Dresden for Art

If If you are coming to Germany do not overlook Dresden! Dresden’s coat of arms is a simple lion rampant of black on yellow beside vertical yellow stripes, belying its complex and deep artistic and cultural heritage.

Dresden is home to Dresden State Art Collections or Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden one of the most important art collections in the world. The collection consists of twelve museums, most of them hosted in the Zwinger building and Dresden Castle, and comprises some of the most important works of the old masters still in existence.

The complexity of Dresden will be apparent to any student of architecture. The city, it is well known, has suffered more than one destruction and renewal. Largely considered a Baroque city, the trained eye can pick out large areas of modern and post-modern influence as well as some Renaissance buildings.

The finest hotels in Dresden are, unsurprisingly, operated by the Steinberger Hotel Group www.cometogermany.com/specialoffers. The three in Dresden offer different areas and styles, but they are all top-notch.

Bauhaus in Dessau

Though you may not be aware of it, the influences of the short lived arts and design school born in Weimar are all around us. A merging of craft and art in 1919 became the first Bauhaus school and the beginning of a short but strange saga that has spread across the globe and left its mark in every major modern city. Largely credited with transforming modernism from a concept to a reality and bringing artistic experimentation to the masses in a very real way–through pottery and architecture–Bauhaus creations still reach out to us every day from each street corner and in many shop windows.

It was not until the school moved from Weimar to Dessau that the seeds of this influence would be sown. In Dessau the director of the school, while able to turn a profit and bring attention to Bauhaus architecture–as well as securing their first good contracts–eventually became regarded as a scoundrel for forcing the resignation of several popular aesthetic professors. It is in Dessau, however, that the influence of Bauhaus architecture and art, as well as a pride therein, can most strongly be felt.

Dessau, as a city, is itself a work of art. From the gothic town hall to the surreal market square, Dessau is indisputably a city dedicated to its aesthetic sensibilities. The sharp lines and harsh modernism of the Bauhaus contrast with the classic forms of the Georgian castle and other various gothic churches. Then there are the nearly indescribable buildings like the Umweltbundesamt, a multilayered and multicolored glass and wood affair that has to be seen to be believed.

Dessau is a city with a surprise around every corner.

Oktoberfest–The Original and Still the Best

With a cry of “O’zapft is!” the festival known ’round the world begins and the sobriety of Munich ends. The exclamation is Bavarian for “It’s tapped” the exclaimer is the mayor of Munich in observance of his most joyous duty and the festival is Oktoberfest. “Ah,” you say, “I know Oktoberfest.” Let me assure you, gentle reader, that unless you have seen the tents filled with thousands of revelers, tasted the Oktoberfest draught unobtainable legally at any other place or any other time, unless you have been granted a smile by a dirndl wearing girl or washed down käsespätzle and roast ox tails with a liter tankard of lager–you, my kind friend, do not know Oktoberfest.

In the middle of the above rant you may have noticed an intriguing claim. You may have noticed I mentioned a beer that can not be found, barring larceny, outside of Munich during Oktoberfest. You did not misread, you do understand correctly. Oktoberfest beer is only sold within Oktoberfest tents. Darker, more flavorful and more potent than mere mortal beers, the Oktoberfest beer is a celebration of the celebration. If you are able to travel to Munich to be at Oktoberfest do us both a favor and make sure to have at least one draught of the stuff. Spread the legend.

Oktoberfest has been imitated around the world by other countries and regions of Germany looking to get in on the celebration or cash in on the popularity of the original, but none of the imitators can come close to matching the verve and spectacle of Munich’s pride and joy. The festival is held religiously, it literally takes a war or cholera epidemic to cancel the thing, and every consideration is made to adjust the celebrations and keep them modern and relevant without sacrificing tradition. The first such change was made by the Munich city founders who pushed the celebration forward from the middle of October to the end of September to take advantage of the weather. More recent innovations include lowered music volume until the afternoon and the 2008 ban on indoor smoking.

Get to Munich in time for the opening parade, firearms salute and the first keg being tapped and you might not make it home in time for November.

Schwabing–Bohemian Bavaria

Admit it, there was a time in your life when you considered dropping out of school or quitting your job and moving to Greenwich Village, taking your painting or guitar playing more seriously and living la vie boheme. Don’t deny it, there’s an artist’s heart beating somewhere deep in your chest. There’s a free spirit longing to escape your office. Send it to Schwabing.

Schwabing used to be Munich’s bohemian quarter. It did not escape the gentrification common to such periodically hip areas, but thanks to the proximity of Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität and the Technical University of Munich, student activity and the rebellious, free spirit of youth has not fled.

Nowadays, Schwabing is the place to dine in Munich if you’re looking for either a classic beer and pretzels Bavarian pub or the cool, new and soon-to-be famous avant-cuisine of the month. Once you pass under the Siegestor you’ll know you’re in a unique neighborhood. As a bonus, if you’re not up for finding yourself you can always get lost in one of the largest public parks in the world. Now that’s wild.

Staying in Germany? Break the Language Barrier.

One of the primary concerns when visiting a foreign country is communication. Every well prepared traveler deals with this concern, and each one does so in a different way. There are the old standbys: learning a few key phrases, carrying an inter-language phrase book or dictionary or perhaps one of those nifty electronic translators. Then there’s the real traveler’s method: taking a language course.

For the person who wants to really get into the spirit of travel and immerse themselves in a foreign culture–and there is no way to get more out of your vacation than by becoming part of the area you visit–learning to speak the language is the way to go. You don’t have to become fluent, but learning how to say more than, “Where is the bathroom?” will make your stay easier, more enjoyable and impress your friends more than a tan and some souvenirs. Even better, you can carry that knowledge with you wherever you go. If you’re considering alternate accommodations–and you ought to be–learning a bit of German will make your stay many times more relaxing.

Staying in a rented home or apartment affords the same kind of cultural immersion that learning the language does. The two really go hand in hand: knowing what to ask for at the grocery store, or how to read a label, makes the ability to cook in your rental’s kitchen that much easier. Interacting with the locals is obviously enhanced as well, and that is the best way to appreciate a locality: making friends. German isn’t a hard language to learn, either. English is a Germanic language and so much of it will seem familiar to the novice speaker. You have to learn a few new letters, but it’s spelled phonetically. If you’ve got a couple of months before you are traveling I suggest enrolling in your local university’s language course. In addition to learning enough German to get by you’ll have conversation practice partners and, most likely, a native German to tell you all about where you’ll be visiting.