Berlin

Rich's brother's eldest son, Chris Mawhorter, was here for a visit on his way home from his year working for a study abroad program based in Jerusalem. We had fun showing him around Hannover. Thursday we visited Rich's lab to see the experimental apparatus, and we took the elevator to the top of the new city hall for the view from the top of the dome. The elevator follows the curve of the dome as it travels upwards, and there are windows on the top and bottom of the elevator so you can see the gears. Quite unsettling. Great view of the church steeples and lake and the whole layout of the town.

Friday is the free museum day here and it was raining, so Chris and I explored the history museum and Niedersächsiches Landesmuseum. Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) is a province or state, and Hannover is the capital, so this is the state museum with a mixture of art, ethnography, natural science, and archaeology. Germany had master woodcarvers in the Middle Ages, and there are some amazing altar pieces. I wonder how the artist knew how to make the first cut. I would have ended up with kindling.

St. George & the Dragon Woodcarving, Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum

 
Saturday we left Hannover on a high speed train at 7:30 and got to Berlin at 9:00. We took the local streetcar to the Eastside Gallery, a portion of the old Berlin Wall covered with paintings. Never having seen the old wall, Chris was surprised by how low it is. It certainly doesn't look like a significant barrier the way it is now, right beside a park and busy road, but we remember it with searchlights and guard towers and police dogs and barbed wire in the no man's land between the river and the wall and guards with orders to shoot to kill.

Rich & Chris, Eastside Gallery, remnant of the Berlin Wall

 

With only one day in Berlin, of course we tried to do too much. Chris went to the Pergamon to see the gates of Babylon (575 B.C.) while Rich and I explored an art museum. The Ishtar gates are wonderful, but we had seen the Pergamon several times already. We met up for a late lunch at a café next to the DDR (East Germany) Museum. Chris had found this on the internet. I thought it might be a tourist trap, but it was actually a great museum trying to give insight into what the DDR was really like. We even saw a menu and picture of a restaurant we'd eaten in years ago when we lived in Marburg and the DAAD subsidized a free week in Berlin for all the scholarship recipients. We'd had a bus tour with a Soviet tour guide spouting the glories of communism and Russia's wonderful contributions to East Germany and a bad meal at this restaurant in the city center that only took Western currency. The DDR Museum had a Trabant, the East German answer to the VW, that one could sit in. It had a two-cycle engine like a lawnmower and its body was plastic. There are lots of good trabi jokes. What do you call it when three trabis collide? Answer: A tupperware party.

Rich in a Trabi, DDR Museum, Berlin

Even though I walked along Unter den Linden from the former east to the west before with Ross six years ago, I still got emotional. Now it's busy with tourists and the American embassy has even moved to a building just east of the gate. Such a contrast to the echoing, empty street with East German police everywhere and goosestepping soldiers before when it was still East Berlin.

 

Jennifer & Chris, Brandenburg Gate

 

At the end of the day, we rushed to get to the Itten-Klee art exhibit before it closed. I'd been in Bern twice without being able to see the Klee Museum there, and I really like Klee. Lots of the pictures were on loan from Switzerland.

Pamphlet from the Itten-Klee Exhibit, Berlin

 

We took an evening train back and I got to hear more about Chris's experiences in Jerusalem.

 

Chris wanted to see a soccer game, but the 1st league team here was playing away and sold out. Sunday at church Rich found out that there was a 4th league game here, so we took the streetcar out to watch on Sunday afternoon. The best team will move up into the 3rd league and the local team Havelse needed to win in order to be in the running for moving up. It was 0-0 through most of the game, and Havelse finally scored but then had to play man-down for 15 minutes because of a red card. Lots of close calls, but Havelse finally scored again. Interesting to hear the comments of the crowd. Lots of police, even for a 3rd league game.

4th League Soccer: Havelse 2 Wilhelmshaven 0





 

 







Groningen

Tuesday we drove to Groningen in the northern part of the Netherlands, where Rich gave a talk at the university. The lab is at the extreme northern end of the university out in the middle of some fields. While they were talking physics/chemistry, I took a walk along some bike paths through the fields and along the canals. I passed some horses chasing each other around a paddock, an adventure playground with kids doing cross-country challenges, and got to see a  shepherd with a sheepdog moving some sheep from one field to another. Since it was around 5:00 (after work) there were lots of bikes, people walking dogs, and roller bladers. No cows or tulips, but one of the physicists said it still too cold for either to be out yet.

Nuclear Accelerator Institute

 

Groningen has 50,000 students, a quarter of the population, and they all have bikes. The non-students all have bikes too. One German said that the only Dutch sentence he needed when he worked in the Netherlands was "My bike was stolen." The Dutch group all agreed that the Dutch were usually honest, but not when it came to bikes, and one needed a good lock. Often they are stolen and then just dumped in a canal.

