FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011
Look forward to world-class soccer and authentic experiences in Germany when the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011™ kicks off on June 26. “The beautiful side of 20Eleven!” is the official slogan for the tournament held in nine different cities throughout Germany: Berlin, Augsburg, Bochum, Dresden, Leverkusen, Mönchengladbach, Sinsheim, Wolfsburg and Frankfurt.
Each host city is easy to get to and easy to get around due to a first-class infrastructure which embraces cutting-edge technology, great transport links such as their extensive and state of the art railway system that connects large cities and small towns or the country’s excellent Autobahns (highways). Superb hotels and restaurants cater to all tastes and budgets. Discover art, culture and history in a wide range of museums, unwind at one of the many exclusive spas or enjoy world-class shopping in our exciting cities. Let us take you on a tour through the host cities and give you a first-hand impression of what awaits you.
The Host Cities
Berlin: Truly a World-Class City
On June 26, 2011, attention turns to Germany’s capital when the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 kicks off in the Olympiastadion Berlin. Before and after the game, do not miss out on some of Berlin’s major attractions that range from the Brandenburg Gate to the Gendarmenmarkt square, hailed as one of Europe’s most beautiful plazas, framed by the French and German Cathedrals. Explore the Hackesche Höfe with their little shops and visit the Reichstag, an architectural marvel with a cutting-edge glass dome and splendid views over the government quarters. Explore the city’s unique history on an east-west tour to learn more about the Berlin Wall, or stay out till dawn in a place that’s renowned for its pulsating nightlife. Go on a shopping spree around the various fashionable quarters, or tick off to Berlin’s Museum Island, the Jewish Museum and the memorial of the Jews. The best thing about Berlin is that whatever you choose, you just can’t lose. It has something to suit all tastes.
Dresden: Welcome to Saxony
Sports, history and culture are part of Dresden’s appeal. On June 28 the US Team compete against Korea in the newly built Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion Dresden. Fans can enjoy soccer and explore the Baroque city whose cultural scene balances the traditional with the modern. The recently restored Frauenkirche “Church of Our Lady” is a highlight of any visit to Dresden. Theaterplatz square is graced by the Zwinger Palace, the most important Baroque building in Germany, the opulent Semper Opera House, the Residence Palace with its stables and “Procession of Dukes”, a frieze of Meissen tiles, and the cathedral. Also head for the three palaces along the Elbe and the historical mountain railway in Loschwitz. Many of Dresden’s 30 or so museums are world-class. The Zwinger Palace houses the famous Old Masters Gallery with the “Sistine Madonna” and the world’s largest porcelain collection. In the Outer Neustadt district, more than 150 clubs, bars and hip-and-happening stores draw an eclectic crowd of artists, musicians and students.
Sinsheim: Small but Worthy
Sinsheim is the smallest host city involved in the tournament situated in the heart of the picturesque Kraichgau region between Heidelberg and Heilbronn, bordering the southern foothills of the Odenwald forest. On July 2, the US Team will play Colombia. Two additional group matches and the third-place play off are scheduled for the Rhine-Neckar-Arena Sinsheim. To complement this festival of soccer, the beautiful Rhine-Neckar region provides a wealth of opportunities for active pursuits. The town’s most prominent landmark is the medieval Steinsberg Castle built by the Hohenstaufen dynasty. Sinsheim’s Car & Technology Museum is the ideal attraction for technologically minded visitors of all ages. Highlights include an Air France Concorde, its supersonic equivalent from the Soviet Union, Europe’s biggest Formula 1 exhibition and a multitude of cars, trains and motorbikes.
