2014-11-23 51 12

Location

Today's location is next to the Magnus-Gottfried-Lichtwer-Gymnasium school in Wurzen.

Country: Germany; state: Sachsen (Saxony, EU:DE:SN); district: Leipzig rural district.

Weather: Sunny, but fresh (around 7 °C)

Expedition

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After the successful but unsatisfactory expedition two day ago this expedition promised to be more interesting: The hashpoint was next to a school building, it was a Sunday so there would be no annoying pupils and Wurzen is an old town with some interesting features (and a coveniently placed train station). At 1 p.m. I started to cycle to the Dresden-Neustadt train station, I had to hurry because once again I started a few minutes later than planned, but I was on time to buy an all-day all-Saxony ticket. On the train I used the time to read some magazines that had accumulated in my appartment. Once I arrived at Wurzen station I started walking towards the hashpoint. I passed the Wettinsäule, an obelisk remembering the Wurzen casualties of the Franco-Prussian War (1870/1871), then I followed some streets until I was near the school. Only 100 meters from the hashpoint I made a disappointing discovery: There was a fence around the school grounds with a closed gate. Since my schools hadn't been fenced in, this was very unexpected. I started to walk around the school, passing a firefighter access gate (not locked but closed, so I stayed outside) and found myself in an allotment garden. After crossing it I followed the road that lead me to the rear side of the school. There the gate stood open, but I decided not to trespass, since the situation wasn't clear. Had I arrived from the rear side first, not knowing about the closed front gate, I would have easily reached the hashpoint without any second thoughts. But so I completed my loop around the school grounds, then I walked back to the Wurzen city center. I went to the cathedral, which had its 900-year-anniversary this year. From the wikipedia article I knew I'd find an extensive bronze outfit and pews with backrests that could be turned around to reverse the seating direction between church services and organ performances. Afterwards I slowly walked towards the train station, passing more interesting sites: A piece of art made with the design of a carpet, but cut in pieces and fixed with ropes three-dimensionally in the air so that only from one place it appeared as a whole; an 18th century post milestone with the distances to other Saxon cities (18 3/8 leagues = hours on foot to Dresden, hooray for modern modes of transport); a tiny building in memory of the 17th century plague victims; and a memorial to the casualties of the first world war. By the time I was at the train station I was feeling quite cold. On the return trip I read more magazines, arriving in Dresden at 17:30, then I cycled home from the train station.