Germany by Camper-Van

The happy travellers in the Malibu 440

Various thoughts occurred to us heading into the summer of 2020:

• Europe was emerging from Covid and the borders were open again but the situation was not at all normal, so maybe it makes sense to stay within Germany where we know it is safe. 
• Renting a Womo (short form of the word Wohnmobile, means RV) would enable us to travel without the levels of exposure that you typically get at hotels and restaurants public transport.
• We'd rented a Womo in Spain in 2016 for a week in Andalucia and the kids had always asked us about doing it again.

So we booked an RV for two weeks from a T-Bird friend who rents them out and planned on a full circle tour of Germany. Typically we'd spend a vacation in wilder and crazier places (Albania or Kosovo or the USA) but this year we'd play it safe and see what sorts of things Germany has to offer that we'd so far missed. 

Predictably, we ran out of time. Southern Germany had more than we thought, but this is how it usually works. So overall the plan was to describe a loose circle around the country with an emphasis on the southern part that we haven't really explored yet. This is where Germany's mountains and wine region sit, plus a huge lake that stretches along the border with Switzerland.

On the advice of my T-Bird friend we signed up for the Landvergnügen program, a network of farms that open up a couple parking spots for RVs next to their barns for free. Usually the RVers will spend some money at the place (a case of wine from a winery, a sweater from the Alpaka farm, a jar of jam or honey from the fruit orchard) so it works out for everyone.

And now for the highlights and commentary:

Stop 1: Ferropolis. 

We didn't stay here but stopped in for a look on our way south towards our farm stay at the Ostrich Ranch. But this place was worth checking out. Just East of Dessau, the city of Bauhaus creator fame, is Gräfenhainichen, a former coal mining center of the DDR.

Set on a peninsula in the middle of an old East German lignite mine are five gigantic coal digger machines. After the Wall came down and the coal industry in the DDR disappeared, they collected these huge things and parked them here, then filled in the stripmine with water with a view to creating a recreation area. Finally they built an outdoor theatre between them and hold music festivals here in the summertime. It is one of the most visually arresting concert venues I can think of.

The machines are huge, and when you stand underneath one it feels kind of like a cross between a suspension bridge and a skyscraper construction site, all mounted on huge tank treads. One of them was on a rail bed - they had to build a railroad track to transport the thing. One the structures has a self-guided tour so you can climb up on them and run around.

This one "Medusa" had its own rail line built. Original construction: 1959, 1200 tons, crew of 7.

The drive treads on "The Mosquito." Built in 1941, just 800 tons.

Heading upstairs on yet another parental-inspired whackjob idea. This is on the "Gemini" bagger, built in 1958 and nearly 2000 tons. 400' long.

Locomotion underneath the Big Wheel bagger.

Dusty control room on Gemini.

The Mosquito, whose boom stretches out over the seats of the arena.

The "Big Wheel" machine. Just imagine this thing in action, tearing the heck out of the landscape.

Playing in the Big Wheel buckets.

Cass poses next to the glamorous Main Crane Shut-off Switch.

Stop #2: Dessau.

This is the city of Bauhaus fame, where Martin Gropius started the modernist architectural movement in the 1920's. There are some famous buildings here, along with a museum dedicated to the style which needs to be a future visit. We stopped in town to get some fresh bread only. Jay of course spotted an old factory.

Always such mysteries around these places. What was it used for? Who built it?

Dessau sits inside the former East Germany, which lacked funds to clean old stuff up. So there is more ramshackle stuff here than in the old West Germany, where everything was more tightly-managed and efficiently dealt with.

Stop 3: Ostrich Farm

Our first farm stay, we parked in a grassy lot next to the house of the family who runs the farm. A quick tour of the Ostrich fields and then we bought an egg and some Ostrich meat steaks. Cassandra cooked an amazing campervan meal of Ostrich filet strogranoff, then a frittata the next day with the Ostrich egg. The day after that we finally finished the egg yolk, there was quite a bit of it.

Hal.

