SATURDAY STORY - GOTTFRIED - NOVEMBER 12, 2022

 SATURDAY STORY - GOTTFRIED - NOVEMBER 12, 2022 

Catching up.  Gottfried Quaas is from Thuringia Providence in German - before German reunification. Previous chapters talk of his peacemaking.  He and Edward Bauer (from Saxony) are on their way to Vienna.  Let’s see what magic Gottfried the Great can do in Austria!!

*****

Edward Bauer and Gottfried Quaas had stabled their horses (Koenig and Donner) in Prague and had purchased train tickets to the capital of Austria - Vienna.  It was the first-ever train trip for Gottfried.  Edward had taken the train from Dresden to Leipzig (and back) once.  Fortunately, King Francis had given the men a generous travel allowance.  The train was fairly expensive.  

Edward was still hobbling from twisting his ankle on the snow earlier in the week but was getting better.  Edward fell asleep within the first hour on the train.  The trip was predicted to last six hours, but it was to have been two days riding their houses.  

Gottfried tried to nap, but the bouncing of the train and the excitement of the trip kept him awake.  About an hour after Edward fell asleep, the train came to an abrupt stop.  Gottfried looked out the window, but couldn’t tell what was going on. It didn’t seem to be a town or any reason for the train to stop.  It seemed like forever before the conductor came through saying there was a herd of cows on the train tracks.  Gottfried jumped up.  

He said, “I grew up on a farm and I’m pretty good with cows.  Can I help?”

The conductor said, “Well, I suppose you can.  They are just about ready to shoot the animals.”

Gottfried quickly replied, “Don’t do that.  I’ll solve it”.  With that, he was out the side door of the train car.   Jogging to the front of the train, the fireman was loading his rifle to shoot.   

Gottfried yelled, “STOP, DON’T SHOOT”.  He was waving his arms.  The fireman saw him and wondered what was going on.  But, Gottfried ran right past the fireman and onto the track in front of the locomotive.  

Seeing the first cow on the tracks, Gottfried slowed to a walk - he didn’t want to spook the cows.  He kept his arms at his side but moved slowly up to the first cow.  He was known as a “horse whisperer”, but he was good with cows too.  Slowly he talked quietly in the cow's left ear.  The cow raised its head and turned it toward Gottfried.  He nodded slowly to the cow and pointed to his left (the cow's right).  It seemed like the cow understood and slowly moved off the track to the right.  Gottfried moved to the next cow, but that cow was already following the first cow off the track.  A third cow was firmly on the track and Gottfried whispered in its ear and it moved off.  

In a manner of three minutes, all the cows were off the track and moving farther away from the train.  The fireman and engineer were awed by Gottfried.  

The fireman said, “Wow - I’ve never seen anything like that”.

Gottfried smiled and said “God gave me a special talent”, and kept walking back to his car.

Edward was awake when Gottfried got back.  “What happened?”, he asked.  

Gottfried replied, “There were cows on the tracks and they were going to shoot them, but I convinced the cows to move off the track.  So, we’ll be going on soon”. 

And, they were rolling again.

*****

There were short stops on this trip at smaller towns and longer stops. Gottfried and Edward tried to walk on the stops.  Edward’s knee was better and it helped to keep moving.  

Outside the train the scenery was beautiful.  Forests, hills, mountains, and rivers whizzed by.  Gottfried sat by the window fascinated by the ever-changing view. 

The conductor announced stops in both Bohemian and German languages.  It seemed to Gottfried that most of the riders were speaking German.  He had saved some of the lunch that Lily Bauer had made and shared it with Edward.  He smiled when he thought of her.

*****

They met two trains.  Once their train pulled onto a siding to let a northbound train pass, and once a train was on a siding as they went past it.  Gottfried was still amazed at the speed of the train.  What would take days on his horse went by in hours. 

At the stop for Znojmo, Gottfried walked to the locomotive.  The engineer recognized him for helping with the cows and invited Gottfried up to the cab.  He saw the firebox and the tender loaded with wood.  The train also got water at some of the stops that was put into the boiler and with the fire burning under it, converted to steam, and the steam under great pressure generated the power to drive the wheels and to pull the rest of the train.  Gottfried was amazed.

Finally, the train got to Vienna.  Gottfried in less than a year had gone from Heckendorf Thuringia to Gera, to Erfurt, then to Chemnitz Saxony and Dresden, and then had left Germany to Prague and then on to Vienna Austria.  Gottfried thought to himself, ‘I’ve been farther this year than in all my previous life.  The farm boy is growing up.

*****

Vienna was truly amazing.  Gottfried and Edward got off the train at the train station (Bahnhof).  It was a work in progress, but the frescos, columns, and decor made it look like a cathedral to the new technology.  There were many inns near the train station.  Edward, who had been to Vienna once before, suggested a cheaper inn.  

