Every so often Padma asks me, "Why don't you go and visit your old hometown?" Why? Where is home? We came from East to West Germany with the Berlin Airlift during the Soviet Blockade from June 1948 until May 1949 and ended up in Braunschweig. That's where I grew up, went to school, and served my articles before I left in 1963.
That's a sum total of fifteen years. Does that make Braunschweig my hometown? I mean, I lived longer in Canberra in Australia, and even longer in Nelligen since my retirement in 2000. Maybe Nelligen is my hometown now and I should just go across the river and visit the village.
However, to keep Padma happy I did go and visit my old hometown again with the help of YouTube, and, frankly, I found it less than inspiring ...
... although I did get a bit excited at 17:01 and screamed "Links, links!" for YouTube to turn left to see the office where I served my articles all those sixty years ago at # 2 Münzstraße but no one heard me. Schade!
And I screamed "Links, links!" one more time at 24:04 to see all of the imposing building of the Braunschweigische Staatsbank where I had worked in the "Auslandsabteilung" after my first return from Australia when I still thought it might be possible to settle back into life in (c)old Germany. But "der Duft der großen weiten Welt" was already well up my nostrils and, after only two months, I resigned and fled Germany again, first to South-West Africa, and then back to Australia. Nicht schade!
