Train Ride to Munich

On the way to Munich, I ended up having an unexpected conversation with the couple sitting behind Elizabeth and I. A woman started talking to the two of us after she overheard us asking questions about different things we saw outside the train window. Later did we find out that we were traveling along the Rhein River, which she claimed was one of the most beautiful stretches of land in Germany. This doesn’t surprise me now that I found out the Rhein’s nickname is “the Romantic Rhine”, because of the more than forty castles and fortresses from the Middle Ages between the miles of vineyards. This woman had grown up in the area we were passing through and distinctly remembered the river during World War II. The Rhein used to be a boundary between the French and Germans and as a kid she could remember walking across a single bridge that connected the two sides in order to pick strawberries. After the woman found out we were traveling to Munich and planning on visiting Dachau, she got a little quiet. Because she lived during the war she said she could never visit a concentration camp, however understood why we would want to see them rather than just read about it. Her husband quickly chimed in and reminded Liz and I that there were two sides to every story, that’s exactly what history is “his- story”. The women continued to tell us about World War II and even pulled out two postcards that depicted the devastation in Cologne, Germany after the war. It shouldn’t have surprised me that this older couple still carried around pictures of the destruction, yet it did. The two of them were so eager to teach us about Germany and we were excited to listen.

As the stories went on the husband would point out different landmarks we were passing as we traveled and the woman would then inform us on the importance of what we were seeing. Some of the unique things they pointed out included the castles being transformed into hotels and the different vineyards. Which little did I know the Germans were big into wine, not just beer. (The wine along the Rhein is typically made from the Reisling grape, and the couple highly recommended it.) The husband also pointed to a rock along the river where one of the most famous German legends happened. It is believed “a nymph lived in the Lorelei rock about the Rhein and she lured fisherman to destruction with her singing until she was overcome with love and plunged to her own death”. There is now a bronze statue of the nymph that overlooks the river.

A little before their stop the question of what brought you to Germany came up. Elizabeth and I said we were studying aboard for seven weeks and she said the two of them try to visit Germany once or twice a year to see family. The couple now lives in Missouri but still has such strong pride for their country. The woman mentioned how she loves the United States but considers herself a German-American not just an American. She had such strong nationalism for her home country it was contagious. This couple on the train taught me more about the section of Germany I was passing through than any guidebook would have. Talking to them made me excited to visit Munich, even though they said we should have gone to Berlin.

To learn more about this part of the Rhein look at: http://www.rollintl.com/roll/rhine.htm