Post #124 11 March 2017

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our visit to our friends Maria and Wilfried Losem who live in Wittgert (pronounced 'Wichert'), near Bonn, 18 - 21 August 2017.

We met the Losems in Beijing in 1984. Wilfried was in the Economic Section of the German Embassy and I was in the Commercial Section of the Australian Embassy.

Beijing was a relatively small place back then, with a very small foreign community; for example, there was only one International School, the Beijing International School (which our kids attended), with a total enrolment of 100 students. Now there are literally dozens of International Schools in Beijing alone.

In those days it was a matter of "make your own fun", which we did with fellow expats, and in the process made firm friendships.

After German Reunification, Federal Government Ministries gradually transferred from Bonn to Berlin; Wilfried didn't want to move so took the option of early retirement,  They live in the picturesque village of Wittgert, about 45 minutes drive from Bonn.  A lovely big home, with many beautiful Chinese artifacts.  They have a heated swimming pool in the basement.

We visited the Losems in 2005; this was our second visit.  They met us at the train station in Montabaur and showed us around.  We spent a day in the lovely old city of Koblenz (in 1997 it celebrated the 2000th anniversary of its founding), and another day exploring Bonn.

This post has photos of our day in Koblenz; in the evening we drove up the Moselle Valley for dinner.

We visited Koblenz and Der Deutsches Eck (The German Corner) where the Moselle River flows into the  Rhine.  This photo was taken from inside the plinth of the statue of Emperor William (see below). 

A better view of the Deutsches Eck, from the air.

There are many tour boats and making the turn into the Mosel River takes skill.

The huge statue of William 1st (aka William the Great), King of Prussia (1861-1888) and 1st Emperor of the German Empire (1871-1888) to commemorate the unification of German kingdoms by William and his Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck, The statue was erected on the Deutsches Eck in 1897 by the second Emperor, William 2nd (grandson of William 1st). It was destroyed during WW2 and then rebuilt in 1993 after the reunification of East & West Germany.

Wilfried and Maria Losem, and Vera, sitting on the base of the statue of  Emperor William.

The following photos show some of the lovely old architecture in Koblenz - this is the "Elector's Palace" near the bank of the Rhine River.

A fine example of a medieval house.

One of the lovely city squares in Koblenz.

Th mural on the side of this building reads "Pfinsten 860". This city is OLD!

There are Chinese restaurants all over Germany, including this one in Koblenz.

In the evening we drove up the Moselle Valley. Lots of small villages and vineyards on the steep hillsides - very picturesque.  We climbed up to this old castle - wonderful views.

We climbed up to Thuran Castle.

Thuran Castle - could have been straight out of "Game of Thrones" .  It was worth the effort climbing up for the wonderful views of the Moselle Valley. Later we had dinner in an old restaurant by the river.

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We spent one day looking around Koblenz, and then driving up the Moselle Valley.  The following day the Losems took us to Bonn and we spent a few hours exploring that interesting city.

We were fortunate to have good guides to show us around. The beauty of old German cities and the countryside is such a pleasure to see.

Then it was time to say 'farewell' and move on to Karlsruhe - the subject of the next post.

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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

Canberra, Australia

Saturday 11 March 2017