Among all the churches the Cologne cathedral (start of construction in 1248) is the purest embodiment of a Gothic cathedral which was added in 1996 to the UNESCO World Heritage list. Its size is even enhanced by the enormous twin towers. Its impressive architecture holds a multitude of famous works of art, from colourful glass paintings, to the Gero Cross the oldest large-scale sculpture of the occident to the Sarcophagus of the Magi.

Spread on seven hills in the heart of the Franconian cultural landscape lies the baroque Episcopal and imperial city of Bamberg. Its historical centre - listed by UNESCO World Cultural Heritage - unites under the stony eyes of the Bamberger Rider Germany's vastest coherent historical centre with monuments from the 11th to the 18th century. The most impressive amongst those are the mediaeval cathedral with its four steeples and the Old Town Hall with its bridge tower surrounded by Regnitz river, mentioned for the first time in1387.

Like pearls on a string (dialect "schnoor") the little houses from the 15th and 16th century in Bremen's oldest quarter are lined up closely together in a row. Originally it was home to fishers and skippers but that changed after the foundation of a Franciscan cloister and the arrival of more and more traders and tradesmen. Today the "Schnoor" proves itself to be a lively historical quarter with a broad variety of architectural styles.

When Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse founded in 1899, when Grand Duke in Darmstadt he hoped to stimulate the economy of his duchy by this alliance of art and handicraft. In the course of the years an Art Nouveau quarter with parks, beautiful mansions and the famous wedding tower developed, which is unique in Europe until today.

The romantic valley extends from the ancient Roman city of Koblenz to the legendary Loreley to the wine towns of Bingen and Rüdesheim. On its steep vineyards, castles and strongholds, cloisters and churches arrest the attention of the onlooker. Particularly the sacral monuments bear witness to the fact that the Rhine not only since time immemorial carried people and goods of all kinds and nations but that it also generated artistic ideas. Meanwhile UNESCO has listed this magnificent cultural landscape World Cultural Heritage.

Louis II wanted to reconstruct the ruin of Vorderschwangau in the style of a German knight's castle. Where architecture and furnishing of his fairytale castle were concerned the king was not only inspired by the Middle Ages but also by the Moorish culture in Spain. Like a dream in stone come true with playful turrets and pinnacles we still admire the last royal residence dwarfed by the snowcapped peaks of the Alps.

Before the Franks in 275 destroyed the Roman Colonia Ulpia Trajana, situated on a branch of the Rhine, it was one of the main Teutonic cities. On a quarter of the surface of the ancient stronghold there is today the Archaeological park of Xanten with original and reconstructed Roman monuments. Above all the harbour temple, the amphitheatre and the thermae give evidence of the formerly impressive architecture of the city.

Bauhaus I
Transparency and functionality characterise the architecture of the Bauhaus. The new Dessau site of this interdisciplinary training centre, founded by Walter Gropius shows quite plainly with its different wings the avant-garde perception of the Bauhaus philosophy. From his Weimar beginnings to the politically forced disbandment in 1933 in Berlin the Bauhaus school implemented its revolutionary ideas concerning architecture and modern life.

Bauhaus II
In Berlin the Bauhaus Archiv recalls the philosophy and the work of the Bauhaus and its famous members like for example Oskar Schlemmer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. In Weimar the comprehensive approach of Gropius lives on in the Bauhaus University.

Karl Friedrich Schinkel
He was the greatest of German master builders in the period of promoterism. The theatre on Gendarmenmarkt square and the Old Museum on Museum Island in Berlin rank among his most outstanding achievements.

Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell
Trained in Paris and Versailles he is considered as a master of landscape gardening in the English style. He designed e,g. the English Garden in Munich and the park of Nymphenburg Castle.

Hermann Fürst von Pückler-Muskau
Originally he was a writer but became one of the best known garden architect of the 19th century. The landscape park in Branitz, created by him is an artwork of international scope.

Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff
As supervisor for all royal constructions he created Sanssouci castle in Potsdam by order of Frederick II. Rheinsberg castle in Brandenburg as well as Charlottenburg castle in Berlin are also due to him.