# Industrial Northern Germany



## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

If you don't mind I'll post a map here.









The Ruhr coal is part of a long, almost uninterrupted coals layer that stretches from Germany over a small part of the Netherlands, Belgium (eg. Charleroi), northern France (not far from Lille) and even under the channel to England and Wales. This is one of the reasons why this part of Europe started to industrialize (very) early. The numbers of the map are supposed to indicate mines that are still in use, but it is possible that the situation has already changed since the map was made.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Thanks for sharing. This is very interesting. 

Going to the east maybe this goes to Poland as well. There is definitely coal mining there too.


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## Saxonia (Aug 15, 2012)

600West218 said:


> This is interesting. I did indeed see LOTS of overground piping in Berlin and there is lots of construction everywhere.
> 
> What is curious though is that I never see piping put above ground in New York City even though there is clearly lots of pipes and lots of construction.


Berlin is situated in region which originally was dominated by swamps, many small rivers and seasonal flooded areas. The name _Berlin_ presumably derives from the old slawic word _Berl_ whichs means swamp. So ground water was and is a real problem for every larger construction side there. 
If I remember right large parts of Manhattan consist of a solid stony underground which is a adaquate precondition to build highrises.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Next it was time to go into the old coal washing plant to visit the Ruhr Museum


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You ride up a long escalator as if you were a lump of coal yourself 


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Once there you are in the actual old industrial buildings so you get to see things like the old control systems.


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The museum itself is quite large - about four very big floors - and has lots of historical exhibits on the history of coal mining, the steel industry and industry in general, canals and local geology, canals, labor, and political movements. It is a truly great museum - unfortunately as a person who doesn't speak German most of it was lost on me. 


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The above signs, for example, I can't understand. Nevertheless I can see by the hammers on the posters, in addition to the Nazi Swastika, they were trying hard to appeal to working class people and disaffected socialists. 


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Interestingly this has the Zollverien on it.


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Sadly, the Ruhr area was very heavily bombed in the Second World War and some of that was shown in the museum. As we'll see this is also apparent when you walk around cities like Dortmund and Essen and see virtually no old buildings.

Next it was time for a tour of the coal washing plant.


Cars for moving around coal in the washing plant. Note the funny rail system. by 600West218, on Flickr


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This is a highly interesting little rail system inside the plant. The way it works is the coal was hauled to the top by conveyors. Then it was carried along by these carts which would then move through the rest of the plant purely by force of gravity. They would deposit the coal where it was to go and keep rolling down hill until they reached the bottom and were hauled back to the top to start over. It was an engineless train system!


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Note how different the rails are from normal train rails.


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Peddle power.


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We were then taken to the roof of the building which had a pretty good view.


The city of Essen by 600West218, on Flickr

The center of Essen.


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Power stations in the distance.


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Finally we saw a bit more of the coal washing plant itself and then the tour was done. Next it would be off to the coking plant.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

To get to the coking plant it was a fairly long walk around some other parts of the coal mine.


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Note the rail tracks where the coal from the mine and washing plant would have been transported to the coking plant.


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Parts of the complex that were not part of the museum did show signs of abandonment.


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Arriving at the coking plant the first thing you come across is a funny looking locomotive which in turn is pushing a strange, but huge, looking rail car.


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I'm assuming this was used to maybe remove coke from the ovens but I'm not really sure.


This is a huge railroad locamotive an car by the coking plant. by 600West218, on Flickr

Fortunately there was an American guy around who was willing to pose in front of it to show the scale.


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The coking plant itself which had a very nice bike and jogging path around it.


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Conveyors meeting inside an elevated hub. It would be interesting to go inside and see how they exchange material from one conveyor to another.


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Note how nice and modern looking the building looks. It looks like it could have been built yesterday yet it likely predates WWII.

It is an interesting fact that this huge industrial complex escaped the Second World War largely untouched. It is something of a mystery why something so important to Germany's war effort wasn't bombed while entire cities around it were destroyed. The explanation I heard was that it was partly owned by the British so they left it alone. I find that unconvincing, but I don't know for sure why it wasn't attacked.


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Note the trees growing on the roof.


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I saw this wooden structure in other steel mills around the Ruhr. I have a pretty good grasp of how steel mills work but I really don't know what this is nor what it does.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Walking around to the other side of the coking plant we get to the real deal:


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Note the massive structure over the water. It is actually on rails and would move along the side of the ovens to put in coal and remove coke. I'm not sure why they have the pool of water - maybe to extinguish embers that fall to the ground when they remove the coke.


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Again, the green structure, which is the equivalent of a four story apartment building, moves.


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Again, the American gentleman was kind enough to show the scale.


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This is what moves. You can see this is pretty big. by 600West218, on Flickr

Noting the stairs on the second level gives some sense of the scale.


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Looks like it takes lots of piping to run a coke oven.


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Not sure what this part of the complex does. However, I remember going to Buffalo, New York when I was young and being able to smell the steel mills even from a long ways away. This part of the complex had the EXACT same smell - a burned oil type of smell.


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Buffalo must have had coaking ovens at one time because this place smells exactly like I remember Buffalo smelling years ago. by 600West218, on Flickr


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Got pipes?


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Again, the stairs give some sense of scale.


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I think I sort of know what this says...


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It may look like the worlds largest chain saw but it is actually for piling up bulk products, in this case coal.


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

:drool: :applause:


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## Grotlaufen (Mar 2, 2007)

600West218 said:


>


Caption: To stand up against woe in order to protect the people

"Common sacrifices unite a people
Against want [the enemy] they go to war
To gain the real peace
Through getting the the enemy's victim as a friend [to win over to the good side] "


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Thanks for the translation. It makes sense that that would appeal to people given all the suffering during the Wienmar Republic and depression.

I wonder what the "N" in the middle stood for - maybe "Nationalist"?


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## SputnikBooster (Jun 17, 2013)

The hammer in the middle is actually a "T" and TN was the abbreviation for Technische Nothilfe (= Technical Emergency Help) which was a sort of emergency management organisation.

Nice photos again!


