UMGEBUNGSENTDECKER
TRAVEL IMPRESSIONS OF AN ART AND HISTORY LOVER
and my experiences as a teacher in China
WORUM GEHT'S?
A book cannot convey impressions and experiences that one gets from traveling. So I like to travel a lot. But you can't go on distant trips all the time, so I like to go on weekend trips or excursions in the surrounding area. It's surprising how much one can discover there. Searching for and finding something special in everyday life, sharpening the eye for the ordinary, relativizing the point of view and seeing things through different eyes creates perspectives for the forgotten and the precious. And maybe this is precisely where the exotic is to be found, that we often look for when traveling.
If you want to know what can be seen in the pictures, just click on them. Then then open with a caption.
In the meantime I have decided to add more distant travel destinations to this site.
The English texts were translated by an app. So it is very likely that some translations might be a bit hard to understand. I haven't had the time so far to redact them all. Sorry.
Have fun browsing
TRAVELING IN GERMANY
From Sylt in the north to Königssee in the south
from Aachen in the west to Görlitz in the east
Flensburg and Sylt
Probably as unknown to many as I am:
Flensburg, the rum city with historical connections to the Caribbean through its former affiliation with Denmark - and the city is beautiful.
Sylt is always good for productive photo sessions. The north is full of atmosphere here.
clickhere
Lübeck and Baltic Sea resorts
Lübeck is beautiful and it is wonderful to walk through the city on the traces of history. In our search for authentic places, we found centuries-old traditions that are still alive, town charters, guilds, wine offices, etc.
Of course, the sea is always nearby, so we were able to switch back and forth between a cultural trip and a beach holiday.
clickhere
Worpswede im Teufelsmoor
In 1889, three artists decided to settle in the village of the moor farmers, and others followed. They painted the landscape and the lives of the people, creating a monument to a bygone era and the simple life on the moor.
Today the tourists come. What sounds like commercialization is nevertheless beautiful, the landscape is quiet and wide, the atmosphere of the paintings is dense and the artists' houses radiate warmth and security.
clickhere
Brunswick and Wolfenbuttel
About the Guelphs, one of the oldest still existing high nobility families in Europe, the most expensive book in the world, a library that was called the eighth wonder of the world at the time and is now part of the national cultural heritage, the Guelph Treasure, which still causes heated emotions today, and the Dispute between Emperor Barbarossa and Henry the Lion.
Many superlatives and indeed a lot happened in the tribal duchy of Saxony.
click here.
Brothers Grimm country
Northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony were a total surprise for us and a highlight of the year. The area is full of history and beautiful places: Fritzlar, Hannoversch Münden and many more. At the same time there is quite a bit of undestroyed nature like the Reinhardswald.
We didn't expect that, only two hours away from our home.
clickhere
Berlin
So much has already been said about Berlin that I don't want to contribute any more with my own texts.
But I have a relationship with this city, which I would like to convey here through photos and fragments of literature.
Berlin, I love you.
clickhere
Southern Thuringia - Peasant Wars and Origins of the Reformation
I was interested in the Schmalkaldic League, a kind of prelude to the Thirty Years' War. In southwest Thuringia, Germany's religious divisions became a common thread, and here one senses that nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come. It is an area of the Reformation and the Renaissance. It is a little off the beaten track in Germany, where the Werra flows between the Rhön and the Thuringian Forest. People who do not come from the area often know little about this corner.
Reason enough to go there - and as always, I found something interesting.
clickhere
Bergisches Land and Wuppertal
Altenberg, Burg Castle, historic town centres, the Dukes of Berg, landscapes like the "Elfringhauser Schweiz" ... what I discovered in spring 2020 on my trips to the Bergisches Land can be seen here.
Wuppertal, the Bergische metropolis, is really underestimated. Wrongly so, in my opinion. I'll show you why with my photos and thoughts.
clickhere
Ruhrpott - Route of Industrial Culture
Heavy industry and coal mining have become history in the Ruhr area. The region is changing and many of the former industrial plants are now museums.
All of this is connected by the Industrial Heritage Route, which takes you to points of interest related to industrial history
The landscapes and places on the route have completely different moods. Sometimes you walk in woody, secluded valleys, sometimes you stand on heaps that are reminiscent of lunar landscapes.
The region is very varied and therefore escapes the clichés.
clickhere
Koenigswinter and surroundings
Hunsrueck -
in the footsteps of the Heimat series
The epic of the century "Heimat" by Edgar Reitz was the common thread on the journey through the Hunsrück. It was an intense journey into the past and in the process reality and fiction mixed in a strange way.
Not only the locations were on the program, but also the beautiful landscape. We just drifted along and discovered some things we didn't expect.
Click here.
In the Odenwald
The Allgaeu in winter
Snow and sunshine are just beautiful. So here are a few mood pictures of it.
