Stein Castle, or Burg Stein is a Saxon castle located southeast of Zwickau in the village of Stein in the municipality of Hartenstein on the banks of the Zwickauer Mulde.

The settlement of the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) began in the 12th/13th centuries, especially along the rivers. River crossings and religious orders (Niederlassungen) were protected by fortified sites. Along the Zwickauer Mulde river, numerous castles were built.

Construction of the castle was probably started around 1200 on a rock made of hornblende right on the southern banks of the Mulde. This oldest part of the site form the upper ward (Oberburg) today, consisting of a round bergfried (a tall tower typically found in castles ), a palas, with its great hall, and defensive walls. Its architecture still has Romanesque influences. The fortifications probably also served as an outer ward of Hartenstein Castle which had not at that time been converted into a stately residence or Schloss.

The remaining elements of the building are younger. The pointed round tower in the southwest may have been erected in the 14th century; the other parts of the lower ward (Niederburg) at the end of the 15th century. The bergfried of the upper ward were enhanced in the 16th century by an additional storey (Aufbau).

There used to be a ford by the castle and, later, a ferry as well as various wooden and stone bridges, some of which, in old drawings, are portrayed as covered. A bridge toll was still charged until 1924. A more modern steel arch bridge was blown up in 1945 by the SS; since 1950 there has been a concrete bridge on the site. The predecessor of the old Stein Castle is located on the steep northern banks of the Zwickauer Mulde above the station.

The castle was owned by the aristocratic family of the Princes of Schönburg until their estate was confiscated in 1945 as part of the socialist land reform in East Germany. Since 1954 it has housed a castle and local history museum. In the newer part of the lower ward a convalescent home was established.

In 1996, following German reunification the castle and surrounding Poppen Forest were reprivatized and the castle was renovated after prince Alfred of Schönburg-Hartenstein (b. 1953) bought it back. It is, however, still partly accessible to the public and still houses a museum.

Satzvey Castle is one of the best-kept moated castles in Rhineland, whose origins go back to the 13th century. Satzvey Castle is well-known today for its diverse events, showing history and tradition in an interesting and fun way.

Burg Satzvey is a medieval water castle, originally from the 12th century, and is located on the north-eastern edge of the Eifel in Mechernich in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The castle’s lineage has spread over many ancient royal families. It began with the Benedictines, until the Archbishop of Cologne gave the lordship to Otto von Vey in 1368. Although the castle has retained the name Vey (partially), the family’s ownership of Burg Satzvey was far less enduring.

By 1391, the last of the line had died out and it passed on to Heinrich von Krauthausen. Von Krauthausen was the son-in-law of Otto von Vey, and was chiefly responsible for the construction of the Satzvey Castle we know today.

But even von Krauthausen didn’t maintain power for very long time either. After a series of famous noble families held control, by the 16th century, a man named Wilhelm Spieß von Büllesheim usurped Satzvey with the blessing of the Cologne Archbishop.

In the 1700s, Satzvey was once again under new management, and this time would be a bit more lasting. The castle was sold to Karl Otto von Gymnich.

Satzvey Castle remains in the Gymnich family today, and the Gymnichs have been particularly active in preserving the castle’s history with festivals and other events.

 

In Germany, castles come in many shapes and sizes. Built in 1388 partly as a residence and partly as a fortress, this was the home of Rothenburg’s legendary mayor, Heinrich Toppler. Fully intact, the building is furnished with items from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Located in the Tauber Valley and accessed via the Double Bridge or Barbarossa Bridge, just about 30 minutes’ walk from the Castle Gardens.

The Toppler Castle is probably the oldest surviving weekend house. It resembles a medieval tower, and is located below Rothenburg in moist meadow land at the Fox Mill.

The building is surrounded by a garden, which could be flooded to protect the residents when needed. Since 1861, the Toppler Castle has been owned by the Boaz family that at times let it as a holiday home.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a German ski resort in Bavaria, formed when 2 towns united in 1935. It’s a prominent destination for skiing and ice skating as well as hiking. The town lies near the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak, with a 2,962m summit accessed by cogwheel train and cable car. Garmisch is considered the more fashionable section, while Partenkirchen’s cobblestone streets retain a traditional Bavarian feel.

