About the Authors

Ever since packing his bag and leaving North Carolina, Christopher N. Anderson (chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15) has accumulated over thirteen years of traveling and writing experience. From crossing Siberia and sailing the Caribbean, to teaching English in Russia, Brazil, Switzerland, Austria and France, his diverse experiences have provided excellent fodder for his writing, featured in publications such as the Vienna Review, Frommer’s and Yanks Abroad. In addition to his traveling exploits, he has earned a Master’s in International Relations and speaks fluent French and German along with conversational Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian. More recently, he covered and reported live from the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Half-Swiss, half-American, Caroline Sieg’s (chapters 2, 4, 5, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19) relationship with Germany began with childhood trips to Munich to visit her Polish-German aunt. Later, she visited Berlin for the first time in 1989—two weeks after the Berlin Wall fell—and obtained her own piece of the wall. Later, she lived in Berlin and explored the often-overlooked northern part of the country. These days, she hangs her hat in London, but visits Germany as often as possible to indulge in Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake), sniff out the best currywurst and explore the latest gallery opening.

Frommer’s Star Ratings, Icons & Abbreviations

Every hotel, restaurant, and attraction listing in this guide has been ranked for quality, value, service, amenities, and special features using a star-rating system. In country, state, and regional guides, we also rate towns and regions to help you narrow down your choices and budget your time accordingly. Hotels and restaurants are rated on a scale of zero (recommended) to three stars (exceptional). Attractions, shopping, nightlife, towns, and regions are rated according to the following scale: zero stars (recommended), one star (highly recommended), two stars (very highly recommended), and three stars (must-see).

In addition to the star-rating system, we also use seven feature icons that point you to the great deals, in-the-know advice, and unique experiences that separate travelers from tourists. Throughout the book, look for:

special finds—those places only insiders know about

fun facts—details that make travelers more informed and their trips more fun

kids—best bets for kids, and advice for the whole family

special moments—those experiences that memories are made of

overrated—places or experiences not worth your time or money

insider tips—great ways to save time and money

great values—where to get the best deals

The following abbreviations are used for credit cards:

AE American Express

DISC Discover

V Visa

DC Diners Club

MC MasterCard

The Romantic Road

A collection of 28 picturesque towns, the Romantic Road (Romantische Strasse) makes for a great connection between Frankfurt and Munich, and stands as a memorable highlight of any trip through southern Germany. First drawn up in the aftermath of World War II, the 385km (239-mile) scenic route sets out in historic Würzburg, skirts the pastoral villages along the border of Bavaria and Baden-Würtemburg, and culminates in the rising foothills of Füssen and the Alps.

Although major centers such as Würzburg, Rothernburg ob der Tauber, Augsburg, and Füssen can be seen by train within a week, the entire region begs the traveler to slow down, to take a bike or hike, and to lose track of time and modernity in the well-preserved and restored communities along the way. Regardless of your means of travel, the well-connected tourist offices have detailed maps and information to get you where you need to go.

The Towns of the Romantic Road Each town along the route merits a visit in its own right, but here we’ve included the best ones, along with a few that are not officially on the route. Würzburg, the bustling heart of the Franconian wine region, possesses one of Germany’s finest palaces. Although often flooded with tourists, Rotherburg ob der Tauber offers an unparalleled medieval core that should not be missed. Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen are less-touristy versions of Rothenburg, each with their own unique charm. Augsburg provides the amenities of a city, with a rich history to admire.

Bus Tours of the Romantic Road The Romantische Strasse Touristik Arbeitsgemeinschaft GbR, Segringer Strasse 19, 91550 Dinkelsbühl ( 09851/5513487;www.romantischestrasse.de), oversees the route and offers maps for drivers, cyclists, and walkers. The office also operates a convenient coach ( 069/719126 268, or 0171/6532340 cellphone; www.romanticroadcoach.de) from mid-April to mid-October with daily departures from Frankfurt and Füssen at 8am. With a 6-month pass costing 104€, passengers can hop on and off anywhere along the route, usually in main squares or near partner hotels. Eurail Pass holders receive a 20% discount. In Frankfurt information is available at Touring Tours & Travel Gmbh, Am Römerhof 17, 60486 Frankfurt am Main ( 069/7903501;www.deutsche-touring.com).

Würzburg ★★

Würzburg

280km (174 miles) NW of Munich, 119km (74 miles) SE of Frankfurt, 109km (68 miles) NW of Nürnberg

For Germans, the south begins at Würzburg, one of the loveliest baroque cities in the country and the best place to start driving the Romantic Road. This young and lively city on the Main has a population of some 50,000 students, who give it a German version of joie de vivre. It’s also a center of the Franconian wine region.

Würzburg remained faithful to the Roman Catholic Church throughout the Reformation. It’s been called “the town of Madonnas” because of the more than 100 statues of its patron saint that adorn the house fronts. The best known of these statues is the baroque Patrona Franconiae, also known as the “Weeping Madonna,” which stands among other Franconian saints along the buttresses of the 15th-century Alte Mainbrücke, Germany’s second-oldest stone bridge.

On March 16, 1945, Würzburg was shattered by a bombing raid. Since a miraculous rebuilding program, nearly every major structure has been restored.

Essentials

Getting There

By Train The Würzburg Hauptbahnhof lies on several major and regional rail lines, with frequent connections to all major German cities. From Frankfurt, 30 trains arrive per day (trip time: 1 hr., 10 min.); from Munich, 20 trains (2 hr., 10 min.); from Nürnberg, 30 trains (1 hr.); and 12 trains from Stuttgart (2 hr., 15 min.). For rail information and schedules, call 01805/996633 or visit www.bahn.de.

By Bus For bus service along the Romantic Road, see “Bus Tours of the Romantic Road,” above.

By Car Access is via the A7 Autobahn from north and south or the A3 Autobahn from east and west. The A81 Autobahn has links from the southwest.

Visitor Information

Contact the Tourist Information Office, Falkenhaus am Markt ( 0931/372398). It’s open April to December Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm, Saturday 10am to 2pm (May–Oct also open Sun 10am–2pm); hours January to March are Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm, Saturday 10am to 1pm.

Special Events For Mozart lovers, the highlight of the cultural year is the annual Mozart Festival,www.mozartfest-wuerzburg.de, staged over the entire month of June. Wolfgang Amadeus fans from around the world, especially Americans and Europeans, flock to this festival. The venue for most of the Mozart concerts is the glorious baroque palace, the Residenz (see below). For information, contact the tourist office (see above). Many visitors book tours that feature the Mozart festival; the best are conducted by Allegro Holidays ( 800/838-6860;www.allegroholidays.com).

Würzburg is also quite proud of its 4-day Africa Festival (www.africafestival.org), also in June, and the largest of its kind in Europe

Getting Around

The quickest and most efficient means for covering the central core of Würzburg is by tram (streetcar). A single fare is 2.20€, or else you can purchase a ticket, good for 24 hours at any station, for 4.45€. The same fare applies to buses, which also serve the city. The no. 9 bus is especially convenient, linking the Marienberg Fortress and the Residenz palace. For information about routes and schedules, call 0931/361352 or visit www.vvm-info.de.

Exploring Würzburg

In spring and summer, the liveliest place in town is the Marktplatz (central marketplace). Here street performers entertain and vendors hawk their wares, ranging from fresh fruit to souvenir trinkets. You can also stroll down the traffic-free Schönbornstrasse, with its modern boutiques and cafes. The wine merchants here sell Bocksbeutels, the green, narrow-necked wine bottles native to the region. It’s said that the shape came about because wine-drinking monks found it the easiest to hide under their robes.

Dom St. Kilian CHURCH This cathedral, begun in 1045, is the fourth-largest Romanesque church in Germany. Its interior received a coat of high-baroque stucco after 1700. The imposing row of bishops’ tombs begins with that of Gottfried von Spitzenberg (ca. 1190), who was one of the first prince-bishops to rule over the town. Look for three sandstone tombstones by Riemenschneider, constructed between 1502 and 1506. The Dom is dedicated to St. Kilian, an Irish missionary to Franconia in the 7th century.

Domstrasse (at the end of Schönbornstrasse). 0931/3211830. Free admission. Easter–Oct Mon–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 1–6pm; Nov to the day before Easter Mon–Sat 10am–noon and 2–4:30pm, Sun 12:30–1:30pm and 2:30–6pm.

Festung Marienberg (Marienberg Fortress) ★ HISTORIC BUILDING Festung Marienberg, located across from the Altstadt, over the stone bridge, was the residence of the local prince-bishops from 1253 to 1720. The combination of age and wartime destruction has taken a serious toll on its thick walls and once-impenetrable ramparts. But what remains is worth a visit. The 8th-century Marienkirche, one of the oldest churches in Germany, stands within its walls.

In the former arsenal and Echter bulwark, to the right of the first courtyard, is the Mainfränkisches Museum (Main-Franconian Museum), housed here since 1946. Here you’ll find the historical museum of the former Bishopric of Würzburg and Dukedom of Franconia, as well as the provincial museum of lower Franconia. On display is a collection of important sculptures by the great, flamboyant Gothic master Tilman Riemenschneider (1460–1531), called “the master of Würzburg.” The sculptor came to live here in 1483 and was the town’s mayor in 1520 and 1521. Never a totally decorative artist, Riemenschneider concentrated on the reality of people’s appearances, highlighting their hands, faces, and clothing. The museum also displays paintings by Tiepolo and sandstone figures from the rococo gardens of the prince-bishops’ summer palace. A tribute to one of the few industries of the city, winemaking, is paid in the press house, which contains historic casks and carved cask bases and a large collection of glasses and goblets.

Fürstenbaumuseum ( 0931/43838) is situated in the restored princes’ wing of the fortress. Here you can glimpse the living quarters and conditions of the prince-bishops up to 1718. The urban-history section offers a stroll through 1,200 eventful years of Würzburg’s history, including an exhibit relating to the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1895. A model of the town shows its appearance in 1525, and another shows the destruction after the bombing of 1945.

Festung Marienberg. 0931/205940.www.mainfraenkisches-museum.de. Admission to Mainfränkisches Museum 4€ adults, 2€ students, free for children 13 and under. Apr–Oct Tues–Sun 10am–5pm; Nov–Mar Tues–Sun 10am–4pm. Fürstenbaumuseum 4.50€ adults, 3.50€ students, free for children 17 and under. Apr–Oct Tues–Sun 9am–6pm. Tours of the fortress (in English and German) 3.50€ adults, 2.50€ students. Apr–Oct Tues–Sun 10am–4pm. Bus: 9.

Residenz (Schloss und Gartenverwaltung Würzburg) ★★ HISTORIC BUILDING The Residenz of Würzburg is the last and finest of a line of baroque castles built in Bavaria in the 17th and 18th centuries. This horseshoe-shaped edifice was begun in 1720 to satisfy Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn’s passion for elegance and splendor. Its design was the joint effort of the best Viennese, French, and German architects working under the leadership of Balthasar Neumann (1687–1753). An architect and an engineer, Neumann was known for his technical virtuosity and the harmony of his compositions. This castle shows a unity of purpose and design unusual in structures of such size.

At the center of the castle is the masterful Treppenhaus (staircase). The high, rounded ceiling above is decorated with a huge fresco by Tiepolo. At its center, Apollo is seen ascending to the zenith of the vault. The surrounding themes represent the four corners of the world, the seasons, and signs of the zodiac. The painting appears to be overflowing onto the walls of the upper hall.

The other important attraction is the court chapel, in the southwest section. Neumann placed the window arches at oblique angles to coordinate the windows with the oval sections, thus creating a muted effect. The rectangular room is divided into five oval sections, three with domed ceilings. Colored marble columns define the sections, their gilded capitals enriching the ceiling frescoes by Johann Rudolf Byss. At the side altars, Tiepolo painted two important works: The Fall of the Angels on the left and The Assumption of the Virgin on the right. Note: Due to renovation, the chapel will be closed until summer 2012.

During the summer, a Mozart festival is held in the upper halls. For information, call 0931/372336.

Residenzplatz 2, Tor B. 0931/355170.www.residenz-wuerzburg.de. Admission 7.50€ adults; 6.50€ students, children, and seniors. Apr–Oct daily 9am–6pm; Nov–Mar daily 10am–4pm. Guided tours in English (included in admission) 11am and 3pm. Bus: 9.

Where to Eat

Try the local specialty, Zwiebelkuchen, which is like a quiche Lorraine, and also look for another specialty, Meerfischle, a well-seasoned stew made from saltwater fish. White Franconian wine goes well with the local sausage.

Backöfele FRANCONIAN/GERMAN Because this place is a short walk from both the Residenz and the Rathaus, you’ll probably eat here at least once while in Würzburg. Even the locals don’t really know whether to call it a beer hall, a wine cellar, or a restaurant. Regardless, the place serves well-prepared traditional food in huge quantities. Two specialties are lamb chops with fresh potatoes and fresh vegetables, and pikeperch with noodles and a salad.

Ursulinergasse 2. 0931/59059.www.backoefele.de. Reservations recommended. Main courses 7€–29€. AE, MC, V. Mon–Sat noon–11pm; Sun noon–10pm. Tram: 1 or 4.

Ratskeller Würzburg FRANCONIAN/INTERNATIONAL This 500-year-old tavern keeps alive the tradition of a city hall cellar restaurant for its citizens, serving tasty Franconian fare at reasonable prices. Country cookery is an art here, as you’ll discover if you order the boiled beef with horseradish sauce and noodles. Other specialties include marinated salmon with potato pancakes, pikeperch in a white-wine sauce, and medallions of pork gratin with cheese. Game is featured in season. Ask about local beer and Franconian white wines.

Langgasse 1 (near the Alte Mainbrücke). 0931/13021.www.wuerzburger-ratskeller.de. Reservations required Sat–Sun. Main courses 8€–26€. AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 11:30am–10:30pm. Tram: 1, 2, 3, or 5.

Weinhaus Zum Stachel ★ FRANCONIAN/INTERNATIONAL No other wine house in Würzburg is as old as this one, dating from 1413. Seats and walls have been burnished by the clothing of many hundreds of drinkers and diners during the past 500 years. Some of the generous portions include the veal cordon bleu, tender pepper steak aromatically flavored with cognac, or more prosaic rump steak with onions. Some dishes, such as chateaubriand, are so elaborate that they’re prepared only for two. Chef Richard Huth is proudest of his freshwater fish prepared according to old family recipes. In summer, you can dine in a vine-draped outdoor courtyard, and sip wines from the restaurant’s own vineyards.

Gressengasse 1. 0931/52770.www.weinhaus-stachel.de. Reservations required. Main courses 12€–23€; 3-course meal 38€, 6-course meal 66€. MC, V. Tues–Sat 11am–midnight. Tram: 1, 3, 4, or 5.

Wein und Fischhaus Schiffbäuerin ★ SEAFOOD One of the best dining spots in the region is this combined wine house/fish restaurant, across Alte Mainbrücke on the Marienberg fortress side in an old half-timbered building in a narrow street. Once the residence of shipbuilders, the house now specializes in freshwater fish such as pike, carp, char, tench, trout, wels, and eel. Most of these dishes are priced per 100 grams (3 1/2 oz.). Soup specialties are fish, snail, and French onion.

Katzengasse 7. 0931/42487.www.schiffbaeuerin.de. Reservations recommended. Main courses 16€–24€. No credit cards. Tues-Sat 11:30am–2:30pm and 6–11:30pm; Sun 11:30am–3pm. Closed Tues in Jun, Jul, and Aug. Tram: 2 or 4.

Entertainment & Nightlife

Much of Würzburg’s nightlife takes place in its numerous Weinstuben (wine cellars). For music and cultural happenings, scan the flyers posted in the Studentenhaus (student center) on Am Exerzierplatz at Münzstrasse.

The city’s oldest jazz club, Omnibus, Theaterstrasse 10 ( 0931/56121;www.omnibus-wuerzburg.de; bus: 14 or 20), has been packing them in for live acts for over 3 decades. This cellar-level joint is also where people come to drink and play chess. It’s open Monday to Thursday 8pm to 1am, and Friday and Saturday 9pm to 3am. Cover charges for performances range from 8€ to 16€. A place for a cheap meal or a drink, Standard, Oberthürstrasse 11a ( 0931/51140;www.standard-wuerzburg.de; bus: 14 or 20), is open daily 10am to 2am. It occasionally has a live band on the weekend. Kult Statt Kneipe, Landwehrstrasse 10 ( 0931/53143;www.kult-wuerzburg.de; tram: 1, 3, or 5), keeps the stereo cranking. It’s open Monday to Friday 9am to 1am (Fri until 2am), Saturday 10am to 2am, and Sunday 10am to 1am.

The Weinstuben Juliusspital, Klinikstrasse 1 ( 0931/3931400;www.weingut-juliusspital.de), is one of the many top addresses for wine connoisseurs, with an array of characteristic Franconian vintages. Meals are also served. It’s open daily 10am to midnight.

Where to Stay

Expensive

Hotel und Weinrestaurant Schloss Steinburg ★ If you’re looking for a dream castle, this pretty much fits the bill. With 13th-century roots and a 19th-century makeover, a hillside of vineyards sweeping down before it, and a breathtaking view over the Main and the steeples of Würzburg, the Steinburg provides idyllic charm within reach of the city’s sights. Stay in either an exquisitely furnished Dream Castle Room, a Rural Castle Room with more country nostalgia, or a more modest but still fancy Castle Room. The location is ideal for motorists.

Auf dem Steinberg, 97080 Würzburg. www.steinburg.com. 0931/97020. Fax 0931/97121. 46 units. 155€–245€ double. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Free parking. Take Rte. 27 5km (3 miles) toward Fulda. Amenities: Restaurant; indoor heated pool; room service; sauna. In room: TV, hair dryer.

Premier Hotel Rebstock ★★ This palace with a rococo facade dates from at least 1408, and is now a premier hotel run under the Best Western brand. The airy foyer with a convertible sun roof greets the guest with statues, antiques, paintings, and a Spanish sea chest. The rooms themselves are conservatively designed with less flair than you’d expect given the rococo style. A few rooms have fancy wrought-iron bed frames with drapes. Its location across the river from the Marienberg is also a plus.

Neubaustrasse 7, 97070 Würzburg. www.rebstock.com. 800/528-1234 in the U.S., or 0931/30930. Fax 0931/3093100. 70 units. 169€–213€ double. Children 11 and under stay free in parent’s room. AE, MC, V. Parking 10€. Tram: 1, 3, 4, or 5. Amenities: 2 restaurants; bar; babysitting; room service; Wi-Fi (free; in lobby). In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar.

Moderate

Franziskaner For homespun cleanliness, this 1909 hotel is a winner—and the price is right, too. You’ll receive a hearty welcome from the staff. The lobby has attractive black panels surrounded with natural wood; the breakfast room has fine large windows looking out to the greenery beyond. All of the rooms are well furnished, each with an immaculate bathroom. The hotel serves only breakfast, but its restaurant Tamarillo offers Frankish and Mediterranean cuisine.

Franziskanerplatz 2, 97070 Würzburg. www.hotel-franziskaner.de. 0931/35630. Fax 0931/3563333. 38 units. 106€–130€ double. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, MC, V. Parking 10€. Tram: 1. Amenities: Restaurant. In room: TV, hair dryer, Wi-Fi (free).

Hotel Maritim ★★★ Nothing in Würzburg matches this hotel for comfort and style, not even its closest contender, Premier Hotel Rebstock (see above). The Maritim, built in 1983, has 20 rooms with views over the Main River and is linked to the city convention center. A baroque-style mansard roof tops its modern and imposing yellow facade. The comfortable rooms each contain a midsize tiled bathroom.

Pleichertorstrasse 5, 97070 Würzburg. www.maritim.de. 0931/30530. Fax 0931/3053900. 287 units. 96€–191€ double; from 206€ suite. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Parking 10€. Tram: 2 or 4. Amenities: Restaurant; bar; babysitting; bikes; indoor heated pool; room service; sauna. In room: A/C, TV, hair dryer, minibar, Wi-Fi (8€ per hour).

Zur Stadt Mainz ★ Dating from the 1400s, when it was known as the Raven, this is one of the most romantic and atmospheric of Franconian inns. Owners Margarethe and Anneliese Schwarzmann are known for their hospitality and excellent cuisine. The midsize rooms are furnished in a cozy, old-fashioned Franconian style, with comfortable beds, tasteful furnishings, and small bathrooms with shower only. The breakfast buffet is the most generous and the best in town.

Even if you’re not a guest, consider visiting its restaurant, where many of the traditional dishes come from a historic cookbook. Apple strudel lures afternoon coffee drinkers.

Semmelstrasse 39, 97070 Würzburg. www.hotel-stadtmainz.de. 0931/53155. Fax 0931/58510. 15 units. 100€ double; 130€ triple; 160€ quad. Rates include continental breakfast buffet. AE, DC, MC, V. Parking 9€. Amenities: Restaurant. In room: TV, hair dryer.

Inexpensive

St. Josef ★ St. Josef offers the best inexpensive accommodations in the Altstadt. The rooms may be small, but the Casagrande family has successfully brought them up to date. They are pleasantly furnished and well maintained, each equipped with an efficiently organized bathroom. Fresh flowers add a personalized touch to this well-run establishment.

Semmelstrasse 28–30, 97070 Würzburg. www.hotel-st-josef.de. 0931/308680. Fax 0931/3086860. 33 units. 89€–95€ double; 124€ triple. Rates include continental breakfast. MC, V. Parking 8.50€. Tram: 1, 2, 3, or 5. Amenities: Restaurant. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar.

Schönleber With easy access down the street to the Residenz palace, the Schönleber, meaning “one who lives beautifully,” also sits in close proximity to other sites, not to mention the train station. Two boutiques occupy enormous arched windows facing the sidewalk on the ground floor, while the upper floors offer smallish but comfortably furnished rooms with modern amenities. Bathrooms are cramped but adequate. The staff is friendly and helpful.

Theaterstrasse 5, 97070 Würzburg. www.hotel-schoenleber.de. 0931/3048900. Fax 0931/30489030. 54 units, 27 with bathroom. 66€ double without bathroom; 72€–100€ double with bathroom. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, MC, V. Parking 8€. Tram: 1, 2, 3, or 5. Amenities: Bikes; Wi-Fi (2€ per hour; in lobby). In room: TV, hair dryer.

A Detour to Miltenberg & Amorbach

Miltenberg ★

29km (18 miles) S of Mespelbrunn, 71km (44 miles) W of Würzburg

This riverside town is located to the west of the traditional and official route of the Romantic Road, but it’s very popular and well worth a visit. Miltenberg is sleepy, traditional, and full of half-timbered buildings. If you’re looking for a medieval town but you want to avoid the tour-bus hordes that overrun places like Rothenburg (see “Rothenburg ob der Tauber,” below), Miltenberg is for you.

The town, which is still enclosed within walls and gate towers, is attractively situated under a steep wooded hill crowned by a castle. Its municipal charter dates from 1237, but it was actually settled centuries earlier by the Romans. The best way to appreciate Miltenberg’s charm is on a fast drive-through, with a pedestrian detour through its charming Marktplatz ★. Here, on steeply sloping terrain centered on a Renaissance-era red-sandstone fountain and a wealth of flowers, you’ll find a phalanx of half-timbered houses, and one of the oldest inns in Germany, the Haus zum Riesen.

Essentials

Getting There By Train There’s at least one connection per hour from Würzburg, 90 minutes away, requiring a changeover in Aschaffenburg. About 25 trains per day make the 45-minute trip from this important railway junction. For railway information, call 01805/996633 or visit www.bahn.de.

By Car From the north, take Rte. B469 into town (it’s signposted). From Würzburg, take the A3 west and then minor roads.

Visitor Information The tourist office, Engelplatz 69 ( 09371/404119;www.miltenberg.info), offers English-language pamphlets describing brief self-guided walking tours through the town. It’s open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. May to October, it’s also open Saturday 10am to 1pm.

Exploring Miltenberg

Park your car in the first convenient parking lot and walk into the center of town—don’t attempt to drive. Other than the above-mentioned Marktplatz, the main attraction in town is Schloss Miltenberg ★. (It is sometimes identified simply as “Miltenburg.”), which has recently reopened after a long-standing series of renovations. You can visit the courtyardand climb to the top of a watchtower for a sweeping view over the surrounding forest. The courtyard, the tower, and the cafe that’s associated with the site are open only May to October Tuesday to Friday 2 to 5:30pm, Saturday and Sunday 1 to 5:30pm. Admission is 3€ adults and 2€ for children 11 and under.

During your exploration of Miltenberg, don’t overlook the oldest and most historic bar in town, a 500-year-old hangout that locals refer to simply as Weinhaus, Marktplatz 185 ( 09371/5500). Here, every evening between 5:30pm and midnight, you can order any of the local vintages, at a per-glass price of 3€ to 8€.

Where to Eat

Gasthaus zum Riesen GERMAN Although this restaurant is associated with the hotel below, it is run separately at a nearby address, lying 90m (300 ft.) away. Inside, the dining room is an antique that often features old-fashioned dishes, such as bear steak, imported from Russia. From the kitchen come such German granny favorites as either potato soup or liver dumpling soup, as well as a dish that we’ve seen in no other restaurant in Germany, Ochsenfetzen (“torn-apart ox”). This delicacy—the subject of many articles in culinary reviews and based on authentic medieval scholarship—uses brisket of beef marinated for 2 weeks in marinades that change every other day. You can also order such rib-sticking fare as loin of pork with mushrooms, or a platter piled high with pork filets, turkey filets, German sausages, Rösti (hash browns), and freshly made salads. Most diners order freshly made crepes or ice cream for dessert.

Hauptstrasse 99. 09371/989948.www.riesen-miltenberg.de. Main courses 8€–19€. AE, MC, V. Mon–Wed 11am–midnight; Thurs–Sat 11am–1am.

Where to Stay

Haus zum Riesen Hotel ★ This historic hotel dates from 1190, just before it hosted Frederick Barbarossa during his expeditions in this part of Germany. During the Thirty Years’ War, it housed VIPs from both sides, depending on who was in control. Today, this hotel is the most evocative in town, graced with charmingly old-fashioned rooms, usually with beamed ceilings. Bathrooms range from midsize to spacious. However, the place is more famous as a restaurant (see review above) than as a hotel. There is a major drawback here: Some members of the staff are the rudest you’ll encounter along the Romantic Road.

Hauptstrasse 97, 63897 Miltenberg. www.riesen-miltenberg.de. 09371/3644. 15 units. 80€–105€ double; 125€ suite. Rates include continental breakfast. No credit cards. Amenities: Restaurant; bar; room service. In room: Hair dryer.

Hotel Altes Bannhaus ★ This medieval hotel on the town’s main street is behind a severely dignified stone facade that’s graced with an elaborate iron bracket. It treads the fine line between authentically historical and merely dowdy. Overall, its vaulted stone cellars and massive masonry are charming. Rooms are more angular and modern looking than the authentically antique public areas. Each has functional furniture, small windows, and small bathrooms.

Hauptstrasse 211, 63897 Miltenberg. www.altesbannhaus.de. 09371/3061. Fax 09371/68754. 10 units. 95€–100€ double. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Amenities: Restaurant; room service. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar, Wi-Fi (free).

Amorbach ★

11km (7 miles) S of Miltenberg, 92km (57 miles) SW of Würzburg

This little town shouldn’t take up too much of your time, but it does offer a few rewarding sights, notably the Abteikirche of St. Maria. It also has one of the finest hotels in the region. As you wander about Amorbach’s center, note how local homeowners have dotted the half-timbered facades with flower boxes.

Essentials

Getting There By Train or Bus Sixteen trains a day make the 12-minute trip from Miltenberg to the Amorbach terminus, in addition to a handful of buses, which need 30 minutes to reach the town. From other points, passengers must arrive first in Miltenberg for a change of trains before proceeding on to Amorbach. For railway information, call 01805/996633 or visit www.bahn.de.

By Car From Miltenberg, follow Route 469 south for 11km (7 miles).

Visitor Information The Stadt Verkehrsamt, at the Rathaus, Marktplatz 1 ( 09373/20940;www.amorbach.de), is open April to October Monday to Friday 9:30am to 12:30pm and 2:00 to 5:30pm, Saturday 10:30am to 2:30pm. From November to March, it is open Monday to Friday 10am to noon and 3 to 5pm.

Exploring Amorbach

Much of the fun of a visit to Amorbach lies simply in wandering through the streets of the old town, where half-timbered medieval buildings, some of them a bit artfully askew, still evoke old Germany.

The town’s most important monument is the Abteikirche St. Maria ★, Kirchplatz ( 09373/971545;www.abteikirche.de). This impressive church underwent at least a half-dozen enlargements and alterations between the 8th and the 18th centuries, but it still retains a degree of charm and cohesiveness, for example the rococo gable between Romanesque towers. The interior is a mass of ornate baroque stucco, centering on one of the most impressive baroque-era organs in Germany. Entrance is free, but a guided tour, conducted in German or English, costs 4.50€ per person. It’s open Monday to Saturday 10am to noon and 1 to 2pm, and Sunday noon to 5pm.

The ruined remains of Wildenburg Castle, Odenwald ( 09373/20940), lie 5km (3 miles) south of Amorbach. Originally built 1,000 years ago, it’s now little more than a jumble of impressive medieval-looking rock piles. The restored watchtower, however, can be climbed every Sunday 11am to 5pm. Admission is free. The view over the Odenwald Forest is excellent.

Where to Eat & Stay

Der Schafhof Amorbach ★★★ The most romantic and carefully manicured hotel in the district lies within what was originally a Benedictine monastery (ca. 1450) and rebuilt in 1721 in a country-baroque style. The more historic rooms lie within the former abbey; more modern, better-equipped units are within a well-built modern annex. Our favorites lie under the eaves of the main building and are crisscrossed with a labyrinth of hand-hewn ceiling beams. Rooms are stylish and comfortably outfitted in a plush but conservative style, each with a midsize tiled bathroom.

Local gourmets fawn on the sublime cuisine served in the hotel’s Abtstube, the finest restaurant in the district, specializing in regional and Mediterranean cuisine. Main courses range from 16€ to 26€.

Otterbachtal, 63916 Amorbach. www.schafhof.de. 09373/97330. Fax 09373/4120. 24 units. 135€–180€ double; 225€–260€ suite. Rates include continental breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. From Amorbach, follow N47 (the Nibelungenstrasse) west for 5km (3 miles). Amenities: 2 restaurants; room service; sauna. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar (in some).

Weikersheim

10km (6 miles) E of Bad Mergentheim, 40km (25 miles) S of Würzburg

The architecture of this riverside town is consistently 18th century; it’s one of the most stylistically unified towns on the Romantic Road. Weikersheim also boasts one of the mightiest castles on the Romantic Road.

Essentials

Getting There By Train or Bus Four direct trains pull into Weikersheim from Würzburg at intervals of 2 hours throughout the day (trip time: 90 min.). Six direct trains also make the trip from Aschaffenburg (trip time: 2 hr., 15 min.). From Stuttgart, change trains at Lauda or Crailsheim, a trip that takes over 2 hours. For information about railway schedules, call the station at 01805/996633 or visit www.bahn.de. For bus service along the Romantic Road, see “Bus Tours of the Romantic Road,” at the beginning of this chapter.

By Car From Bad Mergentheim, take the B19 to Igersheim, then the L2251 along the Tauber.

Visitor Information The Tourist Office at Marktplatz 7 ( 07934/10255;www.weikersheim.de) is open May to October Monday to Friday 9am to 5:30pm, and November to April Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm and Friday 9am to 1pm.

Exploring Weikersheim

During its formative years, the very existence of the town was dependent on its castle, Schloss Weikersheim, Marktplatz 11 ( 07934/992950;www.schloss-weikersheim.de). It was begun in 1586 after Count Wolfgang II reestablished Weikersheim as his family’s main residence, ordering that the old moated castle be replaced with a new Renaissance palace. Work finished a century later in a severely dignified style that had nothing to do with the baroque style then popular in other parts of Germany.

You can visit the castle’s interior daily April to October 9am to 6pm and November to March 10am to noon and 1 to 5pm; admission is 5.50€ adults and 2.80€ for students, seniors, and children. A family ticket is 14€. Its architectural and decorative highlight is the Rittersaal (Knight’s Hall) ★★, which was completed in 1603 and shows the transition between the baroque and the earlier Renaissance style. This is the most sumptuous banqueting hall ever built in Germany. Note the bas-reliefs of game animals lining the walls. The entrance doorway is carved with a scene of a battle against the Turks. The castle contains one of the most remarkable collections of antique furnishings ★★ of any castle in Germany, a treasure-trove stretching out for 2 centuries beginning in 1550. Also, allow some time to wander through the well-preserved baroque Schlossgarten (castle gardens).

To one side of the castle is the Marktplatz, a semicircular market square that opens onto sweeping vistas. It was laid out in the early 18th century.

Where to Eat & Stay

Flair Hotel Laurentius ★ The most appealing hotel in town is an old-fashioned monument to the art of hospitality. It’s an ideal stopover along the Romantic Road, for either a meal or an overnight stay. Its vaulted, street-level area is the site of a cozy restaurant and wine bar. Upstairs, a series of high-ceilinged rooms contain a pleasing, unpretentious mix of attractive reproductions and genuine antiques. Bathrooms are quirkily old-fashioned, but not without charm. Suites have whirlpool tubs and panoramic flatscreen televisions.

Marktplatz 5, 97990 Weikersheim. www.hotel-laurentius.de. 07934/91080. Fax 07934/910818. 13 units. 60€–125€ per person double. Rates include continental breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Free parking. Amenities: Restaurant; bar; room service; sauna. In room: TV/DVD, hair dryer, minibar (in some), Wi-Fi (free).

Creglingen

19km (12 miles) E of Weikersheim, 40km (25 miles) S of Würzburg

With a history stretching back more than 4,000 years, Creglingen became an important Celtic stronghold north of the Limes defense border of the Roman Empire. Later on, around the year 1000, it was mentioned in written sources as a winegrowing site. In 1349, the town gained the prestigious status of a “city.” Around the same time, Creglingen became an important pilgrimage site, thanks to the legend of a local farmer who claimed to have seen Jesus and a phalanx of angels. Today, Creglingen is one of the quieter hamlets along the Romantic Road, with a tiny but colorful inner core of buildings that evoke the Germany of long ago and a charming but substandard set of accommodations, usually in local farmhouses.

Essentials

Getting There

By Train Given that the nearest trains stations are at Weikersheim (see above) and the hamlet of Steinach, about 19km (12 miles) east of Creglingen, you’ll need to take a local bus (see below) or taxi to reach Creglingen (the latter will run about 40€). Rail connections from Würzburg arrive in Steinach about once an hour. For railway information, call the information service for local train lines at 01805/996633 or visit www.bahn.de.

By Bus For convenient bus service along the Romantic Road, see “Bus Tours of the Romantic Road,” at the beginning of this chapter. Otherwise, local buses operated by Omnibusverkehr Franken ( 0931/3528940;www.ovf.de) also make the trip from Weikersheim via Creglingen to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. However, connections are irregular, ranging from 5 to 10 a day from either direction, and buses may be filled with school children outside high season. Inquire at local tourist offices for exact information and departure times.

By Car From Weikersheim, either follow the L2251 for 18km (11 miles) through the scenic bend of the Tauber River valley, or cut east via the L1001 and L1003 for 12km (7 1/2 miles)

Visitor Information

Tourist information is at Bad Mergentheimer Strasse 14 ( 07933/631;www.creglingen.de); it’s open Monday to Friday 9am to 4:30pm.

Exploring Creglingen

Creglingen is home of one of the most quirky museums in Germany, the Fingerhutmuseum (Thimble Museum), Kohlesmühle 6 ( 07933/370;www.fingerhutmuseum.de), with the largest collection of thimbles in Europe. Some of them are bone rings dating from prehistoric times; others are made of brass that was smelted in Creglingen during the Middle Ages. It’s open April to October Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 12:30pm and 2 to 5pm; hours for November, December, and March are Tuesday to Sunday 1 to 4pm. Admission is 2€.

The most important local attraction is the Herrgottskirche (Chapel of Our Lord). Located opposite the Thimble Museum on the road to Münster, this chapel built by the counts of Hohenlohe around 1525 features an enormous altarpiece by Tilman Riemenschneider. The 10m (33-ft.) structure showing the ascension of Mary was carved in the 16th century. Figures with expressive faces are set in a filigree shrine specially constructed to catch the day’s changing light effects. The chapel can be visited daily April to October 9:15am to 6pm, and November to March Tuesday to Sunday 1 to 4pm. Admission is 2€. For more information, contact the tourist office ( 07933/508), which is set 3km (2 miles) south of Creglingen within the Herrgottstal Valley. It’s clearly posted from the village center.

