Chapter 1 #2
She looked at him, seeing the fondness he held for her shine in his eyes.
During their courtship, she’d been impressed by the much older man with the impeccable manners and the charming attitude.
He had given her his complete attention, showered her with gifts, opened a completely new and exciting world to her.
The time passed as if in a drunken stupor, despite the four long years of the Great War when he’d served as an officer.
Heartwarming, soulful letters had flown back and forth and, on their wedding day, she had truly been the happiest woman on earth.
Gradually, though, that had changed. Their passionate love was gone, and these days it seemed their marriage was mostly a business affair.
Edith often wondered whether things might have been different if she’d been able to give him the heir they both so fervently wished for.
But after five years of marriage, her womb was still barren, which she attributed to his increasingly infrequent visits to her bedroom after her two heart-shattering miscarriages.
She pushed the quelling bitterness away. Despite them drifting apart Julius was an upright man; others in his position would have divorced her by now, replaced her with a younger, more fertile woman.
What would she do then? She certainly had no desire to join the army of jobless, hapless, penniless beggars on the streets. Living in a marriage devoid of honeymoon-passion was a small price to pay for the security of always having enough food on the table and a roof over her head.
After breakfast, Julius retreated to his bedroom to take a nap, whereas Edith headed into the kitchen to give the staff their last instructions for the reception tonight.
When it was time to get ready to leave, she changed into a woolen two-piece costume, complete with matching hat and gloves, plus a greatcoat against the humid cold of November.
Being so near to the Alps, the temperature in Munich could get rather chilly this time of year.
The driver was waiting for her in the huge reception hall of their mansion on the prestigious Koniginstrasse.
It was not far to Munich Central Station, nevertheless she preferred to leave early.
Julius’ mother had taught her that a lady never arrived late, except when she wanted to make a statement.
Since picking her brother up didn’t warrant making a statement, she told the driver, “I’m ready to leave.”
“Yes, gn?dige Frau.” He held the door open for her.
Before stepping through, she turned and told the housekeeper to make sure the guest room was in impeccable order to receive her brother.
Joseph was four years her senior and she had been looking up to him ever since she could remember.
He worked as a tram driver in Berlin, where her family lived.
He might be rough around the edges, definitely not the kind of man whom the Falkensteins usually mingled with, but he possessed a good heart and always fought for what he believed was right.
That was the way their father, a schoolteacher, had brought up his four children: Joseph, Edith, Carsta and Knut, in order from oldest to youngest.
The driver rushed ahead of her to hold open the passenger door.
“To the train station, gn?dige Frau?” he asked, no doubt having been alerted by the housekeeper about Edith’s plans.
“Yes, please. My brother will arrive on the afternoon train from Berlin. It’s his first visit here.” She noticed a tad too much excitement in her voice.
“He will love it in Munich,” the sturdy man, a born Bavarian, said with unconcealed pride at his city.
“I’m sure he will.” While they drove down the Ludwigstrasse, passing the venerable University of Munich, the Bavarian State Library, and other iconic buildings, Edith observed the huge number of beggars lining the streets and murmured to herself, “People are suffering so much.”
“Shall I stop and pull down the shades on your window?” the driver helpfully asked.
“No. No. It’s just, the newspaper this morning said there are dozens of suicides every day by people who are at their wits’ end.”
The driver glanced at her, his face unreadable. “It’s all the government’s fault. They betrayed us by paying all these reparations after the war.”
Julius had told her that, despite popular belief, this wasn’t the real cause of the depressing economic situation. Edith, though, didn’t feel inclined to start an argument with the driver, who obviously rehashed what he heard at the regulars’ table in the beer hall.
During her first months in Munich, Julius had taken her to a beer hall on several occasions.
She’d found that she disliked the bitter taste of beer as much as the raucous atmosphere, and had been relieved when he’d discouraged her to step into a beer hall, even in his company, after the state of the German nation lapsed into chaos.
When the automobile reached Munich Central Station, she told the driver to wait for her outside by the car, relishing a rare moment of privacy. It definitely had its perks to be surrounded by servants at all times, but it also came with the constant need to present a certain image of herself.
At the platform she ascertained the train was running late, yet she was reluctant to walk back.
If the driver got concerned, he’d come inside and check up on her.
Therefore she decided to settle in a café next to the platforms, admiring the majestic structure of the huge station hall.
Here, she had a perfect view across the platforms while being sheltered from the wind.
A waitress came to her table in a rather tattered uniform. “I’m sorry, we don’t have cake or sweet pies, just buns.”
Edith wasn’t here to eat anyway, since she would have dinner later at the welcome party. “Just a coffee, please.”
She had taken a purse full of bills with her, and yet, it barely sufficed to pay for the cup of coffee.
This interaction drove the point of the rampant inflation home, as she remembered the conversation with Julius this morning, complaining about the lack of actual bills.
Just a week prior this amount of money would have been enough to buy a hat and gloves.
Sipping her coffee, she heard a long whistle announce the arrival of Joseph’s train.
She quickly emptied the cup and walked toward the platform, waiting for her brother at the head.
Masses of passengers disgorged from the wagons and passed her by, until she spotted him: a tall, blond man who towered over most of his compatriots by half a head.
He noticed her in the same moment, waved and sped up his steps. “Edith! Good to see you.”
Mindful of her mother-in-law’s disdain for showing emotions in public, Edith took a step backward to avoid Joseph’s outstretched arms and shook his hand instead. “It’s all my pleasure. How was the journey?”
“Awful. We sorely need a government that brings back law and order,” Joseph answered.
Edith had no intention of engaging in a political discussion, since there would be enough of that later in the evening, so she asked, “Are you tired? Julius has insisted I organize a reception in your honor this evening.”
