0:00:03 > 0:00:07'I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take me
0:00:07 > 0:00:09'across the heart of Europe.'
0:00:11 > 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
0:00:20 > 0:00:22travel for the British tourist.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26'It told travellers where to go, what to see and how to navigate
0:00:26 > 0:00:30'the thousands of miles of tracks criss-crossing the Continent.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32'Now, a century later,
0:00:32 > 0:00:37'I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41'where 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.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07'On the second part of my journey through central Europe,
0:01:07 > 0:01:11'I work on Germany's first steam locomotive...'
0:01:12 > 0:01:15OK, would you want to fill the firebox now?
0:01:15 > 0:01:16It would be my privilege.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Really is extraordinarily hot in there. Glowing coals.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24'..learn how to eat white sausage, Bavarian style...'
0:01:24 > 0:01:28- I'll show you. It's called "zuzeln". - Zuzeln.- Zuzeln.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33Mmm!
0:01:33 > 0:01:38'..fly by the seat of my pants at Munich's technical university...'
0:01:38 > 0:01:42A little bit up, please. OK, it's going to be a hard landing.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46I don't think I'd like to be a passenger.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50'..and pit myself against an enormous fire-breathing monster.'
0:01:50 > 0:01:51En garde, dragon!
0:02:00 > 0:02:03My journey began in Bohemian Prague,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07took a noble spa break at Marianske Lazne,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10and went on to imperial armaments in Pilsen.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16Today, I'm crossing the German border into fire-breathing Bavaria
0:02:16 > 0:02:20to visit the birthplace of the German railway, Nuremberg.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25Alighting finally in the region's scientifically superior capital,
0:02:25 > 0:02:26Munich.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35I'll soon be crossing the border into Germany.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Historically, the frontier between Bavaria and Bohemia
0:02:39 > 0:02:42has been one of the thick lines on the map.
0:02:42 > 0:02:43Before World War I,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47it divided the German Empire from that of Austria-Hungary.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49After World War I, Germany was on one side
0:02:49 > 0:02:52and Czechoslovakia on the other.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56After World War II, it formed part of the Iron Curtain
0:02:56 > 0:02:59with capitalism on one side and communism on the other.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09My journey has taken me across the Czech border into Bavaria,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12a land of legend and romanticism.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15I'll then discover railway history in Nuremberg
0:03:15 > 0:03:18and finally explore how Munich developed
0:03:18 > 0:03:20from high culture to hi tech.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25GUARD SPEAKS CZECH/GERMAN
0:03:25 > 0:03:27Tickets, please.
0:03:27 > 0:03:28- Dekuji.- Dekuji.
0:03:32 > 0:03:33Dekuji. Danke.
0:03:33 > 0:03:34Danke. Dekuji.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55I've alighted at Furth im Wald, a village of about 10,000 people
0:03:55 > 0:03:59with a small station, but line after line of sidings,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02which, I suppose, tells us something about, historically,
0:04:02 > 0:04:07the geographical, strategic and political importance of that border.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15Furth im Wald in Eastern Bavaria
0:04:15 > 0:04:18sits just a couple of miles from the Czech border.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Because of its perilous geography, I hear
0:04:21 > 0:04:26that its people are worried about invasion from the East,
0:04:26 > 0:04:32a fear that assumes a monstrous form in their nightmares.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38I never saw a place more festooned with images of dragons.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41There must be something that lies behind this village's obsession
0:04:41 > 0:04:44with scaly, fire-breathing creatures.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57- I notice everywhere in the village there are dragons.- OK.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Why are there so many dragons?
0:04:59 > 0:05:04This is the only town in the world, we have a dragon.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07- Drachenstich. Don't you know it?- No.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11- While so many dragons in Furth im Wald?- It's our history.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16- The dragon is in the hall. - The dragon's in the hall?
0:05:16 > 0:05:18In the hall.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24Every year in August, there is a big festival here in the town
0:05:24 > 0:05:30with a knight and a dragon and a princess.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Does your dog like dragons?
0:05:32 > 0:05:35No, no, no, no.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Who plays the dragon? Who is the dragon?