Garmisch is less than an hour by car from Munich, and the ride is a beautiful stretch of Autobahn, unfortunately not the whole way. Expect to drive up to three hours on weekends and public holidays.

Also, trains leave to and from Munich every hour, and the (beautiful) ride lasts roughly 80-90 minutes on the local and 60 minutes on the express.

It is also a great end to a Romantic Road day trip beginning in Rothenburg, driving down the Romantic Road stopping at the various recommended heritage towns and ending in Garmisch for an overnight stay; or better still, a few days as it is a great base to drive out and back to Füssen and Innsbruck along some of the most spectacular mountain drives you will ever see.

The river Partnach flows through this gorge. Though it is very touristy and often crowded it is well worth a visit. After 700m the path chiselled in the rock end and you can continue your walk to one of the surrounding huts. If you arrive by car follow the signs to the Skistation or Olympic Stadium. (fee for parking depending on how long you stay). The entrance fee to the Klamm is 3 € per person, however the gorge should be opened all times, before or after opening hours it is free (at your own risk). Torch is useful. It takes about 30 minutes walking to get from the parking to the gorge entry, and some 15 minutes to get through (each way). Go early to avoid crowds.

Just walking around the town is a real treat. Take the time to walk down any street and you will be amazed at the paintings on the outside of the homes. The Bavarians have a long history of decorating the exteriors of their houses and businesses with both religious and historic paintings. The structure of the homes are also amazing. Go at the right time of the year and you can enjoy the beautiful flowers trellising down off the picturesque balconies. Partenkirchen is much smaller and more quaint.

Photos by sergey.

Stuttgart, capital of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, is known as a manufacturing hub. Mercedes-Benz and Porsche have headquarters and museums here. The city is filled with green spaces, which wrap around its center. Popular parks include the Schlossgarten, Rosensteinpark and Killesbergpark. Wilhelma, one of the largest zoos and botanical gardens in Europe, is just northeast of Rosenstein Castle.

Some of the top sights to see in Stuttgart are:

Wilhelma

Wilhelma is a zoological-botanical garden in Stuttgart in the Bad Cannstatt district in the north of the city on the grounds of a historic castle. The Zoo and Botanical Garden have been staffed since 1846. The Moorish Revival style echoing the Alhambra have been maintained and supplemented since 1960. Today, the zoo has an area of about 30 hectares (0.30 sq. km), houses around 11,500 animals from around the world composed of roughly 1,200 species and roughly 6000 plants from all climates. Of Germany’s zoos, Wilhelma’s collection ranks second to the Berlin Zoological Garden. In addition to the public garden, Wilhelma also has a branch office located in Fellbach, where the zoo keeps its stallions.

Mercedes-Benz Museum

The Mercedes-Benz Museum is an automobile museum in Stuttgart, Germany. It covers the history of the Mercedes-Benz brand and the brands associated with it. Stuttgart is home to the Mercedes-Benz brand and the international headquarters of Daimler AG. The current building, which stands directly outside the main gate of the Daimler factory in Stuttgart, was designed by UN Studio. It is based on a unique cloverleaf concept using three overlapping circles with the center removed to form a triangular atrium recalling the shape of a Wankel engine. The building was completed and opened in 2006. The building’s height and “double helix” interior were designed to maximize space. The double helix also corresponds to the exhibition concept, which divides the museum into the “myth rooms” and the “collections”, offering two alternative tours that can be merged at any given point of the museum.

Porsche Museum

The Porsche Museum is an automobile museum in the Zuffenhausen district of Stuttgart. The original Porsche museum opened in 1976 in a side-road near the Porsche factory. After the new Mercedes-Benz Museum opened in the east of Stuttgart in 2006, Porsche went ahead with plans to upgrade and extend its museum in the northern district of Zuffenhausen next to the company headquarters. The new Porsche museum stands on a conspicuous junction just outside Porsche Headquarters. The display area covers 5600 sq m featuring around 80 exhibits, many rare cars and a variety of historical models.

