0:00:03 > 0:00:07I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take me
0:00:07 > 0:00:09across 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 travel
0:00:20 > 0:00:22for the British tourist.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26It told travellers where to go, what to see,
0:00:26 > 0:00:28and how to navigate the thousands of miles of tracks
0:00:28 > 0:00:30crisscrossing the continent.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Now, a century later, I'm using my copy to reveal
0:00:34 > 0:00:37an era of great optimism and energy,
0:00:37 > 0:00:42where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46I want to rediscover that lost Europe that, in 1913, could not know
0:00:46 > 0:00:53that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10I'm travelling through Germany,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13powerhouse of today's European Union.
0:01:13 > 0:01:14100 years ago,
0:01:14 > 0:01:19it already looked muscular, industrially and politically.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22If I'd been travelling on these tracks in 1913,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26I'd be visiting quite a new country.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28The Kingdom of Prussia had merged with or absorbed
0:01:28 > 0:01:31various principalities and duchies
0:01:31 > 0:01:35to form the thoroughly modern industrial state of Germany.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39British travellers here a century ago viewed its power
0:01:39 > 0:01:45and success with a mixture of admiration, envy and fear.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49On this journey, I'll discover how Kaiser Wilhelm II's
0:01:49 > 0:01:55militarism threatened Europe's fragile balance of power.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58The Navy built two battleships a year.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01So, that was really a tremendous fleet.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06I'll let Bradshaw's steer me towards Germany's music and culture...
0:02:06 > 0:02:10HE SPEAKS GERMAN MENACINGLY
0:02:10 > 0:02:15..attempt a 1913 equivalent of a Jane Fonda workout...
0:02:15 > 0:02:18- And up and down... Come on!- NO!
0:02:18 > 0:02:22..see model railway making on the grandest of scales...
0:02:22 > 0:02:26This is an absolute paradise for model lovers,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28for anybody who loves trains.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31..and sample Germany's favourite tipple...
0:02:31 > 0:02:33What does your expert palate tell you?
0:02:33 > 0:02:35- It is perfect, isn't it? - It's pretty good, isn't it?
0:02:39 > 0:02:41My journey starts in Dresden,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44close to the border with the Czech Republic,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47then heads north on Germany's oldest long-distance railway,
0:02:47 > 0:02:52through the eastern states, to the musical city of Leipzig.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54Continuing north into Lower Saxony,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57I'll travel to Braunschweig
0:02:57 > 0:03:00before arriving at the prosperous port of Hamburg.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03My journey will end at the home of
0:03:03 > 0:03:05Germany's Imperial Navy.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19In the years before the First World War,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22the British King had the title Duke of Saxony.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25My first stop is its capital, Dresden.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27My Bradshaw's says it's always been,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30"one of the most frequented cities in Germany.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32"There are English and American quarters.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36"As a city for art, music, and good society,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38"Dresden cannot be excelled."
0:03:38 > 0:03:41If only I'd known it in those days.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Fortunately, thanks to the railways in 1913,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48thousands of British tourists could enjoy this jewel of a city
0:03:48 > 0:03:51when it sparkled at its brightest.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Dresden, on the river Elbe,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01is the birthplace of Kings, Queens and Consorts.
