Zum zweiten Mal in diesem Schuljahr durften wir unsere Gäste vom Istituto Vittorio Emanuele aus Bergamo in Ludwigsburg begrüßen. Fünf Tage voller Europa, interkulturellem Austausch und spannender Begegnungen lagen hinter uns. Die Jugendlichen kommunizierten vor allem auf Englisch, die italienischen Schüler wagten dabei auch, ihre Deutschkenntnisse anzuwenden. Nachhaltigkeit stand dabei im Mittelpunkt: Bei einem Besuch der Ludwigsburger Tafel konnten die Jugendlichen direkt erleben, wie soziales Engagement und Ressourcenschonung praktisch umgesetzt werden. Daneben gab es jede Menge kulturelle Highlights: Mercedes-Benz-Museum, Schloss Ludwigsburg, ein Tourismus-Workshop der Stadt, gemeinsames Kochen regionaler Gerichte sowie der Verkauf am Weihnachtsmarkt. Am Weihnachtsmarkt wurden außerdem die bei der Tafel verpackten „Favorite-Mangos“ verkauft, deren Erlös an die Tafel ging, ebenso wie selbst gemachte Pralinen. Der Austausch zeigte einmal mehr, wie bereichernd deutsch-italienische Freundschaften und gemeinsame europäische Erfahrungen sind.
LB Castle Tour
On Monday, December 1, the Bergamo exchange group, including the Italian students, went for a Ludwigsburg residential palace tour. Currently, the Italian exchange students are in Ludwigsburg, and the tour was a part of the program organized for their visit. So, we went to the palace courtyard by foot from the school. It was a very short walk, but the weather was already quite cold. Nobody could wait to get to the entrance and warm up there.
When we got there, our guide opened the tour with a very interesting story about the palace’s origin and also gave out the facts about its building and the historical period when the palace was used. The Ludwigsburg Palace is one of the largest Baroque palaces in Germany, and even though some of us were already familiar with it, it still was a great experience. It was very cold inside the palace, which reminded us of how different life must have been when it was built. In the course of the tour, we went through a lot of palace rooms such as the bedroom, living and staying rooms, the apartment area, the gallery, and the theater hall. The bedroom and apartment rooms served as examples of how the dukes and their families lived. The guide told the group the arrangement of the rooms and explained them one by one. We walked through the gallery, which was decorated richly and gave us an insight into Baroque style and royal life. The theater hall was the highlight of the tour, where we saw how the plays were set. Many students found this room very fascinating because of its size and design.
It was freezing all the time throughout the tour, but the visit was still entertaining, and the different rooms showed much information about life in earlier centuries. Then, we went back to school on foot together.
To conclude, the palace visit was one of the most informative and fun parts of the exchange. It not only gave us an opportunity to show our guests a very important site of Ludwigsburg, but also, they got to experience a piece of the local history.
Julius, Moritz, Mattia, Francesco
Preparations for the Christmas market stand
On Monday, the second day of our Exchange/ Erasmus programme our group of Erasmus/ exchange students took part in multiple creative and practical activities, in preparation for the Christmas market, in the gymnasium’s workshop.
We were separated into random groups to socialise and learn more about each other and created little Badges with our names to make communication easier, as we only had known each other for one day.
One of our main activities was the creation of large posters. These posters were made to decorate the market stand and inform our customers about our prices, the Erasmus/ exchange programme, Sustainability, which was the main topic of our exchange, and our Partnership with the LudwigsTafel, whom we would be donating 40ct to for each Mango sold as well as most of our other profits.
Another few groups worked on creating snowflakes and stars as decorations for the market stand. Due to a lack of Compasses, the groups which worked on the Stars had to come up with creative solutions like using glasses or improvising their own compasses.
Some of us also worked on wooden angel silhouettes. This involved tracing shapes and cutting the wood with saws and drilling holes into them to hang them onto Christmas trees. Most of those silhouettes weren’t made for the market with few exceptions, like the biggest one of them.
Overall, the workshop activities offered us a way to contribute to the Christmas market while getting to know each other closer. By doing this they strengthened cooperation amongst us Erasmus/ exchange students and gave us valuable experience in creative teamwork. We had a lot of fun working together for the stand.
by Dávid and Sveva
Report on the Christmas Market Project
On December 3rd, our class took part in the Christmas Market in Ludwigsburg in order to support a local food bank and contribute to a more sustainable and fairer world. We had organised a small stall next to the evangelical church, where we offered fairtrade dried mangoes and self-made pralines. Our class worked in two shifts: in the morning, the advanced course were selling in the first shift in the morning , and in the afternoon, a group of students were selling the mangoes and pralines with our exchange students from Bergamo.
