Stacy Anderson and Karissa Vieth came to stay with us from
October 27th to November 3rd. We had quite an adventurous week while the girls were here.
We spent a day exploring Wiesbaden, a whirlwind day in Paris, an evening at
Heidelberg Castle, a sobering day at Dachau, and a partial day in Munich.
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| Hanging out with Stacy and Karissa in Paris |
Paris
On our day trip to Paris we spent time exploring the Notre
Dame Cathedral; took a stroll along the Seine River; enjoyed a lunch of French
Onion soup, coffee, and crepes; and spent time shopping under the Louvre. While
visiting the infamous Eiffel Tower we were soaked by a random rain shower.
Following the rain a beautiful double rainbow appeared behind the Eiffel Tower.
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French Onion Soup
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In Front of Notre Dame Cathedral
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Double Rainbow behind the Eiffel Tower
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Eiffel Tower and Rainbow
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Heidelberg Castle is a famous castle ruin and landmark. The
earliest castle structure was built before 1214 AD and later expanded into two
castles around 1294. One a Gothic masterpiece the castle has encountered
turbulent times: It was plundered and burned by the French army in 1689, struck
by lightning over 100 years later, and its red stones were used to build new
houses. The Castle of Heidelberg
was never restored to its original glory, but the ruins have a ragged charm of
their own.
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| Remains of the Ludwig wing, completed in 1524 |
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| Heidelberg Castle Courtyard |
Ironically enough our castle tour guide was French. During the tour our guide pointed out
the different architectural styles created over centuries after the castle was
destroyed and partially rebuilt multiple times. According to our French guide
Mark Twain once visited Heidelberg Castle inspiring him to write a chapter of Huckleberry Finn. The last stop of our
castle visit was the wine cellar which houses the largest barrel in the world,
holding 55,345 gallons of wine.
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| Worlds Largest Wine Barrel |
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| Castle Courtyard with the Otto-Heinrich building on the Left |
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| Heidelberg Castle |
Dachau
Concentration Camp
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| The "Jourhouse" or Main Entrance to Dachau |
In March of 1933, just a few weeks after Adolf Hitler had
been appointed Reich Chancellor, a concentration camp for political prisoners
was set up in Dachau. The camp served as a prototype and
model for the other Nazi concentration camps that followed. Over the 12 years
of use as a concentration camp, Dachau administration recorded the intake of
206,206 prisoners and deaths of 31,951. The camp was divided into two sections:
the camp area and the crematorium. The camp area consisted of 32 barracks,
including one for clergy imprisoned for opposing the Nazi regime and one
reserved for medical experiments. An electrified barbed-wire gate, a ditch, and
a wall with seven guard towers surrounded Dachau.
25,613 prisoners are believed to have
died in the camp primarily from disease, malnutrition, and suicide. The
crematorium was erected in 1942 to dispose of the deceased. In early 1945, a typhus epidemic in the camp caused by poor sanitation and overcrowding, followed by an
evacuation, in which large numbers of the prisoners died.
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| Guard Tower and Barbwire Fence |
In April of 1945 American troops
liberated survivors. In the postwar years the camp help SS soldiers awaiting
trail. After 1948 the camp help ethnic Germans who had been expelled from
Eastern Europe and were waiting for resettlement. Dachau was also used as a US
military base during the occupation and was finally closed for use in 1960.
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| Dachau Memorial |
The Memorial Site on
the grounds of the former concentration camp was established in 1965. Today as visitors walk through the camp
they follow the path the new arrivals took when they first arrived at Dachau.
Two of the barracks have been rebuilt and one shows a cross-section of the
entire history of the camp. The original barracks were torn down due to their
poor conditions these 32 barracks are now indicated by concrete foundations.
Visitors are taken on a journey through the buildings and are allowed to view
the ovens used to cremate bodies hiding the evidence of many deaths. The
memorial includes four chapels for the various religions represented among the
prisoners. On a cold and cloudy Friday, November 1st we spent the
day at Dachau Concentration Camp learning first hand what life was like for
those imprisoned there. This was a very real and sobering experience for all of
us.
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| A barracks where as many as 2,000 prisoners slept |
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| Dachau crematorium ovens |
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| The Gate the Prisoners Entered "Work will make you free" | | |
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| Prison road marked ares where the barracks stood on either side |
Munich
On Saturday, November
2nd we spent part of the day exploring the city of Munich. The city
was first mentioned in 1158 and was the host of the 1972 Summer Olympics. Munich
is one of the economically most successful and fastest growing cities in
Germany. During our time in Munich
we explored the New Town Hall, St. Peter’s Church, and Frauenkirch.
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| New Town Hall |
The New Town Hall was built
between 1867 and 1908. The building hosts the city government including the
city council and offices of the mayors.
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| Inside St. Peter's Church |
St. Peter’s Church was built
in 1468 and consecrated in 1494. The parish church of Saint Peter is the oldest
recorded parish church in Munich and presumably the originating point for the
whole city.
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| "Devil's Footprint" Inside Frauenkirch |
The Frauenkirch was
constructed from red brick in the late Gothic style. The cathedral can hold
approximately 20,000 people and is among the largest hall churches in southern
Germany. From the main portal the view seems to be only the rows of columns
with no windows and translucent "walls" between the vaults through
which the light seems to shine. The spatial effect of the church is connected
with a legend about a footprint in a square tile at the entrance to the nave,
the so-called "devil's footstep". According to legend, the devil made
a deal with the builder to finance construction of the church on the condition
that it contains no windows. The clever builder, however, tricked the devil by
positioning columns so that the windows were not visible from the spot where
the devil stood in the foyer. When the devil discovered that he had been
tricked, he could not enter the already consecrated church. The devil could
only stand in the foyer and stomp his foot furiously, which left the dark
footprint that remains visible in the church's entrance today.
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Munich's Marienplatz and Central Square
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