[Leica] Visit to Wetzlar

[Ken Lassiter <kenlass@gate.net>]

I want to thank the people who gave me  advice on visiting Wetzlar last
month.  We had a lovely time and enjoyed the town very much.

We started with the visit to Leica Solms.  Karl-Hans Welcker was a
gracious host and showed us everything possible.  Unfortunately, we had
scheduled our visit for friday afternoon and almost all the workers had
gone home to begin to weekend early and hardly anything was running!
Strike one!  However I found a mistake in the Leica Tree they have in
the foyer.  The model of the very first M-6 they had on display had the
protective pads to prevent wear from the camera straps.  (In fact, all
the M-6s on display had the pads.) I know the first version did not have

these and pulled my 1986 M-6 out of my Domke 803 bag  to prove it.
Karl-Hans agreed with me and made a note to change the display.  I
offered to make a trade there and then to make their display correct but

they demurred.  (I am not sure they appreciated my pointing out a
mistake and they did not seem to appreciate the humor of my trade offer!

)

If you ever want to visit, you can find the directions to Solms on the
Leica website.  It is best to have an appointment as they can handle
only small groups.  We were six people in our group.

Then we went back into town and checked into our hotel, the
Wetzlarer-Hof.
On our first stroll to the Dom Platz, I looked for the Leica shop of
Lars Netopil
which I found has moved from Steinstrasse to Baugasse, just off the Dom
Platz, almost behind the Rathaus and "Tourist Information."  We found he

had just closed.  He closed at 5 PM on friday and does not open on
Saturday.  I certainly looked like a shop we Leica-holics would enjoy
visiting.  Strike two!

And the little Italian restaurant just down the street from the
Wetzlarer-Hof has become Arizona, an American Steakhouse featuring
chili,
steaks, etc.  Strike three!

But we did not really strike out.  Lunch on the Dom Platz at Haupwach
was great and dinners at the Wetzlarer-Hof and nearby Burgerhof  were
quite delightful, if a bit hearty.  I think the Burgerhof has a slight
edge.  The Wetzlarer-Hof is quite modern and is obviously a
businessman's
hotel while the Burgerhof a block away looks like an old German Hotel
and has much more atmosphere.

It is certainly a photogenic town and was great fun wondering the
streets with my 2 M-6s .  I encountered a young girl who exclaimed,
"Mein Gott, Zwei Kameras!"  If was fun trying to make a good photo of
the old Leica factory reflected in the glass facade of the new Rathaus.

The market on Saturday morning was interesting.  It was spargel time  --

the white asparagus.  Most restaurants in Germany had a special "Spargel

Karte" menu of dishes featuring white asparagus.  By law they must stop
picking it after June 24.  If you have never had the white asparagus in
Germany, Belgium or France in late May early June, do try it if you get
the chance.  It is marvelous, tender and a mild flavor that works well
with ham and boiled potatoes especially.  It was also strawberry time.
So we enjoyed many fresh strawberries for breakfast or for dessert.
Shopping is quite good in the pedestrian zone but everything closes at 2

PM on Saturday.   But by then it was time for the afternoon eis and a
bit of rest anyway.

I enjoyed watching the canoes on the Lahn.  They have to portage around
the dam at Wetzlar and there is a long track with rollers to make it
easy to get the canoes around the dam.  The more adventurous got into
their canoes while they were still on the track and let gravity give
them a bit of a roller-coaster ride to below the dam!

Of course, I photographed the Eisenmarkt in both morning and afternoon
light.

I want to thank fellow LUGers for their advice and ideas.  They helped
make
the visit more enjoyable for me and my wife.  If anyone has any
questions,
please fire away!  We were in Wetzlar for June 16-18.

Ken Lassiter