H. Adler - Panorama

The view from Landstein Hill has shrunk and is also smaller than it used to be from the tower, since the surrounding trees don’t allow a panoramic view, yet the Wanderers love the castle and would like to save it, though they don’t know how they would go about doing so. During one of their sojourns they had discovered it, and they were so taken with the castle and Altstadt and Cloister and Sichelbach Lake and everything around them that they wanted to set up their summer camp here, thinking right away of the clearing up above at the crossing, though they wondered if they would have enough privacy and could stay hidden. In Markl someone pointed them out to Ranger Brosch, who smiled and explained that if ten people a day passed by the crossing it would be a surprise, so he thought it a good spot, it had good water, it was well situated, there were plenty of wild berries and mushrooms, so the Wanderers should come if they wanted to, there being plenty of fallen limbs for firewood in the forest, as well as a vast amount of brushwood that cannot be exhausted even after years of continual gathering. Indeed, the group of Wanderers made up of twenty-four voices decided to set up their summer camp here, calling it Camp Landstein.

On the first of July the Wanderers travel to Adamsfreiheit, though beforehand they discuss what they should bring along, because the Wanderers want to remain on their own once they move to their summer camp. In the city all the necessities are purchased, while tools and other artifacts needed in the camp, which takes the Wanderers a month to set up, are kept at their club and divided among them, each boy carrying something in his pack, which is what the Wanderers call a knapsack. The leader of the pack is Alfred, who is already over twenty and studies medicine, everyone respecting him because he understands the boys so well, even if he’s strict and has a thick skull, making him difficult to stand up to, though no one can make a campfire as well as he can, no one knows better the best trails to take, how to set up camp and be in charge, and he is the best storyteller, tells the funniest jokes, and is deeply admired, his word always trusted, as everyone tries to do what they think Alfred will think is right, hoping that through a brief word or a glance he will acknowledge it, each one believing that Alfred is fond of him, though he treats everyone the same, as the leader of a pack of Wanderers must, there being no dissent allowed in his presence. None of the others are over eighteen, the youngest being thirteen, while Josef is fifteen, his friend Fritz Hans Fuchs, who is known only as FHF, is sixteen, he among the oldest in the pack.

Things are divided up to carry to camp, the older and stronger boys taking on the most, though the smallest are given the most important things possible that don’t weigh too much, such as the kettles, so that everyone has something for which he is personally responsible. But what is hard to carry, such as food provisions, a crate containing unwieldy tools, another full of dressings, medicine, all kinds of utensils and, in order to use up any remaining space, a few books, these are shipped ahead of time by rail to Adamsfreiheit, the address reading “Summer Camp of the Wanderers at Landstein, Adamsfreiheit Station.” Meanwhile the older boys look out for the younger ones to make sure that their packs are in order, though a real Wanderer doesn’t allow himself to be helped by his mother, being proud to do it all himself, everyone certainly wanting to be free of grown-ups, such that what a young boy can’t do himself is better explained by an older boy rather than someone from home, Alfred deciding who needs to help out this one or that. At a meeting of the pack each has been given a list of things that he must not forget, such as the proper clothes and underwear, eating utensils and toiletries, personal items and a lamp, a small storm lantern being essential, as well as the right amount of blankets, each bringing along a tent, with an additional tent brought along to hold supplies, the boys also told what food they need to bring along for the journey and the first two days in camp.

At the last meeting before leaving, the camp leaders are chosen by a vote, these boys having a special role, and therefore needing to have set up camp at least once already, while those who have never set up camp must first undergo an initiation in order to become full-fledged members, although the ceremony is not a solemn one, because the Wanderers like to participate, and for the most part it’s done in fun. Next they choose the head of camp, who is responsible for everything, not least the life and death of the entire pack, he allowed to have the final say when necessary, otherwise decisions are made by the pack, each member having a voice in the matter, though Alfred, of course, is chosen unanimously for the role. Willi, who is eighteen, is elected as the assistant head, his role being to help Alfred and stand in for him when necessary. Fabian is put in charge of provisions, though everyone knows him as Fabi. Hans is made the treasurer, he being the only one allowed to handle money, everyone turning their money over to him as soon as they get on the train, there being a shared kitty in camp, since within the pack it’s important that no one be richer or poorer than another, it also being discouraged that anyone has anything sent to him, such as money or packages, though when an anxious mother can’t control herself everyone’s happy in camp, for only the food that will last is put in the supply tent, whereas the usual sweets are handed out immediately, which is great. Next up is the head of entertainment, and this year FHF is sought for this job, since he always has fun ideas, he being in charge of games and entertainment, such as the campfire and special occasions, and the opening party at which the initiation of the new scouts takes place, followed by a wild party called the bal paré , though there is no dancing at it but just a load of fun, the third and biggest party coming on the night before they break camp, this being the most fun, for at it they really let go, everyone dressing up and getting carried away in antics as part of what they call the Knights’ Roundtable of the Great Commander. In addition to all these leaders, a cook has to be elected, that being Gustl, though he is called Bambus, since his last name is Bamberger, though the job of cook is not all that important, for each day of the week a different one of the seven leaders serves as head cook and is supplied with two helpers, the role of the cook really being that of an overseer, the menu planned out previously with Alfred, Willi, and Fabi. Last, Josef is chosen as head counsel, he being the one to whom others can bring any complaint, but when the head counsel can’t come up with a solution with the help of Alfred and Willi, then he brings the issue before the entire pack, which meets two times a week around a campfire, the last recourse being to send someone to the camp council, which consists of the seven elected leaders, though it rarely meets, and only when the head of camp or a minimum of two other leaders demands that it does.

The trip to Adamsfreiheit takes a long while because the connections are not good, requiring them to change trains twice, and they also need to make sure to arrive in Adamsfreiheit early in order to be able to temporarily pitch the tents the same day, which means a night journey, and in addition they need to save money, so they take the slow train, which rumbles endlessly across the countryside. Some of the Wanderers have poor parents who cannot or will not pay the modest fees for the camping trip, and so there needs to exist shared funds for all of them, which means they have to carefully calculate what to spend money on, Hans always afraid that there won’t be enough, and so he is always conferring with the others about the best thing to do so that the money doesn’t disappear, though Alfred finds ways and has ideas about how to spend the least amount necessary, such as if something is completely free or can be borrowed, so that by the end of the trip there are funds left over that allow them to buy extra equipment and better furnish the club. During the journey Hans makes sure that nothing is stolen from him when he’s asleep, for although he wears his fastened wallet on a string around his neck so that it can rest safely underneath his smock, he still asks Alfred to put the money in his pocket, but as soon as they arrive in Adamsfreiheit Hans asks for it back, while in camp it is kept in an iron chest for which Hans and Alfred have a key.