Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1955-05-17
= OUR
@fK6GWN


Swiss and German customs at
the border without a hitch and
on to shell-and-bomb torn
Freiburg where we stop over
night to have q look-see. Frei-
burg is a rail center and, con-
sequently, has new railroad
station and yards. War does
one good thing at least. 1t does
away with old railroad sta
tions. However, this is about
the only thing we can say in
favor of war.
From any point of view the
Germans take the occupation
without raising an eyebrow.
The reconstruction here is SIM
ply amazing with literally
hundreds of new buildings 60
ing up all over the place. Our
hotel is intact although the ad-
joining buildings are pile of
rubble. 1t is odd how old lady
luck plays favorites when
bombs fall. The German evil
IDENTIFY isn't bothered much by
all this as he still maintains a
certain arrogance toward visi-
tors-American visitors espec-
tally. None the less, the res
taurants and hotels give out
with the finest in food, service
and beer. Real table grade.
Leaving Freiburg we view
the German countryside which
is a picture of greatest activity
during the Spring. Women
work side by side with the
men here and the neatness of
the fields and vineyards is a
beautiful sight.
Bye-m-bye we arrive at
Heidelberg. Heidelberg, along
with Rome and Paris, was an
open city during the war and
was not bombed. 1t is a beau
tiful spot and a must" on any
tour. The old University Is
quite impressive and The Stu
dent Prince" becomes reality
as you stroll through the an
cient campus. Not far away is
the Red OK" a place of high
conviviality where modern day
students of all nations come to
let their hair down and work
up some steam. Pewter-lidded
stems are the order of the
evening here and it is much
fun to join in. Pretty girls and
home-sick G. is on leave from
Mannheim really live it up at
the Red Ok. We "chanced" in
to a place a little later on
which provided more of the
really local color in that the
beer came in anything from a
stein to boot and the German
band played a sudsy Strauss.
Much fun and about so Deut-
schemarks later, we hit the
hay and dreamed of seas OF
foam.
Ones first impressions are
not always infallible but our
own ideas are somewhat like
this-West Germany is gay,
arrogant, pauper proud and
definitely on the move. The
walters hate your CUTS while
making a shallow pretense at
friendship" The philosophy
of the German is the same as
it has ever been he wants
everything both ways. That is,
he is able to rationalize every
thing to the point that what
ever he does is permissible but
If you do the same to him he
calls it dirty pool. And so
nuch for our own impressions
of "der Deutsches" of thus far.
Leaving we'll enough alone,
let's take look at this much
of the country as we see 1T
right now -. it is fair to say
that it is literally and figura-
lively blown to smithereens
and, 10 years after the war,
is only about IS per cent re-
stored. But the effort at res
toration is stupendous. The
German must be admired for
his great mdustriousness and
his high-standard application
of the Marshall Plan to his
needs and aims.
From Heidelberg we pro-
ceed to Wiesbaden via Mann
helm, Darmstadt and Frank
furt. Mannheim is full of
Army and Air Force people
who even have their own
highway patrol along the
"autobahns" or super high
ways. 1t makes you feel good
to see the Americans every
where and, needless to say,
Old Glory looks good any
where.
Wiesbaden, like all other
German towns except Heidel-
berg. at first depresses one a
great deal but the thought
persists that this bombing was
in retaliation for what the Ger.
mans had initiated = mass
bombing of cities.
Wiesbaden looks pretty gooo
and our small hotel has the
biggest, deepest, most beauti,
full bathtubs in Europe ano
with water hot enough to boi
80. ann snnn CQa