Other sights in Germany
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Brandenburg Gate
A symbol of division during the Cold War, this landmark now epitomises German reunification. The 1791 structure by Carl Gotthard Langhans is the only surviving one of 18 city gates and is crowned by the Quadriga sculpture, a horse-drawn chariot piloted by the winged goddess of victory.
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Grosse Freiheit
Just north of the S-Bahn station is the Grosse Freiheit . Grosse Freiheit literally means 'great freedom' street, an apt name with its bright lights, dark doorways and live sex nightclubs. Smarmy doormen try to lure the passing crowd into clubs; if you're interested, ask about the conditions of entry.
Admission tends to be fairly low, but it's the mandatory drink minimum that drives up the cost. Ask at the bar how much drinks cost; we've heard reports of people being charged nearly €100 for a couple of watery cocktails.
As for Reeperbahn itself, even those not interested in strip shows usually pay a quick trip to Hamburg's vast red-light thoroughfare of the Reeperbahn ju…
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Schloss Colditz
High on a crag above the sleepy town of Colditz, some 46km southeast of Leipzig, is the imposing Schloss Colditz, a Renaissance palace that's seen stints as a hunting lodge, a poorhouse and a mental hospital. Mostly, though, it's famous as Oflag IVC, a WWII-era high-security prison for Allied officers, including a nephew of Winston Churchill. Most astounding, perhaps, is a 44m-long tunnel below the chapel that French officers dug in 1941-42, before the Germans caught them. You can see some of these contraptions, along with lots of photographs, in the small but fascinating Fluchtmuseum (Escape Museum) within the palace. Several inmates wrote down their experiences later, o…
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Miniatur-Wunderland
Kids and trainspotters will delight at this, the world's largest model railway, with astonishing recreations of recognisable landmarks. In busy times, prepurchase your ticket online to skip the queues.
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Dom
This grand cathedral is Magdeburg's main historical landmark and traces its roots to 937 when Otto I (912-73) founded a Benedictine monastery and had it built up into a full-fledged cathedral within two decades. Alas, fire destroyed the original a couple of centuries later. But by then the Gothic style was all the rage, which is why its successor is a three-aisled basilica with transept, choir and pointed windows. The burial place of Otto I and his English wife Editha, it's packed with artistic highlights ranging from the delicate 13th-century Magdeburg Virgins sculptures to a haunting antiwar memorial by Ernst Barlach. The church also has impressive eco-credentials: in 1…
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Füssen
One of the last stops on the Romantic Road, Füssen is a small town nestled between towering Alpine peaks and Schwangau. Together these towns form the Royal Corner, home to King Ludwig Wilhelm II's fantasy castles. Ludwig II didn't get along with his ministers and relatives who had him diagnosed as unfit to rule; soon after, he was found mysteriously drowned.
The king's legacy consists of the three fantastical castles he had built near Füssen: Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee and Linderhof.
But there's more to Füssen than its castles. Its compact centre, with its tangle of lanes, is full of historical buildings; check out the Hohes Schloss. There are excellent views from t…
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Classic Remise Berlin
Tucked in among factories, industrial buildings and tenements across the Spree and about 1km east of Schloss Charlottenburg, Meilenwerk is a place of pilgrimage for those who worship at the altar of the auto. Lined up for inspection inside the vast, slickly converted 19th-century tram depot are limited-edition beauties by Alfa Romeo, logo-less mystery cars, sleek racing wheels like the Maserati Ghibli, lovable veterans like the old VW Beetle and rarities like a GDR-made EMW 327. There are hundreds of other old-timers, classic and new cars, yet this is no museum: it’s a ‘Forum for Driving Culture’ that also harbours repair shops, car clubs and dealerships. Best of all: any…
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Grüne Zitadelle
It's piglet pink and resembles an iced birthday cake accidentally stuck in the oven for a few minutes. It has towers, turrets, golden spheres, trees growing from its facade and meadows sprouting on its rooftops. Right across from the cathedral, the Grüne Zitadelle is Magdeburg's newest, brightest and most inspired landmark. Completed in 2005, it was the final design of Viennese artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and perfectly reflects his philosophy of creating highly unique spaces in harmony with nature, an 'oasis for humanity', as the master himself put it. Inside are offices, flats and shops, as well as a small hotel and a cafe. If you understand German, join the one-…
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Monastery
If you saw the 1986 film The Name of the Rose, starring Sean Connery, you've already seen parts of this one-time Cistercian monastery, in which many of the interior scenes were shot. Dating from as far back as the 12th century and once home to 150 or more monks and perhaps 400 lay brothers, this graceful complex - in an idyllic little valley - went through periods as a lunatic asylum, jail, sheep pen and accommodation for WWII refugees. Today visitors can explore the 13th- and 14th-century Kreuzgang (cloister), the monks' baroque refectory and their vaulted Gothic Monchdormitorium (dormitory), as well as the austere Romanesque Klosterkirche (basilica).
