SATURDAY STORY, OCTOBER 1, 2022, GOTTFRIED THE GREAT
On Saturday I write fiction. Two weeks ago I started on Gottfried Quaas of Thuringia - locally known as Gottfried the Great.
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To Date: (the dates are my publishing dates)
On September 17 Gottfried joined the Thuringia Army (who marched to Heckendorf seeking to draft men into the Army.)
On September 24 Gottfried settles into the Army in Gera, Thuringia Providence, Germany
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All during October, Bruno Schneider and Karl Keinung harassed Gottfried. It was kind of a tradition for the longer enlisted men to haze the new men in the unit. It would be little things - like hiding his shaving kit, short sheeting his bed, putting mud on his boots after he polished them to a spit shine. Gottfried had been told to expect this by Dietrich Schroeder, and Hans Krause. Captain Oster turned his head as long as it wasn’t too out of line.
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During the last week of October, a bridge over the Muhlgraben River collapsed and the army barracks at Gera were to help rebuild it.
The water was cold and fast. The Muhlgraben River at this point wasn’t very large, but the bridge was for the Erfurtstrasse, a major road in Gera. Gottfried and Bruno Schneider were in the water in waders working on getting the foundation solid for a new bridge.
But, Bruno lost his footing and splashed into the cold water. Immediately Gottfried put down the boulder he was setting in place and reached out for Bruno. But, Bruno was already out of reach. Gottfried yelled to the others on the crew - “Throw me a rope”. Immediately Dietrich Schroeder threw a rope at Gottfried.
Making a lasso, Gottfried threw it expertly to Bruno - yelling “Catch the Rope, Bruno”. But Bruno didn’t hear Gottfried. He had grabbed a log floating in the stream and was struggling to hold on to it.
Gottfried taking small, but safe and secure steps moved towards Bruno. As he walked he coiled up the rope again. Now, about 10 feet away, he tossed the lasso and just like roping a steer back on the farm, got the big man. He held the rope taut as he slowly walked toward Bruno. As Gottfried got next to Bruno, he lifted him up. They could stand at the bottom of the stream. Gottfried had Bruno climb onto his back and slowly worked his way to the nearest bank and put Bruno on the grass.
Bruno was soaked and cold but was safe. The rest of the crew ran up to pick up Bruno and wrapped him in some burlap sacks they had been using to lower rocks and boulders. Dietrich brought a horse and Dietrich and Gottfried put Bruno on the horse and Dietrick led the horseback to the barracks where others stripped him of his cold, wet clothes and put him by the fire to warm up.
Gottfried was hailed as a hero, but he wasn’t done yet and went back to the bridge building and they lowered about 30 boulders into the stream to make for a pillar to anchor the new bridge.
When the crew went back to the barracks, Bruno, now warm and cozy, hugged Gottfried and shouted, “Thank you my friend”, and then whispered to Gottfried - “You saved my life, and I’m sorry I’ve harassed you. I won’t do it again”.
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For the Christmas holidays, the troops were dismissed to go home to their families. There were three men who didn’t have families to go home to, and they stayed in Gera.
Gottfried headed back to Heckendorf. He had written a letter almost every week since he left home in October, and the family was ready for his furlough, and he was too.
He rode his horse back to town, arriving on Wednesday, December 20th. He stayed until Friday, December 29th. But, on December 20th, a watch was placed along the road from Gera. Jakob Hoffman’s farm was the first place Gottfried passed coming to Heckendorf. As soon as Jakob saw Gottfried on the snowy road, he fired a rifle shot. That would be heard around the town and on the Quaas farm.
The Quaas farm looked kind of quiet as Gottfried rode up to the barn to put Donner in the barn. Donner seemed to remember his stall and headed there. His youngest brother, Gottlieb was there, seemingly not expecting Gottfried, and gave his brother a big hug!!
“We didn’t expect you until later in the week” Gottlieb lied. “I think Mom might still have some supper left. I’ll take care of Donner.”
Gottfried turned to the house. Nobody seemed to have noticed a traveler in an Army greatcoat coming into the yard.
