Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
Not far away from the central square of León, Nicaragua, you can discover a rather unexpected pleasure, the Centro de Arte Fundación Ortiz Gurdián. Next to the San Francisco church you can enter a large and well-maintained art museum. It is a private museum financed by two private entrepreneurs and art collectors. Inaugurated in the year 2000 it is today often seen as the best museum for contemporary art in Central America.
Continue reading “Tortugas and Art”
Nicaragua is a country that isn’t on screen in Europe and that young people here don’t know much about. That was totally different in 1979 when the Nicaraguan revolution succeeded and dictator Somoza had to leave the country. In the following years Nicaragua became a left-wing utopia, many people were dreaming of a better life in a Latin American socialist paradise. From all over the world volunteers came to Nicaragua to help rebuilt the country.
Continue reading “Revolución”
The indigenous people that settled in the Americas before the arrival of European colonialists fascinate many of us today. In Mesoamerica these were the Maya, Aztecs, Olmecs and Toltecs; they left many traces on the continent and much more than just temples. If you’re interested in that you should use a trip to Ciudad de México to visit the Museo Nacional de Antropologia. It hosts a large collection of artefacts and is located in the Chapultepec area.
Continue reading “Museo Nacional de Antropologia”
Bad weather at Bamberg? Don’t worry! The city has a good natural history museum with one of the most beautiful ancient presentation rooms (the Vogelsaal) I’ve ever seen. This special room once belonging to the university was finished in 1810 and is still in its original state. It was formerly used to teach biology and hosts are large collection of birds.
Continue reading “Naturkundemuseum”
The Neue Residenz is an impressive ancient building close to the cathedral of Bamberg. It was the residence of the bishops from 1604 on and replaced the Alte Hofhaltung on the opposite side of the street in this function. The building consists of two sections, one in Renaissance and one in Baroque style. From 1803 on the Neue Residenz became a home of the Bavarian kings when Bavaria expropriated church property on a large scale.
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Next to the cathedral of Bamberg you can find the Alte Hofhaltung, the residence of the bishops. It was built in the 15th century CE but the area was used by rulers much longer than that: the direct predecessor was an imperial palace (a so called Kaiserpfalz) built by Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor. Today it is a beautiful, quiet place and you can relax in its inner courtyard.
Continue reading “Alte Hofhaltung”
The city of Regensburg has written proof when it was founded: in the year 179 CE the Roman fortification Castra Regina was built. This is stated on a stone which was part of the Porta Praetoria which is partially still standing today. It says ‘Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (…) had a fortification with gates and towers built for the 3rd Italian Legion (…)‘ and can be found in the Historisches Museum at the Dachauplatz.
Continue reading “More than Roman history”
When foreigners think about Germany they most often first think of Bavarian things: the Oktoberfest, the Schuhplattler dance, the Lederhose, the Weißwurst, or even the FC Bayern München. That is because the Bavarians are within Germany one of the few groups with a strong identity and preserved historic traditions. And a lot of self-esteem with which they annoy the rest of the country.
Continue reading “Mia san Mia”
When you’re visiting a small town with 65,000 inhabitants you’re not expecting to find impressive museums within. Fulda in the heart of Germany is an exception, as it hosts the Vonderau-Museum at the university square in the city center. It was founded in 1875 and is a surprisingly good combination of a natural history museum, an art collection, a lapidary and a planetarium.
Continue reading “All in one”
One of the good reasons to visit Hildesheim, Germany, is the RPM; the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum. It is known because of its vast collection on Egypt and that’s something you typically wouldn’t expect: an Egyptology museum in a middle-sized city in rural Lower Saxony. Wilhelm Pelizaeus, a merchant from Hildesheim, was living for 40 years in Cairo and in 1907 he gave his private collection to his hometown. Four years later they were exhibited in a museum created only for this purpose, the Pelizaeus-Museum.
Continue reading “RPM”