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 > 0:03:33CUCKOO-CUCKOO-CUCKOO!
0:03:33 > 0:03:38'And I'll get wind of how early 20th century innovation
0:03:38 > 0:03:41'still shapes German transport today.'
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Oh! Blow me down!
0:03:44 > 0:03:46Three, two, one...
0:03:49 > 0:03:51I can't wait to be a passenger on that thing!
0:04:01 > 0:04:04'By 1913, Germany was a great European power
0:04:04 > 0:04:07'with an overseas empire.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10'Yet many Germans identified more with their home state
0:04:10 > 0:04:12'than with their new nation.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15'What did it mean to be German?
0:04:15 > 0:04:17'For travellers following my guidebook,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21'the different states offered a rich array of culture,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23'cuisine and landscape.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27'Many seeking a healthy summer getaway would head south.'
0:04:37 > 0:04:41My journey begins here in Freiburg, which my Bradshaw's tells me is
0:04:41 > 0:04:45"a most picturesque city situated amidst beautiful surroundings
0:04:45 > 0:04:48"of wooded mountain and fertile plain".
0:04:48 > 0:04:51I'm here because it is the gateway to the Black Forest.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07'Freiburg is one of Germany's leading tourist spots.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11'The attractive city threaded by a network of fresh waterways
0:05:11 > 0:05:15'is the perfect place to begin an excursion into the Forest.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20'Tourists would come here for the fresh air,
0:05:20 > 0:05:22'or to experience some of the latest fads,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24'such as all-weather gymnastics.'
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Freiburg is Germany's warmest and sunniest city
0:05:36 > 0:05:38and a place of tradition.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43There's been a market in the Munsterplatz since 1514.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46Year after year, day after day,
0:05:46 > 0:05:48come shine or come rain.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56Guten Morgen.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Buongiorno.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04MAN SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Grazie!
0:06:07 > 0:06:08Italian cheese.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19The route to the edge of the Black Forest hasn't changed
0:06:19 > 0:06:24since the time of my guidebook - this tram line was opened in 1901.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34- Guten Morgen.- Guten Morgen.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37- Einfache Fahrt, bitte. - Einfache Fahrt, ja.
0:06:41 > 0:06:42- Danke.- Vielen Dank.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48But the climb up to the mountains is simpler
0:06:48 > 0:06:50and quicker than it was 100 years ago,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54thanks to the Schauinsland cable car, which was opened in 1930.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08Bradshaw's is enthusiastic.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11"The Black Forest is the most extensive
0:07:11 > 0:07:14"and the most beautiful of the wooded districts of Germany
0:07:14 > 0:07:19"and offers a tranquillity hardly to be found elsewhere.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21"The inhabitants have been content to remain
0:07:21 > 0:07:24"within inherited dispositions.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29"Their manners are simple and have changed little for many generations.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31"Such is the charm of the Black Forest."
0:07:41 > 0:07:45I can see why, before the ease of the modern cable car,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48a trip up here would have been worth the uphill walk.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22BIRDSONG
0:08:31 > 0:08:34I think there's something unmistakably Germanic
0:08:34 > 0:08:39about this landscape and, as the high clouds scud about, you can see
0:08:39 > 0:08:44how it would give rise to mystery and intrigue and superstition.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59In the century before my guide was published,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03breathtaking vistas like these provided the nation with a landscape
0:09:03 > 0:09:07that was physical and cultural, after two famous brothers
0:09:07 > 0:09:11found inspiration for their writing in forests.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15I'm meeting literary historian Sandra Schwab
0:09:15 > 0:09:17for a walk in the woods.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20Sandra, why do you think forests
0:09:20 > 0:09:23are so important to people like the Brothers Grimm?
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Well, during the Romantic Age there was a new appreciation
0:09:27 > 0:09:30for nature and also for forests
0:09:30 > 0:09:33and this is also reflected in the fairy tales.
0:09:33 > 0:09:40In the fairy tales, the forest is always the opposite of the town.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44It's the place where the fairy-tale hero goes to have adventures.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47On the other hand, the forest is also a place of danger.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52It is the place where Little Red Riding Hood meets the talking wolf,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56it's also the place where Hansel and Gretel get lost
0:09:56 > 0:09:58and stumble across the witch's house.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02'Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
0:10:02 > 0:10:06'published their collection of Children's and Household Tales
0:10:06 > 0:10:08'in the early years of the 19th century,
0:10:08 > 0:10:10'when Germany territories were emerging
0:10:10 > 0:10:12'from occupation by the French.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16'New interest and pride in all things German
0:10:16 > 0:10:18'were sweeping the different states.'
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Do you think that the Brothers Grimm were consciously
0:10:21 > 0:10:23looking for German material?
0:10:23 > 0:10:25Yes, they were.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28They regarded fairy tales as preservers
0:10:28 > 0:10:32of an old German mythology,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34of old truths.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38They took a lot of tales from old literary sources,
0:10:38 > 0:10:40they went through old books,
0:10:40 > 0:10:44and more importantly they also asked their acquaintances
0:10:44 > 0:10:46to help them collect fairy tales.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51'Assembled from various sources,
0:10:51 > 0:10:55'these folk stories drew together the nation's diverse oral histories,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59'although today we wouldn't classify all of those stories
0:10:59 > 0:11:02'as children's fairy tales.'
0:11:02 > 0:11:05I've brought you to this place because it always reminds me
0:11:05 > 0:11:09of the tower in Rapunzel.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Yeah, the overgrown fortification in the forest is
0:11:11 > 0:11:13sort of a romantic cliche, isn't it?
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Oh, absolutely.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Were the Grimm brothers an instant success?
