The Passenger ⋆ Page 50 of 303 ⋆ Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.

June 8, 2023June 18, 2023

Three bridges

The old and the new city center of Скопје, North Macedonia, are connected by an ancient bridge, the Stone Bridge (Камен Мост). Already in Roman times a bridge was crossing the river Vardar here. The current structures are of Osman origin: they were created by Mehmed the Conqueror from 1451 on. In 1944 the German Wehrmacht wanted to blow up the bridge which could be prevented – and therefore the bridge is still today a town’s landmark of the city and part of the city arms.

June 8, 2023June 18, 2023

Centrally located

There are plenty of good hotel options at Скопје, North Macedonia. One that suited all my needs was the ibis located opposite to the Brutalist-style telecommunication building connected to the famous post office. It can be found in a quiet side street, just a stone’s throw away from the Macedonia Square. Via a bridge next to the hotel you can reach the old town very fast and the transfer from the airport also brings you close to this place.

June 8, 2023June 18, 2023

Меѓународен аеродром Скопје

The airport of Скопје (SKP), North Macedonia, is a small but good one. It has one terminal and one runway, as a passenger it is very convenient and fast to use. Formerly the airport was named after Alexander the Great; as a part of the conflict resolution with Greece the airport name has been neutralized. SKP is located 20 kilometers outside of Скопје at Петровец. It is operated by a Turkish airport company called TAV.

May 28, 2023June 16, 2023

Meeting followed by breakfast

The Wannseekonferenz is a dark moment in German history. It took place on January 20th, 1942 in the Villa Marlier at the Wannsee lake of Berlin. Delegates of different government institutions were invited to a ‘meeting followed by breakfast’ and coordinated the deportation of all Jewish citizens of Europe to extinction camps in the East. The Holocaust itself was already decided by that time, but the conference was used to define the victims and the schedule in more detail; it was the administration of the so called ‘Final Solution to the Jewish Question‘ (‘Endlösung der Judenfrage‘).

May 28, 2023June 16, 2023

Alles nur geklaut

The center of the Museumsinsel in the heart of Berlin has a colorful past: From 1443 on it was the location of the Berliner Schloss (also named Stadtschloss), the seat of the Electors of Brandenburg, the kings of Prussia and later the German Emperors. It was torn down in 1950 by the government of the GDR and on its grounds the Palast der Republik was built, housing the parliament named Volkskammer. This parliament building then was demolished until 2008 to rebuilt the historic Berliner Schloss, now housing museums and carrying the name Humboldt-Forum. A replica of a historic building worth a visit!

May 28, 2023June 15, 2023

Mauritius blue

The communication museum (Museum für Kommunikation) in the capital city of Germany resides in an amazing ancient building in the city quarter Mitte (Leipziger Straße / Mauerstraße). Its predecessor, the Reichspostmuseum, was opened in 1872; highlight of the building is the six meters high giants statue added in 1895. The current museum is operated by a foundation owned by the German state and financed by the Deutsche Post and Deutsche Telekom. That seems very reasonable because the focus of the collection is the history of mail and telephony.

May 27, 2023June 16, 2023

An der alten Försterei

There are not many clubs from the East of Germany who currently play or formerly played in the Bundesliga. The division of the country into FRG (BRD) and GDR (DDR) for some decades still today shapes the scoreboard of the first German soccer league. Since 2016 the artificial club RB Leipzig which is a marketing vehicle for an energy drink producer is present, formerly Hansa Rostock, Energie Cottbus und Dynamo Dresden were there (all of them clubs only few people in the West could relate to). But things are getting better: since 2019 the 1. FC Union Berlin is inside the league. And its story reads like a miracle or fairytale.

May 27, 2023June 4, 2023

Parkeisenbahn Wuhlheide

The Wuhlheide is a forest within the city of Berlin, Germany, belonging to the city quarters Köpenick and Oberschöneweide. It is named after the river Wuhle which runs into the river Spree and formerly formed the border of the forest. The area contains an open air stage and a family recreation center (the Freizeit- und Erholungszentrum, FEZ). This is based on the former usage by the GDR youth organization, the Pionierorganisation Ernst Thälmann. And it contains a former Pioniereisenbahn in the Sowjet tradition; a narrow-gauge railway operated by children and teenagers who had fun while being trained to became a railway worker.

May 26, 2023June 4, 2023

The Nymph of the Negenborn

The Negenborn-Quelle is a spring at Gleichen, close to the village of Benniehausen. Its name refers to nine springs (negen born) that have been there in the past. If you manage to find the spring in the valley of the river Garte you’ll be at a quite place in nature, with a spring framed in stone. The Negenborn produces around 20 to 30 liters per second which run into the Garte river. A local association, the HURKUT e.V. has placed some seats and a board describing the history of this place close to the Negenborn.

May 21, 2023May 21, 2023

Stumpfe Eiche

Today Weende is a city quarter of Göttingen, Germany. It was an independent community until 1964 and as such it was (and it is still) remembering its fallen soldiers in both World Wars. In 1956 the stonemason August Voss had created a memorial made of sandstone which was placed in a small forest in a region called Stumpfe Eiche (after the former local name vor der stuven Eichen, referring to stubs of oaks once standing there). It is today a bit hidden, but you can see steps leading you from the street level into the forest. There the memorial is surrounded by seats. It is a nice place, but a problematic memorial.