Thursday, June 4, 2026

Northern Germany

All of the cities that we will be seeing in northern Germany are port cities which went to the Protestant side during the Reformation. Most of the cities in northwestern Europe banded together in the later Middle Ages to form a cooperative union known as the Hanseatic League.

The second-largest city in Germany is Hamburg. Germany is divided into sixteen states. Three cities are states unto themselves. We have already visited Berlin, Germany's largest city which is one of the cities that is a state unto itself. The two others are in northern Germany, Hamburg and Bremen.

Hamburg has been an independent, or semi-independent, city-state for much of it's history. Hamburg began with a northern castle that was founded by Charlemagne shortly after he was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor. Remember that the -burg suffix in German place names signifies a castle, but -berg signifies a hill or mountain, as in iceberg.

Hamburg grew through medieval times into an important port city. But it's accessibility from the sea also made it a target of Viking raids. Many people who immigrated to North America from northern and eastern Europe actually sailed from Hamburg. Hamburg is on the Elbe River, which leads to the North Sea.

Ships are very important to Hamburg. The first of the following six images from Google Earth show the numerous canals and channels across Hamburg. The red dot is the location of the City Hall. The pattern is not like that of Amsterdam, where the canals form concentric rings. The next three images show numerous shipping containers being loaded or unloaded by crane. The final two images show a ship being worked on in drydock.







Hamburg, of course, brings the question of it's relationship to the hamburger. Does the idea of putting a slab of meat on a bun come from Hamburg? Everyone seems to have a different opinion on where the hamburger comes from.

I don't know why North America calls it a hamburger. It is not made of ham, it is made of beef. In Europe it is called a beefburger. With so many Moslems, as well as Jews, wouldn't it be better to not call it a hamburger, which makes it seem as if it is made of ham?

Anyway, these scenes of central Hamburg begin at it's impressive City Hall or Rathaus. In so many German cities, the Rathaus and the cathedral are on the main square at the center of the city. These four images, from Google Earth and Street View, show the City Hall of Hamburg.





These eight images, from Google Earth and Street View, are of central Hamburg.









There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.


























https://www.google.com/maps/@53.6771851,10.2400112,3a,75y,220h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNXe9wxyJbDUWr6tgf9iJ_cTJ6C9eZoczYh505P!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNXe9wxyJbDUWr6tgf9iJ_cTJ6C9eZoczYh505P%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-20-ya102-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Bremen is the other city in northern Germany that is a state unto itself. Like Hamburg, Bremen is a port city on a river, the Weser River, that links to the North Sea. Like so many German cities it has a medieval Rathaus, the City Hall, on the main square of the city, with the cathedral or major church nearby.

During the days of the Holy Roman Empire, some city squares had statues of a knight of Charlemagne named Roland. This knight was a legend in much of Europe during the Middle Ages.

The following scenes begin in the central square with the Rathaus and Bremen's Roland. The first two of the following six images from Google Street View are of the City Hall and the third is of the statue.







https://www.google.com/maps/@53.0757911,8.8073733,3a,75y,316.28h,101.56t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipO8k5fvW2pQDUHearDoaSrUzUtNN3InxOHdbkGD!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO8k5fvW2pQDUHearDoaSrUzUtNN3InxOHdbkGD%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya130.86864-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Lubeck is yet another important port city going back to the early Middle Ages. What differentiates Lubeck from Hamburg and Bremen is that Lubeck faces the Baltic Sea, rather than the North Sea. Facing the North Sea is better for access to western Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. But Lubeck is in a better location to access Russia, eastern Europe and Scandinavia by sea.