0:11:18 > 0:11:20No, they were not, really.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23On the one hand it was intended as children's literature
0:11:23 > 0:11:26but on the other hand, a lot of people complained
0:11:26 > 0:11:29that many tales were not really suitable for children
0:11:29 > 0:11:31because they contained many sexual allusions.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37'It wasn't until the stories were refocused for children
0:11:37 > 0:11:39'by English translator Edgar Taylor
0:11:39 > 0:11:43'and illustrated by George Cruikshank in 1823
0:11:43 > 0:11:44'that they became a hit.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49'Today, Children's and Household Tales are again
0:11:49 > 0:11:52'Germany's most popular book after the Bible.'
0:11:58 > 0:12:02Sandra, what is the legacy of the Grimm fairy tales,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04not so much for generations of children as for Germany?
0:12:04 > 0:12:08For the people in Germany they came to represent middle-class values,
0:12:08 > 0:12:10family values.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13There was also an idealisation of the forests going on.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16The forests came to stand for German-ness,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19so they were really, really important
0:12:19 > 0:12:22in building up this common heritage,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24in making people think that they had
0:12:24 > 0:12:27a common German heritage to look back,
0:12:27 > 0:12:33which was important in leading up to the unification of Germany in 1871.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47While I'm in the Black Forest, there's another cultural icon
0:12:47 > 0:12:52that I have to experience, so I'm making a stop at the Waldrestaurant.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Here, sir, the Black Forest cake for you, I hope you will enjoy it.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06- Thank you. Would you mind taking a seat a second?- Yeah, sure.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08I just want to ask you about this.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Look at that! Isn't that amazing?
0:13:10 > 0:13:12What is the German for it?
0:13:12 > 0:13:13Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16- Schwarzwalder means Black Forest... - Exactly.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18..and Torte means gateau. What's the Kirsch bit?
0:13:18 > 0:13:23It has to consist of cherries from the Black Forest.
0:13:23 > 0:13:24It's an alcoholic liqueur?
0:13:24 > 0:13:26- Yes, it is.- Wow.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30Have you any idea why that's so popular in the Black Forest?
0:13:30 > 0:13:33- Why did it come to be made here? - Because it's so yummy!
0:13:35 > 0:13:37I know it's popular with tourists, every tourist orders
0:13:37 > 0:13:40the Black Forest Gateau, but do German people like it as well?
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Yes, of course, we all like it.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Thank you very much, and it will go very well with my coffee.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Yeah, I hope so.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50I can't believe that in the English translation,
0:13:50 > 0:13:52Black Forest Gateau,
0:13:52 > 0:13:55we leave out the most important thing, the kirsch liqueur.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58This is the ultimate tipsy cake.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00Mmm!
0:14:00 > 0:14:02As the lady says, yummy.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Before I end my first day in Germany,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24my guidebook steers me to another part of the Black Forest.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Here in the Black Forest, according to my guidebook,
0:14:31 > 0:14:33"Occupations are chiefly with timber,
0:14:33 > 0:14:35"either with huge rafts that later
0:14:35 > 0:14:40"float down the Rhein or with the smaller ways of wooden clocks."
0:14:40 > 0:14:43And indeed, it's nearly three centuries
0:14:43 > 0:14:47since the first "cuckoo!" was heard in these valleys.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Triberg, in the heart of the forest,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55is a picture-perfect southern German town.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Tourists began to visit here in large numbers
0:14:58 > 0:15:03once the Black Forest Railway opened a station in 1873.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06One of the most popular souvenirs of the time
0:15:06 > 0:15:09remains top of the wish list today.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Hello, I see you admiring clocks.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25- Are you thinking of making a purchase today?- I am, yes.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27What takes your fancy?
0:15:27 > 0:15:31Definitely the one with the stags. I like the darker wood.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33And when you came to the Black Forest,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36were you THINKING of buying a cuckoo clock?
0:15:36 > 0:15:39- Yeah, I've come especially to get one for my sister.- Have you really?
0:15:39 > 0:15:42- Yeah!- You've come to the Black Forest to get a cuckoo clock?
0:15:42 > 0:15:44- Yeah.- Yeah, we were travelling down the Rhine
0:15:44 > 0:15:47and we thought we had to come up and get ourselves a cuckoo clock.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49This is the cuckoo capital, is it?
0:15:49 > 0:15:51- It is, yeah.- Seems to be, anyway!
0:15:51 > 0:15:53CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES
0:15:55 > 0:15:58MUSIC-BOX TUNE PLAYS
0:16:01 > 0:16:06'These clocks are made on site by master carver Oli Zinapold.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09'He's been making cuckoo clocks for almost 30 years.'
0:16:10 > 0:16:13- Hello, Oli!- Hello, Michael. How are you?
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Very, very good to see you.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19I wanted to start by asking you, how does a cuckoo clock work?
0:16:19 > 0:16:23A cuckoo clock works by a mechanical movement.
0:16:23 > 0:16:24So you see...
0:16:24 > 0:16:27- CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES - ..to the full hour you see now the weights are moving
0:16:27 > 0:16:30because it works with the gravity of the weights, you know.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33One weight operates the cuckoo system
0:16:33 > 0:16:35and one operates the clock.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39At the beginning they have been from plan to put a rooster sound.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42- Really?- Yeah, really, but that was quite too complicated
0:16:42 > 0:16:44because it's much many different notes,
0:16:44 > 0:16:49so they searched for something which is easy, and that was the cuckoo.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52- Now you see the bellows get lifted up. - CUCKOO NOISES
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Here you see then also the hammer working
0:16:55 > 0:16:58and that blows then the air and that makes the two notes.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01It's basically a very easy system,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03but invented a long time ago.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14'The clocks, richly ornamented with carvings inspired by the forest,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17'helped to shape Germany's reputation for quality
0:17:17 > 0:17:20'and reliability in manufacturing.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23'And as railways began to take hold here in the 19th century,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26'they too inspired the clocks.'
