Why Does No One Visit East Germany?
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- Опубликовано: 28 май 2024
- There is an old joke that says "more Germans have been to Mallorca than East Germany"... but why is that? The freedom of movement between the former East and West German states has been established for more than 30 years. So why do still so few international and German travelers visit East Germany today?
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:51 Economics of East vs. West Germany
05:19 Tourism Infrastructure
09:06 Cultural Attractions
12:33 The PR Problem of History
17:17 Crime
22:07 Tourism Statistics
Episode No. 147
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Thank you! As a person living in East-Germany I always feel underrepresented when it comes to "places you should visit in Germany", because most of them are in the western part of the country. Yet we have so much history and nature here that people are missing out on.
Yeah communism ruined East Germany.
I agree.
Ask the frisians or northern Germany in general.
i am from SW germany... ofc, first i think of Black Forrest and Bavaria. but right after that, all that comes to my mind is in east germany.
Would love to see more sights in Eastern Germany, though I would not feel safe or comfortable due to the high levels of racist behaviour, racist violence and the number of AfD voters.
I'm an American who moved to Magdeburg almost 3 years ago. Previously, I lived in Munich for 20 years, Hamburg for 3 years, and Vienna for 1 year. Of all those places, Magdeburg is by far my favorite. The pace of life is more gentle, the people are more pleasant, and the city and local area are very green. When I told Munich friends that I was going to move here, most of them tried to dissuade me, telling me it was unsafe, a hotbed for Neo-Nazis, and lacking in modern amenities. So far, I have found all that to be wrong. I always make an effort here to respect the history that the residents here have experienced, and they seem to appreciate my interest in that. I feel at ease and well accepted here. As for tourism stuff, Magdeburg has the Cathedral and several museums. But my favorite things are the river (Elbe) and the many green areas and lakes. There are lots of international university students here, plus a good number of Asian and South Asian stores for my favorite foods. If you want to visit a down-to-earth, genuinely German city, I recommend my Magdeburg!
Visited the area of Thuringen and around the Saale as well as the area around Schwerin. Much to see. At the time east Germany felt like East Germany, it was early 90ies.
People from Munich warning you about Neo Nazis? Bavarians have been voting CSU for ages, which is so rightwing it is almost neo nazi
Yeah 🎉I know MGD ❤
Come to Stendal with S1 train
Good to read. Welcome to our Magdeburg and great you enjoy your time.
We are from the Netherlands and spend a week with our kids in Magdeburg in 2016. We stayed in a hotel in Hundertwassers Grüne Zitadelle and visited the Technikmuseum, Jahrtausendturm, Elbauenpark, the Zoo and the Botanical garden. We loved it!
this is great to hear. I was born and grew up in an Eastern suburb of Magdeburg, a village founded by Dutch settlers. In the area between Magdeburg and Berlin you often find Dutch connections in the local history, but I guess, it is not information easily available to Dutch tourist.
That city has a bloody history, unfortunately. Twice surrounded by invading troops. No, it has nothing to do with the 3rd Reich.
I'm Indian and I lived in a small village in Brandenburg, near Potsdam, for more than a year. I had just arrived and didn't speak the language and was probably the only non-German or non-European living in that village. Barely anybody spoke English and I managed with broken sentences and sign language. However, all said and done, looking back I have a good feeling about it. The residents of the village were kind and nice. I also managed to explore some nature areas of Brandenburg. I want to read this book by the German writer Theodore Fontane: Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg (walks around Brandenburg). Unfortunately, an English translation Isn't available. I'm slowly learning German and maybe one day, I can fully grasp that book in its original form and explore Brandenburg like Fontane.
Welcome! Why did you moved into a village, sounds quite atypical for someone coming from another country? Willkommen. Warum bist du in ein Dorf gezogen, klingt recht untypisch für jemanden der aus einem anderen Land einreist.
@@user-th5ui4ib3y Danke! I moved at a time when the first phase of the Ukrainian war was in its full swing forcing hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to leave for safer havens. Many came to Germany, particularly in the Berlin - Potsdam region. There was already a housing crisis and it became even more acute with the war. The government (understandably) prioritized housing allocation to the desperate Ukrainians so the other immigrants like me had very little choice in terms of housing. I lived in some temporary places for a few months but when I failed to secure a long term rental contract in the city, I finally took an available apartment in a village. I had no choice. I lived there for 13 months. Now I live in Potsdam but still go to the village to get a haircut. I had become friends with the barber.
@@user-th5ui4ib3y Danke! I moved to Germany at the peak of the war in Ukraine. So my arrival coincided with a massive influx of Ukrainian refugees to Germany. Hundreds of thousands of people arrived in Germany, particularly in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. The government had (understandably) allotted most of the available housing for the desperate Ukrainians fleeing the war, which meant that other immigrants such as me struggled to find housing in an already very tight housing market. I lived out of a suitcase in temporary accommodations for many weeks but when I failed to secure a long-term rental contract in the city, I had no choice but to find housing in the village. I lived there for 13 months until the situation eased and then I managed to find a place in Potsdam. I still visit the village to get my haircut - I had become friends with the local barber there.
Wow Fontane is good, but also hard, because the authors of the era of realism are known for long descriptive sentences. Once you can read that book fully you defenetly wont have problems with the german language anymore.
But I think in todays Brandenburg, a bike ride would be the better choice to a walk, because they build so many long bike ways all throughout the state.
@@user-th5ui4ib3y Danke! Yes it's definitely atypical. I did try every bit to get an apartment in Potsdam where I work but the acute housing crisis meant I had to live out of a suitcase on temporary short-term sublet rental contracts in various places. The only place where an affordable and a long term rental apartment was available was in the village. It was in a detached building atop an abandoned restaurant - quite scary at first but slowly I made my peace with it. I don't live there anymore but still visit the village to get a haircut - I had become friends with the local barber!
I'm dutch and made a small road trip though eastern Germany last year. I don't regret it at all.
Visited Sächsische Schweiz, Dresden, Leipzig and ended the trip in Berlin. I had a great time!
It's a nice area for a road trip as well. The Autobahn in that part of the country was extremely nice and not a ton of traffic.
They are friendly towards you, because you are white. Dutch in Deutschland is NO racial diversity.
@@TypeAshton Yes, the autobahn in east Germany is new and the one in the west needs to be refurbished urgently.
@@TypeAshton
It is to be recomended to not travel on the Autobahn (espeally the A4 towards Poland) on Fridays or bevore Holydayes. At that time the polish workers return home to spend time with their family and the A4 is overflowing and crouded.
Now I'm wondering which places the dutch usually visit in Germany?
Just the north west, that is already pretty similar to the Netherlands? The south, because there are real mountains, not just Vaalserberg?
I was living in Germany during the fall of the wall and reunification. It was an unusual time of joy and trauma. There was a wide gap between how the people of the Bundesrepublik and the DDR viewed it and each other. It is too complex to cover just in a comment, but it laid the foundation for how the two regions related and how it is today. In the west there was a mixture of pity for the former east along with some distaste for what had been happening there. In the east there was a great rush of feeling of freedom, but a lot of bewilderment over the changes to their lives. A great deal happened in a very short time. After the euphoria of the reunion wore off, the hard (and expensive) work had to begin. 16.4 million people changed nationality instantly and the ways of the west had to be adopted. It must have been strange for the residents to see their Trabis and Wartburgs replaced by VWs and BMWs as well as seeing place names change (for example: Karl Marx Stadt reverted to it's original name of Chemnitz). It was pretty rough at first and tourism was pretty far down the list of priorities. A lot of what you can see in Leipzig or Dresden today is the product of the last 35 years, not the 44 years before that and a lot of what you could see in 1990 was a bit grim. The leveling of the two former Germanys is something that will only come with time. Give it 9 more years when the time of reunification becomes equal with the time of separation and see what happens. Good story and it heightens even more my desire to visit the eastern part of Germany.
And remember how western investors rushed in and plundered and exploited all the former GDR properties... It is ironic that the former socialists got screwed over by capitalists when they finally got their freedom.
Good analysis. But sth is missing: the west just swiped away everything from the GDR, which left some of the East Germans with a feeling that they had been colonized, overrun. Not everything that happened was honorable or even decent. In both ways... time to stop licking the wounds and start healing.
The people here did not watch their Trabis/Wartburgs being replaced - they replaced these themselves! Also the people of Chemnitz couldn't wait until they finally got rid of that stupid Karl Marx Stadt name! 🙄 All in all the 'Easties' weren't passive - a huge(!) majority(!) welcomed that development - be it at a high price (9 fold rent increase within a year or 20% unemployment early 2000's).
This radical change is something many western germans have never experienced. There reunifaction "trauma" is the introduction of the Solidaritätsbeitrag and strange saxons taking their jobs. But the idea of having your whole life planing or something like a career instantly whipped out on a much larger level than just the loss of a job, was non existent.
