Antique city gates, a quadrangular city from the 17th century, seaside resorts in fin-de-siècle style, warehouses more than a century old, historical coal and ore mines - the range of fascinating monuments in Germany is wide, indeed. And more often than not have they been revived by very modern means.

(Church of our Lady)
1796 it was an architectural wonder: the biggest sandstone construction worldwide, with the biggest stone cupola north of the Alps. Six decades after its destruction by a fire storm in the second world war one of the most beautiful baroque churches in Europe has risen from its ruins thanks to the support and donations from all over the world. For the 800 years jubilee of Dresden the cathedral, otherwise known as the protestant equivalent of St. Peter's in Rome, shone in all its splendour after twelve years of reconstruction. From the new platform, almost 70 metres high, the visitor has a panoramic view over the roof tops of Dresden.

The history of Trier begins in 16 B.C. as a Roman settlement called Augusta Treverorum. The architectural face of this lively university town on the Moselle testifies even today of a splendid past. All in all nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites belong to the urban area of Germany's oldest town. The most widely known are Porta Nigra, the powerful Roman town gate made from colossal sandstone blocks blackened over the millennia and the Roman imperial palace basilica, the largest preserved single hall of antiquity. In the amphitheatre at the foot of Petrisberg mountain and in the imperial thermea there are regular antiquity festivals.

Hamburg's warehouse district is the largest ware house complex in the world. The huge area in Wilhelminian red-brick Gothic with the most diverse ledges and turrets developed at the end of the 19th century. Even today behind those thick red-brick walls there is an abundance of wares: coffee, tea, cocoa, spices, tobacco and valuable carpets. Meanwhile some tracts of the warehouses have been put to a totally different use: modern offices moved in, event facilities, restaurants and museums. In the authentic architecture of the warehouses there are now literary readings and shows; besides the Afghan museum (carpets), there is a museum for spices and the ware house museum. Here you find typical equipment and commercial samples as well as exhibits illustrating the architectural history of this unique monument.

Since the end of the 19th century, the Imperial family as well as millions of guests from a more humble background have been attracted by the sandy beaches and almost 2000 sunny hours per year on the Baltic island of Usedom. Today the elegant historical architecture of the Usedom therapeutic spas is home to exclusive hotels and modern boarding houses. Particularly in the Imperial 3 spas Bansin, Heringsdorf and Ahlbeck there are still magnificent buildings and well-kept mansion facades with pretty turrets, mundane columns and high gables. The Ahlbeck sea-bridge built in 1899 is the landmark of Usedom. The Heringsdorf sea-bridge with its 555 metres is the longest structure of its kind in continental Europe. In the style of its historical predecessor it contains a shopping arcade, a gallery, cafés, museums and restaurants.

With more than 1300 half-timbered structures from eight centuries in one historical town the former imperial residence was elected World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO as an exceptionally well-preserved example for a mediaeval town. The early Franconian kings made Quedlinburg a booming centre of European politics, education and culture. Besides the Romanic master construction of St. Servatius and the half-timber Museum the Lyonel Feiniger Gallery with the greatest Feininger collection in Europe is really worth seeing.

The bridge was originally built as a wooden connection across the Gera river. Since the 11th century merchant stalls are lining the bridge, making it the longest of its kind in Europe. After several fires its planks were finally replaced by stone in 1325. The originally 62 narrow structures were finally merged into a compound of 32 bridge houses.

Essen: Zollverein coal mine
Once the most modern coal mine of the world, the abandoned brown coal mine with the striking double pit head frame is meanwhile listed by UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. It has become one of the highlights of the European Route of Industrial Culture with numerous attractions from the sculpture forest to the design museum.

Völklingen: Iron Works
The historical iron works in Völklingen, Saarland, was the first industrial monument listed by UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. Beyond its technical attraction this symbol of industrial culture organises regularly high-class special exhibition and concerts.

Hameln: Reanissance experience
Meet Einstein, Galilei and Dürer live. The ultramodern edutainment and science centre behind the historical facade of the wedding house in Hameln revives the renaissance era in all its fascinating aspects with impressive high-tech productions.

Mannheim: quadrangular city
Mannheim's unique ground plan in quadrangles determines the overall image of the inner city. They were designed by Prince Elector Frederick IV who took the castle as the starting point. Instead of street names there are addresses like B2 or U13 in the quadrangular city which resembles a little the basic grid of Manhattan.
 
Romanesque Route
Country of the first kings and emperors. 72 Romanesque monuments in 60 localities line the Romanesque Route which meanders through the travel destination of Saxony-Anhalt in the shape of an eight.

Route of Industrial Heritage
52 witnesses of industrial culture in the Ruhr district make up the Route of Industrial Heritage Route including well-known communities, museums and landscape panoramas.

Castle Route
Attractive itinerary through beautiful scenery with 70 romantic fortresses and castles. This traditional holiday route leads from Mannheim to Heidelberg, Rothenburg on Tauber and Nuremberg to Bayreuth.

German Route of half-timbered houses
Rich in styles, shapes and colours it leads visitors across picturesque sceneries. No other country in the world owns a comparable multitude of half-timbered houses: a treasure of about 2.5 million structures.