0:00:03 > 0:00:07'I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take me
0:00:07 > 0:00:09'across the heart of Europe.'
0:00:11 > 0:00:15I'll be using this - my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,
0:00:15 > 0:00:20dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world of foreign
0:00:20 > 0:00:22travel for the British tourist.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26'It told travellers where to go, what to see and how to navigate
0:00:26 > 0:00:30'the thousands of miles of tracks criss-crossing the Continent.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32'Now, a century later,
0:00:32 > 0:00:37'I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41'where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.'
0:00:42 > 0:00:48I want to rediscover that lost Europe that, in 1913, couldn't know
0:00:48 > 0:00:52that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17I'm in the Czech Republic,
0:01:17 > 0:01:23but my 1913 Bradshaw's guide lists my first stop, Prague, under Austria
0:01:23 > 0:01:27and then tells me that it's the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30This trip will take me through two former kingdoms, Bohemia
0:01:30 > 0:01:32and Bavaria.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37But even by 1913, each had been absorbed into a Reich -
0:01:37 > 0:01:39the German word for Empire.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43'On this journey,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46'I marvel at Prague's stunning Art Nouveau architecture,...'
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Well, this is really glorious on such a scale.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54'..attempt a Latin dance with a Bohemian twist,...'
0:01:54 > 0:01:56Don't look at her.
0:01:56 > 0:01:57LAUGHTER
0:01:57 > 0:01:58She's MY wife!
0:01:58 > 0:01:59LAUGHTER
0:01:59 > 0:02:01NOW you tell me!
0:02:01 > 0:02:05'..take a peat bath fit for a British king,...'
0:02:05 > 0:02:10- It looks filthy! I get in there?- Mm-hm.- Mm-hm!
0:02:10 > 0:02:13'..hear of Britain's influence on German railway history...
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Where did the original locomotive come from?
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Stephenson Locomotive Works, Newcastle upon Tyne.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20So, it was Mr George Stephenson?
0:02:20 > 0:02:22It was George Stephenson, yes.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25'..and take on the toughest opponent of my career.'
0:02:25 > 0:02:28If you're having trouble with a dragon, call a dragon slayer.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34This leg of my 1913 European adventure
0:02:34 > 0:02:37begins in Bohemian Prague,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40stops for a noble spa break at Marianske Lazne,
0:02:40 > 0:02:44takes on imperial armaments in Pilsen before crossing
0:02:44 > 0:02:48the German border into firebreathing Bavaria to visit
0:02:48 > 0:02:52the birthplace of the German railway, Nuremberg,...
0:02:53 > 0:02:57..alighting finally in the region's scientifically superior capital,
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Munich.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Bradshaw's tells me that "in Prague, German is generally understood,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21"but the current language is Bohemian."
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Bohemian - there's a word to conjure with!
0:03:24 > 0:03:26The Oxford English Dictionary reminds me that it
0:03:26 > 0:03:31came to mean "one who leads a vagabond or irregular life,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34"not being particular about the company he keeps
0:03:34 > 0:03:38"and despising conventionalities generally." Bohemia
0:03:38 > 0:03:42sounds like the perfect place for a man in a luminous pink jacket.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50'The year after my 1913 guidebook was written,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53'the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57'Archduke Franz Ferdinand, set the world on the path to war.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01'But on the Empire's western tip in Bohemia,
0:04:01 > 0:04:05'the decades leading up to that conflict were filled with
0:04:05 > 0:04:07'the affluent, carefree spirit
0:04:07 > 0:04:10'which spilled out of Le Gay Paris's Belle Epoque,
0:04:10 > 0:04:13'and Prague, capital of the Czech lands,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17'became renowned for its culture, art and architecture.'
0:04:20 > 0:04:23The British traveller, arriving here in 1913, would have been
0:04:23 > 0:04:28treated to this glorious new roof, completed just in 1906.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33The station was named Franz Joseph after the Austrian Emperor.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36The traveller, in 1913, could have had little idea that both
0:04:36 > 0:04:40the Emperor and, indeed, the Empire were about to become history.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49Situated either side of the Vltava River, Prague's famous
0:04:49 > 0:04:5410th century Old Town has long been a draw to European travellers.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02In 1913, the city of 100 spires was a cultural melting pot,
0:05:02 > 0:05:07home to three main ethnic groups - Czechs, Germans and Jews.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Bradshaw's tells me that from the Franz Joseph Station,
0:05:14 > 0:05:19the broad Wenzelsplatz, or Wenceslas Square, leads north-west.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22This beautiful elongated square, more of a boulevard, really,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25is where my tour of Prague begins.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35'The city is festooned with the natural lines,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39'whiplash curves and vibrant details of Art Nouveau,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42'the artistic movement that used nature as its inspiration.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47'Heavily influenced by Britain's Arts and Crafts school,
0:05:47 > 0:05:51'Art Nouveau swept through late 19th and early 20th century Europe.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56'Its best-known Czech exponent was Alphonse Mucha,
0:05:56 > 0:06:02'whose exceptional work adorns the Municipal House opened in 1912,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05'where I'm meeting my guide, Iva Karlickova.'
0:06:07 > 0:06:09What are the elements of Art Nouveau?
0:06:09 > 0:06:15It was about shapes and forms and the natural motifs, especially colours.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Like here, around the walls, for example, you see this is
0:06:18 > 0:06:22typical Art Nouveau - these little motifs with the stucco.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25But it was not only about architecture.
0:06:25 > 0:06:31It was about jewellery, pieces of furniture, cutlery, fabrics.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34What started Art Nouveau in Prague?
0:06:34 > 0:06:41Well, the beginning, actually, was the year 1891 when they organised
0:06:41 > 0:06:46a Jubilee exposition for the Kingdom of Bohemia.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48Thank you very much.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51- Tell me about this beautiful building that we're in here.- Yes.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55So the Municipal House in Prague was finished 1912
0:06:55 > 0:07:00and it was built for the Czech people because at that period,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04we were living in Prague in three ethnical groups - Czechs,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Germans and Jews.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10And another very important thing, our national independence,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12the new Czechoslovak Republic
0:07:12 > 0:07:17was proclaimed from this building on 28 October, 1918.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25'The Municipal House boasts an enormous
0:07:25 > 0:07:29'and pleasingly flamboyant Art Nouveau concert hall named
0:07:29 > 0:07:33'after Czech composer and nationalist Bedrich Smetana,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35'who died in 1884.'