The assymetric interests where a problem. The Ossis wanted to experience the west but only a view Wessis cared then for the east. This isn't helpful when you need to create a collective future.
@@qobide good analysis!
I recommend visiting Görlitz 😍 It is one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. It wasn’t destroyed in World War II at all which is quite unique, and almost all buildings are completely restored.
Nice brewery too, and fun walking into Poland.
And Hollywood loves shooting movies there. 😉
I was there end of the 90ties, the people there was so unfriendly, that I was shocked
I'm originally from the black forest but I moved in 2011 to the former East and I have stayed here (now Leipzig) ever since.
Here are my recommendations that are not covered already in the video in no particular order:
Weimar, Erfurt, Wartburg castle in Eisenach, Quedlinburg, Potsdam, Schwerin, Stralsund, Rügen, Darß, Thüringer Wald, sächsische Schweiz, Spreewald... I love to travel and explore but even for me there are still so many more places to visit 😊
Go to Usedom and meet your now follow saxonies ;)
But also because it is a nicew place, if you werent there yet.
Grimma, Torgau, Rochlitz, Meißen, Bautzen - this list can be endless :)
Dresden nicht vergessen
@@esoxhead Ich hatte es so verstanden, dass sie in Dresden war. Daher ist eine Empfehlung wohl unnötig. ;)
And the Brocken mountain.
if you can visit the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) in December you are in for a treat. In my opinion this region is the Christmas Land of Germany and i will fight for that one. If you visit Freiberg or Annaberg Buchholz and drive through the smaller towns and villages you will really experience the many Christmas decorations that are unique and spread from this area into the rest of Germany in almost every window of every house you will see pyramids and and 'Schwibbögen' (light arches) turning everything into a sea of lights once it gets dark.
It is really an experience. The ore mountains are also a beautiful area during the rest of the year but in December it is almost magical.
Christmas markets: try Annaberg-Buchholz, I find it so incredibly beautiful, the "wall" fencing off the market showcases tiny panoptica with moving puppets depicting trades and crafts. Plus you can visit the Frohnauer Hammer" a mediaval huge blacksmith tool in action, or why not visit the mine, with mining so typical for the region? The altarpiece in the large (late Gothic early Renaissance) St Anne's church is famous, too, particularly the backside depicting the whole actual process of silber mining 500 years ago is unique.
Usually they mention Seiffen. Because that is one of the places where they actually produce that stuff and the places you mentioned are only somehow in that region. Freiberg is well known for the Mountain Academy and the museum of minerals.
Why is no one mentioning Bad Schandau? Go there to explore the Sächsische Schweiz - the rock faces there are AMAZEBALLS
Only 12 minutes by car from Bad Schandau to Königstein Fortress😍
Too small, and also not really a place to stay. They have about 300 beds. That's more included in "Dresden environment".
And take a ride with the Kirnitzschtalbahn…
and visit Kuhstein, Bastai and Schrammsteine, btw in this Area the Tom Hanks Film, Cloud Atlas was filmed ;-)
@@matzeb.2540 Bastei
And you could visit Schneckenstein where they mined the Saxon Diamonds.
Thuringia is literally one of the most beautiful parts of Germany with a beautiful landscape, castles and cities like Erfurt or Weimar which still have their huge old towns from the Middle Ages.
Sure but... what about AFD? I do not want to provoke, be sure. I simply feel VERY uncomfortable there.
@@fwnm
I don’t feel uncomfortable or unwelcome there at all.
Though I speak a different dialect and my husband only broken German (he’s American) - maybe it would be different if he wasn’t “white”.
@@christinehorsley it would... be sure mom ^^
@@fwnmso you should feel uncomfortable in every part of Germany now cause the AfD is on the rise and not only in the eastern half of the country. Now for real, I have never experienced any kind of negative feedback from people in eastern Germany. Very nice people indeed.
@@timv.8974 wrong. Betlin and the west are not the same. The east is often really negative to maximum. They should learn democracy finally. If AFD will form government there, millions of people will leave the country. With them many well educated tax payers who are originally migrants.
Than I think they will understand the issue. Fascism there is a problem. Chrupalla, Hoecke, Krah...and all of them support Russia! Think about it.
I (🇨🇭) traveled with the 9€-Ticket through the southern half of eastern Germany in 2022 for 23 days and visited 20 cities. I haven’t noticed the Waldschlößchenbrücke in Dresden ! Beautiful places are imo Erfurt , Görlitz (Görliwood) ,Frankfurt/O , Quedlinburg , Wernigerode, Meissen, Moritzburg, Nordhausen, Weimar , Magdeburg, Halle , Leipzig and for sure Dresden…!
The people in general are very friendly !
sorry, but how do one expects to experience more the then a rushed climbs of a place, when one is rushing through 20 of them in a fortnight? .... pls, don't do stress-tourism, don't be always on the move and on a schedule ^^
I was born in little Frankfurt, so it is nice to see you enjoyed the town. 😊
@@BR618
This was my “Discovery Voyage” to get an idea where I want to go back and stay a little longer…
@@Andifined
There is still something to improve but it’s a nice city, the polish side too.
@@aoilpe yes agree, that there is still a lot that can be improved. I am just happy cause one does not often hear something like that, especially if you are from east germany.
East Germany is highly underrated as a tourist destination. So many places to go.
Mecklenburg Lake District, Spreewald, the baltic coast, many more places and of course the big three, Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig.
But there's a ton of smaller towns like Quedlinburg which are really worth visiting.
There's even a race track, where the 2024 German MotoGP race is held.
The Architecture nerd within me also looks forward to visiting the Bauhaus in Dessau.
Ppl in east germany are generally unfreindly. Especially towards tourists and foreginers.
@@murti1565 just to you.
I've only been to Germany once and it was to the Mecklenburg Lake District.
theres also the little area known as "sächsische schweiz" which is absolutely lovely to hike through =)
i remember a lot of fun visits there back when i was a kid
In my job I still encounter collegues from West Germany, who will have to visit our company in East Germany due to their job, saying, that this is the first time they ever went to the east - in the year 2024! Holy s**t!
I live on the former border, in the west. And I work in the east. I was talking to a colleague from the east who admitted that she just visited our small town on the western side for the first time. 35 years after the reunion. It's like 1km from her hometown. She goes to the supermarket in the east which is like 5km more. She never even thought about that there is a town in the west with a (even nicer) supermarket.
I think, that's just people not really enjoying traveling inside their own country much. There's plenty of people from Berlin who've not yet bothered visiting, say Cologne, Hamburg, Munich etc.
Also for people from East-Germany even if you're not interested in visiting other German cities: If you're not flying, you still kind of have to go through west-germany to get to the more popular Destinations like the Netherlands, France and Italy.
Like, no shade on Poland but I've lived in Berlin for most of my life and STILL I have never visited Warsow or Krakow (though polish friends keep telling me I need to check out Krakow, so it's on the bucket list). So for people from Western Germany unless you're from Hamburg and want to visit Prague, there isn't ever much reason go through East-Germany, because comparatively it's also just not as big as West-Germany.
And then you have Hauptstadt-Neid (Capital Envy?) and people often dismissing Berlin as dirty, boring and uninteresting. Which is a thing in most countries it seems. Brittish people not from London will tell you they hate London. French people not from Paris will tell you that Paris sucks etc. And those people aren't even wrong. If you're already from France, then the "frenchness" of Paris isn't really a draw anymore and it's just a big touristy version of whatever city you already live in.
So really, eastern Germany is just smaller and is neighbouring Poland, and a lot of people don't care much for visiting Berlin so in my mind it's not a huge surprise if People from the western parts haven't ever been here.
@@weizenobstmusli8232 But I think this version is pretty rare. I've never encountered a single east German like this, while I encountered multiple people like this from the west like this. All east Germans, even the most stubborn, visited the west immediately after the borger opened. I mean, there was Begrüßungsgeld waiting for them - everybody I knew went in the very first week and purchased new TVs, radios, clothes, etc.
Im 21 I never have been to the West either.
@@derwolf3006 Really? That's surprising for me. Just school trips alone took me more than 3 times into the west. Your school never did? Where are you from?
edit:
Hamburg - city trip,
Düsseldorf - musical Grease,
Cologne - city trip, Cologne Cathedral,
Berlin - city trip, reunification and government/democracy (ok, mostly east, but western parts are there as well),
Brühl - Phantasialand
Soltau - Heide Park
+ a nearby natual resort - falconry, forsests, mountains
+ a nearby former border installation / museeum
+ a nearby former spa (Bad Sooden-Allendorf, a mixed trip, main purpose visit to Wartburg castle)
+ multiple pass-throughs to get to other int. destinations, such as London, Paris and our final school trip to Italy
The nearby destinations might be a result of me living right next to the border with Lower Saxony, former restricted zone. But I can't immagine being "forced" to so many places in school (and I propably forgot something here as well) and you were not.
