Month: July 2018

After the free weekend, students gave their final presentations to the students, faculty and company representatives.  The presentations were in the style of poster competitions at conferences.  Each of the four stages in DMAIC that had previously been summarized in a slide were attached to a board.  For about two hours, anyone could ask each group about their project and the students spent about 10 minutes explaining from problem definition to solution control/verification.  We were all proud of their successes and the companies were pleased with the student work.

After the presentations, LuAnn, Joe and I decided to visit Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a picturesque medieval town south of Schweinfurt.

The wall still encloses the city and there is a path along the top with gorgeous views.  

We had a delicious dinner with the ideal old German ambiance at the Hotel Reichkuchenmeister and a good time wandering the cobblestone streets.

Tuesday I spent packing and resting.  I had my last German meal at the restaurant I’ve been eyeing since I arrived in Schweinfurt, Brauhas am Markt.  I sat outside in the cool (60 degrees) evening air and had a pilsner beer, a good dinner salad and schnitzel with fried potatoes.  Following my meal I walked to the cafe where I’ve had before the best apple strudel ever!  It was a fine ending to my visit.

I mostly took it easy on this final day of my free weekend, reading, writing and resting.  At Noon I was hungry so I headed to town for a quick bite of spaghetti with bolognese sauce and a salad.  From there I wandered through the parts of Schweinfurt that I hadn’t yet seen.  I came upon a sign that told how the park in front of me was once a cemetery associated with a Carmelite Monastery.  The cemetery was enclosed by the wall around the city that was re-constructed in the late 1500s.  Sometime after 1800 the cemetery became a park across the highway with views of the river.  

The Museum Georg Schäfer specializes in 19th-century paintings by artists from German-speaking countries.  I had not heard of the artists, but I did enjoy much of the art and the ambiance in the quiet and peaceful museum.  Schweinfurt was destroyed and rebuilt many times since its first known existence in the 800s.  Today it is known for its metal industry, especially ball bearing plants and bicycle manufacturing; some of the companies with manufacturing here include Kugelfischer AG, ZF Sachs AG, Bosch Rexroth and SKF. The pigment Schweinfurt Green (also known as Paris Green) is manufactured here. SRAM Corporation hosts the world’s largest development center of the bicycle industry in Schweinfurt.  Our program worked with Bosch and ZF among others.

I never made it down to the river, but it is, of course, an attraction in itself.  Our students spent sunsets with footballs and frisbees in park-like areas along the Main River.

I had an early dinner with Dr. Valenzuela and his wife Jackie at a Mexican restaurant, Chumpas.  It is the only Mexican restaurant I have ever been to where they asked if we had reservations!

I spent today in Bayreuth, larger than Bad Kissingen, Sommerhausen and Winterhausen. When I exited the train station, I took off toward the city center and walked along cobblestone streets with flowers in the median, past a moving stream to Maximillianstrasse.

I ended up in the middle of a street party or carnival or just a fun celebration, not meant for tourists.  There were food and beer booths, shopping booths, carnival rides for children, a dunking booth, water features for children, a foosball game for the adults (they are everywhere in Germany) and a stage with local performers.

It may have been a regular occurrence or it may have been especially focused on a charity of some sort.  Everything was in German.

After walking through the carnival, grabbing a bratwurst sandwich for lunch, and walking back, I headed for the Franz Liszt Museum.  He was a composer (among other things) that I remember from my days taking piano lessons.  I never made it to the museum because I saw an interesting building to my left and upon further exploration found it to be a rococo (exuberantly decorated) opera house that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Margravine Wilhelmina had it built upon her daughter’s engagement to provide the appropriate ambiance for theater and music concerts as well as formal balls and banquets.  The design was meant to rival the most beautiful opera houses in Europe and it is the only remaining large Baroque opera house still standing.  I sat through what I’m sure was a good story about the house, but it was in German and I didn’t even understand one word.

Besides this lavish opera house in Bayreuth, Richard Wagner designed his own relatively simple one, the Festival Theater, made almost entirely of wood, on a plot of land called Green Hill that was donated by the town council.  He built his for the aesthetics of the music not the decor.  I followed my google map the 5 km past the train station through an old stately neighborhood to Green Hill.  It turns out that no one can visit inside the opera house in summer because of rehearsals there.  One must return in October.  But, I was back in my element again…a beautiful park-like setting with old growth trees, bushes and flowers clearly well-maintained.  I found one of many benches across from an old cherry tree and sat still.  I wish I had brought my big heavy lens.  I was in the perfect spot to learn the German birds–woodpeckers, jays, thrushes, warblers, a nuthatch and many others.  After several hours in the cool breezy park, I returned to the train station and eventually back to Schweinfurt.

