Friends of Glauchau
Experiences of Lee & Jan Greever
One day in 2006 we received a phone call from a friend asking us if we could host a German teacher of English who was accompanying a group of students from Glauchau. We were glad to say ‘yes’ and so began our involvement with the Sister City program. It was also the start of a warm friendship with Jens Elbers. During this visit we also had the pleasure of meeting the other chaperone, Stephan Grünwald. Jan had fun taking the two men shopping. For example, she had to explain to them that when the saleslady asked for their telephone numbers at the check-out counter, it was for the store’s database and not because she wanted to date them! Jens told us many nice things about Glauchau. He showed us pictures of the city, and we started to think about how nice it would be to visit Saxony.
In 2007 we had the pleasure of hosting another Glauchau teacher, Ramona Pohle. She immediately became best friends with our cat Breanna, and we had to check her luggage at departure time to make sure she had not packed the cat! But we should not have worried, because Ramona’s bags were filled with purchases made during many shopping excursions around Lynchburg. Our time with Ramona made us want to visit Glauchau even more.
When the official Sister-City signing event occurred, we met Thomas Schreiter, Steffen Naumann, Andreas Weber and Felix Schmidt, a Glauchau student who came as interpreter. We now knew seven people from Glauchau and felt an even stronger Glauchau connection.
On Tuesday, May 13, 2008, our dream of visiting Glauchau became a reality. We were met at the Hauptbahnhof by Thomas Schreiter (who made the arrangements for our visit), and by Count and Countess von Schönburg, who were our hosts. Our wonderful week began with a pleasant drive-through of the Schönburger forest. That evening we had supper with ‘The Friends of Lynchburg’ and met again several folks who had previously visited our hometown.
Wednesday, our first full day in Saxony, we visited Weimar with Steffen and Antje Naumann — setting a new land-speed record for us! – learned a lot about Goethe and Schiller, saw the Bauhaus Museum, and afterwards had ‘coffee-and’ at their home.
Thursday the von Schönburgs took us on a most interesting tour of Saxony sights, including three castles belonging to their family ancestors. This included a fine lunch looking up at Rochsburg Castle. Such places do not exist in America, and they fill us with memories of fairy tales heard in our childhood.
Friday included giving ‘visiting lectures’ in two English classes. It was interesting to us what the pupils wanted to know about the USA. We tried to assure them that Hollywood movies do not tell it as it really is, and we loved the interaction we had with them. A lovely dinner with the Pohle family was the kind of generous hospitality that made us feel like family.
Saturday, the Count and Countess led us on a breath-taking tour of Dresden, so incredibly and beautifully restored. We concluded the evening attending a fine performance of the opera ‘Carmen’ in Chemnitz.
Jens and Barbara Elbers were our personal tour guides Sunday with visits to a flea market in Crimmitschau and to the Blankenhain open-air farm museum, followed by enjoying a wonderful home-made cheese cake in the Elbers’ home.
On our last full day in Glauchau, Count von Schönburg gave us a grand tour of Waldenburg Castle, and the von Schönburgs invited a friendly group to their home to send us off with a wonderful barbecue. This was typical of their generous hospitality all week, when every day began and ended with our being treated like royalty.
This short account leaves out many details and expressions of friendship which we enjoyed during our visit to Sensational Saxony! We look forward to return visits from Glauchau folks to Lynchburg, and we hope there will be many of them.