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| | | | A city to die for
My 12-year-old daughter and I are at the foot of Münster's St Lamberti Church, staring up at three cast-iron, man-sized cages hanging from the topmost point.
She frowns. 'You mean they were still alive when they were put in?'
'That's what the history books say,' I reply. 'The executioners tore their flesh with red hot pincers and then flung them in the cages and hauled them up to the top.'
'Total gross-out!' Chloë shrieks, before adding eagerly: 'And they just left them there?'
In 1533 Münster became the centre of the Anabaptist Uprising, part of the wave of Protestantism that swept through Europe.
Anabaptists wanted all property to be shared communally. Münster's citizens went collectively crazy - everyone converted. But the local ruler, Prince-Bishop Franz, didn't go a bundle on this (tax-free) exercise in communal living, and he set about besieging the city.
It took him two years, during which things inside Münster went downhill. Mass polygamy was instituted, public beheadings were a daily occurrence and Jan Leyden, an illiterate tailor from Holland, proclaimed himself King of New Jerusalem and took 16 wives.
It was 'King' Jan and his two henchmen who were left hanging from St Lamberti.
Today, the residents of Münster don't quite know whether to be proud or ashamed of their most famous citizens. At night, a single light burns in each of the cages - a reminder that the human spirit can never be tamed. And the surviving artefacts - including the torture pincers - are preserved in the City Museum.
But wild uprisings don't quite tally with Münster's new self-image. The moat that protected the Anabaptists for so long is now a benign three-mile promenade round the city.
And yet this is a city that also hankers after its past. After World War II, everything here was faithfully reconstructed while the rest of Germany was re-making itself in concrete and steel. But the result is a rare jewel, an exquisite 18th-century city. At the centre of the old town, dominating the flat landscape, lies Dom St Paul, the cathedral.
Travel guide: Germany
A sprinkling of history
From the Daily Mail
On a clear day, Berchtesgaden would be breathtaking for its situation alone: a picturesque village amid vertically rising peaks.
This is Germany's most tucked away corner, a stone's throw - if you can throw stones over mountains - from Salzburg in Austria, and just a tunnel or two away from Italy.
As the Nazi leadership who flocked here in the Thirties knew only too well, a perfect day in Berchtesgaden comes close to proving God is a Bavarian.
But what do you do when it's raining? When the mountains that lend so much majesty also bring the Foehn - the warm, wet, misty wind from the south - the peaks disappear, the spirits sink and the children start complaining.
The answer is obvious: send them down the salt mines. Seriously.
To the uninitiated, a visit to the Salzbergwerk (which means 'salt mine workings') might seem to hold all the attraction of a day out at a sewage plant, but to those in the know, it is more fun, and with less queuing, than most of the attractions at Disney World.
Even my two fractious teenagers were less hard to convince than I had feared. Perhaps it was the silly pictures of the people before us dressed in old Bavarian mining costumes, squealing as they hurtled down a polished wooden slide.
Or perhaps it was just that the sensible ticketing system - you buy in advance for a tour and then simply turn up at the appointed time - allowed us to wolf down beer and sausages in the cafe opposite (it is legal in Bavaria for 16-year-olds to buy beer.)
The only sticky point came when it was our turn to get dressed for the mines: my elder son suggested that the open-fronted, grubby miner's clothes were actually an improvement on his 13-year-old brother's dress sense.
I managed to restore order only by pointing out that we all looked like a cross between shabby Teletubbies and the Seven Dwarfs' second team.
Travel guide: Germany
Escape to Colditz
From the Daily Mail
Stepping off the tram into Theaterplatz, the stunning square in the centre of Dresden, my five-year-old son, Joseph, stared around him in awe.
'Where is everybody?' he asked. I knew what he meant.
Devastated by the Allied bombing campaign of 1945, the East German city, still in the process of being rebuilt, stands defiant.
Huge baroque buildings of fire-blackened stone - the Semper Opera House, and the Zwinger, once the palace of the kings of Saxony - loomed grandly over us, painstakingly recreated out of the rubble.
Everything is strangely quiet. Dresden is a city still in shock, whose heart was obliterated in a night.
It then fell asleep for 50 years; it is only now beginning to shake its head and sniff the air.