0:05:39 > 0:05:42- No, we really have a dragon. - You really have a dragon?- Yes.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46I'm on a quest to meet this mythical creature
0:05:46 > 0:05:49and local teacher Josef Kraus has agreed to tell me
0:05:49 > 0:05:55what Drachenstich, Furth im Wald's annual festival, is all about.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59There has always been a big rivalry between the East and the West.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02The East is represented by the Bohemians and the west,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04in this case, by Bavaria.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08So it's the fight between the good and the evil
0:06:08 > 0:06:13and the evil is represented by the dragon that comes from the East.
0:06:13 > 0:06:14What do you use for a dragon?
0:06:14 > 0:06:16I mean, you don't have a real dragon, do you?
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Well, we've built an enormous monster.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21- Oh, I'd love to see that. - Yeah, you will.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Furth im Wald's story is founded on the legend of St George
0:06:24 > 0:06:27and every year since the 16th century,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30thousands of people have visited to see its dragon.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32Its latest incarnation
0:06:32 > 0:06:35is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records
0:06:35 > 0:06:39as the largest four-legged walking machine on the planet.
0:06:40 > 0:06:46That is absolutely superb! I have never seen such an enormous dragon!
0:06:46 > 0:06:48DRAGON ROARS
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Brilliant, brilliant.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Look at those enormous jaws and teeth!
0:06:58 > 0:06:59Whoa!
0:07:01 > 0:07:04I thought it was looking at me there.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Absolutely brilliant monster.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11Smoke, fire, swivelling eyes, massive jaws and teeth.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Everything you could possibly want in a dragon.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19Sandro Bauer is one of the dragon's creators.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22He handles one of its remote controls.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24And he is the town's mayor.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28I'm just so impressed by your dragon. It is huge!
0:07:28 > 0:07:30What are its statistics?
0:07:30 > 0:07:33It has dimensions of 60 metres in the length,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37four metres by more than five metres in the height
0:07:37 > 0:07:40and it has a wingspan wide of more than 12 metres
0:07:40 > 0:07:41and a weight of 11 tonnes.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43My goodness!
0:07:43 > 0:07:48- What does it cost to get a dragon like that?- Well, that's a secret.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49THEY LAUGH
0:07:49 > 0:07:52- Who fights the dragon? - We have a knight.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Every year we have a new knight, a new young man
0:07:55 > 0:07:58and it's a big carnival for the young man to be the knight.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00May I cast you?
0:08:00 > 0:08:01I thought you wanted a young man!
0:08:01 > 0:08:03DRAGON SNARLS
0:08:07 > 0:08:11If you're having trouble with a dragon, call a dragon slayer.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16En garde, dragon!
0:08:25 > 0:08:28'I've taken on a number of big beasts over the years,
0:08:28 > 0:08:30'but none as fiery as this.'
0:08:35 > 0:08:36Aaaargh!
0:08:37 > 0:08:41- I think I've killed him, by george! - CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:08:41 > 0:08:45Thanks, Michael, you made him dead. For next year, we will let you know.
0:08:45 > 0:08:46Oh.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07My next stop will be Nuremberg, Nurnberg in German.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09My guidebook tells me that it's on the River Pegnitz.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13"The most striking and interesting of medieval towns,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15"it's now the most important
0:09:15 > 0:09:18"manufacturing and commercial town of South Germany."
0:09:18 > 0:09:22I'm thinking that the railways must have played an important part
0:09:22 > 0:09:24in that industrialisation.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34Nuremberg became part of Bavaria in 1806.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39Three decades later, this impressive medieval town made German history.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44The country's first steam locomotive service
0:09:44 > 0:09:47ran on the four-mile Ludwigs Bahn Line
0:09:47 > 0:09:49between Nuremberg and the city of Furth.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54In 1935, to celebrate the railway's centenary,
0:09:54 > 0:09:58this replica of its original locomotive,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00the Adler or Eagle, was built.
0:10:01 > 0:10:02WHISTLE BLOWS
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Still running, it's reminiscent of George Stephenson's Rocket
0:10:08 > 0:10:10and I'm hoping that
0:10:10 > 0:10:14the curator of the city's transport museum knows why.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18Where did the original locomotive come from?
