Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
Northern Hesse has its own table mount! Not as vast as the Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa but very worth a visit. When coming from Kassel, Germany, you need to pass around the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe and then you will see it very fast: the Burghasunger Berg belonging to Zierenberg. The mountain is flat and on top, you will find a small lake, the ruins of a former cloister, good views and some places to rest.
Continue reading “Table mount”
The KSV Hessen Kassel is a football club with a big history and a stadium (the Auestadion) rather fitting to the past than to the present. It was an obvious idea to watch a match but I simply didn’t do it after moving to Kassel – shortly after I decided to buy a ticket, SARS-CoV-2 appeared and all matches were cancelled or no spectators were allowed. Now the large stadium becomes an advantage: people can watch matches during the pandemic safely while adhering to the distance rules. Against TSV Schott Mainz around 2,000 people (in a stadium for more than 18,000 persons) saw the first home game of the new season.
Continue reading “Hessen Kassel”
When passing through the East of Frankfurt you might certainly see a giant skyscraper. It doesn’t look like a part of a skyline – it is standing out and surrounded by rather small buildings and residential zones. The giant glass windows look like a giant mirroring and it is really an amazing piece of architecture. That doesn’t only seem to be my opinion; for some years, every time when I was passing through the Ostend with friends one of them said: ‘Do you see this building? That is the new European Central Bank!‘. Proudly. Like it doesn’t happen so often with a skyscraper in Frankfurt.
Continue reading “Mirroring the clouds”
There are endless good options to have a nice breakfast in Frankfurt, Germany. But if you’re looking for a plain, non-touristy coffee bar aside from the busy city centre you might like the Café Crumble. It is located not far away from the Bockenheimer Warte and offers seats inside and outside in a small backyard. The Crumble is a cosy place which offers a small but good range of breakfast: from vegetarian to sea fruit, from sweet to Greek.
Continue reading “Café Crumble”
The Coronavirus changed everything in 2020. From one day to the other many things making life enjoyable became impossible and that included for sure also concerts. It is still absolutely unimaginable to stand in large crowds, sing and dance. All events are moved into 2021 and bands, concert venues and tour organizers are facing pretty tough times. After half a year without live music, I‘m also suffering and realizing what a luxury culture is.
Continue reading “Glitzerschwein”
When it is getting hot outside the people in Kassel, Germany, gather on both sides of the river Fulda running through the city. The Fulda is used for swimming and all kinds of watersports and bathing in the river has a very long tradition. In earlier times there were Flußbadeanstalten – supervised places dedicated to swimming in the river. One of them is today the Auebad, the largest indoor and outdoor pool of the city. Another one you will automatically see when moving close to the Orangerie and the Spitzhacke: the Kurbad Jungborn which is today a museum and a coffee bar.
Continue reading “Kurbad Jungborn”
A strange building made of stone hidden behind high trees in the forest. A temple? A ruin? If you walk around the building on the Klausberg in Göttingen, Germany, you will spot a tiny inscription: ‘Gedenkstein für Otto von Bismarck‘, a memorial for the former imperial chancellor. It is officially called ‘Bismarckstein‘ but the locals have a different name for it: ‘Elefantenklo‘ (elephant loo). Bismarck was very famous by his time even though his role in history has a lot of dark sides – but the people were willing to donate for memorials to commemorate him.
Continue reading “Elefantenklo”
When you’re hiking on the Warteberg mountain in the east of Göttingen, Germany, you can come across an old earthquake observatory. It is the so-called Wiechert’sche Erdbebenwarte named after the former director Emil Wiechert. The university gave up the building in 2005 but now a private association cares about the legacy of the scientist, including different seismographs that still work. A highlight of this place is a four tons weighing giant: the Mintrop-Kugel.
Continue reading “Mintrop-Kugel”
Everybody in Göttingen, Germany, knows the Schillerwiesen – a long stretched park in the East of the city leading up the hill. Most people only know the lower section where people meet for picnics and barbecues, to do sports or play miniature golf. Some get a little bit higher and also see the Jérôme-Pavillion where you can also have your wedding ceremony. Not many people get further on to a more quiet part where you can see the Merkelstein (remembering the former mayor Georg Merkel) and the Kleiner Reinsbrunnen – a nice spring hidden in the forest.
Continue reading “Kleiner Reinsbrunnen”
It is a little bit aside and a little bit hidden: the Café Hemer in the southern part of Göttingen, near the Leinekanal. And this little bit of remoteness makes the coffee bar a wonderful place with great coffee, delicious cake and most often a free table if you decide to just get there spontaneously.
Continue reading “Café Hemer”