Especially in winter the German Erz Mountains are a great travel destination for all the family as they offer great winter sports facilities.

Oberwiesenthal is the alpine centre of the Erz Mountains and there you can go downhill skiing and snowboarding. The bobsled in Altenberg is one of the most modern in the world and therefore world famous and the right destination for curling-fans would be Geising. If you want to go cross-country skiing the Kammloipe ski run between Johanngeorgenstadt and Schöneck will certainly be your number one. But there are many other cross-country ski runs everywhere in the Erz Mountains.

Erz Mountains ©ohaoha/flickr.com

Oberwiesenthal close to the Czech border has the highest peaks of the Erz Mountains, the Fichtelberg (1215 m) and the Czech Klinovec (1244 m). Oberwiesenthal not only is a spa town but Germany’s highest town. Besides skiing, snowing and cross country-skiing you can also go hiking in the nature reserves and forests in the area.

Altenburg offers not only the famous bobsleds but also more than 30 kilometres of cross-country ski runs, over 30 kilometres of ski-hiking trails and of course downhill-pistes.

Johanngeorgenstadt was founded in 1654 by the elector Johann Georg I and was famous for its silver, tin and iron-mining. From 1960 on it became a centre of tourism with cross-country ski runs as well as downhill pistes.
Of course the Erz Mountains also offer a great variety of accommodation matching everybody’s taste.

Berlin is not only the capital city of Germany but also one of the sixteen states and its largest city. Located in northeast Germany it is the centre of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Area.

As the city has no definite centre the sights are spread all over the city. You will find the densest array of sights to the east of Brandenburg Gate on either side of Unter den Linden.

Brandenburger Tor © marfis75/flickr.com

Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) probably is the most famous and most important of Berlin’s landmarks and also the symbol of the formerly divided city. It also appears on German Euro coins (10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent). The former city gate was built by Carl Gotthard Langhans between 1788 and 1791. Atop the gate you can see the Quadriga. The horse drawn chariot is driven by Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory.

Having been the best known border-crossing of Cold War days Checkpoint Charlie has become the symbol of division of Berlin and Germany. A sign said ‘YOU ARE NOW LEAVING THE AMERICAN SECTOR’ in English, Russian, French and German. When being there you should also visit the museum known as ‘Haus am Checkpoint Charlie’ which houses the best documentation available on the many escape attempts from East to West.

Another reminder of World War II is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche). Severely damaged during the war only the west spire is left today, standing as a symbol for peace.
Berlin’s Museum Island (Museumsinsel) is an ensemble of five museums built on an island in the Spree River. The buildings were erected between 1824 and 1930. They are a cultural and architectural monument of great importance and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Reichstag © Jorbasa/flickr.com

Berlin’s most significant Jewish landmarks are the New Synagogue, the Jewish Museum and the Holocaust Memorial. The synagogue was built in 1866 to seat 3200 people. It was the largest Jewish place of worship in Germany.

The Reichstag with its large glass dome is the seat of the German Parliament and after World War II damage was reconstructed in the 1990s by British architect Norman Foster.  The glass dome does not only allow free public access to the parliamentary proceedings but also great views of the city.

These are of course only a few of Berlin’s sights. You have to come to explore them all yourself.
And Berlin also has great shopping facilities to offer. You can get everything from expensive designer labels to flea and antique markets. World famous is the KaDeWe department store at Wittenbergplatz. It does not only boast designer labels but also the famous Food Halls.
Berlin of course offers a wide range of accommodation to match every taste and budget.

Rügen, or Rugia is Germany’s largest island and located in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

It is one of Germany’s most visited holiday destination and is connected by the Rügendamm bridge with the mainland.

Rügen does not only offer former imperial spa resorts, where you can still find the noblesse of the Belle Epoque, but also little fishing villages, long sandy beaches, 100-year-old lighthouses and ancient megalithic graves.

Binz © flickr/froutes

Caspar David Friedrich, the great Romantic painter born in Greifswald, brought fame to the majestic white chalk cliffs of Rügen.

A great way to explore Rügen is with the ‘Racing Roland’ steam train. You get around many sights and seaside resorts such as Lauterbach, Göhren, Putbus and Binz.

