Hello class 2A,
We are very sorry, but we have a problem with the skype and can not get in touch with you via Skype. We could however exchange idea via Blog.

Please send us your questionaire and we will try to answer it via Blog 
 
by Sara Buchy and Kristina Goss


In Bavaria there are altogether 27 Mary-Ward-Schools. The oldest one is the Mary Ward High School in Augsburg, which was founded in 1662. The youngest one is the Mary Ward School in Eichstätt. It was founded in 1916. The one with the most girls is the Mary Ward Junior High School in Eichstätt with 893 girls. One with not so many girls is the Mary Ward Junior High School in Wallerstein with 200 girls. There are some Mary Ward Schools with boys, but not so many.


Well, about one school we searched for accurate information, the Mary Ward High School in Augsburg.


It was founded in the year 1662 and has got 850 pupils and 60 teachers.
1662: The Englisch religious Mary Poyntz and nine nuns founded the school for girls in Augsburg.
1680: In a letter of the bishop Johann Christoph of Freyburg it said, that at the Mary Ward High School in Augsburg knitting, sewing, embroiding and the languages English, French, Latin, German and Italian were taught.
1992: The congregation gaves the sponsorship to the 'Diözese Augsburg'.


They have got partner schools in England, France, Spain, Italy, India and Pasewalk (that's in Germany).

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Mary Ward School in Eichstätt
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Mary Ward School in Augsburg
 Our Project in Nesigwe/Zimbabwe
Our school supports the Mary Ward School in Nesigwe/Zimbabwe with the money we collect at our yearly Christmas Bazar, so we contacted the sister who is responsible for the organisation in Germany: Sister Gonzaga. She gave us a lot of important information.


On the 5th March 2010 a new school was built by Bishop Floro of Spain and the nons from the congregatio Jesu. It was supposed to be for 270 boys and girls. The house for the nons, in the near of the Secondary School, was not inhabited for many years, because the nons couldn't start earlier and the bishop couldn't find other nons, who would help them. The African pioneer Sister Magna and Sister Monika work as employees of the bishop in the school Nesigwe, too. 
Zimbabwe means translated 'Land of stones'. Nesigwe means 'lonley hill' and there are not so many houses. There are still problems in the school in Nesigwe. There aren't enough classrooms, teacher's rooms, rooms for school equipment. Many children come to school hungry, so they are provided with food there. One of three children is an ophan, some have to walk as far as 10 km to school and some of them have HIV. 
Well, the school doesn't collect much money, so they can't do lots of improvements. 
With the money they received fom our school they were able to add another building. The Mary Ward Nons are still at the beginning of their work and they have to be admired for their courage, energy and confidence.
We are happy that we can be part to improve their situation.
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The teachers
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Some pupils
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One of the classrooms
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During the lessons with Sister Tabeth
 
by Natasha and Gericelle.

Teenage fashion in Ireland, like in other parts of the world, depends on the personality of the young person. As teenagers we are different and we show it in what and how we wear it. We are at the stage in our lives where we are trying to find ourselves as individuals that involves our image and the way we look.

Some teenagers are into girly-girl clothing, which involves pretty little dresses in bright colours.

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Girly-girl style
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Converse sneakers are an essential part of the athletic style.
Some teenagers are more into athletic clothing. This involves basketball or football jerseys, sneakers and tracksuit bottoms, which we as teenagers in Ireland wear mostly for comfort and for the cold weather that is common in Ireland.


There are other teenagers who like Hippie’s clothing, which involves oversized clothing, such as jumpers from vintage stores or second-hand shops.
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Hippy style
Hip-hop clothing is also popular with some teenagers. This involves some sort of street-wear fashion, like T-shirts, sweatshirts, apparel hoodies, jeans and club-wear, which could be shorts (some with studs)  that are notoriously worn nowadays in the streets of Ireland.
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Hip-hop style
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Those teenagers who like to be different like wear gothic style of clothing, which include punk clothing and dark metallic styles.


And finally, some teenagers are into military wear, which includes military jackets and military boots (some of which would have been worn by a famous person).

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Military wear

So you can see that teenagers produce a pretty colourful picture on the streets of Ireland. Irish girls love to be stylish. There are no limits when it comes to dressing up and creating one’s individual style!

Thanks for reading our blog!
 
 Bavaria is one of the most popular states in Germany. Many tourists come every year to see some of the nice landscape or to climb up one of the wonderful mountains. But Bavaria isn´t just famous for it`s landscape:

We‘ve divide our topic into three parts:

1.„King Ludwig II. of Bavaria and his castle“
2.„Königssee“ (a beautiful lake)
3.„Bavaria Filmstudios“ (Here are produced  famous german films)

1. King Ludwig II.
                                                                                                                                                        made by Lena  
King Ludwig II. was the first son of crown prince Maximilian II. and princess Marie of Prussia. He was born on the 25th of August 1845 in Nymphenburgcastle near Munich. He had a nice childhood in Hohenschwangau castle, near Berchtesgaden. Since his childhood he loved Wagner operas. His father died after a short illness. So he was the new king of Bavaria. In 1867 he got engaged, but a short time afterwards resolved the engagement. In 1849 he was planning the nicest castle called Neuschwanstein. Because he built that castle he was called the mysterious king. In 1870 he started the plan for his 2nd castle called Linderhof. In 1873 he bought the Herreninsel, on this island he built in 1878 a castle, called Herrenchiemsee, which has never been finished. In 1886 his doctors said he was mentally ill, because he built castles for so much money and wasn't concerned about his public. So he lost his throne. On June 13 1886 he drowned in lake Starnberg.
In 1873 King Ludwig II of Bavaria acquired the Herreninsel as the location for his Royal Palace of Herrenchiemsee (New Palace). Modelled on Versailles, this palace was built as a "Temple of Fame" for King Louis XIV of France, whom the Bavarian monarch fervently admired.                          
                      

