During the height of the Cold War contingency planning for the possibility of a nuclear war was high on every politician’s agenda. With Germany the likely epicentre of any potential conflict, the federal government in Bonn had to plan for all sorts of worse case scenarios. One of these was the need to replace the entire stock of currency in circulation in case it became or was infected with poisonous viruses imported from East Germany.

A location for storing all the notes required for such a task had to be found. Frankfurt was deemed too risky a location because it was a natural target for any nuclear attack and only lay 100 miles from the border between the two Germanys. Cochem, on the Moselle, was selected because of its proximity by air to the capital, Bonn, and to the Ahr range of hills, where the government had built a bunker to which it planned to relocate. In addition it was thought that the steep and sparsely populated Moselle valley would escape the full brunt of any nuclear attack.

In 1962 the government purchased a doctors’ surgery in the hills overlooking the town and began converting it into a bunker that could safeguard some 15 billion Deutschmarks, to be held in 10, 20, 50 and 100 denominations. These had no intrinsic value as they differed from the notes then in circulation. They would only have value once the entire currency was replaced. They were packed in boxes and stored 30 metres below ground in a safe with walls six metres thick and a door weighing eight tons.

Top secret

The bunker remained a secret throughout its existence, and even the Stasi never found out.  During construction however, such quantities of earth were removed that it was impossible to keep it from the nearby residents. In order to “buy” their silence, the government admitted it was building a nuclear shelter and offered 100 places to its neighbours in the event of an attack.

In the end of course neither the notes within it, nor the sanctuary it offered to local residents, were ever required. In 1988, with East-West tensions noticeably lessening, the bunker was decommissioned and notes removed. The building remained unused until the Volksbank Cochem came looking for an alternative to its safe in the town centre for storing its customers valuables after the floods of 1993. Eventually the Volksbank too moved out, in 2004, leaving the site unoccupied and beginning to deteriorate.

It was bought by the current private owners in 2014 and a process of restoration began which saw the Bundesbank Bunker open to the public in 2016, with regular guided tours. These last just under an hour and it is advisable to take suitable clothing as it can be a little chilly in the bunker, which remains temperature controlled. The Bunker is a 15 minute walk from Cochem’s bridge over the Mosel, but it a relatively strenuous uphill walk, so a shuttle bus operates from the other side of the river near the town centre. – Mark Arrol

Around 40 miles south east of Düsseldorf lies the modest and largely unprepossessing city of Solingen. Many come here to visit Solingen castle, out on a hilltop in the town’s forested hinterland, or to experience the Schwebebahn, the upside-down railway in the adjacent town of Wuppertal. However Solingen itself has one big claim to fame: it is the centre of knife production in Germany.

Much like Meissen and its connection with porcelain, Solingen is synonymous with the manufacture of metal blades. Its topography, with soft water in the the streams running through the town and the quality of the ironstone in the surrounding hills, have made it a natural home for crafting swords and other blades.

Evidence of blacksmiths’ smelters going back over 2,000 has been uncovered here. During the Middle Ages, swords from Solingen were used throughout northern Europe and have been uncovered in numerous architectural investigations. In fact several blacksmiths from the city fled from religious persecution in the 17^th century and relocated to Shotley Bridge in the UK’s County Durham to continue plying their trade.

Modern industry

In a country with so much manufacturing expertise, it is no surprise that Solingen has continued to develop its reputation. The city exports its wares throughout the world, and goes under the soubriquet of Klingenstadt, ‘City of Blades’. Sheffield in the UK has a similar reputation, but unlike Sheffield, which has seen most of the manufacturers in this industry disappear over recent decades, Solingen has gone from strength to strength.

Today the city is home to dozens of related businesses, including Wüsthof, Zwilling JA Henkels and Marsvogel. Dotted around are factory outlet stores and specialist retailers selling direct, often at considerably reduced prices. The most popular outlet is attached to the Wüsthof factory, a little over a mile north of Solingen Mitte train station.

Chefs throughout Europe use knives manufactured here, but they are only part of the story. Scissors, hunting knives, cutlery, razors and manicure equipment, basically anything that involves cutting with steel, are all produced here. Wüsthof has created an Urban Farmer knife designed to be used in the garden for harvesting fruit and vegetables.

