Read in 2025 - 15: Das grüne Reich

Das grüne Reich

Michael Waldegg

My sister and I were fortunate, growing up surrounded by loving parents, grandparents and rows and rows of shelves filled with books. Reading was always important, and as soon as we learned how to read (I learned it from my sister, who is a year older than me and therefore started school ahead of me), we practically devoured books. There wasn't a birthday or Christmas without books as gifts.

With some of them, I am not sure how we ended up having them. Certainly we did get discarded library books every now and then, as my Mum worked at our school's library from when I was 9 years old. This one could have been one of them.

"Das grüne Reich" literally means "The green realm", referring to the forest or woodland - not a particular one, but all forests/woods on this planet. The subtitle says "Ein Jugendbuch vom Wald und seinem Leben" - a book for young people about the forest and its life.

Printed in 1952, some expressions and the illustrations are a little outdated, but the message is perfectly up to date: Our forests are important, precious and need protecting! Where they are harvested for wood, it must be done carefully and with replanting of new trees. Where they are cut down to make room for fields, pastures, roads, houses and factories, that has to be done in a carefully measured way, with reforestation measures in place elsewhere.

Sounds familiar? Yes... and although people have known this for a long time, deforestation is going on and on and on, contributing significantly to climate change and the dangerous effects of extreme weather.

Back to the book:

It is neatly divided in chapters explaining about the trees and other plants that make up a forest, but also the animals - big, small and VERY small - that live there. An entire chapter is dedicated to fungi, this strange species that is neither "true" plant nor "proper" animal.

The book is generously illustrated, and there is even a fold-out in full colour showing typical middle-European woodland plants and animals.

I don't know whether this was a school book in the 1950s and 60s; it certainly would have made for good, well structured lessons. But it is equally good to just read it at home. For me, it was a nostalgic reminder of the things my Dad taught me about the woods - his favourite kind of place, where he felt very much at home.

During my childhood, I have read it several times, but at some stage it got lost or was given away or sold, probably in connection with moving house. Recently, I found myself thinking of it, and re-acquired it through an internet platform for used books.

There was precious little I could find out about the author apart from that he was Austrian and wrote several more books, not all of them aimed at children.

Busy Week

Last week, I was on trains every day from Monday to Friday. That doesn't sound unusual for many go to work or school using public transport five days a week, but I have been working from home a lot for many years now (long before the pandemic) and treasure those days when I do no depend on any other means of transport but my own two feet. So, what have I been up to?

On Monday (7 July), I took a regional train to Stuttgart first and then a long-distance one to Fulda. I have been there last summer, and it was for the same meeting with other data protection officers. This time, we were at a different hotel and the weather was rather unsettled, but apart from that, it was very similar to last year. The pictures and description from my 2024 visit to this beautiful city are here.

Our group was booked for dinner at the hotel's restaurant. The food was good, but the noise level nearly unbearable. The waiters yelled across the full length of our table to find out who had ordered this or that drink or dish, and people at the other tables were talking just as loudly as we had to. I could barely hold a conversation with the person right next to me, and found the meal not at all relaxing. By 9:00 pm, I was back in my HUGE room and enjoyed the peace and quiet - no walk, since it was raining.

Our meeting finished around 3:00 pm on Tuesday (8 July). Afterwards, with two of my colleagues I walked to the train station where we put our luggage in a locker. One of the two ladies has a dog and always brings him with her to our meetings; of course he needed a walk, and since I and the other lady had plenty of time before our train home, we came along.

The industrial heritage of the hotel is obvious in the shape and size of the windows.

An Irish Pub was next door - maybe next year I'll get to visit there :-)

Views from my room early on Tuesday morning

If you zoom in, you may see a ghostly reflection of myself in one of the windows across the street :-)

One of many churches in Fulda

It wasn't quite as beautiful and long a walk as what we'd done last year (same ladies, same dog), but it was still good to stretch our legs after sitting in a meeting most of the day and before sitting on a train for another few hours.

The train was half an hour late, and by the time I reached Stuttgart, the delay had increased to 40 minutes. Not really a problem for me, since there are usually several options for getting from Stuttgart to Ludwigsburg, but of course many other passengers lost a connection that was important for them. Well, that's the German railway for you.

Anyway, I was home just after 8:00 pm, which I consider a very civil time - enough to still have something of an evening and talk to O.K. on the phone before bed.

