So I must begin today's post with a rather embarrassing admission of my prior ignorance, and what is still worse, with the admission that I may have infected you, fair reader, with this same ignorance. For some months now I have suffered under the false impression that Napoleon lost the battle of Jena. Not only did he win the battle, but in doing so, he dealt a devastating and even decisive blow to the Prussian army. I'm glad to get that off my chest.
Here you see the Napoleon stone. Today we learned that Napoleon stood at this very spot when he planned his victory. Though you wouldn't know it from looking at this picture, this stone rests on one of the highest points around Jena. The second picture gives you a better sense of the commanding view Napoleon had as he prepared for battle.
This picture was taken from the Napoleon monument, looking back towards the city. Contour and depth can be difficult to discern in pictures. In the foreground of the picture you can see a grass plane that slopes down, sometimes steeply, until it reaches the woods. If you go through the woods for a couple hundred yards you will reach the edge of a ridge that drops sharply into the city. There is a bench on the edge of that ridge, from which you can look out. The next picture was taken from that bench.
Its a brisk fifteen minute walk from the Napoleon stone to the bench where the third picture was taken. From this bench, its pretty much a straight down hill walk for another fifteen minutes until you reach our apartment. See the square of buildings in the bottom center of the picture? Our street runs along the top left of this square.
Most days I walk to the Napoleon stone and back. Its a good hour walk, and its cheaper and easier than going to the pool.
In the second picture, the one taken from the Napoleon stone, you can see the field that covers the top of the mountain. The field is probably a mile and a half long and about 1000 yards wide. I've often wondered why there were no trees on this plateau, and today I figured out why. On the far side of the field, there is a plaque that explains the area, and apparently our idyllic field, where sheep now roam and poop freely, the Soviets used to practice tank maneuvers. Until 1989 there was a large fence around the whole area, and Soviet tanks engaged in mock battles.
Somehow I could reconcile my images of the children that now fly kites on the plane with the stories of the battle that took place there long ago, but the image of Soviet tanks adds a jarring new element to my sense of the place.
And now I come to the comical part of the story. The plaque explained at great length how the years of mock tank warfare actually helped to create -- even to nurture -- the present ecosystem. Apparently the tanks caused deep ruts, where large puddles now stand, puddles that are home to rare salamanders and frogs. To read the plaque, you would think mock tank battles were the best thing that could happen to an ecosystem.
So the field now contains a delicate ecosystem, created by tanks, protected from commercial development by law, and marred only by the omnipresence of sheep poop.
Here you see the Napoleon stone. Today we learned that Napoleon stood at this very spot when he planned his victory. Though you wouldn't know it from looking at this picture, this stone rests on one of the highest points around Jena. The second picture gives you a better sense of the commanding view Napoleon had as he prepared for battle.
This picture was taken from the Napoleon monument, looking back towards the city. Contour and depth can be difficult to discern in pictures. In the foreground of the picture you can see a grass plane that slopes down, sometimes steeply, until it reaches the woods. If you go through the woods for a couple hundred yards you will reach the edge of a ridge that drops sharply into the city. There is a bench on the edge of that ridge, from which you can look out. The next picture was taken from that bench.
Its a brisk fifteen minute walk from the Napoleon stone to the bench where the third picture was taken. From this bench, its pretty much a straight down hill walk for another fifteen minutes until you reach our apartment. See the square of buildings in the bottom center of the picture? Our street runs along the top left of this square.
Most days I walk to the Napoleon stone and back. Its a good hour walk, and its cheaper and easier than going to the pool.
In the second picture, the one taken from the Napoleon stone, you can see the field that covers the top of the mountain. The field is probably a mile and a half long and about 1000 yards wide. I've often wondered why there were no trees on this plateau, and today I figured out why. On the far side of the field, there is a plaque that explains the area, and apparently our idyllic field, where sheep now roam and poop freely, the Soviets used to practice tank maneuvers. Until 1989 there was a large fence around the whole area, and Soviet tanks engaged in mock battles.
Somehow I could reconcile my images of the children that now fly kites on the plane with the stories of the battle that took place there long ago, but the image of Soviet tanks adds a jarring new element to my sense of the place.
And now I come to the comical part of the story. The plaque explained at great length how the years of mock tank warfare actually helped to create -- even to nurture -- the present ecosystem. Apparently the tanks caused deep ruts, where large puddles now stand, puddles that are home to rare salamanders and frogs. To read the plaque, you would think mock tank battles were the best thing that could happen to an ecosystem.
So the field now contains a delicate ecosystem, created by tanks, protected from commercial development by law, and marred only by the omnipresence of sheep poop.
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