April 12, 2012- Münster, Germany

Münster, Germany

Today is the first day we are not traveling anywhere and I have time to sit down and share my experiences! First, I am going to share with you my adventures in Münster, Germany which is about thirty minutes from where I am staying (OstBevern).

We left for Münster on Thursday, April 12, 2012 around 10:15 am. Viola, Aladin, Oliver, Julia (Oliver's girlfriend), Hannah (who is the other American student from WKU who is also in Germany), her host family, and I all went to Münster! When we arrived the first thing I noticed besides the extravagant buildings were the streets. They were so narrow. I was surprised to see such a small area for driving compared to our streets in Kentucky! We parked in front of a University/Castle built by Johann Conrad von Schlaun; the same architect who built Aladin and Oliver's schule. You can see their schule in my last post! Here is a picture of the University.

Johann Conrad von Schlaun is a well known architect who has built many castles around this area in Germany. When building this university, he wanted to sculpt his face somewhere on the castle, as there are many faces around it. However, because he wasn't a noble or royalty he was not allowed to put his face on the castle. Instead, he secretly did so the king wouldn't notice. Can you find his face?

If you can't find it. Look at the crown and hair of the man on the left. Now do you see it? We also went into the University. It was very nice inside! After we looked around we started walking to what I would call "town". These are a few pictures as we were walking.

How beautiful is that! I couldn't believe all the beautiful buildings and architecture. Then we came up to the Überwasserkirche. Kirche means church. This is a picture of the church and another picture of Hannah and I in front of the church.

We continued walking and saw Der Dom (The Dome). It is another beautiful kirche as you can see below:

Next, we walked to the old Town Hall which is now a museum you can go in. Viola had the people play the recording in English for us! Here is a picture of the town hall which is where the treaty was signed to end The Thirty Years' War. It was so neat to see first hand something I learned in most history classes in the US!

We also saw a lot of other churches including the Lambertikirche (below)

Die Clemenskirche is where a lot of people got married. I think I'm choosing this for my destination wedding some day! :) Gorgeous! (below):

We also went to the Museum of the History of Münster which I forgot to bring my camera in. Luckily Hannah did and took some photos,as it had some information about Münster during WWII. Those who know me best know this time period holds a special place in my heart and I love learning anything and everything about it. One picture that was in the museum really got to me, hopefully I can share this picture with you once I get a copy from Hannah. However, I want to show you this picture first. It is of the university/castle in which you saw earlier. I took this picture as we were walking to our car to leave Münster because it was similar to a picture I saw in the museum.

In this photo you can see the university/castle and the area in front of it. So beautiful. The picture in the museum was this picture but the yard in front was filled with Nazi's. There were thousands and thousands of them standing there as if they were listening to someone speak. There was a stage in front of them with people talking into a podium. I stood there, too. I couldn't help but think how terrible these people were to do such horrible things only because people were different from them. In the end, we're all human. I stood in the same places they did (especially this one) about seventy years later and prayed to God that those people could be forgiven.

Before we left to return to OstBevern, we stopped by Viola's parents house. I wish I had taken a photo because it was so beautiful! We had gooseberry tart and coffee on their porch out back of the house. The porch was surrounded by beautiful glass windows! I think I will have one of these when I build my own house someday. At least I can dream big, right?! Her parents were so sweet. I look forward to getting to know them more! The city of Münster was beautiful (Die schöne stadt Münster) and I am excited to go back!

Till' Next Time! :)