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 > 0:00:15I'll be using this, my 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.
0:01:11 > 0:01:12'I'm travelling through a country
0:01:12 > 0:01:15'with which tourists from the United Kingdom
0:01:15 > 0:01:17'felt a strong connection.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20'Not least because the British King George V's first cousin
0:01:20 > 0:01:22'was the German Kaiser.'
0:01:28 > 0:01:33In 1913, British tourists still flocked here to Germany,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37despite the fact that their government felt threatened
0:01:37 > 0:01:39by a large, industrialised,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42militaristic and expansionist power
0:01:42 > 0:01:45ruled over by an autocratic and unpredictable monarch,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48Kaiser Wilhelm II.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Merely 50 years before, Germany had not existed.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57I want to discover how, from a galaxy of states and principalities,
0:01:57 > 0:02:01there emerged a powerfully self-confident nation.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Its people bound together by their language, legends and literature.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13The united Germany of 1913
0:02:13 > 0:02:18was a collection of 25 previously-independent territories,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21the most powerful of which was Prussia.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24Since becoming one nation in 1871,
0:02:24 > 0:02:29the empire had striven to rival the industrial and economic might
0:02:29 > 0:02:31of Britain and France.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41My route begins on the edge of the lovely Black Forest
0:02:41 > 0:02:44in Germany's southern city of Freiburg.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47From there, I'll travel north via Heidelberg
0:02:47 > 0:02:49to the financial powerhouse of Frankfurt.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Then I'll continue on to Goettingen,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56before finishing my journey in the northern city of Hanover.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09'On my travels, I'll hear how Black Forest fairytales
0:03:09 > 0:03:11'unified the Germans.'
0:03:11 > 0:03:15The forests came to stand for German-ness.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17So they were really, really important
0:03:17 > 0:03:20in building up this common heritage.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22CUCKOO!
0:03:22 > 0:03:26'I'll try for a place amongst Germany's master carvers.'
0:03:26 > 0:03:28Oops! Not quite as clean as yours, but...
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Yeah, but not too bad for the first one.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35CUCKOO-CUCKOO-CUCKOO!
0:03:35 > 0:03:39'And I'll taste an intoxicating local treat.'
0:03:39 > 0:03:44I can't believe that in the English translation, Black Forest gateaux,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47we leave out the most important thing - the kirsch liqueur.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50This is the ultimate tipsy cake.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Mm.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06'By 1913, Germany was a great European power
0:04:06 > 0:04:09'with an overseas empire.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12'Yet many Germans identified more with their home state
0:04:12 > 0:04:14'than with their new nation.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17'What did it mean to be German?
0:04:17 > 0:04:19'For travellers following my guidebook,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23'the different states offered a rich array of culture,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25'cuisine and landscape.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29'Many seeking a healthy summer getaway would head south.'
0:04:39 > 0:04:43My journey begins here in Freiburg, which my Bradshaw's tells me is
0:04:43 > 0:04:47"a most picturesque city situated amidst beautiful surroundings
0:04:47 > 0:04:50"of wooded mountain and fertile plain".
0:04:50 > 0:04:53I'm here because it is the gateway to the Black Forest.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09'Freiburg is one of Germany's leading tourist spots.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13'The attractive city threaded by a network of fresh waterways
0:05:13 > 0:05:17'is the perfect place to begin an excursion into the Forest.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21'Tourists would come here for the fresh air,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24'or to experience some of the latest fads,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26'such as all-weather gymnastics.'
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Freiburg is Germany's warmest and sunniest city
0:05:38 > 0:05:40and a place of tradition.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45There's been a market in the Munsterplatz since 1514.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Year after year, day after day,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50come shine or come rain.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Guten Morgen.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Buongiorno.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06MAN SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Grazie!
0:06:09 > 0:06:10Italian cheese.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21'The route to the edge of the Black Forest hasn't changed
0:06:21 > 0:06:26'since the time of my guidebook - this tram line was opened in 1901.'
0:06:34 > 0:06:36- Guten Morgen.- Guten Morgen.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39- Einfache Fahrt, bitte. - Einfache Fahrt, ja.
0:06:43 > 0:06:44- Danke.- Vielen Dank.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50'But the climb up to the mountains is simpler
0:06:50 > 0:06:52'and quicker than it was 100 years ago,
0:06:52 > 0:06:56'thanks to the Schauinsland cable car, which was opened in 1930.'
