0:00:04 > 0:00:07I'm embarking on a new railway adventure
0:00:07 > 0:00:10that will take me across the heart of Europe.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15I'll be using this, my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,
0:00:15 > 0:00:20dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel
0:00:20 > 0:00:21for the British tourist.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28It told travellers where to go, what to see and how to navigate
0:00:28 > 0:00:31the thousands of miles of tracks criss-crossing the continent.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Now, a century later,
0:00:34 > 0:00:38I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,
0:00:38 > 0:00:42where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.
0:00:42 > 0:00:48I want to rediscover that lost Europe that in 1913 couldn't know
0:00:48 > 0:00:52that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Steered by my 1913 railway guide,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16I'm journeying across prosperous pre-war Europe.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22This leg takes me to Imperial Germany, whose emperor,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25Queen Victoria's grandson Kaiser Wilhelm II,
0:01:25 > 0:01:29would soon take family feuding to a tragic new level.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32So the two countries that went to war
0:01:32 > 0:01:34- were ruled over by first cousins? - Yes.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37I'll take to the skies on a train...
0:01:37 > 0:01:41I can see into everybody's window, I can see into everybody's house.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43..sample local cuisine...
0:01:43 > 0:01:47When on the Rhine, eat as Rhinelanders do.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50'..appreciate local smells...' That IS very, very strong.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52..meet local characters...
0:01:52 > 0:01:54- Hello, my beauty!- Nice to meet you!
0:01:54 > 0:01:57'..and enjoy the fruits of its ancient vineyards.'
0:01:57 > 0:01:59I like it very much.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09My journey begins in the capital, Berlin,
0:02:09 > 0:02:15heads west to the city of Magdeburg and the picturesque Harz Mountains.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18I'll then discover the majesty of Hanover, from where I'll continue
0:02:18 > 0:02:23to Germany's industrial Ruhr Valley at Essen,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26followed then by the Gothic beauty of Cologne.
0:02:26 > 0:02:27I'll head towards Koblenz,
0:02:27 > 0:02:31learning what role the railways played in the First World War,
0:02:31 > 0:02:33before joining the tourist trail
0:02:33 > 0:02:36down the castle-studded banks of the River Rhine.
0:02:39 > 0:02:45In 1913, the so-called German Empire was then a young country,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48having been brought together just a few decades before
0:02:48 > 0:02:51out of a group of formerly independent states.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56My Bradshaw's tells me that the German Empire consists of 25 states
0:02:56 > 0:02:59and the Imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02and it then lists them in order of magnitude -
0:03:02 > 0:03:04beginning, of course, with Prussia -
0:03:04 > 0:03:08and I'm headed now for its glittering capital, Berlin.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31I'm arriving at Berlin's Hauptbahnhof,
0:03:31 > 0:03:36a spectacular product of the new, unified Germany.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40This five-tiered glass and steel structure
0:03:40 > 0:03:43opened in 2006 at a cost of £480 million
0:03:43 > 0:03:49to provide travellers with a one-stop connection north to south
0:03:49 > 0:03:52and, more symbolically, East to West.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00I love Berlin's new main railway station,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04its two crystal tunnels intersecting at this point.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07It's an aesthetic and technological triumph,
0:04:07 > 0:04:09and yet, despite being entirely modern,
0:04:09 > 0:04:13it's reminiscent of Victorian railway stations
0:04:13 > 0:04:15made of cast iron and glass.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21In 1913, Germany's engineering and industrial prowess
0:04:21 > 0:04:25was being nurtured by its vehemently nationalist emperor.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29Kaiser Wilhelm was obsessed with bettering the two major powers
0:04:29 > 0:04:31of the previous century.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34He aimed for a navy to emulate Britain's,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38and Berlin, his capital, was fast rivalling Paris.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43"Berlin," asserts my Bradshaw's,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46"is THE most modern of the great cities of Europe.
0:04:46 > 0:04:52"Broad streets, handsome buildings, spacious squares and open places
0:04:52 > 0:04:56"rendered more attractive by trees and statues."
0:04:56 > 0:05:00And at a time when Britain was suffering from industrial strife,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04turmoil in Ireland and suffragette outrages, it adds, perhaps
0:05:04 > 0:05:08a little enviously, "Cleanliness and order are everywhere."
0:05:11 > 0:05:14I'm heading to the heart of Wilhelm's Imperial Berlin
0:05:14 > 0:05:17and probably the city's best-known landmark.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21In 1913, the Brandenburg Gate would have beckoned visitors towards
0:05:21 > 0:05:23the Kaiser's Palace.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27But after the Second World War, it symbolically barred passage
0:05:27 > 0:05:30between communist East and capitalist West Germany.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33'Matt Robinson is my guide.'
0:05:33 > 0:05:38Why is the Brandenburg Gate such an important symbol for Germany?
0:05:38 > 0:05:41It was the gate used by the king, who had come from the royal district
0:05:41 > 0:05:44further down Unter Den Linden passing through to the Tiergarten,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47and this is where Germans came to celebrate in 1871
0:05:47 > 0:05:51when Germany became Germany. It's where the German soldiers
0:05:51 > 0:05:54marched back through in December 1918
0:05:54 > 0:05:58following the armistice in November, the end of the First World War.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01What happened to the Brandenburg Gate during the Cold War?
0:06:01 > 0:06:05Between 1961 and 1989, the Brandenburg Gate
0:06:05 > 0:06:08was in the death strip of the Berlin Wall.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11This is the area in between the two walls that existed.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13This is the area where East German border guards
0:06:13 > 0:06:16were shooting people as traitors to the state
0:06:16 > 0:06:18as they tried to escape to the West.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21The East Germans never referred to the Berlin Wall
0:06:21 > 0:06:24as the Berlin Wall that they built to stop East Germans from leaving.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26It was always the "anti-fascist protection barrier"
0:06:26 > 0:06:30to stop the fascists in the West from getting to the East
0:06:30 > 0:06:33and corrupting this East German socialist paradise.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36It's quite a thought, isn't it?
0:06:36 > 0:06:39A bit small, this one.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43'For all its melancholy history, the Gate is now a tourist attraction.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47'But I'm juggling a busy schedule and need to move on.'
0:06:50 > 0:06:52My Bradshaw's says of the railway lines
0:06:52 > 0:06:56that they're "probably more useful for residents than for tourists,
0:06:56 > 0:07:00"whose convenience is better served by the trams." Can we take a tram?
0:07:00 > 0:07:02We can. There are none around here
0:07:02 > 0:07:06- but we can certainly head further into the east.- Very good.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13In the decades before my 1913 guidebook was published,
0:07:13 > 0:07:15the great European powers were in a race
0:07:15 > 0:07:18for technological supremacy.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22And when the world's first electric tram ran in Berlin in 1881,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25the city took a step ahead of its rivals.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29So, historically, the trams have been pretty important in Berlin?
