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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Eastern Germany: In the Middle of Europe, but Not Well-Known – Eastern Germany





Eastern Germany
In the middle of Europe, but not well-known

White sandy beaches, steam trains winding through rugged, evergreen-clad mountains, historic castles, well-preserved medieval towns and landscape gardens, and nearly everywhere, hiking trails through scenic mountains, valleys, or forests – if these images do not suggest eastern Germany, they should.

Though no longer walled off from the rest of the world, many tourists have yet to discover the quiet delights of the forests, fields, beaches and history of the former East Germany. When traveling to Berlin, Dresden or Leipzig, take a few extra hours to travel by car or train to experience one of these jewels still known mostly only by Germans:










V-2 rocket at Usedom



This V-2 rocket stands in front of the power plant, now a museum, that survived British bombing in 1944. The V-2 became the basis for both the American and Soviet fledging rocket programs after World War II.


  • In the north, the island of Usedom lies just off the Baltic Sea coast. Known as the “resort of kings” for the guests it once attracted, it now appeals to ordinary folk from Berlin, three hours away by train. On the island you can dart from town to town on the spiffy, new train, the Usedomer Bäderbahn. Bike paths parallel the coast too, and wend their way through a pristine nature park, around small lakes and across woods and fields to the bay side.

    Usedom’s greatest attractions are its beautiful beaches and small villages – vintage, late 19th century. More disturbing is the museum at Peenemünde, vintage mid-20th century. Here German scientists developed and tested the V-1 and V-2 rockets that terrorized London in the last year of the Second World War.

    Trains for Usedom leave from Berlin every two hours. Germany’s rail system offers a reduced rate, four-day Ostsee Pass from May to September. Transfer to the Usedomer Bäderbahn at Wolgast.










    The Brocken



    The Brocken, highest peak in the Harz, reputed meeting place of witches, and site of an abandoned Russian base and radar station on its peak, is an easy hike or an easier trip by steam train.


  • Wernigerode, two and a half hours west of Berlin, sits at the edge of the Harz Mountains. Its hundreds of colorful, medieval half-timbered buildings make for hours of aimless wandering. Also see the town from the many turreted and towered hilltop castle, with broad views of the North German Plain and the dark hills and ravines of the Harz. From Wernigerode, a steam powered train chugs its way, once every hour, to the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz. In German folklore witches gather here each year on April 30, a scene popularized in Goethe’s Faust. Many well marked walking and cross-country skiing tails now pass over the Iron Curtain boundary that divided Germany and the Harz for nearly 50 years. To plan a hike, take one of the two narrow gauge rail lines that traverse the eastern Harz to any station and follow well-marked trails to other stations.

    Direct trains from Berlin to Wernigerode leave Berlin early on weekends and holidays. At other times trains depart every two hours, but transfers are necessary.










    W�rlizer Park



    Walk or ride gondolas through Wörlizer Park. Rarely visited by west Europeans and Americans during the Cold War, it is now restored to its former glory as the premier landscape garden in Germany.


  • Stop at Wörlitz, between Berlin and Leipzig, for the most important and dramatic landscape garden in all of Germany. Prince Franz von Anhalt-Dessau developed this English-style garden in the late 1760s. Though neglected under communism, the 300-acre garden, its four lakes and connecting canals now stun the visitor with countless scenes deliberately created to please the eye. Walk in any direction or ride gondolas through twisting canals.

    For contrast, visit Oranienbaum, a few miles away to see a Baroque style garden, now somewhat overgrown, as well as Germany’s only major Chinese landscape garden, also designed by Prince Franz. At both sites, allow time for leisurely strolling mixed with sitting on benches and gazing at distant vistas. Take lots of film.

    Wörlitz is a short bus ride from Dessau, which is an hour by train from Berlin or Leipzig.










    Saxon Switzerland



    Hike in Saxon Switzerland in winter as well as summer. Trails between the rock formations are easy, and most of the rock platforms come equipped with sturdy railings, ladders, bridges and natural crevices that make them much easier to climb than they appear to be from a distance.


  • Named Saxon Switzerland by the artists of the Romantic Movement, the dramatic explosion of vertical stone outcroppings along the Elbe River just east of Dresden, though not the Swiss Alps, easily lend themselves to hyperbole. The local S-bahn train stops at every town, all stubbornly upholding the exuberant architectural style of Kaiser Wilhelm’s Germany. Each makes a good base for hiking.

    Many of the trails traverse rolling fields and forests between the large mesa-like formations. Nearest to Dresden, the Bastai are the most spectacular formations. Midway to the Czech border, the well-preserved medieval fortress Koenigstein sits on top of a massive rock table. Closer to the Czech Republic, a narrow-gauge train carries walkers to the most rugged hiking area.

    Not a hiker? The Elbe bicycle path follows the river from the Czech border to Dresden and beyond, and boats carry passengers to each town between the border and Dresden.

    Take the S-bahn to the towns of Saxon Switzerland from the main station in Dresden, or, on trains from Prague, transfer to the S-bahn at Bad Schandau.










    Wartburg Castle



    Since 1989, the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, overlooking the Thuringian Forest has become the historical pilgrimage for many Germans.


  • “I am basking in God’s world,” Goethe wrote 200 years ago of the Thuringian Forest. Not much has changed. Begin your exploration at Eisenach, two hours west of Leipzig, at the edge of the misty evergreen forest – and at the center of German history. Both Bach and Luther attended the same school, about a century apart, at the site where young students still labor. Luther returned in 1521 to hide in the Wartburg Castle, overlooking the town. In a bare room he taught himself Greek and then translated the New Testament into German. A Wartburg legend also inspired Ricard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser.

    Walking paths abound, but consider the Rennsteig, one of the oldest walking trails in Europe. No longer cut off by the Iron Curtain, its southeasterly route towards Bavaria begins near Eisenach.

    Direct trains reach Eisenach from Leipzig, Erfurt, Weimar, Berlin, and Frankfurt. To reach the beginning of the Rennsteig, take Bus 93 from the Müllerstrasse bus station.

    A visit to rural and small-town eastern Germany allows you a peek at pre-war Germany – pre-World War I, that is. Mostly undamaged by war and undeveloped during 40 years of communism, rural eastern Germany preserves, at least for now, the look and often the feel of a much older Germany.

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