Excursion to Meersburg

So anyone who's been keeping up with this blog has realized there isn't a whole lot to have been keeping up with. I've been in Germany for about a month, and have posted very little! There's a bit of a reason behind this. For about the first month I was here, I really didn't do a whole lot. I got here a month early before my classes started or my fellow internationals arrived, and I spent most of that either just relaxing by the lake or doing some basic bureaucratic tasks...things I'm sure no one wanted to hear about, haha. It was pretty nice, though, considering how stressful the workload was during my last year of college, to just relax and do nothing.

But on 5. September my German courses and international orientation began, and now I have a few more experiences to write about! I'm not going to really summarize everything that's been going on in this particular post ("I woke up on Monday and made myself some toast..."), since this one is about the excursion I had to Meersburg on 8. September, but you'll see what I've been doing in bits and pieces in other posts.

Meersburg is a town of about 5,600 across the Bodensee from Konstanz. There is a ferry that goes between Konstanz and Meersburg 24 hours a day, and once I get the Studi-Ticket from the university, I'll be able to take the ferry all the time for free...which is a good thing, because there's a bottle of wine I need to get back there and buy! (This area of Germany is a small but wonderful wine-growing region)

Meersburg vineyards

I was in Meersburg when I was here last year, but that was during March, and it happened to be raining and quite cold that day. This day was absolutely beautiful, sunny and warm! :) Which is perfect weather to tour...

...a medieval castle!

The Burg goes WAY back to the 7th century A.D.!

Just to clarify, although it is considered a castle, "Burg" actually translates more to "fortress." A castle, such as the 18th-century and fabulously pink one also in Meersburg, is a "Schloss." Many towns in Germany, and subsequently the United States and other countries where German immigrants have settled, also have "-burg" or "-berg" at the end of their name. Although after a while I'm fairly certain the towns in America stopped differentiating, there is also something to be said here: as just explained, a "Burg" is a fortress, so a town in Germany with such an ending in its name could have very well been one during ancient or medieval times. A "Berg," however, is a mountain.

For you Star Trek fans...a "Borg" is also something different...

I included the Wikipedia link to the Burg's information page, so you guys can look up the whole history of it there. But here in this post I want to include some personal experiences I had there...and some new vocabulary (and not necessarily words I expected to learn)!

In one of the Renaissance-era rooms hangs this little guy, which looks like a child flying on some deer antlers and holding an emblem. Well, you may or may not be able to notice, but he doesn't have legs, but the antlers aren't exactly his legs either. They're coming right out of his behind, and thus he is called an "A(r)schgeweih," literally translated "Ass-antlers." (Just to note, some Germans choose to pronounce the "r" and others don't...my Bavarian mother never did).

And so you might think that this is funny and cute, but did you know that nowadays "Aschgeweih" is the term people use to refer to a "tramp-stamp" tattoo on the lower back, or in German "Schlampestampe" ? Now THAT'S what a history student like me loves...knowing that today's dirty slang originated centuries ago and is hanging in one of the oldest castles in Europe.

Another interesting thing I learned from the Burg is about a semi-famous former resident. Many bishops lived in the Burg along with royalty, and one such bishop was Johann Franz Schenk von Stauffenberg who lived during the 17th to 18th centuries (sorry that the Wikipedia page is only in German, for those who don't understand German!). Does the last name "von Stauffenberg" sound familiar at all?

Claus von Stauffenberg

The bishop was the ancestor of this guy. Still not familiar?

There we go! Everyone is much more recognizable when Tom Cruise plays them in an average performance in a historical movie ("Valkyrie," 2008), although I do applaud the film for bringing attention to von Stauffenberg's cause and for helping to break the stereotype that all World War II-era Germans were dedicated Nazis. You can read more about Claus von Stauffenberg here. You can read more about Tom Cruise in your average celebrity gossip tabloid.

During the tour, my friend Nils, who was giving us the tour in German, asked us if we recognized the name at all. No one answered, except me, who merely said, "Tom Cruise!" No one got the joke...(Nils did, but rolled his eyes, haha).

After the tour of the Burg, we were let loose on the town, which happened to be having a wine festival! And may I say, Meersburg has a wonderful selection of wines.

The Weinfest, held right in front of the 18th-century Neue Schloss!

This is why I love Germany--I can indulge my desire to tour medieval historical sights, and a hearty party is often nearby! Just kidding, but I've been to a few of these "Fests," and I must say they are quite enjoyable. The wine was delicious! As I said at the beginning of the post, I need to go back and get me a bottle...

Me (on the left), Nils, and Dana