On Wednesday (9 July) I had my day at the office as usual. It was sunny, windy and comparatively cool; perfect for getting off the train in Kornwestheim on my way home and walking the rest. It was also the birthday of a friend of mine. She lives only a couple of streets away, and so it didn't take long to deliver my card and gift personally. She wasn't celebrating, but we had a chat, in parts joined by her husband and her daughters as well as one of her beautiful Maine Coon cats.

I was back at the office on Thursday (10 July) because the company I work for was holding its annual summer party for the employees. Last year's was fun, this year even more so. It was nice to see most of my female colleagues wearing pretty dresses; for some of them, it's an everyday thing, but many usually turn up in rather casual clothes (if they turn up at all), but it was as if everyone wished to mark the special occasion. 

The party began at 5:00 pm with official welcome speeches by our managers and some other formalities, and the official end was set for 11:00 pm. I left at about 10 to 11, and there was still a big crowd on the dance floor and by the drinks stations - I am pretty sure that most of them didn't leave at 11. I'd had my fill of food, drinks, conversation and dancing, and was tired enough to be looking forward to home.

On Friday (11 July), it was warm but not too hot; working first and doing the weekly cleaning etc. afterwards wasn't a problem (on very hot days, I switch my activities round and clean first, work later).

My usual train connection to Offenburg wasn't working, and it was all a bit chaotic and hectic, but in the end I reached Offenburg with only about a 1/4 of an hour's delay. O.K. and I had not seen each other for the past two weekends, and our customary Friday evening meal of salad, bread, cheese and rosé felt even more like a celebration than usual.

Saturday (12 July) was warmer but not unpleasantly hot, just a beautiful summer's day, sunny and with a bit of a breeze every now and then. It was nice to start the day with coffee on the balcony, and after a few tasks around house and garden we set off for a walk of a little under 11 km, taking in two of the closest villages before reaching O.K.'s village again.

Between Oberschopfheim and Diersburg

This is flax, the plant linen is made of, and linseed oil from the seeds.

Looking towards the village of Oberschopfheim

We rested for a bit before it was time to freshen up and dress for a visit to an Italian restaurant in another of the neighbouring villages, upon invitation of O.K.'s sister and her husband. We've been there many times before and know that they make good pizza, which was everybody's choice. Sitting in the shade in the garden behind the building was nice, too. Back home, we sat on O.K.'s Mum's patio for drinks and ice lollies.

Later, O.K. and I did some stargazing on his balcony; it was a clear night and of course the village is darker than the town where I live, meaning one can see a lot more stars than I can at home.

The warmest day of the week was Sunday (13 July). Breakfast was once more on the balcony. Early afternoon, O.K. drove us into town where we left the car in a shady spot and went for a walk, taking in some of the parks as well as a viewing spot (Lindenhöhe) which is rather grown over, limiting the views one is supposed to have from there.

By the old town wall in Offenburg

View from Lindenhöhe

Rose garden, a small public park I have not visited before

We had ice creams in town before driving back to the village.

In the evening, O.K. set up the grill, and we had a BBQ with his Mum, interrupted briefly when it began to rain - we quickly carried the table and chairs into the empty garage, and back into the courtyard again when it stopped.

Having our BBQ interrupted by rain wasn't a problem, and we were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow.

It was a lot more luminous in real life!

This is Charlie, O.K.'s Mum's cat. He found the discarded BBQ trays very interesting, but there wasn't really much for him left.

It rained again later, but by that time we had as good as finished and packed up.

The two of us ended the evening looking at possible hotels for our September holiday without yet making a decision.

Hotter Week

This past week was even hotter than the previous one. Not only did the thermometer rise to about 36C (97F) on the Wednesay (and more in other parts; nearly 40C/104F in Mannheim, which is only a bit over an hour's drive from Ludwigsburg) - unlike the previous week, we had a series of nights that were hardly any cooler than the day had been, making it impossible to get fresh air into the house and difficult to sleep.

There was finally a respite on Friday, and the weekend wasn't quite as hot but still summerly and nice.

I saw my family more than most weeks.

Working from home was interrupted on Monday (30 June) early afternoon for my regular eye examination. All is as good as can be expected, I am glad to report. It was hot at 33C/91F, but not humid. I wanted to walk, and walk I did, all the way from the surgery to Nordbahnhof, through the long green stretch of parks in the middle of Stuttgart. I have shown you this particular walk before, including a map; click here for that post.

It may sound mad to do this on a day as hot as that, but the parks are full of big old trees, and 95 % of the time I was walking (slowly) in their shade. Of course it was still hot, but not unbearably so.

