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greenbagjosh · 2 years

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2 and 3 August 1997 - first visit to Stuttgart, U Bahn, S Bahn and cograil, Mercedes Benz Museum visit, Los Wochos burger at McDonald’s, Neu-Ulm across the Danube, stuck in Kempten, no tours of Neuschwanstein or Schweingau, last passport stamp between Germany and Austria

Saturday 2 August 1997

Guten Tag! Twenty five years ago this weekend, I used a Schönes Wochenende ticket to travel between Munich, Memmingen, Ulm, Stuttgart, back to Ulm, then Kempten im Allgäu, Füssen, across the Austrian border at Pinswang, and back to Munich through Buchloe. That would be the last time that when I went between Germany and Austria, that there would be an official border control. I visited the downtown of Stuttgart, rode the U Bahn, S Bahn, and the "Zahnradbahn" line 10. The U Bahn of August 1997 was much different than that of February 2022 when I most recently visited. I bought a new point and shoot camera as well as some film to last until the 19th of August 1997. I visited the Mercedes Museum in Untertürkheim. About 8 PM I took the train to Ulm, found out the youth hostel had stopped taking in travellers for the night so I made do with a bed and breakfast hotel, had "Los Wochos" for dinner at McDonald's, explored Ulm in the morning, then took the train to Füssen by way of Memmingen and Kempten.

On Friday 1st August 1997, I tried to take a photo with flash. The camera failed to function with the flash. It would work without the flash if the appropriate mode were chosen. I thought in the meantime to buy a replacement point and shoot camera.

Saturday 2nd August 1997, I woke up about 5:45 AM. I took a shower, brewed some coffee and put in chocolates and milk in a mix bottle. Likewise I took three cans of cola and lemon soda and put them in another bottle. I also packed one day's change of clothes in my day bag. Then I was ready to leave at 6:30 AM. I took the bus from St. Quirin Platz to Silberhornstraße, then the U Bahn to Hauptbahnhof. I was able to board the 7:54 AM regionalexpress train to Memmingen, and at Memmingen I had only five minutes to catch the connecting train to Ulm Hbf. The Regionalexpress stopped at München-Pasing, Buchloe, Türkheim and Mindelheim, pretty much the same way I went on 4th July 1997, but with more stops along the way. And at the time, in 1997, from Geltendorf to Lindau-Reutin, that section was not yet electrified.

At Memmingen, I changed trains to a second diesel-powered Regionalexpress train to Ulm. It was light enough to take decent photographs. I saw a few churches with onion domes along the way. The only stop until Ulm was Illertissen in Bavaria. The River Iller was the demarcation between Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Eventually the Iller flowed into the Danube just south of Ulm. At Ulm Hbf, I had to change from the diesel RegionalExpress to an electric RegionalExpress for Stuttgart. It would make stops at Geislingen (Steige), Göppingen, Plochingen, Esslingen on the Neckar and the head station of Stuttgart Hbf. Stuttgart Hbf was also the station where on the 28th May 1997, I rode from Paris Gare de l'Est to Munich and had to change directions. With Stuttgart21, Stuttgart Hbf will, from December 2025, serve as a through-station and eliminate the need to change directions anymore.

Just west of Ulm is nice countryside, and northwest of Amstetten, there seems to be a valley along the River Fils. I found out it was the Rohrachtal. There is a mill, called the Straub Mühle. The valley levels off at Geislingen. The next stop is at Göppingen, then Plochingen, Esslingen, passing by the Mercedes Benz factory in Untertürkheim and Bad Cannstatt, and ending at Stuttgart Hbf about 11 AM.

I had only previously changed train direction in Stuttgart but I had never actually been in Stuttgart itself, as an adult, or even as a child in September/October 1983. At the time, the Bonatzbau was a fully functioning travel center with food vendors throughout. The south tower of the Bonatzbau had the Mercedes Benz star rotating on the top. I had to go to Arnulf Klett Platz at the southern end of the Bonatzbau to access the U Bahn. The Stuttgart U Bahn at the time, had low floor meter gauge GT4 and high floor standard 1.435m DT8 rolling stock. Hauptbahnhof was originally built only with the GT4's in mind, and as such, both directions had side platforms, so two platforms on the outer side, and one central platform in the middle. In August 1997, Hbf had half of its platforms low for the GT4s and the other half with high platforms for the DT8s. As of February 2022, only one platform is low and it has been rendered unusable due to the Stuttgart21 reconstruction of Hbf and Staatsgalerie, as that would be the next station, as opposed to Schloßplatz which is the other platform's next station. I asked about how much a ticket for the U Bahn would cost, and I was told that I could use my Schönes Wochenende ticket.

