For the Caltech men's basketball team, spring break looked a little different this year. At the end of March, the Beavers embarked on a whirlwind trip to Germany, featuring three exhibition games, a 6-hour train voyage, multiple bus and subway rides, and sightseeing spanning from Berlin to Bavaria. The seven-day trip of Wettbewerb (competition) and Abenteuer (adventure) marked just the second international trip in program history, following the Spain trip in 2014.

Arriving in Berlin on Friday, March 22, the team wasted no time delving into the city's rich history. Exploring Mitte, the historic heart of Berlin, the group traversed the River Spree, taking in iconic landmarks such as the Bundestag, Brandenburg Gate, and Museum Island. The tour guide illuminated the not-so-distant history of the Cold War era in the formerly divided city. After, the team retired to its hotel near Alexanderplatz, set against the backdrop of the towering Berliner Fernsehturm TV tower, and convened for dinner, as some battled jet lag while others tuned into March Madness games.

The Beavers' first game of the journey awaited them mere hours later.

Saturday, the first full day in Germany, was game day. A bus shuttled the Beavers to nearby Potsdam, a 1,000-year-old city on the River Havel that was once a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Emperor until 1918. Nestled in a forest-shrouded athletic campus was the site of the Beavers' first opponent: The RedHawks, a professional basketball club founded in Potsdam in 2019. With limited ability to scout the opposing team, expectations were wide open.
 

"As a player and a coach for years, I've experienced walking into a game with no idea what to expect, but for most of the guys it was a new experience," Coach Dr. Oliver Eslinger recalls. "I remember saying before that game, 'You don't know what the crowd will be like, you don't know what the opponents will be like, so you have to embrace the uncertainty and try to enjoy the experience,'" he said.

Despite a sluggish start, attributable both to travel weariness and adjusting to FIBA basketball rules, the Beavers found their legs — and the bottom of the net — to secure a victory.

"As the sun set, blinding light was streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows on one side of the gym, and the refs' calls were a tough adjustment," Coach Eslinger remarked, "but the lesson was that on the road you've got to be ready for anything and stick together. It was an ideal first test for us."

Sunday provided respite from basketball as the team journeyed to Olympiastadion Berlin, site of the 1936 Summer Olympics. It was a chance for the team to reflect on the complicated history of Germany in the 20th century, and on the role of sport in the world. The colossal arena, was constructed as a show of strength, and a tool of propaganda, during Hitler's early rise to power, has undergone renovations in the post-Cold War era. Today, Olympiastadion Berlin, which is home to the pro soccer club Hertha Berlin, reflects a mix of old and new — steeped in the past but not stuck in it.

"What stands out the most about being in Berlin, and Germany in general, is that they try hard not to hide their past. History is present everywhere, and I appreciated the emphasis on wrestling with the dark parts of it," Coach Eslinger said.

One of the highlights of the stadium tour was the chance to visit a chapel, tucked away deep in the building, complete with 24-karat gold-encrusted walls that bore religious parables translated into more than a dozen languages.

After more sightseeing, Sunday's dinner brought the team to a restaurant in Berlin, which featured traditional meat-and-potatoes fare, live music, and wait staff dressed in lederhosen. After the meal, led by Stephen Lo (Caltech '27), the entire team made its way to the dance floor at the foot of the musicians' stage to cap off the night with some fast footwork. The Beavers were dancing in March.

"It was so fun to see who emerged as a leader. Stephen was excited to get out there, and to see his teammates gradually follow him and support him, it was a lot of fun," Coach Eslinger remembered.

After dinner, the players made their way to a nearby Waschsalon (laundromat) to prepare their uniforms for upcoming games, playing card games and chatting.

"We were all sitting there after it was closed, and everyone was hanging out. The whole trip, no matter if we were in traffic or on a train or doing laundry, no one wanted to be apart from the team," Andrew Koclanes said.

On Monday, the Beavers said Auf Wiedersehen to Berlin and boarded a train heading south. The bustle of the capital city receded to the pastoral countryside over the 6-hour train trip.