How was I to explain all that had happened here to my curious son?
I didn't have to. Staying in Dresden for three days taught him more about European history than I ever could.
You can see exactly where the fire storm stopped. It is as if London's Knightsbridge burned, and Hampstead and Richmond survived.
Travel guide: Germany
Cologne, the perfect gift
From the Daily Mail
How would you imagine Christmas to smell - sweet and sticky like moist marzipan or hot, sugarcoated nuts? Nose-tinglingly spicy like steaming, ruby-rich mulled wine? Or perhaps all musky like smoky wood in a fireplace?
And in your mind's eye, isn't it always tinkling and twinkly, with frosted glass baubles and spinning trinkets glittering in tree branches above heaps of beribboned parcels?
If you've ever moaned that Christmas has become too commercial, lost its magic, is a waste of money, bah humbug, go to Cologne for a day or two and get your festive spirit restored by the stockingful.
You can buy your fantasy yuletide of yesteryear at the city's four Christmas markets - and there's not a boring PlayStation in sight. The markets, or weihnachtsmarkte, comprise scores of red and green-topped and trimmed wooden huts stuffed with old-fashioned goodies.
The Germans love their Christmas markets. Alter markt, in the heart of the old town, is renowned for its handicrafts and Christmas tree decorations; Neumarkt, perversely, is the oldest of the four and features craftsmen at work.
So, fake-fur wrapped against the cold, I went shopping and I bought a huge cone of munchy, crunchy nuts , the cutest spotty moggy mobile for catophile; fluffy fox and piggy glove puppets for niece and baby nephew, a jewel of a mille fiori candle pot for Mum, three small but beautifully formed wooden animal keyrings for assorted chums, DIY gluhwein kit for Grandma and Grandad, and a gorgeous blue-and-pink patterned vase for . . . well, me actually - but who did all the stomping around in the cold, eh?
I could have chosen sheepskin slippers, handmade sweaters, exquisite handcrafted pewter festive figures, leather goods galore, wood in all shapes and sizes, and unique but not cheap metal jewellery. Much of the merchandise you can see has been fashioned in Germany.
Some of it has less authentic origins, but most has a Christmas-of-old feel about it - batteries not required. You're looking for gifts no one will see on their High Street, and there's plenty to choose from.
Travel guide: Germany
A town that amused Victoria
From the Mail on Sunday
Queen Victoria was amused. There's a photograph to prove it. It shows her at the railway station at Coburg, southern Germany in 1894. She had just arrived for a glittering family wedding and her normally dour face is lit with the widest of smiles.
This small duchy on the edge of Bavaria lifted the sad widow's mood. It is a key location in one of the great royal love stories. Her beloved husband (and first cousin) Albert, second son of the Duke of Coburg, was born and raised in the town. Victoria wrote: 'Albert is an angel . . . to look in those dear eyes, and that dear sunny face, is enough to make me adore him.' Soppy stuff maybe, but never was a queen so smitten.
Visit this town of 44,000 today and you find references to Queen Vic everywhere. A larger-than-life statue of the Prince Consort stands in the middle of the Market Square surrounded by rich Renaissance buildings. This was one of Victoria's first tributes to him after he died tragically young of typhoid in 1861. Well before the Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial were completed in London, she was in Coburg, in 1865, to unveil the statue.
The young Victoria wrote in 1846: 'If I were not the person who I am, my true home would be here.' In all she visited seven times, causing Prime Minister Disraeli to advise: 'Madam, you cannot rule the Empire from Coburg.'
In this, the 100th anniversary of her death, the town honours her with several exhibitions. Coburg today retains most of the old buildings Victoria would have recognised. People believe the town was largely spared by Allied bombers in the Second World War because Victoria's grandson lived here.
Her town residence - Ehrenburg's sumptuous Hall of Giants, crammed with mirrors, Italian plaster-work and marble columns - is where Victoria met Emperor Franz Josef of Austria in an early attempt to sort out Europe.
Visitors can see the queen's suite, including the first (mahogany) water closet on the European mainland - for her use only. Royal protocol demanded that Albert slept apart, upstairs. He had his own private staircase and presumably used it. Well, they did manage nine children.
Travel guide: Germany
Great history and shopping
The sky was blue and the water was green as we sailed across beautiful Lake Constance in southern Germany.
