On Sunday, after breakfast Stefan's Dad and I walked into the city to go to Mass, a distance of maybe a mile and a half. On previous visits, I've been able to follow the homily pretty well, but there is a new pastor, and he is a bit more intellectual. The vocabulary was often unfamiliar, and at times when I could catch the words, I couldn't get his point.
Back at the house, we had dinner. The vegetables, potatoes and salad, were home grown. The bouquet I bought from Uli Müller is on the table.
Stefan's dad.
Stefan's mom. A couple of Stefan's dad's paintings can be seen on the wall behind her.
After dinner, we went back into the city for the 2:30 performance of the play, "Der Meistertrunk," which tells the tale of how ex-mayor Nusch saved the city — conquered by imperial field marshal Count Tilly — by drinking 3 1/4 liters of wine non-stop on a challenge from Tilly. On our way there, we visited the Feldschmiede and saw Hannes, who had visited the U.S. a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have any pictures of him, which is surprising. I thought I took some. The play is staged in the Kaisersaal — the Imperial Hall — of City Hall.
The stage in the Kaisersaal.
Stefan's wife, Petra.
Sloggi, as City Herald. He was a Hans Staudt jun. in the Junge Schar during some of my early visits.
By the way, the nicknames that many of the people have — Sloggi, Horaz, Stupfi, Geige, Erni, Texas, Kiefer — are often names that they were given when they joined the Junge Schar. Sometimes they just have a regular nickname, like Manni for Manfred, but frequently it has nothing to do with their real name. For example, Erni got his nickname because they thought he looked like the character Ernie on the children's TV program "Sesame Street."
The Junge Schar are about to take the oath to defend the city. In the green jacket, holding the flag, is Pierre, who was a new member the time I went on stage with them. "In my day" we massed on the right side.
Stefan as Count Tilly, Horaz as his Jesuit chaplain, a member of the city council, possibly Mayor Bezold. The people with large hats are a couple of the member's of Tilly's staff.
Former Mayor Nusch says he'll accept the challenge. The beaker is to his left on the table.
He begins to drink.
After several minutes, he's almost finished — to the astonishment of Tilly and his generals.
The city is saved. In red and white is Mayor Bezold's niece. If I'm not mistaken, Manni is the imperial officer behind the beaker. The standing councillors are Hans Staudt sen. (whose son was killed in the battle) and Mayor Bezold.
Curtain call. The girl with the apron is the cellarer's daughter. She came up with the idea of giving the generals a drink, which mellowed them and led to Tilly's issuing the challenge that Nusch successfully undertook. BTW, this photo shows a mistake that Stefan made. If you enlarge it as much as possible, you can see his wedding ring on his right hand. He forgot to take it off when getting ready for the play, and when he took his gloves off, there it was. But Tilly never married, and was quite ascetic. In fact, he apparently didn't usually drink wine, which is why after having some he mellowed and relented on having the councillors hanged and the city plundered and issued the challenge
After the play Stefan and I went to an area where a group called the Panduren were having their "cast party." A number of them are also former Junge Scharlers, and again it was pleasant to visit with them. After a while the Junge Schar came and joined the party. First they sang a couple of their songs. When they were singing my favorite, "Jenseits des Tales," someone motioned to me to join them, so I got to stand in the front row and sing along. It was definitely one of the high points of the weekend. (BTW, if any of my readers know the song, I should point out that the Junge Schar sing a three stanza version in which it is the damp earth that heals the young king.)
When the party wound down, around 9:00, we went to the tavern Zum Ochsen (the Ox), which is a favorite gathering spot. The place was nearly full when we got there, but Stefan, Petra, a couple of their neighbors, and I got a table. I had an excellent meal of medallions of veal with yellow chanterelle mushrooms. A half dozen or so of the Junge Schar were at sidewalk tables outside.
BTW, as I mentioned both to Stefan and his daughter, Stefan is a real "babe magnet." In his early days in the Junge Schar, he was the favorite photo object for the young girls who'd watch the Schar set up and dismantle their camp. And it seems that there are always women who want to talk to him.
I'll have some general comments on my return to Rothenburg in a subsequent post.