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Bradshaw's is enthusiastic.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13"The Black Forest is the most extensive
0:07:13 > 0:07:16"and the most beautiful of the wooded districts of Germany
0:07:16 > 0:07:21"and offers a tranquillity hardly to be found elsewhere.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23"The inhabitants have been content to remain
0:07:23 > 0:07:26"within inherited dispositions.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31"Their manners are simple and have changed little for many generations.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34"Such is the charm of the Black Forest."
0:07:43 > 0:07:47I can see why, before the ease of the modern cable car,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50a trip up here would have been worth the uphill walk.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24BIRDSONG
0:08:33 > 0:08:36I think there's something unmistakably Germanic
0:08:36 > 0:08:41about this landscape and, as the high clouds scud about, you can see
0:08:41 > 0:08:46how it would give rise to mystery and intrigue and superstition.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01In the century before my guide was published,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05breathtaking vistas like these provided the nation with a landscape
0:09:05 > 0:09:09that was physical and cultural, after two famous brothers
0:09:09 > 0:09:13found inspiration for their writing in forests.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17I'm meeting literary historian Sandra Schwab
0:09:17 > 0:09:19for a walk in the woods.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Sandra, why do you think forests
0:09:22 > 0:09:25are so important to people like the Brothers Grimm?
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Well, during the Romantic Age there was a new appreciation
0:09:29 > 0:09:32for nature and also for forests
0:09:32 > 0:09:35and this is also reflected in the fairy tales.
0:09:35 > 0:09:42In the fairy tales, the forest is always the opposite of the town.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46It's the place where the fairy-tale hero goes to have adventures.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49On the other hand, the forest is also a place of danger.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54It is the place where Little Red Riding Hood meets the talking wolf,
0:09:54 > 0:09:58it's also the place where Hansel and Gretel get lost
0:09:58 > 0:10:00and stumble across the witch's house.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04'Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
0:10:04 > 0:10:08'published their collection of Children's and Household Tales
0:10:08 > 0:10:10'in the early years of the 19th century,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12'when Germany territories were emerging
0:10:12 > 0:10:14'from occupation by the French.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18'New interest and pride in all things German
0:10:18 > 0:10:20'were sweeping the different states.'
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Do you think that the Brothers Grimm were consciously
0:10:23 > 0:10:25looking for German material?
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Yes, they were.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30They regarded fairy tales as preservers
0:10:30 > 0:10:34of an old German mythology,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36of old truths.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40They took a lot of tales from old literary sources,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42they went through old books,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46and more importantly they also asked their acquaintances
0:10:46 > 0:10:48to help them collect fairy tales.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53'Assembled from various sources,
0:10:53 > 0:10:58'these folk stories drew together the nation's diverse oral histories,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01'although today we wouldn't classify all of those stories
0:11:01 > 0:11:04'as children's fairy tales.'
0:11:04 > 0:11:07I've brought you to this place because it always reminds me
0:11:07 > 0:11:11of the tower in Rapunzel.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Yeah, the overgrown fortification in the forest is
0:11:14 > 0:11:15sort of a romantic cliche, isn't it?
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Oh, absolutely.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Were the Grimm brothers an instant success?
0:11:20 > 0:11:22No, they were not, really.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25On the one hand it was intended as children's literature
0:11:25 > 0:11:28but on the other hand, a lot of people complained
0:11:28 > 0:11:31that many tales were not really suitable for children
0:11:31 > 0:11:34because they contained many sexual allusions.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39'It wasn't until the stories were refocused for children
0:11:39 > 0:11:41'by English translator Edgar Taylor
0:11:41 > 0:11:45'and illustrated by George Cruikshank in 1823
0:11:45 > 0:11:46'that they became a hit.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51'Today, Children's and Household Tales are again
0:11:51 > 0:11:54'Germany's most popular book after the Bible.'
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Sandra, what is the legacy of the Grimm fairy tales,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07not so much for generations of children as for Germany?
