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Visiting German Cities
 City Contours

City Contours © Tobias Schrank

German cities are as diverse as the landscape that surrounds them. In our series of city portraits, we embark on a journey through Goethe's homeland. Our authors have taken a close look at things small and large which make their cities so unique and lovable.

A Culture, we all know, is made by its cities

Derek Walcott

View of Rostock. Photo (detail): © Adobe

City Contours Rostock
 On its Way

Tourists nationwide know the Rostock district of Warnemünde for its beach, lighthouse, pier, and fish butties. The city of Rostock itself is generally associated with shipyards, the fishing combines used in the GDR, and the Lichtenhagen pre-fab housing estate. So it is high time we took a closer look at this historic Hanseatic league city. 
Graffiti and industrial buildings in front of the Zeiss Tower. Photo (detail): © Adobe

City contours Jena
 Life is bene in Jene

Just a prefab city? Not at all: Come to Jena by train and you will find yourself in the middle of a verdant paradise. The city on the Saale is ambivalent and imperfect – which is precisely why our author Nancy Droese finds it so appealing.
 
The rust-red roofs of Nuremberg, where some streets surprisingly offer an almost Mediterranean flair: view from Nuremberg Castle. Photo (detail): © Adobe

City contours Nuremberg
 A touch of Bella Italia

Nuremberg has a picturesque flair and history – including some troubled chapters. The city offers a lot that makes life richer: Our author Clara Lipkowski details spots to experience modern culture, art and curiosities.
 
When art becomes an adventure: an installation in Leipzig’s Kunstkraftwerk. Photo (detail): © picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild/Waltraud Grubitzsch

City contours Leipzig
 Green art city with an industrial past

What makes Leipzig so special? Is it the trade fair city’s long tradition as a trade hub, adventures outdoors, or perhaps its colourful art scene? Our author Tanja Grevismühl explores Leipzig’s classical highlights and adds some you are not likely to find in a travel guide.
Who can boast a pink combined heat and power plant? Why Hannover, probably the most underrated city in the world, of course. Photo (detail): © Adobe

City contours Hannover
 Probably the most underrated city in the world

Boring? Colourless? Despite what you may have heard, Hannover is none of these things; it’s just as exciting as Berlin or Hamburg – only more manageable and without all the irritations. Time for a visit to what is probably the most underrated city in the world.
 
City of opposites: the skate park next to the European Central Bank. Photo (detail): © picture alliance / Westend61 / Martin Moxter

City contours Frankfurt
 Frankfurt: from soaring skyline to down-to-earth graffiti

Frankfurt does not enjoy the best reputation and is known for its banking district, major international airport, drug scene, and red-light district. And while few would choose the city as their new home, most people who move to Frankfurt soon discover they never want to leave. Our author Eva-Maria Verfürth goes beyond the clichés to show what makes Germany’s financial hub so liveable and lovable.
In Göttingen, all roads lead to the university, with every fourth resident being a higher education student. Photo (detail): © picture alliance/dpa/Swen Pförtner

City contours Göttingen
 The knowledge city with an innovative spirit

Göttingen’s motto “The city that creates knowledge” is emblazoned on the central train station where it welcomes newcomers and long-time residents alike. It could hardly be more fitting, given that Göttingen University sets the pace and rhythm of the city. Our author Stefan Keitel takes us on a tour of places full of academic free spirit, industrious research and political resistance.
A view through the alleys of Dresden’s old town: In part due to its architecture, the city is also known as “Florence on the Elbe” or the “Venice of the North”. Photo (detail): © Adobe

City contours Dresden
 Dresden: pomp to prefab

Dresden has a reputation for being a bit too baroque, stuffy, and reserved. But the Saxon capital has another different side that is modern, alternative, and surprising. Our author Kaddi Cutz reveals the multiple facets of the Florence on the Elbe and overhauls a cliché or two.
The colourful, bohemian Sankt Pauli district. Photo (detail): © picture alliance/Helmut Meyer zur Capellen/imageBROKER

City contours Hamburg
 Groovy, individualist and friendly is what Hamburg is all about

