In February, the Carl Schurz German American Club hosted its semi-annual bowling event to welcome our new Dickinson students in Bremen. We played three fun rounds of bowling before concluding the evening with a delicious Burger meal. Thank you to Jens and the German American Club for organizing this fun event and welcoming our students so warmly to Bremen.
Click here for the article by the Carl Schurz German American Club about the event (in German).
Beginning of February, Laura and Sophie from our Dickinson Community as well as full-year student Alex took our new spring students on a city tour through the center of Bremen.
We started our tour at the Bremen Town Musicians statue – and of course touching the donkey’s legs for good look and making a wish was a must. Afterwards, we explored the historic market square, visited the beautiful Böttchergasse with its unique architecture, strolled through the many cute streets of the Schnoor quarter, Bremen’s oldest district, as well as took a walk along the river Weser at the Schlachte, a former waterfront harbor.
Thank you Laura, Sophie and Alex for showing us a few of your favorite places around the city center!
by Alex Arnold ’27
On the last Saturday of January, we made the trek out into the bitter cold and down to the Weser Stadion to watch Werder Bremen’s men’s team play against #12 in the league, Mönchengladbach. We were fortunate enough to receive two tickets to Saturday’s game free-of-charge through one of program director, Dr. Ludwig’s, contacts.
Having been to the Stadion only once before (back in October, shortly after arriving in Bremen), it was such a treat to step foot into the energetic and unique atmosphere again. As we navigated to our seats, in a section close to the west curve, the question lingered whether the cold weather would deter fans from showing up in masses to fill the 42,100 seats of the stadium. But, as game time neared, it became clear that the icy winds on the banks of the Weser river were no match for the burning passion of the Werder supporters, who continued to trickle in, filling almost every last seat. The Mönchengladbach fans, however, are also not to be underestimated. At times, their cheering and chanting drowned out that even of Werder’s own fan section, located in the infamous “Ostkurve”.
While the game did not result in a win for Werder, it also wasn’t a loss! A last-minute goal (literally) in the 94th minute from Werder player, Keke Topp, left the game in a 1:1 tie. With choruses of “wir sind Werder Bremen” echoing in my head, I left already looking forward to the next time I could make it to the stadium.
On Tuesday, we welcomed our new Spring Semester students, Emma and Kris, in Bremen. We started off our orientation week with a delicious dinner at the “Bremer Ratskeller”, a traditional and historical restaurant in the old town center of Bremen, right next to the famous town musician statue.
Welcome to Bremen, Emma and Kris!
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from us to all of you!
We concluded the year with our annual Christmas Celebrations, during which we packed Christmas bags as part of the Christmas bag campaign by Stiftung Solidarität Ukraine (Solidarity Ukraine Foundation) for children in Ukraine, decorated a ginger bread house and drank and ate lots of punsch, ginger bread and Christmas cookies.
We are looking forward to all the things the new year will bring and are wishing a Merry Christmas to everyone that is celebrating, as well as a great winter break and a Happy New Year to all of you!
Or, as we say in German: “Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!” (literally meaning “A good slip/ slide into the New Year”). This is how we are wishing a Happy New Year before Midnight on the 31st of December – you will hear people saying this already as early as mid December, usually in combination with Merry Christmas then, and especially between Christmas and New Years Eve.
After midnight on the 31st of December, once it is already January 1st, we say “Frohes Neues” (“Happy New Year”).
by Kate Elmes ’27 and Haley Henderson ’27
The whole trip was so much fun but my favorite part by far was the afternoon chat our group had with B.K. Tragelehn. He was so cool to speak with and such an interesting person. It was also great getting the chance to meet/catch up with alumni of the program! We had tons of events planned for us, but still had free time built into the schedule; I used mine to get some souvenirs of the city and see a few museums. by Kate Elmes ’27
I absolutely loved our group excursion to Berlin. I had a wonderful time getting to immerse myself into the city with everyone. I was delighted to get the chance to see alumni that had previously done the Dickinson in Germany program. My favorite activity was most definitely Monsterkabinett! The music and animatronics were so uniquely Berlin, I was really glad to have gotten to experience it. Learning about the history of Berlin was also really important to me, so getting to visit a new museum every day didn’t disappoint! I’d love to revisit the city, and I’m very excited for future excursions within the program! by Haley Henderson ’27
On Saturday, we enjoyed a festive Thanksgiving Dinner, hosted by the Carl Schurz German American Club.
The Dinner took place in the Havana Lounge in Bremen. After welcome speeches by Club President Ulf-Brün Drechsel and special guest Prof. Dr. Wiebke Ahrndt (Director of the Overseas Museum in Bremen), it was time to cut the turkey.
We then enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, which was afterwards rounded off with a slice of apple pie.
We would like to thank the Carl Schurz German American Club for the invitation and for hosting this special event.
On Thursday, October 23, we were invited by the German-American club to their bi-annual bowling night.
Together with Jens and Neil from the German-American club, we bowled for two hours and then enjoyed a delicious burger dinner afterwards.
Thank you to Jens and the German-America club for organizing this event, we had a great time!
We rounded our orientation week off with a visit to the Weser Stadion, the home stadium of Bremen’s soccer team Werder Bremen. We watched the first division highlight game between the women’s team of Werder Bremen and the women’s team of the Hamburger SV (HSV).
It was the first “Nordderby” (“Northern Derby” – that’s how the rival games between Werder Bremen and Hamburger SV are called) in the Women’s Bundesliga history, since the team of Hamburg was promoted to the first division for the first time this season.
The stadium was nearly sold out, and we had tickets in the “Ostkurve”, the fan block of Werder Bremen. It was a good game, and Bremen ended up winning 2:0.
On Sunday, we did a spontaneous little trip to Bremen-Vegesack, which lies in the north of Bremen, where the Lesum River meets the Weser. Around 400 years ago, Germany’s first artificial harbour was constructed here, and today Vegesack is still known for its Harbour. The bronze statue of a whale jaw as well as the “Whale fins in the waves” sculpture that can be found on the Weser promenade of the “Vegesacker Hafen” (Harbour) are a memorial to the historical whaling tradition and the “whaling town” of Vegesack.
We explored the promenade of the harbour as well as the “Vegefest”, a neighborhood festival in Vegesack that takes place every year at the beginning of fall. We explored the artistic flea market in the city center, tried some traditional “Schmalzkuchen” and listened to a local band playing American bluegrass, country and blues Music.
The weather was – in a typical Bremen way – a bit rainy, but that did not stop us from having a fun afternoon.