Sights in Ulm
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Legoland
A sure-fire kid-pleaser, Legoland Deutschland is a pricey Lego-themed amusement park, with shows, splashy rides and a miniature world built from 25 million Lego bricks. It’s in Günzburg, 37km east of Ulm, just off the A8.
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Einstein Fountain & Monument
A nod to Ulm’s most famous son, Jürgen Goertz’s fiendishly funny bronze fountain shows a wild-haired, tongue-poking-out Albert Einstein, who was born in Ulm but left when he was one year old. Standing in front of the 16th-century Zeughaus, the rocket-snail creation is a satirical play on humanity’s attempts to manipulate evolution for its own self-interest. Nearby, at Zeughaus 14, is a single stone bearing the inscription Ein Stein (One Stone).
On Bahnhofstrasse sits Max Bill’s monument (1979) to the great physicist, a stack of red-granite pillars marking the spot where Einstein was born.
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Marktplatz
Lording it over the Marktplatz, the 14th-century, step-gabled Rathaus sports an ornately painted Renaissance facade and a gilded astrological clock. Inside is a replica of Albrecht Berblinger’s flying machine. In front is the Fischkastenbrunnen, a fountain where fishmongers kept their catch alive on market days. The 36m-high glass pyramid behind the Rathaus is the city’s main library, the Zentralbibliothek, designed by Gottfried Böhm.
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Metzgerturm
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Fischkastenbrunnen
In the Marktplatz is the Fischkastenbrunnen, a fountain where fishmongers kept their river fish alive on market days.
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Zentralbibliothek
That striking all-glass pyramid behind the Rathaus - 28m by 28m at its base and 36m high - is the city's main library, the 2004 Zentralbibliothek, designed by Gottfried Böhm.
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Einstein Monument
Over near the Hauptbahnhof, on Bahnhofstrasse, is Max Bill's monument (1979) to the great physicist, a stack of staggered granite pillars on the spot where Einstein's babyhood home once stood.
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Kunsthalle Weishaupt
The glass-fronted Kunsthalle Weishaupt unveils the private collection of Siegfried Weishaupt. The accent is on modern and pop art, with bold paintings by Klein, Warhol and Haring.
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Schwörhaus
On the third Monday of July, the mayor swears allegiance to the town’s 1397 constitution from the 1st-floor loggia of the early 17th-century baroque Schwörhaus (Oath House), three blocks west of the Rathaus.
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Rathaus
The 14th-century Rathaus has an ornately painted Renaissance facade and a gilded astrological clock (1520); bells count off every quarter-hour. Inside you can see a replica of Berblinger's flying machine.
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Albrecht Berblinger Plaque
East of the Herdbrücke (the bridge leading to Neu Ulm) is a bronze plaque marking the spot where Albrecht Berblinger attempted his flight (his failure was later determined to have been caused by a lack of thermals on that particular day).
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Legoland Deutschland
A sure-fire kid-pleaser, Legoland Deutschland is a pricey Lego-themed amusement park, with shows, splashy rides and a miniature world built from 25 million Lego bricks. It's in Günzburg, 30km northeast of Ulm, just off the A8 and served by bus 850.
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Sammlung Weishaupt
Across the street from the Ulmer Museum, is this brand new building housing the Sammlung Weishaupt, spotlighting modern and pop art. This impressive structure is the latest in a series of bold and acclaimed modern buildings that have injected new dynamism into Ulm's Altstadt.
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Museum der Brotkultur
How grain grows, what makes a good dough and other bread-related mysteries are unravelled at the Museum of Bread Culture. The collection celebrates bread as the stuff of life over millennia and across cultures, displaying curios from mills to Egyptian corn mummies.
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Stadtmauer
South of the Fischerviertel, along the Danube’s north bank, runs the red-brick Stadtmauer (city wall), the height of which was reduced in the 19th century after Napoleon decided that a heavily fortified Ulm was against his best interests. Walk it for fine views over the river, the Altstadt and the colourful tile-roofed Metzgerturm, doing a Pisa by leaning 2m off-centre.
East of the Herdbrücke, the bridge to Neu-Ulm, a bronze plaque marks where Albrecht Berblinger, a tailor who invented a flying machine, attempted to fly over the Danube in 1811. The so-called ‘Tailor of Ulm’ made an embarrassing splash landing but his design was later shown to be workable (his failure…
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Fischerviertel
The charming Fischerviertel, Ulm’s old fishers’ and tanners’ quarter, is slightly southwest. Here beautifully restored half-timbered houses huddle along the two channels of the Blau River. Harbouring art galleries, rustic restaurants, courtyards and the crookedest house in the world – as well as one of the narrowest – the cobbled lanes are ideal for a leisurely saunter.
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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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Stadthaus
Designed by Richard Meier, the contemporary aesthetic of the concrete-and-glass Stadthaus is a dramatic contrast to the Münster. The American architect caused uproar by erecting a postmodern building alongside the city’s Gothic giant but the result is striking. The edifice stages exhibitions and events, and houses the tourist office and a cafe.
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Ulmer Museum
This museum is a fascinating romp through ancient and modern art, history and archaeology. Standouts are 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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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.
Only by puffing up 768 spiral steps to the 143m-high viewing platform of the tower can you appreciate the Münster’s dizzying height. Up top there are terrific views of the Black Forest…
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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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