Trip to Heidelberg 1956
By Glenda Wells (Nee Rayner)
On Friday morning the 18th May at 7.45am, 48 excited girls and 6 members of staff assembled at Southtown Station. Two photographs of the party were taken outside the station just before we got into the train.
We arrived in London at 11.25am and had an hour to wait on Victoria Station before the train left for Dover. We were very surprised at the large numbers of school parties and how very young most of the children were.
After going through many long corridors, very slowly, carrying our heavy luggage we left the customs sheds of Dover and boarded the 'Prins Albert' a Belgian Steamer boat. We had to stand or sit on our cases for the greater part of the journey. The crossing, which took 3 ½ hrs, was very calm but bitterly cold and we at last understood why the staff had insisted on winter school uniform.
We arrived in London at 11.25am and had an hour to wait on Victoria Station before the train left for Dover. We were very surprised at the large numbers of school parties and how very young most of the children were.
After going through many long corridors, very slowly, carrying our heavy luggage we left the customs sheds of Dover and boarded the 'Prins Albert' a Belgian Steamer boat. We had to stand or sit on our cases for the greater part of the journey. The crossing, which took 3 ½ hrs, was very calm but bitterly cold and we at last understood why the staff had insisted on winter school uniform.
At Ostend we found the train had very upright seats which were most unsuitable for sleeping, but many people managed it nevertheless.
During the journey we passed through the ancient cities of Bruges and Brussels where the illuminated advertisements were much better then those of London's Picadilly Circus. We also passed through the Rhine Gorge in moonlight and those of us who were awake were enthralled by the beautiful mountains covered with vineyards and the steep rocks with ruined castles perched on their tops.
We arrived at Mannheim at 6 o clock the following morning and boarded a train which resembled a cattle truck as it was very old and dirty and had wooden seats. We were relieved that this part of the journey lasted only 40 mins. The scenery was very flat at Mannheim as we were in the middle of the Rhine Plain, which is very wide at this point. Just before we reached Heidelberg we saw the hills appearing through the early morning mist. The station at Heidelberg was very modern and had coloured marble floors and beautiful wall decorations. On the station itself there was a variety of shops ranging from a bank to a barbers. The latter was probably for people who had a long wait for their train!
Two coaches met us and took us to the Wisserbock Hotel which means white buck hotel. This appeared very dismal from the outside for it was in a narrow dark street of old houses and did not look very clean itself, but once inside we were proved wrong. It had been one of the old student inns and the walls were hung with interesting souvenirs. The students had also carved their names on the tables in the restaurant. We sat down straight away to our first continental breakfast of coffee and rolls.
After breakfast we were given our rooms. These were divided between 3 hotels, the largest proportion being at the Wisserbock. When we had washed, unpacked and rested it was time for lunch. After lunch a guide called for us and took us to some of the places of interest in the town. We went to see the old bridge with it's medieval gateway and portcullis on the Heidelberg side. It had been gallantly defended during the Napoleonic wars. We visited the market place with it's lovely statue of the Virgin and Child. We then went to the castle in a beautiful wooded setting on the slopes of the mountains and from the terraces there were beautiful views of the town.
We arrived at Mannheim at 6 o clock the following morning and boarded a train which resembled a cattle truck as it was very old and dirty and had wooden seats. We were relieved that this part of the journey lasted only 40 mins. The scenery was very flat at Mannheim as we were in the middle of the Rhine Plain, which is very wide at this point. Just before we reached Heidelberg we saw the hills appearing through the early morning mist. The station at Heidelberg was very modern and had coloured marble floors and beautiful wall decorations. On the station itself there was a variety of shops ranging from a bank to a barbers. The latter was probably for people who had a long wait for their train!
Two coaches met us and took us to the Wisserbock Hotel which means white buck hotel. This appeared very dismal from the outside for it was in a narrow dark street of old houses and did not look very clean itself, but once inside we were proved wrong. It had been one of the old student inns and the walls were hung with interesting souvenirs. The students had also carved their names on the tables in the restaurant. We sat down straight away to our first continental breakfast of coffee and rolls.
After breakfast we were given our rooms. These were divided between 3 hotels, the largest proportion being at the Wisserbock. When we had washed, unpacked and rested it was time for lunch. After lunch a guide called for us and took us to some of the places of interest in the town. We went to see the old bridge with it's medieval gateway and portcullis on the Heidelberg side. It had been gallantly defended during the Napoleonic wars. We visited the market place with it's lovely statue of the Virgin and Child. We then went to the castle in a beautiful wooded setting on the slopes of the mountains and from the terraces there were beautiful views of the town.
