0:00:04 > 0:00:06'I'm embarking on a new railway adventure
0:00:06 > 0:00:09'that will take me to the heart of Europe.'
0:00:11 > 0:00:12I'll be using this,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,
0:00:15 > 0:00:19dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world
0:00:19 > 0:00:22of foreign travel for the British tourist.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24'It told travellers where to go,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27'what to see and how to navigate
0:00:27 > 0:00:30'the thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossing 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 > 0:00:42'Where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.'
0:00:42 > 0:00:46I want to rediscover that lost Europe that, in 1913,
0:00:46 > 0:00:49couldn't know that its way of life
0:00:49 > 0:00:52would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09I'm continuing my journey through Germany.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11I began in the city of Freiburg,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15gateway to the beautiful Black Forest.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19From there, I travelled north to Heidelberg.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Today, I'll explore Germany's financial powerhouse, Frankfurt,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27before continuing to the university city of Gottingen.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32I'll then travel 75 miles to Hanover, where my journey ends.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Along the way, in Frankfurt, I'll get to know Goethe,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40the German equivalent of Shakespeare.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Throughout the whole 19th century,
0:01:45 > 0:01:46he became something of
0:01:46 > 0:01:50an identification mark of German-ness
0:01:50 > 0:01:51for the Germans.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55I'll get WIND of how early 20th-century innovation
0:01:55 > 0:01:58shapes German transport today.
0:01:58 > 0:01:59Whoa!
0:01:59 > 0:02:02Blow me down!
0:02:02 > 0:02:04Three, two, one...
0:02:06 > 0:02:08I can't wait to be a passenger on that thing.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14And I'll test drive a state-of-the-art tram.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Move over, Hanover.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20URGENT BEEPING
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Oh, sorry. Sorry.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25HE LAUGHS
0:02:27 > 0:02:29Today, I'm in Frankfurt.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Although the city on the River Main
0:02:32 > 0:02:35was already a financial centre by 1913,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39today's skyline is not something that Edwardians would recognise.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43The first skyscraper went up in the 1970s,
0:02:43 > 0:02:45and they kept on coming.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49The city has been dubbed Mainhattan, after New York.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Frankfurt's banking families, like the Rothschilds,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28helped to lay its modern economic foundations
0:03:28 > 0:03:31in the 18th and 19th centuries.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Now this is a world-class financial centre,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36home to the European Central Bank
0:03:36 > 0:03:38and Germany's largest stock exchange,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41which moved to this building in 1879.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49I'm receiving a behind-the-scenes tour of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
0:03:49 > 0:03:51from spokesman Patrick Kalbhenn.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Hello, Patrick.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Hi, Michael. Nice to welcome you here.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Thank you. The first thing that strikes me is just how quiet it is.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01I see a whole load of people down here,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04but there's no sort of commotion, nobody's yelling anything.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07- How does it all work?- Well, that's the impression many people have,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10when they come here they think that it's very loud here
0:04:10 > 0:04:12and people are crying, but that isn't the case any more.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14We have the floor trading over here
0:04:14 > 0:04:16and that is a fully automatic system,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19which was introduced in 1997.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22And trading is possible from wherever you are in the world,
0:04:22 > 0:04:23you only need a computer.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26So we have a volume of about six billion euros a day,
0:04:26 > 0:04:31so that's about 85% of stock-exchange turnover in Germany.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35'The Frankfurt stock exchange has come a long way
0:04:35 > 0:04:36'since the 16th century,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39'when business was conducted in the open air.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42'The German economy is Europe's largest.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46'Its top 30 companies are listed here on the Dax.'
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Here on the floor we've got displayed various stocks,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54represented by three letters.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Why are they lighting up from time to time?
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Because here we have the biggest German stocks.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03If the light is green, then the stock price is rising,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06and if it's red then, the stock price is falling.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17I'm investing in lunch,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20so I'm making a pit stop at a famous Frankfurt sausage shop
0:05:20 > 0:05:24that's been in business since before my guidebook was published.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30While I'm in this city, there's one more place that I'm hoping to find
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and, according to my book, it's just around the corner.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43Bradshaw's tells me that at the Grosse Hirschgraben, number 28,
0:05:43 > 0:05:47is the house of Johann Wolfgang Goethe,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49where he was born in 1749.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53"Interesting rooms, a museum and a library."