Just a note from Wikipedia about Wagner…An amazing composer, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works.  He revolutionized opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk (“total work of art”), by which he sought to synthesize the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. He was, unfortunately, a philanderer throughout his life and seemingly always in debt. There is much discussion of his purported racism and connection to the Nazi party.  He has written essays that do support anti-semitism and the removal of Jews from the music scene in Germany.

I started the weekend with a list of possible places to visit.  My friend, Susan Good, suggested Bad Kissingen, her grandmother’s home town. Our guide to Berlin suggested Sommerhausen, Bayreuth, Rotherburg ob der Tauber and the students suggested Nuremberg and Wurzburg.  I researched all of them and put them in order by my preference in case I didn’t have time to visit them all.  On Friday I bought my all day pass at the Schweinfurt train station and found the train to Winterhausen (no station in Somerhausen).  Sommerhausen and Winterhausen used to be one town, separated by the Main River, named Ahausen.  The settlers distinguished their respective villages by their patron saints–St. Bartholomew and St. Nicholas. Since St. Bartholomew’s patronal festival was in summer and St. Nicholas’ was in winter, the names became Sommerhausen and Winterhausen.

The train stopped in Winterhausen at what used to be the station and is now a residence.  I stepped out of the train onto a platform to find that I had no cell service…so picture this…I’m by myself in my lavender hat with a back pack; a camera, binoculars and my cell phone around my neck; no physical map; and I cannot communicate in German.  I began walking toward the church bells that ring every quarter hour until I saw a sign pointing across a highway bridge toward Sommerhausen.  I followed the highway across the river and the first street on the other side of the bridge led me to Sommerhausen.  Phew!

This area is very simply beautiful.  It has been wine country for centuries so the hills beyond the town are covered in vineyards and there are wine shops and wine bars scattered in the town.  The medieval wall surrounding Summerhausen has been very well preserved.  It is a romantic old village with (still) occupied towers and gates (parts of the wall). The blue tower (named for its blue tile roof) was once a jail and is now an artist’s residence.

I followed a walking tour from the tourist office around and through the village and also did some wandering on my own.  Behind every gate (and the gates are of all shapes and sizes) or fence, I found a garden and plenty of pollinators.  Most of the gardens grow vegetables and some flowers, but some are all flowers, some all roses, and some only vegetables.

Along one street was a small shelf with a half dozen plastic containers of cherries, an open box with “frie” above it and a box for euros.  I tried one cherry, found it quite sweet and good, and bought a container, putting my 2,5 euros in the box. Oh, for the simple joy of trusting your neighbor!

There are many artist galleries here and I stopped in some to visit–no room to bring home souvenirs.  The art is unique, not the kind that looks made for tourists.  In addition to visual artists, musicians and writers have also settled in the small picturesque town.  I could go on and on about the pleasantries in this village…

I walked a few meters along the river, but this side of the river is too close to the noisy highway so I crossed the highway bridge again and followed a bike path on the Winterhausen side of the Main River.  I heard many birds, but could only identify by sight Egyptian geese, magpies and a delicate coal tit (much like our chickadee).  As I walked along the path, I thought about birding by ear and realized it is just as difficult to understand the German birds as to understand the German people–takes practice!  For most of my walk out from Winterhausen I could not see the river except for where there was a well-worn path which I took down to the water’s edge.  As I walked I enjoyed the sound of the wind rustling the leaves in the old-growth trees along the river. I was at peace.  When the path reached the highway, I turned around and followed a different path to Winterhasen, between fields and an old apple orchard with a few young plum trees.  I saw a field of Swiss chard, a field of clearly non-GMO wheat (only a foot high), and another field of a different grain that I couldn’t identify.

I re-traced my steps to the train station where there was a poster of departure times to Wurzburg and I was minutes away from the next train.  I climbed on at the platform, gratefully sat in what felt like a luxurious seat, and ate my delicious cherries.

This weekend the study abroad students are free to travel as they please which means the faculty have the same freedom.  The Carpenters went to Prague via Dresden and the Valenzuelas went to Vienna.  Students split into small groups and went everywhere–some to Switzerland, some to Lichtenstein, some to Lake Como, etc.  I decided to take day trips from Schweinfurt and visit some of the Bavarian villages nearby.