Wolfsburg: Worth a Visit
Wolfsburg home to Volkswagen headquarters and well known as “Autostadt” is staging the US versus Sweden game on July 6, 2 other group games and one quarter-final for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011. Wolfsburg is located in the east of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. The vibrant, modern town offers visitors a pleasant and relaxing stay and is characterized by a lively mixture of art, culture and entertainment. In Wolfsburg you have the enviable choice between two themed discovery worlds: Autostadt and the Phæno science center. Volkswagen’s Autostadt with its automotive exhibition complex and visitor center is a highly impressive theme park and Wolfsburg’s biggest attraction. At “Phaeno”, one of Germany’s largest science centers, the world of science can be interactively explored in the huge ‘exploratorium’, where even those who think science is boring will be amazed. Wolfsburg’s city center is easy to get around on foot and boasts trendy fashion boutiques and the Designer Outlets Wolfsburg is Germany’s first designer outlet mall. The town’s public parks are almost twice the size of Central Park in New York and offer plenty of easily accessible sport and fitness opportunities. In the summer, the residents of Wolfsburg go waterskiing and wakeboarding at Wake-Park, possibly Germany’s most beautiful water-ski park.
Frankfurt: Raising the Roof
Frankfurt am Main is a metropolis at the heart of Europe characterized by compelling contradictions. The traditional and the modern, business and culture, big-city bustle and tranquil havens all exist here side by side. Frankfurt and its skyline are dominated by the towering buildings that accommodate the major banks. The viewing platform, 656 feet up the Maintower, affords great views over the city and the river Main as far as the Taunus hills. There are also restaurants and bars at lofty heights. The final of the FIFA Women’s soccer game will be held here on July 17 in the Frankfurt Stadium. Frankfurt has something for everyone, from the exclusive boutiques of Goethestrasse to the popular department stores on the busiest shopping street “Zeil”. A few steps away is the “Fressgass” also known as “gourmet paradise” where visitors can enjoy the traditional Frankfurt apfelwein (cider).
Of all Frankfurt’s buildings, St. Paul’s Church has the greatest historical role: this is where Germany’s first freely elected parliament met in 1848. Römerberg square and the old town hall, known as the “Römer”, are the very heart of the old quarter. Goethe House, birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, provides a fascinating insight into upper-middle class life in the mid-18th century.
Frankfurt’s museums along “museum embankment” have a variety of exhibitions. The Städel Institute of Art, the German Film Museum, the Museum for Applied Arts, the Museum of Ethnology and the Communications Museum are particularly highly regarded. “Alte Oper” concert hall has been an integral part of the Frankfurt cultural scene hosting a wide range of events and is always worth a visit.
Game schedule
June 26 Germany vs. Canada Berlin
June 28 U.S. vs. Korea Dresden
July 2 U.S. vs. Colombia Sinsheim
July 6 Sweden vs. U.S. Wolfsburg
July 17 Final Frankfurt
For information, call the German National Tourist Office, 800-637-1171 or visit www.germany-extranet.com
October 2010 Cover feature
Germany: Promoting Health and Wellness
by Tom Bross
Physical well-being is something we all wish for; for ourselves, for our families, our business associates and clients. It’s also something that Germany’s tourism planners wish for their country’s visitors, as demonstrated by their Healthy Holidays promotional campaign for 2011. The theme draws renewed attention to Germany’s remarkable abundance of thermal springs, therapeutic treatment facilities and spa resorts in various price ranges and locales—from seacoasts and inland forests to scenic alpine mountain valleys.
German spa vacations account for more than 400,000 worldwide visitors yearly, and an additional 70,000 arrivals check into specialized medical clinics. Overall, some 300 easygoing Heilbad (healing-bath) towns and villages are scattered throughout the country—from Ahlbeck and Alexisbad to Zingst and Zinnowitz. The genesis for these Heilbad goes way back to imperial Roman colonizers, who introduced the concept of hydrotherapy for Julius Caesar’s footsore and exhausted Rhineland soldiers as early as 58 B.C. Also made aware of watery benefits, Emperor Augustus established the city of Trier, once among the most important cities in the empire, along the banks of the Mosel River.
Kneipp curatives are another distinctively home-grown phenomenon, conceived by Sebastian Kneipp, a 19th-century Dominican priest. To self-treat his pulmonary tuberculosis, he maintained a holistic regimen of swimming in wintertime’s frigid Danube River. Then came his influential books, proclaiming hot-and-cold hydrotherapy augmented by herbal remedies, compresses, massage, balanced nutrition, aromatic breathing and relaxation techniques mixed with strenuous indoor/outside workouts. Fr. Sebastian spent the last 42 years of his life in Bad Wörishofen in Bavaria’s high-altitude, lake-filled Allgäu region, sprawling midway between Munich and Lindau.
