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Anyone been to Germany?
Brian Barbour, Photographer
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Phoenix | AZ | USA | Posted: 4:06 AM on 04.15.09 |
->> Greetings
I was hoping my fellow peers could give me some guildance. I’m currently a soldier deployed to Iraq and will be going on leave in a few weeks. I decided last minute not to go back home and instead explore Germany. I currently don’t have a passport and that limits me to just Germany I think. (Soldiers on leave can go to Germany without a passport if they have a military ID and orders.) To be honest I don’t know a great deal about Germany and I’m trying to learn everything I can now. I not sure where I should start off, where I should visit and how I should travel. What I do know is that I want to make this a 2 week photographic adventure. That is why I have come to you my friends. I’m trying to collect tips and advice from fellow photographers so I can make the best of this last minute expedition. Any input you have would be helpful. Thanks
Brian |
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Neil Turner, Photographer
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Bournemouth | UK | United Kingdom | Posted: 4:38 AM on 04.15.09 |
->> The most evocative bits of Germany are the Black Forest, Berlin and the whole of the river Rhine. Photographically Germany offers an awful lot, but very little that hasn't been photographed thousands of times. The wine growing regions are beautiful at this time of year and you will see some wonderfully quaint technology in action at some of the smaller vineyards. The coast has a certain charm too - not the best in Europe by a long way but that never got in the way of a good picture.
Last time I was there I was doing pictures of the housing developments in east Berlin which was fascinating - especially when you realise just how closed off this part of the world was until 1989. Some of the alternative arts communities are still there in Berlin and you get to meet people from all over the world who get together for their art.
Germans take their cars, sports and beer seriously and they are a wonderfully friendly people. In the east there is still some suspicion of people with cameras but they will probably just sigh loudly to indicate their displeasure!
I've been there a couple of dozen times - it's a great country, especially now that east and west are one country (even if the east feels about twenty years behind in some ways).
Neil |
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Rainier Ehrhardt, Photographer
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Augusta | GA | USA | Posted: 8:32 AM on 04.15.09 |
->> When will you be in Germany?
If you're there around the week of May 23/24, you should try to make it to the Nürburgring 24 Hours car race. It's the most wild and interesting event I've ever been to. And even without credentials, spectators can get really close and have good access. It's a 21 km track built in the 20s in the Eifel mountains nicknamed the "Green Hell" with 200 cars racing around it for 24 Hours. It's even got a medieval castle you can visit that overlooks the valley. Even if you don't know a thing about cars, it's a spectacular event/area.
Here's a link to some pictures of the castle, and you can click on the other days in red for some of the action.
Highly recommended.
http://tinyurl.com/c5qdxt |
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Georg Moritz, Photographer
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Berlin | Bln | Germany | Posted: 8:41 AM on 04.15.09 |
| ->> I think you have to travel to berlin. it is an area you could see most of thinks. Sightseeing tours by boat, bus o by bike. you could see new politic buildings, the reichstag, big parks and so on. if you want to enjoy the nature like brandenburg (nature like black forest but without hills) you could travel by bus or train within 1-2 hours. You could also visit hamburg. the train from berlin starts every hour and takes at the moment 2 hours oneway. |
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Rob Ostermaier, Photographer
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Newport News | VA | USA | Posted: 8:50 AM on 04.15.09 |
| ->> I second what Georg said. I spent a week in Berlin back in October and had a great time. Stayed with friends in what used to be East Berlin. Great city to ride a bike. Lots of history and great fresh food and beer. |
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Brian Barbour, Photographer
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Phoenix | AZ | USA | Posted: 10:05 AM on 04.15.09 |
->> Thanks Neil, Rainier, Georg and Rob for responding to my post. Here is an update to my situation. Upon further investigation I have discovered I can also travel to Italy so I will try and do both of these countries if time allows.
Rainier, unfortunately I will be out of Germany by the 20th. I would’ve loved to have experienced the Nurburgring Car race. I went to the link you posted and the race looks like a great time.
Neil, Georg and Rob, I agree with you to about Berlin and have chosen that as the place to begin my adventure. I’m still in the planning phase but at least I’ve got a starting point. |
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Jack Megaw, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Pittsburgh | PA | America | Posted: 10:22 AM on 04.15.09 |
->> Make sure you get to a football (soccer) match while you're there!
Also you can go to the Nurburgring and do a full speed drive around the track, it's supposed to be absolutely incredible - I've been dying to do it for years!
-Jack |
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Georg Moritz, Photographer
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Berlin | Bln | Germany | Posted: 10:43 AM on 04.15.09 |
| ->> but don't go to hertha bsc (beerlin soccer team). i'm there every second saturday for the german bundes league. it is boring. they are at place four at the moment but no one knows how they do this... :-) |
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Paul W Gillespie, Photographer
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Annapolis | MD | USA | Posted: 11:37 AM on 04.15.09 |
| ->> If you get to Munich you should definitely go to the Hofbrauhaus. I had a great time there 10 years ago drinking beer and singing John Denver's "Country Roads" to an oompah band with my new drunk German friends Wolfgang and Verner. http://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/en/index_en.html |
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Juerg Schreiter, Photographer
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Fort Lauderdale | FL | USA | Posted: 12:25 PM on 04.15.09 |
->> Brian,
are you coming back to Ramstein ?
You definitely should try to go to Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart.
What is the time frame of your visit... maybe I could give you a connection near Frankfurt. |
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Ron Scheffler, Photographer
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Hamilton (Toronto area) | Ontario | Canada | Posted: 12:59 PM on 04.15.09 |
->> You can also pay to take a ride in the Nurburgring BMW M5 "taxi" for only 195 Euros. http://www.nuerburgring.de/taxi-journeys.614.0.html
If you only have two weeks and you want to see Germany and Italy, I'd say you're stretching yourself a bit. In addition to Berlin, you should also visit the south, like Munich to get a broader feel for Germany. While Berlin has character with it's hard edges and somewhat rougher feel in certain areas, Munich is where the money is and it shows in the overall refinement of the city's core neighborhoods. Lots of museums, interesting architecture, beer gardens, parks, the BMW museum, etc., etc. In other words, pretty much something to appeal to anyone. And it's really easy to get around by public transit (like many larger German cities). It could also be a good jumping point to Italy. At the least it would be a great gateway to exploring the Bavarian Alps region.
While rail travel in Germany has gotten more and more expensive over the last 10 years, it's still a great way to see the countryside in a way you'd never experience in a plane. A nice trip is along the Rhine between Köln (Cologne) and Mainz. The faster intercity trains travel along the west bank so make sure you get a window seat on the east side of the train so you can watch the river scenery. One of the towns along that stretch is Remagen, and being a WWII history buff, it was cool to be able to see the remains of the Ludendorff Bridge there, which was the first crossing point for the Allied forces across the Rhine in 1945.
If you're traveling along the Rhine, then a bit farther south are interesting cities such as Heidelberg and Freiburg im Breisgau, both very picturesque and the latter being a good entry point into the Black Forest. There's a rail line that runs east from Freiburg through the forest to Donaueschingen, the source of the Danube river, and beyond with some nice stops along the way, like Titisee (a lake). There used to be a daily train between Freiburg and Munich that ran along the Danube river and was a nice, though long trip because it was not part of the fast train network. But checking the German rail website, it looks like that train no longer runs. BTW, the German rail site is very informative for checking schedules, etc.: http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml
There are also some reasonable day tickets you can buy for rail travel within a region: http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/germany/laender_tickets.sht...
Or you could look into getting a German Rail Pass: http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/intercontinental/german_rai...
Being part of the EU, it's theoretically possible to travel by land from Germany to Italy through Austria and not be stopped for papers. I'm currently in Germany and just traveled to Austria for Easter, crossing the border by regional train and car and it was never an issue. But I have taken the intercity train from Munich to Venice and there was a border inspection at the Italian border. So it could raise some questions about you traveling through Austria without the proper papers... While the train trip from Munich to Venice is quite nice if the weather is good, it's long at about 7 hours. Flying between Germany and Italy would be more time efficient and likely a similar cost to rail.
As for Italy... Venice is really cool and you'll want to spend at least a couple days there. Florence is also worth a visit... and that's as far south as I've gotten in Italy...
If you have any questions, send me a message through my member page.
Ron |
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Daniel Hayduk, Photographer
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Kelowna | BC | Canada | Posted: 1:10 PM on 04.15.09 |
->> Ron has a good point.. you need time!!!
In Berlin alone, there is much to see..
Things that caught my eye when I was there were as follows..
The Alexanderplatz (follow the big TV tower/fernsehturm) Situated in former East Germany, the area hints back to what it was like at times..
Checkpoint Charlie. Cool museum there, which includes a history of escape attempts.
The Pergamon Museum. If you like ancient history, check it out. Among other treasures of another era, it holds ancient Babylon's Ishtar gate.
Holocaust Memorial (the one with all the big concrete blocks) Do check out the museum on site as well..
For recent-history buffs, there are countless sites relating to WW2. Hitler's bunker is now a parking lot, some of the SS head-quarter buildings still do exist, and are situated near an outdoor display called "Topography of Terror."
