89 days in the summer of 2026: Germany (& Austria)

There are so many museums in Frankfurt, am curious as to why only the Romantic Museum is on your list?
You might want to visit the Jewish Museum which has the Frank family section in it. You can also walk by her birth house, though you can't go in, as people live there. It is near the Hauptfriedhof, on Marbachweg. Perhaps visit the Rat-Beil Jewish cemetery as well as the Judengasse Museum, or the WW2 Bunker that has some wonderful exhibits from the Initiative 9 Nov. It is only open on Wed. evening from 1700-1900 and Sun. from 11-14:00.
In Höchst, you should visit the Justinus church, possibly the oldest church in Germany. St. Josefs is also interesting with an art deco interior. There is also a bunker in the Alt Stadt, built on the ruins of a synagogue.

Any questions about Frankfurt, ask away. There will be a lot of festivals this summer.

Well prepared!

Just to widen the view for your very interesting topic of "cultural history" let me think a little bit on the topic.

I recommend to check "Germany" maps from 800 to 1900 to see what where the cultural roots. What were the main tribes and later kingdoms or leaders? Today's major cities were seldomly the centers of the past.

I miss a little bit the Nordic part but maybe you did that on an earlier tour:

• Hanseatic League (roles of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen)
• Red brick gothic architecture
• Vikings (Haithabu)
• Frisian freedom
• Dutchy of Schleswig (Gottorf castle)
• Slavic tribes
• Swedish dominion
• Danish wars (Dannewerk)
• Kiel Canal and Kiel week (major unknown event in Germany)
• Hanover annual meeting of the guard clubs (Schützenfest)
• Braunschweig and Heinrich der Löwe
• Independency of (Grand) Dutchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin saw the day-trip on your list
• ...

You see that tons of things coming to my mind spontaneously. Likely you know most of them already.

In your current agenda I miss the cultural roots of Swabia, Franconia, Saxons (tribe), Sorbians (minority) and some minor / older roots.

Weimar is a good choice and I do not say that the other listed destinations are not. So, do it and maybe also visit some archives or very local museums of the cities, e. g. Märkisches Museum in Berlin. Closed for renovation until 2028 but they have smaller exhibitions.

HL , while in Frankfurt , The Stadel Museum was a high point for me , Also , if you can make a day trip to Darmstadt ,The Jugendstil Artists Colony is well worth a day - https://www.staedelmuseum.de/en and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darmstadt_Artists%27_Colony Wonderful itinerary , both here and in Austria !!

HL fotoeins, this will be such a wonderful trip! I am so envious, as I would love to have that much time to spend in Germany. Maybe in a few years. I do love that you have a lot of cemeteries included. Those are one of my favorite things to visit when I travel.

I really look forward to reading about this and especially to seeing your blog photos. You have such a gift for photography!

" I do love that you have a lot of cemeteries included. " My sentiments , as well ! I always pay a visit to Grinzing Friedhof when in Vienna , ( I'm a retired musician , and a lifelong Mahler enthusiast ) and the specifics about the locations of the various burials are just what is needed when visiting cemeteries

Well, mostly I just look at your notes and I want to take it all for my own planning:)

But as to Erfurt...have you been to the Topf and Sons Memorial? I'm guessing maybe you have...but it's worth a visit if you haven't.

For those perusing this thread and unfamiliar with the Topf firm , this article will explain their nefarious activities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topf_and_Sons

Great that you have this entire time earmarked for Germany. You have picked salient places (fantastic ) to see and explore: Naumburg an der Saale, Jena, etc.

Since you're going to Jena for Zeiss ( I did a day trip there 10 years ago from Jena, absolutely not enough time), I would suggest in addition to Jena going to Wetzlar for that purpose and because of Goethe. I saw that in 1977 the Wetzlar Zeiss Museum plus the small house on Goethe, which was my main focus since I didn't know about the Zeiss Museum then.

I heartily recommend staying in Weimar if you want to do the place justice, spend 3 full days , to see the Goethe/Schiller sites, (am Theaterplatz , the Goethe-Schiller statue, the houses/ museums of Wieland and Herder. The postcards of Weimar market this town as Germany's Kultur- und Dichterstadt. I don't see Stuttgart listed or that vicinity.

