Dresden to Kiel Great Continental Railway Journeys


Dresden to Kiel

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I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take me

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across the heart of Europe.

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I'll be using this, my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,

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dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel

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for the British tourist.

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It told travellers where to go, what to see,

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and how to navigate the thousands of miles of tracks

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crisscrossing the continent.

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Now, a century later, I'm using my copy to reveal

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an era of great optimism and energy

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where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.

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I want to rediscover that lost Europe that in 1913 could not know

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its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.

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I'm travelling through Germany,

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powerhouse of today's European Union.

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100 years ago,

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it already looked muscular, industrially and politically.

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If I'd been travelling on these tracks in 1913,

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I'd be visiting quite a new country.

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The Kingdom of Prussia had merged with or absorbed

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various principalities and duchies

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to form the thoroughly modern industrial state of Germany.

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British travellers here a century ago viewed its power

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and success with a mixture of admiration, envy and fear.

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On this journey, I'll discover how Kaiser Wilhelm II's

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militarism threatened Europe's fragile balance of power.

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The Navy built two battleships a year.

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So, that was really a tremendous fleet.

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I'll let Bradshaw's steer me towards Germany's music and culture...

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HE SPEAKS GERMAN MENACINGLY

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..attempt a 1913 equivalent of a Jane Fonda workout...

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-And up and down... Come on!

-NO!

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..see model railway making on the grandest of scales...

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This is an absolute paradise for model lovers,

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for anybody who loves trains.

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..and sample Germany's favourite tipple...

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-What does your expert palate tell you?

-It is perfect, isn't it?

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It's pretty good, isn't it?

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My journey starts in Dresden,

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close to the border with the Czech Republic,

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then heads north on Germany's oldest long distance railway,

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through the eastern states, to the musical city of Leipzig.

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Continuing north into Lower Saxony,

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I'll travel to Braunschweig

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before arriving at the prosperous port of Hamburg.

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My journey will end at the home of Germany's Imperial Navy.

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In the years before the First World War, the British King had

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the title Duke of Saxony.

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My first stop is its capital, Dresden.

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My Bradshaw's says it's always been one of the most frequented

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cities in Germany.

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There are English and American quarters.

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As a city for art, music and good society, Dresden cannot be excelled.

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If only I'd known it in those days.

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Fortunately, thanks to the railways in 1913,

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thousands of British tourists could enjoy this jewel of a city

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when it sparkled at its brightest.

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Dresden, on the river Elbe,

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is the birthplace of Kings, Queens and Consorts.

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Queen Victoria's mother was German and in 1840, Victoria married

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her German first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha,

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strengthening further the dynastic bond between Britain and Germany.

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As though to demonstrate German engineering prowess,

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at the end of the 19th century,

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Dresden was given a superb station on two levels -

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one with a terminus and one for the through trains.

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It was, of course, destroyed by bombs in World War II

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and then for the 45 years that East Germany was a Soviet satellite state

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the station was neglected,

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but it was restored at the beginning of the 21st century

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and the British architects, Foster and Partners,

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designed a roof, which is Teflon coated

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and covers 30,000 square metres.

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Dresden is now home to more than half a million people.

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At the time of my Bradshaw's the city was as important

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a cultural destination as Prague, Paris or Berlin.

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Dresden's golden age had been the 18th century,

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when its beauty was captured in a painting by Canaletto

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and it became known as Florence on the Elbe.

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Architecture aside,

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Dresden is a place of great cultural interest for me.

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A favourite opera composer, Richard Wagner,

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spent nearly 20 years here.

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When my Bradshaw's guide was published in 1913, the world

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was celebrating the centenary of Richard Wagner,

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so he was born just over 200 years ago in nearby Leipzig.

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Now, many people don't like Wagner, they find him long and loud

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and certainly he's politically controversial, but I am a fan.

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I think for his understanding of humanity,

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he is one of the greatest artists of history.

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I think his most absorbing work is his Ring Cycle of four epic operas,

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which took him 26 years to write and which I find extraordinarily deep.

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HE SINGS

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But Dresden is associated with one of his very early pieces.

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In 1842, Dresden's famous Semper Opera House invited Wagner to

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premiere his grand tragic tale about two rival Roman families -

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called Rienzi.

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I'm meeting Cosima Curth to find out how it was received.

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It was a success then, Rienzi?

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It was a great success.

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He didn't like it very much, said it was like crying around.

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It made him popular.

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Rienzi is more or less very similar to the Grand Opera

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like they had at the time.

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Wagner then stayed in Dresden after that?

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Yep, first of all, he liked the town,

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because it was the first town where he had a lot of success.

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And he wanted to present a second opera here a few months later,

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which was the Flying Dutchman.

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Wagner was also a fine conductor,

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likened by his contemporaries to a general in battle.

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He was the first who conducted directly to the musicians.

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He used to like to use the baton as well.

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There's a nice story about it. Sometimes he forgot it.

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So, he took a ladle that was given to him by a musician

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and broke the handle and conducted with that.

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But even nowadays we have fantastic conductors,

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but they use two sticks to conduct.

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But nobody's done it with a ladle.

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Never again! Never again!

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In Dresden, Wagner briefly helped to organise a military operation.

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In a period of revolutions across the continent,

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people in Dresden took to the streets.

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Wagner became very actively involved in politics, didn't he, in 1849?

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What was it that happened?

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In the 19th century, Dresden was a really international town,

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open to many countries, but the living conditions for the workers

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weren't at the highest condition

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and that's why Marx published his thesis of a new world,

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and this caused a lot of trouble, and started a movement of a revolution,

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which started in Dresden in 1849.

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And Wagner was drawn in to that, wasn't he?

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Yeah. He was a great enthusiast about these changes in living conditions.

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He himself was especially interested in the way that musicians were paid.

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That maybe the opera shouldn't be owned by the king,

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but owned by the masses.

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The authorities sought help from Prussia, which used a new invention,

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railways, to send troops.

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And what job was given to Wagner in this revolution?

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He had a fantastic job.

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He had to climb up to the tower of one of our churches,

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and to watch where the army is coming from.

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And to announce it to somebody else.

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And because it was such a hard job, he asked to send

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-a bottle of wine to him.