I was there with a family on a bike tour and we loved it. Greetings from Poland
hehe, during Corona we made a bike/camping trip from Leipzig to the Polish Baltic Sea (Misdroy) - we loved it as well :)
@@Cera3 I guess it’s Miedzyzdroje:) There is a nice bike road along the sea shore all the way to Gdańsk. I recommend it for a next trip. On East Germany’s side there are many nice and peaceful places, beautiful nature and excellent bike infrastructure. It’s so underrated and virtually unknown in Poland
It is an absolute disgrace and travesty that beautiful Dresden from the designated heritage list! To me that is a crime and they slap in the face to
The people of Dresden who have worked so hard to restore their City known for centuries as the Paris of the Elber
The area North of Berlin, Mecklenburg, is absolutely beautiful. Lot's of lakes and soft Forest you can walk in, no dangerous wild animals.
As you said, Dresden and the surrounding area are really worth a visit. However, there are also small towns in eastern Germany with breathtaking surroundings. Quedlinburg and Wernigerode with the Harz Mountains themselves can be completely captivating. In Mecklenburg, the lake landscape and the many small towns are an incredible invitation to slow down. These areas deserve to be noticed much more and the inhabitants are proud of what surrounds them. Especially in view of the state of many places immediately after reunification and the little or no money that was available. This lack of appreciation has certainly been a somewhat frustrating experience for residents over the many years since reunification.
My wife and I have almost exclusively visited Eastern Germany. The Vogtland, Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz, Berlin etc. It is amazing tgere.
East Germany has a lot to offer. My boyfriend and I travlled 16 days through East Germany. Hiking in Eisenach, visiting the Gedenkstätte Buchenwald,spending the afternoon in Weimar, sightseeing in Leipzig and Dresden.We really underrestimated the Military Museum in Dresden. Moving on to Potsdam and ending the trip with five days in Kühlungsborn.
I'm Bavarian and back in 2019 (pre-Covid) I took a week off around the Day of German Unity at the beginning of October and just took the train around Saxony. It was so beautiful and I can recommend Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz) and the Sorb region around Bautzen and Cottbus; I felt very welcome and everyone smiled hearing my very different Bavarian accent there :) But it's true: most Bavarians I know when going to the ocean go south to the Adriatic Sea rather than north to the Baltic Sea.
If the baltic sea would be as warm as the adriatic, I'm sure more people would go there. Also from most of Bavaria, Italy's coast(s) are just closer than the German ones.
Furthermore the German coasts are riddled with "Kurorte". A week there most likely costs more than 2 weeks in Jesolo.
When East Germans could spend more money, they preferred the Bulgarian Gold Beach over the Baltic Sea.
I don't think it is really true. Certainly, prizy places exist along the German coast, but the North-East is rather cheap compared to other parts of the country. If you live not in the first hotel in town, I guess it is rather affordable. On the other hand Italy is not that cheap anymore. People who wanted to save money went to Croatia, but even that became more expensive now. However, the climate is rather different and the Baltic Sea is not a real ocean: less salty, less waves in most of the time
As a tip for a family: Rent a Ferien Haus in MeckPomm in a village somewhere between the lakes. Then take a bike tour every day to a different lake, if it's to warm just take a swim, build sand castles, etc. You can watch ships and boats and rent a canoe. It's just every day a new adventure in the nature. You might notice, MeckPomm has open super markets on Sundays for arriving tourists who need to fillup the rented houses with groceries :) => examples: Zechliner Hütter, Canow, Wustro, Fürstzenberg, Lychen, Feldberg, ...
Any plans on creating a video on the transformation of strip mining holes to lakes and new tourist areas (Leipzig Neuseenland and Lausitzer Seenland)?
Very good recommendation!
Incredibly beautiful landscapes. Not much going on, but if you want action and crowds, there are other places. It's a great place to enjoy nature and calm. A truly relaxing vacation to slow down and just enjoy life.
You could also cruise over the Havel and all adjoining lakes on a house boat. Makes sure to visit the Stechlin See, it's the most clear lake. The little cities are also cute.
Visited Potsdam a few weeks ago, lovely place I can recommend.
Loved Potsdam. ♥️
I went to college there i the late 60's.
I suspect that after Queen of Tears, there is going to be a spike in tourism in the former East Germany, especially Potsdam and Sanssouci Palace, from travelers in East Asia.
@@michaellawrence588 It's a wonderful [place. Not just the castle which was supposed a small edition of the castle of Luis14th.
The country around Potsdam is famous for growing fruit. Lot's of orchards.
Potsdam also has wonderful lakes that are connected with each other.
.My first boyfriend had a boat and took me around. It was awesome.
It's also a big place for international history because the Allies signed the papers to end WWII there (Potsdamer Abkommen).
My husband and I traveled to Germany last year. While there, we visited Muhlhausen, where my grandparents were born and raised. We explored much of Thuringia, and loved driving around that part of the country. We also really enjoyed Erfurt and stayed at Wartburg Castle in Eisenach.
The unification of Germany is a highly underrated miracle. At the time when countries were breaking up, and they continue to do so, they choose to unite.
Welche Vereinigung ? Und die Besatzungsmächte waren dagegen.
As a chineese leader said to describe the constant break up reunification cycle of different chineese provinces
"when people were together for very long. They want to seperate
When people with common history/culture. Were seperated for long enough they want to reunite" 😂
@@ursulafranke4552 Ach Ursula... geh mal wieder zurück in Deine Schwurblerblase.
Nobody chose to unite. Gorbačëv sold us to the class enemy. The people has never been asked.
The reunification happened because the Soviet Union was collapsing and couldn‘t maintain it’s grip any longer on the countries it had controlled previously.
As a German, I am quite happy the beautiful national parks in former East Germany such as the Mecklenburger Seenplatte are not being overrun by tourists from overseas.
Yes, that's what we call east German hospitality. So sad 😞
@@UlliStein Talk to the peopla of Amsterdam, Dubrovnik, Venetia . . . (no comparison I know).
Not overrun by tourists from overseas..but the ones from Berlin are bad enough
@@chkoha6462 And that answers Ashtons question. Who wants to be a tourist where he feels not to be welcome.
You should build a wall around your East Germany. More precisely, as you like russian tourists, between East and West Germany.
I spent in 2023 months walking through Northern Germany. Highlights in the east were Stralsund and Rügen.
I am SO excited to visit Rügen soon. I hear a lot of great things. ❤️ Thanks for the recommendation!
Use a bike there. I was walking on Rügen but I think taking a bike is a better idea!
That could be really fun. Someone also recommended cycling the Elbe from the Czech Republic all the way to Hamburg. It sounds like I need to do some more cycling-friendly research on Northern Germany.
I can absoletely recommend Quedlinburg! Especially if you like the medieval ages. It's one of the biggest ensembles of half-timbered houses in Germany. All of them renovated.❤
@@TypeAshton Hi Ashton. I was recently on Rügen on business and before that 30 years ago. As an islander I can confirm that Rügen has a beauty all of its own. On this trip we stayed at the Parkhotel in Putbus. The little town is not as shiny as Binz, but it has an interesting history. However, there are still buildings that need some work. But the architecture of the buildings is really beautiful.
Hi Ashton, I live in Erfurt and I can recommend Erfurt both as a tourist destination and a jumping off point for the surrounding towns like Weimar and Eisenach. I hear the hiking and biking in the Horizontale in Jena, Oberhof and the Rhön is fantastic. There are also other tourist attractions famous among the locals, like the disused Mine in Werratal, the Baumkronenpfad at the Hainich National Park, and the spa in Bad Salzungen. I sound like a tour guide 🙈, but do holler if you do come here. It isn't very easy being brown and foreign in East Germany, no lie, but like all places, there are good and bad aspects to being here, not very different from anywhere you go.
I also recommend it! Absolutely smashing!
I'm an American and I spent a year in college in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, 1994-1995. I knew only 1 other American in the city at the time, and a very small number of westerners. Unemployment at the time in the city was around 25%. I was actually paid a stipend from the German government as an incentive to study in East Germany, and in one of my classes, we had 3 professors and a lab tech for only 2 students! I learned German very well, and my fluency allowed me access to my East German friends and their families in a way that I think was way more immersive. I had the opportunity to visit Magdeburg in 2016, and I was happy to see how much the city had changed for the better, but it was obvious that it lagged behind its western counterparts.
For interesting tourist destinations, I would recommend Magdeburg (Altstadt, Magdeburger Dom, Breiter Weg, Rotterhorn Park, Elbe Ufer, etc), but also Wernigerode and Quedlinburg in the Harz Mountains. Potsdam is also incredibly historic and scenic, and its proximity to Berlin makes it very accessible. Given all that Berlin has to offer, Potsdam often gets overlooked, but its definitely worth the trip on its own.
