Sometimes in life, experience is our best teacher. That is often just how we learn. So, how does a person truly learn history? History is much more than what is contained in books and museums. Of course, written records and artifacts can tell us wonderful things. Exploration, however, has immense value. Sometimes we can discover compelling stories only by getting outside, adventuring into the unknown and witnessing the world around us.
Germany is a perfect example of a place where simply traveling, interacting with people and seeing the layers of the past built up – and destroyed – across the span of centuries can teach you more than what you will ever be able to find in a museum.
It is an environment where past and present truly meet. Simply being there and exploring, I found, taught me much more than I could ever have learned only by visiting museums.
Engaging with the world beyond museums can deepen your perspectives about history and life around you. I close with one of my favorite quotes about history inscribed below a statue outside of the National Archives in Washington, D.C.: “The heritage of the past is the seed that brings forth the harvest of the future.”