I suggest the Schiller National Museum in Marbach, accessible with the S-Bahn from Stuttgart Re: German literature if you want to pursue that (whimsical/subject to change ?) , how about Heinrich von Kleist ? His house/museum is in Frankfurt an der Oder, signs point the way. Seeing the Oder is also any eye-opener if your interested in this part of Germany.

You list science and art as priority trip interests. Does that include the topic of film? If so, then I recommend the the film museum in Babelsberg and next door that in Potsdam, walkable from Potsdam Hbf. ...2 singular sites on that topic.

Logistically, from Duisburg you aren't that far from Detmold. Take the train to Detmold to see the Hermannsdenkmal , (That statue in the Teutoburg Wald) the subject of the poem by Kleist (above) , worth it given your interests. I went to Detmold once in 1984 as a day trip from Soest/Westf, the oldest Roman town in Westphalia.

BTW....are your 2 initials in caps suppose to be a historical take-off or are they real? If the former, there was such one with that pair of letters in caps.

Since you are in the process of planning, amending, prioritizing this 12.5 week trip in Germany, ie, still brainstorming, I would suggest spending 2 full days in Potsdam, seeing not only the museums planned but also relaxing , take some down-time walking through the Zenrum and bike trails , and if you do have a rental car , go out to a few of of the various Schloesser in the Greater Potsdam area, not just Sans Souci and Neues Palais, eg Schloss Paretz which is connected to the dynasty.

In 2017 while staying in Berlin, I went to Neuruppin to see any evidence (museum, stature, plaques ) of Germany's greatest novelist in the Age of Realism but the town is also connected to Schinkel, which was unknown to me and pleasant surprise.

Is this the first time to Weimar? If so, this is one city with a different feel to it, likewise with Schwerin, also on your agenda. Both are uniquely different, Schwerin does not feel like Weimar and vice- versa, absolutely not.

If you are interested in Roman stuff, then a visit to the Saalburg Roman Fort, near Bad Homburg is a must!
In Mainz, the Römisches Ampitheatre and the Isis Temple ruins.
https://www.saalburgmuseum.de/en/

Ms. Jo, thank you for your replies.

I want to first express my thanks and appreciation to your continuing efforts to promote Frankfurt am Main and the Rhein-Main region as a very worthy place to spend time and money. Having once lived and worked in Heidelberg, I've travelled frequently to Germany since 2001, and I've been through Frankfurt am Main a lot. It's become my preferred entry point into Europe. It's now also gotten to the point where I'm "cycling" back to familiar places within Frankfurt am Main after a number of years, which applies to my mention of the Deutsches Romantik-Museum (and its neighbouring Goethe-Haus).

I've already photographed and written about some of the Frank family traces in Frankfurt am Main, but as with research, I continue to find more. I've visited the Jewish Museum Frankfurt a couple of times in the last few years; I'll have to submit a couple of questions to their library. I haven't visited Museum Judengasse or the adjacent Alte Jüdischer Friedhof in some time ... actually since 2018!

Over the past few years, I've been meaning to head out to Höchst and visit the Justinus church, after having first read your description here and watched your video on YouTube.

As some claim Frankfurt am Main as the original home of German techno, I've also been meaning to go to the museum tucked in Hauptwache station. I'm not a huge fan of techno, but I'm aware how big the music genre is worldwide and within Germany.

Thanks for your tips on Saalburg and Mainz; I last visited Mainz years ago. I went out to Grosskrotzenburg last summer to check out a part of the Limes there.

Mark, thank you for your reply.

I appreciate the various themes to explore further the country's cultural history. For your selections in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, I've seen and visited a number of them already, but it's worth reminding what more I should consider. I visited Schleswig, primarily for Haithabu/Heddeby; I should return and explore the earthworks at Dannewerk. I really should also get to Kiel and Flensburg,; I know about the Kieler Woche!

I learned some of the Sorbian minority in 2015 as guests of Germany Tourism at the time. I'm also curious about the ore-mining history in that proximity of southeast Germany/Czechia.

I'm a little sad about not being able to visit Berlin's Märkisches Museum; I've wanted to visit for a long time. But I'm looking forward to returning to Weimar for the first time in over ten years.

