A circular walk around Potsdam

On our second day in Potsdam we took the number 92 tram from outside the main railway station to a stop on Pushkinallee for a circular walk that took us to the Russian Orthodox church, the Belvedere on the Pfingstberg, Cecilienhof Palace and the Marmorpalais.

The Belvedere on the Pfingstberg is a fascinating unfinished marvel, designed by Frederick William IV in the 1840s and built between 1847 and 1852. It was originally intended to be part of an extensive and palatial hilltop complex, echoing the garden retreat of the Palazzo Farnese. Sadly, ill health prevented Frederick William IV from realising his vision and it was eventually completed, somewhat reluctantly, by his brother in 1861 in a much reduced form.

Belvedere on the Pfingstberg

A terrific exhibition inside the Pfingstberg provides a potted history of the complex and presents a tantalising illustration showing how the complex would have looked had it been finished to the original designs. The prominent location of the viewpoint ensured that it soon became a popular destination for day trippers. Those same terrific views also ensured its closure during the post-war years, inconveniently offering views of the Soviet Army’s military exclusion zone and the border.

The Pfingstberg fell into disrepair in the years of the GDR, but a group of youngsters started a campaign to rescue the complex that eventually culminated in its restoration. The complex re-opened in 2005.

After leaving the Belvedere on the Pfingstberg behind we took a walk downhill, past a former KGB Prison, to the New Garden and Cecilienhof Palace. Cecilienhof was the last of the palaces built by the Hohenzollern dynasty to be constructed. The foundation stone was laid by Crown Prince William II in 1913 and work continued until the fall of the monarchy in 1918.

The influence of the crown prince’s anglophilia is quite unmistakeable, with the palace looking like a jumbo sized Tudor country manor house (albeit hiding a hefty steel frame). The interior includes a striking oak panelled hall and a quirky chamber designed by a prominent ship architect to give the impression of a cabin onboard ship (apparently reflecting the crown princess’ love of sea travel).

A red star formed of geraniums in the courtyard of Cecilienhof Palace

Today, Cecilienhof Palace is better known as the location for the Potsdam Conference in 1945, where the allies negotiated the future of Europe. A self guided visit with an audio-guide takes you through the key rooms of the conference, including the offices of the British, American and Soviet negotiating teams. The Soviet office is particularly spartan, by design, with Stalin already keenly aware of the optics – ordering luxurious furniture from the palace to be replaced with something more ordinary.

It was fascinating to hear the personal stories of some of the individuals involved, including Joy Milward, a 19-year-old secretary of the British delegation, whose digitised diary can be seen in the exhibition. The diary and reminiscences of Joy really help to bring to life the world of the conference and the social life that surrounded it – including dinner parties, concerts and dance evenings.

The final stop on our circular walk was the Marmorpalais (Marble Palace), where we took in a guided tour (conducted in German with audio-guides for english speakers) that was exceptional value at just six euros.

The Marmorpalais

The Marmorpalais was the summer residence of Frederick William II, built between 1781 and 1797, and is decorated sumptuously. There are some wonderful set pieces, such as a room designed to look like a Turkish tent; a grotto decorated like an ancient temple; and the Kloeber Hall with its beautiful mythological murals. However, my favourite would have to be the concert hall with the most astonishingly intricate parquet floor. Not sure that I have ever gotten excited about a parquet floor before!

A walk back through the new garden, past the Orangerie and the Dutch village, brought us back out into the city streets. A short walk brought us back to a stop for the number 92 tram outside the Rathaus for the short ride back to the railway station. Our circular walk, with visits, had taken a good six hours and was thoroughly enjoyable. It would be all too easy to focus on the sights of Sanssoucci Park and neglect this trio of palaces, but that would be to miss out on some terrific sights that are just as worthy of a spot on an itinerary.

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Two days in Potsdam

On my return from a first visit to Berlin, many years ago, a work colleague asked me what I had thought of Potsdam and was dismayed to discover that I hadn’t ventured beyond the bounds of central Berlin. I figured it was about time I rectified that rookie error and soon discovered just what an extraordinary city I had overlooked…

Potsdam is just 30 minutes away from central Berlin on one of the frequent semi-fast Regional-Express trains, though you can also reach the city by S-Bahn trains that take a little bit longer. Once you arrive in the city there are plenty of transport options. On our first day we took a 695 bus from outside Potsdam’s main railway station to the stop at Schloss Sanssoucci (17 minutes), quickly setting us up for a day wandering around the palaces dotted across the royal park.

Sanssoucci Palace

At first glance, the map looked daunting. Sanssoucci Park is absolutely massive. The parkland covers around 750 acres, with an east-west axis that is just a little short of one and a half miles. However, arrive early enough and you can plot a leisurely route around the palaces.

We started our first day in the park with a pre-booked slot to see the most extraordinary of all the palaces, the Sanssouci Palace, and then gradually worked around most of the palaces, using a Sanssoucci+ ticket that covers nine sites in the park and three outside. I don’t think it is possible to cover all twelve sites on the ticket in one day, but we managed a respectable seven sites during a seven hour visit.

The interior decoration of the Sanssouci Palace is quite incredible in so many ways, but the wow factor was really delivered by the colourful painted wood carvings of parrots, squirrels and apes amidst garlands of flowers in the Voltaire Room. However, my favourite detail was Frederick II’s desire to maintain identical libraries in each of his palaces, so that he would always have the material he needed immediately to hand.

In the nearby Orangery Palace you have to take a guided tour to see the interior. The tour is conducted in German but a two sided English language sheet with brief descriptions of each room is provided. In some ways we had a better deal than the folk being talked at by the tour guide, as we could wander round and admire the art at our leisure. The striking pieces of furniture covered in a thin layer of malachite were a particular highlight.

Service houses for the Neues Palais at Sanssouci Park in Potsdam

At the other end of the park, the New Palace presents more stunning interior spectacles. In particular, the Grotto Hall is jaw-dropping with its decoration of 24,000 shells, semi-precious stones and fossils. However, the intention to delight is present even in the smallest detail – such as a tiny golden spider hanging from a golden cobweb on the ceiling of one room, about to be eaten by a waiting bird. It’s a joy to wander round and soak up the detail.

Nothing quite captures the whole OTT-ness of the place as the two grand buildings opposite the palace. We speculated on what grand purpose they fulfilled, but it turned these were just astonishingly ornate service buildings!

Interior of the Roman Baths

On our visit we were delighted to find that Frederick IV’s charming re-creation of an Italian country house with a Roman bathhouse was still open to visit. At the end of the summer season the Roman baths will be closed for several years to allow for restoration work, with the complex expected to re-open in 2025. It was tantalising to see the complex in its dilapidated state and imagine just how incredible this will look at the end of the works.

The exhibition DENK × PFLEGE (Thoughtful Historic Preservation) is open in the Roman Baths from 1st May to 31st October 2022 (closed Mondays).

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Soviet monuments in Berlin

There are three Soviet cemeteries/memorials to the dead of World War II in Berlin. I’ve always found these monumental manifestations of the communist state quite fascinating, from both an artistic and historical perspective, so made sure to take a look.

Statue of a Red Army soldier at Treptower Park

The cemetery at Schönholzer Heide (1949) presents a mournful sculpture of Mother Russia lamenting a lost son, covered by the Soviet flag. In contrast, the memorial at Treptower Park (1949) features a heroic Russian soldier carrying a rescued child while wielding a sword over a broken swastika. Finally, the Soviet Memorial in the Tiergarten (1945) sits atop Hitler’s planned victory triumphal avenue with two T-34 tanks.

It’s hard not to look at the panels of heroic soldiers coming to the aid of helpless citizens at Treptower Park and reflect that the reality does not quite match up with what is described in books like A Woman in Berlin. The memorial may veer into hero-worship, but that shouldn’t blind us to the realities of war – as we are sadly being reminded again now.

These monuments may be falling across Europe now, as in Riga last month and with the ongoing decommunization programme in Poland, but in most cases the cemeteries are protected, so these will most likely end up as the only examples left standing.

Obviously, the monuments that accompanied these cemeteries, and others across Eastern Europe, were as much political statements about the power of the Soviet Union and its army as they were about remembrance. Today, they are also proving to be a lightning rod for protest about the war in Ukraine, as we saw for ourselves on our trip.

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Berlin break

It has been over ten years since I last visited Berlin, so a return was long overdue. The convenient city centre airports of Tegel and Templehof are now long closed, so this trip would be through the more distant Berlin-Brandenburg airport. Thankfully, our flights with British Airways were only a little late (around 20 minutes) which was a big improvement on the 3 hour delay I faced getting out to Nürnberg earlier this year. However, this was probably just luck – the flights on either side of ours were delayed by over an hour.

Lion from the reconstructed Ishtar Gate at the Pergamon Museum

The main focus of this trip was Potsdam, but there was still time to visit a handful of sights in central Berlin. A return visit to the Pergamon museum was a must, as I wanted to show my better half the reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate, from ancient Babylon. It left me in awe on my first visit to Berlin and was just as amazing a second time round.

It is no wonder that the walls of Babylon were included on early lists of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Ishtar Gate is only the smaller gate, so it’s hard to comprehend just how dazzling the compete structure must have been, though a small model helps to give an indication of this. As it is, I could spend hours gazing on the glazed deep-blue bricks with its many lions, dragons and bulls.

We also squeezed in a visit to the Tranenpalast (Palace of tears) which was absolutely superb. It’s a fairly small museum housed in the former border crossing point between East and West Berlin, connected by corridor to Berlin Friedrichstraße station in 1962. The striking light and open glass hall contrasts with the intimidating enclosed checkpoint booths preserved inside the building. The museum does a superb job of telling the story of a city divided and the personal accounts of those who left the GDR, often at great personal cost.

A superb model showing how the Tranenpalast was connected to Friedrichstraße railway station

I should also make a shout out to Seaside, a seafood restaurant at the Gendarmenmarkt, which served up some quite exceptional octopus and swordfish. We were rather lucky that they managed to squeeze us in, but on the strength of what we served we will definitely be back… so long as it doesn’t take me another 14 years to return to the city!

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Tales of destruction and re-building in Nürnberg

On my last trip to Nürnberg I visited three of the top three sights (the Documentation Center at the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, the Imperial Castle and the DB Railway Museum) in-between the racing, so I was keen to mop up some the sights that I didn’t make it to last time.

The first stop on my list was the Museum Tucherschloss und Hirsvogelsaal. The story of the Tucher family’s mansion proved to be unexpectedly fascinating. The mansion had been on the list of the Reich’s protected monuments, ensuring that extra measures were taken to prevent damage and given special military surveillance if air raids were imminent. None of this was enough to prevent the destruction of all but the outer walls on the night of 2nd January 1945.

A small but fascinating exhibition in the mansion charts the history of the building from the 1530s, through near destruction, to its reconstruction. The terrible photos of the devastation wrought on Nürnberg and the ruins of the mansion in 1960 made it clear how astonishing this feat of rebuilding has been. It might only be the detailed story of one building, but it really helped me understand what happened across the city.

Today, the Tucherschloss offers a recreation of the living quarters of the family, a treasury with some of the most beautiful artworks to have survived and a garden filled with modern sculptures. A recreation of the Hirschvogel Hall, an early renaissance marvel, was added in 2000.

City Museum at Fembo House

The next stop on my mini-tour was the City Museum in Fembo house which is really worth seeing. The history of the city is really well documented, included those buildings lost forever after the destruction of the 1940s, but this Renaissance mansion has some fantastic interiors to enjoy (including the “Beautiful Room” from the Peller House, which was removed from its original location before its near complete destruction).

The permanent exhibition of A crown – power – history, in an out-building at the City museum, provides a fascinating and richly illustrated overview of the history of the city, that shouldn’t be missed.

The final stop on my day’s sightseeing, at the Historic Art Bunkers picked up the same threads. The story of Nürnberg’s efforts to protect the treasures of the city (and artworks looted from across Europe) in deep bunkers, 24 metres below the foundations of the Imperial Castle, proved to be a fascinating way to spend an hour – and one that I would highly recommend.

