GermanyGermanyMy husband was assigned to Germany for a 3-year tour of duty. Actually it was almost 3 and 1/2 years we were there. While in Germany, we saw a lot of the sites. We saw the burning of the Heidelberg Castle (3 times). It is a beautiful site. They use railroad flares to simulate the burning of the castle and as the flames start to rise you can see an orange glow engulf the castle. It actually looks as though it is burning. We went to candle factories, gummy bear factories, toured castles, traveled through the Black Forest (I got my cuckoo clock here) and then toured other countries outside of Germany (Austria and Italy).
Besides seeing all of this we had the chance to tour some areas of interest because of Hitler. One area in particular is called the Obersaltzburg--nestled in the Bavarian Mountains. This was a "vacation" spot for Hitler and there were several interesting things here. One of the most interesting sites as the "Eagle's Nest". Hitler had this built so that he could meet with his Generals and then take a "vacation". The Eagle's Nest was built on the top of a very steep mountain, costing 6 million dollars to build. The Nest is only accessible, because the roads going to it are so steep, by a specially made bus and you can only go there about 3 months out of the year--Usually the summer months. The other interesting fact about the Nest is that Hitler only used it 6 times before his death.
Another interesting thing about Bavaria is what they did on Christmas and New Years Eve. The men and women would dress in traditional Bavarian costume. The men would then go to the town's hotel or hotels and line the second-floor balcony of the hotel(s). Shortly after lining this balcony, the men would shoot their guns into the air. Almost immediately after the guns were shot, the church bells would start to ring, then you would hear the different choirs in town start to sing. When I asked later, I was told that the tradition said that the one for Christmas Eve as to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and the one on New Years Eve was to chase the evil spirits away from the new year. Later when I asked again, I was told that the reason was to loosen any potential avalanches in order to make the mountains safer for travelers. Both sounded interesting to me.
Here are some interesting sites pertaining to Germany: