Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
The Filmladen (lit. ‘movie shop‘) is an arthouse cinema at the city quarter Vorderer Westen of Kassel, Germany. It was opened in 1981 and created by a student movie initiative. The resulting non-profit organization Verein Filmladen Kassel e. V. is still today operating this rather non-commercial cinema; and that’s amazing as the cinema shows all the films that you would never see in a multiplex cinema but are really worth being screened.
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When I moved to Kassel, Germany, I was offered a flat at a city quarter called Wehlheiden. It was advertised with the words ‘During the Wehlheider Kirmes you’re at the center of action‘. Fortunately, a local friend told me that you don’t want to live in the center of this event and decided to move to the Vorderer Westen instead (mostly because of the brothel next door). But this shouldn’t be too negative as the Wehlheider Kirmes is really beloved by the Kasseler, Kasselaner and Kasseläner.
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I always enjoy riding my bike on old converted railway tracks: the inclination is limited, the infrastructure is often good, many tunnels and bridges are found on the way and you can typically discover remains of past railway times. One of these converted tracks can be found close to the Edersee in Northern Hesse: Between 1884 and 1917 a railway track was opened linking Wabern (Hesse) and Brilon-Wald (North Rhine-Westphalia). While the routes from Wabern to Bad Wildungen and from Korbach to Brilon-Wald are still in operation and served every two hours, the middle section from Korbach to Wega is out of service.
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The inhabitants of Kassel like to party and after 2.5 years of pandemic limitations it was time again for the biggest party, the Zissel. It is unclear were this name comes from but the best guess is that it originates in the Low German language where it means something like to spend money for having fun. The Zissel is celebrated since 1926 and always happens on the first weekend of August from Friday to Monday. It starts with attaching the Zisselhäring (a large herring) to the Rondell on Friday and ends with removing and releasing the herring to the water on Monday evening.
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The railway station of Kassel is a place that many people pass by, but it is also the Kulturbahnhof; a location to spend time at with bars, the Caricatura and also a cinema. When you pass through the main hall of the railway station you’ll see the entrance to the BALi, which is the abbreviation for Bahnhofslichtspiele. I came here for a show of three editors-in-chief of the famous German satirical newspaper Titanic: Oliver Maria Schmitt, Thomas Gsella and Martin Sonneborn.
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I’ve always enjoyed being at Scandinavia. Maybe it is because of the special nature of this region, the large forests and many lakes, the rocks and the quietness of the countryside. Or it is because of the friendly people and special animals living there. Who knows? After several trips to Sweden I had still not yet seen Finland and thought that this is a gap worth to be closed. I just needed the right point in time to pack my bag.
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A simple coffee bar at the sea, close to the Sibeliuksen puisto of Helsinki. Located in a small shed which is 120 years old, with many seats outside. Offering coffee and other drinks, small dishes, vegan and gluten-free options. A quite place with a fireplace and no alcohol. Get here to relax at the shore, to fry sausages on open fire or to rent a canoe, a rowing boat or a SUP.
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Is the central library Oodi at Helsinki a place you should really visit? Of course! Because it is like a blueprint how libraries should be everywhere in the world. The new building was opened in 2018 and the fantastic architecture acts as a bridge between the analog and the digital world. Oodi combines the classic library offering printed books with a digital library, with 3D printers, a cinema, with a recording studio, with video games… It creates so many good reasons to visit the library.
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Time to learn more about Finnish history? The Finnish national museum (or Suomen kansallismuseo) of Helsinki is a great place to do so. It is not a boring history museum; it is immersive, playful, simply great. The exhibition shows all about Finnish history, from stone age to the 21st century and is presented in an amazing historical building from 1910.
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The Kiasma at Helsinki is a museum for contemporary art. The name refers to the optic chiasma, the point where optic nerves cross in the brain. The architecture is fantastic and the museum conception is a bit crazy and therefore the museum is absolutely fun to visit. It was built in the 1990s after a lot of controversies and after the plans of U.S. architect Steven Holl. He was the first foreigner to design a building in Helsinki after the time of German architect Carl Ludwig Engels.
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