With almost 40 million foreign overnight guests every year, Germany is one of the seven most visited countries in the world. There are 6,135 museums, 366 theatres, 34 leisure and adventure parks, 45,000 tennis courts, 648 golf courses, 190,000 km of hiking trails, 40,000 kilometres of long-distance cycle paths as well as holiday and theme routes available for use in tourism.
Business and congress tourism is of outstanding importance; Germany is the most important international trade fair location with several world-leading trade fairs: Caravan Salon Düsseldorf, CMT Stuttgart, etc. The Internationale Tourism-Börse Berlin is the world's leading tourism trade fair. Germany also has the highest density of festivals like Wacken, Rock am Ring,
Outstanding sights: Sanssouci Castle - Brandenburg Gate - Cologne Cathedral - Saxon Switzerland National Park - Wadden Sea - Hamburg Harbor - Brocken - Old Town of Hameln - Externsteine - Wartburg - Neuschwanstein Castle - Zugspitze near Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Rothenburg ob der Tauber - Königsee in Berchtesgadener Land - Old town of Bamberg - Imperial castle in Nuremberg - Mainau Island in Lake Constance - Lichtenstein Castle - Meersburg - Ulm Minster - etc.
The so-called government bunker in the Ahr valley near the lovable wine village of Dernau was once considered the most secret building in the recent history of the Federal Republic of Germany during the Cold War.
Several times we had already visited Katrin and Jürgen in Dernau in the Ahr valley during our travels, before there was finally enough time to take a short trip along the Ahr in the direction of Adenau.
For several years we have been friends with Frank and his wife who, in addition to the vineyards, also run a small guesthouse in Dernau and have also been producing really fine wine in Turkey with great success for several years.
The Nürburgring and its surroundings have a lot more to offer in addition to the legendary concert series "Rock am Ring", various events in the racing scene on the Grand Prix circuit and on legendary Nordschleife, which many visitors still miss:
We almost felt transported back to the early seventies and eighties, when it was possible to stroll through the paddock and have a chat with drivers, racing teams or other participants, and you may ask, where was that?
Once again we were in Trier for talks, not at least to extend our project work to expand camper and outdoor tourism as the first destination of the camper route further to the north.
Once again we passed into Cochem on the Mosel river, after a short stopover at the Nordschleife of Nürburgring, where we first rested a little while enjoying a delicious ice cream in one of the many waterfront cafes.
The legendary Nordschleife of the Nürburgring was classified as too unsafe for the Formula 1 in the 80s - probably the most negative example was the accident of Niki Lauda in the year 1976 - which is why the Formula 1 from 1977 onward just took place at the Hockenheimring.
After an eventful day with many great conversations and hundreds of historic motorcycles due to the racing event organized and named the Cologne Course on the Grand Prix circuit of the Nürburgring, combined with lot of memories of our own motorcycle experiences, it was time for the return trip to Essen.
Chemnitz – Due to the lively trade in machinery and vehicles, the old industrial and commercial city of Chemnitz was home to a large number of hotels until its destruction in 1945.
Chemnitz – a visit should reveal the many facets of the city, according to the slogan of the advertising for the journey to the city on the occasion of the "European Capital of Culture 2025" event.
Gasholders or gasometers, large-scale structures of industrial heritage, can still be found in many places, such as Pforzheim or Leipzig, where these former gas or storage tanks served to supply cities with city gas or for storage, although today they often have completely different uses.
We were traveling in Dresden again and as the opening picture clearly indicates: it wasn't a really nice day that invited us to linger on the Elbe promenade.
The Panometer of Dresden, where the panoramic picture “Amazon” by Yadegar Asisi will be shown from January 27, 2024, is a former gas container or gas tank that was once used to store all kinds of gases and in particular to store fuel gases such as town gas and natural gas.
Following an invitation from Claudia and Heinrich, we drove to the previously completely unknown town of Kamenz, where a first surprise awaited us at the entrance to the town.
After our interesting visit to the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, there was only about 50 kilometers to go to Dresden, which we covered on the federal highway 6, which ran parallel to the Elbe.
After our extensive visit to the Leipzig Zoo, the large panorama picture "Amazonia" by Asisi in the Panometer, Detlef led us on a short tour of Leipzig city center, which we started directly at the Gewandhaus, which is world-famous for the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Thomanerchor.
After our arrival in Halle in the evening, we and Detlef had set out a supporting program for the next few days, which also included a visit to the zoo in Leipzig.
After our visit to the Leipzig Zoological Garden, Detlef took us to the panometer for the picture composition "Rainforest".
Heldrungen Water Castle - Several times we had already noticed street signs to the moated castle in the Thuringian town of Heldrungen, which we had not yet followed.