 |
 |
Karlsruhe 18/5/05 |
Dear Tessa,
Thank you for your letter.
I can't give you an answer to all of your questions. The transformation of the
human body into its base elements and the following disappearance of existence
has always intrigued me.
All traces of Dr. Edmund Friedemann Dräcker upon Auckland will have vanished
in a few weeks’ time, yet he has certainly added another country to his
experiential repertoire.
I was first made aware of Dräcker's existence in the waiting room of a doctor's
office in 2001. While reading a magazine I found a small article with the headline ‘The
Phantom of Bonn’. A little later I found a press release from 28 March
2001 about ‘Dräcker and the Antarctic’.
Dräcker, who was born in Suleyken near Gumbinnen on 1 April 1888, was the
descendant of Hugenot immigrants. During his diplomatic career he was entrusted
with, among other things, numerous special missions in the Near East and on the
Indian subcontinent. On 1 April 1982 the world first learned of Dr. Dräcker's
January raising of the German federal flag on an icefloat near the Antarctic
archipelago. Flags can be found in my drawing exhibited in ‘The Cave’.
They are a testimony to these ridiculous attempts to open up or, more to the
point, occupy, new territories.
According to various sources Dr. Dräcker retired on 13 January 1953, went
missing in 1959 and reappeared again three years later. The eccentric diplomat's
career gradually dissipates until 1989, after which point the files of the German
diplomatic service show no record of his activities. As such, I am not sure if
the photo from the Hornberg train station (shot last year) really shows a place
where Dräcker has been. In any case, under those old clothes I found some
green pills that I have kept until today.
Yes, I hope we will meet in Holland soon. When does your De Appel programme start?
I will be in Amsterdam from 7 to 10 July.
See you soon!
Daniel
|
|