WORDS & ROADS: July 2011

Patrick Leigh Fermor, February 11, 1915–June 10, 2011, was an intrepid traveller, a heroic soldier, and a writer with a unique prose style. After his stormy school days, followed by the walk across Europe to Constantinople that begins in A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople—From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube (1977), continues with Between the Woods and the Water: On Foot to Constantinople from the Hook of Holland—The Middle Danube to the Iron Gates (1986), and finishes in his yet-to-be-published final book of the trilogy, he lived and travelled in the Balkans and the Greek Archipelago. His books Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese (1958) and Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece (1966) attest to his deep interest in languages and remote places. In the Second World War he joined the Irish Guards, became a liaison officer in Albania, and fought in Greece and Crete. He was awarded the DSO and OBE. He lived partly in Greece—in the house he designed with his wife, Joan Elizabeth Rayner, nee Eyres Monsell, in an olive grove in the Mani—and partly in Worcestershire. He was knighted in 2004 for his services to literature and to British–Greek relations. He is considered by some to be the best writer of travel literature.

Monday, July 4, 2011

more of Uwe Kündrunar Scharnberg, 1929–1937

My father, Uwe Kündrunar Scharnberg, was a student of Anthroposophy, a co-worker in Camphill, a biodynamic gardener, and a tree planter.

He was born at 11:40 in the evening of March 10, 1929 in the Schwedenschanze, a thatched roof hut near the Lower Saxon village of Höhbeck-Brünkendorf, Landkreis Lüchow-Dannenberg, Niedersachsen, Germany. Later this hut was renovated and updated into a café-establishment, in operation for many years until recent renovations and again enlarged, becoming a boutique hotel about 2007 or 2008.

Uwe’s parents were Moritz Johann Heinrich Scharnberg and Othilie Rott.

My father lived with his mother in a number of locations “all over the place” as he recently told me. These included Niedersachsen, Ribnitz-Damgarten in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern near the Baltic coast, and later in Hamburg. As a result, it was difficult for him to make and keep friends. This and his quiet, shy, and humble Piscean nature were a challenge to friendships throughout his life.

At three years old, Uwe was sent by train from Ribnitz-Damgarten to Ober-Beerbach, Hessen, southeast of Darmstadt, via Frankfurt am Main, alone with a sign on a string, showing name, address, and destination, around his neck. This was somewhat common practice in those days and through World War Two. Fellow travellers and train conductors could escort the child to his or her next train. In Darmstadt he was met by his Uncle Hans, husband of his first godmother, Cläre Dähke. The Dähke’s were involved in the Christian Community (Die Christengemeinschaft) in Frankfurt am Main and Darmstadt.

Also, Uwe went on a trip with his mother to East Prussia (Ostpreußen).

He commenced school at age seven, only completing seven years plus one year Berufsschule (apprenticeship school). The Second World War interferred with the education of many German children. In those days the school year started at Easter.

Uwe was not often with his father. His mother was nicknamed “Schimmel” by her friends. She was born in Barmen in the Wuppertal. His father was known by family and friends as “Hein”.

My father, Uwe Kündrunar Scharnberg, 1929–1937

Schwedenschanze, near Höhbeck-Brünkendorf, Landkreis Lüchow-Dannenberg, Niedersachsen, Deutschland in March 1929.

My paternal grandparents were Wandervögel (Wandering Birds), the hippies of Germany in the 1920s. Othilie Rott with son Uwe Kündrunar Scharnberg, Moritz Johann Heinrich Scharnberg, and Freidi Heinrichsdorff (grandfather’s daughter out-of-wedlock from a relationship with Martha Heinrichsdorff), at the Schwedenschanze in March 1929.

Othilie Rott with son Uwe Kündrunar Scharnberg in the Schwedenschanze in March 1929.

Othilie „Schimmel“ Rott, Uwe Kündrunar Scharnberg, and Moritz Johann Heinrich „Hein“ Scharnberg, at the Schwedenschanze on October 26, 1930.

Uwe with his mother in Hamburg in Easter 1931. Photograph by Julius Groß, Friedenstr. 63, Berlin (renowned photographer of the Wandervögel movement).