Our second-to-last company visit is today, and it is different from all the rest. Aumovio in Regensburg makes software systems for vehicles, and I was very excited to compare it to the other factories we have already visited. 

First, we had a discussion where he went into more depth about the software systems created in the factory, and he even passed around a few examples of circuit boards for us to see up close. He went into great detail about trying to automate the factory to make it as efficient as possible; one example was creating a robot that could carefully carry a shelf of circuit boards, instead of having an employee do it.

Before we could go into the factory, we had to put on lab coats and special shoe covers to limit contamination and electric shock. After testing to make sure we were completely safe, we entered the factory that almost resembled an office at times. Many stations reminded me of cubicles, each with lights signaling progress: green for working, yellow flashing for an issue, and red for stopped. I expected the factory to be much more futuristic based on the guest lecture and confidence of the guide, but it was still very interesting to see the precise work being done on these circuit boards. At the past factories, we mainly saw large-scale production, so to see it on a small scale was a different perspective. Also, compared to the industrial feel of the previous factories, this one felt much more sterile and clean. Before this visit, my perspective was that the physical elements of the car like the engine and wheels were most important, but after today I realized that without software none of these systems would be efficient.

Now, we had some free time to grab lunch before our tour of the Altes Rathaus. We got bratwurst from a small restaurant that served them right out of a small window and sat along the river to eat them. 

The tour of the Altes Rathaus started normally, with a showing of rooms where “imperial diets” were held with councils of the Holy Roman Empire. The guide described where each group sat to vote on new ordinances. The tour took a turn when we entered the torture chamber. First, we stepped into a room that held the devices used to publicly humiliate people for minor crimes, past that, we saw the actual interrogation room that used painful torture to try to get a confession out of an individual. It was often that even if the person did not do the crime, they would confess to get out of the pain. It was hard to wrap my head around anyone accepting that this was a good idea to convict people, but it also reminded me how much older European history is compared to American history and how differently justice systems operated in the past. Finally, we stepped into holding cells where the doors were only 3 feet tall, and all the rooms had a hole in the ground, I presume was a toilet. The entire experience showed how much ideas surrounding justice and human rights have changed over time, even though some parts of history still feel hard to accept.