Dear Marianne Salinger,

I guess you are right, the circumstances are somewhat confused if not abstruse .

Apparantly it is one of those affairs, from which wise people say, you may know quite more about it, if you do not ask any questions. Since once you start with it, you will come to no end and unfortunately to no satisfying result. This is so because there are so many different factors involved you normally would not consider. Maybe Dan Brown should care for it…

First we rely on the information that is provided is true in general. If so, we have a handwritten Talmudic text from Paris, which commonly is dated to the year 1342 … and suddenly two and a half centuries later appears from Italy as property of the Ulmo-Ginzburg family. Another two centuries later there are Rabbis and sages (such as Chaim Azulai and Nathanael Weil…) who turn up in Pfersee … and their reports are the first known eyewitness reports depicting the book, the quantity of text, the structure, order, material, quality, ink and so on. Both reports are from the narrow period 1750-1753 only . Accordingly there even was suggested that the Munich or Pfersee Talmud Handschrift only very briefly was in the possession of the Ulmo family, if at all (see: Fuerchtegott Lebrecht – Handschriften und erste Ausgaben des Babylonischen Talmuds, Berlin 1862, p. 55 ff. and p. 99 ff.). 

 And so the questions begin working: For what reason the two reports from the 1750s differ from the manuscript in Munich regarding the order, content and most important regarding the colophons which give some data as the name of the writer, printer, the date and so on.  For some time there was the assumption that there maybe were two different old Talmudic handwritings, one in Pfersee, one in Munich. This is somewhat confusing of course since the “Pfersee Handschrift” also is known as “Munich Handschrift” (Muenchen). 

Similar to the questions regarding the former owners and the like it is unclear under what circumstances and about what time the Pfersee Handschrift came to Polling. The most precise estimation possible seems to be between 1754 and 1802 …

Apparently there are no catalogs with listings of the purchases the Polling monastery made. But it is known, that the Polling provost Franz Toepsl exceedingly expanded the library and bought numerous books, many in “oriental” languages. In the course of the secularization after 1803 all the books from Polling library were moved to Munich. What also is sure is that in the early 1860s Raphael Rabinovicz from Novo-Zagorny near Kovno (Kaunas) settled in Munich and “discovered” the Handschrift in rooms of the Royal Bavarian Library in Munich. Rabinovicz determined to make a critical examination of it. His financer was an antiques dealer from Munich – a constellation that also is known from other contexts. Before Rabinovicz however there was no academic reflection and debate on the Pfersee or Munich Handschrift. In other words: the Handschrift was unknown before him. On the other hand so far there is nobody who doubts the authenticity of the book , now known as Cod. Hebr. 95.

The actual Handschrift is preceded by several printed pages, one obviously is from the monastery of Polling, others provide table of contents in Hebrew, which already have the actual signature of the Munich library in the printed text (the signature in Polling was – of course – different). So the book in the current state we know was bound in Munich, obviously not before Nathan Rabbinovicz had worked with it.

So there are many more questions if you do not rely on former presumptions and their perpetuation.

Your specific question was whether a wealthy Jewish community who had enough money for loans also had to have money to keep a priceless book. Yes, that’s the way it should be. But … as I have summarized the Jewish witnesses of the book mentioned it about 1750 (and it is not sure if they really described the very same one) and the next undoubted statement on it is that of Raphael Nathan Rabinovicz who obviously arranged the volume and furnished it with tables of content. Older handwritten parts were glued together and placed in front of the handwriting. They are obviously of some age, but they can originate from everywhere – since the binding was made not before the 1870s. In addition there are numerous small handwritten notes at the front and back cover of the book, most of them seem to be writing exercises, for instance the following example:

אני אורי יהודא שליטא

The last abbreviates שיזכה לחיים טובים ארוכים

It is questionable if those notes (often regarded as signatures of the former owners) may be older than the cover sheets ..?

However between 1750 and 1870 there are another  120 years without any further explanation. So we also do not know whether the Jewish bankers and lenders from Kriegshaber and Augsburg who financed credits to the broke Free Imperial City of Augsburg in the very beginnings of the 19^th knew of the existence of the book at all.

See also:

רפאל נתן נטע ראבינאוויץ 

  ספר דקדוקי סופרים : עם הגהות נקראות דברי סופרים -

I was thinking while I was in Munich that I’ve probably had a few too many holidays this year. Not that there’s such a thing as ‘too many holidays’ but there is when it comes to my bank account. So, to regale:

End of Paris, early January (carrying over from Christmas and New Year’s):

London, early January:

Dublin for St Patrick’s Day:

Back home to Ancaster & Toronto for late March and early April:

Birmingham to see a friend in the hospital in late April (this at least counts as a trip outside of Aberdeen):

Swansea to visit a fellow Torontonian in mid-May:

Berlin in early August to celebrate finishing my MSc:

Back home to Ancaster & Toronto for September:

Munich, for no real reason last week (except for my flatmate whose birthday fell within the dates we were there):

Paris tomorrow, and the South of France the next day.

Is that excessive? Probably. Next year I should attempt to save money (and minimise that cliched carbon footprint), and try to save up for going home at Christmastime next year.

Copyright © 2009 LeNouveauNoir. All rights reserved.

Die erste Synagoge in Ichenhausen ist nachweisbar für das Jahr 1687, jedoch muss weit früher eine andere bestanden haben, wird die Geschichte der Juden in Ichenhausen doch bis in die 1450er Jahre (Chaim Schachor) zurückdatiert. Die erwähnte Synagoge wurde 1781 (an selber Stelle?) durch einen Neubau ersetzt, welche die örtliche Überlieferung einem Kirchenbauer namens Joseph Dossenberger zuschreibt. 1896 wurde die Synagoge renoviert und ein weiteres Mal im Sommer 1929. Am 10. November 1938 freilich wurde auch die Synagoge in Ichenhausen zerstört und das Gebäude hernach von den Nationalsozialisten als Heulager verwendet. Nach dem Krieg beherbergte das Haus bis 1984 die örtliche Feuerwehr . Danach wurde es restauriert und im Dezember 1987 in Erinnerung an die frühere Synagoge als „Haus der Begegnung“ eingerichtet. Die Renovierung ist gelungen und vermittelt einen guten Eindruck von der einstigen Schönheit der ländlichen Synagoge. Der Thora-Schrein ist jedoch – anders als die Wandheizungen – nur aufgemalt.

