Destination 》Europe 》Western Europe 》Germany
Year Visited: Multiple times between 1998 and 2011
I visited Germany multiple times between 1998 and 2011 for business trips. During all my trips I made Heidelberg area as my base and travelled around Germany and Western Europe during evenings and weekends. Yes, you read it correct, we made couple of trips to Strasbourg after work to have French dinner in France.
Germany (Deutschland), a Western European country, that borders nine nations; Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union.
The roots of German history and culture date back to the Germanic tribes and after that to the Holy Roman Empire. It was the Napoleonic wars that started the process of unification, which ended in 1871, when a large number of previously independent German kingdoms united under Prussian leadership to form the German Empire (Deutsches Kaiserreich). The empire ended in 1918 as a result of Germany’s defeat at the end of World War I (1914-1918), and was followed by a short-lived Weimar Republic, which tried to establish a democratic nation. Few years later, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler seized power in 1933. After the devastating defeat in World War II (1939-1945), Germany was divided into four sectors, controlled by the French, British, American and Soviet forces. The region controlled by the French, British, and American merged into West Germany. The area controlled by the Soviet forces was known as East Germany. Germany was reunited peacefully in 1990, a year after the fall and collapse of the Berlin Wall and the opening of the Iron Curtain that separated German families by the barrel of a gun for nearly three decades.
Today, Germany is one of the most influential European nations culturally, and one of the world’s main economic powers. Known around the world for its precision engineering and high-tech products, it is equally admired by visitors for its old-world charm.
During my first visit to Germany in 1998, I stayed near Heidelberg for 7 weeks and made many weekend road trips across Europe visiting Italy, Austria, France, Luxemburg, Belgium and the Netherlands. During my last trip to Germany in 2011, I made weekend road trips to eastern part of Germany and Poland, during another weekend, I made a trip to Southern Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. During all other trips to Germany, I just stayed around Heidelberg.
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After spending up to eight weeks and visiting many cities and countries during few visits, my final destination was always Dallas, my home at that time.
Window on the World 