There are so many bikes that they clog the streets, and there are lots of signs warning that if you lock your bike anywhere but in the bike racks, it will be towed away. I like the picture of the crane towing a bicycle.



Dutch Warning Sign: Your Bike Will Be Towed

  

It's a bit hairy crossing the street with so many bikes and it drove Jens crazy trying to drive without hitting any with bikes all over the road. People cycled in unlikely clothing; I saw someone in cowboy boots and what looked like a square dance dress cycling. Instead of holding hands, I saw several couple cycling together with one hand on the handlebars and other around each other's waists. Wish I'd gotten a picture, but they whiz by pretty fast and I was trying not to get run over, although I had a couple of close calls. The cars and trucks were law-abiding and tame in comparison.

 





After we checked into the university guesthouse, our hosts walked us around the town a bit. We saw many students dressed in tails and formals and high heels on their way to a ball.

Students in tails on the way to the ball

 

Because it's a huge student town, we were told that there were more than 300 bars, one for almost every day of the year, and it was fairly noisy past midnight, but dead silent in the morning. Jens and Rich headed off to the lab, while I walked around the town, went to the maritime museum, and climbed the church tower for a view of the city.

 

The queen Beatrix has abdicated in favor of her son Willem-Alexander, who will become king on April 30. In honor of this, there were orange coronation flags along all the streets in the city center. The big ruckus is over the song that was written for his coronation, which so many people disliked. More than 40,000 people signed a protest petition, so the songwriter finally withdrew the song.

Goudkantoor (Gold Office) built in 1635 with Orange Coronation Banner

 



Almost every building is built of red brick. I like the Dutch shutters. Everything is narrower and steeper than in Germany, including the stairs. There's just not so much room.

Dutch shutters, building on square with oldest university building

 

The canals are lined with barges, most of them permanently moored and used as houseboats. Some are ship-shape and some are pretty scuzzy.

Houseboat Barge

 

We did see a windmill, but saw many more locks and drawbridges. I like the word for drawbridge in Dutch: slagbomen. Sounds like something that will hit you and reminds me of a boom, the part of the sailboat that holds the bottom of a sail and will certainly hit you if you don't keep your head down when tacking.

Automatische Slagbomen (Automatic Drawbridge) near the lab



 

I liked these frog and alligator statues along the canal.

Frog & Alligator Statues

 

 

 

 



 

Ulm, Calw, & Bad Soden: By German Trains

Wednesday morning we took off on the train for Ulm, where Rich gave a talk in a physics group led by Wolfgang Schleich. Kathy, his wife, graciously escorted me around the Museum of Bread Culture, took me out to lunch, and drove me out to see the Wiblingen monastery with a high baroque library and a small microscope museum. In the afternoon I went to the Ulm Museum (art, archaeology, city history), and walked around the city center. Ulm cathedral has the highest steeple in Europe and inside one is constantly bending all the way back to see the ceiling. There was someone trying to tune a small organ, but the sounds of construction were making his task difficult.

Ulm's City Hall and Münster

Looking up at the side aisle inside Ulm Cathedral

 

One thing that keeps surprising me is how cities we've visited before have changed. Ulm just built a new synagogue in 2012 to replace one that had been destroyed during the Hitler regime.



 St. Christopher Fountain in front of the new synagogue

 

Ulm has also added a new city library in the shape of a glass pyramid and a new modern art museum.

One of my favorite things about walking around German cities is the wonderful signs. Here are two of many that caught my eye:

Ulm Sparrow Sign (There are sparrows everywhere -- a city symbol)

 

Ulm Doorway - Painting of Fisherman Jousting

 

Ulm has a "fishing quarter," part of the town where the fishermen used to live, and it's fun to walk through, since it has rushing water and weirs with houses built beside and over the water. Every year there's a jousting festival when competitors try to push each other off the boats into the water with long poles. It was pleasant to walk along the city wall and peer down into the gardens on one side and look across the Donau (Danube) on the other.

Fischerviertel Fachwerkhaus

 

Carved Door Fischviertel

 

There are so many unlikely things in this world. I ran across this sign in a garden with several snail statues. Who knew that Germans exported snails in casks down the Danube to Vienna to eat during Lent? 10,000 per barrel!

Snails for Lent

 

German Post Cart, Ulm 



Friday morning we took the train to Stuttgart, stopping for an hour to see some Rembrandts, Klees, a Feininger, and other paintings at the city gallery, and then took the S-bahn on to Weil der Stadt, where Elisabeth picked us up. She took us out to lunch and then for a long walk in the Black Forest to a castle ruin and along a river. We didn't see one other person hiking or cycling. We stayed overnight at her home in Calw. It was fun to see one of her sons all grown up and employed in the Bundespolizei, not a dangerous job here. Sat. morning we walked down through the market to hear an organ concert in the church and see the town. Hermann Hesse was born in Calw, so there was a statue and a quote painted on the side of a building.