Ludwigsburg Palace

Ludwigsburg Palace, built in 1733, known natively as Residenzschloss Ludwigsburg and as the “Versailles of Swabia,” is a 452-room Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical, and Empire palace on a 32 hectares estate containing an unattached lustschloss located in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The Residential Palace is one of the largest in Germany, and the only one from the Baroque period to not endure any damage during the Second World War. Within its preserved rooms is one of the largest collections of Baroque art and furnishing on the continent. In 2016, the palace attracted some 330,000 visitors, and brought as many as 311,000 by October 2017. Surrounding the castle on three sides is the Blooming Baroque (Blühendes Barock) garden that was arranged in 1954 as it would have appeared in 1800 for the palace’s 250th anniversary.

Castle Solitude

Castle Solitude is a Rococo Schloss (thus not a true castle) and hunting retreat commissioned by Duke Charles Eugene as a place of quiet reflection and solitude (he had recently made the questionable decision to take Württemberg into the Seven Years’ War on the losing side against Prussia), designed by Johann Friedrich Weyhing and Philippe de La Guêpière, and constructed from 1764-69. Since 1956 the area is part of the urban district of Stuttgart-West despite the castle being located just southeast of the town of Gerlingen. Solitude is located on an elongated ridge between the towns of Leonberg, Gerlingen and Stuttgart. A high school was founded inside the palace in 1770 and the Karlsschule established a school and orphanage for studying military practice and the arts in Castle Solitude. The most notable alumnus to attend the Karlsschule at Solitude was Friedrich Schiller. It was here that a young Schiller turned his life around and discovered poetry.

Schweinemuseum

Suttgart is home to the largest Pig Museum in the world! More than 50.000 exhibits from everywhere on this planet, welcome you to a swinish experience. Separated on 25 thematic rooms, pigs of any kind present their story and history. Pigs to smile, to love, to cuddle and to touch – there is a pig for every sense in here. From zoology over the pig in arts and culture to the fantastic pigs from several myths and legends – in this unique museum changing exhibitions offer you a fascinating overall view on the world and the figure of the pig.

Not only friends and lovers of swinish art, kitsch and culture will get their money’s worth in the old administration building of Stuttgart’s former slaughterhouse. Lovers of delicious German food and genuine beer specialties will immediately feel at home in the inviting ambience of its Jugendstil architecture. A wonderful big beer garden with seating for some 600 guests, cozy restaurants for around 195 diners, the idyllic vine arbors and a terrace with a magnificent view over the sculpture garden invite you to enjoy a tasty meal – whether you prefer grilled sucking pig, a crisp knuckle of pork or a variety of traditional Swabian delicacies.

Rosenstein Castle

Rosenstein Castle (Schloss Rosenstein) is a palace in Stuttgart, Germany. It was designed in the classical style by the architect and court builder Giovanni Salucci as the summer palace for King Wilhelm I of Württemberg and was built between 1822 and 1830.

Today, the building houses that part of the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart dealing with extant lifeforms. Before the construction of the palace, the hill Rosenstein Castle stands on was called Kahlenstein (Bald Rock) as it was bare of trees. Afterwards, it became known as Rosenstein (Rose Rock) because of the rose garden southeast of the palace. Directly under Rosenstein Castle is Württemberg’s first railroad tunnel. Constructed between July 1844 and July 1846, the tunnel is 326 m long and was used until a new tunnel, located further east and not passing under the castle, was completed in 1915.

Mainz is a German city on the Rhine River. It’s known for its beautiful old town, with half-timbered houses and medieval market squares. In the center, the Marktbrunnen is a Renaissance fountain with red columns. Nearby, a distinctive octagonal tower tops the Romanesque Mainz Cathedral, built of deep red sandstone. The Gutenberg Museum honors the inventor of the printing press with exhibits, including 2 of his original Bibles.

Some of the top sights to see in Mainz are:

Mainz Cathedral

Mainz Cathedral or St. Martin’s Cathedral is located near the historical center and pedestrianized market square of the city of Mainz, Germany. This 1000-year-old Roman Catholic cathedral is the site of the episcopal see of the Bishop of Mainz.

Mainz Cathedral is predominantly Romanesque in style, but later exterior additions over many centuries have resulted in the appearance of various architectural influences seen today. It comprises three naves and stands under the patronage of Saint Martin of Tours. The eastern quire is dedicated to Saint Stephen.

The interior of the cathedral houses tombs and funerary monuments of former powerful Electoral-prince-archbishops, or Kurfürst-Erzbischöfe, of the diocese and contains religious works of art spanning a millennium. The cathedral also has a central courtyard and statues of Saint Boniface and The Madonna on its grounds.

Gutenberg Museum

The Gutenberg Museum is one of the oldest museums of printing in the world, located opposite the cathedral in the old part of Mainz, Germany. It is named after Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of printing from movable metal type in Western Europe.

A group of people founded the museum in 1900, 500 years after Johannes Gutenberg’s birth, to honor the inventor and present his technical and artistic achievements to the public at large. They also aimed to exhibit the writing and printing of as many different cultures as possible.

Publishers, manufacturers of printing machines and printing houses donated books, apparatus and machines, which formed the basis of the collection. In its first few years the museum was part of the city library, meaning that the most beautiful and characteristic volumes from the library’s extensive collection could be requisitioned for the museum. Visitors were thus presented with a survey of almost 500 years of the printed book. In time the museum expanded to include sections on printing techniques, book art, job printing and ex-libris, graphics and posters, paper, the history of writing of all cultures of the world and modern artists’ books.

St. Stephen’s Church

The Collegiate Church of St. Stephan, known in German as St. Stephan zu Mainz, is a Gothic hall collegiate church located in the German city of Mainz.

St. Stephan zu Mainz was originally built in 990 at the order of Archbishop Willigis, who also initiated the building of Mainz Cathedral. The church was founded on top of the highest hill in the town, most likely on behalf of Theophanu, the widow of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor. Willigis intended the church to be a site of prayer for the Empire.

The provost of the Collegiate Church administered one of the archdiaconates (a medieval organizational form similar to today’s diaconates) of the Archbishopric of Mainz.

The current church building dates from the late medieval era; construction of the main area of the church began in about 1267 and was completed in 1340. The successional building kept the guidelines of the floor plan of the original Willigis building and with it the design as a double choir church. St. Stephan is the oldest Gothic hall church in the Upper Rhine district, and is (besides Mainz Cathedral) the most important church in the city of Mainz.

Biebrich Palace

Biebrich Palace (German: Schloss Biebrich) is a Baroque residence (Schloss) in the borough of Biebrich in the city of Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. Built in 1702 by Prince Georg August Samuel of Nassau-Idstein, it served as the ducal residence for the independent Duchy of Nassau from 1816 until 1866.

Count Georg August Samuel of Nassau-Idstein, appointed Prince in 1688, wanted a more impressive seat of authority than his palace in Idstein in the Taunus. He moved first to Wiesbaden, and later to Biebrich (at that time a separate community from Wiesbaden). In the immediate vicinity of the Rhine, opposite the Biebricher Wörth, he began construction of a chateau. The structure was designed by the Baroque architect Julius Ludwig Rothweil and was completed in 1702. It survives today as the West Pavilion of the palace. Only four years later, a duplicate structure was built only 86 meters to the east. While the West Pavilion was reserved for the prince and his entourage, the East Pavilion served his wife.

Kirschgarten

One of the prettiest scenes in Mainz is this small rectangular square enclosed by tall half-timbered houses. The square itself dates back to before 1329, while its houses are from the 16th to the 18th centuries. One, Zum Aschaffenberg is the oldest preserved half-timbered house in Mainz, built around 1500. In front of another fine old house, Zum Beimburg you can find the remains of a stump: this isn’t actually a cherry tree as it is often claimed to be (Kirschgarten means cherry orchard), but an almost petrified oak.

At the center, bordered by a restaurant terrace, is the Kirchgartenbrunnen, a fountain that has only been here since 1932 and is made with red sandstone repurposed from broken ornamental structures on the Theodor Heuss Bridge.

Schillerplatz 

A grand tree-lined square, Schillerplatz was already a public plaza in Mainz’s Roman era and was used as a marketplace in the Middle Ages. The square is fringed by regal palaces in the Baroque and Rococo styles housing state government offices.

