Germany/Ireland — Sept. 04, 2010

It was Stefan's 45th birthday. Coincidentally it was also Horaz's 45th birthday. Horaz was born a few hours before Stefan, and he was going to have a Frühschoppen (literally "morning pint") to which Stefan and I would go. By the time Stefan arrived at his parents' home it was already after noon, so I joked that it would now be a Nachmittagschoppen (afternoon pint), but he said that on one of his recent birthdays (he might have said the 40th) he had a Frühschoppen which began at 10 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. on the next day.

At the Frühschoppen. Jürgen, in the red shirt, is having a morsel of Weißwurst, a veal sausage, with mustard. They told me I was eating it wrong by leaving the skin on, but I like natural sausage casing. Also in the picture, Manni and his wife Elke.

Stupfi, Christine, Geige's wife whose name I didn't get, Geige, and my glass of Weißbier, a slightly sour and cloudy beer made with wheat. It is the regular beer for the summer. The yard in the background made me forget that this spot is inside the city walls until we left and arrived at a familiar location also inside the walls.

Michael, Stefan, and Horaz. Michael is the only one of the guys who was not a member of the Junge Schar. As on the previous evening, people seemed to be happy to see me again, and I was certainly happy to see them.

About 3:00 Stefan and I left to see some of the happenings for the Festival. Unlike the Pentecost Festival in the spring, which is all about the Meistertrunk which saved the city in 1631, the Imperial Free City Days, celebrate centuries of history. There is a new microbrewery, but we didn't need any more beer at that point so we proceeded to the crusader knights' encampment just outside the walls in the area to the left of the Galgentor.

Eventually I was drawn to the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, and very deeply moved by the earnestness with which a knight prayed before battle

 After putting on some of his armor, he returned to pray, this time with another knight on each side.

Then there was a battle, which the Christians lost.

 We went back inside through the Rödertor,

and found the Loser Haufen just inside the Markusbogen (St. Mark's arch), another part of the inner fortifications, like yesterday's Weisser Turm. Texas (in America, we'd probably say "Tex") is on the left, Manni in the dark jacket, and Geige far right.

Stupfi is to the left of Texas. One of their songs was "Es wollt' ein Bauer früh aufsteh'n," which tells what happens when a farmer comes home and discovers the pastor in the bedroom.

We got to the Grüner Markt about 5:00. On Friday it was empty, but now there were tables and umbrellas. We had some supper — meat with sauce, bread, and beer. The Spielmannszug had about half the square roped off, and they played some of their music, before having some supper.

The Junge Schar arrived, with Uwe, made up as the bloodied messenger, in the lead. They set up in front of the food stand, visible in the first two shots, and performed a few of their songs. If you click twice on the second photo, you can read the menu. If you know German and German food, you can understand it.  All prices are in euros.

The Feldschmiede (field smithy) was at the north end of the square, opposite the food stand. The blacksmith in the first picture is the man who made the candle holder that Hannes gave me after his visit. In the center of the second picture, the pointed thing is the item he was working on it the first picture.

The city herald has mustered some musicians to accompany him on his rounds.

The best place for viewing the fireworks on Saturday evening is the Tauber River valley below the city on the southwestern side. But we were a bit lat and Stefan was afraid we could not find a good spot. So instead we went to the Criminal Museum, where he knows the janitor, and were permitted to join about twenty rather distinguished looking people in the garden, which is adjacent to the city walls. There was an opening if the trees which afforded a good view of the fireworks.

In addition to the fireworks, they have flares, which give an impression of the city in flames. Here's a view of the Criminal Museum from the garden.

I was back to Stefan's parents home about 10:30, and had a bit of a snack and some halting conversation with them. And so to bed.