Last weekend the German rebound exchange students (Rotex) organised a ‘Hamburg Tag’ for all the Inbounds as a way for the newbies to see the city. Hamburg is a stunning city and the second largest city in Germany, after Berlin, and is located just 2 hours south of Flensburg by train. We left Flensburg at 7am and arrived in time to meet the whole group at Hamburg central station.
Rotex took us all to St Michael’s Church where we ascended a staircase to the top of the spire and saw a spectacular 360 degree view of Hamburg’s city skyline. The day weather-wise was perfect with a top of 19 degrees. We definitely haven’t seen that much sun in a long time. Everyone was hot and bothered upon reaching the top from climbing those endless stairs.
Our next stop was a museum called Miniatur Wunderland with displays of miniature model cities and world landmarks. First came miniature dioramas documenting a timeline of world history, staring with the beginning of mankind, moving through the World Wars and ending with the present. Upstairs however, was where the magic happened with impressive endless exhibits.
The entire centre of Hamburg had been modelled in miniature form. It was interesting to recognise the sights and landmarks we had seen from the top of the Church in miniature form. Parts of middle Germany, Austria, the USA, Scandinavia, Switzerland, and the Hamburg airport were all on display. The airport was very well done, with a departure board and model planes actually landing and taking off. Switzerland was represented as a dramatic mountain landscape with a cute village melted between the mountains and even more sweet buildings on the foothills. The group spent a few hours wandering around the exhibits, which were incredibly detailed. Many tiny details could be easily looked over, tiny little people where shown having all kinds of interactions. There were car accidents and murders being staged, couples meeting in secret and even a polar bear and penguin family making their way through heavy snow.
We were served a late lunch of Currywurst and hot chips at a restaurant on the Reeperbahn and then headed back to the central train station to say goodbye to everyone. I later joined a group of students meeting in Hafencity and continued to spend the evening together with the Flensburgers before taking an evening train back home.
It was great to see some sights in a city which I have visited multiple times and will continue to see throughout my whole exchange. Thank you to Rotex for showing us around!