-And that would help with his work!

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Over 200 rebels were killed in the fighting

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and although Wagner escaped, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

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So, that was bye-bye, Dresden, for Richard Wagner.

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Yeah. Not for ever. He came later on back to Dresden because

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his wife stayed in Dresden,

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and she herself tried to make him

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apologise to be accepted again as another member of society.

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She could do so and she succeeded in doing.

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And it's not just in the opera house that Wagner gets an airing.

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SHE SINGS

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Hello. Excuse me. That was charming. What's the song about?

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Actually it's a warning of not having sex before marriage.

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It comes a little late for me, but thank you, anyway. Bye.

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The now beautifully restored Lutheran Church of Our Lady -

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the Frauenkirche - is symbolic of what the Germans have experienced

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since British tourists first followed my guide here.

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Destroyed by allied bombing in 1945, for decades its ruins constituted

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an anti-war memorial.

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When East and West Germany were reunified in 1990,

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the church was painstakingly reconstructed.

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The Frauenkirche manages to be both pretty and overpowering,

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which is perhaps why the people of Dresden love it so much.

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In 1843, it was the scene of an extraordinary choral work,

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with an orchestra of 100 and a choir of 1,100.

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The conductor was one Richard Wagner, the composer was one

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Richard Wagner and the subject was the Last Supper of Christ.

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CHORAL SINGING

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Today, the Frauenkirche symbolises the rebirth of Dresden

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following the destruction of its buildings and population.

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DRAMATIC CHORAL MUSIC

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Early travellers to Dresden I'm sure would have remarked

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on the romantic look and feel of the place.

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In 1913, the city was in the grip of a health craze -

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a new philosophy of well-being called Naturheilkunde,

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or naturopathy, had taken hold.

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And its mantra was,

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"In einem gesunden Korper wohnt ein gesunder Geist", or as we would say,

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a healthy mind in a healthy body.

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Like the rest of Europe, Dresden had experienced industrialisation,

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bringing with it smoky factory chimneys

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and polluted atmosphere and water.

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But the fresh air of the hills around the city

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became a magnet for international health tourists.

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I'm headed for Weisser Hirsch. Bradshaw's tells me it's a

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well-known health resort that's grown from a village in recent years

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and now has villas, hotels and sanatoriums of the highest repute,

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reached by electric car from Dresden.

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I wondered what an electric car might be?

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It turns out to be a thoroughly original suspended railway.

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It's one of the oldest suspension railways in the world.

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It climbs 84 metres and is 274 metres long.

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In 1913, it also provided an easy escape for Europe's wealthy and

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leisured elite, intent on improving their physical health and fitness.

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Prussian nobility and Russian royalty rubbed shoulders with

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well-heeled merchants and military top brass, actors,

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singers and writers.

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-Eckhard.

-Hi, Michael!

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I'm meeting author, Eckhard Bahr, at the once grand and famous

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spa resort, Der Weisser Hirsch, now decidedly faded and overgrown.

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I get the impression at the beginning of the 20th century

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there was a new interest in health.

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-That's true.

-Coming up to the top of the hill people wanted to get

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away from the industrial cities?

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That's right. There was a sense of back to nature

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and Dr Lahmann who was a physician of that time, he combined

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this new feeling, this new style of thinking with a great new idea.

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So, he combined health care and treatments

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with a new sense of fresh air,

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good portion of diet

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and also a good sense of humour.

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Dr Heinrich Lahmann, a pioneer of food and health treatments,

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was a man ahead of his time,

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recommending diet and exercise instead of prescription drugs.

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-The buildings were clearly very impressive.

-That's true.

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And la toura sanat... Latin for what?

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Nature cures all, is that it?

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Yes, nature cures, water cures and also fresh air,

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baths in the sunshine.

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This, I take it, is the bath house?

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That's true, yes. The bath house.

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There was a female bath for the ladies

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and a bath for the gentlemen.

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What sort of treatments did Dr Lahmann propose?

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They got showers,

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extremely pointed at different parts of the body

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and then again different kinds of light,

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warm and cold, so it was a strange combination of types.

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For instance, they were sitting in a box

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and this was full of electric lights.

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So, they got even small electric shocks.

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Then he sent them out to the forest nearly naked.

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They wear very small piece of clothes and then

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they stood still in the surroundings

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and listened to the voices of the birds.

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I'm sure that would be very good for you!

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By 1913, more than 7,000 guests had visited Der Weisser Hirsch.

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And many of them were already wedded

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to the latest physical exercise regime.

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The Mr Motivator of his day was famous Danish athlete JP Muller.

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His bestselling fitness book, My System,

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was designed to turn parlour dandies in to iron men, in just six weeks.

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Fitness instructor, Grit Buechner, is going to put me through my paces.

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This person here isn't wearing many clothes.

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What was the appropriate clothing for the Muller?

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Muller said you need not a lot of clothes.

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You go outside and if it's cold or it's hot,

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that's enough to make you harder if you don't have a lot clothes.

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And so can you show me the system?

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Yes, I can show you, but please not in this clothes,

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sports clothes or less clothes.

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I'll go and get less clothes, yah!

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# Keep young and beautiful

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# It's your duty to be beautiful... #

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Muller's magical formula consists of 18 different exercises,

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practised daily during a 15-minute workout.

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Right. I think I'm ready.

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-OK, bend, short and sharp.

-Short and sharp.

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-13 times.

-What?

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Yep. Stretch your knee. What's with your leg?

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-Look at Ticha. She do it right.

-Hello, Ticha.

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The more you do over the six weeks,

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the stronger and fitter you should become.

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Last three, do as high as you can. One.

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Oh! Oh!

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-Are you warm?

-Yep, warmed up.

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-And you feel it in your legs?

-Oh, gosh, yes.

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-We do the next.

-Wow, well, if I get a figure like that,

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it'll be worth it.

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-Do this.

-What?!

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What's with your legs?

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-I can't reach my toes.

-You must stretch.

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Have we done our 15 minutes yet?

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With sales of over 2 million,

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My System was endorsed by doctors and kings.

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The Czech writer, Franz Kafka, swore by it and fitness regimes today

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owe much to his once radical ideas.

