Many colleagues and friends from foreign countries have asked me about the places to see when visiting Germany. So it is my pleasure to play the advocate for my country.
Germany is a pleasant country to travel. Most of Germany has a cool, temperate climate, rainfall occurs year round with a maximum during summer. Winters there are mild and summers tend to be cool, though temperatures can exceed 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) for prolonged periods.
By its central position in Europe, Germany is an important transportation hub. This is reflected in its dense and modern transportation networks. Probably most famous is the extensive motorway (Autobahn) network that ranks worldwide third largest in its total length and lacks a blanket speed limit (although some 80% of the total network has local limits) which can be difficult to non experienced drivers. An alternative is polycentric network of InterCity Express high-speed trains, serving major German cities and destinations in neighboring countries. Find out more on www.bahn.de.

There are many clichés about the Germans, many stressing their punctuality, thoroughness, reserve and lack of humour. This is true to a certain extent, and while Germans are excelling in engineering and science, they sometimes are regarded as unkind or stubborn. This of course is not true, but it might take some time until a German come out of his shell.

A stone bridge to cross the river Lahn - in the 12th century when trade was relying on wooden wagons this town was an important place along one of the oldest trade routes, the Roman Via Publica. Merchants had to pay bridge toll and to present their goods on the towns many markets. The city became rich very fast and in 1235 its new cathedral was consecrated - erected in the incredible time of 20 years only. But then luck turned - the town became victim of the plague, the "black death" and fires - the beginning of a long decline.

Not until the 19th century did the town managed to rise again, which preserved the old town, full of narrow streets with half-timbered houses, dating mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries, but also the oldest free standing house in Germany, dating from the 13th century.

The water here still carries the heat from the inner earth, the thermal springs have been famous since the times of the Roman occupancy. The Romans named the place Aquae Mattiacorum, waters of the the Mattiaci, a Chattian tribe. Since then the bathing business has driven the cities development, especially the rapid growth in the 1890ies, when Wiesbaden became one of the favorite places of the German emperor and inhabited more millionaires than any other city in Germany. The "Kureck", lined by the state theatre, the spa house and the casino, was erected at this time, together with the famous parks and the "Bowling Green", preferred place for world class open air concerts.

It was this exclusive atmosphere which attracted the Allies during World War II, saving the city from the bombing raids and making it US headquarter after the German defeat.

Today Wiesbaden is capital of Hesse, one of the 16 federal states of Germany - a tradition which started when the capital of Nassau was moved here in 1815. The City Palace, today serving as the Hessian parliament, and the baroque Biebrich Palace, famous for the annual horse jumping tournament, still remind us of a long and important city history.

The Rheingau is world-famous for its wine - legend has it that Charlemagne planted the first grapes here near Schloss Johannisberg, still one of the most well-known domaines in Germany. Here the sweet late-harvest wine was developed when the messenger from the Archbishop of Fulda, then the owner of Johannisberg, carrying the permission to start the harvest, turned up late in 1775. The monasteries then developed the local wine industry and became rich in doing so. Famous nearby Kloster Eberbach, whose interior was used as set for the movie “The name of the Rose”, still houses a wine cellar of the Hessian state winery. Both places are participating in the annual Rheingau Music Festival, a world-class concert program.

But even if you do not like wine, the Rhine has a lot to offer. Historically it had been an important trade and military route, a natural barrier and object of frontier trouble between national states. History and myths have formed this river bed for several thousand years. The Rhine is the theatre of the medieval saga of the Nibelungenlied, where precious hoards of gold are lying on the river bed, guarded by the Rheinmaidens. No wonder that the most German of all composers, Richard Wagner, took this story as basis for his "Ring" opera cycle.

Between Wiesbaden and Cologne it crosses a mountain range, thereby forming the Rhine valley, lined by numerous castles that were erected in medieval times to collect way toll from the merchant ships that used the Rhine as trade route. In those times this was a dangerous enterprise - many ships failed at the Loreley, where legend has placed a maid with golden hair that diverted the ships crews attention from the dangerous rocks in the river.

Frankfurt - one of Germany's largest airports and therefore the ideal place to fly in. Frankfurt is Germanys top banking city and also the home of the European central bank, with the congregation of all bank towers creating the only skyline in Germany. Frankfurters are proud on this skyline and have nicknamed their city "Mainhattan" - after the river Main that crosses the city.
Frankfurt is also one of the largest trade fair places in Europe, with several major events during the year which will raise the prices for hotel rooms by three hundred percent - so checking the fair calendar before a trip might prevent costly surprises.
Having been a trading city for centuries the cities inhabitants are open, but not urban.

In fact Frankfurt itself is small, with most of its daily inhabitants commuting from the surrounding area. The Frankfurters even claim that their city is in fact a collection of villages, each with its distinct local culture. Go to Sachsenhausen and sit there in a traditional pub and try the local specialities like apple wine, boiled pork ribs or green sauce, a herbal sauce - each cook has its own recipe and the question of how many different kinds of herbs go in that sauce has something of a religious dispute.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber has been an Imperial Free City in the middle ages, under siege during the thirty year war, where the city was saved by its courageous major who emptied a one gallon tankard of wine in one drought and won the challenge by General Tilly. This rescue is commemorated annually by a large festival performance, grand army march and a medieval field camp.
It seems that since these days nothing has been changed in the inner city with its medieval narrow streets, old frame houses and the famous city walls on which you can circle the whole town.