Lubeck today is especially known for it's picturesque Holstentor Gate, from the Fifteenth Century, to the old part of the city. These views of Lubeck begin inside St. Peter's Church. The first three of the following five images, of the old part of Lubeck, are of the Holstentor Gate.






https://www.google.com/maps/@53.8658616,10.6831563,2a,75y,106.13h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sxEtS8dXOvGgAAAQvxWxilQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DxEtS8dXOvGgAAAQvxWxilQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D116.12696%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

Kiel is a port city that belonged to Denmark during the Middle Ages. We saw in the posting on this blog, "The End Of The First World War" November 2018, the great historical impact of the mutiny of the sailors at Kiel at the end of the First World War. It doesn't get a lot of attention but there is a canal across the peninsula in the north of Germany so that ships can go between the North and Baltic Seas without going around Denmark. It is called the Kiel or Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. The first four images of Kiel are from Google Street View.





https://www.google.com/maps/@54.3233533,10.1392417,3a,75y,110.13h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMOVjRhQHGqMH07xMgfc9pSM8GBPCVCfxuHR9wA!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMOVjRhQHGqMH07xMgfc9pSM8GBPCVCfxuHR9wA%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya122.14493-ro-0-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

Rostock is the other city of northern Germany that has been an important port since Medieval Times. Like Kiel and Lubeck, it faces the Baltic Sea. The first six images, of the old part of Rostock, are from Google Street View.








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Conjunction Of Venus And Jupiter

In the western sky after sunset are two bright lights, brighter than any star. These are Venus and Jupiter. Venus is somewhat brighter than Jupiter. The two planets periodically come close to each other in the sky but the conjunctions alternate between in the evening after sunset, in the western sky, and in the morning before sunrise, in the eastern sky. Remember that the two planets are not really close to each other, it is just a line-of-sight effect as seen from Earth.

Less than a year ago, in August 2025, I posted "The Venus Clue". At that time there was a conjunction between the two in the eastern sky, before sunrise.

The following diagram illustrates what is happening. The inner blue circle represents the orbit of Venus, around the sun at the center. The middle green circle represents the orbit of Earth. The outer black circle represents the orbit of Jupiter. This is as if seen from above the Earth's north pole. The movement of the planets in orbit, as well as their rotation, is counterclockwise as indicated by the red arrow.

Last August, the planets were each at Position A, to the right of the diagram. The conjunction is shown by the straight line. The planets move faster in their orbits the closer they are to the sun and since then, Venus has completed more than a full orbit, Earth has completed most of an orbit and Jupiter has completed a fraction of an orbit. Venus and Jupiter are in conjunction once again, now in Position B at the left of the diagram, in the evening after sunset.

Because the Earth is rotating counterclockwise, and is orbiting the sun in the same direction, the forward direction in orbit will be seen before sunrise and the backward direction after sunset.

Here is a link to "The Venus Clue".

https://markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-venus-clue.html?m=0

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The Universe Outside Ourselves

This was originally written in support of the first cosmology theory but more has been added to it and it has been added to the recent second cosmology theory, "The Theory Of Infinite Dimensions", April 2026.

What the Theory Of Infinite Dimensions is really about is ourselves. We are used to thinking that, in science, we can completely rely on our own measurements and observations. That might be fine for other branches of science but to really understand the nature of the universe we have to understand that we are part of the universe ourselves and see it as we do not only because of what it is but also because of what we are. 

So much of what we see about the universe doesn't make sense and that is because we are seeing our own nature reflected back at us and have to "get outside ourselves".

People in ancient times were fascinated by the night sky, and put a lot of time into watching and studying it, but didn't understand it. Everything seemed to move around us. The sun lit the earth and moved around it once a day. The moon also seemed to be lit by the sun but went through it's cycle of phases once a month, even though it rose and set as the sun did.

Then there were all of the stars in the sky. Some believed that there was a canopy, with light beyond it, and stars were holes in the canopy. But then why did the patterns of the stars, called constellations, gradually change, going through a cycle that lasted a year? Why did several stars seem to "wander" among the other stars? They wandered at different rates to each other but stayed to the same path across the sky.

It was so fascinating and intriguing but no one could explain it. It just didn't make sense.

THE EARTH IS NOT REALLY THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE 

Then a flash of insight came. What we needed to do was to get outside our earth. We were putting complete trust in what our senses were telling us and it was our own earth that was in our way.

It all fell into place. The earth was not at the center, as it seems to us, the earth actually moved around the sun in one year. This explained why the patterns of the stars change over the course of a year. 

