A Tale of Two Cities

The first thing tourists see when they emerge from the Cologne train station is a massive concrete plaza, leading to the Dom or the famous Cathedral of Cologne. And at once the visitor is right in the centre of Cologne. That’s the way it is in Cologne. You arrive, you’re there, and you feel you are right in the midst of the city’s life. The city is home to one of the most beautiful churches in Europe, the Dom, or the Cologne Cathedral, as the rest of the world knows it.

It is not difficult to see why.  The real centre of Cologne is around the cathedral. A tour of discovery starts there. Into the many and famous Romanesque churches which surround the city. Or into the Altstadt (old town area). Or into many of its pedestrian plazas. Wherever you go you will see the soaring towers of the cathedral showing you the way back.

The Domplatte, the largest concrete plaza that surrounds Cologne Cathedral, is one of the windiest and draftiest spots in the city. Here a sudden breeze is enough to send hats flying and when the heavens open – an all too common occurrence in Cologne – the rain lashes the open square, the flags flutter violently in the wind, while pedestrians, their umbrellas blown inside out, hunch forward as they struggle to make their way ahead.

And, yet this plaza, which links the railway station and the Cathedral, two major museums and the shopping district, the Dom Hotel, Brauhous Fruh, and the majestic old café Reichardt, is one of the liveliest areas in the whole city. In the summer tourists and tramps, street musicians and pavement artists, pickpockets and priests, strollers and skateboarders all throng the square. And on the highest holiday of the Cologne Carnival, Fasching, crowds of swaying revelers cheer the huge procession – complete with bands and jesters in fabulous costumes – as it passes the Cathedral. Famous Koelsch beer flows like water of the Rhine. The Fasching carnival here is reputed to be the best in Germany, with revelers reaching their highest pitch during the weekend before Ash Wednesday (in February).

The guided tour covers other interesting sites like the Rathaus (City Hall), Medieval City Wall, Roman Tower and a number of Churches with their imposing façade like St. Gereon, St. Andreas, St. Maria etc as well as a few museums.

We had other idea and traced back to the Domplatte to visit one most important icon of the city. Just a step further from Café Reichardt is another historic building whose blue and gold neon sign throws light on the Domplatte at night. The steel and glass façade of the Blaugold-Haus (Blue and gold house) not only bears witness to the architectural experiments of the 1950s. The colours of the façade, and the company logo ‘4711” emblazoned on it, are the trademarks of the largest producers of Koelisch Wasser, which made the city’s name known far and wide. The fragrant Eau de Cologne was brought to the city on the Rhine from Italy by Johann Maria Farina, who sold it as a remedy for every conceivable infirmity, from strokes to the plague. By 1709 the Farina's company was distributing its Eau de Cologne to customers worldwide, including Queen Victoria and the King of Prussia.

Satisfied with our trip to Cologne we proceeded towards Bonn, Cologne’s twine city on the Rhine. It’s the gateway to the romantic middle Rhine region. Till recently the city was also the capital of the German republic, but it also has much more to offer. In the heart of Bonn, the Old Town Hall can be found on the triangular market Place. The building provides the setting for the colourful hustle and bustle around the fruit and vegetable market (everyday except Sunday) and for events put on for the cultural festival “ Bonn Summer” from May to September.

Our next stop was a visit to Poppelsdorf Schloss (castle). Architecturally, the magnificent castle reflects elements of both French and Italian styles. Nature lovers are recommended to enjoy the wealth of rare plants and trees in the Botanical Garden surrounding this palace.

The birthplace of Ludwig von Beethoven is situated in the Bonngasse. Beethoven’s House is now the museum containing numerous fascinating articles from the great composer’s time in Bonn and Vienna.

It is a good idea to take a look at the surrounding countryside during your stay in Bonn. The charms include palaces, castles, rolling hills and magnificent vista and off course chances to sample famed wines of the region.

Most German cities have a hectic pace dominated by business executives. The twin- cities of Bonn and Cologne offer a kind of charming diversion, where a visitor can take a break and enjoy the cityscape. The motley mixture of people here, all doing their own things in harmony with one another, reflects the soul of Cologne and Bonn, whose happy–go-lucky spirit has not been subdued by German seriousness and Prussian discipline.

