Time and time again, I’m reminded of the quote “In Europe, 100 miles is a long distance. In America, 100 years is a long time.” 

Though I haven’t been able to find an origin or author of the quote, it passes through my mind every few days while I walk the uneven cobblestone paths of Tubingen’s Altstadt, or old town.

From the top of the small mountain on which Tubingen’s castle Hohentubingen (directly translating to “high Tubingen) sits, one can look out and see the colorful facades and red clay roofs that make up the Altstadt, most of which date back to the 14th and 15th centuries. 

While much of Germany’s history we as Americans learn is considerably more recent, the history of the nation consists of so much more than World War II and the Holocaust. 

Germany’s culture today is as modernized as America’s, but when looking closely into the nation, it is easy to see aspects of the culture that reflect the region’s age. The “Journeymen” I previously mentioned stem from a tradition dating back to medieval times, and towns are built in seemingly sporadic ways, with no organized planning or blocks. The roads are narrow and towns are compact and often still surrounded by huge walls made to protect the medieval kingdoms that once stood in the city’s limits.  

In Monroe, we have our “historic” courthouse, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, less than 100 years after being built. Knowing that America’s founding was before even our great-grandparents’ lifetimes can make it seem very old, but looking at it from a worldwide perspective shapes America as practically brand new. 

My first few weeks in Germany, I stayed in a house older than our country. Though I often go through the day without stopping to acknowledge the age of everything I see, it’s pretty humbling and can make you feel quite small to realize that you’re surrounded by walls put up before the United States had even been dreamt of. 

It’s one thing to hear stories of our forefathers and watch Hamilton the musical, reflecting on an America that seems so distanced from us now, but it’s a completely different feeling to know that you’re walking the same exact cobblestone streets and observing the same beautifully crafted facades that ancient kings, craftsmen and philosophers touched. 

— Shannon Rabotski is a 2016 graduate of Monroe High School and is a junior at Drake University. She is spending the year studying abroad in Tubingen, Germany. She can be reached at shannon.rabotski@drake.edu.