I Give Greetings to Braunschweig from Bath.

The bombing of Braunschweig.



Domplatz.



After a good walk yesterday morning  to Weststadt and back  for essential food  shopping, mackerel fillets in curry sauce x 2 and four nutty, seedy rolls,  I took the S-Bahn into BS in the afternoon for a bit more shopping and for the 17.00 daily Music and "Andacht" (Devotion) talk in the Dom.  The Domprediger is Dr  Joachim Hempel who is a friend  of  the Bath/Braunschweig Twinning Association and with the Bishop of Bath Abbey.  After the short Devotion, I gave Dr Hempel "Goodwill Wishes" from the Bath Group, of which I am a member. 

The plaque above gives details of the bombing of Braunschweig on the nights of  October 14th/15th 1944.  Most of the city was destroyed and 3000 inhabitants were killed including foreign workers and prisoners of war.  Some historic areas have been rebuilt as "Traditional Islands" little groups of historic buildings that give a feel for how the town must have looked, and are now amid an outcrop of modern constructions.  I like the city, although very modern it is possible to escape into the quiet, half timbered areas and church cloisters and squares.    www.braunschweig.de/english/   Click on the address for information about the city.

There is much music to be heard in these huge churches with their great sloping roofs. I have the programmes for the coming season, so I am in my element.  Haydn's Creation will be performed in the Dom on May 29th and on May 8th is a concert of Organ music by Bach, Reger and Cesar Franck in St Aegidien, a short walk from the Dom.  Wunderschoen!