Osnabrück

For me, the city of Osnabrück was already the starting point for interesting meetings. I could also get to know the city.

Osnabrück: B & B Hotel

In 2016 over 3000 pedagogue experts met again for their annual conference in Osnabrück. Every year being quick is essential when booking a hotel during that time. Especially reasonably priced hotels in a good location. This time, I chose the B & B Hotel Osnabrück.

B & B HotelThe B & B Hotel Osnabrück is right next to the station. Unfortunately, there is no direct access to the station from the entrance, pedestrians have to pass through a tunnel to the other side of the station. That wouldn’t be a big deal if only the tunnel wasn’t that dark.
My serious request for the city council: A little more light, please!
But that’s the only thing I didn’t like about the hotel.
Other than that, all the important and interesting spots in the city are within reach. It’s only a 20-minute walk to the Osnabrück Event Hall and an additional 5 minutes to the pedestrianised high street. There is also a bus from the station to the Old Town.

The check.in was straightforward and quick. A 6 digit security code opened the door to the room and, after a certain time at night, also the main entrance of the hotel.

B & B HotelMy room was on the third floor, its windows facing away from the station. The room was very quiet, pleasant and clean. The hotel’s facilities are simple and functional. The bathroom had a cabin shower and some complimentary toiletries. Unfortunately, there was no hairdryer, but they can be borrowed at the reception. The room was equipped with one double bed and a bunk bed, so since I was travelling all by myself I had plenty of choices where to sleep. There was no closet, but a shelf for my clothes.

I slept exceptionally well at the two nights that I got to spend here.

I did not try the breakfast in the hotel. For this the hotel requires 7,50 € per day and person in addition. As I usually drink a coffee and eat a bread, you get with a breakfast to go cheaper.

The B & B Hotel in Osnabrück is a solid and reasonably priced choice for only a short stay on occasions like conferences.

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Address:

B & B Hotel Osnabrück
Hamburger Straße 10,
49084 Osnabrück

32000 steps through Osnabrück

Osnabrück
32000 steps through Osnabrück

For the 5th time already, I attended the congress “bewegte Kindheit” (moving childhood) in Osnabrück. Up until now, I only walked back and forth between the castle, several university buildings and some gyms without paying too much attention to the city. This time, things went a little differently.

Since I started this travel blog, my view on trips to places that aren’t Berlin has changed completely. I walk this earth with open eyes and I am able to see the beauty of cities and countries. This year, I didn’t take the bus to get from A to B. I walked. One evening - I reached the hotel completely knackered - a look at my fitness tracker told me that I had done 32000 steps in one day.

And what I discovered in Osnabrück between three presentations and two workshops…

The Town Hall of Osnabrück

The late Gothic town hall was built in 1512. Back in the day, it was a modern building, meant to represent the political power and significance of Osnabrück.

The hip roof is 18 meters high and surrounded by 6 little towers. The front is decorated with little figurines. 
Two staircases lead up to the main portal from either side. It was here that the Peace of Westphalia was declared and the Thirty Year’s War found its end. This peace treaty is regarded as the first step towards a united Europe.

The Hall of Peace can be visited, it currently is home to the Golden Book of the City.

As part of one of our workshops, we performed a dance in front of the town hall. Too bad, no one from inside the building applauded.

The Town Hall of Osnabrück
The Churches of Osnabrück
Dom St.Petrus

The Churches of Osnabrück

I only noticed that in a few cities so far, but it is fascinating how many churches can be found in the city centre of Osnabrück. I only took pictures of them in passing, the time I had was by no means enough to visit them all properly.
The St. Petrus Cathedral was erected in the times of Charles the Great and remains the centre of the bishopric to this day.
Just next to the town hall is the gothic St. Mary church and only a few meters further down, a short walk on foot, you find the gothic St. Katharien church. Its tower is 103 high and rises above pretty much everything else in the Old Town. That came in handy for me and my bad sense of directions; the tower was a good way marker that guided me through the town. On my seven-leagues-boots day, I also passed the St. Johann church and another really gorgeous church next to the cathedral school.

I am sure there are many more churches dotted around the city and I sincerely hope I get the opportunity to visit them on another occasion that isn’t a congress visit.

The Churches of Osnabrück

Katharien Kirche

The Churches of Osnabrück

Church near the Domschule

32000 steps through Osnabrück
Lendenhof

Ledenhof

Opposite the Osnabrück Event Hall, in which our conference was held, is the Ledenhof. The building has a somewhat flashy façade which was really the reason why I came over to have a look in the first place.
The manor was owned by the Leden family and is one of the most important buildings in Osnabrück. It consists of a main building and a tower that holds the staircase. The diagonally painted on pattern on the façade was recreated after historic models.

Castle Osnabrück

Some of the events of the congress took place in the four wings of the baroque Castle of Osnabrück. Today, the castle mainly serves as space for the university. Earlier, in the years that followed the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, it was the representative seat of the prince-bishop. The castle garden has a very open layout and serves as a venue for open-air concerts and events.

