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February 15, 2020February 18, 2020

Sachsen-Therme

If you need some relaxation or want to do some sports at Leipzig, Germany, the Sachsen-Therme might be your choice. It is a spa in the city quarter Paunsdorf in the East of the city and therefore a little bit remote. Therefore, it has everything you need: a whirlpool, a flow channel, artificial waves, a sauna, an outdoor pool and a 25-meter sports pool. It feels a little bit like a copy of the Ostsee-Therme (Scharbeutz) and the Westfalen-Therme (Bad Lippspringe) if you’ve seen one of them.

February 15, 2020April 14, 2022

Bull riding

Getting to Leipzig, Germany, for a soccer match brings mixed feelings. If you think of soccer in the city you might think of the formerly very successful VfB Leipzig, the 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig or the BSG Chemie Leipzig. But of course, you need to discuss RasenballSport Leipzig or short: RB. It is an artificial soccer club founded by energy drink producer Red Bull and I really dislike the idea that a company producing drinks in cans has so much influence in the German Bundesliga – also superseding old clubs with a long history. But RB fulfils the desire of the people in Leipzig to see good soccer matches and as the soccer clubs from the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) are massively underrepresented in the Bundesliga you might also find good aspects in this.

February 15, 2020February 17, 2020

Karl-Marx-Relief

Between 1953 and 1991 the university of Leipzig, Germany, was named Karl-Marx-Universität after the author of ‘Capital. A Critique of Political Economy‘. In 1968 the church belonging to the university (Paulinerkirche, inaugurated in 1240) next to the Augustusplatz was destroyed to build a new university building. There was no place for religion in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). In 1974 a giant artwork called ‘Aufbruch‘ was attached to this new building showing Karl Marx and honouring him and the Marxism. It is 14 meters long, 7 meters high and has a weight of 33 tons.

February 14, 2020February 15, 2020

Huskies

For me, it is the first time that I’m living in a city with an ice hockey team. I’ve never seen a match so far but I had the feeling that as an inhabitant of Kassel, Germany, you should have at least once seen a match of the Kassel Huskies. As a soccer aficionado, I had to prepare well to somehow understand the very different rules. And I didn‘t regret getting to the Eissporthalle after seeing a great 6:3 (3:0, 3:3) victory against the ESV Kaufbeuren.

February 11, 2020February 14, 2020

Ghotel

The Ghotel is another hotel close to the main railway station of Essen, Germany. It is a modern and nice three-star hotel and seems to be brand-new. You can easily reach it on foot from the railway station and as there also U11 stops it is in the ideal location for visitors of the fair at Essen. It belongs to a hotel chain from Bonn, Germany which currently expands its list of locations (you can also find them at Hannover and Göttingen, for example).

February 2, 2020February 3, 2020

St. Petri

The Petrikirche at Lübeck, Germany, is a nice church dating back to the year 1170 CE and is made of the typical red bricks used in this area of the country. It was destroyed during World War II and served for many years as a lapidarium – a place where stones from other religious buildings of the city were collected. The church was rebuilt only in 1987 and as all of the interior is lost it is normally not used for religious services.

February 2, 2020February 3, 2020

Rebuilt cathedral

The Lübecker Dom is one of the richly decorated churches in the city. Its foundation stone was laid by Henry the Lion in 1137, the church was inaugurated in 1247. Formerly a Catholic church it has been converted during Protestant Reformation and it changed its appearance from a Roman to Gothic style. After a bomb partially destroyed the Dom in 1942 it needed until 1982 to restore it properly.

February 2, 2020February 4, 2020

Heiligen-Geist-Hospital

It is a little bit spooky but worth a visit: the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital in the city centre of Lübeck, Germany. A beautiful Gothic building made from red bricks containing a former hospital dating back to the year 1227 CE. When you enter it you will feel like in a church – there are giant religious wall paintings, a pulpit and some sculptures. You can also enter the main hall of the hospital where you can see wooden cabins that were once used to separate the ill. Hard to imagine to stay for a longer time in one of these.

February 2, 2020February 4, 2020

Hansemuseum

In the North of Europe everybody knows the Hanse – an association of merchants that organized itself between the 12th and the 17th century, collectively agreed on trading rules and supported each other. It began with merchants travelling together in the direction of Sweden and Russia to share knowledge and be better protected. The Hanse left many traces still visible today; especially throughout the countries along the Baltic sea. They also met regularly and most often this Hansetag happened in Lübeck – a good reason for opening a museum here.

February 1, 2020February 3, 2020

The MuK

Kettcar, Musik- und Kongresszentrum, Lübeck

If you give a place a name as long as Musik- und Kongresshalle then it’s pretty normal that the locals will start to abbreviate. For them this concert hall and event centre opened in 1994 is simply ‘die MuK‘. Philharmonic concerts use a special room within the building, for other concerts the stage is placed in a giant foyer. A multifunctional building saves money but everything feels a little bit improvised: the windows closed with cloth hanging from the ceiling and mobile barriers (called Hamburger Gitter) needed to ensure a proper entrance check for the crowd.