Where to Stay

Accommodations are not plentiful in Creglingen, since most visitors are merely passing through. You might find a small B&B operating in summer, but don’t count on it. Consider Würzburg, Weikersheim (see above), or Rothenburg ob der Tauber (see below) for food and lodgings.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber ★★★

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

117km (73 miles) NE of Stuttgart, 51km (32 miles) SE of Würzburg

Even those strapped for time should find the time to see Rothenburg ob der Tauber. This medieval relic has the distinction of being one of Europe’s few well-preserved cities. After its heyday as an independent Free Imperial City in the Holy Roman Empire, the once important crossroads fell dormant after the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48) and thus retained its character for 19th-century painters and modern-day tourists to admire. While World War II left its mark when the U.S. bombed the eastern 40% of the town (the Nazis had fled there from Nürnberg), the citizens of Rothenburg rebuilt their town with the help of financial donors, whose names adorn the stones of the ramparts.

Today, this gem on the Tauber both attracts and relies on visitors for good reason, and overcrowding is a constant concern for the city council. But to pass it off as touristy doesn’t do it justice, as a hike into the Tauber valley, a walk around the ramparts, or a nighttime stroll in the off-season will reveal.

Essentials

Getting There

When trying to reach this gem of a town, some travelers have suddenly discovered themselves at a Rothenburg somewhere else in Germany. To avoid the confusion, make sure to ask for a ticket to “Rothenburg ob der Tauber.”

By Plane The nearest regional airport is Nürnberg; from there it’s a 2-hour train ride to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

By Train Rothenburg ob der Tauber is connected with hourly trains to the junction of Steinach, which has frequent connections to Würzburg (total trip time: 1 hr.) Connections to Munich take 3 hours, and those to Frankfurt take 2 1/2. For information, call 01805/996633 or visit www.bahn.de.

By Bus For bus service along the Romantic Road, see “Bus Tours of the Romantic Road,” at the beginning of this chapter. Regular long-distance buses service Rothenburg from Frankfurt, Würzburg, Augsburg, and Munich, as well as Füssen. For information and reservations, call the Frankfurt terminal number ( 069/7903261 in Frankfurt). Regional bus service is provided by OVF Omnibusverkehr Franken GmbH, Nelson-Mandela-Platz 18, D-90159 Nürnberg ( 0911/430570;www.ovf.de).

By Car Access by car is via the minor road south from Creglingen or by the A7 Autobahn on the Würzburg-Ulm run.

Visitor Information

Contact Rothenburg Tourismus Service, Marktplatz ( 09861/404800;www.rothenburg.de). November to April, it’s open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, and Saturday 10am to 1pm; May to October, it’s open Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm.

Special Events The cultural event of the year is the Meistertrunk festival, held late May to early June, celebrating the entire history of the town with more than 1,000 participants in costume. Concerts, historical exhibitions, a parade, and a play about the Bürgermeister Nusch’s wager (see the Reichsstadtmuseum listing, below) are the festival’s highlights. The play is also staged in July and October. For details, contact the visitor information office, or visit www.meistertrunk.de.

Exploring Rothenburg ob der Tauber

For an excellent view, take a walk on the town ramparts ★. The wall tour, from the massive 16th-century Spitaltor (at the end of the Spitalgasse) to the Klingentor, takes about a half-hour. At the Rödertor (Röder Gate), you can climb the tower to a small but fascinating exhibition describing the air raid of 1945, all the while enjoying the excellent views over the city. Entry is 1.50€ for adults, 1€ for children, but opening times vary and depend on the weather. To fortify yourself for this walk, you can stop at one of the many kiosks in town selling the local pastry called Schneeballen (snowballs), a round, sugarcoated pastry that’s fattening but delicious.

If you want to escape the tourist hordes, you can rent a bike at Rad und Tat, Bensenstrasse 17 ( 09861/87984;www.mietraeder.de), for about 12€ per day. Get a map from the tourist office and head out along the Tauber River with a picnic lunch.

Kriminalmuseum (Criminal Museum) MUSEUM The only museum of its kind in Germany, the Kriminalmuseum is housed in a structure built in 1395 for the Order of the Johanniter, who cared for the sick. The building was redone in 1718 in the baroque style, making it the only example of baroque architecture in town. The museum’s four floors provide a fascinating insight into the life, laws, and punishments of medieval days. You’ll see chastity belts, shame masks, a shame flute for bad musicians, torture devices, and a cage for bakers who baked bread too small or too light.

Burggasse 3–5. 09861/5359.www.kriminalmuseum.rothenburg.de. Admission 4€ adults, 2.80€ students, 2.40€ children 6–17. Jan–Feb and Nov daily 2–4pm; Mar and Dec 1–4pm; Apr daily 11am–5pm; May–Oct daily 10am–6pm.

Rathaus (Town Hall) ★ HISTORIC BUILDING Rothenburg’s town hall has an older Gothic section from 1240 and a newer Renaissance structure facing the square. From the 50m (160-ft.) tower of the Gothic hall is a great view ★ of the town. The tower was first used as a sentry’s lookout, but after a fire destroyed the Gothic hall’s twin (where the Renaissance hall now stands) in 1501, it became a lookout for fire. Guards rang the bell every quarter-hour to prove that they were awake and on the job.

The new Rathaus, built in 1572 to replace the portion destroyed in the fire, is decorated with intricate friezes, an oriel extending the building’s full height, and a large stone portico opening onto the square. The octagonal tower at the center of the side facing the square contains a grand staircase leading to the upper hall. On the main floor is the large courtroom.

Marktplatz. 09861/40492. Admission: Rathaus free; tower 1.50€ adults, 1€ children. Rathaus Mon–Fri 8am–6pm. Tower Apr–Oct daily 9:30am–12:30pm and 1–5pm; Dec daily noon–3pm; Nov and Jan–Mar Sat–Sun and holidays noon–3pm.

Reichsstadtmuseum (Imperial City Museum) MUSEUM The historical collection of Rothenburg is housed in this 13th-century Dominican nunnery. The cloisters are well preserved, and you can visit the convent hall, kitchen, and apothecary. The museum collection includes period furniture and art from Rothenburg’s more prosperous periods, including the original glazed elector’s tankard, and a new section of archaeological objects from prehistoric times up to the Middle Ages. Among the artistic exhibits is the 1494 Rothenburg Passion series, 12 pictures by Martinus Schwartz that depict scenes from the suffering of Christ. You can also see the works of English painter Arthur Wasse (1854–1930), whose romantic pictures manage to capture the many moods of the city. Finally, there’s a Jewish section, with gravestones from the Middle Ages and some religious objects.

But perhaps the most remarkable object on display is an enormous tankard that holds 3.5 liters—more than 6 pints. You’ll find echoes of its story all over the city. In 1631, during the Thirty Years’ War, the Protestant city of Rothenburg was captured by General Tilly, commander of the armies of the Catholic League. He promised to spare the town from destruction if one of the town burghers could drink down the huge tankard full of wine in one draft. Bürgermeister Nusch accepted the challenge and succeeded, thus saving Rothenburg. Look for the clock on the Marktplatz with mechanical figures representing this event.

Klosterhof 5. 09861/939043.www.reichsstadtmuseum.rothenburg.de. Admission 4€ adults, 3€ students and children 6–18, 8€ family ticket. Apr–Oct daily 10am–5pm; Nov–Mar daily 1–4pm.

St. Jakobskirche (Church of St. James) CHURCH This church’s name and the statue on the south facade with a scallop shell remind us that Rothenburg lies on the pilgrim trail to Santiago de Compostella in Spain, site of the remains of St. James. Inside, the stained glass of the 1336 choir frames the imposing High Altar (1466), which merits a look for its delicate sculpture and the rear panels depicting scenes from the life of the pilgrim-attracting saint. Original statues, chancel pews, and paintings fill the rest of the interior. The main attraction is hidden from view, in the upper floor in the west gallery. The Altar of the Holy Blood ★★, a masterpiece by the famous Würzburg sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider (ca. 1460–1531), was executed between 1499 and 1505 to provide a worthy setting for the Reliquary of the Holy Blood. This venerated relic from the Middle Ages is contained in a rock-crystal capsule set in the reliquary cross (ca. 1270) in the center of the shrine. The central depiction of The Last Supper on the altar immediately makes a strong impact on the viewer. Christ is giving Judas the morsel of bread, marking him as the traitor, while the apostle John leans on Christ’s bosom. The altar wings show the entry of Christ into Jerusalem (on the left) and Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane (on the right). Erhard Harschner, Rothenburg’s master craftsman, is credited with the casing. The fine painted-glass windows in the choir date from the late-Gothic period. To the left is the tabernacle (ca. 1400), a place of sanctuary for condemned criminals.

Klostergasse 15. 09861/700620. Admission 2€ adults, .50€ children. Apr–Oct Mon–Sat 9am–5:30pm, Sun 11am–5:30pm; Dec daily 10am–5pm; Nov and Jan–Mar daily 10am–noon and 2–4pm.

Where to Eat

Hotel Mittermeier Restaurant ★★★ FRANCONIAN/INTERNATIONAL One of the great restaurants along the Romantic Road, this hotel is the domain of Christian Mittermeier, whose original take on Franconian cuisine is a gastronomic beacon. He is an inventive chef who can delight you with the subtlety and flavor of his cooking, based on only the freshest of ingredients. With its garden terrace, the restaurant offers inviting service and near-faultless cuisine. Lunch menus are often ignored by chefs who concentrate on dinner. Not so here. On offer are such lunch dishes as slices of bison rib-eye on wild garlic with risotto or “on the skin” roast pikeperch with a potato and poppy seed roulade. You can finish off with a delectable caramel rhubarb cake. Dinner is even more elaborate, with such heavenly delights as a Ligurian fish soup with Tahiti vanilla, Norway lobster, and fresh mint. Main dishes tend to be sublime, including a roasted ridge of suckling pig on leaf spinach or else truffled filet of salmon with crayfish in puff pastry. We still remember the parfait of passion fruit with fresh raspberries and rose water sorbet.

Vorm Würzburger Tor 7–9. 09861/94540.www.villamittermeier.de. Reservations required. Main courses 14€–32€; 4-course fixed-price menu 79€. AE, DC, MC, V. Tues–Sat noon–2pm and 7–9:30pm.

Ratsstube FRANCONIAN This restaurant enjoys a position right on the market square, so expect a bustling center of activity throughout the day. Inside, a true tavern atmosphere prevails with hardwood chairs and tables, vaulted ceilings, and pierced copper lanterns. A recently added replica of the market square’s Glockenspiel hangs in the rear, and may put on a show during your dinner. Downstairs you’ll find a wine bar offering live music periodically. The a la carte menu of Franconian wines and dishes includes Sauerbraten and venison, both served with fresh vegetables and potatoes. For dessert, you can order homemade Italian ice cream and espresso.

Marktplatz 6. 09861/5511.www.ratsstuberothenburg.de. Reservations recommended. Main courses 10€–15€. MC, V. Mon–Sat 9am–10pm; Sun 9am–6pm.

Shopping

Friese-Kabalo Kunstgewerbe OHG, Grüner Markt 7 ( 09861/7166), specializes in cuckoo clocks and also carries Hummel figurines, pewter beer steins, music boxes, and dolls. It’s Christmas every day at Käthe Wohlfahrt’s Weihnachtswerkstatt (Christmas Workshop), Herrngasse 1 ( 098614090), which is filled with shops carrying everything from clothing and accessories to cuckoo clocks, but the real attractions are locally made toys and Christmas ornaments. If you collect teddy bears, you’ll love Teddyland, Herrngasse 10 ( 09861/8904;www.teddyland.de), which stocks more than 5,000 of them, the largest teddy bear population in Germany. Bear images are printed on everything from T-shirts to bags and watches.

Entertainment & Nightlife

The best memory some people have of Rothenburg ob der Tauber is following the cloaked night watchman with his lantern and halberd through the quiet cobblestone streets of the old town, as he recounts historical episodes of hardship in the medieval days. From mid-March to December, he makes his rounds from the Marktplatz at 8pm in English and 9:30pm in German, with a fee of 7€ for adults and 4€ for children 17 and under.

The most idyllic place to go in the evening is Unter den Linden, at Kurze Steige 7B ( 09861/5909), a cafe-bar on the River Tauber. You reach it by going under the arch at St. Jakobskirche and following Klingengasse through the town gate, heading down a path to Detwang. The cafe is open April to October, daily 10am to 10pm, but it shortens its hours in winter, depending on weather.

Where to Stay

Expensive

Burg Hotel ★ Tucked down the end of a lane, this old-fashioned timbered house overlooks the Tauber Valley making you understand why it’s called “over the Tauber.” The rooms, with spacious bathrooms, cover three floors (without an elevator). Nos. 7, 12, and 25 afford the best views. Herr Berger is proud of the newly installed basement spa with a sauna, tanning bed, whirlpool, and musical accompaniment. Parking is in the barn of a former Dominican monastery.

Klostergasse 1–3, 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber. www.burghotel.eu. 09861/94890. Fax 09861/948940. 15 units. 100€–170€ double; from 170€ suite. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, MC, V. Parking 7.50€. Amenities: Bikes; spa; tanning bed; Wi-Fi. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar.

Eisenhut ★★★ The distinguished “Iron Helmet” is the most celebrated inn on the Romantic Road and one of the finest small hotels in Germany. Although rather expensive it’s worth the money and its popularity vouches for that. The castle-like interior spreads out over four patrician houses dating from the 14th and 15th-century in the heart of the town. Each room is unique: ranging from modest to grandiose. The various luxurious touches include hand-carved and monumental pieces, a tufted satin headboard, bedside controls, spacious bathrooms, and ample closet space.

Herrengasse 3–5, 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber. www.eisenhut.com. 09861/7050. Fax 09861/70545. 89 units. 90€–200€ double; 200€–300€ suite. AE, DC, MC, V. Parking 10€. Amenities: Restaurant; room service. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar, Wi-Fi (5€ per hour).

Romantik Hotel Markusturm ★★ This is one of Rothenburg’s gems, without the facilities and modern amenities of the Eisenhut, but a winner in its own right. When this hotel was constructed as a customs house in 1264, one of Rothenburg’s defensive walls was incorporated into the building. Some rooms have four-poster beds, and the individual decorations range from contemporary to antique (Biedermeier or Empire, for example). Dare you ask for a room called an “Oasis of Dreams” done in Laura Ashley? Many guests request room no. 30, a cozy attic retreat. The hotel employs one of the most helpful staffs in town.

Rödergasse 1, 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber www.markusturm.de. 09861/94280. Fax 09861/9428113. 25 units. 125€–190€ double. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Parking 12€. Amenities: Restaurant; room service. In room: TV, hair dryer, Wi-Fi (free).

Moderate

Hotel Rappen Located a stone’s throw from the Gallows Gate, this comfortable hotel doesn’t suffer from the summer crowds and parking fees of other hotels, while maintaining all the charm of old Rothenburg. The building, constructed in 1603, began as a Christian hospice and later served as the post depot. Antique furnishings like a sewing machine, crib, and spinning wheel in the halls give a nostalgic touch to the historical premises, which includes the rustic Weinstube Rappenschmiede tavern with its 200-year-old beams. The spacious rooms feature more contemporary comforts and furniture. A hit with motorists, its on-site free parking is a huge bonus in a town known for its parking woes and fees. The ground-floor restaurant dishes out delicious Pfannkuchen, German-style pancakes that fill the pan.

Vorm Würzburger Tor 6–10, 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber. www.hotel-rappen-rothenburg.de. 09861/95710. Fax 09861/6076. 104 units. 75€–95€ double; from 125€ suite. Rates include breakfast. AE, MC, V. Free parking. Amenities: Restaurant, room service, Wi-Fi (free; in lobby). In room: TV.

Hotel Reichs-Küchenmeister ★ We are very partial to this hotel, one of the town’s oldest structures. Although it sustained damage in a World War II firestorm, a massive, thoroughly sensitive restoration has rendered it both stylish and well equipped. Rooms are furnished with regional wooden furniture; some contain minibars. Bathrooms are a bit small, but maintenance is tidy. Seventeen less expensive rooms are in a less desirable annex across the street.

Kirchplatz 8 (near St. Jakobskirche), 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber. www.reichskuechenmeister.com. 09861/9700. Fax 19861/970409. 45 units. 75€–120€ double; 160€–225€ suite for 2; 160€–225€ suite for 5. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Parking 5€ in the lot; 8€ in the garage. Amenities: Restaurant; bar; bikes; Jacuzzi; sauna. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar (in some).

Inexpensive

Bayerischer Hof This little B&B doesn’t even try to compete with the grand inns of the town, offering ideal access between the train station and the medieval walled city. In spite of the sterile exterior, owners Petra and Harald Schellhaas extend a warm welcome and maintain clean, well-furnished accommodations full of cozy Bavarian touches such as traditionally painted furniture. Rooms and shower-only bathrooms are small, but the housekeeping is excellent and the staff is most hospitable.

Ansbacher Strasse 21, 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber. www.bayerischerhof.com. 09861/6063. Fax 09861/86561. 9 units. 62€–105€ double. Rates include continental breakfast. MC, V. Free parking. Closed Jan. Amenities: Restaurant; bar. In room: TV.

Gasthof Goldener Greifen ★ The Klingler family proves that the essence of a stay lies in the hospitality, not just the furnishings. Originally mayor Heinrich Toppler’s house, this 14th-century dwelling has been a hotel ever since, with a splendid upper floor common area that hasn’t changed much over the 650 or so years. Recent renovations have resulted in larger family-friendly rooms. Have breakfast in the mayor’s old office with a well-preserved oven-looking closet for his parchments. The restaurant specializes in Franconian fare with tasty dishes like marinated beef, and moist roast goose leg soaked in an unforgettable gravy, and a side of red kraut and potato dumplings. Try it with the bold Taubertäler red wine from Lauda-Königshofen.

Obere Schmiedgasse 5 (off Marktplatz), 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber. www.gasthof-greifen-rothenburg.de. 09861/2281. Fax 09861/86374. 14 units. 65€–90€ double. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, MC, V. Free parking. Closed Dec 22–Jan 3. Amenities: Room service. In room: TV (in most), no phone.

Dinkelsbühl ★

93km (58 miles) SW of Nürnberg, 114km (71 miles) NE of Stuttgart, 105km (65 miles) SE of Würzburg

Dinkelsbühl sits like a gabled, half-timbered wonderland with pastel colors, burgundy shudders, and that typically German Fraktur script bedecking its facades. A complete ring of medieval fortifications surrounds the town, with 18 towers offering views of the sea of sienna tiles and storks roosting on the rooftops. The generally provincial atmosphere swells in the summertime like many towns along the Romantic Road, but offers respite from the crowds in its cellar restaurants, and outlying parks and paths.

Essentials

Getting There

By Train The nearest train station is in Dombühl, a small station on the line between Crailsheim and Ansbach, which has several daily connections to Munich, Nürnberg, and Stuttgart. From Dombühl, Dinkelsbühl can be reached by bus, taking 30 minutes. Train rides from Munich or Frankfurt take about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, depending on the connection. For rail information, call 01805/996633 or visit www.bahn.de.

By Bus For bus service along the Romantic Road, see “Bus Tours of the Romantic Road,” at the beginning of this chapter. Buses run by Omnibusverkehr Franken ( 0931/3528940;www.ovf.de) link Dinkelsbühl with local towns, including three to five buses a day via Dombühl to Rothenburg ob der Tauber and five to six buses a day to Nördlingen. Contact Tourist Information for exact times and points of departure.

By Car Follow the “Romantische Strasse” signs south from Rothenburg ob der Tauber, or hop on the A-7 Autobahn south to exit 112 and head east. The B-25 connects Dinkeslbühl to Nördlingen and Donauwörth.

Visitor Information

Contact Touristik Service Dinkelsbühl, Altrathaus 14 ( 09851/902440), open May through October Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm, Saturday, Sunday, and holidays 10am to 5pm; November to April hours are daily 10am 5pm.

Special Events This dreamy village awakens for 10 days in July for the Kinderzeche (Children’s Festival), which commemorates the saving of the village by its children in 1632. According to the story, the children pleaded with conquering Swedish troops to leave their town without pillaging and destroying it—and got their wish. The pageant includes concerts given by the local boys’ band dressed in historic military costumes. For more information, check out www.kinderzeche.de.

Exploring Dinkelsbühl

Dinkelsbühl is a lively, wonderfully preserved medieval town, full of narrow, cobblestone streets. You may begin exploring at the 14th-century gateway, Rothenburger Tor, and then head down the wide Martin Luther Strasse to the market square. Along the way, you can take in the town’s fine collection of early Renaissance burghers’ houses.

Dinkelsbühl’s main attraction is the late-Gothic Münster St. Georg, on Marktplatz, built between 1448 and 1499 around a Romanesque doorway dating from ca. 1220. Along with the 15th-century Holy Cross altar and pillar sculptures, notice the St. Sebastian Altar with St. Christopher and St. James, denoted by the scallop shell. Below lie the bejeweled remains of St. Aurelius, a Roman saint beheaded under Emperor Nero. Also worth a look is the Haus der Geschichte Dinkelsbühl, Altrathausplatz 14 ( 09851 902 440;www.hausdergeschichte-dinkelsbühl.de), which provides an excellent overview of the pivotal periods of the town’s history including the Reformation and the Thirty Years’ War. Its art gallery reflects the 19th-century era when it became a painters’ haunt. One of them, Joseph Kühn Jr., arrived here in 1901 and bequeathed his collection, including one of two paintings by Schmidt-Rotluff whose postexpressionist Bäuerlinsturm (1938) hangs on the third floor. The top floor displays a 1926 model of the city as it would have looked in the medieval times.

The best evening activity here is to take a walk around the ramparts. Just as in medieval times, the night watchman makes his round from Münster St. Georg through the town daily at 9pm from May to October, and only Saturdays from November to April.

Where to Eat & Stay

Blauer Hecht ★ This inn does the best job of making you feel like you’re in someone’s home, from antique furnishings to the family pictures on the wall. In spite of its penchant for keeping things classical, it is the only hotel within the town walls that has a modern indoor pool and sauna. The three elegant hand-built stories of stucco, stone, and tile date from the 17th century. Rooms tend to be on the smaller side, but provide just as much comfort and quiet. The breakfast buffet is excellent and copious, but the owners don’t approve of packing a sandwich for the road.

Schweinemarkt 1, 91150 Dinkelsbühl. www.blauer-hecht.de. 09851/5810. Fax 09851/581170. 44 units. 90€–98€ double; 115€ suite. Rates include continental breakfast. AE, MC, V. Parking 8€. Amenities: Restaurant; bar; indoor heated pool; sauna. In room: TV, minibar, Wi-Fi (2€ per hour).

Deutsches Haus ★ The most central of hotels in town boasts the finest furnishings and that dignified air of tradition that you’d expect from the most central hotel in town. The facade and structure date to 1440 but the renovated interior reflects a homogenous synthesis between old and new. Ornate wood-panel doors and molded ceilings meld with modern touches like the walk-in showers on granite. Rooms either overlook the lively Weinmarkt in town or the quiet, gabled courtyard. Each room is cozy and comfortable in its own way, with a ceramic stove, or a Biedermeier desk, or a four-poster bed as a centerpiece. Even if you don’t stay here, you may want to dine in the Altdeutsches Restaurant, one of the finest in Dinkelsbühl. It’s intimate and convivial, and serves Franconian and regional specialties.

Weinmarkt 3, 91550 Dinkelsbühl www.deutsches-haus-dkb.de. 09851/6058. Fax 09851/7911. 18 units. 129€ double; 140€–160€ suite. Rates include continental breakfast. AE, MC, V. Parking 8€. Closed Jan 8–Feb 1. Amenities: Restaurant; bikes. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar, Wi-Fi (free).

Eisenkrug ★★ The affable Keck family operates this hotel-cum-tavern built in a 1620 edifice overlooking the old market. Following a 2009 renovation, the rooms and bathrooms feel brand new, with a modest amount of decoration that feels authentic. Its restaurant in the vaulted Reichstadtkeller features thick pillars giving off a true medieval atmosphere. (Are those shackles on the wall?) The constantly changing menu features a variety of local dishes such as the Schwein Rückensteak (pork loin) with Speckbohnen (beans and bacon) and Bratkartoffeln (baked potatoes). Other tasty offerings include an onion Rostbraten with buttered Spätzle, or a Rotbarschfilet (red perch) with potato salad.

Dr. Martin-Luther-Strasse 1, 91550 Dinkelsbühl. www.hotel-eisenkrug.de. 09851/57700. Fax 09851/577070. 13 units. 64€–91€ double. Rates include continental breakfast. MC, V. Free parking. Amenities: 2 restaurants. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar, Wi-Fi (free).

Nördlingen ★

130km (81 miles) NW of Munich, 95km (59 miles) SW of Nürnberg

Along with Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen still stands within its original medieval walls, in part thanks to a 1826 law by the Romantic king himself, Ludwig I, preventing the dismantling of them. Things are rather tranquil around Nördlingen today; nonetheless, the town still employs sentries to sound the reassuring message, “So G’sell so” (“All is well”), as they did in the Middle Ages.

The town sits in a gigantic crater called the Ries. Once thought to be the crater of an extinct volcano, it is now known that the Ries was created by a meteorite at least half a mile in diameter. It struck the ground some 15 million years ago at more than 72,500kmph (45,000 mph). Today the Ries is the best-preserved and most scientifically researched meteorite crater on earth.

Essentials

Getting There

By Plane The nearest major airport is in Nürnberg; from there you can make either bus or rail connections to Nördlingen.

By Train Nördlingen lies on the main Nördlingen-Aalen-Stuttgart line, with frequent connections in all directions. Call 01805/996633 or visit www.bahn.de for schedules and more information. Nördlingen can be reached from Stuttgart in 2 hours, from Nürnberg in 2 hours, and from Augsburg in 1 hour.

By Bus For bus service along the Romantic Road, see “Bus Tours of the Romantic Road,” at the beginning of this chapter. Local buses also make the trip from Dinkelsbühl; contact the Tourist Information for times and departure points.

By Car Access by car is via the A7 Autobahn north and south and Rte. 29 from the east. From Dinkelsbühl, take Rte. 25 south.

Visitor Information

Contact the Verkehrsamt, Marktplatz 2 ( 09081/84116; www.noerdlingen.de), open Easter to October Monday to Thursday 9:30am to 6pm, Friday 9:30am to 4:30pm, and Saturday 10am to 2pm; November to Easter, hours are Monday to Thursday 9:30am to 5pm, and Friday 9:30am to 3:30pm; May to September, it’s open Sunday 10am to 2pm.

Exploring Nördlingen

You can walk around the town on the covered parapet on top of the perfectly preserved walls. Along the way, you’ll pass 11 towers and five fortified gates. At the center of the circular Altstadt, within the walls, is Rübenmarkt. If you stand in this square on market day, you’ll be swept into a world of the past—the country people here have preserved many traditional customs and costumes, which, along with the ancient houses, evoke a living medieval city. Around the square are a number of buildings, including the Gothic Rathaus. An antiquities collection is displayed in the Stadtmuseum, Vordere Gerbergasse 1 ( 09081/2738230;www.stadtmuseum-noerdlingen.de), which is open March to October Tuesday to Sunday 1:30 to 4:30pm. Admission is 4€ for adults and 3€ for children.

St. Georgskirche ★, on the square’s northern side, is one of the town’s oldest buildings, and its most striking sight. This Gothic-Hall church dates from the 15th century. Plaques and epitaphs commemorating the town’s more illustrious 16th- and 17th-century residents decorate the fan-vaulted interior. Although the original altarpiece by Friedrich Herlin (1462) is now in the Reichsstadtmuseum in Rothenburg, a portion of it depicting the Crucifixion, by Nikolaus Gerhart van Leydeu, remains in the church. Above the high altar stands a more elaborate baroque altarpiece. The church’s most prominent feature, however, is the 90m (300-ft.) French Gothic tower, called the “Daniel.” At night, the town watchman calls out from the steeple, his voice ringing through the streets. The tower is accessible daily April to October from 9am to 8pm, and admission is 2€ for adults and 1€ for students and children. It’s free to visit the church, which is open Easter to October Monday to Friday 9:30am to 12:30pm and 2 to 5pm, and Saturday and Sunday 9:30am to 5pm.

Rieskrater-Museum, Eugene-Shoemaker-Platz 1 ( 09081/84710;www.rieskratermuseum.de), documents the impact of the meteorite that crashed into the earth here on the Alb plateau nearly 15 million years ago. Hours are May to October Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 4:30pm; November to April Tuesday to Sunday 10am to noon and 1:30 to 4:30pm. Admission is 4€ for adults, 1.50€ for students and children ages 6 through 11, and free for children 5 and under.

Where to Eat

Meyers-Keller ★ CONTINENTAL The conservative, modern decor here seems a suitable setting for the restrained neue Küche style of the talented chef and owner, Joachim Kaiser. The cuisine changes according to the availability of ingredients and the inspiration of the chef; typical selections are likely to include roulade of sea wolf, salmon with baby spinach and wild rice, and John Dory with champagne-flavored tomato sauce. There’s also an impressive array of European wines, many reasonably priced.

Marienhöhe 8. 09081/4493.www.meyerskeller.de. Reservations required. Main courses 16€–24€; fixed-price menu 75€–119€. AE, MC, V. Wed–Sun 11:30am–2pm; Tues–Sun 5:30–10pm. 2km (1 1/4 mile) south of Nördlingen.

Where to Stay

Kaiser Hotel Sonne ★ The Sonne is in a bull’s-eye position next to the cathedral and the Rathaus. It has a heady atmosphere from having entertained so many illustrious personalities since it opened as an inn in 1405. Among its guests have been emperors, kings, and princes, including Friedrich III, Maximilian I, and Karl V; the great poet Goethe; and, in more recent times, American astronauts. Many of the rooms contain hand-painted four-poster beds. Each is midsize to spacious, and most are tastefully and comfortably furnished, with excellent bathrooms.

Marktplatz 3, 86720 Nördlingen. www.kaiserhof-hotel-sonne.de. 09081/5067. Fax 09081/23999. 43 units, 35 with bathroom. 65€ double without bathroom; 80€ double with bathroom; 100€ suite. Rates include continental breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Parking 7.80€. Amenities: Restaurant; bar; babysitting; room service. In room: TV, hair dryer, Internet (5€ per day), minibar.

NH Klösterle Nördlingen ★★ With the NH brand of Spanish-bred luxury, you can expect the best and most luxurious accommodations in town. This historic, white-sided, red-roofed building was originally constructed as a monastery in the 1200s. Since then, its ziggurat-shaped gables and steep roof have been an essential part of Nördlingen’s medieval center. The hotel offers elevator access and a hardworking, polite staff. Guest rooms have dark-wood fixtures and larger-than-expected bathrooms.

Beim Klösterle 1, 86720 Nördlingen. www.nh-hotels.de. 09081/87080. Fax 09081/8708100. 98 units. 80€–145€ double. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Parking 10€. Amenities: 2 restaurants; bar; bikes; exercise room; indoor heated pool; room service; sauna. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar.

Donauwörth

40km (25 miles) N of Augsburg, 11km (7 miles) S of Harburg, 95km (59 miles) NW of Munich

Visitors come to Donauwörth for its architecture and sense of history rather than for specific attractions. The town is located on what was the last navigable point on the Danube, which led to its becoming a key stop on the trade route between Augsburg and Nürnberg. Its attempted capture by the Imperial Party in 1608 led directly to the division of Germany into warring Protestant and Catholic military alliances, resulting in the Thirty Years’ War.

The oldest part of town sits on an island in the middle of the stream, access to which is via the oldest surviving gate in town, the Riederstor, which funnels traffic along the island’s most historic and evocative street, the Reichsstrasse. Donauwörth was badly damaged in World War II bombing raids in 1945, but it has been carefully restored. Parts of the town’s fortifications have survived.

Essentials

Getting There

By Train Trains arrive from Augsburg at 30-minute intervals throughout the day (trip time: 35–45 min.). Trains also come hourly from Munich (trip time: 1 hr.). For information, call 01805/996633 or visit www.bahn.de.

By Bus For bus service along the Romantic Road, see “Bus Tours of the Romantic Road,” at the beginning of this chapter.

By Car From Augsburg, follow Rte. 2 north. From Nördlingen, take Rte. 25.

Visitor Information

Tourist-Information is at Rathausgasse 1 ( 0906/789151;www.donauwoerth.de). It’s open May to September Monday through Friday 9am to noon and 1 to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday 3 to 6pm. October through April it’s open Monday through Thursday 9am to noon and 1 to 5pm, Friday 9am to 1pm.

Exploring Donauwörth

The current baroque building of the dominating Klosteranlage Heilig Kreuz, or Monastery of the Holy Cross, dates from 1720, but its history began when Count Mangold I brought back a relic of Emperor Constantine’s mother from Byzantium in 1030. It’s an outstanding example of the distinctive churches built and decorated in the school of Wessobrunn, which flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries and often employed elaborate stucco decorations.

The site that draws the greatest numbers of visitors is the Käthe-Kruse-Puppen-Museum, Pflegstrasse 21a ( 0906/789170). Inside, you’ll find a small-scale collection of the dolls and dollhouses that were designed by master artisan Käthe-Kruse, whose most prolific period during the 1950s and 1960s has been called a high point in the history of doll making. April to October, it’s open Tuesday to Sunday 2 to 5pm; November to March it is open Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday 2 to 5pm. Entrance costs 2.50€ for adults, 1.50€ for children and students.

Where to Eat & Stay

Posthotel Traube ★ This hotel dates from the 1600s, with a guest list that included Goethe and Mozart. Despite a few modern conveniences, there’s still the definite sense of old Europe here, thanks to a somewhat creaky staff and a no-nonsense approach to innkeeping. Rooms are nostalgically outfitted with engravings and prints of old-fashioned Germany. This is a comfortable choice with midsize to spacious bedrooms. Perhaps some of the furnishings show too much wear and tear, but tradition-minded guests like it here. Each bathroom is midsize to roomy, most often with a tub/shower combination.

On the premises is a restaurant that serves solid, reliable dishes, not inventive in any way, but hearty and filling. These Franconian recipes have been around for generations.

Kapellstrasse 14–16, 86609 Donauwörth. www.posthoteltraube.de. 0906/706440. 43 units. 85€–90€ double. Rates include continental breakfast. MC, V. Amenities: Restaurant; sauna. In room: TV, hair dryer.

Augsburg

68km (42 miles) NW of Munich, 80km (50 miles) E of Ulm, 160km (100 miles) SE of Stuttgart

Augsburg

Augsburg’s 2,000 years of history have made it one of southern Germany’s major sightseeing attractions. It’s the Romantic Road’s largest town and serves as a gateway to the Alps and the south.

Augsburg was founded under Emperor Tiberius in 15 B.C., though little remains from this period. On the other hand, the wealth of art and architecture from the Renaissance is staggering. Augsburg has hosted many distinguished visitors and boasts an array of famous native sons, including painters Hans Holbein the Elder and the Younger and playwright Bertolt Brecht. In 1518, Martin Luther was summoned to Augsburg to recant his 95 theses before a papal emissary. Today, Augsburg, with a population of about 250,000, is an important industrial center and Bavaria’s third-largest city, after Munich and Nürnberg.

Essentials

Getting There

By Train About 90 InterCity trains arrive here daily from all major German cities. For information, call 01805/996633 or visit www.bahn.de. There are 60 trains a day from Munich (trip time: 30–50 min.) and 35 from Frankfurt (3–4 1/2 hr.).

By Bus For bus service along the Romantic Road, see “Bus Tours of the Romantic Road,” at the beginning of this chapter.

By Car Access is via the A8 Autobahn east and west. From Donauwörth, take Rte. 2 south.

Visitor Information

Contact Tourist-Information, Schiessgrabenstrasse 14 ( 0821/502070;www.regio-augsburg.de), open Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm.

Getting Around The Augsburger Verkehrs Verbund Gmbh (0821/157000;www.avv-augsburg.de) oversees the public transportation in Augsburg, consisting of four tram lines and 31 bus lines. They operate daily from 5am to midnight.

Exploring Augsburg

Extending southward from the Rathaus is the wide Maximilianstrasse ★, lined with shops and old burghers’ houses and studded with fountains by the Renaissance Dutch sculptor Adrien de Vries.