Earth was just one of the planets that appeared to "wander" among the stars at different rates, but kept to the same path across the sky. The path was the orbital plane of our Solar System, which we see as the Zodiac, and the planets moved at different rates because they were at different distances from the sun. The moon moved around the earth while lit by the sun, causing us to see it in different phases. All of the countless stars in the sky could be presumed to be more or less like the sun, except much further away.

This new view of the universe was nothing less than revolutionary. Our senses told us that the earth is at the center and all else moves around us. A basic presumption in science is that we can completely rely on our measurements and observations. That may be true for other sciences but not for cosmology. The challenge is finding our way outside our own perspective.

This isn't the only way that we see the universe as we do not only because of what it is but also because of what we are. There is also the issue of color. We see things in colors that do not really exist outside of ourselves. Colors are just the way that our eyes and brains interpret different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation and so much of what we see, from the blue sky and white clouds and snow to the blue sea, are optical illusions.

But today we are in another situation where we can observe and discover so much, yet it doesn't seem to make sense and is so difficult to explain.

RELATIVITY AND QUANTUM PHYSICS 

The past 120 years or so has brought two new branches of physics that have gotten a lot of attention and attracted a lot of brilliant minds. Relativity was introduced by Albert Einstein. There are two separate theories, the Special Theory of Relativity from 1905 and the General Theory of Relativity from 1915. General Relativity explains how gravity curves space itself and an object that is in orbit or falling is actually moving in a straight line, but through curved space.

Special Relativity has the speed of light as absolutely sacrosanct and everything else revolving around it. Nothing can move faster than the speed of light because an object's mass increases as it approaches the speed of light and becomes infinite when it does reach it. Time slows down, and then stops, for one approaching the speed of light. The length of a spaceship approaching the speed of light would appear to get shorter, as seen by a stationary observer, until it's length appeared to be zero at the speed of light.

The other new branch of physics is Quantum Physics. This appears to have a lot of high-tech practical applications, such as very high-speed computers and tamper-proof communications. In Quantum Physics the observation is a vital component of any interaction. Uncertainty is part of the quantum realm and we cannot be sure of anything until it is observed. Two photons can be "entangled" so that they share a quantum state and even observing one photon will automatically show up in the other one, making foolproof communication a possibility.

Aside from these two new branches of physics there is still the "classic" textbook or "Newtonian" physics.

The trouble with all of this is that both Relativity and Quantum Physics are completely contradictory of classic textbook physics. How could ordinary physics explain how an object's mass approaches infinity as it nears the speed of light or how the outcome of an experiment is affected by whether or not the experiment is being observed?

Not only are the principles of Relativity and Quantum Physics completely unexplainable by ordinary physics, they are also incompatible with each other. The dividing line between Special Relativity and Quantum Physics is the speed of light. In Relativity the speed of light is sacrosanct. Nothing can ever move faster than it and everything else revolves around it. But in Quantum Physics the speed of light isn't even a factor at all. Quantum physicists can show that information moves instantaneously between two entangled photons, no matter how far apart they are, without being bound at all by the speed of light.

These three branches of physics all contradict each other but yet the veracity of all three can be shown by experiments. How can this possibly be?

DARK ENERGY AND DARK MATTER 

That is just the beginning of the modern cosmology mystery. We are told that about two-thirds of the universe consists of a mysterious "dark energy" that drives the expansion of the universe. It has long been known that the universe is expanding but it was thought that the expansion was slowing down. In 1998 two separate scientific investigations both found that, not only is the expansion of the universe not slowing down, it is actually speeding up.

The majority of the remaining third of the universe is said to consist of "dark matter", which cannot be seen or detected except by the gravitational effect that it has on ordinary matter. This makes "dark matter" just about as mysterious as "dark energy".

Finally the remaining few percent of the universe is the everyday matter that we are familiar with.

THE FIRST COSMOLOGY THEORY 

We are learning so much about the universe, and how it works, but what we are learning doesn't make sense to us. It is almost like we are back before we found our way outside the earth, and presumed that the earth was at the center and everything went around it. Humans were fascinated by what was in the night sky but it didn't make any sense.

Could it be that there is something else that we have to find our way out of? What if we have to find our way outside ourselves before what we observe about the universe and the way it works makes sense? 

