7533 Pforzheim-Eutingen, 2nd October 1975
Beethovenstr. 66
My dear Jim, and family!
You may notice that the sender's address looks different from recently. But we haven't moved — the city of Pforzheim has simply incorporated the village of Eutingen, so we are now a suburb of the "Gold City" of Pforzheim. That's neither here nor there to us. You'll also notice I'm writing by typewriter. This is because I recently got hold of a very old one cheaply, and I want to practise a little — I think I'm allowed to, since my Klaus tells me my handwriting isn't the best in this department, and it will make reading my letters a little easier for you.
I had actually thought I had every right to wait — until you'd replied to my last letter, which I sent from here in Eutingen some time ago. But as experience shows, that sort of thing can still take a very long time, and I wanted to pass on greetings to you from Riemecks' Renate, who asked me to do so not herself, but through Dette.
The two ladies met recently through the chance that Renate was visiting a patient while Dette was on duty. Dette said on this occasion that she was pleased to meet her, as she had known her by reputation for years, because I talk about her so much. This led to the two of them having quite a lengthy conversation. Renate mentioned, among other things, that you once sent her a parcel of coffee from the front, and that it arrived the day before her state exams — and that it had been a tremendous thing at the time, allowing her to study through half the night. However, her friend hadn't tolerated the unfamiliar coffee so well, and her hands had been trembling terribly the next morning, on the day of the exam itself. Anyway, she then asked us to send you her warmest regards. Incidentally, Renate wants to visit us here sometime — she often gives talks at the retirement home nearby, which is in the same building as the clinic where Do works.
As for us — father and mother — there's not much new to report. Dette works very hard, because anthroposophic medicine treats patients with considerably more care, which demands a higher level of effort from staff. But after a week of night shifts, Do had a week off last week, and we quickly drove off to South Tyrol for a few days. The air route to Merano is only about 300 km from here, though the road is naturally a little longer — but the Alps, or France, are now just a stone's throw from us compared to our time in Bremen. South Tyrol was a completely new experience for us. We explored the Etsch valley, which has a very distinct character compared to other Alpine regions. We also had a lot of contact with the local people, who do speak German, so there were no language difficulties. To my great surprise, the local dialect is very similar to Swabian — apparently the people there had a great deal of contact with Württemberg in past times, partly because in hard times children were sent to Swabia to work. The people there still work very hard today; they live mainly from cattle — the four-legged kind enabling a thriving dairy industry, and the two-legged kind filling the countless hotels year-round and bringing in foreign currency. The meadows are partly on such steep hillsides that the grass can't be cut with a mowing machine — it's scythed by hand and carried to the valley in large baskets. In short: it was scenically beautiful and interesting in every way.
And there is still many lovely and beautiful Romanesque churches, some dating back to the time of Charlemagne, which was a real find for our architect friends.
Since last week, our youngest is no longer at home. He wants to study medicine, but has an average school-leaving grade of 1.8 — he gets a bonus of 0.2 for that, plus some other criterion, giving him 1.6 — and he is now looking for a university place, which is particularly difficult with the numerus clausus. We here had little hope that the winter semester would work out, and indeed he fell 0.1 short — though in the summer semester his chances are a bit better. So for now he's gone for about a year to an anthroposophic clinic in Arlesheim near Dornach, to take part in a course for homoeopathy and so on, which is held for doctors, students, and those who want to become such. So now father and mother are alone at home. Although Gottfried is close by — he lives in Oeschelbronn, in the clinic where Do works — he's still doing his civilian service there in November.
I'm thinking of looking for a small money-earning occupation soon. I simply don't feel I have the time for it — you fritter away time on work in an irresponsibly large amount, as everyone knows. I'm also taking a French course again. And next week we have three sets of visitors arriving at once — how are you supposed to go back to work after that? And then there are always these glorious summer days, and I simply can't justify being cooped up indoors.
Five days ago we also became grandparents again. Ingo has had a second daughter. A trip to Bremen is therefore due again — though Bremen is twice as far as South Tyrol, so you don't make that decision lightly, since petrol costs add up quickly, and we're not exactly rich at the moment. The move, combined with all sorts of purchases, cost as much as four to five extended holidays. I'm very happy that we managed it at all without getting into debt, because I had saved a little beforehand.
So that's our news — and now it's your turn. Rouse your inner laziness and put something down on paper, otherwise we'll have to fear that you've stopped existing altogether. By my reckoning, you are no longer the very youngest, and one gradually starts to think about one's health. The dollar may not be what it once was, but I still believe a trip to Europe is always more affordable than a trip to America. We have a guest room — small, but available at any time for a visitor, even just an acquaintance, though we call it a guest room. How about it? We welcome everyone, and look forward to whoever comes — but for you, or you both, I would be especially, enormously pleased. I want to say that again here, for the umpteenth time.
And now warmest greetings to all your family, and let us hear from you soon.
All the best,
Your little brother