0:07:29 > 0:07:33As Berlin developed in the late 1800s as the Imperial capital
0:07:33 > 0:07:37of Germany, there was a necessity to get workers to the factories
0:07:37 > 0:07:39in the central parts of the city.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Thus, the public transportation network developed
0:07:42 > 0:07:44to become one of the largest in the country.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47In fact, to this day it's still the largest in Germany.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49How big did this network become?
0:07:49 > 0:07:53By the late 1920s, it was massive.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56There was some 600 kilometres of track throughout the city,
0:07:56 > 0:07:5990 different lines, in fact, in Berlin alone.
0:08:01 > 0:08:061913 Germany was both wealthy and learned.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08To speed industrial and military development,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Wilhelm's government gave unprecedented financial support
0:08:12 > 0:08:15to universities and research institutes.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19In another success for the Kaiser,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22the world's centre of science and technology shifted
0:08:22 > 0:08:24from Britain and France to Berlin.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31I've come to the Archenhold Observatory in search of a genius
0:08:31 > 0:08:34who was developing theories at the time my guidebook was written
0:08:34 > 0:08:38that were to change science for ever.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43Dr Felix Luhning is head of astronomy at Archenhold,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47- 'in the southeast of the city.' Hello, Felix.- Hello, Michael.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50My guidebook tells me that Berlin's scientific institutions
0:08:50 > 0:08:51are of worldwide renown.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56Was it important to the Kaiser, the German Reich, to promote science?
0:08:56 > 0:09:00Yes. It was a matter of reputation
0:09:00 > 0:09:04and it was also a matter of, um,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07well, so to speak, support for big business.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13In 1879, the centrepiece of Berlin's Trade Fair
0:09:13 > 0:09:15was the world's first electric railway.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20Then, the city amazed visitors again by unveiling
0:09:20 > 0:09:24a huge and powerful telescope - the Treptow.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Well, it's absolutely the biggest telescope that I'VE ever seen.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31When was it built and how big is it?
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Well, it was built in 1896
0:09:35 > 0:09:38and it is the longest telescope of the world, 21 metres' focus.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Such a telescope at the end of the 19th century must have
0:09:41 > 0:09:43- attracted visitors from far and wide.- Yes, that's right.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46The observatory was crowded with people.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Everybody was curious about what to see in this big telescope.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Can we see it operating?
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Yes, of course. Very simple, just push the button.
0:09:55 > 0:10:00'With a magnification factor of 210, the telescope provides
0:10:00 > 0:10:03'detailed observations of the moon and planets.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06'But just after my 1913 guidebook was written, an event
0:10:06 > 0:10:10'at the Archenhold Observatory had an even bigger impact on science.'
0:10:10 > 0:10:14In 1915, the most influential scientist of the century,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16Albert Einstein,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20'stunned the world with his first-ever speech on relativity.'
0:10:22 > 0:10:25- So this is where Albert Einstein gave his lecture?- Yes.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Imagine this hall filled with visitors and reporters
0:10:29 > 0:10:30writing down articles.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Born in Germany in 1879,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36Einstein developed his general theory of relativity
0:10:36 > 0:10:39to explain the Newtonian mystery of gravity.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41- And what did it change? - It changed everything.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46It changed the science, it changed astronomy,
0:10:46 > 0:10:51it changed also nuclear physics and it changed cosmology.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Einstein's approach to science was radical,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58and his Nobel Prize in 1921 made him a genius celebrity.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03But he could explain his complex ideas in amusing layman's terms.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Einstein apparently joked that the theory of relativity meant
0:11:07 > 0:11:09two hours spent with a beautiful girl passed in a minute,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12and a minute spent on a hot stove seemed like two hours.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14But presumably what he was really saying was
0:11:14 > 0:11:17that time itself is elastic, that it is relative.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21Yes. He showed that it depended on how you are moving.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26The faster you're moving, the slower time goes by for you.
0:11:26 > 0:11:33An avowed pacifist, Einstein devised the world-famous equation "E=mc2",
0:11:33 > 0:11:36which confirmed the relationship between mass and energy -
0:11:36 > 0:11:40an insight necessary to develop the atomic bomb.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43A consequence that made him uncomfortable in later life.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46I believe that railways played an important part in his theory.
0:11:46 > 0:11:51Yes, because railways are a perfect example for the relativity
0:11:51 > 0:11:57of movements. They are a perfect example for a constant moving system.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Using models, Einstein explained how a train
0:12:00 > 0:12:03travelling along the horizon will seem to move at a much slower speed
0:12:03 > 0:12:05than one rushing past you on a platform.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09But they are, in fact, going at the same speed.
0:12:09 > 0:12:14Einstein showed that things can't be regarded separately.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19Time, mass and space are connected together.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Felix, I don't think I'll ever think the same way
0:12:21 > 0:12:23about a railway journey again. Thank you.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29To leave Berlin, I'm heading for Charlottenburg in the west of the city.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34The affluent suburb is still home to an ornate palace and gardens
0:12:34 > 0:12:36which my 1913 guidebook notes
0:12:36 > 0:12:39"contains the mausoleum of the Kaiser's late mother and father."
0:12:41 > 0:12:45But I'm destined for more rural landscapes
0:12:45 > 0:12:48- ..Heute?- Heute, ja.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51- 26.60.- Danke.
0:12:55 > 0:12:56Danke, auf Wiedersehen.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04I'm travelling via Magdeburg to the natural beauties of Saxony-Anhalt,
0:13:04 > 0:13:06a state steeped in legend.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13My Bradshaw's Guide tells me that German scenery
0:13:13 > 0:13:15"is generally pleasing and varied,
0:13:15 > 0:13:20"and there are many pretty mountain chains of moderate elevation."
0:13:20 > 0:13:24I'm headed for the Harz Mountains, which Edwardian travellers enjoyed
0:13:24 > 0:13:28for the beautiful fresh air and the stunning views.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40The Harz Mountains extend for 100 kilometres.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Maximising its engineering resources,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47Germany laid three railways here in the late 19th century,
0:13:47 > 0:13:51primarily to transport the range's rich minerals.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55When the third scaled the mountain's tallest peak, the Brocken,
0:13:55 > 0:14:00it became the country's longest and most scenic narrow-gauge railway.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06And I'm excited to ride it because it runs on steam.
0:14:15 > 0:14:21My Bradshaw's tells me that the Brocken is "3,145 feet high,
0:14:21 > 0:14:23"the highest summit of the Harz Mountains."
0:14:23 > 0:14:27What better way to get there than on this delightful steam railway?
0:14:45 > 0:14:49This must be one of the great train rides in Europe.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54The steam engine curling ahead, the train weaving between the trees
0:14:54 > 0:14:59as we make our way, panting, towards the summit of the Brocken.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12Was ist das?
