Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
The massive Konstantinbasilika at Trier is a special church. The architecture is plain, the walls are high and inside this house of prayer is mostly undecorated. When the Roman emperors used this place in the fourth century it was a hall for audiences.
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The Liebfrauenkirche of Trier is one of the oldest Gothic-style churches in Germany (together with the Elisabethkirche of Marburg). Therefore it is enlisted in the list of UNESCO world heritage sites and very well worth a visit! What might be confusing at first sight is that the cathedral of Trier and the Liebfrauenkirche (two separate churches) are directly connected to each other.
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The Porta Nigra is simply amazing: a decorated and well-preserved Roman city gate at Trier. You can enter the building and climb up three floors to enjoy the architecture and wonderful views on the city. The gate to the city Augusta Treverorum was built from the year 170 CE on, but it was never finished.
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The highlight of the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe at Kassel are the historic water features or water games. To show their power the landgraves were even taming the elements and in this case controlling water: behind the Herkules monument, water is collected in large basins. At dedicated points in time it is floating down the hill without any electricity, creating sounds and fountains. Twice a year this event is started at dawn and the places in the Bergpark are beautifully enlightened – this is called the ‘Beleuchtete Wasserspiele‘.
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It is a relic from the old times, but someone needs to show the kids of today that there was a world before video streaming and without Netflix. That in the past we had to walk to a video store where we could be VHS (Video Home System), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), BluRay media (and buy drinks, chips and fruit gum). That we needed to pay a penalty fee when we returned them too late. Many video rental stores have been killed by the streaming industry (and us as the customers), but one survived: the first, the world’s oldest.
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The Erzgebirge (ore mountains) or Krušné hory is a mountainous region belonging to Germany and the Czech Republic. People get there to enjoy nature, for skiing, to learn more about mining history or to buy artisan products like Räuchermännchen (incense smokers) or Schwibbögen (candle arches) for their Christmas decorations. For me it was a long trip by car just for watching a soccer match at the Erzgebirgsstadion, home of the FC Erzgebirge Aue.
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Is it a clever idea to put a charcoal-fired grill into the stairway of your home and to sell grilled sausages from there? Well, in 1920 someone in Göttingen thought so and the fire is still burning! The Bratwurst Glöckle is easy to overlook if you don’t know where you have to search for it. Keep your eyes wide open at the intersection of Kornmarkt and Groner Straße/Lange-Geismar-Straße, not far away from the Gänseliesel fountain.
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The Ruine Katzenstein is a historic building close to the city center of Bad Wildungen that has been almost forgotten. It is the ruin of a ruin, partially covered with concrete and hidden in a forest. But this was different in the past; for many years, the Katzenstein tower was shown in most touristic postcards of the region. It was created as a ruin in 1876 when the spa gardens of the city were redesigned, and it was visible from the city.
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Bad Wildungen is a small spa town with mineral springs in northern Hesse. It is beautifully located on and between mountains, different small rivers (like the Wilde, Bornebach, Sonderbach, Uhrenbach, Erdbach) run through the city. At the riversides you can find nice parks and a lot of artworks – a lot to discover. On top of one of the mountains (the Schloßberg), you can find the yellow-painted Baroque-style castle Schloß Friedrichstein.
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It is disputed whether the Igelsburg (formerly Engelsburg) in the Habichtswald forest was a real castle. Ancient sketches show just four houses on top of a basalt rock protected by palisades. At which point in time this fortification was built is unknown, but it is believed that it was used by Charles the Great in his war against the Saxons (772 to 804 CE). It was given up somewhen in the 12th or 13th century CE.
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