Sights in Baden Württemberg
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Einstein Fountain & Monument
About 750m northeast of the Münster in front of the 16th-century Zeughaus (arsenal), at the northern end of Zeughausgasse, stands a fiendishly funny fountain dedicated to Albert Einstein, who was born in Ulm but left aged one year. The nearby health administration building, at Zeughaus 14, bears a single stone attached to the wall with the inscription Ein Stein (One Stone).
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Brass Monkey
On the Altstadt, at the entrance to the bridge side, is a statue of a Brass Monkey holding a mirror and surrounded by mice: touch the mirror for wealth, the outstretched fingers to ensure you return to Heidelberg and the mice to ensure you have many children.
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Deutsches Apothekenmuseum
Infinitely more fun than science lessons, the Deutsches Apothekenmuseum, off the courtyard, explores chemistry and pharmacology in centuries past. Look out for the hands-on kids' pharmacy (healthy tea anyone?) and miracle cures from opiates to, hmmm, unicorn. With a capacity of more than 220,000L, the 18th-century Grosses Fass (Great Vat) is the world's largest wine cask, shaped from 130 oak trees. Describing it as being 'as big as a cottage', Mark Twain bemoaned its emptiness and mused on its possible functions as a dance floor and gigantic cream churn.
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Studentenkarzer
From 1778 to 1914, students convicted of misdeeds, such as womanising, inebriation or freeing the local pigs, were tossed into the Studentenkarzer, behind the Alte Universität, where they were detained for at least three days and fed only bread and water. Delinquents doing more time could interrupt their sentence for critical reasons (say, to take exams). In certain circles, a stint in the Karzer was de rigueur to prove one's manhood. Judging by the inventive graffiti and inscriptions, some found their stay highly entertaining.
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Baden-Baden Theater
The Baden-Baden Theater is a neo-baroque confection of white-and-red sandstone whose frilly interior looks like a miniature version of the Opéra-Garnier in Paris. It forms the gateway to Lichtentaler Allee, an elegant park promenade which follows the flow of the Oosbach from Goetheplatz, adjacent to the Kurhaus, to Kloster Lichtenthal about 3km south.
Even today, it's not hard to imagine the movers and shakers of 19th-century Europe - aristocrats, diplomats, artists and writers - taking leisurely strolls along this fragrant avenue.
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Max-Eyth-See
On warm summer days, Stuttgarters young and old - including Turkish families with portable barbecue equipment - flock to the Max-Eyth-See, a lake and park right on the Neckar (and on the U14 line). The water is hardly pristine, so swimming is out, but there's a great bike path here - in fact it's part of the Neckartal-Radweg.
Along the river, the steep hills still have some older terraced-style vineyards; many of the little Wengerter Häuschen (tool sheds) that dot the hillside are over 200 years old and are protected landmarks.
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Mannheim Palace
The massive Mannheimer Schloss recently opened to great fanfare after being closed for five years for renovations. Built by Elector Carl Philipp from 1720 to 1760, it was his successor Carl Theodor who saw its completion and fostered fine arts, music, theatre and science and saw Mannheim reach its cultural zenith in the 18th century.
Subsequently host to legal courts, schools and as apartments for government officials, today most of the building, almost completely destroyed in WWII and rebuilt, houses the university.
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Lichtentaler Allee
Even today you can imagine aristocrats, diplomats and celebrated artist types of 19th-century Europe promenading down this fragrant park avenue, planted with vegetation from around the world. Its gateway is at the main theatre, a neobaroque confection of white-and-red sandstone, and the famed street stops at the 13th-century Cistercian abbey, Kloster Lichtenthal.
This promenade cohabits with the Staatliche Kunsthalle (State Art Gallery), the modern art gallery (Museum Frieder Burda), and the Stadtmuseum (City History Museum).
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Münster
Ooh, it's so big…first-time visitors gush as they strain their neck muscles gazing up to the Münster. It is. And rather beautiful. Celebrated for its 161.5m-high steeple, the world's tallest, this Goliath of cathedrals took a staggering 500 years to build from the first stone laid in 1377. Note the hallmarks on each stone, inscribed by cutters who were paid by the block. Those intent on cramming the Münster into one photo, filigree spire and all, should lie down on the cobbles.
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Schloss
Mannheim's trophy sight is the lemon-and-red sandstone Schloss, Germany's largest baroque palace. Soon after completion in 1760, Elector Karl Theodor moved his court to Munich. The recently restored state rooms are a baroque-gone-mad feast of stucco, marble, porcelain and chandeliers. Mythological gods dance across the walls of the frilly rococo Kabinettsbibliothek (library), while gilt-framed ancestors keep a beady eye on the Rittersaal (Hall of Knights).
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Königstrasse
The focus of Stuttgart's commercial life is the pedestrians-only Königstrasse, a spotlessly clean and conspicuously well-heeled shopping precinct that stretches for a bit over 1km southwestward from the Hauptbahnhof. Halfway down (and contiguous with the Oberer Schlossgarten) is the Schlossplatz, Stuttgart's main public square and a showcase for its cultural riches. In the middle stands the König Wilhelm Jubilee Column, flanked by fountains representing the eight rivers of Baden-Württemberg.
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Ruprecht-Karls-Universität
Despite witty observations about boisterous student duels and drunkenness, Mark Twain points out that 'idle students are not the rule' in Heidelberg in his 1880 novel A Tramp Abroad. Indeed Germany's oldest university, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, established in 1386 by Count Palatinate Ruprecht I, has plenty of gravitas with a student hall of fame starring composer Robert Schumann and chancellor Helmut Kohl. Today it comprises 18 faculties with 32,000 students from 80 nations.