The scenery has inspired Hollywood movies as well as Japanese Manga comics and many foreign tourists come to seek the place these days. If you are looking for a typical present you might find it at Käthe Wohlfahrt's Christmas Shop on the main street where you can buy German Christmas accessories the whole year. Very weird...

A scenic city, old stone houses, decorated with flowers, a lively town square. And yet this place is the scene of a major natural catastrophe. Some hints are even visible today - the old stone walls are freckled with black splinters and from the top of the old church tower you can see the town sitting in a circular plateau of some 30 kilometres, surrounded by a perfect circle of hills.
The traces are typical - a gigantic meteorite has hit this place some million years ago. A small museum tells you the whole story.

If you prefer more modern topics - Nördlingen is the home steam engines, housed in an old engine station.

Many Germans rate Munich as the hidden capital. One reason might be that Munich is the capital of the free state of Bavaria, one of the sixteen federal states. There the government has been conservative for more than sixty years in a row and a majority of less than 70% is regarded as political downfall here.
But there is more behind. The inhabitants of this region have been exposed to the influence of Italy, the southern dreamland which has been traveled and celebrated even by old Goethe. The southern influence has become part of the Bavarian attitude towards life and is ultimately expressed in the universal quote "Passt scho", which means "it is not perfect, but life is to short and beautiful to haggle about details, especially if you could enjoy a beer garden instead".
The Bavarians love the firm, affluent and the juicy, expressed not only by their preference for beer in large quantities and solid meat dishes, but also by the typical architecture with their baroque onion towers and in the traditional dresses which strongly emphasize the female bosom.
Even the landscape with its gentle curves, lakes and mountains fits harmonic in these preferences and all Bavarians may excuse those ancient clichés.
No wonder that Munich has become the preferred place for the new high tech companies. Enjoy shopping around the old town hall, sit below the old trees in one of the beer gardens at the Viktualienmarkt and don't forget to visit world famous Hofbräuhaus in the evening. Visit the famous German Museum on a island in the river, dedicated to science and technology - you can see everything from beer brewing to steam engines to computer science

Designed by a decoration painter from the Munich theatre, built in the 1870ies by a romantic king, this is the epitome of a fairy tale castle and has been copied as Cinderella castle in Disneyland. King Ludwig II, an eccentric and unlucky man who tried to escape the issues of daily life by dreaming himself into a better world inhabited by noble knights, dragons and pagan Germanic gods. As the king idolized composer Richard Wagner the castle was designed as set for the romantic operas and is full of allusions and hints to their characters. Having to furnish a romantic stage of a lost time the architects also borrowed pieces and from other buildings, like the ceiling in the great hall which has been copied from the Wartburg in Thuringia. Ludwig nearly ruined his poor country with the huge expenses for his castles and his adoration for Wagner, until finally he was threatened with dismissal by his cabinet and died under mysterious circumstances. He had only lived in Neuschwanstein for a hundred days.
Today the castle is a must for tourists and tickets have to be bought hours in advance for fixed entry times, so better plan some time for the visit.

A small town, full of typical Alp houses with their broad roofs, carved wooden balconies and thick walls, overshadowed by the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain. The brave and claustrophobic take the gondolas up to the top, while rest use the railroad which winds up to the top, through tunnels that have been blasted into the solid rock. One step out of the subterranean station brings you into deep winter, the snow never melts and cold and freezing winds are raging around the balconies of the tip station.
The Austrian border runs right through the top and you might cross the border when you visit the lavatory.

Another place for the courageous is the Partnachklamm, where a small river has sawn a deep gorge through the rocks. Leave the car at the Olympic stadium of 1936 and walk half an hour to the gorge. Don't forget rainwear- the narrow way through the bottom of the gorge leads directly along the water and you are inches away from the roaring waters. Waterfalls come down from the steep walls, with their drops glittering in the sunlight.

Berchtesgaden has a long and sometimes dark history. Hidden in its mountains are enormous deposits of mineral salt, and its salt mines have been in operation for centuries. Even today the mines are producing salt, but are also open to visitors who, clad in dark protective coats, are carried one kilometre into the mountain rock with an electric train, where they move through the tunnels using slides and escalators and even cross an underground lake. Over the centuries the salt made the town rich, influential and famous, and it became even more famous when Adolf Hilter bought a small cabin on a mountain above the town in the 1920s, later to be enlarged into a huge complex of barracks, guest houses, bunkers and villas. During the Nazi regime Berchtesgaden was his summer retreat and Germany's second unofficial capital. Many architectural remains have survived the war (just look at the train station) and the kiosks even sell special guidebooks to the tourists.
Relax during a trip on the Königssee, where the electric boats will carry you noiselessly over the water and the boat drivers will demonstrate the multiple echoes on the steep cliffs. Or visit Salzburg, the city where Mozart was born and first employed by the archbishop - his palace and the famous park is still there.

Meersburg, a small fishing town, nowadays adapted to the tourists that come and go with the white fleet, the sightseeing boats or the ferry from Konstanz. One small and steep road winds from the lake shore to the upper part of the town - close your eyes and you can imagine the fishermen walking down to their boats in the evenings for a good nights work.
Fishing also supported the first inhabitants of this area. They had built their dwellings in the lake, their wooden houses sitting on piles on the water, connected only by boat or flimsy bridges. We don't know for sure why they selected a costly construction method, assumingly protection against intruders. Today a visit is allowed and welcome, the huts have been reconstructed and give an impression how life has been six thousand years ago.
And again the warm climate - at Salem monkeys inhabit a large forest, split into three groups that defend their territories. The more reckless wait along the waysides and graciously accept popcorn from the visitors.