On our way to Schwerin we passed the small town Ludwigslust in Mecklenburg – Vorpommern. The beautiful little town is still being restored. 41 years of the communist regime of East Germany had left it in a desolate state. When I first saw the castle about 20 years ago, the sandstone was black and the castle about to fall down. Looking at the castle and it’s surrounding today is a delight. See for yourself:
While I have been extremely busy at work, my partner has been busy all during spring and early summer to build us a camper van out of an old Citroen delivery truck. He did a great job and we took our first tour last weekend. We went to the Harz, which is about 300 km south of our home.
There is much to tell about these North German low mountain range, situated between Northern-Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. It used to be a famous and important mining area with an interesting water system build for the mining industry, which is still intact. After the 2nd World War the Harz was split between East and West Germany, the border running across its highest Mountain, the Brocken. That one is over a 1000 m high and most tourists are either hiking up there or take the famous Harz Railway up to admire the view.
On this trip we took only smaller walks in the morning as it was very hot and instead went sightseing in Wernigerode, which used to be in East Germany. During the Middle Ages it was a stronghold of witch-hunting and it is famous for its picturesque castle, which is definitely worth a visit.
The next day we visited Goslar, which between 1009 and 1253 Goslar was one of the seats of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. For a while Goslar was member of the Hanse and and became very affluent. Eventually it lost its economic and political importance, and turned into one of the many beautiful and historically interesting small towns in Germany. However, it also remained an important mining town with one of the biggest mines of the Harz being part of the town. At its market place there is a fascinating carillon with figures documenting the development of mining in the Harz.
I am fascinated with the craftsmenship that was necessary to build these old houses and in the Harz I especially like the many details decorating the houses. Here are some impressions of our trip, starting with Wernigerode and followed by Goslar:
Every now and then, the small place in Schleswig Holstein where I live,seems a bit boring and unexciting. When I look at fotos or read about exciting cities like New York or Sidney, or far away countries like South Africa or Canada, life here seems unspectacular. But, in order to have a happy life it is important to focus on the good things that are given to you, rather than on the ones that are out of reach.
So, here are some of the reasons why Schleswig-Holstein, the most northern German federal state, is a great place to live in:
North Sea coast at Friedrichskoog in Winter
There are some other things that make life her good: the air is usually fresh and crisp, as you are close to the sea. It is not as crowded as in some other parts of Germany, life is relaxed, people are friendly and unpretentious,and there are many more small places all over that I will show you.
This article was written for the ‘Daily prompt’: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_writing_challenge/list-lesson/
Trina's North Germany 