There’s a bronze statue of the poet and playwright Friedrich Schiller, put up on his 100th birthday in 1859. But the square’s most striking monument is the nine-metre-high Mainzer Fastnachtsbrunnen, which commemorates the famous carnival celebrations that take over the square on Shrove Monday.

This fountain is a postcard favorite and is decorated with more than 200 bronze figures from Mainz history and local folklore.

Holzturm – Wood Tower

The Wood Tower is a medieval tower in Mainz, Germany, with the Iron Tower and the Alexander Tower one of three remaining towers from the city walls. Its current Gothic appearance dates to the early 15th century.

It is so named because wood used to be piled next to it on the bank of the Rhine.[

Like the Iron Tower, the Wood Tower was used as a watchtower and gate-tower and later as a gaol. It was badly damaged in World War II and accurately reconstructed in 1961 for the two-thousandth anniversary of the city. It currently houses various organizations and clubs.

 

 

 

Eisenturm – Iron Tower

The Iron Tower (German: Eisenturm) is a medieval tower dating to the early 13th century, and modified in the 15th century, which with the Wood Tower and the Alexander Tower is one of three remaining towers from the city walls of Mainz, Germany. Its name derives from the Iron Market (Eisenmarkt), which was held in the immediate vicinity until the 19th century.

The Iron Tower served as a watchtower and gate to the city, and later as a gaol. It was badly damaged in World War II and reconstructed in the 1960s. Today it houses various organizations and arts projects and is used for art exhibitions.

 

 

 

Rheinsteig

The Rheinsteig is a hiking trail following a mainly elevated path along the east bank of the Rhine River in Germany. Its 320 kilometres (200 mi) route stretches from Bonn to Wiesbaden, running parallel to the Rheinhöhenweg Trail and Rheinburgenweg Trail.

The Rheinsteig passes through woodlands and vineyards, and has challenging ascents and descents. It is signposted by signs with an ‘R’ on a blue background. The Rheinsteig allows either longer-distance hiking or a number of short tours.

Augustinerkirche

The church of St. Augustin known in German as Augustinerkirche, was the minster of the Augustine friars in the city centre of Mainz. Today it is the seminary church of the Catholic theological seminary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz.

The church was built from 1768 to 1771 on the site of a Gothic church building on the Augustinian Street, dating to 1260. The builders were Augustinian hermits, who had already built the predecessor building and whose fraternity endured from 1260 to the Imperial Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803. The name of the master mason is unknown.

After the secularization of the monastery in 1803, the building ensemble became a seminary comprising a church of the diocese of the newly created bishopric in 1805. The church was not destroyed in World War II.

Imperial Palace, Ingelheim

The Imperial Palace Ingelheim (Ingelheimer Kaiserpfalz) is an important Imperial Palace erected in the second half of the 8th century in Germany. It served Emperors and Kings as a residence and place for governance until the 11th century. The palatinate complex is located in the cadastral area of Nieder-Ingelheim, 15 km west of Mainz, in der cadastral section „Im Saal“ at a slope with look-out to the Rhine plains. From the buildings of the Imperial Palace impressive relics above ground are preserved today. The greater part of the complex remains as foundation under ground level and allows it to be the basis for archaeological excavations to reconstruct the entire system of buildings.

Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom, officially Hohe Domkirche Sankt Petrus) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Cologne, Northrhine-Westfalia, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. It is Germany’s most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day, and is currently the tallest twin-spired church at 157 m (515 ft) tall.

The site of Cologne Cathedral has been occupied by Christian churches since about the 4th century. An older cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1248, and immediately thereafter work began on the present cathedral, which was designed in the Gothic style in emulation of French church architecture. The choir was consecrated in 1322, but construction continued until 1560 (or only until 1520, according to some authorities).

The project then stalled for centuries, with a large wooden crane left standing some 184 feet (56 m) above the ground, at the top of the south tower. During the 1790s, troops of the French Revolution occupied Cologne and used the cathedral as a stable and a hay barn. Restoration work began in the 1820s, spurred on by Sulpiz Boisserée, a German proponent of the Gothic Revival movement. In 1842 a new cornerstone was laid by King Frederick William IV of Prussia, and work to complete the cathedral resumed in earnest. The architects Ernst Friedrich Zwirner and Richard Voigtel carried out the enterprise, guided by architectural drawings made in about 1300. Construction finally ended in 1880.