Hamburg is a city with two sides: a prosperous affable city of well-off citizens typified by Blankenese, its up-market suburb of expensive villas that is a synonym throughout Germany for money in the bank , and a thriving, bustling seaport with all the excitement – and sleazy colour – that conjures up clustered around the Reeperbahn and St. Pauli , bywords for a good time to any sailor in the world. 

Hamburg is among the most visually attractive city of Europe. The old city of Hamburg, the Alt-Stadt, can be seen on foot in a day or using a 2-hour introductory bus tour.

Just a little ahead on the right is the monolithic domed Art Hall (Kunsthalle) which is well worth a visit especially for the 20^th century German works. Then the bus crosses the Lake Alster by the Lombard Bridge, leaving the ultramodern Opera House on the left.

Beyond the botanical Garden and bordering Junginsstrasse is the most famous park in Hamburg, the Planten un Blomen. The masses of tulips in spring are followed by marvelous displays of flowers in the summer. On summer nights, there is a water ballet played out by special fountains and accompanied by coloured lights and music.

Then comes the harbour, which is a paradise for anyone, who loves boat. It is an incredible melange of pleasure boats, oceangoing freighter, coal barges, tugs and fishing boats. Walk down the to the waterfront. On the left are the St. Pauli piers, where local passenger ships and excursion boats tie up. It’s well worth taking one of the tours around the port. A very pleasant 50-minuts Alster cruise affords a lovely view of the city’s towers and spires. Near the St. Pauli piers you can see the dome above the old Elbe tunnel, an old landmark of the city.

While returning from the harbour area you will see St. Michel Cathedral, a fine baroque church built in 1762. It is best loved of all church steeples that make Hamburg’s silhouette unmistakable. It has been adopted by Hamburgers as their official symbol. You can take the elevator up to its greenish cupola for a view out over the town.

Continue east and you run into a fascinating section of narrow canals called the Fleete. This is a place to wander around, trying to whatever sidetracks takes your fancy. The canal side walks also offer attractive views of the old town , including the Rathous (townhall). If you have time to visit only one building in Hamburg, it should be the Rathaus. It has a fine festival hall, vaulted ceiling and marvelously elaborate exterior.

One of the best things about Hamburg is its restaurants. Everything is available from haute cuisine from around the world to pickled rollmops, in settings that vary from high class restaurants to the beer and herring atmosphere of the waterfront snack bars. In between it also has many excellent Turkish restaurants and a few Indian ones.

One of Hamburg’s greatest attractions is the Fish Market which is held every Sunday Morning midway between the St. Pauli Landing Stage and the Altona balcony. This wonderfully joyous , colourful market, which is suitable for the entire family and which , today, has little to do with fish still begins , as any good fish market should, very early. During the summer, it is already mobbed by 6:00 am – it gets going about a hour later in the winter – and by 10:00 am cleaning up has already began . A stretch of about one Km teems with hawkers, customers and those who have come merely to watch and to stop off at the many pubs, all of which do a roaring trade . Everything and anything is sold: antiques and junk, foodstaffs and furniture, oriental carpets and folk art. Plants are especially popular but it is fairly difficult to find the eponymous creatures that give their name to the market, although a few boats moored to the quay do a fine trade in fresh fish. And even as early as 7:00 am, a disco is in full swing in the former covered fish hall.

Many of the bleary-eyed visitors have come directly, foregoing the luxury of sleep, from the Reeperbahn, Hamburg’s most infamous street. A part of the port district of St. Pauli, it is reportedly the raunchiest red light district in Europe.

They call it European capital of public sex. And, it is really public; everything is out in the open, with no effort at concealment. Once Paris was the world’s sex capital; now it looks tame in comparison with once puritanical cities like Hamburg. Almost 1,000 “girls”, many of them extremely attractive, line the famous Ripperbahn and the small neighbouring streets, standing behind glass windows.  And, there are thousands of onlookers – mainly tourists, sailors and casual out-of-city visitors who come here to fulfill their voyeuristic pleasure. Here Live Shows are really vivid, and occasionally shocking.

