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A Walk to Hinterhermsdorf

Me, above Malá Pravcická brána © Ricky Yates

Now that summer is here, I’ve been determined to get out and explore more of this beautiful area on foot. Being as close as I am to Germany, I’ve frequently looked at the map and thought that it would be fun to walk through the mountains and over the border into Germany, staying overnight, before walking back to the Czech Republic, a day or two later. So on Monday 24^th June, that is what I set out to do.

I first took the bus from Stará Oleška where I live, to the end of the 436 bus route in Vysoká Lípa. As it was nearly midday when I arrived, I treated myself to an early lunch in Restaurace Pension U Nás to give me sustenance for my walk. I also purchased a bottle of mineral water, one thing I had foolishly forgotten to pack in my rucksack, before leaving home.

Leaving Vysoká Lípa on the yellow waymarked route, immediately ahead of me was the towering Šaunštejn Castle. Very little remains of the 14^th century castle which once stood on this rocky outcrop. Below are a couple of photographs taken back in the Autumn of 2017 when I climbed to the top of it.

View from Šaunštejn Castle over Vysoká Lípa © Ricky Yates

On this occasion, I didn’t visit the top, deciding to save my energy for the walk ahead.

Now on the red waymarked route, the path climbs via a series of stone steps….

…. and wooden steps….

View from the red waymarked route © Ricky Yates

…..with splendid views….

…..to Malá Pravcická brána. This is a far smaller natural rock arch than its much more famous namesake, Pravcická brána, which is located a few kilometres further west. Alongside Malá Pravcická brána is metal ladder that leads to a viewpoint where the photograph of me at the beginning of this post, was taken.

Leaving the red waymarked route shortly afterwards, a further four kilometres of walking along a wider track, which is also a designated cycle route, brought me to the Czech-German border which at this point is formed by the Krinice (Czech) Kirnitzsch (German) river.

This is the bridge between the the two countries, taken on the German side of the border, looking back into the Czech Republic.

Krinice (Czech) Kirnitzsch (German) river © Ricky Yates

Whilst here is a view of the river, taken from the bridge, with the Czech Republic on the left and Germany on the right.

Stepping into Germany, my plan had been to take the Grüner Strich route to the village of Hinterhermsdorf, where I had previously booked to spend the night. Unfortunately, when I reached the point where this route goes off to the right, there was a notice in German, saying that it was currently blocked by fallen trees, following a recent storm. Instead the notice said, I should walk on further and take the next track on the right, a designated cycle route.

I did as instructed and realised, as I consulted my map, that further along this cycle route, a red waymarked route went off to the left, fairly directly towards Hinterhermsdorf. What I didn’t take note of at the time, was how many contour lines there were to cross! It was a steep, tiring climb on what was a very hot day, during the recent heatwave which has hit much of continental Europe.

Rock tunnel on the Tunnelweg © Ricky Yates

The stiff climb, the heat and ensuring I was on the correct path, meant I only took this one, slightly out of focus, photograph, where the path passes through a short tunnel under the rocks. I’ve since discovered that the path is called the Tunnelweg.

I did eventually reach the top from where it was a further two kilometres walk, fairly gently downhill, into Hinterhermsdorf. It was good to finally reach Gasthof zur Hoffnung, get showered and changed before sitting out on the terrace and enjoying some well-deserved liquid refreshment 🙂

Whilst I am used to feeling a bit stiff after a fairly long walk, when I woke up the following morning I could hardly move my right knee and putting weight on my right ankle was quite painful. So after gingerly making my way downstairs for an excellent breakfast, rather than going on a circular walk through the surrounding hills as I had originally envisaged, I returned to room to rest up. However, I did make good use of the day by writing and posting my previous blog post about Meissen 😉

I did eventually go for a brief hobble around the centre of the village. And in the evening, I once more hobbled, this time to the nearby Gasthaus zur Wanderstübel, as the restaurant where I was staying had Ruhetag 🙁

The following morning, with a right knee and ankle still not functioning properly, and with the continued excessive heat, I decided that discretion was the better part of valour. Instead of walking back over the border to Vysoká Lípa and getting the bus back to Stará Oleška, I decided to make my way home by public transport. First a bus from the stop right outside Gasthof zur Hoffnung, to Bad Schandau railway station. Then by train along the Elbe/Labe valley to Decín. Finally by bus from Decín to Stará Oleška.

However, I do hope to make a return visit to Hinterhermsdorf and explore the surrounding area. After my recent experience, I shall probably drive there and make it my base and also try to do so when the weather is a few degrees cooler.