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Bohnenviertel
The boho-flavoured Bohnenviertel takes its name from the beans that Americans introduced in the 16th century. Back then they were grown everywhere as the staple food of the poor tanners, dyers and craftsmen who lived here. A recent facelift has restored the district's cobbled lanes and gabled houses, which harbour idiosyncratic galleries, workshops, bookstores, wine taverns and cafes. The Bohnenviertel's villagey feel is a refreshing tonic to the big-city feel of central Stuttgart.
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Casino
Marlene Dietrich called it 'the most beautiful casino in the world'. Indeed, inside the palatial Kurhaus (besides lavish festival halls) is the flashy casino, reminiscent of a 1970s Bond film. Built in 1838, its decor sought to outdo France's Versailles palace. The Florentiner Saal with its chandelier fleet is also called the 'Hall of The Thousand Candles'.
You need your passport or European national ID card to enter. Games include French and American roulette, baccarat, blackjack and poker.
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Ulmer Museum
It's easy to spend half a day discovering the outstanding Ulmer Museum, which romps through ancient and modern art, history and archaeology. Standouts feature the 20th-century Kurt Fried Collection, starring Klee, Picasso and Lichtenstein works. Archaeological highlights include tiny Upper Palaeolithic figurines, unearthed in caves in the Swabian Alps, including the 30, 000-year-old ivory Löwenmensch (lion man), the world's oldest zoomorphic sculpture.
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Schloss
Sticking up above the Altstadt like a picture-book pop-up against a theatrical backdrop of wooded hills, the partly ruined, red sandstone Schloss is Heidelberg's heart-stealer. Palatinate princes, stampeding Swedes, Protestant reformers, raging fires and lightning bolts - this Gothic-Renaissance fortress has seen the lot. Its tumultuous history, story-book looks and changing moods have inspired the pens of Mark Twain and Victor Hugo as well as Turner's prolific paintbrush.
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Landesmuseum Württemberg
At the turreted 10th-century Altes Schloss, the Landesmuseum Württemberg homes in on regional archaeology and architecture. The historic booty comprises Celtic jewellery, Neolithic pottery, diamond-encrusted crown jewels and rare artefacts like 35, 000-year-old figurines carved from mammoth ivory. Time your visit to see, from the arcaded courtyard, the rams above the clock tower lock horns on the hour.
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Stadthaus
Besides the Münster, the other highlight of Münsterplatz - from a completely different era - is the white-and-glass 1993 Stadthaus, designed by the American architect Richard Meier. He caused an uproar by erecting a postmodern building next to the city's Gothic gem but the result is both gorgeous and functional. The structure stages art exhibitions and special events, and also houses the tourist office and a café.
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Kloster Wiblingen
This one-time Benedictine monastery was founded in 1093 and rebuilt in the baroque style in the 1700s. Highlights of a visit include the splendid Bibliothekssaal (library hall), a rococo masterpiece in pink and green (in 1757 the monastery was in possession of 15,000 volumes, a huge number for the time). The late baroque/early classical Klosterkirche (Monastery Church) and a museum opened in 2006. An audioguide is available.
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Upper Danube Valley Nature Reserve
One word: wow. Theatrically set against limestone, cave-riddled cliffs, dappled with pine and beech woods that are burnished gold in autumn, and hugging the Danube's banks, the Upper Danube Valley Nature Reserve bombards you with rugged splendour. Stick to the autobahn, however, and you'll be none the wiser. To explore the nature reserve, slip into a bicycle saddle or walking boots, and hit the trail.
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Grabkapelle Württemberg
When King Wilhelm I of Württemberg's beloved wife Katharina Pavlovna, daughter of a Russian tsar, died at the tender age of 30 in 1819, the king tore down the family castle and built this domed burial chapel. The king was also interred in the classical-style Russian Orthodox chapel decades later. Scenically perched on a vine-strewn hill, the grounds afford long views down to the valley.
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Burg Hohenzollern
Rising dramatically from an exposed crag, its medieval battlements and silver turrets often veiled in mist, Burg Hohenzollern sure is impressive from a distance, but up close it looks more contrived. Dating to 1867, this neo-Gothic castle is the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family, the first and last monarchical rulers of the short-lived second German empire (1871-1918).
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Fischerviertel
Just southwest of the Schwörhaus is the Fischerviertel, the city's old fishers' and tanners' quarter. This charming area of half-timbered houses is built along the two channels of the tiny Blau River - crossed by a series of footbridges - which are confluent with the Danube nearby. Here you'll find several art galleries, a number of restaurants and the crookedest hotel in the world.
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Trinkhalle
You can wander a 90m-long portico embellished with 19th-century frescoes of local legends in the Trinkhalle. Baden-Baden's elixir of youth, some say, is the free curative mineral water that gushes from a faucet (10am to 2am, until 3am Friday and Saturday) linked to the springs below. A cafe sells plastic cups for €0.20, or bring your own bottle to fill with super water.
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Jesuitenviertel
Just east of Universitätsplatz is the Jesuitenviertel, an attractive little square dominated by the city's recently renovated former Jesuitenkirche (Jesuit church), built of red sandstone between 1712 and 1750. On the façade are statues of Christ, Faith (on the rooftop), St Ignatius Loyola and St Francis Xavier. The Schatzkammer (treasury) displays precious religious objects.
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