!AUS E-Book

Boris Reinhard

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 302

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

!Aus….it happened in the west. At the age of 19, Margarete flees from her violent master. She is seduced by the historically famous poster with the inscription "From maid to colonial lady". In the year 1913 the "German Association for Women" shipped her to South-West Africa in order to marry a settler she never met. She does not find the paradise she had hoped for, but she bravely embraces the foreign world and the experiences that her new life brings. It is the story of ordinary people who experienced the incredible in a faraway place. A story based on true events, which, against the backdrop of both world wars, brings to light a hidden piece of Germanys colonial history.

Leseprobe

Boris Reinhard

!AUS

CHAPTER I

It was the summer of 1913 when Margarete arrived in Bremen at the age of 19. She was the daughter of a juggler. Times were hard and her father had decided to put the girl in the service of a doctor based in the city. Doctor Graf was an overweight, short man with thinning hair and a carefully twirled mustache. He stood at the foot of the stairs of his feudal town house and was already waiting for the arrival of the juggler's family. When Margaret's father had finally found the doctor's house, the men made their bargain. Margarete did not say goodbye to her father. Anxious and with a blank look on her face, she went up the stairs and disappeared into the building.

Doctor Graf followed her and closed the oversized front door behind him. He led Margarete through a large entrance hall to a long corridor that ended in a backyard where the servants' quarters were located. The doctor stopped and called out in a firm voice:

"Elisabeth!"

A plump woman of advanced age opened the door of the servants' quarters. She had long gray hair tied in a knot and looked at Margarete with tired eyes as she asked, bored:

"Is that her?"

The doctor nodded and replied:

"Dress her up and show her where she can sleep."

Then he turned around and disappeared back into the main house.

Elisabeth beckoned the intimidated girl over and spoke to her:

"So you're the new maid. You're very pretty. You have beautiful blonde curls. I'm Elisabeth, the cook. Come with me, I'll show you around."

Margarete thanked her politely and followed the cook into the servants' quarters. Although the small extension was neatly painted white on the outside and partly overgrown with ivy, the interior was rather barren. The walls were gray and you could see where the water ran down the walls when it rained. The floor was made of stone and the room only had one small window, which let in just enough light for dim illumination. There was an old wooden cupboard next to the window.

On the opposite wall were a few shelves with a few belongings on them and three bunks underneath. It smelled of a mixture of human and musty and small shadows flitted across the floor in the corners. At the back was the washroom and a pantry. The cook took Margarete to the washroom, handed her a maid's robe and gave her the first instructions:

"Put this on. The hood too. Tie your hair up, put it under the hood and don't forget the apron. Take a pair of shoes from the small wooden cupboard in the pantry and then come into the main house. I'll be waiting for you in the entrance hall."

Margarete did as she was told. A little later, she appeared in the entrance hall. The cook showed her the various rooms and chambers, explained how to use the cleaning utensils and went back to the kitchen. Margarete began to clean the house. The work was exhausting and in some rooms quite disgusting. She was dusting the picture frames on the walls of the study when the door slammed shut behind her. She turned around. It was the doctor. He had obviously been drinking and was standing just a step away from her. He held out his hand, slowly stroked her plump cleavage with the back of his index finger and demanded:

"Let me see what I bought for my money today."

Margarete backed away and looked at him in horror. He stumbled after her, grabbed her by the neck, pushed her against the wall and breathed into her face with foul breath:

"Go ahead, resist. That makes it more fun."

He pressed his fat belly against her tender body and began to sweat with excitement.

His grip left her without air as fear gave way to anger and she gasped:

"Don't do that!"

The doctor laughed.

She rattled again:

"That wasn't a request!"

This audacity wiped the laughter from his face. His hand turned into a fist. But before he could strike, the girl stuck her right index finger into his left eye. She could feel the eyeball slide to the side and her finger penetrated deep into the eye socket. He squealed like a dying animal as the pain broke his voice. Margarete pushed past the doctor and rushed in the direction of the door. He held his bleeding eye with one hand. With the other hand, the screaming doctor tried to grab the girl. Enraged, he caught the back collar of her robe. She managed to break free, ran out of the study, stormed down the stairs, opened the huge front door, reached the street and ran. She ran and ran. Past people, carriages and half-timbered houses until the street ended behind the fish market at the harbor basin.

