Forest, caves, baths: you’ve never seen Germany like this before

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In theory, you can visit a World Heritage site in Germany every week for a year: so far a total of 52 attractions have been included in this famous UNESCO catalogue, including churches, castles, urban areas, historical sites and natural landscapes. To be able to visit these sights as part of a train journey or road trip, eight thematic route suggestions have been put together to suit every taste, each of which can be completed in a week to ten days. We have selected one highlight from each route. Which Germany holiday type are you on?

If you love visiting magnificent castles, Würzburg in Bavaria (just under four hours from Switzerland) is the place for you. The Würzburg Residence, with its magnificent courtyard garden, is considered the most extraordinary of all German baroque palaces. The approximately 300-year-old building has 400 rooms, 40 of which can be visited, including the entrance hall, the White Hall, the Imperial Hall and the monumental staircase containing the world’s largest uninterrupted ceiling painting of 677 square meters. Be careful, your neck is stiff!

Route: The cultural route from Frankfurt am Main to Quedlinburg is particularly active: over 675 kilometers, a total of ten World Heritage sites can be seen in various cities, including Bayreuth (Margravial Opera House), Regensburg (Donaulimes and Old Town), Bamberg (Old Town). town), Eisenach (Wartburg) and Quedlinburg (old town).

You can see Germany from the inside on the time travel route. This route will take you quickly through the history of the world and humanity, from the Stone Age to the present day. Six Ice Age caves around Ulm in Baden-Württemberg provide special information. About 40,000 years ago, residents created the world’s first musical instruments (such as flutes made from animal bones) and figurative works of art. A special find is the “Venus from Hohle Fels”, the oldest figurative representation of human beings. Tip: The six caves Hohle Fels, Vogelherd, Bocksteinhöhle, Hohlenstein, Sirgensteinhöhle and Geissenklösterle can be combined with a bike tour from Ulm.

Route: Eight World Heritage sites await you along the 851 kilometers from Munich to Hildesheim, including the Darmstadt Mathildenhöhe (artist’s colony), the Messel pit with its extensive fossil finds, and the Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel, Europe’s largest mountain park.

An unusual world heritage site is the Augsburg water management system, which was created over the last eight centuries and has had a UNESCO label since 2019. Here, 22 structures can be explored on a “listening tour” – from magnificent fountains to water towers, power plants and the dense, 77-kilometre-long network of canals that supply the city with drinking water from the Lech River. Since the Middle Ages.

Route: Seven World Heritage sites from the field of industrial culture, from the Zeche Zollverein industrial complex in the Ruhr region to the Rammelsberg mine in the Harz Mountains and the Völklinger Hütte, are lined up along the 829-kilometer route from Stuttgart to Hamburg.

There are many beautiful parks to explore in East Germany. Muskauer Park has been on the UNESCO list for almost 20 years and is located near the Polish border. The park is considered one of the most beautiful works of landscape art in the world; with picturesque castle with shining centerpiece (image). There’s plenty to see (and photograph) in the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden District, as well as the palaces and parks of Potsdam and Berlin.

Route: All facilities can ideally be explored by bike; Therefore, this 344-kilometer section from Berlin to Cottbus is called the active route.

Many people probably know that healthy living is good in Germany; The Black Forest in particular is a popular spa destination for many Swiss people due to its proximity. A little further north, but no less precious, is the spa town of Bad Ems in Rhineland-Palatinate, recently ennobled by UNESCO – with its 15 healing springs, the town is now part of the famous circle of “Great Spa Cities of Europe”. Well-known baths such as Spa in Belgium or Montecatini Terme in Italy. In the spa park on the banks of the Lahn you encounter history at every turn: Emperor Wilhelm I and Tsar Alexander II already had a spa in the bath palace of the princes. Today you can relax in a modern wellness spa, and another highlight is Germany’s first river sauna. .

Route: A total of nine World Heritage sites covering more than 518 kilometers provide mental and physical relaxation on the pleasant route from Frankfurt to Füssen in the Allgäu, and you can also enjoy the water in Baden-Baden.

The natural lowland beech forest is protected only in Germany and is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Anyone who walks here – for example in the Jasmund National Park in Rügen – gets an impression of the original European landscapes: the forest has managed to preserve its natural character over the centuries. Add to this the unique setting of views of the Baltic Sea and Rügen’s famous chalk coast.

Route: There are a total of eight World Heritage sites to visit along the coastal road from Hamburg to Stralsund over 277 kilometres, including the Viking-era settlement of Haithabu and the Danewerk border wall in Schleswig-Holstein, the Wadden Sea and the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck. , Wismar and Stralsund.

The family route tracing the trail of mermaids, knights and Romans is fun for young and old. The latter is the theme of the Germanic Limes World Heritage Site. Ruins of temples, castles, legionary camps and aqueducts can be seen from the former border wall of the Roman Empire. The Archaeological Park in Xanten, Germany’s largest open-air museum, gives an insight into Roman life approximately 2000 years ago with faithful copies of buildings, city walls, harbor temple and amphitheater.

Route: Medieval castles, Porta Nigra in Trier and the famous Loreley on the Rhine await your visit on the 227-kilometer route from Frankfurt to Cologne.

Along with Jewish life, Germany of Luther’s time is at the center of the religious path connecting places that played a role in the reformer’s life. This also includes the impressive World Heritage site Wartburg near Eisenach in Thuringia, where Martin Luther lived for two years. Arguably the most famous castle in Germany, it is one of the best-preserved medieval complexes in the country and houses, among other things, the Luther Room, where Luther translated the New Testament into German.

Route: Seven world heritage sites are collected over 438 kilometers from Mainz via Eisenach, Erfurt and Leipzig to Lutherstadt Wittenberg.

Source : Blick