Easter Bunny

20 April 2025 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Walter Schweizer - Stiftung St. Jakob/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Walter Schweizer – Stiftung St. Jakob/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the “Easter Hare” originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season of Eastertide, similar to the “naughty or nice” list made by Santa Claus. As part of the legend, the creature carries colored eggs in its basket, as well as candy, and sometimes toys, to the homes of children. As such, the Easter Bunny again shows similarities to Santa (or the Christkind) and Christmas by bringing gifts to children on the night before a holiday. The custom was first mentioned in Georg Franck von Franckenau‘s De ovis paschalibus (“About Easter Eggs”) in 1682, referring to a German folk belief of an Easter Hare laying eggs hidden in garden and bushes for children to find.   read more…

Heidelberg University

26 October 2024 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  5 minutes

University Library © flickr.com - Jan Beckendorf/cc-by-sa-2.0

University Library © flickr.com – Jan Beckendorf/cc-by-sa-2.0

Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (German: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; Latin: Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany’s oldest university and one of the world’s oldest surviving universities; it was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire after Prague (1347) and Vienna (1365). Since 1899, it has been a coeducational institution.   read more…

Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein

1 October 2024 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Architecture, Design & Products, House of the Month, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Kotivalo/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Kotivalo/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Vitra Design Museum is a privately owned museum for design in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Former Vitra CEO, and son of Vitra founders Willi and Erika Fehlbaum, Rolf Fehlbaum founded the museum in 1989 as an independent private foundation. The Vitra corporation provides it with a financial subsidy, the use of Vitra architecture, and organizational cooperation.   read more…

Porsche Museum in Stuttgart

26 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Marek Śliwecki/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Marek Śliwecki/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Porsche Museum is an automobile museum in the Zuffenhausen district of Stuttgart, Germany on the site of carmaker Porsche. The original Porsche museum opened in 1976 in a side-road near the Porsche factory. It was a relatively small works museum with little parking space and it was only big enough to hold around 20 exhibits (in rotation).   read more…

Market Hall Stuttgart

17 October 2023 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Bon appétit, Shopping Reading Time:  6 minutes

© MSeses/cc-by-sa-3.0

© MSeses/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Stuttgart market hall was opened in 1914 in Stuttgart city center (Dorotheenstrasse 4). Today the market hall is a food market in the upper price segment. It offers a total of 6,800 square meters of usable space for service providers and retailers, including 3,500 square meters on the ground floor for sales stalls. In 2010 there were 37 different stalls. The column-free space in the hall is 60 meters long and 25 meters wide. There are several restaurants on Sporerstraße and in the market hall.   read more…

Künzelsau in Baden-Württemberg

30 May 2022 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Schloss Stetten © Carsten Steger/cc-by-sa-4.0

Schloss Stetten © Carsten Steger/cc-by-sa-4.0

Künzelsau is a town in Baden-Württemberg, in south central Germany. It is the capital of the Hohenlohe district. It is located on the river Kocher, 19 km (12 mi) north of Schwäbisch Hall, and 37 km (23 mi) northeast of Heilbronn. The city of Künzelsau is located, at elevation 210–43 m (689–1,427 ft), along the Kocher River, a right tributary of the Neckar River, some 40 km east (25 mi) of Heilbronn. The city is, after Öhringen, the second largest city of the Hohenlohe district, whose seat it is.   read more…

Brewer’s Star

25 April 2022 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Bon appétit, Living, Working, Building Reading Time:  7 minutes

Stammhauses der Riegeler Brauerei © Andreas Schwarzkopf/cc-by-sa-3.0

Stammhauses der Riegeler Brauerei © Andreas Schwarzkopf/cc-by-sa-3.0

The brewer’s star (also: beer star, beer pointer, brew star, in the Upper Palatinate also Bierzoigl and Zoiglstern) is a six-pointed star (hexagram) that is used as a guild sign for brewers and maltsters. The brewer’s star is also the symbol for the issuing office of the house drink of a brewery, which is therefore also called “star” or “stars”. The six-pointed Zoigl star, which is formed from two interlocking equilateral triangles, symbolizes the three elements involved in brewing, fire, water and air, and on the other hand the ingredients water, malt and hops that were common in the late Middle Ages. In the house book of the Mendelschen Zwölfbrüderstiftung from 1425, a brewer named Hertel is shown at a brew kettle with a brewer’s star. There are (so far) various hypotheses about the origin of the brewer’s star.   read more…

Outletcity Metzingen

1 October 2021 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, House of the Month Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Stefan Fussan/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Stefan Fussan/cc-by-sa-3.0

More than 500 premium and luxury brands in Metzingen and in the online shop have come together under the term Outletcity Metzingen (as of August 2021). The focus of the offer is on clothing. Beauty and home products are also offered. The Outletcity Metzingen is managed by Holy AG.   read more…

Reichenau Abbey in Lake Constance

10 September 2021 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  9 minutes

Cloisters Reichenau © Schlampi/cc-by-sa-3.0

Cloisters Reichenau © Schlampi/cc-by-sa-3.0

Reichenau Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on Reichenau Island (known in Latin as Augia Dives). It was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, with patronage that included Charles Martel, and, more locally, Count Berthold of the Ahalolfinger and the Alemannian Duke Santfrid I (Nebi). Pirmin’s conflict with Santfrid resulted in his leaving Reichenau in 727. Under his successor Haito the monastery began to flourish. It gained influence in the Carolingian dynasty, under Abbot Waldo of Reichenau (740–814), by educating the clerks who staffed Imperial and ducal chanceries. Abbot Reginbert of Reichenau (-846) built up the important book collection. Abbot Walafrid Strabo (842–849), who was educated at Reichenau, was renowned as a poet and Latin scholar.   read more…

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