I can remember details of my childhood, from age 3. Not all of the stories are good.

In 1970 I was still living in Germany. My family had just moved from Soest, in the North Rhine-Westphalia area
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soest,_Germany to the South. The Schwarzwald (Black Forest) is a famous German region, most widely known as the inspiration for the Grimm brothers' fairy tales, and with many small towns and cities, like Baden-Baden.

#StoryTime #Thread #Baden #Germany

Only one year in Soest, and we were displaced again and the last I heard from my friend Jürgen.
That's the sad side to military families: I've said goodbye to more friends, than most people know in a lifetime. But, I've also had amazing experiences, that others have not. I'd already taken bus trips through the Alps, skied in Austria, visited Neuschwanstein (Disney's Cinderella) Castle, and taken a Rhine Cruise through major cities and the wine regions in Europe.

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We were locals here, not tourists. Our day-to-day activities were also adventures, in their own right.
We lived at Flugplatz Söllingen (Canadian Forces Air Base), about 10-15 kms from the city of Baden-Baden, where this story takes us.

I’ve got a story for every town on this map.
Hügelsheim, Schiftung, Stollhofen, Kartung, Sinzheim, Iffezheim, Rastatt, Baden-Baden, Söllingen

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Baden-Baden is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, in the outskirts of the Black Forest, on the small river Oos. A popular attraction is the Kurhaus Spa and Casino, resort and conference complex.

The Kurhaus is not far from the Rhine river, with France on the other side. In school, I was on a weekend exchange program, with a French student who lived near here. Saw my live first Tennis match nearby.

Our goal is to climb mountains today.

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Three buddies (one was a girl) headed to Baden-Baden for the day. We took some food, and hiked up to the summit of the 2,191 foot Merkur mountain.

Back before the war, this was a busy spot, easily accessed by tram to the top, from 1913 to 1967. Then it was closed, the buildings were boarded up, and the tram shut down.

On the mountain top was a hotel, restaurant and viewing towers.
(See #AltText)
It's changed since 1970. Google Satellite view shows tourists now.

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Since 1967, the buildings were boarded up, and the tram shut down. Only fit hikers made the journey, the spiraling foot road took hours, it’s about 10 kms return to see the top. We took the direct route. The old tracks are between 23° and 54° incline, with a difference in altitude of 1,214 feet. We climbed up those old tracks, a bit scary looking back down, when we'd rest.

The Tram had been securely cabled, into the station at the top, caged off to prevent access.

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The tracks were so steep (50° grade) that it felt like you were climbing a ladder. We had to stop and rest several times.

We were eating #marshmallows at one stop, when some hikers came along and asked what they were? We gave them one to try.

https://germanlife.com/2022/01/marshmallows-for-all-seasons/
Marshmallows were not available to German stores at the time.

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I remember the man, when he found out we were Canadians, asked if I knew Bob from Toronto? (why can't I just say NO?). I looked all surprised and said, "BOB, you know BOB too? Wow, what a small world." I'm sure he caught on, as he walked away, there were over 2 million people in Toronto, and 200,000 named BOB. And I never lived in Toronto.

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We finally reached the top, stepped off the tracks just short of the control building and up to explore the hotel. Boards won't keep teens out. We had been in every room.

(today the paths are much more refined, and have been upgraded to include access for vehicles to bring supplies to the restaurant)

The views are fantastic. Imagine. We're alone, just three of us owning the whole mountain top. Let's explore?

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Outside we found the access door to the tower. When we got to the top, on the observation platform, we stripped down to sunbath for awhile. But soon, we heard a plane, and were startled by one circling over us.
Someone might report activity up there, so we ducked back into the Hotel, and went off to find access to the tram main control room next.

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There was still 220v power available in there, with a working telephone!
If someone ever released that stored cable car, it would drop so fast, it would go through the Kurhaus Spa & Casino.

And if we were caught in there, yikes, I’m afraid we'd have been in tons of trouble.

We'd pretty much seen everything, and were exiting the buildings, when, in one of the hotel rooms, a long piece of jagged window glass went through my sneaker and impaled in my toe, cutting me badly.

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We did our inexperienced best to bandage it, but it's a wonder that I didn't bleed out, on the way down the mountain. My sneaker would fill up and spurt blood when I stepped. It hurt a bit too, which slowed me down. Remember how steep this drop is? On one foot! No ropes, or even gloves. And had eaten all our marshmallows by now.

When I got home, of course, we said nothing about breaking in a motel, being in a restricted control room, or the steep climb of 54° dripping blood down 1200 feet.

I don’t know how we 'got away with', some of the things we did, including staying there on the mountain overnight once.

Adventures like this one, will stick in my head forever. I’ll be constantly remembering in vivid details, each part of this trip, so long ago.

Have you ever wanted to go back?

To relive those childhood memories.

Here’s my advice. DON’T!! 😢

My memories remain unchanged forever. Today, every part of that has changed, in a disappointing way.
I went back.
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After I moved back to Canada and joined the Navy, I had chances to go back to visit.

Once was in 1974. Not too much had changed. I was able to fool the vice-principle at the high school, pretending that I wanted to be registered.
His back was to me, he turned & called me by name. He forgot my sister, the Honor Student, saying, “why do we always remember the bad ones?”
I briefly summarized my activities since he’d seen me last, and he wished me well in my Naval career choice.

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The community hadn't changed much, several friends still lived there. I still spoke a few words of German. I was able to get accommodation on base & thrown back off the base, in the same week.
Word to the sailors: Never call Sergeant major, 'CHIEF'.
I could see the aneurysm form on his forehead. They earned that right to be called SIR, no matter what rank they display.
Every morning, someone pees in their cornflakes to make them the character that they are now. Really mean.

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The next time I got back, was in 1983. Things had changed dramatically.
It ruined my childhood memories. They had an IKEA type store where the Post Office & Radio Station had been on base.
I rented a van & slipped over to Strasbourg for the day, a place I wasn’t authorized to be. I had no Passport until the late 80s and could not get one again until 2008. After my life with the Military and 33 years of service, I wasn’t *Canadian* enough for a passport. That’s another story.

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As part of my week with a rental van, I decided to revisit Merkur Mountain. I regret doing it now, it ruined a lot of my teen memories.

I parked in the parking lot, bought tickets for the tram and headed to the top.
Merkur Mountain and Merkur Funicular Railway - Baden-Baden

https://www.baden-baden.com/en/attractions/merkur-mountain-and-merkur-funicular-railway-704bb875d3

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There were people everywhere, the restaurant and control room parts of the mountain top were in full swing, tourists and crowds everywhere.
No longer restricted by the long winding road around the mountain, tourists were at the top in 20 minutes. There was nothing I wanted to see now, and I took the tram back down. It felt kind of weird to be all hyped up, then totally deflated in the end.

This happens every time I return to a childhood memory. Nothing stays the same.

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As I drove back to town, waiting at the traffic lights, the view of the Kurhaus in front of me, the radio was playing a new hit by Eddy Grant.

The rental van had no Air-conditioning, so I had the windows down, blaring this through the region of Baden-Württemberg

♫ Electric Avenue ♫
#NowPlaying #NSR Eddy Grant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtPk5IUbdH0 1982

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My flight didn’t leave for a week, so I had time to travel around.
I took in a huge concert of 40,000 people that Sunday. On July 10, 1983; SUPERTRAMP / Chris DeBurgh / Joe Cocker (A MIDSUMMERNIGHT CONCERT) Wildparkstadion, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

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