Our selling time lasted two hours, from 3 to 5 p.m., during which a surprisingly large number of visitors passed by our stand. Thanks to our motivated team, we managed to sell one full box of mangoes and half a bag of pralines. In total, we earned almost 200 euros, which was more than we had expected for such a short amount of time. Every 40 cents of a purchased mango was donated directly to the Ludwigsburger food bank. They received 24 euros from our sales, and the remaining money was donated to _______
The target group at that time of the afternoon turned out to be ideal. There were many families, elderly people, and younger couples walking around the market who showed real interest in sustainable products. Quite a few people stopped to ask about where our products came from, and many were pleased to hear that our mangoes were fairtrade and that the pralines were homemade.
Our participation in the Christmas Market showed that even a small student project can have a meaningful impact. By supporting key organisations such as the food bank, we contributed to making our world fairer and more sustainable. We also proved that we, the youth, care about our future and are willing to take action to improve it.
by Milena, Ilaria, Silvia and Emma
Food Bank
On Tuesday, December 2nd we visited the Ludwigsburg food bank.
In the morning, we met at the school and then we walked together to the foodbank to help them out and to learn in general more about it. At the beginning, we were divided into two groups. One group helped to pack the mangoes, which we sold together the next day at the Christmas market in Ludwigsburg and the others helped to portion big 5 kg packages of noodles or rice into smaller quantities so we could pack and label them, so they also could be sold in the store so that more people could benefit from them. The employers were very friendly and they explained everything to us step by step. Many of them work voluntarily to do something good for the environment, but also to help people in need. When we had finished our tasks, we all came together again and one of the employees told us more about the food bank so we could learn more about it. He told us how large the quantities are that the food bank sells each week. They save around 7 tons of products each week like vegetables, so 7 tons without the products which will stay good for a longer time like noodles or rice. He also explained that the food bank has now became more mobility. They have a big van, with which they drive through the Ludwigsburg district to different locations and neighborhoods to help the residents there. Of course, they can´t reach everyone, but they try their best. It was nice to listen to him because you could tell that the employees truly enjoy being involved, and he also told us the food bank relies entirely on donations. He also explained that they sometimes struggle to have enough food, and that sometimes not everyone can receive everything because there isn´t enough to go around. It was a truly nice day because we knew we had done something meaningful and helpful, and we also learned a lot about the work.
by Maike & Samantha
Gemeinsam Kochen
Im Rahmen des diesjährigen Bergamo-Austauschs hatten wir in der vergangenen Woche die Gelegenheit, gemeinsam mit den Schülerinnen und Schülern aus Italien einen besonderen Nachmittag in der Schulküche des GDRS zu verbringen. An einem der Programmtage stand ein gemeinsames Kochprojekt auf dem Plan: eine Aktion, die nicht nur essenstechnisch spannend war, sondern auch unsere Zusammenarbeit und Kommunikation stärkte.
Wir wurden in vier gemischte Gruppen eingeteilt, damit sich alle besser kennenlernen und gemeinsam arbeiten konnten. Jede Gruppe bereitete ihr eigenes Abendessen zu. Auf dem Menü stand etwas typisch Schwäbisches: Maultaschen in der Brühe, dazu Kartoffelsalat. Die Maultaschen waren bereits vorbereitet und mussten nur noch in Gemüsebrühe erhitzt werden, sodass wir uns vor allem auf das Schneiden, Kochen, Würzen, Probieren und natürlich das richtige Abschmecken des Kartoffelsalats konzentrieren konnten.
Trotz kleiner Sprachbarrieren funktionierte die Zusammenarbeit überraschend gut. Am Ende standen vier große Schüsseln Kartoffelsalat auf dem Tisch, alle ein wenig unterschiedlich, aber jede auf ihre ganz eigene Art gelungen. Zusammen mit den Maultaschen entstand so ein Abendessen, das wir anschließend gemeinsam genießen konnten.
Für viele von uns war die Kochaktion eines der Highlights der Woche. Nicht, weil alles perfekt war, sondern weil wir gemeinsam etwas geschaffen haben, das verbindet: gutes Essen, Teamarbeit und jede Menge Spaß.
von Timo, Moritz J., Marlene, Alice und Katia
Selling our products at the Christmas Market
At the Christmas market, the students sold the ‘Favorite Mangos’ they had packed at the food bank, along with homemade pralines, to support the Ludwigburger Tafel.