But, as Gottfried opened the door, all the family was there to greet him and hug him. His younger sister Sophie was the first, hugged him the hardest, and planted kisses on his cheek.
The whole family was there, as well as most of the neighbors. Gottfried was tired after riding all day, but that fatigue dropped away quickly as his mother, father, siblings, and neighbors surrounded him. Somebody handed him a beer, and he realized he was thirsty. The beer soothed his throat.
It had only been three months since he left Heckendorf - and yet it seemed like it was ten years since he was under this roof.
Peter Schulte and Magdalena Fleur got engaged, Heidi Krause broke her arm, Marian Klug died, Marc Weaver was born, and everybody was three months older.
The food was sumptuous, the mood was jolly, and the night was amazing. By midnight, most of the neighbors had gone home, and even at the Quaas house, some of the younger children had gone to bed, or like little Luke fallen asleep in Oma’s arms.
Christoph Quaas stood up and said, “As the patriarch of this family, we’ve had a fantastic evening welcoming Gottfried home. But, I’m going to bed”.
The remaining family laughed and with some last hugs went off to bed!!!
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The next days flew by. Gottfried helped milk the cows, helped cut and split the wood to keep the house warm during the winter, and even took over the mucking of the stables so Gottlieb could take a break.
On Christmas eve, the family went to Midnight Mass at St. Stephen’s church. On Christmas Day, they sang songs and hymns (including Stille Nacht (Silent Night), and O Tannebaum). Gottfried had some toys he had whittled during the evenings at the barracks in Gera. [Author’s note - the giving of gifts was much simpler and based on love, not obligation].
It snowed heavily on the 26th of December, and Gottfried and the boys shoveled, but after the storm, the toboggans came out and the family laughed and went down the hills with their neighbors.
On Saturday, December 30, 1843, Gottfried left his house and family again to go to Gera and the Thuringia Army.
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The army garrison at Gera was called up to Erfurt, Thuringia in January 1844. Erfurt was the capital of Thuringia and the home of King Mallory. Gottfried had heard of King Mallory but didn’t know much about him.
It took the Gera squad two days to get to Erfurt with their horses, wagons, and provisions. January is a cold month in eastern Germany and the men were dressed warmly. The horses missed their warm stalls, and the men missed their warm bunks. Fortunately, there hadn’t been much snow yet as they covered the snowy roads.
In Erfurt, they met up with six other garrisons from around Thuringia. King Mallory wanted to unite his forces and invade Saxony in the spring with the hope of uniting Thuringia and Saxony provinces.
The combined army of Thuringia was about 500 soldiers - not large by most country standards. Many were like Gottfried, farm boys who wouldn’t inherit the family farm as they had elder brothers who would get the farm. They were generally good men. Gottfried was identified as a potential officer and he was separated out with ten others for leadership training. The Commander in Chief was King Mallory, who showed up to inspect the troops on the third day they were all together in Erfurt.
The men stood at attention as the King, and General Lange walked around the troops, noticing men whose uniforms didn’t fit properly, whose boots were not polished to a shine, and who were not fully at attention. Even Gottfried got stiff as the troops stood at attention, barely moving for an hour. One man from Kranichfeld fainted, but the others were not to notice but kept strict discipline. Gottfried felt bad for the man. He thought maybe he was the one that drank too much beer the previous evening.
Gottfried was noticing King Mallory as he walked through the troops. He seems antsy. Was he nervous about invading Saxony?
As King Mallory and Captain Oster passed by Gottfried, the king asked Captain Oster “Who is this man?”
Captain Oster replied “Gottfried Quaas, from Heckendorf, Sire”.
The King continued, “What duties have you assigned him?”
The Captain replied, “He mucks out our stables and takes care of our horses.”
The King thought, and said, “Hmmm, interesting”.
They moved on, Gottfried wondered what the king was thinking and what did the long hmmm mean?
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For the next month, the Gera garrison made Erfurt their home with the rest of the Thuringia army.
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To be continued.