On Tuesday (1st of July) I was again working from home. At 34C/93F, even my north-facing Third Room / study warmed up quite a lot during the afternoon. 

Part of my desk where I sit when working from home. The screensaver photo was randomly offered by my operating system that morning.

After having watched the main news on TV, I set off for a walk on the fields at 8:30 pm; at 28/29C (82/84F) it was still warm but with the sun setting at 9:30, it was a beautiful walk and did me good after having spent the entire day in darkened rooms and looking at screens.

Afterwards, I watched a good documentary about "Madness" (the band, not the state of mind).

Wednesday (2 July) was the hottest day of the week, and I made sure to travel to the office early in order to avoid the worst of the heat. My office was warm but not too hot. 

Before I leave, I always check the internet for what's going on with public transport; this time, I found out that I was probably going to get stuck in Zuffenhausen. Normally, that would not have been a problem; I simply would have walked home from there, like I often do. But not today at 36C/97F and wearing sandals which are good for the office but not so much for a 2 hour walk.

My sister kindly offered to pick me up (she's the only one in the family who can drive and has a car), and reluctantly, I accepted. She put the A/C on in her car, and we were listening to 1980s music - a very pleasant way to get home!

It was VERY windy/stormy during the night, and I checked several times around my flat that everything was still where it should be - I really didn't want to shut the wide open windows.

Much cooler temperatures on Thursday (3 July) at a max of 26C/79F and a windy mix of sun and clouds made for a very pleasant walk to Benningen after work.

I had to remind myself that this is only the beginning of July - it looked and felt like a month later, and I almost expected to spot the first rosehips on the hedges.

On Friday (4 July) morning, it was very nice to have fresh air fill the flat - the temperature had gone down to 16C/61F over night. Like I have done now for several weeks this summer, once again I made sure to finish my cleaning etc. before the day gets too warm, and sit down to work afterwards.

In the afternoon, my sister and I met up with a mutual friend; she used to be part of our volunteer group, lives in my neighbourhood and we regularly swap books. Meeting at an ice cream parlour where we had a table in the shade of large old horse chestnut trees was very pleasant. We had our piles of books on the table, much to the delight of the young waitress, who said how much she liked that we were doing this.

I spent part of the evening at my Mum's, enjoying a sundowner on her balcony and watching the sun set. 

Saturday (5 July) was an important day for us as a family. You may (or may not) remember that my Uncle Rainer, Mum's brother, died in January. I wrote a bit about what he meant to me in this post, and you can see a picture of him at six years old here. For various reasons, the funeral was now, half a year later, and so it was that just after 8:00 on that morning, my sister drove us to the "Resting Bosk" near Ellwangen, about 100 km from where we live.

Neither of us knew quite what to expect, but it turned out a beautiful day. There were neither a priest nor a professional speaker, but my eldest cousin and a close family friend spoke touchingly and very personally by the site where the urn was lowered into the ground. My Uncle's favourite piece by Pink Floyd was played, and then everyone filed to throw a handful of rose petals after the urn and say a few words of good-bye, if so inclined. 

In attendance were the immediate family, several close friends and neighbours from the village; not too many to make it overwhelming, not so few as to make it sadder than it already was.

We spent an hour or so at the house in the village where my aunt still lives; but she's physically not well, and there isn't even a shop in the village. She needs others to drive her to places, do her shopping and so on. Her children live in Paris and in the US, so she has been depending on friends and neighbours. In a month or so, she'll move to a small, comfortable flat in the middle of the town of Ellwangen, where she can get to shops, doctors and so on. We wish her all the best and hope that she'll have some good years left, as good as possible under the circumstances.

Early afternoon, we drove into Ellwangen, where friends who run a music shop and café had prepared a long table outside underneath large umbrellas. Coffee or cold drinks as well as typical Swabian food for such occasions were very welcome now, and it was good to catch up with those family members I had not seen in years, as well as getting to know some of my Uncle's closest friends a little.

Ellwangen is a beautiful city with a historic old town.

Some time around 2:30 pm, my Mum, my sister and I said our good-byes and drove back to Ludwigsburg; I was home a little after 4:00 pm and went to lay down for a bit. In the evening, my sister suggested a walk, which was a good idea not only for stretching our legs but also reviewing the day's events and conversations.

Just as I was ready to turn the light off that night, I heard a loud BANG outside - the fireworks were about to start! I rushed to my kitchen window and watched it from there. It was beautiful; a once-a-year thing done by professionals in the palace grounds, accompanied by music (which I couldn't hear).

This is how I saw it from my kitchen...