The story of the city’s specialism is told in the Deutsches Klingenmuseum, three miles north of the city centre, where it has a huge collection of anything that chops or cuts. – Mark Arrol

For forty years Bonn was at the epicentre of German and European politics. This medium-sized town on the Rhine was the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949, after it had been preferred to the more natural choice of Frankfurt. That choice was to emphasise the fact that it was a temporary situation whilst Germany remained divided, and whilst Berlin, the natural capital city, could not be used.

Berlin reclaimed that crown after re-unification in 1990, although Bonn remained the seat of government until 1999, when parliament moved into the Reichstag. Bonn however has subsequently not returned to its pre 1949 status as a provincial town in the shadow of its much larger neighbour Cologne.

From a visitor point of view, Bonn’s centre is attractive enough in its own right, with the Romanesque former cathedral the 11^th century Münster and the marvelously ornate Altes Rathaus, which glistens with silver and gold. It is also of particular interest to classical music fans as the birthplace of Beethoven, but its real significance remains its huge contribution to the development of modern Germany.

Still here

Despite the overall move to Berlin, a number of federal departments have retained their place in town, including some big-hitters such as Defence, Health and Environment. In addition several others have secondary offices in the city, such as Justice and Foreign Affairs. Both the Federal President and Chancellor still have official residences in Bonn, the Villa Hammerschmidt and Palais Schaumburg respectively. Inevitably there are a disproportionally high number of civil servants (around 8,000) still working here.

The United Nations also retains a significant presence, with the headquarters of its climate change department located in a building close to the Rhine, next to the former Bundestag and Bundesrat, which were the two houses of the Bonn-based parliament.

All these buildings are of major historical significance in post World War II history. Federal Chancellor Adenauer’s first official engagement at the Palais Schaumburg was with French Foreign Minister (and architect of the current EU) Robert Schuman. They are all located very close to each other in the Bundesviertel (Federal Quarter) along the Adenauerallee, around a mile south of the city centre. These form the central attractions of the Weg der Demokratie, a self-guided and interactive tour of the former and current sites of interest.

Situated in the same area is the excellent Haus der Geschichte (free to visit)  which charts the postwar development of German history of both the Federal Republic (West) and the German Democratic Republic (East). It is easy to distinguish between the two because the sections on the GDR are on a red background to emphasise its Communist control. Artefacts include a fuselage from an aircraft used to supply West Berlin during the Blockade, a Trabant car from the 1980s, and Elvis Presley’s kitbag from his time in the US army in Germany.

For those interested in art as well as history the Kunstmuseum Bonn and the Bundeskunsthalle are located next door to the Haus der Geschichte, whilst the Museum Koenig, a natural history museum,  is nearby on the Adenauerallee. – Mark Arrol

There is a fair degree of rivalry between the cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf, situated just 30 miles apart on the Rhine. The former prides itself on its history (it dates back to Roman times), the stature of its famous cathedral, and its relaxed easygoing lifestyle. However it was the latter, Düsseldorf, that was made capital of North Rhine Westphalia after World War II, not its larger neighbour. It has since become a major financial centre and, in the Königsallee, boasts one of the most exclusive shopping streets in Germany.

So you may not be surprised to hear that both cities strongly disagree on another very important issue: the preferred style of beer. In Cologne the locals drink Kölsch, a pale yellow, soft refreshing drink, not too dissimilar to standard German pils, lightly hopped and with just a touch of wheat malt. Düsseldorfers though prefer Altbier (commonly shortened to ‘Alt’), a copper-coloured, malty, very hoppy ale that has a dry and crisp finish.

Both cities are very proud of their respective beer and its heritage. Kölsch is protected by EU regulation and can only be brewed by 24 breweries, in and around Cologne, set out in the Kölsch Convention of 1986. No self-respecting resident of Cologne, when flying in or out of their shared airport (DUS or Düsseldorf), would contemplate indulging in an Alt; that would be an act of betrayal.

Where to drink it

Anyone visiting Cologne Cathedral will pass Früh am Dom, possibly the largest and most well-known of the Kölsch breweries. Whilst their beer is no longer brewed on the premises, it remains the busiest beer hall in the city, with a capacity of 1,000 and selling the equivalent of 850 litres of beer per week.  Other renowned brewers are Sion, also in the Altstadt, and Paffgen, which is reputed to be the best Kölsch in the city.