I agree with Potsdam which is nessled in park landscape with many small palaces and manors - though it could feel extensive to walk. Renting a bike will do you a good service (though sometimes there are some restrictions for not biking through baroque flower beds. The same goes for Magdeburg which has pretty green spaces along the river, which might be too spread out to walk, but perfect with a bike. The air raids of WWII did not leave much of the Old Town left, so "Altstadt" might be disappointing, but the Magdeburg Cathedral is truely worth visiting and the adjacent southern city expansion with it'd Gründerzeit facades, south of the "Old Town".
I find the term “Westerners” somewhat irritating. The East Germans were also Germans, i.e. Westerners. If an American had lived behind the wall for 28 years, he would still be Western/American after those 28 years. That's why most West Germans had nothing against the Soviet bloc: because almost everything in it was Eastern European. The mistake was that the Soviets had managed to get their hands on a piece of Germany, i.e. a piece of the West. That's why the West German government only wanted to get the GDR out quickly in 1989/90 and then immediately pull the iron curtain back up again. At least that was the original plan.
I actually visited Dresden at Eastern . Amazing. We stayed a little bit out of the city. Everything was nice. Streets, Houses, parks, cafés, Restaurants. I did. the Red Line tour. Highly recommended.
Even in far off Australia, we knew of the international efforts to restore the Frauenkirche in Dresden. Add the continuing controversy and ramifications to the reputation of those who served in Bomber Command following the bombing of the city when victory had already been assured and a visit was high on my bucket list during my all too short time in the country. To a much less extent than Berlin, evidence of the bombing was still visible even if in the form of empty parcels of land.
Yes. Some of my relatives were involved in that 'attack'. The guilt endured throughout their lives.
Thank you very much! Dresdeners appreciate this efforts very well. People from all over the world donated for our Womens Curch. Thanks to Australia!
I‘m a Spaniard living in Eastern Germany and I don’t regret my decision at all. I love the architecture, the people, the nature and the climate (yes, correct!) I love the snowy mountains in winter, the flowering season, the warm summer, the golden autumn,…
Good Morning Ashton, your outside perspective is very valuable, thank you
Hey Ashton. Are you aware that Trump still have GERMAN Ancestry ❓
If there's one place in East Germany I can recommend visiting, it's the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, especialy the Saxon Switzerland national park.
There's so many nice places in Eastern part of Germany. And while Quedlinburg (and Wernigerode) have been mentioned before (and are really worth a visit! Quedlinburg during Christmas time as well), I want to point out that there are many many castles all over. You may want to look at Burg Falkenstein in the Harz mountains, where there's also medival festivals, if I remember correctly. There's castles in the Thurginia forest, like around Jena, coming from Camburg (Camburger Schlösser). There's castles in the Erzgebirge. To name just a few specific and non-specific castles. There's more!
Also there's a lot of legends around the Harz, starting with the Teufelsmauer (devils wall) and going to the Rosstrappe and more after that.
Also, the Harz has a really nice, old train system. That might be something for Jack, I do recall him loving trains.
Another thing to look at are old mines etc. that are just amazing and not as heavily visited as those in other areas. Or take a look at local museums, that focus on something special.
Thing is: many places in the Eastern part of Germany haven't been bombed as heavily as their Western counterparts, due to just being a lot smaller and with less infrastructure. That means that there's still a lot of really old inner cities etc., some not well taken care of, but in many places, they try to improve and keep these buildings (Quedlinburg, Wernigerode, Weimar... to name just a few of the more well known places). Yeah, I know that in Frankfurt/M they rebuilt the Römer, but visiting it... you just see that it's rebuilt and not original (if you know original buildings that is).
Also, there's another bigger airport in Eastern Germany, actually one of the largest: The airport of Halle/Leipzig. It's mostly used for transport, but it's huge and there are planes from all over the world landing there, just fewer for people. And that's right in the heart of Eastern Germany.
Not to forget the Leuchtenburg, my "home castle". It's huge and you learn a lot about the history of porcelain as well.
Btw, if you want to see something really cool: During the last weekend of July each year, there's a Ossi Oldtimer cruise/race in the town near the Leuchtenburg. So much fun!
I have visited. But I'm Polish :D How not to visit Dresden to see the Vermeer there, and if it's Saxon Switzerland, then Koenigstein, then a pilgrimage to Bach's Leipzig....
PS.
And the steamboat cruise from Koenigstein to Dresden and the German tourists singing a Schubert song amidst the setting sun.... One of my greatest travel experiences
I take this video to do something I wanted to do for a long time. I'm a big fan of your videos inclusive the older videos about the 'Black Forest Family'. So, thank you very much for this video. I grew up in the 60's / 70's in East Germany (Uckermark area). After the re-unification 1990 I moved to Cologne area for work. Meanwhile I had the oportunity to work and live in several coutries around the world. (e.g. Switzerland, Singapore) And I'm realy grateful for this experience. However, although I love all your videos I hade the impression that the eastern part of Germany was kind of under -represented. This is now over. So, THANK YOU !!! again. I can agree to all of your comments. I appreciate your balanced perspective. The reconstruction took much longer than expected (30 years ago), but now East Germany is worth seeing and worth living. I wish you and your 'Black Forest Family' all the best and look forward to watch your next video.
still can't get my head wrapped around it, why the americans are OBSESSED with castles and Schloss Neuschwarstein in particular there are so many beautyful palaces all around Germany.
Because Bavaria is REAL Germany in the mindset of America, and Americans of German heritage identify with this part of Germany - in my opinion, at least. Correct me if I am wrong.
Spreewald also stands out, especially because they speak a unique language - Sorbic (Sorbisch).
This is due to the fact that most GIs where stationed in Bavaria after WW2 and that helped to spread the cultural image of Bavaria in the US while neglecting other regions.
@@simtill Well, there were GIs also stationed in Hessen, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Bremerhaven and Garlstedt (Lower Saxony) - But, yes, many WERE stationed in Bavaria. Few military installations remain.
Back in the days, AFN would recommend other parts of Germany and Europe to military servicemen and their families - question is, whether they had the chance - and the time - to do so.
BTW, the German language was still very prevalent in America, prior to WW II.
If I'm not mistaken the Disney castle is based on Schloss Neuschwanstein, hence their fascination with it.
@@lonespokesperson7254 US servicemen (and famillies) did not seem eager to visit. I have met a US Army officer who went from Baden-Würtemberg to France... only to Disneyland.
Awesome video!
I just spent a day on Usedom. The beaches there are awesome and there are some great museums. It's easy to access via train coming from Berlin.
Someone else just recommended this too! I'll be sure to add it to my list. Thanks!!
Thank you for this nice video featuring the east, a topic that is not often brought up by expats living in Germany, I feel. Being born in Leipzig and now living in Dresden, I will not recommend them, and you already featured and visited them.
I vote for Erfurt for a daytrip/2-day trip. It‘s a small city, one can visit the Krämerbrücke, the cathedral, Petersberg and the ega, if one likes flowers, to give some recommendations. There is also small 900 years old synagogue if one is interested in Jewish live during medieval times. Erfurt is well connected by train and normally easy to reach (from Baden-Würtenberg maybe a bit harder, but it’s a good tip maybe for other people living in Munich for example)
For someone living in one of the most beautiful areas of the country, you really put a lot of effort into showing, not only germans, but, the entire world the beauties of the entire country. THAT'S AMAZING! Thank you!
You literally just have to walk out of the door (front or back!) and you have the Black Forest, the Swabian Alb and so many lovely towns and cities nearby! But, you choose to show as much of the country to as many people as you possibly can! And your comparisons are worthy of a tour guide! I have the feeling of having been there myself without even leaving my couch!
I hope you keep up your great work! Thank you so much for your insight! Lovely greetings to you and your family from Siegen, NRW!
Hey! I have lived here in Germany for 16 years now, and I've been to East Germany twice now, infinitely more often than I've stayed in Bavaria
Just some travel ideas that came to mind:
Rügen: beautiful landscape with the sea and the famous white cliffs
Spreewald: beatiful nature habitat, with a somewhat unique style of travel on waterways. Taking a boat for yourself is also great to get kids tired. Just remember to bring something to keep mosquitoes away
Erfurt and Weimar: Not as big as Leipzig or Dresden, but equally beautiful and in case of Weimar at least as relevant historically (think Goethe, Weimar Republic, ...).
Wittenberg: beautiful old town, and one of the starting grounds for the protestant movement
In Winter: Basically all of Thuringia, especially if there's snow. Lots of chances for winter sports, but also the traditional Christmas markets and cities like Lauscha centeres around the production of Christmas tree ornaments
And there are lots of other places, as others are welcome to point out
Rügen is not really East Germany. Many people from West Germany moved there. It looks like 1st world town now.
I agree with all, but christmas time. That time you have to visit the Ore Mountains. No place in germany is comparable to the christmas traditions there.
