Hello again! It was another great weekend, and arguably the best one yet. Cody, Wes and I set out to Heilbronn, Germany with our friend Claudius who is from there. He invited us to come home with him for the weekend and see the piston manufacturer he works for on Saturday.
Church of St. Kilian after 1945 bombing
We got there in the early afternoon on Friday and had the chance to see his parents family owned business which has been in his family for over 150 years. They sell high end mattresses and have 3 locations in Heilbronn. His sister Cosima met up with us when Claudius had to go meet his girlfriend and showed us around the city. It was amazing we got to go into the two highest towers in the city, one of which we could only get in if you are someone special. Cosima hooked it up! We got to go into the Church of St. Kilian which was initially developed in 1000AD. It was severely damaged by the allied bombing December 4, 1944, along with a majority of the city. The walls burnt out of the church after the firestorm. Parts of the High Altar were removed during WWII so it would not be destroyed. Only the wings were removed and hidden in a local salt mine..the rest perished and were rebuilt sometime later.
This is the High Altar located in the church today..notice the wings on both sides
After we did quite a bit of sightseeing we had a few beers then went to one amazing museum just outside of town called the Sinsheim Museum. It was crazy, there were planes everywhere, both inside and outside the museum. Classic cars like Mercedes, and new sports cars such as Ferrari and Lamborghini. There were old war planes, tanks, cars, trucks, and locomotives literally everything. To say it was amazing is an understatement.
You pop the trunk, I pop the hood. Ferrari.
After the museum we went to the home of Claudius's parents which was really great. I think we determined his home has about 15 rooms, it was pretty big. My favorite part was the train village his grandfather created down in the basement. Later that evening his parents treated us to a wine festival in the "boonies" as we described it to them. I had a delicious pork leg and white wine. Their family was very welcoming and we were very much appreciative of their hospitality, so we brought them wine!
I can't believe we did all of this in two days, but hold on there is more. On Saturday afternoon we went to visit Claudius's company. It was a very rare event, because they don't even allow visitors on a normal day so it was pretty special. His company manufactures pistons and engine blocks for Audi, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, VW, SMART, military vehicles, container ships, cruise liners, and much more. We got to go in (without cameras of course) and see the whole process from beginning to end. We saw the mold they begin with followed by the machine which cuts and drills and shapes the piston. It is cooled in large pools and then dimensionally checked by a very detailed machine. Then it is moved to its shipping crate. Wes described it perfectly "It's like watching a real life show of How Stuff Works." Outside of the building they had many high-end cars such as the Range Rover, Porsche Cayman, Audi R8 and RS6. Each had a model of the engine block they manufacture sitting in front of them. It was something truly amazing to see.
Oh and by the way, we still are in school. We had poetry class last week, which is technically called "Cross-Cultural Management (A)," and part B starts tomorrow! Take care everyone.
Chad
March 3, 2014 at 2:42 PM
Hey, I was stationed at Wharton Barracks in Heilbronn way back when. Thanks for the reminders of a very crazy, fond, time in my life.
January 29, 2018 at 8:53 AM
I was stationed in Wharton Barracks and Badnerhof Kaserne, Heilbronn. 1974. Many good memories of Heilbronn. Thank you.