Anyway, I tried the local Craig’s List, but it was pretty sparsely populated, so I googled around for alternatives. I ended up on an ebay site, where I found a nice enough looking bicycle, complete with basket, for 40 Euros. I mustered up my best German and called the phone number listed. Between the two of us we ascertained that the bike hadn’t been sold yet, and that I would come pick it up on Tuesday afternoon. But she sent me an SMS with her address, to make sure I “got” it.
The bicycle is—how shall I put this?—a “classic.” It’s reddish orange, and the front and back lights work, which is good, because the German police will pull you over if you are riding without them. But the basket is smaller than I thought—my bookbag only fits if it is not full, which means I mostly have to carry it on my back = sweaty arrival. And it has no gears…! Sorry, that was a revelation for me, and it turns out that having gears or not matters, because I live on the right bank of the Elbe, which is elevated. The reason my neighborhood used to be the most expensive in Europe is because of the stunning views and cool breezes way up above the stinking city = hills.
Nevertheless, one Sunday afternoon, when I should have been washing laundry or cleaning my room, I decided to take a bike ride instead. The sun was shining on a beautiful autumn day, and it seemed like all of Dresden was out for a stroll, or a ride, or to fly a kite. I had noticed a Schloss (castle or palace) a little ways up the river from me, so I checked the distance—something over 4 miles—and set off with some snacks, a book, and my camera.
Here’s where not having gears turned what might have been a joy ride into something of a workout as I pedaled through Loschwitz, Wachwitz, and Hosterwitz with their Biergartens and B&Bs. (The place is probably a tourist trap during the summer.) Thankfully the last bit was pretty flat as I rode past a pick-your-own farm and onto the grounds of Schloss Pillnitz. I parked my bike and walked around for half an hour, enjoying the Elbe. Then I sat and snacked and read a little. Finally, I hopped on my bike for the half-hour ride home again.
Schloss Pillnitz is a popular site for walks and family outings; nearby is a steamboat stop; and it has a museum dedicated to Augustus the Strong (Protestant Elector of Saxony, and then Catholic King of Poland). Augustus II got the estate after the death of his brother in 1694, and in 1706 he gifted it to his mistress, the famed beauty Anna Constantia von Brockdorff and Countess of Cosel. The castle's official website doesn't give near as many juicy details as Wikipedia does: Anna Constantia had to wait a year for Augustus's previous mistress to be banished before she could take her place as the official royal concubine (hey, even kings must have standards: one wife tucked away in a castle somewhere* and one mistress at court at one time!). They had two daughters and a son together. But apparently Anna Constantia interfered too much in Polish politics, and after Augustus took up with an appropriately Polish-Catholic mistress, she was confined to Schloss Pillnitz in 1713. In 1715, she escaped to Berlin in an attempt to retrieve a secret document in which Augustus promised to marry her. Unfortunately, she was captured and subsequently imprisoned at Burg Stolpen until her death in 1765.
I suppose in part to erase the memories of his erstwhile favorite concubine, August had Schloss Pillnitz made into an Asian-themed getaway in the 1720s. There is a Water Palace on the river, a Mountain Palace across the garden-courtyard, and a New Palace between them, reconstructed after the original burned in 1818. I didn't go in any of the buildings, but the grounds were beautiful and at that time still quite green.
*--Christiane Eberdine von Brandenburg-Bayreuth lived in self-imposed exile from Augustus's court. The marriage was for political reasons to begin with, and then she was really huffy over Augustus II's (husband) and III's (son) conversions to Catholicism for the sake of the Polish crown. Remember that after the Thirty Years War, the residents of a state were to be the religion of their lord; so August the Strong did two things: he built a Catholic cathedral in Dresden, a stone's throw from the enormous and beautiful (and Protestant) Frauen Kirche; and he issued an edict that Saxons could remain Protestant. Christiane was never crowned Queen of Poland and was respected for her faith as "Saxony's Pillar of Prayer". She also fretted over her son's eternal soul after his conversion, as I learned at the exhibit on religion at the Hygiene-Museum (but that's a post for another day).
Nifty!!! Wish I were there with you! It looks just gorgeous where you are. Hey is this the area where Viktor Klemperer lived too?
ReplyDeleteWish you were here, too, as it is in fact quite beautiful. What adventures we would have together--and the tea! I've discovered Bratapfel, which is pure enjoyment in a mug.
ReplyDeleteDölzschen is actually across town from us. We're on the other side of the river, while Klemperer lived on the far side of the Uni from us.