 In den oberen Etagen vermitteln Ausstellungen Einblicke in die Geschichte der vormaligen jüdischen Gemeinde in Ichenhausen (thematisch überschneidet sich dabei jedoch manches mit der Ausstellung im Schulmuseum), während der Hauptraum Raum bietet für kulturelle Veranstaltungen: Am 29. November 2009 beispielsweise standen  „Contes Mystiques – Geheimnisvolle Erzählungen“ auf dem Programm und boten demnach „eine musikalisch-literarische Entdeckungsreise in die Weihnachtszeit“. Dem folgte am Samstag 05.12.2009 ein „Adventskonzert“ des „Vocal-Ensembles Hochwang“.

The former Synagogue of Ichenhausen

A first synagogue in Ichenhausen is mentioned for the year 1687, however, there must have existed a much earlier one, since the history of Jews in Ichenhausen usually is dated back to the 1450s. The synagogue was replaced in 1781 (at the same spot?) by a new building, which the local tradition attributes to the regional known church constructor  Joseph Dossenberger (1721-1785), who was born in Wollishausen near Augsburg.

In 1896, the synagogue was renovated and a last time during summer of 1929. On 10 November 1938, however, the Ichenhausen synagogue was destroyed and afterwards the building was used by the Nazis as stockroom for hay, so the saying goes. After the war the building housed the local fire department until 1984. Then it was restored and in December 1987 it was inaugurated as “House for encounter” in memory of the former synagogue. The restoration was well done and conveys a good impression of the beautiful former rural synagogue. The Torah Ark however – other than the heating – merely is a painting at the wall.

The upper floors have an exhibition which provides insight into the history of the former Jewish community in Ichenhausen, while the main room offers space for numerous cultural events: On 29 November 2009 for example, were “Contes Mystiques – Mysterious Stories” on the program, and thus offered “a musical-literary journey of discovery into the Christmas season.” This was followed by a “Christmas Concert” of the “vocal ensemble Hochwang” on Saturday, 5^th of December 2009. 

Concluded 

Well, to make it short: In 2008 Hypo Group Alpe Adria came in tremendous financial turbulences. The Global Financial Crisis exposed within a few days that Hypo Group Alpe Adria in fact is bankrupt, and so is the mother bank BayernLB. “Well, from a Geographers perspective a tsunami seems to be a quite helpful event in order to map vast subsurface swamplands of joint political and financial corruptive interactions”, Sustainche is convinced. Indeed, dubious national and international banking businesses, falsification of balance sheets, fraud, nepotism and money laundry is not restricted to countries that are traditionally called The Balkans. “Yes”, Sustainche concludes, “the Balkans does not begin in front of Vienna; the Balkans in fact DOES begin in Munich, Bavaria.

Sustainche is sad and speechless at the same time. When leaving Macedonia he thought that he safely escaped from the region of corruption, fraud, nepotism and money laundry, and now he finds himself in the same kind of surrounding environment, which by no means is in favour of Sustainable Development and a better quality of life. Also here politicians trample on each and every small flower planted and nursed by citizens to support Sustainable Development ! 

In the meantime the BayernLB is extremely happy to have sold their share of the Hypo Group Alpe Adria for only 1 (in words ‘one’) Euro (!) in order to not increase the losses beyond 3.8 Billion Euro. Hypo Group Alpe Adria is nationalized by the Republic of Austria and the Austrian tax payers start enjoying to pay the bill in the magnitude of 19 Billion Euro, which otherwise would have wiped out the wonderful tourism paradise Kaernten from the financial map of the world. Bavarian politicians now need to explain their beloved citizens that Balkan-Munich is not a financial centre of the world, and that unfortunately they have no moneyski left to support kindergarten and school education as well as University studies. 

All in all Kaernten politicians feel extraordinarily happy; they have a good laugh having shown the Bavarian provincial dwarf-(locally called ‘Provinzwichtl’)-politicians on the spot that they are the better Balkan boys. Sustainche would imagine that the honourable ‘Club of Best Balkan Boys (CBBB)’ already organized a huge Christmas party to celebrate the great victory with oro and skara in Hotel Aleksandar Palace in Skopje … wonderful ‘Golden Macedonia’ … wonderful ‘Golden Balkans’ …  

Merry Christmas, World !
Sustainche

Continued

“Ok, so, let’s have a look further north”, Sustainche becomes enthusiastic. North of Slovenia there is a country situated that is called Austria, and Slovenia’s bordering Province (‘Bundesland’) is named Kaernten. Kaernten is a famous tourism resort for many foreigners. Kaernten for quite some time was ruled by an internationally famous local Prime Minister (locally called ‘Landeshauptmann’) whom many foreigners thought to be a right-wing populist, if not a Nazi. He tragically died in a car accident in 2008. Kaernten is also famous for a bank called Hypo Group Alpe Adria. In one way or another Hypo Group Alpe Adria Bank was always under control of local Kaernten politicians, and it were these politicians who fostered the banks expansion to the countries of Ex-Yugoslavia on the Balkans. Since 2004 Hypo Group Alpe Adria Bank is subject to various investigations on dubious national and international banking businesses, falsification of balance sheets, fraud, nepotism and money laundry. “Well, all this is expected to be very much likely for Balkan countries, isn’t it”, Sustainche thinks and he remembers that some strange mutual aid between banks and politicians were also discussed in Macedonia. 

