Another short trip to my hometown of Schweinfurt revealed some more changes happening to the town (more later), whereas other noteworthy sites, such as the nuclear towers, go unnoticed.

The first landmark we always see when we get closer to Schweinfurt are the nuclear power plants of Grafenrheinfeld (a village just about 4 km out of town). Years ago they had been dubbed Luke and Duke, the Nukes by some U.S. soldiers stationed in Schweinfurt’s military camps. Luke and Duke also created the setting for Gudrun Pausewang’s Die Wolke (in English: The Cloud), a dramatic novel about the breakdown of a nuclear power station and the trials of its main character, a girl named Hanna trying to escape the aftermath. In 2006, this bestseller was turned into a movie.

Funny to think I had marched in a demonstration AGAINST the same nuclear power plant back in the late70s. But by 1981 it started running.

The Nukes from Grafenrheinfeld, set close to the Main river

Luke and Duke, releasing their charm all over the city, visible even on bad weather days...

Just looking at these photos makes the book Die Wolke look less than fiction.

We stayed at my niece’s home and through all three French windows we had an excellent view from the living room onto the Nukes. I guess residents got used to living with these power plants after so many years and they probably do not even notice them anymore.