Our tour guide led us through the complex (aided by audio guides in English) on an appreciation of the ingenuity of the protective measures put in place in the bunkers. The necessity of the complex was demonstrated by the destruction of 90% of the city on one night in 1945. Our guide took us through the story of what followed, from a mountain of rubble to the partial reconstruction of the old town that we see today.

Historic Art Bunker

Other stops on my itinerary, all of which were worth seeing, included the Schöner Brunnen, a replica of a beautiful gothic fountain; the Frauenkirche (1362); and Albrecht Dürer’s House. There are still places that I haven’t managed to visit, such as the unusual Pigeon museum, the German Games Archive at The Pellerhaus or the Faber-Castell Museum. Maybe I need a third trip…

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Raceday at the Norisring

It is not unusual to see a clash of cars at the Norisring, particularly with the tight hairpin at the grundig-kehre, but the DTM race on the Saturday far exceeded the norm. Three safety cars and one full course yellow were required to handle a crash-filled race that saw the 27 car field reduced to just 11 finishers in the space of an hour. Keeping out of trouble helped Thomas Preining score Porsche’s first win in the championship.

Alessio Deledda’s battle scarred Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo at the Grundig Kehre

The grundig-kehre was the perfect spot to witness the madness of this race, with its four rolling restarts, including the bravery of those drivers attempting to go four abreast into the hairpin. The madness was not confined to the main event as the DTM Trophy race that followed had its fair share of safety cars and restarts. Thankfully, the DTM Classic Cup that rounded off the day’s racing was altogether more restrained!

The Franconian Monaco

The Norisring is one of the world’s most unusual motor racing circuits, a temporary street circuit which threads its way around the remnants of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. It is sometimes referred to as the “Franconian Monaco” and is the highlight of the DTM race calendar, often attracting VIPs. I’ve been to see the racing here once before, but was pleased to have another opportunity.

The circuit is short and fast, with a really tight hairpin bend and some unforgiving concrete walls. At it’s centre is the Steintribune (1936), formerly the Zeppelin Grandstand, which Albert Speer modeled on the Pergamon Altar. The grandstand was an intentionally theatrical setting for the party rallies, decorated with a giant gilded swastika at its centre and a pulpit for Hitler to address the massed crowds.

The Steintribune in 2005

In the post-war years, the steintribune was substantially reduced, with colonnades and pylons removed, creating a relatively simple and low maintenance open grandstand. Today, this gets used just once a year for what has long been one of the most prestigious races in the German motorsport calendar.

Friday is usually the best day to visit during a race weekend if you want to get a good feel for the circuit as the tickets traditionally allow you to wander round all the grandstands and take in the spectacle from every angle, whereas Saturdays and Sundays you have to buy a ticket for a seat in a specific grandstand. I wasn’t able to explore on the Friday this time, but I managed it on a visit in 2005 during the DTM race weekend.

Choosing a grandstand for raceday is tricky. In 2005 I spent raceday from the packed steintribune, which was a rather special experience, but the spectacle of the opening lap race down to the hairpin at the Grundig-Kehre in 2022 was something to behold. However, it’s fair to say that most races here are action packed and every grandstand should present plenty of excitement. The Norisring website has a great set of grandstand photos and views that can help you make a choice.

Overall, it’s an interesting experience coming to the races here, but one day I must stop by when cars are not hurtling around and get a better appreciation for the history. If you visit outside of a race weekend there are tours that allow you to see inside the stone grandstand, including the rather surprising “Goldener Salle” (1939) decorated with marble and a gilded mosaic ceiling.

At one time it seemed like time was running out for a proper look around as the deterioration of the complex accelerated. However, the local authorities are now investing millions in the refurbishment of the Zeppelin Field to ensure that this warning from history continues to be heard.

Circuit photos from 2005

Woe, woe and thrice woe at Heathrow

The launch of direct flights with British Airways from London to Nürnberg presented a perfect opportunity to make a second visit to the city, some 17 years since my first visit, to fulfill a long abandoned plan to mop up the sights I missed last time. Within a day or two of the announcement I had booked myself a ticket to fly and another for the Norisring Nürnberg 200 Speedweekend.

It seemed like a foolproof plan for a short weekend but it didn’t take long to unravel. My original outbound flight was cancelled and then rescheduled for a day later, leaving me with race tickets I couldn’t use. As the big day approached I nervously noted the routinely poor timekeeping of the flights and the absolute chaos unfolding at London Heathrow. What had I let myself in for?

Travelling light probably spared me some of the pain, but there were plenty of signs of the lingering chaos at Heathrow. A long and slow queue awaited at security, then once I got airside the departure time for our flight kept getting pushed back. It didn’t stop there – once our gate was announced everyone trooped off to find the doors locked. Now I understood why there were long queues blocking the corridors wherever you went in the terminal!

Once we eventually made it on board the Captain explained the reason for our lengthy delay. Our plane, an Airbus A320, had come out of the maintenance hangar much later than expected and then that delay was compounded by a long wait for someone to tow it onto the stand. In the end we took off at 8pm, almost four hours late, but thankfully we made up a bit of time on the way over.

Late arrival

We finally reached our gate at Nürnberg at 10.10pm, 3 hours and 10 minutes later than scheduled. My evening plans were trashed, but I was just relieved to have arrived. Luckily, the journey at the other end was mercifully short – a 15 minute journey on the U-Bahn to the main railway station followed by a short walk across the road to my hotel. It was good to be back in the city, ready to reacquaint myself with the delights of the Norisring in the morning.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted to be able to travel again but the price we are now paying for the ruthless discarding of staff by the airport and airlines is now painfully apparent. I felt most sorry for the passengers flying back from Nürnberg who would inevitably still be making their way through Heathrow at midnight.

Day trip to Düsseldorf

On the last day of my short break I headed in to Düsseldorf for a relaxed day of sightseeing before making the 10 minute hop on the S-Bahn to get back to the airport for my evening flight home. I didn’t approach the day with any grand plans, just took a wander and stop wherever looked interesting. Sometimes I over-research my trips, going into full librarian overdrive, so this was a refreshing change.

A couple of the lifelike column saints in Düsseldorf

The first thing to catch my eye on arriving at Düsseldorf Hbf was a statue of a photographer facing directly at arriving passengers, camera in hand. This turned out to be one of 10 säulenheilige (column saints) located around the city centre. The lifelike statues are the creation of artist Christoph Pöggeler.

It is quite remarkable how Christoph Pöggeler has captured the people from everyday life, frozen mid-action, including a businessman mid-stride, a photographer, a bride, a father with his son on his shoulders and a young woman engrossed in a book. It was fun looking out for these on my wanders. The photographer was my favourite though for the chuckle it gave me as I set off around town, camera in hand.

I navigated my way from the station through the surprisingly long stretch of shops in Little Tokyo (some 300 Japanese companies are based in the city), towards the Rhein. My route took me past the red-brick Johanneskirche (1881, re-built 1951) and Bismarck statue on Martin-Luther Platz; the Triton Fountain; the impressive Jugendstil architecture of the Galeria Kaufhof on the Kö; the Lean Mathilde clock tower; and on an accidental diversion into the Hofgarten. Finally, I reached the Rhein. The view was spectacular.

Rheinuferpromenade

A walk along the Rhine presents a striking picture of Düsseldorf life, even in the midst of a pandemic. There were plenty of folk out for a Sunday stroll, enjoying a pint at one of the many riverside pubs or just enjoying the sun on the grassy banks (complete with white painted circles indicating the appropriate distance for groups to sit and socially distance). In the meantime, there are plenty of barges sailing up and down river, passing under the three cable-stayed bridges in the city centre.

The tanker Aubrig passing under the Rheinkniebrücke

There are plenty of monuments to spot along the way, but my favourite would have to be the early 20th century flood marker, which at first glance appears to be an ornate stone clocktower. It is only when you look closes at the four clock faces that you realise something isn’t right. Two of these show the time, but the other two show the water level in the Rhein (the small hand for metres and the large hand for centimetres) with measurements up to 10 metres.

Maritime museum

One of the most famous spots on the Düsseldorf waterfront is the cobblestone Burgplatz (castle square) beside the Rheintreppe (Rhein steps). It was the location of the City Palace for 600 years until it was burnt down in 1872. The only survivor of the fire was the Schlossturm (palace tower) which was in turn severely damaged by an air raid in 1943. Today, the restored tower houses the the Schifffahrtmuseum (Maritime museum).

Rhein engineering on display in the lower vault of the castle tower

The museum has a tricky space to navigate in the age of coronavirus, but a really effective one way system has been set-up. You go up in the lift and then work your way down via the stairs and exit through a different doorway. Masks are required throughout your visit. I thought it all worked rather well.

I’ve been in a few maritime museums in my time, but this one excelled with a small but excellent collection of fascinating displays focused on the way that the local inhabitants have been able to leverage the power of the Rhine. The basement levels present a series of wonderful models of nineteenth century ship mills, sounding ships and river excavators. These look quite different to anything I have seen anywhere else. The upper levels present other innovations, such as the flying bridges of the 17th century and curiously shaped medieval wooden freighters.

I have to confess that I didn’t go in to the museum with high expectations, but was absolutely blown away by the fascinating story that the museum had to tell. I highly recommend it.

St Lambertus

The church of St. Lambertus acquired a distinctive twisted spire in 1815, when carpenters used timber that was not properly seasoned in a phase of re-building. Alternatively, the folk tale would have you believe that it was the result of the devil twisting the spire in a fit of rage. Either way, that spire was lost during the destruction wrought by the Second World War but had become such a well known feature that its replacement was deliberately twisted.

If this wasn’t enough to tempt you closer, let me say that the modern stained glass windows inside are among the most beautiful that I have seen. A welcome surprise as I stepped inside.

Rheinturm

It takes a little longer to get up to the top of the Rheinturm at the moment, with social distancing measures in place and limitations on the numbers that can be carried up by lift at one time. However, the effort is completely worthwhile as you get a terrific of the rhine promenade; the bridges over the rhine; the media port; Frank Gehry’s dancing office buildings; the City Gate and the astonishing circular features of the Parliament for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In short, the views are spectacular and well worth any wait.

Observation deck at 168m

At the end of my day trip I returned to the central railway station and boarded the S-Bahn for the short ride to the airport. It seemed relatively quiet, with plenty of shops closed up and fewer airside eateries available than usual, but you could at least pick up something. The flight home was unremarkable apart from the complete lack of circling on the approach to Heathrow. I can’t recall the last time I experienced that!

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The Wuppertaler Schwebebahn

One of the most remarkable public transport systems in the world can be found in Wuppertal, a twenty minute train ride away from Dusseldorf. Wuppertal offers a fascinating glimpse at how urban transport systems might have developed if they had taken a different path.

The Wuppertaler Schwebebahn is a suspended railway system developed in the late 19th century at a time when cities across Europe were experimenting with innovative new solutions to traffic congestion. The construction of the first section of the Schwebebahn began in 1898 and received the official seal of approval when Kaiser Wilhelm II took a ride in October 1900, before public operation began in March 1901.

To put this into context, the first electric trains appeared on the City and South London Railway in 1890; the first electric elevated railway opened in Liverpool in 1893; and the regular operation of electric trams began in Croydon in 1901.

A Schwebebahn train approaches the terminus at Vohwinkel

The ingenuity of the Schwebebahn was that it could connect the urban centres of Barmen and Elberfeld with the industrial developments along the Wupper Valley without requiring widespread demolition and re-construction. Instead, it largely followed the course of the Wupper river. The line reached its full extent in June 1903, stretching just over eight miles on a run between Vohwinkel and Oberbarmen, of which six miles are over water.