I boarded a U2 towards Botnang. The next station from Hbf was Börsenplatz which is underground. The train came out of tunnel at Berliner Platz, close to the Liederhalle. I had heard of the Liederhalle. Berliner Platz is complicated, as it has three platforms, some trains going to Botnang, some to Hölderlinplatz and the rest to Vaihingen or Bad Cannstatt or Neugereut in the northeast. I went back to Hbf and boarded the U15 to Eckartshaldenweg. The U15 was on a GT4 which had doors only on the right. At the time, the U15 only went as far as Zuffenhasusen Rathaus and there was a turning loop. In 2012 or so, this was demolished, and the U15 was put underground to Salzwiesenstraße and continues to Stammheim with DT8s. It was interesting to note the SOS lights in tunnel that were a sapphire blue. I went back to Hbf and boarded the S Bahn.

The S Bahn in Stuttgart consists of a trunk line between Hbf and Österfeld via Schwabstraße and Universität, and outside the trunk like, branch out into six separate lines. Except for Universität, all the underground S Bahn stations have a central platform. Only at Hbf and Stadtmitte/Rotebühlplatz is there a transfer to the U Bahn, if you do not count Nordbahnhof, Bad Cannstatt, Untertürkheim, Leinfelden and Vaihingen. And recently the Stuttgart Airport which expanded its U6. I rode the S Bahn to Stadtmitte and exited the train. Then I went up and down the Königstraße to find a store that had a decently priced camera. I found a Saturn Hansa, selling one for about 40 D-Mark. The camera had a fixed focus, an automatic flash and an automatic film advance feature as well as automatic rewind. One thing I found annoying was, I could not turn on or off the flash, unless I opened the battery door. Then I would have to remember to close the battery door for the film to advance. It worked fine, but the picture quality was not quite as good as the other camera, no zoom function and limited flash range. Oh well, it was meant to just be temporary.

I boarded the U Bahn at Schloßplatz for Charlottenplatz. Charlottenplatz has a dual level, the upper level is for the trains to Ostfildern, Vaihingen via Degerloch, Leinfelden and the airport. The lower level is for trains for Botnang, Hölderlinplatz, Vaihingen via Marienplatz, Bad Cannstatt, Untertürkheim, Fellbach, Neugereut and Pragsattel. I took the train to Marienplatz, which stopped at Rathaus and Österreichischer Platz. Marienplatz is the last underground station on that line. I exited and followed the signs for the line 10 cog rail line. The cog rail line uses trains similar to the DT8s, but it also has a cog that is used between Marienplatz and the old Zahnradbahnhof before it was extended to Degerloch. I rode it to the end at Degerloch. At Wielandshöhe, the single track separates to let opposing trains pass by. Wielandshöhe has a nice view towards the northeast. The grade between Liststraße and Nägelestraße can be steep, and for that reason, the cog is used. Between Zahnradbahnhof and Degerloch U Bahn, the cog is not used at all.

I exited the line 10 train for a U Bahn train to Vaihingen, so that I could got to Südheimer Platz and take the cable car to Waldfriedhof. It took about half an hour including the transfer time, but I arrived at Südheimer Platz. The cable car must have been built in the 1920s if not earlier. It climbed to the top just fine though. I spent fifteen minutes there before coming down.

I took the U Bahn to Bad Cannstatt, and transferred to an S Bahn, and went to Neckarpark. I had to walk from the S Bahn station to the traffic circle just outside the northwestern entrance to the Mercedes Benz factory. They required visitors to the museum to board a bus that would go from the outside traffic circle past the security gates into an area about 100 meters away. The museum entrance was free. The showroom was not particularly large at the time, and I remember this was the way it remained up to at least July 2003 when I visited for the second time. I hoped the photos I was taking with the new camera would be okay. When the museum was about to close, everyone was asked to board the bus to the Neckarpark stadium bus stop. It was a nice visit. The Mercedes Benz Museum has relocated in the late 2000s to its present location off the factory grounds, now across the street from Neckarpark stadium, the home of the VfB Stuttgart.