0:15:12 > 0:15:15- Waldbeer.- Mm-hm.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19- Schlehe mit Rum. - Ah-ha, Schlehe mit Rum.- Ja.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Mm-hmm. Something with rum.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Ja, das geht.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28- Very attractive with their pictures of the locomotives.- Three euro.
0:15:28 > 0:15:29Danke, danke.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31Sehr gut! Good for the Herz?
0:15:31 > 0:15:35- Ja.- Good for the heart? - Ja, sehr gut.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37I believe it. Thank you. Mm.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Good for the heart in the Harz Mountain. Get it?
0:15:42 > 0:15:46The Harz Mountains are famous in German folklore.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood
0:15:50 > 0:15:52are all stories thought to have emanated from here.
0:15:52 > 0:15:58But the Brocken is most famous for a pivotal scene in German literature.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03Set on a night of spooks similar to Halloween - called Walpurgis -
0:16:03 > 0:16:06in Faust, an 18th-century play by Goethe,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09witches worship the devil on this peak,
0:16:09 > 0:16:14and evidently, even now, the odd one may be attracted here.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20- Hello, my beauty.- Hello, nice to meet you!- My beauty, indeed!
0:16:20 > 0:16:24- On the mountain!- Why are you dressed as a witch? Warum Hexe?
0:16:24 > 0:16:27- Hier ist der Brocken, der Brocken... - This is the Brocken mountain.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29..auf dem Gipfel
0:16:29 > 0:16:34um dem Teufel auf den Arsch zu kussen und holen sich ihre Hexenkraft.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37SHE LAUGHS Da sind wir immer dabei!
0:16:37 > 0:16:40I don't understand everything, but I think she's telling me
0:16:40 > 0:16:43that for ten years she's been coming here, and on the Brocken Mountain,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46the witches practise witchcraft on Walpurgis Night.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49- Walpurgis Night, yes. - Is that right?- Yes!
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Oh! Do Hexe like a drink?
0:16:53 > 0:16:54Yes. Oh, yes!
0:16:54 > 0:16:56MICHAEL LAUGHS Woo!
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Oh!
0:17:02 > 0:17:05- Mm, that's the way to do it, isn't it?- Wow, super! It's for you!- Ja.
0:17:05 > 0:17:10- Did you leave any?! Cheers! - Cheers!- Mmm!
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Sehr gut.
0:17:15 > 0:17:16Auf Wiedersehen!
0:17:18 > 0:17:20..Sehr gut, ja!
0:17:20 > 0:17:26In 1913, lured by the Brocken's scenery and witches,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30at least 50,000 tourists trekked to the summit.
0:17:30 > 0:17:37Then, as now, it was traditional to make the 1,142-metre ascent on foot.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39- We walked from...- Torfhaus.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43- Torfhaus.- Ah-ha! - It's seven kilometres.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47- And how long has that taken you? - 12 o'clock.- 12 o'clock you set out.
0:17:47 > 0:17:53- 2.30 now, so two hours and twenty minutes.- Ja.- Very good. Healthy!- Ja.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55- Hello, sir.- Hello, sir.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59- Have you walked a long way? Oh, not a long way.- From Schriker.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03- And how long has that taken you? - Oh, six kilometres, about two hours.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06- Do you come up the Brocken very often?- No, it's the first time.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09- Really?- Yes.- Congratulations! - Thank you.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19Leaving the natural beauty of the Harz Mountains behind,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22I'm bound for my next destination - Hanover.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27The city may help me to understand why Kaiser Wilhelm was so driven
0:18:27 > 0:18:31by a sense of rivalry with Britain to the West and Russia to the East.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Bradshaw's tells me that "mid-Europe time,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41"one hour in advance of Greenwich Time,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43"is observed on all lines in Germany.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46"The fares are less than in most other parts of the continent,
0:18:46 > 0:18:52"averaging one and two-fifths pence per mile, first class,"
0:18:52 > 0:18:56which shows the limitations of using a guidebook 100 years old.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59"Railway carriages in Germany are clean and comfortable,"
0:18:59 > 0:19:02so some things haven't changed at all.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17With its beautiful buildings and highly admired culture,
0:19:17 > 0:19:21Hanover, a formerly independent German kingdom which had become
0:19:21 > 0:19:23a province of Prussia, was a magnet
0:19:23 > 0:19:25for early 20th-century British travellers
0:19:25 > 0:19:27with an interest in royalty.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32On my British railway journeys,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35I have often followed in the footsteps of Queen Victoria.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40In Hanover, my Bradshaw's draws my attention to Schloss Herrenhausen,
0:19:40 > 0:19:45where George I and George II lived. So, extraordinarily,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48here in the heart of Germany, I find myself close to the origins
0:19:48 > 0:19:53of Queen Victoria, who was our last monarch in the line of Hanover.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02I've made my way to the impressive Royal Palace
0:20:02 > 0:20:05and botanical gardens of Herrenhausen to find out more
0:20:05 > 0:20:07from Petra Kiel-Heurich, a local guide.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12- Petra. Hello. - Hello.- May we go in?- Of course.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16Petra, how did it come to be that George I, a German,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18became the King of England?
0:20:18 > 0:20:23You know, he was in line to the throne, number 58, 59,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25but, you know, he was a Protestant,
0:20:25 > 0:20:29and all the other pretenders were Catholics,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33and so the English didn't want to have any Catholic on the throne.
0:20:33 > 0:20:39So they took George I from Hanover
0:20:39 > 0:20:41as their king in London.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Cos the thing that really mattered was that he wasn't a Catholic,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47so that overrode his disadvantage of being a German?
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Amazingly enough, yes.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56After Duke Ernest Augustus of Hanover married Sophia,
0:20:56 > 0:20:58granddaughter of Britain's King James I,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01the British Act of Settlement, banning Catholics from the throne,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05designated Sophia heiress to the British crown.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09But after she died in 1714, her son, George,
0:21:09 > 0:21:13became the first of five monarchs to rule over both Hanover and Britain.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21I suppose when George I became king, he had to learn a new language.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24He didn't speak English, not a single word,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27so the English people couldn't believe that somebody
0:21:27 > 0:21:32was coming from Germany who was not even able to communicate.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34- So he NEVER learned English? - No, he did not.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39He was the only English king who was buried outside of Great Britain.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43- I have a guidebook here from 1913... - Mm-hm.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48So what was the relationship between the British Royal Family
0:21:48 > 0:21:51and the German royalty in that period?
0:21:51 > 0:21:53You know, both monarchs were cousins.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58Both were grandsons from Queen Victoria,
0:21:58 > 0:22:03and here in Germany, it was Emperor William II,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05and in England it was George V.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08So the two countries that went to war
0:22:08 > 0:22:11the year after my guidebook was written
0:22:11 > 0:22:14- were ruled over by first cousins? - Yes, first cousins.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18And they met together with the Tsar from Russia.
0:22:18 > 0:22:24It was Nicholas II, and all three met at the marriage
0:22:24 > 0:22:29of the Emperor's daughter on the 24th May 1913.
