Soon after leaving Boisenburg we rode down to a dike that serves as flood control along the Elbe. The Elbe River Basin is the fourth largest in Europe. In Northern Germany it flows through a large fertile plain that is subject to periodic flooding. Floods since 2000 have been the worst in centuries and the European Union has expended huge sums of money to build flood barrier like that in the picture. Sand and sandbags to the left of the picture are left from the June 2013 flood that topped this dike in some places.
We also saw piles of sandbags near houses and huge sandbag caches on the outside of the dike.
This is another view showing standing water left from the June flood.
I got a kick out of the logo on the toilets-- the workers had to hold back the Elbe but they did not have to restrain themselves.
This is a watch tower that has been turned into a private residence.
Escape attempts were common but rarely successful. In September of 1964 14 people, 11 of whom were children, escaped in a refrigerated truck hidden under the carcasses of slaughtered pigs. In 1989 eight people escaped in a home made hot air balloon. Our Berlin guide told us of an office worker whose building was adjacent to the Berlin Wall. He and his wife and two children managed to escape by sliding down a rope from the top of the building, over the "death zone" and into West Berlin. Current unofficial estimates are that 75,000 people tried unsuccessfully to escape and 1100 died or were killed in the attempt. Those not killed at the time were executed, imprisoned or exiled to the East.
Sheep are used to "mow" the sides of the dike-- even had we not seen flocks like this one, the evidence on the pathway was abundant.
Later we saw a large flock being moved. There were four dogs, none of which looked like the kind of border collies familiar to us but all very skilled at their jobs.
Because the Elbe served as the border there are few bridges and most traffic crosses on ferries. We took a ferry back onto the West side visiting the village of New Bleckede.
The sign at the crossing is an example of the fact that the border did not open all at once. The date is six days later than on the sign we saw when first passing into the East. The crossing was fun and slightly suspenseful. This huge truck appeared at the ferry slip not knowing whether he would be loaded and knowing that the ferry would save him 70 kilometers of driving. He was permitted on and took of most of the available vehicle space.
The ferry also did a booming business in tractors and hay bales.
An empty tractor and trailer loaded when we disembarked and this one arrived as we waited for our return trip.
Bleckede was a town full of charming old house like this very tipsy one.
I was charmed, also, by this fellow peering over a wall.
Our night was spent in one of the huge old barns typical of the area. It had been beautifully renovated as a hotel intended to be accessible to the handicapped. The rooms and bathrooms were huge-- the shower had no enclosure, just a drain in the floor-- designed to be used by someone in a wheelchair. Money had run out, however, so progress was stalled-- most apparently because the entrance to the elevator was blocked by a piece of plywood. We were told it was out of order but it was pretty clear that it didn't even exist.
In the meantime they were hosting a large number of ambulatory senior citizens. They were people who lived on their own but had gotten together for a multi-day excursion. Because they felt it was too hot to be sightseeing, they were playing cards on the patio. About four they started with coffee and "kuchen" and about six moved on to beer. My friend Ingrid said that Germans at home typically eat a full hot lunch, coffee and cake in the afternoon and cold meat, cheese and bread for dinner.
It was clear that the place had been located directly on the border patrol road. The road in front of the hotel was paved but dead ended shortly thereafter trailing off into the kind of divided concrete blocks that had been used on the border.
There was a great stork nest nearby. Liz had a better camera and got better pictures of storks than I did. I will try to swap this one out eventually. Storks are considered good luck and many nesting poles like this one are erected for them. The sitting storks we saw were probably young ones, waiting for their parents to bring food. When a nest appears empty it is often because they are deep enough to hide the birds when they are lying down.
This is an example of German commitment to solar power. Completely covered roofs like this one are a common sight.
Continue to Part 7
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