Ok, some malicious Germans anyway express the strong opinion that the Balkans begins in Vienna, which somehow refers to the historical event that the Turkish Empire in the year AD 1683 stood in front of Vienna and there was besieged by a coalition of various Christian troops, among them Bavarians. 

Bavaria today is a so-called Free State within the Federal Republic of Germany. Bavarian culture is well-known to be different from other Germans’ behaviour in various ways. Bavaria is a famous tourism resort for many foreigners. Everybody around the world knows the legendary ‘Munich October Festival’, when annually in September absolutely normal people become so drunk that they don’t know where and who they are. Bavaria for quite some time was ruled by an internationally famous right-wing conservative local Prime Minister and – let’s say – businessman. He was so successful, and transformed Bavaria from an agrarian backyard into a prosperous business country, that he was always elected Prime Minister with more than 50% support by his beloved voters. Some Bavarians even today believe that the said Prime Minister and his ruling political party have also built the Alpine Mountains in order to support a flourishing tourism economy. There were also Bavarian Prime Ministers afterwards, but these politicians by no means were as successful as THE ONE AND ONLY Prime Minister. Of course Bavaria has its own Bank, called BayernLB. In 2007 the BayernLB all of a sudden discovered that the people in Bavaria and Kaernten have something in common in terms of culture and business behaviour. Therefore, the BayernLB bought the majority share of the Hypo Group Alpe Adria for 1.6 Billion Euro. Sustainche’s Blog readers might easily notice that the year 2007 is only three years later than 2004 . Sustainche remembers that he saw huge advertisement posters in Kisela Voda and Skopje proudly announcing the arrival of the Hypo Group Alpe Adria in Macedonia. 

To be concluded

Hofgarten as it is known locally, the Royal Gardens sits in the centre of Residenz, the former Royal Residence of the Bavarian monarchs. Built in 1613-1617 as an Italian style Renaissance garden, it features a pavillion in the centre of the garden with eight paths branching out (although to fully appreciate this fact, one must have an aerial view).

f/8, HDR (-1, +1): 1/200 sec, 1/50 sec

As of December 3rd, I’ve been here in Ansbach, Germany a full year. It felt long but now that it’s gone, it feels only like yesterday. This is good and somewhat sad at the same time. I’ll be leaving here early, almost 2 years early actually. In a way I am excited but somewhat feel like there is still so much I could do here. Alas, living the military lifestyle makes doing things extremely hard. Harder than one may think actually. I’ve traveled here and there but not to any of the places I’ve dreamed about. I could have had one of those dream places knocked off the list, no two actually but the military screwed me over. Again. Nothing is new, right?

But I’m not writing a post to discuss my reasons for being somewhat unhappy while living the life others think they want. I’m posting to share my favorite photos of Germany for the 2009 year. A whole year..wow! I don’t think my Germany pictures are exactly flattering. It’s actually a pretty boring place. =\ Sorry. But non the less, it’s been an experience I’ll never forget. I only hope that my remaining 4 months here are the absolute best they can be. I also hope to get some of the best photos I possibly can. Make it count, for what it’s worth.

Enjoy the photos.

1) Rothenburg, Germany

2) Munich, Germany

3) Berchtesgaden, Germany

4) Dachau, Germany

5) Lichtenau, Germany

6) Neuschwanstien, Germany
THIS one is for you, Cat.

7) Ansbach, Germany

8.) Landschtul, Germany

9) Rothenburg, Germany

10) Ansbach, Germany

Singapore Airlines has announced that it will alter its Singapore-Manchester service from 28 March 2010. The airline will change from 3 weekly non-stop flights to 5 weekly flights via Munich, marking the airline’s entry into Bavaria.

Flight SQ 328 will depart Singapore at 2245 hrs every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, arriving in Munich at 0535 hrs the next morning. The flight continues to Manchester at 0635 hrs for a 0800 hrs arrival. On the return leg, flight SQ 327 takes off from Manchester Ringway International Airport at 0920 hrs, landing in Munich at 1225 hrs before taking off again at 1335 hrs to arrive back in Singapore Changi International Airport at 0740 hrs the next day.

Travellers in Manchester will see journey times increased by over 2 hours, but will enjoy increased flight frequencies and an improved inflight product. Singapore Airlines will introduce an equipment upgrade on the route, flying a 3-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft which replaces the 2-class 777-200ER aircraft currently used. Passengers travelling in the premium cabins will be able to enjoy the airline’s latest First and Business Class products in a 1-2-1 configuration for greater comfort and privacy.

Lufthansa is currently the only operator on the Munich-Singapore route, flying 5 times a week with a 3-class Airbus A340-600. The German airline will reduce frequencies to twice-weekly when Star Alliance partner Singapore Airlines begins flying the route. However, Bavarians will gain greater access to Asia with 7 flights a week and convenient connections in Singapore to regional destinations served by Singapore Airlines and its regional affiliate, Silkair.

For more information, visit www.singaporeair.com.

Oberammergau- German Passion Play: Germanys Oberammergau Travel Video PostCard

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Oberammergau, in the Bavarian Alps, is the worlds best know Passion Play begun after the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), one of historys most destructive.

The little town of Oberammergau pledged to perform a play, Play of the Suffering, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ every ten years if God would bring an end to the suffering of the village, infected by Great Plague.

The disease halted, and the people fulfilled their promise, and so the play has been performed every ten years since.

2010 will be only the 41st time the play will be produced. Between May and October the Passion Play will have 100 performances with an anticipated half million visitors.

Its a complex production with a cast of thousands, lasts about 8 hours with a 3 hour intermission

This performance will be directed by Noted German director Christian Stückl, and Travel Video PostCard is pleased to present this TVP premier of Oberammergau, the worlds Passion Play

We’ve enjoyed the first snow of the season in residential Munich and my boys couldn’t be more excited! I’m less enthusiastic although I enjoy its beauty from the inside looking out.