Now she was standing there. Alone, with her clothes torn and tears streaming down her face. The sounds of the harbor mingled with the voices and footsteps of people going about their business on the quay or doing their shopping at the countless stalls of the fish market. Carriages, hansom cabs and handcarts rumbled over the pavement. Her thoughts spun uncontrollably in circles:

"My father sold me. I can't go back. The respected doctor is a lewd pig. What will he do to me if he finds me? Where can I go and what should I do now?"

She stared desperately at her distorted reflection, which she discovered on the water surface of the harbor basin.

But when the right questions began their journey through Margaret's brain, she took courage:

"Who am I and what am I good at?"

Margarete was the daughter of a juggler and she could not only dance and juggle. She was also an excellent pickpocket and knew how to set up a reasonably useful dwelling under the bridges of the cities. As she was very hungry, she immediately set to work. Older gentlemen were her favorite victims, as they had a full purse and were easily distracted by her charming looks. The girl glided elegantly through the stream of people flowing through the fish market and it wasn't long before a man's gaze was lost in her cleavage long enough for his wallet to disappear into her underskirt. She procured food and set up camp under one of the harbor bridges. She kept away from other jugglers and vagrants, spoke to no one and constantly feared being discovered.

In the mornings, she kept going back to the quay, watching the ships, looking out to sea and dreaming of the endless freedom that the horizon promises. During the day she stole purses and wallets. She realized that she wouldn't be able to work the fish market much longer without getting caught at some point. She had been thinking about leaving Bremen for days when she noticed a large, colorful poster on the facade of the port commandant's office. The poster showed exotic plants and animals. Palm trees, elephants, giraffes and colorful fruits. The poster looked like a window with paradise on the other side. Margarete dreamed herself into this colorful world and blocked out the noise of the harbor. She was enveloped in a roaring silence and a cozy goose bump covering her body like a warm blanket. Then she read the lettering:

"From maid to colonial mistress." Margarete couldn't believe her eyes. She stepped closer to the poster so that she could read the rest of the text better. Governor Theodor Leutwein had suggested that the settlement of German women in the German colony of Southwest Africa should be encouraged. It also stated that the women in the colonies would be married by rich German settlers and handsome soldiers, as well as a note about the preservation of the German culturein the African colonies and a quote from a lady named Eckenbrecher:

"Probably nowhere else in the world are German women held in such high esteem by the masters of creation as they are in our colonies."

Now Margarete was certain that she had discovered paradise and would do everything she could to reach it. A new dress, beautiful shoes and a few hair clips would pave the way. The girl was no fool and spread the theft of the necessary number of purses and wallets over several days. Then the time had finally come. She bought the dress, made herself up and entered the harbor commander's office with a confident stride. Her footsteps echoed under the magnificently painted dome as she walked through the entrance hall. At the far end of the hall, a huge anchor hung on the wall. Below it, uniformed men sat at a long reception desk, in front of which a dozen young women were waiting to be allowed to inscribe themselves into the settlers' list. Margarete patiently joined the queue. After a good hour, she was called and led into an adjoining room. There, two men and a woman from the German Women's Association were sitting at a large desk. Behind them was a panoramic window through which you could see the river Weser. The gentlemen wrote down her name, date of birth and a few other personal details. Then they explained the itinerary, gave her a boarding pass and an identification document. One of the gentlemen let Margarete know that her future husband and the Association would be covering the costs of her trip and bid her farewell with friendly congratulations.

For fear of being rejected because of her young age or even be discovered and accused of assaulting the doctor, Margarete lied during the interrogation and changed her personal details. She was now called Mathilde Behrens and 21 years of age according to her new identification document.