0:10:18 > 0:10:22The original locomotive came from the Stephenson Locomotive Works
0:10:22 > 0:10:25- in Newcastle upon Tyne. - That was Mr George Stephenson?
0:10:25 > 0:10:27It was George Stephenson.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29And how on earth did you get a locomotive
0:10:29 > 0:10:31from Britain to Nuremberg in those days?
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Packed in 17 boxes and transported on a ship
0:10:35 > 0:10:39and then on a river barge to Cologne
0:10:39 > 0:10:43where the River Rhine was so low that they had to load it out
0:10:43 > 0:10:47and bring on a wagon on the street to Nuremberg.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50And who knew how to put it all together?
0:10:50 > 0:10:55Mr George Stephenson sent a mechanic, Mr William Wilson,
0:10:55 > 0:11:01and he set together all the parts of the locomotive.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05OK, would you want to fill the firebox now?
0:11:05 > 0:11:06It would be my privilege.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12- It's tough being a fireman, you know.- You do it very good.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16It really is extraordinarily hot in there, glowing coals.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20What happened to Wilson after that?
0:11:20 > 0:11:25He became the locomotive driver, a very famous citizen
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and people only used the train
0:11:28 > 0:11:33when Mr Wilson was standing on this place on the locomotive.
0:11:33 > 0:11:34And he...
0:11:36 > 0:11:41He made the success of the Ludwig's Railway in the first 20 years.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43WHISTLE BLOWS
0:11:49 > 0:11:51It's fascinating that George Stephenson,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54one of the heroes of Britain's early railway history,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58played such an important role in Bavaria's too.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02Stepping now onto one of Germany's modern ICE trains,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04I'm struck by how dramatically rail travel
0:12:04 > 0:12:09and passenger expectations have changed since the 1830s.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13German doctors feared that when the trains were first introduced,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15the high speed would drive people mad.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17Well, this is the Inter City Express
0:12:17 > 0:12:22and the newest variant travels at up to 200 miles per hour
0:12:22 > 0:12:24and I'm still feeling relatively sane.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34My next stop is Munich,
0:12:34 > 0:12:39transformed in the 19th century by Bavarian King Ludwig I
0:12:39 > 0:12:43into a neoclassical gem and a cultural heartland.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48Much has changed since then,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51but I'm determined to find out what remains
0:12:51 > 0:12:54of King Ludwig's appreciation of the finer things in life.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07Munich station is big and bold and new and full of food outlets.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10You don't get any sense of history here,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12except perhaps the size, because this was, after all,
0:13:12 > 0:13:16a station fit for the capital of Bavaria.
0:13:23 > 0:13:24If Munich's older buildings
0:13:24 > 0:13:27are a clue to the city's innate grandeur...
0:13:30 > 0:13:34..the Town Hall confirms its early 20th century confidence.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Bradshaw's tells me that this is the Neues Rathaus, the New Town Hall.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Indeed, it's neo-Gothic.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46It had been opened shortly before my Bradshaw's guide was written.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49It talks of a city that is wealthy and wants to show off,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52but with all the little figures on the outside,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54this architecture is also fun.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Steered by an advertisement in my guidebook, I've chosen to
0:13:59 > 0:14:03stay at the Bayerischer Hof, one of Munich's oldest hotels.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Rebuilt in painstaking detail after the Second World War,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12the hotel first opened in 1841
0:14:12 > 0:14:17and I hear that it has a connection to King Ludwig I.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20- Good evening, Ingrid.- Hello. - How lovely to see you.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23'The current owner is Ingrid Volkhardt.' Thank you very much.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Tell me, why was the hotel built in the first place?
0:14:29 > 0:14:36The story is that King Ludwig actually asked the hotel to be built
0:14:36 > 0:14:38in order for his guests to have a home
0:14:38 > 0:14:44and once in the week they say he had his personal bath in the hotel
0:14:44 > 0:14:48because the hotel was the first place in Munich to have bathtubs.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Apart from King Ludwig,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54you must have had many distinguished guests over the years?