Edward sighed, “Vienna is an expensive city.  If we cut corners on our inn, we will be able to see some of the other sights.”

*****

Gottfried and Edward had packed lightly.  They had four changes of clothes rolled and packed into their bags.  They had left their bedrolls with the horses back in Prague. One of their first activities at the inn was having their laundry done.  They had to be presentable to King Franz Joseph and the leaders of Austria, and dirty clothes would not be impressive.

The men also bathed and shaved.  If you are going to be with royalty, you have to be presentable.

*****

With the weather delay, they had arrived on Friday night, and they would not have the opportunity to visit the palace until Monday.  

The Revolutions of 1848 affected Austria.  Prince Metternich had fled to England, and Young Franz Joseph with the aid of his army had put down the riots but generated ill will.  The unification of Germany was one of the sticking points, democracy, freedom, overthrowing the aristocrats, and economic issues still hung in the air like a never-ending fog.  Would the king even welcome Edward and Gottfried?  

*****

Gottfried and Edward asked the innkeeper about cheap concerts over the weekend.  He suggested checking in at the Musikverein concert hall.  They headed to the Musikverein to check on seats and found there was a concert in 45 minutes, and there were many unsold tickets.  Edward, as a shrewd negotiator, talked the box office into two separate seats for a great price.  They took the seats and one minute before the concert, they noticed a group of four seats together and another group of six seats together, and they slipped into the group of four seats so they could sit together.  The concert was Beethoven’s Eighth Piano Concerto also known as the Sonata Pathétique and Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony also known as the Pastoral symphony..  And, nobody came late to these seats, but a family took the group of six seats.  

Some of the fountains near the palace were working and some were not.  It was above freezing, but if it did freeze it might affect the fountains.  After the concert, Gottfried and Edward wandered around the magnificent city noticing the architecture.  As they wandered around, Gottfried sensed or smelled horses.  Going down a back road, they arrived at a horse training site with beautiful white horses.  Neither one knew of the famed Lipizzaner horses at that time.  Gottfried, being bolder, went to the stable door and introduced himself as a horse expert and got to talk and pet one of the horses.  The horse nuzzled him.  The stable manager asked Gottfried if he wanted a job.  It was very tempting, but he passed on it!!!

*****

On Sunday, the men attended Mass at St. Stephen’s Cathedral.  It was full and Gottfried and Edward gave up their seats to an elderly couple.  The building was ornate and had luxurious painted ceilings.  

On Monday, Gottfried and Edward went to the Austria Palace to see if they could get an audience with King Franz Joseph.  They were told that the King was at his winter palace and wasn’t in.  They did meet with Chancellor Peter Mennon.  

Chancellor Mennon talked about the riots of last summer - the so-called “Revolution of 1848” as he called it.  He said it was a bunch of hooligans destroying property and setting up barricades in the streets.  Gottfried and Edward listened quietly as the Chancellor talked about how the Austrian army had put the rebellion down.  Mennon smiled when he talked of jailing the insurrectionists.  

The Chancellor asked Gottfried and Edward about their work.  Edward talked about Thuringia and Saxony's providences working towards German unity.  Mennon said, “Austria would love to see a unified German people, and we would love being the cultural and political center of such a unified country.”

When asked about their plans, Edward and Gottfried indicated they were going to Bavaria next and then back to Prague to get their horses and go home.  Chancellor Mennon said he would loan them, Peter Wagner, as the Austrian representative to unification, and support the work financially.  

The Chancellor invited them back on Wednesday to meet Peter Wagner and then they could travel on Friday to Munich.  Gottfried and Edward agreed to the plan.

*****

With a free day, Gottfried and Edward explored Vienna.  They had seen the most notable sites, the palace, the cathedral, the  Lipizzaner horses, and the impressive buildings.  Gottfried asked Edward “Where do the common people live?”

Edward didn’t know.  Gottfried had an idea - “let’s put on our common clothes and go looking.”

So, they started looking for where non-nobility might live.  On the southeast side of Vienna, they found the area known as Schwechat along the Danube River.  The houses there were very small and very close together.  Continuing along the river, they found an inn and stopped for lunch.  They knew there had been some riots and uprisings in Vienna during the Revolution of 1848, and thought they might learn more as they got farther away from the capital.

The innkeeper was Johann Spricht, a fairly rotund and jolly man.  They ordered bier and the lunch special of wurst and sauerkraut.  

It was busy at the inn, and the two men watched the people coming and leaving.  Most were men and most were in working clothes.  Some looked like farmers with dirt and manure on their boots and pants; some looked like construction workers with cement and grout dust.  The tables were fairly close together, so Gottfried tried to strike up a conversation with two men at the next table. Gottfried thought they might be farmers.

Gottfried said, “Guten Tag” (or Good Day) to the two farmers. “Are you from this area?”

The men were reserved at first.  Gottfried introduced himself as the son of a farmer. And, Edward’s last name “Bauer” (which means farmer), seemed to gain their attention.  