At 8:30 PM I boarded the train to Ulm. It was a Regional Express. Along the way, I was listening to the AFN frequency, 102.3 FM. This was the USA's military frequency in Stuttgart. They were playing hip hop and R&B. I tried to receive Sunshine Live Radio on 104.7 FM as well. The reception was not very good as my tuner was not digital. The train arrived in Ulm about 9:30 PM. I tried to find a payphone to call the youth hostel in Ulm. The youth hostel unfortunately was full. I was able to find a hotel that still had single beds. I ended up with one close to Hbf, I think maybe the Heigeleshof, or Henry's Sleeping. At 60 D-Mark, a single in a double room, including breakfast, it was a bargain. I went to the McDonalds at Albert Einstein Platz close to the Hbf, as I was hungry and that was one of the few places still open. McDonald's had its Los Wochos campaign where they were serving hamburgers with a Mexican flair. They added yellow corn to its burgers and chicken sandwiches as well as a spice packet. Bear in mind, Wochos should be pronounced as Vokhos. Wochos is gibberish in Spanish, but McDonalds meant it to be a hispanization of "Woche". The "chili con carne" burger I ordered was okay. McDonald's did not have Los Wochos in 1998 when I returned, instead it served the McKropolis Greek style burgers, which I tried, when I was in Frankfurt an der Oder, just before crossing the Oder into Poland for the first time. After finishing my supper, I went back to the hotel to sleep.

Sunday 3rd August 1997, I woke up about 7 AM, and heard the Ulmer Münster bells, from the big gothic cathedral. I did not have a private bath, so I had to be clean about using the shared bathroom. After taking a bath, I changed my clothes, went downstairs for breakfast, and then was ready to check out. I did some exploring of Ulm. Along the way, I saw a pet store, where there was a kapuchin monkey in the window. Most pet stores I have been to never sell any primates. Also when I walked to the Ulmer Münster, I saw a one-of-a-kind Volkswagen Scirocco that was converted to a cabriolet body. Up to the 3rd August 1997, I had never seen any Sciroccos that were ever built as convertibles, only hard-tops like the one I was driving up to October 1999 when I bought my first car, a 1997 Volkswagen Jetta (Vento) with TDI diesel engine.

I decided before leaving Ulm, to walk across the Danube into Neu Ulm. I walked to Donaustraße, crossed the bridge, and entered Neu Ulm in Bavaria. In Neu Ulm, Donaustraße becomes Marienstraße and eventually Augsburger Straße. I walked back to Ulm Hbf and looked for a train to Füssen. I would have to catch a connecting train in Kempten-Allgäu. At Ulm Hbf, there were many interesting DT218 locomotives. Some were red and some were dark blue and light yellow. These were the same ones that travelled between Munich and Lindau-Insel before electrification through ABS48.

About 1:17 PM I caught the train to Kempten. It stopped in Memmingen but I did not alight there. I had to wait about an hour until there was a train for Füssen. The train arrived about 4:30 PM in Füssen. I did not have much time to get to the Schloß Neuschwanstein or nearby Schweingau, but I thought it would at least be worth some effort. I took the local bus to the bottom of the castle grounds. I tried to buy a ticket for a tour, but they had stopped selling for the day. Instead I decided to go on a walk to the Austrian border at Pinswang towards Reutte. I had to walk some distance along the B17 to the border crossing. About 7 PM I was at the Austrian border. I had my passport with me, and the officials on the Austrian side stamped it. That would be the last time I would ever receive a stamp in my passport between Germany and Austria, other than the one on Saturday 8th August 1998 when I went to Zürich via Bregenz and St. Margrethen. In December 1997, Austria's application to join the Schengen Area was accepted and border crossings between Germany and Austria were formally ended. I did not notice this until Sunday 7th June 1998, when I walked from Mittenwald to Scharnitz. At the time, I had my radio with me, and I recorded "Bitter" by Jill Sobule, "Uno dos tres" by Ricky Martin, and "Kaleidescope Skies" by Jam & Spoon, among other songs.

I returned to Füssen Hbf by 7:10 PM, and I was able to catch a Regionalbahn to Buchloe, transfer at 8:30 PM to another Regionalbahn to München at tracks 27 to 36, then take the U Bahn to Silberhornstraße and a bus to St. Quirin Platz. I was home about 10 PM and was able to go to work at the regular time.

I will not have a story for next weekend, so the next story will be of my final days in Munich, moving to Paris for two days before flying home to San Francisco through JFK Terminal 6. Hope you will join me then!

Auf wiedersehen!

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greenbagjosh · 2 years

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21 June 1997 - my first cheap foreign train journey

Saturday 21 June 1997

Hi everyone, The weekend of 21st June 1997 would be the first weekend that I would attempt to leave Munich at least for a day, sometimes going into neighboring countries. As I was still in my first month working, I had to pick the cheapest option, with the cheapest transit fare. In 1997, the best deal would have been the Schönes Wochenende Ticket which cost 35 D-Mark, and was valid for Saturday from 12 AM to Sunday 11:59 PM, within the Federal Republic of Germany with some exceptions including Salzburg Hbf and Basel Badischer Bahnhof just to name a couple. I thought to take a train journey to Salzburg at some point.

