[The Town Hall Rings the Eleventh Hour!]

Although I can hardly believe it, this is the last blog post I’ll be writing from the comfort of my hotel room in Berlin-Charlottenburg (thank you, Citadines, it’s been real). Luckily, before the flight back this Saturday, I was able to squeeze in one last trip, this time to München [Munich] in the south of Germany! I was hoping to get down to Bavaria at some point during this program, since everyone I know who has been to Germany has enthusiastically praised the food, culture, and sights of the south. One thing I had been hoping to see was Schloss Neuschwanstein, the most famous castle in Germany, and one of the most famous in all of Europe since it inspired the castle in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. However, it is about 2 hours out of Munich by bus, and that did not end up working out. There’s still so much I want to see in Germany, though, from Schwarzwald to Düsseldorf to Nordsee and so on—Neuschwanstein certainly has company. I fully intend to return, not only to finish crossing these sights off my list, but to visit my coworkers, whom I’ve grown quite close with in the past two months. It’ll be sad to leave the archive team at Ernst Busch, but I’m doubly grateful to have gotten to work with them in the first place. 

Munich was an amazing experience, and the trip also marked the first time I traveled solo in Europe. I was not alone the whole time, but my roommate was meeting her family there, so she left the day before I did, and I didn’t meet up with her in the center of Old Town until Saturday night. I love spending time in antique shops and used book stores, especially in a city like Munich, which I’ve never been to before and has such a rich history. Being on my own, I could dedicate most of the day to exploring Old Town, from Dichtergarten to Viktualienmarkt, seeing all the must-see sights and stopping in every ancient book shop I could find. This ended up being four main places, each of them somehow more impressive than the last. I especially liked visiting J. Kitzinger Buchhandlung and Antiquariat Thomas Rezek, because they were right next door to each other and the owners clearly had a good rapport. Not only that, but I spoke with them both in German, and while the conversations were not too complex, neither responded to me in English, which felt like a little pat on the back for my language learning. I found a beautiful Rainer Maria Rilke collection from 1896, as well as a whole page of Gregorian chants from the 1500s! Fascinating and exciting, if I may speak for the bibliophiles.

Seeing Rathaus-Glockenspiel in person was very fun, mostly because I was unaware that its movement is not, in fact, a thing of the past. I expected its bells to sound the hour, but very much did not expect to see those life-size figurines fully jousting 4 stories above me. The clock put my lack of faith to shame, still telling stories from 500 years ago thrice a day, once at 11am, which is when I arrived, once at noon, and once more at 5pm, although the last one supposedly only happens during the warmer months. That the mechanical show goes on for much longer than one might expect, too; I was surprised when it was still going after ten minutes. Although I didn’t recall any of this from way back in ninth grade German class, I did remember that the Wurst and Bretzels in München were supposed to be fantastic. To be honest, I’m not sure my teacher hyped them up enough! Easily the best bratwurst I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. I can only imagine how amazing it would be to visit this place during Oktoberfest.

That about wraps up my Bavarian side quest, which brings me back to the fact that my internship experience is nearly over. I’d say it’s been a successful endeavor, and I’m confident my boss agrees with this assessment. There are many ways in which the German and American definitions of success overlap—for instance, I would say that both really value efficiency, hard work, and innovation, but the American idealizes the individual achieving wealth and renown more, while the German seems to focus on the ability of the individual to balance personal comfort with societal wellbeing. For instance, an employee working efficiently and carrying out original ideas in order to climb the hierarchical ladder would exemplify the American idea of success. On the other hand, an employee working efficiently to improve the function of the company, and in turn improve their own work-life balance, would showcase the German idea of success. It follows, then, that I could have become a successful employee in such a short time period, because the ideal of success here in Berlin is much more team-focused than one that surrounds rising up the ranks.