Here’s our backyard before the boys shoveled the snow into big piles to create their snow forts.

In this image (also taken from inside) you can get a glimpse on how most of the residential properties are all designed in grid patterns; straight, angular lines in hedges, borders and terraces. More on this subject later.

Almost all homes here are painted white, creating almost black and white imagery when the snow falls.

by Bev Gallant, Corporate Vacations

River cruises can be very different fare than what most people expect on a cruise. The world tends to slow down a little bit more as you make your way upstream. There is still plenty to do, but it’s just done at a different pace. Uniworld is a leader in these types of cruises and I was fortunate to have sailed the Enchanting Danube itinerary on the River Beatrice from Budapest, Hungary to Passau, Germany.

Simply put, it was one of the best vacations I have ever been on.

When you sail on a Uniworld ship, you are essentially on a sailing in a small, boutique hotel. Since river ships are much smaller (average guest count is 134, you get a highly intimate experience and feel on board. From the second you step on board, you know that service is one of the most important parts of the experience. Every crew member was friendly, accommodating and welcoming. Since Uniworld is an American company, they tend to cater to English-speaking guests — so there are no language barriers to worry about if you’re traveling from the US.

In stark contrast to larger ships, nighttime is more subdued. In the lounge, local entertainment was brought on board a couple of times. It was interesting to see (and hear) some of the local flavor of a some of cities we visited. Other nights, it was all about piano, singing and dancing. One evening, there were Waltz lessons available. Or, you could relax in the library with a book, games and puzzles.

Sailing happened mostly at night — and it was so smooth that you didn’t even know the ship was moving. There were a couple of day sailings which afforded us a spectacular view of the Wachau Valley — on one of the most scenic stretches of the Danube.The included tours were the perfect length and gave us a wonderful look at the cities and towns on our trip. It was nice to have ample free time to explore at our leisure.

Some highlights:

Days 2 & 3: In Budapest, we docked on the Buda side (the hilly side — Pest is the flat side). It was interesting to see how the area felt since the fall of Communism here was only less than 20 years ago. It made us think of how lucky we are and appreciate it.

Day 5: Vienna. What a BEAUTIFUL city. It started with a walking and bus tour of the city and a visit to Mozart’s house. In the afternoon, it was off to Schonbrunn Palace. “Grand” and “opulent” are a couple of words that leapt to mind. A fun fact: the term, “the walls have ears” started here due to the heating arrangement. In between the walls, there were passageways for servants to stoke the fires. They could put their ears up to the wall and hear what the noble people were saying and pass it on.

Day 6: We visited the small, quaint town of Durnstein. I walked to the top of the hill there where the castile ruins are. Richard the Lionheart was held captive here in 1192 and 1193. There are a lot of wineries here as well. We saw plenty of churches during the trip. Melk Abbey was very ornate with plenty of gold decoration.

Day 7: We made it to Linz/Salzburg. Being here, you couldn’t pass on seeing locations made famous from “The Sound of Music.” There is rich history here that includes the plentiful Christmas markets that were setting up. It was sad to miss them, but on the other hand, it was nice to keep me from opening up the pocketbook!

Day 8: Passau, Germany. This is the confluence of three rivers: the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers. This last full day treated us to wealth and breadth of Bavarian history.

As I had alluded to earlier, this was one of the best vacations I have ever been on. The scenery and history were amazing, but it was all made possible by the wonderful people from Uniworld.

Nuremberg Christmas Market (image from www.zimbio.com)

I have to be in Munich for a few days this week, so I took a daytrip today to visit the Nuremberg Christmas Market, which is just an hour and 45 minutes away on a regular (non-fancy) Deutsche Bahn train.

I’m not a huge fan of Christmas ornaments or freezing cold weather, but things I *can* get behind are a festive atmosphere, mulled wine (gluhwein), cakey Christmas cookies (lebkuchen) and hot-off-the-grill small sausages (rostbratwurstl), all of which are available in abundance in Nuremberg this time of year.

It was snowing today in Nuremberg, and while my friends searched out all manner of Christmas ornaments made of straw, wood and even prunes (click here or google zwetschgamännla), I occupied myself with lots of snacking and drinking.  I’ve come to love buying gluhwein in all sorts of cheesy commemorative mugs, and the wine sellers ensure you bring the mugs back by charging a 2-euro deposit for every gluhwein you order.  And if you just *have* to have that mug, well, at 2 euros, that’s the cheapest souvenir you can buy.

Even gluhwein proved to be no match for the cold after three hours, so in search of a heat source of the fossil-fuel-generated kind, my friends and I ate a fast, cheap and good dinner at the self-service chain, Vapiano.  I’ve eaten before at this type of place in Munich, where you’re provided a card on arrival, and then you choose food from different stations (in my case, a pasta station) where the food is made fresh in front of you, have the food ‘charged’ to your card, and then you pay for whatever’s on your card as  you leave the resto.  For 5.50 euros, I ate an enormous bowl of freshly-made spaghetti with pesto.  It was a nice break from all the schweinshaxe and general pig-and-potatoes diet I’ve been ODin’g on this weekend.

Nuremberg’s Christmas market was a sight to see, and I’d highly recommend a visit, especially for the Christmas fanatics among you.

To reach Nuremberg from the UK, I flew into Munich and then caught a Deutsche Bahn train from the Hauptbahnhof.  The trains leave almost every hour and tickets were 20 euros roundtrip.  The trains get standing-room-only crowded, so wait on the platform early.

Vapiano was about a five-minute walk from the Nuremberg train station at Konigstrasse, 17, 90402 Nuremberg.

