Where is the heart, the center of the European Union? There is really an official answer for that. The Institut Géographique National (IGN) in Paris is calculation the official midpoints of the Union, based on the center of gravity method. Since 2004, the midpoint of the European Union is located in Germany , located in different places. I visited all of them, three of them in late May 2020. It was a stunning trip, also through European history.
The European Union Midpoints before 2004
The first European European Union Midpoint ever determined was in 1987. The first two official midpoints are based in France , the next one is located in Belgium :
As the midpoint of the 12 member European Union (i.e. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg , Netherlands , Denmark , Ireland , United Kingdom , Greece , Portugal , Spain ), the IGN determined the village of Saint-Andre-le-Coq in the Auvergne. It is a village of some 500 inhabitants between Clermont-Ferrand and Vichy. There is no memorial in the village.
The reunification of Germany in 1990 made the midpoint move by some 25 kilometers Northeast. The new midpoint was a place called Noireterre in the village of Saint-Clement (also Auvergne). According to wikipedia , there is still a small monument.
In 1995, Austria , Finland and Sweden joined the Union. By that, the midpoint moved to Viroinval, Belgium, South of Charleroi and quite close to the French border. There is still a monument for that.
In 2004, the midpoint of the European Union moved to German territory (see below).
The European Union Midpoints since 2004
With the eastward enlargement in 2004, the midpoint of the European Union moved to Germany. The map below marks all four places, with reviews of all points underneath.
2004 – 2006: Kleinmaischeid (near Neuwied)
Kleinmaischeid is a small village which belongs to Neuwied county. You can easily reach it by car, it is just few kilometres away from the Dierdorf exit of the A3 motorway. Kleinmaischeid became midpoint of the European Union by the Eastbound enlargement of the union including Cyprus, Czech Republic , Estonia, Hungary , Latvia , Lithuania , Malta , Poland , Slovakia and Slovenia. The midpoint monument is located in the very center of the village, right next to the Bürgerhaus (community center), so that you just cannot miss it. There are also still some commemorative signs in the village.
2007 – June 2013: Gelnhausen-Meerholz (near Hanau)
Meerholz is a borough of the city of Gelnhausen. When Romania and Bulgaria joined the Union on 1st January 2007, the midpoint moved to a wheat field right outside the village. There are signs when you enter Meerholz in memory of that time, it is however tricky to find the midpoint without preparation: preferably, you park your car at the Am Schwarzerlich road, from where you walk along a farm lane along the clay pit and turn right. On another website I saw that there used to be signs to guide you to the place, but they seem to be either very unfortunately positioned or taken down nowadays.
The midpoint is quite nice in its arrangement, but unfortunately run down. The blue “European Central Bank” has turned grey, the flags are taken town, but there are still some information signs. The key memory stone, which is showing the directions of all 27 (at that time) member states’ capitals, is in quite well conditions, though. There is also a small sign listing the member states on a small rock next to it.
As Meerholz and the following midpoint, Westerngrund, are quite close to each other (even though they are in different German states, Hesse and Bavaria), there is a hiking route between those two places which is giving you some really nice scenery and information signs about all member states at that time. Unfortunately, it is a one way route with not too much infrastructure (like bus services) supporting it. The hiking route is managed by the Spessartbund , which is promoting hiking in the region.
July – May 2014 // May 2014 – January 2020: Westerngrund (near Aschaffenburg)
Westerngrund is a village in Aschaffenburg county. It is the only town which (so far) ever in fact hosted two midpoints of the European Union: on 1st July 2013, Croatia joined the European Union and the midpoint moved away from Meerholz to Westerngrund. This place, which is located at a hill, has unfortunately never been marked in any way as it was already known that the French overseas department Mayotte will join the Union about one year later, on 10th May 2020. This shifted the midpoint by 500 meters. This midpoint is maintained and managed privately by an organization. It is located at the Kahler Straße , you will find it quite easily as it is signposted at the village’s main road.