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Having run out of time I headed back to the coal mine area to get out to the street and a tram back to central Essen.


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On the way out there were some signs that had really good overall information on industrial sights in the Ruhr.


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Back out on the street one of the interesting things to note is that the coal mine and coking plant are in completely residential areas.


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Rather drab, but comfortable garden apartments. I assume these replaced older housing that was maybe destroyed by the war.


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An electronic sign at the tramway telling us how much longer until the next tram comes. The New York City subway system is just now getting these types of signs (and not nearly as good). It says something that the tram system in Essen has better technology than the New York City subway. Going forward I will show other examples of how good the German public transportation was.


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The tram itself. It was not a bad ride to the center.


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Again, very organized.


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I had time to wander around a bit of the center of Essen. It was a Sunday so naturally it was a bit empty. Still, I found it quite sterile, sort of like these nice but uninspiring office blocks.


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This looks like a pre-war building but I don't know if it is authentic. Just imagine Essen full of buildings like this though...


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Again, nice but sterile.


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I believe this is an old Jewish temple.


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The part crossing the road is actually a small shopping center.


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Kennedy Square.


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There was some sort of American - House in Essen. Not sure what it was.


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Kennedy Plaza as I saw it.


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There still is a good amount of pride in their industrial heritage. Note chocolate and candy stores make momentos that reflect that.


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As night fell I headed back to Dortmund for the night. The next day would be a busy one in Duisburg


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## skymantle (Jul 17, 2010)

Very interesting photo journey. 

Before migrating to Australia my grandfather worked in one of those mines in Charleroi, Belgium. He doesn't have fond memories of that time though. Life, especially for migrants working in mines was fraught with danger and misery back then in the 1950s. He remembers many Italians, especially Calabrese southerners being employed to work there because they were generally shorter and could fit more comfortably down the shafts. 

If you like this sort of industrial heritage then you'd love Australia which has this on arguably the biggest stage in the world with colossal old and new mining and industrial related sites throughout the country. You could start with historic Broken Hill in New South Wales, the town that gave rise to Australia's first workers' rights and socialist movements. Broken Hill also gives the name to BHP (Broken Hill Propriety) Billiton, the world's biggest mining company. Mount Isa in Queensland amongst other places, would be worth exploring too.


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## Saxonia (Aug 15, 2012)

> I believe this is an old Jewish temple.


Yes, it is the old jewish synagogue (Alte Synagoge). It was burned at the pogrom 1938 but not demolished because it consists of reinforced concrete. Blowing up was also no solutions as it would have damaged surrounding buildings. According to wikipedia it is the largest freestanding synagogue north of the Alpes.


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## Autostädter (Nov 29, 2009)

The Ruhr area is just basically bland post-war suburban houses mostly. There are some nice historic areas though, even in Essen. Although I haven't been to Essen, I think the centre of Dortmund is much nicer. The old mines are quite interesting though. Looking forward to your other photos.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

The next day it was up early again as I needed to head to Duisburg. Duisburg is a good sized city on the far western end of the Ruhr area where the Ruhr river and the Rhine river plus some canals all meet. It claims to be the largest inland port in the world and I love inland ports so I was looking forward to visiting it. Plus it hard a large park of an old steel mill and had the only still active steel mills in the Ruhr area. In other words, it was the only part of the Ruhrgebiet that was still like the old industrial Ruhrgebiet.


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The center of Dortmund during the morning rush hour. Note the red bricks on the side walk - that is for bikes only. I really didn't like that system at all. Bikes road on this designated part of the side walk which as a pedestrian you have to cross at some points and which it is really easy to wander into. The bikes would go really fast and it would be easy for there to be a bad accident. I wish they would make them ride in bike lanes in the road like they do in Belgium.


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There were always lots of these trailers at all construction sites. Do people live in them?


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Even though the Ruhr area is the biggest urban agglomeration in Germany you still do see some open fields and farms between cities. I think those are sheep in the distance.


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There were lots of corn fields. Note how small the corn is. This is mid-September - corn in the United States is long since harvested. The growing season in Germany is obviously way behind even the northern United States. I was told it was unusual for it to be this late though.


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Note the berm. I can only guess it is to canalize irrigation water (would they need irrigation here??) or for flood control.


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Finally, I make it to Duisberg and manage to find the U-Bahn which I need to take to the old steel mill. It was not easy finding my way around there - there was no tourist office or information in the train station. It turns out there IS a tourist office but it is hidden away in an upscale shopping center where no actual tourist arriving by train will find it. Germany is famous for good design and organization and in the main everything is well designed and organized but there are still some epic design fails such as this an others I will show during the trip.


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Again, arrival times of trams are noted down to the minute - and they are accurate. This New Yorker can only drool.


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I think these signs indicate where the trams where actually stop. This is helpful as the trams are generally on two or four cars long yet the station platform is quite long.


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Taking the tram which was all underground I arrived after 3 or 4 stops in the northern part of Duisberg where the park was. The tram had passed under the Ruhr river and I believe all the pictures are about bridges over the Ruhr and/or Rhine.


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I didn't have good directions on how to get from the tram to the park so I wound up walking and actually getting a bit lost. But that just gave me more of a tour of the residential areas.


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Garden apartments that actually would not look out of place in the older suburbs of northern U.S. cities. I've never known if most Germans live in apartments or individual houses. I saw way more apartments than houses but then again I was almost always in big cities.


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A bit drab but they probably are reasonably comfortable.


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When I was on this street I was walking in the completely wrong direction without realizing it. Oh well...

After asking some older people for directions (with answers in German that I barely understood) I managed to finally get to what I had come for...


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

Very nice. I love the cities you visited and I love your pictures and commentary.

Your analysis of the bicycle lane is not entirely correct though. Belgium has all kinds of bicycle lanes, among which the type I saw in your picture. Bicycle roads on the sidewalk are actually way better than those on the road, because the latter are really dangerous for people driving the bikes. But I can imagine that you don't pay much attention to bikers as a pedestrian if you are not used to them driving next to you.


