We were picked up by George at 9am and taken to the Pocking city hall, where the mayor (Josef) and first deputy mayor (Franz) met us. They showed us thru the city hall and its gardens, including the city council room, the mayor’s office and a museum area where they are currently showing photos from an American GI who was stationed in Pocking after the war. Interestingly enough, this area of Germany didn’t revert from American Armed Forces control until 1958 when they had their first local elections.

Josef presented us with a number of gifts from the city of Pocking – a tie with their symbol (a horse rubbing its back on the ground – a local artist was tired of doing standing horses – and this statue sits in the town square by the main church), some stickers and a book on Pocking (in German) that has a mention of the restoration of the monument and my grandfather’s role in Pocking after the war.

Franz then took us on a tour around the area – we saw Bad Fussing (another town near Pocking also known for its mineral baths), and then went to the area where the DP Camps used to stand. There is nothing there now except the old heating station (that heated all the small buildings in the camp). The city has been trying to sell the land but hasn’t had any takers. I mentioned to my mother that Anna should try to buy it to place the memorial museum she wants to build. We’ll see what happens with that.
 
While visiting, we showed Franz some of the pictures from the original dedication and he mentioned that one of the buildings the procession passed was still in town – he took us there.
 
I also had to take a picture of Franz’ car – and old BMW Z1 limited edition (8,000 built, around 6,000 left).
 
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