Frau Gottlieb eventually complained to the superintendent about my "incessant noise." I was a nuisance, she said, getting in the way of decent people trying to enter and exit their own home. The superintendent hated the old woman, but often catered to her social stature (her late husband once served on the Senate of Berlin). So, he apologetically asked that I play my guitar elsewhere, "why not go across the street? The old goat can't stop you from using a public park."