There are nine local spa properties that adhere to his naturopathic theories. Rates for one-week four-star packages (medical checkups and eight Kneipp sessions included) start at under $600. In the five-star niche, look at Steigenberger’s Hotel der Sonnenhof (www.steigenberger.de). For other choices, contact Bad Wörishofen Tourist Information: (www.badwoerishofen.de). While doing so, ask about the Upper Swabian Spa Route, extending 173 miles through southern Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria via Biberach, Weingarten, Steinhausen and past six of Germany’s prettiest, deepest alpine lakes. On the western part of this signposted route, a turreted hilltop castle looms above Sigmaringen, ancestral home of Hohenzolleran dynasties since 1545.
Imported treatments and exercises available in other parts of the federal republic include Thalasso (Greek), holistic Ayurveda (Asian Indian/Sri Lankan), Haman (Turkish), Rasul bathing (Morrocan), Lomi Lomi massage (Hawaiian), Reiki and Shiatsu (Japanese) and Qigong (Chinese).
Baltic Coast and Island Resorts
Heiligendamm (a bit west of Rostock) is Germany’s oldest seaside health resort, founded by Grand Duke Friedrich Franz I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1793. It became the subject of worldwide attention when it hosted the world leaders’ G8 governmental summit at the five-star, 1814-vintage Grand Hotel in June 2007. Chalk scraped from the steep cliffs off the nearby island of Rügen has been valued for its curative qualities since Common Market exporting began 55 years ago. Dunked in Baltic Sea water, the white gold’s calcium carbonate content makes it an effective pain reliever, and soothing for rheumatic and skin ailments.
Despite past East German austerity, 19th-century villa-style architecture remains proudly evident in Usedom, on northeastern Mecklenburg’s sandy Baltic coast. Heringsdorf, biggest of the island’s resort towns, opens onto continental Europe’s longest public pier. Usedom’s balconied, beachfront Strand Hotel, built in 1886, provides spa facilities. One-week packages including six Thalasso treatments are available from $75 (www.strandhotel-herringsdorf.de).
Northerly Schleswig-Holstein to Southerly Bavaria
The entire western, Friesland shoreline of Schleswig-Holstein’s federal state is covered by UNESCO-listed Wattenmeer National Park (www.wattenmeer-nationalpark.de). This aquatic nature realm (a protected habitat for migratory birds) encompasses white-sand beaches, dunes, salt marshes, extensive tidal mudflats and half a dozen pristine mini-islands. The briny, breezy atmosphere boosts the human immune system and morning exercisers can often be seen slogging ankle-deep through the mud. The mudflats are prevalent along Lower Saxony’s North Sea coast, established as East Frisian national park land 24 years ago. Water warmed by the Gulf Stream is a plus for vacationers. So are dikes, lighthouses, bird watching and moderately priced accommodations on Borkum and Norderney, largest of the park’s seven islands.
Near Soest—a Hamburg in the Westphalian heartland west beyond Dortmund—verdant pastures and two canals (Boer, Menzelfeld) surround Lippstadt’s pro-caliber Gut Menzefelde golf course. From there, cross the Lippe River to reach the health-seeker’s haven of Bad Sassendorf. On Salzstrasse, an estate’s 19th-century timber-framed houses have been transformed into four-star Maritim Hotel Schnitterdorf (www.maritime.de/de/hotels) with glass-canopied pool, saunas, bicycles and Medi Well “beauty farm.”
Bad Reichenhall, on the German-Austrian border amidst snow-capped mountains, ranks as Upper Bavaria’s best and best-known wellness destination, enriched since the 19th century by ample supplies of salt extracted from area ponds. Three dozen spa and fitness properties include the four-star, amenity-loaded Rupertus Therme resort (www.rupertustherme.de). Continuing eastward to Salzburg involves less than an hour’s drive.