The midpoint is the most beautiful one I visited on my trip. The flags are still up, the scenery as such is really lovely and there are a lot of major and smaller nice features around. First of all, the midpoint has its own parking lot, which is very handy, but there is for example also a guestbook, which I felt to be a nice idea. A showcase shows the European Union and the other midpoints, including the current one in Gadheim (see below). There is also soil from all 27 member states at that time and soil from Westerngrund has been brought to some European locations. A very nice idea is the Westerngrund Frame.
You see that there is really a lot of love and engagement in the information provided. The information panel is holding quite some information in German, English, French, Polish and Chinese, for example.
It is the end of the EU-Mittelpunkte-Weg , the hiking route I mentioned before. There are also touristic information available (including a leaflet about that route, which you could not find in Meerholz). As said, this place is majorly driven by a private initiative and I felt very lucky to happen to run into one of the people behind that – I had a really long and good chat with him – and I am now even gifted with some midpoint souvenirs. Definitely love that and feel very thankful for them!
In case you want to tune your GPS, there is also a geodetic calibration point at this place. The last picture shows roughly the European midpoint on the next hill before the inclusion of Mayotte.
Since 1st February 2020: Gadheim (Veitshöchheim near Würzburg)
Since 1st February 2020, the village of Gadheim is the new midpoint of the European Union. The village is belonging to the town of Veitshöchheim and is some 15 minutes North of Würzburg (which also means that, funnily, all four spots in Germany are not too far away from the A3 motorway). There is a small sign about being midpoint of the European Union when you enter the village. The shift of the midpoint, of course, has some sad reason, as it has been caused by the Brexit.
Gadheim’s role is quite new, so that there may be some change in the future, but they already created quite a nice place there, which is located on the Southwestern tip of the village. A pole is marking the midpoint, there are flags of the city, the European Union and Germany and a sign with all member states. They also did quite beautiful gardening around the spot, so that I really liked it, as well. They also seem to do some funding around the place, so that I could imagine that some more events and information will be added in the future.
Discussion about Midpoint Calculation
As said above, the midpoints listed in here are the official ones by the European Union. Of course, you could use multiple very different calculations from very simple to very sophisticated ones. You could for example simply connect the Northernmost and the Southernmost point, draw a line, do the same with the Westernmost and Easternmost point and take the intersection. For some other countries and regions, there is also something like the center of population. Due to similar reasons. Thus, there are here and there discussions about the correct midpoint of certain geographic areas. Sometimes, you may even want to “buy” a certain method so that your place gains the popularity.
“Unofficial Midpoint”: Cölbe (near Marburg)
One of these unofficial midpoints is Cölbe near Marburg in Germany. The Bonn University Institute of Theoretic Geodesy defined in 2004 (i.e. under the conditions of the Kleinmaischeid “regency”) that a place at the Kaschubenweg is the real midpoint of the European Union. I visited the place, as I was curious whether the memory sign is still existing, but it is just an ordinary living area and the people rather feel to be pissed about it when you ask them about that topic.
The European Union Midpoints – My View
I hope I could take you on a small travel of European history in that posting. To me, it was fascinating that an in fact quite nerdy idea of traveling midpoints on the union also gives you so much history and also emotions. Bad luck that neither of the four places (maybe except of Gadheim, who just have that geographic honor for some months) really took the profit they could take of that opportunity. Especially talking with the Westerngrund organizers showed me how much interest there is in these place and how many people actually visit them.
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On my Whitsun 2020 trip to Lake Constance, I made a stop en route - due to the Covid-19 regulations ...
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The Pfahlbauten (Lake Dwelling) at Unteruhldingen, prehistoric houses built on wooden piles, are one of the Top 5 attractions of the ...
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During my Covid-19 day trip to Berlin, I spent some time in the Berlin Zoo. Berlin is quite famous for ...
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Air ship and zeppelin flights / flight history is a quite popular part of a visit at Lake Constance. In ...
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Many Germans did it - and I did it as well: travelling again. The Whitsun weekend was not only a ...
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Coming back from London from the (finally cancelled) Country To Country Festival 2020 was the last trip I took before ...
