Freiburg

What captures my imagination while walking through this classical city of Freiburg is the high number of bicycles and riders at every nook and cranny of the area. The city is virtually littered with bicycles.

Both old and young and male and female are spotted either peddling their way up the gentle hills or sloping through roads and alleys with the characteristic hanging of bags on their backs.

Just like in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital of Ghana where I come from, bicycles are the major means of transport. Ours is not about ensuring a clean environment, but is borne out of necessity because majority of the people can simply not acquire vehicles.

What therefore fascinates me is the fact that even though most people in Freiburg can afford cars, they have chosen to rather ride bicycles for ecological reasons of keeping the environment clean.

Infact never in my life have I seen so many bikes in a city. The population of Freiburg is over 200,000 with more than one/third of the people using bicycle as their means of transport. This is more than the number of cars in the city. Other means of transport are trams, buses and trains.

There are bicycle parks outside the main train station and other spots where the bikes are all lined up and locked, while their owners are out and about at their respective work places or school. Asked why the bikes are all locked up, a student, who gave her name only as Aalina, explained that, “they would be stolen if not locked; a lot of people have lost their bicycles through theft.”

Another landmark feature of this historic city is the canal system that runs through the city. The myth about it says a visitor who accidentally steps into the canals will have to marry a Freiburg woman. Indeed the canal creates very pleasant scenery as one watch the clean water run through the inland waterway through the artistically designed marble pavements.

And towering over the ancient architectural master pieces of buildings in the centre of the city is the Freiburg Munster. I was told by my colleague, Julia Littman that most of the surrounding edifices are recreation of buildings that were destroyed during the Second World War. It is however incredible that the 116 meters high Catheral did not give way to the bombs and still maintains its medieval exquisiteness.

Freiburg that shares boarders with Switzerland and France among others also boasts of many tourists’ sites including Museums, theatres and other historical monuments that are dotted around the city. It is also a citadel of education with five public Universities and colleges with more than 40,000 students that are seen criss-crossing to their schools and faculties of studies in tight and skinny jeans pants.

Of course one cannot miss out on the warmth of the people most of who encounters you with broad smiles and politely wishing you “hello.” The difficulty really for me is my inability to communicate in the German language as only few of those I encounter speak English. For now, I can only say “Chao! Chaoo!!!” good bye or see you.