The next morning, she left for the harbor before sunrise. She was very excited because the excitement about the freedom and adventures to come had not yet completely won the battle against the fear of the unknown.

She walked briskly, but she didn't run.

As the first rays of sunlight broke through the morning mist, Margarete reached the quay. She was wearing the maid's robe, which she had mended in the meantime. In her hand she held a small brown bag containing her new dress and a few belongings. The quay was full of people on this special day. A colorful potpourri of all social classes waited for the departure of the Woermann steamer. Some carried their suitcases and bags themselves. Others had their luggage carried by young lads who did this for a living, and still others had so many suitcases and boxes that they needed handcarts pulled along the quay by their servants.

The voices of the first market criers resounded through the harbor and the smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the alleyways.

Margarete stopped and closed her eyes. Then she consciously tried to smell and listen. She wanted to feel the homeland one last time.

She then joined the stream of passengers with confident steps.

The last clouds had just cleared when she reached the jetty.

The Woermann steamer was already being loaded. Crowds of people besieged the gangway and waited for permission to board. Relatives said goodbye to their loved ones and onlookers admired the ship. The Woermann steamer was over 300 feet long and had room for 200 passengers. A floating village made of steel. The hull was black and two huge smokestacks decorated with red stripes, were enthroned on a white superstructure.

The din of voices and loading noises was suddenly drowned out by an announcement coming from the port facility's loudspeakers. The passengers were asked to board and go to the areas inside the ship designated on their boarding cards. When Margarete finally boarded the steamer after a long duck walk along the gangway, she was presented with an unbelievable sight. Carpeted floors, upholstered furniture, spiral staircases with golden handrails, chandeliers on the ceilings and works of art on the walls. Everything was luxuriously decorated and magnificently lit. There was even a ballroom and a casino on board.

After a short tour, all passengers had to assemble in the dining room, where the safety guidelines in the event of a sinking were explained to them.

Until that moment, Margarete hadn't even considered that her journey could end at the bottom of the sea. With this new perspective in mind, she had a slightly queasy feeling in her stomach as the passengers were divided into groups and led to their rooms. The girls from the Women's Association were traveling in third class. There were no rooms with windows and balconies. There were cabins below the waterline.

Margaret's cabin was a narrow room lit by an oil lamp. A bunk bed stood to one side and a clothes rail with a few hangers hung on the opposite wall. A small mirror the size of a porthole hung on the wall where the windows and balcony doors were in first and second class. There was a side table and two stools underneath. It was stuffy, but it didn't smell. The door was still open when Margarete sat down on the lower of the two bunks and Johanna entered the room:

"Good morning, I'm Johanna. I think we're roommates."

Margarete nodded:

"My name is Ma...thilde."

It felt strange to say the new name out loud, and yet there was an element of liberation in it. Margarete realized at that moment that a new name and a new life in a distant country would set the clock to zero. A kind of tabula rasa of her own existence. Now anything was possible.

In the meantime, Johanna had put her luggage in the corner and was sitting on one of the stools. She was also wearing a maid's outfit, was 26 years old, had chestnut brown, shoulder-length hair, large dark eyes and was slightly overweight. She took off her shoes and groaned with relief:

"Aaah, that feels good. At last, I wouldn't have made ten more steps."

She pointed to the bunk bed:

"Would you like to sleep upstairs or downstairs?"

Margarete placed both hands on the lower cot where she had just taken a seat:

"I think I'll stay here."

Johanna nodded:

„Stay there it is."

Margarete smiled contentedly and asked:

"Did they tell you where the washrooms are?"

Johanna pointed in the direction of the bow:

"They said that there are two washrooms on this floor. Both are at the front of the ship. We could look for them together and then go on deck. The ship will be leaving soon."

Margarete agreed and the women set off. On deck, most of the crew and almost all the passengers were lined up at the railing. There was waving, crying and singing.

"Cast off," came from the captain's loudspeaker system. The ship's siren sounded, the sound of the engines became louder and slowly, very slowly, the Woermann steamer began to move.