0:17:26 > 0:17:29And this design, this little house that we have here,
0:17:29 > 0:17:31what's the origin of that?
0:17:31 > 0:17:36It is a very old-style railway-roadhouse cuckoo clock.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38The name comes basically from...
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Here in the Black Forest we have all the very famous railways
0:17:41 > 0:17:45a long time, and the houses along the railway are a little
0:17:45 > 0:17:49bit different builded, and so the typical Black Forest roof style.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55'New houses for railway workers lined the Black Forest Railway
0:17:55 > 0:17:59'and their distinctive roofline inspired a winning design
0:17:59 > 0:18:02'in a clock-making competition in 1850.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06'It remains the most popular shape today.'
0:18:07 > 0:18:10How do you know what you're doing there?
0:18:10 > 0:18:13- This is just experience, is it? - That is experience, yes, right.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18First we go with that chisel...
0:18:18 > 0:18:20along the middle.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24So. Hold it with your right hand tight, be careful.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27- The fingers not that close.- OK.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Because it's very sharp. OK. Good.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33- One time more? - One time more, a little deeper.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35A little deeper.
0:18:35 > 0:18:36It's so far OK, I think.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Oops.
0:18:40 > 0:18:41Not quite as clean as yours, but...
0:18:41 > 0:18:44- Yeah, but not too bad for the first one.- Not TOO bad.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46This is tricky.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Yeah, the wood does have grains
0:18:48 > 0:18:51- and that is the difficulty by the carving.- Hmm.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Mm, I'm not so happy with that now.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58- You're not so happy with that now? - Not so happy with that now.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00My veins have gone badly wrong, I think my leaf...
0:19:00 > 0:19:02Yes, that's a leaf in fall.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05But you haven't done bad for the first time. Congratulations.
0:19:05 > 0:19:06Thank you, Oli.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- And you can keep that as a souvenir. - MICHAEL CHUCKLES
0:19:09 > 0:19:12CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES
0:19:29 > 0:19:31On the next part of my journey
0:19:31 > 0:19:34I'll be travelling along the Rhine Valley railway line
0:19:34 > 0:19:37that tourists have been using since 1840.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41I'm heading over 100 miles north towards Heidelberg.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02The city, with its castle and university
0:20:02 > 0:20:06in a stunning setting, inspired writers and artists
0:20:06 > 0:20:09of the early 19th-century Romantic movement.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16The Romantics celebrated nature's untamed might
0:20:16 > 0:20:20and were attracted by all that's irrational in human experience.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24By the early 20th century,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28tourists were coming to visit the places immortalised in their work.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37Heidelberg, says Bradshaw's, "is one of the most beautifully situated
0:20:37 > 0:20:41"as well as most historically interesting towns of Germany,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45"almost surrounded by wooded hills,
0:20:45 > 0:20:47"whence the views are very fine."
0:20:47 > 0:20:50It was a magnet for travellers
0:20:50 > 0:20:54and the advent of the First World War took them by surprise.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56Days after the conflict had begun,
0:20:56 > 0:21:00Eastern Railways were still advertising trips to Germany
0:21:00 > 0:21:05and 6,000 British holiday-makers found themselves stranded behind
0:21:05 > 0:21:08what had become, overnight, enemy lines.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16For tourists coming here 100 years ago
0:21:16 > 0:21:20there was one main place to head to, the imposing Schloss.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31During the 1800s, the ruins of this 12th-century castle came to embody
0:21:31 > 0:21:36German Romanticism and were a key feature on the tourist trail.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41King Edward VII visited as Prince of Wales in 1861.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46He and his future wife, Alexandra, exchanged signed photographs here,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48beginning their courtship.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05I'm heading over to the so-called Philosopher's Way,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08where I'm meeting local historian Jonas Hock.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14- Hello, Jonas.- Hello, Michael.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16- Good to see you.- Nice to see you.
0:22:16 > 0:22:17Why was Heidelberg
0:22:17 > 0:22:20so appealing to Romantic writers, particularly poets?
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Just take a look at it, it's gorgeous.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27It has a river, it has nature, with the hills, the forests,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30then there's also that ruin, that all-important mysterious ruin.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34That was on the one hand very attractive because ruins were
0:22:34 > 0:22:36generally very fashionable,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39but it's also reminiscent of German history,
0:22:39 > 0:22:44that it really became an object for the longings of these poets.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49The ruined grandeur came to symbolise the glorious past,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52as Germany looked to a united future.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54Artists like JMW Turner,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58composers such as Johannes Brahms and many writers
0:22:58 > 0:23:03used Heidelberg in emotionally charged, dramatic works.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Who are the poets who most distinguished themselves
0:23:06 > 0:23:08by writing about the city?
0:23:08 > 0:23:12There's Friedrich Holderlin, who wrote an ode to Heidelberg.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14I'll give you a taste.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40My German's not very good but I think I picked up some words
0:23:40 > 0:23:43like, er, fatherland, bridge, castle.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47- Erm, yes, yes!- These sound like rather familiar German themes.
0:23:47 > 0:23:48True, true!
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Erm, there is this notion of the fatherland,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55though without all the unfortunate implications that it later acquired.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58But the Romantics were very much interested in that.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01They wanted to create a sense of German identity,
0:24:01 > 0:24:05but also this notion of German history as something that
0:24:05 > 0:24:07unified all the disparate little German mini-states.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10That was very important for the Romantics.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14In the second half of the 19th century,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Romanticism inspired a student population
0:24:17 > 0:24:22that was politicised and liberal to push for unification.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Now, in the century after the World Wars,
0:24:24 > 0:24:28the legacy of Romanticism still resonates.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31What is German-ness?
