Student Exchange Presentation

Sections: German School system by Jayden Brown Dresden by Maggie Yarborough Berlin by Jonathan Sibley

The Trip ● Arrival: October 9th - 11th

○ Berlin ■ Separate Hostel the first night, Hostel Generator Prenzlauer Berg the rest of the time ■ Sightseeing tours of the city and German Parliament

● Family Weekend: 12th - 14th ○ Kayaking ○ Hiking ○ Exploring

● Project “Why Democracy”: 15th - 16th ○ Meeting with the Mayor

● Going Away Party (Open Morning): 17th ○ Metal sledding

● Prague (Open): 18th ○ Bus to and from

● Departure: 19th

Education Across The 16 States ● Set school systems differ across the 16 states.

○ Bundesländer ● National conference of state education ministers.

○ Kultusministerkonferenz ● Various Paths to reach a higher academic achievement

○ Some states have up to 5 routes ● Public schools are prioritized

○ 2,500 private or parochial schools ■ 80 million

○ Homeschooling is illegal!

How Does the System Work?

● 4th grade Recommendation ○ Test

● Hauptschule is the shortest ● Realschule is the midpoint ● Gymnasium is the longest

○ University starter course ● Beruffsschule & Berufsfachschule

are very similar.

Grundschule Friedrich Schiller Radebeul (Elementary School)

Lößnitzgymnasium Radebeul (High School)

Dresden

Dresden is the Capital of Saxony, Germany.

● It is home to many historic buildings, a lot of which were destroyed in WW2. ● It’s population is close to 550,000 people. ● It is hard to tell where the city ends and begins, as it’s 10 districts blend together

with surrounding cities. ● Our group stayed mostly in the areas of Neustadt and Altstadt, exploring the

Baroque part and the commercial mall areas.

Transportation

● To get from Radebeul to Dresden takes about 15 minutes by tram or by car. ● Dresden has a tram system that picks up from each station every 10 minutes. It

takes you to different stops in Dresden as well as in between close cities, and to other larger train stations.

● The trams have priority on the road making travels a bit faster, so many citizens prefer to take the tram instead of driving a car.

Highlights- The Historic Heart of Dresden

The FrauenKirche or “Our Lady’s Church” was destroyed in 1945 after the bombing of Dresden, however reconstruction of the church began in 1994 and was completed in 2005.

The name of the church is popular in many cities, and refers to the Virgin Mary. It is currently a Lutheran church.

The Zwinger Palace

The present day Zwinger is a palace in Dresden, built in the early 1900s. It features a beautiful square and a giant gate, the inside of the palace holding 3 different museums.

The palace was also destroyed in 1945 due to carpet bombing raids. The art collection had been previously evacuated and now transferred into the reconstructed buildings.

Other Highlights

● The Green Vault- a large museum that features the largest treasure collection in Europe. It has a range of items, including Baroque and Classical.

● Schauspielhaus- A performing arts center for Theatre in Dresden, right next to The Zwinger. Features beautiful architecture and a typical 2 floor design with box seating.

● Dresden has many sides to it, including the historic, industrial, and a contemporary shopping side.

● The river Elbe runs straight through Dresden, directly in front of the Zwinger and theatre house.

Berlin ● Berlin is the capital of Germany ● The population of Berlin is 3.5 million ● Berlin was originally the capital of Prussia, which led the

process that created Germany in the late 1800’s ● After World War Two Berlin was left separated into the

communist east and the capitalist west by the Berlin Wall

Berlin’s History ● Berlin started as the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia in the 13th century ● Prussia led the German empire around the 19th century ● At the start of the 20th century Berlin became a large world power as its advancements in

science as well as humanities, music, museums, higher education, government, diplomacy and military affairs.

● During WW2 much of Berlin was destroyed by bombing. Many of the buildings are still being rebuilt or repaired.

The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was built in 1961.

Anyone that tried to cross from the East into the Western territories were killed on sight.

The wall was finally taken down in 1989. Although some parts of the wall still stands as a way to educate others and memorialize those that died because of it.

Students & Hosts at Bundestag

Points of Interest

The Brandenburg Gate-is a late 18th-century neoclassical monument in Berlin, built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II

Reichstag Building-is a historic edifice, constructed to house the Imperial Diet

Alexanderplatz-is a large public square and transport hub. Most Berliners call it Alex

Why Democracy?

● Foreign service consulate in Leipzig and the Burghermeister spoke to us. ● Played a game discussing the government in the different countries. ● They know more about the US government than we knew about their countries’

governments.

Thank you for your time and assistance! We had a great trip.