O Tannenbaum - A tour of German Christmas Markets and other spots

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Following the footsteps of the Hitlerjugend the DDR created childrens groups to indoctrinate the young with the 'correct' world view

Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

All sorts of memorabilia was created by the Stasi for its own staff members' Lots of them bore the image of the Dzerzhinsky the creator of what became the KGB.'

Felix Dzerzhinsky - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There were displays of monitoring equipment, disguise etc etc

 

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Finishing off Leipzig with some 'general' photos

The New Town Hall - 1905





I see banks are doing it as tough in Germany as here. Ok - it is obviously a historical building that deserves proper conservation but who can avoid making a nasty comment about a bank?





University of Leipzig. This photo displays the continuation of our fine tradition a seeing important building/ monuments covered in scaffolding or hoarding.









The Old Town Hall by day

 

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Finishing off Leipzig with some 'general' photos

The New Town Hall - 1905

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I see banks are doing it as tough in Germany as here. Ok - it is obviously a historical building that deserves proper conservation but who can avoid making a nasty comment about a bank?

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University of Leipzig. This photo displays the continuation of our fine tradition a seeing important building/ monuments covered in scaffolding or hoarding.

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The Old Town Hall by day

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Many buildings looks nicer than 45 yrs ago when I have seen them.

 

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The Alte Börse (Old Trading Exchange) built in 1678. The oldest baroque building in Leipzig



I would happily revisit Leipzig - in summer. It definitely surprised me with how pleasant a city it was.

We the headed off to Erfurt for a 5 night stay. While it was a city definitely worth a couple of days the length of this stay was because we intended to use it a base to visit nearby cities. We ended up visiting Jena, Gotha and Weimar from their. All were only about 30 minutes or less away.

For once the IC train was on time, relatively empty and in good condition with plenty of luggage racks.

The Leipzig HBF with the rather nice glass roof on display



A more panoramic view of it. It really is a massive building in remarkably good condition.



We arrived in Erfurt dead on time.

Erfurt Bahnhof - parts of it date back to 1890. Since reunification it has been comprehensively rebuilt and modernised. It is an important transport hub.



Willy Brandt Platz in front of the station. The building with the clock tower is occupied by D Bahn.

 

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Many buildings looks nicer than 45 yrs ago when I have seen them.

It certainly seemed to us that a lot of money had been spent on the city over the last few years. I have seen reports that it is the fastest growing city in Germany. You can certainly see signs of renewal and growth when you walk around the place.

I found this piece which provides an interesting commentary about the city and its 'rebirth'.

Why Is Leipzig The Most Important City In Germany?

Leipzig is something of a ‘hidden gem’ in Germany. And yes, I use that term very loosely as Leipzig really isn’t hidden (far from) but it most certainly - Why Is Leipzig The Most Important City In Germany? - Travel, Travel Journal - Europe, Germany, Leipzig - Travel, Food and Home Inspiration...

handluggageonly.co.uk

 

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Probably the most important and well known sight of Erfurt is the Krämerbrücke. This is a medieval stone bridge built in 1325. It "has been continuously inhabited for over 500 years" There are now 32 houses on the bridge with shops at 'ground' level and living space above.

Krämerbrücke - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

One entrance



The other entrance













This man is looking down a viewing tube into an Jewish Mikveh (Ritual Bath) dating back to the 13th C.

 

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We stayed at the Mercure Hotel Erfurt Altstadt in the old town. It is only about a 10 - 15 minute walk from the station or a quick tram ride. It rates itself as a 4 Star Hotel but that is about as reliable as Airline star ratings on the various commercial sites. However it was clean and comfortable. I got a pretty good price when I booked a refundable rate stay. But I kept an eye on the rates and when a Winter Special came out I was able to save around €80 by cancelling and rebooking. We ended up paying €470 for a 5 nights stay in a Privilege Room. This included a minibar that was restocked every day but no breakfast. There was no car park view but we did have a view over a pretty weedy courtyard. Apparently this is desirable in summer because the streets outside the hotel are very noisy at night.

This room suffered form the apparently fashionable desire to make the room as dark a possible even when all the myriad of lamps, but no ceiling light, are on. We literally used a torch to do the final sweep of the room before we left. On departure we told the desk clerk about this and he said that they had received a lot of similar complaints and he would tell the management about ours - but with an expression that said "they don't listen".