Herrenchiemsee


The actual building of this "Bavarian Versailles", which was begun in 1878 from plans by Georg Dollmann, was preceded by a total of 13 planning stages. When Ludwig II died in 1886 the palace was still incompleted, and sections of it were later demolished.
The highlights of the large state rooms are the State Staircase, the State Bedroom and the Great Hall of Mirrors. The king's own rooms were in the intimate Small Apartment, designed in the French rococo style.
In 1876 Court Garden Director Carl von Effner completed the plans for a large garden resembling of Versailles. When the king died, only the sections along the main axis with their famous fountains and waterworks had been completed.


2.Lake Königssee
made by Marleen

The Lake Königssee is one of the most beautiful lakes in bavaria. It`s famous for its cristallgreeen water. It is placed on Berchtesgadener Land which forms the south-east nook of germany.
 Many tourists visit the lake every year. So it isn´t  a wonder that the German National Tourist Board voted him as one of the top 100 sights of Germany 2012.

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St. Bartholomew´s Church is the emblem of Lake Königssee.

The pilgrimage church lies picturesquely  on a  peninsula. 

The Lake is located at a Jurassic rift. It was formed by glaciers during the last ice age. He´s noted for it´s clear water and is advertised as the cleanest lake in Germany. This is the reason why only electric powered passenger ships and pedal boats have been driven on the lake since 1909.

Another popular thing is the drive with the passengers ship to the peninsula. Because of the lake‘s position with all the huge mountains around it, you‘ve got a fantastic soundscape. When you drive with the boat through the mountain passage, the driver of the boat stops in the middle of the lake and he plays a trumpet to display an echo. It can be heard reflected up to seven times. Here‘s a link to youtube, where you can see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Doxps6KzBnU

 
 Here are some informations about the lake:

Max. length 7.7 km
Max. width 1.7 km
Max. depth 190 m

So, on the peninsula there is a church. St Bartoholomew.
You can only visit the peninsula with the ship, except if you are an alpinist and you climb up over the mountains .But I think that could be difficult. Well, the church was many, many years ago only a chapel.The chapel was built in 1134. However the chapel was too moderate and the Bavarian nobility broke it up. But the Bavarian king Ludwig II let it build up again. Since then, she has her baroque look with the imperial roofs and the red cupola.
St Bartholomew‘s church is an important part of the „Almer Wallfahrt“, which means a famous pilgrimage.It‘s the oldest pilgrimage in Europe. It first started in the 16th century.The pilgrims walk over 11 hours from Austria to Berchtesgadener Land and take the ship to St Bartholomew‘s, their destinatise.

3.Bavaria Filmstudios
made by Claudia

The bavaria filmstudios is a famous studio, which produces german films. I will tell you more about it:

They have many shooting films. Amongst others “Wikie und die starken Männer” ( Wikie and the strong men), “Das Boot”(The Boat), “Asterix und Obelix“(maybe you know the famous comic), „Die Wilden Kerle“(The wild Guys), „Die unendliche Geschichte“ (The Never Ending Story) and „Traumschiff Surprise“(Spaceship Surprise,a parodie of Spaceship Enterprise)

4 D Cinema:

The “Bavaria Filstudios” have also a 4D cinema. It´s a funny experience. When you look at an action film it can appear that your chair turns in the directon of the movement in scene. Or you sloshed with water.

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The Stuntshow
Since 1989 the highlight of the Bavaria Filstudios was a stuntshow. The highlight of the stuntshow was a jump from 22 meters. From 2004 to 2010 was the stuntshow in a 1200 m² tall hall. There could seat 500 visiters. The 45-minutes show played in front of New Yorker blocks. Bavaria Filmstadt had a policecar and a policemotorcycle too. But in November 2010 the stuntshow was stopped to be performed.
Here`s also a link to youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR_UMlQj44E

 
Dear class 2AB and Miss Clarke,
We would like to thank you for all the interesting reports you sent us. We enjoyed them a lot and
hope you liked ours, too. Looking forward to getting to know you better next year we wish you a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Your class 8 A and Miss Hafensteiner
 
by Anna, Alex and Anna-Lena.
In Bavaria we take the wonderful traditions strictly. It is a lot of fun to celebrate the traditions with our friends and relatives.
Many people in Bavaria play typical Bavarian instruments, for example the harp or the accordion:
 

We will tell you about the following topics:


Sternsinger (= collect money for poor people)

Trachtenverein (= traditional dancing club)

Fingerhakeln (= kind of sport)

Schnalzen (= kind of sport)

Musik (= Bavarian music)

Maibaum (= Maypole)




We hope you enjoy it.





The “Sternsinger”
by Anna-Lena

In Germany boys and girls dress up as Casper, Melchior and Balthazar the holy 3 kings, they go from house to house in around 8000 parishes.