Dom St. Maria CHURCH The cathedral of Augsburg has the distinction of containing the oldest stained-glass windows in the world. These Romanesque windows, dating from the 12th century, are in the south transept and depict Old Testament prophets in a severe but colorful style. They are younger than the cathedral itself, which was begun in 944 and partially Gothicized in the 14th century. The cathedral’s interior, restored in 1934, contains side altars with altarpieces by Hans Holbein the Elder and Christoph Amberger. You’ll find the ruins of the original basilica in the crypt beneath the west chancel.

The original 11th-century bronze doors, adorned with bas-reliefs of a mixture of biblical and mythological characters, are now located in the adjacent Diözesanmuseum St. Afra ( 0821/3166333;www.bistum-augsburg.de), open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday noon to 6pm. Admission is 4€ for adults, and 3€ for children and students.

Hoher Weg. 0821/3166353. Free admission. Mon–Sat 7am–5pm; Sun noon–5pm. Tram: 1.

Fuggerei ★ HISTORIC INTEREST During the 15th and 16th centuries, Augsburg became one of Europe’s wealthiest communities, mainly because of its textile industry and the political and financial clout of its two banking families, the Welsers and the Fuggers. The Welsers have long since faded away. But the founders of the powerful Fugger family have established themselves permanently by an unusual legacy, the Fuggerei, set up in 1519, by Jakob Fugger the Rich, to house poorer Augsburgers. It’s Europe’s oldest welfare housing.

The basic features, laid down in 1521, are still in force today. The nominal rent of 1€ per annum (formerly one Rhenish guilder) has not changed in more than 450 years (the city council determines who gets the break—it’s based on need). The only obligation is that tenants pray daily for the souls of their founders. The Fuggerei is a miniature, self-contained town with its own gates, which are shut from 10pm to 5am and guarded by a night watchman. Franz Mozart—great-grandfather of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—once lived at Mittlere Gasse 14.

A house at Mittlere Gasse 13, next to the one once occupied by Mozart’s ancestor, is now the Fuggerei’s museum. The rough 16th- and 17th-century furniture, wood-paneled ceilings and walls, and cast-iron stove, as well as other objects of everyday life, show what it was like to live here in earlier times.

At the end of Vorderer Lech. 0821/3198810.www.fuggerei.de. Museum 4€ adults, 3€ students and children. Museum Apr–Sept daily 8am–8pm; Oct–Mar daily 9am–6pm. Tram: 1.

Rathaus HISTORIC BUILDING In 1805 and 1809, Napoleon visited the Rathaus, built by Elias Holl in 1620. Regrettably, the building was also visited by an air raid in 1944, leaving it a mere shell of what had once been a palatial eight-story monument to the glory of the Renaissance. The original Goldener Saal (Golden Chamber), also laid to ruin, has been resurrected to its original form for the public to enjoy. Walking tours offer a view of the spacious chamber, celebrated for its imposing portals, gold-leaf coffered ceilings, and huge wall frescoes.

Am Rathausplatz 2. 0821/3242120. Admission 2€ adults, 1€ children 7–14, free for children 6 and under. Daily 10am–6pm. Tram: 1.

St. Ulrich und St. Afra Kirche ★ CHURCH Near the southern end of Maximilianstrasse is the Hercules Fountain, and behind it, the most attractive ecclesiastical compound in Augsburg. The churches of St. Ulrich and St. Afra were constructed between 1476 and 1500 on the site of a Roman temple. As a tribute to the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, which recognized two denominations, one Roman Catholic and the other Lutheran, these two separate churches—Catholic Basilika St. Ulrich und Afra and Protestant St.- Ulrichs-Kirche—stand next to each other. The churches are mainly 15th-century Gothic with baroque overlays. St. Afra is the most elaborate, with a magnificent altar and finely carved baroque railings bordering the entrance. St. Ulrich is the former monastery assembly hall, taken over by the Lutherans. The shared crypt contains the tombs of the two namesake saints. The lance and saddle of St. Ulrich are displayed in the sacristy.

Ulrichplatz 15. 0821/345560. Free admission. Daily 9am–5pm. Tram: 1.

Schaezlerpalais MUSEUM The Schaezlerpalais, a 60-room mansion built between 1765 and 1770, has an amazing art collection. Most of the works in the collection are by German artists of the Renaissance and baroque periods, including Hans Holbein the Elder and Hans Burgkmair. One of the most famous paintings is Albrecht Dürer’s portrait of Jakob Fugger the Rich. Rubens, Veronese, Tiepolo, and others are also represented. The palace-gallery also has a rococo ballroom, with gilded and mirrored wall panels and a ceiling fresco, The Four Continents. On April 28, 1770, Marie Antoinette danced the night away here.

Maximilianstrasse 46 (facing the Hercules Fountain). 0821/3244102. Admission 7€ adults, 5.50€ for students, children 9 and under free. Tues 10am–8pm; Wed–Sun 10am–5pm. Tram: 1.

Where to Eat

August ★★ INTERNATIONAL This is the most sophisticated restaurant in town, with a social and culinary pedigree that’s nothing short of spectacular. The cuisine is the inspired and innovative work of Chef Christian Grünewald, whose light textured emphasis on seasonal vegetables has elicited praise from local and national media. The set-price menu contains no fewer than 17 courses, and can be configured either as an all-vegetarian version or as a meat, fish, and vegetable version, depending on your wishes. Specific menu items change with the availability of ingredients, but examples are likely to include cannelloni stuffed with braised black trumpet mushrooms and apples; fresh goose liver with mandarin oranges, almonds, white carrots, and celery sauce; and a manioc-based risotto flavored with chives, black truffles, and Emmental cheese. In midsummer the entire venue moves up to the rooftop garden terrace, opening onto panoramic views of the city.

Frauentorstrasse 27. 0821/35279. Reservations strongly recommended. Set-price menus 99€–115€. MC, V. Wed–Sat 7–10pm. Closed 2 weeks in Jan and 2 weeks in Sept–Oct. Tram: 2.

Fuggerei Stube GERMAN/SWABIAN Connected to the historic Fuggerei, this affordable restaurant can fit 60 people at a time into its large, gemütlich dining room. Expect generous portions of well-prepared food such as Sauerbraten, pork Schnitzel, game, and fish dishes. The beer foaming out of the taps here is Storchenbräu; most visitors find that it goes wonderfully with the conservative German specialties that are this establishment’s forte.

Jakoberstrasse 26. 0821/30870.www.fuggerei-stube.de. Reservations recommended. Main courses 12€–24€. AE, MC, V. Tues–Sat 11:30am–2pm and 6–11pm; Sun and public holidays 11:30am–3pm. Tram: 1.

Haupt im Prinz Karl Palais ★★ GERMAN/INTERNATIONAL It doesn’t have quite the glamour of August, but this is one of the grandest restaurants in the Augsburg area. Under vaulted ceilings, with alfresco dining in midsummer, this deceptive restaurant only seems rustic. Its market-fresh cuisine strives for perfection and is backed up by a sound technique. Each dish is a laudable effort, and the menu is seasonally adjusted. For flavor, the chefs roam the world, borrowing a teriyaki sauce from Asia, mangoes from tropical countries, or truffles from Italy. Some of their soups are laced with curry or citrus. One dish combines Fisch und Fleisch (fish and meat) with fresh asparagus. Some of their veal and beef dishes are worthy of a prize.

Schertlinstrasse 23. 0821/5898475.www.restaurant-haupt.de. Reservations required. 19€–26€; fixed-price menus 48€–68€. AE, MC, V. Tues–Sat 11:30am–2:30pm and 6:30–11:30pm.

Papageno ★ BAVARIAN/INTERNATIONAL One of the leading restaurants in this historic city, Papageno is a first-class establishment known for serving a series of the finest fixed-price menus along the Romantic Road. The cooking is very good indeed, based in part on local farm products. We savor such traditional dishes as veal cutlet schnitzels sautéed to a golden brown, or even such regional fare as calf’s tongue in a savory caper sauce. The chefs also carefully craft a delectable osso buco along with an array of other dishes that are creative and sometimes wonderfully delicate. Food is also presented in an on-site Wintergarten.

Theaterstrasse 8. 0821/9076464.www.papageno-restaurant.de. Reservations required. Main courses 9.50€–27€; fixed-price menus 52€ for 3-course, 61€ for 4-course, 77€ for 5-course. AE, MC, V. Tues–Sun 11:30am–2pm and 6–11pm.

Augsburg After Dark

Kongresshalle, Güggingerstrasse 10 ( 0821/3242348; tram: 1), presents concerts by the local ballet and opera companies and the chamber and symphony orchestras. Call for schedules, prices, and reservations. It’s closed in August. The internationally renowned Mozart Festival is held in Augsburg every September. Contact the Tourist-Information office (see above) for details. In the courtyard of the Fugger Palace, the city hosts a musical-theater production each June and July. Tickets run 12€ to 40€. Information and reservations are available by calling the tourist office.

Maximilianstrasse, the main shopping street with its many cafes, continues to be the focus of nightlife after the shops close. Brauereigasthaus Drei Königinnen, Meister-Veits-Gässchen 32 ( 0821/158405;www.augusta-brauerei.de; tram: 2 or 4), doubles as an art gallery, has a pleasant beer garden that’s open 1:30 to 10pm, and has a main restaurant/bar that closes at 8pm. Another garden/bar combo that keeps the same hours is Thorbräu, Wertachbrucker-Tor-Strasse 9 ( 0821/36561;www.thorbraeu.de; tram: 2 or 4). Liliom, Unterer Graben 1 ( 0821/33724;www.liliom.de; tram: 2 or 4), is equipped with a good stereo system to go with drinks and conversation; local artwork is often available for purchase. The bar is open Monday to Saturday 5pm to 12:30am and Sunday 3pm to midnight.

Where to Stay

Dom Hotel The Dom Hotel lacks the decorative flair of its competitors, but it is a peaceful, comfortable hotel. That, combined with the moderate rates, makes this one of the most appealing choices in town. Across the street from Augsburg’s famous cathedral, it features new furnishings and spotless bathrooms in historic environs. Rooms on most floors are medium in size, although we prefer the smaller attic accommodations, where you can rest under a beamed ceiling and enjoy a panoramic sweep of the rooftops of the city. Accommodations come with neatly tiled and efficiently organized compact bathrooms. Breakfast is the only meal served; during warm weather, it can be enjoyed in a garden beside the town’s medieval fortifications.

Frauentorstrasse 8, 86152 Augsburg. www.domhotel-augsburg.de. 0821/343930. Fax 0821/34393200. 52 units. 92€–135€ double; 116€–185€ suite. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Free parking in lot; 6€ in garage. Tram: 2. Amenities: Exercise room; indoor heated pool; sauna. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar, Wi-Fi (free).

Privat Hotel Riegele The Schmid family welcomes you into its little hotel opposite the Hauptbahnhof (the main rail station). They run a neat, tidy hotel with midsize to spacious bedrooms, each with comfortably modern furnishings that are renewed as needed, along with highly polished, tiled private bathrooms. On-site is the Restaurant Bräustüble, a tavern patronized by locals as well as visitors for its hearty regional dishes. The breakfast buffet is one of the most generous in town.

Viktoriastrasse 4, 86150 Augsburg. www.hotel-riegele.de. 0821/509000. Fax 0821/517746. 28 units. 89€–130€ double; extra bed 25€. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Free parking. Amenities: Restaurant; bar; room service. In room: TV, Wi-Fi (free).

Romantik Hotel Augsburger Hof ★ Originally built in 1767, this hotel is known for its traditional, romantic atmosphere with its thick, solid walls and exposed beams and timbers. The rooms range from small to spacious, with some exuding a country-romantic air. The “Romantik Room” almost seems entirely bedecked with wood. Some bathrooms seem crowded in as an afterthought, but each is beautifully maintained. Rooms overlooking the tranquil inner courtyard are more expensive than ones facing the street.

Auf dem Kreuz 2, 86152 Augsburg. www.augsburger-hof.de. 0821/343050. Fax 0821/3430555. 36 units. 99€–140€ double. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Parking 7€. Tram: 2. Amenities: Restaurant; bar; room service; sauna. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar, Wi-Fi (free).

Steigenberger Drei Mohren ★★ The original “Three Moors,” dating from 1723, was one of the most renowned hotels in Germany before its destruction in a 1944 air raid. In 1956, it was reconstructed in a modern style in four- and five-story buildings. Following a 2011 renovation, it continues to be the premier hotel in town despite competition from the Romantik Hotel Augsburger Hof (see above). The drawing room contains a slatted natural-wood ceiling and walls, along with a roomwide mural of Old Augsburg. Guest rooms are comfortable and inviting, with thick carpets and double-glazed windows. Doubles vary in size and appointments, ranging from smaller, somewhat cramped quarters to more spacious accommodations.

Maximilianstrasse 40, 86150 Augsburg. www.augsburg.steigenberger.de. 800/223-5652 in the U.S. and Canada, or 0821/50360. Fax 0821/157864. 111 units. 110€–181€ double; 235€–650€ suite. Children 11 and under stay free in parent’s room. AE, MC, V. Parking 14€. Tram: 1. Amenities: 2 restaurants; bar; babysitting; concierge; room service. In room: A/C (in some), TV, hair dryer, minibar, Wi-Fi (5€ per hour).

Füssen ★

92km (57 miles) S of Augsburg, 119km (74 miles) SW of Munich

Füssen marks the end of the Romantic Road, just as it touches the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. The town is mainly a base for those going on to the castles at Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, but it has a number of attractive buildings, including a 15th-century castle once used by the bishops of Augsburg as a summer palace. Füssen is also ideally located for excursions into the surrounding countryside.

Essentials

Getting There

By Plane The nearest major airport is in Munich.

By Train Trains from Munich and Augsburg arrive frequently throughout the day. For information, call 01805/996633 or visit www.bahn.de. Train time from Munich is 2 hours, or 1 hour 45 minutes from Augsburg.

By Bus For bus service along the Romantic Road, see “Bus Tours of the Romantic Road,” at the beginning of this chapter. Regional service is provided by Regionalverkehr Oberbyaern ( 089/551640;www.rvo-bus.de), which runs 19 buses a day to the royal castles, costing 2.10€ for the 8-minute trip.

By Car Access by car is via the A7 Autobahn from the north and also the B17 from Augsburg.

Visitor Information

Contact the Kurverwaltung, Kaiser-Maximilian-Platz 1 ( 08362/93850;www.fuessen.de). Hours vary but are usually Monday to Friday 8:30am to 6:30pm, Saturday 9am to 2:30pm, and Sunday 10am to noon in summer; and in winter Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 10am to noon.

Exploring Füssen

Füssen’s main attraction is the Hohes Schloss, Magnusplatz ( 08362/903164), one of the finest late-Gothic castles in Bavaria. It was once the summer residence of the prince-bishops of Augsburg. Inside, you can visit the Rittersaal (Knight’s Hall), known for its stunning coffered ceiling. There’s also a collection of Swabian artwork from the 1400s to the 1700s. The castle is open April to October Tuesday to Sunday 11am to 4pm, with hours reduced November to March to 2 to 4pm. Admission is 3€ for adults, free for children 13 and under.

Immediately below the castle lies the 8th-century St. Mangkirche and its abbey ( 08362/6190), which was founded by the Benedictines and grew up on the site where St. Magnus died in 750. In the 18th century it was reconstructed in the baroque style, and in 1803 it was secularized. Free tours of the abbey are given July to September on Tuesday and Thursday at 4pm and on Saturday at 10:30am; in May, June, and October the schedule is Tuesday at 4pm and Saturday at 9:30am; and from January to April tours are on Saturday at 10:30am. In November and December you might be able to arrange a tour by contacting the Kurverwaltung (see above).

Within the abbey complex, signs point the way to the Chapel of St. Anne, where you can view the macabre Totentanz or “dance of death,” painted by an unknown local artist in the early 15th century. It has a certain uncanny fascination. The chapel is open April to October Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm, and November to March Tuesday to Sunday 1 to 4pm. Admission is free. Nearby is the Heimatmuseum ( 08362/903146), which displays artifacts relating to the history and culture of the region, including a collection of musical instruments. It keeps the same hours as the chapel and charges 3€ to enter.

The principal shopping spot in town is the Reichenstrasse, which was known in Roman times as the Via Claudia. This cobblestone street is flanked with houses from the Middle Ages, most of which have towering gables.

Where to Eat

Fischerhütte ★ SEAFOOD This restaurant is at the edge of the lake, within sight of dramatic mountain scenery. There are four gracefully paneled, old-fashioned dining rooms, and there’s a terrace in summer. As its name (Fisherman’s Cottage) suggests, the establishment specializes in seafood. Menu items read like an international atlas: one-half of an entire Alaskan salmon (for two); North Atlantic lobster; a garlicky version of French bouillabaisse; fresh Alpine trout, prepared pan-fried or with aromatic herbs in the style of Provence; and grilled halibut. A limited array of meat dishes is also offered, along with a selection of succulent desserts. In summer, a beer garden serves simple Bavarian specialties.

Uferstrasse 16 (5km/3 miles northwest of Füssen), Hopfen am See. 08362/91970.www.fischerhuette-hopfen.de. Reservations recommended. Main courses 12€–28€. AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 10am–9:30pm.

Hotel Hirsch ★ BAVARIAN Hirsch in German means stag, and the hotel’s trademark sets the theme for its very Bavarian, almost folkloric, decor. Even if you’re not staying here, you can visit for a meal, experiencing an authentic regional cuisine either in its Bierstube section or else in its more formal dining room. The menu is seasonally adjusted, with game specialties dominating in the autumn, including wild duck with blue cabbage and dumplings. Fresh trout comes from local rivers, and fish soup is often featured, as are a number of chicken and beef dishes. Desserts and breads are luscious.

The hotel also rents comfortably appointed and traditionally furnished bedrooms—ask for the King Maximilian Room or the King Ludwig Room. Doubles rent from 96€ to 147€, with themed suites going for 138€ to 180€. Free Wi-Fi is included.

Kaiser-Maximilian-Platz 7, Füssen 87629. 08362/93980. Fax 08632/939877. www.hotelhirsch.de. Main courses 10€–18€; fixed-price menu 20€. AE, MC, V. Daily 11:30am–2pm and 6–9:30pm.

Where to Stay

In addition to the two choices listed here, the Hotel Hirsch (whose Bavarian restaurants are covered in the dining section, above) is also a fine choice.

Hotel Christine The Christine is one of the best local choices. The staff spends the long winter months refurbishing the rooms so they’ll be fresh and sparkling for spring visitors. Breakfast, the only meal served, is presented on beautiful regional china as classical music plays in the background. A Bavarian charm pervades the hotel, and the small- to medium-size rooms are very cozy, though hardly fit for King Ludwig II were he to return.

Weidachstrasse 31 (5-min. ride from the train station), 87629 Füssen. www.hotel-christine-fuessen.de. 08362/7229. Fax 08362/940554. 13 units. 95€–130€ double. Rates include continental breakfast. MC, V. Free parking. Closed Jan 15–Feb 15. In room: TV, hair dryer.

Steig Mühle Owners and hosts Gunter and Hedwig Buhmann like things to be cozy—their chaletlike guesthouse is almost a cliché of Bavarian charm. Rooms open onto a view of the lake or mountains, and many have their own balconies. They’re furnished in a neat, functional style and kept immaculately clean. There aren’t a lot of frills, but the place offers one of the best values in the area.

Alte Steige 3, 87629 Füssen-Weissensee. www.steigmuehle.de. 08362/91760. Fax 08362/3148. 24 units. 54€–68€ double. Rates include buffet breakfast. No credit cards. Free outside parking; 3€ in garage. From Füssen, take Rte. 310 toward Kempten, a 5-min. drive. Amenities: Sauna. In room: TV.

Beyond Füssen: a Rococo Masterpiece

From Füssen, you can take a fascinating side trip to the Wieskirche ★★ ( 08862/932930;www.wieskirche.de), one of the most extravagant Rococo buildings in the world, a masterpiece by Dominikus Zimmermann. The Wieskirche is a noted pilgrimage church, drawing visitors from all over the globe. It’s located on the slopes of the Ammergau Alps between Ammer and Lech, in an Alpine meadow just off the Romantic Road near Steingaden, where there is a visitor information office ( 08862/200). The staff at the office can give you a map and confirm that the church is open.

With the help of his brother, Johann Baptist, Zimmermann worked on this church from 1746 to 1754. Upon entry, the interior explodes with so much decoration it almost creates a humorous effect. The great Zimmermann was so enchanted with his creation that he built a small home in the vicinity and spent the last decade of his life here. A bus heading for the church leaves Füssen Monday to Friday six times per day (once per day on the weekend). If you’re driving, signs between the official Romantic Road towns of Wildsteig and Steingaden indicate the way 3km (2 miles) south to Wies. Visitors should check the timetable at the station for bus information or ask at the Füssen tourist office (see above). The trip takes 30 minutes and costs 13€ round-trip.

Neuschwanstein ★★★ & Hohenschwangau ★

7km (4 miles) E of Füssen, 116km (72 miles) SW of Munich

Füssen & the Royal Castles

Just east of Füssen are the two “Royal Castles” of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, among the finest in Germany. Hohenschwangau, the more sedate of the two, was built by Maximilian II in 1836; Neuschwanstein was the brainchild of his son, “Mad” King Ludwig II. The extravagant Ludwig was responsible for two other architectural flights of fancy besides Neuschwanstein: Linderhof, near Oberammergau, and Herrenchiemsee, on an island in Chiemsee (both are covered in chapter 9). Ludwig died under mysterious circumstances in 1886 (see “The Fairy-Tale King” box, below).

After you’ve fought the crowds to get into these royal castles (in summer, the lines to get in can seem endless), you can spend your remaining time hiking around the surrounding Alpine peaks and valleys for what might be some of the most memorable walks of your life. For one of the grandest panoramas in all of the Alps (in any country), hike up to the Marienbrücke (the trail is signposted), which spans the Pöllat Gorge behind Neuschwanstein Castle. If you’re properly dressed and have stout boots, continue uphill from the gorge for another hour for the most splendid view possible of “Mad” King Ludwig’s fantasy castle.

The fairy-tale King

Ludwig II, often called “Mad” King Ludwig (although some Bavarians hate that label), was born in Munich in 1845, the son of Maximilian II. Only 18 years old when he was crowned king of Bavaria, handsome Ludwig initially attended to affairs of state, but he soon grew bored and turned to less subtle pursuits. A loner who never married, Ludwig gradually became more and more obsessed with acting out his extravagant fantasies.

At the baroque palace of Nymphenburg, the summer residence of the Bavarian rulers, you can still see in the Marstall Royal Stables the richly decorated coaches and sleighs in which young Ludwig loved to travel, often at night, with his spectacular entourage. His crown jewels can be admired in the treasury in the Königsbau wing of the Residenz palace, in the heart of Munich.

Ludwig had a long association with Richard Wagner and was a great fan and benefactor of the composer. The king had Wagner’s operas performed for his own pleasure and watched them in royal and solitary splendor. At Linderhof, the first romantic palace that he built, he even reconstructed the Venus grotto from the Munich opera stage design for Tannhäuser.

Ludwig’s architectural creations are legendary. To construct his own Versailles, he chose one of Germany’s most beautiful lakes, Chiemsee. He called the palace Herrenchiemsee, in homage to Louis XIV, the Sun King. Today, visitors can enjoy the castle’s Versailles-style Hall of Mirrors and its exquisite gardens. Schloss Linderhof, in the Graswang Valley near Oberammergau, was a smaller creation but became his favorite castle; it was the only one completed by the time of his death.

Nestled in a crag high above the little town of Hohenswangen is the most famous of the royal designer’s efforts, the multiturreted Disney-like Neuschwanstein (see below). From a distance, the castle appears more dreamlike than real. It’s the most photographed castle in Germany. The king’s study, bedroom, and living room sport frescoes of scenes from Wagner’s operas Tristan and Isolde and Lohengrin.

Finally, Ludwig’s excesses became too much, and he was declared insane in 1886 at the age of 41. Three days later, he was found drowned in Lake Starnberg on the outskirts of Munich. He may have committed suicide, or he may have been murdered. A memorial chapel lies on the bank of the lake. Ludwig is buried along with other royals in the crypt beneath the choir of St. Michael’s Church.

Essentials

Getting There By Bus Nineteen buses a day arrive from Füssen (see above).

By Car Head east from Füssen along the B17.

Visitor Information Information about the region and the castles is available at the Kurverwaltung, Kaiser-Maximilian-Platz 1, Füssen ( 08362/93850). Hours vary but are usually Monday to Friday 8:30am to 6:30pm and Saturday 9am to 2:30pm in summer; in winter, hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 10am to noon. Information is also available at the Kurverwaltung in the Rathaus, Münchenerstrasse 2, Schwangau ( 08362/938523), open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturday from 10am to 1pm.

Visiting the Royal Castles

Be prepared for very long lines (sometimes an incredible 4- to 5-hr. wait) at the castles during summer, especially in August. On some days, 25,000 people visit. To alleviate the inconvenience of long lines and stress, RAD Data Communications has installed a network for organizing visits. Under the system, tickets displaying specific admission times are sold at kiosks at the base of the castle before you make your ascent. Visitors can then purchase a ticket and wait for their reserved tour instead of standing in long lines with no definite time set. Entry to the castles is controlled by a computerized turnstile that reads the tickets. Ticketing information for each castle is conveyed to the central ticket office via a microwave link, which links the two castles to an office in the valley below. Note: It is imperative to arrive by the time indicated on your ticket; otherwise, you will have to go back to the kiosk at the base and pick up a new ticket and start all over again.

Hohenschwangau ★

Not as glamorous or spectacular as Neuschwanstein (see below), the neo-Gothic Hohenschwangau Castle nevertheless has a much richer history. The original structure dates from the days of the 12th-century knights of Schwangau. When the knights faded away, the castle began to fade, too, helped along by the Napoleonic Wars. When Ludwig II’s father, Crown Prince Maximilian (later Maximilian II), saw the castle in 1832, he purchased it and in 4 years had it completely restored. Ludwig II spent the first 17 years of his life here and later received Richard Wagner in its chambers.

The rooms of Hohenschwangau are styled and furnished in a much heavier Gothic mode than those in Neuschwanstein. Many are typical of the halls of knights’ castles of the Middle Ages in both England and Germany. There’s no doubt that the style greatly influenced young Ludwig and encouraged the fanciful boyhood dreams that formed his later tastes and character. Hohenschwangau, unlike Neuschwanstein, has a comfortable look about it, more like an actual home than a museum.

Among the most attractive chambers is the Hall of the Swan Knight, named for the wall paintings depicting the saga of Lohengrin. Note the Gothic grillwork on the ceiling with the open spaces studded with stars.

Hohenschwangau, Alpseestrasse ( 08362/930830), is open April to September daily 8am to 5:30pm, and October to March daily 9am to 3:30pm. Admission is 12€ for adults and 8€ for students and children 12 to 15; children 11 and under enter free. There are several parking lots that serve both castles.

Neuschwanstein ★★★

Neuschwanstein

Neuschwanstein represents the climax of King Ludwig II’s fairy-tale ambitions. Construction lasted 17 years until the king’s sudden death in 1886, when all work stopped, leaving a part of the interior uncompleted. Ludwig had lived in these rooms on and off for a total of only about 6 months of his last 3 years on the throne and planet.

The doorway off to the left side of the vestibule leads to the king’s apartments. The study, like most of the rooms, is decorated with wall paintings showing scenes from Nordic legends. The theme of the study is the Tannhäuser saga. The only fabric in the room is hand-embroidered silk, used in curtains and chair coverings, all designed with the gold-and-silver Bavarian coat of arms.

From the vestibule, you enter the throne room through the doorway at the opposite end. This hall, designed in Byzantine style by J. Hofmann, was never completed. The floor is a mosaic design, depicting the animals of the world. The columns in the main hall are made of deep-copper-red porphyry. The circular apse where the king’s throne was to have stood is reached by a stairway of white Carrara marble. The walls and ceiling are decorated with paintings of Christ in heaven looking down on the Twelve Apostles and six canonized kings of Europe.

The king’s bedroom is the most richly carved in the entire castle—it took 4 1/2 years to complete this room alone. The walls are decorated with panels carved to look like Gothic windows, as well as with a mural depicting the legend of Tristan and Isolde. In the center is a large wooden pillar, completely encircled with gilded brass sconces. The ornate bed is on a raised platform with an elaborately carved canopy. Through the balcony window you can see the 50m (160-ft.) waterfall in the Pöllat Gorge, with the mountains in the distance.

The fourth floor of the castle is almost entirely given over to the Singer’s Hall, the pride of Ludwig II and all of Bavaria. Modeled after the hall at Wartburg, the Singer’s Hall is decorated with marble columns and elaborately painted designs interspersed with frescoes depicting the life of Parsifal.

The castle is open year-round. In September, visitors have the additional pleasure of hearing Wagnerian concerts along with other music in the Singer’s Hall. For information and reservations, contact the tourist office, Verkehrsamt, at the Rathaus in Schwangau ( 08362/938523). Tickets go on sale in early June and sell out rather quickly. The castle can be visited only on one of the guided tours (offered in English), which are given daily year-round, except November 1; December 24, 25, and 31; January 1; and Shrove Tuesday. April to September, tours are given 8am to 5pm, and October to March, times are 9am to 3pm. Tours leave every 45 minutes and last 35 minutes. Admission is 12€ for adults, 8€ for students and seniors over 65, and free for children 14 and under. A combination ticket for both castles is 22€ for adults and 15€ for children 14 and under. For more information, visit www.neuschwanstein.com.

Reaching Neuschwanstein involves a steep half-mile climb from the parking lot at Hohenschwangau Castle (see above). This can be a 30-minute walk for the athletic, an eternity for those less so (and, regrettably, there are almost no benches along the route, and they’re always occupied). To cut down on the climb, you can take a bus to Marienbrücke, a bridge that crosses over the Pöllat Gorge at a height of 90m (300 ft.). From that vantage point, you, like Ludwig, can stand and meditate on the glories of the castle and its panoramic surroundings. If you want to photograph the castle, don’t wait until you reach the top, where you’ll be too close for a good shot. It costs 1.80€ for the bus ride up to the bridge or 1€ to return. From Marienbrücke, it’s a 10-minute walk to Neuschwanstein castle. This footpath is very steep.

The traditional way to reach Neuschwanstein is by horse-drawn carriage; this costs 6€ for the ascent and 3€ for the descent. Note: Some readers have complained about the rides being overcrowded and not at all accessible for visitors with limited mobility. Also note there is no guarantee of arrival time. If you miss your timed entry, you’re out of luck. Our recommendation is to avoid the ride unless you have plenty of time to wait in line and make the ascent before your timed entry into the castle.

Where to Eat & Stay Nearby

Hotel Lisl and Jägerhaus This graciously styled villa and its annex in a historic building across the street are among the better addresses in the area. Most rooms have a view of one or both castles, even from one of the bathroom windows. A few rooms in the main building have been decorated with exclusive wood paneling and carvings. If you’re assigned to the annex, never fear, as its rooms are just as fine as—or in some cases even better than—the main building. Some of the bathrooms in the Jägerhaus are larger than some hotel rooms. For charm and price, this one is a winner.

Neuschwansteinstrasse 1–3, 87645 Hohenschwangau. www.neuschwanstein-hotels.de. 08362/8870. Fax 08362/81107. 47 units. 85€–170€ double; 180€–220€ suite. AE, DC, MC, V. Free parking. Closed Dec 21–26. Amenities: Bar; room service. In room: TV (in some).

Hotel Müller Hohenschwangau This hospitable inn has an alluring location near the foundations of Neuschwanstein Castle. Each of the inviting midsize rooms possesses a bit of Bavarian charm with tasteful, comfortable furnishings, along with a small tiled bathroom. Nature lovers especially enjoy hiking the short distance to nearby Hohenschwangau Castle.

This hotel is your best bet for dining even if you’re not a guest. You have a choice of savory Bavarian cuisine or superb international dishes with an emphasis on flambé. In summer, dinners are served on the Alpsee Boathouse’s lakeside terrace.

Alpseestrasse 16, 87645 Hohenschwangau. www.hotel-mueller.de. 08362/81990. Fax 08362/819913. 41 units. 98€–200€ double; 187€–250€ suite. Rates include buffet breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Free parking. Closed Jan 11–Mar 26. Bus from Füssen stops here. Amenities: 4 restaurants; bar; outdoor pool; room service; sauna. In room: TV, hair dryer, minibar (in some).

The Best of Germany

In this chapter, you’ll find our carefully compiled lists of the best that Germany has to offer, from castles and cathedrals to spas, restaurants, and sightseeing—and nearly everything else you’ll want to see and do.

The best Experiences

• Exploring the New Berlin: Anyone who lived through the fear of the Cold War can’t help but shudder at the memory of the Berlin Wall. Since reunification, civic planners, with almost manic enthusiasm, have demolished large sections of what once stood as a scar across the face of a defeated nation. The architectural changes and urban developments that constantly update the cityscape around Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse and Potsdamer Platz can be confusing. But regardless of which renewal program is churning up rubble at the time of your visit, a pilgrimage through what used to be the most bitterly contested urban turf in Europe can’t help but provoke powerful emotions.

• Spending a Midsummer’s Night in a Biergarten: When the temperature rises, head for the unpretentious cheer of the nearest Biergarten (everybody in Germany seems to have a favorite, so we’re not even going to try to name the “best”). These watering holes, which often feature trellises, climbing vines, Chinese lanterns, and arbors, offer low-cost fun on soft summer nights. You can order platters of hearty food with your beer or bring your own picnic.

• Cruising the Elbe, the Danube, and the Rhine: This trio of rivers, along with their tributaries, dominated German commerce for hundreds of years. Today, an armada of tugboats, barges, and cruise ships still plies the muddy waters beside riverbanks lined with the historic majesty (and sometimes the industrial might) of central Europe. Cruises begin and end at large cities of historic interest and last anywhere from 6 hours to 7 days.

• Boating on the Königssee: A “King’s Lake” must surely be the best, and the natural beauty surrounding this body of cold, dark water doesn’t disappoint. The quiet boat ride using electric motors will allow you to hear the echoes off the forest-covered mountainsides, as you discover baroque chapels and isolated hamlets along the shore. It might just make a Romantic poet out of you.

• Hiking in the Bavarian Alps: If you’re heeding the call to climb every mountain, then the Bavarian Alps are the place to be in summer. Germany’s excellent network of trails, guides, and huts will allow you to discover the wealth of wildlife and stunning scenery. Two of the countless highlights include the 1,240m (4,070-ft.) Eckbauer south of Partenkirchen, and the southeastern “ear lobe” of Berchtesgaden National Park.

• Ascending the Zugspitze: If the gentle inclines of the Harz Mountains or the Thuringian forests aren’t dramatic enough for you, ride the cable car from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to the top of Germany’s tallest mountain, 2,960m (9,700 ft.) above sea level. The view from the top is suitably panoramic, and you’ll find an appealing aura of German-ness that comes from the many climbers and trekkers who fan out across the hiking trails.

• Experiencing a German Spa: In Germany, the question isn’t whether to visit a spa, but rather which spa to visit. Each resort has its virtues and historical associations, and can supply a list of the health benefits associated with its awful-tasting waters. Regardless of your choice, you’ll emerge from your treatment with a more relaxed attitude and a greater appreciation of German efficiency and sensuality. The most famous spas are in Baden-Baden.

• Motoring along the Neckar: The Neckar River meanders through about 80km (50 miles) of some of Germany’s most famous vineyards. But the real appeal of the winding road along the water is the medieval castles scattered along the way. Highlights en route include Heidelberg, Neckarsteinach, Hirschhorn, Eberbach, Zwingenberg, and Burg Hornberg. Don’t forget to stop en route for samplings of the local wines.

• Spending Harvest Time in the German Vineyards: Springtime in Germany brings the promise of bounty to the legendary vineyards of the Rhine and Mosel valleys, but the autumn harvest is truly the time to visit. Between late August and mid-October, the banks of the rivers turn gold and russet, and armies of workers gather buckets of grapes from rows of carefully pruned vines. Most of the medieval villages and historic castles scattered between Koblenz and Trier are associated with estates where you can sample the wines.

