TRA[life]VELS

This morning we had the pleasure of having a guest lecturer for our “People and Places of Germany” class, Frau Obermier. She is a German school teacher for 10-14 year olds and her pupils are staying here with us at the youth hostel for a few days. In Germany, all children go to elementary school until they turn 10 (I think) and then attend one of three types of schools: The Gymnasium, Realschule, or Hauptschule. The Gymnasium is for bright students who plan on attending a university. The Hauptschule is more vocational training…students who aren’t as intellectual who are preparing for hands on jobs such as a baker, a hairdresser, or a bricklayer. The Realschule is one that is sort of in-between. Frau Obermier is a Hauptschule teacher and her students are here to prepare for how to do a job interview. These students must get a job and begin working at age 14 and 15! The interview we had with her was supposed to be focused mainly on education, but it ended up being quite a bit broader than that. What really interested me was when our conversation took a turn toward politics and religion. “I think people have to believe in something,” said Frau Obermier. How interesting coming from a very liberal woman (like most Germans) whose idea of religion is a cross hanging in Bavarian classrooms and going to church or mass on holidays. In Germany, southern Germany at least, religion is still very much a part of life. On your birth certificate your parents declare you either Protestant or Catholic. As you can see, religion is more politics than anything. Many people even declare themselves atheists because declaring yourself either Protestant or Catholic means you have to pay taxes to your church. Contrast this with the United States. Religion is banned from politics (over-emphasis on separation of church and state) and equality and neutrality of religion is highly valued. Despite this, there are more believers (or at least claimed to be believers) in the United States than in Germany or the rest of Europe. I did not realize how much the socialistic mindset had a hold on a Germans worldview. They see everything through the lense of socialism, because that is what makes sense to them. Frau Obermier could not fathom why certain Americans did not support Obama’s vision of socializing medicine.

“I think people have to believe in something…” it is impossible not to have faith in something. Now that is something we all could agree on.

Later on we went on a tour of the churches in Regensburg. The cathedral our group went to 2 days ago is the largest…it towers over the entire city, but there are surprisingly many other churches, both Protestant and Catholic, that surround it. We even saw the place where Napoleon stayed for a time. Something I didn’t know before, the current Pope is from Regensburg and lives here part of the year. The walls of the large cathedral were once covered in soot from the war, but recently much of that has been sand blasted off, so you’ll see parts of the church that are completely black while other sections carry their normal color. I started taking more pictures of all the churches today, but unfortunately, the wifi is extremely slow here…it may take some time!