0:07:37 > 0:07:41Well, this is really glorious on such a scale.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46- Such attention to detail. So elaborate.- It is fantastic, yes.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53And the Mayor's Hall, decorated by Alphonse Mucha,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55is just as eye-catching.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01'Mucha had lived in Paris, creating posters for actress
0:08:01 > 0:08:05'Sarah Bernhardt and designing Georges Fouquet's celebrated
0:08:05 > 0:08:09'Art Nouveau jewellery shop before returning to Prague,
0:08:09 > 0:08:11'where his artistry lives on...'
0:08:11 > 0:08:14- Hello.- Hello.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16'..in the work of his granddaughter, Jarmila.'
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Now, your grandfather was a painter, a designer, a jewellery maker,
0:08:20 > 0:08:25- all sorts of things. How many of those things do you do?- Me?
0:08:25 > 0:08:31I have many, many products - jewellery, glass,
0:08:31 > 0:08:37- metal pieces, scarf of silk. - Very, very beautiful.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40- And are you, by any chance, a member of the family?- I am.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43It's my daughter, Kathryn.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Do you think Art Nouveau is of interest again?
0:08:46 > 0:08:49- Is it back in fashion?- Now, there is an explosion of interest.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54You can find Mucha beer mats and key rings and all sorts of things.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56How do you think he'd feel about that?
0:08:56 > 0:09:02I think he would approve of his art reaching as many people as possible
0:09:02 > 0:09:06and...because that's what he wanted all his life,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09to make his work accessible to everyone.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11I'm using a guidebook 100 years old,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14so somebody using this guidebook a century ago could have come
0:09:14 > 0:09:17and seen the work of Alphonse Mucha
0:09:17 > 0:09:20and now, 100 years later, we can see the work of Jarmila Mucha.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29In a city where the beauty of art is so appreciated,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33I feel moved to commission a work for myself.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41- Hello.- Hello, hello.- I like your art. I see you do caricatures.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43- Yes, I could do you like it. - Could you do me?
0:09:43 > 0:09:47- Yes, no problem, no problem. - Big nose, big lips.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50Yes, you're very beautiful. OK.
0:09:56 > 0:09:57HE CHUCKLES
0:10:00 > 0:10:02Yes, OK, finish, finish. For you.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06- Definitely me.- Thank you, thank you. - Absolutely.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10- Beautiful, for you.- It's very good.
0:10:10 > 0:10:11Prague for you.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23In 1900, Prague's population consisted of
0:10:23 > 0:10:25just over 400,000 Czechs,
0:10:25 > 0:10:2910,000 Germans and 25,000 Jews.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Their 13th century ancestors
0:10:32 > 0:10:35had been forced to live in a ghetto near the Old Town.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Here, some of the oldest relics of European Jewry
0:10:39 > 0:10:41can still be seen today.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Bradshaw's has brought me to the Josefstadt, the Jews' quarter,
0:10:47 > 0:10:52"where much that was squalid has been demolished for improvements".
0:10:52 > 0:10:55And this building here is rightly referred to in Bradshaw's
0:10:55 > 0:11:02as "the sombre-looking Alt Neu Shul, an old synagogue dating from 1338".
0:11:02 > 0:11:06Clearly the Jewish population of Prague was long-established,
0:11:06 > 0:11:10as well as being numerous and very important in the city's history.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18Jews first settled in Prague in the 10th century and despite
0:11:18 > 0:11:22repeated persecutions, a community survives today with a rich heritage.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Two names, separated by centuries, stand out.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32The first, a late 16th century rabbi named Judah Loew,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35who was a renowned religious scholar,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38feted by Bohemian royalty for his knowledge of astronomy
0:11:38 > 0:11:41and Jewish mysticism.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45The second, born in 1883, was an author.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49By the time of my Bradshaw's guide,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Prague's Jewish quarter produced one of the most influential
0:11:52 > 0:11:55writers in Europe - Franz Kafka,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58who gave his name to the word Kafkaesque,
0:11:58 > 0:12:02a nightmarish situation in which a man struggles helplessly,
0:12:02 > 0:12:05for example, against the idiocies of bureaucracy
0:12:05 > 0:12:09and is commemorated here by a statue that look likes a bad dream.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16For centuries, the influences on Prague,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18capital of the Czech lands, yet ruled
0:12:18 > 0:12:22by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were Bohemian, Jewish and Germanic.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27But by 1913, the city's architecture and artists
0:12:27 > 0:12:31were also following trends from the French capital Paris,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34and nowhere more than at the Cafe Montmartre.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38As the day draws to a close,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40I'm going to wet my whistle at a place which,
0:12:40 > 0:12:44since its opening in 1912, became the haunt of artists
0:12:44 > 0:12:47and writers of the Bohemian crowd,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49but sometimes above the sound
0:12:49 > 0:12:52of the scratching of the authors' nib on paper,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55could be heard a more insistent Latin beat.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02'Cafe Montmartre had gained a Bohemian reputation.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07'To understand why, I'm meeting British expat Richard Drury
0:13:07 > 0:13:11'and locals Marek and Radka.'
0:13:11 > 0:13:14If I'd come here in 1913, searching for celebrities,
0:13:14 > 0:13:16who might I have come across?
0:13:16 > 0:13:20You would have met possibly on your travels
0:13:20 > 0:13:25a small, unassuming-looking man,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28compact, thoughtful, dark-eyed
0:13:28 > 0:13:30and he was called Franz Kafka.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32- Kafka came here.- He did.
0:13:32 > 0:13:38This place was a meeting point for all members
0:13:38 > 0:13:43of this incredible polemical Prague society.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48They would come to this cafe and enjoy their differences.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52- By the way, what is this you've so kindly bought me?- Becherovka.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Czech liqueur.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Well, cheers. Will I write and paint better after one of these?
0:13:58 > 0:14:02We can't guarantee that, but you'll be all the merrier for it.
0:14:02 > 0:14:03- Mmm.- Cheers.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Oh, that is lovely.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10So I come to this place in 1913, I order myself a Becherovka,
0:14:10 > 0:14:15I'm sitting next to Franz Kafka, I look around, what else do I see?
0:14:15 > 0:14:19By October 1913, word had got round in Prague
0:14:19 > 0:14:24that a very, very sinful activity was going on here
0:14:24 > 0:14:27and other cafes and restaurants banned it.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30They said, "We are not going to do that."