Castle Osnabrück

Castle Osnabrück

Castle Osnabrück

Castle Osnabrück

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…what else

Walking through the city with open eyes and an open mind will make you discover many nice opportunities for a little shopping and some really magnificent old buildings.

32000 steps through Osnabrück

Hotel Walhalla

32000 steps through Osnabrück

old house

After 32000 steps I was convinced, this city deserves another visit.

The secret platform ¾ in Berlin Spandau! Or: Where is my train to Osnabrück?

Osnabrück
The secret platform ¾ in Berlin Spandau! Or: Where is my train to Osnabrück?

The train station in Spandau is pretty easy to navigate. It only has 6 train tracks on three platforms. Platforms 1 and 2 are for the “S-Bahn”, the regional trains to and from the city. Platform 3 and 4 are for trains leaving Berlin and 5 and 6 for trains going into Berlin. Relatively straightforward.

Still – I have no idea why – I did not find my train to Osnabrück. I have the strong feeling that it drove through the station on platform ¾.

I summarised my experience that was this train journey for you.

train journeyThursday, my train to Osnabrück was scheduled to leave the station at 8:48 am. Platform three, coach 9, I was on time. Shortly before the scheduled departure, I spot a colleague on the platform, who is also going to the congress in Osnabrück. We greet each other, chat for a bit and walk further down the platform to where the coach my colleague is booked in is supposed to stop.

Thursday, 09:05 am. I am beginning to wonder where the train is. So I pull out my phone and text another colleague, who is already on the train.
“Where are you?”
The reply comes in right away: “In my seat.”
Haha!
Okay, follow up question: “But where’s the train?”
Answer: “We just passed Dallgow.”
Dallgow is about 5 to 10 minutes outside of Berlin.

Still Thursday, 09.15 am. We are beginning to doubt ourselves. Did the train not stop? Are we on the wrong platform? Confused, we make our way to the information desk. The two women behind the counter look back at us just as confused. The train arrived at platform 3 on time, a little early if anything, they even assisted a wheelchair user to board the train. We still cannot believe it, but the reality is: The train seems to have left without us!

Thursday, 9:30 am, ticket desk of Deutsche Bahn, the railway company. We are still flabbergasted, but we need to get to Osnabrück somehow. The congress starts at 2 pm and actually, we would have loved to drop off the bags at the hotel beforehand. We look for alternative trains.
Option 1: Berlin Spandau – Hamburg – Osnabrück
: A little inconvenient, arrival time in Osnabrück 13:48
Option 2: Berlin Spandau – Osnabrück, arrival 13:51
We went for option number two, we didn’t want to miss another train in Hamburg.
 So, we bought another ticket, called the hotel and arranged our check-in for later in the day, after the congress. Then we went for a coffee.

Thursday, 10:48 and we are finally on the train to Osnabrück. Happy that we found two empty seats next to each other. As soon as we sat down, I thought it’d be funny to make a remark about how a broken train would be the only thing missing on this day. I wish, I didn’t say that. After about 1.5 hours, our train unexpectedly stopped at a small station. A friendly announcement over the speakers told us that the motor coach had a problem and that the second motor coach from the end of the train had to be brought to the front to replace it. Passengers were encouraged to get some fresh air on the platform in the meantime. It took almost 45 minutes to replace the broken coach before we continued our journey.

train journeyThursday, 2:45 pm and we had finally made it to Osnabrück. We hurried to the bus we had to take to get to the congress and were relieved when we noticed that the first presentation hadn’t even started yet due to overly long welcoming speeches.

Epilogue:

To this day, I do not know how I missed the train on the platform. I am almost certain that the train didn’t arrive on platform three but on the secret platform ³/4. I am also almost certain that there must be a secret entry to that platform behind the ramp for wheelchairs. The person in the wheelchair got on the train, after all.

This train journey was certainly an experience. I haven’t had a good laugh like that in a while.

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The Ibis Hotel in Osnabrück

A congress brought us to Osnabrück for two nights. I looked for a reasonably priced hotel near the train station and I found the Ibis Hotel Osnabrück.

The Ibis Hotel Osnabrück City is located directly at the central station. It was opened in 2014 and it is ideal for those who arrive by train and also an ideal starting point to get to the city via public transport.

Ibis Hotel Osnabrück

All of the 148 rooms of the hotel are non-smoking rooms, have an air-con, free Wi-Fi and a cabin shower. The room was very clean! My room came with a bunk bed; the bottom bunk was a double, the top, which was hanging over the bottom from the ceiling, was a single.

Despite the hotel being that close to the central station, I had a quiet night in my room. I did not have breakfast in the hotel, the bakery at the next corner was quite sufficient.

Caution! Check-in is only open after 5 pm.

Conclusion:
I wouldn’t want to spend an entire holiday in this hotel, just because of the size of the room and the shower. For a short trip, however, the hotel is pretty much ideal because of its location and the availability of public transport.

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Address:

Möserstraße 51,
49074 Osnabrück