Three Most Interesting Things

Three Most Interesting Things
by Issac (a.k.a. It Fitz)

This one is easy. Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Notre Dame a Strasbourg. Naemi Wilke-Stift (pron. Nah-aymee vil-kah shtift) in Guben, Germany

Buchenwald because it was an eye opening experience. It was one of, or possibly the only (I can’t remember), ‘containment’ Concentration Camps. The Nazi party used it as a holding facility for 25-35000 prisoners at any given time during World War II. The total number of people who died there was something like 50,000 over the eight years. That’s about 20 people every day. When you first walk into the main yard of the camp, it seems to stretch forever in front of you (we were there on a slightly foggy day so that added to the illusion). We visited the crematorium where they dead bodies were disposed of and it was just sickening. There were rooms in that building with cold tiled tables, and sinks, and I don’t even want to know what went on in them.

Notre Dame a Strasbourg is, thankfully, a little bit of a happier place. The reason it is on this list is partly because it took 690 years to build it. Construction started in 1190 and stopped in 1878. I didn’t say finished because the second tower was never completed. As it is though, it’s breathtaking. One very interesting bit of trivia is that the entire Cathedral is supported solely by oak pillars sunk into the ground underneath it. We’re talking about a stone, 500 foot tall cathedral being held up by wooden beams. The architecture in Europe is incredible. Oh, one more thing. It’s called Notre Dame but it’s not the one in Paris. Many cathedrals in France are called Notre Dame simply because it means ‘our lady’ (Mary).

And finally Naemi Wilke-Stift. This was a very cool little hospital in Guben Germany, right on the Polish border (in fact, the town is split between the two countries because before the war, it was all a part of Germany). It is called Naemi Wilke- Stift because about 100 years ago, one of the wealthy citizens of Guben, Mr. Friedrich Wilke, a hat maker, had a daughter die of typhus. As a result, he donated money to build a hospital so that no one else would have to go through what he did. The word ‘Stift’ simply means ‘foundation’, or even ‘fund’. Naemi, as you might have already guessed was the name of his daughter. One of the coolest things about this hospital though, besides having great food, is that it is state funded (like American hospitals) but it has a full time Lutheran pastor on staff. His job, believe it or not, is to minister to the hospital staff and patients. Germany has no problem with church and state together.

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