And on Rügen you can even find Jasmund National Park which is the smallest National Park in Germany and famous for its chalk cliffs. The highest with about 118 metres is called Königsstuhl (king’s chair). There is a beautiful hiking trail leading from Sassnitz to the Königsstuhl and the walk will take about 3.5 hours. If you don’t want to walk such a long distance you can go by car to the large car park at Hagen and take the shuttle bus from there.

Sassnitz is a seaside resort with a beautiful historical town centre with houses typical for the region. Also of interest of to the visitors are the Submarine Museum, the Harbour Museum and the Butterfly Park. From Sassnitz you can also get to many other countries such as Sweden or Lithuania by ferry.

Kap Arkona © flickr/elbfoto

Another seaside resort and not far from Sassnitz is Binz. It might be the most visited place of the isle of Rügen and offers many shops, cafés, restaurants and a large sandy beach. The Jagdschloss Granitz not far from Binz is a palace open to the public. There you have a great view over the area from the tower.

Another place worth seeing is Kap Arkona, a cape and the northernmost point of Rügen with two old lighthouses. One of them, the old Schinkelturm, is housing a museum, the other one is still in use but is also open to the public Another tower used to be a navy bearing tower and also is open to the public. You can also take a guided tour of the old bunker at the cape.

Leipzig, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, is located in the north-west of Saxony by the rivers Elster, Pleisse and Parthe.

From 1723 to 1750 Johann Sebastian Bach was musical director of Leipzig and also choirmaster of the famous St Thomas’ Boys Choir which emerged 800 years ago from the practice of music making during service in the former Ausgustinian Canons.

Thomaskirche/St Thomas's Church © flickr/vxla

In Leipzig you can learn a lot about Bach as the city has dedicated itself to maintaining his heritage. There are the Bach Archives, the Bach Museum and the Gewandhaus Orchstra. For more than 250 years the Gewandhaus Orchestra has been playing classical music in Leipzig, either in the Gewandhaus, in the Opera House or with the Boys Choir at St Thomas’ Church.

But you can also find the residence of the composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Leipzig. Today the building houses a museum with his original furniture amongst others on display.

Another famous citizen of Leipzig was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who studied in Leipzig from 1765 to 1768. A scene from his famous ‘Faust’ made the restaurant ‘Auerbachs Keller’ (Auerbach’s Cellar) world-famous.

In Leipzig you can also find the oldest surviving coffee house and restaurant in Europe. It is called ‘Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum’ and was first mentioned in 1556. It was reconstructed in 1719/20 and got its name from a statue at the main gate. Today the building not only houses a café and restaurant but also a museum.

Battle of the Nations Monument/Völkerschlachtdenkmal © flickr-Mara~earth light~

If you come to Leipzig by train you will arrive at one of the largest terminus train station in Europe that today also houses a state-of-the-art shopping and service centre.

The Old City Hall of Leipzig was built between 1556 and 1557 in only nine month and still is one of the most beautiful Renaissance town halls in Germany. Today it houses a museum where visitors can learn about the history of Leipzig.

To commemorate the Battle of the Nations of 1813 the largest memorial complex in Europe was erected near Leipzig. It has a viewing platform at 91 metres above ground that offers a great view of Leipzig and the whole region.

Leipzig was the starting point of the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 which led to the reunification of the two German states. You can visit St Nicholas’ Church where the Prayers for Peace were said and the demonstrations started. And what started with only a few people soon became a peaceful demonstration held by 70,000 men and women.

Leipzig is also called ‘mother of all trade fairs’ and opened the new exhibition centre in 1996. In 1997 it celebrated the 500th anniversary of being granted the Imperial Right to Hold Trade Fairs.

If you seek peace and quiet you should go for a walk in the Auenwald, a park and floodplain landscape that is unique in Europe and snakes all the way through the city.

Perfect for a day out with the whole family are the Leipzig Zoo, being one of the oldest and most varied in the world, and the Belantis Amusement Park.

Besides the famous restaurants Auerbachs Keller and Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum Leipzig also has numerous pubs, cafés, bars and beer gardens. Leipzig offers its visitors a wide range of international as well as local cuisine.

If you visit Leipzig you should purchase the LEIPZIG CARD with which you have free access to trams and busses and also get special discounts for museums, sightseeing tours and more. Click here for more information.

