Germany

Germany is situated in Western-Central Europe with its borders shared by Austria, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium France and the Czech Republic.

With Berlin as its capital the Federal Republic of Germany is divided into 16 states throughout which the landscape varies considerably, the west featuring the Black Forest, the Rhine and Bavaria. The east boasts many lakes, hilly lowlands and mountain ranges.

Germany has a rich heritage of history, nature and fine arts, its past of turmoil and conflict has left the country with a strong idealistic principles contrasting with its high academic trends, found in the historic university cities such as Heidelberg.

Visit the Berlin Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie, where the history of Germany came to a turn point with the fall of the barriers between the east and west.

The towns of Bamberg, Lübeck and Goslar are classified as architectural heritage sites by the UNESCO World Heritage, while the charming island of Mainau on Lake Constance is scattered with historic buildings, multicolored roofs and flower decorations.

The climate is temperate throughout the country with warm summers and cold winters, but prolonged periods of frost or snow are rare. Rain falls throughout the year.

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    Aachen Cathedral

    Aachen Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Aachen, western Germany. It is the oldest cathedral in northern Europe, and was constructed by order of the Emperor Charlemagne, who was buried here after his death in 814.

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    Abbey of Reichenau

    The Benedictine Abbey of Reichenau was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, with patronage that included Charles Martel, and, more locally, Count Berthold of the Ahalolfinger and the Alemannian Duke Santfrid I (Nebi).

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    Alexander Nevsky Memorial Church

    The church was built for the Russian residents of the settlement of Alexandrowka, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, below the Kapellenberg.

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    All Saints Church, Wittenberg

    All Saints' Church, commonly referred to as Schlosskirche (Palatial Church) to distinguish it from the Stadtkirche (Town Church) of St. Mary - and sometimes known as the Reformation Memorial Church - is a Lutheran church in Wittenberg, Germany.

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    Amphitheater, Trier

    The Trier Amphitheater is a Roman Amphitheater in Trier, Germany. It is designated as part of the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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    Augustusburg Palace, Bruhl

    The Augustusburg and Falkenlust palaces is a historical building complex in Bruhl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which have been listed as a UNESCO cultural World Heritage Site since 1984. Augustusburg Palace, Bruhl.

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    Basilica of Constantine (Aula Palatina), Trier

    The Basilica of Constantine, or Aula Palatina, at Trier, Germany is a Roman palace basilica that was built by the emperor Constantine (AD 306–337) at the beginning of the 4th century.

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    Bergpark Wilhelmshohe

    Bergpark Wilhelmshohe is a unique landscape park in Kassel, Germany. Art historian Georg Dehio (1850–1932), inspirator of the modern discipline of historic preservation, described the park as "possibly the most grandiose combination of landscape and architecture"

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    Berlin Wall

    The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), starting on 13 August 1961, the wall completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until it was opened in November 1989.

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    Boppard Castle (Electoral Castle)

    The castle in Boppard is one of the important fortified complexes at the Middle Rhine. It was built by Balduin the archbishop of Trier as a stronghold after he had conquered the town in 1327. The tower with pouring holes belonged to the original building, the four wings and the yard date from the 17th Century.

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    Bremen Roland

    The Bremen Roland is a statue of Roland, erected in 1404. It stands in the market square (Rathausplatz) of Bremen, Germany, facing the cathedral, and shows Roland, paladin of the first Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne and hero of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass.

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    Chapel of St. Roch, Bingen

    The Chapel of St. Roch is a German pilgrimage chapel, dedicated to Saint Roch, on the Rochusberg southeast of Bingen am Rhein.

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    Church of Our Lady, Trier

    Church of Our Lady in Trier, is, along with the Cathedral of Magdeburg the earliest Gothic church in Germany and falls into the architectural tradition of the French Gothic cathedrals. It is located next to the Trier Dom. It is designated as part of the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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    Church of St. Mary's, Wittenberg

    Town and Parish Church of St. Mary's is the civic church of the German town of Lutherstadt Wittenberg. The reformers Martin Luther and Johannes Bugenhagen preached there and the building also saw the first celebration of the mass in German rather than Latin and the first ever distribution of the bread and wine to the congregation - it is thus considered the mother-church of the Protestant Reformation.

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    Church of Wies

    The Pilgrimage Church of Wies is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann, who lived nearby for the last eleven years of his life. It is located in the foothills of the Alps, in the municipality of Steingaden in the Weilheim-Schongau district, Bavaria, Germany.

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    City Hall (Town Hall), Bremen

    The Bremen City Hall is the seat of the President of the Senate and Mayor of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. It is one of the most important examples of Brick Gothic architecture in Europe.

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    Cologne Cathedral

    Cologne Cathedral (High Cathedral of Saints Peter and Mary) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Cologne, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne, currently, since his 2014 transfer from Berlin, Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki, and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne.

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    Dessau-Worlitz Garden Realm

    The Dessau-Worlitz Garden Realm, also known as the English Grounds of Worlitz, is one of the first and largest English parks in Germany and continental Europe.

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    Deutsches Eck

    Deutsches Eck is the name of a headland in Koblenz where the Moselle joins the Rhine. In 1897, nine years after the death of the German Emperor William I, the former emperor was honoured with a giant equestrian statue.

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    Ehrenfels Castle, Hessen

    Ehrenfels Castle (German: Burg Ehrenfels) is a ruined castle above the Rhine Gorge near the town of Rudesheim am Rhein in Hesse, Germany.

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    Eisleben

    Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as the hometown of Martin Luther, hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. As of 2005, Eisleben had a population of 24,284 (2013). It lies on the Halle–Kassel railway.

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    Electoral Palace, Koblenz

    The Electoral Palace in Koblenz, Germany, was the residence of the last Archbishop and Elector of Trier, Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, who commissioned the building in the late 18th century.