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Apart from some hiking and a number of drive-in cinemas, I did not generate any new contents for Flyctory.com on ...
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After I recently visited the traditional drive-in movie in Cologne and the additional pop-up Car Watch in my home town, 2nd ...
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As I wrote in my recent review about the traditional DRIVE IN movies in the South of Cologne, drive-in movies ...
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Quarantining, social isolation, being unable to go out on a Friday - overall, the cultural and social scene has been ...
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A Calculation Museum? Sounds like a place for die-hard nerds - but the Arithmeum in Bonn is really a popular ...
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Why not doing it at home? Though Bonn is just some 40 kilometers away from our flat, my wife and ...
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If you fly a non-Schengen flight from Terminal 1 (the non-Lufthansa one) at Munich Airport and depart from the B ...
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After I had some stays at Hilton Munich Airport in the past, I was happy to be back in this ...
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The reviews I found so far are quite clear: 9 out 9 users assigned a 1.0 to the Eurowings Lounge ...
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The Historic Mustard Mill in Cologne ("Historische Senfmühle Köln") is quite a unique place in the million people city. It ...
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After reviewing four Christmas markets in Cologne recently, I did not expect to get in touch with any additional ones ...
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The Christmas Market in Cologne's Old Town is the largest of the city. Under the slogan "Heinzel's Wintermärchen" (something like Good ...
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Cologne Cathedral and a 25 meter high Christmas tree - these are the key ingredients, which turn the Christmas Market ...
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As an overnight stay after the Mrs Greenbird concert in Frankfurt, I decided to opt for a hotel chain, which ...
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You may know Mönchengladbach (or: Moenchengladbach) for soccer, likely. However, the city hosts one of the most remarkable Star Wars ...
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During each festive season, Cologne is crowded with tourists and visitors due to its Christmas markets. There are masses of ...
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In an evening session with German aviation experts and frequent travelers in Frankfurt, Lufthansa today revealed their new Miles & ...
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As I needed an overnight after Eric Paslay's show in Aschaffenburg, I was looking for a stay in rail station ...
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Though it just processes about a half of the number of passengers of Munich Airport and even just a third ...
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The Johanniter Gästehaus in Münster in Northern Northrhine-Westfalia is likely one of the most unusual places I stayed in the last ...
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Like you already saw in my review of the Emirates Aviation Experience, including the A380 simulator, I have a certain ...
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The Vulkaneifel region Southwest of Bonn, Germany, is still a quite active vulcanic region. Thus, all around there and in ...
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The next cities around are Trier, Sankt Wendel or Idar-Oberstein - the small city of Hermeskeil could be seen as ...
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Water towers are not too common in Central Europe, especially in Germany. This is definitely one of the key factor, ...
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After I mentioned the Air Canada Lounge at Frankfurt Airport already in my love letter posting to LATAM flight 705, ...
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After two days of Weird Al Yankovic concerts and a memorable Day 4 with my sports idol Leander Paes and ...
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Flying back from the Write Like A Girl event in London, I had the opportunity to fly Sun-Air of Scandinavia for ...
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My trip to Singapore and Malaysia was my debut First Class experience (apart from Domestic First in the USA). I ...
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Solingen, some 30 km Northeast of Cologne, is known as Germany's headquarter of the knife and scissor industry. Thus, it ...
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For customers flying on Lufthansa's top notch First Class product (and HON Circle Members), the German airline offers a very ...
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I already visited a couple of stadium tours with Flyctory.com in the past. My home and heart soccer club, 1 ...
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Wuppertal in the Bergisches Land region Northeast of Cologne hosts a very special attraction for train and rail enthusiasts: the ...
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Bad times of terror, being pried and controlled in a country without the freedom to move - or good times ...
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Did you ever copy a CD from a friend? Plagiarism can be much worse than just bootlegging. The Museum Plagiarius ...
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The Lufthansa Lounges for Senators and Business Class customers are tending to be too crowded, especially in peak times. Thus, ...
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Due to a career event of my wife, we had to travel to the trade fair area of Hanover in ...
