Category: Germany
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Maulbronn Monastery, Germany – A Religious Paradise
Nestled in the tiny town of Maulbronn in the Enz Province of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, sits the Maulbronn Monastery, a Romanesque-style monastery with a long past. This Monastery, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has a long and bloody past but is also a beautiful and unique place to visit. History The name comes…
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Mainau, Germany – Germany’s Garden
Today I would like to present for your viewing pleasure the wonderful island of Mainau in the Bodensee (Lake Constance), Germany. Mainau, like the rest of the Bodensee, is only a stone through away from the Swiss border. Mainau has a very long history of being a place of human settlement. The Celts, the Romans,…
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Ruine Hochburg, Germany – Defending the entrance to the Black Forest
As I promised those who follow this blog on Instagram, this blog post is on the Ruine Hochburg (High Castle Ruins). The Ruine Hochburg is located in Baden-Württemberg, Germany near Freiburg im Breisgau between the villages of Emmendingen (where I used to live) and Sexau. Originally “Hachberg”, the Emmendingen family built the castle in the…
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Saxon Switzerland (Sächsische Schweiz), Germany – A hike through nature
On the border between Germany and the Czech Republic lies a natural park called Saxon Switzerland (Sächsische Schweiz). The park lies in the Elbe Valley (the river runs through Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland) and attracts nature-lovers both locally and internationally due to the abundance of nature trails and climbing spots (which literally…
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Dresden, Germany – The dark capital
So I was recently able to spend a few hours in Dresden, one of the historic centres of Germany which has enjoyed a lot of power throughout its history. Its importance in the Holy Roman Empire especially led to its prosperity. You can see it in the architecture rebuilt after Dresden’s destruction during World War…
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Wartburg Castle, Germany – The birthplace of religious resistance
Eisenach is a town in western Thüringen (Thuringia). It is well known for its UNESCO World Heritage site, Wartburg Castle. This town has a surprisingly star-studded history: Martin Luther translated the Bible from Latin to German in Eisenach, Johann Sebastian Bach was born here in 1865, and hosted the famous writer/statesman Johann Wolfgang Goethe, all…
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Partnach Gorge (Partnachklamm), Germany – Olympic hiking
When one thinks about Germany, the usual stereotypes that one has of German culture is from Bavaria, with its Oktoberfest, Lederhosen and Oom-pah music. One of the things that you think about with Bavarian Alpine culture. However, did you know that there are other famous geographical formations around the Alps? How about Partnach Gorge? Near…
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Hildesheim, Germany – A tale from history
Continuing on with the Germany theme, I would like to introduce a nice, small city in Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) that I particularly like called Hildesheim. If you like medieval history, this small city 30 km (19 miles) southeast of Hanover is the place to be. It is one of the oldest cities in northern Germany;…
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Berlin, Germany – Love it or Hate it
So I have finally done it: a post about Germany! A country where I spent some great years of my life. I wasn’t sure where to start as I have a lot of material. I also realised that a lot of the older material looks, well, old in terms of quality that was widely available…