Steven, thanks for your replies.

In Frankfurt last year, I was in town in time for their "Nacht der Museen"; so, I returned to the Städel for the first time in years. It's a glorious place for contemporary art. In the summer of 2024, I returned to Darmstadt for the first time in awhile; I got to the Artists Colony at Mathildenhöhe and the Messel Archaeological Pit (on separate days).

I arrived at a point in my life where I now find cemeteries extraordinarily interesting. I helped my parents in their final days, and I watched both of their burials. It's a simple matter of knowing where they are. In the same way, all the non-family people that mean something to us in any and all human fields of interest are buried (mostly) somewhere in a cemetery at a very specific place with specific coordinates. I might not have personally known physicists Boltzmann, Born, Fraunhofer, Gauss, Heisenberg, Helmholtz, Kirchhoff, Ohm, Planck, Wien, etc; but their names all played a large role in my education/training. I've visited their graves to pay my respect. My thinking now extends to some musical "giants," including Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss (dad & sons), Mahler, Haydn, Rosé, etc, as the latter are all (once) buried in Vienna.

Mardee, thanks for your reply and your kind comments.

The Viennese love their 'death': many will find a kind of glory in death, giving rise to the phrase "schöne Leiche" (lit., nice corpse, but means "pretty funeral"). This helps partly explain why there are many existing cemeteries throughout the city, but their central cemetery is simply massive. I've photographed and written about my finds in the Zentralfriedhof, but there are always more. Not gonna lie, finding Beethoven and Mozart, for example, was great, but finding 1980s Austrian icon Falco was a thrill, too.

NWValerie, thanks for your reply.

I hope my notes will prove useful to your trip planning; I'll be happy if the details work out for you.

Erfurt: No! This is the first I've heard of the Topf and Sons Memorial, located not far from the city's central station. Thanks to you and Steven for highlighting the importance of this memorial.

Fred, thanks for your replies.

I'm looking forward to Jena, although the German Optical Museum is closed to at least 2028. I had looked forward to seeing all the optical devices in their collection. Heading out to Wetzlar is on my list for the future; it's also another town name beginning with the letter 'W'.

I haven't visited Weimar in over ten years, and I'm looking forward to returning. I'm especially looking forward to the (new to me) Bauhaus Museum which opened in 2019.

In the summer of 2024, I returned to Stuttgart for the first time in at least 20 years. Keys to the recent visit were the Württemberg hill for which the federal state is now named, as well as Johannes Kepler's birth town Weil der Stadt. I'll have to return to Stuttgart, having learned more about the Kepler family traces throughout the region.

While in Berlin last summer, I learned about the Skladanowsky brothers and how their pioneering work in film predates (only just) the Lumiere brothers in France. I'll be looking more into the Skladanowsky traces in Berlin this summer, which includes a visit to the film museum in Potsdam. I'm checking out whether I have time to tour, if possible, the Babelsberg studios. And just like last summer, I'll be in Potsdam a few times this summer to include; Park Sanssouci and all of the Peter Lenné gardening influences (throughout Berlin & Potsdam), many Schinkel structures, Russian Colony Alexandrowka. I wanted to visit Cecilienhof, but they're under renovations until late-2027.

Thanks for pointing out Marbach, Detmold, and Neuruppin.

HL are my initials.

Hi,

OK, your initials are real, not a spin-off or Wortspiel, on two historical figures in Prussian-German history.

The day I went to Neuruppin since it's Theodor Fontane's birthplace (as well as that of Schinkel) , I was disappointed, nothing is there given these important personalities in Germany's cultural history, no mention of recognition or remembrance.

On Schinkel: In Berlin Mitte you'll see evidence of Schinkel when you see building with columns.

I can rightly assume you feel quite at home with the German language, since no one spends 100% of his permitted Schengen time (this is an aggravating time imposition) in breath and depth of the German language area delving into serious cultural "stuff " ...Naumburg an der Saale, Jena, Potsdam, Weimar, etc, etc as well as the esoteric.

You list Xanten...in 1987 I did a day trip there from Düsseldorf Hbf, mainly to see the town taken by the Canadians in 1945.