0:22:30 > 0:22:36- The very time of my guidebook. - Yeah. It was the last big event
0:22:36 > 0:22:41before the First World War started one year later.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44- The Tsar was also related to the British Royal Family.- Yeah.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48He was another cousin, so they were three.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53- So George V, the Kaiser and the Tsar were all cousins?- Mm-hm.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59- Amazing. And all involved in the war.- Ja. One year later.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07History weighs heavily in this city.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11The First World War was not, as hoped, the war to end all wars.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15During the Second World War, almost all of majestic Hanover
0:23:15 > 0:23:17was obliterated by Allied bombing.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21After the conflict, some buildings were rebuilt from the rubble,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24including my hotel for the night.
0:23:25 > 0:23:30According to Bradshaw's, "German hotels are second to the Swiss,
0:23:30 > 0:23:35"the best in the world. The cuisine is inferior only to the French,
0:23:35 > 0:23:37"and the restaurants, superior."
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Kastens Hotel is recommended because it has central heating,
0:23:40 > 0:23:45and an advertisement tells me it has a motor garage and a restaurant.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47Sounds like the place for me.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52Kastens has served visitors to Hanover for almost 160 years,
0:23:52 > 0:23:54and I want to find out how the hotel has changed
0:23:54 > 0:23:57since my guidebook recommended it in 1913.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00- Good evening.- Hello, good evening.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03I'm using a guidebook from 1913. What was the hotel like then?
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Well, it was like it is now, the best hotel in town,
0:24:06 > 0:24:12and a lot of aristocrats stayed here and many travellers from England.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14And what happened to the hotel in World War II?
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Hanover was bombed and the hotel was also hit.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22It was completely destroyed and the owning family then just rebuilt it
0:24:22 > 0:24:25and we had our first rooms ready
0:24:25 > 0:24:28for the first International Fair in 1947.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31A wonderful effort. I'm looking forward to staying here.
0:24:31 > 0:24:32Which room am I in?
0:24:32 > 0:24:35Your room number is 119 on the first floor. Enjoy your stay with us.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38- Thank you, good night.- Good night.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Auf Wiedersehen.
0:24:50 > 0:24:51I'm bound next for the Ruhr Valley.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55In 1913, it was both Germany's industrial heartland
0:24:55 > 0:24:57and the Kaiser's arsenal.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01I'll then push south to Cologne, detour east to experience
0:25:01 > 0:25:05a technological marvel in Wuppertal, before journeying to the Rhineland
0:25:05 > 0:25:09to discover the river, the vineyards that adorn its banks
0:25:09 > 0:25:11and the cultural roots of German nationalism.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Germany, in common with France and Spain and Italy
0:25:29 > 0:25:31and Japan, for that matter,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35has a network of high-speed trains.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39They're beautiful, they're silver,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41they're called ICE,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44and that spells "cool".
0:25:44 > 0:25:45HE BLOWS WHISTLE
0:26:01 > 0:26:03TRAIN HORN BLASTS
0:26:15 > 0:26:20- Guten Morgen. Is this your German breakfast?- Yeah.- Wow! This looks...
0:26:20 > 0:26:24- Beer, at this time of the day? - It's always good!
0:26:24 > 0:26:26Always good, beer?
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Are you celebrating, gentlemen? Is it a special occasion?
0:26:29 > 0:26:31We have a trip to Dusseldorf.
0:26:31 > 0:26:38Once a year, we have a trip to a city, in this case Dusseldorf.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Last time we were in Munich for Oktoberfest, and so on.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44And what is that you're eating, what is this?
0:26:44 > 0:26:46- Bratwurst.- Bratwurst?
0:26:46 > 0:26:49- Are those gherkins?- Gurke. - You call them...?
0:26:49 > 0:26:52- Gurke.- Gurke? Gurke, gherkins.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Oh, wow! You've very, very kind. Thank you very much indeed.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59- ..Sauerkraut?- Guten Appetit, hmm?
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Mmm!
0:27:01 > 0:27:04- Sehr gut.- It's good, yes?- Mm.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08I can safely say this is the earliest in the morning
0:27:08 > 0:27:10that I have ever eaten a gherkin.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12- MEN LAUGH - It's good, it's good.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15THEY CHATTER IN GERMAN
0:27:15 > 0:27:21Man cannot live by gherkin alone. Time for my own breakfast.
0:27:27 > 0:27:28- Danke.- You're welcome.- Danke.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43I've left behind the elegant palaces of Hanover
0:27:43 > 0:27:47and I'm heading for the traditional industrial heartland of Germany,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49the Rhineland-Westphalia coal district,
0:27:49 > 0:27:53which my Bradshaw's describes as "32 miles in length
0:27:53 > 0:27:55"and 5 to 14 miles wide.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58"One of the most productive coalfields in the world.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02"The apparently never-ending sequence of town after town
0:28:02 > 0:28:05"with the innumerable chimneys in all directions
0:28:05 > 0:28:07"testify to an enormous activity."
0:28:07 > 0:28:11By the time my guidebook was written in 1913,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Germany had overtaken Britain in industrial production.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Having been whisked along on the flagship of German railways,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27I need to change here at Dortmund onto a slower train
0:28:27 > 0:28:29bound for my next destination, Essen.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Since the 18th century, the Ruhr Valley has been synonymous
0:28:44 > 0:28:49with the essential ingredients of industrialisation - coal and steel.
0:28:49 > 0:28:55As Wilhelm II settled on the throne, the pits and foundries of the Ruhr
0:28:55 > 0:28:58were expanded so fast that Essen's population
0:28:58 > 0:29:01almost quadrupled between 1890 and 1910.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05This was industrialisation on an unparalleled scale.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08The collieries and steelworks may have turned the valley
0:29:08 > 0:29:12into something resembling Dante's Inferno,
0:29:12 > 0:29:15but they were the Kaiser's powerhouse, and in the early years
0:29:15 > 0:29:19of the 20th century, Germany's army was war-ready.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21Rebuilt in 1932, the Zollverein Coal Mine
0:29:21 > 0:29:26was once the world's most modern and productive.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29It closed in the 1980s and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site
0:29:29 > 0:29:31and cultural centre.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34'Christian Shroeder is a curator.'
0:29:34 > 0:29:36- Christian, how good to see you. - Welcome. Nice to meet you.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39It's good to see you. This is a beautiful mine museum.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42When did mining begin in the Essen area?
0:29:42 > 0:29:44Around about 1830.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47All the buildings you can see all around are much younger.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49They are from 1920 to 1932.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52- Mining here became very extensive. - Oh, yeah.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54The Ruhr area used to be Europe's biggest industrial area.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57We used to cook iron and steel on 2,800 square kilometres.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00We used to have more than 700 big coal mines.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02And thousands of miles of tunnels?
