Nürtingen

“Close-Up” in Nürtingen: Yesterday morning, our colleague Aditi Guha from the Times of India arrived in Swabia. Although still a bit worn-out from the long flight, from the very first moment she has been delighted by Nürtingen. By Jürgen Gerrmann

It is certainly interesting to learn what people notice first of all when they arrive somewhere they’ve never been. On Aditi’s approach over the Neckar River, it was the red tile roofs that they don’t have at home on the Hugli. “Who keeps up your streets?” is her first question on the way from the airport to Hölderlin’s hometown. Asphalt roads with hardly any potholes are barely imaginable in India.

Aditi already made a first visit to the editorial office where she will begin working on Monday as part of the Goethe-Institut’s journalists’ exchange. Every one in our team was given a tiny wooden horse, a traditional handmade craft from Bengal, with its capital city Kolkata. We were all very happy by this gesture and that Aditi will now be with us for four weeks to report about Nürtingen and its surroundings. We are looking forward to how she will experience Swabia’s land and people with Indian eyes. We hope that she will be welcomed in Nürtingen with just as open arms and open hearts as the man from the Neckar was when he visited the Ganges (or, more precisely, the Hugli) in January. Today shortly before noon Aditi has her first assignment. She’s beginning with a true highlight: Nürtingen’s weekly market.