euromaxx Land of Loveliness | Video Podcast | Deutsche Welle

This week euromaxx reporter Michael Wigge is in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria, in Germany's south.While many Germans probably couldn't locate Rothenburg on the map, for tourists it's one of the must-see stops on any tour of the country. The community of 12,000 is overrun annually by some 2.5 million daytrippers - about half a million of whom spend the night. The preserved medieval charm of half-timbered houses and narrow alleys makes pictures Rothenburg a favorite in travel...

This time in our weekly series on interesting places in Germany, we visit the Kaiserstuhl in the south-west of the country. Despite the end of summer, this is still one of the warmest and sunniest parts of Germany. That makes it ideal for vineyards.

Today euromaxx-reporter Michael Wigge is in the Black Forest which is over 7 thousand square kilometres in size, so hopefully he's not going to try his hand as a forest guide.

This week Michael Wigge is off to the island of Mainau in Lake Constance which is famous for its large collection of flowers and numerous species of butterflies. Wigge learns how to take care of the butterflies.

Our roving reporter Michael Wigge is currently travelling around Germany to take in some of the better known and many of the lesser known tourist attractions - needless to say it keeps him pretty busy and this time it was also a bit of a challenge as he roped up for a climb in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.

About 400,000 tourists visit the castle every year. Our reporter wants to find out what it was like living in the castle in the olden days. He gets a lesson by the "water master" and he gets to take a bath in the knights' bathtub. The castle was supposedly founded in 1067 by Ludwig der Springer (Ludwig the Jumper).

Roving reporter Michael Wigge continues his tour of Germany looking for interesting locations. Today he is south east of Berlin in the Spreewald or Spree Forest. Wigge learns how to steer one of the typical punts that the locals and tourists use to get around the many waterways.

This week euromaxx-reporter Michael Wigge heads to the far north: Sylt, the biggest North Sea Island. Its impressive 7 million overnight stays a year indicate its popularity as a vacation spot. The little town of Kampen is well-known as having been the ‘it’ place for the rich and famous since the 1960s. The island of Sylt is popular among sport lovers, too, especially surfers and kite-surfers, so our reporter lends a hand in a kite surfing school.

In this week's edition of Land of Loveliness, euromaxx reporter Michael Wigge sets out in search of a seasonal desire: proximity to water. But his time he's not going to the sea coast, he's off to Germany's largest inland lake, the Müritz. Lake Müritz is located in the middle of what's known as the Mecklenburg Lake District in northeast Germany, billed as the land of a thousand lakes. It's truly paradise for water sports fans. Wigge is courages and decides to go water-skiing again after...

Reporter Michael Wigge has been exploring interesting locations in Germany in his 1960's classic car. This week, he's been to Germany's biggest island. Rügen is famous for its chalk cliffs, including the "King's Chair" which rises 118 meters into the heavens and the bizarrely-shaped "Wissower Klinken" which unfortunately crashed into the sea in 2005. Michael Wigge learns that the cliff line is constantly changing because the chalk cliffs are so soft.

euromaxx reporter Michael Wigge is off to the Schleswig-Holstein national park, one of three along Germany's North Sea coast. Together, they're the largest contiguous area of mudflats in the world. Wigge learns why it's important not to get lost in the mudflats and also meets some of the native inhabitants.

This week Michael Wigge visits the headquarters of Europe's largest car manufacturer Volkswagen.

In our weekly series, our roving euromaxx reporter Michael Wigge is on the road throughout Germany, in search of a special angle on some of the country's biggest tourist attractions. This time, he's in Saxony-Anhalt to visit the Eastern German city of Quedlinburg. Located in the Harz mountains lies the mediaeval city Quedlinburg with its thousands of half-timbered houses from the 16th and 17th century. Especially after the fall of the wall, most of the buildings were scrupulously restored to...

In this new weekly series on the most beautiful parts of Germany, our roving reporter Michael Wigge checks out Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze. He takes the cable car up 2,962 metres right to the summit to check out the cold weather - for about 300 days a year the temperatures are minus zero. There are only a few things near the summit - a hotel, a weather station and a cross marking the summit. So Wigge decides to do an internship at the weather station, working with the...

euromaxx reporter Michael Wigge is on the road throughout Germany, in search of a special angle on some of the country's biggest tourist attractions. This time, he's in the north of the country, in the historical Hanseatic port of Lübeck. What many visitors don't know is that Lübeck was once one of Europe's richest and most important trade centers during the heyday of the Hanseatic League. The city's landmark Holstentor Gate was built in that period, some 500 years ago. Back then it served...

In this new weekly series on the more beautiful parts of Germany, our roving reporter Michael Wigge checks out the northern German city of Bremen. Wigge's big assignment here is to discover touristic treasures. One of them is no doubt the statue of the Bremen Town Musicians as well as the Bremen Town Hall itself which is 600-years-old. In fact it's now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bremen - as a city state - also does some of its state parliamentary business here. Wigge then becomes trainee...

euromaxx reporter Michael Wigge is back with a new car, a new outfit and a new assignment. Once a week he will travel to one of Germany's many famous tourist attractions. In the first report his destination is Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. It's world famous as a symbol of German unity. Wigge finds out why: Partly because it was off-limits behind the Berlin Wall during the Cold War years of division. But Wigge then gets a taste of life as a Berlin rikshaw driver. Their legpower pedals tourists...

euromaxx reporter Michael Wigge visits the Sanssouci palace in PotsdamIn this edition of our weekly series "Land of Loveliness", euromaxx reporter Michael Wigge visits the Sanssouci palace and gardens in Potsdam, outside Berlin. The 18th century complex famous for its terraced vineyard was commissioned and designed by Prussia's Enlightenment-era ruler, Fredrick the Great.