06 Jan 2016
In 2016, SouthWest Germany celebrates many anniversaries and festivals! In this newsletter we highlight a few of our favorites! The state of Baden-Württemberg celebrates the year of the garden in 2016, with over eight official gardens dressed to impress. Stuttgart is celebrating many anniversaries, from Mercedes Benz and cars to its TV Tower! Baiersbronn is celebrating the winter season with over 316 kilometers of cross-country skiing paths and amazing skiing packages. An anniversary to keep your eye on is the 500th Anniversary of the Beer Purity Laws in Germany! Beer lovers and enthusiasts will flock to celebrate Germany's famous beer and the law that kept it pure! While spending time in Southwest Germany, you cannot miss the beautiful driving routes that the region offers, especially the Upper Swabian Baroque Route that is celebrating its 50th Anniversary!
SouthWest Germany Celebrates Year of the Garden!
Royal, elegant, SouthWest Germany's gardens are open for visitors. The State Castles and Gardens of Baden-Württemberg is an association that preserves and develops eight extraordinary gardens: The Baroque gardens of Schwetzingen, Weikersheim, Bruchsal, Ludwigsburg and Rastatt are complemented by botanical gardens of Karlsruhe and the romantic renaissance garden of Heidelberg. The garden has a historical significance to Germany and the world, gardens were a place to celebrate, discuss, work, laugh and be romantic. A garden showed a royal's wealth and attention to beauty, a way to harness nature's blossoms to impress your guests and discourage your enemies. This year's theme is the World of the Garden, all of SouthWest Germany's plentiful gardens will be in full bloom and the discipline of landscaping will be in full display. Garden culture and the art of creating these beautiful castle gardens has been developed for thousands of years, there are the Baroque gardens that rely on architecture and symmetry, landscape gardens that rely on harmony and aesthetics, monastery gardens that bring peace and tranquility to the monks, and finally the practical gardens that grow fruits and vegetables for their inhabitants to eat. Some of the garden's trees and plants still stand in the place they were planted hundred of years ago! There is no better way to be transformed to the past then to witness the age-old beauty and tranquility of castle gardens.
Stuttgart Celebrates Anniversaries -- Mercedes Museum to TV Tower
Stuttgart a city known for innovation and invention is celebrating several anniversaries in 2016! The first is the 10 year anniversary of the Mercedes Benz Museum on May 19th; more than seven million visitors have explored the history, innovation and creativity of the Mercedes Benz. The museum will celebrate on June 4-5th with promotions for family, friends and especially car lovers! Automobile lovers will be excited to know that the car itself is celebrating its 130th birthday in 2016! No where else in Germany does the history and technology of the automobile come to life more than in Stuttgart. The world famous Mercedes Benz and Porsche Museums bring the automobile's history and innovation to life. Their buildings are an incredible feat of cutting edge architecture, as well. Although the automobile and Stuttgart are inseparable, Stuttgart has always been full of inventors and pioneers and Stuttgart boasts the invention of the first TV Tower! Fritz Leonhardt constructed the famous 217meter tower and had the ingenious idea to alternatively use the tower for tourist and gastronomical reasons! The tower will celebrate its 60th anniversary on Feb 5 2016, visitors can celebrate the anniversary from the 150 meter high observation deck. See Stuttgart, the Neckar River, the wine hills and valley as never before!
New Nordic Ski Region in National Black Forest Park offers Special Packages and Mountain Bike Trails!
SouthWest Germany celebrates 500 Years of Beer-Purity Law
Upper Swabian Romantic Road - One of SouthWest Germany's Great Drives
The Upper Swabian Baroque Road is one of the ten great driving routes in SouthWest Germany and it is celebrating its 50th Anniversary! The Baroque-themed route links villages and churches with Baroque and Rococo architecture including the 250 year old Basilica in Birngau and the Abbey Church - the largest Baroque church north of the Alps. Southwest Germany is a car driver's paradise, and it is no wonder when the capitol of the region hosts the birthplace of Mercedes and Porsche! Another breathtaking route is the Castle Road, it starts in Manheim and ends in Czech Republic. In the Baden-Württemberg state, the Castle Road is like a fairytale drive with many famous castles: Heidelberg, Hirschhorn, Eberbach, Bad Wimpfen, Horneck, and Castle Hornberg that is now a hotel. Other routes include the Clock Route, which links the Black Forest villages, museums and clock manufactures that still carry on centuries-old traditions of making time pieces such as the famous cuckoo clock; and the Black Forest High Road, at an altitude of about 3,000 ft this 44 mile stretch winds around the ridges of the low mountain range.