0:05:53 > 0:05:57Goethe brought German literature to the attention of the world.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01He is a sort of German equivalent of Dante, of Voltaire
0:06:01 > 0:06:02and of Shakespeare.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09- Hello, Anne.- Hello, Michael.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Welcome to the Frankfurt Goethe House.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16A wonderful house, a huge house. Not at all what I expected.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25'Professor Anne Bohnenkamp-Renken is the director of the Goethe House.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28'It was restored to the 18th-century original
0:06:28 > 0:06:30'after its destruction in World War II.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34'Goethe published over 100 volumes in his lifetime
0:06:34 > 0:06:36'and achieved world-wide fame
0:06:36 > 0:06:39'throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41'Visiting his home would have been
0:06:41 > 0:06:44'high on the Edwardian tourist itinerary.'
0:06:47 > 0:06:50A wonderful room. The father's library?
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Yes, the father's library and the room
0:06:52 > 0:06:54where the children got their lessons.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00Anne, I've heard it said that Goethe is to the German language
0:07:00 > 0:07:03as Shakespeare is to the English language. Would you agree with that?
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Yes, I think so, one...could put Goethe in this place.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Goethe's at first poet,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Shakespeare was very important for him
0:07:12 > 0:07:14to invent himself as a poet.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Shakespeare was a great inspiration for Goethe.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21He was very fascinated by the, erm...
0:07:21 > 0:07:23free and original style of Shakespeare
0:07:23 > 0:07:25in comparison to the French classicism.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30And he said it was like someone must feel who has been blind
0:07:30 > 0:07:34all his life and then suddenly learns to see the world,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37and it was like this for him reading Shakespeare.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43'As well as being influenced by Shakespeare's realism,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46'Goethe wrote in German rather than French,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48'which was the language of the elite.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52'He was the first German poet to be accessible to the masses.'
0:07:54 > 0:07:56As the Germans during the 19th century
0:07:56 > 0:07:59begin to develop, er, more self-awareness
0:07:59 > 0:08:03and eventually develop a political German unity,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06do you think that what Goethe had done for the German language
0:08:06 > 0:08:08was important in that process?
0:08:08 > 0:08:09Goethe was putting in words
0:08:09 > 0:08:12something which was in the air of his time.
0:08:12 > 0:08:18Goethe became important as a poet for...for the nation building
0:08:18 > 0:08:20which took place in the 19th century
0:08:20 > 0:08:25and he of course was one of the most important poets in German language.
0:08:25 > 0:08:31Throughout the whole 19th century, he became something of an
0:08:31 > 0:08:36identification mark of German-ness for the Germans later on, yes.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44'Goethe became a national cultural icon and a unifying figure.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48'It's a role that he still occupies, over 200 years later.'
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Morning.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Thank you very much indeed. Thank you. Bye-bye.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18I'm up bright and early to catch my train from Frankfurt.
0:09:18 > 0:09:23I'm travelling almost 150 miles north towards my next stop.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37TRAIN ANNOUNCEMENT IN GERMAN
0:09:41 > 0:09:45My next stop will be Gottingen, which Bradshaw's tells me
0:09:45 > 0:09:49is "an old university town having picturesque streets.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51"Tablets indicate houses where
0:09:51 > 0:09:55"learned men associated with the university lived."
0:09:55 > 0:09:58That list of men was growing.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01In the years before the publication of my guidebook,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04there had been four Nobel Prize winners.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06This was or was to be
0:10:06 > 0:10:11the university of Max Planck, Max Born, Julius Robert Oppenheimer,
0:10:11 > 0:10:15men whose contribution to science would change Germany
0:10:15 > 0:10:16and indeed the world.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Around the time that my guidebook was published,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Germany was leading the way in science and technology.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36Inventions like aspirin and the diesel engine,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39along with concepts such as quantum theory,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42meant re-evaluating our human capabilities
0:10:42 > 0:10:45and our position in the universe.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Gottingen University, founded in the early 18th century,
0:10:51 > 0:10:55was synonymous with innovation by the late 19th.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59It's a legacy that the town is still proud to display.
0:11:03 > 0:11:08The fountain of the Goose Girl is festooned with balloons and flowers
0:11:08 > 0:11:10that have been left by exuberant students.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Indeed, when they receive their doctorates,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16they have the custom of climbing up and kissing the girl's face.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20She's reputedly one of the most kissed girls in Germany.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28In the 19th century, the students here began to concern themselves
0:11:28 > 0:11:30with more than academia,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34as their country was gripped in turn by war, revolution
0:11:34 > 0:11:36and a growing nationalistic fervour.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40I've arranged to meet up with Dr Marian Fussel
0:11:40 > 0:11:42from the university.
0:11:43 > 0:11:44Oh, hello, Michael.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47- Hello, Marian.- Nice to see you. - Well met.
0:11:48 > 0:11:49It's very good to see you.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53- I wanted to talk to you about the Burschenschaften.- Oh, yeah.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55What is a Burschenschaften?
0:11:55 > 0:11:57A Burschenschaften is a student organisation,
0:11:57 > 0:11:59but they are also lifetime organisations.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02You join for a lifetime and you don't stop
0:12:02 > 0:12:05being a member of that corporation after you're studying,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09and they became in the 19th century very politicised organisations
0:12:09 > 0:12:11striving for German unification.
0:12:14 > 0:12:20'The first groups, formed in 1815, attracted thousands of members.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23After unification was achieved in 1871,
0:12:23 > 0:12:27fraternities adopted distinctive military-style clothing
0:12:27 > 0:12:31and behaved so badly that the university
0:12:31 > 0:12:33had to establish its own prison.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Marian, this is the most extraordinary place.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Who was put in these cells?
0:12:49 > 0:12:54The deviant students, but mostly the Burschenschaft students left all
0:12:54 > 0:12:58this graffiti around here, so we can still have the traces who was here,
0:12:58 > 0:13:02imprisoned for damaging public lights, to drinking too much,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06having duels, or committing crimes against public order.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09So what, nowadays, we would call laddish behaviour
0:13:09 > 0:13:12was a big part of the Burschenschaften.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Yes, it was part of their identity to, in a way, misbehave.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22A duelling scar was proof of a fraternity member's honour.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26The goal was to cut the opponent on the left side of the face,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28but often duellers mis-aimed.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32Even then, the loss of a nose or another facial disfigurement
0:13:32 > 0:13:33was worn with pride.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40It seems that there was a lot of this going on
0:13:40 > 0:13:41at the time of my guide book.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46We've got 1905, 1911, 1913,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49the very year of my guidebook.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52What role do you think the Burschenschaften played
0:13:52 > 0:13:54in the development of German nationalism?
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Oh, I think without the Burschenschaften,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00the culture of German nationalism would not have been the same.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04They played a core role, for example, in mobilising the youth,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08the students, the younger people and getting them into
0:14:08 > 0:14:11this national movement, or the national spirit, in a way.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Really showing your commitment to the nation by your behaviour,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18by your language, by your clothing and by the practices.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Over 100 years ago, here at Gottingen University,
0:14:28 > 0:14:34a professor opened a centre that was to change forever the way we travel.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43I'm at the Gottingen Aerospace test centre
0:14:43 > 0:14:46to meet Jens Wucherpfennig.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51So, I'm guessing that this is a wind tunnel,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53but not a new one, I think.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57- This would be a piece of history, would it?- Yes, that's right.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00This wind tunnel made this facility famous all over the world.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04The Gottingen-type wind tunnel was founded and invented here
0:15:04 > 0:15:07and this is the cradle of modern aerodynamics,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10where, for the first time in the world, in 1907, the state-run
0:15:10 > 0:15:14research facility for aerospace research was founded.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17Now, 1907 is incredibly early,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21because the Wright brothers had only flown in 1903,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24- and this was established just four years later.- Yes, that's right.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Professor Ludwig Prandtl was the first to use science
0:15:27 > 0:15:29to observe air flow.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31With the wind tunnel, he showed how air moves
0:15:31 > 0:15:33around different shapes
0:15:33 > 0:15:38and how flaps on an aircraft wing can be adjusted to affect flight.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42Today, Prandtl is considered to be the father of aerodynamics.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47When the first people tried to build airplanes,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49they just did it by trial and error.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53They had an idea, built it and either it flew or it crashed.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57And Ludwig Prandtl was the man who made aerodynamics a science,
0:15:57 > 0:16:01so you can predict what kind of airplane will fly
0:16:01 > 0:16:03and how it will fly.
0:16:03 > 0:16:08For over 100 years, wind tunnels have been used to test air flow,
0:16:08 > 0:16:13noise and turbulence not just in planes, but trains and cars.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17The system is also used to improve the performance of athletes.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20So, you're blowing air between these two points, are you?
0:16:20 > 0:16:21Yes, that's right.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23What speed is that running at?
0:16:23 > 0:16:25At the moment, it's 25 metres per second.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29That sounds quite rough. Would it be safe for me to stand in there?
0:16:29 > 0:16:30Safe, yes, but tough for you.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34I'm going to give it a go.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Whoa!
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Whoa! Blow me down!
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Wow. What is this facility, Jens?
0:16:51 > 0:16:56This is a special track where trains, models of trains,
0:16:56 > 0:17:02are fired with velocities up to 360km an hour.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Daniela, how very good to see you.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Dr Daniela Heiner is part of the team
0:17:08 > 0:17:11developing and testing new high-speed trains.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14This is a model, really, of the train
0:17:14 > 0:17:17that I probably arrived today in Gottingen.
0:17:17 > 0:17:18Yes, exactly.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22And what about this one behind?
0:17:22 > 0:17:24- So, this is something new?- Yes.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28So, we have the next generation train and it's fast,
0:17:28 > 0:17:32it will travel with about 400km per hour.
0:17:32 > 0:17:33Goodness gracious.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39The team experiments with different shapes to see how
0:17:39 > 0:17:45these 250-mile-per-hour trains will perform on the track.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47- So this is the catapult.- Yes.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Yes, it is. So, Michael, would you, please, pull the rope to prepare
0:17:51 > 0:17:55- this side of the catapult and I go and prepare the other one?- OK.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04Jens, what was it that gave you the idea of having a catapult?
0:18:04 > 0:18:08Yes, with this facility we had the task to accelerate train models
0:18:08 > 0:18:11very, very fast in a short moment of time,
0:18:11 > 0:18:16and our scientists got inspired by Roman catapults
0:18:16 > 0:18:21and we kind of transformed this idea
0:18:21 > 0:18:25to fire models of trains instead of arrows,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29- and that's what we're doing here. - A 2,000-year-old of technology.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Yes, definitely, and it's working to improve the trains of the future.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41Firing the models at high speeds allows the team to see how
0:18:41 > 0:18:45trains will cope with crosswinds and tunnel pressure.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51So, three, two, one.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:18:59 > 0:19:01I can't wait to be a passenger on that thing.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17The new trains aren't due for release for several years yet,
0:19:17 > 0:19:19so I'm catching the existing high-speed
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Intercity-Express train north,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24towards the final stop of my journey.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39- May I see your ticket, please? - Here we are.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43- Yes, thank you, sir. - Hanover.- To Hanover.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49- Thanks a lot, sir.- Thank you. - Have a pleasant journey.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51- Thank you. Bye-bye.- Bye-bye.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Hanover was one of Germany's main manufacturing cities during
0:20:16 > 0:20:20the 19th century and became a centre for arms production
0:20:20 > 0:20:22during the Second World War.
0:20:23 > 0:20:29As a result, it was largely destroyed by Allied bombs.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33It's been rebuilt, and in its history,
0:20:33 > 0:20:35it has experienced several renewals.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44"Hanover," says Bradshaw's, "is situated on the River Leine,"
0:20:44 > 0:20:47and I learn that it is the capital of a Prussian province.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49This is the Rathaus,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53which was brand-new at the time of my Bradshaw's guide,
0:20:53 > 0:20:59and just imagine the success and the pride of this manufacturing city
0:20:59 > 0:21:03that lay behind the creation of such a palatial city hall.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14From the mid-19th century, Hanover's economy took off
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and in the four decades before my guide book,
0:21:17 > 0:21:18the population more than tripled.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27When British tourists came here in 1913, they discovered a city
0:21:27 > 0:21:29flexing serious economic muscle,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32visible in its streets and architecture.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42Katrin Baumgarten is an expert on the town hall's history.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Katrin, this is a magnificent city hall.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50Hanover must have been a great city by the end of the 19th century.
0:21:50 > 0:21:51Yes, this is true.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56In the second half of the 19th century, a lot of companies
0:21:56 > 0:21:58were founded in Hanover,
0:21:58 > 0:22:03people moved from the countryside to the city, so the population
0:22:03 > 0:22:09was growing, the tax was growing as well, so they decided to build
0:22:09 > 0:22:13this really huge and impressive city hall
0:22:13 > 0:22:16to show the power of the people.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21The mayor, Heinrich Tramm,
0:22:21 > 0:22:25decided to pour Hanover's new-found wealth into building
0:22:25 > 0:22:27a grand northern hub.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31By 1913, the city was of such importance
0:22:31 > 0:22:35that the Kaiser came to open the town hall.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40Even my great-grandmother, she was there,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43she was about 13 or 14 years old.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47Nearly all schoolchildren got the day off
0:22:47 > 0:22:49to stand in the streets and wave to the emperor.
0:22:49 > 0:22:56It impressed her, really, a lot, she was telling the story for decades.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59It wasn't just the building's grand facades
0:22:59 > 0:23:04that were meant to show off the city's success.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06A lift with a sloping floor.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12We've got a glass roof as well
0:23:12 > 0:23:17and I can see the weirdest thing, which is a curved lift shaft.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20The addition of Europe's only curved elevator
0:23:20 > 0:23:23was designed to showcase the very latest
0:23:23 > 0:23:25in Germany's engineering prowess.
0:23:25 > 0:23:30And such an odd feeling as the lift tips to one side
0:23:30 > 0:23:34and now, of course, the floor is straight again.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Amazing - early 20th century German technology.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52When he came to open the city hall,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Kaiser Wilhelm II did not ascend the dome to enjoy
0:23:56 > 0:23:57this magnificent view.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01In that respect, I am luckier than an emperor.
0:24:13 > 0:24:1650 years before the grand town hall was opened,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20the kingdom of Hanover had been annexed by Prussia.
0:24:20 > 0:24:26A new era began of manufacturing, an industry that lasts to this day.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29As the city grew, it developed a modern network of trams,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31which is still in use.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43- Hello, Udo.- Hello, Michael. Welcome. - Thank you very much.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47I'm meeting Udo Iwannek from Uestra,
0:24:47 > 0:24:49the company which runs the tram system.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Well, Udo, this is a very, very smart new tram.
0:25:00 > 0:25:01What are the new features?
0:25:01 > 0:25:03It has a lot of new features.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07We cover kinetic energy like they do in Formula 1.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10When the tram brakes, then it produces electricity,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13it turns into a generator, and we put this energy
0:25:13 > 0:25:17into the wiring, by this we save up to 50% energy.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Made in Germany, I assume.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Yeah, it's... Well, it's an example of German engineering.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28Well, I can't pass up the chance to drive the Formula 1-inspired tram
0:25:28 > 0:25:30on its test track.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32- Hello, Frank.- Hello, Michael.
0:25:32 > 0:25:33- Please, take a seat. - Thank you very much.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38- I'll put my Bradshaw there.- OK.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40OK. We have to close the doors, please.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42- Like that?- Yeah. - BELL CHIMES
0:25:42 > 0:25:46- Aha! Let's ring the bell. - BELL RINGS
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Stand clear, everybody.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Lovely smooth ride, Frank.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57A little faster, please.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Oh, I didn't expect that, we turned left!
0:26:08 > 0:26:10And it feels good.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12I'm really enjoying this, Frank.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19A little bit of acceleration.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21Into another curve.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26A nice straight.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28BELL RINGS
0:26:29 > 0:26:35I have control of a tram, move over, Hanover.
0:26:35 > 0:26:36BELL RINGS
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Trams still travel at 15km per hour through the city -
0:26:40 > 0:26:43the same speed as 100 years ago.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Into the bend.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Coming around towards the station.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04German technology - smooth and green.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09ALARM BLARES
0:27:09 > 0:27:13- Oh, sorry, Frank. Oh, sorry, everybody.- OK?
0:27:29 > 0:27:32200 years ago, amongst the many German states
0:27:32 > 0:27:35that had been overrun by the French emperor Napoleon
0:27:35 > 0:27:39and whose people were proud to speak the language of Goethe,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43there arose the idea of creating a nation.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46It drew inspiration from the landscape
0:27:46 > 0:27:49and from the fairy tales gathered in the forests.
0:27:49 > 0:27:55By 1913, Germany was a great power, with industry surging ahead,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59thanks, not least, to the breakthroughs made by scientists
0:27:59 > 0:28:01at Gottingen University.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06A modern version of Bradshaw's would point to this country's lead
0:28:06 > 0:28:08in technology and,
0:28:08 > 0:28:12for this traveller at least, its excellence, quality
0:28:12 > 0:28:14and reliability would provide
0:28:14 > 0:28:17an up-to-date definition of German-ness.