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Elisabethkirche
Built between 1235 and 1283, and later given its two high spires, the Protestant Elisabethkirche is considered to be Germany’s earliest pure-Gothic church. The highlight inside is the Hohe Chor (high choir), where you can see beautiful Gothic stained glass behind an astounding ston
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Gedenkstätte Günter Litfin
The Berlin Wall had been in existence for 11 days and Günter Litfin was 24 years old when a hailstorm of bullets ripped through his body as he tried to swim to freedom across a 40m-wide canal. On 24 August 1961, a Sunday, the skilled tailor became the first victim of the GDR’s shoo
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Wasserstrassenkreuz
You’ll rub your eyes in disbelief when you first see it: a massive water-filled bridge straddling the Elbe River. About 15km northeast of central Magdeburg, the Wasserstrassenkreuz is Europe’s longest canal bridge and a miracle of modern engineering. The 918m-long ‘bathtub’ links t
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Zoom Erlebniswelt
The animals here dont roam in cages but in habitats that re-create their natural surroundings as closely as possible. Alaska, for instance, has rivers, a gushing waterfall, canyons and rock formations where grizzly bears lumber, timber wolves prowl, otters tumble and elks strut. Fe
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Stasi Museum
In the GDR the walls had ears, as is chillingly documented in this exhibit in the former Leipzig headquarters of the East German secret police (the Stasi), a building known as the Runde Ecke (Round Corner). English-language audioguides (€4) aid in understanding the all-German displ
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Rosstrappe
Rosstrappe takes its name from what is supposedly a horse’s hoof print, visible in stone on the cliff, left by the mythical Brunhilde when she sprang over the gorge on horseback to avoid marrying the giant Bodo. Considering that Bodo, who leapt after her, landed in a watery grave,
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Rixdorf
The contrast between the cacophonous Karl-Marx-Strasse and quiet Rixdorf, a tiny historic village centred on Richardplatz, seems almost surreal given that they’re only steps apart. Weavers from Bohemia first settled here in the early 18th century and some of the original buildings
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Stasimuseum
For an overview of the structure, methods and effects of the Ministry of State Security (Stasi), former East Germanys secret police, visit the exhibit inside the feared institutions original headquarters. Marvel at cunningly low-tech surveillance devices (hidden in watering cans, r
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Paul
The glass-and-concrete Paul-Löbe-Haus houses offices for the Bundestag’s parliamentary committees. Its filled with modern art that can be viewed during guided tours (in German) at 2pm on Saturday and Sunday. Advance online registration (www.bundestag.de) is required. From above, th
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Park Inn Panorama Terrasse
If you dont want to drop the steep fee for the ride up the TV Tower, your next best option is heading up to the rooftop Panorama Terrasse, the open-air lounge of the Park Inn Hotel for sweeping city views some 150m above Alexanderplatz. Grab a sun lounger and relax with a cold beer
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Neuer Flügel
The palace’s most beautiful rooms are the flamboyant private chambers of Frederick the Great, designed in 1746 by the periods star architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff. Standouts include the confection-like White Hall banquet room, the mirrored and gilded Golden Gallery and
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Haus Schwarzenberg
Haus Schwarzenberg is the last holdout in the heavily gentrified area around the Hackescher Markt. Run by a nonprofit organisation, its an unpretentious, authentic space where art and creativity are allowed to flourish beyond mainstream and commerce. Festooned with street art and b
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Carolingian Kaiserpfalz
East along Am Abdinghof to the north of the Dom are the remnants of the Carolingian Kaiserpfalz, Charlemagne’s palace where that historic meeting with Pope Leo took place. It was destroyed by fire and replaced in the 11th century by the Ottonian-Salian Kaiserpfalz, which has been r
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Siegfried Museum Xanten
Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), which is legendary for its length (15 hours over four epic operas), has Siegfried the dragonslayer as its main character. An obsession for many, this museum in the Altstadt lays out the stories and myths using family-frien
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Document Neupfarrplatz
Excavations in the mid-1990s revealed remains of Regensburgs once-thriving 16th-century Jewish quarter, along with Roman buildings, gold coins and a Nazi bunker. The subterranean Document Neupfarrplatz only provides access to a small portion of the excavated area, but tours feature
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Barockhaus
This museum will fascinate anyone with a taste for the odd with its curiously broad exhibits. Wealthy merchant Johann Christian Ameiss translated his wealth into this magnificent baroque residence that later became the seat of a prestigious science society. On the 1st floor, family
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Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum
Braunschweig’s Duke Anton Ulrich (1633–1714) had an eye for miniature porcelain figures – as well as for crockery, furniture and all types of painting, from Chinese to European. The thousands of pieces he assembled in his lifetime are usually found in this building, which was close
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St Michaeliskirche
The Unesco-protected Church of St Michael was built in the Romanesque style in 1022 and reconstructed after war damage. Unusual features inside are the alternation of round columns and square pillars as supports, its painted wooden ceiling, a late-12th-century chancel barrier decor
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DDR Museum Pirna
In a former army barracks, you can snoop around a furnished apartment, sit in a classroom with a portrait of GDR leader Walter Ulbricht glowering down at you, or find out how much a Junge Pioniere youth organisation uniform cost. Thousands of objects are creatively arranged and whi
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Staatsratsgebäude
The hulking 1960 State Council Building is the only remaining Schlossplatz structure from the GDR era. It integrates the arched portal from the demolished original Berlin City Palace from where Karl Liebknecht proclaimed a socialist republic on 9 November 1918. The colourful window
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