0:14:54 > 0:14:58One of the really great people staying in the hotel was Franz Kafka,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02who really is my personal favourite author
0:15:02 > 0:15:07and also people of politics, church, show business.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10A place full of celebrities. I'll see if I can fit in.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23On my last day in Bavaria, I'm hoping to discover
0:15:23 > 0:15:27what made this royal city tick, both culturally and scientifically,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29on the eve of the Great War.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36What was life like here in 1913?
0:15:38 > 0:15:42At the time of my guidebook, no visit to Munich was complete
0:15:42 > 0:15:46without sampling the Weisswurst, or white sausage.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Sepp Kraetz has invited me to his restaurant
0:15:49 > 0:15:51to sample the boiled Bavarian banger.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58- Hello, sir.- Hello, Michael. Nice to see you.- Very nice to see you, sir.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03So, I've come to try your... Thank you. ..your famous white sausage.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07That's a good idea. A very good idea. Waitress.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12- Please, bring us very hot white sausages.- Ha-ha!
0:16:12 > 0:16:16- Hello.- Ah! White...- That doesn't look like a sausage to me!
0:16:18 > 0:16:20- Oh. Looks good, huh? - It looks very good indeed.
0:16:20 > 0:16:25Now, excuse me, we're sitting here in the morning
0:16:25 > 0:16:27with sausage and beer, is this normal?!
0:16:27 > 0:16:32Yeah, we say in Germany or in Bavaria, it's a second breakfast.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36- Cheers!- Cheers, Michael! - To my second breakfast!- Yes!
0:16:37 > 0:16:41Weisswurst, first created from veal and pork
0:16:41 > 0:16:43by a Bavarian butcher in 1857,
0:16:43 > 0:16:45is encased in a skin.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49And I'm told that there's a skill to extracting the succulent filling.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Now, sir, how do I eat my sausage?
0:16:53 > 0:17:00The first one is you cut like a piece of... Mouthful, and then you do this.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05- So, I pin down the skin...- Like the doctor.- Oh, look, and rotate...
0:17:05 > 0:17:08- Yes...- ..the flesh of the sausage out of the skin.
0:17:08 > 0:17:09Oh, that's a very good method.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15- Mmm.- Always you have to drink between the sausage and the pretzel
0:17:15 > 0:17:17- the weiss beer.- Cheers!
0:17:21 > 0:17:24- I could get used to this, I think. - Thank you!- You're welcome.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27OK, in the old time,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30the people ate the white sausage from the hand in the mouth.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32I'll show you. A little bit...
0:17:34 > 0:17:37- It's called "zuzeln".- Zuzeln.- Zuzeln.
0:17:40 > 0:17:41Mmm!
0:17:42 > 0:17:45So, I dip in the mustard...
0:17:45 > 0:17:47I put it in the mouth...
0:17:47 > 0:17:49I squeeze my lips together...
0:17:52 > 0:17:55..and the sausage pops into my mouth leaving the skin behind.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59- Works good, huh? - It works really well.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01For the first time you do very well.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07- Thank you.- Prost.- You've taught me lots of interesting things today.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29Bradshaw's tells me that modern Munich is especially identified
0:18:29 > 0:18:31with progress in German art
0:18:31 > 0:18:34and then lists a very large number of galleries,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37so the time has come for me to have a brush
0:18:37 > 0:18:40with the artistic scene of the early 20th century.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Whilst much of Europe was awash with Art Nouveau,
0:18:46 > 0:18:51in 1912, Bavarian-based artists Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky
0:18:51 > 0:18:56edited an almanac of art and essays which became one of the most
0:18:56 > 0:18:58influential art books of the 20th century,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02Der Blaue Reiter, or Blue Rider.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04The book introduced a sceptical world
0:19:04 > 0:19:07to a group of German-Jewish and Russian artists
0:19:07 > 0:19:10who, rather than simply portray their subjects,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13used colour to express their feelings.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16They were amongst the first Expressionists.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Annegret Hoberg curates the Blue Rider collection
0:19:20 > 0:19:22at Munich's Lenbachhaus gallery.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29Here now we are in the large room of August Macke and Franz Marc.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34One of the main pieces of this artist, of Marc, is, of course, his Blue Horse.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36The Blue Horse one.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Now, yes, indeed, I recognise this painting.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Why has this become the icon of the movement?
