Albrecht Schneider

Prof., University of Hamburg

Dear Natalie,

Your grandpa Bruno was a dear friend of mine. I knew him since about 1976, and we met every now and then either in the U.S. or in Europe. In between, we exchanged letters, books (and later, emails) quite frequently. In about 2000 (or, maybe, a little later) he had some lectures to give in various universities in Germany as well as (I think) in his native Prague, and since he had a few days off between these lectures, he came to stay with me and my wife at our house in the country (about 25 miles east of the City of Hamburg, and about 15 miles south the old Hanse City of Luebeck, which almost borders on the Baltic Sea - it is less than 10 miles from the City Center to the coast, where the nearest seaside resort is called Timmendorder Strand meaning "Timmendorf Beach").

You have to know that Bruno had spent half a year or even more as a very young scholar at the University of Kiel in the 1950s (Kiel is a harbour city on the coast of the Baltic Sea about 50 miles north from here. It is the capital of the Schleswig-Holstein, one of the 17 German States and Free Cities). So he knew this area from his previous stay quite well eben though that had been decades ago.

When he was with us for a weekend, we decided to take a trip to Luebeck (which is a marvellous medieval town that has been restored, to a considerable extent, in its historical setting after severe damages Luebeck had suffered from World War II bombings). In Luebeck, one of the famous places to go is a café called "Niederegger". As the name indicates, they originally did come from Austria (in fact, from Salzburg as Protestant refugees leaving Catholic Austria, about 300 years ago). Niederegger is not only a café, but also a company that produces MARZIPAN, and is famous for the quality and variety of their MARZIPAN products. As you know, Bruno was a great fan of MARZIPAN. So we paid a visit to this café where we had some MARZIPAN CAKE of course, and bought some more for his days in Europe (maybe, he saved some of the MARZIPAN to bring it to Wanda).

I attach two photos of Bruno's, one showing him at the entrance to the Niederegger café and Marzipan shop, the other was taken at Timmendorf where we took a walk along the Baltic Sea. I remember those days very well, and I deeply miss Bruno who was a wonderful friend.

Best wishes and kind regards