Visit here (it is quite safe to roam around ) and learn why Hamburg is called ‘Sin City’. Yet, in addition to all the wickedness, St. Pauli offers pubs and discos, bowling alleys and the Panoptikum ( Germany’s only wax museum), theatre ranging from American style vaudeville to smash London musicals and a less than elegant casino.

It was in St. Pauli in 1960 in the Indra Club on the Grosse Freiheit that the Beatles started on their road to fame. For the next three years much of their playing and the evolution of their style occurred in St. Pauli , first at the Indra and then at the Kaiserkell and finally at the Top Ten.

In Hamburg you can always go back to water and away from it all. As your craft proceed to the northern tip of the outer Alster and then into the myriad canals which weave their in and out of idyllic surroundings. Here, green lawns in front of homes stretch down to the water where cabin cruisers and even gondolas are moored. Physically, the city may be a mere ten minutes away but spiritually it a matter of light years.

Germany 2- Berlin Beyond Boundary

“Kiek ma an!” exclaims audience favourite Helga Hahnemann to the visitors in the Friedrichstadt-Palast. Loosely from the Berlin dialect, it means, “Look at this!” and extends much more than merely an invitation to traditional revue theatre. It, indeed, is an apt expression inviting attention to her city as well.

Standing exactly where the Wall once stood, I was motionless for a while. Everything is new, exciting. Now the symbolic unification point of the two parts of Berlin is Brandenburger Tor, Frederick the Great’s 1791 symbol of Prussian imperial splendour.  This is a Romanesque triumphal arch, which is always flooded with tourists.

I have come to this city to experience the present. And there is no better place than the Kurfurstendamm or Ku'damm to start with. It is the true heart of the city by day and night. At one end of Ku'damm is the much photographed ruined tower of the Kaiser Wilhelm church, which has been left standing as a memorial to the destruction of the WWII.

On the Ku’damm, boulevardiers stroll 24-hours-a-day along city’s most fashionable promenade, ablaze with up-market shops and restaurants. In the most famous institutions like Café Kranzler or Café Moehring, the bourgeois atmosphere does not seem to have changed too much for a hundred years. Then there is Ka-De-We, Europe’s largest departmental store and which has a food hall that is truly on a heroic scale.

Not that Berlin is by any means altogether elegant: it specializes in the ostentatious as well as the discreet, in a brashness and vulgar seediness as well as in culture and ton. Out for an evening stroll alone you would find rubbing shoulders with art galleries, theatres, concert halls and jazz clubs are some of Europe’s raunchiest night clubs and peep shows, far-from-cultured cabarets and dazzling transtevite revues.  Contrast and ironies abound.

“All good things come in pairs”, a Berlin saying has it. But, that often makes it difficult for one to decide whether to visit the Eastern and Western half of the city. Past geopolitical situation necessitated that everything is duplicated, though differing socio-cultural background influenced their different outlook. Now, Should one explore the city centre around Alexandra Platz or the city centre around the Kaiser Wilhelm church? Which commands the finest view – the Television Tower of the east or the Radio tower of the west? Which opera is more attractive – Deutsche Staatsoper or Deutsche Oper Berlin? Should one advise museum buffs to head for the Museum Island or to Dahlem Museum? Which Zoo is more attractive – Tierpark or Zoologischer Garden? Which river is more beautiful – Spree or Havel and which lake is nicer – the Muggeisee or Wannsee?

A fact that was never highlighted by the powerful western media is that the “best bit” of Berlin lies in the Eastern sector of the city. Walking along Unter den Linden, a broad treelined boulevard, towards the heart of the old city at Alexandraplatz takes you past the splendid Deutsche Staatsoper built in the style of a Greek temple, past dignified 18^th-century architecture of Humboldt university and the Baroque elegance of the 17^th century, Prussian Zughouse (arsenal), now a fine museum of German history, to the New Wache (New Guard House) war memorial where the soldiers change guard, still goose-stepping in Prussian style.