Joseph rolled his eyes. “Never misses an opportunity to do business.”
Giving her brother a scathing look, she said, “It is because of men like my husband that Germany hasn’t completely shattered. He is working day and night to provide cash to the population.”
“Well, he’s a Jew after all, isn’t he?”
“That’s not true, he’s a Protestant just like you and me,” Edith protested. Julius had converted to Christianity on the day he turned twenty-one, much to the chagrin of his rather religious mother.
“It’s the lineage that counts, and your husband comes from a long pedigree of Jews, so it’s only natural that he would have the business running in his blood.
” Joseph glanced at his sister. “That is nothing bad in itself. Banks are desperately needed to keep the economy afloat, as you said yourself. And to answer your question: no, I’m not tired. You can take me out on the town.”
Edith laughed. It was just like her brother to spend a sleepless night on a train and still want to venture out.
Perhaps understandably, because it was his first visit to Munich and he’d only stay for a couple of days before he had to return home.
“Julius has given me the use of the car and driver for the entire afternoon, so where do you want to go?”
“I’d like to get a taste of that famous Bavarian beer.”
“Then we absolutely must visit the Hofbr?uhaus.” Julius and his acquaintances preferred to gather in the fancy hotels and bars, but she reckoned her brother would rather visit the down-to-earth place that proclaimed to brew the best beer in all of Bavaria, and offered the folk music to go with it.
They walked to the automobile, where she advised the driver to take them to Platzl Square.
Minutes later, they stopped in front of a huge stone building in the very center of Munich’s old town. In front stood a horse-drawn cart, loaded with ten wooden barrels.
Joseph jokingly said, “Hey, don’t carry the beer away, I’m dying of thirst.”
“There will be enough for you,” Edith answered her brother and beckoned him to follow her inside. At this time of the day it was rather empty, so they had a choice of tables and opted for one in a corner of the impressive beer hall.
“This thing is huge!”
“It is indeed. The Schwemme, which is what they call the ground floor hall, where we are currently, can seat around thirteen-hundred guests.”
“Impressive. You often come here?”
“Rarely. If we do then we use one of the rooms not open to the general public, like the ballroom or the coats of arms hall.”
“Well, I much prefer to stay with the normal people,” Joseph said. “Hitler does the same, he’s a true leader, going where the people are, not hiding in some fancy hotel sipping champagne.”
“Everyone seems to be talking about him.” Edith was reminded of her conversation with Julius this morning.
“That’s because he’s up and coming; finally, a politician who actually cares about us normal folks.
Did you know that he recently founded his own party, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party?
It already has fifty thousand members.” Joseph puffed out his breast, leaving no doubt that he was one of the fifty thousand.
“Let’s not talk about politics. Rather, tell me how is the family doing?” She yearned to hear about her parents and her other two siblings, Carsta and Knut.
Joseph complied. Like most non-Bavarians he wasn’t used to drinking an entire liter—a mass—of beer. So, after the first one, the alcohol did its work and relaxed Joseph’s tongue. “I like it here. I might be staying for a while in Munich.”
“How so?”
“It’s nothing official yet. Things are in the works,” he answered evasively.
“A new job?” He had worked as a tram driver for the Berliner Strassenbahn until recently when, due to the bad economy and the prohibitive cost of electricity, the communal company had declared bankruptcy and let go all of its employees.
While the successor, a privately owned company, had re-hired about half of them, with less pay for longer working hours, Joseph hadn’t been among the lucky ones.
“Probably.”
Since he didn’t elaborate, she asked, “What about your family? Are they going to join you?”
“Not at the moment. Sandra has taken the children to live with her parents in the country until the situation in Berlin improves.” Joseph pressed his jaw tight.
“I’m sorry. That must have been a difficult decision for the two of you, but I guess you need to do what is best for the children. I have heard so many awful stories about people starving in the big cities.”
It was clearly not a topic Joseph wished to discuss, because he suddenly seemed to be very interested in the orchestra on stage.
Edith bit on her lip, unsure whether she should push it or rather change the topic.
Finally she settled on middle ground. “Perhaps Julius can help. You should have asked him right away.”
Joseph’s gaze returned to her. “I’d hate to depend on the charity of my brother-in-law.
So I waited to visit until I have something to offer him as well.
” Edith was intrigued, hoping he’d elaborate.
Unfortunately, her brother showed his unwillingness to offer more information by taking a big gulp from his second beer, and she knew better than to ask.
Men didn’t like to be quizzed about what they considered men’s business.
Finally, he broke the silence, asking, “But tell me about you? Are you finally pregnant?”
Edith stiffened inside. That question was a sore spot for so many reasons.
She hated everyone asking her what was taking so long and why she hadn’t given Julius the heir he desired so much.
Obviously everyone assumed it was her fault, that five years after their wedding she was still without child.
What did they know about the horrible grief of losing two unborn children, coupled with Julius’ increasingly distant behavior?
A decade ago, at the tender age of sixteen, she had met him, a man of the world, at a dance event, and had immediately been smitten. She had not believed how lucky she was that Julius Falkenstein had taken a liking to her.
Unfortunately, their courtship had been cut short by the outbreak of the war, when he’d joined the army as an officer to fight for his nation.
Nevertheless their love had deepened throughout the years of separation and as soon as he returned in 1918, plans for a wedding were made.
If only back then she’d known how lonely being Frau Julius Falkenstein would be.
“You’ll be among the first ones to know.”
“Ah, don’t be sad, little sister. God gives children to all who deserve, and you are very deserving.”
She hoped he was right. Having an infant to care for would finally give her life a reason.
***