Jennifer & Elisabeth in front of Black Forest Castle Ruin

 

Rich with statue of Herman Hesse, Calw 

 

Saturday afternoon we took four very different trains to get to Bad Soden. The first was a Zug-Bus (train-bus), a one-car local train. In Karlsruhe we transferred  to a French high-speed TGV, clocking 248 kilometers per hour. I must admit that I have a strong case of train-envy; I wish the Germans could just come and build a high-speed rail system to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco. They are very apologetic when trains are 5-10 minutes late, whereas Amtrak was unapologetic when my 10-hour train ride to SF was extended to a 12 hours.

French TGV arriving in Karlsruhe

Bärbel picked us up from the train station in Bad Soden, just north of Frankfurt, and took us out to the country for a nice meal in an old inn. We walked beforehand to see a very fancy stable, more like a castle, nearby.

Jennifer & Bärbel, near Bad Soden

 

Sunday morning we got to pet several dogs, a Golden Retriever and a Bernese Mountain dog, on our morning walk before taking the train back to Hannover Sun. afternoon.

 

P.S. When we stopped in Darmstadt on the way south to eat lunch with a physicist there, I took a picture of this toilet. After you flush, an arm comes out of the back and the toilet seat actually spins while the arm wipes the seat with some cleaning fluid!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 



 



 

 

Doing Errands

Thursday I went to a literature circle for the women's state church group, and then I had to go to the bank, buy theatre tickets, and go grocery shopping. 

I had seen an entry for the literature circle in the church events calendar and decided to go see what it was like, since the building for this is just a few blocks away and the book was by Donna Leon; she writes mysteries set in Venice, and I've read most of them. There were about 20 senior citizens sitting around a long table drinking coffee and listening to a woman explain the plot and read excerpts. None of the women had read the book and they never made any comments or asked any questions for an hour and a half. They clapped at the end. It was interesting in that this novel involves an investigation into a baroque opera composer Steffani, who was choir master in Hannover and knew Handel, Leibniz, and Sophia Charlotte, who built the royal gardens here. The speaker played some excerpts from his operas and talked about the local connection. It was really a lecture, not at all like any book club I've belonged to.

Afterwards, I needed to do errands. It's so fun to be in the middle of this interesting city, so that even going to the bank is a bit of an adventure with lots of surprises along the way. For example, in the first block there was a tent set up with food arranged by color. Students from a local high school were presenting their design projects and this was one. They had arranged food of the same color on top of white rectangles. I thought it might be fun for a party sometime.

 

Food Design

 

I walked toward a big plaza called the Steintor to find the bank. This is a part of town I try to avoid, since it's the red light district and it's creepy, but the nearest branch of our bank is there. I had looked it up on googlemaps, but couldn't find it, and while looking enjoyed these two very different statues.

Little Goosegirl Statue Steintor

Elephant Statue Steintor

 

I gave up on that branch and walked down Georgstrasse in the rain, stopping to take a picture of this building, because I like dragons.

 

Close-up St. George & the Dragon Relief

 

This man grills bratwurst in a little electric grill he carries by a shoulder harness.

Bratwurst Seller Georgstrasse

 

And here's both old and new signs on our street:

Restaurant Sign Kramerstraße

 

 



Sunset Strip 77 (?) & Bob's Big Boy

 

This Bob's Big Boy statue is in front of a shoe and clothing shop catering to teenage boys. I don't know why it says Sunset Strip 77. All over Hannover I see teenagers wearing sweatshirts that say "Hollister, California." None of them know that Hollister is a far cry from the California of Hollywood, surfers, and rock that they are imagining. We saw a man with a sweatshirt that said "North Dakota, Since 1625." Who makes these things up? None of the people we ask know where Hollister is.

 

Finally, it's finally spring here. Daffodils are blooming by the river and I finally shed my winter coat and gloves. Monday afternoon I unearthed my t-shirt and shorts and went for a bike ride around the Maschsee, an artificial lake in the middle of town. It was 75 degrees and everybody who didn't have to work (and some that probably did) was out walking, rollerblading, biking, sailing, rowing, or sunbathing around the lake.

Sailboat on Maschsee in front of the new city hall

 

However, last week it was still pretty cold, but there was a bit of sunshine and Germans are desperate to have the spring finally arrive. On Sat. the ice cream parlor and another restaurant along our street put blankets on each of the chairs beside their outside tables. People were sitting outside in the brief, weak sunshine with winter coats wrapped in blankets eating ice cream.

