Best of 2012: Frankfurt shows its enchanting side

Who would have thought that Frankfurt could be so romantic! The Lichterfest, festival of lights, in the city’s botanical garden Palmengarten has been organised since 1931 and provides for some very special moments every June.

For 2012, mark Saturday, 9th June, in your calendars when thousands of tea lights will be arranged in the park to form different figures. Late that evening, a firework display will take place over the Palmengarten lake. The event, which is part of the four-day long rose festival, is highly atmospheric and bound to change your perception of a city that is not usually known for its enchanting side.

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Best of 2012: everything's WunderBach in Leipzig

Leipzig’s biggest music festival, with over 70,000 visitors and 110 events every year, is a perfect moment to visit the city and explore its musical heritage. Best of all, a fair number of the Bach Festival’s events are open-air and free, so what’s not to like.

This year’s festival from 7th to 17th June comes with the motto '... a new song – 800 years of music at St Thomas' and a particular focus on Bach’s time as cantor at St Thomas' church, including a celebration of the long tradition of the St Thomas' Boys Choir. There’s also an evening of al fresco concerts in the city’s beautiful passages and courtyards; visitors can wander from one venue to the next and enjoy young artists’ performances.

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Best of 2012: Easter brings new ships to Regensburg

For the last couple of years the Crystal Ship (Kristallschiff) has been cutting something of a dash on the Danube, up and downriver of Passau. This year, however, the Swarovski pixie dust is about to fall on Regensburg, as two glittering new ships, made with Swarovski  crystals, will start to operate from Regensburg from 7th April. Bigger, and even more spectacular than their downriver colleague, they will mainly sail between Regensburg and Walhalla, but they’ll also be much in demand for weddings and special events.

More information on the crystal fleet.

Best of 2012: Cultural Heartbeats from the CHOG

In 2012, the best moments in the Cultural Heart of Germany (CHOG) will take you right through the year. From May to September, the magnificent Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Saxony-Anhalt, will host a series of concerts and cultural events. The parklands featuring different palaces, rivers, woodland and meadows provide the perfect backdrop for music performances on the banks of the rivers and canals while visitors float by in gondolas.

From 14th to 23rd September, head to the Ore Mountains’ music festival in Saxony for some musical treats, when international artists from the UK, France, Russia and Germany will perform in the region’s churches from Annaberg to Zschopau. The ‘Nightsound' event on 22nd September promises to be very special: concerts will take place in the historic train depot in Schwarzenberg and the audience will be taken to the location from Annaberg on a steam train. And there’s a bit of an X Factor moment here, as the audience will decide which is their favourite out of the four performances of the evening.

Last but not least, for the best moment of 2012 in Thuringia visit this region during the run-up to Christmas. They’re really expert on all things festive, including the historical Christmas market on the Wartburg in Eisenach which takes visitors right back to medieval times. There’ll be knights and artists around as well as colourful food and craft stands. For a goosebumps moment, try the big ferris wheel at Erfurt’s Christmas markets which is close by the city’s impressive cathedral; as you go round you’ll almost feel like you're heading straight for it.

More information on the Cultural Heart of Germany

Best of 2012: Memmingen's big re-enactment year

It may not be nearly as well known as the Biblical re-enactment at Oberammergau, which comes around every 10 years, but this year Memmingen – the town which is also the gateway airport to the Allgäu – has its own special festival, and one which only comes around once every four years. The Memmingen Stadtfest re-enacts the events of 1630, when the town witnessed one of the turning points of the Thirty Years War. And, as with Oberammergau, huge numbers of local people play their part here. The festival, which runs from 29th July to 5th August, is named after the General Wallenstein who was quartered in Memmingen, and sees the town revert to its medieval state, with processions, pikemen, jugglers, musicians and markets. It is both a spectacle and a historical celebration.

More information on the Wallenstein festival.

Best of 2012: Bavaria's toothsome threesome

Here’s a trio of delights: the Bavarian cities of Nuremberg, Bamberg and Passau offer visitors some special city break moments this year. Bamberg will host the Bavarian Garden and Flower Show from 26th April to 7th October and stage a big garden party featuring colourful blossoms and open-air events for culture and sport lovers alike throughout the historical town. The show will also create a new recreational area in Bamberg, with the former site of a textile manufactory having been transformed into a park, only a few minutes from the old town.

Nuremberg comes over all Dürer, remembering the city’s famous son with the largest exhibition of his works in Germany in the past 40 years. The Germanisches National Museum, the major museum of cultural history within the German-speaking world, will host ‘The Early Dürer’ from 24th May to 12th September as the first large exhibition devoted to the painter’s early art and to the circumstances of his life that informed his art. 

Passau is uniquely located on the three rivers Danube, Inn and Ilz and visitors can make the most of this with ‘three-river’ tours into the Bavarian and Austrian Danube valley that are offered by local shipping companies. Obviously, summer is a good time to enjoy the delights of Passau, when the narrow cobbled lanes of the old part of the city feel a bit like a hilltop town in Tuscany. 

Best of 2012: inner peace in the Moselle valley

In the Ayurveda Parkschlösschen, best moments can happen any time of the year. This peaceful oasis is located in a quiet parkland in a side valley of the Moselle River in Germany, while its ayurvedic treatments and healing are centred on ancient holistic medicine originating in India.

Based upon the goal which has been established together with the Parkschlösschen doctors and therapists during his or her stay, a guest's best moment is the point of realisaton that he/she has actively chosen a path leading to positive change and a happier and healthier life. Sounds good, doesn’t it? And obviously, this can happen to anyone at any time of year ...

More information on the Parkschlösschen