0:30:02 > 0:30:04Oh, yeah, thousands of them.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06Now, this mineshaft is not only very impressive,
0:30:06 > 0:30:08it's architecturally beautiful.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11That's because the two young architects who built this
0:30:11 > 0:30:13were inspired by Bauhaus architecture.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16It was the functional Cubism of those days.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19- May we take a look around? - Oh, sure, here we go.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24We're getting a wonderful view of the plant now.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28- Oh, yeah, we will.- And it's going to get better and better.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35It's an amazing view. Tell me, at the beginning of the 20th century,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38what would we have been able to see from here?
0:30:38 > 0:30:42At the beginning of the 20th century, skies would've been covered with dust
0:30:42 > 0:30:45and the streets would have been covered in ashes.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47The horizon would have been crammed with chimneys,
0:30:47 > 0:30:50blast furnaces, coking plants, steel mills,
0:30:50 > 0:30:56all this, and today it's a huge green landscape, as you can see.
0:30:56 > 0:31:02Yeah, my Bradshaw's guide tells me about the chimneys extending
0:31:02 > 0:31:07to the horizon and also says that Krupp's huge works are here.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09Where was Krupp's?
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Krupp's was in this direction at the other side of the city centre.
0:31:12 > 0:31:17And Krupp company used to be the biggest steel company here in Essen.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20Essen is associated with the family Krupp
0:31:20 > 0:31:22and Krupp is always associated with Essen.
0:31:22 > 0:31:23Yes, it's interesting, isn't it,
0:31:23 > 0:31:27that my English Bradshaw's guide in 1913 says, "Krupp" -
0:31:27 > 0:31:30it doesn't have to say steel, Krupp MEANT steel.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Yes. It's a legend in Germany - Krupp.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35He was one of the first industrial pioneers
0:31:35 > 0:31:37and he made German steel what it became later on.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39He was a maniac in cooking steel.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42He slept in his workshop, he lived in his workshop -
0:31:42 > 0:31:45all he was doing was cooking steel 24 hours a day.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48In 1852, industrialist Alfred Krupp
0:31:48 > 0:31:53invented the seamless steel railway tyre which made him his fortune.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57His passion for steel and profit then propelled him
0:31:57 > 0:31:58into the arms business.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02By the time of his death, he had armed 46 nations,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05and in the run-up to the First World War,
0:32:05 > 0:32:06his company would arm Germany,
0:32:06 > 0:32:09earning Krupp the moniker the Arsenal of the Reich.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14Modern Germany is a peace-loving country.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17The Ruhr's chimneys have been felled.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20Zollverein now pursues seams of culture rather than coal.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55Bravo!
0:32:55 > 0:32:57Thank you, that was wonderful.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Back to Essen Central to catch a connection to my next destination -
0:33:04 > 0:33:06Cologne.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14No good. My German's not up to it.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17I'll stick to my Bradshaw's.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25Bradshaw's tells me that my next destination, Cologne,
0:33:25 > 0:33:29lies on the left bank of the River Rhine. "It's an imperial fortress,
0:33:29 > 0:33:33"the largest town of the Rhine Provinces of Prussia."
0:33:33 > 0:33:35Having thrown off the rust and dust
0:33:35 > 0:33:37of the Ruhr in the 19th and 20th centuries,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40I'm looking forward to seeing the wonderful medieval cathedral
0:33:40 > 0:33:42in Cologne.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45ARRIVAL ANNOUNCEMENT ON TRAIN'S PA
0:33:51 > 0:33:53The oldest large town in Germany,
0:33:53 > 0:33:57Cologne sits astride the mighty Rhine.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00With six million visitors a year,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03its Cathedral is Germany's most popular place of interest.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05Its towers, added in the 19th century
0:34:05 > 0:34:09have dominated the city's skyline since their completion in 1880.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15The way they built the railway next to the cathedral in Cologne
0:34:15 > 0:34:17means that the view you get on leaving this station
0:34:17 > 0:34:20must have very few rivals anywhere in Europe.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29In 1164, Archbishop Rainald von Dassel brought to Cologne
0:34:29 > 0:34:33from the vanquished city of Milan what he and the devout believed
0:34:33 > 0:34:37to be the remains of the Three Kings, who visited the baby Jesus.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42The Gothic cathedral was a fittingly grand building
0:34:42 > 0:34:44that impressed pilgrims paying homage to the Magi.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54Measuring almost 8,000 square metres,
0:34:54 > 0:34:56with space for 4,000 worshippers
0:34:56 > 0:34:59it's one of Germany's true architectural glories.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05I'm hugely impressed by the cathedral
0:35:05 > 0:35:07which my Bradshaw's tells me
0:35:07 > 0:35:12"is sometimes described as the most magnificent Gothic edifice in the world."
0:35:13 > 0:35:17I now want to do something which, in my guide, comes highly recommended -
0:35:17 > 0:35:23a visit to Johann Maria Farina at 4 Julich-Platz for Eau de Cologne.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30In the 18th century, perfume was big business
0:35:30 > 0:35:33because filthy, sewerless cities led to foul odours,
0:35:33 > 0:35:37whilst polluted water discouraged regular ablutions.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41In Cologne, Italian immigrant Johann Maria Farina
0:35:41 > 0:35:43transformed the industry
0:35:43 > 0:35:46by distilling pure alcohol to produce lighter,
0:35:46 > 0:35:49less sticky, and more fragrant perfumes.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52His signature scent was Eau de Cologne.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58Johann Maria Farina, I presume.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Ah, buongiorno. Benvenuti alla mia casa.
0:36:03 > 0:36:04Very good to see you.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07So, who was Johann Maria Farina?
0:36:07 > 0:36:10He basically was an Italian perfume-maker who came to Cologne
0:36:10 > 0:36:12about 300 years ago,
0:36:12 > 0:36:15and he invented a perfume which he then called Eau de Cologne.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18This perfume created by an Italian in Germany,
0:36:18 > 0:36:22did it still have a very strong Italian accent to it?
0:36:22 > 0:36:26It did, yes. Basically, Farina must have missed his native land of Italy,
0:36:26 > 0:36:31so he tried to create a perfume which reminded him of Italy.
0:36:31 > 0:36:32You need to understand that, in his days,
0:36:32 > 0:36:36Cologne was a very smelly city. The city altogether was,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39and also the people themselves didn't really wash
0:36:39 > 0:36:42because they were afraid the water would spread diseases and all sorts.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44Did it become an immediate success?
0:36:44 > 0:36:46Yes, it did, very, very soon, yes.
0:36:46 > 0:36:52Because it was so different to other perfumes which were there before.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56Basically, what you got were very heavy-smelling perfumes.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00Then it was all of a sudden a very light, refreshing perfume.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03- Was it for men or for women? - Both. Unisex, it was.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06What sort of people were able to buy perfume in those days?
0:37:06 > 0:37:08Not many. It was very, very expensive.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11In today's terms, maybe 2,000 euro per bottle.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14What sorts of people were the clients of Eau de Cologne?
