I think it's safe to say that most Americans have a preconceived idea of what Europe, broadly speaking, looks like. The typical image someone may have is of a street with old buildings or houses with antique architecture and wooden floors. The streets are small, cobblestone, and flooded with bicycles and smart cars. Most houses have small gardens in front of them, but some might just be on a street, like an apartment building.
This is at least what my idea of Europe was. Until about 3 days ago.
I've been to Europe before so I thought I had a pretty good grasp of what it looked like, and it was pretty in line with my preconceived notion from above. I went to Strasbourg in the summer of 2015 and that's what I saw. When we went to the more metropolitan areas, of course, it was much more modern. The buildings were glass and metal instead of wooden. The streets were far more busy and included trams and buses. However, it still didn't seem all that different. It was still Europe.
Heidelberg fit into this mindset as well. The streets are small, our apartment is on a street, bicycles and compact cars fill the streets. Most of the houses are made of wood and some are even in the traditional half-timber style. The side of town we live on is considerably different from the others, but they still all have that authentic, German feel. The old town part of Heidelberg is... Well... Old. It has mostly cobblestone streets, and that's where the castle and old churches are. The newer part of town where SRH Heidelberg Hochschule is located is more modern with metal and glass buildings. There are more businesses, clinics, and schools over there as well.
Based on these locations I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what Europe (again broadly speaking) looks like. But our trip to Frankfurt changed this idea.
Europe, like everywhere else on this planet, does not all look the same. London doesn't look like Venice, Venice doesn't look like Amsterdam, Amsterdam doesn't look like Heidelberg, and Heidelberg doesn't look like Frankfurt. AT ALL.
Frankfurt is a metropolitan area, comparable to Atlanta or Nashville. Knowing this, I figured that it would still have the older style buildings amidst the newer ones. There definitely were a few, such as the Dom/Romer area with St. Bartholomew's Cathedral and several other half-timbered buildings. But for whatever reason I was surprised at the infrequency of the older "European" styled buildings. There were times where we would be walking down the street and I felt like I was in America. It was strange. "I'm in Europe," I thought to myself, "I should feel as though I'm in Europe!!!!" There were these huge skyscrapers across the skyline, graffiti along the tunnels, and public transport around every corner (that's actually a lie, sometimes you have to walk a mile before you find the nearest tram stop). This was the furthest thing from what I thought I would expect from a European city.
I began to question why it was that way. Frankfurt surely had a history longer than Heidelberg. Why weren't the buildings the same? Why did I feel more European in Heidelberg? It didn't hit me until I saw a postcard in a shop window. It showed the Cathedral in pieces. The one we had just visited wasn't the one on that postcard. That's when I realized that Frankfurt had been serious damaged during World War II by bombing. Much of what was before then was no longer. The city had shed that era of turmoil and loss when they rebuilt the city to what it is now.
My mind was blown. If you had told me that a month ago when I was in America that I would have been like, "Oh, right! That makes sense. Of course different areas of Europe are different..." But for whatever reason, actually being in Frankfurt, Germany, walking along the streets, and actually SEEING the difference from Heidelberg was a totally new experience. I got to see and understand the diversity and change a country goes through due to war, growth, or just industrial developments.
It was a strange revelation that many people might never think of but one that changed my entire perception of Europe.
You write so well, Anna Laura! I was having these same thoughts after two days in Duren. My music therapist commented that this city is "ugly" and after our weeks in Heidelberg, I have to agree! She explained that most of Duren was destroyed during the war and they have had to slowly rebuild. Luckily the LVR Klinik was spared and so that campus still looks much like the Klinik in Düsseldorf, with buildings dating back to the 1870's. Interesting that I am working in what was once the cemetery chapel, very similar to the music therapy room we visited at LVR Düsseldorf with the arched ceilings. New construction here on campus is modeled similar to the classrooms we visited at SRH in Heidelberg...boxy with big square windows. Great post..very thought provoking. Actually my favorite parts of Germany have been riding through the countryside on bicycle and train and seeing the ever changing fields of different crops!
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