Tonight was a house concert in a garden. A magical atmosphere with candles, a small PA, music and an appreciative audience.
Wangelnstedt is a small rural farming village in a broad river valley with a population of around 200 people and more cows in the area than people.
Karsten, our host, held a concert for Ray last year in the local Hofcafe but a kitchen fire has put the cafe temporarily out of action. Undeterred, Karsten and his wife spent the last three weeks gradually building a covered stage and a sheltered seating area in their garden with a bar and grill next to their house. They invited their friends and neighbours to enjoy an evening of music, food and beer.
This is a magical area of fables. Baron Von Münchhausen lived in nearby Bodenwerder. Born in 1720 into a Nobel family, his real name was Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Von Münchhausen. He was a great story-teller who did not let the truth get in the way of a good story. Perhaps his most well known tale is of being fired from a cannon while sitting on a cannonball.
Rudolf Raspe, a German writer, heard the stories and exaggerated them even further before writing about them in a 49-page book published anonymously in Oxford in 1785. Raspe did not want to be known as the author due to fear of being sued by the real Baron Von Münchhausen. The stories circulated widely and became popular. They are still well known in continental Europe. Terry Gilliam made a film about the stories in 1988. In Germany, a two-part TV film shown in 2012 shows the stories remain popular.
Just to the north of Wangelnstedt and Bodenwerder is Hameln, famous of the story of the Pied Piper.
Wangelnstedt and Bodenwerder are in Lower Saxony while the district of Hesse is just to the south.
To increase the magic of this area, Sababurg Castle is in Hesse, which is the castle traditionally linked to Sleeping Beauty. It’s often nicknamed “Dornröschenschloss” (Sleeping Beauty Castle), and local legend claims it inspired the Brothers Grimm’s “Little Briar Rose.” The castle, surrounded by an old oak forest, fits the “briar rose” imagery of a castle enveloped by thorns.
Then the character of Cinderella is associated with Spangenberg Castle, also in Hesse. Local legend holds that this town inspired the Brothers Grimm’s “Aschenputtel,” partly due to a nearby “Aschenputtel’s Path” and regional folklore tying the tale to the area.
Travelogue
On Sunday we drove east across Lower Saxony from the flat lands close to the Dutch border and up into low lying hills and broad valleys. Trucks are not allowed on the roads in Germany on a Sunday which makes driving a little easier and quicker.
We stopped for lunch at an Autohof. This is a rest area just off the autobahn and built primarily for long-distance lorry drivers with showers, restaurant, a shop and even an electronic games building. The food is especially good there.
A Visitor On Europe’s Roads 
Leave a comment