The farm.

First, punch a hole in the egg. Then insert a long handle spoon and mix up the yolk inside. Then turn it upside down and let yolk drain into your basin. You can't crack them like chicken eggs, the shell is way too thick.

Best thing about RV'ing: the outdoor dining at the end of a day of driving.

Ostrich Scramble!

Jasper faces down a fierce Ostrich. We learned that Ostriches are the closest living relations to some dinosaurs. Just look at their legs and this is obvious. Very dinosaur-y!

Someone else has had a long day!

Stop 4: Bamberg

Bamberg always makes it onto the lists of "Top Ten Cutest Cities of Germany" mostly due to the fact that it was not bombed during WWII. The Altstadt is quite intact and terribly quaint, featuring an elaborately-decorated Rathaus (Town Hall) that sits on a bridge over the Regnitz River. I've wanted to come down here for the Christmas Market but it never works out since it is a bit of a hike from Berlin and we are never that organized during Advent-time.

Rathaus bridge.

We stopped into the Schlenkerla Brewery, where they have been brewing the 5,1% alcohol Märzen Rauchbier (smoked beer) since 1405. There was a courtyard in back underneath awnings and trees and miraculously we got a table.

After lunch we circled back around to see the other side of the Rathaus. There's more to explore here but as we consistently found on this trip: no more time.

Stop 5: Ulm

Ulm, an ancient town on the border between Baden-Württemburg and Bavaria, has the distinction of housing the world's tallest church. The Ulmer Münster is 530 feet tall, even outdoing the Great Pyramid of Giza. It will remain so until the Sagrada Familia takes that title when it eventually finishes. The hundreds of steps up a winding stairwell are even more impressive. They closed off the very top due to Covid but the views were still dizzying from up there.

Assessing the task in front of us.

Lighting candles in churches is highly-technical work.

Life-like carvings on the pews.

This is as high as we could go. The top bit (another 150+ stairs) is in a very tight stairwell where social distancing is simply not possible if you pass another in the opposite direction.

This is the last bit: kind of a vertical column within the highest tower.

On the platz in front.

After the climb we checked out the Fisher Viertel (Fishermen's Quarter).

From the http://www.danube-places.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=168&Itemid=349&lang=en

(gives a better description than I can!)

The Fishermen’s and Tanners’ Quarter in Ulm used to be the centre of medieval Ulm, which is first documented in 854. It is built around the channels of stream of Blau which leads into the Danube.

The quarter is known for its medieval buildings which were used by craftsmen. Most of them were fishermen, tanners or shipbuilders. All of these professions benefited from the proximity to the river. Other professions included millers and soap boilers.

The houses fit closely into the narrow alleyways. The Metzgerturm (literally: “Butcher’s Tower”) and the Schiefe Haus (“Crooked House”) were famous buildings as early as the Middle Ages. When Ulm reached its economic and cultural peak in the 16th century, the Fishermen’s Quarter was an important transfer site for various products.

Stop 6: Lindau am Bodensee

Having made the tough decision to by-pass Füssen and the famous Neuschwanstein castle, we angled straight South to the Swiss & Austrian border on the Bodensee. Lindau sits at the intersection of three countries and Cass found a campground on the lake there for three nights.

Bedtime reading in the forward bunkroom.

Lindau Altstadt from the port jetty-wall.

Sunset over the Bodensee. Switzerland in the left distance.

We rode bikes from the campground about 5 km over to Lindau, then found a shady spot to have a snack and overlook the harbor. The rise we sat on was part of the original Roman settlement of the town, although there were no more obvious columns or temples left anymore.

Jetty-walk out to the old entrance to the Lindau harbor from the Bodensee. Big Lion statue on one side, Lighthouse on the other.

Another look at the harbor and Switzerland, this time from the town section.

Bench from the campground.

On our second day in Lindau, Jay got up early and did a ride along the East side of the lake then down along the Rhine River bike path to the tiny country of Liechtenstein, about 50 kms away. The path is fairly flat, a valley between Austria's Vorarlberg mountains on the left and Switzerland's on the right.