The bag on the bed contained an extra pillow



The mini bar was on the right of this cupboard



This photo reminds me that touring Germany is a good way to overcome a TV addiction. We occasionally got BBC or CNN etc in English but everything else was either a show local or dubbed overseas programmes. In a couple of hotels we could get Arabic programmes.



This minibar was fully restocked every day for free! There were bags of jubes and so forth on top as well.



The bathroom was relatively small and with a shrub. But it did have heated towel rails to dry clothes.

 

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Naturally Erfurt has a Christmas Market. This was a very enjoyable one as it was obviously a 'local' one and quite low key - but still very busy at certain times. Like most of the bigger cities we visited there were smaller markets spread across the city.

The visual attractiveness of this market was helped by its location. Erfurt Cathedral and the St Severi church loom over the market. Then there is the backdrop of the Petersberg Citadelle.

At night it all looks rather special





One night they had a choir performing on the steps of the Cathedral - a sort of Son et lumière show

You could sing along via the screen - if you weren't a monolingual Australian.



I played around a bit with my camera settings

 

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Looking out over the markets and city from the Citadelle ramparts









It was still only around or 4 degrees so these bowls of soup were very welcome and certainly had a warming effect.

I had the one on the left. It was called Solyanka and is a type of Russian soup that became popular during the DDR days. Apparently it is still popular in the eastern parts of Germany - like Erfurt.

Soljanka - Kitchen Table Food

Soljanka, an old-fashioned Eastern European soup is almost as famous as Borscht, the Russian beet soup.

kitchentablefood.com

My wife had a hearty Saubohnen (broad bean) soup



This took me back to my young days at the Perth Royal Show.





This all relates to an imperfectChristmas Tree in Erfurt

Die Rupfi-Story: Ein modernes Thüringer Weihnachtsmärchen (Episode 1)

Den Weihnachtsmann, den gibt es ja eh‘ nicht. Und wer von euch hat bitte schon mal das Christkind gesehen? Auch diese ganze Jesussache erscheint teilweise zie

www.takt-magazin.de

 

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On a pretty grey and drizzly day we had a look around the Petersberg Citadel that dominates the city centre. It was built in 1665 and was in military use until 1963. It is a 'Star Fortress' and over the centuries it has been controlled by Sweden, Prussia, the Napoleonic Empire, the German Empire, the naz_s, the Soviets, the DDR & lastly Germany.

petersberg-erfurt.de

www.petersberg-erfurt.de

Santa appartently lives there during market time



On the way up you can use this free lift



I must admit that I didn't hang about on the walkway



My wife was still taking photos and looking around while I, the blob in white with the cream beanie, had scuttled for safety

 

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The barracks and administrative buildings around the parade ground. The grounds of the fortress were free to enter and wander around.









My wife was taken with this old letter box



The old military prison - eventually used by both the naz_s and the DDR







Both sides of the main gate. As you can see we were still pretty cold

 

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There was a recently opened walkway to a bastion. It was blowing a gale and I was pretty cautious walking along it while my wife happily wandered along

 

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There was a small restaurant in this new structure. When it started to rain we went in to hide and get a another bowl of soup. It was very busy but a German couple just a little younger than us ofered to share their table. In the end, as is normal for grandparents, we spent a lot of time showing each other photos of our grandchildren.



There is a type of road awareness centre for younger children up there as well. It even had traffic lights



Erfurt has long been a production centre for childrens TV programmes. To capitalise on this statues of the favourite characters have been spread around the city.

The most famous one is The Sandman. He was developed in the DDR but is now watched across all of Germany. Even we knew of him. It is not only the longest running animated show in history but also the TV show with the most produced episodes. Take that The Simpsons. I think my wife preferred him to me



Anothe rfamous one is Bernd das Brot (Bernd the bread) - a depressed loaf of bread . The daughter of our friend told us all about him.



Thos one was on the parapets of the fortress



We spotted these two from the walkway to the redoubt

 

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The last ones

 

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As I said we had decided to base ourselves in Erfurt so as to be able to day trips to nearby cities. The first one we went to was Jena a city of around 110,000 people that is well known for being the base of the Zeiss company.

The trip was on a local train and takes around 35 minutes.



It was very empty on the way there but the return journey was on what seems to be the usual overcrowded and delayed version of German railways these days.



On the way there you can clearly see the memorial tower to the Buchenwald Concentration camp. This tower was built in the DDR days and is part of the largest memorial to a naz_ concentration camp in Europe.



