Travel to Germany

Germany is a Federal Republic made if up of sixteen states. These German states are:


- Schelswig - Holstein

- Mecklenburg - Vorpommern

- Hamburg

- Bremen

- Brandenburg

- Berlin

- Lower Saxony

- Saxony - Anhalt

- North Rhine - estphalia

- Thuringia

- Saxony

- Hesse

- Rhineland Palatinate

- Saarland

- Bavaria

- Baden - Wuttemberg


Each of these states have a wealth of potential in the number of attractions for tourists in addition to some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

The city of Berlin, which is a state on its own, is usually the first place tourists want to visit when they come to Germany. The German Parliament and the Brandenburg Gate are both national symbols of unity. The path of the Berlin Wall is clearly marked and there are few small segments of the wall still standing so you can gain some essence of what it used to be like. The Berlin Wall Museum will give you information about the people that often risked their lives to cross over this wall.

In Schleswig-Holstein you will truly experience the culture of the northern part of Germany. There are many whole villages that have been designated as museums. Lubeck is a city that has been designated as a World Heritage Site and contains a Museum Harbour of Baltic ships. There is a total of 260 museums in this state and there are numerous jazz and music festivals throughout the year.

Every city of Saxony has something new to offer visitors. Visit the Baroque Village Church in Seiffen and spend some time Erzgebirge Toy Museum. See the Pinge in Altenberg, which is a large crater formed by the collapse of mining shafts in 1620. In Oberweissenthal, you can visit Martin Luther Church. This church is the setting for a large Nativity scene at Christmas time.

Hamburg has so many sites to see and things to do that you will have to devote an entire vacation to this city alone. It is an easy city to navigate and from which you can take a tour of the Alster Lake. Make sure you visit the Sunday Fish Market, which is a city legend. The noon three-organ concert at St. Michael Church is sure to thrill you to the core.

Relax in a resort on the shores of the Baltic Sea when you visit Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. See the stone giant in Altentreplow, a town that dates back to the 13th century. If you want to take a bicycle trip into the mountains, there is no better place to start than the town of Hagenow.

Follow the trail of castles, walk the storybook trail of the Brothers Grimm and take a cruise on the Rhine or one of the other rivers of Germany.  The rail system connects all parts of the country and the highways are very modern if you wish to drive your own car. There are many types of accommodations, ranging from five star hotels to camp grounds. Experience authentic German cuisine or stay with your normal food in the many different restaurants offering food from all over the world.

If you like contrast, go to Bremen, Germany, which is both the country's smallest state as well as one of its larger cities, with a population of around 660,000. For Bremen's appeal lies in its surprising blend of old and new, where historic neighborhoods filled with charming, age-old buildings are juxtaposed with newer high-tech sites that typically draw a wired, younger crowd.

And for first-time visitors to Bremen, here's a primer, the top five attractions of the city that one should not miss.

1. Bremen's Marktplatz

This should be at the top of any visitor's list. Located in the heart of Bremen, this historic square is dominated by the city's huge Rathaus (Town Hall), considered to be one of the loveliest civic buildings in Germany. Originally a Gothic building dating from 1410, it nevertheless features a Weser Renaissance facade that was worked in during the 17th century. The statues here are of Charlemagne and the seven electors, and an 18-foot (5.5-meter) one of Roland, believed to be the tallest of the 26 statues of Roland still in existence in Germany. There is also a 1951 Gerhard Marcks bronze here, the 'Street Musicians of Bremen'.

Worth visiting at the Rathaus too, with its entrance at west wing of the building, is the 600-year-old Ratskeller (Council Cellar), with its magnificent vaults, ancient wine vats and quaint drinking cubicles, which sells exclusively German wine. The cellars are open daily from 11 in the morning to midnight.

2. St Petri-Dom

The St Petri-Dom (St Peter's Cathedral), with its tall spires, is also located on the Marktplatz and predates the Rathaus. It was originally built in the 11th century and subsequently altered, a bit at a time, in the 13th, 16th and 19th centuries. However, much of its interior is original, and it houses a small Gottfried Silberman organ that is the only such piece outside Saxony. As an added attraction, the cathedral's Bleikeller (Lead Cellar) has eight well-preserved mummified bodies in glass coffins.

3. Bottcherstrasse

Bottcherstrasse is a 330-foot (110-meter) pedestrian street that heads off from the Marktplatz and leads to the River Weser. Transformed between 1923 and 1931 by Ludwig Roselius, inventor of decaffeinated coffee, it boasts architectural surprises that run the gamut from local styles to the more audacious Expressionist ideas of Bernhard Hoetger which were used to create Art Nouveau and Art Deco masterpieces. 

 

The Nazis, it is believed, hated the gaudy displays as they considered it to be degenerate art, but the street was largely spared the Nazi wrath. There is a church of interest here, St Martini-kirche, located at the end of the street, which is actually a 1960 replica of the 1229 original that was destroyed during the war; as well as two museums, the Roselius Museum, filled with period furniture and works by Lucas Cranach, and the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, dedicated to works of the artist.

4. Schnoor Viertel

Okay, if it's the old, gabled, characteristically 'Bremen' buildings you wish to see, this is the place to see them. Schnoor Viertel is the oldest surviving neighborhood in Bremen, where most of the buildings date from the 15th and 16th centuries. And typically, it is filled with artists' studios and galleries, and cafes and restaurants. One of its centerpieces is the Kunsthalle Bremen (Art Museum) on Wall Street, where you can see an astonishing array of works, from the old masters to the post-war and even more contemporary collections that include German and French Impressionists of the 19th century.

Another museum to be recommended here, not far from Schnoor Viertel, at Schwachhauser Heerstrasse 240, is the Focke-Museum which has an impressive display of exihibits depicting Bremen history, all the way from the prehistoric period to the present.

5. Beck's Brewery

And finally, there's Beck's Brewery, one of Germany's largest and most famous breweries, located at Am Deich 18 in Bremen. The brewery offers two-hour guided tours of its premises, which include both a visit to its beer-making facility as well as its tasting room where you can sample a half dozen Beck beers, notable among them the Hakke brand that is available only in the Bremen area. The tours are 7 euros per person, and well worth it.