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Oh, my God, that is one of the most difficult things
0:24:34 > 0:24:37you could probably ask a present-day German!
0:24:38 > 0:24:43I would say that German-ness... has to do with history of course,
0:24:43 > 0:24:48but definitely, thinking about the Romantic poets here in Heidelberg,
0:24:48 > 0:24:52expressing...thoughts about the beauty of nature,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56about the beauty of architecture in such very poetic language.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01It's not JUST something that Germans do but it's something a lot of Germans have done really well,
0:25:01 > 0:25:05so that would definitely be something that I would like to consider German-ness.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12I'm leaving the relative tranquillity of Heidelberg.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23I'm bound for Frankfurt, 55 miles north.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37I do love double-deckers.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40When I travel by bus I always go on the top storey, and one
0:25:40 > 0:25:45of my regrets about Britain is that we have only single-storey trains.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Of my next destination, Bradshaw's says
0:25:57 > 0:26:01"Frankfurt has always been a town of great commercial importance
0:26:01 > 0:26:05"and it is a centre of European financial influence."
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Bradshaw's told me to expect a fine station
0:26:27 > 0:26:30in the southwestern part of the town.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Well, now it's surrounded by the skyscrapers
0:26:33 > 0:26:36of the modern city of Frankfurt.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39This station was built in the 1880s.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42There were three stations before that, they were consolidated here
0:26:42 > 0:26:46and they're represented now by three enormous canopies,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49and it really is a grand design.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03Today, this is the German railway network's busiest station,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06with connections all over the country and to the rest of Europe.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15I'm heading straight to my hotel,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18as I'll be exploring the city in the morning.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36I chose to stay in the Frankfurter Hof Hotel
0:27:36 > 0:27:39because it's advertised in my Bradshaw's guide.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Tells me that it's got a garden terrace.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44Well, I certainly have an enormous balcony.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46I love to stay in a traditional hotel.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50This one must have looked much the same in Bradshaw's time,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54but the surroundings, well, that's something quite different.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Although Frankfurt, on the River Main,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04was already a financial centre by 1913,
0:28:04 > 0:28:09today's skyline is not something that Edwardians would recognise.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11The first skyscraper went up in the 1970s
0:28:11 > 0:28:13and they kept on coming.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17The city has been dubbed Mainhattan, after New York.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54Frankfurt's banking families, like the Rothschilds,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57helped to lay its modern economic foundations
0:28:57 > 0:28:59in the 18th and 19th centuries.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03Now this is a world-class financial centre,
0:29:03 > 0:29:05home to the European Central Bank
0:29:05 > 0:29:07and Germany's largest stock exchange,
0:29:07 > 0:29:11which moved to this building in 1879.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18I'm receiving a behind-the-scenes tour of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
0:29:18 > 0:29:21from spokesman Patrick Kalbhenn.
0:29:21 > 0:29:22Hello, Patrick.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24Hi, Michael. Nice to welcome you here.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27Thank you. The first thing that strikes me is just how quiet it is.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30I see a whole load of people down here
0:29:30 > 0:29:33but there's no sort of commotion, nobody's yelling anything.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36- How does it all work?- Well, that's the impression many people have,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39when they come here they think that it's very loud here
0:29:39 > 0:29:42and people are crying, but that isn't the case any more.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44We have the floor trading over here
0:29:44 > 0:29:46and that is a fully automatic system,
0:29:46 > 0:29:48which was introduced in 1997.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51And trading is possible from wherever you are in the world,
0:29:51 > 0:29:53you only need a computer.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56So we have a volume of about six billion euros a day,
0:29:56 > 0:30:00so that's about 85% of stock-exchange turnover in Germany.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04'The Frankfurt stock exchange has come a long way
0:30:04 > 0:30:05'since the 16th century,
0:30:05 > 0:30:09'when business was conducted in the open air.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12'The German economy is Europe's largest.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15'Its top 30 companies are listed here on the Dax.'
0:30:17 > 0:30:21Here on the floor we've got displayed various stocks,
0:30:21 > 0:30:23represented by three letters.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25Why are they lighting up from time to time?
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Because here we have the biggest German stocks.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32If the light is green then the stock price is rising,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35and if it's red then the stock price is falling.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39'Communicating the stock-exchange progress throughout the day
0:30:39 > 0:30:42'is a key part of the market's success.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46'Around ten television programmes are broadcast live
0:30:46 > 0:30:49'around the world every day.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53'Katja Dofel is a journalist with German channel n-tv.'
0:30:53 > 0:30:56SHE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:31:06 > 0:31:10- Katja.- Hello.- Hi, I'm Michael. - Nice to meet you.- How do you do?
0:31:10 > 0:31:14- You have to go on live, always live? - Always live, yes.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17You've just got a few little notes and you just deliver.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19We have to kind of put it in our head
0:31:19 > 0:31:22and then just explain to the people,
0:31:22 > 0:31:26and the problem is people don't really understand that much about economics, they...
0:31:26 > 0:31:28they find it a little bit...
0:31:28 > 0:31:32- intimidating.- Absolutely. - And so, yeah, we have to try and
0:31:32 > 0:31:36explain them every day why it's important
0:31:36 > 0:31:38and why they should listen.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42SHE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:31:55 > 0:31:57I'm investing in lunch
0:31:57 > 0:32:01so I'm making a pit stop at a famous Frankfurt sausage shop
0:32:01 > 0:32:05that's been in business since before my guidebook was published.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11While I'm in this city, there's one more place that I'm hoping to find
0:32:11 > 0:32:14and, according to my book, it's just around the corner.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24Bradshaw's tells me that at the Grosse Hirschgraben, number 28,
0:32:24 > 0:32:30is the house of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, where he was born in 1749.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34"Interesting rooms, a museum and a library."