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## Saxonia (Aug 15, 2012)

Cyclists in Germany are like Kamikazes on two wheels. I really hate them. Not tough enough for the street but terrorising pedestrians.


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

Well, it's pretty bad in my country too, but the Netherlands (and particularly Amsterdam) are the worst of all


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## Autostädter (Nov 29, 2009)

You always think that the user of the other mode of transport is misbehaving  It happens automatically. As a pedestrian it's the cyclists or drivers, as a cyclist it's the pedestrians who don't look left or right and walk where they please. As a driver it's the non-drivers. I've had bad experiences with all of them 

The Netherlands have certainly the most reckless cyclists but at least you learn to adapt very quickly after almost (or not) being run over and rebuked


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Wapper said:


> Very nice. I love the cities you visited and I love your pictures and commentary.
> 
> Your analysis of the bicycle lane is not entirely correct though. Belgium has all kinds of bicycle lanes, among which the type I saw in your picture. Bicycle roads on the sidewalk are actually way better than those on the road, because the latter are really dangerous for people driving the bikes. But I can imagine that you don't pay much attention to bikers as a pedestrian if you are not used to them driving next to you.


The main place I saw bicycles in Belgium was Ghent and if I recall correctly they all rode in the street and not on the sidewalk. I don't recall seeing so many in Brussels and none at all in Charleroi.

I really do prefer to let pedestrians have the sidewalks to themselves. We get enough danger just crossing the streets - we at least ought to be safe when walking on the sidewalk. But in some places in Germany I definitely did not feel safe on the sidewalk - in Berlin in particular.


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## Grotlaufen (Mar 2, 2007)

Regarding the "Amerikahaus" in Essen: 

There were several "Amerikahäuser" around West Germany, one in every large city. Run by the United States Information Agency from the early 1950's until USIA closed in 1999.

Wikipedia as usual have an article about the Agencys' role:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Information_Agency

And a complete list for all places in (West)Germany:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika-Haus

Apparently the one in Munich is still there but it's not financed by the US Government any longer but functions as a regular German-American foundation. 

These houses were in the beginning a part of "The reeducation" of the German people in order to get rid of all Nazi resentiment (German article only). 
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reeducation


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

That is very informative. I've never heard much about the "re-education" efforts.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

The Landshaftspark is a "park" in the northern section of Duisberg that is an old steel mill. Not a place to go play soccer but nevertheless very interesting:


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The old plant power station. I don't think any of the old equipment is in there and in any event the building was closed.


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This I actually know what it is - an old "Torpedo" car. It is where they put pig iron as it comes out of the blast furnace and then transport it to the basic oxygen furnace to make the pig iron into steel. It has that shape so that it can be easily tipped over to pour out the pig iron.


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It always amazes me the amount of pipes running around steel mills.


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Normally you could go to the top of one of the blast furnaces where I assume you could probably get an extremely nice view. Unfortunately, that was closed for renovation.


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An interesting attempt at artwork.


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My German sucks but I am guessing this solid concrete bunker is where they stored things like coke.


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Interesting valves that must be used to drain where ever liquids remain in the pipes.


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This looks quite interesting but I have absolutely no idea what it is. Note the fold out metal items on the sides.


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Look carefully and note the very interesting smokestack. There is what appears to function as one smokestack but is broken up into sections. Yet you can see that they intend for the smoke to go from each lower section up to the higher sections as they have wider sections to capture the smoke. At least that is what it looks like. Very strange.


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This of course begs the question of why they simply didn't make it one continuous stack.


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A "low-riding" rail car.


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Notice the brick work made to ensure lots of ventilation.

The park was nice but it was lacking in English singe (it had none) and it didn't have many old photographs or explanatory signs period. They definitely could do more to make this an educational place. Nice to visit if you are in the neighborhood but I wouldn't go far out of your way for it.


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## Piltup Man (May 21, 2010)

Very interesting. It does make me wonder, how do they manage to maintain all these sites? There is so much exposed metal it must be a nightmare to prevent corrosion.


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

That's pretty difficult. The old industrial sites in my country are very much rusting anyway, even if they're open to the public.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Piltup Man said:


> Very interesting. It does make me wonder, how do they manage to maintain all these sites? There is so much exposed metal it must be a nightmare to prevent corrosion.


Yes, I guess this could be a problem. I think these sites haven't been abandoned all that long. Most closed in the early 1990s I believe. The ones like Zollerverien which are big museums and charge admission will probably do fine. The ones like the Landshaftspark will probably decay over time but I think they do get some money from the government for repairs. After all, they were doing a lot of maintenance work while I was there.

Finally, remember that these things were designed to take a LOT of wear and tear. Remember they had all sorts of caustic materials and extreme temperatures that they were subject to. Just being exposed to wind and rain is probably childs play compared to what they used to face.


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## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

Love this thread! It's amazing how big these mills are.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Being done with the steel mill I headed back to the center of Duisberg where I hoped to take a tour of the harbor.

First, I had to take a long walk to get back to the tram station. There was actually a tram I could have taken there, rather than walked, but that is part of being a tourist - you simply don't know the places where you are and how to best get around.


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Mainly it was just passing more garden apartments but there was also this school.


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Don't ask me why this tram has Dusseldorf on the side - it was definitely Duisberg.

I made it back to the center and started walking through the downtown area towards the pier where I would find the tour boat.


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Some history of the city.


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Many of the places the cruise would visit.

Unfortunately I got there too late for the morning cruise but too early for the afternoon tour. I had some time to kill so I decided to wander around the center a bit.


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The Rathaus, or town hall.


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ok, if someone could tell me some of what this sign says I would really appreciate it. Did Immanuel Kant really live here or something???


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An old cathederal next to the Rathaus.


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This was a small but quite noisy demonstration in front of the Rathaus.


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I think it was mainly senior citizens protesting budget cuts. But the above sign seems to be against building demolition.


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I think they all arrived in this "Pirate" party bus. Very strange. It is still hard to believe this "Pirate" party is not all a big joke, but apparently it isn't.


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A nice old post office. I can only imagine how spectacular all these cities would be if not for all the destruction from the war.


