By Lynne Goeldner Rompelman,'72
For many who spent time at Lawrence's German Study Center in Eningen, memories abound. I was a student at the Achalmschule from July through December 1970. It seems I've shared the stories about this adventure often and with many.
Two of my listeners, Emily and Garrett Rompelman, had the opportunity to visit "my" town with me in January 2001. We had just dropped off a group of college students at the Munich airport, where we rented our car. The drive was memorable, passing through many of the small towns I, as a student, had visited on the weekends.
Once in Reutlingen, I tried to get my bearings. I looked for signs for the train station, because I knew that, once I spotted the department store across from the station, I'd be able to find the road to Eningen. What a nightmare! Reutlingen is a huge city! I guess it was by luck alone that the car motored in the right direction.
At the Eningen town limits, I stopped to take the picture -- like the other 20 I have -- of the u.A. sign. The quiet road we once knew is now a major thoroughfare. There was non-stop traffic to and from Reutlingen. A bedroom community, Eningen seems to be under major reconstruction. This is a common sight: buildings being razed for the construction of apartment buildings.
We stayed at the Eninger Hof -- Herr Worn's new hotel. For 110 Deutsch Marks (about $60), the three of us spent a night and enjoyed quite a lavish breakfast. We left the hotel in the morning to walk the short distance to the Rathaus. On the way, we shopped at the new grocery store, and we passed the new Spielcenter. I showed my children the Hotel Garni, where I stayed, and the Gruner Baum and porn shop. We hiked down the street, heading for the brewery; I wanted the kids to see where the boys in our group had lived. To my amazement, it seemed that the entire block had been leveled to make room for apartment buildings.
We stopped at a new bank in town to exchange money. On the teller's window was posted an ad for the sale of a property in Eningen -- a boxy-looking three-bedroom house selling for 500,000 DM!
It was rather a sad hike back to the hotel. I knew that Eningen was changing; I had also visited in 1995 for our group's 25th reunion. (You know how we always found something to celebrate with Achalm bier!) However, the changes during the past six years have been drastic. I cherish my 1970 photos. I guess I am a sentimentalist. There is a good deal of truth to the statement "One can never go back. . . ."
Although I was a bit saddened by the visit, my kids thought the town was great. My daughter said, "You must have had fun. Look how busy it is here. And look at all the stores!"
P.S. I learned from the hotel owner that Mathias is still living in Reutlingen. Renate (!) and her husband operate Hotel Garni.