Being the largest coherent lakes and canals area in Germany, the Mecklenburg Lakes (Mecklenburgische Seenplatte) are located in southern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The region, which is sometimes called ‘land of the thousand lakes’ and was formed during the ice age, is home to the Müritz National Park with Germany’s second largest lake after Lake Constance, Lake Müritz.
The region is great for visitors who seek quietness and relaxation but also want to be active as it offers a variety of possibilities like hiking, cycling, horse riding and water sports.

Mecklenburger Seenplatte © flickr/mueritz

The landscape is magnificent and besides Müritz National Park travellers can also visit four more national parks called: Feldberger Seenlanschaft, Mecklenburgische Schweiz, Nossentiner/Schwinzer Heide and Sternberger Seenlandschaft. There are forests, crystal clear lakes, moor landscapes to attract the visitors and they can watch birds like sea eagles, fishing eagles, white storkes or migrating cranes in autumn, when even guided tours to the resting and nesting places are offered.

But there are also beautiful towns and villages in the wide open of the Mecklenburg landscape. In ancient times places like Röbel/Müritz, Wesenberg or Penzlin were called ‘Ackerbürgerstadt’ which means that they were towns being set up for citizens who worked in the fields. The towns and villages offer half timbered houses, cobbled streets and beautiful churches and town halls. In Ludorf visitors can see a very rare octagon shaped church and if you want to experience some of the ancient power and strength, you should visit historic monasteries like Malchow, Himmelpfort or Dobbertin.
Also situated in the region of the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte are quite a number of castles and mansions. Most of the buildings even have mysterious legends of their own and avenues lined up with trees lead to the buildings surrounded by magnificent gardens and parks. The castles and mansions are built in different styles like Gothic, Renaissance or English farmhouse style but also Classicism or neo-Gothic-Romantic. Some of the buildings are home of museums, host music festivals or are now hotels.

In the restaurants in the region travellers get typical Mecklenburg specialties like freshly smoked fish, bread from old fashioned ovens, and many others.

The name Meissen is closely related to the famous Meissen porcelain, but hardly anybody knows where the town Meissen is located.

Meissen is located in Saxony northwest of  Dresden on the Elbe river and the town is more than 1000 years old.

Castle and Cathedral © flickr/martinroell

The town’s landmark is the Albrechtsburg which is the oldest German castle built from 1471 to 1524. Since 1881 the castle has been home of a museum.

Next to the castle visitors can see Meissen Cathedral, built from 1250 to 1400, with its characteristic steeples. One of them wasn’t finished until 1908.
In the Cathedral there are seven statues by the so called Naumburger Meister. Naumburger Meister is the replacement for the name of an artist who had lived in the 13th century and who is now unknown. Visitors can also see an altar triptych made by Lukas Cranach the Elder.

In the Church of our Lady in Meissen the first tuneable chime of porcelain bells in the world was installed. You can hear it several times each day.

The Albrechtsburg castle is not only the town’s landmark but also the place where the Porcelain Manufacture was established in 1810.
The first high quality porcelain outside of China was more or less produced accidentally.
After the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger had claimed to be able to produce gold out of less valuable materials, the Elector August the Strong kept him in custody to produce gold. As to be expected he was not successful but together with Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus he managed to make porcelain.
And the porcelain wasn’t less profitable for August the Strong as everybody in Europe wanted to have it.

Until October 31st, 2010 there will be a porcelain exhibition in Albrechtsburg Castle called: “Der Stein der Weis(s)en – 300 Jahre Mythos Manufaktur Meissen: Die Albrechtsburg als Porzellanschloss.“.
Visitors can also see magnificent pieces of 300 years of Meissen porcelain in the show rooms of the Meissen Porcelain Manufacture in Talstrasse 9 in Meissen.

Sachsen-Anhalt/Saxony-Anhalt

Bitterfeld-Wolfen:

Industrie- und Filmmuseum Wolfen

Here you can see how normal films for cameras were made and you also learn about the history of photography. www.ifm-wolfen.de

Dessau-Roßlau:

Technikmuseum Hugo Junkers

Here you can learn about the airplanes designed by Hugo Junkers and see an old Junkers JU 52 that sunk on the Norway coast near Narvik in WW2. www.technikmuseum-dessau.de

Magdeburg:

Technikmuseum Magdeburg

Here in the museum you can see many small and large exhibits. You learn something about farming, industry, handcraft, and others. www.technikmuseum-magdeburg.de

Rostock is an old Hanseatic town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and about 800 years old.