0:14:30 > 0:14:33TANGO MUSIC PLAYS
0:14:33 > 0:14:37The very sinful activity was, of course, the tango -
0:14:37 > 0:14:41a raunchy, Argentine dance which took Paris by storm in 1912
0:14:41 > 0:14:43and Prague the year after.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50The tango originated in booming 19th century Buenos Aires,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53but theories vary as to how and why.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Some say the city's busy prostitutes danced it
0:14:58 > 0:15:02with their clients, others that men awaiting boudoir bookings,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05made use of the live music entertainment
0:15:05 > 0:15:08and danced it with each other.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11Rather than banning it, Cafe Montmartre embraced the first
0:15:11 > 0:15:15improvised dance for couples that Europe had ever known.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Er, I don't know how to tango and, in fact, I can't dance,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23so can you show me a few basic steps, please?
0:15:23 > 0:15:27Basic step is just you walk and then what you do
0:15:27 > 0:15:32- is to move your body forward and then you walk.- Mmm.- OK?- Mmm, right.
0:15:32 > 0:15:38- Yes, you can do less, not that much. - OK.- It's perfect.- Right, OK.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43- Rule number one, never step on her feet, never.- Right.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47- Are you the woman for these purposes?- You want me as a woman?
0:15:47 > 0:15:50- We have Radka here, take Radka.- OK, Radka, please.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Better.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Don't look at her.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59- She's my wife.- Now you tell me!
0:15:59 > 0:16:04Don't be afraid, go through, move through. Relax, relax, yeah.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11- Don't think you're dancing, just walk. You can do it, no?- Wow!
0:16:13 > 0:16:15That's fantastic,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18but would you mind showing me how it's done properly,
0:16:18 > 0:16:19the two of you, please?
0:16:19 > 0:16:21TANGO MUSIC PLAYS
0:16:47 > 0:16:49MUSIC STOPS
0:16:49 > 0:16:52APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:17:06 > 0:17:09I'm leaving Prague and heading west through Bohemia.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11As in Britain,
0:17:11 > 0:17:14the first Czech railways, built in the 19th century,
0:17:14 > 0:17:19were owned by private companies, but by the time of my 1913 guidebook,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22most lines in the Austro-Hungarian Empire
0:17:22 > 0:17:23were owned by state companies.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29My next stop is Marianske Lazne, better known to us
0:17:29 > 0:17:32perhaps by its German name, Marienbad.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36Bradshaw's tells me it's a pleasant watering place.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39"The waters are successfully used in cases of heart disease, gout,
0:17:39 > 0:17:44"arteriosclerosis, disordered stomach, liver and digestive organs
0:17:44 > 0:17:50"and are often recommended as part of special treatment for ladies."
0:17:50 > 0:17:55Marienbad became the king of spas and indeed the spa of kings.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03At the end of the 18th century, a doctor from the local monastery
0:18:03 > 0:18:08had researched the curative properties of Marianske Lazne H2O
0:18:08 > 0:18:10and founded the spa.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18By 1823, the valley had been transformed into a beautiful
0:18:18 > 0:18:20park city.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26In the 1870s, the railways arrived, bringing swathes of new
0:18:26 > 0:18:30middle-class visitors to join the many luminaries already
0:18:30 > 0:18:35seeking cures and recreation at the magnificently appointed resort.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46Oh! Smells completely of sulphur, rotten eggs.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48I literally do this.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03It may have smelt bad but it tastes simply disgusting!
0:19:03 > 0:19:07I'm sure that does amazing things from inside.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09I think I'll pour the rest away.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19To continue my health treatment, I'm visiting Nove Lazne,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23one of the most luxurious spa hotels available to travellers
0:19:23 > 0:19:24in the era of my guidebook.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I'm intrigued that during the sabre-rattling
0:19:31 > 0:19:33years of the early 20th century,
0:19:33 > 0:19:35the city was frequented by European royalty,
0:19:35 > 0:19:40including Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef I,
0:19:40 > 0:19:45Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and British King Edward VII.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50'Perhaps international diplomacy was conducted here
0:19:50 > 0:19:53'by monarchs in bathrobes.'
0:19:53 > 0:19:54Thank you very much.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59'Historian Dr Peter Sobel knows more.'
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Peter, my goodness. This is the most beautiful thing.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11It's called the Roman Bath and it comes from the heyday of the town.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16- When was the heyday? For example, in 1913, was that the heyday?- Yeah,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18it was just finishing, I would say.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22We used to have lots of Russian nobility, German nobility,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26- Austrian nobility.- And what is this extraordinary thing here?
0:20:26 > 0:20:28It's the CO2 bath.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32- Please, be careful when you move in it, not to stir the gas.- OK.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37'Not a gas to be trifled with, carbon dioxide can cause headaches,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40'dizziness, confusion and loss of consciousness
0:20:40 > 0:20:43'if it is inhaled in high concentration.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47'But this bath is said to improve lower limb circulation.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53'I wonder how the spa clients knew in 1913 which treatment was
0:20:53 > 0:20:55'right for them?'
0:20:55 > 0:20:59We'll sit down nice and gently.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02So what was the procedure? How did you get prescribed?
0:21:02 > 0:21:06- Did you begin by going to see a doctor?- You would first go to the doctor
0:21:06 > 0:21:10and he would prescribe what should you do for the next three weeks.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Also, at that time,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15it was very popular to treat yourself for obesity
0:21:15 > 0:21:22and Edward VII came nine times in 12 years to get rid of his obesity.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27The spa was used for treatment but also for political discussions.
0:21:27 > 0:21:33For instance, he discussed the Russian-Japanese War of 1905 with
0:21:33 > 0:21:35the American ambassador,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38so this is just an example of what was happening here at that time.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44The British king often stopped off on his way Marianske Lazne,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46then known as Marienbad,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50to visit his nephew, German Kaiser Wilhelm II.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53He would stay at the resort for three weeks at a time.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55The Uncle of Europe, as he was known,
0:21:55 > 0:22:00underwent X-ray treatment for a facial ulcer, which was unsuccessful,
0:22:00 > 0:22:05and also grappled with the problem which weighed most heavily upon him.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07By sitting in this chair, the weight-conscious
0:22:07 > 0:22:13British King Edward VII learnt the worst expressed in pounds or kilos.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19And here, he took his bath.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23But I'm afraid that his royal grandeur
0:22:23 > 0:22:27and body politic might have caused the waters to overflow.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32Marianske Lazne has been a gas so far,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34but I'm told what is to come is muddy marvellous.
0:22:35 > 0:22:36Hello.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41- Er, what is this? - You will take bath.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44- You're going to put that in there? - Mm-hm.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49I might as well wallow in a Scottish bog. It looks filthy!
