Germany travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

Cologne is a very modern city in Germany, where three sharp objects have a commanding influence on the skyline, from nearly every corner in the city. One of them is the ornate cathedral, which looms over low-rise buildings and fanning arteries. The ancient city of Cologne creates a vanish of brutal modernity, but while scratching Cologne’s surface reveals a vibrant center of art and design.

Cologne used to be, after New  York, the second most important art city in the world, but that was 15 years ago. Nowadays a lot of it has been taken over by London, Los Angeles and Berlin. Cologne is also described by its cathedral more or less. You can’t really not go there, but once you step into for a half an hour you will understand.It’s good to check out one of the Romanesque church, of which there are 12 in Cologne. From a historical point of view they are quite pure and more important from the cathedral.

But the most spectacular buildings at the moment are the Kolumba Diocesan Museum and Renzo Piano Peek & Cloppenburg department store (up in the picture), which is made of 6, 800 single glass slabs, all of different sizes. It’s a shopping area that is women part. Other interesting place for me is a shop called Sign of the Times specializes in’50s and ’60s furniture. The shop offers extremely fascinating items. There’s also a very special shop called o.k. Versand. There you can buy objects from China, India and Bulgaria.

In conclusion I would say that Cologne is very proud city with fantastic history of art and art collectors. But today many people are moving away, so Cologne must be very careful in the near future. Good luck..!

Duisberg is a lovely German town, located on about 36 miles from Dusseldorf. Duisburg isn’t so famous, even in Europe. For those who have heard of it, it’s synonymous with the Ruhrgebiet—the former industrial heartland of Germany, now mainly remembered for the hard times of the 1980s, under the weight of ecological degradation, economic crisis, and soaring unemployment.

Today the city is known for its steel industry. There is still one coal mine in operation, but Duisburg has never been a coal-mining center to the same extent as other places in the Ruhr.

To give it a new role in the life of the city, there new inner water channels  were cut, which literally carry the water further into town, and a variety of public space was created on the waterfront. Duisburg Inner Harbor has retained between 30 and 40 percent of its old warehouses and mills, refurbished into offices, museums, and restaurants.

The whole idea was to bring the water back into Duisburg and nowadays this is reality. Lining the harbor are walkways, bike paths, lush green spaces, sculptures, a skateboard park, and cafe terraces. But the new paths are a mosaic of salvaged bricks and tiles, and while many old buildings were demolished to create these well-used public spaces, the Garden of Memories, for example, poignantly preserves certain segments of them.

The beautifully spare Movable Footbridge invites walkers to cross it, boats can moor at Steiger Schwanentor jetty, which rises and falls with the water level and a new dam has provided a more scenic stretch of water as the backdrop for the restaurant terraces, as well as a place to swim.

Duisburg has always had a lot going for it—the mentality is different from the rest of Germany, people are more open, friendlier, always ready to try new things.

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany, perfect destination to explore its culture walking or on water. The port of Hamburg is the second largest port in Europe. Huge numbers of rivers, canals and lakes offer many opportunities for sightseeing the city from water. Hamburg has more bridges than Venice, Amsterdam and London, all together.

The picture shows the Fleetschloesschen, a little canal castle, is a former public restroom, then a customs office and now a cafe and restaurant.

Homeowners in the famous Winterhude neighborhood kept their boats on the Goldbekkanal, one of the many branches of the Alster River. The Alster River flows under the Sengelmannstrasse Bridge in the Hamburg neighborhood of Ohlsdorf, nearly five hours from the city center.

Many of the buildings in Hamburg are converted into lofts and commercial space for publishing, advertising and architecture firms.

Hamburg has more than 40 theatres, 60 museums and 100 music venues and clubs.

This Cafeteria is a wonderful place to chill, to meet some friends or to be on your own with an interesting book. The cafeteria connects two courtyards located within the listed 19 century building and provides them with a new function. The cafeteria ceiling is also visible from the university’s foyer.

Kitchens for food preparation and dish washing were relocated, so that the main spce can be used as a dining hall where the food is served. The seating area has been designed to run through both, the sunny parts of an otherwise shadowy courtyard, as well as under the trees.

The brightness of the lights is specially regulated according the time of day.

The various mobile furnishing, covered with warm red and orange tones are also used in the courtyards under good weather conditions.

Hotel Pure is a creation of romantic happiness for urban stress. It is situated in Frankfurt’s city centre, nearby the main train station. It is also 12 km away to the airport.

The hotel is absolutely urban paradise with lobby breakfast room, bar and lounge all join together in space known as the ‘’Living Room’’. The hotel lighting and music vary from dawn to dusk: dawn includes soft illumination and calm chill-out music with lovely touchable vocals, while at dusk the atmosphere is filled with a vibrant-orange –themed lighting scheme.

The Pure Patio features tremendous beanbags lounging areas, fountains, bamboo and stairs designed for seating and chatting rather than climbing.

The Pure hotel is equiped with fitness rooms, a sauna and steam bath. Each room has 20″ Flatscreen TVs, complimentary wireless internet connection , minibar, telephone with voicemail, media jukebox – video and music on demand, in-room safe.

25 Hours Hotel is perfectly situated in the business district of Hamburg.”25hours” has a dynamic design aesthetic, an extraordinary service model and an extensive entertainment programme.

The design, appeals to guests that maintain a spontaneous lifestyle. For young and young-at-heart creatives above all, the property has already become the preferred location for a stop-over in Hamburg. Creating a wholly communicative atmosphere, the open areas of “25hours” have taken on a special role, modelled to form the backdrop for a permanent get-together.

Lobby and restaurant lead guests over the lounge bar into a large, flexible meeting and event area. In guestrooms, the bright design mix, drawn from the 60’s and 70’s, is studded with playful details that are regularly updated.

Each rooms has hairdryers, TV, phone, Alarm clock ISDN, modem and LAN internet connections, safety deposit boxes available at the front desk.

Lux 11 is located in Mitte which is the vibrant and creative district of Berlin, Germany. Lux 11 is very close to chic funky fashion shops and galleries.

The hotel has 72 luxurious appartments, each one with LCD-TVs and DVD Player, internet connection, cordless-phone with voice mail, fax, hairdryer, fully equipped Kitchenette including microwave, fridge, water-heater, coffee-machine and toaster. Appartments cleaned every third day.

The ground floor of Lux 11 Hotel is a vibrant place, where guests and locals can hang out and meet up. There are hip restaurant and chill-out bar with Italian- Asian cuisine which provides visitors with fresh, fast and healthy dishes. As well as the Lux 11 offers its own cosy lounge cafe for whilsting away in the afternoon.

Lux 11 is the place to stay for an authentic Berlin experience.

Hotel Side is situated in the city centre of Hamburg, very close to the shopping areas, the Alister lake and the Opera House.

The hotel is marvellous with its breathtaking facade combining glass and natural stone, offers visitors peerless view of its top eight floors. The design of the hotel is made by Jan Stormer and is complimented with interiors by Matteo thun. Matteo added beautiful colours which brings warmth, energy and life all over the structure.

Hotel Side offers 178 fully-equipped guestrooms, very spacious and elegant. Each one has internet, satellite & pay TV, radio, 2 IDD phones with voice mail, fax & modem plugs at the desk, electronically controlled shades, in-room safes, minibar, bathrobes & slippers, cosmetic mirror, hair dryer.

In the hotel you van have a snack in the stylish restaurant, which offers Euro-Asian cuisine, or have a drink in the Fusion bar where a live DJ spins the mood. Then if you get bored ride the lift to the 8^th floor terrace for 360 panorama view over the skyline.

The hotel offers SPA treatments with pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam bath, solarium and wellbeing. For business travellers there is 6 variable function rooms for 2 to 300 people, including a private function room of 240 qm with separate foyer and bar.

Muritz is the second lake in Mucklenburg-Virpommern, northen Germany. Its maximum depth is 31 metres. The lake is fed and drained by the river Elde and the area around the lake is also a national park, situated roughly in the middle betwwen Berlin and Rostock. Total area is 318 km.

Lake Muritz has an area of 118 km, but only its eastern shore is part of the National Park. Waren and Neustrelitz are the gateways/towns to the National Park. There are about 100 lakes in the park and many more small waters. There are also a great variety of animals like red deer, the crane, the white-tailed eagle, the osprey, and many more.

Near the city of Warren visitors can get information on the national park at the Muritzeum.

Muritzeum is very stylish and modern building.The building has circular form opens up, by sharp cuts, with the entrance cutting as the most prominent. The load carrying linner layer is varnished yellow, while the exterior cladding is charcoaled to a maintenance free black surface. The floating charecter of the building corresponds to the setting on the lake. The project was given the first prize in an invented competition.

Call it impersonal or call it a very private dining experience. In Nuremberg, Germany has opened a restaurant which is being billed as the world’s first waiterless sit-down restaurant.


The Mechanism

The restaurant has fully automated ordering and table service system. Orders are placed by typing on a touch screen. The whole restaurant has been connected by a real time computer network and hence there is no delay between placing the order and the kitchen receiving the same. This network includes a computer which keeps stock of inventory. When an order is placed the computer returns information like whether the particular item is available or not, and how much time it would take to deliver it.

Each table has been connected by metal rails to the kitchen. The order once ready, glides along the rails to customers, driven by gravity. To enable the mechanism to work the kitchen has been placed directly beneath the roof of the multistory restaurant

Will it be popular?
The restaurant may not appeal to people who like to discuss the house’s specialty with the waiters before ordering but otherwise it does make dining experience very simple. No tipping required and no chance of a miscommunication while ordering.

The owner Michael Mack thinks that the place charming because it’s so simple. However whether clientele find the system charming is yet to be seen. The bistro opened earlier this month and is getting mixed reviews. Mack has patented his dinner delivery device in Germany and hopes to license it to other countries too.

There is always connection between history and design. I present Water Tower in Essen, Germany which has been transformed from historic water tower into an imaginative space for living and working.

The reconstruction shows a fusion of old and new with lasting environmental considerations. The design prevented demolition and maintained the water tower as part of the heritage landscape. The potential of the structure remained untapped until 2002, then with little alteration to the exterior, the water tower was transformed into an eight-story, multy-use building.

The first level serves as an office and the lofty top level unit offers conference space with views of the surrounding natural landscape. The next upper levels offers two-storey appartments, which are welcoming the sun and the moon with open flowing floor plans and high ceilings.

The embodied energy in existing materials has been diluted through an extension of the structure’s viability. Through reuse and adaptation the cost of demolition, trucking and land filling debris, the manufacturing, transport and installation of new structural materials has been eliminated. The result is a quiet lesson in “stealth green” – reuse brings both ecological and cultural advantages.

The Jewish Museum Berlin first became known for its architecture – the building designed by Daniel Libeskind was already a much frequented place by Berliners and tourists in 1999, two years before the permanent exhibition was opened. The Museum also reflects the great interest in the architecture with texts and pictures of the two buildings: the Old Building (the baroque Collegienhaus) and the modern Libeskind Building.
The Jewish Museum Berlin is dedicated to the telling of narrative history. The museum contains a great fund of material, stories and knowledge concerning all areas of German Jewish History.The museum contains a great fund of material, stories and knowledge concerning all areas of German Jewish History.The Jewish Museum’s permanent historical exhibition extends over 3,000 square meters and invites visitors to journey through two thousand years of German-Jewish life. Temporary exhibitions, contemporary art installations, cabinet displays as well as various interactive multimedia shows in the Rafael Roth Learning Center complement its range of themes.

There is the possibility of ordinary membership. For a subscription of euro 15 (schoolchildren and students), euro 30 (adults) and euro 50 (families) the members receive a season ticket giving them free admission to the permanent exhibition any time in a one-year period. Members also receive regular information on all scheduled events taking place at the museum.

Situated high above the River Neckar, Heidelberg Castle is one of Germany’s most romantic locations. It has had a long and turbulent history since it was first constructed in the early 15th century as a residence for the Palatine princes, the powerful secular rulers who presided over this part of southern Germany during the Holy Roman Empire. The construction lasted over 400 years and consists of ramparts, outbuildings and palaces in all styles from Gothic to High Renaissance. The two dominant buildings at the eastern and northern side of the courtyard were erected the 16th century. Today, they are considered to be two of the most important buildings in German architectural history.

Prince Elector Philip (1476 – 1508) is said to have arranged the transfer of the hall’s columns from a decayed palace of Charlemagne to Heidelberg. Lightning struck the Castle in 1764. In the centuries that followed, the Castle was misused as a quarry – castle stones helped to build new houses in Heidelberg. This was stopped in 1800 by Count Charles de Graimberg who made any effort he could to preserve the Heidelberg Castle. In spite of its Gothic interior, it was not before 1934, that the King’s Hall was added.

That part of the castle shows you the ruins. It’s just opposite of the ticket office in case that you didn’t climb up the steep path. It strikes the eye at once that the castle did not arise from any uniform constructional plan, and that there is no common building line nor any unifying building style. To the west and the south the dominant element is the very plain Gothic structures. To the north ant the east it is the sumptuous and massive stone walls of the magnificent Renaissance palace and massive stone walls of the magnificent Renaissance palace with its rich decoration of sculptured figures.

The garden was filled with herbs and vegetables, as well as beautiful trees, among them some very rare ones. Most of them survived until now, and make the garden a beautiful place to walk around in some shade nowadays, to admire the view to the castle and the city and have some picnic on the benches. Don’t miss to walk up to the upper terrace and get inside the big grottos – they have been beautifully styled inside, with a little fountain as well.

Cologne, Germany, with its one million inhabitants, is the largest city in northern Rhineland. It is situated in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia, in a wonderful landscape of castles, villages and hills, covered with forest and vineyards. The city stands on the banks of the river Rhine and some of the best views of the city can be had directly from the river.

Apart from its exceptional intrinsic value and the artistic masterpieces it contains, Cologne Cathedral testifies to the enduring strength of European Christianity. The world feels at home in Cologne, where people meet for a Klsch, a chat or simply a laugh. Life in Cologne is uncomplicated and vivacious. Coutances Cathedral, the spectacular Gothic interior, looking toward the crossing and chancel, showing three vertical stages of the nave- arcade, triform gallery and clerestory windows. The most striking thing about the cathedral is it’s size, it dominates the center of the city, it is also Germany’s largest cathedral. The exterior of the building is perhaps the finest part, it is Gothic to the very core and everything points upwards, the massive towers were the largest building in Europe until the completion of the Eiffel.

One of the most interesting things about cathedral Koln is just how long it took to complete it. The construction initially started in 1248 but due to multiple halts in building, it took over six hundred years before the cathedral was complete. Construction stopped completely on the cathedral in the 16th century, and the city persecuted both Jews and Protestants during this time. In the 19th century Cologne was one of the most important cities in Prussia, and the Prussian royalty supported the completion of the cathedral starting in 1861. However, every year thousands of visitors come to see its main attraction – the magnificent twin-spired cathedral ,which got the title of a World Heritage site in 1996. What many tourists don’t know is the fact, that Germany’s biggest cathedral was one of the few historic buildings which survived the bombs on Cologne Germany during the Second World War. In 1943 the Cathedral was heavily damaged by bombing and in 1996, UNESCO admits the Cathedral in the list of World Culture Heritages as a “masterpiece of Gothic architecture.”

The Loveparade is a legend in its own time. It began life as a demonstration and, over the course of the years, has developed into an event that makes it possible for fans to celebrate electronic dance music in a relaxed way with like-minded people from all over the world.
Our values are internationality, peace, tolerance and community. Participation is free of charge and freely accessible for all visitors. It’s the world’s largest open-air party – and everyone is welcome. The thematic core of the Loveparade is electronic dance music in all its topical currency and variety – and it will always remain so!!
Outstanding features of the Loveparade are people celebrating uninhibitedly, spectacular sights and a wide-ranging programme. The event is a mirror of current worldwide trends. By bringing in the hottest international artists, it attains a significance ranging far beyond Germany. We want to win the heart of each and every music fan for the Loveparade!
The concluding event will, as usual, present the biggest names of the international DJ scene. Moreover, an even greater inclusion of live acts has been planned.