0:37:14 > 0:37:18In Cologne, you've got famous Prince Elector Clemens August
0:37:18 > 0:37:21who bought 40 bottles in a month.
0:37:21 > 0:37:27And also French emperor Napoleon used one bottle a day for private purpose.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30And Napoleon actually had himself made special boots,
0:37:30 > 0:37:33into the back of which he could hide one bottle of Eau de Cologne.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36So that even when he was sitting on a horse
0:37:36 > 0:37:38he could secretly use Eau de Cologne.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41You've lots of intriguing bottles here. Any that I can sniff?
0:37:41 > 0:37:45Yeah, sure. This, for example, is a heavy smell.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47Something people used before Farina came to Cologne.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51Be careful. Just do a bit of hand waving, because it is very strong.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55That IS very, very strong.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58So, if I mix that with body odour and sewage...
0:37:58 > 0:38:00And not washing for a couple of months,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03then you can imagine what people smelled like - horrible!
0:38:03 > 0:38:08This is a light fragrance. Something people would not have had before the 1700s.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13Totally different story.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16- Ah...um...grapefruit. - Yes! Grapefruit! Indeed. Well done.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18See if you can guess which one that is?
0:38:20 > 0:38:22That's a lovely fragrance. Um...
0:38:22 > 0:38:24What is that?
0:38:24 > 0:38:25It's what we call amber.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28Amber is actually made from the intestines of the sperm whale.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30Given that, it smells quite good.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35In over 300 years, only 30 people
0:38:35 > 0:38:40have been entrusted with the secret recipe of Farina's Eau de Cologne.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43The current Johann Maria Farina is one of them.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47Is the recipe today the same the same as it was?
0:38:47 > 0:38:52Yes. The recipe was always kept secret and always kept the same way.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56Tell me about the great British clients of your firm.
0:38:56 > 0:39:01From the late 18th century on, we delivered to England, or London.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05Also the Queens and Kings in London bought this product from us,
0:39:05 > 0:39:10and from Queen Victoria onwards we have been purveyor of the court.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13Queen Victoria - what did she like to buy?
0:39:13 > 0:39:15She bought the original Eau de Cologne.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17She knew this product from childhood, on.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21And an average order of 60 dozen was not unusual.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34I'm leaving Cologne, bound for my next destination,
0:39:34 > 0:39:37and I wonder what my fellow passengers will make
0:39:37 > 0:39:40of Farina's 18th-century scent.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42Excuse me.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45I've got some Eau de Cologne here, can I just test it on you?
0:39:48 > 0:39:51Do you think that's for a man or a woman?
0:39:51 > 0:39:53- Both.- Really? Both.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00Would you like to try this Eau de Cologne?
0:40:02 > 0:40:04- OK, now I can...?- Mm-hm.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06What do you think of that?
0:40:06 > 0:40:09It's a nice perfume but I think it's a girl perfume.
0:40:09 > 0:40:10When do you wear a scent?
0:40:10 > 0:40:12When I shave, then I do this aftershave.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14- You like to smell good?- Yes, nice.
0:40:14 > 0:40:19- And your girlfriend likes you to smell good?- Yes. One of them.
0:40:19 > 0:40:20- One of them! - THEY LAUGH
0:40:25 > 0:40:27You're very trusting.
0:40:27 > 0:40:32- What do you think of that? - It's very nice. It's not too strong.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35- Would you wear it yourself? - Yes. I think so, yes.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38- Have a good journey. Where are you going to?- I'm going to Wuppertal.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40Wuppertal! I'm going there too. Maybe I'll see you there.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43- I hope so. Have a nice day. - Bye.- Bye.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52Before I leave Germany's industrial heartland
0:40:52 > 0:40:56my Bradshaw's draws my attention to Elberfeld and Barmen,
0:40:56 > 0:41:00"with several suburbs, they are practically one large industrial town,
0:41:00 > 0:41:04"stretching along the valley of the Wupper and up the side slopes."
0:41:04 > 0:41:07Those areas have now been consolidated in Wuppertal,
0:41:07 > 0:41:09and I'm attracted there
0:41:09 > 0:41:13because of its special place in railway history.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17At the turn of the 20th century,
0:41:17 > 0:41:19as Germany's industrial output soared
0:41:19 > 0:41:22and workers flooded into the Ruhr Valley,
0:41:22 > 0:41:24those who settled in Elberfeld and Barmen
0:41:24 > 0:41:28needed a transport system to get them to and from their factories.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31The answer was typically German -
0:41:31 > 0:41:34modern, pragmatic and perfectly engineered.
0:41:35 > 0:41:40The 13km Schwebebahn, a unique suspended railway, known locally
0:41:40 > 0:41:44as the Old Lady, began running in 1901.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46My guide is Melanie Schoeppe.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53Why did they build THIS sort of railway here?
0:41:53 > 0:41:55Why not a conventional one?
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Because we have a very rocky subsoil
0:41:58 > 0:42:01and so we had to build a railway over the Wupper river.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05- You couldn't build one underground? - No, it's not possible.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08I imagined it was going to be a kind of museum railway,
0:42:08 > 0:42:10but, actually, it's well used by the public.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13Yes. About 18,000 people use the train daily.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Something I'm not used to is that
0:42:16 > 0:42:20I can see into everybody's window. I can see into everybody's house.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22Do the people feel OK about that?
0:42:22 > 0:42:27At the beginning of the century there were many religious groups
0:42:27 > 0:42:29which protested vigorously against the Iron Dragon,
0:42:29 > 0:42:32as they called the suspension railway.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34But today people are used to it.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38So they thought they'd see into people's bedrooms - which you can!
0:42:41 > 0:42:44'The Schweberbahn runs a non-stopping service
0:42:44 > 0:42:49'aboard a very historic carriage, dispensing cheesecake and coffee.'
0:42:49 > 0:42:51This is going to be great!
0:42:59 > 0:43:02The railway welcomes passengers aboard its Kaiserwagen,
0:43:02 > 0:43:06the very train that carried Emperor Wilhelm II
0:43:06 > 0:43:08on the day that he came to open the line,
0:43:08 > 0:43:13which represented his country's latest engineering triumph.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15More than 100 years later,
0:43:15 > 0:43:17as I'm whisked along on this unique suspended monorail,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20I can readily appreciate the pride he felt.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36I'm now extending my Bradshaw's recommended routes
0:43:36 > 0:43:38to travel to the region of the Rhine -
0:43:38 > 0:43:41an area that, at the beginning of the 20th century,
0:43:41 > 0:43:43was immensely popular with tourists
0:43:43 > 0:43:48but at that time its railways were important for another reason too -
0:43:48 > 0:43:53for the transport of soldiers and guns.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03My 1913 Bradshaw's tells me that on a war-footing, Germany has an army of three million.
