Schmalkalden Travel Plans:  (updated 16 May, 2013)

Contents:

1.    Important information for everyone

2.    For those in IMAGE (BA490) only.

3.    For those in IMAGE AND ISSS

4.    For those participating in ISSS only

4.    Added information for all participating in the IMAGE Program

5a & 5b.    Added information for all participating in the ISSS Program

6.    For those participating in German Language and Culture Class

7.    Course/travel information for all participants (including optional Munich Program)

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1.  IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE:

General:

* Make sure you bring your passport, ATM card, and student ID.   Please drop a copy of your passport into the IBP office as soon as you can.

* Remember to pack light (you may end up carrying your bags a long way).  Bring a small carry-on bag (e.g. school back pack).  Check luggage rules HERE 

* Make sure you read TIPS.   The Tips page includes information on travel insurance, getting euros and answers to lots of other questions you might have.    There at numerous ATM machines in the Frankfurt Airport outside the Customs area.  The TIPS section includes information on health insurance, as well as many other topics.

If you are not already a member of your airline's frequent flier program, consider joining before the trip - you will get about 10,000 miles - half-way toward a free ticket anywhere in the USA.  Give AA that number when you get your boarding pass at St Louis airport.

* Please pack a towel and take your student ID.. 

* For information about the weather and metric system click on link!  ;  More information on Europe and the EU?  Go here  ;   Get the latest exchange rate information.

* Please make sure tuition for your SEMO classes is paid prior to departure.  The Schmalkalden Program fee does NOT include SEMO tuition.

Getting to Schmalkalden by Train:

* If you are planning to make your own way to Schmalkalden, it is really easy.  Most convenient airport is Frankfurt International (FRA)   There is train station inside the airport in Frankfurt.  Just follow the train symbols after you exit Customs.  Alternately, if you are travelling before the program, you can catch a train from Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station) in the city center.  Or for that matter, from anywhere in Europe.

* If you want to see schedules in advance - go to www.bahn.de  for complete train schedules.  Click the "English" icon.  Enter departing station (e.g. Frankfurt flughafen - airport), the arrival station (Schmalkalden Fachhochschule) and the date, and the alternate schedules will pop up. 

* You can buy your train ticket when you arrive at the airport train station - you can buy it from the red machines with the DB logo.  Or you can go to the ticket counter.  Typically, the first ticket counter you will come across as you enter the train station from the airport will have a long queue.  If so, proceed toward the platform for the IC/ICE train to Fulda/Eisenach   - they typically leave from Platform (Fern) 4.  But check the departure boards.  On your way to platform 4, you will come across a second ticket office which usually has no queue at all.  Prices for tickets will vary according to the speed of the train.  Buying individual tickets on the day is the most expensive way to buy and a fast connection to Schmalkalden will cost around 50 euros.  You will get a detailed printout with your ticket showing when and where to change trains and the connection platform number and the time you have to make the change.  I have cut and pasted a sample copy of the www.bahn.de ticket schedule below. 

You can see each departure and arrival platform number and time and also the time between trains.  Make sure you set an alarm on the first train so you don't oversleep your stop.  Look above the seat before you sit in it - it may have a reserved card, which means someone paid extra to reserve that seat - and they may be getting in the train at the next stop.

* When you get off the train at Schmalkalden Fachhochschule train station (don't get of at the other Schmalkalden stations!) just cross the tracks and go to the building on the left - Building "C".  Got to the top floor - the office of Prof. Robert Richert.  Here is a campus map.

* It is possible to save money by advance booking train tickets.  However, such tickets are only good for the specific departure time shown on the ticket.  Given the uncertainty of an on-time arrival, I think it is better just to buy your tickets when you get there.  (Tickets back from Schmalkalden at the end of your program should be pre-booked, as you have control over your departure time from Schmalkalden.

EMERGENCY INFORMATION

* Getting hold of Dr. Peter Gordon... if you are in Europe  +1 573 450 3434  Or  

Dr. Robert Richert   +49 (0)3683 688 3102* (office)  + 49  (0)160 97 62 19 64* (mobile)

*f calling from inside Germany, leave out the "+49", but include the zero.  If calling from outside Germany, include the "+49" but leave out the zero.  