• Touring the Fairy-Tale Road (Märchenstrasse): This is one of the newer marketing ideas of the German tourist authorities, but considering its appeal, you’ll wonder why they didn’t think of it earlier. From the town of Hanau (a 30-min. drive northeast of Frankfurt), the route zigzags northward along the Weser River for about 600km (370 miles), through some of Germany’s most evocative folkloric architecture, ending in Bremen. Scores of well-marked detours pepper the way. Required reading for the trip is a collection of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and the Nibelungen legends. Don’t overlook the psychological implications of Goldilocks, the Big Bad Wolf, and the Pied Piper of Hameln.

• Lounging on the Island of Sylt: Don’t expect a lush or verdant island—the climate is temperamental, the setting is savage, the winds blow cold from the north even in summer, and the grasses that manage to survive in the sandy dunes are as weathered and sturdy as the soldiers in a Prussian regiment. Why is it wonderful? Here, the no-nonsense residents of north Germany can preen, flutter, and show off to each other, far from the strictures of their workplaces and the hardworking grind of their everyday lives.

The best Museums

Financial prosperity, artistic flair, and academic curiosity have helped the Germans develop some of the finest museums anywhere.

• Neues Museum, Berlin: Left in ruins for decades after World War II, this museum today houses one of the greatest Egyptian museums in the world, filled with plunder from ancient Egypt. It is home to the celebrated bust of Queen Nefertiti, and its Papyrus Collection is also one of the finest in the world.

• Bode-Museum, Berlin: One of the greatest museums of Germany, the Bode reopened in 2008 to great acclaim. It houses a vast array of museums including a collection of late ancient and Byzantine art. The Picture Gallery is one of the grandest in Germany, and it is particularly strong in masterpieces from the Dutch and German schools of the 15th and 16th centuries.

• Gemäldegalerie, Berlin: This is one of Europe’s leading art museums, with a celebrated collection of works from the 13th to the 18th century. The cavalcade of major European masters ranges from Botticelli and Bruegel to Vermeer and Velázquez. Divided during the Cold War, the collection has been reunited in one home since 1998. The lighting and displays are better than ever.

• Pergamonmuseum, Berlin: Built in 1930 on an island in the Spree, this museum contains entirely reconstructed temples from ancient Assyria, Greece, Rome, and Sumer. Don’t miss the sprawling exhibitions devoted to the ancient art of the Islamic world and the Far East.

• Zwinger, Dresden: A vast rectangular esplanade flanked with pavilions, heroic statues, formal gardens, and galleries, this museum was designed for August the Strong (elector of Saxony and king of Poland), by his favorite architect, Pöppelmann (1662–1736). The destruction of the Zwinger (in the final days of World War II), one of Dresden’s most beautiful buildings, was a great loss, though its postwar reconstruction was a triumph for the East German government. Among the treasures amassed inside are paintings, 18th-century Dresden porcelain, and an ornamental collection of antique weapons.

• Deutsches Museum, Munich: Since 1925, this Louvre of science and technology has led the way in documenting humanity’s innovation. Thoroughly fascinating and amusingly hands-on, its historical exhibits will surely keep you entertained for hours.

• Alte Pinakothek, Munich: This outstanding collection of paintings spanning the 15th to 18th centuries rivals its counterparts in Cologne and Berlin. Its Rubens are gems, and Dürer fans may have to be subdued by the guards. The 19th-century hall provides just the right dosage of art for a few hours.

• Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, Dachau, near Munich: Heinrich Himmler first organized Dachau as a concentration camp for enemies of the Reich in 1933. An escaped inmate, Joseph Rovan, described it as “implacable, perverted, an organization that was totally murderous, a marvelous machine for the debasement and dehumanizing of man.” Today, it’s one of the most poignant museums in the world.

• Lenbachhaus, Munich: Housed in the former villa of portrait painter Franz von Lenbach, this museum has a stunning and internationally renowned collection of modern art. In addition to works from the Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider) group, including Kandinsky, a rich collection of Gothic artwork is an added treat.

• Gutenberg Museum, Mainz: This museum is one of the most comprehensive tributes to printing and publishing anywhere in the world. The bulky presses, on which Johannes Gutenberg used movable type (42 lines per page), and two of the earliest Bibles ever printed are the primary displays here. There’s also a historical rundown on the science and technologies that have dominated the printing industry ever since.

• Museum Ludwig, Cologne: This is the home of one of the world’s largest collections of the works of Pablo Picasso, equaled only by the Picasso museums of Barcelona and Paris. The museum’s collection was beefed up when Irene Ludwig, widow of the late German art patron Peter Ludwig, donated 774 works of Picasso to the museum.

• Wallraf-Richartz Museum/Foundation Corboud, Cologne: The oldest museum in Cologne presents one of Germany’s grandest collections of art, covering the 14th to the 19th century. The collection of Gothic works alone is one of the finest in Europe, and the galleries are a virtual encyclopedia of art, from Flemish old masters to the French Impressionists.

• Kunsthalle, Hamburg: The leading art museum in northern Germany, the Kunsthalle is one of the most important in Europe, with some 3,000 paintings in its treasure-trove, along with some 400 sculptures. Some of its rare treasures date from the 14th century, including works by Bertram, the leading German master of the time. One section of the gallery also displays modern works, including pieces by such artists as Andy Warhol, Joseph Beuys, and Picasso.

The best Castles & Palaces

During the Middle Ages, Germany was divided into many intensely competitive feudal states and principalities. This unstable atmosphere encouraged the construction of fortified castles. As hostilities died down, architects began to design for comfort, style, and prestige, adding large windows, gilded stucco and plaster, frescoes, and formal gardens. As a result, Germany is full of all kinds and styles of Burg and Schloss (various names for castles and palaces).

• Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam: Friedrich the Great’s retreat, where he came to read, listen to music, and generally renew his allegiance to the principles of the Enlightenment, is Germany’s most successful blend of landscape and architecture. The more than 120 hectares (300 acres) of intricately landscaped gardens have enough pavilions, fountains, orangeries, and heroic statues to keep a visitor intrigued for days. The palace itself is an architectural highlight, approached by a terraced staircase of sublime beauty.

• Schloss Wartburg, Eisenach: Built between the 11th and 16th centuries, this was the headquarters of the Landgraves of Thuringia, a center of patronage for the Minnesinger (troubadours) of Germany, and a place of refuge for Martin Luther, who completed his translation of the Bible within its massive walls. Wagner used it as inspiration for the setting of Tannhäuser, and Johann Sebastian Bach and Goethe both visited. Today, from its position on a rocky hilltop, it’s a regional museum.

• Residenz, Würzburg: Built between 1720 and 1744 as the official residence of the powerful bishops of Würzburg, this is one of the most massive baroque palaces in Germany. It combines a Hofkirche (chapel) with gardens, a gallery of paintings, frescoes by Tiepolo, and enough decoration to satisfy the most demanding taste for ornamentation. Also within its showrooms are a worthy collection of ancient Greek and Roman artifacts and valuable paintings from the 14th to the 19th century.

• Neuschwanstein, near Füssen: Love it or hate it, this fairy-tale castle is actually a phenomenon worth seeing. Enter the romantic world of “Mad” King Ludwig II and his theater set designer, a world that further inspired the folks at Disneyland, or marvel at the tourist circus surrounding the 19th-century fantasy. Either way, the outstanding mountain scenery alone is worth the trip.

• Hohenschwangau Castle, near Füssen: Watching its bombastic younger brother from the opposite hill, this lesser-known residence built on 12th-century ruins merits just as much a visit. Finished in 1836, the eventual king Maximilian II lived here with his family, which included the young Ludwig II.

• Schloss Nymphenburg, Munich: This summer palace constructed between 1664 and 1674 features fine interiors on a modest scale that will leave you with enough energy to enjoy the splendid gardens and pavilions. An ideal place to experience the former glory of the long-lost Bavarian kingdom.

• Schloss Linderhof, near Oberammergau: This palace was built in the 1870s as a teenage indulgence by Ludwig II. Its architects created a whimsically eclectic fantasy, inspired by Italian baroque architecture. In the surrounding park, Moorish pavilions and Mediterranean cascades appear against Alpine vistas in combinations that are as startling as they are charming.

• Altes Schloss, Meersburg: Legend has it that this palace’s cornerstone was laid in 628 by Dagobert, king of the Franks. The palace remained a Catholic stronghold even during the Protestant Reformation, housing bishops who appreciated its 3m-thick (10-ft.) walls as a bulwark against the rising tempest around them. In the early 1800s, when its owners threatened to tear the palace down, a German Romantic, Baron Joseph von Lassberg, bought it and transformed it into a refuge for writers, poets, and painters. Although it remains mostly a private residence, you can visit many parts of the palace.

• Heidelberg Castle, Heidelberg: This castle originated as a Gothic-Renaissance masterpiece in the 1500s and was massively expanded as rival rulers competed for control of the Rhineland. After the French sacked and burned the town and the castle in 1689, it never regained its original glory. Today, the ruins brood in dignified severity from a position on a rocky hilltop high above the student revelry and taverns of the folkloric city below.

• Burg Eltz, Moselkern, near Cochem: Its multiple turrets and towers, which rise amid a thick forest near the Mosel River, evoke the chivalry and poetry of the Middle Ages. This is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Germany.

The best Cathedrals

• Kaiserdom (Imperial Cathedral), Speyer: Partly because of their age, Romanesque churches are the most impressive symbols of early medieval Germany. This massive church, from 1030, has four bell towers; a cornerstone laid by one of Germany’s earliest kings, Konrad II; and an undeniable sense of the (anonymous) architect’s aesthetic links with the traditions of ancient Rome.

• Dom St. Peter, Worms: This church is a grand example of High Romanesque style, its oldest section dating from 1132. The Diet of Worms, held here in 1521, condemned the beliefs of the young Martin Luther and banished him to the far boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire.

• Kölner Dom, Cologne: Based on French Gothic models in Paris and Amiens, this cathedral was envisioned as one of the largest religious buildings in Christendom. It required 600 years to finish—work stopped for about 300 years (1560–1842), until the neo-Gothic fervor of the Romantic age fueled its completion. In 1880, it was inaugurated with appropriate pomp and circumstance in the presence of the German kaiser. Today, its vast russet-colored bulk towers are instantly recognizable from miles away.

• Dom (Cathedral), Aachen: Its size and the stonework dating from 1414 are deeply impressive, but even more so is the cathedral’s association with the earliest of German emperors, Charlemagne. He was crowned in an older building on this site in A.D. 800. The cathedral’s treasury contains gem-encrusted Christian artifacts from the 10th century, with heft and barbaric glitter that evoke pre-Christian Germania.

The most charming Small Villages

• Quedlinburg: Spared in part from the ravages of World War II, this town in the Harz mountains still evokes the Middle Ages with its 1,600 half-timbered buildings, more than any other town in the country. Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Quedlinburg is a gem of yesterday and was an imperial residence for 2 centuries. Wander the cobblestone streets of the Altstadt (Old Town) for a journey back in time.

• Meissen: Some 25km (16 miles) north of Dresden, this is a romantic little town built along the banks of the River Elbe. It’s celebrated for its porcelain, which carries a trademark of two crossed blue swords and is valued by collectors the world over. Even without its porcelain factory, the town merits a visit for its quiet charm, its old buildings, and its 15th-century castle.

• Rothenburg: If you have time for only one stop along the Romantic Road, make it Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which may be your only chance in life to see a still-intact medieval walled city. Rothenburg exists in a time capsule, though 40% of the town was destroyed during World War II. Luckily, locals quickly rebuilt their Altstadt in its former style to reclaim their glorious architectural past.

• Dinkelsbühl: If you have time for a second stop along the Romantic Road, try Dinkelsbühl. Though not as grand as the more celebrated Rothenburg, it has far fewer tourists and therefore retains more old-time charm.

• Mittenwald: This town has long been celebrated as the most beautiful in the Bavarian Alps, with magnificently decorated houses, painted facades and ornately carved gables. In the mid–17th century, it was known as “the Village of a Thousand Violins” because of the stringed instruments made here.

• Lindau: Dating from the 9th century, this former free imperial town of the Holy Roman Empire is like a fantasy of what a charming Bavarian lakeside village should look like, if only in the movies. But this garden “city,” under landmark protection, is for real. Lindau is enveloped by aquamarine waters, and one part of it is known as the Gartenstadt because of its luxuriant flowers and shrubs.

• Rüdesheim: The Rhine Valley’s most popular wine town is set along the edge of the mighty river. Rüdesheim is known for its half-timbered buildings and its Drosselgasse (Thrush Lane), a narrow cobblestone lane stretching for 180m (600 ft.) and lined with wine taverns and cozy restaurants.

• Cochem: If you’re seeking an idyllic medieval riverside town during your “grape tour” of the Mosel River valley, make it Cochem, famous for its towering castle, dating from 1027. On the left bank of the Mosel, Cochem lies in a picture-postcard setting of vineyards. Little inns serving a regional cuisine along with plenty of Mosel wine make Cochem a highly desirable overnight stop and a nice alternative to the more commercial centers found along the nearby Rhine.

The best Driving Tours

The appeal of the open road is a prominent part of German culture. Some of the best drives include the following:

• The Romantic Road: This well-traveled 350km (220 mile) route, which stretches between Würzburg and Füssen at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, is dotted with lovely medieval towns. See The Romantic Road.

• The Fairy-Tale Road: The colorful characters of the Brothers Grimm live again along this 595km (370-mile) stretch, beginning in the little town of Hanau and stretching all the way north to Bremen. This is one of the great motor trips of Germany for those who thrilled to those nursery-room favorites.

• Alpine Road: Scenic majesty and architectural charm combine for an unforgettable experience on this 480km (300-mile) road through the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. See “Exploring the Region by Car.”

• Upper Black Forest: Fairy tales always seem more believable when you’re in the Black Forest, and the twisting secondary roads that connect Freiburg with Lake Titisee pass through lots of charming scenery and architecture. See the box “An Excursion to the Upper Black Forest.”

• Mosel Valley: The road along this Rhine tributary passes by some of the country’s most famous vineyards. At least a half-dozen of the cities en route are worth visiting as well.

The best Walks

• The Royal Castle Walk: For one of the grandest panoramas in all of the Alps (in any country), hike up to the Marienbrücke, the bridge that spans the Pöllat Gorge behind Neuschwanstein Castle. From there, if you’re up to it, you can continue uphill for about an hour for an amazing view of “Mad” King Ludwig’s fantasy castle. See “Neuschwanstein & Hohenschwangau”.

• Partnachklamm: One of the most dramatic walks in all of the Bavarian Alps starts from the great winter sports resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. A signposted trail leads to the dramatic Partnachklamm Gorge. Carved from solid rock, the route passes two panoramic bottlenecks amid the thunder of falling water and clouds of spray.

• Mainau Island: A walk across the footbridge to Mainau, in Lake Constance, is like a visit to a tropical country. Mainau is filled with exotic plants collected by the Baden princes and members of the Royal House of Sweden. Tropical brushwood and other botanical wonders still thrive in this mild climate. You’ll hardly believe you’re in Germany.

• Cochem: Reichsburg Cochem (Cochem Castle), which towers over the little town of the same name, can be reached on foot in about 15 minutes from the town’s Marktplatz. Although hardly an Alpine climb, this walk is one of the most rewarding you’ll find in Germany, with panoramas in all directions.

The best Biking

• Munich by Bike: You see so many locals riding bikes that you might think Munich is the biking capital of Germany. If you’d like to join the fun, pick up a copy of the pamphlet Rad-Touren für unsere Gäste (Bike-Riding for Our Guests) at the tourist office. It outlines itineraries for touring Munich by bike.

• Lake Constance: Rent a bike at the train station in the former imperial town of Lindau, and set out in any direction to enjoy the views of this beautiful lake. The Lindau tourist office will provide a map and suggestions for the best routes to follow.

• The Neckar Valley Cycle Path: This signposted path allows you to follow the source of the Neckar, beginning in Villingen-Schwenningen and going all the way to the confluence of the Rhine at Mannheim. Instead of going the entire way, many visitors prefer to pick up a bicycle in Heidelberg and cycle along the riverbanks until they find a good spot for a picnic. See “Exploring on Two Wheels.”

• Lüneburg Heath: This wild heath in northern Germany is one of the country’s major natural attractions. (Some of Germany’s greatest poets have waxed rhapsodic about this shrub-covered land.) Rent a bike, pick up a map at the Lüneburg tourist office, and set out on your adventure. See “The Lüneburg Heath.”

The best Spas

• Bad Reichenhall: Many spa lovers head for this remote corner of Bavaria to “take the waters.” Europe’s largest saline source was first tapped in pre-Christian times and the place has a definite 19th-century aura. And though some of the hotels in the town are better than others, all have equal access to the spa and lie about a 5-minute walk away.

• Baden-Baden: There’s no better spa in all of Germany, and certainly none more fashionable or famous—it’s also site of the country’s most celebrated casino. Baden-Baden’s spa’s been going strong since the leisure class of the 19th century discovered its healing waters, although the Roman legions of Emperor Caracalla had discovered the springs long before that. As at Bad Reichenhall, all hotels, no matter the price range, have equal access to the spa.

• Wiesbaden: One of Germany’s oldest cities, Wiesbaden attracted Roman legions to its hot springs, and lures today’s fashionable traveler as well. It’s not as chic as Baden-Baden, but Wiesbaden has one of Germany’s most elegant casinos and concert halls, along with two gourmet restaurants. In summer, the beer garden at the Kurhaus is one of the liveliest along the Rhine.

• Bad Homburg: Bad Homburg lies at the foot of the Taunus Hills in a setting of medieval castles and luxuriant forests. There are more than 31 fountains in the town’s Kurpark. The Bad Homburg Palace was once the summer residence of Prussian kings.

The best Luxury Hotels

German efficiency and cleanliness are legendary, so it’s not surprising that you can choose from a great number of well-managed hotels.

• Grand Hotel Esplanade, Berlin (www.esplanade.de; 866/597-8341 in the U.S., or 030/254788255): This strikingly contemporary hotel near several foreign embassies is one of the most prestigious in the German capital. With its collection of modern art, its spacious, cheerfully decorated rooms, and its first-class service, it is a prime address for the luxury minded.

• The Regent, Berlin (www.theregentberlin.com; 888/201-1806 in the U.S., or 030/20338): One of Germany’s great luxury hotels, the Regent is all about opulence, superb service, and comfort. It’s discreet, tasteful, reliable, and a brilliant addition to the roster of luxury leaders in Germany’s capital.

• Hotel Elephant, Weimar (www.starwoodhotels.com; 03643/8020): This is one of Germany’s most interesting hotels because of its age (over 300 years), its name, its 50-year survival in Germany’s eastern zone, and its associations with such luminaries as Schiller, Liszt, and Goethe. Today, it’s a cost-conscious treasure chest of German history.

• Eisenhut, Rothenburg ob der Tauber (www.eisenhut.com; 09861/7050): This hotel’s 16th-century walls and valuable collection of antiques enhance the appeal of the most authentic Renaissance town in Germany.

• Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski München, Munich (www.kempinski.com; 800/426-3135 in the U.S., or 089/21250): Munich’s most prestigious choice offers elegance and luxury. The wealthy and titled have checked in here for more than a century, enjoying the ambience, the antiques, the style, and the grace.

• Bayerischer Hof & Palais Montgelas, Munich (www.bayerischerhof.de; 089/21200): This deluxe hotel and 17th-century Bavarian palace together form Munich’s answer to New York’s Waldorf-Astoria. This is the only hotel in Munich to provide serious competition for the Kempinski Hotel.

• Der Kleine Prinz, Baden-Baden (www.derkleineprinz.de; 07221/346600): This hotel’s director once helped manage the New York Hilton and the Waldorf-Astoria. Today, he and his wife run a century-old pair of neobaroque houses in the heart of Germany’s most elegant resort, Baden-Baden. Inspired by Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince this stands as one of the most romantic of Germany’s many romantic hotels.

• Krone Assmannshausen, Rüdesheim-Assmannshausen (www.hotel-krone.com; 06722/4030): Sprawling along the banks of the Rhine in an oversize, grangelike, gingerbread-laden fantasy, this hotel has witnessed the arrival of many important Germans (including Goethe) in its 400 years. It also contains one of the best traditional restaurants in town.

• Fürstenhof Celle, Celle (www1.fuerstenhof.de; 05141/2010): This 17th-century manor, enlarged with half-timbered wings, stands out even in a town legendary for its medieval and Renaissance buildings. There’s a cozy bar in the medieval cellar and one of the best dining rooms in Lower Saxony.

• Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, Hamburg (www.fairmont.com/hamburg; 888/425-8227 in the U.S. and Canada, or 040/34940): Its dignified interior is as opulent as its 19th-century facade. This hotel’s appeal is correctly aristocratic, but it has a touch of the saltwater zestiness that makes Hamburg a great city.

The best Small Inns & Hotels

• Art’otel, Berlin (www.artotels.com; 030/884470): This hotel in the heart of Berlin is chic, discreet, and unique. The swirling action of the Ku’Damm lies right outside the door, but inside, the decor is soothing and serene, the work of some of the Continent’s top designers.

• Altstadt-Hotel, Passau (www.altstadt-hotel.de; 0851/3370): This inexpensive hotel stands at the convergence of three rivers—the Danube, the Ilz, and the Inn. But the hotel offers more than river views—it’s comfortably and traditionally furnished, and its regional cuisine and convivial pub attract the locals.

• Gästehaus Englischer Garten, Munich (www.hotelenglischergarten.de; 089/3839410): This is an oasis of charm and tranquillity, close to the Englischer Garten, where buffed Munich lies out nude in the sun. The furnishings are in an old-fashioned Bavarian style, but the comfort level is first-rate.

• Parkhotel Atlantic Schlosshotel, Heidelberg (www.parkhotel-atlantic.de; 06221/60420): This 24-room inn is on the wooded outskirts of Heidelberg, near the famous castle. Every room is comfortable and convenient, and in the afternoon you can go for long walks along the woodland trails surrounding the property.

• Antik-Hotel Bristol, Cologne (www.antik-hotel-bristol.de; 0221/120195): In the heart of this cathedral city along the Rhine, this unique hotel is filled with antiques, both country rustic and town-house elegant, making the atmosphere both authentic and inviting.

The best Restaurants

• Die Quadriga, Berlin ( 030/214050;www.brandenburger-hof.com): Critics hail this gastronomic wonder in the Hotel Brandenburger Hof as Berlin’s finest dining choice. Celebrated for its modern Continental cuisine, it’s where the president of Germany takes his favorite guests when he wants to “show off.” While seated in a 1904 chair designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, you can enjoy food that is, in a word, sublime.

• Essigbrätlein, Nürnberg ( 0911/225131): Food critics single this out as the best dining spot in Nürnberg, and we heartily agree. Its upscale Franconian and Continental cuisine is reason enough to visit the city.

• Weinhaus Zum Stachel, Würzburg ( 0931/52770;www.weinhaus-stachel.de): This is the oldest (ca. 1413) wine house in a town loaded with them. Food is good, portions are copious, the wine flows, and everyone has a wonderful time. This is old-time Deutschland at its most appealing.

• Tantris, Munich ( 089/3619590;www.tantris.de): Savvy German food critics have honored Tantris’s Hans Haas as the country’s top chef. He definitely serves some of the finest and most innovative food in Bavaria.

• Hanse Stube, Cologne ( 0221/2701;www.excelsiorhotelernst.com): Located in a landmark hotel, this restaurant lies on the same square as the fabled Rhineland cathedral. French cuisine in Cologne doesn’t get any better than this—the chefs have a prodigious talent for preparing food using only the finest and freshest ingredients.

• Victorian Restaurant, Düsseldorf ( 0211/865500;www.restaurant-victorian.de): Regulars know what a treasure they have in this restaurant: Market-fresh ingredients and a steady hand in the kitchen produce award-winning traditional and modern food.

• Waldhotel Sonnora, outside Bernkastel-Kues ( 06578/406;www.hotel-sonnora.de): In the Mosel Valley, the Waldhotel Sonnora is one of the most justifiably acclaimed restaurants in the country. Be sure to make a reservation as far in advance as possible and prepare yourself for a gastronomic adventure in Continental cuisine. Herr Thieltges, the chef, told us, “We don’t just serve dishes—rather, culinary masterpieces.” We agree.

• Fischereihafen Restaurant, Altona, near Hamburg ( 040/381816;www.fischereihafenrestaurant.de): Patrons from Tina Turner to Helmut Kohl have pronounced the food here delightful. From a window seat, you can overlook the boats that might have hauled in your sole, eel, turbot, herring, or flounder from the seas that day.

The best Beer Halls & Taverns

• Auerbachs Keller, Leipzig ( 0341/216100;auerbachs-keller-leipzig.de): The most famous tavern in eastern Germany, this is where Goethe staged the debate between Faust and Mephistopheles. The tavern dates from 1530 and has a series of murals evoking the Faust legend.

• Augustiner Bräustuben, Munich ( 089/5022569;www.braeustuben.de): Although many raid the famous Hofbräuhaus (see below), this authentic tavern at the backdoor of the Augustiner brewery combines the Bavarian camaraderie and flavorful fare without the tourist circus. It occupies the former horse stalls, but don’t fret—the odor has long since dissipated. Best of all, they fill the massive Mass glasses for one of the lowest prices in town.

* Hofbräuhaus, Munich ( 089/221676;www.hofbraeuhaus.de): Needing no introduction, the Hofbräuhaus can stake the claim as the world’s most famous beer hall, packing in up to 4,500 beer drinkers on any given night. Music from live bands and huge mugs of beer served at wooden tables combine to produce the best of Bavarian nighttime fun.

• Zum Roten Ochsen, Heidelberg ( 06221/20977;www.roterochsen.de): Over the years, “The Red Ox” has drawn beer drinkers from Mark Twain to Bismarck. Students have been getting plastered here since 1703, and the tradition continues to this day.

• Ratskeller, Bremen ( 0421/321676;ratskeller-bremen.de): This is one of the most celebrated Ratskellers in Germany. A tradition for decades, it serves top-notch German and international food and some of the best suds along the Rhineland, as well as one of the longest lists of vintage wines from the country’s vineyards.

The best Shopping

The best way to approach shopping here is to make it a part of your overall experience and not an end unto itself. Though Berlin and Munich are the major shopping centers in Germany, the rest of the country is okay—neither a shopper’s mecca nor the bargain basement of Europe. Still, you can find some good buys here.

• Porcelain: For centuries, Germany has been known for the quality of its porcelain. Names such as KPM, Rosenthal, and Meissen are household words. KPM, for example, has been a Berlin tradition for more than 2 centuries.

• Handicrafts: In the Bavarian Alps, woodcarvers still carry on their time-honored tradition. The best place to purchase woodcarvings is in the Alpine village of Oberammergau.

• Timepieces: Corny though they may be, carved Black Forest cuckoo clocks remain an enduring favorite.

• Cutlery: WMF (Württembergische-Metalwaren-Fabrik) and J. A. Henckels are two of the country’s premier producers of fine cutlery. Their knives are expensive, but longtime users say they last forever. Both WMF and Henckels stores are found all over Germany.

Germany in Depth

A unified, wealthy, industrial yet beautiful Germany awaits you and promises some of the most intriguing travel experiences in Europe.

Many of its treasures were lost in World War II, but much remains and has been restored. Natural scenery, particularly in the Black Forest, the Mosel Valley, the Harz Mountains, and the Bavarian Alps, is a potent lure.

For those who want to see history in the making, we’d recommend visiting Potsdam, Leipzig, Dresden, Meissen, and Weimar, all centers of East Germany before German unification in October 1990. Keep in mind, however, that although political developments have been fast paced, the infrastructure of the five new states cannot change overnight, and living standards there are still different from those in (the former) West Germany.

Germany is one of the most modern and, at the same time, the most traditional of countries. Its advanced technology and industry are the envy of the rest of the world. Here you’ll likely meet people of learning and sophistication, boasting a long cultural heritage and devotion to music and the arts.

This guide is meant to help you decide where to go in Germany and how best to enjoy its charms, but ultimately the most gratifying rewards will be your own serendipitous discoveries—drinking beer in a yard shaded by chestnut trees, picnicking in a Bavarian meadow, or spending time chatting with a winemaker in the Mosel Valley. You will surely remember experiences like these for years to come.

Germany Today

In late September 2009, Chancellor Angela Merkel swept to reelection, making her one of the longest-serving leaders among Europe’s major powers. Her Christian Democrats formed a new center-right government, triumphing over Social Democrats, who fared badly in the election.

In a union with the probusiness Free Democrats, Merkel strengthened her hand in Germany, and in the next year or so may begin to enact the kind of liberalizing economic plans she proposed when she first ran for chancellor.

Her victory was muted by Germany’s rising budget deficits as a result of the global economic crisis.

As an example of the changing times, Ms. Merkel, Germany’s first female chancellor, is joined by the first openly gay vice-chancellor and foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, who shepherded his Free Democrats to their strongest showing ever. All this occurring in a country that a few decades ago sent homosexuals to the concentration camps and the gas chambers, along with Jews and Gypsies.

It is still ranked low on the threat of terrorism in spite of memories of the 1972 Munich Massacre at the Olympic Games, in which 11 Jewish athletes were killed.

Germany has about 84 million citizens, making it the most densely populated of the nations in the E.U. The capital, Berlin, has the largest population, with some 3.5 million residents, trailed by Hamburg and Munich.

Germany today remains split between Protestantism and Catholicism, and it is not homogeneous, as each year it greets an influx of non-German immigrants.

Turks form the largest group of immigrants (2.3 million), followed by Sorbs (about 60,000) and even some 50,000 Dane, who live in Schleswig-Holstein near the Danish border.

In spite of a gloomy economy, Germany still remains the third-largest economy in the world, with exports counting for 40% of its GDP.

Although East and West Germany long ago united as the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, conflicts remain. Westerners often express resentment at having to spend so many of their euros on propping up the less affluent Easterners, who lived for so long under Communist rule.

The Ossis, as Easterners are known in Germany, often claim that they feel like poor cousins come to live with a far more affluent family, the Wessis (those from the former West Germany).

The friends you’re likely to meet in Germany (and you’re likely to meet many) will probably be well educated and will possess linguistic skills (almost certainly including English) that, by the standards of the rest of the world, particularly the United States, are astonishing. Many younger Germans are likely to be guided by a sense of idealism, even zeal, for ecological and other causes.

Germans, like Americans, are worried about job security. The greatest fear sweeping across Germany today is of “job hemorrhage.” German companies are finding that more and more of their manufacturing plants and jobs can be farmed out to other locations, including, ironically enough, Alabama and South Carolina, where wages and benefits for workers at a BMW plant are about 30% less than in Germany. In the Czech Republic, just across the border, wages are equivalent to 10% of those paid in Germany, for workers nearly as well qualified.

But in spite of its problems, a modern Germany, centered around Berlin, continues to remain at the epicenter of European culture and a continuing powerhouse in the E.U.

Looking Back: German History

Note About Maps

This guide contains dozens of maps of varying sizes and complexity. If you find it hard to read a map on your device, use the zoom function to enlarge. You can also download and/or printout PDFs of all of the maps in this guide. Go to www.frommers.com/go/ebookmaps and click on the title of your guide.

Germany’s Historic Borders

Early Days

“A large build, very strong in the attack, but not suitable to the same extent for heavy work” was how Tacitus, the Roman historian, described the Teutons in A.D. 60. The Romans had been trying to push the borders of their empire up to the Rhineland, with mixed success, since 9 B.C., but the Teutonic tribes fought back ferociously. The first recognized German national hero was Arminius, who led his tribe (the Cherusci) in defeating three Roman legions near modern-day Bielefeld in A.D. 9.

After the deterioration of the Roman Empire, the Franks ruled much of what we now know as Germany. In 800, a Frankish king, Charlemagne, extended the Carolingian Empire from the Pyrenees to Saxony and Bavaria. His rule marks the high point of cultural and political development of that period. He divided the empire into counties, each with an administrator directly responsible to him, and promoted education, scholarship, and the revival of Greek and Roman culture.

The Holy Roman Empire

After Charlemagne’s death, the Carolingian Empire fell apart. In 843, the Treaty of Verdun granted the empire’s eastern territory to Louis the German, marking the beginning of German history.

In 962, the pope recognized Otto I as emperor of what was later called the Holy Roman Empire. This new political entity was formed both to impose unity on the European political world and to create a bulwark against the invasion of non-Christian tribes. It claimed direct links to the grandeur of ancient Rome and to the more contemporary might of the church.

Unity, however, did not prevail. The empire splintered into a bickering alliance of dukedoms, bishoprics, and principalities. The emperor’s authority was often dependent on German nobles and the pope. A capital city that could have served as a center of power was never established—the monarch simply moved from one city to another, mustering an army and collecting revenue wherever he could—so the possibilities for dynastic intrigues were endless. In subsequent jockeying, the church itself was a voracious competitor for power. This power struggle broke out into open conflict in 1076, when Pope Gregory VII excommunicated the emperor, Henry IV, who was forced to stand barefoot in the snow outside Canossa, humiliated, awaiting a repeal.

To strengthen their position as the Holy Roman Empire declined, the emperors turned to alliances with the wealthy, independent trading ports to the north and east, under the federation of the Hanseatic League. Such German cities as Hamburg, Lübeck, and Bremen grew in both economic and political power. Eventually the league controlled trade as far as Novgorod in Russia.

The Reformation & the Religious Wars

When an Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, nailed his theological and political complaints to a church door in Wittenberg in 1517, he set off a political and religious wildfire that spread across the landscape of Europe. The fragmented political situation in Germany played into Luther’s hands: For every prince who condemned him, he found one to protect him. Luther’s Reformation fanned the flames of Germany’s political factions. A new conflict between Catholics and Protestants set the stage for the devastation of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48), which entrenched the divided sensibilities of the splintered nation.

The only powerful German state to emerge from these conflicts was Prussia, a tiny northeast kingdom on the Baltic Sea. The rise of Prussian power continued through the 18th century until, led by a soldier and patron of the Enlightenment, Friedrich (Frederick) the Great, Prussia became a major kingdom, with Berlin as its capital.

Napoleon Arrives

After the French Revolution, Napoleon and his new political ideas swept across Europe. The left bank of the Rhine came under French control. Under these pressures, the Holy Roman Empire officially came to an end in 1806. Around the same time, Napoleon’s armies invaded Prussia, making it, for a brief time, a part of the French Empire. But Napoleon was defeated at Leipzig in 1813; 2 years later, Britain and Prussia crushed him at the Battle of Waterloo.

Bismarck & Prussia

The Congress of Vienna (1814–15) redrew the map of Germany after Napoleon’s defeat, giving more territory to Prussia but making Austria the leader in a German Confederation. During this time, there was a rising spirit of nationalism, exploited to good effect by Prince Otto von Bismarck when he became Prussia’s prime minister in 1862. Prussia triumphed in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and after the subsequent Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), when Prussia laid siege to Paris, Bismarck succeeded in his goal of unification. Wilhelm I was made emperor of all Germany in 1871, and a strong, unified Germany at last took shape. Under Bismarck’s leadership, Germany adopted an advanced social welfare system and brought its military and industrial production, as well as technical and scientific achievements, to new heights.

The Prussians

Take, for instance, the Prussians: they are saints when compared with the French. They have every sort of excellence; they are honest, sober, hardworking, well instructed, brave, good sons, husbands, and fathers and yet . . . all with whom I have been thrown were proud as Scotchmen, cold as New Englanders, and touchy as only Prussians can be.

—Henry Labouchere, 1871

World War I

By 1907, Europe was divided into two camps: the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) and the Triple Entente (France, Great Britain, and Russia). The match that ignited the powder keg was struck at Sarajevo in 1914, with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The subsequent German invasion of France launched the bloodiest war the world had ever seen. A new and particularly demoralizing form of battle, “trench warfare,” produced staggering casualties. On August 8, 1918, the Allies penetrated German lines, and the German high command realized the situation was hopeless.

To get more favorable treatment from the Allies, the Germans voluntarily declared a parliamentary democracy, ending the reign of the kaiser. Despite that concession, in 1918 Germany was forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Versailles, which demanded the surrender of strategic territories, including Alsace-Lorraine, just west of the Rhine. The Allies—especially the French—also demanded huge monetary reparations.

Weimar Republic

In 1919, the National Assembly met in Weimar to draw up a new constitution, hailed at the time as the most progressive in the world. But in defeated and humiliated postwar Germany, extremists from both the left and the right launched savage attacks against the inexperienced and idealistic government. Enormous payments demanded by the Allies crippled the German economy. When Germany couldn’t make reparations, France retaliated by occupying the Ruhr, one of Germany’s most valuable industrial resources. Inflation destroyed what was left of the German economy.