Margarete stood motionless at the railing and held on to it with both hands. Soon the people who had stayed behind at the jetty became small dots. The town now looked like a toy. She felt the wind and smelled the sea. The horizon was getting closer and for the first time in her life, she felt free.

CHAPTER II

Margarete lay on her cot and stared at the bottom of the mattress mounted above her. She wondered if Johanna was still awake. The impressions of the day drove away her sleep and she felt the need to talk to someone:

"Johanna?"

Johanna's face appeared on the edge of the top bunk and she asked with a relieved expression:

"Can't sleep either?"

Margarete raised her shoulders and eyebrows for a moment:

"I've never been on a ship before."

She placed a hand on her forehead:

"The last few weeks have been terrible and I'm glad to leave it all behind me. But I'm also sad and I don't really know why."

Johanna looked at her kindly and tried to comfort her:

"Whatever has happened to you, it has led to you being here now. You are irrevocably a result of your past, but in the future you can become whatever you sow in the present. However, sometimes you can sow whatever you want. If the field is withered, then you will reap nothing. That's why I'm lying here on a cot, in the belly of a huge ship, going to the other side of the world to find a fertile field to sow a new and prosper life upon. If you're running away from something, you're usually running towards something else. If you manage to stop the merry-go-round of thoughts long enough to realize this, then the curiosity about the new life will supersede the sadness about what has been left behind."

Margarete was amazed that Johanna was able to give her such accurate advice without having asked about her story first. She felt vindicated and that gave her strength. The worries faded and gave way to a timid smile:

"Thank you Johanna, that helped me a lot. You must not have had a hard life either."

Johanna sighed and talked about her father, who had chased her off his farm when, at the age of 16, she had to confess to fornicating with the farmhand because she was pregnant. She lived in the forest for a few weeks and lost the child because she couldn't find enough food. When her belly was flat again and her shame was no longer visible, she went into town and found work as a maid for an elderly lady. The lady taught her to read and advised her in the manners of Baron von Knigge. After the old lady died, her son took over the estate. He had a very jealous wife who dismissed all maids who were younger than herself. Johanna wasn't too worried at first, as she was now very well trained and would certainly find a new job quickly. To her great disappointment, she soon discovered that she was almost exclusively offered cleaning work, as she couldn't cook and wasn't pretty enough to work in the dining room. A few weeks ago, she finally decided to leave all her disappointments behind.

Margarete listened intently, but she fell asleep exhausted before the story ended.

The two women now spent every day together. They kept to themselves, took many walks on deck and marveled at the wonders of the ocean when whales or dolphins came into view. They even saw a moonfish when the ship passed the Canary Islands. The weather was favorable and the steamer made good progress. Johanna and Margarete were standing at the railing when the ship approached a wall of fog in the early morning of the 26th day. A sailor stopped next to them, pointed to the fog and said:

"This is the breath of the Namib. We have arrived !"

The friends looked into each other's eyes. Margarete tried not to cry, but the tears ran uncontrollably from her eyes because she knew that she would be separated from Johanna shortly after the arrival. Johanna stroked her cheek with a hopeful look in her eyes and gently wiped away a tear with her thumb:

"Don't worry so much, little one. Everything that has ever happened has led to us meeting, and everything that happens from now on will lead to us meeting again ... I promise."

They hugged each other and the fog engulfed the huge steamer.

As Lüderitz Bay came into view, the ship's siren sounded and all the passengers came on deck to catch a first glimpse of their new home. The rocky bay looks like a large horseshoe that is slightly bent at the sides. First they could see the harbor facilities. To the left of it, in the apex of the bay, the buildings of the town gradually became visible. Half-timbered and art nouveau houses in various colors, a market square, a promenade and countless fishing boats.

Seals accompanied the Woermann steamer on its way into the harbor, pelicans landed on deck and seagulls circled around the funnels.

