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Archive for the ‘Germany Travel Info’ Category

The Wartburg Castle is located near the town of Eisenach in Thuringia, Germany. The history of the Wartburg Castle begins in 1067 when Ludwig der Springer, the count of Schauenburg, founded the castle. The one thing that many people who have done any reading on the history of the Protestant Reformation are likely to remember about the Wartburg Castle is that beginning in 1521 Martin Luther sought refuge and spent time hiding there after returning from the Diet of Worms, having been excommunicated by the pope and outlawed by the emperor. While staying at the castle, he completed his translation of the Bible to the German language. Today, there is still a room in the castle that is called the Luther Room.

The Wartburg Castle is perhaps best known for its connection with the life of Martin Luther.

The castle of Wartburg has many different stylistic features in its architecture, including Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Historicism. This castle was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. It remains a popular tourist destination, largely due to its significance in shaping the history.

Frankfurt is officially known as Frankfurt Am Main. It is the fifth largest city in Germany. It is situated on the banks of the river Main. Frankfurt is the finance center of Germany. Its terminal stations is one of the largest terminal stations in the entire Europe and the city boasts of one of the busiest airports too in the whole of the world.

Frankfurt is one of the ten cities named in the Alpha world cities. In fact it is the only city from Germany to be named so. Since there are a number of historical tourist spots in the city it is often referred to as the cultural center of Germany too. The Old Opera House is one such historical building in the city. It was originally built in the year 1880. Now it conducts opera shows and is used as a concert hall. There is a leading opera company in Germany called the Frankfurt Opera House in Frankfurt. Museumsuferfest is a grand cultural festival that is held for 3 days in Frankfurt. It is held every year in the month of August.

Frankfurt skyline

The Baltic Sea is an ideal setting for tourists who want to experience the luxury of spending time on a cruise ship while traveling between the countries that surround the beautiful Baltic sea. This form of transportation certainly beats a bus or train trip, and in some cases, it is also significantly faster, as well as reasonably priced.

The cruise ships sail on various routes between the coastal cities of Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Denmark, and Germany. Some of the cruise ship lines are Viking Line, Tallink Silja, and Seawind Line.

From the passenger’s point of view, the cruise ship is more like a combination of a hotel, restaurants, shopping malls, casinos, and night clubs (but one that also just happens to float) than it is anything that one might associate with a regular ship that travels across the seas.

In addition to providing a means of transportation and recreation, a cruise can also function as an exciting setting for a conference.

Viking Line is one of the more popular cruise ship lines that sail the Baltic sea

Germany boasts of several tourist spots that attract thousands of visitors who revel in tasting their visual beauty. Some of these tourist spots are the Black Forest, the Romantic Road, the Frisian Island and Neuschwanstein Castle.

The Black Forest is situated in the southwest part of Germany and is known for manufacturing the Cuckoo Clocks. Tourists enjoy skiing and camping at the Black Forest.

The Romantic Road is a scintillating path with greenery on both sides. It extends between the river Main in the north and the southern range of Alps connecting several towns and hamlets.

Medieval towns in the Romantic Road, Bavaria.

The Frisian Island is a very picturesque island and is surrounded by Germany, Denmark and Netherlands. There are two small islands called Sylt and Amrum situated within the Frisian Island. These islands are haunted by tourists who walk and play across their beautiful beaches.

Neuschwanstein Castle has a touch of architectural wonderment about it. It is located almost near Austria. This marvellous castle is the most visited of all the castles of Germany and it models on the concept of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Neuschwanstein castle

All these tourist spots in Germany continue to attract tourists from all the countries throughout the year.

Cologne (Köln) is situated on the banks of the River Rhine and it is the fourth largest city in Germany. It is well known for its scenic beauty and vibrant life about it. Rich heritage surrounds this historic city. The city boasts of seating some of the world’s famous universities.  It is the seat of Catholic Archbishop as well. Cologne is laden with architectural beauty with the presence of many galleries and museums and thus it is a seat of rich culture and art too. The Art Cologne Fair is a wonderful event that catches the eye of the tourist. The Cologne Carnival forms a part of the Art Cologne Fair. Lanxess Arena, Cologne University, Cologne Cathedral, Farina Fragrance Museum, Romanesque Churches, Museum Ludwig and El De Haus are some of the landmarks of the city.

The Dome Hotel in Cologne

Museum Ludwig was founded in the year 1976.  It was started with a collection of 350 works of art. Most of these pieces are related to modern art. The Ludwigs apart from installing the museum also donated hundreds of rare works by Pablo Picasso.  Peter and Irene Ludwig are the two popular personalities associated with this Museum Ludwig.

Germany is known for its greenery. It is a country laden with parks and gardens that gladdens the hearts of lovers of nature. Tiergarten is Berlin’s largest park and it is an automatic choice for the Germans and the tourists for recreation. It attracts thousands during the summer. The high ‘Victory Column’, one of Berlin’s well-known landmarks, is situated in the center of the park. Schloss Bellevue, the official residence of the President of Germany, lies well within this wonderful park.

Gremany has beautiful green gardens...

Peopcock Island is one of Berlin’s popular tourist destinations. There is a palace by the name ‘Pfaueninsel’ which is situated right on the Peocock Island. This island is a paradise of visual beauty, and one can reach it only by traveling in a ferry. Gardens and parks fill the island with greenery supported by the presence of a number of peacocks in and around the island. A beautiful rose garden adorns this island.

...and colorful ones as well, depending on the season.

The Zoological Gardens in Berlin is one of the largest of its kind in the world. It is of a great importance to the tourists. There are about 19.000 animals and about 1.400 species seen in this zoo and it boasts of the world’s largest collection of animals and birds. The Zoological Gardens was founded in the year 1844 by Alexander Von Humboldt and Martin Lichtenstein.

There are more than 14,000 libraries in Germany. The State Library of Bamberg in Bavaria which is one of the oldest of the German libraries was founded in the year 1803. The Library has been housed since 1965 in the former royal ‘New Residence’ of the bishop of Bamberg. This is the first library where woodcut illustrated books written in the German language found place. Priority is given to humanities in the Bamberg State Library. 450,000 volumes of research material is stored in the form of manuscripts. Researches throng to the Bamgerg State Library to refer to these volumes and pursue their research work.

The State Library of Bamberg

The State Library of Bamberg is known as the scholarly library of Germany because it offers the best available souce to humanites-studies. It was emperor Henry II who started the collection of books in the year 1007. He presented to the Cathedral some valuable manuscripts which his ancestors might have collected. At that time many manuscripts were brought from the spiritual centers of the West and books were written based on these manuscripts from then on.

Germany’s river cruising boats are growing in popularity over the years in the sense that several tourists have a nice time on board. Many rivers run across the country and they add fervor to the river landscape brought about by the Rhine, Danube, Moselle and Elbe to name a few.

The cruising boats would stop on the way there by allowing the tourists to enjoy the picturesque towns and visit old castles and vineyards. ‘Rhine in flames’ is a grand event that takes place during every summer in the Middle Rhine Valley. Lustrous fire works illumine the sky during summer nights with their reflections beautifying the river waters and offering a spectacular sight to the visitors.

It is a widely accepted fact that Germany’s rivers inspired several famous poets and artists who have described the scenic beauty in their writings or depicted it in their sketches over the canvas.  River cruising on the cruising boats in Germany could last for a period of two weeks too in the case of some tourists who simply love river-landscapes.  Therefore if you are looking for a river cruise, miss not the cruising boats in Germany.