0:04:03 > 0:04:09Queen Victoria's mother was German and in 1840, Victoria married
0:04:09 > 0:04:13her German first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha,
0:04:13 > 0:04:18strengthening further the dynastic bond between Britain and Germany.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30As though to demonstrate German engineering prowess,
0:04:30 > 0:04:31at the end of the 19th century,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Dresden was given a superb station on two levels -
0:04:35 > 0:04:37one with a terminus and one for the through trains.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40It was, of course, destroyed by bombs in World War II.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43And then for the 45 years that East Germany
0:04:43 > 0:04:46was a Soviet satellite state, the station was neglected.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49But it was restored at the beginning of the 21st century
0:04:49 > 0:04:53and the British architects Foster and Partners
0:04:53 > 0:04:56designed a roof, which is Teflon-coated
0:04:56 > 0:04:59and covers 30,000 square metres.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Dresden is now home to more than half a million people.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07At the time of my Bradshaw's,
0:05:07 > 0:05:09the city was as important
0:05:09 > 0:05:12a cultural destination as Prague, Paris or Berlin.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Dresden's golden age had been the 18th century,
0:05:21 > 0:05:23when its beauty was captured
0:05:23 > 0:05:25in a painting by Canaletto,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27and it became known as Florence on the Elbe.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Architecture aside,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Dresden is a place of great cultural interest for me.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39A favourite opera composer, Richard Wagner,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42spent nearly 20 years here.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45When my Bradshaw's guide was published in 1913, the world
0:05:45 > 0:05:48was celebrating the centenary of Richard Wagner,
0:05:48 > 0:05:52so he was born just over 200 years ago in nearby Leipzig.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57Now, many people don't like Wagner, they find him long and loud,
0:05:57 > 0:06:01and certainly, he's politically controversial, but I am a fan.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04I think for his understanding of humanity,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07he is one of the greatest artists of history.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11I think his most absorbing work is his Ring Cycle of four epic operas,
0:06:11 > 0:06:16which took him 26 years to write and which I find extraordinarily deep.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19HE SINGS
0:06:31 > 0:06:33But Dresden is associated with
0:06:33 > 0:06:35one of his very early pieces.
0:06:41 > 0:06:46In 1842, Dresden's Semper Opera House invited Wagner
0:06:46 > 0:06:50to premiere his grand tragic tale about two rival Roman families -
0:06:50 > 0:06:52called Rienzi.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06I'm meeting Cosima Curth to find out how it was received.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09It was a success, then, Rienzi?
0:07:09 > 0:07:11It was a great success.
0:07:11 > 0:07:12He didn't like it very much,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15he said it was like crying around.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17But it made him popular.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Rienzi is more or less very similar to the Grand Opera
0:07:20 > 0:07:23like they had at the time.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Wagner then stayed in Dresden after that?
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Yeah. First of all, he liked the town,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31because it was the first town where he had a lot of success.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35And he wanted to present a second opera here a few months later,
0:07:35 > 0:07:37which was the Flying Dutchman.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Wagner was also a fine conductor,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45likened by his contemporaries to a general in battle.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53He was the first who conducted directly to the musicians.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57He used to like to use the baton as well.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01There's a nice story about it. Sometimes, he forgot it,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04so he took a ladle that was given to him by a musician
0:08:04 > 0:08:07and he broke the handle and conducted with that.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10But even nowadays, we have fantastic conductors,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13but they use two sticks to conduct.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15But nobody's done it with a ladle.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Never again! Never again!
0:08:20 > 0:08:25In Dresden, Wagner briefly helped to orchestrate a military operation.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28In a period of revolutions across the continent,
0:08:28 > 0:08:30people in Dresden took to the streets.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36Wagner became very actively involved in politics, didn't he, in 1849?
0:08:36 > 0:08:37What was it that happened?
0:08:37 > 0:08:41In the 19th century, Dresden was a really international town,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45open to many countries, but the living conditions for the workers
0:08:45 > 0:08:47weren't at the highest condition.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51That's why Marx published his thesis of a new world,
0:08:51 > 0:08:56and this caused a lot of trouble, and started a movement of a revolution,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58which started in Dresden in 1849.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01And Wagner was drawn in to that, wasn't he?
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Yeah. He was a great enthusiast about these changes in living conditions.
0:09:04 > 0:09:09He himself was especially interested in the way that musicians were paid.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12That maybe the opera shouldn't be owned by the King, but owned by the masses.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19The authorities sought help from Prussia, which used a new invention,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22railways, to send troops.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27And what job was given to Wagner in this revolution?
0:09:27 > 0:09:28He had a fantastic job.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31He had to climb up to the tower of one of our churches,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33and to watch where the army is coming from.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35And to announce it to somebody else.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39And because it was such a hard job, he asked to send
0:09:39 > 0:09:42- a bottle of wine to him. - And that would help with his work!