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Right leg, left leg.

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This is quite tiring.

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And up and down. Come on!

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NO! No more!

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Good job!

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Kafka wrote really extraordinary stories.

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He gave a word to the

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English language for things that were really bizarre - Kafkaesque.

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If you're ever asked if you saw something Kafkaesque, say yes.

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Michael Portillo doing gymnastics!

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On this new day,

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I'll be embarking on a highly historic railway line,

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which first opened in 1839.

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My next stop is Leipzig, which my Bradshaw's tells me

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is a town of great commercial importance.

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It's the seat of the Supreme Law Courts of the German empire and its

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university is ancient and renowned and I'm travelling on tracks that

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are pretty significant too, as this was the first major long distance

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railway made in Germany and it's almost as British as my Bradshaw's!

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In the 19th century, the main industry in Saxony was textiles -

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linen and woollen cloth.

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Economist Friederich List,

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seeing the great possibilities the railway had offered British

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industry, conceived in the 1830s

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a railway unifying the states of Germany.

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And who better to build it than British engineers?

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Rail historian John Lace is an expert on the line.

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-Hello, John.

-Hello, Michael. Good morning.

-Good to see you.

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So, this railway line from Dresden to Leipzig

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plays a very important part in German railway history.

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How did the railway actually come to be built?

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The Leipzig directors approached James Walker, who then was President

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of the Institute of Civil Engineers in London

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and he came across with his young assistant, James Hawkshaw,

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who was 23, to survey the line between.

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Walker took two weeks, at the end of it said,

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I've done all I need to do, there is more work for me back in Britain

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and he left Hawkshaw to walk the route endlessly.

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Without modern surveying equipment and no GPS, engineers like Hawkshaw

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faced a huge challenge, getting 116 kilometres of route just right.

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I'd like to show you this map actually,

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which gives a really good overview of the entire line

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and shows what John Hawkshaw had created.

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It's a very detailed map and it shows every bridge

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and every crossing and all the cuttings there were

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and the one tunnel that was built at Auber.

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It's a relatively simple line.

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It doesn't have a lot of ups and downs?

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No. James Walker had been one of the developers of

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the Leeds-Selby line, which is a very flat line

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and when he proposed this line, the directors were overjoyed.

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To complement the British construction know-how,

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the Leipzig Dresden Railway Company ordered 16 British locomotives.

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Its first coal-powered steam engine was called Komet.

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John Robson, who was a driver with

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the Liverpool-Manchester railway line,

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accompanied the first Komet from Bolton to Liverpool docks to Hamburg,

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down the Elbe. 15 crates.

0:22:540:22:56

Robson was skilful enough to re-assemble those 15 crates

0:22:560:23:01

into a working locomotive.

0:23:010:23:03

An extraordinary thought. How fast was Komet in those early days?

0:23:030:23:07

Oh, between four and six miles per hour,

0:23:070:23:10

it didn't travel at the speed that this train is travelling now.

0:23:100:23:14

With Friedrich List's ambition fast becoming a reality,

0:23:160:23:20

the people of Saxony flocked to experience train travel.

0:23:200:23:24

There were up to six trains per day passing up and down

0:23:240:23:27

on the Leipzig to Dresden line.

0:23:270:23:29

Commercially it was also a success,

0:23:290:23:32

finally giving businesses a quick way to move goods to the River Elbe.

0:23:320:23:36

Leipzig is a city made of music.

0:23:380:23:41

It was home to Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn

0:23:410:23:45

and is famous for its Opera House and the St Thomas's Boys' Choir.

0:23:450:23:50

But as well as being a centre of culture, thanks to the

0:23:530:23:56

railway, it's also one of Germany's leading commercial cities.

0:23:560:24:00

The railway station in Leipzig according to Bradshaw's is

0:24:040:24:07

the largest in Europe, and it's still thought to be

0:24:070:24:10

the biggest on our continent by floor area.

0:24:100:24:13

With its 24 platforms and six railway sheds,

0:24:130:24:16

and now since the fall of communism, vast parts of the station

0:24:160:24:19

have been converted to a shopping complex.

0:24:190:24:23

In 1913, Leipzig was at the heart

0:24:260:24:28

of one of the most productive areas in Europe.

0:24:280:24:32

Germany's late industrial revolution

0:24:320:24:34

meant that entrepreneurs could take full advantage

0:24:340:24:36

of new technology and manufacturing methods.

0:24:360:24:40

To appreciate how productive and self-confident

0:24:410:24:44

Germany had become,

0:24:440:24:46

I'm heading by tram to the west of the city, to the suburb of Plagwitz.

0:24:460:24:51

It's home to what was one of the largest cotton spinning mills in Europe.

0:24:510:24:56

I've arranged to meet Bertram Schultze,

0:24:560:24:59

who runs the Spinnerei today.

0:24:590:25:00

-Hello, Bertram.

-Hello, very welcome.

0:25:020:25:05

We're walking along tracks.

0:25:050:25:06

Were the railways very important to the development of this place?

0:25:060:25:10

Actually, it was essential.

0:25:100:25:11

They bought this property of about 100,000 square metres,

0:25:110:25:14

because the developer over 100 years ago, whose name was Dr Karl Heiner,

0:25:140:25:19

had arranged that the tracks were brought in to the big properties so that the goods

0:25:190:25:24

could come in, the raw materials, and the goods could go out again.

0:25:240:25:28

Well, they founded the place in 1884, based on this market research

0:25:280:25:32

that it would be profitable to create a big inner German

0:25:320:25:36

cotton spinning mill producing mainly the thicker threads.

0:25:360:25:39

It meant that the mill could spin the cotton itself,

0:25:440:25:46

rather than rely on foreign imports.

0:25:460:25:49

So a visitor coming here in 1913 using this guidebook

0:25:510:25:54

would have found the factory in full production?

0:25:540:25:58

Yeah, full scale, very lively, I guess.

0:25:580:26:01

Working a three-shift system, so going through all the time.

0:26:010:26:04

The Spinnerei's 1,600 workers

0:26:060:26:09

were processing 20,000 bales of cotton

0:26:090:26:12

into 5 million kilograms of thread.

