A cultural overview of our trip to Germany

Everywhere we visited in Germany, Brakel,  Bochum, Detmold, Paderborne, Höxter, Koblenz and Cologne showed us that Germany offers a successful combination of culture, history, leisure and relaxation.

Brakel is a small village surrounded by three other villages; Bellersen, Bökendorf and Ghrden.  There are a lot of monuments, statues and old buildings in this well preserved area.  We visited the town hall in the main square which was built in the Weser Renaissence. We also visited the parish church of St. Michael built in Romanesque style in 1161 with Gothic east choir of 1338 and Baroque organ doors by the painter Johann George Rudolfhi of 1653.  This town has a very relaxed atmosphere with its ice-cream and pavement cafes which are popular here as they are in many German towns.

The Externsteine is highly picturesque rock formation set in a large forestry park.  The formation itself is made of limestone and was formed before the Ice Age.  In ancient times its use was similar to that of Stone Henge in that is was used for religious ceremonies.  We also visited the Hermann Monument which is bigger than the Statue of Liberty.  It stands at 53.7 metres high,  Hermann is said to have defeated the Romans at this location.  We climbed to the top of the monument for a view of the surrounding countryside. 

The city of Bochum has an abundance of tourist attractions such as the German Mining Museum, which was founded in 1930.  This museum gives visitors an insight into the world of coal miming.  There is 68 metre high winding tower, which reaches into the sky near the town park, this is one of the city’s landmarks.  Under it is a museum which is the most important of its type in the world.  Almost 500,000 visitors every year find out about the history of the mining in the museum’s 25 exhibition halls and in its 20 metre deep display mine.  A German version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Starlight Express’ has been a sensation in the town since 1988.  The hall was built especially for the show with its trains and wagons and every week the eight performances held there are usually completely sold out. 

The Zoo in Bochum holds about 1,800 animals of approximately 300 species.  The zoo is located on the edge of the city’s park.  We were mostly attracted to the aquarium and terrarium house with its 19,000 litre capacity coral reef basin.

In the city of  Paderborn there can be seen a 13^th Century Cathedral which has a famous window in the cloister of two hares who share three ears. Every Wednesday in the centre of Paderborne a market takes place in the shadows of the Cathedral tower and the modern shopping area.  The shopping area itself stretches from the railway station to the main town square. One can take a guided tour through the history of information technology in the worlds largest technology museum, the Hienz Nixdorf Museum.   

Detmold was founded around 1260 and has more than 500 historical monuments of different ages.  On our visit to Detmold we were given a tour of a 17^th Century palace which held remnants of another age and was rich in history.  The main attraction of the city, however, appears to be the vast shopping areas. It has many pedestrianised streets lined with shops with something for everyone.