Another fantastic IUSP excursion.
It's been a while since I went to Weimar now, but I haven't found the time to write about it. Hopefully I can remember all of the important things.
Thankfully it was only a 2 hour bus ride instead of the 5 brutal hours to Berlin. When we arrived, we checked into our hostel and went right out to a city tour. Weimar, like Marburg, seems to be almost completely unscathed by WWII and the events that followed it. The city seems to be trapped in the age of Weimar Classicism, which seems reasonable given that Weimar Classicism is what they capitalize on.
The tour took us to all of the "important" places like the Weimar Marketplace (location of the Hotel Elephant), J.S. Bach's residence, the Franz Liszt School of Music, Goethe's Garden House, Franz Liszt's house, Bauhaus Universitaet, Schiller's house, and the Weimar Theatre.
When we were in the Weimar Marketplace, I couldn't help but feel like I had been there before. Everything looked strangely familiar and my mind just could not figure it out. And then: EPIPHANY. I realized as I looked up at the balcony of the Hotel Elephant that I was standing in the same place the Nazi's stood to hear Hiter speak. Not just that, I was looking directly at the SPOT where Hitler stood many many many times and addressed the people. I looked around the Marketplace again and my vision went from color to black and white with each blink. I realized that one of the reasons I had not recognized this place was because it wasn't draped in Nazi flags. At that moment, the Market Place was full of shops, venders, and outdoor cafe's like the 1930's/40's had never happened. It completely blew my mind.
After the tour, we were free for the afternoon and night. Erin, Niko, Spencer, Niki and I wandered into a Bier Garten called, "The Shakespeare Cafe," and Maddie had some of the BEST Schnitzel of her life as she sat and watched a cat experience a life or death situation as it attempted to jump from a tree onto a fence. Later we all went to a tavern-type bar where Goethe and Schiller (allegedly) hung out. The bar played nothing but disco and it was warmly welcomed at the "Ami-table."
The next morning we made our way to the Buchenwald Concentration camp. The tour was fantastic, and there were a few parts that were a bit unnerving. Honestly, it was a much different experience than I had had when I visited Dachau in 2007. The impressions were not quite as deep this time around. Perhaps it's because Dachau was an actual Death Camp and Buchenwald was a Work Camp. I don't know, but it was still a great visit. The monument (big big big big big white tower looking over the valley) was incredible and the view was breathtaking.
The rest of the day was left at our disposal. Niki and I went to multiple book shops (Where I finally found The Tin Drum auf Deutsch!), and then we got lots of ice cream and walked around der Ilm Park. I don't even know if it does it justice to call it a "park." The place was a city of trees, fields, flowers, streams, and a few Classical houses crammed into various places. It would have been impossible to see the entire thing in one day by foot or bicycle.
The next morning a bunch of us set off to see the Anna Amalia Bibliothek. By far... one of the most BEAUTIFUL things I have ever seen in my entire life thus far. Unfortunately, they would not allow cameras on the inside, so I am left with mental pictures (which are fading every day to my disappointment). The rest of the day was full of silly nothings.
Back in Marburg
I have now completed 6 weeks of German Language and Culture classes. And now they are sending me on my merry little way. The actual semester begins on Monday and I definitely have those before-school jitters. I have two classes: Interface Culture and Sacred Buildings in Religion. Both of which are in German, but they luckily have tutorials in Englisch. The only thing I am worried about is that I have not heard from my tutor for the Sacred Buildings class. I have no way of contacting this person, and I am the only person in the program that is in this class. So, this means that I will be going it alone for the first day... maybe two days. I am scared out of my mind, but I will just have to put on my grown up pants and try not to stutter too much when attempting to speak German.
As for right now I find myself completely relaxed. Just a few moments ago I was sitting on the dorm balcony with a cup of tea and Mozart watching the red and orange sunset do its thing. Tomorrow I am off to Frankfurt for the Occupy Frankfurt protest. We'll see what goes down.
Tschuess from Marburg!
