Marburg!

This weekend was a blast; we finally got out of Bad Laasphe! Don’t get me wrong it’s a lovely little town, but it is rather small and it is always great to see somewhere new and exciting. Plus we took the train, which is tons of fun.

In fact, here is the view from the train window

We didn’t take one of the high speed trains because they don’t go to Bad Laasphe and probably not to Marburg either. We were on what is known as a Regional Bahn, the slowest of the three train types. It stops at every “cow pasture” and small town, so it takes awhile. I’d say it wasn’t any better in terms of speed than a highway, but it is so much more environmentally sustainable and comfortable. I enjoy not having to worry about rear-ending the person in front of me and just staring out the window. 

So we get there; and Marburg is beautiful! The Altstadt (Old City) is just like a fairytale. [Fun fact, the Grimm Brothers even lived there for quite a while.] Even one of the German leaders we were with was remarking at “how cute” Marburg was because the streets were so narrow and the buildings were so traditional. The entire country really isn’t like this, but it does exist in a fair many places.

Here’s a cool building near what I think is the old Rathaus

Like any good German city or town, there is a castle on the nearest mountain or hill. And just like Schloss Wittgenstein in Bad Laasphe, it is quite the hill. The view was definitely worth the climb. (Sadly the pictures didn’t quite turn out, but it was so beautiful and I’ve got copies in my mind). 

A view I got later in the day

As a little side note: I really appreciate the freedom that this program affords us. I absolutely hate it when we go around as a group of 50 (or even a group larger than 5), it makes us stick out and we become a burden to walk around. Sneaking around the city in little groups (minimum of 3) is great, but I don’t think any organization in the US would allow us to do that without first signing 45 forms and checking in every X number of hours. Here they just got us to Marburg, told us the times when there will be trains to Bad Laasphe, and reminded us to stay in groups of at least 3. 

Anyhow, on our way down, we made our way into the Protestant Cathedral of Marburg (I never caught it’s name). It was a really neat building, very sparse inside. But the coolest thing was that there was going to be a wedding. You could tell all around. We actually had to walk through one of the bands to get up to the Schloss (there was a marked path). But the pews were adorned with flowers and ribbons and the organist was practicing before the ceremony and that was the most amazing thing. It was so pretty and surreal. We didn’t actually see the couple, but we saw the car. Other groups got different views, one even saw them exiting the church with great fanfare. It was simply neat all around. 

Then the shopping. A lot of us needed to buy some clothing items for a variety of reasons. A few people’s bags were searched and their clothing taken, so those needed to be replaced. Some figured that one pair of shoes would be enough. Nope. Others underestimated what Germans consider “summer” and desperately needed warmer clothing. I didn’t get anything because I was lucky and planned well when I packed, but it was neat to browse H&M in German.

After that we kept “shopping” by going in to all of the shops along the winding streets of the old city. There was a shop designated to wooden brush products. Things like the French-maid style feather dusters, brushes of all kinds, and baskets. Neat. We even saw some American exchange students who are going to be going to university in Saarbrücke. 

Imagine if Broad Street looked like this

It was so interesting and enjoyable that we were all in agreement to take the 6:30 (and last) train to Bad Laasphe. The one before it left at 4:30. Unfortunately for us, everything closes at around 4:30 or 5. But we made do.

We meandered back towards the train station and passed the Elisabeth Church (the Catholic Cathedral) and went in. It, like the Protestant one, was sparse on the inside. Mind you, these are 800 year old structures and they are beautiful in their own right, I was just surprised. 

Speaking of surprise. You walk into the Marburg Cathedral, up to about the altar and it looks normal and like any other church, then you turn around and look up. The organ is magnificent. It is shocking, really. Ultra modern it is literally soaring into the heavens and the stained glass window behind it also gives the impression. Since it was a church, I voted against taking a picture, but wow.

And through a crack in the wall on the other side of the street, we discovered at 13th century pilgrim graveyard. Just hiding behind a bunch of buildings.

Cathedral from the outside

There is so much history everywhere; it’s crazy. Virginia, probably more than any other US state, is blessed with history everywhere. Walk through Denver and you won’t find much historical. In my mind, Richmond and Williamsburg are chalk full of history. Nothing compared to Marburg or most of Germany. Everything has a story. Yes, Marburg Cathedral is 800 years old and the first Gothic church in Germany, but it also played a role in each of those 800 years. Paul von Hindenburg is buried there and there is a gorgeous modern organ. I was just struck by it.

To sum it up, the day was full of shopping, history, and döner.