Category Archives: Germany

A-Wandering We Go!

We’ve lived in France for over five years — and that has given us so many benefits and blessings — things that we are quite appreciative of. I did the hard slog of paperwork required to get our plastic ID cards that prove we are EU residents in good standing — and I even obtained an EU driving license. Since we’ve been ‘in the system’ and eligible for health care and energy rebates and so forth — why change things now?

We’ve been living in a pretty part of Brittany and we’ve made some wonderful friends over the last few years. But picturesque settings and pleasant folks aside, we feel like our time in France may be coming to an end. To determine if our feelings are accurate, we’re currently on a long driving holiday in northern Europe.

Our mindset about life shifted rather dramatically this year when Mark’s father died a few months ago. Having such an anchor presence, one that you thought would always be there, disappear within weeks of your last visit to England impacted us both rather sharply. We grieved deeply — and then we realised that we needed to decide how we felt about France as our long-term home.

We first went to England for two weeks and spent some time with my mother-in-law whilst getting ourselves prepared to travel again. It’s been a year since we took our last long trip to Italy for two months.

Mark bought a new off-road bike and he did test runs around Canvey Island and other nearby spots before we set off.

Mark’s Boardman orange bike in front of a ruin on Canvey Island, Essex, England.

A variety of boats along a narrow waterway in Canvey Island, Essex, England.

Then Mark fine-tuned some things on the van, decided how many bikes he was taking along for the trip, and exactly one week ago, we arrived in Harwich just before sunset where we stopped for some photos before enjoying a lovely dinner.

A few hours later, we sailed away on a beautiful Stena Lines ship to the Hook of Holland. We had a wonderfully comfortable overnight trip and a good breakfast the next morning before we disembarked.

Cabin on the Stena Line sailing from Harwich to Hook of Holland.

Breakfast on our Stena Lines trip from Harwich to Hook of Holland.

After arrival, we went through the long lines at passport control (proudly showing our EU cards as proof that we live in Europe and are not overseas tourists with a limited-time status!) and away we drove towards Germany.

Our first stop for the night was in a tiny spot near Bremen called Ganderkesee. The country house hotel was gloriously old-world and the food at the evening meal and huge breakfast the next morning was excellent.

Exterior of the Hotel Backenkohler in Ganderkesee, Germany.

Most of our destinations will be all-new territory for us. We’ve been to the Netherlands and Germany several times, but we’ve never ventured further north into the Scandinavian countries. We have so many places to see, photos to take, and new experiences to have.

Next up — our two days in Kolding, Denmark!

Get UPDATES from A Wanderful Life by CLICKING HERE!

COPYRIGHT
©Deborah Harmes 2007-2019 and ©Mark Harmes 2007-2019
©A Wanderful Life 2007-2019
Please respect the words and images on this page.
All rights reserved.

Photo Of The Day: The Clever Commuter

I am continuing to go through unedited images to upload to my own portfolio site as well as my agencies in Europe, the UK, and New York. And I continue to discover new images that really speak to my love of human interest photography — my same primary interest back when I was a newspaper photographer.

This was taken in Berlin, Germany — and the man in the pic was a commuter at the end of his day — taking his bike down from street level into the train station below for his commute home via the wonderful train system in Berlin.

Enjoy!

A man taking his bicycle down an escalator into the train station below the street level in Berlin, Germany.

Vintage World War II Posters from Germany

In this second part of the visit to the Zeughaus, the late 17th and early 18th Century building that houses the German Historical Museum in Berlin, the Deutsches Historisches Museum — I must admit that it was both fascinating and a bit off-putting.

In the lead-up to those galleries full of nationalistic poster art, there are exhibits of social history that explained the frightful poverty and economic collapse in Germany in the period leading up to World War II.

Since there are so many images, I have decided to do a 3rd post about this museum. With the exception of the one rather depressing ink drawing style poster from the 1930s showing a starving family, today’s article shows lots of happy and upbeat propaganda to reinforce the message that the German people were unified in their thinking and to drum up feelings of purposefulness about their cause.

A 1930s poster showing a woman and child in extreme poverty.

A 1930s poster showing a mother and children in extreme poverty.

1936 Winter Olympics poster

Silhouette of the top of the iconic Brandenburg Gate in Berlin overlaid onto this poster for the summer Olympics.

The German ideal of happy families with blonde hair and healthy bodies was highly encouraged.

More perfect-looking blonde children to create Hitler’s future Utopia.

And of course, the idea was heavily promoted that once this temporary messiness of war was over, all good German working families would have prosperity and their own car for drives in the countryside. Recognise the early Volkswagon?

Whether you are a university educated man who works with his brain or a tradesman who works with his hands, the we’re-all-in-this-together approach is on display in this propaganda poster.

The glamourous airships or Zeppelins were still flying into the late 1930s. They provided a mental boost to the German public about their superiority with the construction of these massive airships.

The era of the Zeppelins came to an end in 1937 with the Hindenburg Disaster which took the lives of 35 out of 97 people on board. All remaining German airships were ordered to be destroyed in 1940. The article at the link above is quite comprehensive and if you are interested in that sort of aviation history, it’s definitely worth the time to read through it.

The third and final article from this museum in Berlin shows World War II posters from Germany that are significantly less sunny and optimistic. Watch for those in my next article.

A Day At The Zeughaus — The German Historical Museum in Berlin

We weren’t sure what to expect when we visited the German Historical Museum in Berlin, more correctly known by the actual name Deutsches Historisches Museum on the wonderful street, Unter den Linden. The charming street name translates to under the linden trees.

The museum is housed in an equally historical building, the Zeughaus — the oldest building on Unter den Linden and a former arsenal built between 1695 and 1730 in the Baroque architectural style.

Although ancient and relatively contemporary history is always interesting, both of us are quite curious about the historical periods from the 1920s through the 1940s — and this museum certainly didn’t let us down in that regard. It has halls full of information, remnants of those decades gone by, and a large collection on the emergence of the German Third Reich. Below is a small selection of what is on display.

The next TWO articles after this one will have a very specific theme. They will be photo essays of original World War II proganda posters distributed by the Nazi government of the time. So do come back and see some of that artwork that is rarely seen outside of Europe.

The courtyard of the German Historical Museum, established in the historic Zeughaus building, contains an I.M. Pei designed roofline over the large courtyard.

A vintage petrol pump from the 1920s-40s.

Pre-World War II motorcycle

Complete coffee set

Rather oddly — a display of vintage lingerie and clothing is right next to a display filled with old typewriters!

Sailor ceramic statue — advertising art.

A poster for the 1927 Fritz Lang masterpiece film — Metropolis.

Row of German uniform jackets with a swastika on each of them.

Photo Of The Day: Old Apothecary in Hannover, Germany

Today’s photo of the day is the amazingly ornate top half of the Old Apothecary building in Hannover, Germany.

The eye-catching and flamboyant architectural style of the Old Apothecary in Hannover, Germany

Simple Thing, Wonderful Design

Natural beauty is always pleasing to the eye — whether a landscape or seascape or close-up of a flower. But there is an abundance of beauty in repeating motifs that are manufactured — hard edged items that might be overlooked on a daily basis as you move around in the world.

This won’t be the first time you’ve seen me post one of these. As I walk through any city or town that is new to me, I try to remember to look up to see the architectural details on buildings, out to see the eye-level view, and down to see the occasional surprises on the ground.

Here is a particularly nice example of a hard surface design — a manhole cover from the streets of Dresden, Germany.

Manhole cover in Dresden, Germany