We were on our way to the island of Maineau, an outstanding place with displays of breathtaking flowers.
Another trip we made was up the Rhine to Stein am Rhein on the Swiss side of the lake, a quaint, little town with wonderfully decorated buildings.
Constance itself is a large town with historic buildings and good shopping.
Another trip was across to Meersburg, a very pretty place with an interesting castle. The trips are too numerous to list but all are superb, especially the Rhine falls at Schaffhausen.
One final note - the beer is good too!
Travel guide: Germany
Cathedrals and cacao in five hours flat
Thanks to an Ancient Roman empress who murdered her husband and who in turn was murdered by her son, Cologne is one of Europe's great historic cities.
It was founded by Nero's mother Agrippina (before she poisoned emperor husband Claudius) to raise her status like some imperial Hyacinth Bucket.
Or so legend claims. To find out for yourself, you can now get to Germany's historic port in five hours flat by rail from London.
We caught the Eurostar from London Waterloo to Brussels, then hopped onto a high-speed Thalys to Cologne.
Eurostar is a gleaming restaurant on wheels but the Thalys set the challenge of finding a working loo. And don't leave your seat without your ticket - inspectors lie in wait in the aisles.
Cologne's six Christmas markets in December may draw you, but for a great many the city is a spiritual destination.
Each year millions of Christians embark on a pilgrimage to the 750-year-old Cologne Cathedral and its ring of 12 Romanesque monastery churches.
Even the godless will appreciate the architecture and interior beauty of the cathedral - its medieval windows alone cover an area of 1,350 sq ms.
But don't feed the pigeons just outside in the square. For scattering a few crusts you'll be fined 5,000 euros.
A couple of Cologne events taking place this year include the Summer Jam Festival, Europe's largest reggae, dancehall and world music event, between July 8-10. And the six Christmas markets in the city centre run between November 25-December 23.
A Rhine cruise with the Kohn-Dusseldorfer German Rhine Line is well supported by an efficient bar staff - certainly a little tipsiness is welcome relief from relentless sight-seeing.
From the river, Cologne is a confusion of styles. Preferred is the KD Castle Tour, taking in 20 castles in the region.
Or the Nostalgia Route on the steamship Goethe - customised for lovebirds. Party cruises can also be booked.
Fancy death by chocolate? Then visit Cologne's Chocolate Museum in the old dockland area and walk through a living factory dedicated to the cacao bean.
With a sickly feeling in my tum after that, I sought out my true love - Roman ruins. Perhaps only in Cologne will you find them in underground car parks.
Thirst is easily quenched in the many brewery taverns where Kolsch beer is served on scrubbed wooden tables.
If you can afford a luxury stay in Cologne, check out the Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg. A superior double room starts at 250 euros a night.
For more information on this or other places call Concorde Hotels on 0800 0289 880.
- Eurostar fares to Cologne via Brussels Midi start from £69pp return. For more information, or to book, call Eurostar on 08705 186186.
Travel guide: Germany
Give a Ku'Damm for Berlin
Berlin is a city that has experienced it all: War, revolution, separation, reunification. It's all here to see.
It would be hard to think of another city that has lived through so many world-changing events. For this reason alone, it's a must-visit destination. And, despite chilly winters and an undeserved reputation for a similar Germanic character trait, it is a match for many other European capitals.
The imposing architecture of the Reichstag, Dom and Brandenburg Gate dominates the Unter den Linden area. Be prepared to queue at the Reichstag, and visit the bullet-riddled facade of the Alte Bibliothek on Bebelplatz, a reminder of the Second World War.
The Ku'Damm (Kurfurstendamm), billed as Berlin's Oxford Street, has a host of restaurants, stores and cafes to keep even the most ardent shoppers happy.
Aside from the remnants of the Wall, you have to look hard to see the join between the old East and West Berlins. The end of communism left some amusing legacies, not least the chance to have your picture taken on the knee of Karl Marx's statue in the Marx-Engels Forum.
Nearby, the industrial monstrosity that is East Germany's old parliament building sticks out like a sore thumb, but fascinates none the less.