An old border observation post on the Swiss side of the Rhine.

The longer you go on trail, the better the scenery gets!

Finally hit the border!

Liechtenstein's Ruggell municipality. Was angling for an open cafe to take a break in, but the town was quite dead this morning.

The road to Liechtenstein, a 25 km-long German-speaking principality. Capital: Vaduz.

We upped stakes for a day-trip up the lake to Friederichshafen, the major town on the German side of the lake. This is where the Zeppelin industry started, so we went to go check out the Zeppelin museum.

They've built a full reconstruction of the Hindenburg's passenger deck, which you can walk through with your mask on.

Various surviving bits of the Hindenburg are displayed here. We showed the kids the famous crash video while still in the parking lot in an effort to lend some sort of gravity to some of the things they'd see in the museum. Instantaneous history - it may or may not make an impression on them. It is always hard to tell what they truly internalize.

Bit of the Hindenburg frame.

Hindenburg's crew bench.

Our rig at the Lindau campground. They pack you in - there was not any Corona policy around "every-other" campsite. They enforced mask wearing in the bathrooms and in any structure with a roof though.

Stop 7: Görwihl

We took our leave of the Bodensee area, stopping by a monkey preserve on the way to the Black Forest. After the monkeys we ended up at a sheep farm and parked on a beautiful green hill in between stands of forest. From the top of the hill we could see into Switzerland in one direction and France in the other. For me this was the most visually stunning of our farm stops.

Entrance to a silver mine, which has operated since the 1500's in the hills. We got dive-bombed by a bat.

Cute Barbary Macaques. Monkey preserve has about 200, who run around free in the forest next to you.

Monkeys get tired too.

Hillside cocktail hour.

Sunset hike up to the hill peak for a look around.

Campsite at Görwihl. Just lovely.

Jasper feeds the cows with apples skewered on a bamboo stake.

This farm offered the most up-close animal encounters.

The top of the hill was used as a landing field for ultra-light aircraft.

Stop 8: Freiburg

Cass and Jasper had visited Freiburg in November when we split the family to do the "one parent/one child" separate trips (Cody and I went to Lithuania). So Jasper was happy to show us around the old town and especially, the "Bächle", small channels of running water that course down many streets in the Altstadt. The kids made rafts and tied string to them and floated them down the Bächle for fun. Locals sit on summer days with their feet in them to cool off, and we passed little groups of people hanging out with their beers and a snack and their feet in the streams.

Freiburg is a compact little university town in the Black Forest with a cute Altstadt and hiking trails on the edge of town. 

A stop at the Kastaniengarten biergarten on the hill for lunch kicked off an impromptu tour of the Altstadt with old friend from Jay's Guatemala days.

Jasper and the Bächle in a tight alleyway in front of the Münster.

The pubs are all about the fancy ironwork signs.

Kastaniengarten view.

On the stones of the Münster are circles inscribed from Medieval times when a bread market operated in the town square. You'd put the bread against the markings on the wall to make sure it was proper size before buying it!

One of the town gates. Bächle in foreground.

Stop 9: Wine Country & the Kaiserstuhl.

After Freiburg we drove down into the Rhine basin, which forms the border between Germany and France's Alsace-Lorraine department. It gets the most sunshine and therefore is one of Germany's prime wine-producing areas.

We stayed at a small family-run winery. Super low-key, they let us stay two nights (usually you can only stay one at these places) and also let the kids collect eggs from the egg house. Cody was especially excited about this. They had two young kids who were suitable Spielkameraden for our kids, even though theirs were a bit younger. We did a tasting and bought some wine as you do the first night.

On day #2, we took out the bikes and rode up the steep trails into the Kaiserstuhl, an area of small mountains that are named after a local king was crowned on the summit of one in the 900's. The kids complained loudly on the ascent but then turned into speed freaks on the descents, with mommy and daddy experiencing heart attacks watching them bomb down the dusty hills.