Meißen

The twin spires of the Meißner Dom/Meissen Cathedral © Ricky Yates

On Sunday 16^th June, I once more officiated and preached at the monthly English-language Anglican Service of Evening Prayer in the Frauenkirche, Dresden. I was also invited by the Stiftung Frauenkirche Dresden, to attend a sommerliches Grillbuffet, the following evening, an event laid on as a ‘Thank you’, for all the volunteers and staff who help at the Frauenkirche. Deciding it would be silly to return home on Sunday evening, only to drive back to Dresden the next day, I instead stayed overnight and spent several hours on Monday 17^th June, exploring the city of Meißen.

Meißen lies about 25km north-west of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river. It didn’t take that long to drive there and, having found a suitable car park alongside the Elbe, I then set out on foot to explore the historic city centre. Unlike Dresden, it appears not to have suffered much destruction during the Second World War, presumably because of having very little industry and not being a major transport hub.

Walking along Elbstrasse, I soon reached the Markt, overlooked by the Rathaus…

….and by the Frauenkirche.

Then I headed up Burgstrasse.

A view across the rooftops of Meissen © Ricky Yates

At the end of the street, a series of stone steps took me up towards the Meißner Dom/Meissen Cathedral, to a place where there is this wonderful view across rooftops, towards the Elbe and the railway bridge that crosses the river.

Meißner Dom/Meissen Cathedral © Ricky Yates

Finally, I arrived in the Domplatz with the Meißner Dom/Meissen Cathedral towering in front of me.

Entrance to the Dom is not through the large doors at the west end but through another door part way down the south side. Adjacent to this entrance is the Allerheiligenkapelle which is specifically designated as a place of silence. I enjoyed spending time in prayer here, before going on to explore the main building.

There is a entrance fee for visiting the Dom. Arriving at the cash desk and whilst getting my wallet out of my pocket, I explained to the lady cashier in my best German 🙂 , that I was an Anglican priest and the previous evening, had conducted Anglican Evening Prayer in the Frauenkirche, Dresden. Upon hearing this, she gave me my entrance ticket free of charge! Maybe this was because of her name – Frau Engel/Mrs Angel 🙂

Below are some more photographs of the interior of the Dom.

Triptych behind the nave altar © Ricky Yates

Triptych behind the altar in the Hoher Chor © Ricky Yates

I would like to have attended this event, held the previous evening. Interestingly, it is called ‘Hymns of Praise’ in English, and featured the compositions of Antonín Dvorák from the country where I now live, and of John Rutter, from the country where I used to live.

Walking around the edge of the rocky outcrop on which the Dom is situated, there is a splendid view across the Elbe. Afterwards, I treated myself to an excellent lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Domplatz, accompanied by locally produced liquid refreshment 🙂

One place I didn’t visit was the Albrechtsburg, the castle that adjoins the Dom. As you can see, it is currently undergoing major restoration work which rather detracts from this iconic view from alongside the Elbe. A reason to make a return visit at some future date.

Meißner Dom and Albrechtsburg © Ricky Yates

A wonderful Sunday at the Frauenkirche, Dresden

As is explained here on the Frauenkirche website, the monthly English-language Anglican service of Evening Prayer for which I am responsible, is made possible because of the Meissen Agreement. This is an ecumenical agreement, made in 1988, between the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD) – the main German Protestant Church, and the Church of England. The implementation of this agreement and seeking to take it to the ultimate goal of full communion between the two Churches, is overseen by a body called the Meissen Commission.

In August last year, having ascertained that Rt Rev’d Dr Jonathan Gibbs, Suffragan Bishop of Huddersfield, is the current Anglican Co-Chair of the Meissen Commission, I wrote to him asking whether there was any space in his episcopal diary when, wearing his Meissen Commission ‘hat’, he could come to Dresden and be the preacher at the English-language Anglican service. Knowing that bishops can have very full diaries, I gave him all the dates of the 2019 services to choose from. He kindly replied a few days later, saying he would be very pleased to accept my invitation and that he would confirm a date very soon, once he had reviewed his 2019 diary commitments.

Bishop Jonathan’s reply arrived the same day as I was attending a meeting of the Predigerrunde in Dresden, to plan all the Frauenkirche evening services in the first four months of 2019. So I mentioned to Frauenkirchenpfarrer Sebastian Feydt, that I had invited Bishop Jonathan to preach at one of the English-language Anglican services in 2019 and was awaiting confirmation of a suitable date. He was most pleased & asked me to let him know when I had an agreed date. If the chosen date didn’t clash with an existing booked preacher, he would then like to invite him to preach auf Deutsch at their 11.00 service that morning.