Outdoor Café with Blankets

 

I hesitate to post this, given the bombing in Boston. I know one soccer buddy is safe, since she and her daughter hadn't quite reached the finish line yet. Horrible.

 



 

 



 

 

 



 



 

 



 

 



Hannover Messe

Hannover has the biggest industrial trade fair in the world. Wednesday we went with Jens, Rich's coworker, and Nair, another visiting scientist in the group. Jens wanted to talk to a scientific instrument company, but, other than that, we followed Jens and wandered through airplane-hangar-sized halls full of robots, 3-D printers, gears, magnets, propellers, pumps, sensors, just about everything that goes into the machines that make the things we use every day. The ratio of men to women was surely at least 20-to-1, and, if one subtracts the young women in tastefully-attractive costumes selling stuff, then the ratio might go up to 30- or 40-to-1. If you banned black suits, the place would have been pretty empty.

Black Suits Überall

 

I looked for free food that went beyond candy (lots of free gummy bears and chocolate) and take credit for spotting a giant wheel of parmesan cheese being served on German pretzels by an Italian group promoting their city. I also investigated every bicycle, including one made out of bamboo and a chainless bike that stored pedal power in a battery to use later. Both way too heavy, but still prototypes. While I drove a remote-controlled model tractor, Jens, Nair, and Rich stood in line for free beer samples served by a robotic arm.

Free Beer Served by Robot

 

Rich liked this chess set made up of metal pipes and flanges.



Chess Set

 

Chainless Ebike

 

 

 Have you eaten your daily electron today?

  

Each German province was promoting itself as a good place to locate business. We particularly liked this slogan. What aspects of the Southwest is it referring to? Lawlessness? Freedom from rules and regulations? I don't think so.

The German Southwest?

A cappella concert + lots of music

Thursday afternoon I went to a free a cappella concert at the Apostelkirche. The Apostle's Church has a series of short concerts at 5:00 during the farmers market in that part of town. This group sang Beach Boys, Quincy Jones, Jobim, Real Group, Billy Joel, Coltrane...all the songs were in English except one that a group member wrote. Good music, great choreography, very upbeat and fun. 

 

date@eight a cappella group

Apostelkirche Side Door

 

I love the doors on the old buildings here. Lots of fancy ironwork and stone work.

 

There's a bimonthly calendar of all the music concerts in the Hannover churches and we've been going to lots of concerts. So far we've heard  a male a cappella quintet called the Hannover Harmonists, Bach's St. John's and St. Matthew's Passions, a brass choir, and a senior citizens orchestra. Today we're going to a recorder and flute ensemble concert.

 

I tried out two choirs and decided to join a Monday night group called the Gemischter Chor Kleefeld.

Gemischter Chor Kleefeld

At the first rehearsal, we practiced an English madrigal and a German folk song, both a cappella. The conductor/accompanist is blind. He seldom had to refer to Braille notes and seemed to keep all 4 parts in his head. The person who sat next to me at the recorder orchestra Wednesday is blind and learns all the music by ear and by heart. The recorder orchestra has several fat notebooks full of music, and when the conductor yells out A238, someone whispers the title to her and she just plays. Amazing.

 

Anyway, it's wonderful to be in a choir again, and I find myself singing "Kein Schöner Land" (the German folk song)while walking and biking around.

 

Local Farmers Market

The Eel Farm Stand - Fresh & Smoked Fish

 

Every Thursday afternoon the open space next to the Marktkirche (market church) in the city center is occupied by metal trailers with open sides, sort of like taco trucks. The same vendors come each week: one fish stand, 2 flower vendors, two cheese vendors, a pastry and coffee vendor, 2 bakery trucks, and two green grocers. There are other, bigger markets, but this one is a block away and the quality outstanding. I bought wonderful sunflower-rye-spelt bread yesterday made with flour they mill themselves.

Baker - Backstube Bundschuh

Sunflower-Rye-Spelt Bread

 

 

Here's a picture of the bread on a cutting board on our dining room table, accompanied by tulips and a plate of shells from New Zealand beaches.



 

 

Flower Vendor

Cow and Water Buffalo Cheese

 

We tried green pepper and blue cheese from this vendor. He covers the cheese with fine ash, so you don't have to cut off the rind. 

Apple Stall

 



We've been trying different apples. Common German varieties are Boskoop and Elstar.I told the lady that we liked crisp apples that were not too sour nor too sweet, and she recommended a variety called Mariri, which I bought. They're just right.

Butcher

 

This one if not from our local open air market, but I include it because they all have butchers too, selling cold cuts and fresh meat.



Potato Vendor

 

Also from a different market, but, of course, it can't be a German farmers market without potatoes.