0:26:120:26:15

Bertram wants to show me

0:26:150:26:17

what's left of just one of the huge spinning rooms

0:26:170:26:20

where productivity reached unassailable levels.

0:26:200:26:23

This is the old elevator.

0:26:240:26:25

We just put in very new technique into it. You should feel safe.

0:26:250:26:30

Wow, what a vast space.

0:26:310:26:34

This is where we still have the full scale 4,000 square metres

0:26:350:26:40

on one layer where you can still have the feeling of how

0:26:400:26:44

it worked with machinery in here.

0:26:440:26:46

So they had the machinery actually going in long lines like this

0:26:460:26:49

between the columns.

0:26:490:26:51

You must imagine a 20 metre machine and people working on it.

0:26:520:26:57

Now it is quite hot,

0:26:570:26:58

so with the machinery it must have been hotter, so they had

0:26:580:27:02

a very early air conditioning and air moisturing system in here

0:27:020:27:06

which was in the middle where you can see the walls back there.

0:27:060:27:10

While the air conditioning is testament to German engineering prowess,

0:27:100:27:13

the mill also illustrates what Germany regarded as a great weakness - a lack of colonies.

0:27:130:27:19

As the imperial powers of Europe

0:27:190:27:22

scrambled to carve up Africa between them, Germany was late to the table,

0:27:220:27:26

securing only a few colonies in the south and west

0:27:260:27:29

and modern-day Tanzania in the east.

0:27:290:27:33

This paucity rankled the Kaiser,

0:27:330:27:35

who wanted new markets for goods and new sources of raw materials.

0:27:350:27:39

Germany was able to use the territory in Tanzania

0:27:390:27:43

to grow its own cotton.

0:27:430:27:45

Germany, yeah, but especially the cotton spinning mill.

0:27:450:27:48

I think Tanzania was used for different reasons as well,

0:27:480:27:53

but this company had their colonies down there, about 30,000 hectares,

0:27:530:27:58

so it was really quite a big space,

0:27:580:28:00

which they turned into farmland and tried to grow their own cotton.

0:28:000:28:03

Cotton growing conditions in Tanzania were hard. Pests put paid

0:28:050:28:09

to two-thirds of the harvest in the second year and the scheme failed.

0:28:090:28:13

Today, the cotton machines are long gone and in their place is art.

0:28:180:28:22

Historically, the most renowned artists of Leipzig were musicians.

0:28:260:28:31

My guidebook directs me to the Thomaskirche, or St Thomas's church,

0:28:380:28:42

with its lofty roof -

0:28:420:28:43

very distinctive - and its monument to Johann Sebastian Bach.

0:28:430:28:49

Now Bach was the so-called Thomaskantor here at the church

0:28:490:28:53

and more to the point, he wrote several cantatas

0:28:530:28:55

while he was in charge of the boys' choir here.

0:28:550:28:59

And he effectively established Leipzig as the musical capital of Saxony,

0:28:590:29:03

arguably of Europe.

0:29:030:29:05

I'm heading to a remarkable music school,

0:29:100:29:13

where the creativity of Bach

0:29:130:29:15

could be sustained and nurtured,

0:29:150:29:17

and one generation of genius could inspire the next.

0:29:170:29:20

I'm meeting conservatory librarian Barbara Wierman

0:29:220:29:25

at the Hochschule.

0:29:250:29:26

My Bradshaw's tells me

0:29:270:29:29

about the famous music conservatorium of Leipzig -

0:29:290:29:33

why was it so famous?

0:29:330:29:34

Oh, actually it was the first music conservatory in Germany.

0:29:340:29:39

Especially our founder, he's really famous -

0:29:390:29:41

that's Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy,

0:29:410:29:43

and it was his idea to have a conservatory,

0:29:430:29:46

a music school in Leipzig.

0:29:460:29:49

He was a really good music politician.

0:29:490:29:51

He made politics here in Leipzig so that it became in his time,

0:29:510:29:56

the music town, Leipzig. Music city Leipzig.

0:29:560:29:59

The students of this elite music school were privileged indeed.

0:30:000:30:04

Not only did they study under a great composer, they were

0:30:040:30:07

also taught by the musicians of his Gewandhaus Orchestra.

0:30:070:30:11

I've brought you to the library to tell you about some

0:30:110:30:14

of our famous alumni and to show you some of the archival materials.

0:30:140:30:18

You must have had so many, I imagine.

0:30:180:30:20

Who are the most famous?

0:30:200:30:22

I think one of the most famous is Edward Grieg and Leos Janacek

0:30:220:30:26

and of course of interest to you is Arthur Sullivan.

0:30:260:30:32

# Three little maids from school are we

0:30:320:30:34

# Pert as a schoolgirl well can be

0:30:340:30:36

# Filled to the brim with girlish glee

0:30:360:30:39

# Three little maids from school... #

0:30:390:30:42

Arthur Sullivan, the composer half of Gilbert and Sullivan,

0:30:420:30:46

won the Royal Academy of Music's

0:30:460:30:48

first Mendelssohn Scholarship to study here.

0:30:480:30:51

Barbara wants to show me how the young Arthur fitted in.

0:30:510:30:55

If we have a look at our reports, there are two reports left.

0:30:550:30:58

He came here in 1858 and he left in 1861.

0:30:580:31:03

The reports say he was really good at composing.

0:31:030:31:07

He was a first violinist of the Gewandhaus Orchestra

0:31:070:31:11

and you must know the first violinist is also responsible for conducting.

0:31:110:31:14

He was very talented at conducting.

0:31:140:31:17

What's this here?

0:31:180:31:19

These are the programme notes of his final exam.

0:31:210:31:25

He played and conducted his own composition.

0:31:250:31:30

The Tempest, by Shakespeare.

0:31:300:31:32

Do you know how that was received?

0:31:320:31:35

It was very well received.

0:31:350:31:37

Here in Germany and when he returned to Britain.

0:31:370:31:41

I should think it was hard for the people in the conservatory

0:31:410:31:44

to imagine that Arthur Sullivan, such a gifted conductor and composer,

0:31:440:31:48

would one day become famous for satirical operettas.

0:31:480:31:52

It was surprising, let's say!

0:31:520:31:57

Just like Sullivan, the current crop of talented students

0:32:040:32:08

benefit from Mendelssohn's legacy.