The “Sternsinger” or “Dreikönigssänger” visit on Epiphany (6. January), families, ill and secluded people. They are going in groups of 3 or more and proclaim with prayers and chant the message of Jesus´ birth.

They write with consecrated chalk an old benediction prayer about the entrance door:



20 + C + M + B + 12
I------The year------I

To remind the benediction prayer you can think about the beginning letters of the holy 3 kings´ name. But the original meaning is:

christus mansionem benedicat, that’s Latin and calls: Christ bless our home.



The money, which the “Sternsinger” collect, gets to poor children around the world to build schools or orphanages.

When people open the door, then the “Sternsinger” are singing this or other “Sternsinger”-songs and say a demanding:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZptkEaq9_U&feature=player_detailpage  

 


 
The “Trachtenverein”
by Anna, Alex and Anna-Lena

A „Trachtenverein“ is a traditional Bavarian dance club.
Anna and Alex are in the “Trachtenverein”.
Every community has one, but the communities have some differences, for example the “Tracht” (=costume) is not the same.
                                                                                                                                            

At the “Kirchanschöringer Trachtenverein” (=the club, where Anna and Alex are members) all the girls wear a dark-blue “Dirndl”, a light-blue apron with little flowers on it, a withe blouse, a withe pantyhose, dark dance shoes and a black hat with a white spring.
When you are new in “Trachtenverein” and your grandmother or mother was not in it either, then you have to buy the costume. But when your mother, or grandmother (or other female ancestors) were in the club, then they inherit it to you.



All the girls must have long hair, so that they can plait a braid or a "Gretel":



Woman who are married have a black hat and a "Gretel" too:


All the boys wear a black short “Lederhosn” (=lederhos),
 a white shirt, black shoes and grew stockings
 and black hat with a white spring too.
The boys must have short hair that’s the tradition.






The Dances:

There are different dances, but mostly boys and girls dance together. The girl turns on her own axis. The boy stands in the middle of the circle and hits with his hands on his legs and thigh.
Here you can see some dances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF739mqqG4I&feature=player_detailpage

(Those are people from another club, so there clothes look are a bit other than from the club where Anna and Alex are.)


Some appearances they have to do:

- Faschingsball (a carnival dance event in Februar)
- Maibaumaufstellen (do the  Maypole up)
- Fronleichnam (a catholic holiday)
- Erntedank (thank god for a good harvest, in september)
- Hochzeiten (when people married)
- Beerdigungen (when people die)
- Gaufeste (the „Gau“ is a region, on the “ Gaufest“ the „Trachtenvereine“ dance against the others, you can win a cup)





Fingerhakeln
by Anna-Lena
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When people do Fingerhakeln, the two opponents are sitting opposite around the table. They are trying by using their fingers to pull the other across the table. Only strength and a good technique can defeat the other.


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Usually the opponents hook the middle finger into a leather thong. Sometimes they hook without a leather thong the index finger into each other.


Today Fingerhakeln is a sport, but allegedly people in the villages used to resolve their arguments this way.

It can happening that the people hurt, and it often happens, that the Fingers are bleeding.


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When you are the winner, you get honor. Sometimes you can win a cup.








Schnalzen
by Anna

There are two kinds of „Schnalzen“. The first is “Aperschnalzen” and the other is “Goaßlschnlazen”.

The difference is, you make ‘Aperschnalzen’ to expel the winter and to wake up the spring, that is handed from the Bavarian history. That’s because the people earlier didn’t like the winter because they didn´t have much to eat and they couldn´t store their inventories, so it was a hard time for them.‘Goaßlschnalzen’ is a hobby. You do it to produce a loud bang like a whip-cracking.

Aperschnalzen is a rhythmic sound with a thing called “Goaßl”. This is the end of the “Schnalze” (whip). The loud bang happens when you swing the “Goaßl” in one direction, then you change your movement very fast, now you get the loud whip-cracking or a bang. It is done in groups between seven and nine people. In some districts you swing the “Goaßl” on the ground and not in the air because it makes a different sound. The tradition happens between the 25. December called the “Stefanietag” and the carnival Tuesday, which can be in February or early March.

 
Goaßlschnalzen is like a whip and it sounds like a
whip-cracking.
It is a kind of sport. There are different species of it. The
three most famous ones are: the forehand slap (Vorhandschlag), the backhand slap
(den Rückhandschlag) and the dubble-cracking (den Doppelschlag). 



http://youtu.be/IdZloV69odw 
 

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That kind of sport is mainly practised by men or by boys but a few
women do
it too.



Traditonal bavarian music
by Alex

Traditonal music is played on festive occaisons of the community at church celebrations.

Sometimes a band plays at an inn.
http://youtu.be/2c7xqHx6LEg

Typical musical instruments are:

  • Ziach ( a kind of accordion)
The “Ziach looks almost like an accordion.

A “Ziach” has on the contrary to the accordeon buttons instead of a keyboard.

The accordion in Bavaria called "Ziach".

It is played mainly in Bavaria.

The "Ziach" is a bellows.

When the "Ziach" stretch and and a button is presed a sound occurs.

  The buttons on the left are for the melody and the buttons on the right are for the bass.

It's not easy to learn"Ziach", because there are no notes. Because of that you have to learn the different songs by ear.

