Bears Get Around: Germany

Outside of Russia, there are about 14,000 wild brown bears in Europe. About 7,000 of them live in the country of Romania. The brown bear is Finland’s national animal, where about 1,000 bears prowl the Finnish wilderness. 

Bear populations are stable (and even growing) in countries like Slovenia, Slovakia, Macedonia, Albania, Austria, northern Italy, Norway, and Sweden. There are still a few wild bears in France and Spain.

There haven’t been any wild bears in Germany in about 170 years, but bears remain a valued part of German culture, and well-respected.

These two fine teddy bears, Bernhard and Benedikta, are wearing traditional Bavarian outfits or “Tracht.” Bavaria (or Bayern) is one of  16 states in Germany. Its state capital is a city named Munich.

Benedikta is in a dress called a dirndl, while Bernhard is wearing work clothes called lederhosen.

Bruno here is from another German state, called Saxony or Sachsen. He’s just wearing his regular duds today. Bruno is a student at the University of Leipzig. He wants to share some photos of Saxony.

This is a view of the Saxon countryside, with its rich farmland, woods, and pretty towns.

The city of Leipzig is big, though – it has over half a million residents. It is nearly one thousand years old. And the University of Leipzig was founded way back in 1409!

 

Have you heard of a composer named Johann Sebastian Bach? 

 Bach taught singing (and wrote lots of beautiful music) at Leipzig’s Saint Thomas Church, or Thomaskirche, where he worked for 27 years.

Bruno’s home town is the state capital of Saxony, Dresden. 

  
 

This is the beautiful Frauenkirche, the Lutheran Church of our Lady in Dresden. The 18^th-century church was destroyed by bombing during World War Two. It was rebuilt starting in 1993, and re-opened in 2005.

This mural is over 100 metres long, and is called the Fürstenzug, or “Procession of Princes.” It is made of about 25,000 ceramic tiles. It shows 35 noblemen, from Konrad the Great (who lived nearly 900 years ago) to King George, who ruled Saxony from 1902 to 1904.

The Elbe River flows through Dresden.

Dresden’s Neustadt, or “New City,” has lots of artists’ studios, art galleries, and funky buildings like this one!

 

When Bruno isn’t busy studying, he enjoys reading about the art and culture of Saxony.

Story © S. Clouthier

Photos © S. Clouthier and D. Wei