Duesseldorf Digest and Bonn Blog: One Week and Adventures to Last a Lifetime

This week, we had German class, a lecture at the history museum, history of medicine lecture, and a lecture at a museum in Bingen. I have really enjoyed all of the classes. In German class, Fr. Hilde Koch spoke to us and asked questions in German. Of course, she gave a lot of prompting for answers. I thought this was a very effective way to learn. At the House of History, Dr. Wasser lectured on German history since WWII. I learned a lot about the era and about German life during that period. I never considered how hard it was for the German people to come to terms with what happened in the war and to recover from it. Dr. Wasser explained that the majority of many cities were destroyed and had to be rebuilt. He also explained how amazing it was that Germany has united. He said that he did not think that the Berlin Wall would have come down during his lifetime because the Soviets violently oppressed any revolts. We saw a 3-wheeled car from Western Germany. It was called Snow White’s Coffin because it was so small and covered in glass.

Snow White's Coffin

History of Medicine lecture is very interesting. Dr. Wasser talked about medical views in Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece. I learned that some of the prominent figures in the history of medicine, like Hippocrates and Asclepius, may not have actually existed. The lectures are also a lot of fun because Dr. Wasser makes Harry Potter references and shows videos. In Bingen, we learned about Hildegarde von Bingen. She was quite the lady. Hildegarde was the 10th child in her family, so her parents gave her to the church to be a nun, as was standard. After having a vision from God, Hildegard formed her own monastery. She also composed music, travelled to tell people of her visions and of the Catholic faith, and created a botanical dictionary that listed medical uses of different plants. The museum had a copy of the book where she recorded her visions. The copy was created in 1605. I believe they had another text from the 1200s. The museum also had about 70 medical instruments from Roman times.

This is what I have learned and noticed so far in Germany outside of class. If I smile at strangers, they will know that I am not from Germany. I now know this, but I still have the urge to say “howdy” when I make eye contact with people. Public transit is amazing! But it requires planning and waiting. People seem to really appreciate it when we at least greet them in German before transitioning to English. And on that note, almost everyone I have met has been very friendly. At the end of the line, busses stop and then turn around to return the way they came. At least, my bus does this. And finally, castles are great!

Thus far, I have visited three castles: Schloss Drachenburg, Marksburg, and Burg Eltz. On Thursday afternoon, a group hiked to the Drachenburg Schloss, the Dragon Castle. The castle was built in the late 19th century in the Neo-gothic style.

Schloss Drachenburg

Polar bear rug in Schloss Drachenburg

The whole class visited Marksburg on Friday. The castle was built in the 1200s. It went through a series of owners who made improvements, but it is clearly medieval in style. The doorway was big enough for a horse and rider to enter, and cannons were used to fortify the castle. This castle is one of only two in the area that Napoleon did not destroy. It is thought that perhaps Napoleon wanted to vacation in this castle. Through an easily defensible position and a bit of luck, the castle has remained intact. The history of the castle made visiting it fascinating. The castle had small succulents growing on one wall.

Armor From Marksburg

Foxgloves, or Digitalis, at Marksburg

Marksburg

Succulents at Marksburg

Finally, on Sunday, I hiked to Burg Eltz from Moselkern with Amanda and Andrea. This is the other castle that Napoleon did not destroy. He simply did not find this one. It is well hidden in the forest despite its size. It had 80 rooms, 40 with fireplaces and 20 toilettes. The toilettes had reservoirs of rainwater, so they could be flushed. The castle had three separate parts for separate families, and one part is still individually owned. In one of the rooms, we saw miniature cannons that were used as models for sales. When a cannon was purchased, it came with the model. The model was fully functional and used to train young boys. We also saw paintings of children that looked really strange. They looked like children’s faces were painted on adult bodies. And that was because they were! Painters would paint bodies before seeing a child and parents would chose which they wanted for their child’s portrait.

Burg Eltz

View of Burg Eltz from the hike

The trees on the hike were amazing. See that purple speck? It's me.

I am very proud to say that I have successfully communicated my gluten allergy and ordered food, in German, several times this week. My host mother speaks to me in German, and I am beginning to learn more words. I enjoy speaking with her because she is very patient and encouraging. I am trying to learn a few new words and phrases each day. I hope that I will become more familiar with pronunciation this week.

On Saturday, a few of us visited some museums in Bonn. We started at the Beethoven museum, where we did an audio tour. The tour explained the history of each exhibit and even included samples of Beethoven’s works. I learned that Beethoven had ear trumpets commissioned when he started to go deaf. I also learned that his dad wanted him to be the next Mozart, so he lied about Beethoven’s are at his first concert. Because his father said he was 6 when he was 7, Beethoven was never really sure of his own age. Next, we visited the natural history museum in the afternoon. It had an impressive collection of life-like taxidermies. The biomes were very detailed. For example, the okapi had a bee on its nose.