Germany 2024

20 June 2014
Departing Brisbane Airport

Bags are packed I'm ready to fly.

Leaving Brisbane

Zig-zagging across Germany in 20 days

From the middle of Frankfurt to the south of Konstanz, which borders Switzerland, then east across the lake of the Bodensee to Bregenz in Austria, to north-east Berlin, to north-west Hamburg, with a day trip east to Schwerin, and back south to Frankfurt. 

map courtesy of sepia

Frankfurt

Goethe Haus, his words of wisdom:

Goethe Haus garden - Frankfurt

Das Leben ist kurz, man muβ sich

einander einen Spaβ zu machen suchen.

Life is short, you have to seek

to have fun together.

Konstanz

Open air performance of Shakespeare's Midsummernightsdream in front of the Konstanz cathedral:

Konstanz outdoor performance preparation for
Ein Sommernachtstraum

Meersburg

Boating across the biggest lake in Germany, the Bodensee, to the old Meersburg castle, considered to be one of the oldest inhabited castles in Germany. The central tower was first built during the 7th century.

Approaching the old castle of Meersburg on the Bodenseee

Annette von Droste-Hűlshoff, 1797-1848, recognised as one of the most significant female German poets and writer of the 19th century, lived at the Meersburg castle from 1841 until her death in 1848. 

Annette von Droste-Hűlshoff

View over the lake from Annette's window

Konstanz

The Konzil Building of Konstanz was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church that was held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Konstanz. The council ended the Western Schism by accepting the resignation of the remaining papal claimants and by electing Pope Martin V. It was the last papal election to take place outside of Italy.

The old Konzil building (right with black cladding) in Konstanz

Across the Bodensee (Lake of Constance)

Taking the 4 hour boat ride across the Bodensee from Konstanz via Lindau to Bregenz in Austria. 

The lion of the island of Lindau

Schwarzenberg/Austria

Taking the 40 minute ride by bus from Bregenz to Schwarzenberg, where I was born, as well as Angelika Kauffmann's father, a few years earlier...

Schwarzenberg im Bregenzer Wald

The inside of the church with Angelika Kauffmann's frescos

The Queensland Art Gallery has sometimes Angelika Kauffmann's The deserted Costanza on display.

Bregenz/Austria

enjoying being paddled on the Bodensee at Bregenz

One of life's pleasures, is the enjoyment of being paddled on a lake.

deer on top of Bregenz

The cable car takes you to the top of Bregenz, whence you can see the three countries bordering the Bodensee: Austria, Switzerland and Germany. 

on top of the mountain at Bregenz overlooking the Bodensee,
Switzerland to the left, Germany to the right

Whisking at 300 km from Munich to Berlin.

Train speed of 300 km on the way to Berlin

Berlin, metropolis...

sculptures...

remnants of the Wall

Siegessäule

Outside the Staatsoper for the Staatsballett performance of Giselle

view from the Kolhoff-Hochhaus, Potsdamer Platz

mother duck with five ducklings on the Spree

Moltkebrűcke, stay tuned for my next book...

emerging cuppola of Parliament House

view from the Berliner cathedral

can't get enough...

towards the TV tower

inside the Dom, as big as the Vatican?

Schwerin castle

Schwerin castle

Schwerin castle is another early castle in Germany. First records date from 973, when the Polabian Slav trive of the Obotrites, built a fort on the lake's island. In 1160, the fort was expanded under Henry the Lion's (1129-1195) leadership to become a bishopric seat. 

Statue in front of the castle of the Obotrite Prince Niklot

During the late Gothic era, the fort became a palace, and the defensive functionality of the fortress was replaced with ornamentation and concessions to comfort.

The fortified castle and its bastions, 1617

As the ducal residence needed additional defences, sometime in the middle of the 16th century, bastions were established to the northwest, southwest and southeast. 

Schwerin castle ghost - Petermännchen

Since late 1990, Schwerin castle has been the seat of state government.

Hamburg

view from my window at Beate and Karl's in the middle of Hamburg

Beate and me in Hamburg an der Elbe

Tschűss, Auf Wiedersehen...

There stands in Hamburg on the Elbchaussee a quaint monument with a poem by the German poet and artist Joachim Ringelnatz, 1883-1934, of two ants who wanted to travel to Australia:

monument of the two ants on the Elbchaussee in Hamburg

Die Ameisen von Joachim Ringelnatz

In Hamburg lebten zwei Ameisen, 
Die wollten nach Australien reisen, 
Bei Altona auf der Chaussee,
Da taten ihnen die Beine weh,
Und da verzichteten sie weise,
Dann auf den letzten Teil der Reise.

The ants by Joachim Ringelnatz

Two ants lived in Hamburg, 

They wanted to travel to Australia, 

Near Altona on the highway,

Their legs were aching,

They then wisely gave up,

The last part of that journey.

Frankfurt

Frankfurt Zeil shopping centre

Brisbane

Back in Brisbane, guess where...