0:44:03 > 0:44:08Not information that I'd expect to find in a modern guidebook.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12Before I get to my overnight stay at Koblenz,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15'I'm meeting military historian Dr Rainer Mertens
0:44:15 > 0:44:18'to learn of the railways' central role in Germany's war-readiness.'
0:44:19 > 0:44:22How early on do you think it was appreciated
0:44:22 > 0:44:24that the railways could be helpful to armies?
0:44:24 > 0:44:27I think in Germany it started with the revolution in 1848,
0:44:27 > 0:44:30where Prussian troops were moved,
0:44:30 > 0:44:34were transported, to defeat the revolutionaries.
0:44:34 > 0:44:40My guidebook is from 1913 - now, what plans were in place in 1913
0:44:40 > 0:44:43for the use of the railways in wartime?
0:44:43 > 0:44:45In the years before the First World War,
0:44:45 > 0:44:51General Schlieffen developed a plan first to defeat France in the west
0:44:51 > 0:44:53with seven-eighths of all German troops
0:44:53 > 0:44:56and then after defeating the French troops,
0:44:56 > 0:45:02bringing back the troops to the east and fighting against Russia.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06Now, that Schlieffen Plan must have depended heavily,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09- entirely on railways.- Absolutely.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13And you have to imagine when the war broke out at 2nd August
0:45:13 > 0:45:15and up to the 14th August,
0:45:15 > 0:45:20they transported over three million soldiers by 11,000 trains.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23There were some very famous railway guns, weren't there?
0:45:23 > 0:45:25We in Britain have heard of Big Bertha.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29They constructed weapon guns that were very heavy,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33like they could shoot about 60 or 70 miles.
0:45:33 > 0:45:35It was almost like a rocket.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Generally, you can say that WWI was a railway war
0:45:38 > 0:45:42because all that strategy was based on the railways.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44More than ever before were killed
0:45:44 > 0:45:47and the next were brought to the battlefields.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51And so millions and millions lost their lives
0:45:51 > 0:45:54and this was only possible by the railway.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59After World War I, a vanquished Germany
0:45:59 > 0:46:03yielded some of its outlying territories, towns and cities.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07For more than ten years after the armistice, Koblenz in the Rhineland
0:46:07 > 0:46:09was held by France.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13But that was unforeseeable in 1913.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21My Bradshaw's says that Koblenz
0:46:21 > 0:46:24is the capital of the Rhinish province of Prussia,
0:46:24 > 0:46:26picturesquely situated at the confluence
0:46:26 > 0:46:28of the rivers Rhine and Mosel.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32And since the names of both those rivers make me think of wine,
0:46:32 > 0:46:34this could be a good place to spend the night.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37And I bet the food's not bad either.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53Good evening. Looks like a lovely restaurant.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02Thank you.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05- The asparagus looks wonderful. - Yes.- Thank you.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07- Guten Appetit!- Thank you very much.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13German asparagus in season.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15Heaven!
0:47:31 > 0:47:34After a splendid evening, I've woken in the Rhineland.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38My Bradshaw's says, "Vine-clad hills, rugged peaks,
0:47:38 > 0:47:41"ruined castles and modern stately dwellings
0:47:41 > 0:47:47"with the glamour of history and legend clinging to many a scene."
0:47:57 > 0:47:59I'm now in the region of the Rhine castles -
0:47:59 > 0:48:02a mixture of authentic Medieval ruins
0:48:02 > 0:48:04and 19th-century Gothic restorations,
0:48:04 > 0:48:07and a favourite with Edwardian travellers.
0:48:14 > 0:48:18I'm heading for one recommended by my 1913 guidebook.
0:48:18 > 0:48:22Bradshaw's tells me that Stolzenfels Castle
0:48:22 > 0:48:24"is on the wooded heights above the river.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27"It's the property of the Emperor and can be visited."
0:48:27 > 0:48:30And it helpfully suggests that I can take a donkey.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34There don't seem to be any around, so it will have to be shanks' pony.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40The French often conquered the Rhineland,
0:48:40 > 0:48:43destroying castles in their path.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46But in the early 19th century, Prussia won it back
0:48:46 > 0:48:48and Crown Prince Freidrich Wilhelm
0:48:48 > 0:48:50decided to rebuild Stolzenfels,
0:48:50 > 0:48:54once a bishop's seat, as his summer residence.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57Queen Victoria visited her cousin's new castle.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01And in the early 20th century, so did many Edwardian tourists.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04Historian Angela Kaiser-Lahme
0:49:04 > 0:49:08was involved in Stolzenfels' most recent restoration.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12The castle is in beautiful condition.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15Yes. We had it restored in the recent years
0:49:15 > 0:49:17and it's now looking as it has in the 1840s.
0:49:17 > 0:49:22Presumably this has been many, many years' work.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25Oh, yes. Basically, six to eight years.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28And a wonderful view, of course, over the Rhine.
0:49:30 > 0:49:32Well, that is lovely.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35Oh, yes, indeed it is.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37Many visitors are saying the same thing.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40Angela, you see so many castles on the Rhine River,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43how many are there, or were there?
0:49:43 > 0:49:47In between Koblenz and Bingen, there are said to be more than 40.
0:49:47 > 0:49:52So every ten kilometres or sometimes less than ten kilometres,
0:49:52 > 0:49:54you find a castle or two.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56Why were there so many?
0:49:56 > 0:49:59The Rhine was the main transport route in the Middle Ages.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02So every good was transported over the Rhine.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04And that means much income for those
0:50:04 > 0:50:07who could draw the taxes from all these goods.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10And was Stolzenfels built for that reason?
0:50:10 > 0:50:13Yes. It was more or less a custom station.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15And the Bishop of Trier
0:50:15 > 0:50:18took quite a lot of his income from these taxes.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22The powerful Rhineland magnates became known as Robber Barons.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26But during the 19th century, their castles provided the backdrop
0:50:26 > 0:50:29for a new artistic movement called the Romantics,
0:50:29 > 0:50:31whose patriotism drew inspiration
0:50:31 > 0:50:33from fables of the Middle Ages,
0:50:33 > 0:50:36celebrating the glories of German culture.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Richard Wagner set his opera about the dragon-slayer Siegfried
0:50:39 > 0:50:43on the Rhine. By the time of my 1913 guidebook,
0:50:43 > 0:50:46Britain was intensely worried
0:50:46 > 0:50:49that German nationalism had become aggressive,
0:50:49 > 0:50:52and Europe feared war.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54So you get romanticism, you get Richard Wagner,
0:50:54 > 0:50:56you get the rebuilding of some of the Rhine castles
0:50:56 > 0:50:59and you get German nationalism at the same time.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03When Stolzenfels was rebuilt, and that was about 1842,
0:51:03 > 0:51:07nationalism was young. And it had a different drive.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10It was more patriotism, more romantic.