0:32:34 > 0:32:38Goethe brought German literature to the attention of the world.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41He is a sort of German equivalent of Dante, of Voltaire
0:32:41 > 0:32:43and of Shakespeare.
0:32:48 > 0:32:49- Hello, Anne.- Hello, Michael.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52Welcome to the Frankfurt Goethe House.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57A wonderful house, a huge house. Not at all what I expected.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05'Professor Anne Bohnenkamp-Renken is the director of the Goethe House.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08'It was restored to the 18th-century original
0:33:08 > 0:33:10'after its destruction in World War II.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15'Goethe published over 100 volumes in his lifetime
0:33:15 > 0:33:17'and achieved world-wide fame
0:33:17 > 0:33:20'throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22'Visiting his home would have been
0:33:22 > 0:33:24'high on the Edwardian tourist itinerary.'
0:33:28 > 0:33:30A wonderful room. The father's library?
0:33:30 > 0:33:33Yes, the father's library and the room
0:33:33 > 0:33:35where the children got their lessons.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Anne, I've heard it said that Goethe is to the German language
0:33:40 > 0:33:44as Shakespeare is to the English language. Would you agree with that?
0:33:44 > 0:33:48Yes, I think so, one... could put Goethe in this place.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Goethe's at first poet,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53Shakespeare was very important for him
0:33:53 > 0:33:55to invent himself as a poet.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58Shakespeare was a great inspiration for Goethe.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01He was very fascinated by the, erm...
0:34:01 > 0:34:04free and original style of Shakespeare
0:34:04 > 0:34:06in comparison to the French classicism.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10And he said it was like someone must feel who has been blind
0:34:10 > 0:34:14all his life and then suddenly learns to see the world,
0:34:14 > 0:34:18and it was like this for him reading Shakespeare.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24'As well as being influenced by Shakespeare's realism,
0:34:24 > 0:34:26'Goethe wrote in German rather than French,
0:34:26 > 0:34:29'which was the language of the elite.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32'He was the first German poet to be accessible to the masses.'
0:34:34 > 0:34:37As the Germans during the 19th century
0:34:37 > 0:34:40begin to develop, er, more self-awareness
0:34:40 > 0:34:43and eventually develop a political German unity,
0:34:43 > 0:34:46do you think that what Goethe had done for the German language
0:34:46 > 0:34:49was important in that process?
0:34:49 > 0:34:50Goethe was putting in words
0:34:50 > 0:34:53something which was in the air of his time.
0:34:53 > 0:34:58Goethe became important as a poet for...for the nation building
0:34:58 > 0:35:00which took place in the 19th century
0:35:00 > 0:35:05and he of course was one of the most important poets in German language.
0:35:05 > 0:35:11Throughout the whole 19th century he became something of an
0:35:11 > 0:35:16identification mark of German-ness for the Germans later on, yes.
0:35:20 > 0:35:25'Goethe became a national cultural icon and a unifying figure.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29'It's a role that he still occupies, over 200 years later.'
0:35:43 > 0:35:44Morning.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48Thank you very much indeed. Thank you. Bye-bye.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59I'm up bright and early to catch my train from Frankfurt.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03I'm travelling almost 150 miles north towards my next stop.
0:36:17 > 0:36:22My destination is Goettingen, situated in Lower Saxony.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25From there I'll travel my final 75 miles
0:36:25 > 0:36:30up through the country towards Hanover, where my journey will end.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33TRAIN ANNOUNCEMENT IN GERMAN
0:36:37 > 0:36:41My next stop will be Goettingen, which Bradshaw's tells me
0:36:41 > 0:36:45is "an old university town having picturesque streets.
0:36:45 > 0:36:47"Tablets indicate houses where
0:36:47 > 0:36:51"learned men associated with the university lived."
0:36:51 > 0:36:54That list of men was growing.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57In the years before the publication of my guidebook,
0:36:57 > 0:37:00there had been four Nobel Prize winners.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02This was or was to be
0:37:02 > 0:37:07the university of Max Planck, Max Born, Julius Robert Oppenheimer,
0:37:07 > 0:37:11men whose contribution to science would change Germany
0:37:11 > 0:37:12and indeed the world.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25Around the time that my guidebook was published,
0:37:25 > 0:37:29Germany was leading the way in science and technology.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Inventions like aspirin and the diesel engine,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36along with concepts such as quantum theory,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39meant re-evaluating our human capabilities
0:37:39 > 0:37:42and our position in the universe.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48Gottingen University, founded in the early 18th century,
0:37:48 > 0:37:52was synonymous with innovation by the late 19th.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56It's a legacy that the town is still proud to display.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04The fountain of the Goose Girl is festooned with balloons and flowers
0:38:04 > 0:38:07that have been left by exuberant students.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09Indeed, when they receive their doctorates,
0:38:09 > 0:38:13they have the custom of climbing up and kissing the girl's face.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16She's reputedly one of the most kissed girls in Germany.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24In the 19th century, the students here began to concern themselves
0:38:24 > 0:38:26with more than academia,
0:38:26 > 0:38:30as their country was gripped in turn by war, revolution
0:38:30 > 0:38:33and a growing nationalistic fervour.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38I've arranged to meet up with Dr Marian Fussel from the university.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41Oh, hello, Michael.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43- Hello, Marian.- Nice to see you. - Well met.
