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ANTWERP -    WIESBADEN -   HAMBURG - and DANZIG!!!

Our next stop was a reciprocal visit with Ronny and Alice van Waardhuizen. who put up with Betty & Editor for a couple of days. More Danzig material - tons of it! More learning; now we’re really confused. Heinz Pauli drives in from Wiesbaden to see Bud’s Court of Honor pages and Ronny’s covers. Then it’s time to fly low over the Autobahn at top speeds of 120mph. Just in time to drop us at Karl Kneip’s for a pleasant chat about you-know—what and a delicious supper. Karl brought out his stamps, covers and Danzig memorabilia for our pleasure, and we spent a most enjoyable evening with Hilde. In the photo below, Karl is checking his sheets against a new study that we presented, which was made from Bud’s full sheets of Nos. 181—188. The stein helped to smooth any language difficulties encountered. Then a trip with Heinz to the Rhein, its castles and its Apfelkuchen mit Schiag. It doesn’t get any better than this. Time for supper, so it’s over to Heinz and Ottie’s for another free meal. That’s Heinz on the left of the photo, with the Ed. and Ronny looking on. Next day, run to the Haupt Bahnhof for the trip to Hamburg. Hard to believe, but the (Gasp!) German train was almost an hour late. It was worth the wait, however, since the route followed the West side of the Rhein, and then thru the Ruhr to Hamburg. Called Edward Krause (a newly-made friend from Danzig who wrote for the first time only a month before). A chance to see more covers, documents and to discuss the supplementation of our Danzig knowledge.

That’s Eddie in the lower—right photo, before he had to return to his office and Frau Urse took us home for (you guessed it) a meal. Then it’s off to the airport to meet Polish Airlines and the final destination. Fortunately, the Orbis Hevelius Hotel has a fine overlook of the Old City, and seeing Marienkirche against the moonlit sky is reaLly a thrilling sight. St. Katherine’s is just to the right, St. John’s to the left, beyond the old Polish post office of 1939 fame, and the mill stream is at the edge of the hotel lot. We were up before dawn, watching the Prussian blue clouds roll out of the west, waiting for that moment when the
sun’s rays break thru and the big sign in the sky shines: “Danzig ist Deutsch!” For the record, this didn’t happen, but the view was not diminished, neon or no neon. Gdansk is a strange enigmatic place - paradise for Danzig lovers, but not the place you would recommend to an outsider for a vacation. We’ll end this initial impression of Gdansk with the story of the Polish eagles on Page 22.

 

Danzig Report Vol. 1 - Nr. 61 - October - November - December - 1988, Page 18.