Today, a ride on the Schwebebahn from end to end takes 30 minutes. The journey takes in 20 stations and provides a fascinating view of the industrial complexes of the Wupper valley, including the Bayer plant where Aspirin was invented and first manufactured. There is a terrific audioguide produced by the city that provides a running commentary as you travel and you can pick up English language line guides from the Tourist information centre (which also sells a range of Schwebebahn themed items including masks, pencils, models and magnets).

This month marks the 70th anniversary of one of the most famous episodes in the history of the railway. A circus was in town with a particularly adventurous young elephant named Tuffi and someone had the bright idea of taking her for a ride on the Schwebebahn. It is thought that Tuffi was disturbed by the sound of the Schwebebahn or the flashes of the cameras from the press pack and lost control. The elephant broke through the windows and plunged into the river below. Amazingly, the elephant emerged with just a few scratches to show for her ordeal.

A Schwebebahn train crosses Bundesstraße 7 near Ohligsmühle station

I have been fascinated by the Schwebebahn ever since I first stumbled across a photo, so took great delight in the opportunity to ride the Schwebebahn and take some photographs along the route. I started my journey at Hauptbahnhof (Döppersberg) which is a few minutes walk from the main railway station. You can’t miss it – the overhead line runs straight over the pedestrianised walkway into the shopping centre.

At first it seems strange to be standing on a platform with no tracks below you, but soon you don’t think anything more of it. The train glided in to the station and I stepped aboard. There was a gentle swing to the carriage in the platform, a bit like stepping into a cable car. Travelling on the Schwebebahn feels perfectly normal, albeit with much better views than you usually get from ground level transport.

The seats at the end of the carriage offer a particularly impressive view looking back at the track you have just covered and the sight of trains passing in the opposite direction. It was no surprise to discover that these were a popular choice with locals and tourists. I was far from alone in making the trip to see the Schwebebahn, with plenty of other tourists around taking photographs. There is a bit of variety in the train liveries to capture, including one delivering a public message about a coronavirus with a mask around the driver’s cab!

A Schwebebahn train above the Wupper river on the approach to Oberbarmen

As a photographer there are many interesting locations. I liked the bridge over the road near Ohligsmühle (with a viewpoint on a pedestrian bridge running parallel to the line), the station at Kluse (especially with the station illuminated in the blue hour), the art nouveau styled Werther Brücke station (with listed bridge from 1902 underneath) and the line above the Wupper river on the approach to Oberbarmen.

One classic shot that I wasn’t able to reproduce can be tried at Sonnborner/Friedrich-Ebert Straße near Zoo/Stadion where the mainline railway runs over the top of the Schwebebahn. If you get lucky there is a shot to be had with trains of both types, though not the trams or zeppelins that appear in historic pictures!

A new class of Schwebebahn trains, Generation 15, were introduced in November 2015 with a pale blue livery and soon received the nickname of ‘blaues wunder’ (blue wonder). The 31 articulated trains were built by Vossloh Kiepe at a cost of around 120 million euros. Each train can hold up to 175 passengers (45 seated, 130 standing) and would usually run at intervals of between 3-15 minutes. However, usually does not apply right now…

A serious problem was discovered with the new trains in May 2020. The wheels are wearing out at a much faster rate than anyone would have anticipated (they looked to have the wear of 60,000 kilometres, despite only running 20,000 kilometres). The atypical wear is causing unprecedented damage to the track. In addition to this, there have been other problems with the doors and software systems. It will take time to identity and apply a fix for the wheel problems. In the meantime the local authorities are exploring legal action against the manufacturers.

A train pulls into the art nouveau styled Werther Brücke station

Ten trains have already been taken out of service and the peak frequency of trains reduced to every 6 minutes. On top of this, the Schwebebahn will only operate on weekends once the summer holidays are over (from August 12th) with a bus replacement service in its place. Testing of different wheel profiles and loads will take place while the line is out of public use, with the option of switching back to the old wheel system one of the solutions under consideration. It is expected that weekday services will not resume until Summer 2021.

I got to see the unreliability of the Schwebebahn for myself. On my first full day in Wuppertal the Schwebebahn came to a stop for an hour after a defect on one of the trains. The local press reported that they sent out another train to push it back to Oberbarmen. The next day I was trying a shot at Kluse in the blue hour but came a cropper when the service was suspended for a similar length of time. Finally, on the Sunday morning all seemed far quieter than I expected. The appearance of a double-train suggested yet another problem.

All of this is a particularly bitter pill for locals to swallow as they have already been without the Schwebebahn for nine months after a 350 metre long lengthy of power rail crashed to the ground in November 2018, narrowly missing a driver sitting at the traffic lights. A lengthy investigation and remedial works followed. Services were only been fully restored in August 2019.

A view of the Schwebebahn crossing the autobahn at Sonnborn, as seen from my train to Düsseldorf

Once the problems with the new trains are ironed out I am sure that the system will once again take up its rightful place as one of the more unusual attractions in Germany and allow a new wave of tourists to appreciate this extraordinary feat of engineering.

Practicalities

It was no surprise to learn that CNN Travel had named Wuppertal as one of the 20 best places to visit in 2020 on account of the ‘extraordinary ace up its sleeve – one of the world’s coolest rail systems’. I agree completely and thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the area.

In planning my trip I used the english language guide book ‘Wuppertal and the Suspension Railway‘ (ISBN: 978-3-89917-448-9) and the Falk Stadtplan for Wuppertal (ISBN: 978-3-82792-653-1) which covers the entirety of the line. I also used a laminated Kulturstadtplan Wuppertal (ISBN 978-3-89920-731-6) which was great for exploring the city centres in Barmen and Elberfeld, but didn’t cover the stretch of line between Westende and Vohwinkel.

It is worth getting out at the stations and seeing the wonderful variety of architecture and the local sights. The station garden at Vohwinkel also includes an example of one of the older wheelsets preserved on a plinth along with other relics from the Schwebebahn. The old gas holder in Oberbarmen (Gaskessel Wuppertal) also offers a terrific view over the area from their rooftop skywalk that includes the Schwebebahn as well as offering interesting projections inside the cylinder.

Plinthed wheelset in the station gardens at Vohwinkel

A day ticket for the system came to €7,20 at the time of my trip but I didn’t need to worry about this as my travel was included in the cost of my hotel stay. The FreeCityTicket offered by Fleming’s Express Hotel Wuppertal allowed me to use local public transport within the VRR operating area which stretches from Düsseldorf to Dortmund, as well as ride the Schwebebahn, for the duration of my stay. A similar arrangement is offered by the InterCity Hotel in Düsseldorf.

At the time of my visit the historic imperial carriage from 1900 was not in operation, but when it returns to the tracks in September 2021 you should be able to buy a ticket for one of their breakfast/coffee and cake rides You can even hire it out for weddings! Some time in the future one of the recently retired GTW72 trains may join it as the WSW has reportedly preserved one of these cars, with spare parts, as a potential museum vehicle.

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Weekend in Wuppertal

A weekend in Wuppertal might not seem the most obvious choice for a break, but gave me a chance to fulfill a long held desire to see their remarkable suspension railway in action (of which, more in the next post). I set out to see what the city had to offer in between my spells Schwebebahn spotting!

The grandeur of the neo-classical central railway station building at Wuppertal creates quite an impression on arrival. The station building is one of the oldest in Germany, dating to 1848. It had long been disfigured by the addition of an ugly modern concourse, reminiscent of that added to King’s Cross station in the 1970s. Thankfully, this was torn down in 2014 and a smart modern brick facade placed in front of the disfigured lower tier.

The neoclassical station building is one of the oldest in Germany, dating to 1848

The station certainly sets the bar high, but not far from here you find the railway administration buildings (1875) and a concert hall (1894) that is regarded as one of the best in Europe for its acoustics. A short stroll into town leads you to other impressive sights, such as the richly decorated gothic Elberfeld town hall (1895) and Jubilee fountain (1901). In addition, the old town hall is now the Von der Heydt-Museum which boasts an impressive art collection.

My first touristic stop was the Gaskessel Wuppertal in Oberbarmen which projects animations onto the walls and roof of a 1950s gas holder. It was interesting enough, but I wouldn’t say that the spectacle merits going too far out of your way. Admission also includes a small exhibition on the history of the site and a skywalk. The main chamber for the projections is massive, so no issues with social distancing there at all!

The next day I took in the Sculpture Park Waldfrieden which showcases some thrilling sculptures over 30 acres of woodland. Many of the pieces are by Tony Cragg, the British sculptor who created the park, but there are also pieces by artists such as Joan Miró, Henry Moore and Richard Deacon. The current exhibition shows off a selection of pieces by Sean Scully (until 3rd January 2021). It’s a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

The third and last of my covid-safe sights was a walk to the top of the Nützenberg, a forested park popular with hikers. At its peak is the Weyerbuschturm (1898), an observation tower which stands at an altitude of 259 metres above sea level. The tower is not open to the public, but looks great from the ground. I rather regretted the steep walk up from Westende station, but the descent of Sadowastraße was much easier with its 21% incline!

The sights of Wuppertal may not have been the primary draw, but they certainly kept me entertained in between my railway photography.

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Model railway marvels in Hamburg

There are two record-breaking model railways in Hamburg, but the chances are that you will only have heard of one of these – Miniatur Wunderland. It is absolutely stunning and entirely deserving of all the publicity it gets, but it is also well worth making the effort to see the other model railway in the city which is much older and ground breaking in a different way. It could also be your last opportunity to see it as it was originally intended…

Miniatur Wunderland

Miniatur Wunderland is the largest Model Railway in the World. It is also Hamburg‘s top tourist attraction drawing 1.2 million visitors every year. I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of model railways (not sure why, as I loved my model railway when I was a child and it clearly led to my interest in international railways) but this place had me completely engrossed for three hours.

The massive layout, split over two levels, currently features over 15,000m of track with 1,040 locomotives and more than 10,000 rail cars. However, it is the incredible attention to detail, sheer inventiveness and the playful sense of humour that has gone in to building the world that surrounds all of this that lifts this attraction to another level. On top of that, they have the largest working model airport in the world too!

I could say alot more about this place, but I think it is pretty hard to capture in words or numbers. I’ll let their own new video explain just what makes this place so amazing…

The only disappointment at the end of our three day stay was that no giant flap in the sky opened up when we took off from Hamburg!

Modelleisenbahn Hamburg in the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte

One of the star exhibits in the Museum of Hamburg’s History is an impressive model railway layout created by MEHEV, the oldest model railway club in Germany (established 1931). The layout is the largest Gauge 1 (1:32 scale) model railway in Europe, which was started in the attic of the museum in 1947. The current management are redesigning the museum and have not ruled out the possibility of forcing the downsizing of the 69 year old model railway to fit it into a smaller room.

The club recommends that visitors take the opportunity to see the railway in its original home while it is still in operation. It certainly seemed to be a message that the visitors to the museum had enthusiastically taken up on the day we visited, crowding the room to watch a demonstration.

The Hamburg-Harburg layout features a major station, docks and delightful background details such as a man playing a fiddle while his dog holds an upturned hat in its mouth for donations. Overseeing all of this action is a wonderful control room styled like a signal box. In short, it was a pleasure to see it running. I just hope this piece of the city’s history can be preserved in its original form to bring joy to visitors long into the future.

Three days in Hamburg

I have been meaning to visit Hamburg ever since we made a brief stop at the main railway station on a long distance train journey in 1984. Somehow, I didn’t get around to it until now but better late than never!

City of Hamburg

Our short trip to Hamburg gave us an opportunity to visit some of the fascinating sights on offer in this port city and pick up a few delights from the bustling Christmas markets. Along the way we visited the world’s largest model railway, explored the remains of a church by George Gilbert Scott, took a tour round the impressive Rathaus and walked along the city’s oldest underwater road.

The Rathaus

The impressive Rathaus (Town Hall) in Hamburg was built in 1886-97 as a replacement for an older headquarters that was intentionally destroyed in 1842 to form a firebreak as part of the overall effort to stop the great fire of Hamburg from spreading. Thankfully, the ‘new’ building survived the devastation of bombing in the Second World War while buildings all around were wiped out. A bomb did fall on the Rathaus but luckily didn’t go off. The detonator is now on display in one of the 600+ rooms.