In Düsseldorf, a city renowned for having ‘the longest bar in the world’ in honour or the profusion of pubs, bars and restaurants in the Altstadt, there are no restrictions on who can brew Alt. However production is now centred on four breweries in or near the city centre, the most famous of which is zum Uerige (‘grumpy’ in the local vernacular, allegedly named after the original owner in the 1860s), a cavernous beer hall with many interlocking rooms leading off it. Other brewers include Zum Schlüssel, the Brauerei zum Füchschen and the Brauerei Ferdinand Schumacher, which is the oldest brewer of Altbier in the city, having been brewing continuously since 1837.

There are however a couple of similarities between the two cities. The beer is served by a Köbes (waiter) in both and comes in small 20cl glasses. Alt and Kölsch are designed to be drunk fast and fresh. Once emptied, your glass will be replaced by a full one within minutes by said Köbes. Both are top-fermented, too, in contrast to the bottom-fermented pils enjoyed in the rest of Germany.

But despite these shared characteristics, no two other cities in Germany, especially ones so close geographically, have such a healthy rivalry when it comes to what is consumed in their beer halls. – Mark Arrol

For a relatively small city, Trier is absolutely packed with architectural highlights, many dating from the era of Roman occupation in the first four centuries AD. It boasts without doubt the finest collection of Roman heritage north of the Alps, befitting its status as Germany’s oldest town.

During the fourth century Trier was one of the residences of the western Roman Empire and also the seat of the Gallic Prefecture, which governed the territories of that empire all the way from Britain to Morocco.

Located on the Mosel, around two hours south of Cologne, the city is very close to the border with Luxembourg and probably doesn’t get the recognition or visitor numbers it merits because it is slightly off the beaten track in tourist terms. However a visit there is well worth the effort.

Trier’s most imposing building is the Porta Nigra, the gate which formed part of the Roman walls and was the main entry point into the city. The name is a direct translation from the Latin for ‘black gate’, but it was originally built in the second century AD out of grey sandstone and has been blackened by atmospheric conditions over the passage of time. From the Middle Ages through to the end of the 18^th century this elaborate structure was part of a church but Napoleon ordered it to be returned to its Roman form in 1804 and it has been unchanged ever since.

Around 150 years after the Porta Nigra was built, construction started on the Konstantin Basilika.  This was originally the throne room of Constantine, who was actually living in York in the UK when he was proclaimed Emperor in 306 AD on the death of his father. Constantine is renowned as the first Emperor to convert to Christianity. His Basilika is now a rather austere Protestant church, having been restored following bomb damage sustained during World War II. It remains the largest single-room Roman structure still in existence.

Bathtime

Also dating from the same period are the Kaiserthermen (Imperial Baths) which are now the largest surviving Roman baths outside Rome. Whilst not on the same scale, Trier also boasts a second surviving complex of baths, the Barbarathermen, built in the second century, of which only the foundations and underground system remain.

Completing the wealth of Roman remains are the Amphitheatre, where crowds of 20,000 would come to watch gladiatorial contests, and the 2^nd century Römerbrücke, Germany’s oldest bridge, built with rock from the nearby Eifel mountains which is still supporting it nearly 2,000 years later.

All these sites, together with the magnificent Liebfrauensbasilika (Germany’s oldest gothic church) and the Trierer Dom (which can trace its origins back to Roman times, making it Germany’s oldest church, even though the current structure dates from the 12^th and 13^th centuries) were granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 1986.

Meanwhile the largest preserved collection of Roman coins, over 2,600, in the world can be found in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum, situated close to the Kaiserthermen.

All these sites are open to visitors and the majority of them are free. So if you want to transport yourself back to a time when the Roman Empire was at its pomp and marvel at the structures that were built nearly 2,000 years ago, then Trier is worth visiting. – Mark Arrol

Life is hectic, and life in Frankfurt – the commercial heart of Germany – is particularly hectic. So we are suggesting five different places to chill out, from a park to a cemetery, from an art collection to a couple of cafes. Enjoy.

Cafébar im Kunstverein

Right at the entrance point to the new Old Town in a 15^th century Gothic building called Steinernes House (stone house), this bohemian café is part of the Frankfurt Art Association and its exhibition spaces. The Association was founded in 1829 to support the arts as well as open up arts and culture to the public with regular shows. It holds its own next to eminent neighbours such as the Schirn or Museum of Modern Art and is to this day an important meeting place for the city’s art scene. Sit here and think about Frankfurt’s strong artistic streak which has always counterbalanced its hard-nosed financial outlook.