Nearby, in the Platz der Akademie, stands one of the great architechtural glories of the old Berlin: the skillfully refurbished Schauspielhaus (Playhouse) with its ornate stucco work and chandeliers, which now serves as a concert hall. But on the corner of Marx-Engels-Platz, the massively imposing Dom (cathedral) is reflected in the bronze glass cladding of the equally large, but ultra modern Palast der Republic, erstwhile parliament of East Ger many. On the other side of the spree river, stands another most visible landmark of the city: the enormous Fernsehturm (TV Tower), which looks like a giant golf-ball impaled on a billiard cue. This towering structure seems absurdly incongruous beside the 13^th century St-Marien-Kirche and the neo-Gothic majesty of the Rotes Rathaus. East Berlin’s Red Town Hall, which got its name from its red brickwork, not its politics.

West Berlin’s only historic site is the charming Schloss Charlottenburg, on the north-west corner of the city. But, it is the best example of royal Prussian architecture in Berlin. Its magnificent royal chamber is well worth a visit.

Tiergarten, a beautifully landscaped urban park, separates the two parts of the Berlin. In the centre of the park, Victoria stands on the top of a tower. Affectionately called “Gold Else”, in 1938 the Goddess of Victory was restored to her original brilliance with a kilo of gold leaf.

At the end of the Tiergarten is the most talked about monument of the city – the Reichstag. The original Italian High renaissance style building has received an architectural facelift and now houses the unified parliament. So in a sense my tour through the city also somewhat like a journey through its history as well.

But, my most pleasant discovery was finding that the Berlin is the greenest capital of Europe. Unknown to most tourists from this subcontinent, a large chunk of Berlin is forests and waterways. To explore the beauty of this natural wonderland one can board any one of these white steamers at a ferry wharf on the Havel or Spree rivers. Along the way you can get on and off to enjoy green parkland, or some distant sights like Spandoau citadel or the huge Soviet War Memorial in the eastern suburb. The most interesting stop is Pfaneninsel or peacock Island. It is a beautiful example of an eighteenth-century formal garden with small pavilions, ponds and chateau. The shores of Muggeisee and Wannsee are also popular for outings on holidays and uninhibited sunbathing by local population.

At a unification celebration, the then Mayor of West Berlin cried out “Berlin Rejoice!” To this day, the city still has reason to rejoice. Berlin is not only elated about the Unification of the city but also as its revival as a major tourist destination. After all, this is the only city in the world that offers all the attraction to them – twice over.

Germany 1 - Frankly Frankfurt

The jaded business traveler must often wish for an airport like Frankfurt’s where all his requirements and whims are catered. Apart from an underground train station, it has 102 shops, 26 eating-places, 2 pharmacies and 4 beauty parlours and barbershops. On the entertainment side, what self respecting airport can do without a couple of sex shops and three non-stop movie theatres (one each featuring German, English and X-rated movies), a bowling alley and a truly stylish disco that caters to the jet set. In a way the airport is a perfect introduction to the city itself.

Consider Frankfurt as an epitome of the new Germany, risen like a phoenix from the ashes of World War II, with a whole new lifestyle: It’s the much vaunted Wirtschaftswundur in action, with all its ramifications, such as a raw sense of power, along with an almost overwhelming aura of affluence.

Frankfurt has a great influence as the place where more German kings and emperors were crowned than any other city, but it has also strictly adhered to the motto of “more sense, less politics”. And, the emperors of today resides somewhere inside the gleaming towers of the skyscrapers, ruling their empires with a touch of little buttons on their computer terminals.

For an enjoyable first orientation of the city, I took one of those brightly coloured and decorated special trams that leave on hour-long circular tour every thirty minutes on weekends. One can hop in at any of its 10 stops. On board this happy go lucky Ebbelwei Express (Apple-wine Express); there is music, apple wine and pretzels to contribute to a genuine Frankfurt atmosphere. Remember, no fun-time is enjoyed in Germany without wine or beer.