If the last sentence made you at all excited -- you must visit Peenemünde in North Germany, home of the V2 rocket. The forests in the area are good for exploring old bunkers, launch sites and such.. ;)
Other cities/sights of interest.. Some of which Ron mentioned...
-Freiburg in the south is a nice town, surrounded by a very beautiful area..
-Schloss Neuschwanstein.
-The Bodensee -- lots to see in the area.. Blumeninsel Mainau, Affenberg Salem, Die Meersburg in Meersburg, Dornier Museum in Meersburg
-As mentioned, the Hofbräuhaus in Munchen.
-While in Munchen, check out the Deutsches Museum.
Italy: Naples. Pizza. mmmmmmm.
cheers-
/daniel |
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Steven Mullensky, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Port Townsend | WA. | USA | Posted: 1:25 PM on 04.15.09 |
->> Where to begin?
If it were me, I'd limit this trip to a loop from Munich to Innsbruck, Venice, Salzburg and back to Munich.
The Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Neuschwanstein castle, the old city of Innsbruck, Venice is Venice, Salzburg, the home of Mozart and the oldest continuously operated restaurant in the world (1100 AD) and back to Munich and the Hofbrauhaus.
That itinerary ought to keep you busy for a couple of weeks.
Keep safe and I thank you for your service to our country.
Steve |
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Paul W Gillespie, Photographer
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Annapolis | MD | USA | Posted: 2:35 PM on 04.15.09 |
| ->> My first trip to Europe was in 1997 and we went to Prague, Munich (Hofbrauhaus), Vienna, Salzburg and some places I am sure I am forgetting the names of. I shot lots of awesome photos, too bad they are 2 1/4 slides and I have no way of scanning them. I should send them out, I am just too cheap. Good times. |
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Georg Moritz, Photographer
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Berlin | Bln | Germany | Posted: 3:06 PM on 04.15.09 |
->> but at this time, in berlin is the past history first at the scala. 20 years ago the wall was fallen. the main history in the newest past in germany. the change (sorry mr. obama!) is now seen and you could see it in exhibitions, at memorials... ok schwanstein ist a great castel but you have to see the brandenburger tor and the reichstag. sorry but the palast of the german democratic republic was ragged.
see the pictures:
http://www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=7489 |
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Lennart Wiedemuth, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Ennepetal | NRW | Germany | Posted: 4:50 PM on 04.15.09 |
->> If you have any problems in Germany dont hesitate to call me.
I live in Ennepetal - between Dusseldorf and Dortmund - which is located in Nordrhein Westfahlen.
Just shoot me an email and I will tell you my cellphone number.
Lennart |
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Kurt Vinion, Photographer
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Prague | -- | Czech Republic | Posted: 6:57 PM on 04.15.09 |
->> Go to Berlin... The night life alone is killer and it is cheap as hell, many people speak English and lets face it - it is one of the best places in Europe to visit and hang out in right now.
You can also travel around Germany on the trains - ICE is especially nice. What we normally do is head to Berlin for a couple of days and then travel to Kiel if you are interested in the beaches. Nice scene all around...
And yeah, I agree . forgo visiting Hertha... Now Bayern - that is a real team!
Apologies to Tilo W... Hertha is his team... |
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Nick Morris, Photographer
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San Marcos | CA | United States | Posted: 8:49 PM on 04.15.09 |
->> Brian, first off thanks for serving. Your a hero in my home and my family and I appreciate your sacrifice. I have a cousin in Germany who is a Highway Patrolman. I'd love to put you in contact with him. He speaks pretty good english and he likes to party. If your interested contact me vial e-mail and I'll hook you up with him. He's near Stuttgart (Ohringhen to be exact). Anyway he'd be a great contact to hang out with. He may even do a ride along with you.
Nick M
imagegroupphoto@gmail.com |
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Jamie Roper, Photographer
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Portland | OR | United States | Posted: 8:49 PM on 04.15.09 |
->> Berlin.
And just because it hasn't been mentioned yet, check out the Holocaust Memorial there. It's a stunningly effective piece of installation architecture, seemingly very simple but very moving and powerful, especially as you wend your way further and further into it.
And it's a sobering balance to the exquisite debauchery Berlin offers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_the_Murdered_Jews_of_Europe |
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Eric Francis, Photographer
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Omaha | NE | United States | Posted: 9:18 PM on 04.15.09 |
->> I'll put in my vote for southern Germany.... Stuttgart, Munich, Salzburg (Austria).
That is the land of wonderful castles, incredible beer and happy people.