Bethmann Park

A proper oasis of peace just outside the green belt of the city’s Wallanlagen inner perimeter, Bethmann Park was once the private garden of a renowned Frankfurt banker’s dynasty: Bankhaus Gebrüder Bethmann was founded in 1748 as one of Germany’s oldest private banks and the gardens of the Bethmann residence saw famous visitors such as Napoleon or the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I. Now the property of the City of Frankfurt, it was opened to the public in 1952 and is a beautifully landscaped space behind thick walls with colourful flowerbeds. An integrated Chinese garden opened in 1990 to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre. Sit among the locals who come to read the paper here and think of how the finance world finds its expression in many ways in this city.

DZ Kunstsammlung

And here’s another example of how much money banks have: DZ Bank has assembled a corporate collection of 7,500 works of art by over 800 international artists, featuring a lot of contemporary photography. The bank’s art foyer is a freely accessible exhibition space showcasing the collection. It opened in 2006 on Platz der Republik, a few minutes’ walk from the main station in one of the tower blocks forming DZ Bank’s head offices. Entering up a wide flight of stairs, you are up on the exhibition level where a bar of seats looks out on the street below. Sit here and use the opportunity to charge  your phone at the handy row of sockets while contemplating which piece of art to buy next for your own collection.

Café Karin

It is difficult to escape Goethe, Germany’s greatest literary figure of the modern era, in Frankfurt. The Goethe House is the family residence where he was born in 1749, and is now a place of pilgrimage for people from around the world. Whether you visit it or not, you could take a moment to sit in Café Karin round the corner which is, like the great man himself, a Frankfurt institution (great for breakfast) and think about the writer who has given Faust to the world and, as a poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director and critic, was enormously prolific.

Old Jewish Cemetery

The cemetery is hidden behind a long wall on Battonstraße in the southeastern corner of the centre next to the Judengasse site of Frankfurt’s Jewish Museum. Visitors come here to remember the history of Frankfurt’s 800 year old Jewish community, a community that is now Germany’s biggest after Berlin. As the second oldest preserved Jewish cemetery north of the Alps, some tombstones here date back to 1272. Only a fraction of the 6,000 original graves were saved after the cemetery was destroyed by the Nazis, but wandering beneath the trees and seeing the telltale signs of recent visits, it clearly remains a very poignant place of remembrance. Get the key at the museum’s desk against a deposit (usually your ID). Free of charge entry.

Johannes Gutenberg was born in Mainz in around 1400. Little is known about his early life, but in around 1428 he and his family were forced to flee the city, and by 1434 he’d settled in Strasbourg, which is where he started experimenting with printing. By 1448 he had returned to Mainz again and is known to have borrowed money over the next few years to continue his work, setting up first a small printing workshop and then a larger one, probably at the Humbrechthof. Today you can still see the stair tower of this building just a few streets away from the city’s impressive 1,000-year-old cathedral.

With more funds behind him from relatives and partners, Gutenberg continued to develop his fledgling technology, and, by 1455 at the latest, he had printed his most famous work, the 42-line Bible (so-called because it had 42 lines in each printed column), using his revolutionary invention: the movable-type printing press. This was his method of hand-casting movable type out of a metal alloy, and it allowed him to make many identical copies quickly and easily. At the city’s Gutenberg Museum, one of the world’s oldest printing museums, visitors can watch a fascinating printing demonstration on a reproduction of the original printing press.

Revolutionary cost-cutting

So what was so significant about his invention? Well, up until then books had either been handwritten or printed using woodcuts, both of which were expensive and time-consuming methods. Gutenberg’s printing press, however, could print 42 lines in one go. This faster production time meant that the price of books sank, so that lower-class people could now afford them too. Literacy increased and a whole new way of communicating and sharing information began.

Traces of Gutenberg and his invention can be found all around Mainz, from the name of its university (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) to the Gutenberg Monument – a statue of the inventor holding a Bible and print types, located on a square that also bears his name. A commemorative plaque can be found in Schusterstraße at the spot where he was born – the Hof zum Gutenberg, today a pharmacy. At Liebfrauenplatz, a large square home to Mainz’s weekly market, cuboid stone sculptures that resemble movable type make up the Type Monument. Surrounded by flower beds, the nine pieces spell out the name ‘Gutenberg’ on one side.

The city also commemorates Gutenberg with an annual, four-day event called Johannisnacht. Over a long weekend at the end of June, locals and visitors alike can enjoy printing and calligraphy events, a large book market and exhibitions at the Gutenberg Museum. In fact, it is here at the museum that the most tangible Gutenberg legacy is to be found: two copies of the original 42-line Bible, which beautifully showcase the revolutionary achievements of this great inventor of whom Mainz is so proud.