Click here
francs
In Northern Germany it is believed that Franconia is Bavaria. That may be true for today's federal state, but Franconia is an independent and culturally rich region with a lot of world heritage: The Würzburg Residence, the Bayreuth Opera House, the old town of Bamberg, the Belle Époque Bad Kissingen. There are also places along the Romantic Road.
You will find endless calendar and postcard motifs. The charm is perhaps too much for some. Overseas tourists love this.
Franconia also has its own culinary culture. Nowhere are there more breweries than in Upper Franconia. But there are also wine francs.
click here.
The Allgaeu in winter
Snow and sunshine are just beautiful. So here are a few mood pictures of it.
Click here
From Hallig Hooge to Eiderstedt
The Halligen lie off the coast of Schleswig like lost patches of land, where they hold the fort and offer coastal protection.
From there the journey went via pretty Friedrichstadt to places with postcard motifs on the North Sea, the Westerhever lighthouse and the stilt houses on the wide beach of St. Peter-Ording.
At the moment here are only pictures.
clickhere
Lübeck and Baltic Sea resorts
Lübeck is beautiful and it is wonderful to walk through the city on the traces of history. In our search for authentic places, we found centuries-old traditions that are still alive, town charters, guilds, wine offices, etc.
Of course, the sea is always nearby, so we were able to switch back and forth between a cultural trip and a beach holiday.
clickhere
The resin
Germany's northernmost low mountain range, the Harz, is the first elevation in the north German lowlands and is therefore exposed to the harsh climate that hits it unhindered from the sea. It has a mystical, original atmosphere that opens up on hikes. It's easy to see why the Harz has inspired witchcraft stories.
The colored wooden houses look Scandinavian; lovingly carved details are reminiscent of Slavic influences.
Last but not least, the Harz was a cultural area in the Middle Ages, whose Romanesque testimonies can be found in Goslar and Quedlinburg.
Click here.
Wendland and Altmark
Always on the Elbe Along, the river was the border between Saxony and Wends, or between Christianized Germans and pagan Slavs.
The area east of the Elbe was conquered and Christianized in the Middle Ages.
Beautiful little medieval towns that grew up around monasteries and castles bear witness to this today
It was a trip along the border of the former East Franconian Empire and Mark Brandenburg.
clickhere.
Thuringia -
Eisenach and Weimar
Dusseldorf - baroque city of art
Who built Benrath Castle, the courtyard garden and many other things? But even more exciting is the question of what a de' Medici was doing in Düsseldorf. There was also an art collection that was absolutely world class. Where have the paintings gone?
A search for traces of these things was like a treasure hunt and I found what I was looking for.
Incidentally, Düsseldorf also offers a lot of distraction these days.
clickhere
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The Hellweg and the Ruhr area in the Middle Ages
The Ruhr area in the Middle Ages is almost unknown today and that's a shame, because in the early Middle Ages this was an important area in Old Saxony because of the Hellweg, an important axis of Christianization. Many traces of this remain, but they are easily overlooked.
Who suspects that Essen has one of the most important cathedral treasures of Ottonian times or that Dortmund was a free imperial city with well-fortified medieval fortifications?
I focused on that and drove along Hellweg. The trip went beyond the Ruhr area to the Weser to Corvey.
clickhere
Koenigswinter and surroundings
At the moment here are only pictures.
clickhere
Mainz
At the moment here are only pictures.
clickhere
on the river Lahn
The Lahn is 246 km long, two thirds of which flows through Hesse.
Romantic places with lots of half-timbered houses, slate and old arched bridges lie on their banks. We visited Limburg, Weilburg and Wetzlar and not only saw beautiful old towns, but also discovered places of famous products such as Selters water and Leica cameras.
clickhere
Black Forest
The journey went from Baden-Baden via the Black Forest High Road to Schiltach.
In the Kinzig valley I found Black Forest farms like in picture books. They have been there for centuries and some of them are gigantic in size for their wooden construction.
In Schiltach with its beautiful old town, which is also on the Kinzig, I was fascinated by the history of the raftsmen, an old farming method that has disappeared today and that is known from Hauff's fairy tale "The Cold Heart", among other things.
clickhere
francs
In Northern Germany it is believed that Franconia is Bavaria. That may be true for today's federal state, but Franconia is an independent and culturally rich region with a lot of world heritage: The Würzburg Residence, the Bayreuth Opera House, the old town of Bamberg, the Belle Époque Bad Kissingen. There are also places along the Romantic Road.
You will find endless calendar and postcard motifs. The charm is perhaps too much for some. Overseas tourists love this.
Franconia also has its own culinary culture. Nowhere are there more breweries than in Upper Franconia. But there are also wine francs.
click here.
At the loop
The Schlei leads deep inland, but is not an estuary, but rather a kind of fjord.