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Naturpark Holsteinische Schweiz
Sprawling over 75,328 hectares between Lübeck to the south and Kiel to the north, the Naturpark Holsteinische Schweiz is the state's largest outdoor playground. Germany's propensity to label its most scenic areas 'Swiss' (the name translates as 'Holstein Switzerland') reflects the park's undulating green hills, golden fields and wildflower-strewn meadows, and hedge walls dating from 18th-century farming laws. This chocolate-box-pretty landscape is interspersed with a string of some 200 lakes, of which 70 are over one hectare in size. Visitors heading off the beaten track will also find caves, red beech forests, and (if you're lucky) rare white-tailed eagles and shy bitte…
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Schloss
The main palace building consists of a large villa and two wings of creaking parquet floors and sumptuous period rooms. Right at the beginning comes the highpoint of the entire Schloss, the Schönheitengalerie (Gallery of Beauties), housed in the former apartments of Queen Caroline. Some 38 portraits of beautiful women chosen by an admiring King Ludwig I peer prettily from the walls. The most famous is of Helene Sedlmayr, the daughter of a shoemaker, wearing a lavish frock the king gave her for the sitting. You'll also find Ludwig's beautiful but notorious lover, Lola Montez, as well as 19th-century gossip-column celebrity, Jane Lady Ellenborough, and English beauty Lady …
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Dom St Stephan
The characteristic green onion domes of Passau's otherwise whitewashed cathedral, the Dom, float serenely above the town silhouette. There has been a church on this spot since the 5th century, but the current baroque look emerged after the Great Fire of 1662. The interior was designed by a crew of Italian artists, notably the architect Carlo Lurago and the stucco master Giovanni Carlone. The frescoes show fascinating scenes of heaven, but the true masterpiece is the industrial-size church organ, one of the world's largest with a staggering 17,974 pipes. Organ recitals are held on weekdays at noon, and on Thursday at 7.30pm from May to October (adult/child €3/1 lunchtime, …
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St Anna Kirche
Often regarded as the first Renaissance church in Germany, the rather plain-looking St Anna Kirche contains a bevy of treasures as well as the sumptuous Fuggerkapelle, where Jacob Fugger and his brothers lie buried, and the lavishly frescoed Goldschmiedekapelle (Goldsmiths' Chapel; 1420). The church played an important role during the Reformation. In 1518 Martin Luther, in town to defend his beliefs before the papal legate, stayed at what was then a Carmelite monastery. His rooms have been turned into the Lutherstiege, a small museum about the Reformation. The entire complex was under renovation at the time of writing.
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Kolumba
The building encases the ruins of the late-Gothic church St Kolumba, layers of foundations going back to Roman times and the Madonna in the Ruins chapel, built on the site in 1950. It's yet another magnificent design by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, 2009 winner of the Pritzker Prize, the 'architectural Oscar'. Exhibits span the arc of religious artistry from the early days of Christianity to the present. Coptic textiles, Gothic reliquary and medieval painting are juxtaposed with works by Bauhaus legend Andor Weiniger and edgy room installations. The overall effect is contemplative rather than instructive, inspirational rather than historical.
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Salt Mines
Once a major producer of so-called 'white gold', Berchtesgaden has thrown open its salt mines for fun-filled tours (90 minutes). The brand-new SalzZeitReise exhibition opened here in 2007, and sees visitors donning protective overalls and taking a special train into the depths of the mine. Down below, the highlights include the crossing of a 100m-long illuminated lake containing the same concentration of salt as the Dead Sea, and the brightly lit, interactive treasure chamber where visitors learn about the history of salt mining in the Alps. It's usually only around 12°C down there, so bring a sweater.
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Alte Synagoge
The Alte Synagoge in Erfurt is one of the oldest Jewish houses of worship in Europe, with roots in the 12th century. After the pogrom of 1349, it was converted into a storehouse and, after later standing empty for decades, has now been restored as an exhibit space and museum. Since late 2009, a new exhibit documents the history of the building, although an even bigger draw is the treasure unearthed during recent excavations in Erfurt's Jewish quarter. It includes 600 pieces in all: rings, brooches, cutlery and, most famously, a super-rare golden Jewish marriage ring from the early 14th century.
