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Location Date Netherlands 1484524800 Germany 
1484352000 Austria 1484006400 Belgium 1440975600 Denmark 1440630000 Norway 1440543600 Sweden 1440198000 Luxembourg 1438902000 Italy 1410130800 San Marino 1409353200 Hungary 1409094000 Switzerland 1408402800 France 1408316400 Slovakia 1374966000 Slovenia 1374706800 Croatia 1374534000 Czech Republic 1373324400 Poland 1372374000 Lithuania 1372114800 Latvia 1371769200 Estonia 1371596400 Russia 1371423600 Serbia 8550000 Macedonia 8463600 Greece 8377200 Turkey 8290800 Bulgaria 8204400 -
Location Date Aachen 1484352000 Goppingen 1484265600 Karlsruhe 1484265600 Munich 1484092800 Augsburg 1483574400 Mainz 1483488000 Wurzburg 1483488000 Hamburg 1440630000 Puttgarden Harbour 1440111600 Berlin
1439247600 Bad Hersfeld 1439161200 Boppard 1439074800 Trier 1439074800 Polch 1439074800 Frankfurt 1411081200 -
Location Date Tue, 11 August 2015
1439294100 Tue, 11 August 2015 1439250600
A few days ago I past through the city of Nordhausen.
It was the town Gert and I had chosen for our stay overnight which didn't happen because of the accident. We choose Nordhausen by chance as it is roughly halfway between the cities of Mainz (where we were before) and Berlin.
In Nordhausen I found something interesting which I didn’t know. First of all Nordhausen was part of East Germany (or DDR as they called it) and was under communist rule from the late 40 until 1990. When you have an eye for it you can still evidence of this even though 25 years have passed since reunification with West Germany. The buildings are stark and grey as they were before; newer buildings have a fresher look and are more modern. The traditional Tudor style houses are the same whether you are in the east or west.
In the town I saw several East German made Trabant cars, these cars are now sought after but in reality they are not well made. The chassis was made of hard plastic and they had a 2 cylinder two stroke engine which produces about 26 horse power. There were plenty jokes about this car like: How do you double the value of a Trabant? Fill it up with fuel! Ha-ha, but today they have become collector’s items. I saw a few of them and talked to an owner who I met at a petrol station, who said it was a heap of rubbish but he still loved it. The car still looked nice.
Further down the road a few Simson motorcycles where parked and I saw several riding around laying a curtain of smoke from their two stroke engine. I guess sooner or later they will be banned.
Recently I found out about the underground factories and the concentration camp nearby which I mentioned in my last blog.
It was interesting to learn that the German engineers who were involved in designing the flying bomb continued after the war working in the same area of expertise in other countries. Werner von Braun invented the V1 and V2 and then worked in the US for what was to become NASA. In the museum I saw him in pictures shaking hands with Adolf Hitler and some years later with Kennedy at the time when they announced that NASA was preparing for the first flight to the moon.
Anyway here are some pic's of the day I passed though the town and some more comments with the pictures.
It was the town Gert and I had chosen for our stay overnight which didn't happen because of the accident. We choose Nordhausen by chance as it is roughly halfway between the cities of Mainz (where we were before) and Berlin.
In Nordhausen I found something interesting which I didn’t know. First of all Nordhausen was part of East Germany (or DDR as they called it) and was under communist rule from the late 40 until 1990. When you have an eye for it you can still evidence of this even though 25 years have passed since reunification with West Germany. The buildings are stark and grey as they were before; newer buildings have a fresher look and are more modern. The traditional Tudor style houses are the same whether you are in the east or west.
In the town I saw several East German made Trabant cars, these cars are now sought after but in reality they are not well made. The chassis was made of hard plastic and they had a 2 cylinder two stroke engine which produces about 26 horse power. There were plenty jokes about this car like: How do you double the value of a Trabant? Fill it up with fuel! Ha-ha, but today they have become collector’s items. I saw a few of them and talked to an owner who I met at a petrol station, who said it was a heap of rubbish but he still loved it. The car still looked nice.
Further down the road a few Simson motorcycles where parked and I saw several riding around laying a curtain of smoke from their two stroke engine. I guess sooner or later they will be banned.
Recently I found out about the underground factories and the concentration camp nearby which I mentioned in my last blog.
It was interesting to learn that the German engineers who were involved in designing the flying bomb continued after the war working in the same area of expertise in other countries. Werner von Braun invented the V1 and V2 and then worked in the US for what was to become NASA. In the museum I saw him in pictures shaking hands with Adolf Hitler and some years later with Kennedy at the time when they announced that NASA was preparing for the first flight to the moon.
Anyway here are some pic's of the day I passed though the town and some more comments with the pictures.
- comments
Andreas Hello Richard! Another fascinating destination and story to accompany it. I have been there as well, and it is pretty amazing. The V2 engines are in several museums around the world, including the air & space museum in DC. Your first rocket picture, of the engine on its side is a V2. The next one is a V1, and the bottom one, on the flat cars, are tail fins of V2s. You're right, Von Braun didn't really care for whom or how he built the rockets, as long as he got to do so. Not really an nice trait, but without him, the USA never would have had the Saturn V. Keep the rubber side down and the stories coming! Andreas
gert mooi verhaal Richard!