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During our visit of the Country 2 Country 2019 in Berlin, we chose the Hampton by Hilton Berlin East Side ...
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Lindlar, a minor Eastern suburb of Cologne, hosts one of two open-air museums driven by the regional Rhineland authority LVR ...
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I visited Europe's biggest country music festival, Country 2 Country (C2C), for the first time in 2018 in London. I immediately ...
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Bergisch Gladbach, a 110,000 inhabitant city East of Cologne, is a traditional location for the production of paper. While nowadays, ...
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After I visited the Sinsheim sister museum in February, I have been very curious about visiting the Speyer Technology Museum ...
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The B&B Hotels group, mainly operating in Germany, operates in the quite strongly growing of budget hotels. When you book ...
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One of the key attractions in Ratingen, Northeast of Dusseldorf, is the remarkable Cromford Textile Factory, which is driven by ...
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When people think of real "Eau de Cologne", they typically think about the well-branded 4711 brand located in the city's ...
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There are quite a lot of minor deer and animal parks around Cologne, quite a lot of them mainly based ...
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The route between Cologne and Rostock is a quite traditional connection from Rhineland to the Baltic Sea - which has ...
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Due to the limited exhibition space of the "Deutsches Museum" (German Museum of Technology), the famous Munich educative center had ...
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Located North of Cologne, the "Wildpark Tannenbusch" offers a nice way to spent your free time with your family, enjoying ...
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"Stylish", "Surprising" or "Modern design" might not really be the attributes which you combine with ibis hotels. The more I ...
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As I for example stated in my review on Louvre Abu Dhabi, I am quite much interested in ancient cultures ...
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Spa Town Bad Münstereifel, suffering from economic problems in their city center, decided to revamp its commercial concept and opened ...
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The former German capital Bonn has a vast tradition of open air concerts. Their current premier open air location is ...
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If you collect and something, you likely also have one or more several favourite pieces in your collection. What do ...
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The Cologne City Museum's recent history is not really what one would call "lucky". After a water damage in later ...
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Maybe one of the most characteristic German products is bread. I even found "German bakeries" during my visit of Taipei ...
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More than 1,100 rooms in the German capital - the Estrel Hotel in Germany's capital Berlin is just a massive ...
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Located quite prominently right at the motorway A6 at Sinsheim (home of the TSG Hoffenheim soccer club), the Technik Museum ...
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Historic Museums
Here are all other postings on Historic Museums :
I felt really happy to have a deeper view to the Northern and East parts of the United Arab Emirates ...
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When I had another trip watching my favorite musical Rock of Ages in June 2022 in Portsmouth, I had the rare ...
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There are a few Turf House Museums you can visit in Iceland. The UNESCO is even thinking about putting this ...
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Apart from the legendary Blue Lagoon, the Viking World / Vikingheimar in Nardvik on Reykjanes is likely one of the most ...
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I am not a religious person at all. The more, it is somehow remarkable that this posting is already the ...
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During a trip to the German North Sea shore in later 2021, we also visited the Automobil- & Spielzeugmuseum Nordsee. The ...
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The Settlement Exhibition Reykjavik (sometimes also with an added ± 871) gives you an insight of the 10th century settlement ...
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After the end of World War II, the blocking of access to West Berlin by the Soviet Union (the so-called Berlin ...
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My trip to the United Arab Emirates in February 2022 majorly lead me to the Northern part of the country ...
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Germany between World War II. - this is roughly the mission of the House of the History of the Federal ...
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Bellver Castle - or Castell de Bellver - is one of the most iconic places of Palma de Mallorca. The ...
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You might not make it to the Mallorca city of Manacor just to visit their history museum - but the ...
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When I visited the harbor-area attractions in Reykjavik, I felt it is a good opportunity to share as many of ...
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Hauptstadt der Spione - "Capital of the Spies". This is a book, which you can buy at the souvenir store of ...
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In quite some postings about the emirate North of Dubai, I already stated how much I value and enjoy the ...
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Quite a while ago, I took a trip to Arnhem in the Netherlands to explore the rich WWII history of ...