The Hauptwache is considered as the centre of Frankfurt location wise as well as in essence of things. It is an 18^th century guardhouse reconstructed in the original baroque style and then turned into a popular café. Directly across the Hauptwache stands the 17^th century Katherin-kirche, the church where German literary legend Goethe was baptisized. A few blocks southwest is the boyhood home of Goethe. The house offers a fascinating peak at eighteenth-century life in a wealthy, commercial city.

Next to the church, and stretching in all directions from Hauptwache, a spacious pedestrian zone has been inlayed into the city centre. Somehow this area typifies what today’s Germany is all about – the Mercedes, furs, jewels, extravagant clothes, elaborate paraphernalia for leisuretime activities and perhaps more than anything else, the cornucopia of food on display. Altogether the visible level of affluence is striking.

Just at the end of Fressgasse (the food street) to the west – is the theatre area. Here there are theatres and opera halls and a number of other performance centers. Of course the Alt Oper – or the Old Opera House – a structure of grand proportion, takes the pride of place.

South of Hauptwache toward the river, on a broad square with a statue of justice, you will see three adjoining burgher’s houses that that have served as Frankfurt’s City Hall since 1405. Restored after the WW II, the three crow-shaped gabbles of the façade are the symbol of this city. This protected monument is open to the visitors. Inside there is an immense Imperial Hall (Kaisersaal) where banquets were held to celebrate imperial coronation of German emperors. There are a few brilliantly painted half-timbered houses just opposite the city hall – which are also the most photographed structure of the city. This area, called Roemerberg, is the location of city’s cultural celebrations.

East of Roemerberg is the Cathedral of St. Bertholmew, popularly called the Dom. The cathedral’s outstanding feature is a tall fifteenth-century dome and lantern tower. The Dome overlooks the excavation of Roman foundation, which has been turned into historical garden. At the square in front is the miniature Alte Nikolaikirche, a church with a 40-bell carillon that rings out four times a day.

One branch of pedestrian walkway reaches the Main River. On the bank of the river, there are eight major museums, standing shoulder to shoulder. Among them particularly highly rated internationally are Stadel Institute of Art, Senekenburg Museum of Natural History and the Liebieghaus – a museum of sculpture and oriental art.

Perhaps the most potent symbols of the new and no-nonsense Frankfurt are the new Commerz Bank building and the Messeturm (Trade Fair Tower), the no 1 & 2 tallest office buildings in Europe. Frankfurt is the headquarter of German Reserve Bank, and three largest commercial banks as well as European Central Banks. Naturally, business people from all over the world check in for the big international fairs each spring and late summer, times when facilities become strained to breaking point, and hotels and restaurants impose an official (and controversial) surcharge on rooms and even meals to take advantage of the seasonal influx.

It is not to say that the efficient, business oriented Frankfurters do not know how to relax. In fact, they not only do it but also do it with gusto. In the evening watch all those wine tavern and small intimate restaurants spread all over the city. But, Alt Sachsenhausen offers the most idyllic setting for an evening out. From the Roemerberg, cross the Main River over the Eiserner Steg (Iron Footbridge) and walk a little to reach this interesting corner of the city.

For all practical purposes it is a rustic locale, with a stage-set quality created by pretty pastel homes with steeply pitched roofs, narrow cobblestoned lanes, wrought-iron street lamps and old fashioned tradesmen’s signs at shop entrances. It is at Alt Sachsenhausen where a Frankfurter gets his chance to roaringly practice that German characteristics called Gemutlichkeit or conviviality, over big tumblers of apple-wine and food, usually seating on a community-style wooden tables set outdoors.

The last nice thing about Frankfurt, which most business travelers are finding these days, is the ease of going from here to any other city in Europe on business or on excursions to the scenic and culturally rich part of Germany, making it the most important hub in Europe.

Rhythm on the Railways

Travelling after all is discovering. And, it is quite often the journey, rather than the destination, that presents us many pleasant moments of life. During the turn of this decade, we decided to travel to a peaceful corner of our beautiful country, without knowing how a simple train journey would offer us such a romantic experience.