0:12:07 > 0:12:10For the people in Germany they came to represent middle-class values,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12family values.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15There was also an idealisation of the forests going on.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18The forests came to stand for German-ness,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21so they were really, really important
0:12:21 > 0:12:24in building up this common heritage,
0:12:24 > 0:12:26in making people think that they had
0:12:26 > 0:12:29a common German heritage to look back,
0:12:29 > 0:12:35which was important in leading up to the unification of Germany in 1871.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49While I'm in the Black Forest, there's another cultural icon
0:12:49 > 0:12:53that I have to experience, so I'm making a stop at the Waldrestaurant.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Here, sir, the Black Forest cake for you, I hope you will enjoy it.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08- Thank you. Would you mind taking a seat a second?- Yeah, sure.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10I just want to ask you about this.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Look at that! Isn't that amazing?
0:13:12 > 0:13:14What is the German for it?
0:13:14 > 0:13:15Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18- Schwarzwalder means Black Forest... - Exactly.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20..and Torte means gateau. What's the Kirsch bit?
0:13:20 > 0:13:25It has to consist of cherries from the Black Forest.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27It's an alcoholic liqueur?
0:13:27 > 0:13:28- Yes, it is.- Wow.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32Have you any idea why that's so popular in the Black Forest?
0:13:32 > 0:13:35- Why did it come to be made here? - Because it's so yummy!
0:13:37 > 0:13:39I know it's popular with tourists, every tourist orders
0:13:39 > 0:13:42the Black Forest Gateau, but do German people like it as well?
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Yes, of course, we all like it.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47Thank you very much, and it will go very well with my coffee.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49Yeah, I hope so.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52I can't believe that in the English translation,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Black Forest Gateau,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57we leave out the most important thing, the kirsch liqueur.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00This is the ultimate tipsy cake.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02Mmm!
0:14:02 > 0:14:04As the lady says, yummy.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23Before I end my first day in Germany,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26my guidebook steers me to another part of the Black Forest.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33Here in the Black Forest, according to my guidebook,
0:14:33 > 0:14:35"Occupations are chiefly with timber,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37"either with huge rafts that later
0:14:37 > 0:14:42"float down the Rhine or with the smaller ways of wooden clocks."
0:14:42 > 0:14:45And indeed, it's nearly three centuries
0:14:45 > 0:14:49since the first "cuckoo!" was heard in these valleys.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Triberg, in the heart of the forest,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57is a picture-perfect southern German town.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Tourists began to visit here in large numbers
0:15:00 > 0:15:05once the Black Forest Railway opened a station in 1873.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08One of the most popular souvenirs of the time
0:15:08 > 0:15:11remains top of the wish list today.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Hello, I see you admiring clocks.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27- Are you thinking of making a purchase today?- I am, yes.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29What takes your fancy?
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Definitely the one with the stags. I like the darker wood.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36And when you came to the Black Forest,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38were you THINKING of buying a cuckoo clock?
0:15:38 > 0:15:41- Yeah, I've come especially to get one for my sister.- Have you really?
0:15:41 > 0:15:44- Yeah!- You've come to the Black Forest to get a cuckoo clock?
0:15:44 > 0:15:46- Yeah.- Yeah, we were travelling down the Rhine
0:15:46 > 0:15:49and we thought we had to come up and get ourselves a cuckoo clock.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51This is the cuckoo capital, is it?
0:15:51 > 0:15:53- It is, yeah.- Seems to be, anyway!
0:15:53 > 0:15:55CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES
0:15:57 > 0:16:00MUSIC-BOX TUNE PLAYS
0:16:03 > 0:16:08'These clocks are made on site by master carver Oli Zinapold.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11'He's been making cuckoo clocks for almost 30 years.'
0:16:12 > 0:16:15- Hello, Oli!- Hello, Michael. How are you?
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Very, very good to see you.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21I wanted to start by asking you, how does a cuckoo clock work?
0:16:21 > 0:16:25A cuckoo clock works by a mechanical movement.
0:16:25 > 0:16:26So you see...
