12th day

Wonderful! Today we visited the old moated castle Burg Bergerhausen, where today’s PIB was founded. Hans-Werner told us about his work in this castle, where girls who had various behavioural problems used to live. They lived there for one to three years, attended school in the house, had a varied leisure programme and received regular psychotherapy. At that time there were also a lot of animals that were taken care of by the girls, e.g. horses, ducks, chickens and rabbits.

During our visit to the castle we had the feeling of being in the past. The surroundings of Bergerhausen are of an extraordinary beauty with a lot of forest. On the meadow (not far from the castle) there were many horses, and in the pond surrounding the castle building several swans and many ducks swam. If you visit this place, you want to stay here and never leave …

13th day

Today we visited the family counselling centre in Moers and got a lot of new information about working methods with families who have different social and psychological problems. One of the employees of this institution, Manuele Neerfries, liked to tell us about the special features of the social workers in this area. This organisation also provides help for young mothers and their children: These women are given a small, cosy apartment, are looked after and advised on the care of their children.

In the afternoon we went for a walk in the centre of Duisburg, where we visited some shops and did some shopping.

14th day

Today we have visited one of the oldest cities of the Roman Empire: Xanten, the first Roman settlement in Germany in the 5th century BC.

A mighty amphitheatre, the columns of an old temple, mysterious stones, the old city wall … We had the feeling that we had arrived in the past. In a building there was a nice possibility for us to play Roman games, e.g. “mill”. We learned about the peculiarities of life in this ancient time in a museum where there are many unique exhibits.

On the way back home we visited the old town of Xanten with the Xanten Cathedral – one of the most famous cathedrals in Germany.

15th day

Today we visited the capital of the Netherlands – Amsterdam, where we visited the RIJKS Museum. There are paintings by world famous Dutch painters such as Rembrandt, Nicolas Meas, Franz Hals, Jacob van Raildail. You can stop for hours to study the extraordinary beauty of the paintings and the mastery of the artists.

After visiting the museum, we went for a walk in the city. We could admire the old high houses and also many new buildings with modern architecture.

16th day

Where and how can old people get support? Who pays for it? Under what conditions are these people in the nursing homes?

We were able to answer many questions after visiting the Maternus House in the town of Kleve. There live about 70 old people, who are between 50 and 100 years old. In this facility the people live in single and double rooms. Here they can get the necessary care and medical help.

We were surprised by the cosiness of this nursing home for the elderly. We got a lot of information during the excursion from Hildegard Fraundorfer, the leader of the social service. All employees of this institution behave very lovingly towards the elderly, as they would towards their own relatives.

On the way back we visited the village of Keppeln, which last year received the award for the most beautiful village in North Rhine-Westphalia. Nearby there is an old museum castle Moyland.

17th day

Es ist weit bekannt, dass das Ruhrgebiet das bedeutsamste deutsche Industriegebiet ist und eines der großen in Europa. Dabei war der Kohlenbergbau für die Stahlindustrie der wichtigste Industriezweig. 

Heute hatten wir die Möglichkeit, vieles über die Bergbau zu erfahren. Wir besuchten das Deutsche Bergbau-Museum in Bochum, das das grösste Bergbau-Museum der Welt ist. Es gibt dort viele Ausstellungsräume und ein Bergwerk unter der Erde, welches die Besucher besichtigen können. Originalmaschinen, mit denen die Kohle abgebaut wurde, die riesigen Löcher in der Erde, die Steine, die Kleidung der Arbeiter … Das alles zeigte uns die Schwierigkeiten des Lebens der Bergarbeiter, und damit auch die Wichtigkeit ihrer Arbeit für die Industrie der ganzen Welt.

18th day

Today we had a wonderful day! We visited the Niederrhein-Therme – a recreation park where you can visit different swimming pools. Some of the swimming pools have salt water, which is very beneficial for our health. Visitors can also enjoy various types of saunas or simply relax on a lounger. During the break between swimming you can eat something in different restaurants.

In this park we have really spent a very good leisure time. You can truely forget your everyday worries here.

19th day

Every day we learn something new from the field of psychology. Today Hans-Werner organized another seminar in test construction for us. We got to know new concepts of psychometry like objectivity, reliability, validity and many others. Especially interesting for us was an excursion into the axioms of classical test theory. Now we have a better idea of how the psychological tests are constructed.

This seminar gave us not only psychological knowledge, but also provided us with an excellent language training.

20th day

We have visited many shops, shopping centres and stores in Germany, but today we have for the first time been on a special German market, called Marina Markt. It is a market with a lot of art trade. It is located in the inner harbor of Duisburg. On the way to this market we visited the surroundings and architecture of this part of town. Very interesting is the synagogue, which is built in the form of a book.

The Marina Markt is not very big and only takes place once every two weeks. On this market you can find a lot of very different goods: Sweets, clothes, leather goods, goods for the garden … Everything, we believe, can be found on this market.

21st day

This morning our journey to Bavaria began. Although we drove there together with Hans-Werner and his wife Mariele about 7 hours by car, we were not tired at all, because we could look at the very varied landscapes on the way.

After we arrived in Bavaria, we made the acquaintance with Hans-Werner’s son Benjamin and his family, who are very hospitable. In the evening we visited together a Bavarian beer garden and tasted the typical specialities, e.g. a sausage salad with pretzels.

Then we drove to the Pension Klotz, which is located in the idyllic village of Kottgeisering. The guesthouse was very comfortable and we had a good rest.