International Motorcyclists Tour Club Dampfloks, Schlossen und Gartens
(or "where is my anorak?" )
Friday 3 September found 15 club members meeting up at Meiningen having made their way from differing countries by various routes. Reasons to be cheerful number 1 ( RTBC1) was that this ex DDR town has a locomotive works with a festival when we were there and is where the boiler for the A1 ‘Tornado’ was made. RTBC2 was the excellent restaurant in the old town.
On to Worlitz and its palace with ‘the English gardens of Germany’ set in 227 acres of parkland and including many lakes and canals. We had a very informative tour by our guide Cristina including the history of the Duke of Dessau Anhalt who saw stately homes and Capability Brown gardens whilst visiting Blighty. RTBC3 were the hand operated rope ferries.
Early morning at Wörlitz
Next station stop was Oberweisenthal with der Fichtelbergbahn an historic narrow gauge railway (RTBC4).
Along the Czech border to Gohrisch high above but a little away from the Elbe near Konigstein. RTBC5 & 6 were a trip on a beautifully restored paddle steamer to the wonderful palace at Pillnitz and RTBC 7 & 8 the tour of the fortress at Konigstein and the very nice chalet style Parkhotel Margarentenhof.
In and out of a corner of the Czech Republic brought us to Bertsdorf-Olbersdorf and the Hotel Bahnhof overlooking the station (RTBC9) with its daily scene of the simultaneous start of two steam trains leaving for their respective destinations.
Now for something completely different! En route to Potsdam a number of ‘party members ‘ stopped at Gorlitz fortuitously on the one day of the year when the ancient public buildings were open to the public (RTBC10). Dampness did not detract overly from the palaces and gardens of Sans Souci the summer residence of Prussian Kings and Emperors and Cecelienhof in Potsdam itself an attractive city with its Dutch quarter and grand buildings.(RTBC11).
Lauterbach am See on Rugen was experiencing the ‘silver wave’ when we were there! Berlin’s yuppies were not due for a few more weeks. The hotel named after the resort was excellent with its gourmet restaurant (RTBC12). Steam railways were back on the menu with the Rasender Roland taking Partitourists to other resorts on the island. Nearby was Putbus with some 16 white neo-classical buildings around a Circus (Plaza). Too many RTBC to count !!
A deviation en route to our last group stop at Bad Doberan was Prora , six hideous six storey buildings each 500 metres long which would have become a holiday resort for 20,000 workers at any one time had it been completed before the workforce was diverted to the Nazi’s war effort (not necessarily a RTBC but interesting nonetheless) .
Nazi holiday camp at Prora
‘The railway runs through the middle of the street’ in Bad Doberan : the narrow guage steam railway‘Molli’ runs to the Baltic Sea resorts including Heiligendamm where a G8 conference was held a few years ago and was the first seaside resort back in the day.
The main street in Bad Doberan
All this in what was the old DDR - generally cheaper and friendly people with a lot of renovated buidings in amongst the ‘has potential‘.
Finally RTBC for some great motorcycling roads, good friends, excellent sights and sounds and food and drink. Thanks to Bob and Elaine for making it happen.