As the ship approached the jetty, a flurry of activity began on the quay. Black workers prepared the loading ramps and waited for the lines to be thrown to them. Waving people, flag wavers and even a band were part of the colorful hustle and bustle. The ship's siren sounded again, ropes flew to the shore and the steamer was moored. The band started to played. Joy, beautiful spark of the gods. The gangway was raised and the first passengers went ashore. Margarete and Johanna picked up their things and joined the stream of people disembarking. They held hands as they walked down the gangway. At the foot of the gangway were men holding up signs in the crowd. The signs had the names of people or companies on them. Relatives and friends embraced each other and the unloading was in full swing. Welcome greetings and various instructions could be heard from the loudspeakers in the port facility. The passengers were asked to go through a document check. The settlers were given a briefing and the women had to report to an information stand run by the German Women's Association. There were 46 women in total. They had to show their identification documents, were entered into a list and given a number.

After a short wait, they were taken to a hall in the port facilities. Johanna and Margarete were still holding hands when they entered the hall. The building was empty and every sound, however faint, echoed. There were two tables against the far wall, each with two men sitting at them. To the right of them stood four armed guards. The women were now standing disorderly in the hall. Some were intimidated and others looked around curiously. A few women were talking in whispers and the gentlemen of the women's association were murmuring weightily. A few minutes later, 46 men entered the hall and stood in two rows in front of the two tables. The women fell silent, craned their necks and looked at the men. So that was them. The lords of creation, who have more admiration for German women than anyone else in the world. At least that's what the poster in harbor of Bremen said. The men were gaunt farmers with dungarees, work boots and full beards, soldiers in smart uniforms and businessmen with expensive suits and fashionable mustaches. The farmers and soldiers were asked to wait at the table on the left, while the businessmen queued up on the right. One by one, the women's names were called out and they left the hall with their future husbands. Now Margarete realized again that in just a few days she would be marrying a man she had never seen before. Not all the men who had just entered the hall were young, and a few of the businessmen were quite fat. She thought about the fact that she would have to spend a wedding night with one of these men and give him children. She felt a cold shiver in her stomach and her throat tightened.

Johanna seemed to have had similar thoughts, as her grip on Margaret's hand tightened.

Then the administrator called Johanna's name. She let go of Margaret's hand, looked her in the eye, stroked her cheek wordlessly, turned and left. Margaret looked after her in silence as she left the hall with a tall farmer.

Margaret's lower lip trembled, but she didn't cry.

Barely ten minutes later, it was her name that rang out through the hall ... Mathilde Behrens.

As she stepped out of the cluster of women, one of the businessmen turned and looked at her expectantly. He was a little shorter than Margarete, had a full head of dark hair and a goatee. He was well-groomed, slim, 36 years old and wore a black suit with a gray vest and a burgundy handkerchief. The man approached Margarete and greeted her in a firm voice:

"Welcome to Southwest Africa. I am Paul von Stach."

He slightly bowed and kissed her hand.

Margarete curtseyed, just as Johanna had taught her:

„Good day sir, I am Mathilde Behrens."

Paul pointed with an open palm and an inviting arm movement in the direction of the exit:

„Please."

He escorted his future bride out of the hall, through the harbor, along the coast and to his house.

Paul was a diamond merchant who owned a sky-blue Art Nouveau villa on the Promenade. The villa had two floors and a basement.

Paul led Margarete thru the house. The floor was made of marble. A feudal chandelier hung in the entrance hall. African statues and masks decorated almost every room and oil paintings of naked figures adorned the walls. There was a library in which a lion skin with its head and open mouth lay in front of a fireplace, a dining room from whose walls antelope heads with empty glass eyes stared down onMargarete, and of course a small bowling alley. There were fridges in the kitchen and large light bulbs provided pleasantly bright lighting in every room. Paul explained everything in detail and with great patience. He told short anecdotes about the acquisition of the most interesting objects, joked about the dealers who had sold them to him, was not stingy with hunting gossip and praised his tailor.

A wide staircase led to the first floor, where there were three chambers, the study and two washrooms. There was parquet flooring everywhere and the ceilings were decorated with stucco. Paul led Margarete into one of the chambers and explained that this was now her room. Then, with an outstretched arm, he pointed up the stairs that led to the second floor:

"My chambers are up there."