The relationship between east and west is certainly difficult. A lot went wrong in the early years after reunification. There was no sense of cultural relevance of the east German economy, so the government did not put in enough effort to protect existing companies in the transition from plan economy to capitalism. Investors (mostly from the west) could rush in and get rich from subsidies by phasing out possibly viable businesses. Those subsidies were of course payed for with tax money, so a lot of people in the west felt like they had payed a lot to the east, while people in the east felt like westerners had come in and destroyed their jobs.
During the Cold War both sides had been subject to propagandist reporting about each other, so certain biases were already there. The initial elation about the fall of the wall belied those biases. There was an expectation that actual unity would just happen after reunification, so there was not much deliberate effort put into reducing prejudice. While everyday interactions between people from east and west do help to reduce preconceptions, a lot is culturally pretty established and difficult to eliminate.
The people I have met do not share this opinion.
Who did the propagandistic reporting in East Germany, were they Russians speaking bad German with a Russian accent? There are Russians in Russia making propagandistic reporting in Russia about the war in Ukraine. So what about those Germans who worked for Russia giving the Russian point of view, and who presented their faces on East German television, what happened to those people, are they still around? I don't like to call that country which occupied Eastern Germany for almost 40 years the Soviet Union, I call it the Second Russian Empire, because that is what it was. I hope those East German propagandists went to Russia and I hope they are enjoying their lives in what is now Putin's Russia, as they don't really belong in Germany, they were part of the Second Russian Empire, the whole Communist thing was a thin veneer which dressed up Russian Imperialism as something more democratic, kind of like Putin's pretend reelection in which he got 88% of the vote by Russians who enjoyed getting slaughtered in Ukraine, if one were to believe the propaganda.
My travel recommendations in the east:
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern:
- Schwerin
- Ludwigslust
- Wismar
- Bad Doberan
- Heiligendamm
- Rostock
- Warnemünde
- Zingst
- Stralsund
- Sassnitz
- Binz
- Greifswald
- Zinnowitz
- Bansin, Heringsdorf, Ahlbeck
- Ueckermünde
- Mecklenburgische Schweiz
- Güstrow
- Waren (Müritz)
- Neustrelitz
- Feldberger Seenlandschaft
Brandenburg:
- Potsdam
- Werder
- Brandenburg an der Havel
- Bad Belzig
- Beelitz-Heilstätten
- Lausitzer Seenland
- Spreewald
- Tropical Islands
- Schwielochsee
- Kloster Neuzelle
- Märkische Schweiz
- Schiffshebewerk Niederfinow
- Ökodorf Brodowin
- Kloster Chorin
- Werbellinsee
- Nationalpark Unteres Odertal
- Schloß Boitzenburg
- Templin
- Ziegeleipark Mildenberg
- Rheinsberg
- Perleberg
Sachsen-Anhalt:
- Stendal
- Salzwedel
- Havelberg
- Magdeburg
- Bernburg
- Wörlitzer Gartenreich
- Dessau Bauhaus
- Wittenberg
- Halle
- Merseburg
- Naumburg
- Unstruttal
- Stolberg
- Wernigerode
- Quedlinburg
- Blankenburg
- Brocken
Sachsen:
- Leipzig
- Torgau
- Dresden
- Meißen
- Pirna
- Bastei
- Festung Königstein
- Bad Schandau
- Altbau
- Zittau
- Oybin
- Görlitz
- Bautzen
- Bad Muskau
- Freiberg
- Augustusburg
- Oberwiesenthal
- Zwickau
- Plauen
- Burg Kriebstein
Thüringen:
- Erfurt
- Gotha
- Eisenach
- Hainich
- Mühlhausen
- Skywalk Sonnenstein
- Weimar
- Jena
- Altenburg
- Saalfeld
- Bleiloch-Stausee
- Rennsteig
- Meiningen
- Bad Salzungen
Moin Ashton, best wishes to your family. Since 1989 we`ve visited the beaches in Meckpomm Kühlungsborn, Prerow and Rügen, the lake distrikt, the country roads along the Elbe river from Hamburg over Dönitz and Havelberg to Magdeburg, Quedlinburg ( a gem ), Dresden, Festung Königstein, Elbsandsteingebirge, Gera, Weida and Zwickau and several small towns and between this meadows, field and woods. East Germany has a lot of hidden treasures and often you will find them along the country road unexpected in small villages, worth a stop over. Greetings from Hamburg
Many people still have those misconceptions about ex-communist countries in Central Europe. They think Czechia, Poland or Baltic Countries are still grey, gloomy, full of run-down, neglected cities. While in reality some of those countries are already better (in terms of economy and infrastructure) than some Western European countries.
But where is your knowledge coming from ? People not visiting, do not often make videos on why they not choose to visit. And Prague is more on the limit of overtourism.
@@holger_p Ok, then don't visit Prague, visit Tanvald, Rožmberk nad Vltavou and Vyšší Brod. I chose those examples because I have been there multiple times.
Not really true since 15-30% of the population has left most countries. Also salaries have stayed low but the prices very high. Both corruption and crimes has gone up. In Bulgaria starvation has increased.
You mean Portugal? Regardless, these countries are full of racists.
@@GGysar I should go there too see miserable run down places ? Or just because prague is packed ?
A habitually overlooked area is anything non-beachy in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and there are some incredible places there. Cities like Schwerin, Greifswald and Rostock; the undulating land of the Uckermark, there's loads to see.
What a great video. So, I was born in West Berlin, grew up in the Black Forest and went to West Berlin several times before the wall went down. I still remember the train stops on the border (Still have these transfer slips that you got to allow for the transit) or the drive on the Autobahn through East Germany to West Berlin. However, I saw the fall of the wall while being in Miami, FL and everybody asked me how I feel. I was extremely happy for Germany and am extremely proud that it pulled off the unimaginable task to reunify 2 vastly different countries into one. However, I must admit, that since the fall of the wall, I have been to "East Germany" only about 10-15 times. Not because I didn't want to go there, but, when it comes to travel, I am more of an International traveler and thus, nothing did catch my eyes in "East Germany" that I want to go to. The same is true in my case, for "West Germany". I put the "Germany's" in quotes, just because to me it is just Germany. I personally make no difference between the two former Countries and if I want to or feel the need, I am most definitely go to the eastern part of Germany. We can be proud of our Country and whenever I am somewhere in the World, I see everywhere products from German companies, no matter if they are West or East.
Hello. About 8 years ago I went on a coach tour from the UK. We flew to Prague, then on by coach to Dresden & Berlin. We spent a couple of nights in each city. I found Dresden to be a lovely surprise, all I’d heard about Dresden was the wartime destruction. The older parts of the city offered great facilities for the tourist. We stayed in a modern hotel on the river bank, to get into the city centre then it was just a cheap tram ride from outside the hoyel. Our trip included a short cruise on the Danube which was a really enjoyable trip.
I'm sure you mean the Elbe, not the Danube.
@@tillneumann406 OOPS Sorry, not really awake!
@@Peterraymond67Wache auf Mann
@@Peterraymond67you should got to Leipzig. In my opinion the most beautiful bigger city in East Germany.
@@timv.8974 Hi. On my trip to Prague, we did call into Leipzig for lunch and a walk about, on the way from Dresden to Berlin. If I get the chance I’ll get back there.
My favoriter, in addition to they you mention is.
Dessau with Bauhaus is a must.
Quedlingburg, north of Harz is a wounderfull medievial town. It is a nice start a visit in Harz.
Finally, the axis around A4 from Eisenach, with Wartburger castel to Jena. Here you find lots of german culture from Martin Luther an Bach to the old universities.
Hertz? I am sure that you mean Harz.
Yes, thanks for the correction.
I grew up in East Germany und lived before the reunification 10 years in West Germany.
What I experienced in discrimination, open disrespect and even personal humiliation and attacks by West Germans was the reason why I immigrated to the US.
I wrote a book about it und was instantly invited to at the time biggest TV talk show in Germany.
It was embarrassing to see how the same people (also in my extended family) who rejected me before socially were now literally sucking up to me, ready to be proud of me.
The West Germans to this day discriminate against the East because now the money in tourism has to be shared with them, the choices for tourists have become much bigger.
It is really embarrassing to see how the West Germans to this day have a strong need to put everything East German down.
The majority pf East Germans is much better educated and women are a lot more emancipated.
At the current time it's again the East Germans who are politically astute and energetic and are setting the tone in German politics.
Wealth breeds arrogance. A wealthier region of a country always looks down on the poorer as backwards. Nothing specific to Germany. I see that here in Brasil right now or the when in the USA the southern regions is looked upon as hillbilly and redneck.
It’s ok old man, go to bed. Most younger Germans don’t even think or care about the re-unification
@@FlyingMonet That is why you people have now the government you have.
I'm a woman und you have no manners.
@@FlyingMonetWow. I guess he’s right.
