Ask me about germany.

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Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

This summer I'm doing a road trip around Germany and will be visiting every federal state. My question is, what are three things I HAVE to see?

# ¿ Jun 29, 2010 12:43

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 07:26

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

Zwille posted:

Default Settings, I think if you're doing a huge (by German standards anyway) road trip, you should visit each of those cities as well as Flensburg. Also some cities in east Germany couldn't hurt either, like Leipzig or Dresden. Where will you be starting off, anyway, and how much ground do you hope to cover in how much time?

I've been intentionally vague to get some wild suggestion (thanks!).
the rough route is as following:

From Austria: Passau - Regensburg - N�rnberg - Rothenburg o.d. Tauber - Ronneburg/B�dingen/Glauberg - Fulda - Eisenach - Freyburg a.d. Unstrut - Magdeburg - Berlin - L�beck - Kiel - Schleswig - St. Peter Ordning - Hamburg - Osnabr�ck - Detmold - D�sseldorf - K�ln - Koblenz - Bingen - Bingen - Speyer - Kempten - back to Austria

We'll take 19 days, according to the route planner this will be an average 3 hours of driving per day, including some days at the Wacken Open Air (sorry about my taste in music).

THE_Chris posted:

...Regensburg while you're there. Its the biggest city that wasnt bombed flat by the British in WW2, so is totally different from any of the more modern ones.

I'm alreay miffed that I have to leave out Bamberg - Many stations along the route are because of my interest in old architecture and history in general.

FLX posted:

I would visit Flensburg in Schleswig-Holstein, which is a beautiful, small city at the eastern sea (or how it's called).

The only thing I know about Flensburg is that the registry of traffic offenders is there. But since several of you guys suggested it and it's not that for off our route we will have a look, thank you!

Liface posted:

Panorama view of the city from the Schlossbergturm in Freiburg.

That sounds like a great place, is it possible to se Neuf-Brisach from up there?

# ¿ Jun 29, 2010 23:53

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

Previously on GBS posted:

Skip Koblenz and go to Ahrweiler (and the Government Bunker) and Mainz instead.

Ah, that is a good suggestion, thank you! But why Mainz?

quote:

Edit: Why in the world would you want to visit Osnabr�ck?

To visit some friends.

quote:

Also, you should include some place in the Ruhrpott in your itinerary. No, K�ln and D�sseldorf don't count.

It's possible that we visit the Zeche Zollern in Dortmund. Aside from the industry, is there anything to the Ruhrpott I missed?

quote:

see the Niederwalddenkmal.

elwood posted:

Hermannsdenkmal and
Externsteine

They are already fix points on my tour because of my penchant for pathos-laden 19th century monuments. One of the first stops will be at Walhalla.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2010 19:49

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

Thibaw: Sorry for hijacking your thread for travel planning, I hope it still is enjoyable and maybe even useful for other people visiting Germany.

I originally wanted to avoid the Wewelsburg since it's essentially a 19th/20th century building and I didn't want to fall for a NS-themed tourist trap. But it is probably interesting to see how the SS imagined an ideal castle to be, and you guys make it sound like an interesting place even for people that aren't Third Reich fetishists.

unixbeard posted:

I always like the Dom in Cologne. If you're in Berlin this thing was kinda cool http://berliner-unterwelten.de/tour-2.14.1.html

Awesome, I only vagueley remembered reading about the "Unterwelten" quite some time ago and have been looking for that link.
There is no way I can drive past the Dom in Cologne, the prime example of gothic architecture. I also have to find out if the "K�lsch" Bier really is that good.

Previously on GBS posted:

Chagall Window's, Wine!, Gutenberg (and the Gutenberg museum), Lots of cool old Roman stuff, The Republic of Mainz, Mainz Cathedral

Allright, that are some good reasons. And I may have to decide between Zeche Zollern and Zeche Zollverein, thank you.

elwood posted:

If you somehow find yourself near Paderborn around noon on a weekday, I would invite you to lunch. We could follow the ancient goon tradition of awkward conversations and/or silent stares over something to eat.

Sure, that would be great! And if it's only to completely alienate my travel companion. I actually intendend to ask around in this thread if somebody fancies to meet up for a beer (Anybody else?). I can't tell you the day right away but it will be there some day in the second week of August. Just shoot me an E-mail to def.settings@gmail.com

# ¿ Jul 1, 2010 12:07

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

elbkaida posted:

And Default Settings, your schedule is definitely missing some Saxony! I would recommend Dresden, you should stop there on your way to Berlin. Beautiful city with a very nice baroque old town.