At its end are the cities of Schleswig and the sunken and legendary Viking city of Haithabu. Sieseby is indisputably the most beautiful place on the Schlei with its thatched houses. Here you will find absolute peace.
At the moment here are only pictures.
clickhere
Bremen
Bremen is underestimated. Just looking around the market square and that's it doesn't do the city justice.
There are many interesting things, for example the wine treasures in the Ratskeller, the upper hall in the town hall, the Schaffermahlzeit and more. You can look for coffee companies or simply take a break at the Schlachte or in the Ostertorviertel. You shouldn't miss the beautiful residential areas with the traditional Bremen houses.
clickhere
Lüneburg Heath
A well-known destination, but somewhat forgotten by the younger generation.
We really wanted to get out of everyday life and during the Corona period it was perfect there. A remote cottage and few people in autumn, silence and nature. But Lüneburg and Celle are also nice destinations.
clickhere
The resin
Germany's northernmost low mountain range, the Harz, is the first elevation in the north German lowlands and is therefore exposed to the harsh climate that hits it unhindered from the sea. It has a mystical, original atmosphere that opens up on hikes. It's easy to see why the Harz has inspired witchcraft stories.
The colored wooden houses look Scandinavian; lovingly carved details are reminiscent of Slavic influences.
Last but not least, the Harz was a cultural area in the Middle Ages, whose Romanesque testimonies can be found in Goslar and Quedlinburg.
Click here.
Brandenburg
Pine forests on lakes as in Leistikow's paintings, small towns with well-kept historic town centers, robinia avenues, Anger villages, churches in brick Gothic style, storks and cuckoos, Oderbruch, Schorfheie or Niederlausitz.
In Brandenburg you have the impression that time has stood still and you feel like you are in a novel by Theodor Fontane.
Click here
To Saale and Unstrut
Munster and the Munsterland
The Münsterland is a cultural landscape that is shaped by the Westphalian nobility and their castles. There are around a hundred moated castles in Münsterland, most of which are privately owned. Some can be visited as museums and some owners open their doors on request. The flat landscape is suitable for bicycle tours, but the Münsterland is large, so that even by car you can only partially access it. In the center is Munster, the city of the Peace of Westphalia, which was signed there in the town hall, where you can see the hall where this important European event took place. There is a lot to discover in Westphalia when it comes to culinary delights.
clickhere
Lower Rhine
The sluggish, wide stream, the flat landscape and above it the wide sky, pastures, avenues and dikes.
In addition, there are beautiful little towns that flourished in the late Middle Ages and produced artists who worked in the region between Westphalia and the Netherlands, some of whom achieved national fame.
I discovered the Lower Rhine by bike.
clickhere
Arnsberg/Hochsauerland district
Rhine, Moselle, Nahe
The Rhine with its myth, the Moselle with its originality and the Nahe, which is the furthest away and least known from a North Rhine-Westphalian perspective.
Great destinations for a short trip
and if you stay another night or two, everyday life is far away.
clickhere
Frankfurt - on the Äppelwoi Tour and Kaiserspuren
Frankfurt, with its reconstructed old town and apple wine bars, is cozier and more down-to-earth than you might think. Perhaps the culture of wine taverns is on the decline, but when you go to Sachsenhausen, you get the impression that it's all very much alive, even among young people from Frankfurt.
But cozy evenings in the inns are only the relaxation program, because when you think of Frankfurt, you actually think of the skyline, the money and the medieval size, Kaiserdom, Paulskirche, Goethe and much more.
clickhere
Baden-Wuerttemberg -
traveling in the land of literature
To describe Baden-Württemberg as a literary state is not unreasonable. They even do that themselves in the southwest. But we didn't plan to go there because of that, we stumbled across it by accident, we found literary traces in every place. Of course, it started with the Heidelberg Romantic period, but later it continued in the footsteps of Hermann Hesse in Maulbronn, Calw and Tübingen. Wilhelm Hauff, Friedrich Hölderlin and Friedrich Schelling were also active in Tübingen, and in Schwäbisch Hall we found ourselves in the middle of a theater festival that put the whole town in a party mood - so the tour, originally planned as a short trip through cozy half-timbered towns, developed into a trip on the trail of literature.
clickhere
Black Forest
The journey went from Baden-Baden via the Black Forest High Road to Schiltach.
In the Kinzig valley I found Black Forest farms like in picture books. They have been there for centuries and some of them are gigantic in size for their wooden construction.
In Schiltach with its beautiful old town, which is also on the Kinzig, I was fascinated by the history of the raftsmen, an old farming method that has disappeared today and that is known from Hauff's fairy tale "The Cold Heart", among other things.
clickhere
The Allgaeu in winter
Snow and sunshine are just beautiful. So here are a few mood pictures of it.