0:32:080:32:10

You're studying here.

0:32:280:32:29

Do you have a sense of history about the place?

0:32:290:32:32

Yes, there's a sense of history.

0:32:320:32:34

I can feel the history when I go through the city and see the houses.

0:32:340:32:39

And Bach is a great inspiration?

0:32:390:32:41

Yeah, every time I'm looking for a good

0:32:410:32:44

programme for my semester, Bach has to be in it.

0:32:440:32:49

-Maybe a little more Bach?

-Yes!

0:32:490:32:52

In a city of so many students,

0:33:050:33:06

the 1913 traveller might not have been surprised

0:33:060:33:10

to find a jolly good pub.

0:33:100:33:11

In this most famous subterranean Leipzig haunt -

0:33:180:33:22

Auerbach's Keller - they could enjoy a hell of a good evening.

0:33:220:33:25

-Thank you very much.

-This is a typical Saxony food.

0:33:290:33:33

Beef roulade with dumpling potatoes and red cabbage.

0:33:330:33:38

That does sound typically Saxon.

0:33:380:33:41

The dumpling potatoes are very solid.

0:33:410:33:46

They're chewy, but they really absorb the gravy.

0:33:490:33:52

The beef is stuffed with olives and other vegetables.

0:33:520:33:57

A very good meal.

0:33:570:33:59

MAN SPEAKS IN GERMAN

0:33:590:34:02

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the Shakespeare of Germany,

0:34:130:34:16

set a key scene of his tragedy Faust here.

0:34:160:34:19

Faust sells his soul to the devil, in return for knowledge and worldly pleasures.

0:34:250:34:30

Together, they visit the Keller,

0:34:300:34:32

where Goethe used to drink as a student.

0:34:320:34:34

MAN SPEAKS IN GERMAN

0:34:340:34:38

Well, I assume that those were lines from Goethe's Faust,

0:34:410:34:44

but I must say, this devil wouldn't tempt me to very much.

0:34:440:34:47

'After devil and dumplings, I'm ready for heavenly sleep.'

0:34:490:34:52

I'm up early, heading north from Leipzig station into Lower Saxony.

0:35:060:35:10

I'm approaching the halfway point of my journey through

0:35:140:35:17

Germany from Dresden in the east to Kiel in the north.

0:35:170:35:20

You can get a nice cooked breakfast on the German railways

0:35:240:35:27

but on this train, it's strictly self-service.

0:35:270:35:29

My destination today is Braunschweig or Brunswick,

0:35:420:35:46

and I'm changing at Magdeburg.

0:35:460:35:47

I'm supposed to have six minutes to make the change.

0:35:470:35:50

But this train is arriving late, so it's going to be a real chase.

0:35:500:35:53

Koln, bitte.

0:36:010:36:03

Links, danke.

0:36:030:36:04

The train for Koln, or Cologne,

0:36:080:36:09

stops at Brunswick, but it's three platforms away.

0:36:090:36:12

Made it.

0:36:230:36:25

Relief. Now that I'm on the Brunswick train,

0:36:260:36:29

my journey should just take me just 45 minutes.

0:36:290:36:31

Helmstedt is an interesting station because in the old days,

0:36:400:36:43

this was the border between East Germany and West Germany.

0:36:430:36:46

Now of course there is no border and the trains go through smoothly.

0:36:460:36:50

And to the uninitiated like me, you can't tell the difference

0:36:500:36:53

between East and West Germany - it is now an entirely seamless country.

0:36:530:36:57

Brunswick was the birthplace of Caroline of Brunswick,

0:36:590:37:02

who became known as the Injured Queen of England.

0:37:020:37:05

In 1795, Britain's future King George IV agreed to marry her,

0:37:050:37:10

although she was described as "short, fat and ugly",

0:37:100:37:14

because Parliament agreed to pay off his gambling debts if he did.

0:37:140:37:18

Caroline duly bore him an heir and George then duly left her.

0:37:180:37:22

So it seems rather surprising that Bradshaw's specifically notes

0:37:230:37:26

that Brunswick residents are happy.

0:37:260:37:30

My book says the people from Brunswick are cheerful, happy?

0:37:300:37:35

-I heard it.

-Is it true?

-I would say half and half.

0:37:350:37:41

Some people are very cheerful and some people are...

0:37:410:37:46

THEY LAUGH

0:37:470:37:49

-Sie sind frohlich, ja?

-Ja.

-Why not be happy?

0:37:490:37:54

Braunschweigers, yes. They're smiling.

0:37:560:38:00

You have a lovely smile.

0:38:000:38:01

-Let's see that smile.

-Thank you.

0:38:010:38:03

Let's see that smile. That would make everybody happy.

0:38:030:38:08

There may be another reason for the "cheery" comment.

0:38:090:38:12

Brunswick is home to one of Germany's oldest breweries.

0:38:120:38:16

The Hofbrauhaus Wolters dates back to 1627 and by the 1880s,

0:38:170:38:22

they were brewers by appointment to the Duke of Brunswick.

0:38:220:38:26

Meike Bluhm is the brewmaster.

0:38:260:38:29

Meike, hello.

0:38:290:38:30

Hi, Michael, nice meeting you here.

0:38:300:38:31

I notice straightaway that there are railway tracks here.

0:38:310:38:34

Historically, were the railways quite important for the brewery?

0:38:340:38:37

Absolutely, yes.

0:38:370:38:38

They were important for us to bring the raw materials on to site,

0:38:380:38:41

but also to transport the finished goods to all over northern Germany.

0:38:410:38:45

Curiously, the railway also contributed

0:38:480:38:50

to the taste of the beer.

0:38:500:38:52

The steam locomotives running on this line

0:38:520:38:54

needed soft water in their boilers.

0:38:540:38:58

But Brunswick is a city of hard water,

0:38:580:39:00

so it had to be piped in from the Harz mountains, 40km away.

0:39:000:39:04

And the brewery was quick to use it,

0:39:050:39:07

giving their beer a purer, softer taste.

0:39:070:39:10

This is called the mash tun, where the malt grist

0:39:130:39:17

and water are mixed, stirred and heated up to about 75 degrees.

0:39:170:39:21

-Which explains why it's so hot in here.

-Absolutely.

0:39:220:39:25

And what happens when you mix the grain with the water like this?

0:39:250:39:29

What happens is that the enzymes in the grains

0:39:290:39:32

break down the starch into sugars.

0:39:320:39:34

And that sugar is later fermented into alcohol by the yeast.

0:39:340:39:38

Forgive me asking you, but is it quite unusual these days still

0:39:380:39:41

for a woman to be a master brewer?

0:39:410:39:45

It is still quite unusual, although times are changing

0:39:450:39:47

and there are a few to be found now in some breweries,

0:39:470:39:51

but I'm...a rarity.

0:39:510:39:54

A master brewer has to have a very good palate.

0:39:540:39:57

Is that true?

0:39:570:39:58

Are you born with it or are you trained to it?

0:39:580:40:01

That is true. You can be born with it. Some people are not.

0:40:010:40:05

There is a lot of training you have to undergo to develop

0:40:050:40:08

a palate for beer.

0:40:080:40:10

Tasting is still our most important quality check,

0:40:100:40:13

so we sample every batch, every day.

0:40:130:40:16

Were you born with a fine palate?

0:40:160:40:18

I do have a bit of a palate, yes.

0:40:180:40:20

And how did you discover that?

0:40:200:40:23

Don't want to answer that question!

0:40:230:40:26

I carry a guide book from 1913 and I'm wondering what would beer

0:40:260:40:29

have tasted like at the beginning of the 20th century, do you think?

0:40:290:40:33

It would have tasted more bitter than it tastes now,

0:40:330:40:36

and also a bit sweeter, that means more body.

0:40:360:40:39

I can give you a sample of beer that comes pretty close to what

0:40:410:40:45

beer would have tasted like 100 years ago.

0:40:450:40:48

It doesn't taste very bitter to me, it does taste a bit sweet.

0:40:530:40:56

Actually, it's pretty good. What does your expert palate tell you?

0:40:560:41:00

-It's perfect, isn't it?

-It's pretty good, isn't it?

0:41:000:41:03

Wolters produces around 270 million bottles and cans of beer a year,

0:41:040:41:11

all now transported by road.

0:41:110:41:12

But with nearly 200 kilometres between me and my hotel,

0:41:150:41:18

I'm definitely letting the train take the strain.

0:41:180:41:22

Hanover - I have to change trains here.

0:41:290:41:31

My next stop will be Hamburg.

0:41:520:41:54

According to my Bradshaw's, it's situated on the River Elbe

0:41:540:41:57

60 miles from the mouth of the river,

0:41:570:41:59

the second city of the German Empire.

0:41:590:42:02

It ranks in commercial importance

0:42:020:42:04

before any other town in continental Europe.

0:42:040:42:08

By 1913, the Great British ports of Liverpool

0:42:080:42:11

and London had to regard Hamburg as a serious rival.

0:42:110:42:15

Its huge port, that gives Hamburg this access to the world,

0:42:180:42:22

is situated in the heart of the city.

0:42:220:42:24

And as Germany's second largest city,

0:42:260:42:28

it's also one of Europe's most affluent.

0:42:280:42:31

Hamburg's main station is really awe-inspiring.

0:42:420:42:45

It was built in 1906,

0:42:450:42:47

apparently replacing four different terminal stations.

0:42:470:42:50

So for the traveller with the Bradshaw's Guide in 1913,

0:42:500:42:54

it would have been new.

0:42:540:42:55

It is, they say, the busiest station in Germany,

0:42:550:42:59

the second busiest in all of Europe after Paris' Gare du Nord,

0:42:590:43:03

and this evening it really feels like it.

0:43:030:43:05

Time, I think, to find the quiet sanctuary of my hotel.

0:43:080:43:12

When I think of Hamburg, I picture a busy industrial port.

0:43:290:43:34

Its beauty is an unexpected bonus.

0:43:340:43:36

The Bradshaw's Guide loves to list major engineering feats.

0:43:500:43:54

"Under the Elbe is a double tunnel for pedestrians and vehicles,

0:43:540:43:57

"490 yards long, made at a cost of over £500,000."

0:43:570:44:04

With that tone of enthusiasm, this has to be worth seeing.

0:44:040:44:07

By the early 1900s, Hamburg's traffic problems were chronic.

0:44:150:44:19

The roads were hectic, and the river even worse.

0:44:190:44:23

Congestion and currents made life difficult for workers

0:44:230:44:26

crossing from the city to Hamburg's bustling docks.

0:44:260:44:30

The solution was to dig the Sankt Pauli Elbtunnel,

0:44:300:44:33

and this grand entrance hall is the way in.

0:44:330:44:36

Well, this is built on an extraordinary scale.

0:44:360:44:40

But it's not just the size of it, it is the architectural grandeur.

0:44:400:44:45

It's been built like the Pantheon in Rome and it's beautifully tiled

0:44:450:44:50

and here I see reliefs - I imagine these are the engineers

0:44:500:44:54

and the architects immortalised in statues, and quite rightly so.

0:44:540:45:00

Four huge lifts on either side of the river carry pedestrians,

0:45:090:45:13

cyclists and motor vehicles to the bottom...

0:45:130:45:16

..where they enter two narrow tunnels

0:45:180:45:20

taking traffic backwards and forwards.

0:45:200:45:23

Hello, Hartmut.

0:45:250:45:27

-Hello, Michael. Welcome to the Old Elbe Tunnel.

-Thank you very much.

0:45:270:45:30

-I'm finding it impressive and beautiful.

-Yes, it is.

0:45:300:45:34

'Hartmut Graf is the head engineer responsible for keeping the tunnel running.'

0:45:340:45:38

When was it actually built?

0:45:380:45:41

It was built up to 1911 and it was planned up to 1905.

0:45:410:45:47

And the planning was heavily influenced by the Glasgow tunnel.

0:45:470:45:51

The decision to build a tunnel, rather than a bridge?

0:45:510:45:54

The port was too active for a bridge and the ships were too big.

0:45:550:46:00

Let's step out of the way here.

0:46:010:46:03

It's built quite narrow.

0:46:070:46:09

Was there a lot of traffic in the early days?

0:46:090:46:12

Yeah. There was quite a lot of traffic, mostly by horses.

0:46:120:46:17

And I suppose the early motorcars, in 1911.

0:46:190:46:22

Yeah, there are some pictures with very old cars here.

0:46:220:46:25

Why do you think it was built so grandly,

0:46:250:46:27

in the style of the Pantheon and with such beautiful tiles?

0:46:270:46:31

At this time, 1900, Germany still had an emperor

0:46:310:46:36

and he wanted to be proud about this.

0:46:360:46:40

So perhaps this was the reason it was built in this way.

0:46:400:46:45

I mean, everywhere we look, there are beautiful ornaments, decoration.

0:46:450:46:50

Yeah, and also Hamburg wanted to show what it was able to build.

0:46:500:46:55

It's a pretty active tunnel, isn't it?

0:46:550:46:58

But at just over 100 years old, the tunnel is showing signs of age.

0:47:000:47:05

Ready.

0:47:080:47:09

'And major restoration work is being carried out on the second bore.'

0:47:090:47:13

This is amazing, because you have obviously taken the tunnel back to its original skin.

0:47:150:47:19

What is the job you are doing now?

0:47:190:47:23

The main job we are doing here at the moment is to renew the lead.

0:47:230:47:29

How long will this job take you?

0:47:290:47:31

It's taken already nearly two years and it will take us up to 2016.

0:47:310:47:38

So why is Hamburg spending the money on these tunnels, do you think?

0:47:380:47:43

Because this is a thing which is very important to all Hamburg people

0:47:430:47:49

and they don't want to miss it.

0:47:490:47:51

Well, thanks to you, they're not going to miss it.

0:47:510:47:54

This might seem like a DIY job,

0:47:540:47:57

but this is to protect future generations from lead poisoning.

0:47:570:48:01

I'm delighted that this engineering heritage

0:48:020:48:05

is being celebrated and restored.

0:48:050:48:08

My next stop isn't old at all,

0:48:130:48:16

but if Bradshaw's was to be republished today,

0:48:160:48:18

this place would secure an enthusiastic mention.

0:48:180:48:22

Hamburg is home to the greatest model railway in the world.

0:48:220:48:27

Miniatur Wunderland has 13,000 metres of track,

0:48:370:48:42

covering an area of 1,300 square metres,

0:48:420:48:45

divided up into eight huge sections representing different countries.

0:48:450:48:51

I'm meeting one of the model's founders, Sebastian Drechsler.

0:48:540:48:58

Sebastian, this is an absolute paradise for model lovers,

0:49:000:49:06

for children, for adults, for anybody who loves trains.

0:49:060:49:09

It's fantastic. How long has it been here?

0:49:090:49:12

It's here for 12 years. My two older brothers had the idea when I was 18.

0:49:120:49:17

Back in the day, they had a club and a record label and they decided

0:49:170:49:20

that they don't want to get old at the nightclub and came home with strange idea,

0:49:200:49:24

and one was to build the largest model railway of the world.

0:49:240:49:27

It was very hard for me to imagine to change the guest list

0:49:270:49:30

of a club to the guest list of a model railway!

0:49:300:49:33

-I'm astonished you have only been doing this for 12 years.

-Exactly.

0:49:330:49:37

In this 12 or so years, we spent about 560,000 working hours

0:49:370:49:41

just on the layout, to create all of that.

0:49:410:49:45

And you have now established the largest model railway in the world?

0:49:450:49:48

Already, since we opened up Switzerland,

0:49:480:49:51

we are the largest model railway.

0:49:510:49:53

Now, where is the United Kingdom? I thought I might go there.

0:49:530:49:56

It's only in our heads.

0:49:560:49:59

No United Kingdom?

0:49:590:50:01

Not now, because we need the perfect space for the motherland

0:50:010:50:05

of railways and we need to have such a huge space.

0:50:050:50:09

We want to build a spectacular United Kingdom.

0:50:090:50:13

This is our control room,

0:50:140:50:16

the core of everything in Miniatur Wunderland.

0:50:160:50:19

It's so impressive.

0:50:190:50:21

It looks like the control room of a real railway, just astonishing.

0:50:210:50:24

We have 265 cameras on the whole layout

0:50:240:50:28

because there are train accidents all over the layout.

0:50:280:50:31

Because someone is running and searching for the train, where exactly it is.

0:50:310:50:35

We first localise the train with the cameras

0:50:350:50:38

and then go to fix the problem.

0:50:380:50:40

So the guys working here, I imagine if one day they were asked

0:50:400:50:45

to go and work for the German railways,

0:50:450:50:47

-they could do the transition.

-They could.

0:50:470:50:50

The wonder of this miniature world is its attention to tiny detail.

0:50:520:50:57

Every one of the 250,000 inhabitants has a story.

0:50:570:51:01

And model maker Sonia Schroder

0:51:030:51:05

is going to show me how they come to life.

0:51:050:51:08

-Well, I hope you have your spectacles?

-I do.

0:51:080:51:11

So, first you should dip your brush into the water. Just slightly.

0:51:110:51:15

And you definitely should start with the pink shirt.

0:51:180:51:22

'If you haven't worked it out yet, Sonia is coaching me

0:51:220:51:25

'to paint a mini me.'

0:51:250:51:27

Try to paint around your hand and booklet.

0:51:270:51:31

You're doing well.

0:51:320:51:34

Just do little, little paint strips.

0:51:340:51:38

'Now I begin to understand the high standards they set themselves.'

0:51:380:51:42

My Bradshaw is about 2% of the size of me.

0:51:440:51:49

So this is quite a small target.

0:51:490:51:51

Not bad. You know what, Michael?

0:51:540:51:57

I can tell you did neither party last night

0:51:570:52:00

or drink coffee this morning.

0:52:000:52:02

Is that right? Does my Bradshaw look big in this?

0:52:020:52:05

Eagle-eyed tourists in Wunderland can now spot

0:52:060:52:09

a brightly-coloured fellow clutching a red book.

0:52:090:52:12

He's marooned in perpetuity in the middle of Hamburg Station.

0:52:120:52:16

There are uglier places to spend eternity.

