Germany enchants! 38 percent of all trips are made within Germany. A “comeback of tourism in Germany”, as Prof. Horst Opaschowski from the BAT Foundation for Future Issues announced. Trend: further increasing. No wonder, since we have big and small treasures right on our doorstep: ancient half-timbered towns, charming peaked mountains, capricious seas with lovely beaches – and everything is very close by! Of course, we in the Tolfioow editorial team also have our secret retreats to pamper the senses. We will reveal our favorites to you on the following pages.
Table of Contents
SHARPEN YOUR EYE
1 KÖNIGSSEE BERCHTESGADEN COUNTRY
The lake in the Berchtesgadener Land shimmers deep blue, attractive and irritating at the same time, as if it were hiding a multitude of secrets. And indeed: According to legend, it is said to have been fed from the (blue) blood of a cruel royal family, which was turned into stone as punishment and today has to look down on the valley as “Watzmann-Spitzen” – forever! Since I also prefer to look down from above than the other way around, I have to get up somehow. Luckily there is the Jennerbahn, a cable car that starts in Schönau and takes lazy people like me almost to the top of the 1874 meter high Jenner in just 20 minutes. On the sun terrace of the mountain station you have the most beautiful view of the Königssee and the Watzmann – and it is only a short walk to the summit cross.
Speicherstadt in Hamburg
BREATHING THE FRAGRANCE OF THE WORLD
2 STORE CITY IN HAMBURG
Whenever I get wanderlust, I get on the Hamburg subway and get off at Landungsbrücken station. It already smells like the sea here, although the North Sea is still 90 kilometers away. Nevertheless, you can feel them. Seagulls flap and fat container ships from Shanghai or Costa Rica lazily pass by. I like the walk along the Elbe to the Speicherstadt in the evenings. It is very quiet between the more than 100-year-old brick houses. It smells of coffee, tobacco, nutmeg, of the wide world! HafenCity shines a few steps further in a brand new way. The ultra-modern facades look unusual, but I’ve already found a favorite place: the Magellan Terraces in front of the traditional ship harbor. The contrast of old and new makes me feel like I’m in the right place.
Harz National Park
LET THE IMAGINATION RUN
3 THE BROCKEN NATIONAL PARK HARZ
The Brocken is haunted. Certainly. I’m not the only one who believes that. Hikers have been terrified of the legendary “Brocken Ghost” for centuries. Maybe it’s because the 1141 meter high peak is shrouded in thick fog 300 days a year, often with ice crystals in the air. This creates rare optical light effects that make you doubt your own perception. But I like this rich heaviness of the forest, this walking through the moss-covered, velvety silence. On the other hand, my husband especially loves the overcast, hazy light. No wonder he is a graphic artist. We prefer to hike the route along the Harzer Hexenstieg from the Brocken to Thale, which also leads past the Hexentanzplatz. Very early on an old Saxon-Germanic place of worship, later in the Middle Ages the scene of Walpurgis Night, where the witches ally themselves with the devil. true or not? Everything is possible in the Harz Mountains!
Fischland-Darss
FORGET THE TIME
4 AHRENSHOOP FISCHLAND-DARSS
Sometimes I need a different way of looking at things. And fresh air. Then I get in my car at six in the morning and drive east. Two and a half hours later I’m already on the Fischland-Darß peninsula, for me the most exciting and beautiful spot in all of Northern Germany! On one side the sea roars, on the other side the reed-covered bay is very lovely, almost like an inland lake. In between are forests with ferns that are taller than me. In this triad of sea, lagoon and forest, I feel very connected to nature. Even a day on the Darß feels endlessly long, all superfluous thoughts are blown away by the wind. Even in bad weather. A stroll in the small artist town of Ahrenshoop, where one cute shop follows the other, is enough. My favorite is the “Bunte Stube” with books, jewelery and nice odds and ends. I still have one wish unfulfilled: When the Bodden freezes over in winter, I really want to go ice skating!
Weimar in Thuringia
ENCOURAGE THE MIND
5 WEIMAR THURINGIA
It only takes a few steps to experience several centuries of art and literary history in Weimar. But where to start? Perhaps in the Cranach House, a richly decorated Renaissance building right on the market square, where Lucas Cranach the Elder Ä. lived. Or stroll through Goethe’s long apartments on Frauenplan? Here the polished floorboards creak, and one can very well imagine the privy councilor pacing up and down for hours while poetry and thought. Not far from there is the house of Charlotte von Stein, who ensnared Goethe with 1700 letters. And another great lady deserves attention: Duchess Anna Amalia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. We have her to thank for the library of the same name in the Green Palace. As a book lover, I would love to spend the night in the magnificent rococo hall, between writings, some of which are up to 1000 years old. Fortunately, after the great fire of 2004, the library is as beautiful as ever.
Worpswede in Lower Saxony
FEED THE SOUL
6 DEVIL’S MOOR WORPSWEDE/ LOWER SAXONY
Unique is this high sky with the low clouds that hang like invisible threads and create a diffuse light over the Teufelsmoor. It is precisely this sight that inspires painters to this day – and me too. I always drive very gently through this wonderful expanse and almost feel like part of a total work of art. I always stop at the “Café zum Brinkhof”. Not from exhaustion, but because of the gigantic cakes. No lie: ten centimeter thick pieces of blueberry cake are served there! After that I cycle a little slower until I eventually reach Worpswede. Here I reward myself again: with a small meal in the beautiful Art Nouveau train station from 1910 with a fireplace and original wallpaper.
The Marksburg on the Rhine
BELIEVE IN FAIRY TALES
7 MARKSBURG AM RHEIN
More than 40 castles are lined up between Bingen and Koblenz, and the Marksburg above Braubach stands out as one of the most beautiful. This is exactly how I used to imagine a real knight’s castle: with a drawbridge gate, knight’s hall, chapel, herb garden, wine cellar and even a torture chamber! The Marksburg is the only hilltop castle on the Middle Rhine that was never destroyed. It was first mentioned in 1231. If you stand in the inner courtyard, you can almost hear the rattling of the saber, the clinking of the spurs or the rustling of the clothes of the damsel, who is longingly waiting for his count, who will eventually gallop victoriously up the cavalry staircase. Maybe I’ve just seen too many fairy tale movies, but I can’t stop daydreaming here.
Germany in numbers
Germany in numbers
favorite destinations
- Bayern
- Baltic Coast/Islands
- North Sea Coast/Islands
- Baden-Wuerttemberg
- Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (inland/lake district)
(Source: survey by the BAT Foundation for Future Issues)
The most beautiful churches
- Cologne cathedral
- St. Michaelis, Hamburg
- Aachen Cathedral
- Ulm Minster
- Asam Church, Munich
- Berlin Cathedral
(According to vote on trivago.de)
The most magical places
- Quedlinburg old town
- Lübeck old town
- Koblenz/Upper Middle Rhine Valley
- Eisenach/Wartburg
- Weimar/Belvedere
(Source: UNESCO World Heritage Sites ranking according to bookings on expedia.de)