0:38:44 > 0:38:49- It's very good to see you. I wanted to talk to you about the Burschenschaften.- Oh, yeah.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51What is a Burschenschaften?
0:38:51 > 0:38:54A Burschenschaften is a student organisation,
0:38:54 > 0:38:56but they are also lifetime organisations.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58You join for a lifetime and you don't stop
0:38:58 > 0:39:02being a member of that corporation after you're studying,
0:39:02 > 0:39:06and they became in the 19th century very politicised organisations
0:39:06 > 0:39:08striving for German unification.
0:39:10 > 0:39:15'The first groups, formed in 1815, attracted thousands of members,
0:39:15 > 0:39:19'who were important proponents of German unification.'
0:39:21 > 0:39:25- Unification of Germany comes about in 1871.- Yes.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28Do the Burschenschaften continue after that?
0:39:28 > 0:39:32Yes, after 1871 they really took over the universities,
0:39:32 > 0:39:37their support became more than 50% among students.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41A martial spirit was very at the core of student culture of the time.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46Practices like fencing, erm, new ideals of masculinity,
0:39:46 > 0:39:51of co-exertion, strengthening your body, all that played a big role.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57'With unification achieved, the societies had to find other ways
0:39:57 > 0:39:59'to display their ideas of German-ness.'
0:40:00 > 0:40:04Fraternities adopted distinctive military-style clothing
0:40:04 > 0:40:07and behaved so badly that the university
0:40:07 > 0:40:09had to establish its own prison.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Marian, this is the most extraordinary place.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24Who was put in these cells?
0:40:24 > 0:40:29The deviant students, but mostly the Burschenschaft students left all
0:40:29 > 0:40:34this graffiti around here, so we can still have the traces who was here,
0:40:34 > 0:40:38imprisoned for damaging public lights, to drinking too much,
0:40:38 > 0:40:42having duels, or committing crimes against public order.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45So what, nowadays, we would call laddish behaviour
0:40:45 > 0:40:47was a big part of the Burschenschaften.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51Yes, it was part of their identity to, in a way, misbehave.
0:40:53 > 0:40:58A duelling scar was proof of a fraternity member's honour.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02The goal was to cut the opponent on the left side of the face,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04but often duellers mis-aimed.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07Even then, the loss of a nose or another facial disfigurement
0:41:07 > 0:41:09was worn with pride.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15It seems that there was a lot of this going on
0:41:15 > 0:41:17at the time of my guide book.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22We've got 1905, 1911, 1913,
0:41:22 > 0:41:24the very year of my guidebook.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28What role do you think the Burschenschaften played
0:41:28 > 0:41:30in the development of German nationalism?
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Oh, I think without the Burschenschaften,
0:41:32 > 0:41:36the culture of German nationalism would not have been the same.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40They played a core role, for example, in mobilising the youth,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44the students, the younger people and getting them into
0:41:44 > 0:41:47this national movement, or the national spirit, in a way.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50Really showing your commitment to the nation by your behaviour,
0:41:50 > 0:41:54by your language, by your clothing and by the practices.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04Over 100 years ago, here at Gottingen University,
0:42:04 > 0:42:09a professor opened a centre that was to change forever the way we travel.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19I'm at the Gottingen Aerospace test centre
0:42:19 > 0:42:21to meet Jens Wucherpfennig.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27So, I'm guessing that this is a wind tunnel,
0:42:27 > 0:42:29but not a new one, I think.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33- This would be a piece of history, would it?- Yes, that's right.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36This wind tunnel made this facility famous all over the world.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40The Gottingen-type wind tunnel was founded and invented here
0:42:40 > 0:42:42and this is the cradle of modern aerodynamics,
0:42:42 > 0:42:46where, for the first time in the world, in 1907, the state-run
0:42:46 > 0:42:50research facility for aerospace research was founded.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52Now, 1907 is incredibly early,
0:42:52 > 0:42:57because the Wright brothers had only flown in 1903,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00- and this was established just four years later.- Yes, that's right.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03Professor Ludwig Prandtl was the first to use science
0:43:03 > 0:43:06to observe air flow. With the wind tunnel,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09he showed how air moves around different shapes
0:43:09 > 0:43:14and how flaps on an aircraft wing can be adjusted to affect flight.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18Today, Prandtl is considered to be the father of aerodynamics.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23When the first people tried to build airplanes,
0:43:23 > 0:43:25they just did it by trial and error.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29They had an idea, built it and either it flew or it crashed.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33And Ludwig Prandtl was the man who made aerodynamics a science,
0:43:33 > 0:43:36so you can predict what kind of airplane will fly
0:43:36 > 0:43:39and how it will fly.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44For over 100 years, wind tunnels have been used to test air flow,
0:43:44 > 0:43:49noise and turbulence not just in planes, but trains and cars.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53The system is also used to improve the performance of athletes.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55So, you're blowing air between these two points, are you?
0:43:55 > 0:43:57Yes, that's right.
0:43:57 > 0:43:58What speed is that running at?
0:43:58 > 0:44:01At the moment, it's 25 metres per second.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04That sounds quite rough. Would it be safe for me to stand in there?
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Safe, yes, but tough for you.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10I'm going to give it a go.
0:44:10 > 0:44:11Whoa!
0:44:14 > 0:44:17Whoa! Blow me down!
0:44:25 > 0:44:27Wow. What is this facility, Jens?
0:44:27 > 0:44:32This is a special track where trains, models of trains,
0:44:32 > 0:44:38are fired with velocities up to 360km an hour.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41Daniela, how very good to see you.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44Dr Daniela Heiner is part of the team
0:44:44 > 0:44:47developing and testing new high-speed trains.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50This is a model, really, of the train
0:44:50 > 0:44:53that I probably arrived today in Gottingen.
