The Alps have fascinated me since that time when we were in Switzerland with the Knie Circus. Then, I was always looking up at the snow-covered peaks and yearning just to run as far as I could up the mountainside. Of course that was unthinkable. I wouldn't have been able to fulfill my duties in the caravan and the circus tent. In 1940, too, when we were filming on the Isarauen, the mountains seemed so close and I would gaze at them longingly.

When it was once again possible to travel by rail Friedel and I fulfilled a long-standing wish. It was still the time of the Reichsmark and the old ticket fares were still in force. We packed American cigarettes and coffee and headed off to Mittenwald in Upper Bavaria, at the foot of the mountains. The town had not been destroyed, but it was crammed with refugees, and that made for an uncomfortable atmosphere. But with our black market goods we found accommodation relatively quickly in a private house. Friedel had been collecting travel coupons and we always got something to eat in the restaurants. We had a fine time. We borrowed skis and learned to ski, we took long walks and hikes. In the evening we had long conversations with other young people over mugs of the non-alcoholic “hot drink”. Most important, we went dancing wherever the chance was on offer in the town or nearby. Our thirst for life was indescribable.

One day we went to a dance which was attended by almost the whole population of Mittenwald. That included the American soldiers who were stationed in Mittenwald to control the border crossing to Austria. These were duties that the military government assigned only to white units. In those days there was still racial segregation in the American army. It was only ended by US President Harry S. Truman at the outbreak of the Korean War – against the wishes of the military leaders. Friedel and I were dancing, when two American MPs came up to us and started forcing me to the exit. I protested loudly. It wasn't the first time that MPs had stopped me. After a swift check of my identity card they made it crystal clear to me that I didn't belong there and should clear off right away.