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Over 200 rebels were killed in the fighting
0:09:47 > 0:09:52and although Wagner escaped, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55So that was bye-bye, Dresden for Richard Wagner.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Yeah. Not forever. He came later on back to Dresden
0:09:59 > 0:10:02because his wife stayed in Dresden,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05and she herself tried to make him
0:10:05 > 0:10:09apologise and to be accepted again as another member of society.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11She could do so and she succeeded in doing.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18The now beautifully restored Lutheran Church of Our Lady -
0:10:18 > 0:10:22the Frauenkirche - is symbolic of what the Germans have experienced
0:10:22 > 0:10:26since British tourists first followed my guide here.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Destroyed by allied bombing in 1945,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32for decades, its ruins constituted
0:10:32 > 0:10:34an anti-war memorial.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38When East and West Germany were reunified in 1990,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41the church was painstakingly reconstructed.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46The Frauenkirche manages to be both pretty and overpowering,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50which is perhaps why the people of Dresden love it so much.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54In 1843, it was the scene of an extraordinary choral work,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58with an orchestra of 100 and a choir of 1,100.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01The conductor was one Richard Wagner,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04the composer was one Richard Wagner,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07and the subject was the Last Supper of Christ.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10CHORAL SINGING
0:11:21 > 0:11:24Today, the Frauenkirche symbolises the rebirth of Dresden
0:11:24 > 0:11:29following the destruction of its buildings and population.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32DRAMATIC CHORAL MUSIC
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Early travellers to Dresden
0:11:52 > 0:11:54I'm sure would have remarked
0:11:54 > 0:11:55on the romantic look
0:11:55 > 0:11:57and feel of the place.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01In 1913, the city was in the grip of a health craze -
0:12:01 > 0:12:05a new philosophy of well-being called Naturheilkunde,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07or naturopathy, had taken hold.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09And its mantra was,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12a healthy mind in a healthy body.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17Like the rest of Europe, Dresden had experienced industrialisation,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19bringing with it smoky factory chimneys
0:12:19 > 0:12:22and polluted atmosphere and water.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25But the fresh air of the hills around the city
0:12:25 > 0:12:29became a magnet for international health tourists.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31I'm headed for Weisser Hirsch. Bradshaw's tells me,
0:12:31 > 0:12:33"It's a well-known health resort
0:12:33 > 0:12:35"that's grown from a village in recent years
0:12:35 > 0:12:40"and now has villas, hotels and sanatoriums of the highest repute,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43"reached by electric car from Dresden."
0:12:43 > 0:12:45I wondered what an electric car might be.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48It turns out to be a thoroughly original suspended railway.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54It's one of the oldest suspension railways in the world.
0:12:54 > 0:13:00It climbs 84 metres and is 274 metres long.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02In 1913, it also provided an easy escape
0:13:02 > 0:13:04for Europe's wealthy
0:13:04 > 0:13:06and leisured elite,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09intent on improving their physical health and fitness.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Prussian nobility and Russian royalty rubbed shoulders
0:13:13 > 0:13:15with well-heeled merchants
0:13:15 > 0:13:17and military top brass, actors,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20singers and writers.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33- Eckhard.- Hi, Michael!
0:13:33 > 0:13:36'I'm meeting author Eckhard Bahr at the once grand and famous
0:13:36 > 0:13:41'spa resort Der Weisser Hirsch, now decidedly faded and overgrown.'
0:13:42 > 0:13:45I get the impression that at the beginning of the 20th century,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47there was a new interest in health.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49- That's true.- Coming up to the top of a hill like this,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52people wanted to get away from the industrial cities?
0:13:52 > 0:13:55That's right. There was a sense of back to nature
0:13:55 > 0:14:00and Dr Lahmann, who was a physician of that time, he combined
0:14:00 > 0:14:07this new feeling, this new style of thinking with a great new idea.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12So he combined health care and treatments
0:14:12 > 0:14:17with a new sense of fresh air,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19good portion of diet,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23and also, a good sense of humour.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32'Dr Heinrich Lahmann, a pioneer of food and health treatments,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35'was a man ahead of his time,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38'recommending diet and exercise, instead of prescription drugs.'
0:14:40 > 0:14:43- The buildings were clearly very impressive.- That's true.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46And la toura sanat... Latin for what?
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Nature cures all, is that it?
0:14:48 > 0:14:54Yes, nature cures, like water cures, and also fresh air,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56baths in the sunshine.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59This, I take it, is the bath house?