0:22:49 > 0:22:52- Mm-hm.- Mm-hm.- More.- Mm-hm.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54- I get in there?- Mm-hm.- Mm-hm.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06# Mud, mud Glorious mud
0:23:06 > 0:23:09# Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood. #
0:23:10 > 0:23:12I'm not usually one to wallow,
0:23:12 > 0:23:16but it's time for another encounter with the brown stuff.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20Nice and warm actually.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23I feel as though I am being creosoted like an old garden fence.
0:23:29 > 0:23:35- MACHINE WHIRS - Ooh, that sinking feeling.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37HE LAUGHS
0:23:55 > 0:23:59If heads of state were conducting political business in Bohemian spas,
0:23:59 > 0:24:04on this new day, I want to discover what drove the economy here in 1913.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07And to find out, I'm heading 50 miles south-east.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12My next stop is Pilsen, which Bradshaw's tells me,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15"is on the River Radbusa, near the Bohemian frontier."
0:24:15 > 0:24:19It's a town I have always associated with Pilsner beer,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23but I believe it is also connected to industries much less frothy.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30Founded in 1295 on the crossroads of important north-south
0:24:30 > 0:24:33and east-west trade routes, Pilsen grew quickly.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37After being damaged by a fire in the 16th century,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41the city's heart was rebuilt by Italian architects.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46But modern Pilsen was shaped by the Industrial Revolution
0:24:46 > 0:24:48and a tempestuous 20th century.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54It's interesting coming to Pilsen
0:24:54 > 0:24:57because in Prague you feel now as if you are in western Europe
0:24:57 > 0:25:01and in Marienbad it is kind of the smell of fresh paint everywhere,
0:25:01 > 0:25:06but Pilsen is a little bit earthier, a little bit shabbier, a little bit
0:25:06 > 0:25:10reminiscent of that eastern Europe before the fall of the Iron Curtain.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22I am in Pilsen to visit one of the best-known Czech companies.
0:25:22 > 0:25:28In 1866, an ambitious 27-year-old named Emil Skoda
0:25:28 > 0:25:31became the chief engineer of the Valdstejn ironworks.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Three years later, Skoda bought the company and set about building
0:25:36 > 0:25:39one of Europe's greatest industrial complexes.
0:25:39 > 0:25:45In 1886, Emil ensured that the Skoda works had access to
0:25:45 > 0:25:49trains by building his own railway connection to the mainline.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55In Britain, we know Skoda as a car-maker.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58I want to know what the company did as the continent
0:25:58 > 0:26:01teetered on the brink of the First World War.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05Milan Tramik recently co-wrote the company's history.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07At the beginning of the 20th century,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09how important was this business?
0:26:09 > 0:26:16It was one of the most important industrial companies inside the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19What were his original products?
0:26:19 > 0:26:26Original products has been cast iron items, machinery, components.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31I think I came on the railway along there into Pilsen.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35How important was the railway to establishing the business here?
0:26:35 > 0:26:38It was one of the most important factors.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43In the 19th century, you had no highways so the only
0:26:43 > 0:26:46possible way to get coal here
0:26:46 > 0:26:51and other items like iron ore has been railways.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Skoda also delivered goods by train
0:26:58 > 0:27:02and by the turn of the 20th century, that included freighting
0:27:02 > 0:27:05high volumes of armaments to the Austro-Hungarian military.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10After the defeat of the Empire in the Great War, the company
0:27:10 > 0:27:14needed a peace time product and turned to building locomotives.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20In 1925, the company acquired a car manufacturer, which produces
0:27:20 > 0:27:22the cars that we know.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25After the Second World War, the firm was divided
0:27:25 > 0:27:28and this company now produces state-of-the-art vehicles
0:27:28 > 0:27:30which run not on roads but on tracks.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38Beautiful, new locomotive. The most modern electronics.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41200 kilometres is the maximum speed.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44How fast can I go on this test track?
0:27:45 > 0:27:50Right here, we will go, at best, 40 kilometres per hour.
0:27:50 > 0:27:51So, how do I start?
0:27:51 > 0:27:56You have to release the brakes. Now please activate the whistle.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58WHISTLE
0:28:00 > 0:28:04Whoa! Locomotive goes off so quickly.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07It really has fantastic acceleration, doesn't it?
0:28:07 > 0:28:09TRAIN WHISTLE
0:28:11 > 0:28:12This track seems awfully short
0:28:12 > 0:28:17and I appear to be approaching a tram at rather high speed.
0:28:17 > 0:28:18Please brake.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22OK.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29I'm glad you're here, Milan.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32Time to put the brake on my day.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38I could spend my spare hour contemplating the enormous
0:28:38 > 0:28:42achievements of Emil Skoda but, like most travellers,
0:28:42 > 0:28:44I sometimes need to recharge.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51I'm very interested in the history of trains, but let's face it,
0:28:51 > 0:28:53a locomotive is not an item
0:28:53 > 0:28:56that most of us buy even once in our lives.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59By contrast with the other famous product from Pilsen.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01Cheers.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13This train will deliver me
0:29:13 > 0:29:16to the next destination of my 1913 adventure.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20A clue to its location is that this diesel locomotive is not
0:29:20 > 0:29:23manufactured by Skoda but by Siemens.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29I'll soon be crossing the border into Germany.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32Historically, the frontier between Bavaria and Bohemia
0:29:32 > 0:29:36has been one of the thick lines on the map.
0:29:36 > 0:29:37Before World War I,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41it divided the German Empire from that of Austria-Hungary.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44After World War I, Germany was on one side
0:29:44 > 0:29:46and Czechoslovakia on the other.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50After World War II, it formed part of the Iron Curtain
0:29:50 > 0:29:53with capitalism on one side and communism on the other.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03My journey has taken me across the Czech border into Bavaria,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06a land of legend and romanticism.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09I'll then discover railway history in Nuremberg
0:30:09 > 0:30:12and finally explore how Munich developed
0:30:12 > 0:30:14from high culture to hi tech.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19GUARD SPEAKS CZECH/GERMAN
0:30:19 > 0:30:21Tickets, please.
0:30:21 > 0:30:22- Dekuji.- Dekuji.
0:30:26 > 0:30:27Dekuji. Danke.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29Danke. Dekuji.
0:30:44 > 0:30:49I've alighted at Furth im Wald, a village of about 10,000 people
0:30:49 > 0:30:53with a small station, but line after line of sidings,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56which, I suppose, tells us something about, historically,
0:30:56 > 0:31:01the geographical, strategic and political importance of that border.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09Furth im Wald in Eastern Bavaria
0:31:09 > 0:31:12sits just a couple of miles from the Czech border.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15Because of its perilous geography, I hear
0:31:15 > 0:31:20that its people are worried about invasion from the East,
0:31:20 > 0:31:26a fear that assumes a monstrous form in their nightmares.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32I never saw a place more festooned with images of dragons.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36There must be something that lies behind this village's obsession
0:31:36 > 0:31:38with scaly, fire-breathing creatures.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51- I notice everywhere in the village there are dragons.- OK.
