Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
Next to the river Leine in the center of Hannover, Germany you can find a building with Greek columns in front: the Niedersächsischer Landtag, the parliament of the federal state of Lower Saxony. It is located in the Leineschloss – a former castle in neoclassical style that was used by the kings of Hannover until 1866. Now the representatives of the people rule there.
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When you arrive at the central railway station of Hannover, Germany and walk towards the city center you can’t overlook a church tower made of red bricks. It belongs to the Marktkirche St. Georgii et Jacobi, a protestant church. Easily visible are also the special shapes on the outside of the tower: a pentagram in a ring and two hexagrams with each a clock inside.
Continue reading “Dark arts”
When you’re visiting the Edersee lake in northern Hesse you can most often see a castle up on hill: Schloß Waldeck at Waldeck, Germany. Of course you’ve got brilliant views on the artificial lake from there. The castle was first mentioned in the year 1120 CE and served as a fortress, as barracks and as a jail over time. Since 1920 it is a state asset and can be visited.
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The castle Hanstein at Bornhagen, Germany is one of the most beautiful castle ruins of the region. It is not far away from the point where the three federal countries of Hesse, Lower Saxony and Thuringia meet. It is said that the castle exists since the year 820 but the first written proof is from around the year 1000 CE. It was home to the house of Hanstein and later inaccessible while Germany was divided.
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Close to the village of Hundelshausen belonging to Witzenhausen, Germany a company gathers gypsum. Already in 1940 they gave up an area and the open pit, surrounded by high rocks, filled with ground water and rain. Today it is a lake with 5000 cubic meters of water that you can use for swimming. There are also platforms on the water, a separated non-swimmer area and a wooden base.
Continue reading “Grüner See”
The summer residence of Sophia Charlotte of Hanover is a wonderful palace in the West of Berlin, Germany and with its garden it invites for long walks. It was opened in 1699 and was named Lietzenburg after the village next to it. It was extended continuously, especially after she became queen of Prussia. When Sophia Charlotte in 1705 (aged 36 then) her husband named the castle and the village after her: Charlottenburg. Still today the city quarter name Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf refers to her.
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When hearing the name ‘Sanssouci‘ people always think of the castle of Sanssouci at Potsdam, Germany. But after finishing the castle and the vineyard terraces a continuous expansion began under the following Hohenzollern rulers. Flower gardens, alleys, uncountable fruit-bearing trees and fountains where added. The Park Sanssouci now has a size of 290 hectares and a network of paths that sum up to 70 kilometers. There is a lot to explore and to discover.
Continue reading “Collection of castles”
The castle of Sanssouci is one of the best-known castles in Germany and located within the Park Sanssouci of Potsdam, Germany. It belonged to the house of Hohenzollern and the first buildings where created between 1745 and 1747 by the order of Frederick the Great in rococo style. It was extended in 1841 under Frederick William IV of Prussia and since 1990 the castle is a UNESCO world heritage site.
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The Nordstadtpark is one of the smaller green areas at Kassel, Germany – but it is well-known and highly frequented because of its location next to the university and the university hospital. It offers a playground, a large meadow to relax and terraces to sit on next to river Ahne. The location also determines the atmosphere here: the visitors are younger and more international than in other parts of the city.
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Because of its massive weaponry production the city of Kassel, Germany was a primary target for air raids in World War II. Therefore you can still today find different bunkers under the city and above ground. One of them is the vast Weinbergbunker within the Weinberg mountain (where once wine was planted) close to the city center. It was created in 1821 to store and cool beer – the temperature down there is always between 8 and 11 degrees celsius. In addition in winter times ice from the frozen river Fulda was brought there.
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