Field Trip No. 3 : Traben-Trarbach July 2013

[Charles]

Dear All,

Here is the first installment of Steve's Report, hot off the Press ...

Well, Dennis Wheatley Field Trip No. 3 seems to be well and truly underway! It is just Jean and me here, but we're having a great time, although of course we wish that other friends from our DW group were here with us. The Romantik Jugendstil Hotel Bellevue (formerly Hotel Clauss Feist - designed by Professor Bruno Mohring, who was also responsible for the Julius Kayser Winery where DW worked) is Art Nouveau down to the finest detail. The old railway station where DW arrived in Traben is now the Tourist Information Centre. We have identified the home of Herr Julius Kayser (now a part of the Hotel), and that of his cousin Fritz Kayser, where DW lived during his stay here. We are also fairly certain that the home of Julius Kayser's mother-in-law Frau Haussmann, who made DW so welcome upon his arrival, is right nextdoor to the hotel. There are several Art Nouveau buildings in town, including others designed by Bruno Mohring. We are planning to visit the Winery later, along with the tennis club and one or two other DW-related sites. A full report with illustrations will follow after our return. Charles, are you able to post this under a new topic heading please? I seem to be technologically challenged as usual! .... Many thanks, Steve .... we all look forward to the next episode !

[Steve Whatley]

The Tennis Club is still there, and a member told us that the clubhouse dates from when the club was formed in 1905. I'm not convinced that the building is that old, but it would be nice to think that it is the same one that DW would have known. There is a mountain stream gurgling by, just as DW recalled in his memoirs. On Sunday we also found in the Traben churchyard the memorials to Julius Kayser's father-in-law Oscar Haussmann (designed by Bruno Mohring), and to Julius Kayser himself, his wife, children, and other family members. No mention of Cousin Fritz, but we did lunch a few yards along the street from his house in Trarbach, which was home to DW for more than six months in 1913. [font=Times New Roman] [/font]