  • Guitar
  • Harp
  • "Hackbrett"
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"Hackbrett"

  • Trumpet
  • Trombone
  • “Alporn”
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"Alphorn"

There are different types of Bavarian music:

Folk music 
Folk music sounds a bit contemplative. The music for the dances of the Trachtenvereins is folk music.   

Brass music 
The brass band consists of brass instruments and drums.
There is a brass band almost in every community. 
It plays mostly on special occasions.
When sometimes a large festival is, there is a parade.
The members of the marching band march through a village and play together on their instruments. 



 
Maibaum
by Alex


Always on the first of May in our region, the maypoles are set up.
It is a decorated tree, which is sometimes in the Bavarian colours blue and white.

The maypole is set up in front of an inn in the community.
The tree must be at least 30 m tall and 100 years old.
Men from the community cut the Maypole.
They cut it between Christmas and 6 of Janury.
3 days before the first of May, they bring it in the front of the inn.
People from other communities are allowed to steal the tree.

So that the maypole is set up on the first of May, the people who stole it want a free snack, bevore they give it back.
Then on May 1st all people from the community go to the inn to drink, eat and celebrate.
The marching band from the congreation plays and the people dance traditional dances.

The maypole is set up by the men, who wear Bavarian garb.
There are also some signs on the tree, which show the different businesses of the community.
 
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Introduction
Munich is the capital of
Bavaria. 1, 2 Million inhabitants live there It’s a very big and exciting city.
There are many sights for example the: “Marienplatz”. For teenagers Munich is a
wonderful place. We like to go there. 
Munich is about 100 km away from us.  Munich has the motto “München mag dich” (Munich likes you). 



We are going to tell you about the:
+history of Munich
+ sights
+ And the footblall-club "FC Bayern-München"

From: Ali (Alicia) ,Lisa H. ,Sarah S. ,Babsee (Barbara)

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English  Garden


History
The English Garden was created in the late 1700s. originally it was
  supposed to be a so-called "military garden", designed to provide soldiers with
information on agriculture and also give them a place to enjoy outdoor
recreation. The military gardens opened in 1789 and soon thereafter, Carl
Theodor established Munich's first public park to the east of the gardens. It
opened in 1792. Eventually, the land that included the military gardens was
  added to the public park.



What to See
The words English Garden refer to the style of landscaping throughout 
the park;. The park is larger than New York's Central Park However, visitors do indeed flock to the two Beer Gardens located in
each section of the park. In summer a lot of people go sunbathing there, often
in the nude, play games or watch the surfers on the little
‘Eisbach’river.


 Chinesischer Turm
A popular meeting point is the Chinesischer Turm is a 25-meter-high
  structure. The tower, built at the end of the 18th century, was bombed during
  World War II and rebuilt to its original design. It is Munich´s second largest
  beer Garden. 





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 The Victuals Market

The Victuals
Market, only a few steps from the Marienplatz, is Munich's most popular open air
market. A walk across the "Victuals Market" can be a sensual revelation. Stalls
not only offer the freshest fruits and vegetables in Munich, but traditional
Bavarian Schweinshax'n (a pork roast) and Bacon , sea food, delicious cheeses
from all over Europe, herbs, honey products, sushi and hand-made straw puppets
are also for sale. Or would you prefer a freshly squeezed apple-carrot-ginger
juice? For all those who appreciate culinary seduction of the senses, this is
the perfect place to spend your lunch break, get inspired for new creations, and
buy those rare and special herbs and spices that can't be found anywhere else in
the region.However, although this is its main purpose, the Victuals Market is
not only a place for buying and selling : the market also hosts a number of
traditional and folkloric events, such as the colorful carnival festivities and
the masked dance of the market women on Shrove Tuesday. Right next to the
Victuals Market is the site of the "Schrannenhalle", built under King Maximilian
I according to a French model. This was a market hall over 430 m long, where
grains were sold, and which burned down in 1932. Rebuilt with the original
wrought-iron frames, the new "Schrannenhalle" was inaugurated in September 2005.
Housing a market, shops, restaurants and cultural venues, the hall is a meeting
place for old and young in the heart of the city.

.

 


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Marienplatz


The Marienplatz is the centre of Munich. There are two townhalls: the old townhall and the new one. The Marienplatz exists since 1158 it was founded by Heinrich der Löwe. In the year 1315 it became the market freedom of Ludwig der Bayer.

Today in winter there is always a christkindlmarkt. There are always lots of stalls and a very big Crhristmastree.  And of course there are thousands of lights.

The new one was built in the year 1867 until 1909 there is also the famous chime. Every day at11 o´clock there is the dance of the coopers (the little figures you can see in the picture)                  

                                The old one was built in the year 1310.


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Olympiastadion mit Park

The Olympic stadium  was built in 1966, because the Olympic games of the year 1972 were held in Munich. There was also a parc next to the stadium there is a lake and some paved paths and lawn .

There is also the television tower with a restaurant that reside on the top. The Olympic stadium has got an undersoil heating it cost 137 Mio DM and it has around 69.000 seats. The roof of the stadium is a sky dome.

Today there are pop concerts, track meetings and in summer there is the “Tollwutfestival”


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FC Bayern-München


FC Bayern München is a football club from Munich.  
FC Bayern München are the giants and they are on the frist from the Bundesliga table. So Bayern-München is the most succesful German football club.

