Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
When moving by subway throughout Berlin, Germany you can discover something irritating when leaving at the station “Kochstraße“: In the middle of the street there is an US-American military checkpoint and a sign telling you that you’re about to leave the American sector. It’s the famous “Checkpoint Charlie” in front of the former border line and will, now invisible. Continue reading “Checkpoint Charlie”
The Vondelpark is an urban park in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the Dutch equivalent to New Yorks Central Park – even though it is much smaller and less moulded. It covers 47 hectares and is named after the Dutch poet Joost van den Vondel (whose statue is visible within the park). You can access the green lung of Amsterdam easily close to the Leidseplan, but there are also many other gates along the stretched park. Continue reading “Vondelpark”
The castle Trendelburg is a very well preserved fortification in Trendelburg, Germany; belonging to northern Hesse. It is dating back to the year 1303 CE and is nowadays a place for medieval festivals and fairytale adventures. It is one of the smaller castles of the area but the location near and above the city is pretty fascinating.
Continue reading “Trendelburg”
There are lots of abandoned railway tracks throughout Europe – some became unnecessary because of the technical progress and some have been replaced by better (but often more expensive) routes. One example that has been revived is the track leading from Kassel to Naumburg, Germany – now used for steam engine rides.
Continue reading “The Hessencourrier”
Bad Harzburg is a small town within the Harz mountain range in northern Germany. It is a spa town, offers a casino and you can go by teleferic to the castle mountain above. Since 2015 it has another attraction – the “Baumwipfelpfad“; you can take a one kilometer long walk throughout the treetops of a forest.
Continue reading “Between treetops”
Going to church on a sunday morning was never so pleasant than in Hann. Münden, Germany. That is because of a church close to the city center that has been transformed into a coffee bar where you can have a nice breakfast or a piece of cake. It’s quite a strange feeling to dine on an old altar, but this place has its own very special atmosphere.
The church of St. Blasius is located on the central place of Hann. Münden, Germany. It is a gothic style church with a nice tower where once warders kept watch to protect the city. The first remains in this place date back to the year 1000, but the current church has been built in three different steps between 1216 and 1519. Continue reading “Converted gothic church”
There are a lot of old mines in the Harz mountains you can visit – but not many offer to enter them by train. At the mining museum in Lautenthal, Germany (belonging to Langelsheim near Goslar) you can in addition also try to go by boat into the dark. This is possible because the miners established a multiple kilometers long transport system with small boats throughtout the mountains. Continue reading “Train into the mountain”
The city of Hann. Münden, Germany was once the most southern river harbour of the Kingdom of Hanover. That is why King George V. extended the existing railway track from Hanover to Göttingen (“Hannöversche Südbahn”) further on to Hann. Münden (and later to Kassel). To stay on the territory of the kingdom, a route had to be chosen that wasn’t easy to build and operate.
Continue reading “Abandoned railway”
The Kreuztor ist the town’s landmark of Ingolstadt, Germany. It is the only original city gate still standing and was once the connection to the leper house “Holy cross” – therefore the name (“Kreuz” = “cross”). It has been built in 1385 and carries seven medieval turrets.