A basic presumption of science has always been that we have an unbiased view of the universe, that we can completely rely on our measurements and observations. But what if we don't have an unbiased view of the universe? What if we are part of the universe ourselves and see it as we do not only because of what it is but also because of what we are? This might explain why we have learned so much about the universe but it makes so little sense.

To begin let's start questioning things. We live in three spatial dimensions, and time is often considered as a one-way dimension. Time is another thing. It is so fundamental to us but what actually is it? I had never seen a plausible explanation of what time actually is.

What if time is really another dimension of space that we can't access at will? This would mean that all of the matter we can see must have another dimension to it. Matter can change or move around over time but it still exists. What if matter actually consisted of very long strings in four-dimensional space, which we perceive as particles, such as electrons, because we can only see in three dimensions? The scientific community did have a lot to say about "string theory".

If we consist of strings, rather than particles, then the strings must be aligned in this fourth dimension of space that we cannot access, and this is why we cannot access it. This provides a simple explanation of what time actually is, the movement of our consciousness along the bundles of strings comprising our bodies and brains in the spatial dimension that we cannot access at will.

A clue that there is more going on regarding dimensions is the leftover radiation from the Big Bang, which began the universe. If we live in three spatial dimensions then we should be able to pinpoint the direction in space that the radiation from the Big Bang is coming from. But we can't, it seems to be coming at us equally from all directions. What that indicates is there is another spatial dimension that the site of the Big Bang is located in. Since we perceive the Big Bang as having taken place in the past, this indicates that our time is really another dimension of space.

Electric charge is obviously very important in the universe, matter consists of charged particles like electrons and protons. But what exactly is space and matter? We know that space and matter must somehow be composed of the same basic constituents because matter and antimatter will disappear into empty space after being reacted together, after releasing a burst of energy. The conclusion is simple. Space consists of alternating negative and positive electric charges in multiple dimensions. 

Matter, or antimatter, is a concentration of like charges held together, against their mutual repulsion, by energy. This energy is what gives matter it's mass, as described by the well-known Mass-Energy Equivalence. It is also behind Einstein's famous formula, E = MC squared, which means that a small amount of matter contains a lot of energy. 

This provides a neat explanation of what gravity is. If the two electric charges are equal then the basic rules of electric charges, that opposite charges attract while like charges repel, must also be equal. If matter consists of like charges held together, against their mutual repulsion, by energy then that must leave a net attractive force associated with matter. There is indeed a net attractive force, it is what we refer to as gravity. Many disagreed with Einstein that gravity is related to electromagnetism but this shows that he was correct.

The alternating charges of space usually balance out to zero but electromagnetic waves are so-called because they disturb this underlying balance. Just as matter is the overcoming of the repulsive force between like charges by energy, electromagnetic waves are the overcoming of the attractive force between opposite charges by energy. The near-infinitesimal Planck's Length shows up in all manner of physics formula because it is the size of one of these fundamental electric charges.

What about the speed of light? Why is the speed of light what it is, rather than some other speed? If we don't even know why the speed of light is what it is how can it be so sacrosanct in Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity? If this is what time is then our consciousness must be moving along the bundles of strings comprising our bodies and brains at some certain speed. What if that speed was the speed of light and that is why it appears as so important? 

If the bundle of strings comprising an object is aligned along the fourth dimension of space, that we perceive as time, the object will appear as at rest. If the bundle is bent at a right angle, the maximum possible angle, we will perceive the object as moving at the speed of light as our consciousness rushes past us at that speed.

So this explains what the Special Theory of Relativity is. Time is relative, hence the name, but the speed of light is absolutely constant. This is utterly different from "textbook" physics but it turns out that time and the speed of light are within us. Relativity is not "wrong" but we see it because of what we are. To make sense of it we just had to get outside ourselves.

What about quantum physics? To make sense of that we also have to get outside ourselves, but in a different way. Since we live in four-dimensional space that means electrons are really strings, rather than particles as we perceive them. The only way that we learn about the universe is through electromagnetic waves and the only way we can receive those are through their effect on electrons. I refer to this as "Electron Dependency".

