The excursion to the Ludwigskirche in Saarbrucken was one of my favorites. Our tour guide did an excellent job of telling the story of the Prince's mistress. He said that the Prince had fallen in love with his mistress' handmaid at first sight. The maid became the new mistress to the original mistress' dismay. The guide emphasized that many would stop at nothing to please the Prince: when the Prince wanted to make the maid-turned-mistress his wife, many objected because of the shame that came with turning a maid into a member of the royal family. The Prince persisted, and eventually, they were married. Another thing that really caught my interest on this trip was the plan to make the city a "White City". Some of the buildings of the White City are visible in this photo on either side of the Ludwigskirche. The story of the Prince's mistress took place in the white buildings surrounding the church, so it was exciting to be standing in the midst of the actual setting of some of the history we were learning. Another interesting part of this excursion took place when we ventured across the city to the Palace. As we stood in front of the Palace, the guide explained that there was an invisible Holocaust memorial underfoot. The story of this memorial was fascinating, as it began with a professor and his students illegally engraving the names of Holocaust victims on the undersides of stones in the square during the middle of the night. Eventually, they received permission to do this and the invisible memorial was completed. I really appreciate the idea of an invisible memorial because it teaches a lesson about how history is surrounding us at all times whether we recognize it or not, and all it takes is a bit of effort to discover new things about the world around us.
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