All the old buildings of Heidelberg are built from the glowing pink sandstone quarried from the mountains on which we stood. It looked wonderful in its setting of new leaves.
The castle guide took us to see the electors wine cellars and a wine barrel which held 50,000 gallons. We also saw the statue of Perkeo, the dwarf of Heidelberg, who was the court jester and is supposed to have drunk the barrel dry. We were then taken to the restored great hall which is still used today for meetings. We saw some rooms with the most beautiful marble and wooden inlaid floors and to walk on these we had to put on extremely large carpet slippers over our shoes to prevent us scratching the floor. These rooms were furnished in 12th century German style and each had a beautiful tiled stove for heating. Some of us had these stoves in our rooms.
Saturday evening was spent in our rooms recovering from the journey as many of us had not had any sleep for 36 hrs.
On Sunday morning we went to church at the Hilighyst which is a German Lutheran or Evangelical church. We found that we had to stand for prayers and sit for the hymns. The sermon was very boring as we could only understand 2 words but we were able to join in the hymn that we recognised - The Old Hundredth. A few people went to the Roman Catholic Church and told us afterwards that it had been the most beautiful service they had ever heard. After this we went for a walk across the river to the home of the Student Prince but were disappointed that we could not go inside. In the afternoon we went up Philosopher's Way on Holy Mountain, a winding and beautifully wooded path with all kinds of trees and shrubs. When we were nearly at the top we stopped at a café and had lemonade and a large slice of a very creamy cake, after which some of us continued to climb to a Nazi open air theatre, which was a recent building, resembling a Roman amphitheatre. For some unknown reason it had never been used.
The evening was spent walking in small groups along the River Neckar to see the illuminations.After breakfast on Monday morning the party was split into two groups. The first group explored the town and the bridge by the lock. The others climbed along the Philosopher's Way by an alternative route to get to a ruined abbey. About an hour before lunch we were told it would take another hour to get to the abbey, so we had a short sit down in a clearing and then had to return for lunch.
In the afternoon there was an excursion to Schwetzingen, a small palace with beautiful gardens. There were fountains, ponds, statues and a stream packed with fish. They hardly seemed able to swim freely especially where people were feeding them.
For most of the girls the evening was spent at the pictures. I went to see The Glass Slipper. It was a very tiny cinema, more like an English news theatre. The film was very easy to understand although it was spoken in German and there were no subtitles. The supporting film was about factory accidents and the star of the film had almost every accident imaginable but did not appear to suffer any ill effects.
In the afternoon there was an excursion to Schwetzingen, a small palace with beautiful gardens. There were fountains, ponds, statues and a stream packed with fish. They hardly seemed able to swim freely especially where people were feeding them.
For most of the girls the evening was spent at the pictures. I went to see The Glass Slipper. It was a very tiny cinema, more like an English news theatre. The film was very easy to understand although it was spoken in German and there were no subtitles. The supporting film was about factory accidents and the star of the film had almost every accident imaginable but did not appear to suffer any ill effects.
Tuesday was spent on an all day coach tour. A few of us travelled in a smaller coach known as a 'flying flea''.
It travelled very fast and two or three times we were nearly reduced to minced meat. We were very relieved that our driver had efficient brakes. The excursion took us first to Speyer where we had to cross the river Rhine, by ferry, because there was a new bridge being built.We had a wonderful view of the cathedral across the river. Once on the opposite bank we walked through gardens to the Cathedral which was very splendid with huge murals shining with gold leaf over walls and roof. In the vaults several Roman Emperors lie buried.
We then visited the wine museum. At first we thought we would not be admitted but Mrs. Miller, our guide from the travel agency, spoke to the door keeper in German and then he let us in. Inside we saw old wine presses and carved barrel ends and some wine that had been kept from Roman times, which did not look at all appetising as it appeared to have curdled.
The coaches then left for Worms, stopping at the roadside for a short while for us to eat our sandwiches and buy a bottle of pop. At Worms we visited the Cathedral which contained lovely medieval carvings. After this we were allowed to shop and several girls bought presents. Worms is associated with Martin Luther and we were able to see the memorial erected in his honour. The hall in which he was put on trial by the Emperor was destroyed in the last war. We also saw a great deal of other war damage around the Cathedral.
We returned to Heidelberg in time for the evening meal, after which, most people wrote cards, letters, or made up their diaries. Wednesday morning was spent shopping and sightseeing and in the afternoon we went by boat to Neckarsteinach where some girls visited 2 of the 4 castles, reached by a lovely rocky path up the mountain. Others stayed in the village. The boat took rather a long time on the return journey as we were held up at the locks. All along the river there was the most beautiful scenery of mountains covered with trees of many different types. These added colour as there were many different greens. We saw several hill top castles and peasants ploughing with oxen.