Money-Saving Package Deals
Package rates add to the appeal of recommendable wellness hotels and inns situated in various parts of Germany. For instance, three nights at the four-star Maritim (www.martim.de) in Bad Salzuflen start around $400. Crammed with half-timbered housefronts and featuring nine thermal saline springs—plus a beautifully landscaped spa park—this North Rhine-Westphalian community adjoins the Teutoborger Wald forest and perches across the Weser River from Hameln of Pied Piper storybook fame. Bad Krozingen, in southwestern Baden-Württemberg, has Black Forest ambience and Rhine River proximity, as well as family-friendly Villa Classica thermal baths. JAX FAX likes the village’s 20-room Hotel Eden am Park (www.edenhotels.de), where doubles start at a modest $160.
For fussy clientele preferring upper-crust Euro-continental niceties, aristocratic Baden-Baden has much to offer, topped by Germany’s biggest, oldest casino—an 1824 Belle Epoque beauty—and the early 19th-century Kurhaus. But there’s more. For thermal bathing, visitors skinny-dip in the Römerplatz’s skylit-domed, marble-columned Roman-Irish Caracalla Therme spa, fed by a dozen natural springs. Or, a block away, they can unwind in 1913’s Friedrichsbad, a sensationally designed aquatic pleasure palace where the complete rejuvenation routine ordinarily takes three hours.
Suitably, the five-star Dorint Hotel Maison Messmer (www.dorint.com/baden-baden) treats guests to a full array of luxury spa amenities as well as cuisine in a renowned gourmet restaurant. Doubles from around $340; two-night packages from $660. Tops in town, though, and definitely a European classic, the 100-room Brenner’s Park Hotel & Spa (www.brenners.com) provides pool-sauna-solarium facilities. Depending upon the season, rates for doubles begin at $425-435.
‘Taking the Waters’
Comparable long-time prestige distinguishes mid-size Wiesbaden, Hesse’s federal state capital, on the north bank of the Rhine. A hundred vineyards cover north-outlying Taunus slopes—inspiring each August’s Rheingau wine festival. Early generations of Nassau dukes settled here; celebrity personalities including Goethe, Brahms, Richard Wagner, Kaiser Wilhelm II and itinerant Russian noblemen chose socially fashionable Wiesbaden to “take the waters.” The supply is plentiful, assured by 500,000 gallons burbling daily from the inner city’s 26 thermal springs, most ostentatiously Kranzplatz’s arcaded Kochbrunnen. From subterranean depths, water earth-heated to 155 degrees Fahrenheit gushes from the fountain at a continuous rate of 230 gallons per minute.
The neoclassical Kurhaus and crystal-chandeliered casino (where author Fyodor Dostoevsky gambled impulsively and losingly) sets contemporary Wiesbaden’s ritzy cosmopolitan tone. Same for the grand Wilhelmine-style Nassauer Hof (www.nassauer-hof.de), standing alongside the Kurpark at Kaiser-Friedrich-Platz. Hotel guests are invited to take advantage of the on-site thermal baths and spring-fed swimming pool. Overlooking above-mentioned, center-of-everything Kranzplatz, Radisson SAS’s 142-room Blue Schwarzen Bock (www.radisson.com) serves midday and evening meals in its flowery Hofgarten courtyard. Rack rates for doubles start at $125; big-windowed park view suites priced from $265. Hotel guests take their pick of 30 spa treatments in the property’s Das Badhaus.
Two public spas, both here in Wiesbaden, qualify as “must-see” visitor attractions. On northeast-side Liebnizstrasse since 1976, the Thermalbad Aukmanntal water park contains a Kneipp pool, thermal baths, eight saunas, splashing cascades and chic cafés, all dramatically illuminated at night. Built on the site of ancient Roman steambaths in 1913, picture-perfect Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme features Moorish atmospherics with a cool green color scheme, mosaics and arched colonnades. Swimsuit? Politely but firmly “verboten” without special prearrangement; clients be warned.