The lobby

The courtyard and entrance lobby are impressive enough, but a guided tour gave us the opportunity to see the even more sumptuous interiors which feature expensive leather wallpaper (essentially Victorian bling), marble staircases, intricate woodcarved doors and wonderfully elaborate lights (look for the chandelier featuring the castle from Hamburg’s coat of arms intertwined with serpents!). To put it simply, I have seen Royal Palaces that are less palatial than this!

Queen Elizabeth II visited the Rathaus in 1965 during something of a political storm, which saw some opportunists attempt to bring down the popular mayor, Paul Nevermann, by whipping up some hysteria around his failing marriage and the oddness of the protocols adopted during the visit (at a function at the Rathaus the mayor broke a long held tradition to greet the Queen at the main entrance rather than making her walk up the stairs to meet him at the top). Paul Nevermann resigned 13 days after the visit.

Hamburg Senate

At the time of our visit hour long tours were offered in English three times a day at 11.15, 13.15 and 15.15 for the modest price of 5 euros per person (with a 1 euro reduction for holders of the Hamburg Card). However, tours are not offered when the building is in use for official business. The basement restaurant, Parlament, serves up some good traditional German fare too in a beautiful setting.

St. Nikolai Kirche

The St. Nikolai Kirche was a gothic church designed by George Gilbert Scott (perhaps best known for St Pancras station) after its medieval predecessor was destroyed in the great fire of 1842. The re-built church was consecrated in 1863 and was the tallest building in the world for a few years (1874-76). Ultimately, the height of the tower would prove to be its undoing – it served as an orientation point for RAF pilots during the second world war and was badly damaged during a bombing raid on 28th July 1943.

Museum in the crypt

After the war the idea of re-constructing the church were dismissed but the tower was preserved as a memorial against war. Today, a viewing platform at 76 metres up the tower (reached by a glass lift) offers a splendid view over the city. The tower itself is still the fifth highest church tower in the world.

A fascinating museum in the crypt provides an insight into the history of the church, the terrible bombing raids that set the precedent for ‘Operation Gomorrah’ and the impact of the firestorm in the city. It is a terrible reminder of the human cost of war across Europe.

St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel

The St. Pauli Elbtunnel was constructed at great expense to connect the city ith the rapidly growing port on the southern banks of the Elbe and help tackle the strain on the existing ferry service. The tunnel officially opened on 7th September 1911 and is still well used to this today, though mostly by tour parties if our visit was anything to go by!

St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel

The shafts on each side contain six lifts – two for pedestrians, two for cars and two for goods. It is apparently the only tunnel of this type in the world stll in use by road traffic – something that we saw proof of as we walked from one side to the other and back again.

All of this might sound quite functional, but the entrance buildings on each side have real character to them – especially the majolica reliefs that adorn the walls, including representations of the architect (holding a model of one entrance). It’s well connected to both the rail and ferry transport networks so easy to fit into an exploration of the city.

And a little more…

Other sights that we managed to see in the city included the view from the Elbphilharmonie Plaza, the Warehouse district, the Chilehaus, the Museum of Hamburg History, the St. Petri Kirche, Mehr! Theater am Grossmarkt, Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, the rather unloved Bismarck-Denkmal and the Kriegerdenkmal am Dammtordamm with its associated memorials to the victims of war.

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Trier and beyond

Our base for the Dampfspektakel in Trier gave us plenty of opportunity to take a look around the sights of the city, as well as some of the other sights easily reached by rail.

The Porta Nigra

Over the course of our few days in Trier we came to understand just how important Trier (or Augusta Treverorum to give it the correct Roman name) was in its day, enough that it was at one time referred to as the ‘Rome of the North’ with a population of 80,000 making it the largest city north of the Alps. The sights we visited included:

• The impressive Porta Nigra, a Roman gate from 170AD that largely survived due to its adaptation as a hermitage and subsequent as a church
• The massive Trier Cathedral whose vast scale gives quite a clue to its Roman origins
• The magnificent former Imperial Throne Room of Constantine which has been used as a Protestant church since the mid 19th century
• The Roman Amphitheatre
• The Imperial Baths which was partly preserved through its re-use as the fortified residence of Alderburg Castle
• The Abbey of St. Matthias with the only tomb of an apostle in Germany
• The Rheinisches Landesmuseum with its incredible archaeological treasures, including some absolutely stunning Roman mosaics

Our forays beyond Trier took us south to Saarburg, a fascinating town with an incredible waterfall at its centre, and east to Schloss Stolzenfels, near Koblenz. One of the most wonderful, but utterly random, finds was a mosaic standing in situ at a factory that was being demolished next to the station at Mettlach.

Mosaic at Mettlach

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Trier. I have to admit that I knew absolutely nothing about the city before my visit and probably would never have made a visit were it not for the Dampfspektakel bringing me to this part of Germany. I would never have known how much I was missing.

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The beauty of the blast furnace

The town of Völklingen in Saarland is home to one of Europe’s most unusual tourist attractions – a preserved iron works which serves as an art gallery, museum and science centre. It’s an important historic monument, recognised as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 1994 on account of its being the only intact example of an integrated ironworks in Europe and North America and the place where many technological innovations were first developed.

The origins of the complex can be traced back to the establishment of the first ironworks in 1873, though it was the entrepreneurial spirit and improvements introduced by the Röchling family from the 1880s that really established the long term success of the operation. Remarkably, enough remains from each stage of the site’s development to present a physical chronology of the evolution of pig-iron production. The site has been left as it appeared in 1986, when the blast furnaces were shut down, though the overall appearance is of an ironworks of the 1930s.

The view of the ironworks that greets you as you get off the train at Völklingen

The complex is easily reached by public transport from Trier with regional express trains taking around an hour to make the journey south and local services taking an extra twenty minutes on top of that.

I caught my first sight of the iron works from the platform and marveled at the monstrous tangle of chimneys, pipes and blast furnaces that filled the skyline. The photographs I had seen really did not do justice to the scale of the place and made it even harder to fathom how anyone could have had the foresight to preserve the entire complex, let alone open it up to visitors!

The extent of the visitor route through the site is really impressive – it’s a good 7km from start to finish. Along the way this takes you 27 metres above group to a 200m long platform where monorail cars once ran along the platform to supply the six blast furnaces with raw materials (each monorail car held approximately one tonne of coke or two and half tonnes of ore, sinter or scrap, operating at a speed of 3mph on the flat). To reach the platform involved climbing plenty of metal staircases, wearing hard-hats, but the effort is amply rewarded.

It gets even better – you can climb up to a 45 metre high observation deck at the top of the blast furnace group to see the terrific panoramic views of the complex and the industrial landscape in which it sits. I’m pretty scared of heights but the photographic opportunities helped me overcome this…

The 45m high observation deck at the top of the Völklingen ironworks offers stunning views

Once we had climbed the heights we headed back down to ground level and on to ‘The paradise‘. As you might already have guessed, the name plays on the hellish nature of the coking plant in its active life and the wildlife that has taken over since then.

A leisurely walk around the well signposted 1000m trail provides some interesting views of nature’s battle with the ironworks, as well as the gigantic machinery and narrow gauge locomotives that once kept everything moving in and out of the site. Once we had completed the circuit we returned to the starting point, in the blower hall, admiring the enormous wheel shaped blowers.

Some of the most poignant exhibits were the smallest and most human items displayed – such as the wooden shelter that the workers built to protect themselves from the dust in the sintering plant and the paper file recording the prisoners forced to work at the plant during the second world war. The terrible human cost was highlighted in one of the museum displays – of the 12,276 foreign workers who worked at the Rochling iron works between 1942 and 1944 around 250 died. Forty five were infants that had been born at Völklingen.

One of the figures from Ottmar Hörl’s Second Life – 100 workers

Overall, the time we spent exploring the site (following the route marked on the handy map they provided) were some of the most rewarding I have spent in any museum.

It was an absolute dream for industrial photography and took us a good three hours to explore, despite visiting in between exhibitions in the main space (during our visit we got to see a gallery of photographs from Banksy’s dismaland project and an exhibition of Ottmar Hörl’s mini worker sculptures distributeds across the site, but the next big exhibition about Queen Elizabeth II was not due to open until 19th May 2018).

At the time of our visit entry cost 17 euros per person, including all the exhibitions on offer. I kept having to pinch myself at the freedom on offer here – I can’t believe that we would ever have opened anything like this in the UK with our very cautious culture of health and safety!

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Trains around Trier

Over the course of four days, between Saturday 28th April and Tuesday 1st May 2018, nine steam locomotives (along with historic electric and diesel locomotives) hauled more than 100 special services over a distance of 8,400 kilometres around Rheinland-Pfalz and into Luxembourg for ‘Dampfspektakel 2018’.

The event, organised by the federal state and its two regional railway operators, more than lived up to its billing as a spectacle. It was a joy to stand on the platforms at Trier Hauptbahnhof and see steam locomotives moving in all directions before getting anywhere near the more scenic stretches of line!

Pacific 01 202 (Henschel, 1937) hauls a mid-morning service from Trier to Saarbrücken through Taben on Monday 30th April 2018

An event of this scale, with all the challenges and liabilities involved, could only take place with the patronage of regional government. I am very thankful that they continue to offer such events to help draw in tourists and promote the wonderful sights in their region. It certainly succeeded on that front as far as I was concerned, introducing me to some lovely restaurants and remarkable sights during a stay in the area.

Unlike the two similar events I attended, in 2009 and 2014, I attempted to come up with a blend of spectacle and sightseeing that would keep my better half happy. The result was a terrific trip, taking in some well chosen photospots, but also impressive sights such as iron works at Völklingen, the roman remains of Trier and Stolzenfels Castle near Koblenz. A few early starts were planned but ditched following forecasts for some particularly wet mornings.

DB electric 103 113-7 hauls a special from Trier to Koblenz across the double-deck bridge at Bullay on Saturday 28th April 2018

I have a particular fondness for the class 103 electric locomotives that were a common sight on intercity trains as I was growing up, even if I only had one opportunity to see them for real in 1984. The elegance of a 103 once again hauling a rake of red and cream coaches, recalling the golden era of the Trans Europ Express, was something that I could not miss. Three of the opportunities that I picked out were designed to capture this sight at its best.

The first opportunity came from the riverside at Bullay, with DB electric 103 113-7 hauling a special across the Moselle using the double deck bridge at Bullay on the saturday morning. It couldn’t have been a better start – the sun gloriously illuminating the steep hillside vines of the Stein family behind the bridge as the train passed.

In the evening I returned to the same location, this time taking the zig zag path up the hillside to the top of the vines for a view down on the bridge. By this point the first rain had arrived, necessitating a little shelter amidst the trees as we waited. The arrival of the evening train from Koblenz was delayed by around half an hour, but luckily appeared before I had to abandon to catch catch my train back. Only later did I hear the sad news that the day’s schedule had been interrupted by a serious spectator injury at Trier.

DB electric 103 113-7 hauls a special from Koblenz to Trier across the double deck bridge at Bullay on the evening of Saturday 28th April 2018

Our next encounter with 103 113-7 came the next day. We took the train from Trier to Bullay, then switched to a much smaller shuttle for a six minute hop on the Traben-Trarbach branch line. A leisurely 45 minute walk along the cycle path from Reil, the first stop on the branch, brought us to a small stony beach with a terrific view of the 786 metre-long Pünderich Hangviadukt. It was the perfect spot for spectating and the sun even deigned to come out for the veteran electric – a vast improvement on the rain and gloom that had greeted us at the start of our walk.

As we left Pünderich behind we could see that all of the little beaches and vantage points had been filled by photographers, ready to snap the steam special due around midday. I took my chances with that at Bullay but the sun disappeared moments before the train crossed the bridge. Some you win, some you lose.

