Germany in War Time: What an American Girl Saw and HeardMcAuley, Mary Ethel
History
Germany in War Time: What an American Girl Saw and Heard
McAuley, Mary Ethel
World War, 1914-1918 -- Germany
As soon as you arrive at your destination you must go to the police and
register. Here they write your whole history down on a field-gray card.
One would think that it was an easy matter to slip away and the police
would never know. This can be done very easily, but if you are caught
you get in an awful muddle. Police come through the trains unexpectedly
and ask to see your passport. If it is not in order you are liable to
be imprisoned, and you must pay a fine for every day that you are not
registered. Sensible people follow all the police rules. They are well
advertised and one cannot fail to know them.
[Illustration: _The Wittelsbach Fountain in Munich._]
An American lady I know went from Berlin to Munich without registering
at the police station. A man came through the train and asked her for
her pass, and when he saw that it was not stamped she was ordered
to report to the Munich police at once. When she got to Munich she
forgot to go to the police for three days, and when she went there the
good-natured Bavarian policeman let her off.
"I am so glad," she said, "I would not know what to wear if I went to
jail.'"
It was in September, 1916, that I made my last trip to Munich. One
seldom sees French prisoners in Berlin, but all the way from Berlin to
Munich I saw them working in the fields. All of these prisoners had on
blue coats and their famous bright red trousers. They made gay spots on
the dull German landscapes.
Every little farm had geese, and every little town had its little
garrison of soldiers, training. In some places the soldiers were out in
the fields drilling. They were running, jumping and shooting.
[Illustration: _The Frauenkirche, the Symbol of Munich._]
The center of attraction of our whole train was a young sailor from the
"Deutschland." He was a fine young fellow and he smiled at everybody.
At every station he got out and bought something to eat. He seemed to
have an endless appetite and a very long purse.
[Illustration: _King Ludwig of Bavaria._]
As one gets farther and farther into Bavaria, the wayside shrines begin
to appear. They are everywhere along the roads and in the fields. At
different places harvest workers could be seen gathered around the
shrines in prayer.
When one is many, many miles away from Munich, one can see the two
towers of the _Frauenkirche_, red towers with green tops. These towers
are the symbol of Munich.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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