Clustered beneath Taunas slopes, merely seven miles/12 km. north of Frankfurt for quick side-trip commuting, small but affluent Bad Homburg’s cosmopolitan pleasure credentials include a haute-cuisine French restaurant in the casino, continental Europe’s first golf course (1899) and, in the Kurpark gardens, the country’s earliest tennis courts (1877). Fame and fortune followed the discovery of saline springs in 1834. Years later, English visitors began referring to breezes drifting from the hills as enviable “champagne air,” used as a handy marketing slogan ever since. Find price-categorized choices of health-spa accommodations elsewhere throughout Germany by logging onto this Düsseldorf-based website: www.Wellness-Hotels-Deutschland.
Hiking, Biking, Canoeing and Kayaking
Active, ageless outdoor enthusiasts shouldn’t be left with the impression that this mid-European NATO partner is one big clinical Kurpark. Contrary to that notion, they can explore 14 national parks and more than 90 nature reserves. Inn-to-inn hiking programs can be booked. Signed, mapped trails cover a phenomenal 118,000 miles of federal territory. That includes 122 miles across southernmost Saxony’s Erzgebirge highlands, where bicyclists pedal short- or long-distance on signed routes totaling 31,000 miles. Canoe and kayak paddling has become especially popular on Brandenburg’s and North Rhine-Westphalia’s waterways. For information and arrangements, get in touch with the German-Canadian outfitter Gatz (www.Gatz-Kanus.de).
Diehard sports fans are looking forward to Fussball’s 2011 Women’s World Cup soccer playoffs, starring 16 teams. Spectators and TV-watchers will view the opening kickoffs in Berlin’s Olympic stadium next June 26th. Then come the championship finals, in Frankfurt’s Commerzbank Arena on July 17th. Between those events, elimination matches will be played in seven other host cities: Augsburg, Bochum, Dresden, Leverkusen, Sinsheim, Mönchengladbach and Volkswagen Autostadt Wolfsburg.
Overseas Flights & Visitors’ Information
Lufthansa, the country’s national “flag carrier,” operates direct transatlantic flights from/to 17 coast-to-coast U.S. gateways. Current German destinations: Frankfurt FRA, Munich (MUC) and Düsseldorf (DUS). Star Alliance affiliation (in effect since 1997) solidifies Lufthansa’s code-share partnership with such airlines as United, Continental, USAirways and Air Canada for extensive North American service.
For complete special-events updates, destination information and sales aids, call the German National Tourist Office in New York City at 800-637-2271 or visit www.cometogermany.com
For the travel trade, GNTO’s Booking Germany details promotable programs and lists more than 300 German suppliers.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW With Jens Bischof, Vice President The Americas for Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
By Ryley Hartt
Describe the second quarter recovery effort faced by European airlines this year. Have you been successful? If so, how?
We posted a 159 million euro profit for the second quarter of 2010, which shows that Lufthansa is continuing on a very positive path even in difficult times. We’ve been very successful with generating new business opportunities and the implementation of effective cost-cutting measures. Settlements with the pilot and ground staff unions helped us to digest the negative effects of an unusually rough winter, with the ash cloud air space lock down in Europe and the pilot strike action. Now, First and Business Class travel is coming back, and the current high seat-load factors prove that our strategy to offer top-of-the-line premium products and services is greatly appreciated by our customers. Thus, I’m confident that we will be able to achieve a positive result for the full year 2010.
On a more strategic level, with the successful integration of Swiss, Austrian Airlines, bmi and Brussels Airlines into the Lufthansa Group and a 15% stake in jetBlue, we are now spearheading the current consolidation process in the industry and have formed the largest airline group in Europe.
You recently took delivery of a third Airbus A380 and celebrated a 10-year culinary milestone; can you elaborate on some of these efforts to improve your passengers’ experience?
Between now and 2016, $18 billion will go into fleet renewal and expansion, including the purchase of the new Airbus A380. Hundreds of millions are earmarked for cabin interior updates and 150 million euros are being invested into lounge expansions and improvements worldwide until 2013. Also, Lufthansa takes great pride in its staff training and professional development, which directly translates into the ultimate in customer service for our passengers. For example, we provide a crew that exhibits a high level of dedication and expertise in our first class cabin who cater to our customers’ every need.