The train to Murshidabad, from Kolkata starts early in the morning and the journey takes about 5-hours. The train is called Hazarduari Express – named after the palace with more than one thousand doors in Murshidabad. It's a real train for real people. So, to be on the safe side, we reserved our seats, as someone told that on the Haat (weekly market) day the train would get overcrowded - somewhere on the way. Not yet being a 'heritage route' means it is spared the mock interiors and trapping of luxuries. The train, however, is clean with padded seats of earlier vintage and overall interior giving a charming retro-chic look.

As the train left Sealdah, varied landscape of a changing society was flying past our windows -  bustle of the mega city, with its tall buildings and squalid extremities, followed first by a decaying industrial landscape of the outskirts and then, after Kalyani, giving way to a distinctly rustic sceneries. Gradually green became predominant colour in this fertile outlying area. During this period we saw mainly office goers and business people as our co-passengers and a busy group of hawkers selling a wide assortment breakfast.

But, The Hazarduari Express is not a mode to travel with faceless crowd, but to make your little discoveries. So, when the train reached Krishnanagar, the outlook inside the train changed quite a bit. Here we met many rural gentries and rich landlords entering the reserved car. They happened to be very keen to talk to the “visitors” from Mumbai, which we readily reciprocated. Though from hinterland, they were educated, knowledgeable and pleasant to talk. Most of them were talking proudly about their children, who were doing well all over India and abroad. Yes, here the people are known not by how much money they have but how educated and well placed are their children.

After Krishnanagar it is a single – line rake and as such the train had to take longer stop in smaller stations – in-front of colourful fields of mustard, rice and pulses. We took a look at the crowded unreserved compartment full with people carrying their produce to the Haat. Everyone seemed to be happy without any apparent reason. We also noticed absence of any beggar inside the coach or on the platform. It seemed that somewhere land reform, mass education and decentralization of power by Panchayati Raj were really working in this rural hinterland.

The passengers, mostly from the reserved compartments, came down during such halts and the platform became abuzz with their discussions on myriad subjects, ranging from family happenings, neighbourly gossip, national politics, American meddling in Iraq and Afghanistan, some new plays launched in Kolkata and off course, football and cricket. In a single place, we could capture the gloriously lazy pace of Bengali suburban and rural life, in all its senses and sensibilities.

But, off course the best bit of Bengali culture was to be enjoyed inside the train. With luck, a ride on the Hazarduari express can be more than just a ride from point to point. I was told that, in this route one can enjoy great folk dances, talented percussionist and group of men doing reasonable rendition of popular one-act political plays with hardly any prop. Luckier ones can even expect a puppeteers and even a travelling magician – their performances putting smiles to the faces and twinkles to the eyes of the weary passengers.

So, we were expecting to taste a few samplings. And, just after Plassey, an enterprising fellow entered with a bright “Namashkar, Good Morning!” hung a wine-red velvet curtain between the two chromed posts at the end of the car and painstakingly started up his Karaoke player. He gave some renditions of famous Bollywood and Bengali modern songs interspersed by his interesting cues and exchanges with the audiences and his grand and gracious “thank yous”.

The intrepid Bengali Baul singer was the next performers with his song about touching the divine grace through the earthy life. The sound of the string of his ektara was reverberating inside the coach and wordings of the song entertaining as well as getting the travelers to take a pause and think about the frivolous-ness of daily life. Next came a fantastic flute player giving magnificent rendition of some well known Bengali classic tunes. It, indeed, turned out to be a veritable cultural show.

Time flew unnoticed and the journey from Plassey to Murshidabad seemed so short. We remembered that Robert Clive defeated nawbab Siraj-ud-Ullah in that famous battle of Plassey and ushered British Company rule in India. And, Murshidabad had the distinction of having grand palaces built by the British for subsequent nawbabs. The intention was to convert Indian rulers to British puppets and totally change the culture of the people.

Happily, our train journey to visit Murshidabad allowed us to get an interesting perspective of our country. We understood that the colonial power might have had exploited and looted us of many things, but in their two-century long rule they were not successful in breaking our cultural mooring and Indian-ness. And, I am sure none will be able to do that to us in any foreseeable future.