Mercedes Benz Museum
On Thursday 04. december we visited the Mercedes Benz Museum at Stuttgart. We all met at the train station in Ludwigsburg at 8:15 near the Katz bakery. Since it was ,,Bretzel-Day’‘ everyone bought some. After everyone arrived, we took the train to Bad Cannstatt. From there we walked to the museum, past the Porsche Arena and the VFB stadium. When we got there, we were all able to eat our lunch packets and took a break.Then the museum visit started. At the entrance, everyone got a mobile phone and headphones so that you could hear the stories of each exhibition object. After that we were taken all the way up with an elevator, in the elevator were horse sounds that were to introduce into the history of the Mercedes. Once at the top everyone was allowed to look for everything they wanted but we had to stay in small groups. At the top, the museum started with the oldest means of transport, such as carriages, in the lower floors the cars became more and more modern.
In our opinion, the highlights of the museum was an old bus that you could get into, so you felt like the people back then. Also very interesting were the stations where you could try something yourself. There was a station where you could try the Formula 1 pit stop and a reaction game. After visiting the museum, we were able to buy something in the museum shop. Then we all went to the city centre to Stuttgart together and had free time. In general, the museum visit was very exciting, as you saw a lot of new things and could also do something yourself.
by Marta, Helena, Lara and Franci
Workshop „Tourismus & Events“ by Mr. Kunz
This Wednesday, we had a visit from Mr.Kunz at our school. It was a cool Work-Shop about tourism and events in ludwigsburg. First he mentioned the first important point, what is special about your city and where is it. We had first Ludwigsburg as an example and he asked us how we would explain it location to the people from Bergamo, after that he asked us how would we explain it to an American. The Americans usually know Frankfurt because there is the international airport. After that he switched to Bergamo and asked, how we would explain an American where Bergamo is. Bergamo is near Mailand, which is know to the Americans. After that we talked about the tourist attractions of ludwigsburg and showed us pictures with it, one of the tourist attractions that he mentioned, were of course the castle of Ludwigsburg, another example would be the Oktoberfest. Then we talked about social media and what reels we watch on Instagram because of online marketing and in what, the youth is interested in. We had a lot of stuff like sports, series, comedy, fashion and so on. He told us that if u are in the tourism area u gotta be fast and efficient. He also said that in the past it was harder and slower because u had to mail or call for the Infos u need. But now it’s a lot easier you go on the Internet and everything u need is right infront of u in seconds. He also told us that people will scroll if ur reel isn’t qualitative and good. So you got to be careful. You have to use your time efficient, you need high quality and more. I forgot to mention the Christmas market of ludwigsburg. Ludwigsburg has one of the best Christmas markets and not to forget that it is a tourist attractions of ludwigsburg as well. Mr. Kunz told us that Germany is known for the Christmas markets and that some other countries tried to copy it, but failed by doings so, also he mentioned that there is a Christmas market in France but it s not really know like the ones in Germany. So the Christmas markets are also an important point for our tourism secture. Also I have to mention that Mr. Kunz was really funny and we all probably had fun together. We hope to meet him again.
by Hamza, Alice, Camilla, David
Final breakfast
This morning we shared our last breakfast together and even though it was simple, it already felt a little emotional because we all knew it would be the final time. We met at 8:30am in room 125 in the old main building and everyone arrived with their suitcases and a small snack of their own. After greeting each other we pushed the tables into a huge circle which instantly made the room feel warmer and more connected. Once everything was set up, each of us received a napkin and the teachers brought the food and passed it around. First came the fresh warm pretzels which tasted amazing. After that we were given gingerbread covered in milk chocolate and dark chocolate and later there were also speculoos biscuits. Along with that we had tea, so we sat together, talked quietly or laughed with our friends, and tried to enjoy those last moments.
At 9:15 am we had to go outside for the break. Before leaving we had already started cleaning up a little and during the break only the German and Italian students stayed around. When we returned at 9:35am, the tables were already back in their normal positions. We sat down again but the room suddenly felt different, almost heavier, because everyone knew the Italians would leave soon. The teachers said a few final words and then we walked downstairs together to the assembly hall. After that we accompanied them to the exit of the secondary school building, holding on to those last minutes. We hugged each other tightly and some tears were unavoidable. Finally two German teachers walked with the Italian group to the train station around nine fifty while the German students slowly returned to their lessons, still feeling the sadness of saying goodbye.
by Alessia, Pebbles, Ester and Benedetta