My first stop on Thursday afternoon (the weekend starts early when students are involved) was Bad Kissingen, a spa town about 20 minutes north by train.  The mineral springs here are recorded from as early as 823.  The town went through many names and owners throughout history, becoming known as a “spa town” in the 1500s.  I had no map to the area so I just started walking from the train station.  I saw a field in front of me and a sign that said rose garden so I followed a path, with beautiful rose bushes on either side, that led me to a slow moving stream whose name I don’t know.  I walked on a well-worn path along the stream in a large park with old growth trees (each was labeled by its name and description in German) watching birds and butterflies and crossing bridges from one side to the other.  There were benches along the way to rest.  Eventually I crossed a bridge into a small shopping area–beautiful jewelry stores, small boutiques, and cafes.  I shopped for awhile and admired the beautiful buildings in the area before returning to the train station through the rose garden.

My visit to Bad Kissingen was a perfect start to the free weekend.  I felt free to enjoy the things that I find interesting and beautiful in the world and even rumbling thunder and sprinkles did not stop me.

Students presented the analysis phase of their projects before we went to Berlin and the improve phase earlier this week.  They have a much better handle on the problems they are solving and how to follow the DMAIC process to find solutions.  Team JOPP developed both a visual breakdown of an actuator that can be included in a reference binder and the framework of a digital representation of an actuator using an Access database.  Team ZF used a multiple attribute decision analysis tool to help the company come to a decision on whether or not to embrace new air damping technology for making shock absorbers.  I am pleased with their work.

Last evening in front of the Schweinfurt City Hall the mayor of the city and the study abroad program held a Fourth of July party for everyone involved in the program–the AU students, their friends from the local university, professors and administrators from the local university, company representatives, the mayor, and the Auburn faculty.  It was a resounding success!  We had a German folk music band, local beer and wine and hotdogs, hamburgers, chicken on a stick and other sandwiches.

First, the Schweinfurt City Hall is beautiful.  Our event was in the huge cobblestoned plaza underneath some trees.  The weather could not have been better–sunny, breezy and in the high seventies.  While the mayor and friends were setting up with American flags all around, several of the older citizens commented on how much they miss the American presence in the area and how glad they are to see the celebration.  We had an amazing band (friends of the mayor’s son) that played all genres of music with a German folk twist.  Everyone loved them.We were treated to Roth bier–they have a microbrewery in town; wine from Wurzburg, the wine capital of Germany; soft drinks and mineral water.

The mayor gave a short speech about the beautiful words in the Declaration of Independence and how much that document means to the world and, for obvious reasons, Germany.

It was one of the best Fourth of July celebrations I can remember and it was planned by Germans.  I may have to work on hot dogs the Schweinfurt way!

Last weekend was the study abroad program sponsored trip to Berlin.  At 9:00 Friday morning 26 sleepy students and 5 leery adults climbed onto a 60-seat bus.  It took us 6+ hours to get to Berlin, with a 15 minute stop at a populated rest stop along the autobahn and a 30 minute stop at an unpopulated rest stop (go figure). During the first third of the trip, we again enjoyed small green and straw-colored well-manicured fields surrounding villages; we moved to more mountainous terrain covered in coniferous forest with a rare village in a valley; and the last third was the outskirts to Berlin–factories, big sprawling warehouses and eventually modern hi-rise buildings. During the middle third of the trip, we went through tunnels through the mountains.  It seemed that the road was always a straightaway.  Perhaps that is to facilitate traffic speeding along very fast. We talked about the large solar and wind farms all along the way, discussing the opportunities for optimization research the new technology provides to academic institutions.

At 4:15 we entered the parliament building.  We had pre-planned our visit and had a strict appointment time.  All of us sent our belongings through an X-ray machine, passed through a metal detector, and had our names checked off of a list.  We took group photos in the courtyard and enjoyed our first on the ground glimpse of Berlin.  We climbed the entry steps to find a glass enclosure that only allowed 30 people to enter at a time.  Then we moved on to the elevator, again only allowing 30 people at a time.  We surmised these were anti terror tactics.  Parliament meets on the first floor and to actually see their workings, one must “know” someone.  We didn’t know anyone… Our trip on the elevator took us 4-8 floors above the meeting space to a dome on the roof.  From that vantage point, we could see Berlin laid out all around us.  We followed a ramp in the dome that wound its way up several stories. We each had a headset that must have had a builtin GPS.  It accurately asked us to stop as we approached the important sites, described their roles in history and told us additional history as we continued walking.  It was almost as good a tour of Berlin as the Segway tours we’ve had in other European cities.

