When I first stepped out of the train station I was in utter shock. The “little church” Prof. De Rooy was telling us about was anything but that. It was unmistakable, as the steeples seemed to almost touch the clouds. I was not expecting that nor was I expecting we would actually have the honor to worship within the walls of this historic landmark. The next day we all headed to the “little church” and again I was mesmerized by the architecture, the stained glass windows and especially the floating organ. As the service begin, clergymen or priests, (I am unsure of their positions), walked up and down the isles swinging incense as they pasted. When they began singing, I realized I was not familiar with most of their hymnals and it did not help that it was all in German too. I have never experienced such starkly different rituals at a church before. It was definitely eye-opening, but it also made me homesick for my church back in Grand Rapids. As interesting as the service was, nothing could beat my home church. None the less, I learned a lot more about the Catholics traditions and got to partake in what an everyday service looks. When we walked out of the service, roughly a 100 people were crammed packed outside the entrance waiting to get let in. I was not expecting it to be so popular and I was unsure as to why those people were not allowed in. I could see that maybe they only want people whom are there to worship to take part in the service, instead of tourists just being there to sight see and take pictures. Overall, this was a very fascinating service to witness and be a part of.
Jude Q3
This was one of the most moving experiences of my life. When I began my journey through the Sachsenhausen Concentration camp, I did not know then how much ignorance I was still carrying. As I walked adjacent to a quiet forest trapped inside by vengeful walls, I soon realized I still had a lot to learn and more importantly, experience.
Entering through the heavily armored gates felt wrong. I imagined the people forced to march through the unforgiving entrance and yet I freely walked upon the very ground they suffered on. It was hard to grasp and I still do not think I have fully realized what I have witnessed. As my journey continued, a small sense of childish innocence and faith in the world diminished. This is not something I view as negative, but of having the utmost importance. I feel that if given the chance, everyone should take part in this vital remembrance of history. It is one thing to read about the Holocaust and the dehumanization that occurred, but to stand on the same ground and see the instruments of torture used, calls the mind to process and accept these horrible crimes in their full weight. I would not have traded this trip for anything else. Afterwards, I found I had a hardening of my heart towards the terrible capabilities of humankind and adversely a widening perspective of humankind’s amazing ability to persevere through the most unthinkable sins committed against them. Truly this experience has continued to shape my thought processes as our program continues to travel across Germany. This part of history is not to be forgotten, and to be remembered for the sake of the future generations to come.
Sofie Q5
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This photo was from our group trip to Bremen as we were walking past shops and restaurants to the heart of the city. We saw cool architecture and statues before enjoying a boat tour and a loaf of bread. In Bremen we had dinner at a restaurant serving German food, and our weekly group meals are always very memorable.
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This picture is of our room getting boba tea while in Koblenz. I’ve had a wonderful time on this trip getting to know and become good friends with my roommates. We have gone climbing, watched movies, and tried lots of delicious food together. I am very grateful for our dynamic and they all make this trip so fun.
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This picture was from one of our Thursday excursions with our German professor Christoph. There was an ice cream and slushee stand that had Dino cups so it seemed like a natural course of action to get one. That day we also walked around East Berlin and learned the history while noting the differences between it and West Berlin.
Sofie Q4
Köln was our final city last weekend after Heidelberg and Koblenz. When we arrived at the Köln train station, Professor DeRooy told us there was a small church just outside and by that he meant the most massive cathedral any of us had ever seen. It was the most spectacular man-made thing I had seen, giving me the same awestruck reaction as seeing the Grand Canyon.
At home I attend a mega church but it still doesn’t compare to the size of the building that is the cathedral. It is also non-denominational so the rituals of the catholic service were very different than what I was used to. The seating arrangement at my church also makes you more proximal to others and to the stage so I felt like a member of an audience at the cathedral rather than a member of a congregation. This idea was reinforced by the mass of tourists at the back of the church that we saw as we were leaving. Once I realized that the church and service felt like we were part of a museum exhibit but it was still a very interesting experience that I am grateful to have had. I really liked the organ music during the service as it resonated throughout the whole cathedral and looking at the art and architecture while inside.
Caleb Agar-Q4
Worshipping at Koln Cathedral was a very interesting experience. It is very different from my CRC church since it is Catholic, and in German. Due to both of those differences, I didn’t really know what was going on. I really liked how the organ sounded in the huge Cathedral, the sound was beautiful and was unlike anything I’ve ever heard. I was not surprised with the number of tourists waiting to enter the Cathedral, it is a very beautiful and breath taking building due to its design and massive size. It was hard to comprehend just how big it actually is.
