Die Stadt: Freiburg im Breisgau

After a multi-hour delayed takeoff from New York City to London, sprinting with minutes to spare to the transfer bus in London that would take me to the city’s other airport, eating my first meal of a plain English muffin, and navigating a French-Swiss-German airport, I finally completed the most hectic part of my journey. Two planes, four airports, and half a day later, I watched mercifully as my phone’s clock swapped Eastern Standard Time for Central European Summer Time. I had arrived in Basel, Switzerland! It was not my final destination, but my uncle awaited by the exit gates to drive me an hour north to his home, and I would not have to worry about my inability to speak the local language for the time being…

Seamlessly moving beyond the Swiss border to Germany, we drove on the notorious autobahn surrounded by the lush green hills of the mythical Black Forest. As we entered the city, the greenery did not disappear but became more of a backdrop for the urban scene. Brightly colored, fairytale buildings built in the twentieth century and prior were next to modern homes with solar panels. The main electric public tram raced fuel-efficient cars and bicycles. Locals relax in the Dreisam River, which runs through the entire area, while tourists try not to fall into the Bächle, thin runnels built into the city’s ground. Coming from New York City, I had a distinct concept of a city: a metropolis with modern structures that just keep getting taller and taller. Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany would completely change my understanding of urbanism.

Aerial view of Freiburg im Breisgau from the Kanonenplatz observation deck taken by me.

On my first full day, energized by my breakfast of local pastries with a tram ticket, some Euros, and my phone in hand, I headed to the medieval city center with my uncle, who would show me around for a bit before leaving me to explore on my own. We passed under one of the two city gates built in the 13th century to the Freiburg Münster, a gothic cathedral that had survived World War II bombings. At the Münstermarkt, the farmer’s market in the plaza surrounding the Münster, my uncle picked up coffee grounds from his favorite stall and mushrooms that had astonished us due to their large size.

A couple walking through part of the city center taken by me.

From what I had seen with my uncle, the center did not seem too large. So, after pointing a few key things out and giving advice, my uncle returned home, and I began my mission to walk on every single street. Weaving through the small, pedestrian-only streets, I made sure I did not miss a path. I soon found myself at the periphery of the center, where I discovered a college campus (Freiburg is a well-known college city, but I was unaware of this.) I purchased postcards, but the cashier had to depend on a calculator to communicate how much they cost due to the language barrier. Stumbling upon an Asian grocery store, I was excited to compare the produce there with the staples I could find at home and, hopefully, find some air conditioning to recover from the summer heat. Unfortunately, I didn’t. Instead, I devoured a delicious green coconut ice cream and Middle Eastern salad to cool off. Before I knew it, my cousin was texting me because four hours had passed! I made my way back to the tram and was hyper-focused on getting off at the right stop because of the unfamiliar names of all the places.

Over the next two days, I played table tennis with my little cousin, did a Gyrotonic workout with my aunt, tried different cheese and topping combinations during a raclette dinner, hiked around Schauinsland with my uncle, and explored the areas the older cousin and I had discussed during our Facetimes over the years.

A tram passing by my cousin who is walking through the city center taken by me.

As I was getting passed by people of all ages during a bike ride with my cousin, it struck me as odd that recreation could be embedded into the nature of a city rather than just one part of it. Asking my cousin (who was born in New York City but had been living in Freiburg for most of his life) about the size of this German city, he noted that, while New York City is incomparable, it did not make Freiburg uninteresting. In Freiburg, being active and enjoying the natural landscape, historic neighborhoods, and innovative systems was ingrained into the daily routine of its locals. Since I can not speak or read German, I explored the area through sensory details only, understanding what I saw around me not through words but by context. Though I spent only a few days in Freiburg, it changed my definition of what a city has to look like to what purpose a city should serve.