Former NPR Berlin Intern Attends Young Journalist Seminar In Frankfurt

After spending the first four months of this year working for NPR Berlin, I was excited to attend a journalism seminar in another German city, Frankfurt.

The program, Xplore Frankfurt, is in its first year and sponsored by RegionalVerband FrankfurtRheinMain. This public corporation coordinates interests for the 75 member communities that comprise the RheinMain landscape.

The idea behind Xplore Frankfurt is to engage 20 young journalists from across the world in a 10 day seminar about the RheinMain region. Frankfurt is well-known as Germany's financial capital, with imposing skyscrapers that house some of Europe's largest banks.

Perhaps it is less well-known that mayor Petra Roth lays claim to Frankfurt as "the most international city in Germany," as roughly one-third of the population does not hold a German passport.

My first excursion in the city, to Kleinmarkthalle, before the official program began, reinforced this belief. This rather large and diverse food market offered me my first glimpse of the international flair the city has to offer.

With the commencement of the program, I met my 19 colleagues, all of whom were under 30 years-old.

The US was represented by two journalists; I was joined by reporter Caitlan Carroll from the American Public Media radio show Marketplace in Los Angeles.

Our enthusiasm was further stoked when a local producer, Meike Rathsmann, recorded us for a segment on RheinMainTV. This was followed by a traditional regional toast of "Apfelwoi," or apple wine.

Somewhat nervously, I gave an interview in German, but that anxiety quickly subsided as we dove headfirst into an intensive program and received overwhelming hospitality everywhere we went.

Our program itinerary gave us a strong impression of Frankfurt as a frontrunner in industry, technology, and software, but it also offered us a chance to see the contrast between the city's modern advancement and respect for traditional German culture that defines the region.

For example, the city constructed many buildings in modern style after the Allied bombings in World War II, but they chose to rebuild the houses of Römerberg (city hall square) in classic Fachwerk fashion. While some disagreed because they thought it was a time for Germany to move in a new direction, this square is now one of Frankfurt's most famous landmarks, and the architecture is especially striking with a view of the Commerzbank skyscraper in the background.

Speaking of modern technology, no trip to Frankfurt would be complete for a group of young journalists without stops at Hessischer Rundfunk, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. At the first two, we were privy to sit in on live broadcasts, and at FAZ we were surprised when we saw our photos accompanying an article about the Xplore Frankfurt program in the daily paper.

It would be an exhaustive list for me to detail all the remarkable businesses and towns we visited, but it's worth noting some of our favorites included a tour of the European Space Agency and the Universal Linear Ion Accelerator in Darmstadt. We also enjoyed seeing the oldest book at the German National Library, sampling wine at wine research campus Geisenheim, and observing the sheer size and logistics of the Frankfurt Airport.

Additionally, we were granted access to the fall trade exhibition at the Frankfurt Messe, and we drove both electric and hydrogen powered cars at Opel. Finally, we walked around the historic Bahnhofsviertal, experienced Frankfurt's charm in the Alte Oper and danced the night away at Museumsuferfest along the Rhein.

We were clearly busy during these memorable 10 days in Frankfurt, which made it a little hard to fully digest everything we had experienced. By the last day, however, I knew I had built lasting friendships and gained a deeper understanding of Germany's rich culture through the Xplore Frankfurt program.