DB electric 103 113-7 hauls a special from Trier to Koblenz along the Pünderich Hangviadukt on Sunday 29th April 2018

On a handful of occasions during this event I simply enjoyed the spectacle, rather than photographing it, such as with the parallel morning run of trains to Saarbrücken and Nennig run parallel between Trier and Karthaus. At other times, the wisdom of standing on a bridge in a gale or in the pouring rain at a hilltop chapel, camera in hand, seemed suspect but the resulting pictures were usually sufficient reward. I might not have come away from this trip with a stackful of shots but I certainly had one or two that looked alright.

One night stays in Luxembourg City sandwiched our trip to Trier, giving us an opportunity to enjoy the sight of many regular service trains crossing the impressive Pulvermuhl and Pffafenthal viaducts. It seemed like a good way to start and finish the trip. Here’s hoping that this isn’t the last of the spectaculars and that we’ll be plotting another eclectic mix of sightseeing and railway photography in another few years.

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Up to the Eagle’s Nest

A new day saw us boarding the number 840 bus for Berchtesgaden once again, connecting with the 838 bus to Obersalzberg. The destination for today was the kehlsteinhaus, Hitler’s mountaintop tea house, better known by its english name of the Eagle’s Nest. The tea house was constructed in 1938 as a present for Hitler’s fiftieth birthday, though he rarely visited the place on account of his fear of heights!

The Eagle’s Nest

This unusual attraction sits atop the Kehlstein mountain at 1834m above sea level and draws up to 3,800 visitors every day during the summer months. The building is now a restaurant with little in the way of original features, though a red carrara marble fireplace gifted by Mussolini can still be seen in the original reception room (though visitors are discouraged from entering as this space is reserved for diners). As you might expect, the views are stunning and well worth the rigmarole to get to the top.

A trip up the mountain is as much of an experience as the summit, showcasing the remarkable feat of engineering that saw the 6.5km Kehlsteinstraße constructed in difficult and often perilous conditions. The 3,000 strong workforce completed the road in just 13 months at a cost of 30 million Reichmarks, sometimes carving the road terrace out of the mountain a metre at a time. The photographs in the guide books of the construction really make you appreciate how difficult the whole exercise was.

From the Eagle’s Nest Bus Station (Abfahrtsstelle Kehlsteinbus) the winding 6.8km road up the southern face of the Kehlstein to the parking place (Kehlsteinparkplatz) takes passengers up 770m in altitude. Along the way there are some marvellous views of the mountains and only one, somewhat terrifying, hairpin. The four metre wide road is pretty steep with a 24-percent slope at points and passes through five tunnels with a combined length of 277m.

RVO buses descending the mountain, as seen from the hairpin at Schützenköpfl (1556m)

It was quite interesting to see how well organized the buses up the mountain are. The buses operated by the Regionalverkehr Oberbayern (RVO) are the only vehicles allowed on the road and they operate a carefully timed one-way system for traffic up and down the mountain. Buses depart from the bus station in convoy every 25 minutes and pass the downward traffic queuing up at a lay-by mid-route.

The RVO says there are twelve buses in use on this route – all with specially adapted brakes and engines – and we must have hit the morning peak with six buses up the mountain on our convoy (the 10.10 departure). Although the route is a little terrifying we were well aware of the safety measures in place along the route and the careful rock-cleaning that takes place each winter/spring to remove loose stones. It is reassuring to note that no accidents have occurred on the road since it was first opened to the public in 1952.

At the other end of the route the buses emptied one by one with all passengers immediately directed to a counter to have tickets stamped with a return time. We were lucky enough to be in the first bus, quickly got our tickets stamped and headed on our way to the summit. The grand entrance with its double set of thick metal doors is as impressive today as it must have been when it was built in 1938, although it is lacking the two bronze lion handles which once adorned them (one was given to Eisenhower and the other is in the hands of a private collector).

The 126m long tunnel into the mountain

Stepping through the doorway takes you into a 126m long marble-lined tunnel into the mountain which ends at an impressive domed hall lined in Ruhpolding marble. It is here that you enter Hitler’s luxurious polished brass lift capsule, inset with mirrors, for the 131m ascent to the top. We had a few moments to appreciate the design before finding ourselves back in the fresh air again.

At the top we took a leisurely wander around for the views to be found in every direction, with a particularly splendid vista of the Berchtesgadener Alps illuminated by the sun. It is possible to be more adventurous and follow a trail from the summit but only a handful seemed to have chosen that option on this occasion.

A view of the Untersberg from the Eagle’s Nest

After heading back down the mountain by bus we made a visit to the Obersalzberg Documentation Centre to put our visit into context, recording the innumerable horrors of the regime. I hadn’t really known anything about the Obersalzberg before our visit, so I had not appreciated that not only was Hitler resident at the Berghof but that a whole Nazi community had developed here. This saw existing families evicted from their properties and new residences built for prominent Nazis such as such as Hermann Göring, Martin Bormann and Albert Speer in their place.

The Obersalzberg Documentation Centre also connects into one of the underground bunker systems that sat beneath the surface level buildings of the regime. A walk into the remains of the Platterhof and Guesthouse Bunker gives a small insight into the structure of the complex and defence system created to govern the Reich whilst war raged above.

The inside shaft which connects the Guesthouse and Platterhof bunkers with the lower levels of the bunker system.

In short, the displays at the Obersalzberg Documentation Centre present a necessary and chilling counter balance to the relatively peaceful experience of a trip up to the Eagle’s Nest. A visit inevitably presents an awful lot of darkness, but it’s also a powerful reminder of the discomfiting ease with which political movements like this have been able to find an audience amongst the disaffected. We can never be too complacent. This history must never be repeated.

Practicalities

A map at the bus stop shows the location of the Eagle’s Nest Bus Station (Abfahrtsstelle Kehlsteinbus) and the Obersalzberg Documentation Centre in relation to the public bus stop. The bus timetable (Fahrplan Kehlsteinlinie) for the next leg is available from the RVO bus website.

When you buy a ticket (currently 16.10 euros for an adult) you are given a specific departure time and bus number, with everyone allocated a seat in the bus. If you want to get a view out to the mountains you are best sitting on the right hand side for the journey up (though as I discovered, this can be pretty scary and had to shut my eyes at the hairpin!) but it can be as interesting on the other side of the bus for the views of the mountain road and tunnels.

The buses take 15 minutes to get to the Kehlsteinhaus parking place. On arrival you are directed straight into a queue to fix a return time of your choosing before heading to the lift up to the very top. The general recommendation is to allow two hours, or longer if you plan to eat up top, but we opted for an hour and forty five minutes at the summit which proved pretty much perfect for a short wander (though we did get straight into a lift up). Many travel up top by lift but then take the relatively easy walk back down to the parking place (around 20 minutes) to catch a bus back.

Queuing to fix a return time

Our visit to the Obersalzberg Documentation Centre lasted a couple of hours. Most of the information is in German but there are leaflets through the galleries with english translations of the key panels, though this is only a fraction of the text on display. The upper space provides models and photographs that place the buildings of the Obersalzberg into context and should be a part of your visit. Admission cost 3 euros per adult.

We started our day with the 8.15am bus to Berchtesgaden and returned on the 3.15pm bus to Salzburg. The combination of the trip to the Eagle’s Nest with the Obersalzberg Documentation Centre felt like enough visual and intellectual stimulation for one day, though we were well aware that there is more on offer should we have felt like it (such as the bunker system under the Hotel zum Türken).

If you are thinking of making a visit it is well worth checking out the unofficial Das Kehlsteinhaus website which provides a terrific account of the history of the house and the remarkable road leading up to it.

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The Almbach Gorge

The Almbach Gorge (Almbachklamm) is not the most obvious of attractions around Berchtesgaden, but it was the perfect complement to our morning at the Konigsee. Where the lake presented us with a vista of immense scale the gorge gave us an intimate walk alongside the rushing waters of the Almbach with hardly a soul around.

One of the 29 bridges in the Almbach Gorge

We started out at the Kugelmühle (marble mill), paid up three euros each for entry (at a small hut at the beginning of the trail) and began our trek. The trail presents a succession of watery delights that prompts many an oooh or ahhh as it twists and turns, rather than a single standout feature.

The full 2.8km distance of the trail takes you along a path that hugs the rock walls, up 320 steps, over 29 bridges and through one tunnel. The original route was constructed in four weeks by 250 soldiers of the 1. Ingolstädter Pionierbatallions in 1894 (look out for the marble tablet at the tunnel entrance commemorating their achievement) though the dam itself is a good 60 years older.

If you take the trail all the way you will find yourself at the Theresienklause dam (named after Therese of Bavaria, the wife of King Ludwig I) but we cut the route a little short, turning round after reaching the Sulzer waterfall.

The recent rainfall probably helped to make the gorge even more spetacular than ever, though it also guaranteed us a soaking – one corner of the path had turned into an open air shower that was only passable if you accepted a drenching! Having passed through this once, we remembered that we would have to pass back through on our way back…

A shower was unavoidable if you wanted to cross the bridge!

At the outset I thought it would be a pleasant walk but probably nothing more than that, deliberating long and hard over its inclusion in our itinerary. Instead, I was completely taken back by how delightful and enjoyable an experience it was and am rather surprised to say that it was the highlight of our day.

Practicalities

We took the 840 (Berchtesgaden-Salzburg) bus to reach the gorge and there are two bus stops within easy reach of the start of the trail. We got off at Almbachklamm on our way to the gorge and this takes you on a signed route past the Gasthaus Almbachklamm, through a field and then alongside a river (The Berchtesgadener Ache) to the marble mill (Kugelmühle). On our return we walked from the mill down Kugelmühlweg to the second bus stop (Kugelmühle Marktschellenberg) and this is clearly a little closer.

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Sound the flugelhorn

One of the most alluring spots in Germany is to be found at the Königssee in the Berchtesgaden National Park, close to the Austrian border. The lake is surrounded by mountain ranges and you could be forgiven for thinking that a fjord has accidentally got stranded in the Bavarian Alps.

It is not exactly a secret, as over 2 million visitors make their way here each year and the lake was ranked the 12th most popular attraction in Germany for 2015 by the German National Tourist Board. However, the Bayerische Seen-Schiffahrt are well prepared for this with a fleet of 17 electric boats to ply the lake on the run between Schönau, Kessel, St. Bartholomä and Salet.

One of the 18 electric boats that ply the Königssee

The waters of the Königssee are beautifully clear and this is one of the unintentional legacies of Prince Regent Luitpold whose concerns led to the introduction of environmentally friendly electric boats out of a fear that noisy ships would scare away his prey on hunting trips in the lakeside forests. The first electric boats were introduced in 1909 to connect up with the sadly long vanished branch line from Berchtesgaden.

Today’s boats date back to 1958 and are beautifully maintained in the company’s own shipyard, though the engines are modern replicas of the originals. Each boat travels about 120km a day, working the 7.7km length of the lake at an average speed of 12km per hour. The boats take 93 passengers each and they certainly need that capacity as the crowds were immense in the middle of the day.

The advice we were given before starting our day trip was to get to Schönau am Königssee as early as possible as long queues can build up for tickets and to board the boats. An early start got us to the lakeside, tickets in hand, ready to take up the last few seats on the first ferry of the day at 8am. After this ferries run every 15 to 30 minutes, subject to passenger demand.

The famous pilgrimage church of St. Bartholomä

Our passage across the lake was incredibly smooth, starting with a terrific view of the sheer cliffs of the Falkensteiner Wand. A small red cross at the bottom of the cliffs here stands as a memorial to a boat of pilgrims which sank here during a thunderstorm in 1688 with the loss of 70 lives.

A little farther out the captain cut the motor and clambered along the outside of the boat to the mid-ship doorway. To our astonishment the captain lifted up the steps, pulled out a flugelhorn (a trumpet) and proceeded to play a tune (badly) pausing every now and again so that we could hear how the sound echoed across the lake, effectively playing the tune back to us.

