Having the opportunity to spend a week divided between the exchange student families of Pascal Neujean, Regensburg (University School 1984) and Hannes Salomon, Berlin (Chagrin Valley Rotary 2010) resulted in many unforgettable experiences.
Now the proud father of three girls, Pascal and energetic wife Christine reintroduced us to Regensburg where our whole family attended their 1998 wedding. We walked around town, took a boat ride on the Danube, visited a beer producing monastery, had supper in another beer garden, were entertained by a private family dance recital and overall enjoyed family time in their new city home with a two story picture window looking out on the back garden and classic office buildings. Sunday/Monday were spent in Dresden touring the city's remarkable recover from what I remember In 1991 just after the Wall dividing Germany came down. Highlights included: visit to the Green Vault treasure collection now completely recovered after nearly being lost in the 1945 bombing, attending the Dresden Opera In the beautiful rebuilt Opera House - a long evening as opera was in German - and finally taking a walking tour with a guide who had grown up in Dresden and was a teenager in 1991. Her frank comments about life in Dresden from the destruction, through the East Germany Communist led period, Dresden rebuilding etc. reenergized our belief that the future of world peace must be in the hands of people who share values like Rotarians vs. governments who over history resort to solving problems by threatening conflict and starting wars which inevitably result in incredible levels of death and destruction. Dresden Germany is a city from which much can be learned.
Hannes met us at Berlin's new railroad station, took us home and then to a meeting of the Rotary club which sponsored his year in Chagrin Falls. We had a warm welcome, exchanged Rotary flags and listened to a lengthy talk and Q&A about the need for tighter control of hotel rooms, etc. The entire meeting was in German other than the flag interchange and my comments. I thanked them for supporting Hannes and his sister who had come to Olean, NY as a Rotary exchange student two years earlier than Hannes. Their family had also hosted two Rotary exchange students. I noted that we shared a commitment to Rotary's motto of Service above Self resulting in opportunities for clubs like theirs and ours to help in the development of bright students like Hannes through Rotary's student exchange program.
The two following days Hannes and his parents introduced us to Berlin and their friends in very unusual ways including: parking on the very spot where the Berlin Wall once stood, visit to the holocaust memorial, walk under the Brandenburg Gate once part of East Berlin, quick meeting with a member of the German Bundestag who escorted us around the tourist lines and to the start of a walk to the top of the building dome with it's unique view of the government buildings and Berlin's skyline. Wednesday night lwas a barbecue home dinner with family friends including the president of Berlin Free University and several of Hannes' moms traveling buddies. Thursday morning's visit to the lakeside estate where the plans were finalized for eradication of the Jewish race by a Hitler appointed group of 15 left lasting memories on us both. Hannes, the Berlin Water Ski champ in his father's words, then showed us where he skis which is just a few doors away from the historic location where unconstrained despots attempted to change the world through unthinkable acts of terror and death to undeserving German citizens. A boat tour of central Berlin and dinner alone with Emil, Hannes' engaging engineer Dad finished the second day.
Prior to catching the six hour speed train back to Regensburg, we walked to the site of the former Wall less than half mile from Hannes' home. We stopped at a collection of wall remnants on the route Hannes' mom Petra took to get us to the railroad station where just Tuesday we both got our introduction to Berlin. In short, a wonderful visit with Hannes' family from which we learned a great deal about history, today's European Union challenges - subject of Hannes' final oral exam - and the importance of world 's people improving their ability to collaborate in problem solving.
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