The art treasures of Cologne Cathedral are many and varied. Near the high altar is the massive gold Shrine of the Three Kings, containing what are said to be relics of the Magi who attended the infant Jesus. The shrine, a masterpiece of medieval goldwork, was begun by the noted goldsmith Nicholas of Verdun in 1182, completed in about 1220, and originally installed in the predecessor cathedral. The altarpiece in the Lady Chapel (on the south wall of the choir) is a triptych entitled The Adoration of the Magi (c. 1445), which was made by Stefan Lochner, one of the outstanding painters of the Cologne school. The cathedral’s oldest stained-glass windows were crafted in the 13th century.

More modern in style is an immense stained-glass window by the Cologne-based artist Gerhard Richter, completed in 2007 as a permanent replacement for 19th-century glass that was destroyed in World War II. Richter’s window consists of more than 11,000 square panes in 72 solid colors, arrayed seemingly at random within the many-mullioned window.

Some facts about the Cologne Cathedral:

1. The construction of the Cologne Cathedral commenced in 1248 and was finished in 1880, 632 years later.
2. Originally the cathedral was built to house the Three Wise Men’s shrine.
3. The height of the northern tower of the Cologne Cathedral is 157,38 meters, while the height of the southern tower is 6 cm below that.
4. The external length of the cathedral is 144,58 meters and the width is 86.25 meters.
5. The Cologne Cathedral was the tallest building in the world between 1880 and 1884. It was preceded by the Rouen Cathedral and succeeded by the Washington Monument and the Eiffel Tower.
6. Cologne Cathedral was indeed hit by 14 bombs during World War II, but the building did not fall. It is believed that the Cathedral was not completely destroyed by bombs because it served as an easily recognizable landmark for pilots.

The majestic cathedral looks especially good at night.

Weimar is a city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. The city was a focal point of the German Enlightenment and home of the leading characters of the literary genre of Weimar Classicism, the writers Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. In the 19th century, famous composers like Franz Liszt made a music center of Weimar and later, artists and architects like Henry van de Velde, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger and Walter Gropius came to the city and founded the Bauhaus movement, the most important German design school of the interwar period. However, the political history of 20th-century Weimar was inconsistent: it was the place where Germany’s first democratic constitution was signed after the First World War, giving its name to the Weimar Republic period in German politics (1918–1933), as well as one of the cities mythologized by the National Socialist propaganda.

Germany, and Berlin in particular, was fertile ground for intellectuals, artists, and innovators from many fields during the Weimar Republic years. The social environment was chaotic, and politics were passionate. German university faculties became universally open to Jewish scholars in 1918.

Leading Jewish intellectuals on university faculties included physicist Albert Einstein; sociologists Karl Mannheim, Erich Fromm, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Herbert Marcuse; philosophers Ernst Cassirer and Edmund Husserl; political theorists Arthur Rosenberg and Gustav Meyer; and many others. Nine German citizens were awarded Nobel prizes during the Weimar Republic, five of whom were Jewish scientists, including two in medicine. Jewish intellectuals and creative professionals were among the prominent figures in many areas of Weimar culture.

With the rise of Nazism and the ascent to power of Adolf Hitler in 1933, many German intellectuals and cultural figures, both Jewish and non-Jewish, fled Germany for the United States, the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world. The strife-ridden Weimar Republic was eventually toppled, in 1933, by the National Socialists. Nazi policies led to war and the partition of Germany. Weimar ended up east of the border that remained tightly guarded until 1989.

After German Reunification in 1990, Weimar experienced significant economic hardship, but funding restored much that had deteriorated, and it was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996 (Bauhaus) and 1998 (Classical Weimar). The European Council of Ministers selected the city as European Capital of Culture for 1999. Tourism has become an important economic factor over the decades. Weimar is now a popular residence of people working in Erfurt and Jena, both less than 20 minutes away.

A statue depicting the polymaths Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller stands on Theaterplatz, the square in front of the theatre, traditionally regarded as the heart of the city. The two men are among the many distinguished names who served at the court of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach during its Golden Age under Duchess Anna Amalia and her son Grand Duke Karl August. Numerous figures of renown were drawn to Weimar, which became one of the leading centers of the Enlightenment. This prompted locals to joke darkly that though their city has few famous sons and daughters plenty of famous figures came here to die.

