Heidelberg

Last Friday, I left for Mannheim where I held a cultural seminar on the weekend. The weather was nice and sunny and the landscape around the motorway had turned into Indian summer with colors ranging from green over yellow to red.

On the way I visited the old town of Heidelberg. The city is crowned by the remains of the ancient castles lying in ruins already for centuries.

Single walls remained of former multi-stored palaces, but those facades are impressive because of their size and the beautiful statues. On the facade of the Otto Heinrich Palace are the statues of mystical heroes (David, Herakles, Samson, Josua), Roman Emperors, the five virtues (strength, faith, love, hope, justice) and personifications of the seven classical planets (Saturn, Mars, Venus, Merkur, Jupiter, Sol and Luna).

On the facade of the the Friedrich Palace, an ancestor gallery is displayed including Rupertus I. - who founded the University of Heidelberg in 1386 (the oldest in Germany).

The view of Heidelberg from the garden is splendid and the sky was showing off a nice blue.

The last must-see of the castle is the big barrel: the first one was installed in the 16th century, but it was later used as firewood in the Thirty Years' War. Another two were installed and taken apart before the fourth and final was built in 1751. It has a capacity of more than 200,000 liters, but was only filled thrice as it leaked.

Breakfast in Munich

My Italian friend Arianna from Bergamo was in town, so we went for breakfast at Café am Beethovenplatz.

A lovely place with a good breakfast menu. Ready to serve all kinds of people:

Brioche & Coffee for the Italian

and

a big breakfast with sausage, cheese and tea for the German.

Leipzig

This weekend I spent in Leipzig for the AIESEC Alumni Germany assembly. Besides the official part, we went to the House of History that concentrates on the German history after 1945, especially in the Eastern part. It was very interesting and emotional to see all the objects from my childhood.

After lunch we had a guided tour through the city starting at the university that is the second oldest in Germany, founded 1409. In front of one of the buildings is the statue of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who was a philosopher, scientist, mathematician, historian and much more in the 17th/ 18th century.

Our next stop was Saint Nicholas Church - here the freedom prayers in 1989 were held that led to the Monday demonstration and finally led with other events to the Wende (Change) in the GDR.

Further we went to the central market - there is the old city hall built in the golden ratio. In December, trumpeters play their instruments from the balcony.

The second important church in the city centre is Saint Thomas Church where Johann Sebastian Bach worked as cantor and chief musician.

In the evening after the work, we went to Auerbachs Keller - the famous place from Johann Wolfgang Goethe's famous FAUST. The German author was a student in Leipzig and spent a considerable amount of time in this bar.

Statue of Dr. Faust and the Devil

Residence Munich

A day after the Oktoberfest, we went to explore the Residence of Munich - which was the cultural and political hub of the Duchy, then the Electorate and finally the Kingdom of Bavaria.

The Royal family of Wittelsbach lived and reigned from here. Every king made adjustments and decorated the interior to his fashion. The Residence was also used to keep and display the treasury and collections.

Caves garden

The audioguide led us first to the caves garden and from there to the Antiquarium, a renaissance hall where the king used to eat in public on a podium.

Antiquarium

The Residence comprises several building, 10 court yards and more than 100 showrooms, so we took some time to pass most of them - here my best of:

Ancestor Gallery

Colored window

Corridor

Entrance to the Imperial Hall

An apple in the street - where is Snow White?

200 years Oktoberfest

The Oktoberfest is celebrating its 200th anniversary. So here are the important questions:

Why are we celebrating it?

In 1810, Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen got married and celebrated the wedding with a big horse race and invited all people.

Why is the Oktoberfest starting in September?

As the Bavarian weather can get quite rough in October, including snow storms, people petitioned to have it earlier. The area around the site was used for farming, so the Oktoberfest could only start after the harvest. In 1904, it was decided to have the main Sunday of the Oktoberfest between 28 September and 4 October and this rule is still practiced.

How many breweries brew for the Oktoberfest?

There are six breweries on the Oktoberfest: Augustiner, HackerPschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner and Spatenbräu. Only the breweries within the city limits are allowed to supply the Oktoberfest.

Why is the local name of it "Wiesn"?

Wiesn is Bavarian for meadow and the site of the Oktoberfest was named "Theresienwiese" after Princess Therese. With time the locals shortened it to Wiesn and this became also the second name of the Oktoberfest.

What to do if you cannot get into the tents?
Take a ride with one of the 80 attractions like the Ferris Wheel, Merry-Go-Rounds, Roller Coasters, Power Towers, Top Spins, Whirligig and many nostalgic ones.

What do you do if have no money to go there?

As a girl, find a guy to pay for you.

As a guy, ask around for vouchers from other Oktoberfest guests (like this bike owner is trying).