Pictures above are:
1. City Hall on Market Square
2. View of Lutheran Church from City Hall Tower
3. Mayor Dittrich (centre) with Gerhard and Marita
Our destination today, May 28th, is Vogtland in Saxony - a beautiful part of Germany. Gently rolling hills covered in crops of many colours, with wooded areas and rivers, surround the beautiful towns and villages, with attractive older buildings - some going back centuries.
We left Leipzig and headed south towards Werdau where my Grandmother Hedwig Lina Bauer was born in 1875. She was the oldest sister to Ernst Bauer, grandfather to Gerhard Sarunskis, my second cousin who with his wife, Marita, was hosting our visit. We arrived in Werdau around noon, and after showing Gerhard and Marita some places where our ancestors had lived, we headed for City Hall hoping to make a courtesy call, and to take Grhard & Marita to the rooftop lookout where one can get a great overview of the city. Alas, I had forgotten that City Hall is closed on Wednesday afternoons, so we went to an outdoor cafe to order some local fare for lunch. As we waited, a man walked by and Elfrieda said, "Isn't that the Mayor? We met him last time, didn't we?"
As he had gone inside the restaurant, I went to look, and noticed that he was sitting alone and busily reading so I decided not to disturb him. But as he passed by us outside, he had said 'Hello' so I figured he either had to be a politician, or had actually recognized us from 2006.
Later as he came out and headed towards City Hall, he again passed our table, and this time we said hello, and then asked if he was indeed the mayor. He said yes, and that he remembered us. After chatting a couple of minutes, I decided to practice my chutzpah, and so I told him of our desire to go to the City Hall look-out. He said if you can be at my office in about five minutes, I will be glad to take you there.
We hurried our mealtime, paid our bill and headed for City Hall up the street. We bypassed the front desk and went straight to the second floor and opened the door to his outer office. In no time he came out, and we headed up the tower. He told us that his time as mayor was coming to an end in June, and that over the years he has enjoyed taking school children to the top of the tower. We got the $1000 dollar tour, and he answered many of Gerhard's questions, by giving a lot of interesting history of Werdau. On the way up he had showed us the tower clock mechanism.
We took some pictures, and then headed downstairs where Mayor Volkmar Dittrich wished us a pleasant stay and safe journey through Vogtland.
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