I think that your attitute is rather a part of the problem than a part of a solution. Don't maginalize yourself. Join the unity of Germans
Lost the rest of my comment! however, there are a lot of short haul flights to places like Berlin, Halle, so I was a frequent flyer to the East when I was based in UK and Switzerland. I was a big fan of some places in the East, like Saxon Switzerland, Leipzig, Jena, Weimar, and even Chemnitz.
Coming from the south of germany myself.😉 40 km north of Freiburg. I visited Dresden and Leipzig and this year i will visit Weimar with my sister and mum....yes visiting the east of germany is great and there are great places there
Schwerin, Wismar and the island of Poel are well worth a visit. The Mecklenburg Lake District with the town of Waren an der Müritz is also a popular excursion destination.
I agree, I visited this area before covid lockdown and found it very interesting.
As somebody who was born in the GDR and grew up in the 90s, I'd like to give you and your audiance an idea of why East Germany is so.. politically complicated :D. It's actually quite simple. When the wall fell, people migrated to the west because of job opportunitys. This process lasts until today and at the moment East Germany has the lowest population since the 19th century. Now if you think about who left, it was mostly 2 groups. 1. Educated people because they obviously had a higher chance to find a well payed job in the west. 2. Women because in the GDR it was normal for women to work and earn money for themselves and when the wall fell they obviously didn't want to give up on that level of independance. Now think about what happens to a society if you take out educated people and women over 30 years and what kind of people tend to stay in their home town no matter what and there you have it. I am 100% convinced that if everybody who was born in East Germany also voted in the East, the political landscape would be the same as it is in the West.
So true. Half of my siblings moved to the west in the 90s. More than half of my class mates from school moved to the west as well or left Germany for good. I stayed here since the cost of living is cheaper and the infrastructure improved very well in the last decades. But it is a country of old man. If you do not like crowded cities and like the nature, it's great here ... or it was until the covid pandemic hit, followed by the russian invation of the Ukraine. In my view, this was a big game changer to the negative. Even before we had more grumpy fellows here and also a high approval for the AFD and all this reactionary kind of stuff. Now it gained an absolutely new level. Conspiracy theories became common sense here. A lot of people I knew for years turned into totally descructive and negative folks like these maga guys in the US. Aside of the upcoming EU elections we also have communal and state legislature elections here in Thuringia this year and I actually fear for the worst. If these idiots here vote Bernd Höcke and his minions into power, I fear that, despite me loving my home, that I will have to pack my stuff and leave with my wife and kids as well. I still hope that my judgement is clouded due to my bubble and bias and in the end the majority of the people here realize what they have in our democracy and make the right decision. We'll see ...
Ich bin kein Politologe, aber ich glaube, dass diese ganze AfD- und Fremdenfeindlichkeitsscheişse zu einem nicht unerheblichen Teil daher rührt, dass die Leute im Osten nach wie vor weniger verdienen als im Westen, bei nahezu identischen Lebenshaltungskosten, und auch anderweitig immer noch benachteiligt werden. Das führt zu Frustration, was wiederum dazu führt, dass sich Leute von (Rechts)Populisten verleiten lassen...oder so.
Ich bin selbst gebürtiger Ossi, bin aber im Westen aufgewachsen und lebe jetzt seit 1,5 Jahren wieder im Osten. 😘
@@mla2385 hahahaha Bernd, BERND, OMG ist das witzig HAHAHAHAH
This massive migration from East to West demonstrates that there was something wrong about the economic policy in new bundesstates after the reunification. There is also something about the German mentality. Germans like to stigmatize poorer people as less intelligent, less educated and lazy. East Germans had a kind of psychological trauma because they were not less educated than West Germans and not lazy, but still treated as such because they were poorer and maybe less prepared to compete in a market economy. What's your opinion on this?
@@marcdenoire5462 Hm that doesn't really apply to my family and friends but that doesn't mean it's not possible. I'm born in 1988 so a bit late to really experience these things by myself.
Thank you Ashton to cover my former hometown, nice to see your perspective!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
Hello, Ashton. Since you show the lesser known areas of Germany, I wonder if you are going to visit the Ruhrpott as well. What happend here to the river Emscher shows very nicely how industrial damage can be 'repaired', and might be interesting from a city planers perspective. There is a documentery about the river on the WDR YT chanel.
Rügen, that's the island up in the baltic sea above Stralsund, is sooo beautiful. And there is so much to do. Spent my honeymoon up there exploring the island and it is really nice.
You can hike through the hills in the center of the island, or spent a day on the beach. There are beautiful sand beaches, something not to common on the baltic see, and nice little villages to visit.
If you're into the megalithic culture as I am, there are a lot of megalithic structures strewn all over the place.
Oh, and of course the famous See Bäder in the southern part a nice stay with their white stelted buildings on the shoreline
Great video thank you!
Wow, I'm really impressed that you read that book and deal with that topic. I'm also reading that book right now and although I am from the East (but born in the Eighties) I'm understanding much more now. Funnily enough I live in Franconia (Bavaria) now. But often I miss my hometown Naumburg which I find beautiful and worth a visit if you like. It's a very small town though. But it also has an Unesco world heritage: the Naumburg Cathedral. I also love the castles and landscape in this area and the medieval Kirschfest at the end of June. Have fun and thank you!
I love Dresden and East Berlin, but you definitely should visit Erfurts restored "Old Town"!!!
You should visit Leipzig, definitely the most beautiful city in Germany.
nowadays, it is fairly hard for tourists to recognize where and what "East Berlin" is. It is one large city. Though many cool places to visit are in the former Eastern part of Berlin.
Three real gems: The island of Rügen, especially the east coast with the little town Binz at its centre.
Nice walks by the sea and lots of restaurants, clode by is the eerie place Prora, and there is a narrow-gauge train ("Rasender Roland") that you can travel with.
The towns of Stralsund and Wismar, both real gems.
Rostock maybe not so much, but you can make a nice tour by harbour ferry to Warnemünde which is another real gem, an old-fashioned summer resort.
For us living in southern Sweden it is rather close by. something that apparently also king Gustavus Adolphus though once upon a time, since the area of Vorpommern became Swedish after the thirty years war until the end of the Napoleonic wars. The thirty years war still seems to linger on.
"Flieg, Maikäfer, flieg
dein Vater ist im krieg
dein Mutter ist im Pommernland
Pommern ist ja abgebrannt"
I'm from Rügen. In my family we always jokingly say, we are south sweden 😆
I recommend a visit to the Dessau Wörlitzer Gartenreich. Beautiful gardens, small castles, even an artificial little Vesuvius from the late seventeen hundreds. And if you’re done with the old stuff visit the Bauhaus estates in Dessau Törten. Choose a sunny day in spring, when everything is green and in bloom.
Thank you for another enlightening Sunday morning. Appreciate your thorough, balanced research.
Weird how Rhineland Palatinate is so far down the list of tourism. So, tourists in Germany are missing out nearly all of the castles of Germany (it's A LOT of castles!)? And the winding river Mosel with its wine region surrounded by castles on literally every hill? No one? Weird.
Surprising, right?
The christmas time in the Erzgebirge is so beautiful
Fantastic video thank you for making this video, I live in Brandenburg which is a state that is barely visited by tourists (with the exception of Potsdam). There is so much to see in the East! Thanks for sharing this video so hopefully people will come and make their own opinions about East Germany
Your videos are awesome. Many thanks for this informative new video. It takes time for a region to develop but eventually they will. You also have a very elegant and eloquent style of English particularly understandable for non native English speakers like me, I really appreciate that.
I've visited Eastern Germany on three occassions and as a Finn I have a bit different viewpoint versus American tourists flying across Atlantic as I have access to quite an array of transportation (air, ferry, rail, car) to get into Germany. Berlin as a destination is of course no-brainer but as far as the other things are considered there is a lot of historical stuff to see in the East. For likes of the author I'd probably visit the gorgeous castle in Schwerin and the old Hanseatic towns such as Stralsund and Rostock. And that image you had of pier in Sellin reminds me of Rügen in general, an interesting island with lots of holiday resort with historical sights such as the controversial Prora complex and the narrow-gauge steam railway running through resort villages. For people with interest in technology and military there are a lot of interesting places to visit in the East such as vehicle museum and castle in Eisenach and a technical museum in Peenemünde (Usedom) introducing people to, of all things, to rocketry and cruise missiles that were developed there. I've also visited a prog rock festival in Reichenbach (Vogtland) in 2016 and for all its loveliness I was delighted how it wasn't exactly a budget-busting affair either.
Of the Eastern Germany tourist locations I do understand well why Germans are flocking into Mecklenburg-Vorpommern resorts during the summer. I recall that when visiting that mentioned castle in Schwerin during early June it was +32c and almost unbearably hot while after driving to Warnemünde (a major Baltic Sea resort and important cruise port catering mostly for domestic clients) a comfortable +26c and a gentle breeze greeted me and instantly made me realize why the entire Baltic coastline is more or less built full of those holiday resorts. Not that they are particularly interesting for foreigners but they provide easily accessible getaway for domestic audience.