Life is a Cabaret

by George McDonald

Cabaret existed in Germany long before World War I, and even in its early days it strained against the boundaries of censorship and the prevailing moral climate. But the form really came into its own during the years that followed defeat in the war. During the 1920s and 30s, the chaos of the Weimar Republic, hyperinflation and economic meltdown, street battles between militias of right and left, and the steady rise of the anti-Semitic Nazi Party formed the backdrop to a collapse of traditional values. Live it up while you can and spend money while you have it was the new morality. Cabaret provided entertainment with a satirical and political bent that suited the mood and circumstances of the times, influenced by cutting-edge artistic and social movements such as Dadaism, social expressionism, and Neue Sachlichkeit (new objectivity).

Berlin between the wars generally gets the historical kudos when it comes to cabaret, but in fact the capital was a long way behind pre-war Munich in taking to the genre. German Kabarett emerged as different from original French form in that it was nearly always a vehicle for political satire. In clubs like Die Elf Scharfrichter (The Eleven Executioners), founded in 1901 in the Schwabing district, Munich’s bohemians, socialists, progressives, and avant-gardistes of all stripes got together to gripe and poke fun at the smug, stultifyingly bourgeois society in which they lived.

Life in between-the-wars Berlin inspired writers like, among others, Christopher Isherwood, who lived in the city from 1929 to 1933. He wrote The Berlin Stories (1946), comprising two novellas—Good-Bye to Berlin and Mr. Norris Changes Trains—based in part on his experiences. The first of the two stories became the source of the stage and film versions of Cabaret.

“Old chums” and many more fans are still rolling up to the louche cabaret depicted in the modern Broadway show Cabaret, first performed in 1966 and revived at regular intervals ever since, and in the Hollywood movie based on the show, Cabaret (1972), directed by Bob Fosse and starring Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey.

Famous Period Cabarets

Die Katakombe Comedian Werner Finck (1902–78) found “The Catacombs” on Bellevuestrasse, just off Potsdamer Platz, in Berlin in 1929. His subtle jibes at Brownshirts, the Gestapo, and other “pillars” of the Nazi establishment made him popular—and brought secret policemen into the audience to “take notes.” Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels ordered the cabaret closed in 1935, and Finck spent 6 weeks in a concentration camp before enlisting in the German army.

Kabarett der Komiker Better known as Kadeko, the Cabaret of Comics took a less risky approach than Die Katakombe in its choice of material. A well-known Kadeko Conferencier (Master of Ceremonies), Fritz Grunbaum, frequently employed his acid wit on his own audiences, ribbing them for, among other things, their disgusting eating habits.

Wien-München From 1915 to 1916, the “Vienna-Munich” cabaret in Munich had as its director the comic actor Karl Valentin, who has been dubbed “the German Chaplin.” In the 1930s, Valentin made two failed attempts to get his Panoptikum für Gruseliges und Nonsens (Panopticon for Horror and Nonsense) exhibit in Munich off the ground.

Living the Revival

Popular among visitors to Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Dresden, and other German towns is the kind of nightspot depicted in the musical Cabaret, with floor-show patter and acts that satirize the political and social scene, though the satire is less biting than it was during the time of the Weimar Republic. Some of today’s cabaret shows may remind you of Broadway blockbusters, without much of the intimacy of the smoky, trenchant cellar revues of the 1920s and early 1930s.

Playlist

• Berlin; Marlene Dietrich.

• Berlin Cabaret Songs; Ute Lemper, Mischa Spoliansky.

• Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins & Berlin Theatre Songs; Lotte Lenya.

• Songs of the Berlin Cabaret 1920–29; Friedrich Hollaender, Jody Karin Appelbaum, Marc-André Hamelin.

The Rise of Nazism

This was just the right climate for the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The Nazis believed in the superiority of the Aryan race and blamed non-Aryans, particularly Jews, for Germany’s woes. At first Hitler’s anti-Semitic, nationalist ideas failed to gain popular support, even with right-wingers. Nazi membership in the Reichstag (parliament) dropped from 25 in 1925 to only a dozen following the elections of 1928.

In 1932, Hitler lost the electoral race for president against the compromise candidate of the democratic parties, war hero Paul von Hindenburg. Nevertheless, Hitler’s power increased, and on January 30, 1933, Hindenburg submitted to right-wing pressure and appointed Hitler chancellor. Upon Hindenburg’s death in 1934, Hitler declared himself Führer (leader) of the Third Reich, a new German empire. Protected by hastily drafted laws and regulations, he made his power absolute.

On June 30, 1934, Hitler disposed of any opposing elements in his own party in the “Night of Long Knives,” when hundreds were massacred, including Ernst Röhm, chief of his notorious Brownshirts. Heinrich Himmler’s black-shirted Schutzstaffel (SS) became a powerful political force. Surrounded by adoring fans (or, at best, passive witnesses), Hitler now viewed his empire as a worthy successor to those of Charlemagne and Bismarck.

In 1936, Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland and signed agreements with Japan and fascist Italy, forming the Axis alliance. In 1938, he enforced the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria and marched triumphantly into the country of his birth, and he occupied the German-speaking Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, an act that other western powers could not summon the will to oppose.

The horrors of unchecked Nazi rule lasted until 1945. The Gestapo, or secret police, launched one of the most notorious reigns of terror in history. Anyone whom the Nazis considered enemies or simply undesirables—which included Communists, Social Democrats, homosexuals, political dissidents, Gypsies, and many others—was persecuted. Jews were disenfranchised, terrorized, and forced into ghettos and concentration camps.

World War II

In late August 1939, Hitler signed a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union that gave him free rein to launch an invasion of Poland, which he did on September 1. France and Britain, honoring their agreements with Poland, declared war on Germany. Germany scored early victories, and in one of the most stunning campaigns of the 20th century, invaded and occupied France in June 1940. In 1941, Hitler turned on the Soviet Union.

Meeting in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee in 1942, the Nazi leadership formulated the implementation of the “final solution” to the “Jewish question,” the systematic extermination of millions of Jews. The mass murders of homosexuals, Gypsies, Communists, Slavs, and other “undesirables” were less systematic but also numbered in the millions.

Following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941. But after defeats in north Africa in 1942 and at Stalingrad in 1943, the recurrent theme became one of Nazi retreat. The D-day landings along the coast of Normandy on June 6, 1944, began the steady advance of the Allied armies from the west, while Soviet armies relentlessly marched toward Berlin from the east. Hitler committed suicide in Berlin in April 1945. His country, along with much of Europe, lay in ruins.

Division of Germany

The Berlin Wall

At war’s end, Germany and its capital were divided. The nation shrank in size, losing long-held territories (among them East Prussia and Upper Silesia). The United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union divided the country into four zones of occupation. Berlin, in the heart of the Soviet district, was also divided among the four powers. In the late 1940s, the Soviet Union tried to cut off Allied access to Berlin, but a massive U.S.-sponsored airlift into the city thwarted the effort. In 1949, the Soviets established the German Democratic Republic (GDR). In response, the Federal Republic of Germany was established in the American, British, and French zones. In 1961, the GDR sealed off its borders and erected the Berlin Wall, a stark symbol of the Cold War.

Throughout the 1960s, the financial world buzzed with the talk of an economic miracle in Germany. Led by Ludwig Erhard, the economist, this miracle was called Wirtschaftswunder, and it saw West Germany rise to become the fourth-largest economy in the world.

This era of prosperity also saw the rise of a young German leader, Willy Brandt. Along with his Social-Liberal Coalition, Brandt, as chancellor, brought about long-overdue reform, an overhaul of education, and much improvement in industrial relations. His controversial Ostpolitik (Eastern Policy) improved relations with Soviet-dominated East Germany and other Communist countries to the east of Germany. His efforts in normalizing relations with the GDR brought Brandt the Nobel Prize of 1971.

The 1972 Summer Olympic Games were meant to show the entire world the bold new face of a radically rebuilt Munich. However, the terrorist attack on and murder of 11 Israeli athletes revived memories of the recent past.

Helmut Schmidt became chancellor in 1974, as West Germany continued to amaze the world with its economic muscle. Problems such as mounting unemployment remained, however, and in 1982, Helmut Kohl became the new German leader, pursuing welfare cuts, a tight-fisted money policy, and military cooperation with the U.S. The Kohl era saw the Green Party rise as a political force, with its goals of disarmament and protecting a fragile environment.

Fall of the Wall & Unification

The year 1989 was one of change and turmoil. In the wake of the collapse of Communist power across eastern Europe, the Berlin Wall also fell. The following year was perhaps the most significant in postwar German history. The two German nations announced economic unification in July, followed by total unification—with its thousands of inherent problems and headaches—on October 3, 1990. In 1991, Parliament voted to quit Bonn, seat of the West German government, and reestablish the once-mighty capital of Berlin.

After the first heady period of reunification, disillusionment set in, especially in eastern Germany, which was riddled with unemployment and unrealized expectations. Resentment against immigrant workers led to some violent neo-Nazi marches, bombings, and physical assaults. However, most Germans rose up to condemn the ultrarightists and the sporadic violence.

Psychological and emotional differences between the two zones were almost overwhelming, as were the vast disparities in industrial development. As the influential newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau editorialized, “The terms of east and west are not so much geographical expressions as they are descriptions of states of mind.”

Modern Germany

As the 21st century began, Germany, despite the enormous costs of reunification, remained an economic powerhouse in Europe. As a member of the European Union (E.U.), NATO, and the G8 group of the world’s industrial powers, Germany’s influence extends throughout Europe and across the globe.

Moving deeper into the 21st century, Berlin has become the center of the Continent. Of the three major European powers, including France and Great Britain, Germany appears to be the most dynamic. In fact, of all E.U. members, Germany most actively pursued the abandonment of national currencies, such as its own historic deutsche mark, and the adoption of the euro as the standard unit of currency for all E.U. countries. Other countries, such as Great Britain, though a member of the E.U., still hold back. German economists continue to hope that the adoption of a single currency for Europe will lead to prosperity for all in a future “United States of Europe.”

Homosexuals, once persecuted by the Nazis and sent to death camps along with Jews and Gypsies, moved significantly forward in postmillennium Germany. In 2001, in spite of fierce opposition from some conservatives, same-sex partners won legal status in Germany. The law, announced in Germany’s unofficial gay capital of Berlin, allows gay couples to register their unions at government offices and requires a court decision for divorce. Same-sex couples also receive the inheritance and health-insurance rights given married spouses.

In the aftermath of World War II, Germany had become an economic giant but remained a military midget. Because of its aggression in Hitler’s war, Germany appeared reluctant to make a strong show of military force anywhere in the world. But in 2001, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder announced a major change in military policy in which Germany would pursue a “more muscular policy.” He pronounced as “irrevocably passed” the day when Germany would be economically powerful but militarily passive. Schröder stated that now that Germany was reunited, it had to take on more responsibilities in the international community. As proof of his stated goal, Germany sent troops to aid the United States in its military strikes against terrorist bases in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001.

But support for U.S. policies abruptly ended in 2003, when Chancellor Schröder took a stance against America’s war with Iraq. While this course proved politically rewarding in Germany, where most voters opposed U.S. involvement, it created a sharp rift with Washington, D.C., and irritated President George W. Bush. Schröder’s opposition to the war led to the lowest point in German-American relations since World War II. Since then, relations have been more cordial. In 2004 Schröder and Bush issued a joint statement on “The German-American Alliance for the 21st Century.” Schröder also attended the funeral of President Reagan as well as the 60th anniversary of the commemoration of the Allied D-day invasion of Normandy.

In a surprise development in 2005, conservative Angela Merkel became the first woman to govern modern Germany and the country’s first leader to grow up under communism in the Soviet-occupied East. Her conservatives finished just 1 percentage point ahead of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s center-left Social Democrats, with neither party getting a majority.

Merkel campaigned on pledges to shake up Germany’s highly regulated labor market and get the stagnant economy going again. She also promised to reinvigorate relations with the U.S. Merkel faced massive problems, including unemployment. Like the United States, the German economy remained strong but there were horrendous problems, including an economic slowdown. The financial burden of reunification has exerted a terrible price on Germany.

The new “First Man” of Germany, Merkel’s husband is mild-mannered chemistry professor Joachim Sauer, who likes to cook for friends and watch old Dustin Hoffman movies.

Although Germany in 2006 and early 2007 didn’t do anything earthshaking enough to discuss here, a significant historical event occurred in Luxembourg. An agreement was reached to open up millions of Nazi secret archives locked away since World War II. The vast archive has been hidden for decades in the German town of Bad Arolsen, but will in time become available to researchers.

An 11-nation International Commission has overseen the archives since the war. The files are available to Holocaust survivors and families of victims whose fate may not be clear. The files contain most of what the Nazis recorded on their death camps, including the prisoners held there, not only Jews but Gypsies and gay people, including “patients” subjected to cruel medical experiments.

In the fall of 2009, Chancellor Angela Merkel swept to victory with her conservative Christian Democrats in an alliance with the probusiness Free Democrats. Since then, her popularity has declined as Germany’s economy suffered under the global economic crisis. The nation as a whole is on the gloomy side, since the country’s money formed a significant part of the bailout for Greece in 2010.

Art & Architecture

Germany’s art ranges from medieval carved wood statues to Dürer prints to expressionist paintings, its architecture from Gothic cathedrals and riotous baroque chapels to neoclassical temples and Bauhaus buildings. This overview should help you make sense of it all.

German Art

Romanesque (11th–12th c.)

Artistic expression in early medieval Germany was largely church related. Because Mass was said in Latin, the illiterate masses had to learn Bible lessons via bas reliefs (sculptures that project slightly from a flat surface) and wall paintings, which told key tales to inspire faith in God and fear of sin.

The best examples of this period include scraps of surviving Romanesque sculpture on the 11th-century, carved wood doors at Cologne’s St. Maria im Kapitol, Augsburg’s Dom St. Maria, and the intricate The Shrine of the Magi reliquary (1182–1220) in Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral; ).

Gothic (13th–15th c.)

Late medieval German art continued to be largely ecclesiastical, including stained glass, church facades, and massive wooden altarpieces festooned with statues and carvings. In Gothic painting and sculpture, figures tended to be more natural looking than in the Romanesque, but remained highly stylized.

The best examples and artists include stained glass in Ulm Münster, Rothenburg’s St. Jakobskirche, and Cologne’s St. Gereon’s Sacristy. Stephan Lochner (active 1400–51) was the premier artist of the School of Cologne, where he painted the Cologne Cathedral’s Altar of the City Patrons (ca. 1440; ) and the Wallraf-Richartz Museum’s Madonna in the Rose Garden (1450; ). Bamberger Reiter is an anonymous equestrian statue in Bamberg’s Kaiserdom, a masterpiece of 13th-century sculpture. Tilman Riemenschneider (1460–1531) was Germany’s genius Gothic woodcarver of languid figures draped in flowing, folded robes. Some of his best works remain in Würzburg, including statues in the Mainfränkisches Museum.

Renaissance (Late 15th to 16th c.)

The German Renaissance masters, striving for greater naturalism, included the greatest of them all, Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). A genius painter, superb illustrator, and one of the greatest draftsmen ever, Dürer was the most important Renaissance artist outside Italy. His art matched the scientific and geometric precepts of the Florentine Renaissance with a command of color learned in Venice, a Flemish eye for meticulous detail, and the emotional sensibility of the German Gothic. He was the first to paint stand-alone self-portraits (including one in Munich’s Alte Pinakothek; ), as well as watercolors and gouaches for their own sake rather than merely as sketches. His paintings grace Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie and the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in his native Nürnberg. Also see the box.

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553) melded Renaissance sensibilities with a still somewhat primitive, medieval look. As a young artist in Vienna, he helped popularize landscape painting as a member of the Danube School (Rest on the Flight into Egypt [1504] in Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie; ) and invented the full-length portrait (Duke of Saxony [1514] and The Duchess [1514] in Dresden’s Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, in the Zwinger complex; ). Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543) was second only to Dürer in the German Renaissance, and one of the greatest portraitists ever. Germany preserves precious little of his work, but you can see the Portrait of Georg Gisze (1532) in Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie and a Nativity in the Freiburg Cathedral.

Baroque & Rococo (16th–18th c.)

The baroque is more theatrical and decorative than the Renaissance, mixing a kind of superrealism based on the use of peasant models and the exaggerated chiaroscuro (“light and dark”) of Italy’s Caravaggio with compositional complexity and explosions of dynamic fury, movement, color, and figures. Rococo is this later baroque art gone awry, frothy and chaotic. Artists from this period include Andreas Schlüter (1660–1714), whose sculptures can now be found at Berlin’s Schloss Charlottenburg. Balthazar Permoser (1651–1732) was court sculptor at Dresden. His stone pulpit stands in Katholische Hofkirche, his sculptures in the Zwinger.

Romantic (19th c.)

The paintings of the Romantics were heroic, historic, dramatic, and beautiful in contrast to the classically minded Renaissance artists or the overly exuberant baroque artists. Adam Elsheimer (1578–1610) created tiny paintings that bridged the gap from late Renaissance Mannerism (a style characterized by twisting figures in exaggerated positions), through baroque, to proto-Romantic. His Flight into Egypt (1609) resides in Munich’s Alte Pinakothek. Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) was the greatest of the German Romantics. Dresden’s Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in the Zwinger complex houses his famous Cross in the Mountains (1808).

Early 20th Century

Until Hitler, Germany was one of Europe’s hotbeds of artistic activity. But the Nazis outlawed and confiscated what they called “degenerate” modern art. Almost all the artists listed below are represented at Cologne’s Museum Ludwig, save Höch and Grosz, whom you can find at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie. At least one artist from every movement is at Stuttgart’s Staatsgalerie, and there are also good modern collections at Düsseldorf’s Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen and Dresden’s Albertinum. Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne is strong on expressionist artists.

The major artists and movements of the early 20th century include expressionism, which abandoned realism and embraced, to varying degrees, exaggeration, visible artistry (thick paint, obvious brush strokes, and strong colors) and, most important, abstraction—all to try to “express” the emotions or philosophy of the artist himself. Pure expressionism fell into two main groups, especially Die Brücke, founded in 1905 Dresden, which sought inspiration in folk art, medieval examples, and “unspoiled” landscapes. Its greatest members were Ernst Kirchner (1880–1938) and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884–1976), though Impressionist Emil Nolde (1867–1956) also later joined for a while. They have their own Brücke Museum in Berlin. The second movement was Der Blaue Reiter group, set up in Munich in 1911 by Russian-born Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Franz Marc (1880–1916), and August Macke (1887–1914) to oppose the cultural insularity and antimodern stance of Die Brücke. The “Blue Riders” embraced international elements, modern abstraction techniques, and bright, vibrant color schemes to seek an emotional, visceral intensity in their work. Determined critics of the horrors of World War I, Dadaists were by turns abstract, nihilistic (inviting gallery visitors to help destroy the art), and just generally anti-art (many made random collages of found materials). Its proponents included Hannah Höch (1889–1978), who collaged photographs and magazine cutouts to make social statements; George Grosz (1893–1959), who was more strictly a painter, and later moved on to the Neue Sachlichkeit movement (below); and Kurt Schwitters (1887–1948), who eventually started his own splinter group called “Merz,” which experimented with abstract and Russian constructivist elements.

Both Max Ernst (1891–1976) and Alsatian Jean “Hans” Arp (1887–1966) started as Blaue Reiter expressionists and, after their Dada collage period, ended up in Paris as surrealists (Ernst as a painter, Arp as a sculptor and painter of amorphous shapes).

Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) was a 1920s Berlin movement opposed to the abstraction of the expressionists. Their caricature-filled art was painted in harsh colors and focused on even harsher subjects such as sex and violence. Proponents included Otto Dix (1891–1969), who started as an expressionist but quickly became one of the most scathing and disturbing New Objectivity painters; George Grosz (see above); and Max Beckmann (1884–1950), who also was originally an expressionist.

Post–World War II Art

Germany hasn’t had any one style or school to define its art since World War II, though terms such as neoexpressionism (an antiabstract, antiminimalist, anticonceptual trend that grounds itself more in tradition and figurative art) are often bandied about. There have been, however, several important artists. All three listed below are represented in Stuttgart’s Staatsgalerie and Bonn’s Kunstmuseum. Notable post–World War II artists include Josef Beuys (1921–86), an iconoclast and nonconformist who made constructivist sculpture from trash; Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945), who made a return to huge, mixed-media figurative art, often with a strong historical bent; and Georg Baselitz (b. 1938), a figurative painter—and a sculptor, since the 1980s—a neoexpressionist with a penchant for portraying people upside down.

Architecture

Romanesque (10th–13th c.)

Romanesque architects concentrated on building large churches with wide aisles to accommodate the masses. Identifiable features include rounded arches, thick walls, small windows, huge piers, tall towers, dual chancels, and blind arcades.

The best examples include Mainz’s Dom, which looks more like a castle fortress than a church; Worms’s Dom St. Peter, with a dual-chancel arrangement and two imposing facades; and Speyer’s Kaiserdom, the largest cathedral in Germany, a four-towered Romanesque basilica with dwarf galleries and blind arcades.

Church floor plan

Dom, Mainz

Gothic (13th–16th c.)

Ceilings began to soar with Gothic architects, walls became thinner, and windows—often stained glass—proliferated. On the exterior, graceful buttresses and soaring spires rose over a town. Pointed arches, it was discovered, carried more weight than rounded ones. Other features included cross vaulting, a facade flanked by two towers, flying buttresses, spires, gargoyles, and delicate tracery.

Cross vault

Cross section of a Gothic church

The best examples of Gothic include Cologne Cathedral, Germany’s finest, at once massive and graceful; Freiburg Cathedral, built almost entirely during the Middle Ages; and Ulm Münster, second in size only to Cologne’s cathedral. Ulm’s Münster sports the world’s tallest spire—though it did take 500 years to complete. The best-preserved town centers with Gothic-style houses and buildings include Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Goslar, Regensburg, and Tübingen.

Cologne Cathedral

Renaissance (Late 15th Through Mid–17th c.)

Germany was so busy with the Reformation that the country had little time for the Renaissance, which really had an effect only in southern Germany (transalpine influences from Italy) and a few isolated examples in the far north (influences from Flemish and Dutch neighbors). Other than a close eye to the Renaissance ideals of proportion, symmetry, and the classical orders (distinguished by the use of three column capitals: Corinthian, Ionic, and Doric), little specifically identifies Italianate Renaissance buildings.

Classical orders

Weser Renaissance was a late-16th- and early-17th-century style prevalent in Lower Saxony, distinguishable on houses by pinnacled gables (the triangular upper portion of a wall at the end of a pitched roof), heavy scrollwork, elaborate dormers (an upright window projecting from a sloping roof), rounded pediments (a low-pitched feature above a window, door, or pavilion), and decorative stone bands.

Celle is the best preserved town center in the Weser Renaissance style, including its moated Herzogschloss. The Pied Piper town of Hameln has several fine Weser Renaissance houses, including the Rattenfängerhaus, Hochzeitshaus, and Dempterscheshaus. The only solidly Renaissance church in Germany is Michaelskirche in Munich, built 1583 to 1597 by Jesuits to resemble their church in Rome.

Baroque & Rococo (17th–18th c.)

With a seamless meshing of architecture and art, the German baroque flourished in the south and in Lower Saxony. Germany’s brand of over-the-top, baroque chaos worked better perhaps than in any other country. Whereas rococo is usually used as a derogatory term for the baroque gone awry into the grotesque, in Germany the rococo actually succeeds (sometimes). Baroque lines follow a complex geometry and interplay of concave and convex surfaces. The overall effect is to lighten the appearance of structures and add movement of line and vibrancy to the static look of the Renaissance.

The best example of a baroque palace is the Residenz in Würzburg (1720–44; ), designed by Balthasar Neumann, including a monumental staircase under the world’s largest ceiling fresco by the Italian master Tiepolo. Friedrich the Great’s Sanssouci Palace at Potsdam (1744–1860) is one of Europe’s best examples of the rococo.

Jean François de Cuvilliés (1698–1767), a French dwarf, was originally the elector of Bavaria’s court jester until his talent for architecture was recognized. After schooling in France, he returned to Munich to craft its greatest rococo monuments, including the jewel box of the Residenz’s Altes Residenztheater, which now bears his name, and the facade of the baroque Theatinerkirche. His masterpiece is Schloss Nymphenburg’s Amalienburg hunting lodge, which became a model for palaces across Europe.

Amalienburg, Schloss Nymphenburg

Neoclassicism & Romantic (Mid–18th Through 19th c.)

As a backlash against the excesses of the baroque and rococo, by the middle of the 18th century architects began turning to the austere simplicity and grandeur of the classical age and inaugurated the neoclassical style. Their work was inspired by the rediscovery of Pompeii and other ancient sites. However, many of their interiors continued to be rococo, though more muted than before. The sterility of German neoclassicism didn’t last long, however, and the 19th century left the increasing nationalist German society looking into its own past for inspiration, kicking off the neo-Gothic Romantic Movement.

The Prussians remade Berlin in a neoclassical image, starting with the Brandenburger Tor and moving on to the buildings of Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841), among which Altes Museum, Schloss Charlottenhof, and Nikolaikirche are his best. There’s a museum devoted to him called the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche–Schinkelmuseum. In Munich, Ludwig I had Leo von Klenze lay out neoclassical structures across his “new Athens,” including those surrounding Königsplatz and the nearby Alte and Neue pinakotheks. Caught up in Wagner’s dramatic operas set in the heroic Middle Ages, “Mad” King Ludwig II was the ultimate Romantic, building for himself a series of faux medieval fairy-tale castles, including Herrenchiemsee’s Neues Schloss and the incomparable fantasy of Neuschwanstein Castle, a festival of banner-fluttering towers and battlements right out of a Brothers Grimm folk tale, its entire setting chosen solely for its picture-postcard perfection.

Neuschwanstein

20th-Century Architecture

Germany’s take on the early-20th-century Art Nouveau movement was called Jugendstil. The Bauhaus was a 1920s avant-garde school of architecture led by Walter Gropius (1883–1969) that combined industrial-age architecture with art and craft to create functional buildings and furnishings. Among its chief designers and institute teachers were Marcel Breuer, Wassily Kandinsky, Oskar Schlemmer, and Paul Klee. The Nazis closed the school in 1933, though it was reborn in Chicago. Jugendstil houses and hotels exist across Germany, but the movement took its name from Jugend magazine published in the Schwabing district of Munich, where many buildings in the style survive. Munich is also home to the Jugendstil Museum in the Stuck-Villa, a hybrid neoclassical/Jugendstil structure. Bauhaus structures, too, pepper Germany in unobtrusive ways, often in city outskirts. One fine example is Berlin’s Die Siemensstadt, the first modern housing complex, built with long “slab” blocks by Walter Gropius. Berlin also has the Bauhaus-Archiv Museum für Gestaltung, devoted to Bauhaus drawings, photographs, and some design examples.

Siemensstadt

Germany in Pop Culture

Books

Biography

Taylor, A. J. P. Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1967). This is the story of the “Iron Chancellor,” who was instrumental in unifying the German states into the German Empire.

Trevor-Roper, Hugh. The Last Days of Hitler (1986). This is an insightful reconstruction of the twilight of the Third Reich.

Fiction

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. The Sorrows of Young Werther (1990). This is required reading for every German schoolchild. Goethe explored the theme of suicide in this early epistolary novella.

Grass, Günter. Dog Years (1989), The Tin Drum (1990), and The Flounder (1989). Grass’s works deal with the German psyche coming to terms with the dreadful legacy of Nazism and World War II.

Isherwood, Christopher. The Berlin Stories (1954). Isherwood lived in Berlin from 1929 to 1933. His most famous story was “Good-Bye to Berlin,” which became the source of the stage and film versions of Cabaret.

Mann, Thomas. The Magic Mountain (1969). This is Mann’s most celebrated masterpiece.

Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front (1987). This is a classic novel of World War I.

Folklore & Legends

Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. Complete Grimm Tales. This is the world’s most famous collection of folk tales, with a cast of characters that includes everybody from Little Red Riding Hood to Tom Thumb.

The Nibelungenlied. Every school kid in Germany reads this great epic poem, which details the exploits of Siegfried and Kriemhild and the fall of the Burgundians. The Nibelungenlied is characterized by the violence of its emotions and its uncompromising emphasis on vengeance.

History

Beevor, Antony. The Fall of Berlin 1945 (2002). This is one of the most vivid accounts ever written of the Red Army’s assault on Berlin.

Large, David Clay. Berlin (2000). In this controversial and caustic survey of Berlin since 1871, the author claims that “no other place has so dramatically encapsulated the highs and lows of our modern human experience” as Berlin.

Schneider, Peter. The German Comedy: Scenes of Life after the Wall, translated by Leigh Hafrey and Philip Boehm (1992). Comic absurdities surrounding the collapse of the Wall fill this book, but Schneider (author of The Wall Jumper) also explores resurgent anti-Semitism and how West Germans are coping with the flood of refugees from the former East Germany.

Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (1959–60). This story has never been told better—the complete saga of Hitler’s empire from beginning to end.

Taylor, Frederick. Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945 (2004). This book takes a new look at the destruction of Dresden by Allied bombings, which was more famously brought home in Kurt Vonnegut’s 1969 novel Slaughterhouse Five. A British historian, Taylor debunks the theory that Dresden contributed little toward the Nazi war effort, but was “one of the foremost industrial locations of the Reich.”

Travel

Twain, Mark. A Tramp Abroad (1989). The American humorist’s travels through Germany are comically detailed here. Read also his comments on “The Awful German Language.”

German literature: From Gutenberg to Grass

Even before Gutenberg invented the first printing press in the Western world in the 15th century, German literature—both oral and written—was being produced. The first written literary work known is The Lay of Hildebrand, a narrative poem handed down by ancient storytellers and copied by monks at the Benedictine Abbey at Fulda. Such tales of valor, love, sorrow, and death were strong in oral tradition, with the Rhine valley giving rise to many legends and songs through the centuries, Lohengrin, Roland, the Lorelei, and the Nibelungen being among the subjects.

The age of chivalry gave birth to lyric poetry in Germany. Like the troubadours in France, Minnesingers of the Holy Roman Empire roamed the land singing songs of love and derring-do inspired by the Crusades. One of these, Walter von der Vogelweide, a knight of the late 12th and early 13th centuries, is seen as the father of lyric poetry in Germany. Another early-13th-century poet of note was Wolfram von Eschenbach, whose epic, Parsifal, glorifies chivalry and religious devotion. By the 16th century, another “hero” had joined German folklore and literature—Til Eulenspiegel, a clownish fellow whose life around 1300 became the subject of story and song.

From the time of the Reformation (16th c.), Martin Luther’s influence can be traced in many fields of the German life of the mind and spirit. His translation of the Bible into modern German was hailed as the first great literary work in the language. A Luther contemporary, Hans Sachs, a Meistersinger (a “master singer” who carried on the traditions of the earlier Minnesingers), was a prolific author of stories, poems, plays, and songs.

Publications of a picaresque novel, Simplicissimus, by Grimmelshausen (17th c.), marked the start of production of long prose narratives in the country. The Age of Enlightenment in German literature dawned in the late 17th century, inaugurated by Klopstock in his epic, Der Messias, and his Odes, and it continued into the 18th century. Rationalization was the watchword in this Enlightenment period, or Aufklärung. Much writing was in the form of philosophical treatises (for example, the works of Leibniz and Kant). Also in this era, the principles of German drama were laid out by Lessing.

As a reaction to rationalization, a literary movement known as Sturm und Drang was born in the 18th century, marked especially by poetry and drama extolling both sentiment and grand passions and rejecting previous social, political, moral, and literary authority.

In this time, when ideas of storm and stress dominated the literati, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe arrived on the scene, a giant of letters. Dramatist, novelist, philosopher, and Germany’s greatest poet, Goethe followed the pattern of the times in youth and early manhood (the Urfaust or Early Faust, Egmont, and The Sorrows of Young Werther). However, he soon became disenchanted with Sturm und Drang, turning in midlife after a stay in Italy to a classical mode (Nausikaa). During this period, he reworked Faust so that the final product begins with storm and stress and then levels off into tranquil classicism. It was after his sojourn in Italy that he also produced Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, a novel that served for decades as the prototype of the best German fiction.

Another literary immortal, Johann Friedrich Schiller, playwright and poet, a contemporary and friend of Goethe, also turned away from Sturm und Drang after presentation of Don Carlos, a powerful historical drama honoring liberty. Similar dramas were Wallenstein and Wilhelm Tell. Schiller’s outlook placed his interests in the fields of history and philosophy.

Besides these two masters of the literary world, which soon moved on from classicism to romanticism to historical romanticism, such names of world note as the brothers Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, famous for their collection of fairy tales, folk tales, and myths, and Heinrich Heine appeared. Many of the works of Heine, second only to Goethe as Germany’s greatest poet, have become folk songs.

A poet who became known for his work in the first quarter of the 20th century was Rainer Maria Rilke. Another German, the novelist Erich Maria Remarque (All Quiet on the Western Front), moved to the United States to escape the political conditions of his homeland. Franz Kafka became known for his novels of the absurd. Bertolt Brecht (The Threepenny Opera and Mother Courage) chose to live in East Germany after World War II.

In 1959 Gunther Grass burst onto the scene with his extraordinary first novel, Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum). He became a spokesman for the German generation that grew up in the Nazi era and received the Nobel Prize in literature in 1999 as a poet, novelist, and playwright.

Other Germans who won the Nobel Prize for literature:

• Theodor Mommsen, 1902, philosopher

• Paul J. L. Heyse, 1910, novelist, dramatist, and poet

• Gerhart J. R. Hauptmann, 1912, dramatist

• Thomas Mann, 1929, novelist

• Hermann Hesse, 1946, novelist

• Heinrich Böll, 1972, novelist

The influence of German thought on the Western mind has been powerful, from as far back as the 13th century when Albertus Magnus became known as a scholastic philosopher, naturalist, and theologian. Through the centuries, other notable philosophers have been Kant, Moses Mendelssohn, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Marx, Engels, and Nietzsche (Thus Spake Zarathustra).

Music

Music is an important and pervasive facet of German life. German disunity over the centuries actually helped foster German music. The many small principalities and bishoprics that split up the German-speaking world meant that there were many courts to offer opportunities to musicians, both composers and instrumentalists. As a result, the German-speaking nations produced more composers of indisputable greatness than any other.

Today, the musical scene in Germany is as vibrant as ever. Every major city has an opera house and an orchestra, many of them world renowned. New composers are encouraged, and productions are often at the cutting edge.

Men (and Women) of Note: Germany’s Rich Musical History

by Donald Olson

Some of the greatest works of Western music have been written by German composers. The roster includes Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Wagner, as well as 20th-century greats Alban Berg and Kurt Weill. The country’s rich musical history dates back to 12th-century Minnesängers (troubadours) and religious chants. Over the centuries, Germany’s musical traditions were fostered in convents, monasteries and churches where composers were hired to write sacred songs, cantatas and oratorios. Eventually, as opera houses and concert halls became a fixture in German cities, a wider public clamored for musical performances. Classical music remains an important part of German culture today and can be enjoyed in concert halls and opera houses throughout the country.

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) Known as Saint Hildegard, this Benedictine abbess was revered in her day as an author, visionary, herbalist, poet, and composer. Over 70 of her compositions have survived, one of the largest repertoires among medieval composers. Hildegard’s music is monophonic, consisting of only one melodic line, but her soaring melodies go well beyond the range of medieval chant.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) After stints as a violinist, an organist, and Kapellmeister, Bach arrived in Leipzig in 1723 and stayed for the rest of his life, writing more than 200 cantatas, the Passion According to St. Matthew, and the Mass in B Minor. He was prolific in other ways as well, fathering 17 children. Every June, Leipzig celebrates Bach’s musical legacy with the famous Bachfest (www.bach-leipzig.de), during which Bach’s works are performed in the Thomaskirche, where he is buried.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Beethoven brought emotional depth and new tone colors to music in the transitional period between the Classical (Bach) and Romantic (Brahms) eras. He began his career by composing and performing piano concertos, and he continued to compose (9 symphonies, the opera Fidelio) even when his hearing began to deteriorate in the late 1790s. By the time his monumental Ninth Symphony was premiered in 1824, Beethoven was so deaf that he had to be turned around to see the tumultuous applause of the audience. Music lovers can visit his birthplace, the Beethoven House Museum, in Bonn.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Like Beethoven, Brahms was a composer and virtuoso pianist who performed many of his own works. He composed for piano, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus. The structure of Brahms’s music is rooted in the traditions of Baroque and Classical composition, but he developed musical themes in a way pioneered by Beethoven, creating bold new harmonies and melodies. Brahms’s glory years as a composer were between 1868, when he premiered A German Requiem, his largest choral work, and 1885, by which time he had composed his four symphonies and the Piano Concerto No. 2. In 1889, Brahms made an experimental recording of his first Hungarian dance on the piano, the earliest recording made by a major composer.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Known primarily for his operas, Wagner pioneered advances in musical language that greatly influenced the development of European classical music. His life was tumultuous, requiring periodic flights to escape creditors. It was while in exile from Germany that Wagner completed his four-act Ring cyle, the opera Tristan and Isolde, and developed his revolutionary vision of operas as Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total artwork”, a fusion of music, song, dance, poetry, visual arts, and stagecraft. His fortunes brightened when Ludwig II, king of Bavaria, became Wagner’s patron., Wagner built the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, a theater where his operas—and only his—would be performed. He is buried in the garden at Villa Wahnfriend in Bayreuth.