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Because it's a kind of symbol. The horse is blue.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50This was the colour of the spirit for Kandinsky and for Franz Marc.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53The blue was the symbol of spirit.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56But it's also the posture of the horse.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59It's standing there like a human being.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03It symbolises a kind of spiritualisation of art
0:20:03 > 0:20:06via the motif of the animal.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Moscow-born Wassily Kandinsky, trained in music,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16is renowned for approaching his use of colour
0:20:16 > 0:20:18with a musician's sensibility.
0:20:19 > 0:20:24In 1909, the artist who lived in the Bavarian village of Murnau
0:20:24 > 0:20:27painted what Annegret thinks might turn out to be
0:20:27 > 0:20:29my favourite Blue Rider piece.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33I'm delighted to see that Kandinsky painted a train.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38- Why did he do that?- Because it ran beneath his house in Murnau
0:20:38 > 0:20:42and it was, of course, important for him in a way
0:20:42 > 0:20:46because he went between Munich and Murnau by train,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49so the train was an element of their daily life.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52And what happened to the artists of the Blue Rider movement?
0:20:52 > 0:20:55That's an important question
0:20:55 > 0:20:58because when the World War first broke out,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01August Macke, who was only 26 years old,
0:21:01 > 0:21:06he was one of the first who were killed in September 1914
0:21:06 > 0:21:11and Franz Marc was killed in Verdun in March 1916.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15So this very, very brilliant movement that arose in Munich
0:21:15 > 0:21:18at the beginning of the 20th century was very short-lived?
0:21:18 > 0:21:19Short-lived, yes.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26In the years leading up to the First World War,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30Munich's entrepreneurs were less concerned with avant-garde artistic movements
0:21:30 > 0:21:36than with placing their city at the forefront of cutting-edge industry.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45A century later, it's a trend that continues,
0:21:45 > 0:21:48with some of Germany's best-known companies headquartered here,
0:21:48 > 0:21:50alongside leading seats of learning
0:21:50 > 0:21:53like the city's technical university.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04I could hardly come to one of the world's most advanced countries
0:22:04 > 0:22:08without taking a peep at today's Germany.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12'I'm at this impressive campus to meet researchers who are developing
0:22:12 > 0:22:17'flight stabiliser software designed to help inexperienced private pilots
0:22:17 > 0:22:20'to land light aircraft safely.'
0:22:20 > 0:22:22- Hello.- Hello.- I'm Michael.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26- Can I get in the driver's seat? - Yeah, really!
0:22:26 > 0:22:28This obviously is a flight simulator,
0:22:28 > 0:22:29but what is special about it?
0:22:29 > 0:22:31What are you doing with it at this university?
0:22:31 > 0:22:34We use it for controller development
0:22:34 > 0:22:36and we want the pilot to fly the aircraft smooth
0:22:36 > 0:22:39and we wanted to reduce the workload of the pilot.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43- So, this is not about training pilots, it's about developing software?- Right.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46How can you best demonstrate to me what it is you're doing here?
0:22:46 > 0:22:49So I think the best way to demonstrate it is that we make a flight.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55So, today as I've never flown an aircraft before,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59I can see the runway there, I think it's Munich Airport.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03- I can also see that it's raining. - Yeah.- Is the weather quite bad, actually?
0:23:03 > 0:23:07- Yeah, it's really bad. You have much turbulences.- Right. Thank you very much(!)
0:23:09 > 0:23:12So, now you can control the aircraft.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16- It's very sensitive controls. - Yeah.- Whoa!
0:23:16 > 0:23:18I don't think I'd like to be a passenger!
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Now it's easier because I've put the controller on.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27- I'm flying now towards the runway. - Yeah.- Keeping the nose...