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## Autostädter (Nov 29, 2009)

Nice photos again!

The Pirate Party is real. Their topics focus on the internet, e.g. they want to revise the copyright so that you can legally share any media on the internet (like movies and music). They are called a protest party here because they appeal to voters that are unhappy with the bigger parties. They make a lot of promises but seem quite naive (the members are also quite young). For a short period they had some success but now they have lost a lot of voters. 
The protest seems to be for more rights of older tenants and against a factory outlet.

As for the tram: it is part of the Düsseldorf tram network, which also reaches Duisburg and Krefeld.


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## Saxonia (Aug 15, 2012)

Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr 



> ok, if someone could tell me some of what this sign says I would really appreciate it. Did Immanuel Kant really live here or something???


It is a famous quote of him. 
Translation: 
"Two things fill the mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more intensely the mind of thought is drawn to them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me."
Kant stayed almost his complete life in Königsberg. I'am not sure if he ever left Ostpreußen (East Prussia). I do not think so. 



> I think it was mainly senior citizens protesting budget cuts. But the above sign seems to be against building demolition.


They are demonstrating against a planned Factory-Outlet-Center which obviously requires to demolish some appartement buildings.


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## muc (Sep 29, 2005)

600West218 said:


> Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr
> 
> ok, if someone could tell me some of what this sign says I would really appreciate it. Did Immanuel Kant really live here or something???


I have never heard of Kant spending some time in Duisburg.
This is merely a quote from his "Critique of practical reason":

_Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above and the moral law within._

(Translation taken from English Wikipedia)


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## Grotlaufen (Mar 2, 2007)

The plan for a Factory-Outlet Centre the demonstration was about (in German)
http://www.duisburg.de/micro2/pbv/planen/staedtebauliche_projekte/102010100000374722.php

Duisburg is a city which has stagnated for a long time and lost in population. That is why the city let developers demolish around 400 apartments in order to shrink the number of dwellings (as far as I understand it the city owns most apartments in Duisburg). To quote the website: "Der Aufgabe von Wohnungen steht allein im Bezirk Hamborn ein Leerstand von 2766 Wohnungen gegenüber. Stadtweit stehen 14 700 Wohnungen leer. " (The number of empty apartments in District Hamborn is 2766, for the whole city it's around 14700 empty apartments).

Am Zinkhüttenplatz on Google Streetview:
http://goo.gl/maps/4v2Vi


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

I'm also pretty sure that Kant never left Königsberg, which is today's Kaliningrad.

I'm looking forward to seeing the port of Duisburg. It's pretty famous for being the biggest (or one of the biggest) inland harbour in the world, but I have no idea how big it actually is. I'm not sure if I should be impressed, because I don't think it will come close to the size of a real sea port.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Autostädter said:


> Nice photos again!
> 
> The Pirate Party is real. Their topics focus on the internet, e.g. they want to revise the copyright so that you can legally share any media on the internet (like movies and music). They are called a protest party here because they appeal to voters that are unhappy with the bigger parties. They make a lot of promises but seem quite naive (the members are also quite young). For a short period they had some success but now they have lost a lot of voters.
> The protest seems to be for more rights of older tenants and against a factory outlet.
> ...


Thanks for the info.

It is amazing how close these cities are to each other. As it turned out it was probably a mistake to stay in Dortmund. I saw very little there and never made it to the Hansa Coking plant there (didn't need to really after I saw the Zollverrien). Staying in Dusseldorf or Essen or even Duisburg might have been better for purposes of getting around. As I'll mention later this choice made me miss at least one important sight that I wanted to see in the area.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Grotlaufen said:


> The plan for a Factory-Outlet Centre the demonstration was about (in German)
> http://www.duisburg.de/micro2/pbv/planen/staedtebauliche_projekte/102010100000374722.php
> 
> Duisburg is a city which has stagnated for a long time and lost in population. That is why the city let developers demolish around 400 apartments in order to shrink the number of dwellings (as far as I understand it the city owns most apartments in Duisburg). To quote the website: "Der Aufgabe von Wohnungen steht allein im Bezirk Hamborn ein Leerstand von 2766 Wohnungen gegenüber. Stadtweit stehen 14 700 Wohnungen leer. " (The number of empty apartments in District Hamborn is 2766, for the whole city it's around 14700 empty apartments).
> ...


Yes, I read about this stagnation of Duisberg. It is rather strange though. Because from what I understand Duisberg is about the only city in the Ruhr that has kept some of its heavy industry going. It has active steel mills and a big port. It really didn't look like a city down on its luck but maybe I didn't see the bad parts.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

muc said:


> I have never heard of Kant spending some time in Duisburg.
> This is merely a quote from his "Critique of practical reason":
> 
> _Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above and the moral law within._
> ...


Indeed Kant never did travel more than 10 miles from his home city in east Prussia. Interesting that they just put the quote here, though it is a very good one.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Next it was time to go back to the water and take the harbor cruise.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This was a bridge right by where the cruise began.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Here is a "de-industrialized" section of the harbor that is converted into a modern, and probably upscale, residential area. Note they keep the cranes to give it a certain ambiance. I saw places like this all over Germany - Dusseldorf, Duisberg, Bremen and Hamburg.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Good thing they kept the crane in front of that building. The building itself looks sterile and boring. The only thing that makes it look interesting at all is the crane.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

After a few minutes we cut out this non-sense of looking at stupid apartment buildings and turned back to go down the other way along the canal towards the Rhine river.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

The port had a lot of bulk products such as coal and scrap metal. 


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Or coils of sheet metal. In the U.S. that would definitely be transported by truck or rail - it was cool to see it moving by canal barge.

BTW, note the coverings for the barges hold stacked up. I actually saw them moving those things around to open and close a barge. It is done pretty much by one person using a hydraulic lift which you can actually see in this picture (the light blue part).


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This place is not a museum or abandoned area by any means. The entire port seemed to be in full operation. Both cranes in this photo were working as we passed, as were most other cranes we saw.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

A big wharehouse that has a covered dock area too. Note the "UK +" on the building. I saw that all over the port. I think it has something to do with water levels but I'm not sure. Does anyone know? And what does the "UK" stand for?