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Haus Hohe Pappeln
Belgian art-nouveau architect, designer and painter, Henry van de Velde is considered a pioneer of modernity. In 1902, he founded the arts and crafts seminar in Weimar that Walter Gropius later developed into the Bauhaus. For nine years, starting in 1908, van de Velde and his family lived in the Haus Hohe Pappeln, which looks a bit like a ship on its side and features natural stone, stylised chimneys, loggias and oversized windows. One floor is open for touring and features furniture that van de Velde designed for a local family. To get here, take bus 1 or 12 to Papiergraben.
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Museum Am Ostwall
Once one of Dortmund's largest and most famous breweries, the defunct Union Brauerei is a protected landmark being reinvented as a 'centre for art and creativity'. Three upper floors are the new home of the Museum am Ostwall, an art-world star thanks to its far-reaching collection of all major 20th- and 21st-century genres - expressionism to art informel, fluxus to op art to concrete art. For laypeople this translates into works by Macke, Nolde, Beuys and Paik, and living artists including Jochen Gerz and Anna and Bernhard Blume. It's expected to open in May 2010.
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Nikolaikirche
Through the Rathaus' eastern walkway you'll come to the main portal of the 1270 Nikolaikirche, which was modelled on Lübeck's Marienkirche and is filled with art treasures. The main altar (1708), designed by the baroque master Andreas Schlüter, shows the eye of God flanked by cherubs and capped by a depiction of the Last Supper. Also worth a closer look are the high altar (1470), 6.7m wide and 4.2m tall, showing Jesus' entire life, and, behind the altar, a 1394-built (but no longer operational) astronomical clock.
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Deutsche Bahn Museum
Nuremberg's impressive Deutsche Bahn Museum explores the history of Germany's legendary rail system. You'll see the country's first engine, the Adler, which ran from Nuremberg to nearby Fürth in 1852. Other fine specimens include Ludwig II's gilded carriage (dubbed the 'rolling Neuschwanstein' for its starry ceiling fresco and lavish decoration) and Bismarck's sober quarters for official visits. A highlight is the hourly demonstration of one of Germany's largest model railways, run by a controller at a huge console of blinking lights and switches.
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Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek
The phoenixlike rebirth of Anna Amalia's precious library following a 2004 fire is nothing short of a miracle. These days, the magnificent Rokokosaal (Rococo Hall) is again crammed with 40,000 tomes once used for research purposes by Goethe, Schiller and other Weimar hotshots. Scholars may still borrow the books; for the rest of us, the fine busts and paintings of these men are just as interesting. Entry is by timed ticket and capped at 250 people per day, so book in advance or start queuing before the ticket office opens at 9.30am.
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Augustinerkloster
It's Luther lore galore at the Augustinerkloster. This is where the reformer lived from 1505 to 1511, and where he was ordained as a monk and read his first mass. You're free to roam the grounds, visit the church, with its ethereal Gothic stained-glass windows, and attend the prayer services held by the resident Protestant sisters at 7am, noon and 6pm daily except Tuesday. Guided tours get you inside the monastery itself, including the cloister, a recreated Luther cell and an exhibit on the history of the Bible and Luther's life in Erfurt.
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Hoffmann Museum
Keen history students who speak German might want to visit this historic part of town to see its Hoffmann Museum. In 1841, Fallersleben native August Heinrich Hoffman (1798-1874) wrote the lyrics to what would become the German national anthem (music courtesy of Joseph Hayden). Here you'll find discussion of how his words 'über alles' ('above everything') were simply a call for an end to petty inter-German fiefdoms, and how they were expunged after the Third Reich's nationalistic excesses. Take bus 206 or 214 to Fallersleben.
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National Park
Hesse's first national park, established in 2004, encompasses one of the largest extant red beech forests in Central Europe, the Kellerwald, and the Edersee, a serpentine artificial reservoir 55km northeast of Marburg and about the same distance southwest of Kassel. Some 400 springs feed creeks that, as one brochure puts it, are 'a true paradise for the fire salamander'. Larger land animals include red deer; overhead you may see eagles and honey buzzards and, at night, various species of bat.
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Langen Foundation
If you have a penchant for art in weird places, make the trip out to the Langen Foundation. The location: a former NATO missile base where Pershing tanks armed with nuclear warheads held the line against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The architecture: a minimalist glass, steel and concrete box by Japanese Meister -architect Tadao Ando. The art: a top collection of Japanese screens, scrolls and sculpture, plus works by 20th-century greats, such as Jawlensky, Klee and Ernst, presented in changing exhibits.
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