Germany Archives ⋆ Page 33 of 113 ⋆ The Passenger

January 6, 2020January 7, 2020

Burgruine Schauenburg

The municipality of Schauenburg, Germany, is (like also, for example, Baunatal) a combination of different villages: Breitenbach, Elgershausen, Elmshagen, Hoof and Martinhagen. Its centre is at Hoof and the symbol of the municipality is the Schauenburg, a former fortification on a volcanic cone (the Burgberg). It dates back to the 11th century CE and the structures are clearly visible on top of the mountain – different walls are still standing and even some crop plants from these times have survived.

January 4, 2020January 5, 2020

Wet grave

Different stories about bridges could be told at Guntershausen. The village belonging to Baunatal, Germany, is an important railway junction where the tracks from Kassel to Frankfurt (Main-Weser-Bahn) and from Kassel to Bebra (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Nordbahn) meet. Since 1848 a large and beautiful bridge leads over river Fulda, but its centrepiece was destroyed during World War II by the Nazis. It was rebuilt in 1952 in modern style. The most macabre story happened during the construction works of a nearby road bridge. High water stopped the construction works in 1924 right after the piling walls had been placed.

January 3, 2020April 14, 2022

Söhre

The Söhre is a far-spread mountain range with beautiful forests close to Kassel, Germany. At its centre, a municipality called Söhrewald can be found but the Söhre also reaches into municipalities like Lohfelden, Guxhagen, Fuldabrück, Helsa, Kaufungen or Hessisch Lichtenau. It is an area beloved for nice hiking tracks and different routes like the Märchenlandweg or the Kassel-Steig guide you through it. The Söhre is closely linked to Kassel as brown coal was found there and transported via the Söhrebahn to the city. This created many villages along the track that today people live at that commute to Kassel.

January 3, 2020January 6, 2020

Söhrebahn

The Söhrebahn was a railway leading from the city quarter Bettenhausen of Kassel, Germany, to the forest behind the village Wellerode (passing Eisenhammer, Lohfelden and Vollmarshausen). It was built in normal width (1435 mm), more than 10 kilometres long and opened in 1912. Within the Söhre brown coal had been found and it was transported from there to Kassel – but also other companies along the track started to use it and connecting tracks where built. The railway track was also used to transport persons and its existence connected the Söhre closely to Kassel. Many villages along the way grew and people used the trains to commute to the city.

January 1, 2020January 5, 2020

Noah‘s ark

The zoological garden Noah‘s Arche at Grömitz, Germany, is one of these family-friendly zoos: not too big, not too expensive – but with enough animals, a children’s area, a playground and a short railway to ride. On the inhabitant list, you can find lions & lynxes, coatis & camels, alpacas & apes; but also wallabies, porcupines, raccoons and many more species. I was really surprised to see the tree full of raccoons climbing around and I loved the areas where you can get in touch with goats, alpacas, nandus and llamas – don’t forget to buy animal feed at the entrance!

December 18, 2019December 19, 2019

Gläserne Stadt

The Gläserne Stadt (vitreous city) is a beautiful artwork that was hidden in the underground: it was created in 1968 by artist Dieter von Andrian for the one and only underground tramway stop of Kassel, Germany – located underneath the main railway station (Hauptbahnhof, now Kulturbahnhof). It is 14 meters long and 2.5 meters high and shows a detailed map of Kassel, from the Unterneustadt, the river Fulda and the Karlsaue up to the Bergpark. You can easily spot the Königsplatz and the Wilhelmshöher Allee as the main (but broken) axis through the city. The artwork is illuminated in the evening, and it is most beautiful to visit it in the evening hours.

December 14, 2019January 27, 2020

Elbtunnel

Hamburg, Germany, is located at the river Elbe which splits the city into two parts: the city itself with the residential zones in the North and the docklands / industrial zone in the South. When tourists today want to see musicals in the harbour they cross the river by boat. But what about the workers that needed to cross the river twice a day? For them, the St.-Pauli-Elbtunnel or Alter Elbtunnel (to distinguish it from the motorway tunnel opened in 1975) was opened in 1911: a tunnel under river Elbe that can be passed on foot as well as with cars.

December 14, 2019January 27, 2020

Landungsbrücken

The St. Pauli-Landungsbrücken at Hamburg, Germany, are an ancient pier for passenger ships dating back to the year 1839. These ships were by that time powered by coal and it was, therefore, wanted to keep a distance between the ships and the harbour buildings to prevent fire. The pier is 688 meters long and from here big ships went on long journeys – a place that must have seen many tears of joy and sorrow.

December 14, 2019January 27, 2020

Kunsthalle

The Hamburger Kunsthalle is a fantastic art museum close to the railway station of Hamburg, Germany. It consists of three buildings dating back to 1868, 1921 and 1996 and also the art shown here covers a long time period from the Middle Ages to modern and contemporary art. The collection is presented on 13,000 square meters throughout the interconnected buildings and you can walk there for hours enjoying fine art.

December 14, 2019January 27, 2020

Tierpark Hagenbeck

Hagenbecks Tierpark at Hamburg, Germany, is a well-known zoological garden. In fact, it consists of two things that can be visited separately: the tropical aquarium and the zoological garden. In 1907 it was the first zoo without fences, but its roots go back to 1848 when a member of the Hagenbeck family started to exhibit six seals in the city centre. Today you can see more than 1,800 animals of 200 species in the zoo and 14,000 animals from 300 species inside the aquarium.