A look at Erfurt

Here's a few buildings in Erfurt. It's an interesting city. Lots of old beautiful buildings, new beautiful buildings and old abandoned buildings. The contrast is stark. It shows the kinds of hardships that people in Eastern Germany are facing but also the amount of potential the city has. Construction and renovation is everywhere in the city as well. Which is a good sign. Also I included a picture of the a socialist demonstration by the local leftists. Interesting to watch their demonstration though I didn't understand all of what was said.









My apartment building. Pretty nice. I haven't taken pictures of the inside of my apartment but I will. It is pretty nice too. The neighborhood I live in is in a great location. I live a block away from the Hauptbahnhof (or main train station), so missing a train is never a question. I live minutes from the main plazas in the city, Anger (pronounced Ong-err), Fischmarkt (which means Fish market) and the Domplatz where the cathedral is. I also have three Doner Kebap stands two minutes from my apartment. Explaing what a doner is a post in itself at a later time. But it is something you're only going to get in Germany.

Comparing Schloss's II

So I also got to visit the Castle of Wartburg with the international students at the University of Erfurt. This is where Martin Luther hid after being excommunicated by the Catholic Church and where he translated the Bible into German. He had to learn Greek and Hebrew to read the original Bible, and then he had to bring together almost 20 German dialects together to have a "german" Bible. Impressive stuff on Luther's part. He did all of this in 6 months. That is determination. The castle itself has a long history along with it that is almost as old as Hohentwiel. It was built in the 11th Century by Ludwig the Jumper. Legend says he jumped out of a prison window giving him his name. He built the castle after finding the peak and its overlook fo major trading routes one while hunting. A good deal of the original castle remains but there are also many additions from later counts.
This is an outlook from the hill the stands on. It overlooks the city of Eisennach (which is also where J.S. Bach was born. We visited his house the same day.)

Comparing Schloss's

I've gotten to visit a couple of different castles in the past few weeks- one right before I left Radolfzell and then one here in Thüringen. Both were pretty ancient and some interesting histories. It is really something to be able to visit history that is so old. It is not something that one gets in the States too often, if at all. I think it also gives a little insight on how Europeans are. They are an old society and they have everyday reminders that they are not the first or the last to come. In some ways it gives them a more realistic view on what is important for the environment and social institutions. Americans tend to be more focused if something is line with some morality or ideology. It is only a small difference but might affect things greatly.
The first castle I got to visit is called Hohentwiel in Singen. That is a few Kilometers away from Radolfzell and is on top of an ancient (and inactive) volcano. Me and a a friend from the program decided to climb this old hill and see the old fortifications that had been there from 1200 years!
This is me on the way to the schloss. As you can see it is pretty high up there.

This is how far we made it with our bikes before we decided that on foot was the best way to do it. A very steep hill

The view from up there...

Brad

So we made it to the top and there is a cafe- I ddidn't exactly feel like a coffee after that, but okay...

So once we got to walk around, it was an amazing place with pretty amzing views of the town. The ruins were very impressive. The fort had been in existence and functioning up till the end of the 1700s. Amazing.


This is my Hamlet pose, contemplating "being" or just thinking about how cool it is that Knights were walking around here at one point.


This is deep in a dark dungeon of Hohentwiel. With one stream of light, I figured we could have a really cool picture on our hands, so Brad struck a dramatic pose. He's praying to get out of the dungeon one.....
(Unfortunately, it still came out a little blurry. But it was a worthy effort.)

In Erfurt tha adventure begins

I am in Erfurt now- sorry no pics right away. I also have a post that will include alot of the friends I made in Radolzell. But right now I am not able to use my computer and work on that so I will get it done soon. I am moved into a pretty nice apartment in a good location in Central Erfurt. The next few days will be pretty much spent looking around exploring a little (that is how I am even got on the internet to post this). I haven´t met my roomates yet. Pretty much all I know is that one is Norwegian. Celebrate German Unity Day 03.10.05!