Experience Together

Germany trip creates international connections

Fourteen students from the Notre Dame High School choir in St. Louis traveled to Bavaria, Germany, to experience the SSND mission and spirit in the School Sisters of Notre Dame’s founding location. The choir students also performed in German town squares and marketplaces.Students from Notre Dame High School in St. Louis traveled to Germany to meet students and sisters in the SSND's ancestral homeland.

The students first traveled to Munich. They visited the Maria-Theresia Gymnasium and were met by Sister Monika Schmidt of the SSND Bavaria Province. Sister Monika introduced the students to their German counterparts, who gave the American students a tour of their high school. One of the more meaningful moments, according to Sister Jan Berberich, who accompanied the students, was hearing the girls sing at the grave of foundress Blessed Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger.

Sister Jan said, “I believe [the students] saw the international bond that connects us and witnessed the [SSND] charism in another culture.”

The students then made their way to Regensburg to the Realschule Niedermünster and were met by Sister Rita Zirngibl and students. The American students participated in the English language classes, and the students exchanged email addresses to keep in touch after the trip. The visiting choir students performed “God’s Cause,” a song written for SSND by David Haas.

Performances in markets were also on the agenda for the Notre Dame students. They sang in Munich, Regensburg, Salburg, Rothenberg and Frankfurt. The students had the opportunity to experience German culture and compare it to their own.

Sister Jan reflected that the girls felt an immediate connection with Germany, particularly because of the shared spirit and mission of the Notre Dame schools.

View more photos from the trip on Facebook.

Photo submitted by Jan Berberich, SSND

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