It's Sunday morning and I'm learning more about my beautiful country in a very entertaining way, thank you Ashton!
Ah awesome. Thank you so much Arno! Have a great rest of your weekend. ❤️
Stimmt. Als (West-) Deutsche haben wir teilweise die gleichen Vorurteile wie Ausländer. Was wir vor 30-40 Jahren mal gelernt haben, halten wir heute immer noch für richtig.
If so you should also look up Lauren Francis' vlogs from around Germany and Europe. They are great. She is Welch but are married to a German man and also have German citizenship. She has also made a video with Ashton.
skipped school ?
@@richardhltrp1791 It´s long time ago 🤷♂
From the UK. I've holidayed a few times in the old Eastern Germany. A hugely underrated holiday area. Dresden/Meissen/Bautzen/Goerlitz/Leipzig/Potsdam are wonderful spots to spend a few days sightseeing there are others I've yet to see and hope to be spending some more time in the area.
Thx. My recommendations: Kyffhäuser Denkmal (Sleeping Emperor Barbarossa...), Weimar (!!), Erfurt, Gotha, Oberhof. Just a very few ones. Thuringia in general is an epicentre of German culture and worth visiting.
This didnt show in my feed, im subscribed.
I have been told this by multiple people and unfortunately I don't know why this is happening. 😕
@@TypeAshton Did you untick the checkbox to notify your subscribers when you uploaded and then published this video? All your videos before this one showed up in my subscription feed as expected.
Well obviously you have to visit Stralsund with its rich history in the Hanseatic League. Also the Island Rügen, which is near Stralsund features a play which retells stories of Klaus Störtebecker. A Privateer that disrupted Trade within said Hanseatic League.
Also in Summer, Stralsund features the Wallensteintage, which celebrates the banishment of the 30-Year-War-Warlord called Albrecht Wallenstein who failed to besiege the city of Stralsund in 1628.
After that, Stralsund was under Swedish Rule until 1814, which many considered a good time. As this saying proves: "Unter den drei Kronen, da lässt es sich gut wohnen!"
Even during GDR times we affectionally referred to it as "Südschweden".
We arrived in Stralsund without knowing about the Wallensteintage. What a pleasant surprise! Of course getting a place to stay was also very difficult but the tourist office people were so helpful.
When you are in Stralsund, don't forget the Meeresmuseum. I don't think it has its par ANYWHERE in the world.
@@HotelPapa100 meeresmuseum >>> Ozeaneum don't @ me 😂
Great Video, best regards from east germany (Erfurt) 😃
i recommend you visit Erfurt during the Krämerbrückenfest and make sure to spend more than a day!
also definitely worth a visit: Quedlinburg and Wernigerode in the Harz mountains.
Brandenburg and Werder (Havel) are really nice too.
Whoops, here we go. The algorithm didn't show me your video in my subscription feed. Happened with Passport Two as well ever since they switched to a twice-a-month schedule.
I've had a couple of other friends tell me that my videos aren't showing up on their feed anymore, despite hitting the notification bell and subscribing. I don't know if this is just punishment from the algorithm or a fluke. But it is frustrating.
@@TypeAshton Same happened to me today but because I know your schedule I always turn to your channel on the days I expect new content.
@@TypeAshton I don't think it's the algorithm. After all the point of subscriptions is that you circumvent the algorithm. And maybe more helpful: On my starter page (which is created by the algorithm) your video was at the very top. So it seems like this only affects the subscription page.
@@TypeAshton It is indeed frustrating. On the start page I've been getting recomendation lately that are far from what Iam interested in. Silly topics like videos that teach German - I AM German, don't need any German lessons - or some religious crap, etc. Very rarely channels I've subscribed to appear on the list. That your channel was among the recommendations today was an exception.
@@TypeAshton This video also did not show up in my subscription feed. Did you untick the checkbox to notify your subscribers when you uploaded and then published this video? Passport Two started doing this on purpose for their videos a while back to supposedly better attract new viewers (some alleged algorithm voodoo), but that entirely removed the reason to keep the subscription. I thus unsubscribed from them and no longer frequent their channel. Hopefully, this is not going to be a repeat case. 🤞🙏
I spent a week in Chemnitz a couple of years ago during the Schlingel Film festival. The town lives up to some of the preconceptions of the east, but the old parts of town are beautiful, the people very friendly and as a history buff I also appreciated the more "rugged" and "brutalistic" parts of town.
One thing you didn't bring up Ashton, is the number of germans who are fluid in a second language in the former halves. In the former west it's quite easy to find people of most generations speaking good english while in the east that can be tricky, especially among the older generations. I think this has an impact on tourism from abroad as well. Being swedish, my combined skills in german and english helped me around town, but in a totally different fashion compared to similar places in the west.
(The Karl Marx head in Chemnitz is a BEAST by the way and no photo can convey the size and gravitas of it in real life!)
Well, since you are into biking yourself: we've been to Brandenburg/Mecklenburg-Vorpommern twice biking the "Elberadweg" which was beautiful and we felt welcomed wherever we rested or stayed. And since i'm from southern lower saxony i'm also working on my "Harzer Wandernadel" regularly, which features the highlights of both parts - former western and eastern - of the mountain range.
Very interesting, thank you for sharing
Recommendations from a West German who occasionally travelled to the east of the country (and only places where I've been myself):
Rügen - the complete island. Usedom - esp. the coastal sea resorts. Anklam, Stralsund, and Wismar. Berlin and Potsdam. Dessau and Muskau. Naumburg. Quedlinburg. Spreewald. Wittenberg. Eisenach and Wartburg. Leipzig. Meissen and Dresden. Sächsische Schweiz. Erzgebirge - esp Seiffen in December.
Wow!! this is an amazing and comprehensive list. Thanks for the recommendations! it sounds like a trip to the coast should be on my future travel itinerary!
Let me add to that the entire Harz Mountains and the Dessau-Wörlitz gardens. Both absolutely stunning.
Hi Ashton, thanks for another interesting video. Before recommending Peenemünde on the island of Usedom to you (yep the place with a very unique connection to the US as its Space Program in the 1950s and 60s) I wanted to ask you if you have intentionally skipped some very important aspects which explains why fewer people visit East Germany than West Germany. E.g. You shortly mentioned from where the most international visitors were coming from and mentioned countries that either border West-Germany (Belgium, France, Netherlands) or are close by (Britain). In Other words, these do short distance trips by going into the West. Also these are densely populated areas with a lot of potential visitors, while the East is bordering the not very densely populated West Poland and Northern Czech Republic. When we come to the US we have to bear in mind, that millions of US service men with families and civil support personnel were stationed in South West-Germany since 1945 and brought their impressions of Germany back home. Fun fact the US forces are still forbidden to move location to East-Germany by the 2+4 Treaty of 1990.
What kind of bothered me TBH was the underlying assumption that East and West Germany were the same size and therefore the East is treated unfairly, you mentioned it rather vaguely by saying that West-Germany is somewhat larger. Well actually the territory of the former GDR was only a third of what is now the unified Germany and population wise the East had approximately a quarter of the population of West Germany, so it was always incorrect to speak of Germany spilt into halves.
At one point I joined a dinner with a west German family (I was a friend with one of their children). The parents started to openly discuss, where they want to spend their next vacation. After a short debate, they agreed, that it will be some destination in Germany. Then they went through a list of possible holiday destinations - all of them exclusively in West Germany. They had a good discussion, some of them were dismissed, because they went there "too often". I kept quiet for some time, but was intrigued by this silly conversation. I had some ideas, what went wrong in their heads though. But I felt they also wanted my opinion. Then I couldn't resist anymore and asked, why their list doesn't include places in the former east, such as the Balic Sea coast, or lakes in Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Sächsische Schweiz, southern Harz, Thüringer Wald, or historically interesting sites and cities, such as Dresden, etc. The look on their faces was priceless! After 10 seconds of silence, they continued and agreed on Mallorca. WOW - this was something! I'll never forget this legendary moment.
Must have been ages ago. In the nineties there were hardly any beds in East germany.
@@sylviadrees3761 This took place in 2009. I screwed up. Sorry, I should have said so - obviously that's an important part of the story.
@@dnocturn84 i have been in the former East over a hundred times. From Rügen to Fortress Königstein, from Havelland to Görlitz.
In the nineties we slept in garages, campervan and datschas.
From 2000 to 2010 it was also difficult to get a affordable bed. A lot of people viewed visitors as dairy cows.
From 2010 to 2020 it got better.
Today it's no Problem for normal earners to make good holidays there.
Hello Ashton.
I can only recommend you to take a bike tour along the Saale. The Saale cycle path ( Saale Radwanderweg ) leads through many very beautiful places. With the bike you also have a lot more time to take a closer look at everything. Greetings from Halle an der Saale.