Palaces and historic buildings, including the houses of Goethe and Schiller, stand as a legacy of that area and were in 2008 collectively designated as the Classical Weimar UNESCO World Heritage Site. The City Palace, known locally as the Residenz Schloss, houses a museum and art gallery that depict Weimar’s Golden Age. The Duchess Anna Amalia Library houses a major collection of German literature and historical documents.

The library contains 1,000,000 books, 2000 medieval and early modern manuscripts, 600 ancestral registers,  10000 maps, 4000 musical scripts. The Duchess, seeking a tutor for her son Duke Carl August, hired Christoph Martin Wieland, an important poet and noted translator of William Shakespeare. Wieland’s Shakespeare volumes formed the core of the collection. From an architectural standpoint, the library is world-famous for its oval Rococo hall featuring a portrait of Grand Duke Carl August.

One of the library’s most famous patrons was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who worked there from 1797 to 1832. The library also includes the world’s largest Faust collection. The Duchess’s significant 13,000-volume music collection is also available in the library.

In World War II, most of the collection was housed elsewhere to preserve it from Allied bombing.

Today, the library is a public research library for literature and art history. The main focus is German literature from the Classical and the late Romantic eras.

The Würzburg Residence (Würzburger Residenz) is a palace in Würzburg, Germany. Balthasar Neumann, court architect of the Bishop of Würzburg, was the principal architect of the Residence, which was commissioned by the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn and his brother Friedrich Carl von Schönborn in 1720, and completed in 1744. The Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, assisted by his son, Domenico, painted frescoes in the building.

Interiors, considered masterworks of Baroque/Rococo or Neoclassical architecture and art, include the grand staircase, the chapel, and the Imperial Hall. The building was reportedly called the “largest parsonage in Europe” by Napoleon. It was heavily damaged during World War II, and restoration has been in progress since 1945. Since 1981, the Residence has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Unlike the Munich Residence, which evolved over some five hundred years and thus incorporates the styles of quite different periods, the Würzburg Residence was built in its entirety, with short interruptions, almost within a single generation.

The architects drew their inspiration from an area extending from Vienna to Paris and from Genoa and Venice to Amsterdam. The building embodies the attainments of Western architecture of its day, French château architecture, Viennese baroque and the religious and secular architecture of northern Italy and is a synthesis of the arts of astonishing universality.

The Würzburg court architect, Balthasar Neumann, who was entrused with the coordination of the massive building project, had to work not only with the leading architects of Germany and France – with Lucas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, with Robert de Cotte and Germain Boffrand – but also with numerous artists such as the Italian Antonio Bossi, the “ornamentation genius” of the Würzburg Residence, the gifted sculptors and woodcarvers Johann Wolfgang van der Auwera from Würzburg and Georg Adam Guthmann from Munich, and not least with Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, the greatest fresco painter of the 18th century.

Balthasar Neumann’s incomparable suite of rooms – vestibule, staircase, White Hall and Imperial Hall – one of the most magnificent in the history of palace architecture, was decorated and furnished by these artists and craftsmen in a joint creative undertaking which also produced “Würzburg rococo”, the most exuberant of all the variations of this style in Germany.

The Würzburg Residence is moreover by no means the work of the artists alone, but equally that of its various great owners, who, in addition to providing the financial and political means, gave this gigantic building international standing through their widespread connections, which extended far beyond their own lands. These owners were the Counts of Schönborn.

Almost all the ecclesiastical princes from this dynasty had a passion for building, and influenced the planning not only through the level of splendor they demanded, but also through application of their own creative ideas and their astonishing professional knowledge. The Würzburg Residence, on which the patronage of the extraordinary family was concentrated, is the magnificent result of this Schönborn passion.