This is Schloss (Castle) Neuschwanstein, a 19th century Bavarian palace in southwest Bavaria built by King Ludwig II. Unfortunately, the King died before construction was completed. Had the castle been completed, I think this is how the scene would’ve looked like on the day of his death. This castle was the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle.

f/4.5, 1/320 sec

Snowing outside our cabin at Edelweiss.

We woke up in the morning to a pleasant surprise.  My birthday wish came true and it was snowing outside.  The towering Bavarian peaks normally seen outside our cabin were masked in clouds and large fluffy snowflakes were falling to the ground.  We determined a little bit of snow wouldn’t stop our sight-seeing plans and we

View outside Ettal Monastery.

decided to visit the monastery that we had by-passed earlier in the week.  Before we left, I had an opportunity to cook and whip up some home-made omelets and coffee.  My mother-in-law enjoys my cooking too.

The snow was really pelting down and the higher in elevation we drove, the more snow we saw.  The Ettal monastery is

Fresco painting inside the dome of the Ettal monastery.

conveniently close to the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area.  The roads leading up to the basilica are rather curvy and like a meandering stream.  Despite growing up in Pennsylvania and accustomed to snowy roads, I took it rather slow so as not to get my mother-in-law excited.  She was rather quiet and seemed to trust my driving skills.

We arrived at the monastery in no time and there were no crowds and ample parking space.  The snow was accumulating much more in this higher elevation than at our cabin and was an enjoyable sight to see.  The surrounding pine trees were being lightly dusted by the snowflakes and the grass was slowly being covered by an inch of snow.  Some of the figurines on the outside of the baroque façade were also being blanketed in a layer of snow.  I was rather surprised at the size of the basilica, especially the large dome that off-set it from the adjoining complex of buildings.  Some of these buildings are being used as a hotel, school, gift shop, brewery, publishing house and workshops for the monks who still take care of the upkeep.

Inside Ettal monestary.

The Ettal Monastery has its origins dating back to 1330.  It has undergone many transformations to include being destroyed by a fire in 1744.    It’s obvious it has been influenced by a variety of different architectural methods forming the church throughout the centuries and the interior reflects various competing styles as well.  At the entrance of the

Madonna and Child at Ettal monastery.

church is a Gothic portal from around 1350.  The small marble statue of the Ettal Madonna on the high altar is the centerpiece of the church and dates back to 1330s, a gift from the Roman Emperor of the German Nation, Kaiser Louis the Fourth.  He was called the “Bavarian,” which originally was an abusive name the Pope gave him who was opposed to him.  The ceiling dome fresco is painted in brilliant colors and surrounded by large cathedral windows.  The pipe organ in the back of the church is baroque and adorned in gold and dates to mid-1700s.  There are also several confessionals on the sides of the church, side altars and marble statues depicting the various Benedictine Saints.  The Rococo patterns are present around the arches of the windows and the arched panels are ornamented in gold too.  It’s truly a sight to see!

Downtown Oberrammergau

We walked around the little retail shops outside the monastery and then drove north to the little German town of Oberammergau.  This town has grown notoriety for its world famous wood carvings along with the production of the Passion Play detailing the crucifixion of Christ.  Every ten years, the local villagers reenact this Biblical scene.  It also

Hansel and Gretel house.

had some unique wall murals painted on the exterior of private homes.  We were in search of the famous Hansel and Gretel house.  Initially we drove right past it and parked in the center of town.  The locals were busy setting up their wares and displays for the daily Weihnachtsdorf market (Christmas market).  Typically around 4:00 pm

Red Riding Hood mural on a local house.

the streets become alive and the vendors are selling all sorts of Christmas decorations and souvenirs.  We haven’t visited any of them yet, but it’s still on our list of things to do.

We drove back out of town and located the Hansel and Gretel house.  Across from this home was also a painted caricature of Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.  “My what big eyes you have and what big teeth you have,” as I remembered the story from my childhood years.

It was another fun day of traveling, sight-seeing, and spending quality time with my wife and mother-in-law.  We returned to the cabin and I braved the cold temperatures to cook some marinated steaks over some charcoal briquettes.  Before starting the coals, I had to remove the snow that filled in the metal encasing and thaw out the ice that had formed on the grill.  The steaks were mouth-watering delicious and was garnished with some sweet potatoes topped with a drizzle of maple syrup.  I recalled they do not have sweet potatoes in Finland and I remembered how much my mother-in-law liked them the last time I cooked them for her back in sunny Florida.  She is not fond of the syrup and only likes butter on hers.  Oh well, whatever mother-in-law wants she gets…lol.

Rex cooking steaks.

Raphael Frank wurde am 11. März 1867 als drittes von sieben Kindern des Kaufmanns Gerson Frank und seiner Gattin Amalie, née Kramer, in Ichenhausen geboren. Er lernte Klavier, musste aber ein musikalisches Studium in München abbrechen, da es dem Vater – mit sechs weiteren Kindern- an Geld für die Finanzierung fehlte. Offenbar auf eigene Faust wechselte er dann nach Köln wo er sich zum Kantor und Religionslehrer ausbilden ließ. Als solcher wirkte er danach in Simmern, Neuss und Halle, ehe er schließlich nach Leipzig kam. Dort nun entwickelte er 1909 – vor hundert Jahren – auf Anfrage christlicher Theologen einen hebräischen Schrifttypus, der bei der Leipziger Gießerei C.F. Ruehl gegossen wurde. Der entstandene Typ heißt deshalb auch Frank-Ruehl. Rühl hatte sich schon lange auf das Gießen von Schrifttypen in den Standard-Größen spezialisiert. Bekannt geworden sind u.a. Borussia und Germania (beide 1900) , Venetia (1907), die sog. Ruehlsche Fraktur von 1912 oder aber Diadem aus dem selben Jahr.  Daneben gab die Firma auch Sammelhefte heraus  in welchem Schriften, Ornamente, Vignetten, usw. dargestellt wurden. Die weitaus größte und schnellste und gewiss auch nachhaltigste Verbreitung erlangte der hebräische Schriftfont, den Raphael Frank entworfen hatte. Als Frank 1920 in Leipzig im Alter von nur 53 Jahren verstarb hatte sich das Werk, dass ihn unsterblich machte bereits zur Standardschrift der zionistischen Bewegung in Israel und überall in der Welt entwickelt. Gängig ist sie auch heute noch im Zeitalter des Computers.