Rostock is a university and port town with typical north German brick architecture in the historical centre.

City Hall © flickr/radzfoto

During the Middle Ages the town hall also was a merchant’s hall were traders would sell their goods. It has been the seat of the town council for almost 800 years and the baroque banqueting hall on the upper floor is also used for concerts.

St. Mary’s Church (Marienkirche) was built in the 13th century and is an imposing Gothic brick church. Inside there is an astronomical clock built by Hans Düringer in 1472.

St. Nicolas Church is the oldest church in Rostock and was built in the mid 13th century. It too is a Gothic brick church and was heavily destroyed during WW2. It was restored and is now used as an exhibition centre and concert hall. The acoustics are outstanding.

Rostock also is home to one of the oldest universities in the world. The University of Rostock was founded in 1419.

If you are interested in cultural history, you shouldn’t miss out the Cultural History Museum. Besides medieval arts and arts from the 16th to 19th century it also shows crafts from the Ahrenshoop and Schwaan artistic colonies.
In the nearby seaside resort of Warnemünde you can visit the Local History Museum which is located in an old fishermen’s cottage built in 1767.

Town Centre © flickr/az1172

Warnemünde welcomes visitors with a 100-metre wide sandy beach, a light house, old fishermen’s cottages and a fish market. You can enjoy a meal in one of the traditional fish restaurants before you visit the harbour with the fishing and sailing boats.

Visitors of Rostock who like to go walking or cycling can very well do so in the beautiful Rostock Heath. There you find a network of walking and cycling trails.

And if you want to see more of the region you should go on a trip to Bad Doberan and Heiligendamm. The Gothic minster certainly is worth a visit. From there you can go on a trip on the “Molli” narrow-gauge railway to Germany’s oldest seaside resort Heiligendamm founded in 1793. Heiligendamm is also known as “White Town by the Sea” due to the classicist white buildings lining the beach promenade.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Anklam:

Otto-Lilienthal-Museum

Here you can learn a lot about Otto Lilienthal’s first flights and his flying machines. He was the one who inspired the Wright brothers. www.lilienthal-museum.de

Peenemünde:

Historisch-Technisches Informationszentrum

From 1936 to 1945 the Military Test Site in Peenemünde was an ultramodern technology facility. Here missiles and other flight objects were developed. www.peenemuende.de

Rostock:

Schiffbau- und Schifffahrtsmuseum

Here you can learn all about East German ship building, from Slavic log-boats to modern cargo ships. www.schifffahrtsmuseum-rostock.de

Schwerin:

Mecklenburgisches Eisenbahn- und Technikmuseum

Here you can see old steam engines, diesel engines, railway carriages and much more. www.mef-schwerin.de.vu

Stralsund:

Deusches Meeresmuseum

Here you find oceanlike aquariums with more than 7,000 animals and in the Nautineum you can also learn about fishing, shipbuilding and oceanography. You can as well visit the outpost at Darsser Ort called Natureum. www.meeresmuseum.de

Berlin

Berlin:

Museum im Wasserwerk

Here you can learn about the history of water supply in Berlin. The museum is located the old waterworks of Friedrichshagen. www.museum-im-wasserwerk.de

Deutsches Technikmuseum

In the museum you can learn about the cultural history of technology. A broad spectrum of old and new technology is presented. www.sdtb.de

Saxony

Augustusburg – Schloss:

Motorrad-Museum

Here you can find one of Europe’s most important motorcycle collections. It is an exhibition of DKW and MZ bikes. And on October 3, 2010 there will be a vintage car meeting. www.die-sehenswerten-drei.de

Dresden:

Gläserne Manufaktur

Here visitors are able to see how the Volkswagen Phaeton is made by hand. www.glaesernemanufaktur.de

Technische Sammlung der Stadt Dresden

Here you can see exhibits concerning information and communication technology in an old factory for photo cameras. www.tsd.de

Meißen:

Staatliche Porzelan Manufaktur Meissen

Here you can see where the famous chinaware made in Meissen has been made during the last 300 years. www.meissen.de

Zwickau:

August Horch Museum

Here you can experience automobile history from Horch to Audi and in East German times the Trabant. www.horch-museum.de