US Army Chapter 6

Hans Sachs (1494-1576) was the most famous of the Meistersingers, a group of master lyricists charged with maintaining the song forms of the Middle Ages in Germany. As such, this art represents something of a continuation of that of the troubadours, although here the themes tend to be moral in nature. Of course, Sachs was later immortalized by Richard Wagner in Die Meistersinger. http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/svs33361.htm

Nuremberg destroyed around the untouched Sachs’ statue.

Prince Rupert of Bavaria Age 90.
Looks like my Grandfather at the same age.


FURTH and NUREMBERG

Chapter 6

Furth was not bombed into oblivion. Only the areas along the railroad tracks were flattened. Most of the old town was intact. I didn’t know what old was until I went to Europe. Furth was built before time started. Some of the housing dated back to 1500. You just can’t beat building with stone so closely stacked that you don’t need mortar. Every stone was placed and trimmed to fit its place. Streets were narrow cobblestone with sidewalks like our curb and gutters. Roofs were tile or slate shingled. Buildings were narrow on the street, three stories tall, and some had shops on the street level.

The markets, butcher shop, shoe repair, and all the other stores were mixed in with housing. No shopping centers in 1500. It was interesting trying to find a shop and not able to read the street signs. Most of my dealing with the German civilians was pleasant and easy. With the Marshall Plan showing results, the economy on a fast rebound, money flowing, and jobs abundant, the Germans were happy to be occupied. Even the black market was working. We provided them with cheap cigarettes, coffee, nylons, and even special orders. I had a coffee ration card and cigarettes were less than a dollar a carton. I paid for my laundry with coffee and cigarettes.

The laundry ladies would stand on the sidewalk under our window just before dinner hour on Mondays to collect our laundry. We would identify our personal laundress and toss out the dirty laundry for her to take home and wash. On Wednesday she would return at the gate to deliver washed and pressed clothing. My personal lady spoke no English, but we understood each other after a while. I gave her a new 220-volt electric iron from the PX for Christmas, and she insisted on doing my laundry for the month as my gift. She liked payment in cigarettes. She sold them for ten times the cash cost of my laundry. She was a widow with kids, like so many women in Germany after the war. We killed a lot of German soldiers from North Africa to Berlin.

I heard all my life how the Germans were such great mechanics, engineers, and craftsmen. That may be true, but I didn’t see any evidence of it while there. No one beats the average American GI. I needed a bolt cut shorter on my issue tripod. I asked our fine projector repairman to take a ¼ inch off the length. He didn’t understand what I was asking. I got MSG Trost to tell him in German. Trost just shook his head in disbelief. They got into a long discussion and finally Trost said that he didn’t know how to cut a bolt. He always used one the proper size. Here was a man gifted in knowledge to fix the mechanical and sound problems of a projector and had never cut a bolt. No one had ever shown him how. Our repairman got out his hacksaw, and Trost explained how to do it. Once done, he left the sharp ragged edge that would wreck havoc on my camera. He never thought to use a file to polish the end of the bolt. I thanked him, went outside and used the concrete sidewalk step to smooth the bolt. I just didn’t want to deal with that German mechanic any longer.

Trost asked me if I had ever taken a clock or radio apart? I said of course I had, and I fixed them too. He said that the German kid had never had a clock or radio to take apart, much less an old car. He said they were overrated as mechanics. That became evident with every car stalled on the curb. Large groups of men would gather around an open hood and look in, shake heads, talk, make suggestions, shake heads, and hands before leaving. No one could fix them.

Nuremberg was a medieval city, and at the same time a new city, and modern in all the new construction. The streetcars were running and transportation by bus was excellent. They had wonderful restaurants and beer gardens throughout town. We always went into Nuremberg Sunday evening for dinner. The Army mess on Sunday night was always cold cuts and cheese. We got rump roast or Wiener schnitzel, or Sauerkraut and Bratwurst, with hot potato salad on the side. Drink it down with Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbrau, Lowenbrau, Paulaner or Spaten beer. The dollar was worth 4.25 Marks, so dinner cost between 2 to 4 dollars including beer.

Nuremberg is listed as the town of children’s toys and gingerbread. It is also the birthplace of painter Albrecht Dürer 1471-1528 and poet and Meistersinger Hans Sachs 1494-1576.
The old town of Nuremberg was mostly intact. The old castle was in ruins but it was that way before the war. There was a effort to rebuild the wall and fort. The housing around the castle were as old as Furth. Nurenberg was leveled along the railroad tracks, but not much damage was done elseware.