A concert was arranged for the evening by both girls and staff. The staff did a most amusing charade. The prefects did their worst singing and are now convinced that Mrs.Lee does not want them in her choir. The programme also contained a song, a sketch, a poem, brilliantly made up at the last minute, by Gwynne, an 'In Town Tonight' and a mannequin parade.
On Thursday morning we went shopping until 11.15 then we visited Heidelberg Museum. There we saw a 17th century carved wooden altar with the 12 disciples carved into it.
In the afternoon we went by funicular railway from Cornmarket Station to the top of Konigsthul mountain where we climbed a tower and through a telescope watched a heavy storm pass along the valley of the Rhine. Some of the more energetic members of the party walked down the mountain instead of using the funicular railway.
When we returned, the girls rushed back to their hotels to don their best and prettiest dresses in preparation for the dance that was to be given for us that evening by some of the students at their club. Most of the girls had an enjoyable evening and invited the students back to the Weissenbock for coffee the following evening.
Friday was spent on another all day coach tour, visiting first Erbach which is very famous for its ivory carvings. We saw shops with displays of the most beautiful carvings imaginable. We would have liked to have gone into the museum but it was too expensive. We then went on to visit Michelstadt where we saw walls that had wooden tiles on them. There was also a market place with a fountain. The town hall, in the market place, was a wooden building which was very old and beautiful.
Our next stop was Amourbach where we visited a palace which had a church which was very famous for it's organ. As a special concession we were allowed to stand outside the door and listen to it being played. The church itself was a beautiful example of the Baroque style and was very gay with paints of blue, pink, green and gold. We went into the library which had 99,000 books in it. On the ceiling were pictures of all the arts and sciences. In the centre was a temple and whichever way you looked at it you were still able to see the door. The wooden blocked floor appeared to be covered with books, which looked as if they were standing up when you looked at them one way and looked as if they were laying down when looked at the other way. So as not to break the line of the bookshelves the doors bore painted books, which were difficult to distinguish. The journey back to Heidelberg followed the river Neckar.The evening was spent entertaining some of the students we had met the evening before.
On Saturday the party was again split into two groups. The older girls went first to the universities to look round. They were shown the students' prison. On the walls and ceilings were names of the people who had been in there and the reason for being there. One excuse made by 5 students was that they had found a stone in the street and wanting to give it to the police they had thrown it through the police station window. We were not able to see much more of the university as an American General who was head of the Allied Forces in Europe was visiting that afternoon.
We then visited the wine museum. At first we thought we would not be admitted but Mrs. Miller, our guide from the travel agency, spoke to the door keeper in German and then he let us in. Inside we saw old wine presses and carved barrel ends and some wine that had been kept from Roman times, which did not look at all appetising as it appeared to have curdled.
The coaches then left for Worms, stopping at the roadside for a short while for us to eat our sandwiches and buy a bottle of pop. At Worms we visited the Cathedral which contained lovely medieval carvings. After this we were allowed to shop and several girls bought presents. Worms is associated with Martin Luther and we were able to see the memorial erected in his honour. The hall in which he was put on trial by the Emperor was destroyed in the last war. We also saw a great deal of other war damage around the Cathedral.
We returned to Heidelberg in time for the evening meal, after which, most people wrote cards, letters, or made up their diaries. Wednesday morning was spent shopping and sightseeing and in the afternoon we went by boat to Neckarsteinach where some girls visited 2 of the 4 castles, reached by a lovely rocky path up the mountain. Others stayed in the village. The boat took rather a long time on the return journey as we were held up at the locks. All along the river there was the most beautiful scenery of mountains covered with trees of many different types. These added colour as there were many different greens. We saw several hill top castles and peasants ploughing with oxen.
A concert was arranged for the evening by both girls and staff. The staff did a most amusing charade. The prefects did their worst singing and are now convinced that Mrs.Lee does not want them in her choir. The programme also contained a song, a sketch, a poem, brilliantly made up at the last minute, by Gwynne, an 'In Town Tonight' and a mannequin parade.
On Thursday morning we went shopping until 11.15 then we visited Heidelberg Museum. There we saw a 17th century carved wooden altar with the 12 disciples carved into it.
In the afternoon we went by funicular railway from Cornmarket Station to the top of Konigsthul mountain where we climbed a tower and through a telescope watched a heavy storm pass along the valley of the Rhine. Some of the more energetic members of the party walked down the mountain instead of using the funicular railway.
