On May 7, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to the allied forces. As the war in Europe ended, Germany was divided into four spheres of control, each region “belonging” to one of the allied powers: the US, the USSR, Britain, and France. Berlin was divided into quarters, although it was surrounded by the Soviet region.…
Castles on the Rhine. There is a fairy tale quality to this abject reality: castles are truly everywhere along the Rhine River in between Mainz and Bonn. Some are ruins; some are intact. Some are medieval stone keeps; some are more modern chalets and villas. Some are museums; some are lived in still. A castle…
Stepping off my morning train from Bonn and exiting the central train station of Cologne, I can’t help but stop and stare - and I’m not the only one. My entire field of vision is consumed by a huge stone edifice, spires and buttresses soaring into the sky. Cologne’s cathedral is imposing, to say the…
Willkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome! Fremder, Etranger, Stranger Gluklich zu sehen. Je suis enchante. Happy to see you. Bleibe. Reste. Stay. Willkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome! Im Cabaret, Au Cabaret, To Cabaret. Cabaret The famed Broadway musical Cabaret starts with this greeting. Based on the Christopher Isherwood novel Goodbye to Berlin, Cabaret confronts the realities of the huge Berlin…
It isn’t often that one can say that an experience was shared with Napoleon, Mozart, and all the royalty of Europe. And yet, when I step into the Farina House in Cologne, that is exactly what I am able to do. As I walk upstairs for my private tour, I am sprayed with a small…
Sitting in the Music Room, I find myself moved to tears, and not for the first time today. A small circle of seats and a projection on the wall are the sole features of the room, but it an emotional sensory experience. Beethoven’s beautiful Moonlight Sonata is playing over a speaker, and the projection shows…
While not the capital nor the largest city, Frankfurt is arguably the most important city in Germany. It is the economic hub. (Click here to read about Frankfurt’s relationship to finance.) It has the largest airport. And for tourists, it is often the gateway to one of Europe’s coolest countries. But what exactly is there…
He is to German what Shakespeare is to English: the master, a writer who transcends mere language to become a cultural and national icon, spoken of with reverence. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is considered the master of the German language. And this is where he was born. The house feels out of place on a…
The skyline of Frankfurt is different from most European cities. It is dominated not by churches, but by modern glass skyscrapers. Many of these are home to the industry that built this city: banking. And banking isn’t just a modern trend here in one of the world’s financial capitals. Part of the skyline In 1372,…
Romerberg has become one of the symbols of Frankfurt. The fairly small square is fronted by buildings seemingly out of the Middle Ages, the traditional German style that represents what so many people think of as truly European. The old city hall is gilded in gold - or something with a golden appearance, as I…