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German Roots Trip 2003 - Contents

SEEKING OUR GERMAN ROOTS

Chapter III    
May 16 - 20, 2003

MECKLENBURG

Von Pressentin Family History - Schwerin

Tuesday, May 20 - Schwerin

After our last good Meditek breakfast, we packed up our bags. I asked our waitress if we could borrow a little whisk broom to clean out the car. We had managed to deposit a fair amount of Mecklenburg glacial sand on the floor, and later today we would be returning the car to the Hertz agency in Schwerin. We didn't want to give them any reason to tack on penalties for a dirty car!

Instead of a whisk broom, the waitress insisted that we back the car up to the front entrance, and immediately a young man with a vacuum appeared and soon had the Peugot just as sparkling inside as when we picked it up in Luebeck. What nice people at Meditek! We tried to leave them a little more generous tip to reflect all the extra service they had provided.

We approached Schwerin with more than a little trepidation, remembering how we got ourselves trapped in the middle of "old town" the last time we came through the city.

We carefully studied the maps, located the Hertz agency and then set about finding a gas station where we could fill up the car and avoid that incredible refill fee of 135 Euros. We followed the beltway around the southern edge of Schwerin; the highway was full of cars, but where did the drivers go to fill their gas tanks? Try as we could, we couldn’t find anything that looked like a gas station. Finally, we gave up, pulled into the Hertz agency and asked where we could find a gas station. "Ach," he said--"you must go back to the big shopping mall"... which was at least four kilometers away. It was very reassuring when we spotted the yellow and orange icon of another Shell gas station, and could drive away with a full tank and a lighter wallet--it cost another 40 Euros for a half tank of gas.

That problem solved, we returned to the Hertz agency, where the car passed inspection and the manager even offered to drive us back to our hotel in city center. This was a big relief as the Hertz place was really out in suburbia and we would have been facing a hefty taxi fare back into the city.

Just when we were relaxing during our ride to town, I mentioned to Karen, "hmmm, shouldn’t the agency have given you some kind of receipt?" Yes, they should have, we agreed. Without the receipt, Karen might be billed 500 Euros instead of the agreed-on price of 225. The manager said "no problem, do not worry." Well, I did worry, and so did Karen. Finally, we talked him into writing us an informal receipt on the back of Karen's little credit card slip. He also promised to come back later and deliver the proper receipt. This put a small black cloud over the rest of our day and our tour of Schwerin, but by golly, the Hertz man restored our faith in rental agencies. When we got back to the hotel in the evening, there was our receipt with the proper cost noted.

We were still in von Pressentin country in Schwerin. This was the main city for Prestin and all the other noble estates to the east. It was where many of the von Pressentins attended school, beyond primary grades. And, it was where von Pressentin youths served at the Palace as pages. Friedrich-Franz said that the family had donated rare, old items to the museum at the Palace, and one von Pressentin was immortalized with a statue in the park adjoining the Palace. So, we had to go see all of this for ourselves.

We had no trouble finding the Palace--its turrets gleamed in the sunshine as we approached. It is indeed situated on an island in Schwerin Lake, but is just a short walk over a bridge from "Old Town." The following description of Schwerin's castle is from this website: http://blacklake.biz/meck/schwer.htm

This website has a beautiful picture of the castle reflected in rippling water. You have to see it! [But maybe you can't--the site seems to have disappeared.]

"The castle built in Mecklenburg Schwerin during the time of the Grand Dukes is still there. It was the last home of the Mecklenburg royal family, who resided in this massive palace until 1918 when they abdicated. The palace is on an island located where the Schweriner See and Burgsee meet. These lakes are full of ducks and swans and the banks of the lakes are lined with weeping willows.

"Palaces and castles have been built on this spot for almost a thousand years. Arab traders mentioned the island in their writings and the king of the original Slavic tribe that settled here built his castle on this spot. Eventually the island was beseiged and taken by Henry the Lion. When the Mecklenburg royal line came into power, they took up residence here in the mid-1300s.

"Much of the palace as it stands today was built between 1843 and 1857. Only four historical parts from the 16th and 17th centuries remained a part of the palace. The sections, old and new, are of different architectural styles, but they blend well. The castle has fifteen turrets, both large and small, and at various heights. The main tower, facing the palace gardens, is 227 feet high. The castle has 80 rooms.

"Although many of the buildings in East Germany were left to decay during the Soviet era, that is not true of the castle. Fortunately the government kept it maintained while the area was part of East Germany and used the facility as an educational school for kindergarten teachers. Since the reunification, it is being refurbished and is open for tourists."

 

Hoping to find that von Pressentin statue, we did not try to tour the interior of the Palace, but we did walk all around it, enjoying the Orangerie which is now a restaurant and the beautiful views of the city and the lake from atop the Palace walls.

Today, the Palace is the home of the State Parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Apparently we didn’t pay careful attention to Friedrich-Franz’ directions to the statue--we certainly saw all of the "Schlossgarten" park, and other statuary, but nothing that held the name "von Pressentin."

Back on the mainland, we walked through the well-preserved Medieval area of Schwerin, seeing the open-air farmer’s market and yes! Another high-tech toilet! This one was a self-contained building near the market. You paid your pfennigs and a door magically opened, allowing just the payee to enter. I volunteered to be sealed up in the toilet box and while it had some automatic features, it really couldn’t match that revolving toilet seat at the Schwerin train station.

Walking back through the main shopping area, we found that Schwerin may look old, but it is very up to date--one shop was offering "feng shui" items, another shop called itself "Cheap and Trendy" and was situated next door to the McDonalds.

We were still in former East Germany and the street names reflected this. Our stroll back to the hotel took us along "Karl Marx Strasse." A souvenir-type shop was offering little decals saying, "Born in the GDR."

And, in the main square of "Old Town" Schwerin also had this - shall we say, "unusual" - column commemorating Henry the Lion, who conquered this area and founded Schwerin in the twelfth century. We were amused, but not enlightened...

We chose the Intercity Hotel because of its close proximity to the train station where we would leave for Cologne tomorrow morning. From our room, I could look out at the plaza around the station--we couldn’t get much closer than that! An adequate hotel room--these inner city 3-star hotels are very interchangeable. Small rooms, but they have all the requisite items, and always, are sparkling clean.

After a little rest in our hotel, we went in search of a telephone and a restaurant for dinner, and found both. Karen called Bruno and confirmed that tomorrow when we arrive at the Cologne train station, we will take the bus to Lindlar, and Bruno will meet us there.

Then, we found a nice little restaurant across from the train station where we each selected omelettes filled with roast pork or mushrooms. Our hotel charged separately for breakfast, and charged a lot, so we planned to breakfast at Chez McDonald's which we could see right across the plaza at the train station.

This is the end of the chapter on Mecklenberg and our von Pressentin family history.

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