0:44:53 > 0:44:54Yes, exactly.
0:44:54 > 0:44:58And what about this one behind?
0:44:58 > 0:45:00- So, this is something new?- Yes.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04So, we have the next generation train and it's fast,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07it will travel with about 400km per hour.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09Goodness gracious.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15The team experiments with different shapes to see how
0:45:15 > 0:45:20these 250-mile-per-hour trains will perform on the track.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23- So this is the catapult.- Yes.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27Yes, it is. So, Michael, would you, please, pull the rope to prepare
0:45:27 > 0:45:31- this side of the catapult and I go and prepare the other one?- OK.
0:45:35 > 0:45:40Jens, what was it that gave you the idea of having a catapult?
0:45:40 > 0:45:44Yes, with this facility we had the task to accelerate train models
0:45:44 > 0:45:47very, very fast in a short moment of time,
0:45:47 > 0:45:52and our scientists got inspired by Roman catapults
0:45:52 > 0:45:56and we kind of transformed this idea
0:45:56 > 0:46:00to fire models of trains instead of arrows,
0:46:00 > 0:46:05- and that's what we're doing here. - A 2,000-year-old of technology.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09Yes, definitely, and it's working to improve the trains of the future.
0:46:13 > 0:46:17Firing the models at high speeds allows the team to see how
0:46:17 > 0:46:21trains will cope with crosswinds and tunnel pressure.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27So, three, two, one.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:46:34 > 0:46:37I can't wait to be a passenger on that thing.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53The new trains aren't due for release for several years yet,
0:46:53 > 0:46:55so I'm catching the existing high-speed
0:46:55 > 0:46:57Intercity-Express train north,
0:46:57 > 0:47:00towards the final stop of my journey.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14- May I see your ticket, please? - Here we are.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18- Yes, thank you, sir. - Hanover.- To Hanover.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25- Thanks a lot, sir.- Thank you. - Have a pleasant journey.
0:47:25 > 0:47:26- Thank you. Bye-bye.- Bye-bye.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52Hanover was one of Germany's main manufacturing cities during
0:47:52 > 0:47:56the 19th century and became a centre for arms production
0:47:56 > 0:47:58during the Second World War.
0:47:59 > 0:48:05As a result, it was largely destroyed by Allied bombs.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09It's been rebuilt, and in its history,
0:48:09 > 0:48:11it has experienced several renewals.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21"Hanover," says Bradshaw's, "is situated on the River Leine,"
0:48:21 > 0:48:24and I learn that it is the capital of a Prussian province.
0:48:24 > 0:48:25This is the Rathaus,
0:48:25 > 0:48:29which was brand-new at the time of my Bradshaw's guide,
0:48:29 > 0:48:35and just imagine the success and the pride of this manufacturing city
0:48:35 > 0:48:40that lay behind the creation of such a palatial city hall.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50From the mid-19th century, Hanover's economy took off
0:48:50 > 0:48:53and in the four decades before my guide book,
0:48:53 > 0:48:55the population more than tripled.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03When British tourists came here in 1913, they discovered a city
0:49:03 > 0:49:05flexing serious economic muscle,
0:49:05 > 0:49:08visible in its streets and architecture.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18Katrin Baumgarten is an expert on the town hall's history.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21Katrin, this is a magnificent city hall.
0:49:21 > 0:49:26Hanover must have been a great city by the end of the 19th century.
0:49:26 > 0:49:27Yes, this is true.
0:49:27 > 0:49:32In the second half of the 19th century, a lot of companies
0:49:32 > 0:49:34were founded in Hanover,
0:49:34 > 0:49:39people moved from the countryside to the city, so the population
0:49:39 > 0:49:46was growing, the tax was growing as well, so they decided to build
0:49:46 > 0:49:49this really huge and impressive city hall
0:49:49 > 0:49:52to show the power of the people.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57The mayor, Heinrich Tramm,
0:49:57 > 0:50:01decided to pour Hanover's new-found wealth into building
0:50:01 > 0:50:03a grand northern hub.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08By 1913, the city was of such importance
0:50:08 > 0:50:11that the Kaiser came to open the town hall.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16Even my great-grandmother, she was there,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19she was about 13 or 14 years old.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23Nearly all schoolchildren got the day off
0:50:23 > 0:50:26to stand in the streets and wave to the emperor.
0:50:26 > 0:50:33It impressed her, really, a lot, she was telling the story for decades.
0:50:33 > 0:50:35It wasn't just the building's grand facades
0:50:35 > 0:50:40that were meant to show off the city's success.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43A lift with a sloping floor.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48We've got a glass roof as well
0:50:48 > 0:50:53and I can see the weirdest thing, which is a curved lift shaft.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56The addition of Europe's only curved elevator
0:50:56 > 0:50:59was designed to showcase the very latest
0:50:59 > 0:51:01in Germany's engineering prowess.
0:51:01 > 0:51:06And such an odd feeling as the lift tips to one side
0:51:06 > 0:51:10and now, of course, the floor is straight again.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17Amazing - early 20th century German technology.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28When he came to open the city hall,
0:51:28 > 0:51:32Kaiser Wilhelm II did not ascend the dome to enjoy
0:51:32 > 0:51:34this magnificent view.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37In that respect, I am luckier than an emperor.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56In the years before the grand town hall was opened,
0:51:56 > 0:52:01the aptly named Mayor Tramm was engaged in rebuilding the city
0:52:01 > 0:52:04and creating a modern transport system to match.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10Historian Dr Ines Katenhusen
0:52:10 > 0:52:14is meeting me on board one of the city's sleek, modern trams.