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It is time for the final posting of the years, simply named The Best Ones 2021. After looking into my ...
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The Tränenpalast ("Palace of Tears") in Berlin is the former border crossing point between East and West Berlin. It is located at ...
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Venice is an iconic place by itself - but it has some real key attractions as well. Without a doubt, ...
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While Palma Cathedral or the Palma Arena are regarded to be iconic pieces of architecture in the Balearic capital, I ...
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The same faith which applies to Oswiecim in Poland (better known under the former German name Auschwitz) is also valid, ...
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Auschwitz is a town's name (adopted to German) which you typically link with murder, cruelty, state-organized mass killings, injustice. A ...
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Driving a model landscape or a large model train landscape in Germany is a difficult business: Even if you do ...
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There was a duplicate reason to visit the European Hansa Museum in Lübeck in late July 2021: apart from the ...
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Not only because auf an early 1990's video game, I am deeply interested in the Hansa and its history. Thus, ...
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As I said in other posting, I really enjoy being in Sharjah and feel the vibe of the city and ...
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A very interesting rebranding: when I started to explore museums in the nearby Netherlands, the Dutch Freedom Museum in Groesbeek ...
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It is almost needless to say that Adolf Hitler was obsessed with megalomanic ideas. Apart from ruling the world and ...
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Sharjah is very often underestimated as a touristic destination. In fact, it offers some very interesting museum. The most outstanding ...
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The Stadium of Domitian - or Stadio di Domiziano, as the locals say, may not be one of the classic tourist ...
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The Northern Ireland conflict - or simply called The Troubles is one of the most intense civil conflicts I experienced during ...
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The National Monument Camp Vught - or Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch, which has been the German name during the Nazi era - is ...
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Papenburg has some more interesting places other than the famous Meyer Werft. At the opposite part of the town, my ...
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Abu Dhabi Khalifa Park is one of those hidden gems which you typically don't find in travel guides (or at ...
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The story why I felt I had to visit the Bergisches Museum für Bergbau, Handwerk und Handel - the Bergisches ...
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Even though the Netherlands capitulated against Germany just after a few days under attack during World War II, they have ...
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There are so many interesting places in Hamburg, which are still on my bucket list. Of course, the Northern German ...
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While the Arabian word Etihad for many people first of all stands for a major airline based in the capital of ...
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Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was born on 2nd April 1725 in Venice. The author and adventurer is definitely a legendary Italian ...
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Nuremberg (or Nürnberg, how it is named in German) has some sort of tough political-historic heritage. Several sites still remember ...
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In 1944, the 101st Airborne Division, called Screaming Eagles, landed North of Eindhoven in the Netherlands. As part of the Operation Market ...
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When you visit Dubai or the United Arab Emirates in general, you likely think about the parks, skyscrapers, sun and ...
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In 1891, Henry B. Plant founded the Tampa Bay Hotel. Nowadays, the National Historic Landmark in central Tampa is no ...
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Schloss Burg is just about half an hour away by car from my home town Cologne. The castle on the ...
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During a prolonged stop-over at Manchester Airport, I grabbed a rental car for a day and did some sightseeing in ...
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The Burg Meersburg (Meersburg Castle) in the city of Meersburg is one of the iconic landmarks in the Lake Constance / ...
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It is not even full sure whether Christopher Columbus in fact visited the Columbus House in 1492, before he left ...
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Two Olympic Gold Medals and multiple other medals and World Cup victories (with a special focus on Super-G) - undoubtedly, ...
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I am really fascinated by Leonardo da Vinci and his concepts / inventions. Thus, during my summer 2020 visit to ...
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The Weiße Rose / "White Rose" was a resistance group during the German Nazi regime. Mainly consisting of university students, she ...
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The Berchtesgadener Land is not only nowadays well-known as a popular tourist destination, there is also a dark part of ...
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The historic Al Shindagha district in Dubai, located right South of the Dubai Creek, is currently undergoing quite some touristic ...
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You might find this statement multiple times within my December 2020 postings - but A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is ...