An electron is a one-dimensional string. An electromagnetic wave is two-dimensional. Upon interacting the electron must absorb one dimension of the wave. We refer to the remaining dimension as a "photon", a particle of light. This is why an observation is part of a quantum interaction, it necessarily absorbs one of the two dimensions of the wave. 

This also explains the much-heralded "Uncertainty Principle" of quantum physics. We can be sure of an electron's position or momentum but not both. Because the measured electron will absorb one of the two dimensions of the wave that is our only way to gain information about it.

Since the speed of light is something within us, the speed of our consciousness along the bundles of strings comprising our bodies and brains, there is no reason for information not to move between two entangled photons, which share a quantum state, instantaneously. A photon can be split by a crystal but, since particles are really strings in four-dimensional space, the photons are still linked in the past dimension, and this is why information can pass between them.

What this concept of time means is that the universe is really stationary. Everything seems to us to be moving as our consciousness passes through. This means that light, and all electromagnetic radiation, is really stationary ripples in space. But it increases the energy density of space. This is an ideal explanation for the "dark energy" that pervades the universe and causes it to expand, or to appear to expand. Incredibly "dark energy" is, of all things, light. We just have to get outside our dimensional limitations to see this. Once again we have too much confidence in what our senses tell us.

More about what I call our "Electron Dependency". We are completely dependent on electrons, and the effect that electromagnetic waves have on them, for information about the universe. Most of the matter that we know consists of atoms, which have electrons in orbitals. An atom is a kind of "zero unit" of charged particles together that balance out to zero.

But who says that all matter has to end up as part of atoms? Protons and neutrons are made of quarks. These quarks are massive but don't have whole electric charges like electrons do. By "whole" electric charge I mean a charge of either +1 or -1. Quarks have charges in thirds, relative to electrons.

This means that if there were quarks in space, around ordinary atoms, we would be unable to detect them, due to our Electron Dependency, although we would feel their gravity. This concept of Electron Dependency thus provides a perfect explanation for the mysterious "dark matter". It could be quarks that never got paired up in atoms, or any other particles of matter with other than a whole electric charge.

It is like a radio station. We can only receive a radio station that the radio is tuned into. In the same way, our complete dependence on electrons for information means that we can only detect matter, other than by gravity, with a "whole" electric charge.

A few centuries ago we had to find our way outside of our earth to make sense of the universe that we saw. Today we have learned so much but have information that just doesn't seem to make sense. We are in the same situation again but this time we have to find our way outside ourselves. We have the idea that we have an unbiased view of the universe, that we can completely rely on our measurements and observations.

My cosmology theory is that we do not have an unbiased view of the universe. We are part of the universe ourselves and see it as we do not only because of what it is but also because of what we are. With that attitude a door opens and things that didn't make sense suddenly do.

THE NEXT STEP 

This biased view that we have of the universe, but are slow to realize how biased it is, goes further, and is what this second cosmology theory is about. Again I consider these two cosmology theories as separate, although there is a lot of common ground, because they go in different directions and it is possible to understand one without knowing about the other. This second cosmology theory is about dimensions and how, again, we see the universe as we do not only because of what it is but also because of what we are.

Our dimensional order affects how we see the universe. Just as in all of the above examples, we presume that we have an unbiased view of the universe and can completely rely on our measurements and observations. We see three dimensions of space and my first cosmology theory adds the fourth dimension that we perceive as time. The idea that there are dimensions that we cannot access has been around for a while.

This second cosmology theory is that the universe consists of an infinite number of dimensions, which is actually the lowest information state and thus preferred. But we cannot see them as any more than three dimensions because the matter of which we are composed is of only three dimensions. Like a hypothetical one-dimensional being in a corner of a square or box, we are incapable of seeing corners that involve more than three dimensions and can only see it as a straight line.

We see three spatial dimensions and light is a two-dimensional wave. This means that we can see light coming from different directions but can never see it as following anything other than a straight line. We define a straight line as the path of light but that is the way that we are limited to seeing it by our dimensional order.

If space consists of alternating negative and positive electric charges in multiple dimensions, as described in the first cosmology theory, then a wave of electromagnetic energy should possibly be able to change dimensions, although it would require the expenditure of some of it's energy. That is explained by the Inverse Square Law. Notice that dimensions of space form 90 degree squares and the law that governs the decrease in the energy of light over distance is the Inverse Square Law. That is because light in an infinity of dimensions can turn corners but we, due to our dimensional order, can only see it as moving in straight lines in three dimensions.

