Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
Wednesday. Every damn Wednesday. I have the feeling of having spent years in my life at the Thanner’s Tag & Nachtschänke in Göttingen, Germany. It is a rather dark but comfy bar directly at the Wilhelmsplatz. I was there every week during school and study times and while I was active in politics I told people that I would have my weekly consultation hours here – they were used frequently.
If you are leaving the railway station in Göttingen, Germany you cannot miss to see the newest monument in town. The privately funded pedestal by artist Christiane Möbus is at first sight a mere copy of the Ernest Augustus memorial close to the railway station of Hanover – without king Ernest on top. Uncovered just some days ago it has already attracted a lot of mockery and malice.
Autumn is road trip time! And after looking on a map of Poland there was only one spot left, I haven’t visited in the past: Kraków. And as I have not been to Praha during the last 15 years I decided to cross the entire Czech Republic with stops in Praha and Brno and to drive over the border to Kraków. The most important reason indeed was, that I had not visited a concentration camp before – something that felt odd as I was even travelling to Jerusalem, Israel to learn more about the Shoa.
Always bad news from Dresden, Germany: every monday a movement of ant-islamic and xenophobic citizens demonstrates their view on politics, inviting speakers that even cross the border to fascist statements. And the crude excesses at the asylum-seeker housing in close-by Heidenau. And the violence-prone “fans” of the soccer club Dynamo Dresden. A city to avoid?
One of the mayor sights in Dresden, Germany is the “Zwinger” – an orangery and garden close to the river Elbe. It dates back to the 17th century and has been planned by famous architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann. You can walk through the gardens, roam the terraces and enjoy the buildings in Baroque style.
The opera of Dresden, Germany has been named after its architect Gottfried Semper and was built from the year 1838 on. It is one of the landmarks of Dresden and located close to the Zwinger and the river Elbe. It was destroyed twice: In 1869 and in 1945. And only in 1985 the building could be re-opened with a show of “Der Freischütz” from Carl Maria von Weber. One of the last positive moments for the government of the GDR.
The Fürstenzug in Dresden, Germany is a huge mural display attached to the castle within the city center. It has been painted from 1871 to 1876 and should celebrate the former sovereigns of Saxonia on the 800th anniversary of the Wettin family. It is 102 meters long and depicts 35 noblemen mounted on their horses.
I still remember the moment when I was standing in front of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Dresden, Germany the first time in my life. It was a ruin. Big blocks of stone were lying around. The government of the GDR had no interest in repairing a house of prayer and left it standing in ruins – as a memorial of war.
Continue reading “Finally restored”
I usually book hotels with HRS and select them by plain categories like price, location and availability of a car park – when doing road trips. When I needed a place to stay at Dresden, Germany a simple but very special harbourage came to my mind: the ship hotel “Pöppelmann” (named after the architect of the Zwinger).
There are many old mines that can be visited in Germany, especially in the Harz mountains. But the salt mine in Wieliczka close to Kraków, Poland stands out in different dimensions. At first the vast size has to be named; it is somehow like a city under the earth – with a restaurant, a museum and different shops. You can walk around down there for hours.