Kurt Weill (1900-1950) Although he was classically trained and had some success with his works for the concert hall, it was Weill’s musical-theatre songs that became popular in Germany in the late 1920s and early 1930s. His best-known work, The Threepenny Opera, was written in 1928 in collaboration with the German playwright Bertolt Brecht contained his most famous song, “Mack the Knife.” As a prominent Jewish composer, Weill became a target of the Nazis and was forced to flee Germany in 1933.

A History of German Music

Baroque Music The greatest composer of the baroque era was Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), who was a supreme master of all musical forms of his time. Bach produced many church cantatas, especially for St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where he served as cantor. His compositions were technically outstanding, vigorous, and profound. Little of his music was published during his lifetime, but after his death, his influence steadily grew, especially that of his organ works. The musical tradition in his large family was maintained by two of his talented sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–88) and Johann Christian Bach (1735–82). The Brandenburg Concertos are highly recommended.

Bach’s contemporary George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) was another great composer. He first rose to prominence as musician of the court of Hannover, a post that he left to become composer at the court of St. James of England. He was a leading composer of operas and instrumental music for the court. Listen to his oratorio, Messiah.

The Classical Period Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91), although an Austrian, cannot be omitted from any discussion of German music. His operas, with their contemporary themes and lively musical characterizations, paved the way for later composers. Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), another Austrian, also exerted great influence on German music, especially instrumental music. Listen to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni and Haydn’s “Drum Roll” Symphony no. 103.

The 19th Century & Romanticism The 19th century was rich in musical genius. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) ushered in romanticism. His works included symphonies, piano concertos, piano sonatas, quartets, and many others. He greatly expanded and developed the orchestra. Tragically, he completely lost his hearing in 1819. However, the chamber music he wrote after this event shows an even greater depth and complexity than his previous compositions. Listen to symphonies no. 5 and no. 9.

Other great composers of the era include Franz Schubert (1797–1828), Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47), Robert Schumann (1810–56), and Johannes Brahms (1833–97). Listen to Schubert’s Lieder, Mendelssohn’s “Overture” to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Schumann’s Symphony no. 3, and Brahms’s German Requiem.

The giant of the 19th-century opera world was Richard Wagner (1813–83). His theories of musical drama exerted a tremendous influence on everyone who followed him, even his detractors. His influence can best be heard in the music of the later Romantic composer Richard Strauss (1864–1949), whose operas carry Wagner’s ideas of character development to greater psychological depth. Listen to Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelungs and Strauss’s Salome.

The 20th Century Musical experimentation flourished in early-20th-century Germany. Austrian-born Arnold Schönberg (1874–1951) developed the 12-tone system of musical structure. Kurt Weill (1900–50) and Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) tried to reach a more popular audience. During the Nazi era, many composers fled Germany. Others, like Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949) and Strauss, remained in an uneasy relationship with the Nazis. Listen to Schönberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra, Weill’s Threepenny Opera, and Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler. The music of Pfitzner is still heard in such operas as Palestrina from 1917 and Das Herz from 1931. The compositions of Strauss are among the most frequently played around the globe, especially his operas such as Salome (1905) and Elektra (1909).

More recently, major composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007) and Hans Werner Henze (b. 1926) have brought the traditions of Germany’s musical past into the present. Listen to Stockhausen’s Gesang der Jünglinge (Song of the Youths). Henze has won cultural awards around the world for such compositions as The English Cat in 1980 and La Cubana in 1973.

Beyond Baroque: The Modern German music Scene

Modern German music tastes are heavily influenced by the American or British pop worlds, but many German musicians have created their own Teutonic sounds, notably the amusingly named “Krautrock.” Kraut, of course, was originally an ethnic slur used by American GIs to refer to Nazi soldiers. One critic defined Krautrock “as a mix of Anglo-American post-psychedelic jamming and moody progressive rock.” Its stars were the band Can, often compared to the Velvet Underground, and the band Faust, which became one of the first acts to sign with Richard Branson’s Virgin Records.

Crossing international boundaries is the German industrial metal band Rammstein, which nonetheless performs almost exclusively in German. The group is known for its rock hit “Du Hast.” Rammstein is also controversial—a liquid-ejecting dildo earned them a night in a Massachusetts jail. Rammstein band members much admire the music of Nina Hagen, who often leads protests concerning issues such as the war in Iraq. She headlined the Drop Dead Festival in New York City in 2005.

Neue Deutsche Welle (New German wave) was a form of punk rock and new wave music that rose in the mid-’70s. Out of this movement came a German band from Berlin, Wir Sind Helden (We Are Heroes), which has achieved great success, including sold-out concerts in London, with non-English lyrics.

Punk music became popular in the 1970s in the wake of the success of British bands like the Sex Pistols, who developed a devoted following in West Germany. After reunification, many punk bands such as Slime rose to rant against politicians who ignore the dangers of neo-Nazis in Germany. The late ’70s also saw the rise of Goth rock, with strong ties to the English punk rock scene. Since the turn of the millennium, Goth rock has declined in popularity but still flourishes in pockets.

German hip-hop entered the mainstream only in the early ’90s, bringing with it graffiti and break dancing. The controversial and mysterious Berlin rapper Sido released Maske, a debut album in 2004, which was hailed as the first real German hip-hop music. His most recent releases are the 2008 album Ich und meine Maske (Me and My Mask) and the 2009 album Aggro Berlin.

Film

German cinema came into its own in the aftermath of World War I, although it actually began in 1895, when the brothers Skladanowsky presented their Bioscop in the Wintergarten at Berlin. Early German film not only has earned a place in cinema history, but also has been enormously influential in both Europe and the United States. Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), directed by Dr. Robert Wiene and released in Berlin in 1920, was hailed as “the first work of art on the screen.” After viewing the film, the French coined the term Caligarisme to describe the “all upside-down” postwar world.

The 1920s saw the production of many notable German films, such as Fritz Lang’s Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler), a 1922 screen version of a novel by Norbert Jacques. In 1924, Lang achieved great popular success with his two Nibelungen films, which became classics. The influence of Lang’s science fiction film Metropolis (1927) can still be seen today, and his Spione (The Spy) became the forerunner of the Hitchcock thrillers. Carl Mayer achieved renown for his scripts, which were called “screen poems.” These include the expressionist 1920 film Genuine and 1924s Der Letzte Mann (The Last Laugh). Mayer is said to have “unchained” the camera.

In the late 1920s, Hollywood began drawing away Germany’s brightest stars, including directors Ernst Lubitsch and F. W. Murnau (Faust, 1926) and stars such as Conrad Veidt and Emil Jannings. As the worldwide recession hit Germany, film production suffered further. The most notable film to come out of this troubled period was Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), released in 1930. It starred Emil Jannings and brought world acclaim to its female lead, Marlene Dietrich, who later found even greater glory in Hollywood.

When the Nazis came to power, German films became propaganda tools. Nazi films reached the zenith of their power in Leni Riefenstahl’s 1934 Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will), acclaimed for its cinematic techniques in spite of its glorification of Nazism. She went on to make Olympia, her classic account of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Her innovative camera angles and close-ups of the athletes in action were brilliant, and the films won her both praise and condemnation.

In the first decades after World War II, the German film industry was not very creative. By the 1970s, however, a group of talented directors was emerging, including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, and Volker Schlöndorff.

Currently, there are few screen giants in Germany. The Berlin Film Festival often honors golden oldies, such as Pandora’s Box, by G. W. Pabst, starring American Louise Brooks. Many Pabst films have been restored and reconstructed. Pabst’s critical treatment of social issues earned him the sobriquet “The Red Pabst” during the Weimar Republic. Franz Seitz is often honored for producing some 80 films during his career, including 1979’s The Tin Drum.

The 1981 story of a doomed Nazi submarine, Das Boot (The Boat) still holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a German film, a total of six. The 1990 film Das schreckliche Mädchen (The Nasty Girl) tells the often shocking story of what a Bavarian high-school student uncovers when she sets out to investigate the Nazi past of her hometown. Michael Verhoeven’s picture was nominated for an Oscar as best foreign film. The movie is said to have been based on true-life experiences of a young woman. The German hometown in the film is actually Passau, covered later in this guide. Hitler once resided in Passau.

In 2006, Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) won an Academy Award as best foreign-language film. The film documented how Stasi (the East German secret police) spied on the lives of its citizens. In 2007, Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters) also won an Oscar as best foreign-language film. Shot in Berlin, this Austro-German production told the story of how forgers were assigned the job of producing massive amounts of fake U.S. dollars and British pounds in an effort by the Nazi regime to weaken the Allied economy.

Modern films continue to offer us a glimpse of contemporary German life and culture as well. Most of these are available in the U.S. either dubbed or translated into English. Tom Tykwer’s Lola Rennt (1998) remains one of our favorites. It was called Run Lola Run in its English release. Starring Franka Potenta as Lola, the film has been called iconic of a reunified Germany. The plot involves a young woman who has 20 minutes to find and bring 100,000 German marks to her boyfriend before he robs a supermarket. The action is riveting, the soundtrack dynamic.

In Der Krieger und die Kaiserin (The Princess and the Warrior), director Tykwer is reunited with Potenta. First released in 2000, the film follows the travails of Sissi, who works in a psychiatric hospital. She becomes involved with a tormented ex-soldier who stages a bank robbery. A near-death experience throws Sissi’s life into chaos.

One of the freshest post-reunification films is Wolfgang Becker’s 2003 comedy Goodbye, Lenin!, set in East Germany in 1989. A young man, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, tries to prevent her from learning that her beloved East Germany has disappeared.

Eating & Drinking

Though traditional dishes like dumplings, Wurst (sausages), pastries, and beer may make Germany seem the worst possible place to eat healthfully, in reality, restaurants are offering foreign foods and neue Küche (modern cuisine). Chefs trained in Switzerland, France, or Italy return to Germany to open Continental restaurants, and Italians and Turks, many of whom originally came to Germany as “guest workers,” own restaurants featuring their own culinary traditions.

Regional Specialties

• Bavaria & Franconia: In southern Germany, you can feast on such hearty fare as Leberkäs (a chilled mold of minced pork, beef, and liver), Knödel (dumplings or soaked bread), Haxen (pork or veal trotters, most often consumed with Sauerkraut), Rostbratwürste (small finger sausages), and Leberknödel (large liver dumplings in a clear broth). Schweinwurst mit Kraut (pork sausages with Sauerkraut) is another unforgettable local dish.

• Lower Saxony & Schleswig-Holstein: Here in northwest Germany, with its maritime tradition, a typical local dish is Aalsuppe—sweet-and-sour eel soup flavored with bacon, vegetables, and sometimes even pears and prunes (or perhaps other fruits). The sailor’s favorite is Labskaus, a ground-together medley of pork, salt herring, and beef, along with potatoes and beets. The traditional topping is a fried egg and a side dish of cucumbers. Bruntes Huhn is salt beef on a bed of diced vegetables, a robust winter favorite. Rollmops, pickled herring rolled in sour cream, is another local specialty, as is Finkenwerder Scholle (plaice) and oysters, raw or baked with cheese.

• Berlin: During those cold nights in old Prussia, Berliners took comfort in their soups, notably Kohlsuppe (cabbage soup) and Erbsensuppe (pea soup), along with dark bread, especially Westphalia pumpernickel. Hase im Topf is a delicious rabbit pâté. Other favorites are Bratwurst, a pork sausage, and Regensburger Wurst, a spicy pork sausage. For dessert, Berliners like Kugelhupf, a marvelous coffeecake, and Käsekuchen, or cheesecake. But probably the most typical Berlin delicacy is Eisbein (pigs’ knuckles).

• Hassen & Westphalia: Famed for its hams, this region eats food guaranteed to put hair on your chest. Sample their Sulperknochen, made from the pigs’ trotters (feet), ears, and tail, and served traditionally with pea pudding and pickled cabbage. Try Tüttchen, a ragout of herb-flavored calves’ heads and calves’ brains, or settle for Pickert, sweet-potato cakes flavored with raisins.

• Baden-Württemberg: In the southern region around Stuttgart, begin with such dishes as Schneckensuppe (snail soup), Spätzle (egg-based pasta), or perhaps Maultaschen (ravioli stuffed with ground meat, spinach, and calves’ brains). A dish beloved in the area and widely consumed is Geschnetzeltes (slices of veal in a cream sauce). The favorite local dish in Stuttgart itself is Gaisburger Marsch, a beef stew. Another commonly served dish is Rostbraten, braised beef, invariably accompanied by Sauerkraut or Linsen mit Saiten, lentil stew cooked with sausages.

• Saxony & Thuringia: In eastern Germany, you can feast on everything from Linsensuppe mit Thüringer Rotwurst (lentil soup with Thuringian sausages) to Rinderzunge in Rosinen-Sauce (calves’ tongues in grape sauce). Kartoffelsuppe (potato soup) remains a favorite of the district, as does a baked appetizer, Quarkkeulchen, made from curd, boiled potatoes, flour, sugar, and raisins, topped with cinnamon and served with applesauce. Each city in the district also has its own popular local dishes. Leipzig, for example, has its Leipziger Allerlei, a blend of carrots, peas, asparagus, cauliflower, mushrooms, crayfish, oxtails, bits of veal, and dumplings.

• Rhineland: The Rhineland features dishes that have made Germans the subject of good-natured ridicule, especially in neighboring France. For example, there’s Saumagen, stuffed pork belly with pickled cabbage. Also beloved is Schweinepfeffer, a highly seasoned and spicy pork ragout that’s thickened with pig blood. After that feast, it’s on to Hämchen, pork trotters with pickled cabbage and potatoes, or else Sauerbraten, beef marinated in wine vinegar and spices. Postwar Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was a Rhinelander, and one of his favorite foods was Reibekuchen, small potato pancakes with a blueberry sauce or applesauce. Taverns along the Rhine fill up when Federweisser, partially fermented new wine, comes in. They drink it while devouring onion tarts.

The Best of the wurst

The German love affair with Wurst (sausage) dates from the dawn of history. Every region of Germany has its own specialty, but the overall favorite seems to be Bratwurst from Nürnberg, made of seasoned and spiced pork. Germans often take their Wurst with a bun and a dab of mustard. Weisswurst (white sausage) is a medley of veal, calves’ brains, and spleen. Bauernwurst (farmer’s sausage) and Knockwurst are variations of the Frankfurter, which originated (naturally) in Frankfurt. (Oddly enough, small Frankfurters, which are called wieners or Vienna sausages in the United States and Wienerwurst in Germany, are known as Frankfurters in Austria.) Leberwurst (made from liver) is a specialty of Hesse. Rinderwurst and Blutwurst (beef sausage and blood sausage) are Westphalian specialties and are often eaten with Steinhäger (corn brandy).

Beer & Wine

Beer For variety and quality, German beer is unequaled. The world’s oldest brewery is in Bavaria, but other regions in Germany have proud beer-making traditions. Export beers and the rather more bitter Pils, the most popular type of beer, are also produced in Berlin, Hamburg, the Ruhr, Hesse, and Stuttgart. Altbier, a very early product of the brewer’s art, can be found today all over Germany.

In Germany, if you go into a beer hall and ask the bartender for ein Bier, you’ll probably get the standard stock beer, Vollbier, which is 4% alcohol. More potent is Export at 5% or Bockbier at 6%. Connoisseurs specify the type of beer they want and often the brewery. The following is a bit of beer vocabulary. When the malt has been darkly roasted and fermented for much longer, it becomes dunkles Bier, or dark beer. Doppelbock is an extra-dark beer with a 6% alcoholic content. Helles Bier is light and brewed from malt dried and baked by the local brewery, or Brauerei. Many Germans, especially the citizens of Bamberg, like their beer “smoked.” If that appeals to you, request Rauchbier. In nearby Bayreuth, Richard Wagner’s old hometown, locals prefer a “steam beer” known as Dampfbier. The denizens of Düsseldorf and Frankfurt can often be heard requesting Alt, a brown, barley-malt brew. Kölsch is a light beer drunk mainly in Cologne in tall fluted glasses. Hefeweizen is a yeasty wheat beer consumed often with a squeeze of lemon. Berliner Weisse is made from wheat, like a Bavarian white beer, but with a dash of raspberry or woodruff syrup. Dark and sweet, malt beer has hardly any alcohol, whereas Starkbier is a powerful beer served when the barrels are opened after the post-Lenten celebrations in March. It has the highest alcohol content of them all. Finally, Pils, or pilsner, beers are light and contain more hops. Dortmund has earned a reputation in this field.

o’ zapfstisl (“The Barrel Is Tapped”)

The oldest brewery in the world is at Weihenstephan, a former Benedictine monastery 30km (19 miles) northeast of Munich in Old Bavaria. It dates from the year 1040, although there is evidence that a hop garden already existed near the grounds of the monastery in A.D. 768. The monks here brought beer to the masses in Europe. Even today, the oldest brewery within Munich itself, Augustiner, reflects brewing’s monastic heritage.

Over the centuries, monks brewed a strong beer for consumption during the fasting period of Lent, during which they were technically supposed to drink only water. The story goes that the pope heard about this custom and ordered that the beer be transported to Rome for him to sample. When the pope finally tasted the beer after its long journey (it didn’t have preservatives back then), he decided it tasted foul and decreed that the beer was strong enough punishment for the Bavarian monks to drink it during Lent. Today, all Munich breweries brew this strong beer during Lent; Salvator and Triumphator are the best-known brands. Ator in German means a strong beer. By long-standing tradition, the names of German Doppelbock Bier (a type of strong beer) end with an “-ator” suffix.

Wine Germany has produced delightful wines for centuries, but sometime in the 1970s, German wine became the butt of jokes. The postwar German economic miracle had led to a boom in wine production. Many new vineyards sprang up suddenly, and quality was not always their first priority. Cheap, cloyingly sweet table wines flooded the market. One label in particular, Liebfraumilch, began to sully the reputation of the entire industry; the mere mention of its name to anyone in the know met with a knowing titter or contemptuous sneer. Today, however, German viticulture has many smaller producers producing excellent wines.

Good German wine is renowned for its natural lightness and its delicate balance of sweetness and acidity. Most vineyards flourish on steep hillsides, protected from harsh winds by wooded neighboring hills, especially on the banks of the Rhine and Mosel rivers and their tributaries. The vineyards profit from the warmth reflected off the sunlit water. The slow maturing of the grapes gives German wines their typical fresh, fruity acidity.

Germany does produce red wine, but as a rule it’s better to stick to white or perhaps a rosé. Trocken (dry) or halbtrocken (semidry) are often given on the labels; look for them if you want to escape anything sweet. This avoidance, however, should not extend to the dessert wines, which resemble nectar.

The overload of information on a German wine label is often puzzling to foreigners, but it’s not really that hard to decipher. First of all, the grape variety should be indicated. Legally, German wines are only required to contain 85% of the declared variety. The classic is Riesling, which can range widely in taste from fruity to spicy. Other grapes include Weissburgunder, used to make dry wines, often with an aroma of melon or pear, and Scheurebe, which produces delicious, high-quality wine with the aroma of red currant. No grape reference on the label often means a poorly blended, inferior-quality wine.

“Vintage” refers to when the grapes were grown (not harvested). The question of origin is also something to keep an eye on. It’s best if the label gives a single vineyard, but these can be distinguished from the less specific vineyard zones only if you are in the know or can consult a pocket guide, such as Johnson’s.

Next, check for the level of ripeness. German law distinguishes between Tafelwein (table wine) and Qualitätswein (quality wine). QbA (Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete) on a bottle means the wine is made from the approved grape varieties, which will give it the particular and traditional taste of its region. QmP refers to Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (wine with distinction) and carries one of six special attributes. These, in order of ascending price, are Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese (BA), Eiswein, and the exclusive Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA).

As a classification, Kabinett was first used by Eberbach Abbey in 1712 to denote quality. This wine is especially good as an aperitif with light snacks or veal. The mildly sweet and fruity Auslese from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region and the rich Spätlese are well suited to richer dishes such as duck, smoked fowl, and oysters. Those trocken and halbtrocken Rieslings from the Rheingau and Mosel-Saar-Ruwer are perfect with pork, sausages, and Sauerkraut, as well as with mild cheeses. A fuller-bodied Riesling Spätlese and Auslese Trocken from Rheingau or Pfalz goes excellently with wild boar and lobster. The rarest vintages, those sweet wines carrying the BA and TBA designations, are best left for anything oily or pungent in flavor, such as goose-liver pâté or rich cheeses. They are also wonderful with desserts.

Many foreign visitors tour one of the winegrowing districts. Since reunification, a number of wine districts have emerged in eastern Germany; however, the traditional German wine country, stretching from the middle Rhine at Bonn down to Lake Constance on the Swiss border, is still the most charming, with its classic scenery of imposing castle ruins, elegant spas, and Brothers Grimm villages replete with spires and black-and-white gabled houses.

When to Go

The most popular tourist months are May to October, although winter travel to Germany is becoming increasingly popular, especially to the ski areas in the Bavarian Alps. Germany’s climate varies widely. In the north, winters tend to be cold and rainy; summers are most agreeable. In the south and in the Alps, it can be very cold in the winter, especially in January, and very warm in summer, but with cool, rainy days even in July and August. Spring and fall are often stretched out—in fact, we’ve enjoyed many a Bavarian-style “Indian summer” until late in October.

Holidays

Public holidays are January 1 (New Year’s Day), Easter (Good Friday and Easter Monday), May 1 (Labor Day), Ascension Day (10 days before Pentecost/Whitsunday, the seventh Sun after Easter), Whitmonday (day after Pentecost/Whitsunday), October 3 (Day of German Unity), November 17 (Day of Prayer and Repentance), and December 25 and 26 (Christmas). In addition, the following holidays are observed in some German states: January 6 (Epiphany), Corpus Christi (10 days after Pentecost), August 15 (Assumption), and November 1 (All Saints’ Day).

Calendar of Events

All dates and events are subject to change. Contact the German National Tourist Board (www.germany-tourism.de) for more information. The board publishes a free calendar of forthcoming events three times a year, in April, October, and January; the first two are biannual calendars and the last is a yearly preview. They give the dates of trade fairs and exhibitions, theatrical and musical performances, local folk festivals, sporting events, conferences, and congresses throughout Germany.

For an exhaustive list of events beyond those listed here, check http://events.frommers.com, where you’ll find a searchable, up-to-the-minute roster of what’s happening in cities all over the world.

January

New Year’s Day International Ski Jumping, Garmisch-Partenkirchen. This is one of Europe’s major winter sporting events. For more information, contact the tourist bureau on Richard-Strauss-Platz ( 08821/180700;www.gapa.de). January 1.

February

International Film Festival, Berlin (at various theaters; announced in local newspapers). Stars, would-be stars, directors, and almost anyone with a film to peddle show up at this well-attended festival. It lasts for 10 days and is a showcase for the work of international film directors as well as the latest German films. Tickets can be purchased at any box office. Contact the Berlin International Film Festival ( 030/259200;www.berlinale.de) for more information. Early February.

Ambiente. This is one of the principal consumer goods trade fairs of Europe. Its origins go back centuries. For information, call 069/75750 (http://ambiente.messefrankfurt.com). Mid-February.

Fasching. Carnival festivals take place throughout Germany, reaching their peak on the Tuesday (Mardi Gras) before Ash Wednesday. Particularly famous carnivals take place in Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, and especially Munich.

March

Spring Fairs. Highlights throughout Germany, especially in Augsburg, Münster, Nürnberg, Hamburg, and Stuttgart. Dates vary from year to year.

April

Walpurgis Festivals. Celebrated in the Harz Mountains. Festivities occur on the night of April 30.

May

Hamburg Summer. An entire series of cultural events, including concerts, plays, festivals, and special exhibitions throughout May, June, and July. For information, contact the Hamburg Tourist Bureau, in Hauptbahnhof ( 040/30051300;www.hamburg-tourism.de).

International May Theatre Festival, Wiesbaden. This city near Frankfurt hosts a premier cultural event—a series of artistic celebrations lasting 1 month. For information, contact the Wiesbaden Tourist Office, Marktstrasse 6 ( 0611/1729780;www.wiesbaden.de).

June

Floodlighting of the Castle, Heidelberg. Fireworks enliven the display in this storied university city. For more information, contact the Heidelberg Tourist Bureau, Willy-Brandt-Platz 1 ( 06221/14220;www.heidelberg-marketing.de). June, July, and September.

Mozart Festival, Würzburg. Mozart fans flock to this major cultural event in the baroque city of Würzburg. For more information, contact Tourismus Zentrale, Falkenhaus am Markt Centrum ( 0931/372336;www.wuerzburg.de or www.mozartfest-wuerzburg.de). Early June to early July.

July

See Floodlighting of the Castle, Heidelberg, under June, above.

Freiburg Wine Tasting. Local residents and visitors enjoy the first vintages from grapes grown in the Black Forest district. For more information, contact the Freiburg Tourist Board, Rathausplatz 2–4 ( 0761/3881880;www.freiburg.de). Early July.

Richard Wagner Festival, Bayreuth. One of Europe’s two or three major opera events, this festival takes place in the composer’s Festspielhaus in the capital of upper Franconia. Note that opera tickets often must be booked years in advance. For information, contact Festival Administration, Bayreuther Festspiele, Kartenbüro, Postfach 100262 ( 0921/78780;www.bayreuther-festspiele.de). Late July to late August.

August

Red Wine Festival, Rüdesheim/Assmannshausen. This is held in Assmannshausen, the Rhine village most famous for red wines. For exact dates, contact the Rüdesheim Tourist Bureau, Geisenheimer Strasse 22 ( 06722/906150;www.ruedesheim.de). Late August.

Musikfest Berlin ( 030/254890;www.berlinerfestspiele.de) takes place for a little more than 2 weeks. During the festival, Berlin plays host to orchestras, ensembles, conductors, and soloists from around the world. The festival is organized in conjunction with the Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker. Late August to mid-September.

September

See Floodlighting of the Castle, Heidelberg, under June, above.

Oktoberfest, Munich. Much of Germany’s most famous festival takes place in September, not October. Millions show up, and hotels are packed. Most activities are at Theresienwiese, where local breweries sponsor gigantic tents that can hold up to 6,000 beer drinkers. Contact the Munich Tourist Bureau ( 089/23396500;www.muenchen.de) for particulars or just show up. Reserve hotel rooms well in advance. Mid-September to mid-October.

October

Frankfurt Book Fair. A major international event for publishers, book dealers, agents, and authors. For more information call 069/21020 (www.frankfurt-book-fair.com) or contact the Frankfurt Tourist Office ( 069/21238800;www.frankfurt-tourismus.de). Mid-October.

Spielzeit’europa. Schaperstrasse 24, Berlin ( 030/254890;www.berlinerfestspiele.de), is a 4-month season of theater and dance performances at Festspiele. October to January.

November

Jazz-Fest Berlin. This annual festival, staged at the Philharmonie, attracts some of the world’s finest jazz artists, ranging from traditional to experimental. Contact the Berlin Festspiele Ticket Office ( 030/254890;www.berlinerfestspiele.de) for more information. Early November.

Winter Dom, Hamburg. An annual amusement fair (sometimes called Hamburg Dom) at the Heiligengeistfeld. For more information, contact the Hamburg Tourist Bureau, in Hauptbahnhof ( 040/30051300;www.hamburg-tourism.de). Early November to early December.

December

Christmas Fair, Mainz. Mainz stages its Christmas fair on the Rhine for the 4 weeks preceding Christmas. For more information, contact the Mainz Tourist Bureau, Brueckenturm am Rathaus ( 06131/286210;www.mainz.de). December. (Other German towns hold Christmas fairs in Nov.)

Responsible Travel

Germans, with some justification, consider themselves in the avant-garde of green travel. Although they suffered one of history’s most devastating attacks on their environment (World War II), in the postwar years they became a front-runner in preserving their environment and protecting nature.

“Germans are known for recycling and reusing their natural resources,” said Berlin activist Hans Welder.

In Germany, more and more systems are going into place to generate energy from wind and solar power.

Germans didn’t exactly invent walking or hiking across their countryside, but you would think so when you notice the numbers of citizens who prefer this form of exploration. It’s a way to stay in good health, enjoy nature, and avoid harming the environment, all at the same time.

Trails in Germany are often signposted, cutting through all areas of the country, from tidal shores to low mountain regions, with tours offered to some of the more difficult-to-reach points along mountaintops.

The outdoor enthusiast might want to concentrate on Germany’s national parks, 14 in all, with the heaviest concentration in Bavaria and in old East Germany. Our favorite of these biosphere reserves is the Bavarian Forest National Park in the south and the Harz National Park in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

We applaud the German effort to reintroduce wildlife that was once native to these parks. The last lynx in the Harz Mountains was shot in 1818. But the animal was reintroduced in 1999, and wild lynxes began to give birth in 2002. However, other attempts have failed, including an attempt to return the capercaillie to its former native habitat.

For general data about the parks of Germany, consult Nationalpark Service, Informationshaus, 17192 Federow, Germany ( 039/91668849;www.nationalpark-service.de). The national parks are free, but camping at designated areas ranges from 5€ to 10€ per night. Some parks have huts that are basic but better than a tent, and this form of accommodations costs from 10€ to 20€ per person. Park rangers crack down on those who harm the environment.

If you’re interested in camping, check the Great Outdoor Recreation Page (www.gorp.com) before you go. It has some fine data not only on camping but also on ways to enjoy the landscapes of Germany.

Many organizations are devoted to eco-tourism today, including Biosphefere Expedition, P.O. Box 917750, Longwood, FL 32791 ( 800/407-5761;www.biosphere-expeditions.org). This group sets up ecofriendly tours to the Bavarian Alps, for example. Earthwatch, 3 Clocktower Place, Ste. 1000, P.O. Box 75, Maynard, MA 01754 ( 800/776-0188;www.earthwatch.org), often includes Germany in its 1- to 3-week jaunts to promote conservation of natural resources.

An unusual offering for the true green visitor is provided by Willing Workers on Organic Farms, Postfach 210259, 01263 Dresden (www.wwoof.de). Charging a membership of 20€, the organization’s name says it all—participants get free room and board at a variety of organic farms throughout the country, but they must be willing to work for their supper.

One of the best ways for the green traveler in Germany is to take a tour from one bio hotel to another. These jaunts take you to the most scenic parts of the country, ranging from Lüneburg in the north to the Bavarian Forest in the south. For information and a list of these places to stay, check www.biohotels.info.

Increasingly popular is spending a vacation on a German farm, a welcome alternative for families with children. Sometimes guests can help with the activities, such as feeding the cows or helping with the harvest. Some lodgings are no longer working farms but have been turned into tranquil guesthouses with typical regional charm. Find out more about this type of holiday by searching www.landtourismus.de.

In addition to the resources for Germany listed above, see frommers.com/planning for more tips on responsible travel.

Tours

Germany is one of the great outdoor destinations of Europe. From its mountains to its beaches, from its rivers to its castles, there is much to see and explore. It has summer attractions galore, plus skiing on its Alpine slopes in winter. Here is but a sampling of the offerings that await you.

Biking

In Germany you can bike through green valleys and past rivers while enjoying rural landscapes and villages. Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club, P.O. Box 107747, 28077 Bremen ( 0421/346290;www.adfc.de), offers complete information on biking in Germany.

For over 20 years, Classic Adventures, P.O. Box 143, Hamlin, NY 14464 ( 800/777-8090; fax 585/964-7297; www.classicadventures.com), has offered bike tours of such areas as the Romantic Road. Euro-Bike and Walking Tours has teamed with Austin-Lehman Adventures to offer some of the best biking and walking tours in Germany. The company’s trips in Bavaria are particularly notable. For more information, check out www.austinlehman.com. You can also call 800/575-1540 in the United States and Canada, or else write to P.O. Box 81025, Billings, MT 59108.

Dozens of companies in Britain offer guided cycling tours. One of the best is the Cyclists Touring Club, Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, Surrey GUZ 9JX ( 0870/873-0060;www.ctc.org.uk). It charges £36 a year for membership.

Cruises

The most popular cruises in Germany are along the Rhine.

Jody Lexow Yacht Charters rents hotel barges (including crew, food, and beverages) and smaller self-drive craft for touring the canals and rivers of Germany. For additional information, contact the agency at 26 Coddington Wharf, Newport, RI 02840 ( 800/662-2628;www.jodylexowyachtcharters.com).

Canal barge cruises are the way to see a rarely viewed part of Germany. The best such packages are available through European Barging, 25132 Oakhurst Dr., No. 130, Spring, TX 77386 ( 888/869-7907;www.europeanbarging.com). German itineraries focus on Berlin and the Mecklenburg lakes, and the “Mosel Cruise,” from Trier to Koblenz.

Escorted General-Interest Tours

Escorted tours are structured group tours with a group leader. The price usually includes everything from airfare to hotels, meals, admission costs, and local transportation.

Many people derive a sense of ease and security from escorted trips. Escorted tours—whether by bus, motorcoach, train, or boat—let travelers sit back and enjoy the trip without having to spend lots of time behind the wheel or worrying about details. You know your costs upfront, and there are few surprises. Escorted tours can take you to the maximum number of sights in the minimum amount of time with the least amount of hassle—you don’t have to sweat over the plotting and planning of a vacation schedule. Escorted tours are particularly convenient for people with limited mobility. They can also be a great way to meet people.

On the downside, an escorted tour often requires a big deposit upfront, and lodging and dining choices are predetermined. You’ll have few opportunities for serendipitous interactions with locals. The tours can be jampacked with activities, leaving little room for individual sightseeing, whim, or adventure—plus they often focus only on the heavily touristed sites, so you miss out on lesser known gems.

Brendan Vacations ( 800/421-8446;www.brendanvacations.com) has a selection of 8- to 15-day tours. Accommodations are at the better hotels, and rates include everything except airfare. Collette Vacations ( 800/340-5158;www.collettevacations.com) has an “Alpine Countries” tour that covers southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Globus & Cosmos Tours ( 800/338-7092;www.globusandcosmos.com) offers 9- to 16-day escorted tours of various parts of Germany. It also has a budget branch that offers tours at lower rates. Maupintour ( 800/255-4266;www.maupintour.com) has a selection of upscale tours, such as a Rhine River tour of Berlin, Dresden, Meissen, Nürnberg, and Heidelberg. Its most popular tour is a 14-day trip that takes in such cities as Dresden, Berlin, Rothenburg, Munich, Meissen, Baden-Baden, and Potsdam, including a Rhine River cruise past the Lorelei Rock.

Abercrombie & Kent ( 800/554-7016;www.abercrombiekent.com) provides customized group tours to various areas of Germany.

Golf

Most German golf courses welcome visiting players who are members of courses at home. Weekday greens fees are usually around 50€, rising to as much as 90€ on Saturday and Sunday. For information about the various golf courses, write to the Deutscher Golf/Verband, Viktoriastrasse 16, 65189 Wiesbaden ( 0611/990200;www.golf.de/dgv).

The Swabian region of Allgäu has several good courses. Golf Club Oberstaufen und Steibis ( 08386/8529;www.golf-oberstaufen.de), at Oberstaufen, is an 18-hole course close to a forest and nature park. Ofterschwang, a small, peaceful resort on the scenically beautiful Tiefenberger Moor, has Golf Club Sonnenalp ( 08321/272181;www.golfresort-sonnenalp.de). A good 18-hole course is found at Golf Bodensee ( 08389/89190;www.gcbw.de) on Lake Constance in southern Germany. Farther north, the city of Augsburg has an 18-hole course at Golf Augsburg ( 08234/5621;www.golfclub-augsburg.de).