0:14:59 > 0:15:01That's true, yes. The bath house.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04There was a female bath for the ladies
0:15:04 > 0:15:07and a bath for the gentlemen.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11What sort of treatments did Dr Lahmann propose?
0:15:11 > 0:15:13They got showers,
0:15:13 > 0:15:19extremely pointed to different parts of the body
0:15:19 > 0:15:22and then again, different kinds of light,
0:15:22 > 0:15:28warm and cold. So it was a strange combination of types.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30For instance, they were sitting in a box
0:15:30 > 0:15:34and this was full of electric lights.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39So they got even small electric shocks.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44Then he sent them out to the forest nearly naked.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48They wear very small piece of clothes
0:15:48 > 0:15:52and they stood still in the surroundings
0:15:52 > 0:15:55and listened to the voices of the birds.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57I'm sure that would be very good for you!
0:16:00 > 0:16:03By 1913, more than 7,000 guests
0:16:03 > 0:16:05had visited Der Weisser Hirsch.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08And many of them were already wedded
0:16:08 > 0:16:11to the latest physical exercise regime.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15The Mr Motivator of his day
0:16:15 > 0:16:18was famous Danish athlete JP Muller.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21His bestselling fitness book, My System,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24was designed to turn parlour dandies
0:16:24 > 0:16:27into men of iron, in just six weeks.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33Fitness instructor Grit Buechner is going to put me through my paces.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35This person here is not wearing many clothes.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38What was the appropriate clothing for the Muller?
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Muller said you need not a lot of clothes.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44You go outside and if it's cold or it's hot,
0:16:44 > 0:16:49- that's enough to make you harder, if you don't have a lot clothes...- Mmm.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52And so can you show me the system?
0:16:52 > 0:16:56Yes, I can show you, but please, not in this clothes.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Sports clothes or less clothes.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02I'll go and get less clothes, yeah!
0:17:02 > 0:17:05# Keep young and beautiful
0:17:05 > 0:17:07# It's your duty to be beautiful... #
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Muller's magical formula
0:17:14 > 0:17:16consists of 18 different exercises,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19practised daily during a 15-minute workout.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Right. I think I'm ready.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33- OK, bend, short and sharp. - Short and sharp.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35- 13 times.- What?!
0:17:35 > 0:17:38- Yep. Stretch your knee.- OK.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40What's with your leg?
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- Look at Ticha. She do it right. - Hello, Ticha.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45'The more you do over the six weeks,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47'the stronger and fitter you should become.'
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Last three, do as high as you can. One...
0:17:50 > 0:17:53Oh! Oh!
0:17:53 > 0:17:56- Are you warm?- Yep, warmed up.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59- And you feel it in your legs? - Oh, gosh, yes.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02- We do the next.- Wow, well, if I get a figure like that,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04- it'll be worth it.- Do this.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07- What?!- What's with your legs?
0:18:07 > 0:18:10- I can't reach my toes. - You must stretch.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13Have we done our 15 minutes yet?
0:18:13 > 0:18:15With sales of over two million,
0:18:15 > 0:18:19My System was endorsed by doctors and kings.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24The Czech writer Franz Kafka swore by it, and fitness regimes today
0:18:24 > 0:18:27owe much to his once radical ideas.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Right leg, left leg.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32This is quite tiring.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35And up, and down. Come on!
0:18:35 > 0:18:37- NO! No more!- Yeah!
0:18:37 > 0:18:39Good job!
0:18:39 > 0:18:43Kafka wrote really extraordinary stories.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46He gave a word to the English language
0:18:46 > 0:18:49for things that were really bizarre - Kafkaesque.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52If you're ever asked if you saw something Kafkaesque, say yes.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54Michael Portillo doing gymnastics!
0:19:08 > 0:19:09On this new day,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12I'll be embarking on a highly historic railway line,
0:19:12 > 0:19:14which first opened in 1839.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36My next stop is Leipzig, which my Bradshaw's tells me
0:19:36 > 0:19:40is a town of great commercial importance.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43It's the seat of the Supreme Law Courts of the German Empire
0:19:43 > 0:19:46and its university is ancient and renowned.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48And I'm travelling on tracks that
0:19:48 > 0:19:52are pretty significant too, as this was the first major
0:19:52 > 0:19:55long-distance railway made in Germany,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58and it's almost as British as my Bradshaw's!
