In The Land of The Giant Churches

I read an article about the origins of the surname ‘Pach’ on the Web. My father maintained that the name had German roots, but like everything else in central Europe with cross migration it’s not easy to tell for certain where some names originated. Very often a name will change to make it fit in with the migrant’s new environment. Our name was probably Bach or Backer and it seems to have originated somewhere between Augsburg in Bavaria and Saxony further east: in any case on the road to Poland. I’m heading now for Augsburg.

03.10.2017

I still have some time on my Leipzig tourist card; it’s raining and the tram stop is across from the hotel. Once again a bonus, rather than having to take a taxi.

It’s German Reunification Day and a national holiday but there is not much to suggest celebrations or maybe in east Germany they are ambivalent about it. No flags or anything; just quiet. Maybe that’s how they celebrate it – by ignoring it altogether.

The journey from Leipzig to Augsburg takes just under five hours but it’s not as tedious as it seems. The seats are comfortable.

I’m not sure what it is but I can remember the last time we were here as a family, nine years ago, I remarked that I could tell when we had crossed from what was East Germany into West Germany. The border is still there albeit an invisible one. It is still the same; the country houses look different even the road surfaces look different nearly thirty years on from re-unification. What hope is there for European integration when two halves of a country are so different? It is probably the case that what was West Germany has more in common now with Belgium and the Netherlands than today’s eastern part of Germany.

From busy Leipzig to what seems a serene Augsburg. They seem to be out for re-unification day here more than Leipzig, but perhaps that’s because the sun is shining. It’s still a quiet celebration – in the pubs. Then a shock – anywhere that sells food, restaurants and all is closed today! Pubs full, but they are only selling drinks. It’s been a long journey and I’m feeling hungry. The hotel staff come to my rescue even though no food is served in the evening and I end up having a delicious Bavarian platter.

I’ll get a proper look round tomorrow. I did see one statue to a Jakob Fugger! A surname like that definitely requires further research. In any case a name like that in Glasgow just would not do.

On Thursday I will go to Munich and get a sample of Oktoberfest.

04.10.2017

I like the look of Augsburg. Walking through the centre it looks to be laid back sort of city. The main street comes to an abrupt halt at a huge Baroque style church dedicated to St. Ulrich – in I go. The high altar is a massif of ornamentation, perhaps early Rococo. It’s probably got nothing to do with faith just shear decoration in stucco but it’s so very artistic. For that reason I appreciate the skill of the craftsmen who created it. I’m amazed that parishioners who attend Mass here would ever catch a words of what was going on, so busy they would be looking at the detail on the figures.

Pope John Paul II visited here in 1987 and there is a plaque dedicated to his visit with a quotation from him:

‘Werden wir nicht müde auf dem Weg zum gemeinsamen Herrn, er ist auch der Gerdeste Weg zueinander’

‘Will that we do not tire on the path of our Lord, through him we find each other’

The Botanical Gardens are well laid out with many hundreds of tree species, plants and flowers and a Japanese Garden, smaller and more compact than the one in Wrocław and much more interesting. Augsburg is twinned with Inverness and there is a Scottish plant section which includes heather – naturally.

All of which brings me to the Fugger family – yes indeed it’s funny especially as they were the richest family around here having founded a network of banks. There are businesses, statues, street names dedicated to the Fuggers. (can’t stop laughing)

Just how big do the churches get in Augsburg? The cathedral dedicated to the Visitation of the Virgin Mary has been on this site for over one thousand years and is basically an eclectic mixture of neo-Romanesque and Gothic although with various wars and the Reformation it has had to undergo extensive repairs in its time. It is one of the largest places of worship I have ever seen. The space inside is completely overwhelming.

In all Augsburg is a pleasant, clean place to walk around and there are enough businesses (the Fuggers notwithstanding) in and around the city for it not necessarily to be a commuter suburb of Munich. I’ll try and check out some of the local history and see if there is any mention of people who left here and moved east (probably financed by the Fuggers).

05.10.2017

As a dummy run for when I move on to Bonn on Friday, I take a tram to the main station.

Munich for the day and it’s not far from Munich’s main train station to walk to Marienplatz, in the old city. The old buildings are exactly as you would imagine and are not disappointing. There are, again, many churches and the first one I go into, St.Michael’s, has a museum in the crypt dedicated to Peter Rupert Mayer SJ who was a priest who resisted the Nazis, preaching in church that no Catholic could ever be a Nazi. He was of course imprisoned and rather than being sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp for political dissidents, the Nazis sent him to a monastery because they did not want to make him a martyr. He was an army chaplain in WW1 and held in respect by both Catholic and non-Catholic soldiers through the tremendous bravery he displayed in the trenches for which he was awarded the Iron Cross. However he lost a leg due to a grenade explosion. Pope John Paul canonised him in 1987 as Blessed Peter Rupert Mayer.

Cappuccino next with a view of the astonishingly massive detailing of the Town Hall. You pay a price but it’s worth it just this once for this view.

It’s the usual abundance of Catholic churches and it’s addictive; no matter how many you explore the decorative detail is rarely the same. As you might expect in an old city fashionable shops try to crowd out the old buildings but do not succeed. As I’m only here for about nine hours, I’ll try and get away from the old city, whose boundaries are marked by arched ‘tors’ or gates. I won’t be able to see too much to do the city justice but I’ll get a fair impression.

There is so much to photograph here; each corner you turn there is something else so my advice is to come and see for yourself. Munich is a perfect Renaissance city with a style heavily influenced by the Italian, as opposed to north Germany with it’s Gothic, Hanseatic and Neo-Classical styles. The interior of the Roman Catholic churches in Bavaria and in Baroque and Rococo styles.

As it’s Oktoberfest, lunch has to be Bavarian white sausages, mustard, brötchen and a litre of Munich’s finest brew. It is sunny at this spot in the biergarten of the English Gardens, an oasis of green, right here in the centre of Munich. What else is there to do than enjoy the moment, just as those around me are doing.

Watching the locals, one ritual I have to do just like the locals, is at the bronze (i think it is?) statue of the lion in Odeonsplatz, to rub the lion’s paw for luck. That part of the statue is pristine.

I like Munich; it’s different from Berlin and Leipzig in character and temperament. Anybody who wants a relaxing city break would be pushed to better this.

After Leipzig, I feel the same vibrancy, here in Munich, of those Polish cities I visited.

06.10.17

I haven’t put any connection between the Pach family and Augsburg yet, and it was after all only a remote possibility. So for now it can stand as a theory.

I’m reaching an understanding of the Fugger family now and their importance to Augsburg as merchants and bankers and, it seems, philanthropy. There is a development called the Fuggerei, and it is the oldest active social settlement in the world dating back to the 16th century. The family provided dwellings for the poorest in society and included a shop, a school and a clinic. It is still in use, having been renovated after the bombing raids of WW2. The bunker used by the community during the air raids is now a museum. A house is also used as a museum with examples of the furniture used and a description of how a family would have lived. The lintol heights are about 50cm less than today. It would appear that people were on average 1.5m high. A video presentation and a history of the Fuggers and the extent of the trade links Augsburg had not only with Europe but further afield depicts the family as immensely successful merchants with astute commercial acumen. Something caught my eye; a map showing extensive trading links with Kraków. So there could be a link after all in the proposition that our family migrated from South Germany and moved east maybe in the area around Kraków. You never know.

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