He looked at Margarete, smiled smugly and added:

"I'll show you on our wedding night."

This sentence sent a shiver down her spine. She covered up the shock and forced herself to smile sheepishly:

"When is our day of joy?"

Paul scratched his head and grimaced:

"That may take a few more days. 29 of the women who arrived stayed in Lüderitz, but we only have one pastor at the moment. On Sunday, a list will be posted in the parish hall announcing all the wedding dates. Don't worry about it. I have everything under control. Now go to your parlor and settle in. We'll have dinner soon."

Margarete went into her room and closed the door. The room took her breath away. There was a large, white four-poster bed with freshly scented white sheets and embroidered pillows in different shapes and sizes. She had never slept in a bed like this before.

A spacious sofa with side table filled the center of the spacious room and a fully equipped make-up table stood in front of a glittering mirrored wall. Powder, oils and blusher. Brushes, dabbers and tweezers. Everything a lady needs to emphasize her social status and hide minor flaws. A large glass door provided access to a balcony with a breathtaking sea view.

Margaret's emotions began to spin.

She had been looking for paradise and she had found it. Under these conditions, it would certainly be possible to find Johanna again. On the other hand, she found it oppressive to live in a house that was partly decorated with the heads of dead animals. The thought of the wedding night also made her very uneasy. Margarete needed some fresh air. She went out onto the balcony. The sea breeze blew in her face. The sun was about to touch the top of the ocean and leave the sky to the moon when the last evening clouds turned into the canvas for a magnificent play of colors. The sea reflected the natural spectacle and the shadows of the coastline framed it. The town was surrounded by cliffs and dark rocks. Behind that must be the beautiful green palm landscapes that Margarete had seen on the poster of the German Women's Association in Bremen.

Was she really a colonial mistress now?

Or was she still the daughter of a juggler who had just been sold for the second time?

CHAPTER III

There was a knock at the door. Margarete turned around:

"Yes, please."

The door opened and a black woman entered the room. She was wearing a maid's outfit, with an apron but no hood. She had countless braids tied into a huge bun. She was perhaps 30 years old, quite small and very thin. In her hands she held a large basket filled with neatly folded textiles and a pair of black lace-up boots. She spoke to Margarete in broken German, looking humbly at the floor:

"Ma'am, dresses foryou please."

She put the basket down, left the room and closed the door.

Margarete left the balcony, placed the basket on the bed, sat down next to it and began to inspect the contents. Underwear, petticoats, dresses and accessories. She went to the washroom, freshened up and put on one of the white dresses. She added the black lace-up boots and a blue hair bow. Back in her room, she sat down at the dressing table and looked at the utensils and products on it. She picked up one of the brushes and got to work.

A little powder on her nose, a little rouge on her cheeks, a little bit of this, a little bit of that and the clown face was complete. She had never done her make-up before and the result of her first attempt made her laugh heartily as she looked at herself in the mirror with delight.

There was a knock:

"Madam, please come and eat," the maid called through the door without entering the room. Margarete went back into the washroom, washed her face and went in search of the dining room that Paul had shown her earlier.

The table was richly laid. Poultry, potatoes, beans, beet, bread and cheese. It was set at both ends and Paul had already taken a seat. The black maid stood to one side behind him. As before, the stuffed antelope heads stared at Margarete with empty glass eyes. She entered the room and Paul looked up:

"Good evening my dear. You look lovely."

He pointed to the seat at the other end of the table with an open palm and outstretched arm:

"Please, take a seat."

Margarete sat down:

"Thank you, your house is very nice. Really, thank you for everything sir."

Paul smiled:

"You don't have to thank me. And you do not have to call me sir. I am Paul. Paul von Stach and you will soon be Mathilde von Stach."

He gave the maid a subtle hand signal and she began to serve the food.

"You already know Miriam," Paul remarked casually and added:

"I named her after my mother."

