European Tour 2024 - Part 1: Germany

Germany Report: 2024 European Study Tour

During the recent school holidays, 31 Year 11 and 12 students, and 5 staff, toured Europe on an educational study tour.  Over the next four newsletters, we will be exploring the three stages of the tour: Germany, Austria and Italy. 

Part One: Germany

We spent most of our time in Europe exploring the layers of history in Germany.  From the Holy Roman Empire to the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall there was so much to learn.

Hamburg, the port city of work and trade, taught us about the establishment and unification of the German Empire, led by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1871.  We visited St Pauli Football Club where we did a tour that showed us the stadium and the morality politics of the club. 

Documentation Centres in Munich and Obersalzburg taught us about Nazi Germany, the period from 1933 to 1945 when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party had control over Germany. The research centre and museum in Munich provided us with insight into the rise and fall of the Nazi Party and its impact on all of Germany. As for Obsersalzberg, Adolf Hitler's mountain residence and retreat was turned into a Documentation Centre, teaching us about the Nazi regime, Hitler's life and the historical context behind the Obersalzberg. Many found Hitler's underground bunker most interesting, with the tunnels spread 3 km within the mountain and a bomb site within the bunker where a grenade had chipped the concrete and gone through the concrete floor. 

Along with learning about Nazi Germany, we visited the Nazi Rally Grounds in Nuremberg, which was the site of many significant rallies led by Hitler. Speeches and military parades were aimed to show Nazi power and ideology to the world with up to 200,000 people filling the grounds. It was a surreal experience being there where the grounds were repurposed as concert stands, a motorbike ground and a historical site used to educate people. I found it inspiring how they have come to terms with the past and strive to spread awareness about the tragedies that happened so that it doesn’t happen in the future. 

We followed the footsteps of Martin Luther in Wittenberg, exploring the Luther 360° panorama and reliving through the events that led to Martin Luther publishing his 95 Theses. We also saw Johann Sebastian Bach’s church and instruments in Leipzig, where Germany’s oldest and most famous church choir was founded in 1212. All the churches we visited were stunning with different features that had meaning and stories behind them. A really special moment on the tour was the Sunday mass that we attended in Michaelskirche in Munich. The service was spoken in German so we couldn’t understand what was said however the layout was very similar to the masses at home and they had hymns that the choir performed.  The organ sounded amazing in the church. 

In Berlin, we learnt a lot about the Cold War and the division into East and West Germany. Berlin, the capital, was also divided into East and West Berlin. The DDR museum gave us an idea of what life was like in East Germany during the time of the German Democratic Republic, such as living conditions, culture and politics. We visited the Berlin Wall, which was a symbol of the Cold War as well as Checkpoint Charlie and the Brandenburg Gate. It was incredible visiting places of such significance and with so much history, and also seeing the art on the Berlin Wall. 

Something good can always come from something bad.  We saw some amazing places including the Alexanderplatz TV tower with an unbelievable view, the Berlin Olympic Stadium and the Teufelsberg spy station. I loved the graffiti at the spy station and could have explored it for days. I just love how the ruins became the perfect place for artists to share their styles and perspectives and gave them a place for free speech, plus the graffiti is just next level, it was unreal.

We also learned a lot about German culture and food. We ate bratwursts, travelled on trains, and went to see a Bundesliga II football match between Gruether Furth and FC Kaiserslautern. Germany was awesome! 

Eliza Hughes
On Behalf of the Student Attendees