Therefore, to cut a long story short, and to ensure that this blog post does actually get published, two months ago on Sunday 17^th March, I spent a long but most enjoyable day in Dresden with Bishop Jonathan and his wife Toni.

For the 11.00 Morning Service in German, I sat with Toni Gibbs in the congregation. The service was led by Sebastian Feydt and Bishop Jonathan preached. Toni had the complete English text of her husband’s sermon on her tablet so we both were able to easily follow what he was saying in German. Bishop Jonathan explained to me afterwards that he had first written the sermon in English, then translated it into German, before sending it to a German native speaker, to double-check his grammar and sentence construction 😉

The sermon was based on John 3. 14-21 including those well-known words in verse 16, ‘God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…’ He challenged the congregation as to how we show the love of God to every human being, including those who are different to us. He said, ‘As we approach 29th March, the date of Brexit, we as Christians need to be speaking up for a better way of living, one that demonstrates the love of God for every single human being, both in Europe and throughout the world. We need to lift up Jesus Christ, not as a tribal symbol of a Christian sub-culture, but as the Lord and Saviour of the whole of humanity.’

If you can read German, then the complete text of Bishop Jonathan’s sermon is currently available on the Frauenkirche website here. In the week following his Dresden visit, the ‘Yorkshire Post’ published an edited extract of the sermon in English, which can be found here.

Within his sermon, Bishop Jonathan gave an outline of his own life story, explaining that for six years (1992-98) he was priest of the Anglican Church in Basel, as well as priest of the Anglican Church in Freiburg-im-Breisgau. He then said, ‘As perhaps you can hear, it was in Basel that I first learned German!’

These words were picked up by Sebastian Feydt when giving the notices near the end of the service. He reminded the congregation of the Anglican service that evening, at which Bishop Jonathan would once again be preaching, this time in English, but with a Swiss-German accent. The whole congregation collapsed with laughter!

Frauenkirchenpfarrer Sebastian Feydt & Bishop Jonathan Gibbs © Ricky Yates

Following the Morning Service, Sebastian Feydt gave +Jonathan, Toni and I, a personal guided tour of the Frauenkirche. This was followed by a most enjoyable lunch in a nearby restaurant, at episcopal expense 😉 +Jonathan was also very keen to climb to the top of the Frauenkirche dome to enjoy the spectacular views across Dresden, something I had done two and a half years ago. So after lunch, that is what we did.

It is interesting to compare this photo taken by me back in August 2016……

Neumarkt, with construction work continuing © Ricky Yates

….with this one that I took on Sunday 17^th March 2019.

Neumarkt, with construction work complete © Ricky Yates

Then after a brief break, starting at 18.00, I led the English-language Anglican service of Evening Prayer at which +Jonathan preached. This service continued the theme of Versöhnung leben – Living reconciliation, which as I explained in my earlier post, has involved preaching our way through the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation. +Jonathan thus addressed the line, ‘Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee, Father, forgive.’

+Jonathan took as his main Biblical text, Matthew 25. 31-46, where Jesus describes the judgement of the nations, ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory’. Jesus describes how people will be separated just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The ‘sheep’ on the right will be invited to, ‘inherit the kingdom prepared for you’. The reason for the invitation is that when they saw the king hungry, they fed him, when they saw him thirsty, they gave him something to drink, when he was in prison, they visited him etc.

The ‘righteous’, as they are called, are surprised by this because they never saw the king in any of the situations he describes. The punchline of the story comes in the king’s reply. ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it for the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me’. In turn, those on the king’s left receive his judgement because their failure to care for the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or those in prison.

+Jonathan went on to point out that this passage should not be used to preach a gospel of justification by works, as some people try to do. Taking note of the context of the story in the Gospel of Matthew, it is the last instructions given by Jesus to his followers, before his death on the cross. In other words, if you want to be my disciples, this is how you should live out your faith.

With +Jonathan & Toni Gibbs following the evening service © Toni Gibbs

In the days following Sunday 17^th March, I received an appreciative email of thanks from +Jonathan and was copied in on an equally appreciative email from Sebastian Feydt to +Jonathan. In his email, Sebastian Feydt expressed the hope that +Jonathan would be willing to re-visit the Frauenkirche at some future date. So I do hope to try and arrange a similar Sunday, some time in 2020.

