Elks, lagoon and Memelland, far away or omnipresent?

Today I strolled past the East Prussian State Museum in Lüneburg, eagerly awaiting the weekend’s rest. The building looked a little dusty. Why is there such a large museum here in the old salt town? I became curious and went inside. After buying a ticket, I set off. I assumed that it was only about the flight of the expellees and Staufenberg’s fight against totalitarianism. But far from it. First there was information about the first known settlement of the area by Baltic tribes. Archaeological finds revealed the crafts and creative skills of the people of this area. And also their closeness to nature.

Another sub-area was the Prussian nobility. There were many estates, some of which had been settled by old families for centuries. One interesting aspect was the opening up of the estates to citizens. This was a novelty in the 18th century. I was amazed that Prussia, which was aristocratic and reviled as authoritarian, promoted the aspiring bourgeoisie in such a distant country. The bourgeoisie as the engine of innovation and creativity in early industrialisation. That is modern. Because this is where people are active, who establish their existence, who emancipate themselves and stand in their self-efficacy, because they bear full responsibility for their survival. They have no patrons or sponsors, except that the Prussian authorities recognised the need for change and pushed for it.

But, as I summarised the historical knowledge I had accumulated at school, once upon a time. This once flourishing country came to an abrupt end in 1945 at the latest. Totalitarian forces drove out the East Prussians and brought brown-red suffering to the country. Now I was tempted to see what still existed of the old. And what exists there today. Travelling 1000 km to the east is no longer quite so difficult these days, but it’s no mean feat either.

So I worked out the easiest way to travel to the old German Far East.

Today’s Poland certainly has amenities such as motorways and motorways, which are being rapidly expanded even in remote areas. And there is a very inexpensive railway network, which is quite comprehensive and modern. However, once in the outback, it is somewhat, shall we say, patchy. A supplementary bus network is also being dismantled in the flat country. A petrol-powered taxi is therefore a wise choice as a means of transport.

So I opted for a combined solution: travelling east, I took a train to Poznan. I spent the night there and took a look round the city in the evening of this balmy summer: The architecture of the buildings looked very familiar. I took this as a foretaste of the second stage to come: I got myself a hire car for the rest of the journey. My destination today was Masuria, because this was the promised land that my grandmother used to tell me about regularly and in great detail – Lötzen, to be precise.

On the way, I crossed Pomerania and saw fields as wide as the sky, the grain ripening in the fields and shimmering golden against the blue sky. This was probably what used to be called the „granary“. My journey continued through increasingly dense forests. Then first small and later large lakes appeared. My head was buzzing. The land of dark forests. Eventually I reached Lötzen. I settled down there and strolled through the town. You can’t miss the large lakes that line this city. And there was also architecture whose shape and design looked fascinatingly Prussian.

Of course, it was noticeable that the Polish language dominates life today. However, the old was not to be overlooked. And nature is timeless anyway. And moving. A short journey into the surrounding countryside revealed beautiful avenues under which strolling by car is a real pleasure. Around the Mauersee lake you can see the unmistakable evidence of the totalitarian mongrels who hid here during the war and ensured that the world was covered in disaster, which unfortunately not even an Upper Swabian bomber could prevent.

But I also saw: dark forest, clear lakes, golden grain and rolling hills. Here, God could have said to the Prussians: „Make this land arable.“ And even without the Prussians, but with today’s population, it has remained that way. There are still farmers in the fields, albeit today with modern equipment. Even today, the clocks run slowly here and the storks settle in their nests on high stilts. And there are plenty of mosquitoes, whose love for passionate flaneurs literally goes under your skin.