* SEMO emergency contact (use only if you are unable to contact either Dr. Gordon or Dr. Richert): 

            Dean Gerald McDougall; tel: (from Europe) +1 573 651 2112
            Zahir Ahmed: tel: (from Europe) +1 573 651 6863

* US Embassy in Berlin - http://germany.usembassy.gov/germany/addresses.html

* US Consulate in Frankfurt - http://frankfurt.usconsulate.gov/frankfurt/contact.html

Please make sure you print off the above embassy/consulate information should you require emergency services while in Germany - such as if you lost you passport.

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2.  For those participating in the IMAGE (BA490) program only:

Provisionally, we will plan to meet at FRANKFURT Airport at 12:00 on MONDAY MAY 27. 

* The final exam for the IMAGE Program is provisionally scheduled for Friday June 7.  You can schedule to leave Schmalkalden anytime after 15:00 on Friday, but because of departure time from Frankfurt, you will likely need to stay in Frankfurt for the evening.   Make sure you have enough time to get from Schmalkalden to Frankfurt airport by train, and enough time to check in (minimum of 2 hours) before the scheduled departure time for your flight, if flying the same day.

FINANCIAL:  See bottom of the page

We will enroll you in your class.  Tuition must be paid for prior to departure.  YOU CAN NOT DROP CLASSES RELATED TO THESE PROGRAMS.  IF YOU DO NOT PAY YOUR TUITION, YOU WILL BE BILLED THE EQUIVALENT OF THE TUITION AMOUNT. 

 Schedule:

27 May    Arrive Frankfurt/Schmalkalden
28 May    Class begins
31 May - 2 June   In Berlin 
3 June - 7 June   In Schmalkalden

Included in the IMAGE program is time in Berlin.  Travel between these cities in included in your program fee. 

We are offering an optional program centered in Munich on the weekend immediately following the end of IMAGE.   Additional cost of $200 applies, and program will include:

*    June 7;    train from Schmalkalden to Munich    
*    June 8,    Day trip to Salzburg, Austria          
*    June 9,    Sightseeing in Munich; visit to Dachau Concentration Camp.  Other potential visits to Olympic Park, BMW World & Museum.     
*    3 night's hostel/hotel cost (includes breakfast)]

 So the amount due for IMAGE is approx. (using $1.3 = 1 Euro) $780 + optional $200 = $980, less your deposit (for most people $100).   Same payment routine as paying your deposit - get a remittance slip from the IBP office, pay at the cashier's window, bring the receipt back to the IBP office.

Probable Hotel:

A&O Hostel München Hauptbahnhof (Munich Central Station)    http://www.aohostels.com/en/munich/city-hotel-munich/
Bayerstrasse 75,
80335 München,
phone: + 49 (Germany) / (0)89 (Munich) / 45 23 57 - 57 00

This hotel is located very close to the Train Station.

Students participating ONLY in IMAGE have the option of either:

1)    leaving Schmalkalden on June 7 or 8 on their own, with most convenient departure from Frankfurt on June 8 or later. 
OR
2)    participating in the optional Munich program in which case a departure from Munich would be advised.

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3.  For those participating in both the IMAGE (BA490) and the ISSS:

FINANCIAL:  See bottom of the page

We have enrolled you in your classes.  These must be paid for prior to departure.  YOU CAN NOT DROP CLASSES RELATED TO THESE PROGRAMS.  IF YOU DO NOT PAY YOUR TUITION, YOU WILL BE BILLED THE EQUIVALENT OF THE TUITION AMOUNT.

You should plan to depart from MUNICH at the end of the optional program on Monday June 10. 