0:16:26 > 0:16:29- CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES - ..to the full hour you see now the weights are moving
0:16:29 > 0:16:32because it works with the gravity of the weights, you know.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35One weight operates the cuckoo system
0:16:35 > 0:16:37and one operates the clock.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41At the beginning they have been from plan to put a rooster sound.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44- Really?- Yeah, really, but that was quite too complicated
0:16:44 > 0:16:46because it's much many different notes,
0:16:46 > 0:16:51so they searched for something which is easy, and that was the cuckoo.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- Now you see the bellows get lifted up. - CUCKOO NOISES
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Here you see then also the hammer working
0:16:57 > 0:17:00and that blows then the air and that makes the two notes.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03It's basically a very easy system,
0:17:03 > 0:17:05but invented a long time ago.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16'The clocks, richly ornamented with carvings inspired by the forest,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19'helped to shape Germany's reputation for quality
0:17:19 > 0:17:22'and reliability in manufacturing.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25'And as railways began to take hold here in the 19th century,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28'they too inspired the clocks.'
0:17:28 > 0:17:31And this design, this little house that we have here,
0:17:31 > 0:17:33what's the origin of that?
0:17:33 > 0:17:38It is a very old-style railway-roadhouse cuckoo clock.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40The name comes basically from...
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Here in the Black Forest we have all the very famous railways
0:17:43 > 0:17:47a long time, and the houses along the railway are a little
0:17:47 > 0:17:51bit different builded, and so the typical Black Forest roof style.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57'New houses for railway workers lined the Black Forest Railway
0:17:57 > 0:18:01'and their distinctive roofline inspired a winning design
0:18:01 > 0:18:04'in a clock-making competition in 1850.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08'It remains the most popular shape today.'
0:18:09 > 0:18:12How do you know what you're doing there?
0:18:12 > 0:18:15- This is just experience, is it? - That is experience, yes, right.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20First we go with that chisel...
0:18:20 > 0:18:22along the middle.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26So. Hold it with your right hand tight, be careful.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29- The fingers not that close.- OK.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Because it's very sharp. OK. Good.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35- One time more? - One time more, a little deeper.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37A little deeper.
0:18:37 > 0:18:38It's so far OK, I think.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42Oops.
0:18:42 > 0:18:43Not quite as clean as yours, but...
0:18:43 > 0:18:47- Yeah, but not too bad for the first one.- Not TOO bad.
0:18:47 > 0:18:48This is tricky.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Yeah, the wood does have grains
0:18:50 > 0:18:53- and that is the difficulty by the carving.- Hmm.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Mm, I'm not so happy with that now.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00- You're not so happy with that now? - Not so happy with that now.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02My veins have gone badly wrong, I think my leaf...
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Yes, that's a leaf in fall.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07But you haven't done bad for the first time. Congratulations.
0:19:07 > 0:19:08Thank you, Oli.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11- And you can keep that as a souvenir. - MICHAEL CHUCKLES
0:19:11 > 0:19:14CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES
0:19:31 > 0:19:33'On the next part of my journey
0:19:33 > 0:19:36'I'll be travelling along the Rhine Valley railway line
0:19:36 > 0:19:39'that tourists have been using since 1840.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43'I'm heading over 100 miles north towards Heidelberg.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04'The city, with its castle and university
0:20:04 > 0:20:08'in a stunning setting, inspired writers and artists
0:20:08 > 0:20:11'of the early 19th-century Romantic movement.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18'The Romantics celebrated nature's untamed might
0:20:18 > 0:20:22'and were attracted by all that's irrational in human experience.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26'By the early 20th century,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30'tourists were coming to visit the places immortalised in their work.'
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Heidelberg, says Bradshaw's, "is one of the most beautifully situated
0:20:39 > 0:20:43"as well as most historically interesting towns of Germany,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47"almost surrounded by wooded hills,
0:20:47 > 0:20:49"whence the views are very fine."
0:20:49 > 0:20:52It was a magnet for travellers
0:20:52 > 0:20:56and the advent of the First World War took them by surprise.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Days after the conflict had begun,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Eastern Railways were still advertising trips to Germany
0:21:02 > 0:21:07and 6,000 British holiday-makers found themselves stranded behind
0:21:07 > 0:21:10what had become, overnight, enemy lines.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18For tourists coming here 100 years ago
0:21:18 > 0:21:22there was one main place to head to, the imposing Schloss.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33During the 1800s, the ruins of this 12th-century castle came to embody
0:21:33 > 0:21:38German Romanticism and were a key feature on the tourist trail.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43King Edward VII visited as Prince of Wales in 1861.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48He and his future wife, Alexandra, exchanged signed photographs here,
0:21:48 > 0:21:50beginning their courtship.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07'I'm heading over to the so-called Philosopher's Way,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10'where I'm meeting local historian Jonas Hock.'
