrate the end of my Elbe odyssey. We are pictured at the Cafe Leonar in the Jewish district of Hamburg where we had cocktails. Present are Renate and Ludwig Hendricks of Bonn, Paul and Gerlinde Schwartz of Speyer, Jorge Skrainka of Madrid and my David. Renate is a member of parliament for Nord Rhein-Westfalen, Paul an international film maker, Gerlinde an educator with a Phd, Jorge the nephew of my oma, photographer and HR specialist, Ludwig my co-author on articles to do with dada and of course my own David, a Canadian Crown Attorney. It was a dream!!!!

Hamburg War Memorial

There are many war memorials throughout Germany but this one uses a variety of materials and joins them in an interesting way in a very pleasant setting. The past and the present come together for remembrance, reflection and also for new experiences.

Hansa City Lubbeck

Luebbeck is one of the nine remaining independent, Hansa cities in Europe. We visited there on our way to the Baltic ocean. The gate to the city dates back to the 1400s. I was struck by the strange similarity of this structure to the Green Citadel in Magdeburg. (Hundertwasser must have seen this!)

Baltic Adventure

David, my cousin Jorge and I headed up to Travemuende where we dipped into the Baltic Sea. This holiday location was where my oma met her husband, my grandfather Alfred Schilling. Ironically, we thought we were going to the North Sea. Luckily the GPS was programmed for Travemeunde!!!

23 Pappendamm

Our family lived at 23 Pappendamm for my entire life in Hamburg (1946-1954). This is the place where oma returned in 1945 after being in Theresienstadt.

Cousins

My cousins Jorge Skrainka and Thomas Reif are from different sides of the family, but my mother's cousin Jorge from Madrid and Venezuela and my father's cousin Thomas from Hamburg got along famously. I'm related to them through grandparents and great-grandparents. We're from three different continents, but we were still all one family when we celebrated at Thomas and Sylvie's house along with Thomas' brother Raimund, his wife Angelika and Thomas and Raimund's sister Barbel.

Extraordinary Meeting

I met a neighbour of ours at 23 Pappendamm who remembered our family from our days there over 50 years ago. I was moved to meet Mrs Haass, an extraordinary 87 year old. We wept as we remembered old times.