Here is a little profile:

name: Fußball_Club Bayern, München e.V.
place: Munich, Bavaria
founded: 27. February 1900
club colour: red-white
stadium: Allianz Arena
places: 71,137
president: Uli Hoeneß
trainer: Jupp Heynckes






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The Allianz Arena




General information about the Allianz
Arena:



The Allianz Arena, opened in 2005 and is home to  both major Munich
clubs, Bayern München and TSV 1860, It was designed purley as a football stadium. The architecturally unique arena was constructed  viteni not even three years.




 


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Construction dates:

Foundation stone laid on 21. October 2002 Handover from Alpine Bau
GmbH completed on 30. April 2005.

Opening games:

30. May 2005: TSV 1860   3-2   FC Nuremberg
31. May 2005:  FC Bayern 4-2   Germany

Construction cost:

€ 340 million


 Parking:
9,800 parking places in four x four-storey Esplanade car parks (the largest Europe)

Inside of the Arena:

-28 Kiosks
-2 fan-restaurants, each with 1,000 seats
- Offices and conference rooms
- 54 ticket counters
- Shopping faclilities
- 2 warm-up rooms
- 550 WC-cubs



History of  Munich (Origin)
 

The year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date of Munich,
which is only the earliest date the city is mentioned in a document.
By that time the Guelph Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria,
built a bridge over the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine
monks.The monks' presence dates back to the 8th century, although
settlement in the Munich area can be traced back to the late
neolithic.
 To force traders to use his bridge (and charge them for doing so) Henry
also destroyed a nearby bridge owned by bishop Otto von Freising (Freising).
Subsequently the bishop and Henry quarreled about the city before
Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa at an Imperial Diet held in Augsburg in 1158.
This sanctioned Henry's spoliation, and awarded an annual compensation
for the bishop, and also confirmed Munich's trading and currency rights.

Capital of the reunited duchy Bavaria

When Bavaria was reunited in 1506 Munich became the capital of all of Bavaria.
The arts and politics became increasingly influenced by the court.
During the 16th century Munich was a center of the German counter reformation,
and also of renaissance arts. Duke Wilhelm V commissioned the Jesuit Michaelskirche,
which became a center for the counter-reformation, and also built the Hofbräuhaus for
brewing brown beer in 1589.
  The Catholic League was founded in Munich in 1609. In 1623 during the Thirty Years' War
Munich became electoral residence when Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria was invested with the
electoral dignity but in 1632 the city was occupied by Gustav II Adolph of Sweden. When
the bubonic plague broke out in 1634 and 1635 about one third of the population
died.The baroque Theatinerkirche on Odeonsplatz in the historic city centre. 
After the war Munich quickly became a center of baroque life. Elector Ferdinand Maria’s
consort Henriette Adelaide of Savoy invited numerous Italian architects and artists to the city,
and built the Theatinerkirche and Nymphenburg palace on the occasion of the birth of their son
and heir Maximilian II Emanuel, elector of Bavaria.Munich was under the control of the Habsburg
family for some years after Maximilian II Emanuel had made a pact with France in
1705 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The occupation led to bloody
uprisings against the Austrian imperial troops followed by a massacre while
farmers were rioting (the "Sendlinger Mordweihnacht" or Murder Christmas of
Sendling). The coronation of Max Emanuel's son elector Charles Albert as Emperor
Karl VII in 1742 led to another Habsburg occupation. The city's first academic
institution, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, was founded in 1759 by Maximilian
III Joseph, who abandoned his forefather's imperial ambitions and made peace.
From 1789 onwards, when the old medieval fortification was demolished, the
English Garden was laid out - it is one of the world's largest urban public
parks. By that time, the city was growing very quickly and was one of the
largest cities in continental Europe.

 
 
Hello everybody!
We have the topic “Our School”. We divided our topic in five areas.
  
  Julia Kluge
· Everyday school life
  Lucia von Kannen
· History of our school
  Simone Graspointner
· Afternoon care
  Vanessa Gocke
· School festivals
   Laura Schnell
· Optional Subject

We hope you have fun! 
Everyday School Life
by Julia Kluge

When we arrive at the main station in town early in the morning, the buses are already waiting for us and take us to the school. From the station to our school, we need only ten minutes. But afterwards, we have to climb our big steep hill to get to school. Sometimes it’s very exhausting, but you get used to it. In the winter, we often slip on the hill, because it’s so smooth. And in the summertime, it’s terribly hot. We can say, it’s our involuntary morning sport.

The first lesson starts at 8 a.m. with a morning prayer. One lesson takes 45 minutes. After the first two lessons, we have a break of 15 minutes. We are allowed to go outside, but we have to stay near the school.  We can also buy something to eat in the hall, like sandwiches, fruits and so on, or stay in the classroom. Afterwards we have four more lessons and no break. Maybe that sounds a bit strict and boring, but lessons can be also very funny. We have nice teachers and they do their work very well.
Between the different lessons, we have to change the classrooms. So of being there at the right time, we are often three minutes late. So we are in hurry, when we’re going to the next lesson.
If we have only six lessons, we can go home at 12:40 p.m.
But if we’ve the 7th and 8th lesson, we have a 40 minute lunch break. A lot of pupils go to the cafeteria and eat there. We can go to one of the three day rooms, where we can stay and do our homework or study.
When the break is over, the next two lessons are waiting for us. School ends at 2:40 p.m.
In our school, we have to choose a branch in the seventh form. We can choose between the branch of maths, French, social studies, business and home economics and domestic sciences.
Our form is divided in two branches: The branch of math and French. The whole class have biology, music, geography, German, history, English and sport together. The ones who chose French also have: math, physics, French, economy and IT (information technology) together. And the s.o. have: math, physics, chemistry and IT together.
And of course religion, which divides the class in catholic and Protestant.

