The Passenger ⋆ Page 24 of 285 ⋆ Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.

July 30, 2023August 14, 2023

Viktoriapark

The Kreuzberg is with 66 meters height the highest elevation of Berlin. Since the 15th century this ‘mountain’ was used to grow wine grapes. Today it is covered by a nice park that many Berliner use for a walk. On its top you’ll find the Prussian National Monument for the Liberation Wars – it was erected in 1821 after the victory against Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815. Initially it was planned to create a vast church in Gothic-style to commemorate this, but it was to costly.

July 30, 2023August 7, 2023

Flakturm Humboldthain

The Volkspark Humboldthain is a beautiful garden in the north of Berlin. Construction works started in 1869 at the 100. anniversary of the birth of Alexander von Humboldt. It includes a nice rose garden and since 1942 a massive amount of concrete: with the use of forced labor a high-rise bunker with an anti-aircraft warfare position was built, the Flakturm Humboldthain. Flak is an abbreviation for Flugabwehrkanone meaning anti-aircraft gun.

July 29, 2023August 7, 2023

Waldbühne

The Waldbühne Berlin is a fantastic open-air stage in the Murellenschlucht valley close to the Olympiastadion of Berlin. More than 22,000 persons can attend concerts and other events there; the biggest outdoor stage I’ve ever seen. It was built in 1936 for the Olympic summer games following the design of a Greek theatre. The creation was initiated by Joseph Goebbels and the layout included a VIP box for Adolf Hitler. You can still today guess in which time it was built by looking at the artworks at the entrance gates.

July 29, 2023August 7, 2023

Zitadelle Spandau

Everyone who has ever travelled by highspeed train to Berlin knows Spandau: It is the last stop before you reach Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Not too many tourists leave the train there, but there would be a good reason: the city has one of the oldest fortresses of the high renaissance period, the Zitadelle Spandau. It is located in the northeast of the historic city center within river Havel.

July 28, 2023August 7, 2023

Abstract algebra

Amalie Emmy Noether is probably the most important woman in the history of mathematics and left a strong footprint in modern algebra. She did so facing strong resistance caused by the fact that she was a woman, Jewish, and on the left politically. Emmy Noether was born at Erlangen in 1882 and started her studies at Göttingen. She returned to Erlangen after one semester until she received her PhD in mathematics there.

July 28, 2023January 28, 2024

Oppenheimer

Geismar Landstraße 1, now: Am Geismartor 4, Göttingen (Bonifatiusschule II).

When in 2023 Christopher Nolans movie Oppenheimer came to cinemas worldwide the history of Julius Robert Oppenheimer also came back to focus. How should he be remembered? As a genius physicist? Or is the leader of the Manhattan project and creator of the first atomic bomb, the destroyer of the worlds (a quote from the Bhagavad Gita), responsible for the death of so many people at Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or did he save many lives by helping to end World War II (as he stated himself); at a point in time when Nazi Germany already had surrendered? A question also relevant for the city of Göttingen, as Oppenheimer was living and working there for some time.

July 28, 2023August 6, 2023

Rosengarten

The Rosengarten (rose garden) of Göttingen is a forgotten place close to the new town hall building and the city center, just behind the Wallanlagen. Some people might walk from the Cheltenhampark via the Albanifriedhof to the Rosengarten and discover lots of beautiful roses there – but it is typically not a place you’re visiting on purpose. Younger citizens might remember that school’s out parties where once celebrated there, others might have been at this place because it is the schoolyard of the Bonifatiusschule.

July 11, 2023July 25, 2023

Land of fire and ice

Iceland is a beautiful country best to be explored on a road trip. If offers magnificent everchanging landscapes and a weather that can switch between heavy rain and bright sunshine within minutes. It is an island far in the north on which you should dress according to the onion principle as temperatures can very between eight and 26 degrees within a distance of 50 kilometers. And you need to prepare for either extremely long or short days; during my stay the sun went down shortly before midnight and came up at three o’clock in the morning – but it was never really dark at night.

July 10, 2023July 24, 2023

Sky Lagoon

When you’re at Reykjavík and searching for the right spa to relax you have a tough choice to make. You can drive by car to the Reykjanes peninsula and visit the famous blue lagoon (Bláa Lónið). They market it as one of the wonders of the world, but actually it is just a (beautiful!) lake in a volcanic environment filled with water from a geothermic plant. If you want to skip this often overcrowded place you should have a look at the sky lagoon directly in the capital city. It was opened in 2021 and is located directly at the shore.

July 10, 2023July 24, 2023

Phalluses

Icelandic Phallological Museum, Reykjavík

Don’t call it a penis museum. Yes, it contains a very large phallological collection and the museum doesn’t take itself too serious – but the museum has a scientific background and is not like this special museum at Amsterdam visited by giggling teens. The museum presents 284 phalluses and aims to have one from every mammal living on Iceland. They’re struggling a bit with conserving a human one in good shape, but they’ll probably solve this issue.