Sehr gute Arbeit/Zusammenfassung/Analyse!
Your point about East vs West German Identity is accurate and key. You left out the attitude in East Germany that goes along with their different identity. I have lived in East Germany for 4 years; the people here don't view Tourism or Tourists in a western way. Also very important fact to consider East Germans earn 20% less still today than their western counterparts. I held your same compassion and desire to understand their views. You have to live here to "get" the difficulties.
If you say, all people are the same, you are always wrong.
I am from Dresden and i really liked you video. But you should also consider the ratio of population between east and west and not refering to the area when it comes to statistics. When you analyse the part of east population in germany, you will see "we" are only 16%. Therfore of course, there is less tourism in total in east germany. Also, in west germany are most of the companies and the tourism statistics include business travel as well. Only 50 to 60% of travels are vacation trips, therfore less people are traveling to the east because there are less famous companies per capita. Finally, i would say, of course there are still differences, but they are not that big as the statistics might suggest:D and in addition... there are so many horrible places that look like communist cities in west germany as well, when you go to the "ruhrpott" for example.
Thank you for the video, as a person born, raised and still living in the east, the whole topic of 'what is going wrong here' is very important. I do highly recommend the Island of Hiddensee and the Spreewald to visit. Also the Saale-Valley is worth visiting, as the Thüringer Wald.
Thank you for your video.
As a Thuringian of course I have places to recommend in that region, Weimar as cultural hotspot, the Erfurt medieval inner city and one of the best "Weihnachtsmarkt" in Germany, the "Wartburg" in Eisenach and of course the "Rennsteig", the track on top of the Thuringian Forrest with lots of interesting and beautiful spots, the "Saalfelder Feengrotten" and many more
That was a very well researched and balanced video, thank you so much for putting so much effort into it!
I have two city-recommendations: Erfurt and Eisenach - these two are simply stunning, with old cathedrals or castles, very pretty Altstadt areas, meandering rivers, nature, ...
One other thing to mention, next to Rhein and Donau the river Elbe has a lot of sights, scenery and nature to offer on it's way through eastern Germany! Take e.g. my hometown Magdeburg, with europe's largest water-crossing, the oldest gothic cathedral in Germany, the last Hundertwasser-house, the Jahrtausendturm, and a huge city park surrounded by the Elbe - just to name a few things at one location along the river.
An eye opening video with good background research that not only acknowledges the bias that is the obvious answer to the video's title, but also delves into the depths of understanding why it exists, and how unjustified it is.
As a first time viewer of the channel, didn't expect to learn so much from this video.
Thanks a lot for this video and your own take and experience on this topic. Regarding your question about visit recommendations however I have an issue because there would be just too many. It really depends on your own vacation preferences. Are you more into cities and towns, their vibe and possible attractions? Are you more into the beautiful nature to recharge your batteries? Are you more interested in the mountainous landscape or do you love lake landscapes? Are you more interested in hiking or other sporting activities? More interested in history? Are you more interested in crowded places to feel life? Or do you prefer to enjoy the solitude and peace and quiet to unwind? Depending on your own preferences, I could easily suggest different places and trips for all of these options that you would definitely enjoy.
As I know that you Ashton and your family like to do sports, be it hiking, running or cycling, here is just one example: Visit the Thüringer Rennsteig, either to explore it on your own or to take part in the annual Rennsteiglauf. There are also tours on offer where you can hike along the Rennsteig (approx. 170 km) at your own pace without a load, your overnight stays are organized in huts along the way and your luggage is picked up in the morning and transported to the next hut so you don't need to carry it along.
Quedlinburg is really nice!
Honestly, most of my vists to Germany have been to the East, since accommodations and events were cheaper there. Lovely buildings, great people, yummy food
Great video!
We made 2 visits to East Germany that were both fabulous :
- One to the Erzgebirge near Freiberg and Sächsische Schweiz near Bad Schandau, Dresden and Meißen on the Elbe river.
- Another one in the North cycling along the Baltic coast from Rostock to Stralsund, across Rügen and then to Greifswald. There we took the train to Berlin and Potsdam, much of it on the 9€ ticket except the longer stretches. Quite a fun experience with no car. The most difficult part was getting from Hamburg to Rostock with 3 bikes on trains that were totally packed already. DB still has some work to do in the East.
Hey Ashton, I would recomment GÖRLITZ a City between Germany und Poland
Görlitz is a former large city with over 100000 residents that is now split into two parts due to the fatal demarcation of borders after WW2. The eastern part of the city belongs to Poland now.
Poland? 🤮👎
With many friends in the East, I notice a great deal of 'Ossi' Pride. 'Ostalgie' exists here in a big way. One night, I was with a cabbie and I needed to stop at a bank to pay for my fare. It was 2am or so and there was a homeless man resting in the bank vestibule. The cab driver offered him a sandwich and some chocolate. Back in the taxi, the driver gruffly explained in his Saxonian dialect: "the west did that. When I was a child, there were no homeless people. The west always leave people behind. It's what they do."
I could feel his anger. To be honest, I have long come to agree with him in some aspects. From the landlords in Western Germany, the west has pillaged the cities in the east, feasted on them, taken advantage of the low wages and salaries, and while yes, on the surface, things are made to look better, I notice this resentment growing. A friend told me the Trabant company went under because VW basically took everything over.
However, I recognize that nostalgia can be a strange way to view the world and distort truth, and I have heard horror stories about the Stasis (one friend, her boyfriend at 16 was already a spy and the reason they broke up). However, when it comes down to it, I prefer the East. The people here were humbled by their experiences. Many long to succeed. They have had to work hard to keep up and compete with the west. The early 90s were a shock to them. For one, adults who had learned Russian in school scrambled to learn English. They had to start over as their world collapsed and shattered and they had to figure out a new way to stay afloat, some in midlife or near retirement while their western neighbours had been swimming for decades.
In all, the infestation of the advantaged west I would compare to a friendly plunder and looting. I know that such a perspective will not appeal to other people. Eastern cities have improved, sure. Western investment has helped but again, Eastern Germans earn 13000 less Euros than their Western counterparts. I would say one side has always had a leg up on the other. Sure, in the East, the Stasis are gone only to be replaced by the West. 'Democracy' has a price.
Good comment. I also seethe with rage about many things that went down here in the 90's that West Germans don't even know about. And actively don't want to know.
Am similiarly angry about many fellow East Germans who overshoot and start glorifying the past or running after right wing demagogues (mayn of which are ironically west germans),
all I can do is stay here and try and make things better. In an East German way.
Just look at the other countries behind the forner Iron Curtain. They dont got 1,5 trillion Euro from their neighbors.
During my first visits in East germany, in the nineties, the water in the moat next to the road was white.
@@catriona_drummond I feel the same and avoid any extremes. Picking a side always creates a conflict. I stay compassionate but aware.
@@sylviadrees3761 It is a matter of perspective. Replace the word 'get' with 'invest in' and that 1,5 trillion takes on another meaning. The German government is not simply going to 'give' that kind of money away. They 'invest' knowing big corporations are setting up shop in the cheaper East and taking advantage of the low income Easterners and the swathes of real estate. All kinds of philanthropy hide an element of charming-'community'-driven villainy. The water is cleaner because the big players can use it for themselves. They serve their interests, plain and simple; charity is an illusion. Or as a retired lawyer I know always tells me: 'follow the money'.
Well the only reason there was no homelessness in the East is because police was arresting homeless people as they were considered quite tge same way as for exampke Ayn Rand would treat them, as “leeches” or “takers”, i.e. they do not contribute to society and therefore they were taken by police and if they were not on streets due to mental illness, they were put to work. The issue is that vast majority of people are on streets not because they cannot find a job but they do not want one/cannot hold it due to mental/abusive substance issues. And state governments definitely should do more when it cones to the 2nd case. But if a person prefers hunter gatherer/traveler lifestyle in 21st century, is the proper way as it was in the East to force them to work or put in prison? Don’t think so… Also in the East they put the substance (alcohol) abusers to work too but in that way theg destroyed the morale of companies they worked for snd everyone was worse for it, as they were drinking all day but received same salary as honest workers… is that right, I also don’t think so. I myself come from fomer communist block but some or in some places many also tend to idealize those times…
Great content! Travelling to Saxony with my sister, niece, and nephew this upcoming November. They absolutely love the Leipzig Zoo, which I'm told is quite amazing. Also, I will be spending a couple of nights in Dresden on my own with side trips to Dessau, Görlitz, and Saxon Switzerland. I'm brushing up on my Deutsch before going. Perhaps I'll run into you while over there 😌
Dresden is absolutely beautiful! We spent a week there in December of 2022. Last year we stayed in Löbau for a week and visited Görlitz, Bautzen and Oybin. Every place we went to was absolutely worth a visit. There is so much to see and do in all of Germany, no matter what part of the country you're in.