"When I was planning the trip, the train ride was one of the segments I was looking forward to the most, and it didn't disappoint," Coach Eslinger said.

Arriving in Stuttgart Monday afternoon, the team ventured by bus to Esslingen, a city on the River Neckar that served as a major trading center in the Middle Ages. Visiting the city of Esslingen was especially meaningful for Coach Eslinger, and his 12-year-old son, who, as their surname suggests, have ancestral links to the region.
 

"It was amazing to leave the big city and arrive in a smaller town full of this medieval history, but the location was personal for me, too," Coach Eslinger said.

A tour of the city the first evening culminated in a memorable sunset hike to the hilltop fortress, a 13th century fort that offers views of the city and vast valley below.

"That was the dream, bringing my son on the trip with me. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life," Coach Eslinger said, "And it was also really special to see the team, after a long travel day, want to climb up to the top of that hill that overlooks this city that has special importance to my family. The players were happy," he said.

"The evening during the sunset walking around Esslingen was extraordinary," Stephen Lo remembered. "There was a real sense of family and community, exploring Coach's roots, and it was the perfect weather. I felt really grateful in that moment," Lo said.
 

Tuesday's agenda included a visit to Weil-der-Stadt, the city known as the "gate to the Black Forest." There, the team toured the Johannes Kepler Museum, a celebration of the work of the famous German astronomer located in his childhood home. The next stop was a chance to attend the practice of MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, a basketball club in the Bundesliga's top league.

"Riesen's head coach [Josh King] and I had built a coaching friendship over the last year, and for him to invite us to practice in the middle of their season really speaks to why a lot of us are involved in the sport of basketball. It's really about the human connections we make," Coach Eslinger said.

The Beavers watched their practice and mingled with the Riesen players afterward.
 

"One of the coolest parts of the trip was seeing that practice, the way they ran their drills," said Dagemawi Getachew (Caltech '27).

"They were getting after it. I was impressed to see a pro team working so hard," Noah Hicks (Caltech '26) said.

By evening, it was time for the second game of the trip. The opponent, Orange Academy, located in nearby Ulm, the German city famous as the birthplace of Albert Einstein. The Orange Academy team, which competes in the Barmer Liga (farm league) of the Bundesliga, was a highly talented squad that comprised many future European pros and possibly future NBA prospects.

"Walking into Orange Academy, you know right away: this organization is serious and elite. I was excited to see how our players would respond," Coach Eslinger said.

 

In the end, Orange Academy was too good from beyond the arc, and they ran away in the second half to outlast the Beavers. Afterward, both teams joined for a meal at the Orange Academy's impressive facilities.

"Definitely the coolest part was getting to meet the guys on other teams after the games," Getachew said.

On Wednesday, the Beavers headed to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology for their third and final game of the trip, where they faced off against the Institute's basketball club, the Seeburger Wizards. Fitting for the team's farewell game, the crowd was the liveliest of the three games.

The gym was packed, and a bass drum provided the night's beat.

"It was a fitting farewell for our last game. The place was rocking, and it started out as a really good game for us," Coach Eslinger said. "It seemed like we'd shed the let lag and adjusted to the idea of embracing the uncertainty."

 

A tight game through the first two quarters, the Beavers fell behind in the second half and KIT won the game.

"It was a great environment – a great basketball moment of two basketball cultures coming together doing what we love," said Stephen Lo.

On Thursday, with basketball behind them, the Caltech team traveled to Munich for the last day of the trip. After an afternoon exploring Munich's city center, the Beavers enjoyed a farewell dinner at a Bavarian restaurant known for Schnitzel, Wursts and other staples of German fare.

On Friday, it was time to fly back to California. On the bus ride from the airport back to campus, a few players were overheard musing about which country the team should visit on their next international trip. For the current freshmen, that trip would happen in the spring of their senior year.

With classes set to begin again the following Monday, the team spent the weekend resting and digesting their once-in-a-lifetime trip

"I think about the trip every day since we got back," Eslinger said. "Trips like this — they do really make you feel more connected as a team. There's a different feeling now seeing a player on campus," he said.

"We have a special bond now."

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