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Unexpected Discoveries

5/8/2016

1 Comment

 
Gransee  -  Fürstenberg  
The third day on our bikes - the third day is often the day when your muscles are beginning to feel the strain of riding daily but you haven't yet built up new strength. So we slowed down a little and decided to give our bodies a chance to recoup.

It was again grey in the morning and looked like rain, and again we were lucky and stayed dry. The bicycle route took us through charming landscape of lakes and woods. Typical for the day was rolling countryside with occasional villages, half-timbered churches and two brick Cistercian monasteries, now ruins.

In the middle of a lovely wood of birches and beeches we discovered  a memorial plaque for the victims of Ravensbrück, a  concentration camp for women in WWII. The remains of the camp's buildings, which are partially visible from the bike path, now house a National Memorial site with two permanent exhibitions: "Women of Ravensbrück", which displays the biographies of 27 former prisoners, and "Ravensbrück: Topography and History of the Women's Concentration Camp", which provides information about the origins of the camp, describes daily life in the camp, and explains the principle of Vernichtung durch Arbeit (extermination through work). How gruesome this countryside of lakes and forests must have appeared to the prisoners of Ravensbrück.

With the help of the tourist information office we found a room in Fürstenberg. It was very simple  but we had a view to the Havel. We hadn't seen anyone swimming yet, by the way, this summer has been much too cool. There wasn't much to the town, a main street, a few stores, a few restaurants, a few restored facades.

On one that was better restored than the rest we discovered a plaque telling us that Heinrich Schliemann had lived here for four years. It was for me an intriquing thought that Schliemann had once lived in this humble, run down town which still has a way to go before it is back on its feet economically.  Schliemann, born in 1822, was a German archaeologist and excavator of Troy. He is sometimes considered to be the modern discoverer of prehistoric Greece and has become a symbol of the romance and excitement of archaeology.

My bike was acting up again, sometimes the battery was connected, sometimes not.
1 Comment
Bev
18/8/2016 02:50:11

Nice commentary about the poor women in the camp about the explorer. Great stories.

Reply



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  • Home
  • Bicycle Tours
    • 2021 >
      • Autumn in the Allgäu
      • Austria Again
      • A Dip into Tyrol
      • Wertheim and Beyond
      • We got as far as Wertheim
      • Bavarian Getaways
    • 2020 >
      • Out and About in Bavaria >
        • Day 1: Gauting - Bad Tölz
        • Day 2: Bad Tölz - Bad Kohlgrub
        • Day 3: Bad Kohlgrub - Landsberg
        • Day 4: Landsberg - Gauting
    • 2019 >
      • The Season Has Begun
      • Pedaling and Shooting in Bavaria >
        • Day 1
        • Day 2
      • More Pedaling in Bavaria >
        • Day 1
        • Day 2
      • Cycling the Inn in Austria >
        • Day 1 Gautig to Tölz
        • Day 2 Tölz to Jenbach
        • Day 3 Jenbach to Innsbruck
        • Day 4 Innsbruck to Rietz
        • Day 5 Rietz to Landeck
        • Day 6 Landeck and Home
    • 2018 >
      • A Two Day Outing
      • A nine-day tour in Lower Bavaria >
        • Day 1
        • Day 2
        • Day 3
        • Day 4
        • Day 5
        • Day 6
        • Day 7
        • Day 8
        • Day 9
      • The Romantic Road >
        • Day 1 - Füssen to Peiting
        • Day 2 - Peiting to Klosterlechfeld
        • Day 3 - Kosterlechfeld to Gersthofen
        • Day 4 - Gersthofen to Donauwörth
        • Day 5 - Train Ride Home
      • Continuing on the Romantic Road >
        • Day 1 - Donauwörth to Raustetten
        • Day 2 - Raustetten to Dorfgütingen
        • Day 3 - Dorfgütingen to Creglingen
        • Day 4 - Creglingen to Hochhausen
        • Day 5: Hochhausen to Uettingen
        • Day 6 - Uettingen to Würzburg
      • Alpe-Adria Tour 2018 >
        • 1. Alsace or the Alps?
        • 2. We're Off: Munich to Bruckmühl
        • 3. Mountains Aready? Bruckmühl to Übersee
        • 4. Almost Salzburg: Übersee to Freilassing
        • 5. On the Ciclovia Alpe-Adria: Freilassing to Golling
        • 6. A Short Ride: Golling to Werfen
        • 7. A Patch of Blue Sky: Werfen to Sankt Veit
        • 8. Holed up in Sankt Veit
        • 9. The Big Climb: Sankt Veit to Unterkolbnitz
        • 10. Inching Our Way: Kolbnitz to Spittal
        • 11. Flat and Dry: Spittal to Arnoldstein
        • 12. Buongiorno Bella Italia: Arnoldstein to Chiusaforte
        • 13. Best Bike Path Ever: Chiusaforte to Tavagnacco
        • 14. Closer to the Sea: Tavagnacco to Palmanova
        • 15. Last Day on the Road: Palmanova to Grado
        • 16. Grado and How We Got Home
    • 2016 >
      • To Berlin and Beyond
    • 2013 >
      • Eight Wheels in Transit
    • 2011 >
      • From Passau to Vienna
    • 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006
  • Day Rides
    • Rides 2023
    • 2022 Rides
    • 2021 Walks and Rides
    • 2020 Bicycle Days
    • 2019 Rides >
      • Bicycle Days 2019
    • 2018 Rides >
      • Bicycle Days 2018
      • 2018 Monthly Challenges
      • Cycling in Circles
    • 2017 Rides and Challenges >
      • Late to the Party
      • The Munich Kaffeeklatsch
  • Bicycle Memories
    • 1981: Bicycling with Daniel
    • 1981 - Passau to Vienna
    • 1982 - Provence with Daniel
    • 1985: Believe It or Not
    • 1986 - Southwest France
  • About
  • Contact
  • My Blog
  • Miscellaneous
    • Hochbunkers in Munich