Munich 2011

15 November 2011

On Thursday 20 October 34 Year 11 pupils and five members of staff left Cirencester Deer Park School to travel to Germany. The cross-curricular visit over the half term break enabled GCSE candidates to practise their German speaking skills and complement their study of Hitler’s Germany.

The itinerary for this educational visit included a tour of the city of Munich, the 1972 Olympic Park and the town of Berchtesgaden, Hitler’s former residence (now destroyed) and the southern headquarters of the Nazi Party. Pupils toured the Third Reich Museum and went up the mountain to the ‘Eagle’s Nest’. They also visited the Nazi Party bunker system over 16 km of tunnels and rooms. They had the opportunity to visit Salzburg, home to ‘The Sound of Music’. Pupils’ visited the famous convent and Mozart’s house. Keen musician, Sam Bristow, described this part of the trip as ‘a treasure trail and an exhibition in music history itself’.

During the week long tour, pupils went to the highly interactive Deutsches Museum and Neuschwanstein Castle which featured in the film ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’. Jess Hawes found walking up to the castle exhausting: ‘But we knew it was going to be something special!’ She was not disappointed. The trip to Dachau concentration camp was particularly moving.
Paul Owen, Head of Humanities, said, ‘The trip proved to be very rewarding. Our pupils gained a valuable insight into the Nazi Party and life in Hitler’s Germany. They came away with an understanding of Germany’s past but an appreciation of its modern technological status and culture’.

Look out for pupil reports in our end of term Christmas Newsletter