It has become a tradition that one of the first excursions with the new year students is to Movie Park Germany in Bottrop and to the German Mining Museum in Bochum. After both excursions could not take place in the last few years, the whole team was looking forward to them even more.

Rollercoasters and Monsters – A Day at Movie Park Germany

It has become a tradition that one of the first excursions with the new year students is a visit to the Movie Park Germany in Bottrop. It was a great opportunity for the new students to get to know each other and have fun before the semester really started. Yet one shouldn't have weak nerves when visiting Movie Park Germany, because some of the roller coasters can really shake you up. Plus, if you come to Bottrop during the Halloween season, you should enjoy getting spooked and creeped out.
But first, the journey with the Deutsche Bahn had to be mastered. All CompEngs who have been in Germany for a while can certainly tell horror stories about this as well. This time, however, it was not due to delays of the Deutsche Bahn that some students arrived a little late, but to the unfamiliar local transport structure. Once this first hurdle had been overcome and the park reached, there was just enough time for a group photo before the students set off in small groups to explore the numerous rides. In the afternoon, the weather finally opened up and the sun made for a warm autumn day. The time to warm up was to be used before the main path was covered in thick fog shortly before sunset and numerous monsters and creepy figures marked the beginning of the Halloween special. In addition to the rides, the horror houses also opened and invited brave visitors to pay a visit to horror clowns or mad doctors, for example.

CompEng goes Underground

Another essential part of the welcome programme is a visit to the German Mining Museum in Bochum. With an exhibition space of around 12.000 m2 and an additional exhibition mine underground, Bochum’s mining museum is one of the largest in the world. The exhibition deals with the history and technology of the mining industry and also shows the associated cultural history of the Ruhr region.
The lift takes visitors from the entrance hall a few metres below the museum into the exhibition mine. Even though it is perfectly air-conditioned and completely collapse-proof, you can get an impression of how the miners earned their living in the last century. It was physically demanding and dangerous work. A brief insight is provided by the simulated ride in the mine lift, which took us deeper and deeper into the ground and into a room with the typical temperature of a mine tunnel, around 40 degrees Celsius. Afterwards, our tour guide showed us some of the machines and everyone was glad to be able to use both hands to protect their ears from the noise. For a long time, there was no emphasis on safety at work and the mine workers were physically impaired after the long days underground. Luckily, after only an hour, everyone was able to go up again and see daylight. Finally, we took the lift up to the winding tower and all enjoyed the view over Bochum and the Ruhr region.

Here are some impressions of the trips.