The Salem Weekend was originally the only weekend of a given epoch (of approx. 6 weeks) during which students remain on campus and enjoy taking part in community activities. Such a weekend took place again on 1-2 Mai 2021, but this time under coronavirus-related conditions. Saturday’s traditional dormitory tournaments, during which the wings compete with one another in creative activities or sports events (such as tug-of-wars, Dodgeball or biathlons), had to be dropped. Three students from different year groups report here about what they did instead.

Eva Petermann, 5D1: At Salem Weekend our Saturday began with a delicious breakfast. Then we packed our own snacks, changed our clothes and set off on a hike. After about two hours, we came to Killenweiher and took a 20-minute break. Then we hiked again for about two-and-a-half hours back to the castle. Our feet were really sore, and it even began to rain! Luckily, Salem was not too far away. We were soaked through and through, but otherwise everyone was fine. In the afternoon it was still raining when the maypole was raised in the quadrangle courtyard. But that did not stop us from having a barbeque.

Will Jagasia, 8D1: On Saturday afternoon we got down to the business of raising the maypole in one of the castle’s courtyards, an old May Day tradition. Each dormitory wing mounted its own hand-made coat of arms on the pole. Which wing would earn the prize for the best coat of arms in this special year? Divided into double-year groups, we presented our creations in the Schrote. Denis, the wing helper for our dorm, Junibau Oben, and I gave a presentation about the characteristics and special features of our wing that are shown in the coat of arms. At 5:30pm we all stomped into the courtyard in raincoats and with umbrellas for the raising of the maypole. For dinner we had a barbeque, still keeping together in our groups. The weather was rather unusual for cooking outdoors, but everything tasted exceptionally good. On Sunday, our mentors opened the swimming pool and we were also able to play soccer. In the evening, all the residents of the Junibau ordered take-away dinners from a delivery service. We enjoyed a relaxing evening watching a film. All in all, I have to say that, despite the circumstances, each of us made the best of our limited possibilities. This was a Salem Weekend of a different kind, but in no way the worse for it.

Isabella Calcagni, 9D3: My dorm wing, Prinz Max 2, also had a barbeque in the courtyard on Saturday evening after the interesting presentations of the dormitory coats of arms. In spite of the poor weather, the adult staff members valiantly stood at the grill and roasted hotdogs, turkey and halloumi for us. On Sunday we went to brunch and then some of us drove to Lake Constance to take a long walk. After we returned to the castle, we baked waffles and had a short learninglesson together in our dormitory kitchen. For Sunday’s supper we ordered take-away from an Italian restaurant in Überlingen and really enjoyed it.