0:51:10 > 0:51:11At the end of the 19th century,
0:51:11 > 0:51:16Germany wanted to play in the same league as Great Britain and France.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20And this patriotism really became nationalism.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24The Rhine's steep slopes and eerie ruins
0:51:24 > 0:51:26inspired enduring German myths.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29Just like a traveller in 1913,
0:51:29 > 0:51:34I feel dragons and seductive Rhine sprites always close at hand.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39Bradshaw's says, "The River Rhine is abundantly interesting.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41"From its impetuous source
0:51:41 > 0:51:44"to its sluggish meeting with the sea."
0:51:44 > 0:51:47I think it's one of the great rivers of the world.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50And the way to experience it is afloat.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54My final destination is downriver at Rheingau.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03What better way to get there than on a beautiful paddle steamer
0:52:03 > 0:52:07built in 1913 - the year that my guidebook was published?
0:52:07 > 0:52:10It lists the times of train arrivals and steamer departures
0:52:10 > 0:52:13to help rail passengers to plan a smooth journey.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23When on The Rhine, eat as Rhinelanders do.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37- Hello. May I join you?- Yes.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39Isn't it wonderful today? What a lovely view!
0:52:39 > 0:52:42It's lovely. It's a dream.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45- What do you think of the ship? - I think there are more modern ones,
0:52:45 > 0:52:48but this is one a beautiful, comfortable ship.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52I chose this ship because I'm using a 1913 guidebook.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54Ah, that's interesting.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56This ship is from the beginning of the 20th century.
0:52:56 > 0:53:01I can tell you the time of all the steamers in 1913!
0:53:01 > 0:53:02THEY LAUGH
0:53:02 > 0:53:04This is amazing.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07Coming from England, and I know nothing.
0:53:07 > 0:53:09THEY LAUGH
0:53:12 > 0:53:16My Bradshaw's draws attention to a famous wine-producing district
0:53:16 > 0:53:20extending from a little west of Rudesheim to Eltville.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23At the beginning of the 20th century,
0:53:23 > 0:53:26Rhine wines were particularly prized by British connoisseurs.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29And I've no reason to believe
0:53:29 > 0:53:33that they're any less deserving of admiration today.
0:53:34 > 0:53:39In late 20th-century Britain, German wine fell from fashion.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41But for the Edwardians,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44Riesling, made from grapes grown on the banks of the Rhine,
0:53:44 > 0:53:47was very popular, and known simply as hock.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53This has to be one of the loveliest views in Europe.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56Well, it's certainly a very special place here in the Rhine Valley,
0:53:56 > 0:54:01with this fantastic view of the river and the whole landscape.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06Dieter Greiner is managing director at Kloster Eberbach,
0:54:06 > 0:54:10sited in an ancient Cistercian monastery,
0:54:10 > 0:54:12whose monks planted vines here 800 years ago.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18Why are these slopes here so good for wine?
0:54:18 > 0:54:20Well, first of all, we are very much north.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22We are on the 50th parallel.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26And you see down there the Rhine River. It's over a kilometre wide.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30It keeps the warmth here in winter, and in summer, it really cools down.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33So in winter, it's never too cold, in summer, never too hot.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36At the beginning of the 20th century particularly,
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Riesling was very popular in the United Kingdom.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41And it was called hock. Why was it called hock?
0:54:41 > 0:54:46Well, your Queen Victoria visited a village called Hochheim
0:54:46 > 0:54:50and she was presented a wine from this village and she loved it a lot.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54And then she made this wine very popular in the UK.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58And then the British called this wine from Hochheim, with abbreviation, just hock.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06So this is the bedroom of the monks.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08It's the most beautiful space.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11It was obviously a big abbey. There were a lot of monks.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13Oh, yes. About 60 monks on average.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16But sometimes even up to 120.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18And all these monks were sleeping in here.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20Just imagine the snoring sound at night!
0:55:20 > 0:55:24- After they'd drunk their Riesling. - Well, they certainly had their share.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35- Here we are.- It's wonderful!
0:55:35 > 0:55:38You obviously have some wonderful wines here.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41What would be the oldest that you have?
0:55:41 > 0:55:44Well, in fact, the oldest bottles date back to the year 1706.
0:55:44 > 0:55:461706! That's incredible!
0:55:46 > 0:55:49And valuable wines, too. What's the most valuable?
0:55:49 > 0:55:54The most expensive bottle is about £18,000 we have in here.
0:55:54 > 0:55:55Extraordinary!
0:55:55 > 0:55:59I always ask people, were the railways used in this business?
0:55:59 > 0:56:02There was one very important transportation of wine
0:56:02 > 0:56:05when the Duke of Nassau took the wrong side
0:56:05 > 0:56:08on the war of the Prussians against the Austrians.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10And so he had to leave.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12And all the wines were evacuated overnight
0:56:12 > 0:56:15and all put on a railway wagon and taken into exile.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19I'm sure they would have been entirely safe on German railways.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22And how long would a wine like this keep, by the way?
0:56:22 > 0:56:25Well, 150, 200 years minimum.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28Really?
0:56:28 > 0:56:31So you could still drink some wine from the 19th century?
0:56:31 > 0:56:34The best vintages, yes, of course. They are almost ageless.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36What might we sample today?
0:56:36 > 0:56:41Well, I think what would be very interesting is a dry style Riesling,
0:56:41 > 0:56:45which is the original style of Riesling.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Maestro, you'll need your instrument.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50Not this time. We use screw caps.
0:56:50 > 0:56:51THEY LAUGH
0:56:59 > 0:57:01Smells good to me. How is it?
0:57:01 > 0:57:06It has dried apricots, it has this bit of hay, fresh-cut hay.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11The body's not rich. It's a medium body and a great length.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15This wonderful crisp acidity, but not too acidic, just fresh.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19And it's a wonderful wine which makes you want more.
0:57:19 > 0:57:20- That's what- I- meant to say.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30Yes. I like it very much.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36Edwardians flocked to Germany because they loved its landscape
0:57:36 > 0:57:40and admired its science and industry.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43Queen Victoria enjoyed this scenery from her railway carriage.
0:57:43 > 0:57:48Yet our two countries went to war, spilling the blood of generations.
0:57:48 > 0:57:50Thankfully, in the modern world,
0:57:50 > 0:57:53we've rediscovered the bonds that we took for granted
0:57:53 > 0:57:56when my Bradshaw's Guide was published.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04On my next journey, I'll explore Switzerland,
0:58:04 > 0:58:09whose remarkable railways made it a favourite with Edwardian tourists.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12I've been lucky enough to experience some very beautiful train journeys,
0:58:12 > 0:58:15but this one must be one of the very best.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17I'll immerse myself in literature.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20Do you remember any Sherlock Holmes stories?
0:58:20 > 0:58:22HE HOWLS
0:58:22 > 0:58:24And see how great engineering feats
0:58:24 > 0:58:27conquered the most challenging peaks.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30That is awe-inspiring!
0:58:38 > 0:58:40Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd