Since surprisingly many of us were on time we started at 8 am to drive southwest out of Bayreuth. Equipped with maps, information sheets and nice land use and biodiversity maps, we looked forward to our first stop, the fossil excavation site in Mistelgau.

Fossils in Mistelgau

A place that is worldwide famous for a huge amount of fossil findings, up to complete skeletons of dinosaurs. Famous worldwide… except in Bayreuth and the surrounding area, as Prof. Köllner explained to us. After some detailed explanations from a local guide and “fossil-searcher” (in the original Franconian language) we got to roam around by ourselves and discover some beautiful bits and pieces from 200 million years ago. Unimaginable that Upper Franconia was a shallow, warm, and tropical sea with dinosaurs roaming around! Since we couldn’t stay the whole day (even though some of us would have loved to) we continued our bus ride.

A scenic view

The next spot was less muddy and more scenic. On top of the Görauer Anger, we could see Kulmbach with the Plassenburg, the Fichtel Mountains and the Franconian Switzerland on one side and lovely pastures, forests, and small villages on the other. A perfect place to explain different types of land uses, Ecosystem Services and how Climate Change might affect the agricultural areas and natural biotopes in our regions. With fantastic pictures of future Upper Franconia as a Mongolian-like savannah in our minds, we enjoyed our lunch break in the sun before we continued our journey.

Bamberg: Natural History Museum and Cathedral

As for every good trip, we were behind schedule, and after our bus drivers overcame a roadblock and kilometres of winding serpentines, we got closer to Bamberg, our destination. We all wished ourselves back into nature when we saw the traffic in the city. After at least another 40 minutes, we arrived at the Natural History Museum in Bamberg. The museum had a dusty, but nonetheless retro-romantic atmosphere with glimmering crystals, fossils that looked like they swam around yesterday and the highlight: the rebuilt bird chamber of some nobleman from the 19^th century who collected hundreds of birds around the world. Even though most of us had mixed feelings, facing all these stuffed animals, not few of them threatened with extinction or already extinct and acquired in suspicious trades, it was fascinating to see the diversity and colourfulness of our planet’s (bird) species. In the museum, we could continue to groom our team spirit, since everything was in German and the German students had to translate for the internationals.

After the museum visit, we strolled around the beautiful inner city of Bamberg. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and Professor Köllner provided us with interesting facts and comments about the city’s history and its significance since the Middle Ages. We also visited the Bamberg Cathedral, which houses the mysterious horseman of Bamberg, whose identity remains shrouded in history.

After a full and fun day, we walked back to our bus (after buying smoked beer and ice cream on the way) and travelled back to good old Bayreuth, where we arrived at 6 pm.

It was a great and informative day, and we all want to say thank you to Sylvia Sprödhuber and Prof. Köllner for organizing it and giving us the opportunity to explore the region where we will spend the next years and to get to know each other in a fun way!

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When the excursion started at 8am on Friday morning, we drove off into the fog. By the time we reached our first stop – a volcano named “Rauher Kulm” in Neustadt am Kulm – the fog still hadn’t cleared. Nevertheless, we walked up the volcano and climbed the look-out tower. Apparently, the view from up there is usually great, but we had to use our imagination to see the surrounding Fichtelgebirge behind the wall of white fog. In spite of that, it was an interesting stop, as we learned about the geology of the basalt mountain, which has never erupted, and the surrounding vegetation.

The next stop was an information center at a former extra-deep drilling borehole. Here the continental deep drilling program of Germany (KTB) was conducted. The aim of this research program was to analyze the continental earth crust at this location. The researchers wanted to drill down to a depth of 10 km, but in the end they were only able to reach a depth of 9.1 km. The main drilling was conducted from 1990 to 1994. Nowadays the location serves as an information center about the drilling, general geology, and earth system processes. We watched a short movie and visited the exhibition on the earth system at the information center.

Following in the footsteps of Goethe and Alexander von Humboldt, we visited the “Felsenlabyrinth Luisenburg” in the Fichtelgebirge. The boulder field of granite stones has developed over long time spans through weathering and erosion processes. In German the particular form of weathering, through which the well-rounded giant boulders developed, is called Wollsackverwitterung (English: spherical weathering/onion skin weathering).

We climbed up steep steps and hiked through narrow gaps in the rocks. By now the fog had cleared and the sun was shining, so we had a great view from the top. On our hike through the rock labyrinth, we found a fascinating species: the luminescent moss (Schistostega pennata), which grows in cracks and between rocks.

Before heading back to Bayreuth, we had the opportunity to visit an old farmhouse (currently a museum), where we could see how people used to life in this region. Although it was unfortunate that the museum was already closed by the time we arrived, we could still have a look at the traditional herbs and the vegetable garden present there.

The excursion gave a nice teaser of what Bayreuth’s surroundings have to offer and provided a good chance to catch up with friends and meet new students. All in all, it was a great start to the new semester!

