On Monday the 6th I traveled from Budapest to Muenster, Germany. There I visited a German friend who was one of my classmates in China. It was really nice seeing him again, and the city itself was pretty nice too.
Muenster's town hall.
Muenster is a smaller town in Nordrhein-Westfahlen and is about 1300 years old and the site of the signing of the Treaty of Westfhalia ending the Thirty Years' War in 1648. It is one of the only German cities destroyed during WWII that elected to rebuild itself completely true to its antebellum form. Due to this decision, Muenster lacks the 50s' cookie-cutter office and residential buildings ubiquitous throughout the rest of the Germany. Laughed at at the time, the city is now lauded for the decision, as the downtown is consequently quite stunning. The university there, with approximately 50,000 students, is the 3rd largest in Germany. Party due to the student presence, the city has a 2:1 bike to person ratio, the largest in the nation.
Chillida's "Toleranz durch Dialog" (Tolerance through discourse) at the site where the Treaty of Westphalia was signed.
The first night we just spent at his apartment: we grilled, drank, and caught up on what had been going on for the past four months.
As my friend wasn't too confident in his Muenster-expertise, the next day we went on a professional city tour. The tour was nice, and informative (see info above). We saw where the Treaty was signed, the townhall, and the city's many churches/cathedrals, and we heard interesting anecdotes, one concerning the Anabaptists' takeover of the city in the 16th Century. When the city was recaptured by the Bishop's forces, the leader, who had 16 wives, was killed and his boy was suspended in a still-hanging cage from the tower of the church so that his remains would not be buried and his spirit would never find peace.
As my friend wasn't too confident in his Muenster-expertise, the next day we went on a professional city tour. The tour was nice, and informative (see info above). We saw where the Treaty was signed, the townhall, and the city's many churches/cathedrals, and we heard interesting anecdotes, one concerning the Anabaptists' takeover of the city in the 16th Century. When the city was recaptured by the Bishop's forces, the leader, who had 16 wives, was killed and his boy was suspended in a still-hanging cage from the tower of the church so that his remains would not be buried and his spirit would never find peace.
Later on that day we traveled to nearby Essen and visited Zollverein, a World Culture Site and the home to the once-largest coal mine in the world. The facility was constructed from about 1910-1930 and was used throughout most of the 20th century. The coal supply has since dried up and the mine is no longer in use. The main buildings on the site have been converted into a museum and the periphery buildings house an art gallery and traveling exhibits. We toured the facility and everything was pretty interesting. One of the most interesting things is that the facility is still intact. As an energy producing plant, I would have thought that it would have been a prime bombing target during WWII, but apparently it was spared due to two factors: 1) the mine was the largest and most modern of it's kind at the time and was used, and was wanted to be continued to be used, as a template, 2) its construction had been financed by American capital, and its capital investors weren't too keen on seeing it leveled.
ZollvereinThat night, more of the same: met up with a few of his friends for dinner and drinks. Much good food, much alcohol.
The next day we did as the Muensterans do and took a quick bike tour of the city before I caught my train. All in all, great trip.
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