The one with history, hikes and heatwaves
Lilac Route in Heidelberg, 17/06 - 20/06
Guten Tag from a heat-wave stricken Heidelberg!
Though our journey to Heidelberg was long and included not one, not two, not three, not four, but five trains – we have to say that it was a resounding success! With not a single delayed or missed train, we were very pleased with ourselves upon arriving in Heidelberg. At the station, we were met by Sigi from AEGEE-Heidelberg who would host us for the next couple of nights. After taking the tram back to his place, he even made us a warm dinner – thanks Sigi! But aside from being a great chef, we quickly learned that Sigi is also a keen history enthusiast. Even his apartment is historically relevant – the American electricity sockets found inside are remnants of post-war Heidelberg, where the US Army established their headquarters in Europe. Already, it seemed we had a lot to learn about this city…
The next morning, after a chilled breakfast and quick laptop session, we headed into the city centre to conduct some street interviews. Owing to the fact that Heidelberg is, indeed, a student city, it proved quite easy to find students to interview. Moreover, there are many international students in the city, making our conversations that little bit more diverse. When asked to rank the urgency of climate change on a scale of 1-10, most interviewees answered with a 9 or 10. Interviewees’ opinions differed however when it came to the question of tackling climate change; while some were more optimistic, others felt we had passed the threshold at which we can reverse the effects of climate change. No matter whether interviewees had positive or negative outlooks, it became clear that they all experienced symptoms of eco-anxiety.
After completing the interviews, taking a necessary coffee break, and chatting more with Sigi and fellow AEGEE-Heidelberg member, Chris – we went on a city tour! As previously mentioned, Sigi’s background in history was certainly helpful in guiding us through the city. Overall, we learned a lot of interesting facts about the region whilst also stopping in several churches. Having seen some of the most highly decorated churches in the world during our stay in Italy, it was also intriguing to see some less decorated ones. We also visited the Heiliggeistkirche; a Protestant Church in the Old Town. However, the Heiliggeistkirche wasn’t always a Protestant Church. From 1706 to 1936, religious conflicts in the region caused the church to be divided in two by a brick wall – with one half reserved for Catholic worshippers and the other for Protestants. Aside from this interesting revelation, we also hiked up to the Philosopher’s way. Though it offered stunning views of the city below, I struggled to appreciate them given the 30+ degree heat…
Having returned from the hike and starting to believe that it just might be possible to survive this global-warming induced heat wave, it was time for our first workshop; Slow travel, slow living. It was a very fun workshop, with participants sharing their thoughts on how to strike a balance between convenient and sustainable travel. One participant also shared his experience of sustainability in his home country; Pakistan. For the most part, sustainable travel isn’t possible in Pakistan due to a lack of infrastructure to support such mobility. His insights were very welcome as it’s often easy to forget that the option of sustainable travel is a privilege in itself. At the end of the workshop, Aileen (President of AEGEE-Heidelberg) spoke about the upcoming referendum in Heidelberg which will vote on the construction of wind turbines in the Lammerskopf forest area. Participants reacted with mixed reviews to Aileen’s appeal, with some participants expressing a dislike for the visual pollution caused by such structures. It became clear that, for some of our participants, tackling climate pollution did not involve visually polluting nature.
Taking these many insights on board, we had a picnic with AEGEE-Heidelberg. We enjoyed snacking, chatting and chilling on the mosquito-free grass. Fruits, pastries, and crisps – I found myself wondering if this was Europe on Track or Europe on Snack? Jokes aside, the most entertaining moment of the evening occurred when a gaggle of geese decided to attack the picnic, with one particular gosling taking on the role of picnic-blanket pooper. Across borders and countries, it seemed that geese were both hungry and aggressive Europe-wide.
On Friday we woke up not quite as bright or as early as we had hoped. But nonetheless, we managed to leave the apartment before the worst heat of the day had hit. With our sights set on Heidelberg Castle, a tram took us most of the way there, before we switched to the most sustainable transport mode of all; walking. The view from the castle was beautiful, and thankfully our hike was not quite as strenuous as the day before. Looking around, I thought that the trees looked an awful lot like broccoli. This was fitting considering that we soon had some broccoli for lunch!
After our castle visit and broccoli-inspired lunch, it was time for our second workshop of the stop; Storytelling: From fear to collective imagination. Since this workshop requires a lot of creativity, it’s fair to say that some of the participants struggled to let their imaginations run wild. But where imagination was lacking, interesting conversations filled the gaps. We spoke about the difficulties of imagining a world in which we solve the climate crisis. Constantly surrounded by negative news and statistics, it’s so much easier to imagine a negative future for our planet than a positive one. We concluded that we should all make an effort to consume more positive media and news stories in order to feel inspired, hopeful and empowered in our climate advocacy.
Once the workshop ended, we had a barbecue with a number of people from AEGEE-Heidelberg. When I asked who owned the barbecue, I was told it was the ‘new AEGEE barbecue’. I was very impressed that this AEGEE local even had its own portable cooking facilities, something which lacked in the other AEGEE locals we had visited. Once the barbecue was ready to go, Chris thankfully helped us to fry up some vegan burgers, grilled courgette and even some camembert! With good food, good lemonade and good company, this evening was the perfect way to end our stay in Heidelberg.
The next morning we needed to catch the train at 5:30, already making our way to the last stop of our route. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to our new friend Sigi, but it was also bittersweet to think our Europe on Track journey was nearly coming to an end. Waving goodbye to Sigi and the broccoli-covered landscape of Heidelberg, we pondered what to expect in our final stop; Copenhagen.
Written by: Sheenagh Rowland
(and the Lilac team)