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Thursday, May 28, 2026

The Rhine-Ruhr (Cologne) Area

The Ruhr area of western Germany is known for industry. It is one of the places that the Industrial Revolution began. For the first stage of the Industrial Revolution, it had those two all-important resources of coal and iron.

But the history of this region began long before the Industrial Revolution. The Rhine River was the edge of the Roman Empire. What you will generally find in the Rhine-Ruhr Area is that the cities to the west of the Rhine River began as Roman outposts, while the cities to the east of the river began hundreds of years later, in medieval times. The part of Germany to the west of the Rhine River is known as the Rhineland.

Cologne is the largest city of the Rhine-Ruhr area. But I would like to begin our visit with Aachen, in the far west of Germany. The way I see it, Aachen is really where Germany began.

Like the other cities in the area to the west of the Rhine River, Aachen has Roman origins. But it is known as the city of Charlemagne. Both France and Germany are descended from people known as the Franks, which is where the name of Frankfurt comes from. Charlemagne, sometimes referred to as "The Father of Europe" was of the Carolingian Dynasty of the Franks. Charlemagne was crowned by the pope as the first Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day, in the year 800, in the old St. Peter's Basilica.

The dynasty of the Franks that had preceded the Carolingian Dynasty, the Merovingian Dynasty, had their center of power in Paris. It was they who built a palace on the island in the Seine River from which Paris would grow outward.

But the Carolingian Dynasty moved it's center of power eastward, to Aachen. This is where Charlemagne lived and was buried and where later Holy Roman Emperors were crowned. Notice the similarity between Aachen and the Isle de la Cite in Paris. There was a palace in Aachen, which is now gone. But the chapel of the palace remained, and the present Aachen Cathedral was built around the chapel.

The empire of the Carolingian Dynasty did not last, eventually splitting into East Francia and West Francia. East Francia, including Aachen, would become the Holy Roman Empire and later Germany. West Francia, including Paris, would become France.

The main reason for the split was likely language. The western area had been part of the Roman Empire and had gotten to speaking a Romance language, which would become French. The eastern part had not been ruled by Rome and spoke a northern European language, which would become German.

The name of the Franks lives on today in France and in the German city of Frankfurt. The German name for France is still "Frankreich". The French name for Germany is still "Allemagne", for a people in this area who the Franks had conquered.

Also significant in Aachen is the Rathaus, or City Hall, from the Fourteenth Century. German cities, as well as Vienna, typically have a medieval city hall across the central square from the cathedral. The following scenes of Aachen begin at the Rathaus.

This first image, from Google Earth, shows the Cathedral in the foreground and the Rathaus in the background. The unique dome of the Cathedral is the oldest part of it.


The first two of the following four images are of the Cathedral and the next two are of the Rathaus.





This image, from Google Street View, is of the original statue of Charlemagne from about four centuries ago. This statue has now been brought inside and a copy put in front of the Rathaus.


These four images, from Google Street View, are of the octagonal chamber beneath the dome of the Cathedral. This is the oldest part of the Cathedral and we could say that this is where Germany really began. It is very reminiscent of the interior of the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem.





Immediately adjacent to this chamber beneath the dome is the shrines of Charlemagne and Mary. The lower gold box is the Shrine of Charlemagne and contains his remains. Two images from Google Street View.



There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Aachen+Cathedral/@50.7754846,6.0838576,3a,75y,263.87h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sCIHM0ogKEICAgIC1zI61Ow!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2Fgpms-cs-s%2FAFfmt2Zir0rmKfp6qUZtJDzqW2GJEZ4zg15YWQlFA9hNuEyDAW4S3pdJaJEFhn-FON8ib9UKs3XsigAWT-TK4i-1ISRnNmmBxOhP-fo3jclVIiS6g7XBF3L3ziFfj8sUA0WoQO75yQE%3Dw900-h600-k-no-pi0-ya345.8732074369525-ro0-fo100!7i7680!8i3840!4m6!3m5!1s0x47c0997c84f087fb:0x38730b23e56788c3!8m2!3d50.7747198!4d6.0839201!16zL20vMDFmZHFw?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDMxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Cologne, being on the west bank of the Rhine River, has been important since Roman Times. The Frank conquest of Cologne was the beginning of them becoming the people from whom both modern France and Germany would descend. Is is known today especially for it's Thirteenth-Century cathedral with the twin spires. Notice how dark the stone of the old cathedral looks, that is from prolonged exposure to coal smoke following the Industrial Revolution. The first five images of Cologne Cathedral are from Google Earth and Street View.