Some time in the late afternoon, I bought the Schönes Wochenende Ticket. I took a StadtExpress train kind of late that evening to Landshut, probably 70 km away from München Hbf, in the general northeast direction. I walked around the Landshut rail station, but had found that the last train back to Munich, for which the Schönes Wochenende Ticket would be valid, had left and the next one would not return until the morning about 5:30 AM. The only other alternative was to go to Regensburg on a Regional Express train.

About 11 PM I was in Regensburg Hbf. There was a wine festival going on, and the entire downtown was open practically all night (though about 5 AM things started to shut down). Also it started raining, so I could not stand anywhere for an extended amount of time.

I tried to find the way to the university in Regensburg. I almost became lost. All I know about the university is that the main campus is located on the opposite side of downtown from the rail station. I managed to return to Hbf about 5 AM. By then it turned Sunday 22nd June 1997.

At Regensburg Hbf, the snack bar opened about 6 AM. There were two rowdy youths that I happened to bump into, and we had a conversation in both English and German. They had been partying since the previous evening. The snack bar owner refused to turn up the music saying the snack bar was not a discotheque. We were waiting for the first Regional Express train to Munich. We had boarded the train and at every stop as far as I remember, one of the guys I met, put his head out the door and shouted "Johannes Gerster, aufstehen!" or "Moin!". It made an otherwise boring train ride to München Hbf entertaining. We had separated ways at München Hbf, and I had started to feel really tired. I had to go back home to my apartment for a nap.

About 11 AM I woke up and put together my bottles of soda mix and coffee with bits of chocolate. I had my radio with me. I found a Stadtsparkasse München ATM that could make withdrawals in Austrian Schilling, so I withdrew about 800 ATS which was about 110,00 D-Mark. Then I was ready to take the train from München Ost to Salzburg Hbf via Rosenheim, Traunstein and Freilassing, by Regional Express. The weather was not particularly friendly, it rained the majority of the time.

The train from München Ost went as fast as a Regional Express in the rain can be expected to go. It stopped in Rosenheim, Bad Endorf, Traunstein, Chiemsee and Freilassing before crossing into Austria. At the time, Austria was set to become a member of the Schengen Area, and its border controls would remain until December 1997. When I arrived at Salzburg Hbf, there was a passport check. One thing I found surprising, when I was in Salzburg, was that some places could accept the D-Mark as payment, at a 7 to 1 ratio, 30 Pfennig being worth around 2 Schilling more or less.

I bought a day pass for Salzburg. Day passes in Salzburg are good for 24 hours after stamping. I took the Lokalbahn from the underground station at Salzburg Hbf to Hagenau. I noticed that the trains were high floor and required steps from the low platform, and at some stops, you would need to push a button to signal the train to stop. This was very important on stops that were single-tracked. Maybe not so much at Maria Plain.

I returned to Salzburg Hbf and took one of the trolleybusses to the Altstadt past the Mozart Jugendhaus and across the Salzach. I wandered through the Kornmarktgasse and found the Mozart birth house. I did not know about the year-round Christmas store until years later.

After going through the Altstadt, I took a bus line 6 to a district called Parsch. The ride took about 20 minutes and went uphill. The bus terminated at a loop. There was a public phone that I wanted to hear the outbound calling sound, so I put in a few Schilling and dialled a few numbers that I knew would not be answered on a Sunday. I called the USA and also a number in Germany and recorded the outbound calling sounds. In the meantime before the next bus line 6 went back to the Altstadt, I had the radio on, and I recorded the songs "Dub be good to me" by Beats International and "I still go on" by Unique II, which sounded similar to "So strung out" by C Block.

I went back to the Altstadt and walked to the Siegmundstor at Herbert von Karajan Platz. There was an elevator to the top of the tower, but the weather did not look very good, enough to justify the cost of using the elevator which may have been 30 Schilling.

About 8 PM I decided it was time to go back to Munich. I went through the passport control to board the train, and had to wait until about 8:30 PM. On the radio I was listening to a spoken play, in Austrian German. I could understand some of the dialect spoken.

The train entered München Ostbahnhof about 10 PM. The U Bahn was still running. I took the U5 to Innsbrucker Ring, the U2 to Silberhornstraße and the local bus line to St. Quirin Platz. I was home by 10:45 PM and went to work the next day.

A year later I would return to Salzburg and stay for one night at the Eduard Heinrich Haus before going to Berchtesgaden. But that is a story for another time.

My next story from 1997 will likely be about my first paycheck and buying a big radio - do you remember those? Hope you will join me then.

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