 Frank Ruehl Hebrew typeface, 1909

In Ichenhausen übernahm sein Bruder Moritz Frank (1871) das Geschäft des Vaters, starb jedoch 1943 als Gefangener im KZ Theresienstadt. Nicht anders erging es ihrem Bruder Salomon Frank, der wie Raphael Lehrer wurde und in Buttenwiesen und Fischach unterrichtete. Salomons Sohn und Raphaels Neffe Gerd Frank (geb. 1912) war der letzte Rabbiner in Ichenhausen und wohnte im 1894 errichteten Rabbinerhaus neben der Synagoge.  Wie weitere Geschwister wurde auch er 1944 von den Nazis ermordet im Alter von nur 32 Jahren.

 Ichenhausen Synagouge Exhibition

(Quelle: Namen und Schicksale der Juden aus Ichenhausen 1933-1945 – Ein Gedenkbuch)

Raphael Frank (1867 – 1920), the hardly known designer of the most common Hebrew typeface / font Frank Ruehl in 20th century was born in Ichenhausen between Krumbach and Guenzburg, some 60 km west of Augsburg. He was the son of a merchant and was the 3rd of seven siblings. Many members of his Ichenhausen family were killed by the Nazis,among them also Gerd, the son of Raphaels younger brother Salomon, who was until 1938 the last Rabbi of Ichenhausen, where today is no Jewish Community, and resided at the Rabbis House kitty-corner to the Ichenhausen Synagogue. There today is a Museum where also is information on his family, the Ichenhausen Frank family – for instance there is a collection of Hebrew books (mainly) by Moritz Frank, Raphaels brother, who took over the parental local grocery store.

Raphael Frank himself is mentioned as well, but however the exhibition suprisingly does not mention him as the designer of the typeface, known all over the world by the Frank Ruehl, casted in 1909 by the foundry C.F. Ruehl in Leipzig where Raphael Frank was cantor and teacher. That however of course maybe is the formost reason why one should know Ichenhausen.

 אייכנהאוזן

רפאל פרנק

http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A8%D7%A4%D7%90%D7%9C_%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%A0%D7%A7

פרנק-ריהל

http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%A0%D7%A7-%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%94%D7%9C

Als Abraham von Augsburg überliefert die Geschichte einen übereifrigen Konvertiten zum Judentum, der zur Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts im mittelrheinischen Sinzig (Kreis Ahrweiler) bei einem Pogrom gegen die jüdische Gemeinde ums Leben kam.

Den Angaben des Pferseer Memorbuches handelt es sich bei Abraham um einen französischen Adeligen, der zum Judentum übertrat. Die 1297 verfasste megilat hanehargim (s. Perles, Monatsschrift, 11/1873) bestätigt die Herkunft aus Frankreich, erwähnt ihn hingegen aber auch als das Oberhaupt aller Barfüßigen –  ראש לכל היחופים – was sich ohne Zweifel auf den christlichen Orden der Barfüßer beziehen wird. Franziskanischer Barfüßer waren als Bettelmönche bekannt, die eine Abkehr von irdischen Reichtum predigten. Nach dem Tod des Gründers 1226 kam es unter seinen Anhängern jedoch zum sog. „Armutsstreit“. Treue Anhänger sahen im Bau großer Basiliken für den Orden eine Abkehr vom Armutsideal des Ordensgründers. Die Motive und zeitliche Folge für Abrahams Übertritt zum Judentum ist vielleicht in diesem Kontext zu sehen. Im Jahre 1243 nämlich richteten Franziskanermönche in Augsburg eine Barfüßer-Kirche ein, die freilich durch eine größere romanische um 1265 fertiggestellte Basilika ersetzt wurde. Der später noch mehrfach beschädigte und veränderte Bau besteht heute noch namentlich als „Barfüßer-Kirche“ am Übergang von der Altstadt zur Jakober Vorstadt.

Unbekannt ist, ob er auch zuvor bereits Abraham hieß. Das ist zumindest nicht auszuschließen. Als Konvertit löste er sich jedoch von seiner bisherigen Abstammung und galt deshalb als Sohn Abrahams, des Stammvaters aller Juden, und erhielt deshalb zu seinem ursprünglichen oder gewählten Vornamen Abraham den Namenszusatz:  אברהם בר אברהם אבינו  „Bar Abraham awinu“ (Sohn unseres Vaters Abraham).

 Der zeitliche Kontext ergibt, dass Abraham, so er in Augsburg zum Judentum übertrat, dies unter der Leitung von Rabbi Meir bar Baruch, dem Maharam tat. Die Mikwe der damaligen jüdischen Gemeinde wäre dann wenig mehr als 120 Meter der Kirche entfernt gewesen, der er bis dahin vorstand, was sodann zweifellos ein erheblicher Affront gewesen sein muss und erklären kann, warum Abraham bar Abraham Augsburg verließ. Ein weiterer Grund kann natürlich auch der Übereifer gewesen sein, durch den sich leider Konvertiten manchmal auszeichnen (wollen). Den Schilderungen gemäß attackierte er nun seine frühere christliche Religion und deren „abscheuliche Götzen“. In Sinzig, wo es in jener Zeit eine ansehnliche jüdische Gemeinde gab, predigte er die von ihm selbst vollzogene Umkehr zum Judentum. Von den Schilderungen der Evangelien über die „Tempelreinigung“ stürmte er zudem in die ihm bestens vertrauten Kirchen, wo er  die Köpfe von Figuren abschlug und Kreuze zerbrach. Die Folge war ein Angriff der Christen auf alle Juden am Ort und den Berichten verschiedener Memorbücher gemäß wurden 60 – 70 Juden in Sinzig verbrannt, Kinder, Frauen, Männer, Lehrer, Rabbiner. Dem Memorbuch von Pfersee (die Nürnberger Angaben weichen etwas davon ab) gemäß trug sich dies zu am sechsten Wochentag, der zugleich Neumondstag des Montags Kislev war, im 25. Jahr des sechsten Jahrtausends zu, also am 1. Kislev 5025, bzw. am Freitag 28. November 1264 – d.h. vor 745 Jahren.

