Collette Firestone's & Katie Philippou's Report
My Munich Experience (by Katie Philippou)
This summer the Santander Travel Award enabled me to travel to Munich along with some of my fellow German classmates. This richly cultural city and the surrounding sights in Bavaria added a whole new dimension to my first year learning.
Not only did I have the opportunity to communicate in German (my target language), I discovered new stories that added to my historical knowledge and cultural understanding, and visited some of the sites at which these thrilling moments in history took place.
When visiting Neuschwanstein Castle we learnt much about its owner King Ludwig II, such as the secret passageway that was built between his and his wife's bed chambers, and the cave that leads to the King's study. We also travelled to Linderhof Palace, another of King Ludwig II's retreats. Unexpectedly, it was during our tour of Linderhof Palace that we learnt a common German saying: "alles ist in Butter". The English translation is "everything is in butter". We discovered that the origin of this saying came from the method of transporting large mirrors in butter, in order to protect them. This would have been the method used to safely transport the many mirrors used to furnish Linderhof Palace.
Whilst in Munich I also had the aim to expand my knowledge in my other field of study- literature, and my visit to Hohenschwangau Castle offered a great opportunity to combine both my interest in German history and culture with my passion for literature. King Ludwig himself is widely known as the fairy tale King- with a castle that inspired Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland Paris and the mysterious circumstances that led to his death to name just a couple of reasons for this reputation. Furthermore, on the walls within Hohenschwangau there are illustrated medieval legends, one of which is about Lohengrin, or the swan knight. The swan has then been used throughout the castle, and also in Neuschwanstein Castle. The name in fact translates into "new swan stone", therefore continuing this swan motif. Old German literature has therefore clearly had a great influence on the style and contents of the two castles.
Our trip centred around our language skills, however, which became apparent we needed to get around the city and find out the information we needed. For example after landing in Munich and needing to find a place to store all of our luggage before our much later check in time at our accommodation. I found that my grasp of the language was put to the test and ultimately improved during the trip, simply because I was living within the language and the culture and we had to be independent. I believe that the confidence I gained from this trip will be vital for my upcoming year abroad, and I am even more excited for that next, even bigger adventure!
Munich (by Collette Firestone)
In June I was fortunate enough, with the help of the Santander Travel Award, to fulfil a lifelong ambition by travelling to Munich. Not only is the city filled with beautiful historic buildings, but the surrounding countryside is home to some of the most fairy-tale-esque castles in the world. The trip was awe-inspiring and has shaped and will continue to shape my perception of the past.
I have always been intrigued by Germany. Few places boast as varied a history and this is visible in the very stone of Munich. Few cities merge their past and present with such reverence and I am so grateful to finally experience it for myself.
An example of such fusion is the Town Hall. It dominates Marienplatz and although built between 1867 and 1908 it is reminiscent of the medieval period. It even bears the statues of four Bavarian Kings on its front. At a first glance it would be easy to believe it really was built hundreds of years ago - save for its more modern aspects (for example the stained glass windows depicting American presidents - a left over memento of the Allied-occupation). In my opinion the building demonstrates the melody of histories that Munich presents - both ancient and modern.
As a historian my primary interest is the continuing impact and mythology of past events. Bavaria, therefore, is ideal for this. In particular, there was one building I was desperate to see. Nestled in the more mountainous regions, some two or three hours from the city, lies the crown jewel of Bavaria - Neuschwanstein Castle. Literally translatable as new swan stone it demonstrates everything wonderful about Bavarian history and my favourite Bavarian King - Ludwig II. On the approach you could be forgiven for mistaking it for a Disney movie. Perched on top of a mountain and half-obscured by trees it is the image of a fairy tale. There's good reason for this, and this is why I am personally so fascinated by Neuschwanstein - it's not only inspired by mythology, but inspires it (for example Disney's Cinderella's castle!)
Ludwig's eccentricity and affinity for the past was not reserved to Neuschwanstein. My personal favourite of his buildings was Linderhof Palace. Perched on top of a mountain it is styled, in true enlightenment spirit, like the palace of Versailles. However, it is a lot smaller than Versailles and this came with complications - Ludwig's proportioning of furniture mirrored the original, but therefore was too large for Linderhof. Thus resulting in a meeting room rendered unusable by excessive furniture.
Linguistically the trip was hugely beneficial, not only were we lucky enough to attend German Language tours but also read the German language guides. We also spoke to some of the locals (particularly in the wake of Brexit) and learnt some valuable skills such as how to order food and drinks! (And not to walk in the bike lane!)
Overall the trip was fascinating and I am truly grateful for the opportunity. It has been beneficial in my studies and helped my understanding of the German Language. Therefore I would again like to extend my thanks to the Santander Travel Award.