The city’s tourist authority has more information.

Heidelberg’s location, in a cleft in wooded hills with the river Neckar running through and the ruins of a castle rising above, is unerringly romantic. Add to that Germany’s oldest university, the equivalent of Oxford or Cambridge, and a beautifully preserved Old Town, and hey presto! one of the most popular cities in Germany for visitors.

Approaches, however, are not all that inspiring. The city, some 80km due south of Frankfurt, is in Germany’s most populated region, and its railway station is rather insipid, as well as being located considerably more than walking distance away from the Old Town. However there are plenty of good public transport options in the square outside, and it won’t take more than 10 minutes before you find yourself in a completely different world. It’s a bit like going through the back of the wardrobe into Narnia.

Through the back of the wardrobe

That ancient world, which starts on the other side of Bismarckplatz, is one of cosy cobbled streets and gabled and half-timbered houses, mostly Renaissance or Baroque, dotted with church towers and filled with little bars, bakeries and boutiques. Amongst its key locations, the best place to start is the Alte Brucke, a narrow-arched red sandstone bridge over the Neckar. The river here can be fast-flowing, so big river cruisers stay safely on the Rhine a short distance away, whilst their passengers flock in by road.

At the far end of the bridge a footpath leads up through a patch of vineyards to the Philosopher’s Walk, a broad path much frequented by German intellectuals such as Goethe and Hegel, both Heidelberg students.

The view across the river to Heidelberg Castle is one of the most famous in Germany. Parts of the castle (reached by flights of steps or a funicular) date back to the 13^th century, and in the 17^th century there was an English princess here – Elizabeth Stuart married Frederick V on St Valentine’s Day 1613 – but over the centuries a combination of war and decay has rendered it (mainly) a massively picturesque lump of scenery. There are guided tours to some parts, and the castle grounds host all kinds of events, including huge fireworks displays.

Below the castle, the key streets are Hauptstrasse and Unterestrasse, the former for shopping and the latter for socialising, particularly in all the student bars. Just off Unterestrasse are the Student Prison, where it was once a badge of honour to be locked up, and the Knösel Chocolaterie, the place for the Heidelberg Student Kiss, a chocolate with a story attached, dating back to those days when Heidelberg was all about high society. Girls were highly chaperoned back then, and when the (male) students were out and about it was all they could do to make themselves known to an object of their desire. So back in 1863 Fridolin Knösel invented a delicately-wrapped ‘student kiss’ chocolate that could be passed from boy to girl as a token of interest, without the chaperon taking offence. That act of chivalry has long gone; these days a girl out on the town usually buys her own drink.

www.heidelberg-marketing.de/en/

For much of its length the river Rhine is a big and nondescript waterway, responsible for draining much of Switzerland, Austria and Germany and carrying one helluva lot of freight en route. But for a comparatively short piece of its 1,233km journey from source to sea, it achieves true celebrity status as it cuts through the 260 metre deep Rhine gorge, creating some of the finest scenery in western Europe, to which mankind has added handsome towns, quirky watchtowers and towering castles. These features, together with the slings and arrows of history that went into creating them, has led to the whole gorge being listed as a site of world heritage by UNESCO. And that’s without even mentioning the wine; the gorge’s south-facing shores are slathered in some of the most productive vineyards in Europe.

The gorge has been inspirational for poets, painters and composers (Brahms, Wagner, Goethe) for several centuries – and buttock-clenching for ship’s captains for even longer. The artistically-inclined appreciate the contrast between the beautifully manicured layers of vines and the indomitable wildness of the water, which surges white-flecked through the gorge with a force that all but defeats the most resolute of marine diesels; a skipper needs special certification to tackle these waters.

The most spectacular stretch starts at Rudesheim (Bingen) in the south (frequent trains run from Frankfurt airport via Wiesbaden and take 75 minutes) and runs almost due north for around 65kms to Koblenz. For all of this distance – in fact all the way from Wiesbaden to Koblenz – a distance of 108kms, there are no bridges. Accordingly river transport is key, both in terms of cross-river ferries, and in long distance cruisers, some of them hotel boats savouring the scenery with leisurely stops and others of them day cruisers providing a regular scheduled service.