As the boat made good progress across the lake we could see the view open out to give us the iconic sight of the 17th century chapel of St. Bartholomä with the Steinernes Meer (stony ocean) mountain range beyond. We made short stops at Kessel, a jumping off point for hikers, and St. Bartholomä before reaching Salet, the stop at the far end of the lake.

We disembarked at Salet and took the short walk to a viewpoint across a second lake, the Obersee. Feeling like a bit of exercise we followed the pathway (and a a slightly slippery set of rock steps) around the edge of the Obersee to a viewpoint at the other end. The reward was a terrific view across Fischunkel pasture and the lake with Mount Watzmann in the background (the third highest mountain in Germany, reaching 2,713m at its peak).

A view across the Obersee

It is possible to walk up to the Röthbachfall, the highest waterfall in Germany, from this point but we opted to make our way back to the dock at Salet. Boats were now queuing to dock at Salet and whilst they were all pretty packed on arrival they were mostly empty on departure (our boat only carried seven passengers).

The Königssee was much busier than when we set off on our outbound journey with a line of boats stretched across the length of the lake. When we reached Schönau we could see that they were now loading boats three at a time and yet there were still large queues. The whole place was absolutely heaving with visitors!

A visit to the Königssee was high on my list for a while and I enjoyed the half-day excursion tremendously, but even with the warnings I really hadn’t appreciated how busy this place would be on a mid-week morning in late June. Don’t let me put you off though, the natural splendours of the lake are well worth the trouble.

Practicalities.

We opted for a mid-week day trip as this gave us the opportunity to take an earlier bus to Berchtesgaden (the first 840 ‘Watzmann-Express’ bus departs from Salzburg Hbf at 6.35am on weekdays compared to 9.15am at the weekend). The bus leaves from Stop G on Karl-Wurmb-Straße, rather than from the cluster of stops directly outside the station. A Tagesticket der RVO for two people cost us 19.60 euros and covered all our bus journeys for the day.

The early morning 840 reached Berchtesgaden at 7.24am, giving us an 11 minute wait for the departure of the number 841 bus to Schönau am Königssee. The second bus ride was relatively short at just 17 minutes. A short stroll along Seestraße (lined with cafes, ice cream parlours and souvenir shops) brings you to a ferry ticket booth by the lakeside (only one counter was open when we arrived but there are three counters in use at busy times). Lengthy queues start to form from 9.30am on summer mornings, but we only faced a short queue arriving just before 8am.

There are a couple of possibilities for buying food/drink at the far end of the lake – a self-service restaurant at Salet (Alpengaststätte Saletalm) and a servery at the Fischunkel pasture which offers a modest selection of savoury options (such as bread with cheese or ham), beer and radler. We had brought lunch with us so can’t offer any opinion on either establishment!

You can make a trip to the Königssee as leisurely as you like within the contraints of the ferry timetable and there are plenty of options for hikes (from Salet to the Röthbach waterfall, from St. Bartholomä to the ice chapel at the foot of the Watzmann and from Kessel into the mountains). We opted to spend just half a day at the Königssee, combining it with a trip to the Almbach Gorge just outside Berchtesgaden (on the route of the 840 bus towards Salzburg). More about that in the next post!

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Inside Bavaria

The trip was all but over and we had barely seen anything of Munich itself, apart from a trip to the Residenz and Nymphenburg Palace on the day we arrived. To rectify this glaring gap we made an early start on our last day and set off on a wander. Appropriately enough, our first stop was Bavaria, or rather the embodiment of Bavaria in bronze that was unveiled in 1850. It is a huge sculpture and remarkably advanced for its time.

Bavaria

You can climb up the inside of the sculpture and peer out of a few openings in an incredibly tight chamber, reached by the most awkward staircase that I have come across. I was the only one inside at the time of our early morning visit so no-one could witness the indignity of my attempts to clamber and crawl into this space!

It was rather strange being inside the head, a bit like seeing everything from the inside of a jelly mould. The seats at the top have been rather wonderfully designed to look like they are cushioned, though they too are made from bronze. Thankfully the temperatures were not as high as yesterday but it still felt like an oven inside there – what on earth must it be like in the midday sun!?

Our morning then took us on a trail of stunning churches, including St Pauls, the Burgersaal, St Michaels, the Frauenkirche, the Asamkirche and the Ludwig kirche – all stunning in their own ways. From our last stop we took a combination of metro and S-Bahn to get back to the airport for our late afternoon flight home. An hour’s delay to our flight provided a welcome opportunity for one last radler to toast Bavarian hospitality.

The stunning interior of Kloster Ettal

I have thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Bavaria and alongside the spectacle of the palaces it has been a pleasure to be delighted by unexpected exhibits (such as the golden model of Trajan’s column in the Residenz Treasury), seduced by the natural beauty of the countryside and wowed by surprising interiors (such as the dome at the Kloster Ettal).
Occasionally it is nice not to have done your homework and find your breath taken away when you least expected it.

It’s astonishing how many wonderful sights are packed into Bavaria and it is no wonder that we barely dented the list of places we wanted to see. I expect we will be back before long!

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The Ludwig II trail

We hadn’t intended to turn our trip into a Ludwig II pilgrimage, but soon found ourselves gripped by his unusual story and spectacular vision. So, with this in mind, I thought I would wrap up our trip report with a quick run through of our self-guided Ludwig II tour for any souls contemplating a similar endeavour.

Our tour could have been pretty expensive if it wasn’t for the 14 day passes from the Bavarian Department for State Palaces. A pass for two adults came to 44 euros, which compares incredibly favourably to the 127 euro bill we would have faced by paying for all our tickets individually. Children under the age of 18 are also included on this ticket at no extra charge.

Nyphenburg Palace
Ludwig was born on 25 August 1845 at Nymphenburg Palace, in the suburbs of Munich. The palace is easily reached by tram (Straßenbahn 17) and can be toured on a self-guided basis. The Queen’s Bedroom, where Ludwig entered the world, is one of the rooms open to visitors. The palace, park and park buildings are all delightful but the star attraction has to be the Marstall Museum’s collection of royal carriages.

Detail from one of Ludwig II’s carriages in the Marstall Museum

The Marstall Museum gave us our first glimpse into the world of Ludwig II with some of the most extravagant and ornate carriages and sleighs that can ever have existed. If they still have this effect on us today, how much more astonishing they must have seemed to Ludwig’s subjects in their time – especially with Ludwig’s preference for moonlit excursions!

Hohenschwangau
Ludwig’s childhood summer home was a real surprise to me, as I expected something quite plain and found an altogether more elaborate castle. Maximillian II clearly had a strong artistic vision like his son. It is striking that the two palaces are just a short distance from each other. The castle can be visited on a hectic day trip from Munich or taken at a more leisurely pace with a stay in Füssen. I have written posts about our visit to Hohenschwangau and the pleasures of Füssen covering the practicalities in more detail.

Munich Residenz
The Residenz is a marvellous complex to visit, but the apartment that King Ludwig had fitted out for himself between 1867 and 1869 (in the style of Louis XIV) was destroyed during World War II. Thankfully, many of the moveable items of furniture and decoration were spared and can now be seen in three rooms of the museum at Herrenchiemsee.

Ludwig’s other major construction here, the winter garden, has also long gone. The garden was a 70 metre long glass hall constructed on the roof of the palace, abutting Ludwig’s apartment. It was no ordinary conservatory, presenting a fantastical Indian landscape, complete with a Moorish Kiosk, a lake and a large illustionistic backdrop to extend the setting way beyond the space available. It was dismantled in 1897 but we can still get a good idea of its appearance from surviving photographs and a gondola preserved at the museum at Herrenchiemsee.

Roseninsel
The secluded summer house, known as the ‘Casino’, on Roseninsel (Rose Island) was the only finished building from Maximillian II’s Feldafing Palace project. It doesn’t have the wow factor of the palaces, but it is easy to see why Ludwig II enjoyed this retreat. It’s a little off the well-trodden tourist path in Bavaria but worth a diversion if you have a spare day. I have written posts about our visit to the island with some practical tips.

Linderhof
The modestly sized mansion at Linderhof, tucked away in the shadow of the Ammer mountains, was the only palace that Ludwig II lived to see completed. The palace was built and developed in stages between 1869 and 1885, growing out of the forester’s house constructed by his father Maximilian II. It must have presented a fascinating mix of styles in the early stages, blending the simplicity of an alpine house with splendour worthy of Versailles. All of this changed in 1874 when the alpine styled Royal Lodge was moved and the palace assumed the form that we see today.

The Royal Lodge can still be visited for a small additional charge (free to holders of passes from the Bavarian Department for State Palaces) in the grounds, with a small museum about the history of the palace and park (the text of the displays is only in german, but english language translations handouts are available).

Many of the coach tours that run from Munich offer limited time at the park, so we opted to use public transport instead (a train and two buses in each direction) and this worked out pretty smoothly. I covered our visit in the post Royal refuge in the Ammer mountains with some practical tips drawn from our experience.

Neuschwanstein
My personal highlight of the trail came with the visit to Neuschwanstein Castle. It is one of the most visited sights in Germany and there are plenty of downsides to this, but nothing can detract from the wonderful interior that (in my eyes) exceeds anything else that Ludwig II created. Don’t believe the reviewers who say that it is not worth taking the tour!

Planning your trip in advance is a must here as the ticket queues can be horrendous. Various ticket combinations are available, depending on how you plan to arrange your visit and whether you are aiming to see everything in one day or spread out over a couple of days with a longer stay in Füssen. I covered our visit, with some practical tips, in the post Monument to monarchy

Neuschwanstein Castle

Herrenchiemsee
Ludwig II’s attempt to recreate Versailles on an island in Bavaria is quite extraordinary (a word that gets used alot on any tour of Ludwig’s palaces!) and delivers some of the most spectacular rooms I have ever seen. The tours may be short but every second in this palace counts.

The opulence of Herrenchiemsee New Palace is in stark contrast to the relative simplicity of the King’s chambers in the Augustinian Monastery (Old Palace), which can be visited with a combination ticket. I summed up our astonished impressions in the blog post Versailles-am-see, though words are quite inadequate to describe this place!

The King’s House on Schachen
One sight that eluded us was the King’s House on Schachen, which is located 1,866 metres up in the Wetterstein mountains. It is difficult to reach at the best of times, as it can only be reached on foot and takes 6 to 7 hours to get there and back!

Whilst we were visiting the area many of the footpaths were closed because of the G7 summit, including those up to the King’s House, but this shouldn’t be a factor in anyone else’s visit! Guided tours are given during the summer months (in German only). The highlight is the upper floor, known as the Turkish Hall, which is a splendid vision of eastern delights.

Berg
Berg Castle, where Ludwig was living at the end of his life, is still home to the Wittlesbach family and not open to the public (indeed, Ludwig’s gothic additions have long since been removed). However, you can see the Votivkapelle (memorial chapel) constructed in his memory and the cross in the Starnberger See marking the spot where Ludwig died in mysterious circumstances on 13th June 1886, aged 40.

We didn’t make it to Berg but it is relatively easy to reach by taking the S-Bahn to Starnberg, followed by a 12 minute ferry crossing.

Michaelskirche
Ludwig was laid to rest in the crypt at the Michaelskirche in Munich on 19th June 1886 (though his heart was placed in an urn at the Gnadenkapelle at Altötting alongside those of his forebears). The crypt can be visited for a couple of euros.

Surfing in Munich

One of the unexpected pleasures of our trip to Bavaria was the opportunity to see surfing in the most unlikely of locations – Munich city centre.

Summer at the Eisbach

Surfing takes place most days on the Eisbach, a man made stretch of river that runs parallel to the Isar, next to the Haus der Kunst. It’s quite easy to spot as you wander along the street as there is usually a large crowd on the bridge watching the action (as well as on either bank). Although the summer is the obvious time to see some surfing here it’s clearly an all year attraction for some surfers – there are plenty of pictures of surfing taking place whilst thick snow covers the riverside!