Click here
DISTANT DESTINATIONS
Sweden
The friendliest people ever live here.
And here you can find peace. A lot of things seemed like childhood memories to me. Have the film adaptations of Astrid Lindgren's stories influenced me?
Stockholm is great - water everywhere, islands, beautiful buildings and in front of the city the archipelago. For people who like living aesthetics, a trip through the archipelago becomes an experience or a yearning torment.
clickhere.
Mount Athos
The most unusual state in Europe - the monastic republic of Athos.
The place where time stands still, the calendar is Julian, the days begin at dusk, the flag of Byzantium flies over the monasteries, the Patriarch of Constantinople is the spiritual head and it is a place where women are never allowed to enter.
clickhere.
Florida
Florida with its rich colors is ideal for good photo motifs.
Culturally, I couldn't get that much out of the country.
You might find what you are looking for between Caribbean and Salsa, Hemingway, Orlando's amusement parks and Miami's art deco buildings.
clickhere.
Morocco
It is a land of Arabian Nights, full of beautiful colors and exotic places.
We were in southern Morocco, the "real" Morocco, as a Tuareg from Mali told me.
The camera didn't stay in the bag at all.
clickhere.
Ile de France
Cathedrals, Castles, Fontainebleau Forest and Barbizon. Das has been on my wish list for a long time. But I've always had a hard time being close to Paris and leaving the city outside.
Eventually I made it and drove around Paris for a few days.
clickhere.
Switzerland
Expensive vacations and luxury places? ... you can get - but do lobster and caviar make sense in the Upper Engadine?
It is more exciting to focus on diversity in Switzerland. Ticino and Appenzellerland - the differences could hardly be greater. Many traditions are lived out in Switzerland and folklorists will find a lot of substance here. The country has great cultural diversity for its small size.
Click here.
At the Donau
I traveled the Danube from Regensburg to the Wachau.
Where should I classify this trip? In Germany or in more distant destinations?
I was concerned with the southern German baroque and from an art historical point of view, it is more obvious to look at regions than today's states.
Builders like the Dientzenhofer family have built in Franconia or Bohemia, Lucas von Hildebrandt was active in Austria, but also in Würzburg, etc.
In any case, the Danube was the guiding principle on this trip. It flows through the German-speaking south and has a lot of baroque to offer on its banks.
Click here
Salzkammergut and Salzburg
Our journey went from Salzburg via Lake Wolfgang to Lake Hallstatt.
The lakes in this region are beautiful. If it weren't for the mountains in between, the area could be called the Lake District.
clickhere.
Flanders and Netherlands
Buying cheap coffee, lying on the beach or smoking weed?
Anyone who associates this with the Netherlands does not do justice to the country with its interesting history and its spruced up, sensational towns. The Netherlands and Flanders are an impressive cultural region. Amsterdam does not necessarily have to be the focal point. It is also worth visiting Hoorn, Haarlem etc.
clickhere.
Wisconsin
The Dairy State in the Midwest,
Farming, many Americans with German ancestors, Amish people and farmhouse-style architecture, which is perceived as typically American.
Some might find Wisconsin boring, but I just enjoyed being off the beaten path.
click here.
Norway
lots of nature, little culture - impressive, but you have to like bad weather.
It's ideal in a mobile home.
click here.
Rome
For art lovers it is a city of superlatives, but beyond the famous museums, galleries and palaces there is also another Rome: the Rome of trattorias, of neighborhoods whose residents meet in squares with fountains, narrow streets, lively markets and the recurring sensational views of the city.
Click here.
Transylvania
Original and authentic - these are the attributes that come to mind first.
Historical cities with renovated town centers, beautiful landscapes, an interesting history. Transylvania fascinated me.
clickhere.
Palm Springs, Route 66,Hwy 1
An invitation brought me to Palm Springs and as a USA fan I always have fun in the country.
Palm Springs and Southern California set an architectural milestone in the 1960s - the Southern Californian style. Next door is Joshua Tree National Park and Los Angeles is not far either.
clickhere.
Barcelona
Barcelona is one of those cities that everyone loves.
I had my difficulties with it at first and didn't know what I could get out of it photographically, until after three days I finally had an idea. You can see the result here.
clickhere.
Wales
is "laid back" and extremely beautiful.
I was particularly impressed by the picturesque seaside resorts and the fabulous landscape in the interior.
clickhere.
Tuscany
The cradle of the Renaissance, art without end, but also beautiful landscapes to die for, especially in the area around Sangimignano and in the Val d'Orcia near Pienza.
There are also crowds of tourists, but if you go to the right places, you can find peace and tranquility.
Click here.
Saxony, Silesia, Galicia
Dresden, Meissen, the Ore Mountains, Breslau, the Giant Mountains and Kraków were among our stops.
clickhere.