Gottfried continued. “We’re from Saxony.” (That almost shut the two farmers up - the poor never traveled and to have Gottfried and Edward from Saxony was also like saying they were from Mars or Jupiter).  

Gottfried tried to cross the barrier.  “I’m a stable hand in Dresden.  Edward is an army officer and he brought me with him to look over the Lipizzaner horses. I thought it was too far to go to look at horses, but he is paying my way and it's been an interesting trip.”.  

Anthony seemed to be the oldest and spoke first. “Are you spies?”

Gottfried laughed out loud and spit out some of his bier in the process.  “Yes, and No”, Gottfried said.  “We think Germany should be united so we’ve been to Thuringia and Saxony to see if some unification could happen, and now we are here.”

Lowering his voice, Gottfried said, “We’ve heard that there were some riots and demonstrations last year. Is that true”.

Anthony answered quietly.  “Yes, there were some riots last year.  We are tired of all the nobility and rich people.  We thought maybe it could be like the French Revolution or the American Revolution.  They, that is, the government brought out the army to settle the disturbances down, but then a lot of the soldiers joined our ranks.”

He continued, “So, King Franz Joseph made promises for better wages and better working conditions for all people and fewer taxes on the people.  But, it hasn’t happened yet.  My guess is that they won’t keep their word.  They are like a bunch of spoiled babies.  I don’t think King Franz Joseph really understands.

Going on, he said, “It will be like the French Revolution this summer, King Franz Joseph will be like King Louis the XVI and strung up as a tyrant.  Metternich has been around for years and is really the power behind the throne.  He is a really evil man - wanting to keep the people poor so the great city can have more monuments.”  Anthony said “the great city” sarcastically.  

“We want bread, bier, good housing, steady jobs, and a good education for our kids, just like America and France.  We’re tired of the uppity nobility and their bullshit.  We want walls to keep the river from flooding, and cobblestones to pave our streets so it isn’t a mudhole when it rains.”

Gottfried asked, “Do you think it will be better or worse if Germany can get unified?”

Anthony pondered that question.  “I don’t know.  If it is just another King, or Emperor or Monarch, no way, but if it is like America and France with elected leaders, with all people getting to vote, I’d be in favor.”

Gottfried asked, “Can you tell me a little about the riots?”

Anthony looked at his friend, who nodded approval and started.

“It started in June when there was no wheat for bread - well that is there was no wheat for bread for the common man.  Something about the wheat crop had failed, but our friend Rudolph knew that the royalty got wheat and bread and the common folks now.  Another friend, Christoph raises wheat on his farm, and he had a good crop.  I “ (he paused and looked at his friend), “we thought it was bogus and a group of us marched to the palace with signs saying “Give us this day our daily bread”.  As we got close the army rushed out and threw up barricades and stood behind the barricades with the rifles aimed at us.  We didn’t do anything wrong.  We were chanting bread, bread, bread.  Then something happened.  I don’t know if it was one of our group or an army member, but a rock got thrown from behind the palace wall and hit a soldier.  I think they thought we were throwing rocks at them, and they started to shoot.  At first, they were aiming their guns in the air, but then one of them aimed his gun at the crowd and shot.  It hit Franz Snyder and killed him instantly.  That really riled us up, and now there were rocks being thrown.  No one else got killed that day, but several were injured - mostly with shots in the legs or arms.  A peasant with a bad leg or a bad arm might as well be dead - it would be almost impossible to get a job.

This went on for about two weeks.  More and more common people showed up and we told them DON’T THROW ROCKS.  Yell, chant, but no violence.  Some of the army soldiers threw down their guns and walked over to our side.  They didn’t want to be Austrians killing Austrians.  

Finally, King Franz Joseph (who had just taken over when his father died), came out and promised to get more wheat and more bread to the people and to raise wages.  We clapped.  We won - or we thought we won.  Now, nine months later, we haven’t seen much more bread and only a little increase in wages.  It was all pretended - fake, bogus, bullshit.  

Meanwhile, Franz Joseph hired Bohemian mercenaries for his army.  They wouldn’t mind killing German people.  I think this summer will be very bloody if something doesn’t change soon.

The lunch crowd had gone and the innkeeper Johann Spricht came over and joined the discussion.  He confirmed what Anthony had been saying.  “We’re all in favor of German unification as long as it is people-oriented and not the nobility.” 

They talked longer, and finally, Gottfried and Edward were ready to leave.  They paid for their food and bier, but the innkeeper wouldn’t take their money.  “Work for the common man,” he said.

As Gottfried and Edward walked back to their inn, they discussed the situation.  Gottfried sensed that Austria was not going to be the right place for German unification to start!!

*****

End of this week’s episode.  Come back next week for more on Gottfried Quaas and Edward Bauer!!!

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, NOVEMBER 12, 2022