Posts Tagged ‘Germany’

The Hus der Kultren de Welt or House of World Cultures is another one of Berlin’s amazing architectural statements. This interesting oyster shaped building was built in 1957 as the USA’s contribution to a huge building exhibition called Interbau. This exhibition not only showed some cutting edge architecture but helped Berlin rebuild after the damage it received during World War II. Today the building designed by Hugh Stubbins is used for temporary exhibitions of culture and world art in particular no European cultures, including fine arts, theatre, literature, film and other medias. The grounds of the Haus der Kulteren de Welt also features some amazing sculptures and offer some spectacular photographic opportunities against the building and Berlin sky.

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One of the most dominant land marks on the Munich skyline is the two towered Cathedral Church of Our Blessed Lady which is home to the Archbishop of Munich and home to over 500 years of precious artifacts. Located in the heart of the city at the Frauenplatz the church is a very popular tourist attraction in this Bavarian city with many people taking in the spectacular views of the Alps from the 109 metre high towers.  The Cathedral can accommodate around 20,000 people under its massive roof and was built in a time when Munich was home to only about 13,000 residents.  The Cathedral suffered huge damage during the World War II but 50 years of renovation have brought the building back to its former splendor. Read the rest of this entry »

Next week there will be plenty of fun to be had in Suhl, Germany, as the 15th annual European Furry Convention takes place at the Ringburg hotel from Aug 26th to 30th.  Known as Eurofurence the event takes its name from the US event known as ConFurence, a event that spun off from sci-fi conventions in the late 1980s, but was dedicated to furry anthropomorphic creatures from a guy in a team mascot suit to cartoons of Buggs Bunny or similar. According to their website Eurofurence is the biggest annual European furry convention, an international gathering of people who share an extraordinary appreciation for anthropomorphic animal characters, so it sounds like plenty of fun. Check out their site below. Read the rest of this entry »

The 2009 Munich Oktoberfest kicks off on September 19th and celebrates the 176th year of the world’s biggest party.  This year reservations are high, even the ‘Global Financial Crisis’ cant dampen the Oktoberfest spirit – so if you are planning to attend get in early and book your table, you don’t want to miss out.  This year beer will cost between 8.30 and 8.60 euro a litre or Mass and there is bound to be about 7 million litres of it served, along with half a million chickens, 150,000 sausages, 60,000 pork knuckles and over 100 oxen. Construction of the huge tents are underway and this year there are some new rides and attractions making it bigger and more fun than ever. Some of the services stats are incredible with nearly 1000 toilets needed, 800 metres of urinals, 27 of Munich’s daily water use and 14% of their electricity. About half a million people are expected to attend every day of the 16 day event.

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One of the most recognisable images of Berlin is the Victory Column or Siegessaule standing in a roundabout at the Tiergarten. Standing at nearly 67 metres the huge column is topped with a magnificent golden bronze statue of Victoria which alone weighs over 35 tonnes and is 8.3 metres high. The monument was designed by Heinrich Strack to commemorate the Prussian victory in 1864. the monument has been shifted a few times with the last being in 1939 as part of Hitler’s failed Welthauptstadt Germania plans. The column has been used in many movies and video clips including U2’s Stay single and is a focal point of the Berlin Love Parade. Even Barack Obama used the column as a backdrop to his historic visit during the 2008 Election campaign.

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Hitler’s Eagles Nest

The Kehlsteinhaus or “Eagles Nest” as it is commonly known is a small building on top of the German Alps that was originally built as a retreat for Adolf Hiler. Presented to him on his 50th birthday the building sits on a ridge on top of Kehlstein Mountain near Berchtesgarden. The buildings remote location required the construction of an amazing windy 6.5klm road as well as a tunnel and elevator system in the mountain itself. It is said that Hitler rarely visited the building and its this reason the building still stands today, as most of Hitler’s other houses have been torn down since the end of the war to stop them taking on a shrine like use. Today the Kehlsteinhaus is used as a restaurant offering magnificent views of local area as well as tours of the complex. Read the rest of this entry »

The Christkindlesmarkt or Christmas Markets are in full swing in Germany and the biggest of them all is in Nuremberg where more than 2 million people flock to the Hauptmarkt to buy their goods from the more than 150 stalls. The stalls run for about a month, and close Christmas eve and are one of Europe’s most magical experiences. Snow, bud lights and beautifully decorated stalls, and not forgetting some great gifts. Crafts,wooden toys, ornaments, seasonal foods like gingerbread, Christmas cake and of course the warm Christmas wines. The markets are held in quiet a few centres around Germany including Munich,Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Berlin other European centres like Toulouse France, Salzberg in Austria and even Leeds in London and Birmingham have their own. Chicago and many US cities have them too. Read the rest of this entry »

Mercedes Benz Museum

Stuttgart’s Mercedes Benz Museum is probably the best automotive museum in the world with over 160 vehicles all magnificently displayed in a building designed by UNStudio who also designed the New Zealand Te Papa Museum, which can only be described as art. There are over 16500 square metres of exhibition space with some of the world’s finest examples of Mercedes Benz automobiles. The exhibition starts at the top floor and works it’s way down spiral ramps to the bottom with giant showcases of vehicles on all levels. Amongst it’s huge collection are cars, buses, trucks from all eras of the Mercedes Benz timeline all shining like jewelery in the beautiful displays. One highlight is the Gallery of Celebrities where visitors can get up close to the Popemobile, movie and music stars cars and even a Mercedes owned by Princess Diana.

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If there is one thing almost as popular as beer, pretzels and pork at Oktoberfest it has to be the humble potato or “Kartoffel” in German. Around Oktoberfest they are normally presented as a tasty shredded potato Pattie that has been fried in hot oil and served golden brown with apple sauce but at the Potato Museum the potato is present in art form along with a bit of history of the Potato. The Potato Museum or “Die Kartoffelmuseum” is claimed to be the world’s only museum that is dedicated to the potato and is fittingly situated in Munich. So if you are heading to Munich for Oktoberfest this year make sure you try out a tasty Kartoffel like the one pictured above or even head over to the Kartoffelmuseum, their website link is below, it’s in German so you may want to run it through a translator to get the low down on location and opening times etc. Read the rest of this entry »

The festivals are starting to kick of in Germany, and one of the premier events is the Stuttgart Cannstatter Volkfest. It’s Stuttgart’s answer to Munich’s Octoberfest and last year attracted over 4 1/2 million visitors and over half of them from outside Stuttgart. Now in it’s 163rd year the festival runs from the 26th of September until the 12 of October and is fun for the whole family. There are some great carnival rides and attractions plus plenty of beer, in fact over on million litres of beer is served during the festival and over 700,000 meals.  This year the festival has a mascot, he is WasenHasi, who is a cute little bunny, the soft toy market is going to go crazy because he is so cute. Some of the huge tents this year include Grandls hofbrau Zelt, Stamer Hof, Furstenberg Zelt and Schwaben Brau Festireli. The festival takes up a huge 68,000 square metres and is open daily from lunch time to midnight.

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