Hi, I’m David and I just started out as a German tutor here on Cafetalk. I’m looking forward to having many fun lessons with you! If you’re studying German, be sure to give me a try by taking a trial lesson at a reduced price.

初めまして、ベルガー・ダビットと申します。Cafetalkでドイツ語講師を最近始めたばかりです。ドイツ語を勉強している方は、ぜひ一度、僕の体験レッスンを受けてみてください。お手頃価格となっていますよー☺

I was born and raised in Germany. The town I grew up in is charming Lüneburg, just 50km south of Hamburg, in the North of the country. 四国にある鳴門市の姉妹都市でもあります。 I’m sure many of you haven’t heard of the place - Lüneburg is in fact a hidden tourist gem.

With a history of over 1000 years and heaps of stunning old architecture to show for it, wandering its streets will make you feel like you’ve traveled back in time.

Lüneburg owes its former wealth and its impressive historic buildings to one very important resource: Salt! The trade with salt (very expensive in those days; so much so that they called it white gold) allowed it to become a prominent member of the Hanseatic League (ハンザ同盟). Legend has it, we Lüneburgers have a wild boar (イノシシ) to thank for all of that! A hunter, who had successfully taken down the animal, couldn’t believe his eyes: Its fur was glistening white as snow, as it had just rolled around in a salt deposit. And the rest is history, as they say.

By the way, as a former local I’m proud of the fact that Johann Sebastian Bach (バッハ) spent a few years of his youth in Lüneburg to attend a church school and study the organ. And Heinrich Heine (ハインリッヒ・ハイネ), the famous author, spent several months in town, when he was a university student.

Today, Lüneburg is a popular destination for people from nearby Hamburg (Germany’s second largest city) as it offers many quaint little shops and boutiques in the car-free center of town.

What’s more, it has one of the highest density of pubs anywhere in Germany. Trying traditional German cuisine at a local brewery-restaurant is a great way to finish a lovely day of enjoying the place.

If you’re ever in Hamburg, with its UNESCO World Heritage warehouse district, the Speicherstadt, be sure to check out close-by Lüneburg for some medieval small-town charm!

And, while you’re still here, why not take a speaking lesson - Sprechen wir deutsch miteinander! ドイツ語で楽しくフリートーク！ - with me and I can tell you more about Lüneburg and Germany’s North. Also, I would love to hear about your hometown!

Or, how about writing a mini-essay (up to 300 words) in German on the place you come from? You can do so in my lesson “Geschichten aus dem Leben - 人生ストーリー”. I would be delighted to read about it.

このコラムを読んでリューネブルクに興味を持っていただけたら、私のスピーキングレッスンを受けてみませんか？私の故郷のリューネブルクや北ドイツについてもっとお話できますよ。そして、皆さんの故郷のことも聞いてみたいです。

スピーキングだけでなく、ライティングのレッスンの中でも出身地についてミニエッセイを書いて頂けたら嬉しいです。

(Painting in public domain/ Photographs from photoAC)