Berlin

Perhaps, the words “ghost town” may not appropriately convey the impression of Bischofswerda. But I can think of no better words. No, it is not in the sense of your goose-bumps-on-your-skin or creepy-crawly-feeling-up-your-spine kind of place. Yet, you cant help thinking that your voice might echo back to you if you call out into its empty cobbled streets.

But then, this is a Sunday morning! A chilly, foggy one for that matter. Not quite long ago, the council halls tower clock dingdonged the hour of eight. Apparently, it is still too early for any church-bound crowd to appear. Besides, Sunday mornings are quiet times even in many bigger cities. Perhaps, it just might be different on a normal working day? A matter of conjecture.

Here I must aver that it is by no capricious whim of coincidence that my second visit to this sleepy Saxony town of just about 15,000 inhabitants falls once more on a week-end. It is rather by a premeditated design, prompted by sentimental reasons. Id woken up by half past five this morning with my heart brimming over with gratitude, gratitude that I was granted another opportunity to be again this year.

Not unlike a sleepwalker, I yield to an impulse to hasten down Kirchstrasse from Marktplatz. First port of call: the church, whose long spire pokes high above the roofs of the neighbouring buildings. I believe, I could have seen it if I’d craned my neck enough from any of my Evabrunnen Hotels attic room windows. After a few shots with my digital camera, I move on to Haus Gambrinus. It is located just at the junction, where Kirchgasse meets Kirchstraße.

In the upper floor of this faded pink ancient building, the greatest Author albeit still largely unknown to the majority of mankind opened his baby eyes to this earth-life, as the youngest son of a middle-class family. Here too, the patter of his infant feet livened up its homely interiors. This is just as his childlike laughter might have gladdened the hearts of his proud parents, who used to run an inn on the ground floor of the building.

Born on April 18 1875, this Author bore the names Oskar Ernst Bernhardt but later wrote his life-changing books under the pseudonym Abd-ru-shin. His main work, In the Light of Truth (The Grail Message), which illuminates the path to understanding spiritual matters, is a collection of 168 lectures in three volumes. Through this unique work, many readers (about 10,000 of whom are in Nigeria) have drawn immense strength for their earthly existence. Shunning all personality cult, the Author addresses the individual human being alone irrespective of their creed, race or nationality and enjoins him to examine the contents of the work objectively. A non-profit movement, known as the Grail Movement, which has evolved from among the circles of the readers of this work worldwide, is loose association of like-minded individuals who have found value in the writings of Abd-ru-shin. Since discovering this work, I as a member of this movement have always haboured the fervent wish to always visit this town anytime duty calls me to Germany.

Now, you know why Haus Gambrinus has made Bischofswerda an important tourism destination for me. It owes its restoration and maintenance to the efforts of the International Grail Movement.

After tea with the Glitzners, who live in an adjoining flat, I head for the towns train station with the fervent wish to keep returning to this little-known Saxony city as long as I am granted the opportunity.