Der Vorfall erregte große Aufmerksamkeit bei Juden und Christen. Mordechai ben Hillel und Mosche ben Jakob haben dies poetisch verarbeitet. Der Maharam verließ in der Folge Augsburg und sprach sich dafür aus, Konversionen zum Judentum zu erschweren. Später, als er mit zahlreichen Anhängern Deutschland verlassen und nach Israel auswandern wollte, wurde er jedoch angeblich von einem Konvertiten erkannt und verraten.

אברהם מאוגשבורג

According to the Memorbook of Pfersee, Abraham of Augsburg was a French aristocrat and head of the discalced monks in Augsburg, where he converted to Judaism. In his public sermons he challenged to leave Christianity and to join the Jewish people. Inspired by the narration of “Jesus cleansing of the temple” in November 1264 he entered in Sinzig (Middle Rhine) churches and beheaded Madonna figures and broke crosses. In return the whole Jewish community of SInzig (about 60 children, women and men) were killed by the Christians.

Hebrew inscription at the altar of the Barfuesser Church in Augsburg, which now is Protestant.

… hatten wir am Sonntag wieder eine Gruppe netter, neugieriger und engagierter Nachbarn, die sich auch vom nasskalten Wetter nicht abschrecken ließen. Wir danken für das Interesse, die fachkundigen Fragen und freuen uns auf weitere Kontakte.

Munich’s Frauenkirche stands out prominently amongst the other buildings on a backdrop of the picturesque Bavarian Alps. Simply amazing!

f/14, HDR (-1, 0, +1): 1/60 sec, 1/30 sec, 1/15 sec

He Says:

So we got on to our plane safely.

We had a flight to Frankfurt and from there a transit to Munich. We had an hour between transit. We knew that it was going to be a bit tight making our next flight to Munich, so you can imagine our relief when we found out we arrived at Frankfurt early. (by 3 minutes, according to the pilots) (and I sat there thinking, “Wow, talk about German precision, they have this thing down to a minute) (of course, they did not include the time needed to taxi to our gate, which by my rough estimation was around 10000km away) (or 200 pounds).

For all the *sic* planning that we’ve put in, we forgot to factor in a very important factor – the airport planners and security team at Frankfurt Airport have brains the size of peanuts.

Haha. I kid, of course. Anyone with brains the size of peanuts would not have the foresight to build their airport on what a layperson such as I would refer to as a blackhole. It was a LONG walk to the gate from which we are supposed to board our connecting flight. The walk was so long I think we passed though 5 different time zones and 2 hemisphere to get to our connecting gate. I believe nomadic tribes formed in the airport, looking for someone to lead them out. So, no, anyone with peanuts for brains would not have been able to come up with planning like this. Planning like this require boogers for brains.

Which brings us to another sore spot. The security. Frankfurt is the only airport I know that conducts security checks for travelers in transit. It’s as if  travelers like us could pick up something on our nomadic track through the airport that would threaten the security of the aircraft. The options are limited, but using McGyver like technical know-how, I would say the airport is fraught with security threats that can be used to threaten the pilots to hijack a plane. Maybe a bar of soap from the airport toilet, or the 10 year old hot dog that is revolving in the oven of the airport cafeteria.

One thing to note. Frankfurt is the air hub of Germany. Nearly all international flights pass through Frankfurt before being rerouted to other places in Germany. You can only begin to imagine the lines at the security gates. It circled around 3 of the 5 time zones we walked past earlier. And this was at 5AM in the morning.

So there we were standing in our own pee (cause we were too afraid we would miss our flight for something so frivolous as a toilet break), as we watched the airport security go through detailed security searches on the people in front of us. We felt really safe due to the vigilance of the security staff at the airport who conducted detailed pat downs of high security threats such as the 70 year old lady in front of us and, I swear this is true… a pilot! What was he gonna do? Hijack the plane he is piloting??? The icing on top of the cake was when I saw the team trying to make a 3 year old child walk through the metal detector without the parents, seeing as how 3 year old kids are the most cooperative, and yet most terrifying terrorists this side of Barney.

No thanks to the security, we managed to make it onto our flight… but only by the skin of our teeth.

On a not altogether unrelated note, I shall now relate our first encounter with a Native.

We arrived in Munich, totally prepared to kick ass with our newly found understanding of Germain through a 1 hour audio course. (We can speak a really mean “Will you come with me”) (Insert your own childish joke here). Armed with this useful knowledge and references from a 10 minute scan of Lonely Planet just before arrival saw us standing dumbstruck in front of the train ticketing machine.

We had no idea how to purchase a ticket from the airport to the city, or which of the million and one tickets we should be buying. After a serious pow-wow, we decided that the last thing we should do is panic and go to any random German stranger to ask “Will you come with me?”

Our looks of distress must have been obvious, because we were soon approached by this little old lady at the ticketing machine. Using a variety of hand signals and language spoken as it is broken (on the part of the old lady, we could only gawk, cause we don’t have the skills to speak broken German), we (by we, I meant the Fiance) came to understand that she arrived at the airport with her sister in the morning and had 2 days from her 4 day pass still valid. She offered to sell us her ticket for half the price as she no longer required it to go back to her place.