With regard to the new Airbus A380, it has truly raised the bar in all levels of service. Our engineers designed a quiet cabin with decreased noise levels and introduced the concept of mild humidity for the ultimate in passenger comfort and a minimal jetlag effect. Our all-new First Class cabin offers the longest and widest bed in the industry with the highest quality materials, and two huge bathrooms with a leather bench and separate washing area. By the end of 2010, Lufthansa will operate a total of four A380 aircrafts, with 11 more to join the fleet by 2015. We’re very proud to say that this will designate us as the largest European operator of the A380.
And yes, we are celebrating the ten year anniversary of the Star Chefs program, whereby celebrated chefs from around the world create outstanding in-flight meal options which rotate every two months. The program has attracted the best in the business, and our chef list reads like a who’s-who of culinary artisanship, including Thomas Keller, Paul Bocuse, Susur Lee, Daniel Boulud, Gabriel Kreuther, David Bouley and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Another highlight: with our “surprising moments” concept, we treat our guests from time to time to special fares such as ice-cream cones, bento sushi-boxes, Bavarian specialties around the Octoberfest time or regional German specialties. But also the small details count: On routes to India for example, we offer soy milk and the typical mint-flavored tooth picks.
There is talk of a re-launch for FlyNet this fall. What will that entail and can short-haul passengers expect to be able to access in-flight broadband as well?
The re-launch of FlyNet is something we’re all very excited about. Passengers will be able to connect via WiFi as well as via the smartphone’s GSM/GPRS, and we’ll offer full broadband access, not just a narrowband solution for sending text messages or e-mails. Most importantly, since our service is satellite-based, one can use it throughout the entire flight, including the time we’re flying across oceans. At a later stage, we also plan to implement FlyNet for intra-European flights. The use of cell phones will not be enabled so all of Lufthansa’s planes will remain chatter-free. This was a clear request from our customers, and we listened.
Can you give a summary of any recent additions Lufthansa has made to its fleet and route map, and tell how these will impact passengers?
Lufthansa currently has the second largest aircraft orderbook of all airlines in the world! In an effort to further rejuvenate our fleet, this year we are adding 46 brand new planes, while 40 leave the fleet. The more modern the aircraft, the higher the fuel-efficiency. Now, with the addition of the new aircrafts, our already high average of 55 MPG per passenger will grow significantly further, benefitting the environment AND our cost base. Our new Airbus A380, which entered into service in May, is our fleet’s flagship aircraft. By the end of 2010, four of these brand-new aircraft will be operating to Tokyo, Beijing and Johannesburg. In 2011 we are aiming to have the first A380’s operating North Atlantic routes. Looking ahead, our new orders comprise of 146 aircraft from 2010–2016 with a list price of 18.5 billion dollars in total. This is a huge investment that will directly benefit our customers, the environment and our sustained profitability.
We offer a large number of direct and non-stop flights from 21 North American cities to Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf. From these hubs, Lufthansa has over 200 connections to 70+ countries, and soon will launch flights to Bogotá (Colombia) and Pointe Noire (Congo). Africa is a growing market for us. Together with our Group airlines Swiss, Austrian, bmi and Brussels Airlines, we offer 222 weekly flights to 33 destinations to the African continent from our hubs in London, Brussels, Zurich, Vienna, Munich and Frankfurt. This is more than any other non-African airline.
Do you expect Germany’s recent aviation tax to have repercussions for the airline industry and visitors?
We are strongly opposed to this tax. The good part, however, is that foreign passengers connecting in Germany to destinations outside of Germany are exempted from the tax. For example, a passenger flying New York – Frankfurt – Warsaw, or vice versa, will not be charged with the tax. This exemption applies to a large portion of our North-American customers. Secondly, it is important to know that this tax applies to flights of all airlines. So it’s not that only Lufthansa passengers would pay this tax.
