I am sorry for being so late with my updates, but I have been busy! Last week the Frau and I tool a trip to Stralsund and Rostock. These two cities are located in the former DDR. I really like visiting the former DDR and find it very interesting. Maybe it is because it was once our enemy or maybe it is because I was once forbidden to get withing 5 Km of the border, forbidden fruit so to say. Anyway, I really like the former DDR. It is interesting to note that even though it has been 24 years today since reunification, the former DDR is still relatively "run down". Everything is be renovated or is under construction.
We took a regional train from Hamburg. I really like riding the trains here. They are always on time and the stations are usually in the middle of the city instead of the outskirts like airports.
Our train to Rostock
The trains are very comfortable and quiet. Our car was a double-Decker and we sat in the upper section.
The Frau seems quite comfortable on the train
As our train traveled east we left the western part of Germany and entered the former DDR. It is very noticeable when the former border is crossed. You can still see mounds that were use to hide activities and the former administrative offices of the army, secret police and other governmental institutions. Today those buildings are in ruin and decay.
Burms at the former border
Administrative offices at the former border
This part of the country is still run down from the DDR time
We had to change trains in Rostock and we arrived in Stralsund in the late afternoon. It was a beautiful day by northern German standards and we had a lunch of Doerner (shaved lamb in the Middle East, shaved pork in Germany) in the Neuer Markt. Afterward we found the Hotel zur Post and booked our room for the evening. We then visited the Marienkirche which I had visited in 2006. At that time there was construction equipment in the church doing renovations. The church is still undergoing renovations, but the equipment has been removed.
The Marien-kirche altar in Stralsund
We then strolled over to the Alter Markt where the Rathaus and Nikolai-kirche were. The renovations here were almost complete and this part of the city had been very much restored.
The Rathaus and Nikolai-kirche
The Nuerer Markt
Inside the Nikolai-kirche
We then went on to the harbor. Stralsund has a small harbor that is used mainly for recreational sailboats and ferries taking people to the various outlying islands. This area also has some Kneipes (cozy bars) where one can quench his or her thirst in the evening. The kneipe that we spent the most time in (the Hafen Kneipe) had been in operation since 1332AD!
The harbor in Stralsund
Stralsunder Pils vom Fass
Stralsund is a photographers dream. Here are a couple of unprocessed street scenes right off the card.
Street scene in Stralsund
Street scene in Stralsund
The next day we had a wonderful breakfast that included bacon and eggs, a rarity in a German hotel, and prepared to leave for Rostock. But first we visited a monument built to honor those Russian soldiers that "saved" the East Germans from the west.
Monument to Russian soldiers
A symbol of the old days
The train to Rostock from Stralsund takes only about an hour and we were going to spend the afternoon there and then return to Hamburg. The city of Rostock is under renovations and we were disappointed that we could not see the Rathaus. It is said that the Rostocker Rathaus is one of the most beautiful in Germany. Oh well, a reason to go back later I suppose!
Rostocker Rathaus under renovation
Rathaus Platz in Rostock
Rostock has strassenbahns! These are electric trains that run on rails embedded in the streets. When I lived in Augsburg in Bavaria I would ride these to get around in the town. They are fun!
The Strassenbahn
The Frau had read something about an around the clock reading of Walter Kempowski's Das Echolot. This is a collective diary written by eye witnesses to the Third Reich. The book was being read twenty-four hours a day for a week in the Marienkirche. The Frau wanted to see and hear this, so it was the first place we went. The church was having a mid-day service with organ and stayed. The organ was beautiful and loud. It was one of those organs that can vibrate your chest when it is played in the lower registers.
The organ in the Marien-kirche
The Marien-kirche
As luck would have it one of the readers had to cancel and the Frau was able to take their place and read from Das Echolot in their place. She was in Seventh Heaven. Getting to read this in a church like this was like a dream for her. I was very happy for her!
The Frau reading Kempowski in the Marien-kirche
Finally, after about three hours, I was able to extricate the Frau from the church and we could see something else of Rostock. It is a pretty city. In the Universitaets Square there was a small band from Sweden playing, what else, Abba songs!
Well, with that we returned to the train station for our trip back to Hamburg. For some reason, I do not think this will be our last trip to Stralsund!
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