Suspicion is an essential survival trait.

Being the Alpha Male in the relationship, and based on the essential information I can gather from anything she said containing the words “Will”, “You”, “Come”, “With” and “Me”, I gave my best look of wariness and alertness and said “Sure!”, all the while thinking… “We are so gonna get ripped off on our first encounter in Germany!”

This feeling was compounded by her offering to buy us some true Bavarian breakfast in order to break the 50 Euros that we have.

We managed to use the rail pass for the remaining 2 days, but that could be partly due to the fact that the German rail system uses a system of trust (they really should not do any business where we come from) and we were not checked for our rail passes for those 2 days.

To this day, I’m still wondering if we (by we, I meant I) were overly suspicious of a good Samaritan.

 Im Gebäude der ehemaligen Synagoge in Ichenhausen befindet sich im Keller auch eine alte, gleichfalls restaurierte Mikwe, deren Alter ins 18. Jahrhundert datiert wird. Es war freilich weder die erste noch die einzige Mikwe in Ichenhausen. Öffentlich zugänglich (im touristischen Sinne) ist sie seit 2004.

Ungewöhnlich sind die hölzernen Einbauten im Becken, dessen Höhe im gezeigten Stadium nicht ausreicht, um unterzutauchen.

מקװה  

In the basement of the former synagogue of Ichenhausen is a restored 18th cent. mikveh. It of course as neither the first nor the only mikveh in Ichenhausen, but since 2004 it is open to the public (of course in a touristic way only). Remarkably are the wooden fittings in the basins which in the shown state however is not enough to submerge.

http://nukbilimler.ankara.edu.tr/akademik/akademik_files/y_goksu_yayin/2008_mikveh.pdf 

Many thanks again to. Mrs. Beh who patiently and in a very competent way introduced us to the place and also examined the water quality.

Eine auffällige Besonderheit am jüdischen Friedhof im schwäbischen Ichenhausen sind eine Anzahl von Grabsteinen, die über eine Art corperate design verfügen und entführten Juden aus Ungarn gewidmet sind, die kurz vor der bedingungslosen Kapitulation der Deutschen in Vernichtungslagern (במחנה ההשמדה) ermordet wurden durch die verfluchte Nazi – Regierung (ידי שלטון הנאצים הארור). Ohne erkennbaren Verwandtschaftsgrad wurden sie meist in Dreier-Gruppen in ein Grab gelegt. Gemeinsam ist ihnen das meist recht junge Alter (ab 17) und die Herkunft aus Budapest.  

Das Gedenken steht im Vordergrund und nimmt sich als Bezugspunkt das verpflichtende gebot der Thora nicht zu vergessen was Amalek dem Volk Israel einst angetan hat.

 זכר את אשר עשה לך עמלק

 Das war und ist pauschal wenigstens einfacher zu befolgen, als das Andenken der hier vergrabenen Entführungsopfer zu ergründen und zu bewahren. Eine Schwierigkeit ist bereits die Angabe der Namen.  

Es sind nun öfter deutsche Familiennamen, wie z.B. Spitzer, die aber in ungarischer Schreibweise auch als Spiczer, Spicer, usw. vorkommen können, während der Eintrag auf dem Grabstein hebräisch ist. Also die hebräische Schreibweise von ungarisch ausgesprochenen Namen. Da wäre eben etwa שפיצר יסטבן , (wie die beiden Frauen die mit ihm begraben wurden) ermordet am 16. März 1945. Im Namensverzeichnis von Yad Vashem in Jerusalem ist ein Ishtvan Spitzer zu finden, der 1921 in Budapest als Sohn von Simon Spitzer und Regina Spitzer (Braun) geboren wurde, Mechaniker war. Als Todesdatum ist eingetragen 1944-45, ein Sterbeort ist nicht genannt. Unter der entsprechenden Rubrik des hebräisch-ungarischen Vordrucks ist die ungarische Eintragung „német büntetö szazad“, die ein „deutsches Jahrhundertverbrechen“ nennt, was aber wie auch immer keine Ortsangabe ist.

http://www.yadvashem.org/ : Ishtvan Spitzer findet sich auf Seite 11 unter der Sucheingabe Spitzer + Budapest

Ist dieser Istvan Spitzer also mit dem imn Ichenhausener Sammelgrab vergrabenen  Jungen identisch? Dagegen spricht eigentlich nur die Altersangabe am Grabstein, die feststellt, dass Istvan 19 Jahre alt war. Das Zeugnis in Yad Vashem hingegen gibt als Geburtsjahr 1921 an, was 1945 dann eben ein Alter von 24 Jahren ergibt. Die Angaben des Bogens stammen vom 21. Juli 1999 und von David Spitzer, der zur selben Zeit noch Bögen zu weiteren Kindern von Simon (1896-1944) und Regina Spitzer machte.

Aber Yad Vashem verzeichnet noch weitere Isvan Spitzer aus Budapest. Der eine ist 1929 geboren, war also erst 16 im Frühjahr 1945, vier weitere sind 1908, 1910, 1911 und 1919 geboren, also deutlich älter.

So “unser” Istvan also nun aber  dann mit keinem identisch sind, fehlt bei Yad Vashem freilich ein Eintrag über den in Ichenhausen begrabenen Toten – obwohl keine Zweifel daran bestehen, dass es sich um die in diesen Gräbern bezeichneten um Opfer des Nazi-Verbrechens handelt, was die Grabinschrift(en), ja nun auch ganz ausdrücklich betonen.  Aber auch dieses Schicksal teilt Istvan dann mit den anderen Entführten in den Ichenhausener Sammelgräbern und zahlreichen anderen Toten auf Friedhöfen in der gesamten Region.