From Winter to Spring 2019

I hope that I am not being too optimistic by writing, that I believe my second Winter living in Stará Oleška, is slowly coming to an end. There are now signs of the arrival of Spring, exemplified by these snowdrops which made their welcome appearance in my garden about a month ago. However, Spring is far from being as advanced as it is in the UK, which I’ve seen in photos posted online by friends. Likewise, it is not even as advanced as it is in Prague, which I observed when I visited the Czech capital for a medical appointment last Monday. Being situated up in the hills, nearly 300 metres above sea level, does have an impact.

The view from my front door on 3rd February 2019 © Ricky Yates

We have had plenty of snow this winter as can be seen in the title photograph of this post, last month. Here is the view looking the other way, from my front doorstep. Both photos were taken on Sunday 3^rd February when we probably had the heaviest snowfall of the winter.

There hasn’t been lying snow all the time. Usually, each time snow has fallen, after a few days it has slowly melted away, only for there to be another snowfall, a week or so later. Higher in the surrounding hills and mountains, lying snow tends to remain nearly all the time, as you can see in this photograph of Stará Oleška, taken at dusk on Saturday 19^th January.

As I’ve previously written, the main source of heating for my home is a wood-burning stove, located in the kitchen. My previous supply of logs, delivered in early December 2017, saw me through the rest of last winter, and all the way through the first half of this winter, until January this year. But by the middle of the month, I realised that a fresh supply was required.

My new supply came from a different supplier, with a larger truck, and were consequently more expensive. However, the quality of wood seems to be better with at some of it being well-seasoned and consequently able to be used straight-away.

Unfortunately, the larger and heavier truck, couldn’t be positioned so the logs could be dropped into my garden, but instead, were deposited on public ground, immediately across the driveway at the side of my garden, that gives access to the house located beyond the end of my back garden.

Here they are, following delivery.

As you can see, at the time of delivery on Tuesday 22^nd January, the weather was sunny but frosty. This meant that the ground was frozen hard making it relatively easy to wheel a wheelbarrow full of logs, through the opening in the fence, across the back lawn, to the wood shed on the far side of the garden.

This weather held for the following few days, enabling me to shift quite a number of the logs into the shed.

Remaining logs covered in snow © Ricky Yates

But then the inevitable happened…….

Since then, either because of snow, or the ground being far too soft and wet, I wasn’t able to shift any further logs, until last weekend. Fortunately, the Spring-like weather of the past week has enabled me to finally complete the task.

Logs stacked in my wood shed © Ricky Yates

Stacked into the wood shed, the logs are difficult to photograph. This is the best I could manage.

Sections of tree trunks, yet to be moved © Ricky Yates

Unfortunately, there is still more to do. Within my log delivery were these massive sections of tree trunk – twenty-three of them altogether. Each is far too heavy to shift single-handedly. I nearly killed myself just stacking them like this. They will have to be reduced in size, in situ, either by chain saw or axe, before they can be transported by wheelbarrow to the wood shed. And then I wonder whether there will be still room in the shed to fit them all in!

One task that I have managed to complete, is to drastically prune the vine that adorns the front of my house and which each year, has produced an abundance of grapes. I’ve also given the two bushes directly under the front windows, a fairly severe hair cut.

Flourishing vine in late June 2018 © Ricky Yates

But if my experience of last year is anything to go by, vigorously pruning just creates greater growth. This is how the front of the house looked in late June 2018 following a similar pruning earlier in February.

Here is another sign of Spring with which I finish this post. Last Christmas, my daughter Christa, gave me a present of some bulbs for my garden. The instructions said that they should be planted, no later than the end of December. I only got back to Stará Oleška late on 28^th December and the weather wasn’t at all conducive to doing any form of gardening until a few dry and milder days in mid-January. But I got them planted and, about ten days ago, the first green shoots started appearing. It does seem that we are moving from Winter to Spring.

Versöhnung leben – Living reconciliation

‘Building bridges, living reconciliation, strengthening faith’ © Ricky Yates

As I have previously written, the evening services at the Frauenkirche, Dresden, follow a theme over a period of several Sundays. The monthly English-language Anglican services of Evening Prayer for which I continue to have responsibility, are not regarded as an exception, but rather as part of the agreed theme. The themes are agreed at a meeting of the Predigerrunde/Preachers round, which is attended by several German Protestant pastors and theologians who, between them, conduct and preach at the evening services; and me!

