Vignettes #5

My pal Gerhard and I meet each week at the pub for a few pints and a chat. We have been doing this on a very regular basis for more than 2 decades. Over the years we had to change the pubs we would meet at. The current pub is called Büro ('office'), and we have been going there for 6 years ever since it has opened.

About 10-15 years ago we used to meet at a late night pub called Milljöh ('milieu') which - besides the usual drinks - also served food till 3am. It doesn't exist anymore. One night at this pub, it must have been around 2am, the pub owner Edith came to our table and said: "You guys better get out of here, the house is on fire!" At first we were dumbstruck, inside the pub you didn't notice that anything was going on.

As requested we left the pub. Once outside we were in the midst of an apocalyptic scenery. The medieval streets were all fogged in by very dark smoke, and there were hundreds of burning flakes dropping from above, which was probably quite dangerous as they could cause burns and also set other buildings on fire. We stepped up the street, and there we saw at the top of the row of buildings that one house's roof was fully ablaze, and the flames were sparking burning debris and ashes all over the place. Although the pub's house was not on fire, it was clearly in danger of getting set on fire as well. Since we didn't want to disturb the fire department's work and for our own safety we left very soon and went on home.

Later in the local news I learnt that the fire went on most of the night and that the firemen were able to stop the fire and save the actual house (but not the roof) and the neighbouring buildings.

The burning house is the one I live in today.