Koblinz Germany: The Patron Saint of Artillerymen

Posted on by Thor

This sketch marked a deviation from the military route of the 75th Infantry Division. I drove several hour south to Koblenz Germany to visit with my very distant cousin Nini Thorspecken-Friebe. To help cut the weight of my travels at the start, I shipped 6 empty sketchbooks to Nini from America. That saved considerably on the weight I would have to carry when I flew into Europe. Since I decided that a car rental was the only way to accomplish this sketch project, I could pick up the six sketchbooks and keep them in the trunk of the car.

On day one of this trip I had my identity stolen with someone trying to buy a plane ticket to Amsterdam using my credit card information. I had to cut the credit card in half and Seacoast Bank refused to work out a way that I could access the money I had saved for travel expenses. The only way the bank would allow expenses is if I had the new credit card they were sending out. The problem of course was that I was constantly on the move in Europe. I had that card shipped to my brother in Connecticut and then he sent it to Nini where I picked it up on September 28. I had to be clandestine about the process since the bank was treating me as if I was a criminal. That first month of travel was rough, but I always found something to eat. Apples and and pears were plentiful in the Netherlands. I would always throw fruit in my art bag if I saw them roadside.  The first month was certainly a lesson in keeping expenses low. The habit persists. If a breakfast buffet has apples in a bowl, one will always leave with me.

In Koblenz, I stayed in an Air B&B which was in the old city. Built in the 1600s the place was constructed in the traditional style with large wooden beams and stucco. The top floor room I had wasn’t build for someone who is six foot two. I bumped my head a few times and started to walk hunched over. A block away was Mozart’s childhood home. There was so much history in such a small cramped area.

The Barbara Monument is only a block or so from where Nini and her husband Raoul live in Koblenz. The Barbara-Monument features the central figure of Saint Barbara holding a gun barrel and palm branch, flanked by two allegorical figures representing War and Peace. Saint Barbara is the patron saint of artillerymen. I didn’t realize there was a patron saint of artillerymen. Besides being a monument it also functions as a fountain, although the water feature was off when I did the sketch.

Nini and Raul treated me to a very traditional German breakfast. Small breads rolls are called brötchen in German. There were meats and cheeses, jams and Nutella, and locks. The royal touch is a hard boiled egg prepared just right so the yoke is semi solid but a bit runny. The egg top is cut off and a tiny spoon is used to scoop out the egg white and yoke. I made it a point to try and find places that offered such a delicious spread to start the day.

Raoul really seemed to appreciate my project. He is in the German military as a medic. He is an anesthesiologist. He showed me his military backpack which I absolutely envied. I asked him about where he thought I might see the dragons teeth which were set up on the western front before World War II to stop an allied advance into Germany. He had plenty of suggestions. When he saw my sketch of the Sherman tank decked out as a mine sweeper, he pulled up YouTube videos that showed the vehicle in action. When Raoul saw sketches of beautiful Belgian cities with historic buildings surrounding a large square, he lamented that Germany once had such beautiful city centers before World War II saw them all destroyed.

He and Nini are world travelers. They have a map in their apartment that shows all the countries they have been to. It is an impressive display. I should set up a color coded map some day. Nini took me up in a lift which went across the Rhein River to the Koblenz Ehrenbreistein, which is a huge fort that acted as a military barracks. I had a-ent many days looking for a route across the Rhine River and now I found myself floating over the river on a lift.

Koblenz is on the confluence of the Moselle and the Rhine River so it is importantly militarily. That evening after the sun set, I walked a long path down from the fort, not exactly sure where the path would lead me to. Descending that dark path as the sun set behind the Koblenz skyline on the opposite shore of the Rhine, I felt this really was an adventure. I was hoping to resolve the tech issue with my laptop refusing to power up, and the financial problems of dealing with SeaCoast Bank. I couldn’t solve everything in the one weekend but at least the wheels were in motion. For this one moment, walking in the dark, I felt at peace.

During World War II Koblenz hosted the command of German Army Group B and, like many German cities, was heavily bombed and rebuilt afterwards. From March 16-19, 1945, it was the scene of heavy fighting by the U.S. 87th Infantry Division in support of Operation Lumberjack. The 75th Infantry Division was much further north fighting in the Ruhr pocket of Germany at the time.

The sketch opportunities in Koblenz were endless, but I needed to get back north and on the trail of the 75th Infantry Division’s movements into the heart of Germany.

About February 17, 1945 Le Havre, France

Posted on by Thor

Traveling to Le Havre, France by train from Paris was a challenge. Le Havre is the French port city that the 75th Infantry history notes at the port troops arrived at from South Hampton, England. I might be flying to England later in this trip to sketch South Hampton and to buy several weeks away from Schengen European countries so that I can attend a huge WWII reenactment in Belgium which features the 75th Infantry. I have 90 days to finish this project and I might need to extend the time spent by skipping away to England for a time.

I got several hundred dollars in Euros at an ATM machine in the airport for emergencies. Today at a restaurant the waitress told me they don’t take credit cards. I tried a credit card, a debit card, and neither worked. Thankfully I still had a few Euros inn my pocket. I spent an afternoon trying to get Euros from Western Union but was tld, they can not use a credit card to exchange money. It has to be cash to cash. I don’t have much American cash, s I am stuck.

My first day in Le Havre, I sketched this WWII Memorial, called the Monument Aux Morts. It was built in 1924 to honor the dead from WWI but later plaques were added t honor the dead from WWII. This monument would have been standing when my father, Arthur Thorspecken first arrived in Europe. It commemorates the 6,638 residents of Le Havre who gave their lives in the first World War, the Second World Wat and in Indochina and Algeria. One plaque was a tribute to the resistance fighters of Le Havre who were deported and died for France during WWII. Another plaque was for the Soldiers who died for France between 1939 and 1945. Another plaque was for the civilian victims who died during theh bombings of Le Havre during WWII.

Besides the dark metal plaques at the foot of the sculpture the large stone base was covered with names of the dead carved into the stone. Lady liberty spreads her wings on one end of the sculpture while the grim reaper bows his shrouded head looking over the names of the dead.

This was a good first day of sketching. At night I ate at a restaurant right in the building I was staying in. Then I went upstairs and started to book a room for the next day. The next stop was several hundred miles east of Le Havre just West of Colmar France. While trying to book a room, Seacoast Bank contacted me and said they suspected fraud with my Debit card. I had only bought a train ticket and several meals. The Le Havre room had been booked from the United States. Looking through the expenses they questioned, everything checked out except an attempted purchase of a plane ticket to Amsterdam. I had no intention of flying to Amsterdam, so sure enough someone had somehow hacked into my debit card account. Maybe I should not have ordered a Nathans Hot Dog at the airport. I still had the card, but was told I had to cut it up. I had a Revolut card that I decided to get for emergencies before I left the states. It now became my life line. Seacoast Bank however is holding my savings hostage and will not let me transfer funds to my Revolut Visa travel card. I also have an American Express card but it keeps failing, when I try to use it. Every day has become a battle, wondering if I will end up homeless in Europe with no access to my bank account. Raymond, a service rep for my bank refused to help saying, “I don’t know anything about that Revolut card and neither does my supervisor.” It seems ignorance is a sad excuse for poor costumer service.  Though the victim of card fraud, I feel like I am being treated as the criminal. Fourteen days into my Europe WWII project and the banking battle continues.  I have started eating fallen pears and apples to keep food expenses down so that the funds don’t run out before a solution is found. I just keep moving forward and hopefully it will all work out.  “Always get there somehow.”