Question 1 comes from Kelly:
How big is the Castle Church?
As some of you might remember the Castle Church stands in Wittenberg. It was at this church that Martin Luther nailed up his 95 Theses to begin the Protestant Revolution. Kelly, it is quite a sizable church. In terms of square feet, I cannot say how large. The sanctuary was probably one of the largest that I have visited. It has a balcony that can accommodate a few hundred people. The church also has a large tower. I did a bit of research and found out that this tower is 300 feet tall. To get a good sense of how tall that is: take a football field, and stand it up on one end zone. That is 300 feet tall. Visitors could walk up to the observation deck which was just over halfway up, 170ft high. The pictures that look out over Wittenberg are from this deck. To get to the deck, visitors must walk up 289 steps. 289! Needless to say I was exhausted by the time I got to the top. And the staircases are spiral, so I was a bit dizzy as well.
Question number 2 comes from Mason:
Is it true that Berlin is big?
Yes, Mason. Berlin is big. In terms of people, Berlin is home to nearly 3,5000,000 people. Murray, on the other hand, has approximately 15,000 people. With regard to land, Berlin is about 35 times larger than Murray. Berlin is the largest city, in terms of population, in germany. Hamburg is second with just over 1.5M people. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Berlin is the largest city that I've lived in. I wish I could more accurately describe its size, but it certainly dwarfs Murray. I don't know if it is even fair to compare the two.
Question number 3 comes from Tyler:
Is it true that Germans are very nice?
From my experiences, Germans have been very nice. Many believe that Germans can be cold and a bit short when they talk to people. Some say that Germans are direct and don't care much for chit-chat. I, on the other hand, have found things to be quite different. Many of you may remember the Berliners that I met on the way home from the Arsenal match. They were very welcoming and very interested in talking to me. It could have had something to do with the certain soccer team that we both supported, but not necessarily. I spoke with a group of men and a son and a father. Looking back on it, these people had very strong relationships with one another and by no means had to open up their respective circles to an outsider American like myself. But they did, and there was no problem whatsoever. I've had other good experiences with people in the UBahn, in cafes, in bars, and many other places. People here in Berlin seem to be very open and very willing to talk with me and help me.
Finally, question number 4 comes from Canaan:
Are the Germans bad like on the Indiana Jones movies?
No, not at all. The bad guys from the Indiana Jones movies were Germans, but they in no way represent the broader population of Germany. They come from a small group of Germans that took power in the 1930s, but they spoke for only a radical minority of Germans. These Germans were only in power for about 12 years, and now Germany and the world condemns their actions. Germans are very nice and helpful people, as noted in question 3. The bad guys in Indiana Jones represent only a historical image of a group of people that identified with a terrible world view. They do not represent Germany or the German people.
I hope these answers help some of you, and I thank you for your questions. Keep them coming in, and I look forward to hearing from you all soon. Take care,
Deutsches Wort des Tages:
die Frage -- question
1 comment:
The last question reminded me of when we saw some Germans at Disney World when I was a kid and I asked my Dad if they were Nazis.
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