0:23:27 > 0:23:30- Not too much.- Not too much. A little bit up again.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34The stabilisers are helping me because it's not as bumpy as it was.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39- I'm swaying towards the runway. - Yeah, nose down. A little bit up.
0:23:41 > 0:23:42A little bit up, please.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46OK, it's going to be a hard landing.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:23:51 > 0:23:53I think the best...
0:23:53 > 0:23:57I don't think your stabilisers helped me quite enough.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59- HE SIGHS - But it did actually feel...
0:23:59 > 0:24:02It did feel better even though I still managed not quite to
0:24:02 > 0:24:06get onto the runway. Thank you very much and what a brilliant project.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08You won't find many pilots as bad as me.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Yeah, no problem. You're welcome.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22Some say that the final destination of my 1913 adventure,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25situated on an island on Munich's River Isar,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29paved the way for the city's early 20th century development
0:24:29 > 0:24:34from a city of art and culture to a hub of hi-tech excellence.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Bradshaw's tells me that in the Deutsches Museum
0:24:37 > 0:24:41are collections relating to natural science and engineering.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Kings and countries had exhibited their treasures of art
0:24:45 > 0:24:48since time immemorial but the idea of displaying
0:24:48 > 0:24:53the artefacts of science was new at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02In 1903, German electricity pioneer Oskar von Miller
0:25:02 > 0:25:06unveiled plans to build the Deutsches Museum,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08an impressive and visionary institution
0:25:08 > 0:25:12that now holds more than 100,000 exhibits.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18Dr Willie Fussell is in charge of the archives.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21- Willie, hello. - Hello, Michael. How are you?
0:25:21 > 0:25:26Tell me, what was the origin of the idea of having a science museum,
0:25:26 > 0:25:28a Deutsches Museum, in Munich?
0:25:28 > 0:25:32The original idea was, in 1891,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35when the founder of the Deutsches Museum, Oskar von Miller,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38made an exhibition in Frankfurt.
0:25:38 > 0:25:45Oskar von Miller was, in this time, a very famous engineer in Germany.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49He was a co-founder of the AEG, for example,
0:25:49 > 0:25:54and he'd built up several power stations in Germany.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Now visited by over a million people every year,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02the museum opened its first temporary exhibition
0:26:02 > 0:26:05in 1906 in the former National Museum building.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10The very next day, the foundation stone was laid for this,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13the project's permanent home on Coal Island.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20In 1934, Oskar von Miller suffered a heart attack
0:26:20 > 0:26:24and died hours after visiting his beloved museum.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27As I pass through it, I'm impressed by his legacy.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30A collection which illustrates the pivotal moments
0:26:30 > 0:26:33from the history of science and technology.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Moments that have shaped our lives.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39In the aircraft hall,
0:26:39 > 0:26:45a replica of aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal's recreational glider
0:26:45 > 0:26:47is exhibited next to the Fokker triplane,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50flown during the Great War by the Red Baron.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Has conflict played a big part in scientific progress, I wonder.
0:26:57 > 0:27:02Technical development is forced by wars, by military, of course.
0:27:02 > 0:27:07Especially many aircraft are developed from World War I
0:27:07 > 0:27:08to World War II.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12On the other hand, they transfer back to peaceful uses,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14as we can see in the Deutsches Museum, too.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17In the last 100 years, there's been a transformation in Munich
0:27:17 > 0:27:21from a city of art to a city of science as well.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24Do you think Oskar von Miller played an important part in that?
0:27:24 > 0:27:28Yes, I do, because nowadays,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Munich has several universities, well-known worldwide.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37- And we should thank Oskar von Miller for that?- Yes. We should do.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52This guidebook was published in an age of innocence.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56In the centuries since, the Germans have been crushed twice
0:27:56 > 0:27:59and their cities razed to the ground.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03The Bohemians who, in 1913, dreamt of liberty,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05were enslaved for 50 years,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08first by Nazis, then by Communists.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13The Bohemians and the Bavarians retain a distinctive culture today,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17rooted in their history as independent kingdoms.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20And where the Iron Curtain once descended,
0:28:20 > 0:28:23nothing now blocks the tracks.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26Citizens and their ideas move freely.