Hiking & Mountain Climbing

These sports are popular in the German uplands. It’s estimated that Germany has more than 80,000 marked hiking and mountain-walking tracks. The Deutschen Wanderverband, Wilhelmshöher Alle 157–159, 34121 Kassel ( 0561/938730;www.wanderverband.de), services the trails and offers details about trails, shelters, huts, and addresses of hiking associations in various regions. The Deutscher Alpenverein (DAV), Von-Kahr-Strasse 2–4, 80997 Munich ( 089/140030;www.alpenverein.de), owns and operates 50 huts in and around the Alps that are open to all mountaineers. This association also maintains a 15,000km (9,300-mile) network of Alpine trails.

The best Alpine hiking is in the Bavarian Alps, especially the 1,240m (4,070-ft.) Eckbauer, on the southern fringe of Partenkirchen. The tourist office will supply hiking maps and details. Another great place for hiking is Berchtesgaden National Park, Franziskanerplatz 7, Berchtesgaden ( 08652/64343;www.nationalpark-berchtesgaden.bayern.de), bordering the Austrian province of Salzburg. This park offers the best-organized hikes and will hook you up with various groups offering hikes.

Planning Your Trip to Germany

Getting There

By Plane

Lufthansa ( 800/645-3880 in the U.S., 800/563-5954 in Canada, or 01805/805805 in Germany; www.lufthansa.com) operates the most frequent service and flies to the greatest number of Germany’s airports. From North America, Lufthansa serves 23 gateway cities. In any season, there are more than 100 weekly flights from these cities to Germany. The largest of the gateways is the New York City area, where flights depart from both JFK and Newark airports. Lufthansa has an alliance with United Airlines and Air Canada to provide seamless air service to Germany and other parts of the globe from North America. Dubbed “Star Alliance,” the union allows cross-airline benefits, including travel on one or all of these airlines on one ticket and frequent-flier credit to the participating airline of your choice.

American Airlines ( 800/443-7300;www.aa.com) flies nonstop from Chicago and Dallas to Frankfurt daily, and American’s flights connect easily with ongoing flights to many other German cities on Lufthansa or British Airways. Continental Airlines ( 800/525-0280;www.continental.com) offers daily nonstop service from Newark to Frankfurt. Delta Airlines ( 800/241-4141;www.delta.com) offers daily connecting service to Hamburg (via Paris) and nonstop to Frankfurt from Atlanta, Cincinnati, and New York’s JFK; nonstop to Munich from Atlanta; and nonstop to Berlin from JFK. United Airlines ( 800/538-2929;www.united.com) offers daily nonstops from Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago to Frankfurt and Munich, and because of the Star Alliance, discussed above, all German flights by Lufthansa or Air Canada will also be honored as a part of a United ticket. US Airways ( 800/428-4322;www.usairways.com) also flies to Frankfurt and Munich daily (with nonstops from Charlotte and Philadelphia).

From London, British Airways ( 0870/8509850;www.britishairways.com) and Lufthansa ( 01805/805805;www.lufthansa.com) are the most convenient carriers to the major German cities, including Düsseldorf, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin. British Midland ( 0870/6070555;www.flybmi.com) has daily flights to Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich.

Flying for Less: Tips for Getting the Best Airfare

• Passengers who can book their ticket either long in advance or at the last minute, or who fly midweek or at less trafficked hours, may pay a fraction of the full fare. If your schedule is flexible, say so, and ask if you can secure a cheaper fare by changing your flight plans.

• Search the Internet for cheap fares. The most popular online travel agencies are Travelocity (www.travelocity.com), Expedia (www.expedia.com), and Orbitz (www.orbitz.com). In the U.K., go to Travelsupermarket ( 0845/345-5708;www.travelsupermarket.com), a flight search engine that offers flight comparisons for the budget airlines whose seats often end up in bucket shop sales. Other websites for booking airline tickets online include Cheapflights.com, SmarterTravel.com, Priceline (www.priceline.com), and Opodo (www.opodo.com). Meta-search sites (which find and then direct you to airline and hotel websites for booking) include Sidestep.com and Kayak.com—the latter includes fares for budget carriers such as JetBlue and Spirit as well as the major airlines. Lastminute.com is a great source for last-minute flights and getaways. In addition, most airlines offer online-only fares that even their phone agents know nothing about.

• Keep an eye on local newspapers for promotional specials or fare wars, when airlines lower prices on their most popular routes.

• Consolidators, also known as bucket shops, are wholesale brokers in the airline-ticket game. Consolidators buy deeply discounted tickets (“distressed” inventories of unsold seats) from airlines and sell them to online ticket agencies, travel agents, tour operators, corporations, and, to a lesser degree, the general public. Consolidators advertise in Sunday newspaper travel sections (often in small ads with tiny type), in both the U.S. and the U.K. They can be great sources for cheap international tickets. On the downside, bucket shop tickets are often rigged with restrictions, such as stiff cancellation penalties (as high as 50%–75% of the ticket price). And keep in mind that most of what you see advertised is of limited availability. Several reliable consolidators are worldwide and available online. STA Travel (www.statravel.com) has been the world’s leading consolidator for students since purchasing Council Travel, but their fares are competitive for travelers of all ages. Flights.com ( 201/541-3826) has excellent fares worldwide, particularly to Europe. They also have “local” websites in 12 countries. FlyCheap ( 800/359-2432;www.flycheap.com) has especially good fares to sunny destinations. AirTicketsDirect ( 888/858-8884;www.airticketsdirect.com), based in Montreal, is another good source.

• Join frequent-flier clubs. Frequent-flier membership doesn’t cost a cent, but it does entitle you to free tickets or upgrades when you amass the airline’s required number of frequent-flier points. You don’t even have to fly to earn points; frequent-flier credit cards can earn you thousands of miles for doing your everyday shopping. But keep in mind that award seats are limited, seats on popular routes are hard to snag, and more and more major airlines are cutting their expiration periods for mileage points—so check your airline’s frequent-flier program so you don’t lose your miles before you use them. Inside tip: Award seats are offered almost a year in advance, but seats also open up at the last minute, so if your travel plans are flexible, you may strike gold. To play the frequent-flier game to your best advantage, consult the community bulletin boards on FlyerTalk (www.flyertalk.com) or go to Randy Petersen’s Inside Flyer (www.insideflyer.com). Petersen and friends review all the programs in detail and post regular updates on changes in policies and trends.

Getting Through the airport

• Arrive at the airport at least 2 hours before an international flight to Germany. You can check the average wait times at your airport by going to the TSA Security Checkpoint Wait Times site (http://waittime.tsa.dhs.gov).

• Know what you can carry on and what you can’t. For the latest updates on items you are prohibited to bring in carry-on luggage, go to www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel.

• Beat the ticket-counter lines by using the self-service electronic ticket kiosks at the airport or even printing out your boarding pass at home from the airline website. Using curbside check-in is also a smart way to avoid lines.

• Help speed up security before you’re screened. Remove jackets, shoes, belt buckles, heavy jewelry, and watches and place them either in your carry-on luggage or the security bins provided. Place keys, coins, cellphones, and pagers in a security bin. If you have metallic body parts, carry a note from your doctor. When possible, keep liquids in checked baggage.

• Use a TSA-approved lock for your checked luggage. Look for Travel Sentry certified locks at luggage or travel shops and Brookstone stores (or online at www.brookstone.com).

Don’t Stow It—Ship It

Though pricey, it’s sometimes worthwhile to travel luggage-free, particularly if you’re toting sports equipment, meetings materials, or baby equipment. Specialists in door-to-door luggage delivery include Skycap International and Sports Express. Both services use the same website (www.sportsexpress.com).

By Train

Many passengers, especially holders of the Eurailpass, travel to Germany by train from other European cities. (See “Getting Around,” below, for information on purchasing rail passes.)

British Rail runs four trains a day to Germany from Victoria Station in London, going by way of the Ramsgate-Ostend ferry or jetfoil. Two trains depart from London’s Liverpool Street Station, via Harwich-Hook of Holland. Most trains change at Cologne for destinations elsewhere in Germany. You can purchase tickets through British Rail travel centers in London ( 866/274-8724 in the U.S. and Canada; www.britrail.com). See “Via the Chunnel,” below, for information about the Eurostar service running between London and Brussels via the Channel Tunnel.

Unless you pay a premium for rail travel on the Eurostar, which connects London’s St. Pancras station via the Chunnel (see below) with either Paris or Brussels, train travel from the U.K. to points within Germany can be lengthy and tedious, with multiple transfers en route and with long, bouncing segments aboard either hovercrafts or conventional ferryboats between the English port of Ramsgate and the Belgian port of Oostende. If you opt to save money and embark upon one of these non-Chunnel methods of transport, expect transit times between London and Cologne of up to 12 hours, and from London to either Berlin or Munich of between 18 and 22 hours, depending on the train and the ferryboat or hovercraft crossing.

Frankly, it’s far better to pay the extra premium aboard Eurostar, the name given to each of the trains running under the English Channel, between London and Brussels, and from there, taking a high-speed train onward to your destination within Germany. Even so, transit time from London to Cologne, requiring a change in Brussels, would take 4 hours and 45 minutes; from London to Berlin, requiring a single change in Brussels and Cologne, would take 9 hours; and from London to Munich, requiring a single change in Brussels, would require between 9 and 10 hours, depending on the day of the week.

By Car & Ferry

To bring a car over from England, you face a choice of ports from which you’ll continue driving to Germany. P & O Ferries ( 08716/645645 in the U.K.; www.poferries.com) has 30 to 35 ferryboat crossings a day, depending on the season, between Dover and Calais. The crossing can take as little as 1 hour and 15 minutes. Once you’re in Calais, the drive to Cologne takes about 3 hours. Other options involve passage from Harwich to the Hook of Holland, a sea crossing of about 8 hours. You can also take your car via the Chunnel (see below).

Via the Channel Tunnel

The $15-billion Channel Tunnel, one of the greatest engineering feats of all time, is the first link between Britain and the Continent since the Ice Age. The tunnel was built beneath the seabed through a layer of impermeable chalk marl and sealed with a reinforced concrete lining. The 50km (30-mile) journey between Britain and France takes 35 minutes, although actual time in the Chunnel is only 19 minutes. Once on the Continent, you can connect to Germany fairly easily.

Rail Europe (www.raileurope.com) sells tickets on the Eurostar direct train service between London and Paris or Brussels ( 800/622-8600 in the U.S., or 800/361-7245 in Canada; www.eurostar.com). In the U.K., make reservations for Eurostar at 0870/5186186. The train operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, running every 15 minutes during peak travel times and at least once an hour at night.

The tunnel also accommodates passenger cars, charter buses, taxis, and motorcycles from Folkestone to Calais. Tickets may be purchased at the tollbooth.

Getting Around

By Plane

From Frankfurt, most Lufthansa ( 800/645-3880 in the U.S., or 800/563-5954 in Canada; www.lufthansa.com) destinations in Germany can be reached in an average of 50 minutes, with at least four flights daily.

All German cities with commercial airports have an airport shuttle service, offering reduced fares and fast connections between the city center and the airport. Departure points are usually the airlines’ town offices and the city’s main rail terminal. Luggage can be checked at the DB (Deutsche Bahn/German Rail) baggage counter at the airport for delivery to the railroad station at your ultimate destination.

By Train

Whether you travel first- or second-class, you’ll find that the trains of German Rail (DB Rail; 0800/1507090;www.bahn.de) deserve their good reputation for comfort, cleanliness, and punctuality. All are modern and fast, and all cars are nonsmoking. A snack bar or a dining car, serving German and international cuisine as well as good wine and beer, can usually be found on all trains except locals.

For city sightseeing, you can leave your baggage in a locker or check it at the station’s baggage counter. In many cities, German Rail provides door-to-door baggage service, allowing passengers to have luggage picked up at or delivered to their hotels. Accompanying baggage can be checked for a nominal fee. Suitcases, baby carriages, skis, bicycles, and steamer trunks are permitted as baggage. Insurance policies of various kinds, including a travel medical plan, are also available.

About 20,000 InterCity (IC;www.bahn.de) passenger trains offer express service every hour between most large and medium-size German cities. IC trains have adjustable cushioned seats and individual reading lights, and often offer telephone and secretarial services. Bars, lounges, and dining rooms are available, too. A network of EuroCity (EC) trains connecting Germany with 13 other countries offers the same high standards of service as those of IC.

Germany’s high-speed rail network, known as InterCity Express (ICE), is among the fastest in Europe—their trains reach speeds of 280kmph (174 mph). One of these trains runs from Hamburg, via Würzburg and Nürnberg, to Munich; another from Frankfurt, via Stuttgart, to Munich; and yet another from Berlin, via Frankfurt, to Munich. Each train makes stops along the way. ICE significantly reduces travel time, making transits north to south across the country easily possible in the course of a single day. Some 200 east-west connections have been added to the German Rail timetable to link the Deutsche Bundesbahn (west) and the Deutsche Reichsbahn (east). Additional connections make Leipzig and Dresden more accessible.

InterCity Night (ICN)—one of the most comfortable night trains in Europe—operates between Berlin and Bonn, and Berlin and Munich. Even though the train doesn’t depart until 10 or 11pm, you may board as early as 8 or 8:30pm. Arrival the next morning is between 6:55 and 7:55am, and you have the option of remaining aboard until 9 or 9:30am.

The ICN offers first and tourist class. Sleeping accommodations in first class include single or double compartments with shower and toilet, and they are equipped with key cards, phones for wake-up service, luggage storage, and other amenities. Tourist class offers open seating with sleeperettes (reclining seats). The ICN is equipped with a restaurant and bistro car, and a breakfast buffet is included in the first-class fare. For an extra cost, a limited menu for dinner is offered. Advance reservations are mandatory for all sleeping accommodations.

German Rail issues tickets for the ICN and also makes reservations. Eurail and German Rail pass holders are accepted on this train but have to pay for the seat or sleeper reservation and also for meals. Youth-pass holders are accepted only in tourist class. Children 3 and under travel free, provided they do not require a separate seat; those between 4 and 12 are charged half fare.

Before leaving for Germany, you can get complete details about German Rail and the many plans it offers, as well as information about Eurailpasses, at Rail Europe ( 877/272-7245;www.raileurope.com).

German Rail Tourist Passes The German Rail Passes offer several options beginning with 3 days and going up to 10 days in 1 month. For example 3 days of travel in 1 month costs 230€ first class or 175€ second class.

If you’re age 12 to 25, ask about a Youth Pass, or inquire about a Twin Pass, which is shared by two adults traveling together at all times.

The passes also entitle the bearer to additional benefits, such as free or discounted travel on selected bus routes operated by Deutsche Touring/Europabus, including destinations not serviced by trains, or excursions along particularly scenic highways such as the Romantic Road and the Castle Road. The pass also includes free travel on KD German Line steamers (day trips only) along the Rhine, Main, and Mosel rivers.

These passes are available from www.bahn.com or buy them from travel agent Rail Europe ( 877/272-7245). Rail Europe can also arrange cost-effective “Rail and Drive” packages that combine a certain number of days on the train with a certain number of days in a rental car. Here’s an example of how it might work: Ride the train from Frankfurt to Munich, spend 3 days exploring the city, and then rent a car for a 2-day excursion to Berchtesgaden and the Bavarian Alps. The German Rail Flexipass is also sold by Premier Gateway ( 800/777-8369 in the U.S. and Canada; www.premiergateway.com).

Where to Buy Rail Passes Travel agents in all towns and railway agents in major North American cities sell all these tickets, but the biggest supplier is Rail Europe ( 877/272-7245;www.raileurope.com), which can also give you informational brochures.

Many different rail passes are available in the U.K. for travel in Britain and continental Europe. Stop in at the International Rail Centre, Victoria Station, London SW1V 1JY ( 0870/5848848 in the U.K.). Some of the most popular passes, including Inter-Rail and Euro Youth, are offered only to travelers 25 years of age or under; these allow unlimited second-class travel through most European countries.

By Car

British travelers who want to bring their own cars over should see “By Car & Ferry” under “Getting There,” earlier in this chapter.

Competition in the European car-rental industry is fierce, so make sure you comparison shop. You can make reservations by calling these toll-free numbers: Avis ( 800/331-1212;www.avis.com), Budget ( 800/472-3325;www.budget.com), Hertz ( 800/654-3001;www.hertz.com), Kemwel Drive Group ( 877/820-0668;www.kemwel.com), and Auto Europe ( 800/223-5555;www.autoeurope.com). You can often rent a car in one German city and return it to another for no additional charge.

There are some advantages to prepaying rentals in your native currency before leaving home. You get an easy-to-understand net price, the rental process is more streamlined, and you can avoid unpleasant surprises caused by sudden unfavorable changes in currency exchange rates. Remember, however, that if you opt to prepay and your plans change, you’ll have to go through some rather complicated paperwork for changing or canceling a prepaid contract.

Driving Rules In Germany, you drive on the right side of the road. Both front- and back-seat passengers must wear safety belts. Children 5 and younger cannot ride in the front seat.

Easy-to-understand international road signs are posted, but U.S. travelers should remember that road signs are in kilometers, not miles. In congested areas, the speed limit is about 50kmph (about 30 mph). On all other roads except the autobahns, the speed limit is 100kmph (about 60 mph).

In theory, there is no speed limit on the autobahns (in the left, fast lane), but many drivers going too fast report that they have been stopped by the police and fined, and the government recommends a speed limit of 130kmph (81 mph). Reasonable caution is recommended, for safety if nothing else. A German driver on the autobahn can be a ferocious creature, and you may prefer the slow lane.

Note: Drinking while driving is a very serious offense in Germany. Be sure to keep any alcoholic beverages in the trunk or other storage area.

Breakdowns/Assistance The major automobile club in Germany is Automobilclub von Deutschland (AvD), Lyoner Strasse 16, 60528 Frankfurt ( 069/660600;www.avd.de). If you have a breakdown on the autobahn, you can call from one of many emergency phones, spaced about a mile apart. On secondary roads, go to the nearest phone. If you don’t belong to an auto club, call 01802/222222. In English, ask for “road service assistance.” Emergency assistance is free, but you pay for parts and materials.

Driver’s Licenses American drivers, and those from E.U. countries, need only a domestic license to drive. However, in Germany and throughout the rest of Europe, you must also have an international insurance certificate, known as a carte verte (green card). Any car-rental agency will automatically provide one of these as a standard part of the rental contract, but it’s a good idea to double-check all documents at the time of rental, just to be sure that you can identify the card if asked by border patrol or the police.

By Bus

An excellent, efficient bus network services Germany. Many buses are operated by Bahnbus, which is owned by the railway. These are integrated to complement the rail service. Bus service in Germany is particularly convenient during slow periods of rail service, normally around midday and on Saturday and Sunday. German post offices often operate local bus services (contact local post offices for schedules and prices).

The most popular bus ride is along the Romantic Road, where special green-and-white buses carry tourists regularly from town to town. For more information, ask a travel agent or call Deutsche Touring GmbH, Am Römerhof 17, Frankfurt ( 069/7903501;www.touring.de).

By Boat

Perhaps Germany’s most beautiful features are its lakes and rivers. The mighty Rhine is the country’s most traveled waterway. German cruise ships also run on the Main River between Mainz and Frankfurt; on the Danube from Nürnberg to Linz (Austria), going on to Vienna and Budapest; and on the Mosel between Cochem and Trier.

To cruise the mythically rich rivers of Germany, especially the legendary Rhine, you can book cruises on the principal carrier, Viking River Cruises ( 800/304-9616 in the U.S., or 0800/319-6660 in the UK; www.vikingrivers.com).

Tips on Accommodations

In general, Germany has one of the highest standards of innkeeping in the world. Hotels range from five-star palaces of luxury and comfort to plain country inns and simple Gasthäuser (guesthouses), with a huge variation in rates. The cheapest accommodations are in Fremdenheime (pensions) or rooms in private homes (look for a sign saying ZIMMER FREI, meaning there are rooms for rent). Hotels listed as garni provide no meals other than breakfast.

Also, tourist offices will often book you into a room for a small charge. Obviously, the earlier you arrive in these offices, the more likely you are to get a good room at the price you want.

Surfing for Hotels

In addition to the online travel booking sites Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, and Hotwire, you can book hotels through Hotels.com, Quikbook (www.quikbook.com), and Travelaxe (www.travelaxe.com).

HotelChatter.com is a daily webzine offering smart coverage and critiques of hotels worldwide. Go to TripAdvisor.com or HotelShark.com for helpful independent consumer reviews of hotels and resort properties.

It’s a good idea to get a confirmation number and make a printout of any online booking transaction.

Throughout Germany, as in many tourist centers worldwide, hotels routinely overbook, so booking by credit card doesn’t automatically hold your room if you arrive later than expected or after 6pm. The hotel clerk always asks when you expect to arrive, and the hotel usually holds the room until that time. Always pad your expected arrival by a few hours to be safe. However, all bets are off after 7pm, and the hotel is likely to give your room away unless you call and specifically ask them to hold it. If you’ve made a reservation very far in advance, confirm within 24 hours of your expected arrival. If you’re experiencing a major delay, alert the hotel as soon as you can.

Beware of billing. Readers report that sometimes in Germany they booked a room online (say, $100 a night) but were charged $125 when they checked out. Keep your online confirmation in case of a dispute.

Saving on Your Hotel Room

The rack rate is the maximum rate that a hotel charges for a room. Hardly anybody pays this price, however, except in high season or on holidays. To lower the cost of your room:

• Ask about special rates or other discounts. You may qualify for corporate, student, military, senior, frequent-flier, trade union, or other discounts.

• Dial direct. When booking a room in a chain hotel, you’ll often get a better deal by calling the individual hotel’s reservation desk rather than the chain’s main number.

• Book online. Many hotels offer Internet-only discounts, or supply rooms to Priceline, Hotwire, or Expedia at rates much lower than the ones you can get through the hotel itself.

• Remember the law of supply and demand. You can save big on hotel rooms by traveling in a destination’s off season or shoulder seasons, when rates typically drop, even at luxury properties.

• Look into group or long-stay discounts. If you come as part of a large group, you should be able to negotiate a bargain rate. Likewise, if you’re planning a long stay (at least 5 days), you might qualify for a discount. As a general rule, expect 1 night free after a 7-night stay.

• Sidestep excess surcharges and hidden costs. Many hotels have adopted the unpleasant practice of nickel-and-diming their guests with opaque surcharges. When you book a room, ask what is included in the room rate, and what is extra. Avoid dialing direct from hotel phones, which can have exorbitant rates. And don’t be tempted by the room’s minibar offerings: Most hotels charge through the nose for water, soda, and snacks. Finally, ask about local taxes and service charges, which can increase the cost of a room by 15% or more.

• Carefully consider your hotel’s meal plan. If you enjoy eating out and sampling the local cuisine, it makes sense to choose a Continental Plan (CP), which includes breakfast only, or a European Plan (EP), which doesn’t include any meals and allows you maximum flexibility. If you’re more interested in saving money, opt for a Modified American Plan (MAP), which includes breakfast and one meal, or the American Plan (AP), which includes three meals. If you must choose a MAP, see if you can get a free lunch at your hotel if you decide to do dinner out.

• Book an efficiency. A room with a kitchenette allows you to shop for groceries and cook your own meals. This is a big money saver, especially for families on long stays.

• Consider enrolling in hotel chains’ “frequent-stay” programs, which are upping the ante lately to win the loyalty of repeat customers. Frequent guests can now accumulate points or credits to earn free hotel nights, airline miles, in-room amenities, merchandise, tickets to concerts and events, discounts on sporting facilities—and even credit toward stock in the participating hotel, in the case of the Jameson Inn hotel group. Perks are awarded not only by many chain hotels and motels (Hilton HHonors, Marriott Rewards, and Wyndham ByRequest, to name a few), but by individual inns and B&Bs. Many chain hotels partner with other hotel chains, car-rental firms, airlines, and credit card companies to give consumers additional incentive to do repeat business.

For more tips on surfing for hotel deals online, visit Frommers.com.

Landing the Best Room

Somebody has to get the best room in the house. It might as well be you. You can start by joining the hotel’s frequent-guest program, which may make you eligible for upgrades. A hotel-branded credit card usually gives its owner “silver” or “gold” status in frequent-guest programs for free. Always ask about a corner room. They’re often larger and quieter, with more windows and light, and they often cost the same as standard rooms. When you make your reservation, ask if the hotel is renovating; if it is, request a room away from the construction. Ask about nonsmoking rooms and rooms with views. Be sure to request your choice of twin, queen-, or king-size beds. If you’re a light sleeper, ask for a quiet room away from vending or ice machines, elevators, restaurants, bars, and dance clubs. Ask for a room that has been recently renovated or refurbished.

If you aren’t happy with your room when you arrive, ask for another one. Most lodgings will be willing to accommodate you.

In resort areas, ask the following questions before you book a room:

• What’s the view like? Cost-conscious travelers may be willing to pay less for a back room facing the parking lot, especially if they don’t plan to spend much time in their room.

• Does the room have air-conditioning or ceiling fans? Do the windows open? If they do, and the nighttime entertainment takes place alfresco, you may want to find out when showtime is over.

• What’s included in the price? Your room may be moderately priced, but if you’re charged for beach chairs, towels, sports equipment, and other amenities, you could end up spending more than you bargained for.

B&B Stays

Many travelers prefer to go the B&B route when touring Germany. This can be an inexpensive alternative to all those pricey hotels. However, some B&Bs, just as in America, are more luxurious than even a first-class hotel. Naturally, these come with a higher price tag. Breakfast, as promised in the name, is served, and often the staff at a B&B will pack you a picnic lunch if you’re staying over in the area and want to go hiking. In some cases, and only if arranged in advance, a home-cooked German dinner might be served.

For reservations, contact Bed & Breakfast Inns Online ( 800/215-7365 or 310/280-4363; www.bbonline.com) or BnB Finder.com ( 888/547-8226 or 212/432-7693; www.bnbfinder.com).

Bungalow, Villa & Apartment Rentals

Dozens of agencies handle such rentals, the best of which include At Home Abroad, Inc. ( 212/421-9165;www.athomeabroadinc.com). Drawbridge to Europe ( 888/268-1148;www.drawbridgetoeurope.com) offers vacation rentals in Mittel Europa, including not only Germany but also Switzerland and Austria. The staff will even rent you a private castle. Interhome ( 800/882-6864 or 954/791-8282; www.interhomeusa.com) offers properties in 21 countries, including Germany.

Castle Hotels

There are more Schlosshotels (castle hotels) in Germany than anywhere else in Europe. After unification, many castles in the old East Germany were restored and opened to the public. Some are rather basic, having more character than comfort, but others are luxurious, with antiques such as four-poster beds and a baronial atmosphere, often harking back 3 centuries or more. Most of them have installed modern plumbing. Some visitors with a sense of the romantic book castle hotel packages throughout Germany. The best source for such vacations is Euro-Connections ( 800/645-3876 in the U.S.; www.traveldata.cc).

Farm Vacations

Growing in its appeal to tourists, a vacation down on the farm—Urlaub auf dem Bauernhof in German—cuts costs and is an adventure as well. Nearly every local tourist office has a list of farmhouses in its area that take in paying guests. Sometimes only bed-and-breakfast is offered; at other places a farm-style home-cooked dinner can be included if you wish. For more information, you can contact DLG (German Agricultural Association) at 069/247880 (www.landtourismus.de).

House Swapping

House swapping is becoming a more popular and viable means of travel; you stay in their place, they stay in yours, and you both get a more authentic and personal view of a destination, the opposite of the escapist retreat many hotels offer. Try HomeLink International (www.homelink.org), the largest and oldest home-swapping organization, founded in 1952, with more than 11,000 listings worldwide ($115 yearly membership). HomeExchange.com ($9.95 a month for 6,000 listings) and InterVac.com ($100 for more than 10,000 listings) are also reliable.

Romantik Hotels

Throughout Germany you’ll encounter hotels with a “Romantik” in their names. This is not a chain, but a voluntary association of small inns and guesthouses that have only one theme in common: They are usually old and charming, and romantic in architecture. If you like a traditional ambience as opposed to bandbox modern, then a Romantik hotel might be for you. The requirement is that the hotel be in a historic building (or at least one of vintage date) and personally managed by the owner. Usually you get a regional cuisine and good, personal service, along with an old-fashioned setting and cozy charm. Sometimes the plumbing could be better, and standards of comfort vary widely, but all of them have been inspected.

For more information, contact Romantik Hotels and Restaurants ( 800/650-8018 in the U.S., or 069/6612340 in Germany; www.romantikhotels.com).

Spa Hotels

More than any other country in Europe, Germany has developed the spa process to a high art. The heyday of German spa construction coincided with the rise of the bourgeoisie in the 19th century, when a lavish series of resorts was built around the dozens of mineral springs bubbling from the soil. Many of these springs had been known since the Middle Ages, or even Roman times, and to each was attributed specific cures for arthritis, gout, infertility, hypertension, and gynecological problems. (The German word Kur—Kurort means “spa”—is derived from the Latin cura, meaning “care.”) Going to a spa became an intensely ritualized social experience.

Regardless of the various medical claims made at the spas of Germany, the real reason to go to any spa, in our view, is to momentarily escape the stress of everyday life.

For more information, contact Deutschen Heilbaderverbandes, Reinhardtstrasse 46, 10117 Berlin ( 030/2463629-0;www.deutscher-heilbaederverband.de).

Youth Hostels

Germany has some of the best and most modern youth hostels (Jugendherbergen) in the world—some 550 of them are scattered throughout the country. Reservations are imperative in all cases, but especially in July and August. Venues range from rather bleak modern buildings to old castles in bucolic settings.

For more information and requirements, contact DJH Service GmbH, Bismarckstrasse 8, 32756 Detmold ( 05231/74010;www.jugendherberge.de). Most hostels in Germany are affiliated with Hostelling International USA ( 301/495-1240;www.hiusa.org).

Fast Facts

Business Hours Most banks are open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 1pm and 2:30 to 4pm (Thurs to 5:30pm). Money exchanges at airports and border-crossing points are generally open daily from 6am to 10pm. Exchanges at border railroad stations are kept open for arrivals of all international trains. Most businesses are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and on Saturday from 9am to 1pm. Store hours can vary from town to town, but shops are generally open Monday to Friday 9 or 10am to 6 or 6:30pm (Thurs to 8:30pm). Saturday hours are generally from 9am to 1 or 2pm, except on the first Saturday of the month, when stores may remain open until 4pm.

Car Rental See “By Car” under “Getting Around,” earlier in this chapter.

Cellphones See “Mobile Phones,” later.

Crime See “Safety,” later.

Customs You can take into Germany most personal effects and the following items duty-free: one video camera or two still cameras with 10 rolls of film each; a portable radio, a tape recorder, and a laptop PC, provided they show signs of use; 400 cigarettes, 50 cigars, or 250 grams of tobacco; 2 liters of wine or 1 liter of liquor per person 18 and over; fishing gear; one bicycle; skis; tennis or squash racquets; and golf clubs.

Returning U.S. citizens who have been away for at least 48 hours can bring back, once every 30 days, US$800 worth of merchandise duty-free. You’ll be charged a flat rate of 4% duty on the next US$1,000 worth of purchases. Be sure to have your receipts handy. On mailed gifts, the duty-free limit is US$200. With some exceptions, you cannot bring fresh fruits and vegetables into the United States. For specifics on what you can bring back, download the invaluable free pamphlet Know Before You Go online at www.cbp.gov. Or contact the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20229 ( 877/287-8667), and request the pamphlet.

For a clear summary of Canadian rules, you can download the booklet I Declare at www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications. It is issued by Canada Border Services Agency ( 800/461-9999 in Canada, or 204/983-3500; www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca). Canada allows a C$750 exemption, which can be used only once a year and only after an absence of 7 days. You’re allowed to bring back duty-free one carton of cigarettes, one can of tobacco, 40 imperial ounces of liquor, and 50 cigars. In addition, you’re allowed to mail gifts to Canada valued at less than C$60 a day, provided they’re unsolicited and don’t contain alcohol or tobacco (write on the package “Unsolicited gift, under C$60 value”). You should declare all valuables on the Y-38 form before departing Canada, including serial numbers of valuables you already own, such as expensive foreign cameras.

Citizens of the U.K. who are returning from an E.U. country will go through a separate Customs exit (called the “Blue Exit”). In essence, there is no limit on what you can bring back from an E.U. country, as long as the items are for personal use (including gifts) and you have already paid the necessary duty and tax. However, Customs law sets out guidance levels. If you bring in more than these levels, you may be asked to prove that the goods are for your use. Guidance levels on goods bought in the E.U. for your own use are 3,200 cigarettes, 200 cigars, 400 cigarillos, 3 kilograms of smoking tobacco, 10 liters of spirits, 90 liters of wine, 20 liters of fortified wine (such as port or sherry), and 110 liters of beer. For information, contact HM Revenue Customs at 0845/0109000 ( 02920/501261 from outside the U.K.), or consult their website at www.hmrc.gov.uk.

The duty-free allowance in Australia is A$900 or, for those 17 and under, A$450. Citizens can bring in 250 cigarettes or 250 grams of loose tobacco, and 2.25 liters of alcohol. If you’re returning with valuables you already own, such as foreign-made cameras, you should file form B263. A helpful brochure available from Australian consulates or Customs offices is Know Before You Go. For more information, call the Australian Customs Service at 1300/363263, or log on to www.customs.gov.au

The duty-free allowance for New Zealand is NZ$700. Citizens 18 and over can bring in 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars, or 250 grams of tobacco (or a mixture of all three if their combined weight doesn’t exceed 250g); plus 4.5 liters of wine and beer, or 1.125 milliliters of liquor. New Zealand currency does not carry import or export restrictions. Fill out a certificate of export, listing the valuables you are taking out of the country, so you can bring them back without paying duty. Most questions are answered in a free pamphlet available at New Zealand consulates and Customs offices: New Zealand Customs Guide for Travellers, Notice no. 4. For more information, contact New Zealand Customs Service, The Customhouse, 17–21 Whitmore St., Box 2218, Wellington ( 0800/428786 or 04/4736099 in New Zealand, or 04/4736099; www.customs.govt.nz).

Disabled Travelers Germany is one of the better countries for travelers with disabilities. All the large cities have excellent facilities. The local tourist offices can issue permits for drivers to allow them access to parking areas for people with disabilities. Newer hotels are more sensitive to the needs of those with disabilities, and the more expensive restaurants, in general, are wheelchair accessible.

Older, smaller towns may pose more of a problem, however, especially where the streets are cobblestone. Also, because of Germany’s many hills and endless flights of stairs, visitors with disabilities may have difficulty getting around outside of major cities, but conditions are slowly improving. If the areas you wish to visit seem inaccessible or you are not certain, you may want to consider taking an organized tour specifically designed to accommodate travelers with disabilities.

Organizations that offer assistance to travelers with disabilities include MossRehab ( 800/225-5667;www.mossresourcenet.org), which provides a library of accessible-travel resources online; Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality (SATH; 212/447-7284;www.sath.org), which offers a wealth of travel resources for all types of disabilities and informed recommendations on destinations, access guides, travel agents, tour operators, vehicle rentals, and companion services; and the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB; 800/232-5463 or 212/502-7600; www.afb.org), a referral resource for those who are blind or visually impaired that provides information on traveling with Seeing Eye dogs.

Air Ambulance Card ( 877/4247633;www.airambulancecard.com) is now partnered with SATH and allows you to preselect top-notch hospitals in case of an emergency.

Access-Able Travel Source ( 303/232-2979;www.access-able.com) offers a comprehensive database on travel agents from around the world with experience in accessible travel; destination-specific access information; and links to such resources as service animals, equipment rentals, and access guides.

Many travel agencies offer customized tours and itineraries for travelers with disabilities. Among them are Flying Wheels Travel ( 507/451-5005;www.flyingwheelstravel.com) and Accessible Journeys ( 800/846-4537 or 610/521-0339; www.disabilitytravel.com).

Flying with Disability (www.flying-with-disability.org) is a comprehensive information source on airplane travel.

Also check out the quarterly magazine Emerging Horizons (www.emerginghorizons.com), available by subscription ($17 per year in the U.S.; $22 outside the U.S.).

The “Accessible Travel” link at Mobility-Advisor.com (www.mobility-advisor.com) offers a variety of travel resources to persons with disabilities.

British travelers should contact Holiday Care ( 0845/124-9971 in the U.K. only; www.holidaycare.org.uk) to access a wide range of travel information and resources for seniors and people with disabilities.

For more on organizations that offer resources to travelers with disabilities, go to Frommers.com.

