Western Prussia.
A salon hosted by Madame Adenauer was being held in a brick-red villa south of Stendal.
The salon's theme was "The Meaning of the German Nation."
"Martin Luther's German Bible let Hesse farmers and Prussian craftsmen read the same proverb; the bells of Cologne Cathedral and Reifenstein Abbey rang out the same hymn of Christ Resurrection!"
A young man without a wig, dressed in hunting clothes, was waving his arms and speaking passionately. "From Arminius's battle cry in Teutoburg Forest to Charlemagne's iron cavalry in the East Frankish Kingdom, our ancestors watered the black soil from the Baltic Sea to the Alps with the same hot blood!
"And now, our language, our legends, even our songs, have all been carved into countless fragments!
"Esteemed gentlemen, when foreign enemies invade, only by joining the swords of Hesse men, the spears of Prussians, and the shields of Thuringians can we forge an iron wall and make all Europe listen to Germany's voice..."
At the back left of the guest seats, a thin-haired man with a short beard stared at the speaker, then turned and whispered to a powdered middle-aged man beside him, "Have you heard? Berlin is building two new gun factories, on an unprecedented scale. One of them will be right here in Stendal.
"The new factories will certainly purchase vast quantities of lining plates, rivets, and the like. If you are willing to join forces with me, no one will be able to compete with us."
Their two families operated the largest and third-largest copperware workshops in western Prussia.
"Looks like there'll be another war." The middle-aged man first let out a long sigh before nodding. "We do need to cooperate. Business is getting harder and harder these days."
"Isn't that so?" the short-bearded man agreed. "Ever since