Speaking about the tax itself: In a nutshell, this duty is a stimulus package for non-German airlines and destinations. As I said, Lufthansa remains strongly opposed to a unilateral German aviation tax. It will weaken Germany’s economy and its role as a base for the aviation industry, and will massively distort competition. Two years ago the exact same thing happened in the Netherlands (and the tax was revoked only ten months later). The relationship between the level of the tax and the distance flown will put Germany – a leading export nation that relies heavily on global connections – at a special disadvantage.
JUNE 2010 FEATURE
Mainz and Much More in Bountiful Germany
By Tom Bross
Each year’s German Travel Mart gives international participants an opportunity to experience a distinctive part of this diverse, mid-European federal republic. So it was with this year’s event (April 18-21), when Mainz hosted the 36th get-together. (Frankfurt welcomed our travel industry’s first-ever GTM, way back in 1972).
In riverfront Rheingoldhalle exhibition facilities, 347 suppliers representing tourism, transportation, special events, accommodations, excursions, entertainment venues, student exchanges and other “Destination Germany” products and services networked with a worldwide contingent of 550 travel agents, group organizers, incentive planners and study-abroad specialists.
Flight cancellations caused by April’s volcanic eruptions in Iceland reduced arrivals of U.S. and Canadian participants. Aware of current economic downturns, German tourism forecasters estimate modest 1-3% growth in North American arrivals during the remainder of 2010 and well into 2011.
Its location at the convergence of two rivers—Rhine meets Main—explains the city’s 2,000-plus years of historical and cultural significance. That began with Roman encampments as long ago as 38 B.C. Then, ages afterward, came a wave of 17th-century Baroque architecture, bequeathed by successive generations of prince electors. Mainz’ stature as Rhineland-Palatinate’s state capital dates from postwar 1949.
Sandstone-built, thousand-year-old St. Martin’s cathedral stands big and proud as a purely Romanesque landmark, looming over Mainz’s central Marktplatz. Sidestepping a bit, sightseers should head to another church—St. Stephens’s—for a much more modern religious impact, thanks to nine dazzling stained-glass windows created by Marc Chagall.
Invented Here in Mainz: Typeset Printing
The words you’re reading right now shift our attention to the best known Mainzer. Namely: Johannes Gutenberg, familiar to school kids worldwide for inventing movable type, circa 1448—a process that instantly revolutionized the printing of 42-line Bibles, manuscripts, decrees and all other forms of reading matter. Opened in 1912, a museum on inner-city Liebfrauenplatz replicates Gutenberg’s original hand press andworkshop (www.gutenberg-museum.de). The inventor gets a lighthearted salute by way of music, theater and cabaret during Mainz’s Johannisnacht Festival, June 5-28.
The city has double appeal for your FIT and group clientele: proximity to Germany’s prime gateway airport, FRA (19 mi./32 km for an average half-hour commute), plus scenic Rhineland wine country, curving northward past Bingen, Boppard, Remagen, Rüdesheim and medieval hilltop castles. Harvest-time festivals, celebrating each season’s earliest Rieslings, are annual hallmarks of this Rheingau region, Wiesbaden’s is typically zesty, August 13-22. Next, is neighboring Mainz’s two-part Weinmarkt, August 26-29 and Sept. 2-5. Note to travel planners: the vineyard-covered Rheingau covers just 20 mi./32 km. of scenic terrain, admired by riverboat-passengers embarking from the city’s Stresseman-Ufer docks.
GTM’s small U.S. delegation stayed at the 268-room Hyatt Regency Mainz. On a Rhine embankment, the five-star property incorporates a park wrapped around 19th-century Fort Malakoff; mainz.regency@hyatt.com.
Koblenz, a bigger river city, 38 mi./61 km. north of Mainz, hosts next year’s BUGA Federal Garden Show, April 15-Oct. 16. That will give visitors a chance to meander through horticultural layouts adorning the 18th-century electoral palace’s courtyard and on the plateau of lofty Ehrenbreitstein fortress, the dominant local landmark, overlooking a point of land where the Mosel flows into the Rhine.