Rumour has it that the residents of this former Hanseatic League city between the Alster and the Elbe rivers listen to sea shanties, eat “Labskaus”, and are fairly taciturn. And there’s some truth to that, of course. But people from Hamburg are also musical polyglots, march to the beat of their very own drums, and have an unvarnished view of their history. Author Ingo Scheel takes us on a tour of the “Tor zur Welt” (gateway to the world). 
Wellingtons as planters in a Bächle. Photo (detail): © Adobe

City contours Freiburg
 Eco-city with a bath for ladies

Freiburg is known throughout Germany as a green city. Our author Gina Kutkat explores the sunny town in the Breisgau Region to see what this means. Along the way she uncovers spots with a unique flair and open-minded inhabitants, while underscoring contours not visible at a first glance.
 
Berlin has a reputation for being loud, non-conformist and just a bit rude. Take a look into what the German capital is really like. Photo (detail): © picture alliance/Sabine Lubenow/DUMONT Bildarchiv

City contours Berlin
 “Dit is Berlin”

Berlin has a reputation for being loud, non-conformist and just a bit rude. Our author Nele Jensch looks into what the German capital is really like as she takes readers on a tour of the city where you can see more in one go around the block than elsewhere over the course of year. 

Wir bauen eine Stadt
Wir bauen eine Stadt
Wir bauen eine Stadt
Wir bauen eine Stadt

Thomas Fehlmann / Holger Hiller (Palais Schaumburg)

Ludwig Beethoven surrounded by 700 doubles: this art instillation was set up in honour of the composer’s 250th birthday. Photo (detail): © picture alliance / Sven Simon

City Contours Bonn
 Who says Bonn is boring?

Is Bonn truly overshadowed by Cologne, and does the former German capital have an identity crisis? Our author Leonie Gubela explains what makes Bonn unique and why some assumptions about it could use a rethink.
Surfer at Eisbachwelle Photo (detail): © picture alliance / Mika

City Contours Munich
 Conservative? Traditional? Boozy?

Well, which is it then? Come and explore the Bavarian capital with us – also against the grain. We give you an outline of the classic places, communities and events that are an intrinsic part of the city profile – and we redraw the contours by challenging a few clichés.
More to offer than the cathedral and the Carnival – Cologne is also a stronghold of gay and lesbian life: participant of the Christopher Street Day festival 2019. Photo (detail): © picture alliance/Christoph Hardt/Geisler-Fotopress

City contours Cologne
 For those with a head for heights and a heart for fun

The first things most people think of when they hear Cologne are the cathedral and Carnival. But this city on the Rhine, founded by the Romans and already a commercial hub in the Middle Ages, has so much more to offer. Visitors can admire the remains of an ancient temple outside a McDonald’s toilet, enjoy culture in a former cable factory, and attend the largest computer game trade fair in the world.
“Life without a pug is possible, but pointless”: The sketches and animated shorts of Vicco von Bülow, better known as Loriot, have become a New Year’s tradition in lots of families. Foto (Detail): © picture alliance/BREUEL-BILD

City Contours Bremen
 Bremen isn’t Hamburg – but so what?!

No more than a traditional Hanseatic city with a hotly disputed beer? This port city has many more surprises in store than just four musical animals and the Weser River. Our author Hinnerk Köhn thinks Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin would do well to take a page out of Bremen’s book.
While other cities celebrate Carnival or Fasching, the residents of Hall get decked out in fantastic costumes to parade through the streets to the Hallia Venezia. Photo (detail): © Adobe

City Contours Schwäbisch Hall
 Probably the smallest cosmopolitan city in the world

Anyone who thinks all small towns are sleepy and quiet is quite wrong, or at least wrong about Schwäbisch Hall. It is home to world-class art and theatre and some world market leaders, all conveniently within walking distance.
Though many might find it hard to believe, Mannheim has a lot to offer party-goers: a neon sign in the hip Junbusch district. Photo (detail): © Jan Zipperer

City contours Mannheim
 It’s hip to be square

For many, Mannheim is just an annoying ICE stopover that makes the trip from Frankfurt to Stuttgart that much longer. And it could be argued that passengers on a train do not get to see this city on the Rhine and Neckar rivers from its best side. But author Jan Zipperer is confident that Mannheim has a lot to offer.
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