There is also a lot to be said for a river wine cruise. |
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Ben Mackey, Photographer
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Columbia | MD | USA | Posted: 9:29 PM on 04.15.09 |
->> Brian,
In addition to all the great ideas above, here are some more thoughts. If you want to see recent history and have a great time, Berlin is the place. If you want to see green forested hills, the Black Forest (SW Germany) or Bavaria (SE) are where you want to go. The typical American mental image of German countryside is in the south. Where ever you end up, try to catch a football/soccer match. See (http://www.bundesliga.de/en/) for details on the top league.
Since you are in the military, you can use the Armed Forces Recreation Center in Garmisch (south of Munich, site of the '36 Winter Olympics). See (http://www.edelweisslodgeandresort.com/) for hotel info. Assuming you'll fly into Ramstein, there is a USO lounge upstairs in the AMC terminal, they can help you get rooms, seats on trains, tours, etc. Ask them about Volkmarches that might be going in the area. Volkmarches are usually 10 km hikes through scenic areas or small towns. They are a great way to meet people, get away from tourists, and see a different side of Germany.
If you are into cars, there are new museums in Munich (BMW, next to the '72 Olympic park http://www.bmw-museum.com/2/webmill.php) and Stuttgart has both the Porsche (http://www.porsche.com/uk/aboutporsche/porschemuseum/) and Mercedes (http://www.museum-mercedes-benz.com/?lang=en) museums.
The Stuttgarter FruehlingsFest (imagine a cross between Octoberfest and a state fair with rides and beer) runs through 3 May across the street from the Mercedes museum.
In terms of food, be sure to eat some wurst and a half a chicken (halbes Huhnchen), get some German french fries (pommes-frites or just pommes), have a fresh pretzel (Brezel) from a village bakery (Bäckerei), some chocolate (the Ritter Sport brand is good) and lots of beer.
Just not all at one sitting or right before you get on the Tilt-o-whirl at the Fest. |
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Andy Mead, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 5:16 PM on 04.16.09 |
->> Brian,
I spent five weeks in Germany during the last World Cup. I was based in Frankfurt, and it was a wonderful place to hang out and walk around. Cologne, Munich, Berlin, and Leipzig were also amongst my favorite stops. I only briefly got into Hamburg, but it was, likewise, fascinating to walk around downtown. Last spring I found myself killing time in London, so I took a cheap flight into Berlin and spent the day walking and U-Bahning my way around old East and West Berlin. Truly fascinating with countless great photographic possibilities.
The great thing about most of the big German cities is the fact that they are very pedestrian friendly. Get a local day pass on the trains and you can pick a stop and walk around. Take a break with a beer and brat at a local cafe or pub, then back on your feet.
There's plenty of history around Germany. I spent a day exploring Heidelberg Castle when I was there, The Zeppelin field in Nuremberg is also a fascinating site. My experience from Germany was that pretty much everywhere I went, I didn't have enough time to take it all in. |
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Steve King, Photographer
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Ann Arbor | MI | USA | Posted: 9:27 PM on 04.16.09 |
->> Brian,
We spent a few days around Hamburg and northern Germany (and Denmark too) last August, it's a great city to see. If you're there you would not want to miss the Neuengamme concentration camp memorial site. It's easy to miss since access is by a small dirt road, but you won't want to miss it. To add to what Jamie said about the holocaust memorial in Berlin, this would also be a similarly moving, sobering, and extremely emotional experience. |
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Phil Sedgwick, Photographer
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San Luis Rey | CA | USA | Posted: 3:44 AM on 04.17.09 |
->> If your travel schedule sync's up with the Nürburgring's public days - DO IT. The ring taxi's will take your breath away. But for real fun do what I did and flog a diesel powered Renault Scenic around the ring.
I love the smell of hot brake pads in the morning.... There might have been something in the rental agreement about that.
If you are in the south, Neuschwanstein it pretty cool. But be forewarned - it's a heck of hike if you want to recreate the classic shot. |
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Ray Anderson, Photographer
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Ray Anderson, Photographer
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San Francisco | CA | USA | Posted: 9:18 AM on 04.17.09 |
->> Another important note is that trains are clean and go most everywhere in Europe.Germany has some of the fastest and cleanest trains the ICE is fast leather seats fine wood paneling a different fine chef each month puts a menu together and the train is like riding on air.
IMPORTANT if you are planing on traveling buy rail goggle eurorail and pick up a 3- 5-7 or what ever kind of pass you need for one country or two country travel.
You will save a lot of money and if you buy the pass in the US you can insure the pass against loss something you can not do if you buy the pass in Europe.
Trains in Europe go everywhere and normally run on time but they are expensive unless you buy the multiple day pass |
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