We have seen, in previous visits to Vienna and Moscow, how city walls are sometimes later dismantled and a grand boulevard built over the former course of the wall. The following scenes begin on the Kaiser Wilhelm Ring in Cologne. The first two images are from Google Earth and Street View. The Ring is indicated by the red dots.




Dortmund, to the east of the Rhine River, is not of Roman origin but from the early Middle Ages. The first three images are from Google Earth.




https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5170243,7.4597047,3a,75y,207.51h,100.76t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipP5TOzFG-QVAgthVlnUWUDhTk0PoE-LjOg_vgGR!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipP5TOzFG-QVAgthVlnUWUDhTk0PoE-LjOg_vgGR%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-20-ya262-ro0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

Bonn is another city from Roman times. It is remembered today as having been the capital city of West Germany until the capital was moved back to Berlin upon reunification. The vote, held in 1991, was only narrowly in favor of moving the capital back to Berlin. 

Bonn is not a really major city and it was supposedly chosen as the capital of West Germany for this reason. It was never really intended to be a permanent capital, only until the country could be reunified and the capital moved back to Berlin. If a larger city had been chosen as capital, such as Cologne or Frankfurt, it might have been tempting to make that the permanent capital. 

The following views of Bonn begin at the Munsterplatz in the center of the city. The first six images show the area of the Munsterplatz and the church known as the Bonn Minster.







https://www.google.com/maps/@50.7344922,7.0989619,3a,75y,134.57h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOgy71LmowfZOkti3uWX1c05kSDvt4jJ_3kJE0b!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOgy71LmowfZOkti3uWX1c05kSDvt4jJ_3kJE0b%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya277.20572-ro0-fo100!7i7776!8i3888

There are suffixes that are common to the names of German towns and cities, -heim means "home", -stadt means "place", -berg means "hill" or "mountain", -burg means "castle", -bad means "bath" or "spa", -furt means "ford" which is a place where a river is shallow enough to be crossed, and -dorf means "valley". Here is the city of Dusseldorf, which means "The valley of the Dussel River". The first four images, from Google Earth and Street View, are of the old part of Dusseldorf and the modern observation tower.






Essen is another city of the Ruhr which originated in the early Middle Ages and later for industry. It was the home of Krupp, the famous steel company. These three images of modern Essen are from Google Earth.





Munster is one of the most charming old cities anywhere, and also the home of a very old cathedral. After the Reformation, there was even a plan to make Munster the "New Jerusalem". Munster is also an Irish name, Ireland is geographically divided into four quadrants and the southwest is called Munster. I cannot see that the two names are connected although very early Irish monks did evangelize in this area. 

The following six scenes of the center of Munster begin at the Prinzipalmarkt. The first two images, from Google Street View, are of the St. Paulus Cathedral and the next are of the St. Jacobi and the area of the Prinzipalmarkt.









Hanover is another medieval city with an impressive Rathaus, or town hall. This town hall is not from medieval times, but from the time of the Kaisers. The first six images are from Google Earth and Street View.

The first of these three are the Rathaus and old part of Hanover.




These three images are of the Herrenhausen Palace. This belonged to the House of Hanover. The Kingdom of Hanover, which is now part of Germany, was in a personal union with Britain for over a century. This means that two countries are ruled by the same king, although not that the two are completely united. Queen Victoria was actually of the House of Hanover but the personal union was ended by different succession rules. Hanover didn't allow a female to inherit the throne, while Britain had male-preference inheritance but not exclusive. Victoria became queen because she didn't have any living brothers.





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