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

After passing a whole bunch of industry and docks we made it out to the Rhine where we would travel to other sections of the harbor.

One sad thing was the entire tour was narrated by a guide, but only in German. I could understand enough to know basically what they were talking about, but not enough to actually understanding. So I knew that the guides information was highly interesting (he seemed to be detailing what the products where at each site and giving lots of statistics) but I couldn't follow it. Pure torture.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

From the Rhine there are two or three sets of canals that branch off, plus the Ruhr river. I can't actually remember which is which in these pictures.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Lots and lots of these canal boats that I love here. It was very multinational with large numbers of ones from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. There were even some from the Chzek republic.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

As an American it is still hard to get used to seeing farm animals in the middle of urban areas.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Note the broad flat area on the far side of the bridge. I assume that is a flood plain that is part of the river at times.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Some sort of chemical plant along the Rhine.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

An interesting way to mount a crane. Note how massive the steel beams are.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Signs in case you are lost.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Continueing on:


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Scrap metal being picked up by a electro-magnet.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

A big looking fire boat. I guess they are prepared for big industrial and chemical fires. And oops, looks like I've been spelling the place's name wrong :-(


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

If you love canal barges, and I do, you are probably not going to find more of them in any other place than you find here.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This sure looks like coal and this machine was definitely piling it up.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Quite an interesting contraption for loading and unloading bulk products. I wonder what is in the blockhouse on top?


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Another big contraption but I'm not sure what it would be used for.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

A barge fully out of the water to be worked on.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

These were like guard houses to a bridge crossing the Rhine.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

I never did understand some of the naming conventions I saw in this part of Germany. For example, what is the Ruhrort?


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Yet another set of canals we are entering.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Here we are getting to more of the container part of the port. Again, note the "UK" notation on the crane.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Maybe this notation signifies the height of the crane over the water??


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

A police boat that needs to be spruced up a bit.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


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## Saxonia (Aug 15, 2012)

> I never did understand some of the naming conventions I saw in this part of Germany. For example, what is the Ruhrort?


The name of this city district.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhrort


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Now we were back out in the Rhine heading back towards are starting point:


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Note how low in the water it is. It looks like it could be swamped and sink easily. I wonder if that ever happens?


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

A working river.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This one almost ran us over 


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Heading back in to the first canal:


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

I wonder what Siemens is shipping from here.

Once we docked I promptly headed through the center to the train station. I was hoping to get to a vantage point that was supposed to have some good views of Duisburg's operational industry.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

A very colorful statue in the center of the city. It actually seemed to be some sort of symbol for the city.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

The very dull, post-war train station.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

But at least they had a VERY nice police car parked in front of it. Awesome paint job.

I next took a (expensive) taxi ride up to where some hill will supposedly you had good views. Saw lots of smokestacks belching smoke and other signs of industry from the taxi but as we were moving fast on a highway I couldn't get good pictures.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Well, this being northern Germany even calling this thing a "hill" was a bit generous. Your average highway overapass is higher.

But indeed you could see some active industry here.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

I wonder how tall that smokestack is? It almost looks like a SuperTall!


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

No shortage of steel and pipes here.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

The same tower that looks like it is made out of wood that I saw at Zollverien. I still don't know what it is though.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

After getting back into the city center I wandered around the main shopping area again (and finally found the tourist info center but only when it was too late and already closed - arghhh).


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

An interesting looking building though I'm not sure what it is. Something to do with industry it appears.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

What in the world is "Handelskammer"?!?!?! Well, I didn't have a chance to hang around and find out. I had to catch a train back to Dortmund. So maybe someone here can let me know what it is.


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

Autostädter said:


> As for the solar panels: as you noticed, they are put up by many farmers on top of their barns. I doubt that they are actually cost-efficient or even environmentally benefitial, as the mining and their production is very polluting, whereas Germany gets some of the least energy from the sun. However the state guarantees for a fixed high price for the energy they feed into the grid (to promote green energy) and this drives up the price everyone else has to pay for their electricity a lot. This will require some action from politicians in the near future.


The same happended over here 

Also, there's a problem of cheap Chinese solar panels flooding the european market.


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## Saxonia (Aug 15, 2012)

It is a quit good deal for the farmers. The only reason why many old LPG barns around here have not been demolished is because of these photovoltaic panels. 
Anyway, farmers are not (really not) the poorest in Germany.


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## Tiaren (Jan 29, 2006)

600West218 said:


> Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr
> 
> This statue is the symbol of the city of Bremen. No idea what it signifies but you see it everywhere.


Have you really never heard of the Town Musicians of Bremen by the Brothers Grimm? I thought, they were well known outside of Germany, like Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella etc...


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

No Disney adaptation! 

:jk:


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## Autostädter (Nov 29, 2009)

^ No, unfortunately Disney forgot to make the movie. They are really not that famous though.

Edit: Haha, same thought!


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## Autostädter (Nov 29, 2009)

Wapper said:


> The same happended over here


Interesting, I have never heard that Belgium did this as well!



Wapper said:


> Also, there's a problem of cheap Chinese solar panels flooding the european market.


Yes, Germany used to be the biggest producer of solar panels I think: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Valley_%28Germany%29. Now they closed everything down. Ironically the success of the German producers was because of the funding. However, they relied too much on that and became noncompetitive. Well, Germany is too dark for solar panels anyway, yet it has the most..


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## Skrapebook (May 7, 2010)

Tiaren said:


> Have you really never heard of the Town Musicians of Bremen by the Brothers Grimm? I thought they were well known outside of Germany, like Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella etc...


Germany is THE fairytale land of the world... :banana:
In every way! kay:


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Tiaren said:


> Have you really never heard of the Town Musicians of Bremen by the Brothers Grimm? I thought, they were well known outside of Germany, like Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella etc...


I was a deprived child - no one read fairy tales when I was young. hno: That is probably why I am a mentally disturbed person who goes around obsessing about old factories. :lol:


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

The next day was to be one of the more important days on my itinerary. I was off to see a gigantic ship yard where some of the largest cruise ships in the world are built.

