About The Photo: The Elbe at Wittenberg, 1967
My father, Charles Anderson, photographed this view of Wittenberg in July 1967. A theologian, seminary professor, and Luther scholar, he began his first sabbatical with a summer tour of Europe. Driving in our VW camper, we traveled ten thousand miles in three months, visiting the British Isles, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, West and East Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands.
After seeing the Luther sites in Wittenberg, including the Castle Church (the tower at the left) and the City Church (the tower to the right), we drove out of the town and across the Elbe. It seemed to be a perfect place for a picture of the city. As it turned out, there was a Russian military installation just behind my dad as he took this photograph, and at the height of the Cold War, American photographers near Russian bases in the East Zone were suspect.
He was detained for a few hours, but he managed to talk his way out of a long stay in Siberia. They allowed him to keep his camera and the film, and he walked away with this photograph and the story of a lifetime.