We left Parliament and walked to our hotel past the Brandenburg Gate  (complete with a large screen and stage for watching Germany in FIFA 2018) , the United States embassy and an interesting and moving Holocaust memorial.  The memorial is an art installation with many interpretations discussed by critics.  As with most such installations you need to experience it for yourself to appreciate the effect.

Throughout the city, the wall’s previous location is marked by a trail of double bricks in the roads and sidewalks and at several points along our walk were installations of pieces of the wall marked by descriptions or stories.  Our hotel was a few blocks from Checkpoint Charlie, the best-known Berlin Wall crosspoint point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947-1991).  I think this is the crossing point where our bus was allowed entry to East Berlin when I was here on a tour in 1972.

The train, subway, bus and tram system in Germany is like in all of Europe.  Using public transportation makes even the biggest cities easy to navigate. On our first tour Saturday we took subways and a trams to get to the STASI prison.  It was established in 1951 and in the 1950s, upwards of 11,000 people who were thought to be opposed to the communist dictatorship were incarcerated here.  This facility is a depressing reminder of the atrocities man has imposed on man throughout history and specifically in the time of the Soviet rule of Germany.  We saw the dark and sparse prisoners’ cells, the outdoor cages where prisoners were allowed to spend 20-30 minutes each day, and interrogation rooms where the Soviets worked hard to get confessions from the prisoners.  We spent about 2 hours there and were all ready to get back to a more lively center of the city.

Alexanderplatz is one such lively center.  Originally, a cattle market, today the plaza is a culture, transportation and restaurant hub.  We spent the better part of the remainder of the day here, eating (and drinking) lunch at a Tapas bar called YoSoy and walking.  Next to the restaurant are two alleyways that once were Jewish ghetto housing and now house shops, coffee houses and art galleries.  On the sidewalk outside there are memorial markers for the people who lived there and were killed in the Holocaust.  Today’s German people are ashamed of that part of their history and they seem to bend over backwards to remember and mourn for their countrymen who were treated so inhumanely.

Museum Island is between two forks of the Zwei River and houses several large museums.  We crossed the bridge in front of the Berlin Cathedral at or near closing time so we strolled through the gardens and enjoyed people watching.

Bridge to Museum Island

Sunday, I walked to the Berlin Art Gallery and enjoyed the peace and quiet inside the large space with only a few visitors.  I was not familiar with the artists and the exhibits were quite somber.

I walked to the Jewish Museum from there, but found that I didn’t have time left to tour.  The courtyard and garden were beautiful outside of the building so I sat and ate a sandwich before strolling through the garden.

And finally we all climbed back on the bus and retraced our ride back to Schweinfurt.

Since we work with the students during the day, the long evenings (16+ hour days) are our time to do some sightseeing.  Tuesday we left Schweinfurt at 4ish and took the train to Bamberg.  It is a beautiful town between two arms of the the Regnitz River.  LuAnn, her husband Joe and I aimlessly walked around the town for 3 hours.  We saw church steeples in the distance and using sight as our directions finally arrived under the ringing church bells of the romanesque Bamberg Cathedral.  At each half hour, the bells ring for about twenty minutes.  On this particular hill we came across many more than one hill’s share of churches!

The old town of Bamberg has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1993, probably because of its authentic medieval appearance.  We found the town particularly refreshing–the homes along the river are adorned with beautiful flowers and the bridges have flower boxes all long the railing.  Bamberg is very walkable, we began our 4 hour stroll from the train station.

Dr. Valenzuela met us about 7:30 and directed us to old town, his favorite part of Bamberg.  It begins at a stone bridge across the river.  The beautiful, but stately, town hall stands above the bridge.  As soon as we crossed the bridge, we felt the vibe–tourists and locals ambling along the mostly pedestrian streets,  past shops, restaurants and beer gardens.  Bamberg is famous for its micro breweries that are in this area.  We had dinner outside at Scheiners am Doff.  It took us awhile to order since the menu was in German and the waitstaff spoke very little German.  We used Google Translate, LuAnn’s small German/English dictionary, LuAnn’s recently developed German vocabulary, and some intuition to determine our orders.  The food was good, but unlike the French, the portion size was enormous!  After dinner at about 10:30, we returned to the train station and on to Schweinfurt on the 11:02 train.