Dr. Stefan Christmann

August 8, 2026August 9, 2026

Hygienemuseum

The Deutsches Hygiene-Museum in Dresden was founded in 1912 on the initiative of Karl August Lingner, a local industrialist and manufacturer of the mouthwash Odol. Its purpose was to make scientific knowledge about the human body, personal health and preventive medicine accessible to ordinary people. The present building, designed by Wilhelm Kreis in a monumental yet modern style, was completed for the Second International Hygiene Exhibition in 1930. It was badly damaged during the bombing of Dresden in 1945 and later rebuilt; after German reunification, the museum was fundamentally reoriented as a museum about human experience.

August 8, 2026August 10, 2026

Verkehrsmuseum

The Verkehrsmuseum in Dresden is one of the city’s most distinctive museums, housed in the historic Johanneum by the Neumarkt. Its roots go back to 1877, when the collection that later became the Saxon Railway Museum first began, while the museum itself was founded in 1952 and opened to the public in its present setting in the 1950s.

August 8, 2026August 10, 2026

Grünes Gewölbe

The Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden is one of Europe’s great treasure chambers, created for August der Starke in the early 18th century as a highly theatrical display of power, taste and wealth. It began as the elector’s private collection and was then expanded into a public showpiece, making it one of the oldest museum-like collections on the continent.

August 5, 2026August 5, 2026

Die Stadt

Jürgen Weber’s bronze relief Die Stadt was created in 1963/64 for the Stadthalle in Göttingen, at a time when the building itself was part of a new, modern post-war civic identity. It was conceived as an architectural companion piece for the terrace entrance, designed to animate the otherwise strict, geometric setting of the hall.

July 25, 2026July 29, 2026

Böseckendorf

Along the quiet rural road between Böseckendorf and Immingerode, memorial stones stand with a restrained yet powerful presence. They are arranged in a simple formation beside the roadside, modest in scale but unmistakable in meaning. Rough-hewn stone slabs bear an inscription and dates. The surrounding landscape – fields, hedgerows, and the gentle undulations of the countryside – creates a stark contrast to the heavy history these stones represent. Nothing about the site is ostentatious; its strength lies in its stillness and the way it invites reflection.

July 19, 2026July 19, 2026

Schloss Herzberg

Often referred to as the Welfenschloss, Schloss Herzberg crowns a wooded hill above the town of Herzberg am Harz and is today regarded as one of the largest Renaissance castle complexes in timber‑frame construction in Niedersachsen. Its origins go back to a medieval hunting lodge and fortifications that were first mentioned in the 12th century, and the site came early into the possession of the Welf dynasty, whose rule left a lasting mark on the region. After a devastating fire in 1510 destroyed the earlier buildings, the complex was rebuilt in the 16th century as a four‑winged Renaissance palace: lower levels in sandstone and the upper storeys largely in elaborate half‑timbered architecture, which gives the ensemble its distinctive appearance today. For centuries it served as a residence and administrative centre for various lines of the Welfs, including the dukes of Braunschweig‑Grubenhagen, making the castle a political and cultural focal point for the southern Harz.

July 19, 2026July 19, 2026

Oderparksee

The Oderparksee at Hattorf am Harz is a pleasant, human-made lake set in a quiet corner of the southern Harz fringe. It has the feel of a place shaped by landscape and local planning rather than by nature alone, which gives it a distinctive character and a surprisingly calm atmosphere.

July 18, 2026July 18, 2026

Katlenburg

The castle of Katlenburg rises above the village on a prominent hill, and even if you just pass by on the road between Northeim and Osterode you immediately sense that this was once a genuine centre of power for the valley. The origins go back to the early 12th century, when count Dietrich III of Katlenburg transformed his fortified residence into a monastery dedicated to St. John, effectively shifting the focus from a purely military stronghold to a religious and administrative hub for the surrounding territory. Over the following centuries the foundation evolved from a collegiate establishment into an Augustinian house of canons and later a convent for women, closely tied to both the Welf rulers and the archbishop of Mainz, which gave the site considerable regional weight in both secular and ecclesiastical affairs. The gradual decline and eventual secularisation in the 16th century mirrored wider Reformation-era changes, but the castle hill remained a defining landmark for Katlenburg-Lindau and the Harz foreland.

July 17, 2026July 17, 2026

India or Italy?

Our journey did not begin in Italy, at least not in spirit. It was meant to take us far beyond Europe, across continents, towards Sri Lanka via India – a trip we had carefully planned and eagerly anticipated. Yet, as so often happens in travel, events beyond our control intervened. Air India abruptly cancelled our return flight to Europe, citing kerosene shortages and price surges linked to escalating geopolitical tensions following Donald Trump’s confrontation with Iran. The airline’s decision was shrewd: by cancelling only the return leg into the EU, they avoided compensation obligations, while effectively forcing us to abandon the entire itinerary.

July 16, 2026July 18, 2026

Leiteralm

Setting out from the small cluster of Muthöfe, the Meraner Höhenweg begins with a pleasant mix of pastoral charm and sweeping views. The Muthöfe themselves are a handful of traditional mountain farms and huts perched on a gentle terrace, their weathered wood and stone façades framed by alpine meadows. From here the trail unfurls with generous switchbacks and clearly marked paths, rising steadily through larch and pine where the scent of resin fills the air. Early on you pass scatterings of hayracks and small orchards, reminders of the valley’s enduring agricultural rhythm before the route opens onto high alpine ledges.