Living traditions
From old crafts to historical festivals or regional food culture, traditions are cultivated and cultural heritage is preserved all over Germany – and you are invited to join in. Regional museums also bring history to life for visitors.
All of the cities and regions presented here have been recognised as sustainable travel destinations by TourCert thanks to their extensive measures.
Cycling through 250 years of garden art in Potsdam
Potsdam's cultural landscape is a masterpiece that is best discovered by bike. From the Friendship Island with Karl Foerster's display and educational gardens, the tour leads first to Babelsberg Park, which was designed by Prince Pückler in the English style. From there, it continues to the New Garden with architectural gems such as the historically significant Cecilienhof Palace. The gardens of the Russian Colony Alexandrowka are not far away. The 19-kilometre route then runs through Sanssouci Park back to the city centre.
Fairy tales close enough to touch in the GrimmHeimat Nordhessen
The GrimmHeimat Nordhessen is just like a real fairy-tale land with enchanted forests, old castles and traditional crafts – except that everything here is real and ready to be experienced. On the HandwerkErlebnisroute (English: Craft Experience Route) , visitors meet real masters who still bake, weave and craft pottery with skill and passion. At the Cultural Summer , old castle gardens are transformed into fairy-tale stages with musical sounds and magical shows. And in the Little Red Riding Hood country , hiking trails lead to the real settings that gave rise to these old fairy tales.
Living tradition above and below ground in the Ore Mountains
Ever since the 18th century, people in the Ore Mountains have attached great importance to protecting the environment and culture. This can be seen today, for example, in the protected nature, which invites you to go on long hikes and which is also used for healing in the Miriquidi Health Centre with its rehabilitation clinic, thermal baths and medicinal herb centre. Or in the art of wood carving, which has been practised here by hand for generations. The region has even been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for preserving its 850-year-old mining tradition. This can be experienced, among other things, on a walk through the old ore veins under the silver town of Freiberg..
Symphony of nature in the Vogtland
Situated in the border region of Saxony, Thuringia, Bavaria and Bohemia, the Vogtland has been combining music and nature for 350 years. This scenically outstanding area is home to Europe's most important instrument-making region. A wide variety of musical instruments are still produced by hand here today, as in days gone by. Visitors discover how this works in the three demonstration workshops at the Erlebniswelt Musikinstrumentenbau® Vogtland in Marktneukirchen, for example, and can even try their hand at it themselves. Afterwards, the musical instrument museum invites you on a musical journey around the world with over 3,000 instruments.
Nature and history in the North Eifel
The North Eifel offers unforgettable experiences in nature while providing exciting insights into the past. Hardly any other region in Germany is richer in historical relics. The lovingly restored Mueller Cloth Mill in Euskirchen-Kuchenheim brings old looms back to life after a 30-year slumber. At the Kommern Open Air Museum , 77 historic buildings offer gateways into the past for visitors and actors portray historical figures from the region. This is how history really comes alive.
Musical mudflat hiking in Dithmarschen
An experience unlike any other in the world: for more than 100 years, guests in the district of Dithmarschen have been exploring the Wadden Sea with a live band at "musical mudflat hiking" – with dancing, egg running and tug-of-war. At the end, the Wadden President "baptises" any willing participants with seawater. Visitors can take part in this event in Büsum from May to September. Towards the end of September, the entire region turns upside down during the Dithmarscher Cabbage Days : from the farmers' market to the cabbage slicing championship, everything in Europe's largest cabbage-growing region revolves around this green vegetable.
Creative craftsmanship in Regensburg
The numbers alone are impressive: Regensburg holds two UNESCO World Heritage titles and is home to 1,000 historic monuments. This community on the Danube is considered the best-preserved medieval city in Germany. But what's even more exciting: history really is alive in Regensburg. This is evident, for example, in the city's many craft businesses : hat makers, basket weavers and knife grinders creatively interpret traditional techniques and work sustainably in a natural way. Guests can visit around 20 such businesses on a stroll through the old town and look over the shoulders of real master crafters.
Roman springs in the Lahn Valley
Health has been a tradition here for almost 2,000 years: even the Romans used the healing waters in today's Bad Ems for drinking cures. Later, the glamorous spa resort developed there with a stylish 17th century spa park and an imposing Baroque bathing castle on the riverbank, which is now used as a spa hotel. In recent years, further sustainable holiday offers promoting good health have been established, from canoe trips on the Lahn to excellent hiking trails in the surrounding area and the Lahn cycle path. Since 2021, Bad Ems has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the "Great Spa Towns of Europe".
In the footsteps of Vogelsberg shepherds
Counting sheep and peaceful sleep? In the Vogelsberg volcanic region, visitors can combine the two in style with an overnight stay in a real-life shepherd's hut. You can also visit the town shepherd in the shepherd town of Hungen, taste a wide variety of cheeses in the cheese barn or learn all about sheep farming on a hike through flower-filled mountain meadows near Grebenhain. The region's event highlight is the Shepherd Festival, which is held every two years at the end of August in Hungen .
Vikings on the Baltic Sea fjord Schlei
At the Baltic Sea fjord Schlei, living history meets a vast landscape: the UNESCO World Heritage Site Hedeby and Danevirke tells of Vikings, German-Danish history, trade and power. The museum, fortifications and reconstructed houses bring the past to life – an experience in the centre of the real north.