0:20:02 > 0:20:05In the 19th century, the main industry in Saxony was textiles -
0:20:05 > 0:20:08linen and woollen cloth.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Economist Friederich List,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12seeing the great possibilities that the railways had offered
0:20:12 > 0:20:16British industry, conceived in the 1830s
0:20:16 > 0:20:19a railway unifying the states of Germany.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23And who better to build it than British engineers?
0:20:23 > 0:20:27Rail historian John Lace is an expert on the line.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31- Hello, John.- Hello, Michael. Good morning.- Good to see you.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35So this railway line from Dresden to Leipzig
0:20:35 > 0:20:38plays a very important part in German railway history.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40How did the railway actually come to be built?
0:20:40 > 0:20:46The Leipzig directors approached James Walker, who then was President
0:20:46 > 0:20:49of the Institute of Civil Engineers in London.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52And he came across with his young assistant, James Hawkshaw,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55who was 23, to survey the line between.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Walker took two weeks. At the end of it, he said,
0:20:57 > 0:21:01"I've done all I need to do, there is more work for me back in Britain,"
0:21:01 > 0:21:04and he left Hawkshaw to walk the route endlessly.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Engineers like Hawkshaw faced a huge challenge,
0:21:08 > 0:21:12to get 116 kilometres of route just right.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14I'd like to show you this map, actually,
0:21:14 > 0:21:18which gives a really good overview of the entire line
0:21:18 > 0:21:22and shows what John Hawkshaw had created.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26It's a very detailed map and it shows every bridge
0:21:26 > 0:21:29and every crossing, and all the cuttings there were
0:21:29 > 0:21:32and the one tunnel that was built at Auber.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34It's a relatively simple line.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36It doesn't have a lot of ups and downs?
0:21:36 > 0:21:42No. James Walker had been one of the developers of
0:21:42 > 0:21:44the Leeds-Selby line, which is a very flat line,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48and when he proposed this line, the directors were overjoyed.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54To complement the British construction know-how,
0:21:54 > 0:21:59the Leipzig Dresden Railway Company ordered 16 British locomotives.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06Its first coal-powered steam engine was called Komet.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08John Robson, who was a driver with
0:22:08 > 0:22:10the Liverpool-Manchester railway line,
0:22:10 > 0:22:15accompanied the first Komet from Bolton to Liverpool docks to Hamburg,
0:22:15 > 0:22:18down the Elbe, 15 crates.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22Robson was skilful enough to re-assemble those 15 crates
0:22:22 > 0:22:25into a working locomotive.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29An extraordinary thought. How fast was Komet in those early days?
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Oh, between four and six miles per hour.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34It didn't travel at the speed that this train is travelling now.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41With Friedrich List's ambition fast becoming a reality,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45the people of Saxony flocked to experience train travel.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48There were up to six trains per day passing up and down
0:22:48 > 0:22:51on the Leipzig to Dresden line.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Commercially, it was also a success,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57finally giving businesses a quick way to move goods to the River Elbe.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Leipzig is a city made of music.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06It was home to Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn
0:23:06 > 0:23:11and is famous for its Opera House and the St Thomas's Boys' Choir.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18But as well as being a centre of culture, thanks to the railway,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21it's also one of Germany's leading commercial cities.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29The railway station in Leipzig, according to Bradshaw's,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32is the largest in Europe, and it's still thought to be
0:23:32 > 0:23:34the biggest in our continent by floor area.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37With its 24 platforms and six railway sheds.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41And now since the fall of Communism, vast parts of the station
0:23:41 > 0:23:44have been converted to a shopping complex.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50In 1913, Leipzig was at the heart of
0:23:50 > 0:23:53one of the most productive areas in Europe.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55Germany's late industrial revolution
0:23:55 > 0:23:58meant that entrepreneurs could take full advantage of
0:23:58 > 0:24:01new technology and manufacturing methods.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06To appreciate how productive and self-confident
0:24:06 > 0:24:07Germany had become,
0:24:07 > 0:24:11I'm heading by tram to the west of the city, to the suburb of Plagwitz.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13It's home to what was
0:24:13 > 0:24:17one of the largest cotton spinning mills in Europe.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19I've arranged to meet Bertram Schultze,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22who runs the Spinnerei today.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26- Hello, Bertram. - Hello, very welcome.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28We're walking along tracks.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Were the railways very important to the development of this place?
