Entering Ms. Blair's Kingdom

It has been about seven weeks since school started, and we're both been busy implementing elements from our fellowship experience.  The students in both classes have seen lots of photos and some videos as we've discussed character traits and story settings.  We have both also arranged for Stephanie, one of our tour guides, to video chat with our individual classrooms via Skype, and we are VERY excited to "see" her again and have her meet our students.  In preparation for Stephanie's calls, we have been testing out our technology set ups, and today, Ms. Bright met Ms. Blair's students for the first time via Skype.  Ms. Blair's "lords and ladies" were eager to participate in the chat and asked lots of fun questions in an effort to get to know Ms. Bright better.  Stay tuned as we use this technology to bridge our two classrooms and implement the reading buddy program outlined in our fellowship proposal!

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Off to Work We Go!

Tomorrow is our first day with our new students.  We can't wait to share our fellowship with them!  Keep watching this page for updates about what's happening in our classrooms.

Meet the Night Watchman of Rothenburg

Another highlight of the tour for us was meeting the Night Watchman on our Night Watchman Tour.  Here, the Night Watchman tells us about his role during the Middle Ages.

Michael talks about King Ludwig, the Fairytale King

In this clip, Michael is talking about King Ludwig's short time at Neuschwanstein Castle.

Neuschwanstein Castle!

The best castle was definitely saved for the end of the tour.  It was bittersweet that morning to realize that we were starting our final day with our new friends, yet we were both excited to see THE castle we'd been waiting for.  Neuschwanstein (Noysh van stein) means New Swan Stone.  It was built by King Ludwig II near the German/Austrian border near Pöllat Gorge .  It is a replication of a medieval structure and was inspired by Wagner's operas.  When Ludwig II died in 1886 under suspicious circumstances, the castle was still incomplete.  He lived there only 172 days.  It opened seven weeks later as a tourist attraction and has 1.3 million visitors a year.

We were very fortunate to have Michael join us on this day, as well.  On the two hour bus trip to Neuschwanstein, Michael shared the sad story of King Ludwig II and his tragic childhood.  In order to toughen him up, his parents refused to show any affection.  He and his brother were kept from other children and led sad lives.  When he inherited the throne at just 18, he was ill prepared and often taken advantage of.  His castle was meant to look like a fairytale castle and provide for him an escape.  This structure later served as Walt Disney's inspiration for Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland and Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World.  It will be fun for us to show students that the "castle" they picture in their heads as a result of Disney films really does exist!  Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside, but some outside shots are included below:

From Marienbruecke (Mary's Bridge)

Approaching the castle via the walking trail

In the Courtyard

In front of the royal entrance

Marienbruecke and the gorge from the castle

Michael :)

Munich

Our last stop on the tour was Munich.  When we booked with Adventures By Disney, we did so primarily because of the stops in the smaller fairytale villages that would have been difficult to find without the help of a tour company.  We knew places such as Alsfeld and Rothenburg would introduce us to real medieval lifestyle and local historians.  I think we were both less enthused about the stop in Munich because it seemed like any other big city.  It was essentially a stopping point so that we could continue on to Neuschwanstein Castle on the last day.  Both of our opinions changed when we met Michael.

Michael is a history teacher and, for lack of a better word, a performer.  Michael made us both remember that learning can be fun, silly, and entertaining.  Michael met us upon our arrival in Munich and led us on a walking tour around the city.  Thankfully, Diana captured most of his "lecture" on film because he shared so much history that we couldn't possibly remember it all without a review.  As soon as we get the videos organized, we'll be posting them because seeing Michael is much better than us trying to describe him.  In a nutshell, we learned about the flags, the Bavarian heritage, and some of the oldest buildings in the city.  There is also a fountain dedicated to Little Red Riding Hood in Munich.  Most importantly, though, Michael inspired us as teachers to make learning fun.

Michael explains Bavarian history with visuals, props, and audience participation.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

After touring Lowenburg Castle in Kassel, we had a looooong bus ride along the Romantic Road to the preserved, walled town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  This Medieval town has been frozen in time.  We saw lots of half-timbered buildings, and all streets were narrow and made of cobble stone.  Before dinner, we headed to the nearest entrance point to the city wall and walked along a portion of it.  We noticed that the homes don’t really have yards, but almost all homes have flower boxes in the windows.  Houses were brightly colored, and signs in front of the shops were made of wrought iron and used symbols to advertise their wares since most citizens in the medieval period could not read or write.  Walt Disney visited this region early in his career and was so inspired by the architecture that he chose this setting for Pinocchio even though Pinocchio is of Italian origin.  If you’ve seen Walt Disney’s Pinocchio or Disneyland’s Fantasyland in California, you can easily picture this town.  Also, if you’ve ever visited the German pavilion at EPCOT, the fountain there is an exact copy of Rothenburg’s fountain in their town square.

After dinner, we were very excited to join the Night Watchman on a twilight tour of the city.  To set the proper mood and atmosphere, it started to rain lightly.  The weather truly added to the effect.  The Night Watchman shared stories and myths about the town’s history, and explained how life in the medieval times really was.  As we learned at Lowenburg Castle, it was not glamorous.   On any given night, there were six Night Watchmen on duty.  He carried a lantern so that he could see but more importantly, so that his fellow watchmen could see him and know he posed no danger.  He also carried a horn he would blow to warn the townspeople of fire, and a hellebarde, a fierce weapon for defense.  He explained that his main job was to watch for fires because the half-timbered homes could easily go up in flames if sparks flew.  This job was incredibly important, but it was not thought highly of.  Only the gravedigger and the executioner ranked lower in this society.

Salt was as important as money in these times, and people traded salt for other goods.  Citizens were expected to store a year’s worth of grain in case of invasion, but wealthy people also stored salt.  The English word “salary” is derived from this idea of using salt to buy things.  The Germans also had a saying for wealthy people – Salty Rich.

Next, the Night Watchman shared some of the medieval punishments that were handed down to the citizens.  Bakers were placed into a cage and dropped into water for a time “long enough to teach a lesson” for making their loaves either too small or too big.  Prices were regulated, and too small loaves were thought to be cheating the patrons.  Too big loaves were thought to be unfairly persuading patrons to buy from you instead of your competitor.  Unfortunately, “long enough to teach the lesson” often resulted in a dead baker.  Many other punishments and torture devices still exist in the Crime and Punishment Museum.  We checked those out the following day, and let’s just say that In School Detention (ISD) or Suspension look like mighty kind punishments.  A miniature of a school house showed children being whipped in the front of the classroom and a jail cell in the back of the room for time out.  Adults were required to wear shame masks or other embarrassing devices to correct the misbehaviors.

We learned that the 30 Years War was quite difficult on the once prosperous town.  It was often invaded because of its wealth and because it was a crossroads of two major trading routes.  It withstood many of these invasions but suffered many casualties and could not maintain its wealth.  It survives today as a blast to the past mostly because there wasn’t enough money to modernize completely.  Now, 97% of its income comes from tourism.  If not for tour groups, this wonderful little town would be quite poor.