Hamburg
Author: Ryan Rau | Majors: Computer Science and German
With 2022 already here, it’s crazy to think that I’ve been living in Germany for the past 4 months. It has not felt near as long, and I can confirm that time really does fly when you’re having fun! With winter break starting the week of Christmas, I spent most of the month looking forward to that. Classes continued as normal, but I was definitely thinking ahead to how I would spend my break. Oddly enough I ultimately drew inspiration from my German class on how to spend part of my break.
The German class I’m currently taking, functions as both a language and culture class and most of the time we learn the language through means of reading about the cities, industries, and notable locations of Germany. That said, we spent part of this month learning about Hamburg which is the second largest city in Germany and third largest port in Europe. Most known for its canals and location on the Elbe River it looked like a great location to travel to during break. So, using the course’s lecture as a travel guide me and my roommate planned a trip to Hamburg.
In Hamburg, we visited many of the historic landmarks and churches such as the Bismarck Monument, the Elbphilharmonie, St. Nicholas Church, and St. Michael’s Church to name a few. Most interesting and informational was St. Nicholas Church and the attached museum which showed the history of the church, the city, and served as memorial to victims of World War II. The museum really showed the devastation that air raids had on cities and people. Overall, it was a very interesting and insightful museum that I would recommend to anyone visiting Hamburg.
Frankfurt Alt Stadt Weihnachtmarkt
Hamburg aside, it’s also the holiday season and Christmas in Germany has been a unique experience. Starting late November, Weihnachtmärkte (Christmas markets) started popping up in many German city centers. These markets have been a great place to hang out with friends after class indulging in the seasonal foods and drinks that they have to offer. In addition to food and drink, these markets are filled with stands selling everything from winter gloves and hats to hand carved wooden sculptures. The recent rise in covid cases have lessened the holiday spirits a bit but fortunately none of the markets in my area have closed outright. With every town having their own market, me and some others traveled to the nearby towns seeing what each town’s Weihnachtmarkt had to offer.
For Christmas itself, a German friend I’ve met out here was kind enough to invite me and my roommate to her family’s Christmas get together. This was a unique experience, as everything seemed familiar yet different. The biggest shock to me was the decorations used for the Christmas tree. Rather than lights being strung on the tree they used candles, clipping little candle holders onto the branches. A rather small difference but it blew my mind that this was typical and that they’ve never had a tree catch a blaze.
With the holiday season coming to an end, I look forward to the new year and some rest before courses start back up.