With the exception of parts of Potsdam, anglophones do not go there or to Naumburg, Jena and Weimar. I've there 3 maybe a 4 th time, I can recall hearing only Russian as the foreign language in the street.

Two more places starting with "W" might pique your interest given your specialized focus listed above, if not this summer, then next summer. I only go in the summer too. These are "Wesel am Rhein" which is known to you because of WW2 as the British and Canadians crossed the Rhine at Wesel in March 1945 after the town was pretty much levelled . I went there as a day trip from Düsseldorf Hbf in 2016. The german WW1 military cemetery is in Wesel as well as the much larger WW2 one, nevertheless, pretty hard to find once you're in the cemetery grounds.

1. Wustrau/Brandenburg. Both Wesel and Wustrau are locations for museums focused on Prussian-German history, (Potsdam too)

In Wesel it's "Preußen im Rheinland Museum." 2 extensive floors, took me 2 hours, very informative and provocative because of geographic matters, etc. Wustrau is where "Das Preußen Museum" is located, ie on the von Zieten estate, one of famous Junker families.

Part 2....Quite right about the Austrians and especially the Viennese on topic of "death" within the realm of "cultural pessimism ."

Schoene Leiche" is new to me but there was a saying in the Habsburg Monarchy reflecting this view that when some military or political disaster, somethin inimical to their interests occurred , it was accepted with fateful resignation... "Es ist passiert".

On the composers...Strauss (dad and boys), Mahler, Schubert, Beethoven, don't forget Lanner.

Fred, thanks for your replies.

You list Xanten...in 1987 I did a day trip there from Düsseldorf Hbf,
mainly to see the town taken by the Canadians in 1945.

I've learned some about the Canadians on D-Day at Normandy, and their dogged push east to break the German strongholds. I hadn't realized Xanten was an important landmark for the Canadians in their march to the Rhine.

With the exception of parts of Potsdam, anglophones do not go there or
to Naumburg, Jena and Weimar. I've there 3 maybe a 4 th time, I can
recall hearing only Russian as the foreign language in the street.

I've lived and subsequently returned to Germany every year since 2001 (except 2019 and 2020). I like to think that I'm okay with the language by now 😅

Not gonna lie, finding Beethoven and Mozart, for example, was great, but finding 1980s Austrian icon Falco was a thrill, too.

I didn't realize he was buried there. That was such a shame about his death. I did find Beethoven, which was my main reason for going, but I was also happy about finding Schubert and Brahms. I didn't make it to the Marx Cemetery, though. Did you find Mozart's actual grave? I thought that it was just a memorial and that they never found his bones there. Supposedly they're scattered someplace in the Marx cemetery, but no one knows exactly where they are. Maybe that's changed, though. I was in Vienna in 2010, and that's what I remember reading at that time, but that was a while ago.

Hi, Mardee.

Thanks for your reply.

Vienna: Unfortunately, the actual location of Mozart's grave has been lost to time. The marker that is now in St. Marx's cemetery is a 20th-century addition (1950s), because the "old" marker memorializing Mozart's burial at St. Marx was moved to the city's central cemetery in 1891. That "old" marker is in good company, surrounded by Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and Strauss, which I'm certain you saw on your visit.

Wow, what an extensively researched trip! If you do go to Mainz, I highly recommend seeing the Gutenberg museum & Chagall stained glass windows also. I'm not a big fan of modern art but I saw alone in the church for an hour staring at these windows! Worth it to pay for Chagall audio guide but you need cash for it and for postcards. It's only 2 stops from FRA on the local train, exit at the smaller Mainz Römisches Theater station closest to St Stephan's Church. Also saw the Gutenberg museum & printing demo, (every hour on the hour except 1PM). The demo was GREAT, and more interesting after downloading and watching a documentary by Stephen Fry about Gutenberg. https://youtu.be/n-jkS5qOWS8?si=zwVEz5ArDc-tYfPm. Hope you have an amazing trip!

Thanks, Sandancisco, for your tips on Mainz.

It's been a number of years since I visited Mainz, and I'd like to go back. I've also been fortunate to explore a number of Martin Luther sites, and the remarkable connection to Gutenberg is how the printed press inevitably makes books - particularly, Luther's translations from Latin to German - accessible to laypersons.