Friedrichfeld is the first city in Germany that my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken who was leading C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division, would have passed through. The troops were in the thin strip of land between the Lippe River and the Lippe Canal. The canal had been destroyed by allied artillery fire and I have no doubt that Friedrichfeld was equally leveled. The allied had fired an intense volley of artillery fire before crossing the Rhine River and Friedrichfeld was in the line of fire.
For the first month of this trip, Seacoast Bank had cut me off from the money I had saved in my checking account because a hacker had attempted to buy a plane ticket to Amsterdam using my card information. A new card was shipped to my distant cousin in Koblenz Germany and I had just picked the card up from her. Since I now had some control over expenses, I decided to treat myself to a good lunch. This was a small victory celebration in my war with the bank.
Another reason for the binge was that it was raining outside so a sketch outdoors would be impossible. I was shocked at how crowded it was in Haus Kretchmer. A very large group was occupying three tables. The conversations in German were lively. I was proud that I was starting to pick up snippets of what was being said. I even managed to order my lunch in German, although, I used my Google translate camera to scan the menu.
I ordered a Schnitzel which was good but on the dry side. I asked for a water to drink but it came in a small bottle and it was seltzer water which I found odd. I was thirsty, so the water was gone long before I finished eating. Folks who ordered beer had huge mugs full of beer. I realized I might have to start ordering beer if I was to avoid going thirsty when I eat out.
In March of 1945, the Americans established a POW camp in, Friedrichsfeld for all the German soldiers who were surrendering. The camp could hold up to 35,000 men.
