My kind of town

Below, she describes the appeal of her home town

HAVE you ever noticed the blackbird sitting above the window of the pewterer's house in Kirkgate? The tiny stuffed animal is one of many details which bring life into the Castle Museum.

Just like the cat who curls up in front of a fireplace, the contemporary street sounds coming from hidden speakers, and the millstones which pave the way to Raindale Mill, the blackbird shows that somebody has really taken an interest in making a visit to the museum worth while.

This is the feeling you get all over York.

People who live here may take things such as the green signposts with the gold writing for granted, but for a first-time tourist they are a big help in finding the major attractions.

They contribute to the welcoming atmosphere of the historic centre just as much as the friendly guides in places like the Treasurer's House and the mirrors that make it easy to discover the amazing ceiling of York Minster.

Certainly it's the outstanding presence of ages gone which make tourists flock to York - but the small signs of thoughtfulness contribute to how deeply visitors fall in love with the city.

Compared to Mnster, York seems to be more busy with traffic on the main roads and with shoppers in the pedestrian area.

But it doesn't seem to be hectic or muddled. The pleasantness of living here quite obviously has an effect on the citizens' attitude to daily routines.

Passengers leaving a bus make the effort to actually thank the driver - what a nice thing to do! Pensioners, although they appear bowed by the more strenuous life they once went through, find time for a humorous chat on a bench in front of St Mary's Church.

An office clerk in black suit, white shirt and tie has a rather informal lunch below Clifford's Tower: a sandwich, eaten directly out of its plastic wrapping.

Such incidents paint a relaxed picture of what it must be like to be a resident of York. Of course, you know about school uniforms when you come to England, but to see the young girls of Minster School play hockey in bright red skirts and starched white shirts is a different view altogether from a sports class in a German school.

At first glance, we foreigners tend to consider this sight a bit strange and the clothing not very suitable for physical activity. But then we think about what we had to get used to seeing in our home town.

Pupils in Mnster now seem to have an ongoing competition about who dares to wear the "coolest" outfit for school.

York's youngsters may not like to hear it, but neat school uniforms make a nice change from sagging trousers and unwanted glimpses of a boy's underwear, combined with "bottom-packs" (backpack doesn't seem the right word any more) and giant-sized trainers which make it hard to walk straight.

Because the main task of a newly-arrived visitor is to look around, you can't help noticing the occasional daytime drunk sleeping it off on the lawn beneath the city wall or the desperate loner in a dark corner of Museum Gardens spicing up his drink inside a harmless-looking beer can.

Why doesn't it spoil the general impression of a wealthy city where everyone who knows how to be happy can be?

Maybe because there is also the guitarist whose cardboard sign says he's not hungry, not homeless, not an alcoholic - he's just a full-time street musician. And the mobile pianist who is so absorbed in his music he doesn't notice the passers-by around him.

Or is it because of the hundreds of little light bulbs "growing" on the trees in the shopping centre?

Or Christmas lights having been installed three months before the feast, with shops putting up notices that they're looking for extra staff? And restaurants inform their guests they have started taking Christmas bookings.

Perhaps York feels it has something to celebrate all year round.

...and what Mnster is really like

AN ironic proverb says that in Mnster, it either rains or the church bells ring - and if both happen at the same time, it must be Sunday. While warning the visitor maybe a bit too strongly about the slight possibility of getting wet in the Westphalian capital, this statement certainly points out an important truth: in York's German twin city, you're never far from a church tower - one even has three large iron cages hanging from it.

They are remnants of Mnster's darkest chapter in history, the reign of the Anabaptists in the 16th century. Their leaders' corpses were displayed on St Lambert to scare people off their beliefs.

Meanwhile, the black cages have been illuminated by one ordinary light bulb each - an example for numerous art-projects which startle tourists and sometimes annoy elderly citizens alike.

Together with Claes Oldenburg's "Giant Pool Balls" on the shore of the artificial lake, and many others, they survived from one of the sculpture-happenings which Mnster puts on stage every ten years.

The simultaneity of historic reminders and cultural curiosities is typical for Mnster. It is a sign of the successful symbiosis of tradition and youthfulness.

"Fresh blood" is never scarce: The rhythm of life in the city is influenced strongly by the coming and going of about 55,000 students who are registered with the university and several colleges.

They form nearly a fifth of the city's population.

Mnster boasts a high quality of life for students and residents alike. The extensive pedestrian area is full of exquisite shops, clothes and jewellery most prominent among them.

A very common means of transport is the bicycle. Numerous separate cycle paths make it easy to reach destinations quickly and safely.

The former city wall, now a flat circle around the historic centre, has been turned into the cyclists' ring road called the Promenade.

The buses have just recently been banned from the central shopping-street, the Prinzipalmarkt with its arcaded houses, leaving more space and tranquility to admire the Town Hall.

It played an important role during the negotiations for the Peace Treaty of Westphalia, which in 1648 put an end to the Thirty Years' War in Europe.

From here, it is only a few steps to St Paul's Cathedral (the Dom), built in the 13th century from the light sandstone that is typical for the region.

Just across the large market square is the seat of the regional administration.

The fact that Mnster also houses a number of Courts of Law, the headquarters of several insurance companies and a lot of civil servants, has earned it the nick-name "office-desk of Westphalia".

But it is also home for successful volleyball ladies, the struggling soccer-club Prussia Mnster in search of a new stadium (and a few goals), and a quay area at the Dortmund-Ems Canal being turned into a creative centre with a theatre, publishers, designers and architects.

The Graphic Museum Pablo Picasso opened its doors in September 2000 and shows the complete graphical work of the multi-talented genius.

Countless pubs and restaurants, several cinemas, theatres, one of them with a variety-show and a lively cabaret scene offer a big choice for an evening out.

Ellen Bultman works for the Westfaelische Nachrichten

Updated: 11:01 Friday, October 04, 2002