Postcard no. 6. Pottering round Trier

Categories: germany, postcards

Date: 09 July 2008 00:35:20

Over the weekend of my stay there, Trier was celebrating its Petrus und Paulus Messe - an event which also is called the Altstadtfest*. In the middle of the Hauptmarkt* is the Petrus Brunnen* erected in 1590 upon which there is a statue of St Peter wearing a pretzel. I don't think it is supposed to be a pretzel, I think it's his halo, but it looks decidedly like a pretzel to me! In the crook of his arm, St Peter of the Pretzel was holding a bouquet of fresh flowers. These are placed there every year at the beginning of the Altstadtfest to ensure the blessing of good weather. They were certainly having the required effect as the weather was glorious - and the beer tents were doing a roaring trade.

Over the weekend, we watched a number of shows on the stages around the town. And what a variety of acts! Most were drawn from the local area. We made a point of going to hear a Gospel choir as the Lödgerin's sister and niece were singing in it. It was very pleasant to sit in the shade of the plane trees, sipping a drink and listening to joyful music. Across the square was the Dom with its exterior inscription “Nescitis qua hora Dominus veniet”** which was a mite sobering!

We also saw a troupe of 4-6 year old girls dressed in pink balloony trousers and little pink tops dancing a sort of belly dance. I had a slight unease about the style of dance for such young children but they were clearly loving it! One girl who was obviously the talent of the class had a few special turns to do, beaming throughout, another dark curly-haired little thing was flashing her eyes and wiggling her hips almost too authentically for her age, another little lass lost her trousers at one point, calmly kicked them out of the way and continued singing and dancing for about another minute and a half until I think she realised she was performing in her knickers...whereupon she burst into tears and ran to the sound technician to get him to help her. He looked thoroughly bewildered with the task before him but managed to pin her back in to her pink pants and she continued like the little budding professional she was. The star of the show in my eyes was the little chubby puppy of a girl who performed her role - not with much grace - she would be better suited in a rugby team - but with enormous determination and a big smile. She stomped her little legs and threw her arms around so wildly that I was crying with laughter as she sang “Schüttele den Bauch”***. The Lödgerin had to take me away - I was helpless.

I “sobered” up with a glass of Viez - the local word for cider. It was pretty strong stuff. There was a good scheme in operation at the Fest. All the beer tents charged a deposit on the glasses. You could take your glass away with you and return it to any other beer tent and get your deposit back. Prevents people littering the streets with mashed up plastic beakers.

We wandered with our Viez past the Karl-Marx House. I had had no idea that he was born in Trier. And it is a little known fact of history that Karl Marx might have been considered French had he been born a few years earlier. The town had been under French control during the Napoleonic Wars from 1797-1815 but then reverted to Prussia. Karl was born in 1818 thus missing out on French citizenship by a whisker.

*Peter and Paul Fair . Old Town Festival. St Peter's Fountain. Main market square
** You do not know at which hour the Lord shall come” (roughly translated by Kerensa. Apologies but I can't work out if that verb is in the present or the future (it could be a subjunctive...does anyone know?) - but you get the idea).
*** Shake your belly