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We traveled through time as we made our way from Bayreuth through the Black Jurassic, Brown Jurassic and White Jurassic to Bamberg. Our first stop was a quarry in Mistelgau, where we searched for fossils. We mainly found Belemnites, which are abundant in this quarry as it is also called “Belemnitenschlachtfeld”. From the quarry, which represented the Black Jurassic, we drove through the Brown Jurassic and made our next stop in the White Jurassic. Here we visited a cave – the Ludwigshöhle – where Prof. Beierkuhnlein told us more about the geology of the area.

The drive through the Fränkische Schweiz was accompanied by remarks of Prof. Beierkuhnlein explaining to us village names and showing us the best place for a pre-New year’s celebration. The last stop before Bamberg was the stone garden of Sanspareil. After a stroll through the rock formations, we got asked to perform something on the stage of the ruin-theater, which turned into a short Samba dance lesson for this year’s Summer Fête. It was a great time together, where everyone could enjoy themselves. The entire excursion and especially those funny group activities showed that, despite the pandemic and all the restrictions, our cohort managed to become a tide-knitted group already.

In Bamberg we had a little free time, which most of us used to get an ice cream and enjoy the sun while strolling through the beautiful city. The sightseeing went on with a walk through the rose garden and a visit of the dome. Last, but not least, we went to the Natural History Museum of Bamberg. Just like for most the other places of our tour we only had limited time, making it more of a teaser to motivate us to come back by ourselves and explore more of the museum another time. Personally, I was most impressed by the fossils. After having searched for some of them ourselves in the morning, it was astonishing to see what great (both in size and detail) fossils have been found by scientists in the surroundings.

There is nothing like a good German beer to end a great day.  So we stopped by a famous pub to try the typical Bamberger Rauchbier. While opinions on this beer varied, everyone enjoyed the excursion, spending a day with friends, and away from our computers!

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As mentioned above, we will go to the Wuparo conservancy. For eight days, we will span out tents there and during the day a lot of fieldwork has to be done. The aim of our study trip to the Caprivi region is to collect information and data about the impact of the conservancy on the life of the locals and on biodiversity. We teamed up in three working groups – as we are only six students and one professor – and we will look at different aspects of the conservancy. One team is going to interpret satellite data and compare it with the data collected in the field: The aim is to see how biodiversity is developing in the conservancy and if there are disturbances and threats to biodiversity (which can also be caused by animals for example by browsing of cattle on trees). The second team will investigate how humans and wildlife live together: Are there conflicts between the two groups? If yes, which ones? Is this causing an increase or a decrease of biodiversity? The third group will have a closer look at the impacts of the conservancy on the people living and working there: We want to check if the people benefit from the conservancy, if the management plan is successful. In total, we have around 8-10 days for research.

As we have two members of the blog travelling to Namibia for doing research, we want to try something new: We want to write a little scientific and also personal journal here. Probably, the articles will just be uploaded after the trip as we are not sure how the situation is concerning internet (or phone) access in the remote area we stay at. Before we leave in the beginning of September, we both would like to share our expectations for this trip with you.

Leonie:

This is my second time visiting an African country. Last time, I was in Tanzania – East Africa. Now, it is the other side of this large continent. Namibia has always been in my dreams: Wide deserts, endless skies, wildlife and in general a colourful spectacle – and indigenous people, a very dear and special interest of mine in general. The research part of this trip is going to be hard, I expect. As it is only short time we have for our investigations, we have to get the most out of it. And that’s a challenge I am really looking forward to. I hope to get insight into the culture of the people we are visiting, talk to them, get to know them. This way, our two cultures can connect and understand each other better – for me an absolutely necessary aspect if our generation wants to enter the frey against challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss or global inequality. We have to understand and respect each other. Therefore, I am really looking forward to meeting the people living in the Caprivi region. If there is the chance to meet people belonging to indigenous tribes in Namibia, like Himba, San, Nama, Semba or Twa people, I would be delighted. Indigenous communities have an understanding of the world and the environment which has always interested and fascinated me – in many ways they know much more than we do in our industrialized, western cultures. I will keep you updated about the experiences we make in Namibia.

Katharina:

As I’m writing these lines, it will be less than 32 hours till we will be leaving Germany. After a 10 hours flight we will arrive in Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia. My last visit in Africa, more precisely Madagascar, last year got me thinking a lot. And I am sure, this excursion will teach me a lot as well – about the attitude towards life, about a very different nature and about how other cultures perceive and use their land. I am looking forward to return to this fascinating continent and to see a completely different facet this time. Visiting the wide steppes of Namibia, encountering wildlife, meeting people from different cultures, sleeping under the African night sky – I cannot even imagine how this journey will change myself. I have a great interest in the relationship between man and nature and how both can coexist. Thus, I will investigate the attitudes of the local people towards wildlife and try to identify indicators that enhance or reduce human-wildlife conflicts. I’m looking forward to get to know another country, other cultures, other ecosystems. And I hope, one day, I can use this knowledge to help fighting climate change, the global inequality or help protecting nature.

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