Fontane

On Traces in the Garden of Poets in the Mark Brandenburg was the title of a trip organized by the Badische Zeitung.

 

Well, they meant one poet: Theodor Fontane and his book Walks through the March of Brandenburg.

And Ottmar Hörl did it once more: Theodor Fontane, Wanderer zwischen den Welten at the Neuruppin Museum.

Red Baron always wanted to explore Havelland, so the trip fitted perfectly into my plans.

The travel group, which included 22 people, was ideal for excursions and guided tours. Our lodging was the Hotel zur Insel am Markt in Werder, a small town on an island in the meandering Havel River.

Immediately upon arrival, I noticed two imposing and typically German trees, an oak and a linden, on the market square. Werder's citizens planted the oak in 1871 out of joy for German unity under Prussian rule.

In the background, the Hotel zur Insel

The Linden tree dates from 1920 and is dedicated to Queen Luise, the universally beloved wife of King Frederick William III. During the Napoleonic period, he came along as a weak ruler, but Luise courageously stood up to the usurper.

 

Queen Luise. Painting at Paretz Castle.

When, at a meeting in Berlin after the Prussian defeat at Jena and Auerstedt, the emperor wanted to steer the conversation to the innocuous topics of fashion and jewelry, "You've got a lovely robe on there! Where might it have been made?" the queen replied, "Shall we talk of such insignificant things at such an important moment? And later, "Sire, the fame of Frederick the Great has deceived us about our means." Thus, Luise received the honorary name Joan of Arc of Germany.

Here are some highlights photographed while walking through Werder:

We passed the Werder town hall on our way to the highest point on the island ...

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... that is crowned by a Bockwindmühle. The dictionary translates this word into post mill, the earliest type of European windmill.

Werder's Holy Ghost Church was built in 1858 in a neo-Gothic style. It is nothing spectacular, but inside, there is a treasure, but the door was locked.

©Bautsch/Wikipedia

I took the above picture from Wikipedia: Christ as a Pharmacist. According to Matthew 9: The strong don't need the doctor, but the sick do. Jesus mixes faith, hope, and love but adds resistance, help, and peace as a remedy.

No, this is not Fontane's pear tree but rather a 300-year-old crooked specimen of Red Bergamot. The sign reads: This natural monument reminds us of Werder's tradition of growing fruit.

Here are two other examples of fruits from the Havelland. 

The hotel greeted us for dinner with a glass of fruit wine (blackcurrant) on the right. But what is in the middle? It is a Müller-Thurgau from Wachtelberg, a wine from the quail hill on the mainland above Werder. It's climate change, stupid!

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