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4.   For those participating in ISSS ONLY:

GETTING THERE:  You should plan to fly into either:

Fly to Berlin Airport on June 1 or 2, meeting the IMAGE people in Berlin then riding to Schmalkalden with them.  There will be an extra charge for any nights in the Berlin hostel and for the train ticket from Berlin to Schmalkalden.  Hostel is about $40 per night, train ticket about $20 (these are estimates only)

OR

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) on June 3.  (See how to get from Frankfurt to Schmalkalden by train)

Trains headed to Schmalkalden depart from both Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Main train station in city center) AND directly from Frankfurt airport.  Typically, the trip involves two train changes.  The German railways website (www.bahn.de) has really complete information, as demonstrated in class)  If you are departing from Frankfurt airport your origin is "Frankfurt Flughafen".  You are going to Schmalkalden Fachhochschule.  There are several Schmalkalden train stations - make sure you go to Schmalkalden Fachhochschule (Schmalkalden FhS).  Do NOT get out at "Schmalkalden" train station - you will have a long walk!  The Schmalkalden FhS station is about 50 metres (55 yards) from the business building (Building C) 

You can buy train tickets in advance at a discount, but these are usually train specific - a real problem if your plane is late.

A map of campus (showing the train station) can be found at: http://www.fh-schmalkalden.de/en/Campus.html   The train line is the dotted line on the left, the rectangle on the dotted line is the train station.

ACADEMIC ISSUES: In the International summer school, you will get a certificate from the University of Applied Sciences-Schmalkalden if you pass 5 one hour classes

To get 6 hours of credit at SEMO, you must pass 6 one hour classes  Grades from 3 will be combined to give you one three hour SEMO credit, grades from the other 3 for the other three hour SEMO credit.  I do recommend to try and take 7 classes - that way the lowest can be dropped.

For Graduate students - to get 6 hours of SEMO graduate credit (5xx/6xx level classes) you need to pass 7 classes while in Germany.

FINANCIAL:  You have paid a $100 deposit.  The total cost of  the 3 week ISSS is 900 euros (plus SEMO tuition)  Currently 900 euros is approx. $1,170.  Your balance of $1,070 is due no later than April 15.  Same routine as paying your deposit - get a remittance slip from the IBP office, pay at the cashier's window, bring the receipt back to the IBP office.

We have enrolled you in your classes.  These must be paid for prior to departure.  YOU CAN NOT DROP CLASSES RELATED TO THESE PROGRAMS.  IF YOU DO NOT PAY YOUR TUITION, YOU WILL BE BILLED THE EQUIVALENT OF THE TUITION AMOUNT. 

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5a.    Optional for the IMAGE program is a trip to Munich

We have a hostel close to the main train station, with multi-bedded rooms. 

Things to do in Munich:

Deutscher Musuem
Olympic Village
BMW Museum
Rathaus
Nymphenburg Palace
Various Churches - Cathedral Church of our Lady (Frauenkirche); Church of St. Peter (Alter Peter) ; Asamkirche; Theatinerkirche
Hofbrau Haus
Dachau (a short train/bus ride from Munich - a "must see")
and lots more!

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5b.   Included in both the IMAGE & ISSS programs is a weekend in Berlin.  

Things to do in Berlin include:

Fantastic Museums (e.g. Pergamon Museum)
Berlin Dom (Cathedral)
Brandenburg Gate
Check Point Charlie
Sections of the old Berlin wall
Lots of WWII and Cold War sites
Charlottenburg Palace (just outside Berlin)

There is a great free walking tour (tip the guide) that leaves from the Brandenburg Gate (near Starbucks).  There will be signs indicating the departure time.  (I think it is 11:00)

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6.  For those participating in German Language and Culture Class

You need to be in Schmalkalden on June 24.  See train travel information listed in #4 above.  Plan to fly into Frankfurt for the msot convenient connections.

FINANCIAL:  See bottom of the page

NOTE: you must also apply for this program through the Magellan Exchange application process.  This must be done by April 1.  This applies ONLY to this program.  The web-address for Magellan Exchange is www.magellanexchange.org   There is a Magellan application fee - but the Magellan Exchange helps make this program lower cost per week than the other programs  (IMAGE is 600 euros for 2 weeks; Int. German is only 500 euros for 2 weeks) so by enrolling via Magellan you save 100 euros (approx. $130.

We will enrol you in your classes.  These must be paid for prior to departure.  YOU CAN NOT DROP CLASSES RELATED TO THESE PROGRAMS.  IF YOU DO NOT PAY YOUR TUITION, YOU WILL BE BILLED THE EQUIVALENT OF THE TUITION AMOUNT. 

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7.    Participant class/travel schedule

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