It is located in Papenburg, a small town located not far from the North Sea and only about 5 kilometers from the Dutch border. Being a small town you might think it would be difficult to get there by train, but it wasn't.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

You take the train from Bremen up to Leer and then you transfer to another train that takes you down to Papenburg. Its a good two hour trip but very doable. Germany's rail system is awesome!!


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This being Germany while at the Bremen train station awaiting my train there were cargo trains going through.

And of course there were these:


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

It was very impressive the number of trains I saw transporting cars in Germany. They where everywhere, and seemingly heading in all directions.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

The regional trains in north western Germany look like this:


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Very nice, and comfortable.


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Leer


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To get to the tracks you have to go through tunnels and then up stairs. So they have this contraption to assist with luggage.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Happening downtown Leer!! This town is also connected to the sea, hence the buoys on the middle of downtown. It actually looked like a cool place to explore but there was no time for that.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Waiting for the train to Papenburg


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Ok, this diagram is a really cool little thing even though I had no idea how to use it at the time. I kept seeing signs of "A", "B", "C" act, along the platforms with no idea what they meant. It turns out they are for use with this sign. Basically, every train that stops at this platform is diagrammed on this. They list where each car of the train is with section number and everything and then you can see where they stop relative to those lettered signs. For example, say you are to be in the third car of second class. You would look up your train, find the third car of second class and then note what letter that car stops by. Then you wait by that letter and you will be right next to the third car of second class when the train arrives. Neat system but I didn't figure out how it worked until my very last train trip.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

It is northern Germany so there were plenty of water channels.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Lots of wind turbines. Note on one they don't even have the turbine on the tower yet.


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Here we go... Papenburg!


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Older lift bridges


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This was the small, old harbor area that has been redeveloped. The ship building industry originated here but now it has moved outside the city.

But like other places they keep the cranes around for show.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Yup, you can drive right under the crane.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

The local tourism agency.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Next, I hopped in a cab and it was off to the shipyard for the tour. I booked a very expensive private tour in English. All the other tours were in German. It was well worth the money.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This is the smaller of two enclosed construction halls where the ships are built.


The building on the right is the largest one and they build the really big cruise ships inside. The other one is for smaller cruise ships and other vessels. by 600West218, on Flickr

On the left is the end of the smaller construction hall. On the right you are looking down the length of the larger construction hall.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

The ship yard has its own fire department.

Also, note the bikes in the upper portion of the photo. Germany is so green even blue collar workers ride bikes to work. That would never happen in the US!!

This shipyard has a lot of history. It was started back in the late 1700s and has been in business ever since. It is privately owned by the Meyer family - the decendants of the man who founded it more than 200 years ago.

With all this history the first part of the tour is through a very detailed museum hall that is very informative.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This is a picture of the first area where I was in Papenburg. At that time you can see it was all shipyards whereas now it is a redeveloped residential and commercial area.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This is the shipyard in the present site but before they enclosed the construction halls.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Finally, they take you up a number of floors of stairs. You ascend what seems like 7 or 8 stories so you assume you will be really high up overlooking the ship. In actuality the massive ship towers over you.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/600west218/10260038003/ by 600West218, on Flickr

Trust me, it is 10 times more spectacular seeing it in person. It is simply stunning - something that pictures can't capture.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Note the pipe that goes to the roof. That is to exhaust the ships smokestack when they run the engines. When this thing is finished it is fully functional and leaves this construction under its own power after they flood the hall. No tug boats needed.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/600west218/10259947435/ by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This shows how the construction works. The ship is built out of 70 huge previously constructed blocks. These form the skeleton of the ship. Then they slide in pre-fabricated rooms that are the passenger compartments. The are all pre-built - just like trailer homes!!

They now take only about 11 months to fully construct one of these ships.. To do it so fast they start putting together the blocks of the next one along side the one that is already largely completed. Once the first ship leaves the other blocks are slid lifted over to the main construction bay.


They build a steel skeleton and then all the passenger rooms are essentially frefabricated trailer home type things that just get slid into the steel frame. In the front you can see some empty squares where they haven't slid in the frefab cabins yet. by 600West218, on Flickr

On the left you see one ship that will be completed within two months. On the right is one of the blocks that will make up the next ship. Once the first ship leaves the new blocks are moved over. In this way they speed up construction - they don't wait for one ship to be finished before beginning the next one.


No Title by 600West218, on Flickr

Here you can see what I was talking about with them sliding in prefab units for the passenger rooms. The empty spaces are where they haven't slid them in yet.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Again, the parts you see in the foreground are for the next ship.

Next we went over to the second, slightly smaller construction hall. 


http://www.flickr.com/photos/600west218/10260051743/ by 600West218, on Flickr

Here instead of constructing a large cruise ship they are constructing several smaller ships - one a research vessel and the others ferrys.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Note the roof on the right is covered with grass. They is common in Germany. Not sure of the purpose. by 600West218, on Flickr

Back outside. Notice the grass on the rooftop.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

I was told this crane was form East Germany and that the East German government had actually invested in this shipyard at one point. Strange but that is what I was told. This ship yard did build ships for the Soviet Union.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This is the massive door that slides open to let the completed ship out. The road in the picture is actually a lift bridge that moves out of the way.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Then I was back on the train rolling past corn fields towards Bremen.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Suburban areas...


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Finally, the train gets to Bremen and what do I see but...


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Yup, it is Germany so more cars.


I want the red Mercedes coup on the bottom. by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


no title by 600West218, on Flickr


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

That is my new car right there. But even though it is my new red Mercedes the stupid train operators wouldn't let me take it off the train right there....


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## El Mariachi (Nov 1, 2007)

Well done. A like seeing photos of German cities.


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## SputnikBooster (Jun 17, 2013)

Papenburg has btw a very nice city center. Don't say you missed that.  (-> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Papenburg_Zugbrücke.jpg)


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

You can see that it's not far from the Netherlands


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

SputnikBooster said:


> Papenburg has btw a very nice city center. Don't say you missed that.  (-> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Papenburg_Zugbrücke.jpg)


That does look very nice. Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of time to explore Papenburg. I still had exploring to do in Bremen, as you'll see in the next photo set. And while that looks nice what I saw in Bremen is more to my taste.


