The Passenger ⋆ Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.

August 13, 2021October 12, 2021

Schwiizerfranke

I still remember that day when I had some hours of layover at the airport of Zürich, Switzerland. I decided to have a short trip to the city center and entered a Euro banknote into a vending machine to buy a train ticket and what came out was not only a ticket but also some spare money in a strange currency, the Schwiizerfranke. Yes, Switzerland is in the center of the European Union but not part of it and for sure it has its own currency. How could I not have expected that?

August 13, 2021October 12, 2021

Rooftop bar for railway lovers

I’m always in for a sundowner with good views. Bern offers different high-class rooftop bars but if you want something special you should visit the PinkLime for a beer, some cocktails, or classic Apéro snacks. By the way: the Apéro is not only an important tradition in France, but also in Switzerland. You meet with friends to talk and your drinks are always served with small snacks (cheese, olives, bread, dried meat, …).

August 13, 2021October 12, 2021

Wankdorfstadion

The Wankdorfstadion at Bern, Switzerland is a modern soccer stadium and home to the club BSC Young Boys. It is located in the city quarter Wankdorf, was built in 2005 and today it is known under the name Stade de Suisse. 32,000 spectators can watch soccer matches there. But to be honest, the new stadium is not the reason to visit this place – it is rather the old stadium once standing there between 1925 and 2001.

August 13, 2021October 12, 2021

City am Bahnhof

Switzerland is an extremely expensive country. You can pay a fortune for a vacation there and hotel rates are remarkably high as well. If you don’t need an extraordinary, beautiful hotel because you’re just on a city trip you might decide to have a look at the hotel ‘City am Bahnhof‘. It has one particularly important advantage: it is located just across the road when leaving the main railway station of Bern.

August 8, 2021October 12, 2021

Carlsbahn

Throughout Germany you can find a lot of old railway tracks that have been given up. Few of them get reactivated later, most of them get removed and are in best case converted to bicycle paths – a good option, as the low inclination makes cycling easy. In my region you can already find four of them: the Gartetalbahn once connecting Göttingen with Duderstadt could not be run economically; the Söhretalbahn east of Kassel wasn’t needed anymore when there was no brown coal left to be transported.

August 1, 2021October 12, 2021

Hünstollenturm

Amazing views await those, who are willing to hike a while through the Göttingen forest. The Hünstollen is a 423 meters high mountain in the northeast of the city, officially belonging to Bovenden. Because of high cliffs this place was easily made a fortification in earlier days. Since 1882 there was a protective hut and a restaurant at this place and later a wooden tower was created from which you can see the Harz mountains but also the Gaußturm on the Hoher Hagen mountain.

August 1, 2021October 12, 2021

Rieswarte

In the year 1380 duke Otto the Evil gave the right to create ditches around the city of Göttingen to protect its borders and the people within. In addition to this protective system called Landwehr in German it was allowed to erect free-standing towers (Bergfriede) on mountains and fortifications (Warten) next to roads to control who is entering or leaving the city.

July 24, 2021October 12, 2021

musa

If you’re living in Göttingen it is impossible to not know what the musa is. The biggest sociocultural center of the region has a history already dating back to the year 1977 and it is located since 1990 in the former military bakery at the Hagenweg, west of river Leine. This part of Göttingen is not the most popular one to live at, but the musa was always a good reason to cross the river and enjoy concerts there.

July 17, 2021October 12, 2021

Harzblick

Is it possible to see the Harz mountains from Göttingen? Not always, but sometimes. The Brocken is 60 kilometers afar, but from the Harzblick tower you’ve got a fair chance. The 35 meters high tower is located near the Mackenröder Spitze in the forest of the city. It was first built in 1897 and had to be rebuilt more than once. In 2021 it was refurbished again and from its top you can see the Seeburger See and the Gleichen – and on good days also the Harz mountains.

July 6, 2021October 11, 2021

Schloß Pyrmont

The most impressive building at Bad Pyrmont is the Baroque-style castle from the 18th century located in a well-protected fortification dating back to the 16th century CE. It was used as a summer residence, but you can also find traces of war as it was besieged and conquered multiple times, even by Swedish troops. Still today the fortification is impressive with a wide moat, high walls, and a long bridge over which you can reach the castle. The tunnel leading you inside has a specialty; it is bended so that nobody can shoot inside. Throughout the castle grounds you can find many chambers and passages to discover.