Richard Foster
I met Alan when he came to Munich a few years ago to review the Bavarian State Opera’s world premiere of “Alice in Wonderland.” He had a fine time at the performances and the meals with others.
At one point he mentioned that he had been in Munich in the 1950’s, visiting a relative there. I believe it was his sister, married to someone in the US Army. He was living in Vienna at the time and made the trip.
One event of his stay then was that he met a young man in the English Garden who took him home to visit his family in the nearby town of Schäftlarn. They had a meal; then the mother prepared food for Alan before his long trek back.
I took time off from work and we recreated Alan’s trip to Schäftlarn. Now it is a 20-minute ride on the S-Bahn. Everything was green and prosperous, with reconstruction long since completed. Alan’s German was quite impressive after over 50 years; he had a few words with the local residents. We walked around, looked into the big church, and had lunch at a local restaurant before taking the S-Bahn back to Munich.
