(Post-)Graduate Support at its Best!

December 11, 2019

The traditional Frankfurt Christmas Market is one of the biggest and most important Christmas Market in Germany. Mentioned for the first time in 1393, it is a place where we can see elaborate and creative stand decorations, the scenic surroundings on the Römerberg and St Paul's Square and the huge Christmas tree, making it also one of Germany's most beautiful markets. After a traditional mulled wine, we will finishing our excursions for this year with a nice christmas feast.  

November 16, 2019

The Commerzbank Tower is a 56-story, 259 meter skyscraper in the banking district of Frankfurt. It is the tallest buiduing in Germany and one of the tallest in Europe. It provides 86.000 meter² of office space for the Commerzbank headquarters and was designed as a “green skyscraper”. The result was one of the world's first so-called ecological skyscraper, counting with environmentally friendly technologies, including winter gardens and natural lighting and air circulation employed to reduce energy required for heating and cooling. In 2009 the skyscraper was awarded the first Green Building Award by the City of Frankfurt. During a guided tour (in english) we will get to know the builduing, which sets new standards for modern construction and working places.

Photo: © Commerzbank AG, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72394

October 19, 2019

After our tour to Büdingen, we now want to visit the imperial city of Gelnhausen. Founded in 1170 by the Staufer-Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa it was one of the wealthiest towns of the empire. There we can find the so called Barbarossaburg, the best preserved Kaiserpfalz (imperial palace) of the Staufer-Dynasty in Germany.

During a guided tour (in English) we will see the castle with its oustanding stonemasonry as well as the old town with its medieval sandstone buildings and half-timbered houses. After the Tour, we will have a nice get-together.

September 13-15, 2019

One of the most outstanding events of our GRADE-Excursions is a three-day trip to Berlin. Between 13 and 15 September, we will visit some of the numerous important historical and cultural places of the city. We will gain a deeper insight into German-German history as well as into Berlin's multicultural life. There will be time to visit some landmarks of the city like the Reichstag building, Brandenburg Gate and Museum Island, but we’ll also make sure to just enjoy a nice evening in one of the city’s parks or the Berlin nigthlife.

July 27, 2019

Dear GRADE PhD students and GRADE postdocs,

We warmly invite you and are looking forward to enjoy with us an international picnic in Frankfurt! It will be a relaxing evening, where everybody brings something tasty to eat and we sit together, taste different food, have nice conversations and enjoy the evening.

Please give us short information what you bring with you – we do not want to a buffet of desserts only;) Also please remember to bring your own cup/plates and whatever you need (picnic blanket, pillows, music instruments, games, etc.) – so that we can get comfortable at the meadow. Kids are welcome!

April 27, 2019

Büdingen is one of the rare towns in existence which has managed to survive the troubles of earlier times relatively unscathed. It is mainly known for having one of the best preserved, heavily fortified medieval town wall and halftimbered houses in Europe. During a guided tour (in English) we will experience the living spirit of the past, learning how an aspiring civic society emerged under the protection of the moated castle of the House of Ysenburg.

After the Tour we will have a nice get-together in a traditional location.

Photo: Pixabay

January 29, 2019

Frankfurt was one of the most important places for the first attempt to create a democratic and unitary German nation state. We invite you to a city tour that passes important places of German politics and Frankfurt relations from 1848.

Between St. Paul’s Church and the reconstructed Palais Thurn und Taxis, we will trace the role of groups and people – particularly the participation of Frankfurt’s citizens, the work of the National Assembly and the reasons for its failure. We will also explore the places where barricades or shootings took place as well as the literary Frankfurt and the salon of Clotilde Koch-Gontard.