On Saturday I write fiction (and I’ll keep trying until I get better <grin>).
I’m following “Gottfried the Great” of Saxony Germany as Germany works towards unification. In 1848 Germany was a bunch of little states and cities that were independent - but shared a language and experiences.
Yes, on my mother’s side of history, there is a Gottfried Quaas, but in this version, there is little similarity other than the name.
*****
On Thursday, March 1, 1849, King Francis of Saxony, and King Mallory of Thuringia signed an accord to join the two states into one. Gottfried Quaas and Edward Bauer were the two main proponents of the action - Gottfried from Thuringia and Edward from Saxony.
Some said King Francis and King Mallory were ahead of the unification effort while others said they were only reacting to the growing democracy movement in Europe and out of their minds.
It seemed like all of Europe was demanding freedom from tyranny and for freedom. Considering the United States had set up a democracy in the 1770s, and France in the 1790s, the ideas had been growing for some time. England still had a King, but the monarchy was slowly being replaced by the British Parliament.
Would Germany be like the bloody French Revolution where King Louis XIV had his head slashed off in a guillotine, and the royals from the king downward were displaced (and eventually Napoleon took over)? King Francis and Mallory preferred sharing governance rather than beheading.
*****
King Francis hoped to be a moderate and a moderator in the move to democracy. He installed Gottfried Quaas and Edward Bauer as ambassadors to the other German states and sent the two of them to visit Austria first.
There were options for their trip. Gottfried and Edward could take the train from Dresden to Leipzig, then Leipzig to Cologne, and then Cologne to Munich, and finally Munich to Vienna. The other option was to ride their horses into the Austrian Empire as far as Prague and then take the train to Vienna. The second was more direct and cheaper than taking the train all the way to Vienna.
*****
Gottfried and Edward decided the weather was good, and they would get on the road the next Monday, March 5th. The road was generally good, there were inns along the way. It should take two days to get to Prague and then they could take the train to Vienna, the capital of Austria.
The goal for the first day was to Usti Nad Lebem just over the border from Saxony into the region of Bohemia.
Gottfried and Edward started out of Donner (Gottfried’s horse) and Koenig (Edward’s horse). They would follow the Elbe River valley for most of the first day before cutting south into Bohemia.
The River Road, as it was known, was fairly flat. The Elbe was a slow-flowing river as it flowed northwest towards the North Sea. Most of the river was iced over, but there were some patches of open water.
Some of the early trees had pregnant buds promising to open in the next few weeks. There were even some birds chirping as the men followed the river.
Gottfried and Edward had cold weather gear, just in case, they got caught in a storm. They passed some houses and other travelers and kept going. The road was well traveled and they met some farmers bringing wagon loads of hay, straw, and oats into Dresden.
Gottfried was still a country boy. He was getting used to Dresden, with its churches, architecture, beautiful parks, and activities.
Gottfried and Edward talked as they journeyed. Edward was a Dresden native and knew a lot about the region. An uncle farmed on the east side of the Elbe River near Leuben and Edward had visited him frequently as a child. They talked of farming, of the city, and even of their dating. Edward had a girlfriend and they were getting close to being engaged; Gottfried was shy around women and had little experience with dating.
They stopped at Pirna at an inn on the river for lunch. After lunch, the terrain would turn hilly and the road would leave the Elbe River valley and go south toward Bohemia. The inn had about ten people for lunch, and Edward even knew one of the men who was a cousin to his uncle. The innkeeper asked where Gottfried and Edward were heading and they indicated they were going to Vienna, but would take the train from Prague. The innkeeper said, “Be Careful today, I am predicting snow and wind today.”. Edward laughed, but Gottfried knew that some people just seemed to have a knack for predicting the weather.
But, within an hour after leaving the inn, the weather started to change. Thick, heavy snow came almost horizontally at their backs. The road was covered soon. Gottfried's horse, Donner, was rarely scared of any weather. Gottfried was walking next to Donner, and whispering in Donner’s ear. Edward was starting to lag behind a little. The wind was swirling and snow drifts seemed to appear in a matter of seconds, only to be blown farther away. Gottfried slowed up to walk beside Edward.
Gottfried said, “This won’t last long” - as an encouragement to Edward, but Gottfried had seen blizzards on the farm many times. The road went over some low mountains, and Gottfried who had never been this far from Heckendorf before didn’t know the road and safe places.
Cold, and iced over, they saw a faint wisp of smoke ahead mixed with the heavy snow - a cabin.
Gottfried yelled at Edward in order to be heard over the wind, “Let’s head for that cabin”.
Leading Donner by the reins, Gottfried tried to find a path to the cabin. You couldn’t see much of anything. Edward yelled out “Help”. Gottfried whispered in Donner’s ear, “Stay here” and went back several yards to help Edward. He had tripped over a rock that was hidden by the snow, and fallen into a pond, breaking the ice, and getting soaked. Gottfried pulled the older man out and wrapped his arms around him to guide him, then inched towards the cabin. Edward must have sprained his ankle as he didn’t want to put any weight on his right leg. What seemed like hours but was more like ten minutes, they reached the door and pounded. Another few minutes and finally a sound “Who’s there”.
Gottfried answered “Lost travelers. We need some help”.
The door opened a few inches and an old grizzled man peered out. “What in tarnation are you doing out in this weather?”
Gottfried and the old man helped Edward hop into the cabin, and then Gottfried excused himself and went out into the storm again to get the horses into a stable or corral. Blinded, he stumbled and led the horses into a sheltered building. He cleared the snow from the backs and heads, threw the saddles over the bench, and used the saddle blankets to wrap the horses up. He brought out some oats from the saddle bags and put some feeding bags by their mouths. Grabbing the rest of their bedrolls, he fought his way back into the house. He stumbled on a rock and fell, but landed on a snow-covered bush.
This time, he didn’t knock, but opened the front door, stood on a mat, and shook off his mantle of snow.
The old man was by the fireplace pouring hot water into a mug for Edward. He added some leaves and herbs before giving the drink to Edward. Gottfried could see that Edward was in quite a bit of pain.
Kneeling next to the wooden chair where Edward sat, Gottfried slid Edward's wet boots, socks, and pants off him. Standing next to them, the old man grabbed the items and put them on a clothes tree near the fire to dry out.
The old man stood and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t welcome you properly. I’m Henry Bauer. Welcome to my humble cabin.”
Gottfried introduced himself and Edward. “I’m Gottfried Quaas and this is my friend Edward Bauer. We’re from Dresden and going to Vienna. But it seems like we picked a bad day to start out.” He gave a little laugh with his comment.
Henry replied, “Hmmm, Edward Bauer from Dresden - maybe we’re related. But, the surname Bauer is pretty common in Germany.”
Gottfried nodded. The name Bauer meant “farmer” and was a familiar name.
Gottfried asked, “Where are we?”
Henry answered, “Well you are still barely in what is considered Germany. You’re in Bad Gottleuba. We’re about three miles from the Saxony-Bohemia border and maybe 20 miles from Usti Nad Lebem.
*****
On a typical day, it wasn’t late about mid-afternoon, but on this day, Gottfried felt like it was midnight. The wind was howling. The snow was heavy, Edward was ailing, and they were in a strange cabin someplace in southern Germany (or was it in the Bohemia area?).
Within minutes, Edward fell asleep. Whatever Henry had in the tea that he gave Edward, it had put him to sleep. Henry said, “We’ll let him sleep for a while and then check his leg. Right now, the sleep and warmth of the fire are the best medicines.”
Henry continued, “So what caused two men to travel to Vienna in the midst of winter?”
Gottfried had been anticipating this question. He wasn’t sure whether he should lie or be forthright.
“Well”, started Gottfried tentatively, “I guess we are kind of ambassadors. After last year's uprisings, Edward and I seem to have been picked to help unify Germany. I’m originally from Thuringia.”, Henry nodded, “but have been living in Saxony for a while. King Francis of Saxony has sent us to Vienna to see what the thoughts are in Austria towards a unified Germany.”
Henry nodded again.
Gottfried continued, “We wanted to be on the road and see how Austria is on this issue. It seems like the smaller states like Thuringia and Saxony will be seeing how Prussia and Austria view unification. We speak the same language, have the same culture, and are being bypassed by a unified England, a unified Spain, and a unified France in terms of colonies and power.”
Henry listened intently and then when Gottfried stopped, commented. “Here on the border of Saxony and Bohemia, we’ve been all around over the years. We’ve been independent, but we’ve been part of the Holy Roman Empire - which,” Henry grinned at this, “wasn't holy, wasn’t Roman, and wasn’t much of an Empire.” Austria had joined with Hungary, and other states over the years.”
He paused, “Please stay here until the storm passes. Edward needs some rest and healing. I think he’ll be okay and that his leg is just strained and not broken. Why don’t you take a nap and we’ll wait for the storm to pass.”
Gottfried welcomed the nap. But, instead of sweet dreams, he had a nightmare of snow and wind, and falling off cliffs, but that passed and he slept for a couple of hours.
It was growing dark when Gottfried woke up. He first shook himself awake to get his bearings. He was in a cabin on the road to Prague with his friend Edward and with an old man named Henry Bauer.
Quietly, Gottfried looked over at Edward who seemed to be still asleep. He didn’t see Henry. He stretched and stealthily walked over to look at Edward. But, Edward must have sensed that Gottfried was there and opened his eyes.
Edward asked, “Where am I?”
Gottfried said, “We’re in a cabin on the road to Prague. The nearest village is Bad Gottleuba and we’re about three miles from Bohemia. There’s been a huge snowstorm. You twisted your ankle and the cabin’s owner is Henry Bauer. You twisted your ankle and have been sleeping for a while.”.
Edward said, “Could you help me up?”.
Gottfried grabbed Edwards’s hands and gently pulled him up to a sitting position. He sat this for a couple of minutes while Gottfried looked over Edward’s legs. Kneeling, Gottfried touched Edward’s legs and noted when he flinched and where he said “ouch”.
“It doesn’t seem to be broken, but it will be sore for a while,” Gottfried said. “We’ll take it slowly, but for tonight, we’ll let the storm blow out and stay the night here if Henry will have us.”
*****
The front door flew open and a snowy Henry Bauer came in and shook off the snow. “It is still coming down at the pace of a couple of inches an hour and doesn’t seem to be letting up. You guys will just have to stay here for the night.”
Gottfried laughed. “That sounds like a plan”.
Henry made more herbal tea and Edward was feeling better. Gottfried excused himself to check on the horses again.
Gottfried found that his tracks to and from the barn had been filled in by the snow. It was still hard to see much because of the wind swirling and blowing the snow around. He put some oats in the feed trough, found a shovel, and cleared a path back to the house.
He heard a noise from the barn - a cracking noise - and went to investigate. One of the support poles on the northwest corner was taking a beating by the wind. Gottfried remembered a couple of poles in the northeast corner on the floor, and grabbed one and carried it to the other side to see if it would work. No, just a few inches short. He went back to the stack and found a longer pole.
He fit it into the northwest corner, but he couldn’t wedge it tight enough. Finding a length of rope, he lashed the new pole to the old pole and that seemed to help. Having a barn fall down on the horses and equipment wouldn’t be good.
As the daylight ebbed, and his hands and feet were almost blocks of ice, he shoveled the path to the house again and went in and collapsed. He was thinking that he was becoming soft.
Henry made a cup of herbal tea for Gottfried. Henry and Edward had been talking and figuring out how they might be related. Edward’s leg was less swollen, and his spirits had been raised with the hot tea and the nap.
*****
The wind seemed to subside and the three men buckled down for the night. Henry lit some candles, Gottfried carried in some logs, and with some excellent homemade bier, they relaxed and talked until none of them could stay awake.
*****
In the morning, a brilliant sun came out, which seemed brighter because of the snow. Gottfried picked up the shovel and reopened the path to the barn and shoveled out around the cabin. Edward was hobbling, but better. Henry made them some muesli with clove and nutmeg. The fragrance filled the house. As they were finishing their breakfast, there was a knock on the door. Henry went to see who it was.
Opening the door, a beautiful young lady entered. Henry gave her a hug and introduced his granddaughter to Gottfried and Henry. She lived with her parents about a quarter mile down the road. Gottfried was immediately struck by her beauty, and seemingly she was interested in the blonde farmer’s son from Heckendorf.
Lily grabbed a chair and sat at the table with the three men as they all drank their herbal tea. Henry seemed to be a herbal tea wizard with concoctions of hackberry, slippery elm, parsley leaves, clove and nutmeg, and other things that Gottfried didn’t recognize. This morning it seemed to be a little harsh tasting. Henry indicated that he had used some dandelion leaves, and they were getting old.
*****
There we are - another episode of Gottfried the great. I wonder what is going to happen next!!! Come back next Saturday!!
LOVE WINS!!!
Karen White, October 29, 2022, ©
