Submitted by Megan Peters on the 2017 winter session program in Leipzig, Germany sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
Week two down. It’s crazy and fabulous and just a fantastic experience. I’ve met a lot of people, some from other areas in the United States and some from places like Zimbabwe, Argentina, Brazil and New Zealand to name a few; and I have been getting closer with the various people in the program. I’m learning a lot about the German language, mainly because our class is spoken in 99.99% German, as well as German history.
Around almost every corner, there is either another museum or a fantastically kept building. The architecture in each still astounds me; it’s nothing I could ever compare to. Especially during our excursion to Erfurt and Eisenach where we could see countless churches, the Dome, and Wartburg Castle. All the buildings were full of careful details. The Dome held many statues of various important religious figures and the inside of all the buildings were still more impressive. They contained details inside from the tiles up to art on the ceilings. The stained-glass windows also added fantastic focal points. They were all so marvelous that some may not know where to look first, but when you did, your jaw would drop.
Despite the snowy and slippery weather while in both locations, our clan of University of Delaware students trekked on, some almost catching air. In the end, though, I think most of us had similar opinions. The cities are beautiful, full of history and culture and are something that should be seen at least once in one’s life. There were also various times when all I could think about was how I was walking in multiple historic figures’ footsteps like Martin Luther, Johann Sebastian Bach and Saint Elisabeth. I wouldn’t even come close to calling myself a history buff, but each of those thoughts were still astounding and had me wondering about each of their lives. Luckily, there was a Bach museum right in Eisenach and I was able to learn a bit more about J.S. Bach and I may be able to learn even more from the museum in Leipzig, which is very close to his grave in the Saint Thomas Church.
