There are many easy hiking trails in Germany
This is our last post of Münster, that jewel of North-Rhine-Westphalia, … … and the number one daytrip destination of Germany’s most populous if not (in general) most picturesque regional state. For many years, we have invited you to accompany us on our exploration of the city, encouraging you to discover Münster’s works of modern…
Göttingen is no longer famous, but it should be. The story of this town in the heart of Germany is a metaphor as poignant as the tales of Easter Island or Dunwich, the mightiest medieval city on England’s east coast until it was flushed into the North Sea by a series of landslides and violent…
If last week’s destination of Bamberg is worth a detour, near-by Würzburg is worth a trip. Würzburg, the unofficial capital of the Bavarian Baroque, bursts at the seams with architectural drama and spectacle, most famously on the Alte Mainbrücke Bridge … … and in the grandest Bavarian Baroque palace of them all, called simply the…
The word Bavaria will, for most people, bring to mind images of alpine idylls, of women in dirndls and of men in lederhosen. But there exists another Bavaria beyond that: a world of twisted shapes, contorted bodies, and garish colours. This is the world of the Bavarian Baroque, a unique variety of the style which…
The idea was to explore one of Central Europe’s largest urban parks, a park which is roughly the size of a small country (all right: the country I am thinking of is Monaco) and which also doubles up as the main exhibition space for the world’s most famous exhibition of contemporary art. The idea was…
Germans are an industrious people, and the looks of their country reflect that. Wherever you are traveling, you can see industry in action: roadside and railside, power stations are pumping out steam, factory chimneys spout smoke, and containers are shipped in and out of warehouses. Quite clearly, Germany is a country that still makes stuff….
Telgte, a small town in the flat and fertile German province of Westphalia, is visited by 150,000 people every year. This is 15 times the number of people who live there, a ratio of tourists per inhabitant similar to that of Amsterdam and Barcelona. But don’t be surprised if you have never heard of Telgte….
When Germany was rebuilt from the ruins of WWII, the city fathers of every German town made sure that at least a few streets would be restored to their pre-war appearance. This, I believe, was meant to reassure the citizens that not all ancient traditions, beliefs and cultural foundations would be swept away with the…
After the downfall of the Third Reich, Germany was rebuilt from the ruins of war in a hurry, and, more often than not, it shows. Throughout the 1950s, as Germany was clearing up the WWII rubble and slowly finding its feet again, the priority for politicians and urban planners was to build what was urgently…
If you are looking for a reliable way to date cities, here is one clue: look at the churches: If the town centre is studded with churches that look somehow Gothic but not quite (“Neo-Gothic”: overcooked in parts, half-raw in others), then the city in question is mainly a child of the 19th century. If…