Margarete was very surprised by this statement, but she was too hungry to think about it. She tried everything the kitchen had to offer and Paul told the story of his success. He had mining rights and his family had excellent contacts that enabled him to sell his diamonds all over Europe. He was from Berlin and had come to Southwest Africa because he was looking for adventure. Paul raved about Adolf Lüderitz, the founding father of the town, who had managed to trick the Nama leader Josef Frederick into buying seven times the contractually agreed land area without having to pay for the additional land. Paul started to laugh during his story:

"They gave the contractually agreed area in miles and the savages didn't know that a German mile is much longer than an English mile. That was Adolf's big mileage scam. That's how he got the nickname ‚The lying Fritz'."

He slapped his thighs with laughter and repeated:

"Yes, yes, that old liar."

He wiped a tear of joy from the corner of his eye, took a sip of wine and continued to speak calmly:

"And then we found diamonds everywhere. You don't even have to dig. The Hottentots crawl around in the desert all day and collect everything for us. Unfortunately, a few of the German settlers bread with the negroes in the process. But the Women's League is taking care of that now."

He leaned forward, propped both elbows on the table, folded his hands, rested his head on them and changed the subject:

„You seem to like the food. I suppose hunger was often an uninvited guest in your home?"

Margarete paused for a moment, raised her head, swallowed the last bite and replied:

"I never had a home."

Paul smiled at her:

„Well, now you have one."

That night, Margarete slept better than she had ever slept before in her life. The sheets smelled heavenly, the pillows felt like fluffy clouds and, despite his rather awkward sense of humor, Paul had given her a feeling of security that opened all doors for the sandman to empty his little bag over her.

She dreamed of Johanna, the palm trees and exotic animals, while the sound of the ocean guided her through the night.

Shortly after sunrise, Margarete was woken by a gentle knock and Miriam's voice sounded softly through the door:

"Madam, please come. Master Paul is showing town for you today."

Margarete got ready and when she came down the stairs into the entrance hall, Paul was already standing at the door waiting.

Margarete stopped two steps in front of him, he kissed her hand, looked at her and remarked:

"I hope you slept well."

Then he opened the door, offered her a hand and added:

"Come on, let's go to have breakfast and then I'll show you the city."

Margarete took his hand, let herself be led through the door, hooked herself in and they went down the stairs and into the street.

Never before had a man led her through the city by the arm like a lady. Pride mingled with uncertainty. Did the oncoming pedestrians know that she wasn't actually a lady? Could they still see the juggler's daughter behind the beautiful glow of her new clothes? Nevertheless, she was proud. Proud that she had had the courage to make the long journey and proud that she had found a better life on the other side of the world.

Paul led her through the market, buying a few treats here and there, which they ate as they strolled side by side.

Paul pointed to various buildings and explained what was inside. Art nouveau houses next to Wilhelminian-style buildings in blue, yellow and green pastel colors. The cream-colored Woermannhaus, the brand new teahouse and the Kapps concert and ballroom with bowling alley. Margarete was amazed. None of it was exotic. Quite the opposite. In fact, everything looked exactly the same as back home. She had traveled halfway around the world and was still in Germany.

There were stores for every need, banks, craft businesses and pharmacies. Some men wore fine suits and had walking sticks with golden handles. Almost all the ladies wore ankle-less white dresses with lace-up boots in all shapes and colors. Almost none had a hat. The winds that sweep across the coast of Lüderitz Bay almost daily from midday to evening would easily have made any headgear a plaything of their gusts.

In the harbor, fishermen mended their nets, loaded and unloaded their boats or cutters, sold their catch and packed some of it into crates that were taken to all over the country by train. Most of the workers were black. Only a few traders, foremen and captains were white. Margaret was fascinated by the black people.

Although they were all black, they looked very different. Some were small and thin with a slightly lighter complexion. Almost as if a few drops of milk had been poured into a cup of coffee. Others were particularly dark, tall or muscular. The men wore black, blue or gray dungarees, often with only one shoulder strap. Only a few had shirts. One could see the ribs on many of them.