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Undoubtedly, Amsterdam is not just a beautiful city, but also a place of rich cultural history. One example for that ...
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The Munich Toy Museum is one of these typical hidden gems you find in many cities. Right in the city ...
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Fujairah is definitely quite underrated as a touristic destination in the United Arab Emirates so far. I have to give ...
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Nuremberg is deeply linked to the German Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945. The key reason for that are of ...
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Especially in the recent past, I read a couple of ridiculous comparisons between certain people and political groups (which I ...
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During my first visit in Singapore, I just wanted to have an overview about the history of the Asian city ...
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When you think about Nazi Germany murders, you typically think of extermination camps like Auschwitz or the concentrations camps. A ...
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The Mithraeum in London is maybe one of the hidden gems of the British capital. During exvacation works in London ...
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One for the most positive surprises of my early July 2020 trip to Amsterdam and Eindhoven was the Channel Museum ...
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When people think about the United Arab Emirates, they typically think of Dubai or Abu Dhabi. During my last trips, ...
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The Imperial War Museum operates five sites throughout Britain. While I already visited the interesting Churchill War Rooms, I was ...
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At least in the Cologne area where I live, Castle Arcen in the Netherlands, close to the German border, is ...
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On 1st July 2002, Überlingen at Lake Constance (Bodensee) gain notoriety not only in Germany: two planes, a Tupolev TU-154M ...
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The Pfahlbauten (Lake Dwelling) at Unteruhldingen, prehistoric houses built on wooden piles, are one of the Top 5 attractions of the ...
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I am not too much of a casino person. However, I love being in Las Vegas as it is also ...
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A museum about the history and importance of sea trade in Singapore and Southeast Asia? Sounds much more boring than ...
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The Historic Mustard Mill in Cologne ("Historische Senfmühle Köln") is quite a unique place in the million people city. It ...
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On the third day of my Weird Al Yankovic & Grass Court Tennis trip in July 2019, I had time ...
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One amazing feature of Washington D.C. is the massive number of museums driven by the Smithsonian Institution: they are typically ...
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Even more than 80 years after Elvis Presley's birth, Tupelo in Mississippi is still dominated by memories of its most ...
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As part of a company event in Paris, I was able to see the Tutankhamun exhibition. Until the completion of ...
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Solingen, some 30 km Northeast of Cologne, is known as Germany's headquarter of the knife and scissor industry. Thus, it ...
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Founding Father of the United States, printer, author, inventor, scientist, many more... It is likely much easier to list the ...
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Bad times of terror, being pried and controlled in a country without the freedom to move - or good times ...
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Lindlar, a minor Eastern suburb of Cologne, hosts one of two open-air museums driven by the regional Rhineland authority LVR ...
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When Germany intensified their offensive efforts during World War II, Winston Churchill decided to built a bunker in Central London ...
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Something we all have in common is that we went to school - at least for a certain time. The ...
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How would a visit of Thessaloniki be completed without looking at the ancient Macedonian Times? Visiting the Archaelogical Museum of ...
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Liverpool has been one of the most important European cities for slavery trade. Thus, I used my September visit at ...
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When people think of real "Eau de Cologne", they typically think about the well-branded 4711 brand located in the city's ...
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On 21st October 1941, the German Wehrmacht slaughtered thousands of civilians in Kragujevac, Serbia, to revenge dead and wounded soldiers ...
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As I had just limited time in Antwerp after the enjoyable VLM flight, I chose to visit the Snijders&Rockoxhuis, which ...
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Casa Loma in Toronto is North America's only full sized castle. Though it might not be that well-known here in ...
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The Royal Ontario Museum just feels like an amazing wonderland of topics, a bit of "something for everyone". Did you ...
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As I for example stated in my review on Louvre Abu Dhabi, I am quite much interested in ancient cultures ...
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The Cologne City Museum's recent history is not really what one would call "lucky". After a water damage in later ...
Read More
Maybe one of the most characteristic German products is bread. I even found "German bakeries" during my visit of Taipei ...
Read More
My honest first idea about "Louvre" is that it is a place in Paris where people queue and punch to ...
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