Other special events and commemoratives are noteworthy. Picturesque little Oberammergau—tucked in an Upper Bavarian alpine valley 28 mi./45 km. south of Munich—has been staging its renowned Passion Play every 10 years since 1680. When a deadly plague and the Thirty Years War swept through this part of Europe earlier that century, the community was miraculously spared. Inspired, grateful villagers vowed to stage and personally act in a drama each decade, focusing on the judgment, agony, death and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Passion Play and Oktoberfest in 2010
So, 2010 brings us to the 41st production, May 15-October 3, in the 4,700-seat open-air Passionspielhaus. Audiences sit through performances comprising 16 acts and augmented by a 55-piece orchestra, lasting half a day. A two-hour intermission for lunch also gives your clients a chance to ramble through walkable Oberammergau, famous for its traditional woodcarvings and rows of colorfully frescoed Luftmälerei housefronts. The plays, a theatrical sensation by any standard, generally attract half a million people, including sizeable numbers of U.S. group and FIT travelers every decade. To learn about tour operators, packages, accommodations, side trips, etc., visit www.oberammergau-passion.com.
Contrast that fervently religious spectacle with the world’s biggest beer bash. Meaning, of course, Munich’s rousing Oktoberfest, two centuries old as of 2010. The 16-day party originated on October 17, 1810. On that day, a Bavarian crown prince (and future King Ludwig I) married a princess amidst a banner-waving day of parades, fairs and horseracing. Now local breweries and oom-pah bands pour and play for upwards of six million celebrants on west-side Theresienwiese meadowland (named for the bride), Sept. 18-Oct. 4 this year.
Elsewhere in Bavaria, exhibitions in Selb and Eger museums recall those town’s 300 years of producing beautifully crafted porcelain tableware and decorative objects. (Selb-Eger are prominent stopovers on tourism’s signposted Porcelain Road). Meissen shares those tricentennial honors, since output of its famous brand of porcelain began in Saxony’s Albrechtburg castle in 1710. German train travel began 175 years ago, with the Bavarian Ludwig Railway’s inaugural Nuremberg-to-Fürth trip (4 mi./6 km.) in December 1835. Visit www.porzellanikon.de and www.koenigstraummassenware.de.
Two-hundredth-year anniversary concerts featuring Robert Schumann’s music are on many of this year’s orchestral programs throughout Germany and beyond. Born in Saxony’s Zwickau in 1810, the Spring Symphony composer began his career as a piano teacher at Leipzig’s eminent conservatory 33 years later. His anniversary ties in smoothly with one of national tourism’s 2010 marketing themes: Creative Germany—embracing contemporary output ranging from art and architecture, music and literature to fashion and design.
A Year Devoted to Culture in the Ruhr
Perceptions of westernmost Germany’s Ruhrgebiet as a coal digging, smoke-spewing heavy-industry colossus prevail. Nevertheless, now’s the time to rethink the Ruhr—400 km. long, Duisburg-to-Oberhausen-to-Essen-to-Dortumund—in light of proclaimed regional stature as one of 2010’s European Cultural Capitals, concurrent with Istanbul. Ambitious urban renewal, greenbelts, playgrounds and Duisburg-Nord’s Landschaftpark (replacing an ironworks’ blast-furnace complex) amount to an environmental success story.
Also throughout the Ruhr are manor houses, 200 museums, 120 theaters and 100 concert halls. This densely populated stretch of North Rhine-Westphalia is now traversed by an Industrial Heritage Trail for hiking, biking, camping and sightseeing. Check culture-capital events at: www.ruhrmetropolis.com
This Jax Fax report “took off” with a Lufthansa flight JFK-FRA. Its Star Alliance affiliation gives the airline code-share partnership with such carriers as United, Continental, USAirways and Air Canada for broad North American reach. For complete special-events updates, destination information and sales aids, call the German National Tourist Office in New York City (800-637-2271); Chicago (773-539-6303); or Los Angeles (310-545-1350); www.germany-extranet.com. GNTO’s Booking Germany, for the travel trade, details profit-making programs and more than 300 German suppliers. The Rhineland’s close-together Cologne and Bonn will co-host next year’s GTM.