Front yard of the Winzerhof Linder. 

Cody vs. the squawkers.

Wine tasting on an old apothecary's counter.

We could use the tables in front of the main barn for our meals. Here, Cass whipped up an amazing pasta concoction.

Going uphill is hard. And boy did we hear it!!

Finally we reached the summit and ascended a lookout tower. Lots of the land around the Kaiserstuhl is terraced for the wine growing. In the distance is France and Strasbourg. Was hoping to somehow get to Strasbourg but we ran out of time.

Jasper writes in the summit register. Cody is still not sure if he thinks his parents are devils who just want to off him.

And now for the fun! Descending the Kaiserstuhl trails back to the winery.

Over-signage.

Half way down we ran across a small chapel and went up to check it out.

Finally down the hill, when it was possible to once again take pictures from the bike without risking your life.

Stop 10: Alpirsbach / Freudenstadt

Outside the Black Forest town of Alpirsbach we found a small campground next to a creek, with forest rising up on both sides of the valley. This one was much less busy than Lindau. The kids played in the river building up dams and throwing rocks at each other in the effort to get the biggest splash on the other guy. They always surprise us with their wonderful ideas.

We could have stayed at this campsite a couple nights - there were hiking trails in the area and the place was quite chill. But as usual we try to do too much and so we took off the next morning for the town of Freudenstadt to make a stop for Black Forest cake, then would drive the rest of the day up to Heidelberg to visit Chiara, an old friend of Elena's from Italy.

Small town of Lossburg, a few miles from our camp on the river. We "broke camp" and came up here for breakfast, finding a little place on the town square where we all crowded onto a single bench under a sun umbrella and enjoyed our eggs, baked goods and coffee.

Memorial on the side of the town church to the WWI dead. Every small town in Germany has this.

Sunny morning in the Black Forest. 

The half-timbered construction houses are quite popular.

Freudenstadt town square, a walkable Black Forest town that is clearly designed for tourism. The Black Forest cake did not go over well with the kids since it has liquor in it. So they went back in and ordered their own choice: more fruit and no alcohol.

Stop 11: Heidelberg

The last major town of the trip was Heidelberg, where an old friend of Elena's lives with her German husband. She's been here since 2004. He works for Daimler's Trucks division in nearby Mannheim and we had a nice chat about what it is like to work for Mercedes Benz in this crazy time.

After pizza and coffee downtown, we walked up the Hauptstrasse to the old Castle ruins that overlook the city. They are huge and sprawling and are emblematic of Heidelberg: nearly every picture of the city will feature the castle ruins in the background. The Rhine cuts right through the city, also providing lots of picturesque bridges to walk over.

Fun for Jay to come back here - this had been where he spent the last night of his 1990 European summer trip before flying back from Frankfurt to Ohio.

Looking back at the castle and the red roofs of the Altstat.

The castle was reduced to a ruin during a battle in the 30 Years War. Bits of it are restored but most is just a terribly-attractive ruin.

A long hill-side promenade extends out from the side of the castle, giving a great view of town and surrounding hills.

After hanging out we opened up our "Park 4 Nite" app and found a spot on top of one of the forested hills to the South of town. We drove up through tight streets then on a steep and bumpy road to the summit where we found a lovely big empty parking lot.

We also found the ruins of two 11th century cloisters and a gigantic ampitheatre built by the Nazis for the purpose of holding big propaganda demonstrations.

These pics were taken the next morning in the misty rain as we explored the top of the hill, the so-caled Heiligenberg. ("Holy Mountain")

There are always shenanigans at bedtime, especially in a camper! It is amazing any child got any sleep whatsoever in that thing.

Our last night was outside Jena in a parking lot next to a Rodelbahn (alpine slide) next to a farm.

The RV was due back Saturday morning north of Berlin so we stay in Berlin on Friday night to allow enough time to clean it and unpack. Saturday morning Jay drove it up to Spechthausen to meet Carl for the drop off. 2500km of fun!