1955 - Theocratic Collector.com

In the same area, but north of the Rhhe
River, slightly elevated in the Taunus hills,
lies the world-famed health resort, Wies-
baden. Here you \will find the German
branch of the Watch Tower Society, where
more than a hundred energetic workers
provide Jehovah's witnesses in Germany
with the necessary instruments for their
preaching work. Nearby you can board a
river steamer at Wiesbaden-Bierbrich for
a very impressive trip down the Rhine to
Cologne. Here are the mountains and val-
leys, impressive rock cliffs and the old
castles and ruins that have made this part
of the river so popular in music and song.
Fulda, Ruhr, Berlin
Fulda, to the east of the section we have
been visiting, reminds us of the beginnings
of Catholicism in Germany. Irish and Scot-
tish monks had been the first to make Ger-
many part of Christendom. Yet it was St.
Boniface, buried at Fulda, who is given
credit "for binding the conquered land for
the gospe1 fast and permanently to papal
Rome." The conference of German Catho-
lic bishops annually meets here at his
grave. It was this group of bishops who in
August, 1940, said that "the Catholic
Church in Germany is indebted to German
[Nazi] troops for victorious advance and
defense of the German homeland."
North of Cologne is the Ruhr, the major
industrial territory, and in northern Ger-
many there are such cities as Bremen with
its famed market place and beautiful
Gothic-style city hall, Hamburg with its
imposing city hall built upon eight thou-
sand foundation stakes, and Liibeck with
its Holstentor (one of the remaining city
wall gates) that stems from the Middle
Ages.
Separated from the rest of Western Ger-
many is the city of Berlin. Since foreigners
who have no Russian visa cannot use the
ground approaches to the city, it must be
approached by air. A comparatively young
city, Berlin indeed has been affected by the
second world war as perhaps no other city
has. "Iron curtain," "airlift" and "freedom
bell" are expressions that convey definite
ideas that come into mind at the men-
tion of this former capital of Germany.
Here, too, tourists get a glance behind the
iron curtain from Potsdarner Platz, where
East and West meet.
Yes, from the alpine heights of the south
to the ports on the North Sea, there are
many interesting things to see and do in
Germany. But by far the most interesting
and important activity this year will be
the international assembly of Jehovah's
witnesses in Nuremberg, August 10-14.
Here tens of thousands of German wit-
nesses for Jehovah will play host to several
thousand of their brothers from other
lands.
It was just ten years ago that a few thou-
sand of Jehovah's witnesses were released
from HitIer's torture camps. Now there are
48,000 of such preachers of the Christian
good news in Western Germany alone.
These energetic witnesses for Jehovah will
consider it a thrill to be hosts to their
brothers who are coming from other places
to participate with them in the activity of
this Christian assembly, and their visitors
are eagerly looking forward to wihessing
the zeal of their German brothers. Inded,
this assembly will prove an encouragement
to the German hosts and an inspiring ex-
perience for their many guests. Yes, men-
tion Germany to one of these prospective
conventioners and his thoughts will imme-
diately turn to his eager anticipation of
assembling with his Christian brothers in
that land and of participating with them
in their Christian service. And his antici-
pation wilI be well rewarded at assembly
time!