Hello everyone 🙂
Winter was quite strong in Germany – the Southern parts have been troubled with snow masses in January and then it got really cold all over the country for about 10 – with around -10 degrees at night. Due to that, I got the chance for a real winter experience with a good amount of snow at the Rennsteig in Oberhof. Lea, Caro and me drove out there one Saturday afternoon planning to do some sleighing – however we ended up with a little snow hike through the woods along a cross-country ski trail. It’s been a brilliant day out there!
In general, I’ve wanted to write you a few lines about Weimar as a city for a long time already. I’ve been living here now for 1.5 years already doing my masters degree at University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar and working at the Bauhaus University Weimar supporting the communications for the Bauhaus centenary celebrations this year. Weimar is a rather small city with diverse and very interesting history. Besides Goethe and Schiller, the famous German poets, who lived here and shaped the German classical era in literature, drama and music, the city has been an important places for politics and cultural development in the 20th century as well. The Weimar Republic was founded here, as well as the Bauhaus (whose spirit lives on at Bauhaus University today) and later on in darker times the Nazis were here, too.
Most of this diverse history can be studied and explored in more than 20 museums all over the city. The high number of museums quite extraordinate for a city with only 60,000 inhabitants. Additionally to all the memorising artefacts and monuments the 4,000 students from the Weimar universities create a vibrant and colourful scene of events and locations in the city centre. Numerous concerts from Music students, alongside festivals, readings, parties, and exhibitions showing various kinds of art, photography, architecture … almost every night you can choose from several events and if not there’s always a bunch of pubs and bars to go to.
If you know me, you might be waiting for some cycling story or advise – and guess what, there’s a nice cycling club called Weimarer Löwen (Weimar Lions). With a women group from the club called Fast Legs, I’m training every Tuesday evening during the summer months. Additionally, I’m doing tours just for myself exploring the lovely rural area of Thuringia. In contrast to the Rhineland, it’s impossible to go for a flat and easy ride, there are always at least some little hills to climb. The landscape is very beautiful though – a good mix between agricultural areas, forest, some little rivers and lakes and for sure many hills and view points. I must admit, according to the landscape it’s much nicer around here than it is around Cologne itself – just due to all the industry and only flat grounds, rides over there can become quite boring. From Bonn its easier to find some interesting and nice routes.
That’s it for today, I hope you got a good impression of Weimar and it’s surroundings. Next time, I’ll tell you a bit more about my cycle trip through Northern Germany in July and August 2018.
Take care, Anna.