...and how my sister saw it from her balcony.

Sunday (6 July) was a slow-paced day, just what I needed. The night had been cool again, making for fresh air in the flat. O.K. and I spoke on the phone twice.

 Early afternoon, my Mum and I went to the Torhaus (see here for more about that special venue), which is open as a museum every 1st Sunday of the month. We had home-made cake (delicious!) and coffee there, and enjoyed chatting to other visitors as well as the artist who was present and whose pictures are currently on show there.

Back home, I found it was VERY noisy around the house - it was the 3rd birthday of the little girl living on the same level as I in the adjacent semi. There were children, but as is often the case with that family, the adults were much louder than the little ones; especially the little girl's mother has a penetrating voice and is seemingly unable to talk at a regular level - she shouts, no matter whether she's just having a conversation or wants to get a point across to her daughter.

Anyway, it didn't make for a restful afternoon, and I really did not want to close my windows. Instead, I decided to go for a walk... but about 20 minutes into the walk, it began to rain, and so I cut it short and was back home after less than an hour. Never mind! By then the birthday party next door was winding down, and I had a quiet evening watching TV and reading before it was time to sleep.

It was wonderful to hear the rain - so necessary and very welcome!

Read in 2025 - 13, 14

Long ago, when I was working at Ludwigsburg's central library, I discovered Martha Grimes' novels. During the late 1980s and early 90s, I read any I could get hold of; they were the German editions, but I enjoyed them immensely and almost felt as if I knew Richard Jury, Melrose Plant and the rest of the cast of the "Jury" novels.

At the beginning of March last year, my sister and I visited the secondhand book sale held once a month by the church in our town centre. I posted about this event here, and if you scroll down to the Saturday of that week's report, you can see a picture of my spoils, including the two I am reviewing now.

Incredibly, the last time before now that I read a Martha Grimes novel was in 2011 - way too long! These two books (and I have three more on my TBR pile) reminded me of how much I like her writing, not just her style and the way she constructs a plot, but also how she describes characters and places, their conversations and their thoughts. 

More often than not, a child plays a crucial role in the story, and these two were no exception. As far as I remember, in most books there is a connection between a "cold case", sometimes decades in the past, and a current one. Also, there is often a dog or cat featuring as a character very much in its own right, last but not least Cyril, the black cat who has made his home at the police station where Jury has his office.

The order in which one reads the "Jury" novels can be relevant, but when someone (like me) has read them all in the past and is now re-reading them (and in a different language from the first time), it doesn't take away the pleasure if you skip a few in between.

All "Jury" novels have the real name of a pub as their title, by the way.

Martha Grimes is 94 now. You can learn about her and her books on wikipedia as well as her own website.

Help the Poor Struggler (No. 6 in the series)

The Lamorna Wink (No. 16 in the series)

As usual, Inspector Richard Jury is faced with puzzling mysteries, quirky characters and more or less unusual settings. 

In "The Lamorna Wink", he actually appears only rather late in the book; instead, his friend Melrose Plant takes centre stage. 

I enjoyed both books very much, and reading about the familiar cast of Jury's and Plant's friends, neighbours, colleagues and family members was a bit like running into old acquaintances.

Although this post goes under the label "book and film reviews", I have not said much about the two books, but more about Martha Grimes' books in general, and her Jury novels in particular. 

It won't make a difference to you either way - if you have read any of them, you will want to read these two as well, and if you haven't, you might as well start with No. 1, "The Man With a Load of Mischief".

Hot Week

The last full week of June was hot throughout with a little rain only once. Highs ranged from about 28 to 33 C (82-91F), but it cooled off nicely during the nights and was therefore very bearable, also because it was quite windy most of the time. Our meteorologists keep saying that on average, it is usually this warm in our parts only four weeks later, in late July and not in June.

On Monday (23 June) I worked from home as usual and took a beautiful evening walk to Benningen, wisely having sprayed myself liberally with mozzie repellant before setting off.

Path between fields leading to Benningen

The sky as seen from my Third Room / Study that evening, a few minutes before sunset around 9:30 pm

Twice this past week I worked at the office; first on Tuesday (24 June) and again on Wednesday (25 June), which is my regular day there anyway. While on the Tuesday I enjoyed walking home from Zuffenhausen, I went home directly on Wednesday and was therefore ready to go out when my sister spontaneously suggested we have ice creams in town, which was very nice.