The appeal of the spot is easy to see – the river forms a standing wave that is about a metre high. Surfers line up on either bank and take it in turns to tackle the shallow, icy waters.

I’m no expert but it looked like a tricky spot to master, particularly as the water masks a series of concrete blocks inserted into the riverbed by the builders. An unlucky fall here can have nasty consequences for bord and body so the inexperienced are generally discouraged from taking their chances – there’s another spot at Floßlände in Thalkirchen where the conditions are better suited to beginners.

A few years back there was a proposal to demolish the wave on safety grounds which generated an incredible surge of opposition from around the world. The plans were dropped and surfing has been officially accepted since 2010.

It is astonishing to think that the tradition of surfing here has already entered its fifth decade, having started in the early 1970s. It is entrancing to watch surfers riding the wave, making their way from side to side, until they accept the inevitable and take the plunge into the icy waters. Long may this brave band of surfers continue entertaining tourists and locals!

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Run Rabbit Run

Although my trip to Bavaria was not designed with railway photography in mind, it would have been remiss to have passed up the opportunities that arose on our travels.

Class 218 diesel 467-9 approaches Füssen on 5th June 2015

The trips we made to Burghausen and to Füssen just happened to be some of the last places in Germany with a concentration of turns by class 218 diesels, better known as ‘rabbits’ on account of the appearance of their two exhaust funnels. The class was easily spotted at its peak, with 398 built in the main production run between 1971 and 1979, but their use across the network has steadily decreased in recent years. Electrification plans scheduled for the next five years will inevitably reduce this further.

I didn’t come armed with the necessary diagrams which centre around Kempten (taking in Füssen, Munich, Memmingen and Augsburg) and Mühldorf (taking in Munich and Lindau) so I was delighted to see so many on our travels. I was particularly surprised when 218 467-9 turned up at Füssen to propel our service towards Munich, not least because this example has been painted in an attractive livery to promote the Bayern ticket with illustrations of Lindau, Neuchwanstein and the Königssee (whereas most of the class are painted in red).

The rabbits of Bavaria are not yet an endangered species, but it’s marvellous to see and hear these noisy beasts whilst they’re still around.

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Rose Island and the missing palace

Our good progress with our sightseeing plans opened up the opportunity to make one last trip out of Munich and take a look at Feldafing Park, a spot on the Starnberger See where Maximillian II planned to build a massive summer palace.

Maffei-Kapelle overlooking Feldafing Park and the Starnberger See

The early death of the king in 1864 stopped building work in its tracks. The palace had progressed no farther than the foundations (to be fair, construction only began in 1863) and the successful landscaping of the grounds. The project was abandoned and the untended park soon became wildly overgrown. It is said that the bricks from the foundations were removed to build the railway stations at Feldafing and Possenhofen, whilst the finest tree were transferred to Ludwig’s new palaces.

Although the palace and park were lost to history, one element was completed and spared from neglect – a secluded garden retreat known as the ‘Casino’ situated on an island 160 metres from the shoreline. The island, better known today as Roseninsel (Rose Island), featured a small villa and a circular rose bed planted with over 1300 roses. Here, Ludwig II found the perfect location to entertain guests such as the Czarina Maria Alexandrovna and Empress Elizabeth of Austria.

After the death of Ludwig II the island too succumbed to nature and the villa fell into disrepair. The island and park are now owned by the Bavarian state. Restoration work on the villa and rose garden started in 1998 and was sufficiently well progressed to be opened to the public in 2003, in time to celebrate the 150th anniversary, though the upper floor of the villa did not open until two years later. The island is now open to the public from May to October, though the best time of year to visit is around mid-June or mid-August to get the best of the rose blooms. They were just starting to come out when we visited, but must be wonderful at their peak.

The rose garden

One distinctive feature of the garden is a 5 metre tall blue and white glass pillar, topped by a sculpture of a girl feeding a parrot, which was carefully restored in 2001. The original was one of three gifted by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV (the others were installed at the Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam, and at Peterhof, outside St Petersburg). It certainly looks striking set amongst the circle of roses.

The villa itself is an interesting place to visit, with some exquisite touches, even though it is much plainer than Hohenschwangau Castle. I particularly liked the wood-panelled dining room on the first floor which was decorated with wall paintings depicting the seasons, a ceramic fireplace held aloft by two figures and small statuettes of Victory atop wooden columns around the walls. It is all rather charming and must have been a wonderful place to get away from the pressures of court life.

Practicalities

To get to Feldafing Park we took the S-Bahn (S6) to Feldafing. After leaving the station we walked along Bahnhof Strasse for a short way before taking a turning that led us onto a footpath ending at the Maffei-Kapelle and a rather splending war memorial (1951) nearby. From here we crossed Tutzinger Strasse and followed another footpath through the golf course which brought us to the landing stage for ferries to Roseninsel (Platanen-Rondell). I think there are a few variations on this route from the signs we saw along the way!

The landing point on Roseninsel

A small ferry runs visitors across the water on demand for a small charge (4 euros return) and tours of the villa are available in German during Tuesday-Sunday afternoons. Tours were running hourly on the day we visited (a Friday) at quarter past the hour and tickets should be purchased from the nearby gardener’s house. Our tour guide took us on a fairly leisurely tour around the property for around half an hour, covering the recent prehistoric finds and plantlife on the island, as much as on the history of the building itself.

The small shop in the gardener’s house sells copies of the official guidebook (in German only) and a map guide to Feldafing Park and Rose Island (available in English and German).

There is no cafe on the island, nor at the ferry stages, so any food or drink needs to be brought with you. Plenty of visitors seemed happy enough just to wander round the island or strip down to their trunks for a swim, rather than all coming to view the villa. Admittedly, it was 33 degrees on the day we arrived so I think the swimmers were quite right to ignore the interior!

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Füssen and the Forggensee

Füssen is a wonderful place to stay, with a collection of sights that make it worth a visit in its own right. Sadly, most visitors pass straight through on their way to the castles, missing out on the wonderful interiors of the State Gallery in the Hohes Schloss and the baroque halls of the Benedictine Monastery of St Mang, as well as the delights of a cruise on the Forggensee.

The church of St. Maria und Florian in Waltenhofen

Although we thought our timing was pretty poor, having not realised that we were staying during a Bavarian public holiday (Corpus Christi) or the G7 summit, neither factor caused us any great complications. Nothing much seemed to shut during Corpus Christi and a planned closure of the castles during the summit was cancelled (though they did still project the flags of the G7 nations onto Neuschwanstein at night).

The State Gallery in the Hohes Schloss and the Benedictine Monastery of St Mang can be visited on a combination ticket for 7 euros which is great value (it costs 6 euros to visit each individually) and you share the space with hardly a soul (we only counted two other visitors when we wandered around the museum in the former monastery).

The Füssen Heritage Museum in the monastery is a labyrinthine place which includes a wonderful library, some beautiful baroque halls and a chapel with a macabre Dance of Death cycle. The cycle, painted by Jakob Hiebeler in 1602, presents images of 20 individuals from all classes dancing with death under the motto “Say yes or say no, you must dance”. Besides this, there are a plethora of fascinating exhibits including all sorts of rare wooden musical instruments that hark back to the town’s past as a manufacturing centre in this field.

The carved wooden ceiling in the Knight’s Hall of the Hohes Schloss

Our short cruise of the Forggensee in the afternoon gave us a different perspective on the local landscape and the castles. I never would have envisaged people sunbathing on beaches in front of Neuschwanstein without taking to the waters and it was all the more pleasurable with an on-board bar serving up radler. Besides, I would never have seen the even more delightful sight of a dog paddle boarding alongside us although others on board managed to miss this completely!

Practicalities

We stayed at the Hotel Sonne in Füssen which is handily located close to the railway station and right at the heart of the old town. I would heartily recommend this place with its unbeatable location, friendly staff and for serving up the tastiest breakfast of our travels. For similar reasons, we found the Ristorante-Pizzeria La Perla utterly charming – the most wonderful staff and an artistically arranged Tiramisu that we won’t forget in a hurry!

It is impossible to miss the museum in the monastery and the state gallery as they tower above the old town. It takes a couple of hours to do both places justice, though you could easily spend much longer. The church next to the monastery can be visited free of charge and is just as marvellous with some wonderful ceiling decoration.

It takes around half an hour to walk from the town centre to the boarding point for lake tours. Tickets for the trips are sold on the boarding ramp (prices range from 8 euros per adult for the small circuit, lasting 55 minutes, to 11 euros per adult for the large circuit, lasting 2 hours, with discounts for holders of the Füssen card). We opted for the small circuit, which takes you as far north as Rieden before crossing the lake to Waltenhofen with its distinctive lakeside church, then back to Füssen.

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Like father, like son

A blisteringly hot day saw us make a return to Hohenschwangau to visit the older of the two castles and take a look around the Museum of the Bavarian Kings, but first we enjoyed a walk to the edge of the alpsee and the marvellous views up to the mountains.

It’s not hard to see why this spot so entranced Crown Prince Maximillian when he first came across it aged 18, prompting him to rebuild Schwanstein castle between 1833 and 1837 (better known as Hohenschwangau Castle today). How striking that both father and son decided to rebuild romantic castles at a similar age.

Hohenschwangau Castle

The similarities between father and son clearly don’t end there. I had imagined Hohenschwangau Castle to be a simple family home, but how wrong I was! On our tour of the castle it soon became clear that Maximillian had as much of a creative vision as his son, with wonderful rooms such as the Hall of the Swan Knight, the Hall of the Heroes and Tasso Room which feature murals painted directly onto the walls and an assortment of neo-gothic elements. The romantic vision is married with a domestic comfort that I didn’t see in Ludwig’s palaces, but there is no doubting where Ludwig’s imagination had been incubated!

The grounds surrounding the castle hold some lovely touches too, including a fountain supported by four water spiting lions, a swan fountain and a replica of the famous Gooseherd fountain (a peasant holding a water spouting goose under each arm).

The nearby Museum of the Bavarian Kings is also well worth a visit, putting the Wittlesbach line into some perspective and treating us to the wonderful Nibelungen centrepiece (commissioned by Crown Prince Maximillian in 1842 to celebrate his nuptuals), the robes of Ludwig II and the 326 piece Royal Bavarian Service created to celebrate the golden wedding of Ludwig III and Marie Therese in 1918.

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Monument to monarchy

After waiting for over 30 years to visit Neuschwanstein I wondered whether the reality would live up to my childhood expectations, particularly as so many reviewers on Tripadvisor had commented that they wished they had viewed it from outside and not bothered to go in.

The classic shot of Neuschwanstein Castle from the Marienbrücke

The start of our visit did not begin well – a walk up the gently curving road to the castle might look delightful on the maps but the reality was anything but. The route is plyed by horse and carriage all day long, so by late afternoon on a hot day the streams of urine and other deposits presented quite a challenge. Huge swarms of flies had gathered and the only way up was through them, holding your hand over your mouth to avoid any possibility of swallowing one. Lovely!

Once we reached the castle and joined our tour all my earlier doubts melted away. The palace is incredibly spectacular and quite unlike anything I have seen anywhere else. To my mind is it the most extraordinary of all Ludwig’s palaces. No wonder it sees 1.5 million visitors a year and has already exceeded 60 million visitors over its lifetime (it reached this milestone in 2013).

A view of Neuschwanstein Castle from the Forggensee

It is easy to forget that Ludwig began to develop the concept for Neuschwanstein Castle in 1868, at the age of 22, envisaging nothing less than a monument to absolute monarchy. It is a quite remarkable vision that gives us a throne room fit for a Byzantine palace and presents us with Ludwig’s vision of true kingship in the depiction of six holy kings in the abse (including Edward the Confessor). The Singers’ Hall is equally stunning with its depiction of the saga of the Arthurian knight Percival and his quest for the Holy Grail.