As a result of a devastating air raid on March 16, 1945, the residence was almost completely burnt out and only the central building with the Vestibule, Garden Hall, Staircase, White Hall and Imperial Hall survived the inferno, their roofs destroyed. From the attic the fire ate down through wooden ceilings and floors, and all the furnishings and wall paneling which had not been stored elsewhere were devoured by the flames. Much of the furnishing and large sections of the wall paneling of the period rooms had been removed in time and thus escaped destruction. Neumann’s stone vaults withstood the collapse of the burning attic. However, because the roofs had gone, further damage was incurred in the ensuing period due to dampness. In the Court Chapel, for example, most of the ceiling frescoes by Byss succumbed to the subsequent consequences of the fire, in spite of the intact vault, and had to be laboriously reconstructed.

Lübeck is a northern German city distinguished by Brick Gothic architecture that dates back to its time as the medieval capital of the Hanseatic League, a powerful trading confederation.

Lübeck is the largest Baltic harbour of Germany, and the port is a major employer in the city. Paper and wood products, fruit, grain, automobiles, salt, and fertilizer are among the cargoes handled, and there is a significant amount of ferry traffic. Other industries include shipbuilding, metalworking, and food processing; services related to finance, communications, and the tourist trade have become increasingly important. The city is also renowned for its confectionery delights. Since the 19th century, it has professed to be the “capital of marzipan,” thanks largely to the efforts of Johann Georg Niederegger, who developed a process to speed production of the almond-based concoction.

The Lübeck wine trade dates back to Hanseatic times. One Lübeck specialty is Rotspon, wine made from grapes processed and fermented in France and transported in wooden barrels to Lübeck, where it is stored, aged and bottled.

An earlier settlement in the area was named Liubice. Located at the confluence of the Schwartau and Trave rivers, 4 miles (6 km) downstream from the present city center, it was the seat of a Slavic principality and had a castle and harbor. The German city was founded by Count Adolf II of Holstein in 1143. This settlement was destroyed by fire in 1157, but a new city was built there by Henry III, duke of Saxony, in 1159. It developed rapidly as the main trading point between the raw-material-producing countries of northern and eastern Europe and the manufacturing centers in the west.

For a short time (1201–26) Lübeck belonged to Denmark, but in 1226 it was made a free imperial city by Frederick II. During this time Lübeck developed a form of self-government with its own laws and constitution. The “laws of Lübeck” were later granted to more than 100 cities in the Baltic area, and the example of Lübeck greatly influenced the economy and appearance of those cities. In 1358 the Hanseatic League made Lübeck its administrative headquarters. This event took place a mere eight years after the city’s population had been devastated by the Black Death. Subsequent decades brought increasing wealth to the city, but there were also periods of civil unrest (1380–84 and 1408–16) in which the artisans’ and craftsmen’s guilds actively opposed the city council, which was controlled by the merchants. The opening of the Stecknitz Canal in 1398 greatly facilitated the shipping of salt from Lüneburg. By the early 15th century, Lübeck was the second largest city (after Cologne) in northern Germany, with some 22,000 inhabitants.

From 1866 Lübeck belonged to the North German Confederation and from 1871 to the German Empire. The city’s economy was restored with the construction of the Elbe-Lübeck Canal in 1900. Its status as a separate, self-governing entity, dating from 1226, ended in 1937 when the Nazi regime made it part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. In World War II a large part of the historic inner city was destroyed by a British bombing raid (March 28, 1942), but the area was restored during postwar reconstruction. At the end of the war, the city’s population swelled tremendously with the arrival of 100,000 German refugees who had fled the Soviet advance in the east.

The inner city of Lübeck was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. It retains a distinctive medieval character in its narrow cobblestone streets and its faithfully restored houses and shops, along with its ecclesiastical and municipal structures.

Among Lübeck’s outstanding monuments are the Marienkirche (St. Mary’s Church, a 13th–14th-century brick structure in the Gothic style), the Romanesque cathedral (begun in 1173 under Henry III), and the magnificent Rathaus (city hall), built in a combination of Gothic and Renaissance styles. Waterways and parklands outline the inner city, where the moat and ramparts once shielded it from attack. Two towered gates are remnants of the medieval fortifications: the Burgtor (1444), which received a new roof in 1685, and the famous Holstentor (1478), which has housed the municipal museum since 1950. Upon the archway of the Holstentor is the benediction “Concordia domi foris pax” (“Concord at home, peace outside”).

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