Someone recently asked in a comment to one of my posts what I mean when I say that I have been "walking across the fields". Of course I do not literally walk ON the fields - that wouldn't be a good idea, the soil being carefully prepared for produce by the farmers, and not a very walkable surface anyway. But there are many lanes and paths criss-crossing between the fields where wheat, barley, rye, corn, field mangel, potatoes and many oder crops are growing, and it is of course on those lanes and paths I walk. To illustrate, I have added two photos from Tuesday here:

Typical unpaved path between fields, created by and for farmers; rarely used by cyclists but popular with joggers, dog walkers and horse riders, and last but not least, me :-)

Typical lane across the fields, meant to accomodate cars and farming vehicles; very popular with cyclists and nearly everybody else, but with me mostly after it's been raining and the dirt paths are muddy. 

It rained a little at about 4:00 in the morning on Thursday (26 June), which was certainly welcome in terms of water but meant for very steamy air that felt even warmer than it actually was. 

In the evening, I attended a meeting of my local civic society; it was warm in the building, but I put my fan to good use.

Friday (27 June) was rather pleasant and not too hot. I left the house early and travelled to Weilimdorf for the third time that week, but not to the office. Instead, I was there for a meeting with my fellow Data Protection Officers from the Stuttgart area. All went well with my and the others' presentations, and we had some interesting discussions. For lunch, we were even able to sit outsite in the shade. 

Once again, I walked home from Zuffenhausen, slightly varying my route across the fields from the one I had taken on Tuesday.

I didn't feel up to much on Saturday (28 June), but made sure to do my weekly cleaning as early as I could. By 8:00 am I finished and spent the rest of the day doing exactly nothing, resting, reading and playing when I felt like it.

My sister suggested a walk early evening; it was still hot but the sun was of course much lower and there was a slight breeze, which made it pleasant enough.

O.K. went for a sunset walk that same evening, only later. We facetimed for a while and he sent me these pictures of the sky almost an hour after sunset:

On Sunday (29 June), O.K. and the village band were booked for a fête at a village not far away from them, but my Mum, my sister and I had tickets for a concert that evening - the reason why the two of us spent the weekend separately.

I certainly didn't envy the musicians having to perform on what was a very hot day! I spent it mainly in my darkened living room and bedroom, after having done the ironing as soon as I was up and while it was still feasible to have the windows open, and I showered and got dressed for the concert only in the evening, just in time for when I was to leave the house.

The concert was the good-bye concert of a man who has been active in my hometown's music scene for nearly 60 years. Prof. Siegfried Bauer has founded several orchestras and worked as their conductor, on top of his work as a music teacher to many students.

One of them, Peter Schulmeister, is now Associate Concert Master at London's Covent Garden's Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. When he was 13 years old, he immigrated with his family from Siberia to Ludwigsburg, and studied violin with Prof. Bauer. You can read about him here.

Prof. Bauer was born the same year as my Mum (1944) and has been living and working in Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart since the 1960s. He was highly influential in shaping the town's musical landscape; to him, music has always been vital in getting people together, in working for peace. With one of his orchestras, he has been performing around 50 concerts, not just in Germany but also in England, Sweden, on the Krim and in Israel. 

He was also the initiator and conductor of the "Sing Along" concert my Mum and I so love to attend before Christmas.

Now, at nearly 81, he conducted his orchestra for the last time. It must have been a very emotional evening for him and his musicians - it certainly was for the audience! Peter Schulmeister was the soloist at the violin.

Among the audience were the Prime Minister of Baden-Wuerttemberg and his wife as well as Ludwigsburg's mayor and some other local politicians. The church was packed and tickets (all proceeds going to a charity that Prof. Bauer had chosen) sold out completely - my Mum had gone to buy tickets half an hour after the sale opened and was lucky to get ours!

It was VERY warm in the church, and without my fan (I wasn't alone - many ladies had brought one) I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it as I did.

Standing ovations followed the concert, but it truly was a relief getting out of the church onto the market square where it was still very warm at 9:00 pm but much airier.

My Mum, her friend R (who had been with us all along), my sister and I crossed the square to the corner where "my" Irish pub is and settled at a table on the square, enjoying the sunset, the warmth, the air and the mood - and our drinks, of course. 

Ludwigsburg market square, as seen from my seat outside the Irish pub; the church is where the concert had taken place.

Eventually, we made sure my Mum got on the bus safely, then my sister and I walked home.

To complete a very summerly week, this was a great evening of wonderful music, confirming my belief that humans aren't all bad - we may never stop being horrible to each other and to the other species on this planet, but as long as we are capable of something as beautiful as this, all hope is not lost.