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## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

I never knew the ship construction in papenburg was that big! Love your pictures and the places you go!


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

As great as seeing the shipyards in Papenburg was it was by no means the end of my day. Fortunately I got back to Bremen in time to be able to go to its port area. Bremen at one time was a major port but apparently with the arrival of containerization it lost out to places like Hamburg. But the port was still fairly active, and full of interesting sites.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

The area is called Spiecher. It isn't a big wharehouse district as in Hamburg but it does have this quite nice building.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

It has murals dedicated to the port.


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Even the electrical closet coverings are related to the port...


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Behind the old Speicher you come to one of the canals which is still very much in use.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Definitely some real ships with real activity.


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I'm not exactly sure what this old building was - maybe an old fire department headquarters?


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Pouring bulk products into the barge. Note the coverings for the barge hold all stacked in the middle.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Much of the port of Bremen seemed to revolve around grain. I think they are bringing things like wheat here and then processing it into cereal and other products.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

A train running right down the center of the street.


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It was amazing how I could walk right through the middle of this port area. I think a few times I was in places I wasn't supposed to go to and at one point I did have trouble with some security people.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Hopefully these won't topple on me....


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

At this point I think I was beyond the public street and was on private property. A person seemed to be following me very slowly in a car, although they didn't approach me.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

An interesting hybrid building, part new part old.

At this point the car, which had disappeared, returned. Now it was driven by a big young guy, in the company of the older gentleman who had been following me. They pulled up and said something to me in German. When I replied that I don't speak German, only English, they immediately expressed great relieve - "oh, your just a tourist". I guess they thought maybe I was a criminal scoping the place out. They then did explain some of the interesting history of the area. Quite a nice experience, as it turned out.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

I don't know what kind of area that is, but in large European ports the access to most areas is restricted and very strictly controlled. This is a recent measure that was executed under American pressure. The USA only wants to trade if the port area is safe enough for them. These are all consequences of 9/11.


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## sky-eye (Jan 2, 2003)

Very nice thread. You' ve seen alot. The harbour of Bremen looks impressive, very nice pictures.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

After almost winding up in trouble with security in part of the active port I doubled back to the warehouse area where I intended to walk along the river and out to the light house at the very end.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

There was a very large wholesale market area.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This spectacular old structure also houses the harbor museum which unfortunately I arrived too late to visit.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

All along the river modern apartment and office buildings were going up.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Is this Bremen or is it Miami??


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Note the off leash dogs. Dogs roam freely in Germany - parks, streets, subways, busses, stores, etc. They really do almost get treated like humans.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Across the river you can see there is another port area, even if the view of it is blocked.


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Looking across the canals at the area I had previously explored on foot.


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

The old light house.


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Next I doubled back and walked along the river towards the city of Bremen.


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr


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Not the liveliest of places yet but it is still under development. I imagine it will be much livelier once completed.


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Kellog's - I imagine where much of the grain winds up.


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After a very nice meal in a Latin American restaurant it was time to hop on a tram and head back to the hotel.


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A deserted center.

What a day from the spectacular shipyard in Papenburg to the fascinating harbor of Bremen this was a day that really exceeded all expectations. It only needed to have about 10 hours more so that I could have seen all of Papenburg and all of Bremen harbor. As it is, I have another place I need to come back to.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Next it was on to Hamburg. Fortunately I was staying about 100 feet from the main train station so I just walked to one of these:


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Extremely convenient machines and then it was up to the platform to await the train.


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And it being Germany note what was rolling through the station:


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Don't think I ever took a train without seeing lots of trains hauling automobiles.

There was also this working train:


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Interesting drive mechanism. Almost like an old steam locomotive.


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Finally we got to some greener pastures between Bremen and Hamburg.


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Yet more cars rolling by.


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Cargo and cars.


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And after about an hour we were in the outskirts of Hamburg.


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Hamburg is not very appealing to the eye at first. At least not the way you come in on the train from Hamburg. As it turns out this is a huge redevelopment area.


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Part of the old harbor area that has clearly been redeveloped yet still has barges traveling through it.


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Finally in the Hamburg Hauptbahnhoff.


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Can't say I really liked it. Too garish with all those advertisements. Reminds me of Grand Central Station in New York before they renovated it and took out all the advertisements. Maybe they should do the same here.


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

Walking down the main commercial street towards the Rathaus, or town hall.


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I wonder if before the way Hamburg was populated mainly with buildings like this? If so, it must have been spectacular.


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The Rathaus.


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Unfortunately due to some events taking place there were no tours of the interior that day. So it was on to other parts of the city...


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## Dr.Seltsam (May 28, 2008)

Saxonia said:


> Let me add: it depends were you go to. The big cities were all destroyed but if you look in the outskirts of these cities you can also found intact ensembles. The (at that time) biggest cities in Germany which were not destroyed by area air raids are Halle an der Saale, Erfurt, Heidelberg and Regensburg.


You forgot to mention Wiesbaden and Lübeck (just a little bit destroyed).


Very interesting thread by the way! I come here nearly every day to check for new photos.


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## Saxonia (Aug 15, 2012)

Yes, I forgot Wiesbaden. But Lübeck was hit badly. Nearly all big churches were destroyed. Lübeck was the first target for british areal Bombing. They did a quite good job in reconstruction there.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

joshsam said:


> Btw Hamburg looks awesome. Looks like a great port city! Looks like you had some Foggy/smoggy conditions though.
> How is the air quality in Hamburg in General?


The air quality was fine. But during most all the trip it was cloudy and rainy. I think that accounts for what you see in the pictures.


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## SampedranoCapitalino (Mar 28, 2012)

Germany is impressively beautiful.


