Here in Germany, I am finally officially in all of my classes. When I started the semester, I was put into the wrong German class and it was a hassle. I worked everything out, but instead of having language class twice a week for three hours a session, I have class everyday for five hours. I think it'll be worth it in the long run as I'll be able to do a semester's worth of credits in four weeks, but it's a heavy course load! My other courses are European Art History, in which we have been studying a lot about European Cathedrals (this will come up later), a Nazi History course with possibly the coolest old German professor ever, and "Experiential Learning" class which is a historical/cultural perspective class in which we go on excursions and have special projects to go along with them, and an International Marketing class, which is very interesting and intriguing.
Since I posted last, I have gone on a couple excursions; the Kurpfälzisches Museum in Heidelberg, Stuttgart, and Worms V.1. Here's what I pulled from those experiences.
The Kurpfälzisches Museum
The Kurpfälzisches Museum is the official historical and cultural museum of Heidelberg. Inside you'll find artifacts from the Roman era in the area, artwork from 14th century artists to modern day expressionists, and a complete history of the city itself. Do you remember Christian from the last post? Yeah, I've been spelling his name wrong, it's Kristian. My bad. Anyways, he was our tour guide for this excursion as well. Though the museum had a lot of cool artifacts from the Roman era including the original supports for the main bridge over the Neckar and burial site headstones of generals, and vast amounts of beautiful artworks from a range of nearly 800 years, I think the major takeaway I have from this excursion is the lessons I learned from Kristian about the old St. Michael's Abbey of Heidelberg. In the museum, you'll find relics of the Abbey before time and desperate need for building material eroded it to a pile of foundation stones. You can still go there today, which I plan to do, but it is but a shadow of its former self.
Kristian told us about the importance of the Abbey in the old Heidelberg. This was the place people came for everything from business transactions, markets, meeting lawyers, education, service, everything. It is up on the mountain over looking the valley, but people would make the trek as the church controlled everything, and it was the only way to live in those days. The Abbey was not run by evil people though. The monks recorded many years of history in the Rhein valley, which is invaluable for us in understanding the lives and daily happenings of the times back then. The monks also helped shelter their people when enemies can. Villagers would hide behind the fortress walls from attackers until saviors arrived.
The museum was a lot of our's first experience with Heidelberg's history and it was quite the experience.
We weren't allowed to take pictures but this is what the outside looked like.
Stuttgart
Last week, we took a trip to Stuttgart, Germany, about an hour and forty minutes away from Heidelberg Main Station. We passed through beautiful country side on our way to the industrially fortified and state capital city. Here, we got off at the famous Stuttgart Station which was erected during the Nazi era of Germany. After a quick walk, we met up with our local tour guide (not Kristian). She showed us around the main points of Stuttgart such as the old palace gardens and the ballet, the palace pond, and the statue of a guy who created the special pretzel that the region is named after. She then led us to the center of Stuttgart and the new palace center (there are two palaces because of politics stuff that she didn't go into detail about but it has to do with a Kaiser Wilhelm, and not the one you're thinking of). If you are a Top Gear fan who has been keeping up with Jeremy and the boys on The Grand Tour, you'll recognize the courtyard and castle as it is where they set up the tent for their show in Germany's automobile capital. Even if you aren't a fan of the show, it's cool to see it on their.
After the courtyard, we went to the Stuttgart international indoor market. Guys...this place was AMAZING! The tour guide said you can get any fruit or veggie there any time of year 2 days maximum fresh from it's home country. Besides from the produce, there were delis from France, Italy, Germany (obviously), and others. I was most excited about the Turkish area where they sold fresh baklava! It was amazing! My friend bought a piece of pie from a Greece couple who didn't speak German (we tried ordering it in German but they said they only spoke a little bit). It was language barrier times two, but we got it done with lots of hand motions and gestures.
Later after some free time, we took a bus from the station to the Mercedes-Benz Museum, the main stop of our Stuttgart excursion. The facility was absolutely breathtaking. It's a must do if ever in Germany, even if you aren't a car enthusiast, but if you are like me, it's literally tear-worthy. Before your tour, they give you a head-set that you place over your ear so you can hear your tour guide without them raising their voice. It keeps the place classy and quiet, while it allows you to wander without missing a beat! You take an elevator up the top floor where you'll see a horse who represents the first "horse power" in travel. You then see the world's first gasoline-powered vehicles created by Aimler and Benz (separately). You continue down the spiraling levels going through the development of the Merc.-Benz brand until you reach modern day. I took an enormous amount of pictures which don't do it justice. I've put some below.
After the museum we made our way back to Heidelberg via train.
Worms V.1
Why Worms V.1? Well, on a whim, our Art History teacher who is one of the coolest people I have ever met, decided to take us to Worms during our class time and then some, because he wanted us to experience on of the most beautiful Cathedrals in Germany (Wormser Dom), with him at our sides, giving us historical and architectural input along the way. We go with the entire school in a couple weeks, so our class gets two different tours of the historical city. There are only six of us in his class so it was very personal and fun. We rode a train to Mannheim, East of Heidelberg, and then one to Worms. He led through the streets to the Martin Luther monument (pictures below). Here he told us about the significance of Worms; here is where Martin Luther was first tried by the German church. We continued onto the Cathedral. From a distance it is menacing and beautiful with it's baroque, Romanesque, and Gothic influences (see, I paid attention), looking over the city. As we got closer, it became more beautiful. We walked around and our professor pointed out special things about the church like the demon gargoyles and the multiple additions throughout the ages, which unlike many other cathedrals, shows different architectural styles from the day. We went inside the solemn place of worship to see an utmost breath-taking view. It was so grandiose and open. The ceilings were so high, I believe I could see clouds forming. There was little light inside so my pictures definitely don't do it justice. On one end of the cathedral stood the Romanesque alter with the gold-plated relics and Christian figures. On the other end was the Gothic alter; more subtle and less exuberant because at this point in time, they believed all focus was to be on God, not the alter in front of you. It was so fascinating to be in two different Christian eras in one moment. The Gothic alter had a Christmas scene on display which had a stream of water flowing through it. The place was so quiet and echo-y, it made the most beautiful and calming reverberation throughout. In front of the display lay two tombs of Bishops from the 14th and 15th century. The keeper of the church scolded me in German because he thought I stepped on it. I didn't but that's what drew my attention to them.
After that amazing experience, we went to the Worms Art Museum. It was closed due to a new private collection opening up but our cool-as-ice professor made some calls and someone showed up and unlocked the doors. We were the only ones in there and there weren't many lights on so it was really cool and, once again, personal. He gave us a private tour, pointing out important paintings and artists while answering our questions. It was a great experience.
Our professor had an appointment (probably with someone really famous because our professor is the boss) in Mannheim, so he rode with us to the first stop before saying "Ciao" and left us to find our way back. Myself and another students who traveled with us knew how to navigate the train network by now so we got back just fine. On the first leg, however, before our professor got off, we met a baby pitbull on the bus and we played with it the entire way. The owner only spoke German so as I asked her questions about the dog in German, she would answer and our professor would translate for the others in the group. It was one of my favorite parts of the day. The owner was so nice and it was said when they had to exit the train.
By the way, that guy across from me is my professor!
Thanks for catching up with me! I look forward to speaking to all of you about your pressing lead questions 😀
#blest👏
