My Germany | Fotoeins Fotografie

Berlin Hauptbahnhof, B Hbf, Berlin, Germany, Deutschland, fotoeins.com

Germany: 30 years of ICE on the rails (2021)

Above/featured: Berlin Hauptbahnhof – 9 Dec 2015 (6D1). Departing from track 3 is ICE 554 to Köln (front-half) and ICE 544 to Düsseldorf (back-half); trains split in the town of Hamm.

June 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of high-speed Intercity Express (ICE) service on German rail.

In the 1991 vs. 2021 comparison graphic provided by Deutsche Bahn, I’ve marked in green the ICE routes upon which I’ve made dozens of trips since late-2001 (when I moved to Heidelberg). Even after leaving in 2003, frequent annual trips back to Germany meant spending a lot of time planted on express trains across the country. Arriving in Europe mostly meant flying into Frankfurt am Main airport, from which I’d travel:

Frankfurt to Berlin, via Kassel
Frankfurt to Heidelberg, via Mannheim
Frankfurt to Köln
Frankfurt to Munich, via Stuttgart
Berlin to Frankfurt, via Kassel
Berlin to Köln, via Hannover
Köln to Berlin, via Hannover
Köln to Frankfurt
Munich to Frankfurt, via Stuttgart

Over the last few years, the express stretch between Erfurt and Halle/Leipzig has vastly improved the Berlin-Frankfurt and Berlin-Munich routes, cutting the one-way travel time for each route by about one hour. Except for the Erfurt-Halle/Leipzig stretch, I’ve travelled on every “Stundentakt” ICE route (thick red/green in the graphic below).

Intercity Express, Deutsche Bahn, German Rail, Germany, Deutschland

ICE coverage, including recent work on the Erfurt-Halle/Leipzig stretch; graphic courtesy of Deutsche Bahn. My “dozens on ICE” are marked in green; red filled circles indicate cities I frequented the most (B, F, HD, K, M).

Intercity Express, train fleet, Deutsche Bahn, German Rail, Germany, Deutschland

The ICE fleet of trains include vehicles with maximum speeds of over 300 km/h; graphic courtesy of Deutsche Bahn.

Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof, F Hbf, Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Hessen, Germany, Deutschland, fotoeins.com

Morning ICE 5 service from Frankfurt am Main to Basel; how to read this train station signage – 20 May 2016 (6D1).

Hackerbrücke, München, Munich, Bavaria, Bayern, Germany, Deutschland.

Morning light at Munich’s Hackerbrücke station. Foreground: westbound metallic-white ICE train just departing the city’s central station, traveling right to left. Background: red DB regional train approaching central station, from left to right. Photo on 23 Feb 2017 (6D1).

I made three images above with a Canon EOS6D mark1 (6D1). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-l60.

My Germany: 33 (of 51) UNESCO WH Sites

Above: Cologne at dusk, 26 May 2016 (6D1).

Every year UNESCO-Welterbetag (UNESCO World Heritage Day) in Germany is celebrated on the first Sunday in June. I highlight below 33 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) in Germany from a list of 51 inscriptions.

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Abfahrtstafel (Departures board), Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof, fotoeins.com

How to read signage at German train stations

You’re excited – you’ve finally arrived in Germany. You’ve decided to travel the country by train, but you’re not familiar with the German language, and you may find the signs puzzling and difficult to read.

The following is a short visual descriptive guide to signage at German train stations to help get you on your way. Examples below are taken from Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof (central or main train station), although descriptions should apply similarly at other stations.

Below are descriptions to:

Departures board (Abfahrtstafel)
Destination signage (Zugzielanzeiger)
Car sequence signage (Wagenreihungsplan)
Arrivals-, departures schedules (Ankunfts-, Abfahrtspläne)

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My Germany: Christmas Markets Around the Country

An annual trip to Germany generally involves a wander out and about and across the country, and little surprise to me or to my friends, the visit(s) generally coincide with the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) season.

Have you visited the Christmas markets in Germany? You’ll know if you have, because …

… there’s gotta be a big Christmas tree somewhere;
… there’s a murmur in the crowds, from the quiet escalating to the jolly;
… the klang of porcelain mugs;
… the smell of sweet liquor, grilled sausage, and fried potato pancakes.

By day or at night, people are subjected to the simple whims of the sights, smells, and sounds of the markets.

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RheinZeit, Cologne, Koeln, Germany, fotoeins.com

Germany: great eats, sweet and savory

Above/featured: Foreground: Vienna-style pork schnitzel with fries, lemon slices, capers, sardines. Background: Flammkuche with feta, green chiles, olives, onion. RheinZeit, Köln (2011).

I started this series of food pictures in 2011, and the collection of photos has grown to something more. I think food throughout Germany can be colourful and delicious, and can offer interesting variety outside of the traditional “meat and starch”.

The photos you are about to see may cause drooling.

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