Doctors Contact the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers (IAMAT; 716/754-4883 or 416/652-0137; www.iamat.org) for tips on travel and health concerns in Germany and lists of local, English-speaking doctors. You can find listings of reliable medical clinics in Germany at the International Society of Travel Medicine (www.istm.org).

Drinking Laws As in many European countries, drinking laws are flexible, enforced only if a problem develops. Officially, you must be 18 to consume any kind of alcoholic beverage. Bars and cafes rarely request proof of age. Drinking while driving, however, is treated as a very serious offense.

Driving Rules See “Getting Around,” earlier in this chapter.

Electricity In most places, the electricity is 220 volts AC (50 cycles). You will need a transformer and a plug that fits the German socket for your U.S. appliances. Many leading hotels will supply these.

Embassies & Consulates The following embassies and consulates are in Berlin. The embassy of the United States is at Pariser Platz 2 ( 030/83050;http://germany.usembassy.gov; U-Bahn: Brandenburger Tor), open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 3pm. The U.K. Embassy is at Wilhelmstrasse 70 ( 030/204570;http://ukingermany.fco.gov.uk/de; U-Bahn: Anhalter Bahnhof), open Monday to Friday 8am to 4:30pm. The Australian Embassy is at Wallstrasse 76–79 ( 030/8800880;www.germany.embassy.gov.au/beln/home.html; U-Bahn: Spittel-markt), open Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5pm and Friday 8:30am to 4:15pm. The Canadian Embassy is at Leipziger Platz 17 ( 030/203120;www.canadainternational.gc.ca; U-Bahn: Potsdamer Platz), open Monday to Friday 9am to noon. The Irish Embassy is at Friedrichstrasse 200 ( 030/220720;www.embassyofireland.de; U-Bahn: Uhlandstrasse), open Monday to Friday 9:30am to noon and 2:30 to 3:45pm. The New Zealand Embassy is at Friedrichstrasse 60 ( 030/206210;www.nzembassy.com; U-Bahn: Friedrichstrasse), open Monday to Friday 9am to 1pm and 2 to 5:30pm.

Emergencies Throughout Germany the emergency number for police is 110; for fire or to call an ambulance, dial 112.

Family Travel To locate accommodations, restaurants, and attractions that are particularly kid-friendly, look for the “Kids” icon throughout this guide.

Health Germany should not pose any major health hazards. The heavy cuisine may give some travelers mild diarrhea, so take along some antidiarrhea medicine and moderate your eating habits. The water is safe to drink throughout Germany; however, don’t drink from mountain streams, no matter how clear and pure the water looks.

German medical facilities are among the best in the world. If a medical emergency arises, your hotel staff can usually put you in touch with a reliable doctor. If not, contact the American embassy or a consulate; each one maintains a list of English-speaking doctors. Medical and hospital services aren’t free, so be sure that you have appropriate insurance coverage before you travel.

If you suffer from a chronic illness, consult your doctor before your departure. Pack prescription medications in your carry-on luggage and carry them in their original containers, with pharmacy labels—otherwise they won’t make it through airport security. Carry the generic name of prescription medicines, in case a local pharmacist is unfamiliar with the brand name.

For conditions such as epilepsy, diabetes, or heart problems, wear a MedicAlert Identification Tag ( 888/633-4298;www.medicalert.org), which will immediately alert doctors to your condition and give them access to your records through MedicAlert’s 24-hour hot line.

Insurance For travel overseas, most U.S. health plans (including Medicare and Medicaid) do not provide coverage, and the ones that do often require you to pay for services upfront and reimburse you only after you return home.

As a safety net, you may want to buy travel medical insurance. If you require additional medical insurance, try MEDEX Assistance ( 800/732-5309 or 410/453-6300;www.medexassist.com) or Travel Assistance International ( 800/821-2828;www.travelassistance.com; for general information on services, call Worldwide Assistance Services, Inc. at 800/777-8710;www.worldwideassistance.com).

Canadians should check with their provincial health-plan offices or call Health Canada ( 866/225-0709;www.hc-sc.gc.ca) to find out the extent of their coverage and what documentation and receipts they must take home if they are treated overseas.

Travelers from the U.K. should carry their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which replaced the E111 form as proof of entitlement to free/reduced-cost medical treatment abroad ( 0845/605-0707;www.ehic.org.uk). Note, however, that the EHIC covers only “necessary medical treatment”; for repatriation costs, lost money, baggage, or cancellation, travel insurance from a reputable company should always be sought. Call 0870/033-9985 or visit www.travelinsuranceweb.com for quotes from several companies.

Travel Insurance The cost of travel insurance varies widely, depending on the destination, the cost and length of your trip, your age and health, and the type of trip you’re taking, but expect to pay between 5% and 8% of the vacation itself. You can get estimates from various providers through InsureMyTrip.com ( 800/487-4722). Enter your trip cost and dates, your age, and other information, for prices from more than a dozen companies.

U.K. citizens and their families who make more than one trip abroad per year may find that an annual travel insurance policy works out cheaper. Check www.moneysupermarket.com ( 0845/345-5708), which compares prices across a wide range of providers for single- and multitrip policies.

Most big travel agents offer their own insurance and will probably try to sell you their package when you book a holiday. Think before you sign. Britain’s Consumers’ Association recommends that you insist on seeing the policy and reading the fine print before buying travel insurance. The Association of British Insurers ( 020/7600-3333;www.abi.org.uk) gives advice by phone and publishes “Holiday Insurance,” a free guide to policy provisions and prices. You might also shop around for better deals: Try Columbus Direct ( 0870/033-9988;www.columbusdirect.net).

Trip-Cancellation Insurance Trip-cancellation insurance will help retrieve your money if you have to back out of a trip or depart early, or if your travel supplier goes bankrupt. Trip cancellation traditionally covers such events as sickness, natural disasters, and State Department advisories. The latest news in trip-cancellation insurance is the availability of expanded hurricane coverage and the “any-reason” cancellation coverage—which costs more but covers cancellations made for any reason. You won’t get back 100% of your prepaid trip cost, but you’ll be refunded a substantial portion. TravelSafe ( 888/885-7233;www.travelsafe.com) offers both types of coverage. Expedia also offers any-reason cancellation coverage for its air-hotel packages. For details, contact one of the following recommended insurers: Access America ( 800/284-8300; www.accessamerica.com), Travel Guard International ( 800/826-4919; www.travelguard.com), Travel Insured International ( 800/243-3174; www.travelinsured.com), and Travelex Insurance Services ( 800/228-9792; www.travelex-insurance.com).

Internet & Wi-Fi Many hotels, cafes, and retailers are signing on as Wi-Fi “hot spots.” Boingo (www.boingo.com) and Wayport (wayport.com) have set up networks in airports and high-class hotel lobbies. IPass providers (see below) also give you access to a few hundred wireless hotel lobby setups. To locate other hot spots that provide free wireless networks in cities in Germany, go to www.jiwire.com.

A few thousand hotels in Germany now offer free high-speed Internet access. In addition, major Internet service providers (ISPs) have local access numbers around the world, allowing you to go online by placing a local call. The iPass network also has dial-up numbers around the world. You’ll have to sign up with an iPass provider, who will then tell you how to set up your computer for your destination(s). For a list of iPass providers, go to www3.ipass.com and click on “Individuals Buy Now.” One solid provider is i2roam ( 866/811-6209 or 920/233-5863; www.i2roam.com).

To find cybercafes, check www.cybercaptive.com and www.cybercafe.com. Cybercafes can be found on almost every business street in large cities.

Aside from formal cybercafes, most youth hostels and public libraries have Internet access.

Language German, of course, is the official language, but English is widely understood. Germans start learning English in grade school.

LGBT Travelers Although Germany is one of the “gayest” countries of Europe, there is also prejudice and hostility here. Violence against gays and foreigners (especially nonwhite) is not unknown. On the other hand, homosexuality is widely accepted by a vast number of the country’s millions, especially young people. All major cities have a wide and varied gay and lesbian nightlife. Keep in mind that western Germany is far more gay-friendly than the more isolated outposts of the former East Germany. The legal minimum age for consensual homosexual sex is 18.

The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA; 954/630-1637;www.iglta.org) is the trade association for the gay and lesbian travel industry and offers an online directory of gay- and lesbian-friendly travel businesses; go to its website and click on “Members.”

Many agencies offer tours and travel itineraries designed specifically for gay and lesbian travelers. Now, Voyager ( 800/255-6951;www.nowvoyager.com) is a well-known San Francisco–based gay-owned and -operated travel service. Olivia Cruises & Resorts ( 800/631-6277;www.olivia.com) charters entire resorts and ships for exclusive lesbian vacations and offers smaller group experiences for both gay and lesbian travelers. Gay.com ( 415/834-6500;http://daily.gay.com/travel) provides regularly updated information about gay-owned, gay-oriented, and gay-friendly lodging, dining, sightseeing, nightlife, and shopping establishments in every important destination worldwide.

The Canadian website GayTraveler (www.gaytraveler.ca) offers ideas and advice for gay travel all over the world.

The following travel guides are available at many bookstores, or you can order them from any online bookseller: Spartacus International Gay Guide, 38th edition (Bruno Gmünder Verlag; www.spartacusworld.com/gayguide); and the Damron guides (www.damron.com), with separate annual books for gay men and lesbians.

For more gay and lesbian travel resources, visit Frommers.com.

Mail Street mailboxes are painted yellow. It costs 1.70€ for the first 5 grams (about 1⁄5 oz.) to send an airmail letter to the United States or Canada, and 1€ for postcards. All letters to the U.K. cost .70€.

Medical Requirements Unless you’re arriving from an area known to be suffering from an epidemic (particularly cholera or yellow fever), inoculations or vaccinations are not required for entry into Germany.

Mobile Phones The three letters that define much of the world’s wireless capabilities are GSM, which stands for Global System for Mobiles, a big, seamless network that makes for easy cross-border cellphone use. In general, reception is good. But you’ll need a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card. This is a small chip that gives you a local phone number and plugs you into a regional network. In the U.S., T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless use this quasi-universal system; in Canada, Microcell and some Rogers customers are GSM, and all Europeans and most Australians use GSM. Unfortunately, per-minute charges can be high.

For many, renting a phone is a good idea. While you can rent a phone from any number of overseas sites, including kiosks at airports and at car-rental agencies, we suggest renting the phone before you leave home. North Americans can rent one before leaving home from InTouch USA ( 800/872-7626 or 703/222-7161; www.intouchglobal.com) or RoadPost ( 888/290-1616 or 905/272-5665; www.roadpost.com). InTouch will also, for free, advise you on whether your existing phone will work overseas.

Buying a phone can be economically attractive, as many nations have cheap prepaid phone systems. Once you arrive at your destination, stop by a local cellphone shop and get the cheapest package; you’ll probably pay less than $100 for a phone and a starter calling card. Local calls may be as low as 10¢ per minute, and in Germany incoming calls are free.

Money & Costs The euro (€) is the single European currency of Germany and other participating countries. Exchange rates of participating countries are locked into a common currency fluctuating against the dollar.

The major cities of Germany are some of the world’s most expensive. So, if you want to see the country without breaking the bank, you may want to cut short your time in Frankfurt, Munich, or Berlin and concentrate on regional capitals such as Freiburg in the Black Forest, where you can cut your travel cost by anywhere from 20% to 40%. You may also want to consider a rail pass.

Although prices in Germany are high, you generally get good value for your money. The inflation rate has remained low. Hotels are usually clean and comfortable, and restaurants generally offer good cuisine and ample portions made with quality ingredients. Trains are fast and on time, and most service personnel treat you with respect.

Many people come to Germany just for winter sports. The most expensive resorts are places like Garmisch-Partenkirchen. However, if you avoid the chic places, you can enjoy winter fun at a moderate cost. Some of the winter spots in the Bavarian Alps that haven’t been overrun by the beautiful people give you great value for your money. And prices in a village next to a resort are often 30% lower than at the resort itself.

In Germany, many prices for children (generally defined as ages 6–17) are considerably lower than for adults. And fees for children 5 and younger are often waived entirely.

Frommer’s lists exact prices in the local currency. The currency conversions quoted above were correct at press time. However, rates fluctuate, so before departing consult a currency exchange website such as www.oanda.com/currency/converter to check up-to-the-minute rates.

ATMs The easiest way to get cash away from home is from an ATM (automated teller machine), sometimes referred to as a Geldautomat. Note: Remember that many banks impose a fee every time you use a card at another bank’s ATM, and that fee can be higher for international transactions. In addition, the bank from which you withdraw cash may charge its own fee. For international withdrawal fees, ask your bank.

Note: Banks that are members of the Global ATM Alliance charge no transaction fees for cash withdrawals at other Alliance member ATMs; these include Bank of America, Scotiabank (Canada, Caribbean, and Mexico), Barclays (U.K. and parts of Africa), Deutsche Bank (Germany, Poland, Spain, and Italy), and BNP Paribas (France).

Credit Cards Credit cards are another safe way to carry money. They also provide a convenient record of all your expenses, and they generally offer relatively good exchange rates. You can withdraw cash advances from your credit cards at banks or ATMs, but high fees make credit card cash advances a pricey way to get cash. Remember that you’ll pay interest from the moment of your withdrawal, even if you pay your monthly bills on time. Also, note that many banks now assess a 1% to 3% “transaction fee” on all charges you incur abroad (whether you’re using the local currency or your native currency).

In Germany, American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, and Visa are commonly accepted, with the latter two cards predominating.

Beware of hidden credit-card fees while traveling. Check with your credit or debit card issuer to see what fees, if any, will be charged for overseas transactions. Recent reform legislation in the U.S., for example, has curbed some exploitative lending practices. But many banks have responded by increasing fees in other areas, including fees for customers who use credit and debit cards while out of the country—even if those charges were made in U.S. dollars. Fees can amount to 3% or more of the purchase price. Check with your bank before departing to avoid any surprise charges on your statement.

For help with currency conversions, tip calculations, and more, download Frommer’s convenient Travel Tools app for your mobile device. Go to www.frommers.com/go/mobile and click on the “Travel Tools” icon.

Passports Visas are not needed by citizens of the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, or the U.K. for visits of less than 3 months. You do need a valid passport, unless you’re a citizen of the E.U., EEA or Switzerland (in which case you need only an identity card, though we recommend you always carry a passport anyway).

Passport Offices

Australia Australian Passport Information Service ( 131-232, or visit www.passports.gov.au).

Canada Passport Office, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ottawa, ON K1A 0G3 ( 800/567-6868; www.ppt.gc.ca).

Ireland Passport Office, Setanta Centre, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 ( 01/671-1633; www.foreignaffairs.gov.ie).

New Zealand Passports Office, Department of Internal Affairs, 47 Boulcott Street, Wellington, 6011 ( 0800/225-050 in New Zealand or 04/474-8100; www.passports.govt.nz).

United Kingdom Visit your nearest passport office, major post office, or travel agency or contact the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), 89 Eccleston Square, London, SW1V 1PN ( 0300/222-0000; www.ips.gov.uk).

United States To find your regional passport office, check the U.S. State Department website (travel.state.gov/passport) or call the National Passport Information Center ( 877/487-2778) for automated information.

Police Throughout the country, dial 110 for emergencies.

Safety Overall, the security risk to travelers in Germany is low. However, Germany experiences a number of demonstrations every year on a variety of political and economic themes. These demonstrations have a tendency to spread and turn violent, and anyone in the general area can become the victim of a random attack. Prior police approval is required for public demonstrations in Germany, and police oversight is routinely provided to ensure adequate security for participants and passersby. Nonetheless, situations may develop that could pose a threat to public safety. All foreign visitors are cautioned to avoid the area around protests and demonstrations and to check local media for updates on the situation.

In addition, hooligans, most often young and intoxicated “skinheads,” have been known to harass or even attack people whom they believe to be foreigners or members of rival youth groups. While U.S. citizens have not been specific targets, several Americans have reported that they were assaulted for racial reasons or because they appeared “foreign.”

Violent crime is rare in Germany, but it can occur, especially in larger cities or high-risk areas such as train stations. Most incidents of street crime consist of theft of unattended items and pickpocketing. You should take the same precautions against becoming a crime victim as you would in any city.

Report the loss or theft abroad of your passport immediately to the local police and the nearest embassy or consulate. If you are the victim of a crime while in Germany, in addition to reporting to local police, contact the nearest embassy or consulate for assistance. The embassy/consulate staff, for example, can assist you in finding appropriate medical care, contacting family members or friends, and explaining how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you understand the local criminal-justice process and find an attorney if needed.

Senior Travel Mention that you’re a senior when you make your travel reservations. Although all major U.S. airlines have canceled their senior-discount and coupon-book programs, many hotels still offer discounts for seniors. In most cities, people 60 and over qualify for reduced admission to theaters, museums, and other attractions, as well as discounted fares on public transportation.

Members of AARP, 601 E St. NW, Washington, DC 20049 ( 888/687-2277;www.aarp.org), get discounts on hotels, airfares, and car rentals. AARP offers members a wide range of benefits, including AARP The Magazine and a monthly newsletter. Anyone 50 and over can join.

Many reliable agencies and organizations target the 50-plus market. Exploritas’s ( 800/454-5768;www.exploritas.org) programs include a wide spectrum in Germany. The most popular is a 10-night program in both Berlin and Munich, where participants join local experts to learn about the history and culture of Germany. For the more athletic, there is a 13-night program spent biking along the Danube. Those interested in opera and classical music can join a 12-night cultural and fine arts program that takes place in the vibrant cultural cities of Berlin, Dresden, and Leipzig.

Recommended publications offering travel resources and discounts for seniors include the quarterly magazine Travel 50 & Beyond (www.travel50andbeyond.com) and the best-selling paperback Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures That You Absolutely Can’t Get Unless You’re Over 50 (McGraw-Hill), by Joann Rattner Heilman.

Frommers.com offers more information and resources on travel for seniors

Smoking Check before lighting up. In general, you cannot smoke in most restaurants and many bars in Germany, but it is in a continuous state of flux and rules vary by federal state—in some cases smoking is banned by law and enforced. In other cases the official law is not enforced in bars of a certain size, or after the kitchen closes at restaurants that are open late and morph into a barlike setting as the night goes on. Throughout the country, smoking is banned in all public buildings and transport.

Taxes As a member of the European Union, Germany imposes a tax on most goods and services known as a value-added tax (VAT) or, in German, Mehrwertsteuer. Nearly everything is taxed at 16%, including vital necessities such as gas and luxury items such as jewelry. Food and books are taxed at 7%. VAT is included in the prices of restaurants and hotels. Goods for sale, such as cameras, also have the 16% tax already factored into the price. Stores that display a tax-free sticker will issue you a Tax-Free Shopping Check at the time of purchase. When leaving the country, have your check stamped by the German Customs Service as your proof of legal export. You can then get a cash refund at one of the Tax-Free Shopping Service offices in the major airports and many train stations, even at some of the bigger ferry terminals. Otherwise, you must send the checks to Tax-Free Shopping Service, Mengstrasse 19, 23552 Lübeck, Germany. If you want the payment to be credited to your bank card or your bank account, mention this. There is no airport departure tax.

Telephones The country code for Germany is 49. To call Germany from the United States, dial the international access code 011, then 49, then the city code, then the regular phone number. Note: The phone numbers listed in this book are to be used within Germany; when calling from abroad, omit the initial 0 in the city code.

For directory assistance: Dial 11837 if you’re looking for a number inside Germany, and dial 11834 for numbers to all other countries.

For operator assistance: If you need operator assistance in making a call, dial 0180/200-1033.

Local and long-distance calls may be placed from all post offices and from most public telephone booths, about half of which operate with phone cards, the others with coins. Phone cards are sold at post offices and newsstands in denominations of 6€ to 25€. Rates are measured in units rather than minutes. The farther the distance, the more units are consumed. Telephone calls made through hotel switchboards can double, triple, or even quadruple the base charges at the post office, so be alert to this before you dial. In some instances, post offices can send faxes for you, and many hotels offer Internet access—for free or for a small charge—to their guests.

German phone numbers are not standard. In some places, numbers have as few as three digits. In cities, one number may have five digits, whereas the phone next door might have nine. Germans also often hyphenate their numbers differently. But since all the area codes are the same, these various configurations should have little effect on your phone usage once you get used to the fact that numbers vary from place to place.

Be careful dialing toll-free numbers. Many companies maintain a service line beginning with 0180. However, these lines might appear to be toll-free but really aren’t, costing .12€ per minute. Other numbers that begin with 0190 carry a surcharge of 1.85€ per minute—or even more. Don’t be misled by calling a 1-800 number in the United States from Germany. This is not a toll-free call but costs about the same as an overseas call.

To call the U.S. or Canada from Germany, dial 01, followed by the country code (1), then the area code, and then the number. Alternatively, you can dial the various telecommunication companies in the States for cheaper rates. From Germany, the access number for AT&T is 0800/8880010, and for MCI, 0800/8888000. USA Direct can be used with all telephone cards and for collect calls. The number from Germany is 013/00010. Canada Direct can be used with Bell Telephone Cards and for collect calls. This number from Germany is 013/00014.

If you’re calling from a public pay phone in Germany, you must deposit the basic local rate.

Tipping If a restaurant bill says Bedienung, that means a service charge has already been added, so just round up to the nearest euro. If not, add 10% to 15%. Bellhops get 1€ per bag, as does the doorperson at your hotel, restaurant, or nightclub. Room-cleaning staffs get small tips in Germany, as do concierges who perform some special favors.

Toilets Use the word Toilette (pronounced twah-leh-tah). Women’s toilets are usually marked with an F for Frauen, and men’s toilets with an H for Herren. Germany, frankly, doesn’t have enough public toilets, except in transportation centers. The locals have to rely on bars, cafes, or restaurants—and using them isn’t always appreciated if you’re not a paying customer.

VAT See “Taxes,” above.

Visas See “Passports,” above.

Visitor Information All cities and nearly all larger towns in Germany have tourist offices. The German National Tourist Board headquarters is at Beethovenstrasse 69, 60325 Frankfurt am Main ( 069/751903;www.germany-tourism.de or www.cometogermany.com).

In the U.S., they can be reached at 122 E. 42nd St., Ste. 2000, New York, NY 10017 ( 212/661-7200).

In Canada, tourist offices are at 480 University Ave., Ste. 1500, Toronto, ON M5G 1V2 ( 877/315-6237 or 416/968-1685). In the U.K., you can write P.O. Box 2695, London W1A ETN ( 020/7317-0808).

Water See “Health,” earlier.

Wi-Fi See “Internet & Wi-Fi,” earlier.

Useful Terms & Phrases

Getting There & Getting Around

I am looking for… Ich suche…

…a porter. …einen Träger für mein Gepäck.

…the check-in counter. …den Abfertigungsschalter.

…the ticket counter. …den Kartenschalter.

…arrivals. …den Ankunftsbereich.

…departures. …den Abreisebereich.

…the waiting area. …den Wartebereich.

…the men’s restroom. …die Herrentoilette.

…the women’s restroom. …die Damentoilette.

…the police station. …die Polizeidienststelle.

…a security guard. …einen Sicherheitsbeamten.

…the smoking area. …den Raucherbereich.

…the information booth. …den Informationsstand.

…a public telephone. …ein öffentliches Telefon.

…an ATM. …einen Geldautomaten.

…baggage claim. …die Gepäckausgabe.

…a luggage cart. …einen Gepäckwagen.

…a currency exchange. …eine Geldwechselstube.

…a café. …ein Café.

…a restaurant. …ein Restaurant.

…a bar. …eine Bar.

…a bookstore or newsstand. eine Buchhandlung oder einen Zeitungsstand.

…a duty-free shop. …einen Duty-Free-Shop.

Is there Internet access here? Gibt es hier einen Internetzugang?

I’d like to page someone. Ich möchte jemanden ausrufen lassen.

Do you accept credit cards? Akzeptieren Sie Kreditkarten?

Common Airport Signs

Ankunft Arrivals

Abreise Departures

Terminal Terminal

Gate Gate

Tickets Ticketing

Zoll Customs

Gepäckausgabe Baggage Claim

Drücken Push

Ziehen Pull

Rauchen verboten No Smoking

Eingang Entrance

Ausgang Exit

Herren Men’s

Damen Women’s

Pendelbusse Shuttle Buses

Taxis Taxis

Security Lingo

Bitte ziehen Sie Ihre Schuhe aus. Please remove your shoes.

Ziehen Sie Ihre Jacke aus. Remove your jacket / sweater.

Legen Sie Ihren Schmuck ab. Remove your jewelry.

Legen Sie Ihre Taschen auf das Band. Place your bags on the conveyor belt.

Treten Sie zur Seite. Step to the side.

Wir müssen Sie abtasten. We have to do a hand search.

Road Signs

Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung Speed Limit

Stopp Stop

Vorfahrt gewähren Yield

Gefahr Danger

Sackgasse No Exit

Einbahnstrasse One Way

Einfahrt verboten Do Not Enter

Strasse gesperrt Road Closed

Maut Toll

Nur Bargeld Cash Only

Parken verboten No Parking

Parkgebühr Parking Fee

Parkhaus Parking Garage

General Terms

Basic Greetings & Expressions

Hello. Hallo.

How are you? Wie geht es Ihnen?

I’m fine, thanks. Mir geht es gut, danke.

And you? Und Ihnen?

My name is ____. Ich heiße ____.

And yours? Wie heißen Sie?

It’s a pleasure to meet you. Freut mich, Sie kennen zu lernen.

Please. Bitte.

Thank you. Danke.

Yes. Ja.

No. Nein.

Okay. OK.

No problem. Kein Problem.

I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Entschuldigung, ich verstehe Sie nicht.

Would you speak slower please? Könnten Sie bitte etwas langsamer sprechen?

Would you speak louder please? Könnten Sie bitte etwas lauter sprechen?

Do you speak English? Sprechen Sie Englisch?

Do you speak any other languages? Sprechen Sie irgendeine andere Sprache?

I speak ____ better than German. Ich spreche besser ____ als Deutsch.

Would you spell that? Könnten Sie das bitte buchstabieren?

Would you please repeat that? Könnten Sie das bitte wiederholen?

Would you point that out in this dictionary? Könnten Sie mir das bitte in diesem Wörterbuch zeigen?

Common Words

Allee Avenue

Altes Rathaus Old town hall (a historical monument; no longer used as the headquarters of the city’s officials)

Altstadt Old part of a city or town

Anlage Park area

Apotheke Pharmacy

Auf Wiedersehen Goodbye

Ausgang Exit

Bad Spa (also bath)

Bahn Railroad, train, course

Bahnhof Railroad station

Berg Mountain

Bitte Please

Brücke Bridge

Burg Fortified castle

Danke Thank you

Dom Cathedral

Domplatz Cathedral square

Drogerie Shop selling cosmetics, sundries

Eingang/Einfahrt Entrance

Eintritt Admission

Fahrrad Bicycle

Flughafen Airport

Gasse Lane

Gasthaus Inn, tavern, restaurant

Gasthof Inn

Gutbürgerliche Küche German home cooking

Hallo Hello

Hauptbahnhof Main railroad station

Hotelgarni Hotel that serves no meals or serves breakfast only

Insel Island

Kammer Room (in public building)

Kapelle Chapel

Kaufhaus Department store

Kino Cinema

Kirche Church

Kloster Monastery

Kneipe Bar for drinking; may serve snacks

Konditorei Cafe for coffee and pastries

Kunst Art

Land State

Marktplatz Market square

Neue Küche Cuisine moderne

Neues Rathaus New town hall (the seat of current city business)

Neustadt New part of city or town

Palatinate A region of Germany bordering France

Platz Square

Polizei Police

Postamt Post office

Rathaus Town or city hall

Ratskeller Restaurant in a Rathaus cellar serving traditional German food

Reisebüro Travel agency

Residenz Palace

Schauspielhaus Theater for plays

See Lake (der See) or sea (die See)

Seilbahn Cable car

Speisekarte Menu

Spielbank Casino

Stadt Town, city

Stadtbahn (S-Bahn) Commuter railroad

Steg Footbridge

Strasse Street

Strassenbahn Streetcar, tram

Tagesmenu Menu of the day

Tankstelle Filling station

Teller Platter

Tor Gateway

Turm Tower

Ufer Shore, riverbank

Untergrundbahn (U-Bahn) Subway, underground transportation system

Verkehrsamt Tourist office

Weg Road

Weinstube Wine bar or tavern serving meals

Zimmer Room

Menu Terms

Meats & Poultry (Wurst, Fleisch & Geflügel)

Aufschnitt Cold cuts

Beefsteak Hamburger steak

Brathuhn Roasted chicken

Bratwurst Grilled sausage

Eisbein Pigs’ knuckles

Ente Duck

Frankfurter Hot dog

Gans Goose

Hammel Mutton

Kalb Veal

Kassler Rippchen Pork chops

Lamm Lamb

Leber Liver

Ragout Stew

Rinderbraten Roast beef

Rindfleisch Beef

Sauerbraten Marinated beef

Schinken Ham

Schnitzel Cutlet

Schweinebraten Roast pork

Tafelspitz Boiled beef usually served with applesauce and horseradish—a famous staple of Austria

Truthahn Turkey

Wiener schnitzel Breaded veal cutlet

Wurst Sausage

Fish (Fisch)

Aal Eel

Forelle Trout

Hecht Pike

Karpfen Carp

Lachs Salmon

Makrele Mackerel

Muschel Mussel

Rheinsalm Rhine salmon

Schellfisch Haddock

Seezunge Sole

Eggs (Eier)

Eier in der Schale Boiled eggs

Mit Speck With bacon

Rühreier Scrambled eggs

Spiegeleier Fried eggs

Verlorene Eier Poached eggs

Vegetables (Gemüse)

Artischocken Artichokes

Blumenkohl Cauliflower

Bohnen Beans

Bratkartoffeln Fried potatoes

Champignon Mushroom

Erbsen Peas

Grüne Bohnen Green or string beans

Gurken Cucumbers

Karotten Carrots

Kartoffel Potato

Kartoffelbrei Mashed potatoes

Kartoffelsalat Potato salad

Knödel Dumplings

Kohl Cabbage

Reis Rice

Rettich Radish

Rote Rüben Beets

Rotkraut Red cabbage

Salat Lettuce

Salzkartoffeln Boiled potatoes

Sellerie Celery

Spargel Asparagus

Spinat Spinach

Steinpilze Boletus mushrooms

Tomaten Tomatoes

Weisse Rüben Turnips

Desserts (Nachtisch)

Auflauf Soufflé

Bienenstich Honey almond cake

Blatterteiggebäck Puff pastry

Bratapfel Baked apple

Dolce di Castagne Chestnut roll

Eis Ice cream

Kaffeecreme Coffee mousse

Käse Cheese

Kirschtorte Black Forest cake

Kompott Stewed fruit

Obstkuchen Fruit tart

Obstsalat Fruit salad

Pfannkuchen Sugared pancakes

Pflaumenkompott Stewed plums

Schlagsahne Whipped cream

Schokolademus Chocolate mousse

Tarte Tatin A tart filled with, most often, apples

Topfenpalatschinken Cottage cheese pancakes

Zwetschkenknodel Plum dumplings

Fruits (Obst)

Ananas Pineapple

Apfel Apple

Apfelsine Orange

Banane Banana

Birne Pear

Erdbeeren Strawberries

Himberren Raspberries

Kirschen Cherries

Pfirsich Peach

Weintrauben Grapes

Zitrone Lemon

Beverages (Getränke)

Bier Beer

Ein dunkles A dark beer

Ein helles A light beer

Eine Tasse Kaffee A cup of coffee

Eine Tasse Tee A cup of tea

Eistee Ice tea

Geist Brandy

Hiesse Schokolade Hot chocolate

Kaffee Coffee

Kaffee mit Rahm/Milch/Zucker Coffee with cream/milk/sugar

Kaffee mit Suss-stoff Coffee with artificial sweetener

Kaffee Schwarz Black coffee

Koffeinfrei Decaffeinated coffee

Kräutertee Herb tea

Leicht Light (wine)

Likör Liqueur

Limonade Lemonade

Milch Milk

Mineralwasser Mineral water

Mit Eis With ice

Mit Wasser With water

Ohne Eis Without ice

Ohne Wasser Without water

Pur Straight

Rotwein Red wine

Saft Juice

Schaumwein Sparkling wine

Schnaps Schnapps

Schokolade Chocolate

Soda Club soda

Soda mit gas Soda with gas (to make sure your club soda is carbonated)

Süss Sweet (wine)

Tee mit Milch Tea with cream

Tee mit Zitrone Tea with lemon

Trocken Dry (wine)

Wasser Water

Weisswein White wine

Condiments & Table Items (Würze & Tafelgeschirr)

Brot Bread

Brötchen Rolls

Butter Butter

Eis Ice

Essig Vinegar

Flasche Bottle

Gabel Fork

Glas Glass

Kalte pikante sosse Ketchup

Löffel Spoon

Messer Knife

Öl Oil

Pfeffer Pepper

Platte Plate

Sahne Cream

Salat Zubereitung Salad dressing

Salz Salt

Senf Mustard

Tasse Cup

Teller Platter

Tischzeug Napkin

Zucker Sugar

Cooking Terms

Gebacken Baked

Gebraten Fried

Gedämpft Steamed

Gefüllt Stuffed

Gekocht Boiled

Geröstet Roasted

Gut durchgebraten Well done

Heiss Hot

Kaltes Cold

Mittep Medium

Nicht durchgebraten Rare

Paniert Breaded

Pochiert Poached

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The Romantic Road, Germany: Frommer’s® Shortcuts

Table of Contents

The Romantic Road

Würzburg

Essentials

Exploring Würzburg

Where to Eat

Entertainment & Nightlife

Where to Stay

A Detour to Miltenberg & Amorbach

Miltenberg

Amorbach

Exploring Amorbach

Where to Eat & Stay

Weikersheim

Essentials

Exploring Weikersheim

Where to Eat & Stay

Creglingen

Essentials

Exploring Creglingen

Where to Stay

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Essentials

Exploring Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Where to Eat

Shopping

Entertainment & Nightlife

Where to Stay

Dinkelsbühl

Essentials

Exploring Dinkelsbühl

Where to Eat & Stay

Nördlingen

Essentials

Exploring Nördlingen

Where to Eat

Where to Stay

Donauwörth

Essentials

Exploring Donauwörth

Where to Eat & Stay

Augsburg

Essentials

Exploring Augsburg

Where to Eat

Augsburg After Dark

Where to Stay

Füssen

Essentials

Exploring Füssen

Where to Eat

Where to Stay

Beyond Füssen: a Rococo Masterpiece

Neuschwanstein & Hohenschwangau

Essentials

Visiting the Royal Castles

Where to Eat & Stay Nearby

The Best of Germany

The Best Experiences

The Best Museums

The Best Castles & Palaces

The Best Cathedrals

The Most Charming Small Villages

The Best Driving Tours

The Best Walks

The Best Biking

The Best Spas

The Best Luxury Hotels

The Best Small Inns & Hotels

The Best Restaurants

The Best Beer Halls & Taverns

The Best Shopping

Germany in Depth

Germany Today

Looking Back: German History

Early Days

The Holy Roman Empire

The Reformation & the Religious Wars

Napoleon Arrives

Bismarck & Prussia

World War I

Weimar Republic

The Rise of Nazism

World War II

Division of Germany

Fall of the Wall & Unification

Modern Germany

Art & Architecture

German Art

Architecture

Germany in Pop Culture

Books

Music

Film

Eating & Drinking

Regional Specialties

Beer & Wine

When to Go

Holidays

Responsible Travel

Tours

Biking

Cruises

Escorted General-Interest Tours

Golf

Hiking & Mountain Climbing

Planning Your Trip to Germany

Getting There

By Plane

By Train

By Car & Ferry

Via the Channel Tunnel

Getting Around

By Plane

By Train

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Tips on Accommodations

Surfing for Hotels

Saving on Your Hotel Room

Landing the Best Room

B&B Stays

Bungalow, Villa & Apartment Rentals

Castle Hotels

Farm Vacations

House Swapping

Romantik Hotels

Spa Hotels

Youth Hostels

Fast Facts

Useful Terms & Phrases

Getting There & Getting Around

Common Airport Signs

Security Lingo

Road Signs

General Terms

Basic Greetings & Expressions

Common Words

Menu Terms

Meats & Poultry (Wurst, Fleisch & Geflügel)

Fish (Fisch)

Eggs (Eier)

Vegetables (Gemüse)

Desserts (Nachtisch)

Fruits (Obst)

Beverages (Getränke)

Condiments & Table Items (Würze & Tafelgeschirr)

Cooking Terms