The road from Amsterdam to Berlin

does this section of Germany have a name?)

Nordrhein-Westfalen,
Niedersachsen,
Sachsen-Anhalt,
Brandenburg,
Berlin.

A decent overview of German states is on the wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StatesofGermany

Click on each state name for more info.

"I can't find much information about any "must sees" along the way" Most guidebooks that attempt a geographic survey of Germany (as opposed to "highlights", like the Rick Steves series) should give you some ideas.

For one, I would recommend at least a quick stop-over in Magdeburg. Although not a highlight of Germany, it's an attractive enough city and it lies directly along your line of travel (if taking a car), so go for it.

But a great region to spend a night (or two) would be the Hartz mountains and their northern hinterlands, especially the magnificent old towns of Quedlinburg, Wernigerode and Goslar. Not exactly devoid of tourists, but most are from other parts of Germany and the Netherlands. The highest mountain in northern Germany, Brocken, offers a steam locomotive trip to the top. Or, you can make the relatively easy hike up from the village of Schierke.

I'm less familiar with the regions of Niedersachsen further to the west along your route.

Amsterdam to Berlin is a straight shot, less than 6.5 hours by direct train. You can buy advance-discount train tickets soon (starting 92 days ahead of travel) for as low as 39 euros per person. There are limited seats at this price, which will sell out quickly, then other discount levels before reaching the full fare of 120 euros. If you rented a car for this section, you wouldn't really want it after arrival in Berlin.

How much time do you have for your whole trip? Are you continuing on within Germany or in another country? Why do you want to break that easy train ride with stops in lower-tourist-priority, as-yet-unnamed destinations on what sounds like your first trip to Germany? If you have a very leisurely trip planned, then maybe you have plenty of time for it. If time is shorter, then these stops mean trading off something else of historic or tourist interest, such as Rick's list online and more (e.g., Leipzig and "Lutherland") covered in his book. I'm not saying you won't find interesting stops between Amsterdam and Berlin, but you could also find interesting, authentic towns closer to Berlin, or between Berlin and your next stop, when it might be more logical to pick up a car.

Of course, trains cover Germany pretty thoroughly, and if you plan several days of train travel across the country, then a German Twin Pass can be a good value, without having to lock in advance discounts for specific dates or destinations.

Thanks for the responses so far! @Laura...we will be in Europe for 21 days...4 of which will be with a great friend in Austria. We will be in Amsterdam for two days and meeting some other friends who are flying into Berlin two days after that. I am not adverse to seeing other sights, just thought it would be unique to experience "rural" Germany. If you have other suggestions, such as short flights or the like which wouldn't disturb our overall agenda, please share. Thanks.

Hi,

This area is also the North German Plain (Norddeutsche Ebene) aside from the names listed above. I like this area, have visited a number of cities and towns (some worth it, others less so) going from Duisburg to Berlin, ie west to east, such as Soest, Duisburg, Minden, Detmold, Münster/Westfalen, Hamelin, Paderborn, Hannover, Magdeburg. It is an interesting area, depending on the history you want to see, and would be more so to you if you spoke the language. True, you'll hardly see any American tourists in this area, "not typically on the tourist path." The tourists you do see are overwhelmingly German.

For a small town I suggest Minden an der Weser, If you are going by car, (even though public transportation will get there too), see Porta Westfalica or the Hermannsdenkmal (near Detmold).

does this section of Germany have a name?

Northern Germany? You cross the following historical regions:
Münsterland (with more than 100 water castles), Teutoburg Forest (where Varus lost his legions), the Weser Uplands and the Harz mountains (with many beautiful, preserved towns), the Altmark (cradle of Prussia with some medieval looking towns) and rural Havelland.

What are some suggestions you all may have for that part of our
journey? How can we dive deep into German culture not seen in the
bigger cities?

While the water castles of the Münsterland are very nice you need a biycle, time and a good map to see them... and many of them are privately owned and not open anyway. That's why I would spend as much time as possible in the Harz mountains. Two of the towns, Goslar and Quedlinburg, are World Heritage Sites, but others, like Stolberg, Wernigerode, Wolfenbüttel or Celle, are equally nice. From Wernigerode you can take a nostalgic steam train up to the highest peak of Northern Germany, the Brocken. Wernigerode also offers a 19th century fantasy castle, while Falkenstein is a real one. The Sachsenspiegel was written there. In Halberstadt you can see a wonderful Gothic cathedral.
Here is a gallery with 130.000 pics of the region:
http://www.raymond-faure.com/indexharzenglish.htm

I would stay in the centre of Quedlinburg, which is like a bigger Rothenburg odT. A nice stopover between the Harz mountains and Berlin would be Tangermünde, a medieval town with picturesque fortifications.

Translation note "water castles" is a literal translation of the German "Wasserschloss". This means a castle with a water-filled moat.