A closer look from our visit in 2013



Jena is built in what seems to be a bit of a bowl due to the surrounding hills





The train station we arrived at is a fair walk out of town but luckily there is a connecting bus.

The station - most it was built in 1878.



I was pretty surprised to see that the connecting bus was an electric one with a charging gantry overhead. It was only about a 5 - 10 minute trip to the centre of town.



I think the main thoroughfare would look much nicer in summer when the trees have leaves.



One of the shopping streets

 

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And speaking of Zeiss - the Zeiss Planetarium opened in 1926. We didn't spend too long there as there was an apparent school trip with a horde of yelling screaming teenage boys in the foyer.



The JenTower at 30 stories looms over the city. It was completed in 1972. It is the tallest 'occupied' building (in contrast to the Berlin TV Tower) in what was once East Germany.



Jena is a University Town with the Fredrich Schiller University being located there. It has some 18,000 students and 8,600 staff. For about 20 years it used to occupy much of the JenTower. Its buildings are dotted all over the city.






There is modern shopping centre named after Goethe.

Photos from Santa seem to be popular almost everywhere these days



And the normal christmas decorations



Paddington Bear seems, to me at least, to be even more popular in Germany than here.







Ok not Paddington but still a bear.

 

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This little observatory is owned and operated by the university but today it is used by amateur astronomer. It was originally built in1813 and planned by Goethe. It was rebuilt in 1889. In the 1960's a new observatory was built outside of the town.





Right next door is Schillers Gardenhouse where the poet lived around 1800





As was the norm in those days the kitchen was in a separate building. However guests still complained about the smoke and smells from the kitchen as it was placed in the wrong place for the prevailing winds.





Schiller and Goethe used to have discussions around this stone table



This is a quote by Goethe about these discussions



However, I must admit that I prefer Goethe's own garden house in nearby Weimar that we saw in 2013

 

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As always we dropped by the Christmas Market. This was a very small but pleasant one.

The clock tower belongs to the historic Town Hall first mentioned in 1365. Making it one of the oldest surviving ones in Germany



This the back of the town hall





We, along with half the kids in Jena, got a 'sausage in a bun' from the Bratwurst House in the background of this photo



It was some form of local speciality - Thuringer Bratwurst -and we ended up with mustard on one half and tomato sauce on the other. It tasted very good.

 

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Buildings around Jena

The old Public Bathhouse. Opened in 1909 and closed in 2001. The 'bathing hall' is now used as a type of function centre



The Natural History Museum



The Volkshaus was one of the first free educational institutions in Germany. Built with money from the Carl Zeiss Foundation it opened in 1909 and is still used as a meeting place and by the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra





Built in 1935 and at 15 storeys this was the first 'high rise' building built in Germany. It is now houses the headquarters of JenOptik AG- formerly Carl Zeiss Jena











I must say the local train really scooted along and leant over quite a bit on some banked curves. This is part of the trip back to Erfurt.

 

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Back to Erfurt

Erfurt was lucky enough to have suffered relatively little damage in WW 2 so most of its older buildings are original. As an aside Rothenberg ob der Tauber is often spoke of as being virtually untouched by WW2. But it in fact suffered considerable damage in WW2 with some 40% of its buildings being destroyed in one raid. Much of the city is reconstructed. To quote -

• Of the 54 largest cities (>100,000 inhabitants) in Germany, only four survived without significant damage: Lübeck, Wiesbaden, Halle and Erfurt. Worst hit was Würzburg (75 percent destroyed), followed by Dessau, Kassel, Mainz, and Hamburg."

We have been to all four of these cities and they are noticeably different to other cities in Germany in the extent of original housing stock. I think Halle was more affected by its treatment during the DDR days than by WW2.

The horrors of World War II air war, in one stark map

Despite Göring's assurances that they wouldn't get through, Allied bombers rained destruction on Germany in World War II.

bigthink.com

The Erfurt Chamber of Crafts



Two buildings on the Fischmarkt




The local town tour bus



A collection of buildings on the Domplatz. We had an evening meal in one of these - Restaurant Schnitzler Erfurt. It was a bit like going to a country RSL Club - oldies out for a cheap meal, parents with young kids, the local football team after training etc.. The food was of the hearty simple type. There was nothing wrong with it but it was certainly not haute cuisine.



A nice wheat beer for me. As usual cheaper than the glass of fruit juice with sparkling mineral water my wife had



Schnitzel Ei (Egg)



Schnitzel Brokkoli