When we returned, the girls rushed back to their hotels to don their best and prettiest dresses in preparation for the dance that was to be given for us that evening by some of the students at their club. Most of the girls had an enjoyable evening and invited the students back to the Weissenbock for coffee the following evening.
Friday was spent on another all day coach tour, visiting first Erbach which is very famous for its ivory carvings. We saw shops with displays of the most beautiful carvings imaginable. We would have liked to have gone into the museum but it was too expensive. We then went on to visit Michelstadt where we saw walls that had wooden tiles on them. There was also a market place with a fountain. The town hall, in the market place, was a wooden building which was very old and beautiful.
Our next stop was Amourbach where we visited a palace which had a church which was very famous for it's organ. As a special concession we were allowed to stand outside the door and listen to it being played. The church itself was a beautiful example of the Baroque style and was very gay with paints of blue, pink, green and gold. We went into the library which had 99,000 books in it. On the ceiling were pictures of all the arts and sciences. In the centre was a temple and whichever way you looked at it you were still able to see the door. The wooden blocked floor appeared to be covered with books, which looked as if they were standing up when you looked at them one way and looked as if they were laying down when looked at the other way. So as not to break the line of the bookshelves the doors bore painted books, which were difficult to distinguish. The journey back to Heidelberg followed the river Neckar.The evening was spent entertaining some of the students we had met the evening before.
On Saturday the party was again split into two groups. The older girls went first to the universities to look round. They were shown the students' prison. On the walls and ceilings were names of the people who had been in there and the reason for being there. One excuse made by 5 students was that they had found a stone in the street and wanting to give it to the police they had thrown it through the police station window. We were not able to see much more of the university as an American General who was head of the Allied Forces in Europe was visiting that afternoon.
We next visited the Technical School and we took part in some of the lessons.
I went to a physics lesson. Some of the boys offered to explain the lesson to us as it progressed but, after a time, they told us they could not tell us what it was about as they did not understand it themselves! Some of the pupils were even playing cards. Other girls went to different classes and noticed the same thing.
The first part of the afternoon was spent resting in preparation for the journey. Then there was a shopping expedition and a frantic rush to get rid of the last of our German money. Most of it was spent on cream cakes and drinks.
The evening was spent clearing our rooms and doing last minute packing. At about 9.30 we got into the bus to take us to the station. We left Heidelberg station at about 10.30 and got on the train for Mannheim. The train that we got from Mannheim was on time even though it had come from Yugoslavia.
When we reached Ostend we went through customs very quickly and on to the boat. Almost as soon as we had put our luggage down we were given breakfast. On arriving at Dover we had to go through the customs again and we saw the officers going through peoples cases. One poor man was undoing pink paper and when we got to the other side we saw him fill in a form and pay some money. All the school party got through without any questions. We left Dover for London at 2.30pm
On arriving in London we hurried across to Liverpool Street as we hoped to buy something to eat, but we had to go straight to the train. Miss Favell asked one of the ticket collectors if it would be possible for the tea trolley to come to our platform. It Came after a very short time so we were able to have something to eat. While we were waiting for the train to leave we kept looking out for the Priory school who were also due on our train, but they had missed the boat at Calais.
We arrived in Yarmouth at 8.45pm.
This account was written at the time of the holiday
The first part of the afternoon was spent resting in preparation for the journey. Then there was a shopping expedition and a frantic rush to get rid of the last of our German money. Most of it was spent on cream cakes and drinks.
The evening was spent clearing our rooms and doing last minute packing. At about 9.30 we got into the bus to take us to the station. We left Heidelberg station at about 10.30 and got on the train for Mannheim. The train that we got from Mannheim was on time even though it had come from Yugoslavia.
When we reached Ostend we went through customs very quickly and on to the boat. Almost as soon as we had put our luggage down we were given breakfast. On arriving at Dover we had to go through the customs again and we saw the officers going through peoples cases. One poor man was undoing pink paper and when we got to the other side we saw him fill in a form and pay some money. All the school party got through without any questions. We left Dover for London at 2.30pm
On arriving in London we hurried across to Liverpool Street as we hoped to buy something to eat, but we had to go straight to the train. Miss Favell asked one of the ticket collectors if it would be possible for the tea trolley to come to our platform. It Came after a very short time so we were able to have something to eat. While we were waiting for the train to leave we kept looking out for the Priory school who were also due on our train, but they had missed the boat at Calais.
We arrived in Yarmouth at 8.45pm.
This account was written at the time of the holiday
Extra photographs of the holiday from Carole Owen