Wir suchen Deutschland – the Rhine and the Ruhr

Wir suchen Deutschland - the Rhine and the Ruhr

Last month Peter and Sabine visited Frankfurt and Trier, this month they’re off to explore the Rhine and the Ruhr.

Rhein

Das schaffende Völkchen am Rhein
versteht es, recht fröhlich zu sein. –
Wir singen gern mit und kosten die Reben.
Sabinchen, was kann es denn Schöneres geben! –
Tief unten der mächtige, rauchende Strom,
In weiter Ferne der Kölner Dom!
Die Ritterburgen aus alten Tagen
erinnern an Lieder und Heldensagen.

Peter and Sabine mention the river Rhine with its castles and vineyards and the Cologne cathedral, the Kölner Dom..

I shared some lovely videos from the river Rhine here, but sadly, they got taken down. But if you search YouTube for River Rhine, you’ll find lots of videos.

If you’d like to see the inside of the Kölner Dom, check out this blog post where I talk about 5 German World heritage sites

Ruhrgebiet

Gerastet haben wir, nun aufgegessen!
Es geht ins Ruhrgebiet nach Essen.
von fleißigen Männern im tiefen Schacht
wird Kohle hier ans Licht gebracht.
Sie wird auch deutsches Gold genannt
und brachte Reichtum uns ins Land.
Denn Kohle, Koks und Stahl und Eisen
von hier in alle Länder reisen.

The Ruhr – das Ruhrgebiet or, more colloquial, der Ruhrpott in German – is an interesting contrast to the vineyards and castles along the river Rhine.  Wikipedia says:

“The Ruhr  or the Ruhr district, Ruhr region, Ruhr area or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km² and a population of eight and a half million, it is the largest urban area in Germany, and third-largest in the European Union. It consists of several large, industrial cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west, and Lippe to the north. In the southwest it borders the Bergisches Land. It is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 12 million people, which is among the largest in Europe. From west to east, the region includes the cities of Duisburg, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Herne, Hagen, Dortmund, and Hamm, as well as parts of the more “rural” districts of Wesel, Recklinghausen, Unna and Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis.”

I found an interesting video from a Swiss TV station and had to laugh when they mentioned traffic jams. I lived in Dortmund in the 1970s and for one year I had to take the car to work. I was in a traffic jam every day!

And to finish this post, how about a bit of music?

Next month Peter and Sabine will visit Oldenburg and Hamburg.

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