Sam Klaassen – blogQ3
Visiting the Sachsenhausen Concentration camp was a very heavy experience. It showed me the reality of all of the horrors of the Holocaust that I’ve learn about in history class. By seeing the watchtowers over the huge triangular prison, and standing in the place that thousands of humans took their last steps, I was filled with sadness and a truer understanding of this horrible history. Some other things that touched me the were the living conditions that prisoners had to withstand, and the actual foundation of the building where so many were killed. Seeing these things truly opened my eyes.
Something else that I realized about this horrible history is how the German people deal with it. Even though they could ignore it completely, they don’t, and instead they are open about it being a terrible part of their past. They don’t try to justify it or act like it never happened. Overall this was a experience that I would highly suggest, it is real and recent history.
Kai Blog post Q3
Our visit to WWII memorials and historic sites have been very impactful. The silence in these places is tangible, like you can grab it, but it feels right. When we were at Sachsenhausen, it served to amplify the open space there that showed the absence of the buildings and things that used to be there. It was hard to comprehend the actual amount of death and horror that happened there. I took a photo of the ovens, because there are still burn marks on the stones, one of last actual remnants of the people that suffered. Its obvious that the would remove the actual ash and everything that was left there, but some things cant be washed clean. There was part of the audio guide that said that to repair the roads and paths, they would use the ash from the cremation ovens, and it struck me that every square foot of that compound was death, whether someone actually died there or their bodies remained there in one form or another.
The holocaust memorial was a bit less emotional, though still very somber. It served as a more removed way of interacting with the history while not being present. It was still very valuable and impactful. It mostly was reading the stories of those who passed away and it definitely served to instill the sense of fear that these people had, because they were people, however long ago. I hope that this is something I can bring my kids to, but also that humanity chooses to memorialize. It is a testament to all things that human nature can twist and use for evil.
Kai Blog Q2
First impressions of Germany were very different than what I was expecting. I feel like I really nervous by the fact that everybody doesn’t speak your language, but I once we got the Amsterdam airport I realized that it really wasn’t going to be as bad of a transition as I thought. We had a good amount of interactions with people the first day or two, from a brat stand, to getting food in the airports to even just trying to read all of the signs that we couldn’t understand. Despite all of this, I felt like I was just another part of the crowd. Nobody cared that I didn’t speak German to my friends, and they understood my broken German as I tried to order, even laughing as we had a misunderstanding.
After the first couple of days everyone started to get more comfortable with everything, we started to learn the bus system, and could get almost anywhere in the city, and walk where we couldn’t. It was so different than the US because for the majority of people, this was their reality instead of having a car. From this point on we started to comfortable with the fact that no matter what you guys are going to come off as Americans, especially if we butcher saying something in German :).
I miss the feeling of having the ability to be alone and drive wherever I want to without worry, but it is a small sacrifice to make in light of the awesome experience we are having. To be honest a lot of the European things make sense, but also are hard to adjust to. There are a lot of parts of the culture like daily grocery runs that would be hard to accomplish in the US, but other things like using cash everywhere I really like.
I’m really looking forward to continuing to explore and getting used to the rhythm of the city. Its so disorganized, but its kinda interesting to see it that way, because there are two major centers of everything, and a lot of clashing infrastructure. It makes for interesting sightseeing :).
Connor – Q2
My first week in Germany I definitely noticed tons of things that were different than home. The first day we arrived it was 90 degrees out so the first thing I missed was AC. But it soon cooled down and hasn’t been too bad. Another thing I noticed is how green Berlin is compared to American cities of the same size. Even downtown there are trees and small patches of grass which I think made the city look nicer. Also, I noticed that the streets were cleaner than American streets even though there are very few public trash cans. One big thing that we use everyday is the massive system of public transport in Berlin. Between the busses and trains you can get anywhere in the city. One small thing that I’ve noticed about Germans is that everyone keeps to themselves in public which and and introvert is a dream come true. I have seen tons of little things around Germany that I wish we had in America like shopping cart escalators and 88 cent Red Bulls. So far I am really enjoying my time here and might just “miss my flight” home.
Sam Sands -Q4
This past weekend we had our trip to Heidelberg, Koblenz, and Köln. One of my favorite parts was the Köln cathedral. When we first arrived in Köln, it was the first thing we saw after leaving the train station, and it was huge. Easily the largest church I have seen. The detail of the design was beautiful. The inside was even better, and worshipping there was a really cool experience. It was very much different from my home church. First of all, it was catholic. To me, it seemed very showy and dramatic at some times. Things like lots of incense and marching around the cathedral. Secondly, the building. My church is on the smaller side, so the size is a pretty big difference.
During the service, I did enjoy the organ. It was really loud and the sound carried and echoed around the whole cathedral. It sounded amazing and really set the mood of the service.
After the service, we left the cathedral and walked straight into the huge crowds waiting to get inside to tour the cathedral and get to the top of the spires. It surprised me that so many people wanted to get in, but none wanted to actually go to the service at the church, only see it.
Overall, despite the differences from my home church, it was a great experience and very beautiful.