Germany Tour 2018

Every Year the European Journalism-Fellowships experience an education and information journey through Germany. During this trip they visit popular German cities, experience sight seeing and guided city tours. The highlight of the journey is the information day at the headquarter of the Foundation Presse-Haus NRZ in Essen.

This year the journey took place from 16th to 19th of January. At the very first day the journalists travelled to Cologne. During a guided tour they got to know the historical Cologne Cathedral. They were informed about its historical and architectural background.

After visiting Cologne the group continued their journey and visited Bonn. In Bonn they experienced a guided tour through the historical Museum "Haus der Geschichte".

They learned about the history of Germany from the end of the second world war until its current status 2017. During the guided tour they could ask questions and could experience the history by watching videos and having a look at historical pictures and relics.

The interactive museum gave them the opportunity, to learn about German history in a vivid way. The first day of the journey came to an end. After visiting the museum in Bonn the felows travelled to Essen. Here they spent the night in the hotel Rheinischer Hof where they enjoyed a convival evening together.

The highligh of the journey is the traditional invitation by the Foundation Presse-Haus NRZ to its headquarter in Essen. Here the fellows spent the second day of their journey. The day began with a lecture held by Manfred Lachniet, the editor in chief of the newspaper Neue Ruhr Zeitung/Neue Rhein Zeitung and by Heinrich Meyer, the managing director of the Foundation and publisher of the NRZ. The fellows were informed about the newspaper, its work routines and structure. 

Afterwards they could talk about the gained information and their impressions during a lunch break. 

The group continued their day and visited the editiorial offices and buildings of the NRZ. Here they experienced the every day work of the newspaper and visited the NRZ Regio-Desk.

Additionally they got to see the online appearence of the newspaper NRZ. They participated in a discussion with the FUNKE Mediengruppe "der Westen".de, who are creating the online versions of the newspaper as well as the Apps and Facebook appearence. They could ask questions and were informed about the work routines.

Traditionally they spent the evening together with the Chief editior Manfred Lachniet and the publisher of the NRZ Heinrich Meyer. The group was invited to join a dinner in a beautiful hotel. In a vivid athmosphere they could talk about their projekts and the experiences they made.

The next day the fellows travelled to Bochum where they enjoyed a guided tour trough the German Mining Museum. Here they were informed about the history of Mining in Germany.

During the tour they could watch and test the gadgetry and equipment used for mining during the historical periods.

The trip was planned to continue with a trip to Münster. Unfortunately the group had to interupt their journey due to the hurricane Friederike. The trains did not work and they had to stay in Bochum that day. Nevertheless the situation turned to a good end. Thanks to Prof. Dr. Görke and Mrs. Petratis who helped the group from Berlin they could spend the night in a nice hotel in Bochum. Here they enjoyed the evening together in the restaurant and in the hotel bar.

The next morning the group travelled back to Berlin- fully packed with experiences and impressions from their trip through Germany.