0:31:51 > 0:31:52Why are so many dragons?
0:31:52 > 0:31:58This is the only town in the world, we have a dragon.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01- Drachenstich. Don't you know it?- No.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05- While so many dragons in Furth im Wald?- It's our history.
0:32:05 > 0:32:10- The dragon is in the hall. - The dragon's in the hall?
0:32:10 > 0:32:12In the hall.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18Every year in August, there is a big festival here in the town
0:32:18 > 0:32:23with a knight and a dragon and a princess.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26Does your dog like dragons?
0:32:26 > 0:32:29No, no, no, no.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32Who plays the dragon? Who is the dragon?
0:32:32 > 0:32:35- No, we really have a dragon. - You really have a dragon?- Yes.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40I'm on a quest to meet this mythical creature
0:32:40 > 0:32:43and local teacher Josef Kraus has agreed to tell me
0:32:43 > 0:32:48what Drachenstich, Furth im Wald's annual festival, is all about.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52There has always been a big rivalry between the East and the West.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56The East is represented by the Bohemians and the west,
0:32:56 > 0:32:58in this case, by Bavaria.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02So it's the fight between the good and the evil
0:33:02 > 0:33:06and the evil is represented by the dragon that comes from the East.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08What do you use for a dragon?
0:33:08 > 0:33:10I mean, you don't have a real dragon, do you?
0:33:10 > 0:33:13Well, we've built an enormous monster.
0:33:13 > 0:33:14- I'd love to see that!- You will.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18From Europe to China to India,
0:33:18 > 0:33:22dragons have a place in folklore around the world.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25Furth im Wald's story is founded on the legend of St George
0:33:25 > 0:33:28and every year since the 16th century,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31thousands of people have visited to see its dragon.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33Its latest incarnation
0:33:33 > 0:33:36is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records
0:33:36 > 0:33:39as the largest four-legged walking machine on the planet.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46That is absolutely superb! I have never seen such an enormous dragon!
0:33:46 > 0:33:49DRAGON ROARS
0:33:49 > 0:33:51Brilliant, brilliant.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58Look at those enormous jaws and teeth!
0:33:58 > 0:34:00Whoa!
0:34:02 > 0:34:05I thought it was looking at me there.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07Absolutely brilliant monster.
0:34:07 > 0:34:12Smoke, fire, swivelling eyes, massive jaws and teeth.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15Everything you could possibly want in a dragon.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20Sandro Bauer is one of the dragon's creators.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23He handles one of its remote controls.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25And he is the town's mayor.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29I'm just so impressed by your dragon. It is huge!
0:34:29 > 0:34:31What are its statistics?
0:34:31 > 0:34:34It has dimensions of 60 metres in the length,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37four metres by more than five metres in the height
0:34:37 > 0:34:41and it has a wingspan wide of more than 12 metres
0:34:41 > 0:34:42and a weight of 11 tonnes.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45My goodness!
0:34:45 > 0:34:49- What does it cost to get a dragon like that?- Well, that's a secret.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51THEY LAUGH
0:34:51 > 0:34:53- Who fights the dragon? - We have a knight.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55Every year we have a new knight, a new young man
0:34:55 > 0:34:59and it's a big carnival for the young man to be the knight.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01May I cast you?
0:35:01 > 0:35:02I thought you wanted a young man!
0:35:02 > 0:35:04DRAGON SNARLS
0:35:08 > 0:35:11If you're having trouble with a dragon, call a dragon slayer.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17En garde, dragon!
0:35:26 > 0:35:29'I've taken on a number of big beasts over the years,
0:35:29 > 0:35:31'but none as fiery as this.'
0:35:36 > 0:35:37Aaaargh!
0:35:39 > 0:35:42- I think I've killed him, by george! - CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:35:42 > 0:35:45Thanks, Michael, you made him dead. For next year, we will let you know.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47Oh.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05Yesterday I battled a fibreglass dragon.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07Today I'm riding another iron horse.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22My next stop will be Nuremberg, Nurnberg in German.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24My guidebook tells me that it's on the River Pegnitz.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28"The most striking and interesting of medieval towns,
0:36:28 > 0:36:30"it's now the most important
0:36:30 > 0:36:34"manufacturing and commercial town of South Germany."
0:36:34 > 0:36:37I'm thinking that the railways must have played an important part
0:36:37 > 0:36:39in that industrialisation.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Remembered now for Adolf Hitler's rallies
0:36:47 > 0:36:50and the war crimes trials after the Second World War,
0:36:50 > 0:36:54the once independent imperial city of Nuremberg was at the peak
0:36:54 > 0:36:58of its economic power in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Travellers came here in 1913
0:37:02 > 0:37:05to admire the impressive medieval old town.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15Bradshaw's comments that "within the walls of Nuremberg there is
0:37:15 > 0:37:19"hardly a street that isn't an object of beauty and interest
0:37:19 > 0:37:21"so that the town may be justly regarded
0:37:21 > 0:37:24"as a great museum of medieval art."
0:37:24 > 0:37:25Unfortunately, most of it was destroyed
0:37:25 > 0:37:27during the Second World War,
0:37:27 > 0:37:32but an alleyway like this gives us a hint of the charm that was lost.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41Nuremberg became part of Bavaria in 1806.
0:37:41 > 0:37:46Three decades later, this impressive medieval town made German history.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52The country's first steam locomotive service
0:37:52 > 0:37:54ran on the four-mile Ludwigs Bahn Line
0:37:54 > 0:37:57between Nuremberg and the city of Furth.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02In 1935, to celebrate the railway's centenary,
0:38:02 > 0:38:05this replica of its original locomotive,
0:38:05 > 0:38:07the Adler or Eagle, was built.
0:38:08 > 0:38:09WHISTLE BLOWS
0:38:11 > 0:38:15Still running, it's reminiscent of George Stephenson's Rocket
0:38:15 > 0:38:17and I'm hoping that
0:38:17 > 0:38:21the curator of the city's transport museum knows why.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24Where did the original locomotive come from?
0:38:24 > 0:38:29The original locomotive came from the Stephenson Locomotive Works
0:38:29 > 0:38:32- in Newcastle upon Tyne. - That was Mr George Stephenson?