Travel guide: Germany
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| | | | The astronomical clock
Chloë falls in love with the astronomical clock. Daily at noon the three wise men troop mechanically out of their door and bow twice in front of the Virgin Mary, while trumpets blow and horns sound.
The clock also tells you the phase of the moon, the current sign of the zodiac and (though built in the 1560s) the day, month, year and moveable feast until 2071. They play a long game these Münstermen.
The city's main artery is the Prinzipalmarkt, an unbroken row of gable-fronted, Westphalian mansions. At the end of this parade stands the Rathaus, the old town hall, and inside the Friedensaal.
In this chamber the Peace of Westphalia was signed (ending yet another bloody conflict between Catholics and Protestants). But Chloë immediately zooms in on a desiccated hand in a cabinet.
German law stated that a murder victim could be buried as long as some trace was kept. So - just like the cages - some poor burgher's hand still sits in the corner as a reminder.
For a change of scene, Chloë and I hire bicycles and cruise through the flat, manicured countryside. Every few kilometres is one of the 100 castles (more like small moated chateaux) that pepper Münsterland.
Looking for sustenance, we head back to Kuhviertel, the restaurant district. In a city that boasts 55,000 students, every block boasts a 'kneipe' - a cross between a cafe and a pub, each offering a cuisine from a different part of the world.
Alternatively, visit Kreativkai, the old harbour, where huge warehouses are being transformed into more sophisticated clubs and bars.
Münster is trying to be modern - there's a new Graphikmuseum devoted to late Picasso lithographs - but at heart it's an old city.
It's the velvet plush cafes that are the true Münster - all fräuen in fur hats and thick face powder ordering coffee and küchen (cake). They belong perfectly in this baroque city, just as much at home as the gold filigree churches and cherubs grinning from every corner.
Münster, for all its violent past, is a monument to old- style German elegance.
TRAVEL DETAILS:Jonathan and Chloë flew direct to Münster on Air Berlin's daily scheduled flight (0870 7388880), and stayed at the Hotel Kaiserhof on Bahnhofstrasse (0049 251 4178 0616).
The history of salt!
Just in case we didn't feel silly enough, there was one final touch: little leather aprons, worn backwards to cover the rear end. The need for these became clear only when we encountered the first of the famous slides.
Originally designed as a primitive means of getting miners between underground levels quickly - the mine has been in continuous operation since 1517 - this consists of a curved hardwood ramp with a raised middle. The leather copes with the friction.
In fact, the experience was something of a disappointment, dropping only a few metres, though we still made silly enough faces for the camera.
The salt deposits are the remains of seas which 25 million years ago became cut off from the ocean, then evaporated and, when the Alps formed, became folded inside.
We learned this - and all sorts of other stuff about the history of salt - from a 10 minute film, with optional translation into English, French or Italian, shown in a cavern hewn out of rock.
There is even an underground saltwater lake which we crossed, like the river at the entrance to the Underworld, on a pulley-operated ferry which glided silently across the dark waters.
And then another slide. This one, as we linked together in twos and threes at the top, we realised, was a lot steeper.
An exhilarating downhill rush - friction-free thanks to our leather 'bum-belts' - and we were ready (after buying bags of 25 million-year- old rock containing 95% salt) for a high-speed train ride back to the surface.
Suburbs are the gems
The suburbs of Dresden are its gems. Gothic palaces and classical villas line the steep banks of the river Elbe, such as the magnificently eccentric Schloss Eckberg, complete with Scottish baronial towers.
Now, many of these amazing Addams Family-style houses are being renovated as apartments and hotels.
Prosperous shopping centres are slowly replacing all traces of grim East German rule.
One of the city's original delights that survived the bombing was the Neustadt, a baroque quarter.
Through it winds Konigstrasse, a street of posh shops and arcades to rival Covent Garden.
Here, I bored husband and son by dragging them round looking at shoes.
Their compensation was a trip to Colditz, the most famous German PoW camp, which is a short train journey away.
Colditz is bizarrely re-inventing itself as a tourist attraction - but as we climbed the steps to the towering fortress, we quickly discovered that a sense of menace remained.
Here we met our guide, Johannes. Within minutes, Anglo-German relations teetered dangerously on the brink as Johannes's voice rang out: 'PLEASE DO NOT DESTROY OUR CASTLE!'
Scoff till you drop
Save for its black and spiny cathedral, where the bones of the Magi reputedly lie, Cologne is not the prettiest of places for winter sightseeing, but even though the flight is a mere 80 minutes from Heathrow, why not make a break of it and stay at the luxurious, glass-laden Maritim Hotel, which is almost as sparkly as the markets themselves?
Festive consumables to take home for the family, if they survive that long, include melt-in-the-mouth biscuits, glace fruits, massive toffee apples that will gum up small mouths for hours, and slabs of filling fudge.
Or you can scoff till you drop in situ on mushrooms galore, crepes, chestnuts, doughnuts, sausages and pork. Vegetarianism has not caught on in Germany and you can forget the diet.
Favourite stalls get quite crowded but the jostling is jolly, the atmosphere relaxed and rather magical after dark. And when fatigue sets in, find a quiet spot and simply soak up the happy atmosphere a while.
Then, under a halo of fairy lights, you'll find yourself smiling inanely at the shiny-eyed children and countless Santas, humming festive ditties, and yo-ho-hoing quite involuntarily.
The four palaces of marital bliss
This is a four-palace town. Victoria never liked the clifftop Veste Citadel - too militaristic - but noted its 'glorious and extensive views'. A few miles out in the countryside is Rosenau, with its fairytale turret and crenellated facade, perhaps the couple's most special place. Here Albert was born, christened in the private chapel, and spent many of his early years.
This castle was splendidly restored in the 1990s on the initiative of Prince Philip and Prince Charles. It was in such a state that all the restorers had to go on were nine paintings of the castle's interior from the Royal Library at Windsor.
A few miles away is Callenberg Castle, also recently restored and home of the last of the original line of Coburg's former rulers, Prince Andreas. Custodian Dr Ewald Juetter could barely conceal his excitement about the major Victoria exhibition this year. 'These are things we found only recently, never shown in public.' He picked up a faded envelope, clearly bearing the initials 'VR' and gently slipped out a lock of hair from the head of the woman who once ruled half the world.
The walls of Callenberg celebrate Victoria and Albert in their 20 years of marital bliss. There are marble busts, side by side in noble, classical profile. One pair of paintings presents them as they might have looked when their eyes first met in 1836. (They married four years later, when both were 21.)
Look at enough Coburg paintings and you find links to almost every royal family in Europe, from Portugal, via Norway to Romania. Kaiser Wilhelm, who fought us in the First World War, was Victoria's grandson. The link caused our Royal Family to change its name from Saxe-Coburg to Windsor in 1917.
Coburg has other attractions. There's the Johann Strauss connection - the king of waltz became a Coburger so he could marry his third wife here. The Goebel family moved their world-famous Hummel porcelain figurine factory to the edge of town. And this summer, the town hosts the biggest samba festival in Europe.
But in 2001 royalty rules. Coburg's Mausoleum is a replica of that at Frogmoor, near Windsor, where Victoria and Albert now lie. The main tomb belongs to Alfred, Victoria's second son, who died here as a reluctant Duke of Coburg in July 1900.
Close by lie Albert's father Ernst and mother Louisa. She was banished by Ernst for taking a lover - although he was a scandalous womaniser himself. When she died the brothers insisted she lie alongside their father and his second wife.
I passed back under Ketschen Gate, near where the 'Victoria smiles' photo was taken. This was her last visit, to a society wedding Hello! and OK! would have killed for, attended by all the crowned heads of Europe, most of them her relations.
Getting there: Lufthansa (0845 7737 747) flies from London Stansted to Nuremburg, where there is a connecting train service to Coburg. Call German Railways (0870 2435363). Coburg Tourist Service: Herrngasse 4, Coburg, D-96450, 0049 9561 74180, or visit http://www.coburg-tourist.de
Sauerkraut 'n' beer
Staying at the Art'otel West near the Ku'Damm, most of Berlin's lively areas are an underground rail journey away. The Warhol-inspired hotel is a victory for style over substance and portraits of the man in each room are unsettling.
While Potsdamer Platz has been rebuilt as the hub of the city, the modern architecture is too stark, and there's little to do other than drink coffee. Better areas include the happening Mitte — with its Jewish heritage and Soviet legacy — which has a myriad of new galleries, bars and restaurants. Nightlife is supported by an excellent transport system, which doesn't close down as the clock strikes midnight.
Food is in abundance and eating out ranges from buying a one-euro bratwurst on the street to dining in one of the many modern restaurants. The best food, however, is found in the traditional kneipes, which offer oodles of red cabbage, pork, sauerkraut and sausage, washed down with superb beer. Currywurst — sausage, tomato sauce and curry paste — is an acquired taste but great insulation against Berlin's cold winter.
Those wishing to trace the rise of the Nazi regime in Berlin can do so, but thankfully the dark history does not blot out the contemporary city's joys. The bombed-out Kaiser Wilhelm Church near Zoo station stands as a reminder of the Second World War and Holocaust memorials are spaced around the city. In fact there are excellent museums, including Berlin Wall, Story of Berlin and Holocaust exhibitions.
While the city offers much that is familiar, it has an "unheimlich" air — recognisable yet quite alien. Watching Germans walk through an arcade of closed shops while eating ice cream in freezing conditions was very spooky. However if you embrace the differences, the city is a pleasure to discover.
- Fly from Heathrow to Tegel airport with BA for about £100-£150 return.
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| | | | World War II memorabilia
I thought the boys' school would be proud of me: chemistry, physics, German and history all in one fun lesson. Just about enough for a day, you might think, but with AS-levels looming for one of them, it was time to fit in some World War II memorabilia.
The Obersalzberg, a chunk of mini-mountain which looms above Berchtesgaden, was Hitler's choice for a home when he got out of jail free in 1924 after the failed Beer Hall Putsch.
Fourteen years later, much extended, it was the venue for Neville Chamberlain's humiliating 'Munich' climbdown.
Today, there is little to see except for razed foundations - the building was blown up by the Americans for fear it might become a place of pilgrimage for Hitler's followers.
What does remain is the so-called Eagle's Nest, a guesthouse on a rocky outcrop 6,000ft high, which was built by Martin Bormann for the Fuhrer and his mistress, Eva Braun.
Narrowly saved from destruction, it is today run by the local mountaineering group as a tea room and bar.
There are not many places where you can go from the depths of the Earth to the pinnacles of the mountains in a single day. No wonder they all went mad!
Travel facts The Salzbergwerk, Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, is open daily from May to October, 9am to 4.30pm; November to April, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 3.30pm. Religious holidays excepted.
Ingenuity of the escapers
When I turned to look at my son, I discovered he had taken a well-aimed kick at the wall - managing to bring down a lump of rock in the process.
The tour of the castle was a real adventure.
The drama may have moved on but the sense of past jeopardy - seen in the cramped, white-painted cells, complete with tins of wartime Spam and Marmite from Red Cross food parcels - is fresh.
Galleries are devoted to the ingenuity of the escapers, who tirelessly sought to break out, not just by tunnel, but by dressing as women, as guards and, famously, by building their own glider out of old mattresses.
Joseph was riveted. Johannes shook his head in despair as we said goodbye: 'We have another escaper there - definitely.'
Joseph beamed back at him triumphantly - well pleased with his brief sojourn in Schloss Colditz.
Hollywood has been scouting a film in the town - a vehicle for Tom Cruise and Ben Affleck as escaper heroes.
'You British will be cross, not one American officer made an escape attempt,' said our guide.
Joseph for one will be keen to see Colditz - The Movie.
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| |  | | Haus am Dukkes - Rivaner
One of 4 superbly fitted holiday apartments located in the old centre of Germany's oldest wine producing community, Neumagen-Dhron.
|  | | Haus am Dukkes - Riesling
One of 4 superbly fitted holiday apartments located in the old centre of Germany's oldest wine producing community, Neumagen-Dhron.
|  | | Haus am Dukkes - Elbling
One of 4 superbly fitted holiday apartments located in the old centre of Germany's oldest wine producing community, Neumagen-Dhron.
|  | | Haus am Dukkes - Bacchus
One of 4 superbly fitted holiday apartments located in the old centre of Germany's oldest wine producing community, Neumagen-Dhron.
|  | | Haus Herrgott
A superb 3 star holiday apartment idyllically located in one the Hunsruck's prettiest villages and within easy reach of Hahn Airport.
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