As darkness fell, people gathered in green spaces, and I found a spot on the Leibnizufer by the side of the river Leine. Candles, which had been prepared by the young people of the uniformed organisations, were distributed, and worship ensued. People had lit their candles prematurely, but it was quite magical, extremely good-natured, and the evening was crowned by some minutes of quiet, which was a very powerful aspect of worship, given the numbers present.

NB all the events were framed by music of one sort or another, and use was made of the Kirchentag hymnbook, which was to become the supplement for the Niedersachsen Protestant hymnbook. Germany is still very much in the stage of needing the definitiveness of THE hymnbook, it appears. I wonder if we have moved beyond that point.