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March 2017 |
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The Joy of Spring: Weimar's unusual Easter Egg hunt
In the UK, the Queen hands out special coins on Holy Thursday. In Weimar, children are sent on a so-called “bunny egg hunt“ on the Thursday before Easter, a tradition started by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Germany’s literary treasure. The writer, who spent most of his adult life in Weimar, used to invite the Duke’s children to his charming garden house (pictured) in the town’s Park an der Ilm for an egg hunt. Today, the event is still organised for children visiting the house on Holy Thursday (“Gründonnerstag“ in German) to search for Easter goodies. This egg hunt is Weimar’s traditional kick-off for the Easter holidays when visitors from around the world come to the
UNESCO World Heritage destination to explore parks, palaces and gardens in all their colourful spring splendour.
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The Joy of Spring: Leipzig's colour storms and goths
Leipzig’s cultural year is already well under way with an exhibition of the ‘colour storms’ by expressionist artist Emil Nolde (‘man under tree’ pictured left) a key figure in the beginning of modern art in Germany. Some 150 artworks by Nolde and his collaborators in the expressionist Brücke group - Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff – are on display in the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts. The Museum’s core display, with its large collection of Flemish and Dutch genre paintings, the German Romantics, and others, continue to attract customers. And in late spring the
WGT – the largest gothic festival in the world – returns to Leipzig. From 2 - 5 June some 20,000 visitors will attend concerts, parties, opera performances, exhibitions, medieval markets and readings. Turning Leipzig into a black but characterful catwalk.
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The Joy of Spring: back out on the water with Kuhnle
The Kormorans are back on the water in Germany's lake district. And boat operator Kuhnle-Tours, with its fleet of Kormorans, Aquinos and other boat designs, is offering a spring sale incentive of 10-15 percent off, provided you book before 15 May, and plan to hire a boat for a minimum of three nights. As all the birds will tell you, spring is a great time to go on the water in the Mecklenburg and Brandenburg lakes. Expect golden yellow rapeseed fields, green avenues, bright blue waterways and historic cities. Thanks to Kuhnle's multiple bases, you can even do Berlin by boat!
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The Joy of Spring: Munich and the struggles of success
GermanyisWunderbar has just been in Munich to do a couple of magazine stories, one of which focused on beer. Fortunately the sun was out and some of the beer gardens were already open (Viktualienmarkt, pictured left). In general the city is thriving, but success has its issues. The Hauptbahnhof (notwithstanding the excellent
Hotel Maritim) in particular is a weak spot. Infrastructure disruption is ongoing for a new underground line here, and the prevalence of street beggars suggests that Bavarians are over generous with their donations. Long term there's a huge plan to knock down the station and start again, as in Stuttgart, so it is going to get worse before it gets better. Go now, is our advice!
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Picture Credits
Masthead left to right, T top, B bottom: Black Forest gone blue, Achim Mende. Brandenburger Hof hotel. Schloss Lübbenau (T). Bundesliga, GNTB (B). Ski lift at Fichtelberg, Oberwiesenthal Tourism (T). Martin Luther (B). Chilled gnome, DZT (T). Rügen cliffs, GNTB (B). Cherry cake, pa (B). Berlin S-Bahn
Main images: Maik Schuck, Weimar GmbH. Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts. Kuhnle-Tours. Andrew Eames
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