My love for the Bauhaus kicked in exactly ten years ago, when the design school celebrated the 90^th anniversary of its foundation in Weimar. Until then, my knowledge about it had been fairly superficial and I mainly associated it with architecture and its founder Walter Gropius. But then a Bauhaus exhibition came to London’s Barbican and a whole new Bauhaus world opened up to me. One that encompasses so much more than architecture.

I still remember the moment I caught a glimpse of a gorgeous, colourful wall-hanging by textile artist Gunta Stölzl, one of the few Bauhaus women who managed to step out of the shadow of the roster of mighty Bauhaus men to achieve international acclaim. Another lasting memory from that exhibition is not a Bauhaus art and design object but a black and white picture of a group of young laughing Bauhäusler, joyful, mucking about, clearly having fun. It perfectly captured the spirit of that particular moment in time, that notion of not just doing things differently in art and design, but in life, too.

Ever since then I’ve been convinced that the Bauhaus is the coolest thing to have come out of Germany. I’m fascinated by how modern it was 100 years ago and how timeless it remains today. Its idea that form follows function has travelled round the world, inspired the likes of Apple and Ikea, as well as countless everyday designs that surround us. And I somehow feel that the approach of the Bauhaus founders, teachers and artists of tearing down boundaries that existed between disciplines, establishing a whole new approach to art and design that has collaboration and knowledge sharing at its heart, is more relevant than ever in this digital era, where boundaries are blurred and things are forever changing.

The international take-up of this year’s Bauhaus centenary is quite amazing and almost no day goes by that I don’t read about a Bauhaus-related exhibition, book or project somewhere in the world. I guess I’m not the only one who has a bit of a soft spot for it!

Very high on my personal Bauhaus list of things to see is the new Bauhaus Museum Weimar in the central German state of Thuringia, opening on 6 April, which will sit at the centre of a new “Modernism Quarter” and house the world’s oldest Bauhaus collection. And a slightly off-the-beaten track building in neighbouring Saxony called Haus Schminke, which was built in the small town of Löbau in 1932/33 by architect Hans Scharoun for a local manufacturer, and still looks SO modern you wouldn’t believe it. Architecture experts list it as one of the four most important residential homes of classical Modernism in the world, in line with buildings by Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright.

And if someone then also got me one of those Gunta Stölzl wall hangings, I’d really be chuffed to bits…

Interested in a Bauhaus trail? The Cultural Heart of Germany, a tourism initiative of Saxony and Thuringia, features dedicated Bauhaus content, including a Bauhaus road trip.

Skiing in its Alpine form is a very expensive holiday. Skiing in its east German form is quite a different story, for the ski resorts in the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) in Saxony and in Thuringia are amongst the cheapest in Europe, and certainly the best value in Germany.  In the Ore Mountains, whose main resort Oberwiesenthal is the highest town in Germany at 914 metres, you can get a six-day package with accommodation, food and ski pass, for as little as €219 per person. And in the Thuringian forest a four-night package for cross-country skiers, including meals and baggage transfer along the route, costs from €180.

Of course higher prices is just one of the consequences to committing to an Alpine skiing holiday. There are others. Usually you are incarcerating yourself in a purpose-built (ie ugly) community, high up in the mountains, where skiing is practically the only occupation on offer. What happens if you don’t like it? You get tired of it? Or one of you gets injured? Too bad. You’re stuck in your mountain fastness for a week, and you’ll just have to grin and bear it, and watch others having fun while your cash drains away.

On the other hand, the lower altitude of this east German skiing can mean that the snow is far less reliable. Accordingly it’s a destination for shorter stays and last-minute decisions, and for people who want to mix skiing with other activities for a broader-based stay.

A former training ground for GDR skiers

Of the two key regions, Thuringia is mainly undulating forest, and so is best for cross-country skiing and tobogganing, with a bit of downhill thrown in. The resorts are tiny – Oberhof is one of the biggest and only has four lifts – but then this is also Germany’s cultural triangle, so there’s lots to see and learn about Goethe, Luther, Bach etc, and an array of castles such as the imperial Wartburg to see, along with the city of Weimar, which has no fewer than 16 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge), particularly the Fichtelberg above Oberwiesenthal, were once the key training area for GDR skiers, and remain a favourite destination for athletes intent on competing in the Biathlon (cross country skiing plus rifle shooting). As it is on the border with the Czech Republic, Oberwiesenthal’s clientele is interestingly mixed and this keeps the prices down.  There’s a sufficient array of downhill slopes served by the seven lifts to keep an unambitious skier occupied for a couple of days.

Airport access is from Dresden, which helps make a strong case for coming here. The rebuilt city has a gruelling but interesting history, great architecture, opera and art galleries, and a superb location on the banks of the river Elbe. Plus the brand new, ground-breaking Military History Museum.

Information on the Fichtelberg ski resort

Oberwiesenthal packages

Contact for Thuringia Tourism