At a meeting of the Predigerrunde last Autumn, it was agreed that in the period from Sunday 10^th February through to Passion Sunday (7^th April) we would preach our way through the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation, stanza by stanza, with our theme being Versöhnung leben – Living reconciliation. The litany is used regularly at the Frauenkirche, in particular, at midday prayers each Friday. Its use is part of the very strong links between the Frauenkirche and Coventry Cathedral, established through the Community of the Cross of Nails.

The Coventry Litany of Reconciliation

‘All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class, Father, forgive.

The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own, Father, forgive.

The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth, Father, forgive.

Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others, Father, forgive.

Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee, Father, forgive.

The lust which dishonours the bodies of men, women and children, Father, forgive.

The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in you, Father, forgive.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.’

Therefore, after Superintendent Christian Behr had begun the sermon series on Sunday 10^th February, preaching on the opening verse of scripture, ‘Alle haben gesündigt und ermangeln des Ruhmes, den sie bei Gott haben sollten‘ / ‘All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.’ (Romans 3. 23), it fell to me last Sunday, 17^th February, to preach on ‘The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class’.

In the opening part of my sermon, I explained the origin of the litany, written in 1958 by Canon Joseph Poole, and the thinking that lies behind it. As is explained on the Coventry Cathedral website, ‘While framed around the seven deadly sins, it serves as a reminder that when we pray about the problems of the world around us, we need to begin by acknowledging the roots of those problems in our own hearts.’

I also pointed out how appropriate it was to be reflecting on, ‘The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class’, when the previous week had seen the 74^th anniversary of the bombing of Dresden which commenced on 13^th February 1945 and resulted in the destruction of the Frauenkirche. But it was also the 60^th anniversary of the twinning agreement, signed in 1959, between the city of Dresden and the city of Coventry, a civic move towards reconciliation which had been commemorated during the German Lutheran service that morning.

For the evening service, I had to choose two passages of scripture. For the second reading, I chose the familiar story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10. 25-37). I pointed out that, whilst the expression ‘Good Samaritan’, easily trips of our tongues, to the first century Jews listening as Jesus told the story, it was a contradiction in terms. For first century Jews, ‘good’ and ‘Samaritan’, did not belong in the same sentence! Samaritans were a mixed race, they worshipped at Mount Samaria and not in Jerusalem, and didn’t keep laws relating to ritual purity.

But for the upstanding Jewish lawyer who asked, ‘Who is my neighbour? – the one I should love as myself, Jesus told this story. ‘Loving your neighbour as yourself’, includes loving those who are different from us – not hating them because they don’t behave or conform in the way we think they should.

The other passage of scripture I chose was Galatians 3. 23-29. I explained that in the life of the early Christian Church, there were disputes as to whether gentiles who had become Christians, needed to be circumcised, just like male Jews. The Council of Jerusalem, (Acts 15. 1ff) had clearly decided that the circumcision of gentile converts was not required. But there remained a ‘circumcision party’ who thought they should and it was clearly active in Galatia.

St Paul’s letter to the Galatian Churches was written partly to rebuke the ‘circumcision party’. He declares, using a favourite phrase of his, ‘in Christ’, that once someone has ‘faith in Christ’, has been ‘baptised into Christ’, has ‘put on Christ’, there should no longer be any distinctions. No one is better than another and no one should be shunned. ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek (gentile), there is no longer slave or free (no class discrimination), there is no longer male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus’.

‘Hate’ and ‘hatred’ are strong words. Maybe we don’t necessarily hate but we do very easily ‘blame’. I reminded the congregation that Hitler and the Nazis blamed the Jews. From various quarters these days it is ‘blame the Muslims’.

Addressing the issue that is currently making the United Kingdom look stupid in the eyes of most continental Europeans – Brexit – I pointed out that the vote to leave the EU was driven by politicians blaming the country’s problems on immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe for which, blame the EU. This despite nearly all of them being in work, paying taxes and often doing the jobs that British people don’t want to do.

The EU may not be perfect – it is a human institution. But it was founded in part, to prevent a repetition of the two World Wars which had laid waste the continent of Europe in the first half of the twentieth century, something which the city of Dresden and my own city of birth, Coventry, know about all too well. Seventy-five years of peace have ensued!

I ended my sermon as I end this blog post, with a challenge to those who wish to re-erect barriers that divide people and nations. As Christians, we are called to the ministry of reconciliation – Versöhnung leben – Living reconciliation. We are not to be putting up barriers of whatever form to divide groups of people, just because they are not exactly like us.

For the hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class, Father, forgive.