0:52:160:52:19

Although I could quite happily linger with my alter-ego,

0:52:300:52:33

the tracks are calling, and the scent of the Baltic Sea.

0:52:330:52:37

At the time of my Bradshaw's,

0:52:390:52:41

Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany sought colonial and naval power.

0:52:410:52:45

Locked in a naval race with Britain,

0:52:470:52:49

he'd already built a fleet of 39 warships based at Kiel.

0:52:490:52:53

And as tensions grew, the Kaiser's navy needed a quick and safe route

0:52:540:52:58

from the Baltic to face the British in the North Sea.

0:52:580:53:02

To sail north round Denmark's Jutland Peninsula

0:53:020:53:05

was dangerous and a diversion of 250 nautical miles.

0:53:050:53:10

But the Kiel canal was too narrow for warships.

0:53:100:53:14

So the Kaiser undertook a massive widening,

0:53:140:53:17

all along the canal's 100km.

0:53:170:53:20

And today, that feat of German engineering is still in use,

0:53:210:53:24

with close to 35,000 ships a year passing through.

0:53:240:53:30

Now to test my sea legs.

0:53:310:53:34

-Ahoy, skipper. Happy to receive boarders?

-Yes, please.

0:53:350:53:39

What a wonderful vessel!

0:53:410:53:42

Yes, a racing yacht from the turn of the last century.

0:53:420:53:46

It's absolutely beautiful, thank you so much for having me on board.

0:53:460:53:50

With Andreas Neubau, president of the Kiel Sailing Association,

0:53:520:53:56

I can experience why the Kaiser was so captivated by yachting.

0:53:560:54:00

So, Andreas, we've left the British Kiel Yacht Club behind us.

0:54:030:54:06

-Where are we now?

-We are right in the middle of the Kiel Fjord.

0:54:060:54:10

And, of course, it's one of the most important sailing areas in the whole world.

0:54:100:54:15

So this is very much the equivalent of Cowes.

0:54:150:54:18

You have a Kiel Week as we have a Cowes Week.

0:54:180:54:21

Yes, and the Kaiser had a special interest in Cowes Week

0:54:210:54:25

and so he really copied it.

0:54:250:54:27

This international racing attracted some impressive competition.

0:54:290:54:32

The Kaiser's biggest rival was his uncle, British King Edward VII.

0:54:320:54:37

But the yachtsmen couldn't have failed to notice

0:54:370:54:40

the significance of the growing presence of warships.

0:54:400:54:44

The navy built two battleships a year,

0:54:450:54:48

so in the end they had 39 battleships.

0:54:480:54:51

So it really was a tremendous fleet.

0:54:510:54:54

Now declassified documents show that by 1913,

0:54:540:54:58

British intelligence was already monitoring the growing threat,

0:54:580:55:02

using British yachtsmen to do the surveillance.

0:55:020:55:06

I feel a little bit like Carruthers in that novel,

0:55:060:55:10

you know that novel The Riddle Of The Sands,

0:55:100:55:13

which is about a couple of guys who go spying on the German navy.

0:55:130:55:17

Oh, there were many spies.

0:55:170:55:20

For instance, the Sunbeam from Lord Brassey came here one year.

0:55:210:55:25

And the old lord let himself row into a submarine pen.

0:55:250:55:31

Of course, they didn't make much of it but this was, of course, a little spy tour.

0:55:310:55:37

The intelligence conveyed the stark news that by 1913,

0:55:380:55:41

Britain faced an ambitious rival with a formidable navy.

0:55:410:55:45

And as the yachts gathered for Kiel Week a year later,

0:55:470:55:51

Europe was slipping towards war.

0:55:510:55:53

The spark was the assassination by a Serb in Sarajevo

0:55:540:55:58

of Archduke Franz Ferdinand,

0:55:580:56:00

the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

0:56:000:56:03

And the Kaiser heard the news aboard his yacht.

0:56:060:56:09

Over the fjord came the little boat of Admiral von Muller.

0:56:110:56:16

He said, "I have an urgent message here."

0:56:160:56:21

He put it into his cigarette box and threw it on board.

0:56:210:56:27

And there, the Kaiser had it.

0:56:280:56:30

That was the last weekend in June

0:56:300:56:32

and by the beginning of August, Europe was at war.

0:56:320:56:36

Events in the Balkans set off a chain reaction.

0:56:380:56:41

Germany encouraged its Austro-Hungarian ally

0:56:410:56:44

to strike back against Serbia.

0:56:440:56:47

The alliance of Russia and France prepared for war,

0:56:470:56:49

as armies mobilised across Europe.

0:56:490:56:51

Germany marched through Belgium to strike at France

0:56:540:56:57

and Britain was obliged to act in her defence.

0:56:570:56:59

British Foreign Secretary, Lord Grey, lamented,

0:57:010:57:05

"The lamps are going out all over Europe.

0:57:050:57:09

"We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."

0:57:090:57:12

Over the next four years,

0:57:180:57:20

Europe squandered the benefits of peace and progress

0:57:200:57:24

in a savage, mechanised war.

0:57:240:57:26

During the 19th century, the railways helped to bring together

0:57:270:57:31

the culture of Dresden, the musicality of Leipzig,

0:57:310:57:35

the trading power of Hamburg, and the economic might of Berlin.

0:57:350:57:39

The new Germany was an industrial, scientific and artistic giant,

0:57:390:57:44

elbowing Britain aside in the European league tables.

0:57:440:57:48

Sadly, statesmen did not appreciate

0:57:480:57:51

that the enviable prosperity and civilisation of Germany

0:57:510:57:55

depended on the absence of war.

0:57:550:57:57

Next time, I lose my inhibitions in a Swedish sauna...

0:57:590:58:03

On the whole, I don't take my clothes off with people I don't know.

0:58:030:58:07

..ride one of the world's oldest fairground attractions...

0:58:070:58:10

Ohhhh!

0:58:100:58:12

..have a Highland fling, Scandinavian style,

0:58:120:58:15

and brave a white knuckle ride

0:58:150:58:18

based on a winter sport invented by Norwegians.

0:58:180:58:21

One of the great experiences of my life!

0:58:250:58:28

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0:58:520:58:56

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