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## SampedranoCapitalino (Mar 28, 2012)

Some street views with pretty german girls. That'd be cool. :cheers:


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## Tiaren (Jan 29, 2006)

600West218;108116545[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/600west218/10381342474/ said:


> [/url]
> Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr
> 
> Unfortunately due to some events taking place there were no tours of the interior that day. So it was on to other parts of the city...


If you weren't able to go back, you did miss out!  Seeing you complaining about the lack of historic architecture, you would have been blown away by the gorgeous and perfectly preserved interior of the Rathaus.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

After landing back ashore it was time to explore just down stream from the city center.


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It is interesting to see how here and there older structures survive.


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These I can't tell what they are - pre-war, post-war?


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What once was.


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At this point I was just meandering, trying to find my way to major sites on the tourist map, but you could again see indications of what had been there before.


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Finally I make it to the Reeperbahn which is the famous red light district of Hamburg.


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It was as tacky as the guides said, definitely not a place for me other than to pass through.


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Looks like some people from Liverpool got here first anyways.


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From left to right, the St. Pauli soccer stadium, a old flack tower, and the TV tower.


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As it turns out I think Hamburg has two soccer teams of which St. Pauli is one.


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Did St. Pauli start out as a rugby club?? Or did it have one along side the soccer team? 


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Inside the St. Pauli store they had this shirt, which very strangely has the same slogan that Liverpool uses.


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It's not a particularly big stadium so I assume the other team is the more popular one.


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I was REALLY happy to have found this and was looking forward to checking it out.


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Untitled by 600West218, on Flickr

This may sound strange but I find this to be a beautiful structure. I love the massiveness of it - the very solid form of the structure. Also, I find massive concrete structures attractive in general. Finally, I like the angular structures of the overhangs.


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It looks like originally there was some other form that went around the windows.


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Palm trees!!! Apparently there is a bar/club on top and I really wanted to visit it. Unfortunately it is only open for special occasions based on what I was told.


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The main entrance. The building is very much in use with a music school, music store, art studios and other commercial ventures inside.


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At another entrance you can see the massiveness of the structure.


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## Tiaren (Jan 29, 2006)

Oooh, you should have gone to the Reeperbahn in the evening/at night. I am NOT into this thing at all, but the atmosphere then is completely different, than on your pics. Half of Hamburg and Hamburg tourists are then gathering there, like on a big fun fair. All the lights, the music, the pretty and young "ladies" and here and there an angry looking bouncer or pimp.
It's all completely safe though. I went there two times with my editor and fellow comic authors, when I was visiting my publisher and we had a great time.


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

St. Pauli is a pretty unique club in European football. I'm not that familiar with them, but they are supported by leftist and alternative people from Germany and even from other countries. They have created a special sort of brand and are seen as a sort of _cult club_. They also play in brown outfits, which is very rare in football for some reason. 

The other main team of Hamburg is Hamburger SV, which plays in the Bundeliga (top division in Germany). They are not as good as they used to be a few years ago though.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Tiaren said:


> Oooh, you should have gone to the Reeperbahn in the evening/at night. I am NOT into this thing at all, but the atmosphere then is completely different, than on your pics. Half of Hamburg and Hamburg tourists are then gathering there, like on a big fun fair. All the lights, the music, the pretty and young "ladies" and here and there an angry looking bouncer or pimp.
> It's all completely safe though. I went there two times with my editor and fellow comic authors, when I was visiting my publisher and we had a great time.


Yes, that would have been interesting but two things:

1) I was travelling with my significant other - not sure she would have been interested.

2) We were Couchsurfing and the evenings with our host were really good and I prefer mingling with my hosts than seeing something that probably isn't all that different from what Time Square used to be like.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Wapper said:


> St. Pauli is a pretty unique club in European football. I'm not that familiar with them, but they are supported by leftist and alternative people from Germany and even from other countries. They have created a special sort of brand and are seen as a sort of _cult club_. They also play in brown outfits, which is very rare in football for some reason.
> 
> The other main team of Hamburg is Hamburger SV, which plays in the Bundeliga (top division in Germany). They are not as good as they used to be a few years ago though.


Very interesting, thanks for the info.

Does that mean St. Pauli is a lower division team?


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Maybe you were a concrete manufacturer in a previous life?


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

600West218 said:


> Very interesting, thanks for the info.
> 
> Does that mean St. Pauli is a lower division team?


Yes, they currently play in the 2nd highest division, which is also a national league. I don't think they're good enough to ever promote to the top division though.


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## Saxonia (Aug 15, 2012)

Oh, never say never in german football.


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

Great pictures. BTW, why is Bremen so underrepresented here on SSC?


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

openlyJane said:


> Maybe you were a concrete manufacturer in a previous life?


haha, could be :lol:

Are you noting a bunch of commonalities between Liverpool and Hamburg yet?


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

LtBk said:


> Great pictures. BTW, why is Bremen so underrepresented here on SSC?


Don't know. It is a great place. I really liked the size - perfect in my mind. Good location and also not far from the sea.

I would love to go back. Didn't see the maritime museum, didn't go in the Rathaus, didn't go to big parts of the port, etc. I could definitely use a few more days there.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

Contineuing on I came to the court house area:


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This is one of the present day courts in Hamburg. Maybe the main court, I'm not sure.


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At the suggestion of a women leaving the building I went in to see the legal library.


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The main hall of the court.


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The surrounding area was nicely landscaped with lots of statues.


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A dog getting some exercise.


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A very large and interesting looking inter-war era building.


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I very much like this architectural style and don't think I've seen it much anywhere else.


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Now for some more Victorian looking buildings right next door that would be at home in Manchester.


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Back by the union building...


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The courthouse from more of a distance.


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Time to hop on the train to check out other parts.


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Immaculate U-bahn passageway.


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## thun (Aug 8, 2007)

> I very much like this architectural style and don't think I've seen it much anywhere else.


No wonder. Backsteinexpressionismus/brick expressionism is a rather Northern German thing


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

thun said:


> No wonder. Backsteinexpressionismus/brick expressionism is a rather Northern German thing


Excellent article!!! Thanks so much for the link. There are some even better examples of this style that I was close to but misse hno: One more reason to go back.


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