Bad Harzburg is not a ye oldie German town and has very few signs of life before the 18th Century when it developed into a Spa Resort (it was called Neustadt until 1892). The town situated to the north of the Harz Mountains and is overlooked by them, drew people from across the German speaking… Continue Reading
Latest in: History/Life – Geschichte & Leben
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When we went into Covid lockdown in 2019 I began writing letters from my new home in Germany and it’s been a while since I wrote my last one. By writing these letters I hoped to understand Germany better and my home country the United Kingdom. Covid/Letters Home This letter was spurred by a plaque… Continue Reading
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We rode out from Göttingen onto the defunct Gartelbahn to Waterloo, and no, we did not pedal as far as Belgium or London. I had for many years lived in London close to Waterloo and the Station, and now by some odd quirk of fate I find myself living a short bike ride from another… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and two years on I am living in a time of a pandemic. I began writing these letters at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to understand Germany better and to get to grips with my relationship with the United Kingdom.… Continue Reading
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The first turn of the train wheels broke the stiction holding me to my home because in the past two years plus I have not ventured away. Although I have explored my new home in Göttingen with enthusiasm my last big journey was when I moved from London. The Covid pandemic being a strong reason… Continue Reading
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I have undertaken three rides so far to scout a Göttingen castles asphalt tour, firstly the Rusteberg and Gleichen Castles and then the Grone, Jühnde and Berlepsch Castles were added. My most recent was a visit to Niedeck where I looked up at the summit of the Kronenberg but I didn´t take the gravel road… Continue Reading
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We ventured away from the Dransfeld Ramp (an abandoned railway) and rode into the Börl Valley via the village of Hetjershausen (the village well survives) to the west of Göttingen. In Groß Ellershausen the Lindenhof pub still stands and this was frequented by the first German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck and poet Heinrich Heine, and… Continue Reading
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WH Auden, the Anglo/American poet wrote ´Funeral Blues´ or also known as ´Stop all the Clocks´ for a 1936 satirical political play (The Ascent of F6) and then subsequently he rewrote it removing several lines which referred to specific people and events in the 1930s. It became a more personal work thereafter. The poem can… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and two years on I am living in a time of a pandemic. I began writing these letters at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to understand Germany better and to get to grips with my relationship with the United Kingdom.… Continue Reading
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(Lost villages) It´s good to stop and think… I did that, at what has become a regular riding spot for me. In my first week of moving to Germany I sat on a bench at Kerstlingrodefeld and wondered at what I had done. I was now an immigrant. Käthe KollwitzI began this ride at a… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and two years on I am living in a time of a pandemic. I began writing these letters at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to understand Germany better and to get to grips with my relationship with the United Kingdom.… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and two years on I am living in a time of a pandemic. I began writing these letters at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to understand Germany better and to get to grips with my relationship with the United Kingdom.… Continue Reading
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The Iron Curtain was a political and physical division created after World War Two splitting Europe into East and West. I rode my gravel bike to visit an abandoned bunker part of what was once the German Internal Border erected to enforce this schism close to the city of Göttingen. Salt the Fields?After the war,… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and two years on I am living in a time of a pandemic. I began writing these letters at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to understand Germany better and to get to grips with my relationship with the United Kingdom.… Continue Reading
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I am a cycling fan and I have done all I think possible to be as Belgian or Dutch as I can, I have drunk Belgian beer, eaten Belgian chocolate (lots of), scoffed Stroopwaffles (Netherlands) and frites I am yet to match a Belgian or a Netherlander in being either. I have also ridden many… Continue Reading
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Presenting no obstacle to our free movement this gravel and road tour saw us cross several active and defunct borders. In my head recently has been Peter Gabriel’s song ´Games Without Frontiers´ (1980) where he talks about a subject that resonated strongly with me on this ride. He refers to several political themes kindled by… Continue Reading
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I ride regularly through village after village in the Leine Valley near Göttingen. Each has a story to tell spanning for some a thousand-year history and like so many in Central Europe they have been caught up in events beyond their control. In the 17th century the Leine Valley was ravaged by conflict during the… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and two years on I am living in a time of a pandemic. I began writing these letters at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to understand Germany better and to get to grips with my relationship with the United Kingdom.… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and two years on I am living in a time of a pandemic. I began writing these letters at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to understand Germany better and to get to grips with my relationship with the United Kingdom.… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and two years on I am living in a time of a pandemic. I began writing these letters at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to understand Germany better and to get to grips with my relationship with the United Kingdom.… Continue Reading
Velo Klubhaus 