However, for me it was the King’s personal chambers that struck me as the most wonderful, with delightful touches such as a small grotto accessed off Ludwig’s study or the quite marvellous neo-gothic state bed which has more spires than your average cathedral! Your eyes hardly know where to alight next as even the smallest details in the rooms are incredible, such as a washstand with water drawn up through a silver plated swan…

A tour of Neuschwanstein might only last thirty minutes, but it is quite an incredible thirty minutes and well worth any hassles along the way. It is a pity that Ludwig did not get to complete his vision – amongst the unfinished projects were the Moorish Hall, the bathing hall with its viewing terrace and the centrepiece of a keep and castle chapel. In a similar vein, many interior fittings were never finished including the king’s throne. Nevertheless, what we have today in the fifteen or so finished rooms is quite extraordinary.

Practicalities

The closest railway station to Neuschwanstein is located at Füssen and it is easy to get reach the castles from here using local buses.

The old rustic station building from the nineteenth century was demolished in 2012 and is currently nothing more than a deep hole, meaning that all passengers arriving at the station have to skirt round the fenced off construction site to get to the bus terminal.

Bus numbers 73 and 78 are the most likely options for the short ride to Hohenschwangau for the castles. Bayern tickets are valid on the buses. If you are staying in Füssen, like us, you may find that your hotel offers free local transport for your stay through the ‘Füssen card‘ which you just tap on the reader when you enter the bus.

The ticket centre at Hohenschwangau had a hefty queue when we arrived and limited time-slots available for tours. I can well believe that in the height of summer there can be days where no tickets are available at all. It is much better to book in advance through their website – not only do you stand a much better chance of getting the time slot you want but you can also use the much shorter queue for people picking up reserved tickets.

Tickets can only be purchased on the day of use and there are a variety of combinations available. The 14 day pass from the Bavarian Palaces department includes Neuschwanstein so we only needed to pay the reservation fee (you should indicate on the reservation form that you will have this pass).

You can reach the castle on foot, by horse and carriage, or by bus. We opted for the 40 minute uphill walk and arrived in good time for our slot (a digital display indicates when visitors with each tour number should scan their tickets to enter the ‘cattle-pen’ before being led into the building by a tour guide).

Tours take around 35 minutes and you don’t always get the chance to stop in each room so you need to be quite alert to take in everything around you as you pass through. Our tour guide told us that every group from the start to the end of the day was of the maximum size, so they really are operating at full capacity.

If you wish to visit Marienbrücke, the bridge over the Pollat Gorge that Ludwig constructed to offer the best view of the castle, this is a further 15 minutes walk up from the castle terrace (if you take the bus up to the castle it will drop you off close by). It can become incredibly packed, particularly after a new busload of visitors has been disgorged. A notice posted nearby indicated that the bridge will be closed for renovations this year (since we visited the closure dates have been revised to 3 August 2015 until mid November 2015).

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Royal refuge in the Ammer mountains

The morning train from Munich took us south into the Bavarian mountains to seek out Linderhof, the most secluded of Ludwig II’s palaces. It is also the most human in scale, so it is perhaps no surprise to learn that this was where the young king spent much of his time, enjoying life at the royal villa for extended periods away from Munich.

Mountain retreat

It still takes a little bit of effort to get to Linderhof if you use public transport, which only serves to emphasise the relative seclusion of the location to this day. It was a somewhat surreal journey for us as the security precautions for the G7 summit meant that every station along the route had been heavily populated by policemen, backed up by a fleet of police vans. The impression of travelling through a police state was not dispelled by a further security checkpoint on the road leading to Linderhof!

The journey was well worth it. The richly decorated interior of the rococo-style palace is simply spectacular, far exceeding the opulence that you expect of such buildings. It may be a short tour but every room packs an incredible punch, from the small dressing room lined with portraits of Louis XV’s mistresses to the vibrant blue and gold decoration of the king’s bedroom.

On top of this, the surrounding park offers up an array of wonderfully decorative refuges ranging from a Moroccan house to a Moorish kiosk with a peacock throne. In many respects the park buildings act as stage sets, allowing Ludwig to step into the legends that he so loved and escape the realities of his day to day life.

The Temple of Venus

Although our visit was in bright daylight this is not how Ludwig would have been most familiar with the palace as he was very much a creature of the night – rising for breakfast as the sun set, taking lunch at midnight and heading to bed as the sun rose! The rooms must have looked astonishing as they sparkled by candlelight, particularly in the hall of mirrors where the reflected light and shine of the abundant gilt decoration must have created an incredible effect.

After leaving the palace we headed to the remarkable Venus grotto, which gives the appearance of being hewn from the rocks, but is an entirely man-made construction constructed using canvas and cement. At its heart is a ten metre tall cave with stalactites hanging from the roof which contains an underground lake and waterfall. On the water a gilt shell boat rests. All of this was illuminated by electric lighting, creating different colour effects. It is a wonderful illusion and hard not to be impressed as you stand by the water’s edge.

The Venus Grotto

Our guide ran through a long explanation of the grotto in german before switching to a recorded english commentary which she left running as she headed off to get ready for the next group, by which point we were the only visitors left in the cave. It suddenly felt far too cavernous, so goodness only knows how Ludwig must have found it when he was in there alone, drifting in his boat.

Overall, we had a great day at Linderhof but it is difficult to get a good sense of Ludwig’s time there as the tour guides present a sanitised version of Ludwig’s life story that is presumably intended to play well to any audience. The edited story presented to visitors describes the loneliness of Ludwig’s life after he broke off his engagement whilst neatly omitting the scandalous tales of his male companions!

Practicalities

Linderhof first opened to the public two weeks after Ludwig’s death on 13th June 1886 and attracted 619 visitors (up to September) despite the lack of connecting routes. Once these difficulties were overcome the visitors poured in and the palace now sees over 1 million visitors a year. Various permutations of route by public transport are possible today, but all require at least one train journey and one bus ride.

We caught the 8.32am regional train from Munich to Oberau, arriving at 9.45am. From the stop outside Oberau station we picked up bus 9606 at 9:58am and took this as far as Oberammergau, where we switched to bus 9622 to Linderhof. It took us two and a quarter hours to reach the palace. It didn’t appear to be a popular option – we were the only passengers on bus 9622!

Tours are incredibly well organised at all of Ludwig’s palaces with your ticket giving you an admission slot for a specific time. Shortly before the appointed time you have to scan your ticket to get into what can only be described as a ‘sheep-pen’ for humans (there are four pens and an electronic display indicates which one you need to enter). Once all the tourists have been coralled a gate opens at the other end, allowing you to start the tour under the watchful eye of your official tour guide. It may sound bizarre, but it is a really efficient system that ensures the staff can get as many people through the building during the day. Given the hefty visitor numbers that really is impressive.

It appeared that the biggest influx of visitors had arrived in the morning on the day we visited, though I don’t know whether this is typical. The upshot of this was that the grounds were noticeably quieter in the afternoon. Taking public transport gave us a degree of freedom to spend as long admiring the grounds as we needed. In practice, we found that 4 hours was sufficient time to see the palace, grotto and surrounding park (with time enough left over to get a refreshing glass of radler before catching the 3.06pm bus back).

The return journey gave us a 29 minute break at Ettal between buses and a chance to glimpse the wonderful interior of the Kloster Ettal. It’s certainly worth a look if the timings permit it.

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The longest castle in Europe

A fresh day saw us head east to the fortress at Burghausen, which is notable for being one of the longest castle complexes in the world. The castle’s footprint stretches out for 1000 metres and encompasses six courtyards, a couple of chapels, a clocktower and the palace itself.

Burghausen Castle sits high above the old town

The castle was used by the Dukes of Lower Bavaria from the House of Wittlesbach as their second seat of government and was constructed between the 13th to 16th centuries. It was fortified at the end of the 15th century in anticipation of a Turkish invasion, making it the most formidable fortress in the country. You get a really good sense of this from the platform at the top of the State Castle Museum as you look back on the long tail of the castle winding through the wooded hillside.

The first courtyard and Stephan’s Tower

A particular delight of the interior is the collection of massive paintings showing the battles of the Bavarian dukes – you need to stand before them for quite a while to absorb the scale of each battle and the rich detail woven into the paintings. The most stunning of these is the 11 metre long painting of the Battle of Mühldorf in 1322 which depicts the meeting of Frederick I of Hapsburg and Albert Rindsmaul of Bavaria mid-battle.

The 11 metre long painting of the Battle of Mühldorf in 1322.

It was a particularly hot day when we visited and a dip in the swimming facilities in the river looked incredibly tempting, though we settled instead for a refreshing ice cream!

Practicalities

The journey from Munich to Burghausen takes about two hours by train. On our day trip we caught the 9:07am train from Munich which reached Mühldorf at 10:16, giving us a 21 minute break before switching to the 10:37am train to Burghausen (which gets in at 11.16am).

A bus connection to the old town is available from the station but we chose to walk. At a steady pace the walk should take about 20-25 minutes, though we found that one of the street signs pointing to the castle/old town had been turned to point down the wrong street – giving us a brief tour of Burghausen’s residential district! Hopefully this will be turned to point the right way again…

All in all, we spent about three and a half hours exploring the castle and the old town, including a visit to the State Castle Museum, before taking a train back to Munich via Mühldorf. We used the remarkably good value 14 day ticket of the Bavarian Palace Department to cover admission to the castle museum.

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Steam on the Chiemsee Bahn

The Royal Palace at Herrenchiemsee was opened to the public just six weeks after the death of King Ludwig II on 13 June 1886. Although visitor numbers were low at first they soon shot up to extraordinary numbers and it was this dramatic increase in the number of visitors arriving at Prien am Chiemsee that spurred rapid development of the transport infrastructure in the area.

Steam locomotive no. 1813 departs from Stock in mid-afternoon

Although there had been a ferry to the islands since the mid-nineteenth century the additional tourist traffic soon necessitated a more frequent ferry services to Herreninsel. However, the absence of a shuttle service between the railway station and the harbour remained a problem for arriving passengers.

Ludwig Fessler was quick to seize the opportunity and reached agreement with George Krauss (founder of the Krauss Locomotive Works in Munich) to construct a 2km single track metre-gauge line between the mainline station (Prien) and the harbour (Stock am Chiemsee).

The line opened on 10th July 1887 and was an immediate success. Services soon had to be increased to meet the demand, despite the relatively expensive fare for the time. Although the train only hauls passenger carriages today, in its early years the consist included two open wagons with coal for the steam ships and the islands. In time the freight traffic disappeared and for a time it seemed as though the entire railway would follow suit.

The last crossing before Prien station

Thankfully the threats to the line were staved off and the the railway looks to be thriving. Remarkably, the railway still uses the same steam locomotive and stock today that it did at the beginning of its existence (although the boiler in the locomotive was replaced in 1957). In 1962 the railway purchased a diesel locomotive for use when traffic is lighter.

On the day we visited we were lucky enough to see the steam locomotive in use and took advantage of the good weather to walk the footpath that runs alongside the line to check out the photographic opportunities.

The yard at Stock offers a good opportunity to see the loco run around (the locomotive is bi-directional and was running with the chimney facing towards Prien during our visit). After leaving the harbour station (crossing a busy road) the line runs through a residential area, passing the rear of a tavern, residential care home and flats.

A three foot tall hedge along the line makes photography tricky for a fair chunk of the way but there are a few interesting footpath and road crossings that offer some opportunities. As the line reaches Prien it crosses a couple of roads, passes a pretty pond and then curves round to Prien station.

Mid-afternoon at Stock station

If you are relying on catching a mainline train it is worth noting that the timings are quite tight and if the train is more than a couple of minutes late (as it was on the afternoon we visited) you could be left with a dash through the adjacent subway to make your connection!

Overall, it is a thoroughly delightful line. If you combine it with a sailing on the steam ship Ludwig Fessler (now under diesel-hydraulic power) and a visit to the Royal Palace at Herrenchiemsee it makes quite an amazing day out.

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