Oh yes, I am going to miss so much! I am afraid Dresden is too far off the path but I may combine this with a hiking holiday in the Erzgebirge and the "s�chsische Schweiz" at one point.

quote:

As that seems to be a detour from your route, Hamburg or one of the cities in Schleswig-Holstein would be cool, as I will be staying there for a while, visiting friends.

Great, just let me know at def.settings@gmail.com. We'll be aroudn the north for a few days after the 8th August.

quote:

Wacken is definitely a must see in Germany if you're into metal, even though it's getting larger and larger -which not only means logistic problems, but also brings an increasing influx of people who don' give a poo poo about the somewhat familiar atmosphere in Wacken and think it's cool to be a general dickhead

Yeah, I have heard that it's grown too large now, and can fully believe it. But this is more a once-in-a-lifetime thing that I want to see, after that I'll stick to festivals further south again.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2010 20:50

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THE_Chris posted:

I'd be TEMPTED to leave out Nurnberg and do Bamberg instead.

After reading up a bit on that I'd say you are right, my image of N�rnberg must have been influenced by a 1930s city guide I read once. It's a shame, it had a great old town.

quote:

Munich is worth seeing.

I intentionally left out Munich since I've been there a few times. But I'll have to see the Asamkirche the next time, I don't think I have ever seen something so baroque.

quote:

Dresden isnt on your list?

No, that will be a different journey.

# ¿ Jul 6, 2010 22:30

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

# ¿ Jul 20, 2010 15:07

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

Now that it has been a month since I returned from travelling around Germany for three weeks I can tell you that I am actually missing one thing: A decent Currywurst.
Thank you again for the invitation to lunch, Elwood!

# ¿ Sep 13, 2010 17:10

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Hungry Gerbil posted:

This blog is both hilarious AND accurate.

What really irks me about this blog is how he writes "Germans" every time he means "German hipsters". Makes me want to force this guy to spend some significant time in a Bavarian village, but aside of that it's hilarious.

Default Settings fucked around with this message at 15:06 on Sep 21, 2010

# ¿ Sep 21, 2010 14:45

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Liface posted:

In one of the interviews he did he mentions he specifically doesn't mention the word hipster because "writing about hipsters was pass� in 2006". However, why not just say "Berliner" or "scenester"? I don't get it.

Now what I don't get is that in the same interview, he mentions he doesn't speak German. I wonder if that's an exaggeration, because I can't imagine picking up all these nuances of the Berlin culture without speaking the language.

The interview seems to be a bad German translation of an interview led in English. Apparently being "unable to speak German" means getting the spelling of waschechte wrong.

And even though it's now proven to be irony, his writing style still irks me - but that is intentional.

# ¿ Sep 22, 2010 07:49

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

For finding hotels in Germany http://www.hrs.de is a helpful site.

# ¿ Sep 22, 2010 10:42

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

Around that time of the year you probably would have real chances to find a beer festival simply by driving around the countryside at random.

What was a nice surprise the first time I came to Munich was the Hofbr�uhaus. Fully expecting an overpriced tourist trap it turned out that the prices are actually reasonable, and the inebriated asian tourists mesmerized by Blasmusik make for quite an unique atmosphere.

# ¿ Sep 27, 2010 12:11

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

After some googling the official translation seems to be �Ich bin ein Abenteurer auf dem Weg zu meinem Schatz.�

# ¿ Oct 6, 2010 21:01

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It seems some customs never got distilled into rules simply because nobody could find a system behind them.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2010 09:34

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Sereri posted:

Unless you're Gollum, "mein Schatz" is "my sweetheart"

In that specific case "Schatz" probably is intentionally ambivalent since it is a translation of "my precious".

# ¿ Oct 8, 2010 09:48

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System Metternich posted:

PS: Does anyone have an explanation for why there is a metric fuckton of Landhausmode shops in Vienna, yet I've never ever seen anyone wearing Tracht around here and even Landhausmode seems to be pretty rare?

In short: Because it makes you look like you are from the countryside, and not the urban metropole Vienna. And that is a big deal.

# ¿ Oct 15, 2010 10:12

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bronin posted:

You... watched that for.... three and a half hours?
You deserve an award of some kind...

Reich-Ranicki doesn't want his, anyway.

# ¿ Oct 18, 2010 11:01

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

So what the heck is going in Germany at the moment? While a police man talks about illegal provocations techniques used by riot police and several groups protest the way things in Stuttgart are handled, the government decides to tighten the laws regarding civil disorder and receives the first batch of 78 state-of-the-art water cannons.

Either I happened to read only anarchic news sites without noticing it or I completely missed something about the situation, but is Germany preparing for a large-scale civil uprising?

(Sorry, all links are in German)

# ¿ Oct 19, 2010 15:59

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

I think this is even hard for Austrian mountain folk - As opposed to the rest of Austria, Vorarlberger speak not a bavarian, but an alemannic dialect. Swabians or Swiss would understand that better.