0:38:32 > 0:38:34It was George Stephenson.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36And how on earth did you get a locomotive
0:38:36 > 0:38:38from Britain to Nuremberg in those days?
0:38:38 > 0:38:42Packed in 17 boxes and transported on a ship
0:38:42 > 0:38:46and then on a river barge to Cologne
0:38:46 > 0:38:51where the River Rhine was so low that they had to load it out
0:38:51 > 0:38:54and bring on a wagon on the street to Nuremberg.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57And who knew how to put it all together?
0:38:57 > 0:39:02Mr George Stephenson sent a mechanic, Mr William Wilson,
0:39:02 > 0:39:08and he set together all the parts of the locomotive.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12OK, would you want to fill the firebox now?
0:39:12 > 0:39:13It would be my privilege.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19- It's tough being a fireman, you know.- You do it very good.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23It really is extraordinarily hot in there, glowing coals.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27What happened to Wilson after that?
0:39:27 > 0:39:32He became the locomotive driver, a very famous citizen
0:39:32 > 0:39:36and people only used the train
0:39:36 > 0:39:40when Mr Wilson was standing on this place on the locomotive.
0:39:40 > 0:39:41And he...
0:39:43 > 0:39:48He made the success of the Ludwig's Railway in the first 20 years.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50WHISTLE BLOWS
0:39:56 > 0:39:58It's fascinating that George Stephenson,
0:39:58 > 0:40:01one of the heroes of Britain's early railway history,
0:40:01 > 0:40:05played such an important role in Bavaria's too.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09Stepping now onto one of Germany's modern ICE trains,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11I'm struck by how dramatically rail travel
0:40:11 > 0:40:16and passenger expectations have changed since the 1830s.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20German doctors feared that when the trains were first introduced,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23the high speed would drive people mad.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25Well, this is the Inter City Express
0:40:25 > 0:40:29and the newest variant travels at up to 200 miles per hour
0:40:29 > 0:40:31and I'm still feeling relatively sane.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41My next stop is Munich,
0:40:41 > 0:40:46transformed in the 19th century by Bavarian King Ludwig I
0:40:46 > 0:40:50into a neoclassical gem and a cultural heartland.
0:40:54 > 0:40:55Much has changed since then,
0:40:55 > 0:40:58but I'm determined to find out what remains
0:40:58 > 0:41:01of King Ludwig's appreciation of the finer things in life.
0:41:09 > 0:41:14Munich station is big and bold and new and full of food outlets.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17You don't get any sense of history here,
0:41:17 > 0:41:20except perhaps the size, because this was, after all,
0:41:20 > 0:41:23a station fit for the capital of Bavaria.
0:41:30 > 0:41:31If Munich's older buildings
0:41:31 > 0:41:34are a clue to the city's innate grandeur...
0:41:37 > 0:41:41..the Town Hall confirms its early 20th century confidence.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47Bradshaw's tells me that this is the Neues Rathaus, the New Town Hall.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49Indeed, it's neo-Gothic.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53It had been opened shortly before my Bradshaw's guide was written.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56It talks of a city that is wealthy and wants to show off,
0:41:56 > 0:41:59but with all the little figures on the outside,
0:41:59 > 0:42:01this architecture is also fun.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06And just around the corner from the Marienplatz
0:42:06 > 0:42:08is the fun part of town.
0:42:09 > 0:42:14Viktualienmarkt has been Munich's central food market since 1807
0:42:14 > 0:42:17and is also home to its 800-seat beer garden,
0:42:17 > 0:42:21a very popular destination for both tourists and locals.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26- So, are these your beers? - This is all mine.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29Do you come here every day and fill the fountain with beer?
0:42:29 > 0:42:34- Every day, that's correct, yes. - He says this is the Munich life.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36How did you bring them here?
0:42:36 > 0:42:38Ah!
0:42:38 > 0:42:40- Let me see that.- With this trolley, with this trolley.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44- That's your beer suitcase, yes?- That is my beer suitcase.- You enjoy it.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47- You may be here a while, I think. - We will!- Bye-bye.
0:42:47 > 0:42:48Danke.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57Steered by an advertisement in my guidebook, I've chosen to
0:42:57 > 0:43:01stay at the Bayerischer Hof, one of Munich's oldest hotels.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06Rebuilt in painstaking detail after the Second World War,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09the hotel first opened in 1841
0:43:09 > 0:43:14and I hear that it has a connection to King Ludwig I.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17- Good evening, Ingrid.- Hello. - How lovely to see you.
0:43:17 > 0:43:21'The current owner is Ingrid Volkhardt.' Thank you very much.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27Tell me, why was the hotel built in the first place?
0:43:27 > 0:43:33The story is that King Ludwig actually asked the hotel to be built
0:43:33 > 0:43:35in order for his guests to have a home
0:43:35 > 0:43:41and once in the week they say he had his personal bath in the hotel
0:43:41 > 0:43:46because the hotel was the first place in Munich to have bathtubs.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48Apart from King Ludwig,
0:43:48 > 0:43:51you must have had many distinguished guests over the years?
0:43:51 > 0:43:56One of the really great people staying in the hotel was Franz Kafka,
0:43:56 > 0:43:59who really is my personal favourite author
0:43:59 > 0:44:04and also people of politics, church, show business.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07A place full of celebrities. I'll see if I can fit in.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20On my last day in Bavaria, I'm hoping to discover
0:44:20 > 0:44:24what made this royal city tick, both culturally and scientifically,
0:44:24 > 0:44:26on the eve of the Great War.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33What was life like here in 1913?
0:44:36 > 0:44:39At the time of my guidebook, no visit to Munich was complete
0:44:39 > 0:44:43without sampling the Weisswurst, or white sausage.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Sepp Kraetz has invited me to his restaurant
0:44:46 > 0:44:48to sample the boiled Bavarian banger.
0:44:50 > 0:44:55- Hello, sir.- Hello, Michael. Nice to see you.- Very nice to see you, sir.
0:44:55 > 0:45:00So, I've come to try your... Thank you. ..your famous white sausage.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04That's a good idea. A very good idea. Waitress.
0:45:04 > 0:45:09- Please, bring us very hot white sausages.- Ha-ha!
0:45:09 > 0:45:13- Hello.- Ah! White...- That doesn't look like a sausage to me!
0:45:15 > 0:45:18- Oh. Looks good, huh? - It looks very good indeed.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22Now, excuse me, we're sitting here in the morning
0:45:22 > 0:45:25with sausage and beer, is this normal?!
0:45:25 > 0:45:29Yeah, we say in Germany or in Bavaria, it's a second breakfast.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33- Cheers!- Cheers, Michael! - To my second breakfast!- Yes!
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Weisswurst, first created from veal and pork
0:45:38 > 0:45:40by a Bavarian butcher in 1857,
0:45:40 > 0:45:43is encased in a skin.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47And I'm told that there's a skill to extracting the succulent filling.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50Now, sir, how do I eat my sausage?
0:45:50 > 0:45:57The first one is you cut like a piece of... Mouthful, and then you do this.
0:45:57 > 0:46:02- So, I pin down the skin...- Like the doctor.- Oh, look, and rotate...
0:46:02 > 0:46:05- Yes...- ..the flesh of the sausage out of the skin.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07Oh, that's a very good method.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13- Mmm.- Always you have to drink between the sausage and the pretzel
0:46:13 > 0:46:15- the weiss beer.- Cheers!
0:46:19 > 0:46:22- I could get used to this, I think. - Thank you!- You're welcome.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24OK, in the old time,
0:46:24 > 0:46:28the people ate the white sausage from the hand in the mouth.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30I'll show you. A little bit...
0:46:32 > 0:46:34- It's called "zuzeln".- Zuzeln.- Zuzeln.
0:46:37 > 0:46:38Mmm!
0:46:40 > 0:46:42So, I dip in the mustard...
0:46:42 > 0:46:44I put it in the mouth...
0:46:44 > 0:46:46I squeeze my lips together...
0:46:49 > 0:46:53..and the sausage pops into my mouth leaving the skin behind.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56- Works good, huh? - It works really well.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58For the first time you do very well.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04- Thank you.- Prost.- You've taught me lots of interesting things today.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26Bradshaw's tells me that modern Munich is especially identified
0:47:26 > 0:47:28with progress in German art
0:47:28 > 0:47:32and then lists a very large number of galleries,
0:47:32 > 0:47:35so the time has come for me to have a brush
0:47:35 > 0:47:37with the artistic scene of the early 20th century.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Whilst much of Europe was awash with Art Nouveau,
0:47:43 > 0:47:49in 1912, Bavarian-based artists Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky
0:47:49 > 0:47:53edited an almanac of art and essays which became one of the most
0:47:53 > 0:47:56influential art books of the 20th century,
0:47:56 > 0:47:59Der Blaue Reiter, or Blue Rider.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02The book introduced a sceptical world
0:48:02 > 0:48:05to a group of German-Jewish and Russian artists
0:48:05 > 0:48:07who, rather than simply portray their subjects,
0:48:07 > 0:48:10used colour to express their feelings.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13They were amongst the first Expressionists.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17Annegret Hoberg curates the Blue Rider collection
0:48:17 > 0:48:19at Munich's Lenbachhaus gallery.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26Here now we are in the large room of August Macke and Franz Marc.
0:48:26 > 0:48:31One of the main pieces of this artist, of Marc, is, of course, his Blue Horse.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33The Blue Horse one.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36Now, yes, indeed, I recognise this painting.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40Why has this become the icon of the movement?
0:48:40 > 0:48:43Because it's a kind of symbol. The horse is blue.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47This was the colour of the spirit for Kandinsky and for Franz Marc.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50The blue was the symbol of spirit.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53But it's also the posture of the horse.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56It's standing there like an human being.
0:48:56 > 0:49:01It symbolises a kind of spiritualisation of art
0:49:01 > 0:49:04via the motif of the animal.
0:49:06 > 0:49:11Moscow-born Wassily Kandinsky, trained in music,
0:49:11 > 0:49:13is renowned for approaching his use of colour
0:49:13 > 0:49:15with a musician's sensibility.
0:49:16 > 0:49:21In 1909, the artist who lived in the Bavarian village of Murnau
0:49:21 > 0:49:24painted what Annegret thinks might turn out to be
0:49:24 > 0:49:27my favourite Blue Rider piece.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30I'm delighted to see that Kandinsky painted a train.
0:49:30 > 0:49:35- Why did he do that?- Because it ran beneath his house in Murnau
0:49:35 > 0:49:39and it was, of course, important for him in a way
0:49:39 > 0:49:43because he went between Munich and Murnau by train,
0:49:43 > 0:49:46so the train was an element of their daily life.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50And what happened to the artists of the Blue Rider movement?
0:49:50 > 0:49:52That's an important question
0:49:52 > 0:49:55because when the World War first broke out,
0:49:55 > 0:49:59August Macke, who was only 26 years old,
0:49:59 > 0:50:03he was one of the first who were killed in September 1914
0:50:03 > 0:50:08and Franz Marc was killed in Verdun in March 1916.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12So this very, very brilliant movement that arose in Munich
0:50:12 > 0:50:15at the beginning of the 20th century was very short-lived?
0:50:15 > 0:50:16Short-lived, yes.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23In the years leading up to the First World War,
0:50:23 > 0:50:28Munich's entrepreneurs were less concerned with avant-garde artistic movements
0:50:28 > 0:50:33than with placing their city at the forefront of cutting-edge industry.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42A century later, it's a trend that continues,
0:50:42 > 0:50:45with some of Germany's best-known companies headquartered here,
0:50:45 > 0:50:48alongside leading seats of learning
0:50:48 > 0:50:50like the city's technical university.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02I could hardly come to one of the world's most advanced countries
0:51:02 > 0:51:05without taking a peep at today's Germany.
0:51:05 > 0:51:10'I'm at this impressive campus to meet researchers who are developing
0:51:10 > 0:51:15'flight stabiliser software designed to help inexperienced private pilots
0:51:15 > 0:51:17'to land light aircraft safely.'
0:51:17 > 0:51:20- Hello.- Hello.- I'm Michael.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23- Can I get in the driver's seat? - Yeah, really!
0:51:23 > 0:51:25This obviously is a flight simulator,
0:51:25 > 0:51:27but what is special about it?
0:51:27 > 0:51:29What are you doing with it at this university?
0:51:29 > 0:51:31We use it for controller development
0:51:31 > 0:51:34and we want the pilot to fly the aircraft smooth
0:51:34 > 0:51:36and we wanted to reduce the workload of the pilot.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40- So, this is not about training pilots, it's about developing software?- Right.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43How can you best demonstrate to me what it is you're doing here?
0:51:43 > 0:51:47So I think the best way to demonstrate it is that we make a flight.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53So, today as I've never flown an aircraft before,
0:51:53 > 0:51:56I can see the runway there, I think it's Munich Airport.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00- I can also see that it's raining. - Yeah.- Is the weather quite bad, actually?
0:52:00 > 0:52:04- Yeah, it's really bad. You have much turbulences.- Right. Thank you very much(!)
0:52:07 > 0:52:09So, now you can control the aircraft.
0:52:09 > 0:52:14- It's very sensitive controls. - Yeah.- Whoa!
0:52:14 > 0:52:16I don't think I'd like to be a passenger!
0:52:16 > 0:52:18Now it's easier because I've put the controller on.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24- I'm flying now towards the runway. - Yeah.- Keeping the nose...
0:52:24 > 0:52:27- Not too much.- Not too much. A little bit up again.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32The stabilisers are helping me because it's not as bumpy as it was.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36- I'm swaying towards the runway. - Yeah, nose down. A little bit up.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40A little bit up, please.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43OK, it's going to be a hard landing.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:52:49 > 0:52:51I think the best...
0:52:51 > 0:52:54I don't think your stabilisers helped me quite enough.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56- HE SIGHS - But it did actually feel...
0:52:56 > 0:52:59It did feel better even though I still managed not quite to
0:52:59 > 0:53:03get onto the runway. Thank you very much and what a brilliant project.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06You won't find many pilots as bad as me.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08Yeah, no problem. You're welcome.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19Some say that the final destination of my 1913 adventure,
0:53:19 > 0:53:22situated on an island on Munich's River Isar
0:53:22 > 0:53:26paved the way for the city's early 20th century development
0:53:26 > 0:53:31from a city of art and culture to a hub of hi-tech excellence.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34Bradshaw's tells me that in the Deutsches Museum
0:53:34 > 0:53:38are collections relating to natural science and engineering.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42Kings and countries had exhibited their treasures of art
0:53:42 > 0:53:46since time immemorial but the idea of displaying
0:53:46 > 0:53:50the artefacts of science was new at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:53:55 > 0:54:00In 1903, German electricity pioneer Oskar von Miller
0:54:00 > 0:54:03unveiled plans to build the Deutsches Museum,
0:54:03 > 0:54:06an impressive and visionary institution
0:54:06 > 0:54:09that now holds more than 100,000 exhibits.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16Dr Willie Fussell is in charge of the archives.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19- Willie, hello. - Hello, Michael. How are you?
0:54:19 > 0:54:23Tell me, what was the origin of the idea of having a science museum,
0:54:23 > 0:54:25a Deutsches Museum, in Munich?
0:54:25 > 0:54:29The original idea was, in 1891,
0:54:29 > 0:54:33when the founder of the Deutsches Museum, Oskar von Miller,
0:54:33 > 0:54:35made an exhibition in Frankfurt.
0:54:35 > 0:54:42Oskar von Miller was, in this time, a very famous engineer in Germany.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46He was a co-founder of the AEG, for example,
0:54:46 > 0:54:52and he'd built up several power stations in Germany.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57Now visited by over a million people every year,
0:54:57 > 0:54:59the museum opened its first temporary exhibition
0:54:59 > 0:55:03in 1906 in the former National Museum building.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07The very next day, the foundation stone was laid for this,
0:55:07 > 0:55:11the project's permanent home on Coal Island.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14The ambitious venture was funded by benefactors
0:55:14 > 0:55:17who were impressed by the support that Oskar von Miller
0:55:17 > 0:55:19had garnered for his big idea.
0:55:22 > 0:55:27Here is an original diploma from the German Emperor, William II.
0:55:27 > 0:55:32- That's beautiful. - Have a look inside.- Stunning!- Wow!
0:55:32 > 0:55:37Yeah, the writing, the signature of Wilhelm II,
0:55:37 > 0:55:41dated 1906, November 13th.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45- So it had absolute royal support. - Yes, he had.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51In 1934, Oskar von Miller suffered a heart attack
0:55:51 > 0:55:55and died hours after visiting his beloved museum.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58As I pass through it, I'm impressed by his legacy.
0:55:58 > 0:56:01A collection which illustrates the pivotal moments
0:56:01 > 0:56:04from the history of science and technology.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06Moments that have shaped our lives.
0:56:09 > 0:56:10In the aircraft hall,
0:56:10 > 0:56:16a replica of aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal's recreational glider
0:56:16 > 0:56:19is exhibited next to the Fokker triplane,
0:56:19 > 0:56:21flown during the Great War by the Red Baron.
0:56:22 > 0:56:27Has conflict played a big part in scientific progress, I wonder.
0:56:28 > 0:56:33Technical development is forced by wars, by military, of course.
0:56:33 > 0:56:38Especially many aircraft are developed from World War I
0:56:38 > 0:56:39to World War II.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43On the other hand, they transfer back to peaceful uses,
0:56:43 > 0:56:45as we can see in the Deutsches Museum, too.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48In the last 100 years, there's been a transformation in Munich
0:56:48 > 0:56:52from a city of art to a city of science as well.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55Do you think Oskar von Miller played an important part in that?
0:56:55 > 0:56:59Yes, I do, because nowadays,
0:56:59 > 0:57:03Munich has several universities, well-known worldwide.
0:57:03 > 0:57:08- And we should thank Oskar von Miller for that?- Yes. We should do.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23This guidebook was published in an age of innocence.
0:57:23 > 0:57:27In the centuries since, the Germans have been crushed twice
0:57:27 > 0:57:30and their cities razed to the ground.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34The Bohemians who, in 1913, dreamt of liberty,
0:57:34 > 0:57:36were enslaved for 50 years,
0:57:36 > 0:57:39first by Nazis, then by Communists.
0:57:39 > 0:57:44The Bohemians and the Bavarians retain a distinctive culture today,
0:57:44 > 0:57:48rooted in their history as independent kingdoms.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51And where the Iron Curtain once descended,
0:57:51 > 0:57:54nothing now blocks the tracks.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57Citizens and their ideas move freely.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05'Next time, I visit France and Spain,
0:58:05 > 0:58:08'where I'll eat fashionable cake in Bordeaux...'
0:58:08 > 0:58:11It's named after the shape of the mould and it's a groovy shape!
0:58:11 > 0:58:13It IS a groovy shape!
0:58:13 > 0:58:16'..I'll leave my stomach behind in San Sebastian...'
0:58:16 > 0:58:19- Oh, dear, we're going up again!- Yes!
0:58:19 > 0:58:21Argh!
0:58:21 > 0:58:25'..and prepare to dip my toes in Edwardian-style.'
0:58:25 > 0:58:28- What do you think of my, erm...? - I thought you were from prison at first.
0:58:28 > 0:58:30Did...? Prison?!
0:58:33 > 0:58:36Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd