GER 01 - Exploring Germany in 9 Days

General information

The general objective of the field trip is to provide a broad overview of the regional geography of Germany, including characteristic landscapes, important cities and crucial issues of regional development, both historically and currently. While the focus will be on human geography, main features of physical geography, in particular geomorphology, will also be addressed.
The itinerary shown below only mentions the towns and cities where nights will be spent, as well as some key words with regard to topics and issues addressed during the trip.
In order to make full use of the last day in Freiburg (see below), the trip back to Cologne will be by train. This will also allow us to introduce you to the beautiful Rhine River valley, not least its quite spectacular Upper Middle Rhine part, which has been awarded the World Cultural Heritage designation in 2002.
 

Itinerary

17th August: Cologne to Oldenburg i.O. (North West Germany, structural changes in the manufacturing industry and in agriculture, North Sea coast with a focus on issues related to nature protection, tourism, fishery and energy production)

18th August: Oldenburg i.O. to Schwerin (Hamburg as port city and industrial location, post-unification urban development)

19th August: Schwerin to Berlin (peripheral rural landscapes in North Eastern Germany, city of Potsdam with World Cultural Heritage site Sanssouci Palace and suburban development under the influence of Berlin)

29th August: Berlin (20th century evolution, post-unification historic turning point and ensuing urban transformation processes in former East and West Berlin)

21st August: Berlin to Dresden (suburban gradients, Spreewald natural and cultural environment, large-scale lignite open cast mining and landscape transformation, Dresden with former World Cultural Heritage Frauenkirche)

22nd August: Dresden to Ingolstadt (Elbsandstein natural region with tourism development, retarded regional development close to the former Iron Curtain, Bayreuth as an opera destination of global reach, AUDI car industry)

23rd August: Ingolstadt to Munich (1972 Olympic Park, BMW World Industrial Theme Park, inner city development, English Garden municipal park and Isar river re-naturalization while enjoying a Bavarian Biergarten)

24th August: Munich to Freiburg i.B. (Southern Germany’s natural and cultural landscapes from pre-alpine settings to the Black Forest area, facets of spa tourism, Bodensee political geography issues, types of agricultural landscapes and industrial hidden champions)

25th August: Freiburg to Cologne (sustainable city strategies/solar city, Tri Rhena international cross-border regional issues, vineyards spoiled by the sun, field trip participants spoiled by Kaiserstuhl wines, World Heritage Site Upper Middle Rhine valley from a train perspective)

Organisers: Prof. em. Dietrich Soyez (University of Cologne) and Prof. em. Jörg Stadelbauer (University of Freiburg)
Email: d.soyez@uni-koeln.de  and joerg.stadelbauer@geographie.uni-freiburg.de

17th August – 25th August 2012
Start: Friday, 17th August at 08:30h (University of Cologne)
End: Saturday, 25th August 2012 at about 19:00h (Cologne)
Number of participants: 22-32   
Fee:  1250 € (double room occupancy), 1450 € (single room occupancy)

Note: The fee is based on double room occupancy. Singlre rooms will incur a surcharge of 200€.

Scope of services
Accommodations will be offered in inner city middle class hotels (both double and single room occupancy), with breakfasts offered on all mornings of the trip. Dinners are included on 7 of the trip’s 9 days. Lunch breaks in central locations will allow for a variety of light meals or snacks. A modern coach will provide a decent comfort despite quite long travel distances. Beverages can be bought on board.