0:22:14 > 0:22:16- Hello, Jonas.- Hello, Michael.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18- Good to see you.- Nice to see you.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19Why was Heidelberg
0:22:19 > 0:22:23so appealing to Romantic writers, particularly poets?
0:22:23 > 0:22:25Just take a look at it, it's gorgeous.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29It has a river, it has nature, with the hills, the forests,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32then there's also that ruin, that all-important mysterious ruin.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36That was on the one hand very attractive because ruins were
0:22:36 > 0:22:38generally very fashionable,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41but it's also reminiscent of German history,
0:22:41 > 0:22:46that it really became an object for the longings of these poets.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51The ruined grandeur came to symbolise the glorious past,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54as Germany looked to a united future.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56Artists like JMW Turner,
0:22:56 > 0:23:00composers such as Johannes Brahms and many writers
0:23:00 > 0:23:05used Heidelberg in emotionally charged, dramatic works.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Who are the poets who most distinguished themselves
0:23:08 > 0:23:10by writing about the city?
0:23:10 > 0:23:14There's Friedrich Holderlin, who wrote an ode to Heidelberg.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16I'll give you a taste.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42My German's not very good but I think I picked up some words
0:23:42 > 0:23:45like, er, fatherland, bridge, castle.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49- Erm, yes, yes!- These sound like rather familiar German themes.
0:23:49 > 0:23:50True, true!
0:23:50 > 0:23:53Erm, there is this notion of the fatherland,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57though without all the unfortunate implications that it later acquired.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00But the Romantics were very much interested in that.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03They wanted to create a sense of German identity,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07but also this notion of German history as something that
0:24:07 > 0:24:10unified all the disparate little German mini-states.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12That was very important for the Romantics.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16In the second half of the 19th century,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Romanticism inspired a student population
0:24:19 > 0:24:24that was politicised and liberal to push for unification.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Now, in the century after the World Wars,
0:24:26 > 0:24:31the legacy of Romanticism still resonates.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33What is German-ness?
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Oh, my God, that is one of the most difficult things
0:24:36 > 0:24:39you could probably ask a present-day German!
0:24:40 > 0:24:45I would say that German-ness... has to do with history of course,
0:24:45 > 0:24:50but definitely, thinking about the Romantic poets here in Heidelberg,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54expressing...thoughts about the beauty of nature,
0:24:54 > 0:24:58about the beauty of architecture in such very poetic language.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03It's not JUST something that Germans do but it's something a lot of Germans have done really well,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07so that would definitely be something that I would like to consider German-ness.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14I'm leaving the relative tranquillity of Heidelberg.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25I'm bound for Frankfurt, 55 miles north.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39I do love double-deckers.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42When I travel by bus I always go on the top storey, and one
0:25:42 > 0:25:47of my regrets about Britain is that we have only single-storey trains.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Of my next destination, Bradshaw's says
0:25:59 > 0:26:03"Frankfurt has always been a town of great commercial importance
0:26:03 > 0:26:07"and it is a centre of European financial influence."
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Bradshaw's told me to expect a fine station
0:26:29 > 0:26:32in the southwestern part of the town.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Well, now it's surrounded by the skyscrapers
0:26:35 > 0:26:38of the modern city of Frankfurt.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41This station was built in the 1880s.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44There were three stations before that, they were consolidated here
0:26:44 > 0:26:48and they're represented now by three enormous canopies,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50and it really is a grand design.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Today, this is the German railway network's busiest station,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08with connections all over the country and to the rest of Europe.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17I'm heading straight to my hotel,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20as I'll be exploring the city in the morning.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Next time, I'll visit the Frankfurt home of Goethe -
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Germany's equivalent of Shakespeare.
0:27:42 > 0:27:48Throughout the whole 19th century he became something of an
0:27:48 > 0:27:52identification mark of German-ness for the Germans.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56I'll get wind of how early-20th century innovation
0:27:56 > 0:27:58shaped German transport today.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Whoa! Blow me down!
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Three, two, one.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11I can't wait to be a passenger on that thing.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15And I test-drive a state-of-the-art tram.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17Move over, Hanover.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21BEEPING
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Sorry. Whoa, sorry, Frank. Sorry, everybody.