Zeit für uns - Time for us

We’ve got so called ZFU-lessons, which means “Time For Us” (in German: Zeit Für Uns). Every other week we have time to talk about problems in the class, to support our class community or to organize an event for school. For example: On November 24, 2012 we are having a Christmas bazaar in our school for selling cookies, tea or flower arrangements and lots of other homemade things. So we have to organize this event. What are we going to do? Baking a cake, making things with one’s hands or doing something else? We are looking after little children this time and we might get some money from parents. Back to the “Time For Us” lessons. The pupils sit in a circle and two girls, who lead this lesson, stand in the middle. The teacher is only looking after the class.
Sometimes we don’t have anything to talk about, so we are allowed to play games, to support our class community and have fun together. It’s also a balancing to the other lessons, like maths and French.
We usually have to do everything quiet, but that’s very difficult amongst girls. –You know!

The History of our School
by Lucia von Kannen

In 1894, a girls boarding school was built on a small mountain, the “Sparzer” mountain. It started with nine pupils. But the number increased.
1907 the building was enlarged and were added a gym and a chapel.
On 3 June 1913 the school was recognised as a high school for girls. But there was a war and it was a very difficult time for Sparz.
1923, new rules were introduced, with six school years and only one foreign language.
1932, a second language, and a Latin course were introduced.
On 16 July 1941 Sparz was closed because of another war.
On 22 December 1945, the reopening of the school was approved.
1946/47 there were 127 pupils. More and more pupils came to Sparz.
1959/60, there were already 306 pupils.
1964/65 the school was called “Secondary school for girls of the Institute of the English Mademoiselles Sparz".
On 1 April 1966 the school was enlarged.
In 1993 the school was sponsored by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.
1994/95 the boarding school was closed and more classrooms were built instead.
1997-1998 new art rooms and computer rooms were built.
2006, each classroom was equipped with a laptop and sometimes even with a Beamer.
2007 Biology, Chemistry and Physics rooms were furnished.
In 2008, the main entrance was rebuilt and allentrances were video monitored.
Since 2009/10 there is also a lift, of course we aren’t allowed to use it. Only the teachers are allowed to use it or pupils who can’t walk because of an injury, the other use the stairs. That is exhausting.
27th January 2011, the last nuns were adopted.
         The school now                                Our school many years ago
        The festivalroom                                    The old festivalroom
           Our classroom                                   An old classroom
Farwell of the nuns

After 154 years, the last nuns of the Congregatio Jesu left unfortunately our school.(The Congregatio Jesu is a religious community of women following the example of the Jesuits. Today there are about 2 000 nuns in over 20 countries.) On 27/01/11 the seven sisters Sr. M. Werburga, Sr. M. Alba, Sr. Assumpta, Sr. M. Berne Hilde, Sister M. Christiana, Sr. M. Hedwig and Sr. M. Magna were in a celebratory ceremony act adopted. They had to take their retirement and move to other monasteries like Eichstätt, Munich, Nymphenburg,  Simbach and Reichenhall.

On the 27 August 1956, the matron nun Sr. M. Werburga came to Sparz.She said: "I stood at 15.30 p.m. with anxious expectations before the venerable house." She worked as a teacher of shorthand and business economics. She supported the school very much. And she was a great help until her farewell.

They lived in the monastery which stands next to the school building. The monastery has been renovated and turned into rooms for afternoon care,music, art and handicrafts.(About the afternoon care you will get more information by Simone Graspointner) The nuns also looked after the little chapel by Sparz. It is closed at the moment.
             The monastery                                      The chapel
                                                                              Our School
The afternoon care
by Simone Graspointner

I'm in the afternoon care and I'm going to tell you something about it.
In the afternoon care are 35 pupils. After school, it’s time for lunch. In the
cafeteria we have our own room and we eat our lunch together. The
afternoon care is in the former monastery. We are in different rooms,
according to our class levels. They are all nicely renovated and we
enjoy being there. In the afternoon care we can do our homework
and study the subjects for the next day. I like the afternoon care because
I have a lot of friends there. In summer we go outside and play football,
volleyball and have a lot of fun. When we finish our homework we are
allowed to read a book or play some games. The teachers have a look
after us. I go home at 4 o’clock. The afternoon care is from Monday to
Thursday. On Friday I’m allowed to go home after school. The afternoon care
is voluntary. It costs 880 pounds a year.  In theafternoon care we have our
own computer room and 5 study rooms.  
Optional Subjects
by Laura Schnell

This is a small overview about our optional subjects:
  • choir
  • theather
  • tennis
  • schoolhousedecoration
  • schoolhouse embellishment
  • football
  • athletics
  • volleyball
  • first aid

remedial lesson:

  • LRS
  • maths
  • german
  • PET
  • italian
Music in our School

In our school pupils have the opportunity to sing in a choir. It is open for all classes. Choir is every Wednesday at 13:20
o'clock. They sing churchsongs and christmassongs at the moment. Managresse of the choir is Mrs. Zahnbrecher. At the end of the year they perform a musical. And Mrs. Zahnbrecher practices the songs with them. We have also a class where pupils learn how to play windinstruments. They start in 5th grade. If a pupil doesn't have her own instrument the can rent one from school. Throughout the school year they have several little concerts where they also invite the parents. The leader of the class is Mr. Schmidhuber. Mrs. Zahnbrecher and Mr. Schmidhuber are our Musicteacher at the school. We have also the chance to join our schoolband. Some of the sudents play theit instruments like the guitars, drums and flutes. But some sing songs. I think we have a good chance to make music. In our school music is very important.

Theatre

in our school we have got optional subjects below choir, theatre and tennis. And i want to tell you a littel bit about the theatre group. All classes can go to the theatre groupe. We have a small and a big kind of group. The small one is from 5-7 class and the big one from 7-10 class. Last year performed in the small one an act called "Lippel's Traum"(Lippel's dream) by Paul Maar. We came to play every Tuesday in the festival room. Now i tell you a littel bit about the act: Lippel is a young boy who is called normally Phillip. He has a dad who had to go to a congress for a week. So came a strictly lady to look after him. She give him a book. And Lippel has an adventure in his dream. At the end of the year we perform the act in front of on audience. Manageress of the theatre was Mrs. Jander but she retired last year. This year manageress is Mrs. Richter.
School Festivals
by Vanessa Gocke

Advent Bazaar

The Advent bazaar is on a Saturday and it is presence duty. This year my class look after the little children. We are in five groups, how be in different times. At one o'clock the Advent bazaar begin and finished at four o'clock. Everybody take things to decorate the room and someone take biscuits, Haribos and something to drink. We have different stations for the kids where thy can play games and can pointing. Other classes do handicrafts for example Advent garland and Christmastree jewellery. Other have took biscuits. In the Arcaden there are popcorn, Hot Dogs, salad and cakes. In the gym they sell coffee and cakes too. Pupils decorat the schoolhouse many days before, and the choir rehursel many weeks before. Pupils from the theatre group disguise as angel and stand in front of the entrance and gave plans  about the Advent bazaar to the visitors. The Sparzer Advent bazaar is also a meeting place for former Schoolgirls, who met their old friends. Every year many visitors came to our Advent bazaar. Last year, we got over 14 000,00 € and this year we got 18 000,00 €

Cultural Exchange with Egypt

On the 12th October had our school a visit from 50 schoolgirlsfrom the German School DSB in Kairo. They spent one week with theri six teachers in a hostel in Marquartstein a little villag near Traunstein. We divided the 50 girls into five groups, so that all 6. Classes from Sparz had the opportunity of an exchange intercultural. Our girls were very hospitable and offered homemade cakes, biscuits and something to drink and received the visit. After school was every girl riveted to German family. They spent the afternoon together, shooed them their villages, went for little walks in the area or took a close look at some farmhouses and got a little visited into Bavarian farming. On the Thursday it was the return visit. An oriental dance was performed and the "Song of the Revolution" was sung. Then there was the hostel rally in the garden and then everybody met again to eat cake and drink something. It's always hard to leave our new friends after such a listens time together. We can all learn a lot from each other.
Stefan Dettel and his Band

The Musicain Stefan Dettel  came to our school for a good purpose. The whole band was playing in the morning 18th October 2011 in the gym in front of the 5. until 10. classes. We realized how uncomplicated Dettel and his band  were, as they took one of our schoolgirls to play on the drums. Mr. Schmidhuber our music teacher , who plays in a band himself, joined them with his trumpet in a song too, It was a nice change from our everyday morning schedule.
 
Zum Bearbeiten hier klicken .
Hi, we are
Franzi, Susi and Sophia. We’re going to tell you about our Chiemgau
(our district). Our Chiemgau is 784 km² big. There are ca 120 village and little towns. Our district town is called Traunstein. It has got about
19 000 inhabitants. In our Chiemgau there are many lakes, where you can swim in summer. Our Chiemgau is the biggest district in Bavaria.
We live here and we love it because:

- The nature is unspoiled
- You can do so many different activities
- It is a safe place to live

The Mountains:

SOME MOUNTAINS OF OUR
CHIEMGAU


I am going to give some more information about three mountains.

The Rauschberg: 1672m
The Unternberg: 1425m
The Hochfelln: 1674m


First: The Rauschberg:


The Rauschberg has its name neither from the excesses of alcohol nor the lush blooms of the Alpine rose: the ´rush´ is actually the plumbiferous stone which people used to dig for on the Rauschberg. The
Rauschberg cable car has been bringing passengers to this mountain in Ruhpolding since 1953. On the mountain´s peak, a geology trail and an art mile of work by Angerer the Younger provide interestig deversions. “Adam´s Hand”, a 6 meter high, stylisted hand, pointing exactly towards Rome and created by Angerer the Younger has become a special attraction.
If you walk from the car park to the top of the mountain, you will need 2 hours to go. We have got a ramp for the paragliders, too. They take their equipment to the top in the cable car. In summer you can see how they are assembled their paragliders. It´s exciting very to watch that,, if you have never seen it before. 


Second: The Unternberg:


The Unternberg is about 1425m high. It is the ultimate sport and leisure area in  Ruhpolding! In winter it provides a great hiking area with magnificent 360° views from the Central Alps across to Lake Chiemsee. You can watch the hangliders and paragliders or learn how to do it yourself at the flying school. Anyone who climbs the Unternberg by mountain bike or on foot can be truly proud of themselves. It is easier to get to the top by chair lift. In winter the Unternberg enchants skiers, families, clubs and ski tourers alike with its small yet finely formed ski area. The host at the lovingly restored Unternberg Alm lodge are always on hand to provide an inexpensive hearty snack to help keep your strenght up.

Last: The Hochfelln:


The Hochfelln is the mountain which seperates the two
villages Bergen and Ruhpolding. Each year there is a big festival: “the
fellnerfest”. Many groups of traditional musicans are playing the whole day. Some people dance traditional dances. If you walk up to the top you will need ca. 3 hours. You can go by cable car, too. It drives from the foot of the mountain to the middlestation and then to the top of the mountain. Maybe, if you like you can get out in the station to walk the last part to the top by foot. In the year 1971 they took an elephant to the the gondola. At the top of the mountain there is a small guest house, where you can stay overnight. There is a small ski resort, too. So you are able to go skiing in the winter. In summer you can cycle the whole part to the top on bike. You can even take a course in Jodeln (it´s a special kind of bavarian singing)on the top of the mountain with a certified teacher. But the best of all is the spectacular view. On clear days you can see the whole mountain chain of the Austrian alps, even some glaciers in the back. 


Bild
The Rauschberg
Bild
guesthouse on the top of the Hochfelln
Bild
The Kampenwand

The Chiemsee:

The Chiemsee is a very big lake, this is why it is named the Bavaria sea. The surface is 79,9 km² big. The Chiemsee is the biggest lake in Bavaria and after the Bodensee and the Mürtzs the biggest lake in Germany. There some islands in the lake. They’re called: The Herreninsel, the Fraueninsel and the Krautinsel. Some researcher thinks that our Chiemgau, the villiage Chieming and the Chiemsee are named after Count Chiemo.

In summer you can:

- swim in the lake
- chill out with your friends
- feed ducks
- eat ice-cream
- bicycle around the lake
- drive with a boat on the lake 
 

The Herreninsel:

The Herrenchiemsee is a castle on the Herreninsel, an island in the Chiemsee. There are two castles. The first one is called the new castle of
Herrenchiemsee, built in the year 1878 under the King König Ludwig II. The second is an old castle which was a convent before. You can ride around the island like a horse carriage. The landscape park from the old castle is very nice and there are many flowers. You can drive from one island to another with a boat.


The Fraueninsel:

The Fraueninsel is the second largest island in the Chiemsee.The island is 15,5 ha big and there live about 300 people. On the island there used to be a monastery for women. Until a few years ago, there was a boarding school for girls there, too. You can walk around the island with your family.
Bild
The Chiemsee
Bild
The Fraueninsel
Bild
The Herreninsel
Bild
The castle Herren Chiemsee

The cattle drive:

The cattle drive
is a very important tradition. At the end of September, the farmers bring the cows from the pastures high in the mountains, home to their farms. The cows wear beautiful headdresses, which consist mostly of straw, flowers and colourful ribbons. The women have spent many days doing the decorations.  But this only takes place when the alpine summer went well and no cows were hurt or died. The farmers all wear Bavarian ´Dirndl´ and ´Lederhosen´ and play traditional Bavarian brass music. They walk along the streets and many people are looking at them. The farmers are very proud of their cows. 

Bild
A farmer (he is wearing a Lederhosen) and his cow (it´s wearing a nice headdress)
Bild
A Bavarian brass band
Bild
three girls who wearing Bavarian Dirndl.
Bild
A pasture
Bild
The cattle drive
(by: Franziska Steibacher, Susanne Koziel and Sophia Haunerdinger)
 
In our school there are many different nationalities. Students are from places such as Ireland, Philippines, America, India, Canada, Nigeria, Mauritius, Poland, Angola, Libya, Australian and lots more! This makes our school a very vibrant place, as we get to know different people and different cultures!

Here are the flags of the countries that we are from:

Picture
Nigerian Flag
Picture
Flag of the Philippines
We have a “Culture Club” in our school where we talk about lot’s of cultures and organise an international day to raise awareness about the great cultural varieties at Loreto College Crumlin.

It also gives us a chance to meet people from different countries, learn about many different traditions and compare it to how it differs from our own tradition.

Valerie, Sorcha and I (Janine) are all from different countries! We learned a lot of things from each other and became good friends!

In school we also have a class where people from different countries learn English as an additional language. This class helps them to improve their English language skills and become fluent speakers.

Coming from different countries means we all have different traditions such as different traditional dances. Here are pictures of some:

Picture
A traditional Filipino dance
Picture
A traditional Nigerian dance
Picture
A traditional Irish dance
We also have different traditional foods:    
Picture
The 'coddle' from Dublin
Picture
The Filipino Acado
Picture
A traditional Nigerian dish.
We hope you learned something about the different cultures and traditions at Loreto College Crumlin.

Thank you for reading! ^_^


    The Authors:

    We are the students of 8A at the Maria-Ward-Schule in Traunstein, Germany and of 2AB at Loreto College Crumlin in Dublin, Ireland.

    This blog was created for our first virtual exchange project. Every week we will upload different topics about school life, tradition, culture and leisure in our home countries and exchange ideas and comments about these.

    Feel free to join in our discussions!

    We are looking forward to a fun and enriching exchange of ideas!

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