House of the History of the German Republic

We took a quick trip up to the Museum Mile in Bonn to visit the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. This is a museum devoted to the history of the Germany since the forming of republic following WWII.

The museum is organized so that you feel you are walking through a time line starting in 1945 to the present. The initial displays then are about the liberation and occupation. There you can see photos and videos of the state of the German cities following the war, artifacts from the occupation, and exhibits about the Berlin airlifts. This period also includes coming to grips with the atrocities of the war.

The exhibits then flow into formation of republic, the political parties, and the division of Germany. From this point as you walk along the time line, there are displays showing the results of each German election to orient you along the time lines. Along the time line are presented displays illustrating the life in Germany and the forces effecting that life. These include things like the cultural influences, the political forces in play, the products being produced, immigration, and, of course, reunification.

Many exhibits are interactive, allowing you to experience the sights and sounds of the time. There is, of course, the video of John F. Kennedy in Berlin. Also a 1950 VW Beatle with its split rear window, a BMW Zeta, Zeiss Optics, interviews with immigrants and rock music.

It really is a nice museum, and it is free. You can buy a guide to the exhibition to 3€ that can help follow the displays. But even without that, there is much that someone without good knowledge of the German language can enjoy here.

Beers I've Tried: Küppers Kölsch

In continuing to learn about kölsch beer, here's one that I found that sort of turned me off. Not because of the taste though. Rather it was the marketing of the product.

Reading the description Küppers Kölsch on the back label of the bottle I noticed the claim that Küppers Kölsch was brewed according to the Deutsches Reinheitsgebot (German Beer Purity Law) of 1516 that states that the only ingredients allowed in beer are water, barley, and hops. There are two troubling things about this claim.

First is that some regional beer styles exist in Germany today because the Reinheitsgebot did not cover those regions of what is today Germany. Kölsch is one of those styles. But I suppose that being brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot is a symbol of quality. Even some American beers put this claim on their labels.

My second problem is a little more serious. In reading the ingredient list, I see yeast, wheat malt, hops extract. Yeast was not mentioned in the Reinheitsgebot because they didn't know what it was at the time, so no problem with that addition. But wheat is not on the list of allowed ingredients in beer. And if you are using hop extract, how can you be sure what is in there. I mean if you are going to use the Reinheitsgebot to invoke images of centuries of brewing knowledge, then I think you should be controlling the whole process. That means bringing in the grain and hops, malting the grain, extracting the proteins in water and using the whole hops. That's what brewing has meant for centuries.

Walking Frannie - Finding Her Voice

I made this video of Frannie a couple of days ago. It is pretty shaky because I was trying to get her to play with me while filming her. The only reason I put it up here is that it actually captures her barking. She does it twice about half way through the film.

I know, many wondered if she actually had a voice. I only heard her bark twice in the year and a half we had her in the USA. But we have notice her doing the a bit more recently. At home she is quiet, although she did let out a bark the other day when a wind caused some drapes to move. So maybe she has a future as a watchdog.

From 2010-05-03

My Ride

This has been my ride the last couple of weeks. We have been pretty lucky with the weather, so I started riding bike to school. Of course the fact that fot the moment I'm no longer legally able to drive a car in German helped me make the change, but more about that in a moment.

As you can see, it is a pretty nice bike. It is from a German manufacturer, Kettler. Magda actually won this bike while she was in the USA. But she is not much of a bike rider, so I've sort of taken it over.

No this is not a ladies bike.  It is a city bike. The lack of a crossbar is a "feature" to allow the rider to easily get on an off the bike (although I still tend to swing my leg over the back of the bike by force of habit). All the moving parts a covered to prevent damage to clothing. There are big tires to handle the occasional rough roads in the city. Fenders to reduce road spray in wet weather. The shifter is integrated into the right grip. It only has 8 gears because in most cities there aren't that many steep climbs. For me, the only hill is getting up the bridge over the Moselle. Breaks can be operated from the handlebar or by reversing the pedals (just like the old days). Front and rear lights are powered by a generator integrated in the rear hub. Frame is all aluminum, so it is lighter than it might look, but I would not call it a light weight bike.

Bikes here are pretty expensive, and I'm not sure why. Retail is close to 1000 € on this baby, but I've seen ads for similar Kettler bikes for 599 €.

As to why I cannot drive. I was able to drive on my Ohio license for 6 months. That ended earlier this month. One of the nice things coming from Ohio is that there is an agreement between Ohio and Germany so that I can trade my Ohio license for a Germany one within those 6 months and not have to take the German driving test which I hear is pretty stiff. So we started that process about 5 weeks ago. What we didn't know is that before they can issue the German license, they need to contact Ohio authorities to seen if I'm wanted for any thing. That will take 2 months. So for the next 3 weeks, Magda is stuck driving me around.

Still, I am actually enjoying riding the bike to school. So far I've been lucky and not gotten too wet. Although I did have to delay a ride home until a storm passed one day. It is a bout 20 minutes each way with bike. Frankly that is faster than with the bus. And it is about the same as with the car if you add the time to find parking, feed the meter and walk to the school. Plus, you feel that you got in a little exercise.

Biking here is more prevalent than in Columbus. Koblenz has bike lanes planned into most of the city streets. And there is a bike trail along the Rhine. Legally, bikes have right-of-way over cars, and pedestrians over bikes. So if there is an accident, there is no question that the car driver is at fault. I would like to tell you that eliminates all the problems, but there are still some crazies that you have to watch out for. Still I think it is easier to get around the streets here on a bike than back in Columbus.

I just need to keep reminding myself that it is a city bike, not a girl's bike.