Three different approaches

For visitors there are three main choices of activity. For walkers, the Rheinsteig is one of Europe’s greatest long distance footpaths, and it follows the river on the east bank (the vineyard side) mostly in the state of Hesse. It sometimes dips down into towns, but much of the time it stays high, staying in shaded woodland of oak and birch, offering terrific views of the river below.

For cyclists, the west bank has the dedicated cycle path, down at river level, sometimes along the side of the road, sometimes doing its own thing at the water’s edge. It is impossible to get lost, and the river’s regular boats – or the trains, which serve both sides – are always at hand to return you to base if you don’t want to retrace your steps.

And then there are all the boat passengers, on day trips or on sleek, glittering hotel boats, sunning themselves in the gorge’s microclimate between stops at the key towns. These are Rudesheim, Bingen, Bacharach, Oberwesel, St Goar, Bad Salzig and Boppard, and they are usually linear in layout, with a castle above, with tower-encrusted walls, and collections of gabled and half timbered medieval houses, boasting plenty of places to sample the Riesling or the coffee and cake.

Elsewhere, the Rhine gorge remains pretty thinly populated, despite sitting at the heart of Europe’s most populous nation. Only wine-makers’ mansions break the patterns of vineyards, their tractors combing the slopes, and holding back rampant forest.

All in all it is a lovely place to pass a handful of days.

There’s no over-arching official website that covers the whole thing, but the Romantic Rhine is the best general site, and the Rheingau covers the wine-rich destinations at the southern and eastern end.

You probably wouldn’t choose Mannheim as a stand-alone city break in Germany. The city itself, and particularly its immediate surroundings with Ludwigshafen, home of the chemical giant BASF, on the other side of the Rhine, are too industrial. However, if you are in this part of the country, a quick detour will be very worthwhile.

Located at the confluence of the rivers Rhine and Neckar, Mannheim offers a magnificent Baroque castle, a beautiful art nouveau ensemble around a water tower, some of the best German shopping and a great choice of cafés and restaurants. That’s why the locals love their Monnem, as it’s called in the local dialect.

Mannheim is particularly famous for its ‘chessboard’ layout. The city centre and its streets between the Neckar and the castle were laid out in a grid formation in the 17th century. Cutting right through it is the popular shopping boulevard Planken, a wide pedestrian zone. At the end – or beginning, whichever way you want to see it – stands the mighty fine art nouveau architectural ensemble, the Friedrichsplatz square. Its water tower, the city’s landmark, was built between 1886 and 1889. Both it and the statue-rich fountains in front of it are particularly spectacular when they are lit up by night.

Go al fresco in art nouveau surroundings

The best way to enjoy all this is sitting al fresco in one of the cafés and bars around the Friedrichsplatz. As soon as the sun comes out, so do Mannheim’s rich and beautiful and the rest as well. Particular favourites amongst the cafés are ‘Dolceamaro’, featuring a baroque-modern interior and Mediterranean-inspired menu, and just next door ‘Café Flo’, a quirky little bistro-type place that is almost as famous in Mannheim as the water tower. And heading towards the Neckar from here, past the city’s green lung Luisenpark, there’s the ‘Bootshaus’, a restaurant and bar above the local rowing club, with a great terrace for a summer evening.

At the centre of Mannheim’s shopping mile is the Engelhorn department store at O5 on the Planken. Still family run, it can easily hold its own next to Berlin’s or Munich’s fashion emporiums. Apart from every possible type of men’s, women’s and kids’ clothing, there’s a fabulous accessories department and coffee bars dotted around on several floors. Right at the top, ‘Faces Lounge’ is a popular café and bar in the evening with a great terrace and views over Mannheim, plus, one floor above, ‘Le Corange’ offers fine dining with equally impressive views.

Perfect for shopping and culture

Mannheim’s cultural scene doesn’t disappoint either with the Reiss-Engelhorn Museum, the Technomuseum and the Kunsthalle art gallery as the stand-out locations. The Nationaltheater with its own ensembles for opera, ballet and theatre as well as the Rosengarten concert hall offer a varied programme.

And, of course, there’s the stunning Baroque palace right next to the Planken. It’s the largest of its kind in Germany and partly occupied by the city’s university. The building has been extensively renovated over the past years and is well worth a visit.

Meanwhile the latest urban development to watch out for is the redevelopment of an old granary on the Rhine right opposite Ludwigshafen. The ‘Speicher 7’ complex includes a chic boutique hotel and gourmet restaurant. So maybe Mannheim is worth a stand-alone city break after all.