Author: Clint Swift

As a young man, I spent half a dozen years in Germany, a couple courtesy of the U.S. Army. I’ve often fantasized about returning to towns where I lived, worked or played to double-check whether some of my memories of 50 years ago actually happened. One of the difficulties is that today many — no,…

Google Maps lists a “Keira Knightley Spot” in Konstanz. I’ve liked the actress since I saw her facial expressions in “Pride and Prejudice.” If Jane Austen had been an advisor on the film, she would have been happy. Above, Keira (Sabina in the film) is sitting on a bench on Seestrasse (Lake Street) in Konstanz…

They still make zeppelins. I had scheduled a ride ($320) in an airship over the city where they’re made, Friedrichshafen, Germany. But two days before, the company cancelled, citing a forecast of high winds and temperature of 48 degrees F. It was my only day in town, so I was out of luck. Nonetheless, I…

What the guide books tell you about Tübingen hardly prepares you for the reality — a romantic Medieval town with a world-class university. Like Heidelberg, Tübingen wasn’t damaged severely during WWII because it had no war value.  Indeed, the town’s unspoiled, colorfully painted half-timbered homes, narrow alleys, cobblestone streets and hillside steps must look pretty…

I went to Stuttgart because Irmtraud invited me to experience the German tradition of Kaffee und Kuchen (Coffee and Cake) with her family. A dozen years ago at the online language school Transparent Language, Irmtraud became my first German tutor. We worked together for years via the Internet, but she and I have never met…

Heidelberg castle, begun in the 14th Century, was majestic once, I’m sure. But it was burned repeatedly during Heidelberg’s 10 centuries, as German, French and Swedes battled through wars of succession and religion. Over centuries, rebuilding started and stopped, resulting in a melange of architectural styles emerging among the ruins. Fire from lightning strikes in…

The Rhine-ferry visit was a chance to check on the Zeppelin memorial at nearby Geinsheim, a 7-minute walk south along the east bank. It may be hard to understand after the 1937 disaster at Lakehurst ended the trans-Atlantic airship era, but these crafts were huge during the last years of the German empire. In those…

On weekends in Darmstadt, my favorite pastime was to drive half an hour west to the Rhine. I grabbed a Brötchen (sandwich roll) at the snack-bar trailer on the bank and waited for the ferry. Fifty years later, the ferry’s still there. Same one, built in ’66. I started riding it in ’69. It was…

It was a little startling to find Darmstadt included in a short list with Munich, Paris, Brussels and Vienna. But there was a time …. The time was early 1900s. The list was about Art Nouveau (Jugendstil). It was a time when electrification, cars and mass production were as new as digitalization or artificial intelligence…

This year, my annual trip to Germany was built around saying thanks to Sergeant Major John “Bud” Mazur, who volunteered for the U.S. Army during World War II.