The only reason Voralberg is still a part of Austria is because Switzerland didn't want them in 1919.

# ¿ Nov 2, 2010 15:34

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

For people who want to learn German through music I suggest "Ferien in Algerien":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkFb124jQjw

I guarantee you'll be able to sing along in no time and will grow to both love and hate this song.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2010 08:03

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Ziir posted:

Where are some cool places to go hiking, preferably on a mountain and spanning a few days?

Austria.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2010 23:31

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Ziir posted:

I don't know but I've seen giant posters that look like this

Oh, that's just what passes for summer in the alps.
You'll probably want to look for a camping place directly in the alps and go in late spring, maybe near a glacier.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2010 23:39

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Liface posted:

Ha, that's an interesting claim. The way I see it, WikiLeaks has almost no journalistic integrity. If they get a leak, they seem to just publish it with no thought of what consequences it could bring.

Well, if I'm not mistaken they did leave it to the newspapers to sort out what to publish and what information to hold back.

# ¿ Dec 2, 2010 08:42

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

I wasn't aware of that. While interesting without a doubt, there really is a difference between uncovering governmental power abuse and chit-chat and simply uncovering everything confidential.

# ¿ Dec 2, 2010 15:31

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

Just have a look at http://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp

ICEs aren't that different from other "international" trains like the ECs, but they take you to Berlin in 10 instead of 11 hours.
I suggest looking at a cheap "Air Berlin" flight for that.

# ¿ Dec 24, 2010 09:15

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

I do heat my M�sli in the microwave but I'm probably the only one at that.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2011 16:31

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

Speaking of greetings, there are also all the variants of "Gr�� dich / Gr�ssi / Gria� di / Gr�� Euch" and so on.

Also, at least in Austria Starbucks seems to have a hard standing. The only one I've been in has since been closed and replaced by a regular Kaffeehaus.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2011 09:56

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

Is K�lsch really as magical as they say?

# ¿ Jan 31, 2011 11:19

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

I'll have to check out Augustinerbr�u then the next time I head out to Munich, thanks for the suggestion.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2011 15:22

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Jive One posted:

I realize this question is somewhat specific but can anyone recommend important ancient/medieval Germanic authors, works or literary collections? Mainly stuff from the Holy Roman Empire or even earlier if possible.

Maybe hard to find, but you might want to read something by Neidhart von Reuental who lived in the first half of the 13th century. As opposed to heroic epics or minne songs he wrote comical songs about rather crude topics that parody these.
For example, in the "Veilchenschwank" Neidhart roughs up some farmers that tricked him into presenting a pile of poo poo to the duchess of Austria.

Default Settings fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Feb 14, 2011

# ¿ Feb 14, 2011 16:13

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What, it takes something like 2 minutes to whip a cup of cream.
I'll have some fruit with whipped cream tomorrow just out of spite. :argh:

# ¿ Mar 7, 2011 23:36

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

And in Austria they can all be smug asses. :v:

# ¿ Mar 12, 2011 19:09

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

You should also use a vinegar and oil dressing for the salad.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2011 11:24

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

Wirklicher Hofrat Dr.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2011 07:36

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

But that is Munich, formerly famous for its unfun city-wide closing hour.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2011 18:13

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In my experience the industry is not complaining about the lack of engineers, but about the lack of engineers willing to work for the salary the industry would like to pay.

# ¿ May 18, 2011 16:54

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Ziir posted:

I was told (by a Bavarian) that nobody outside of Bavaria say Semmel.

Aside of all of Austria.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2011 21:08

Default Settings: May 29, 2001; Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe

elwood posted:

Knapp

Scherzerl. :reject:

# ¿ Jul 21, 2011 11:51

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Is there even an English word for that?

# ¿ Jul 21, 2011 21:21

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 07:26

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In Austria thinks like that are officialy defined in the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus, here's what it has to say about Semmeln:

quote:

Wei�geb�ck, das mit der Sachbezeichnung "Handsemmel", Wiener Kaisersemmel" oder "Kaisersemmel mir hervorhebender Bezeichnung" in Verkehr gebracht wird, ist ein handgewirktes Wei�geb�ck mit f�nfteiligem Stern, das sich durch eine lange Teigf�hrung (zumindest 2 Stunden) auszeichnet und dem keine Zusatzstoffe au�er Lecithin und L-Ascorbins�ure zugesetzt werden.

That still doesn't define common Rund- or "Maschinsemmeln" and Langsemmeln, though.

Default Settings fucked around with this message at 00:25 on Jul 23, 2011

# ¿ Jul 22, 2011 13:27

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