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Actually, it was essential.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36They bought this property of about 100,000 square metres,
0:24:36 > 0:24:41because the developer over 100 years ago, whose name was Dr Karl Heiner,
0:24:41 > 0:24:42had arranged that the tracks
0:24:42 > 0:24:45were brought in to the big properties so that the goods
0:24:45 > 0:24:49could come in, the raw materials, and the goods could go out again.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Well, they founded the place in 1884, based on this market research
0:24:53 > 0:24:57that it would be profitable to create a big inner German
0:24:57 > 0:25:01cotton spinning mill producing mainly the thicker threads.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08It meant that the mill could spin the cotton itself,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11rather than rely on foreign imports.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15So a visitor coming here in 1913, using this guidebook,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19would have found the factory in full production?
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Yeah, full scale, very lively, I guess.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Working a three-shift system,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26so going through all the time.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30The Spinnerei's 1,600 workers
0:25:30 > 0:25:33were processing 20,000 bales of cotton
0:25:33 > 0:25:36into five million kilograms of thread.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Bertram wants to show me
0:25:38 > 0:25:41what's left of just one of the huge spinning rooms,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44where productivity reached unassailable levels.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47This is the old elevator.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51We just put in very new technique into it, so we should feel safe.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54Wow, what a vast space!
0:25:56 > 0:26:01This is where we still have the full scale 4,000 square metres
0:26:01 > 0:26:04on one layer, where you can still have the feeling of
0:26:04 > 0:26:06how it worked with the machinery in here.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10So they had the machinery actually going in long lines like this
0:26:10 > 0:26:13between the columns. And...
0:26:13 > 0:26:18you must imagine a 20-metre machine and people working on it.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Now it is quite hot,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23so with the machinery, it must have been hotter, so they had
0:26:23 > 0:26:27a very early air conditioning and air moisturing system in here,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30which was in the middle, where you can see the walls back there.
0:26:30 > 0:26:31While the air conditioning
0:26:31 > 0:26:34is testament to German engineering prowess,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37the mill also illustrates what Germany regarded as
0:26:37 > 0:26:40a great weakness - the lack of colonies.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43As the imperial powers of Europe
0:26:43 > 0:26:47scrambled to carve up Africa between them, Germany was late to the table,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50securing only a few colonies in the south and west
0:26:50 > 0:26:54and modern-day Tanzania in the east.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56This paucity rankled the Kaiser,
0:26:56 > 0:27:00who wanted new markets for goods and new sources of raw materials.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04Germany was able to use the territory in Tanzania
0:27:04 > 0:27:06to grow its own cotton.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Germany, yeah, but especially the cotton spinning mill.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14I think Tanzania was used for different reasons as well,
0:27:14 > 0:27:19but this company had their colonies down there, about 30,000 hectares,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21so it was really quite a big space,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25which they turned into farmland and tried to grow their own cotton.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Cotton growing conditions in Tanzania were hard. Pests put paid
0:27:30 > 0:27:34to two-thirds of the harvest in the second year and the scheme failed.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43Today, the cotton machines are long gone and in their place is art.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Historically, the most renowned artists of Leipzig were musicians.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00On the second part of my journey through Germany,
0:28:00 > 0:28:02I'll sample the surprising range of music
0:28:02 > 0:28:04to emerge from Leipzig...
0:28:04 > 0:28:06# Three little maids from school are we
0:28:06 > 0:28:08# Pert as a schoolgirl well can be
0:28:08 > 0:28:10# Filled to the brim with girlish glee
0:28:10 > 0:28:12# Three little maids from school... #
0:28:12 > 0:28:14..help to restore a century-old tunnel...
0:28:14 > 0:28:17This might seem like a DIY job,
0:28:17 > 0:28:21but this is to protect future generations from lead poisoning.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24..and leave a minute reminder of my visit
0:28:24 > 0:28:26to the world's greatest model railway.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Does my Bradshaw look big in this?!