0:52:16 > 0:52:21- Hello, Ines.- Hello, nice to meet you.- I'm Michael.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25I notice that you have a very extensive tram system in Hanover.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27Tell me about the origins of that.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29The origins of our tram system,
0:52:29 > 0:52:33of our commuter tram systems, are older than 100 years.
0:52:33 > 0:52:38It started out, actually, in the 1850s and then, in 1890s,
0:52:38 > 0:52:42we already had, like, 40km within the city limits.
0:52:42 > 0:52:49We had, like, 9 million people who actually used this tram every year.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54- That would be a period of rapid development for the city.- Um-hm.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56Actually, it was very rapid development.
0:52:56 > 0:53:01So we started out, in the 1860s, with about 60,000 inhabitants
0:53:01 > 0:53:06and within the next half century it would grow to up to 320,000.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11Do you think there were special reasons
0:53:11 > 0:53:13why Hanover was such a success commercially?
0:53:13 > 0:53:17Yes, I do think so. Basically, the main reason
0:53:17 > 0:53:20was the end of Hanover as a kingdom
0:53:20 > 0:53:26and becoming part of Prussia in 1866, and this is the starting point
0:53:26 > 0:53:29for industrial development
0:53:29 > 0:53:34and for this real large development of the city.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40After the city was annexed by Prussia
0:53:40 > 0:53:43in the years before German unification,
0:53:43 > 0:53:48new laws freed business from the strict control of the guilds.
0:53:48 > 0:53:53This free enterprise meant that anyone could become an entrepreneur,
0:53:53 > 0:53:58beginning an era of manufacturing and industry that lasts to this day
0:53:58 > 0:54:01and in which the tram still plays a major part.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10- Hello, Udo.- Hello, Michael. Welcome. - Thank you very much.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14I'm meeting Udo Iwannek from Uestra,
0:54:14 > 0:54:16the company which runs the tram system.
0:54:23 > 0:54:28Well, Udo, this is a very, very smart new tram. What are the new features?
0:54:28 > 0:54:30It has a lot of new features.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33We cover kinetic energy like they do in Formula One.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37When the tram brakes, then it produces electricity,
0:54:37 > 0:54:40it turns into a generator, and we put this energy
0:54:40 > 0:54:44into the wiring, by this we save up to 50% energy.
0:54:44 > 0:54:46Made in Germany, I assume.
0:54:46 > 0:54:50Yeah, it's... Well, it's an example of German engineering.
0:54:50 > 0:54:55Well, I can't pass up the chance to drive the Formula One-inspired tram
0:54:55 > 0:54:57on its test track.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00- Hello, Frank.- Hello, Michael. Please, take a seat. - Thank you very much.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05- I'll put my Bradshaw there.- OK.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07OK. We have to close the doors, please.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09- Like that?- Yeah. - BELL CHIMES
0:55:09 > 0:55:13- Aha! Let's ring the bell. - BELL RINGS
0:55:13 > 0:55:15Stand clear, everybody.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Lovely smooth ride, Frank.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24A little faster, please.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32Oh, I didn't expect that, we turned left!
0:55:35 > 0:55:37And it feels good.
0:55:37 > 0:55:38I'm really enjoying this, Frank.
0:55:44 > 0:55:46A little bit of acceleration.
0:55:46 > 0:55:48Into another curve.
0:55:51 > 0:55:53A nice straight.
0:55:53 > 0:55:54BELL RINGS
0:55:56 > 0:56:01I have control of a tram, move over, Hanover.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03BELL RINGS
0:56:03 > 0:56:07Trams still travel at 15km per hour through the city -
0:56:07 > 0:56:10the same speed as 100 years ago.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16Into the bend.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22Coming around towards the station.
0:56:27 > 0:56:31German technology - smooth and green.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36ALARM BLARES
0:56:36 > 0:56:40- Oh, sorry, Frank. Oh, sorry, everybody.- OK?
0:56:56 > 0:56:59200 years ago, amongst the many German states
0:56:59 > 0:57:02that had been overrun by the French emperor Napoleon
0:57:02 > 0:57:06and whose people were proud to speak the language of Goethe,
0:57:06 > 0:57:10there arose the idea of creating a nation.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13It drew inspiration from the landscape
0:57:13 > 0:57:16and from the fairy tales gathered in the forests.
0:57:16 > 0:57:22By 1913, Germany was a great power, with industry surging ahead,
0:57:22 > 0:57:26thanks, not least, to the breakthroughs made by scientists
0:57:26 > 0:57:28at Goettingen University.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33A modern version of Bradshaw's would point to this country's lead
0:57:33 > 0:57:36in technology and, for this traveller at least,
0:57:36 > 0:57:41its excellence, quality and reliability would provide
0:57:41 > 0:57:44an up-to-date definition of German-ness.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56Next time, I'm trampled underfoot
0:57:56 > 0:57:59at the bottom of a Catalan people steeple.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03We keep our heads down, so we're not really even aware what's going on.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07Here comes someone else on top of me, I think. Yep, that's right.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11I pay homage to Barcelona's most famous architect.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15The reason it's so full of light is because he was able to get rid
0:58:15 > 0:58:17of the structural impositions that the Gothic masters
0:58:17 > 0:58:19weren't able to deal with themselves.
0:58:19 > 0:58:21Mark, I've understood more in the last ten seconds
0:58:21 > 0:58:22than I had in years.
0:58:24 > 0:58:28And spoil myself with a spectacular scenic ride
0:58:28 > 0:58:31aboard a sublime 1912 vintage Mallorcan railway.
0:58:31 > 0:58:36To be on a train in the open air, enjoying the sunshine,
0:58:36 > 0:58:39this is absolutely perfect.