The Black Forest to Hannover Great Continental Railway Journeys

'I'm embarking on a new railway adventure

'that will take me to the heart of Europe.'

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

dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world

of foreign travel for the British tourist.

'It told travellers where to go,

'what to see and how to navigate

'the thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossing the Continent.

'Now, a century later,

'I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy.

'Where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.'

I want to rediscover that lost Europe that, in 1913,

couldn't know that its way of life

would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.

'I'm travelling through a country

'with which tourists from the United Kingdom

'felt a strong connection.

'Not least because the British King George V's first cousin

'was the German Kaiser.'

In 1913, British tourists still flocked here to Germany,

despite the fact that their government felt threatened

by a large, industrialised,

militaristic and expansionist power

ruled over by an autocratic and unpredictable monarch,

Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Merely 50 years before, Germany had not existed.

I want to discover how, from a galaxy of states and principalities,

there emerged a powerfully self-confident nation.

Its people bound together by their language, legends and literature.

The united Germany of 1913

was a collection of 25 previously-independent territories,

the most powerful of which was Prussia.

Since becoming one nation in 1871,

the empire had striven to rival the industrial and economic might

of Britain and France.

My route begins on the edge of the lovely Black Forest

in Germany's southern city of Freiburg.

From there, I'll travel north via Heidelberg

to the financial powerhouse of Frankfurt.

Then I'll continue on to Goettingen,

before finishing my journey in the northern city of Hanover.

'On my travels, I'll hear how Black Forest fairytales

'unified the Germans.'

The forests came to stand for German-ness.

So they were really, really important

in building up this common heritage.

CUCKOO!

'I'll try for a place amongst Germany's master carvers.'

Oops! Not quite as clean as yours, but...

Yeah, but not too bad for the first one.

CUCKOO-CUCKOO-CUCKOO!

'And I'll get wind of how early 20th century innovation

'still shapes German transport today.'

Oh! Blow me down!

Three, two, one...

I can't wait to be a passenger on that thing!

'By 1913, Germany was a great European power

'with an overseas empire.

'Yet many Germans identified more with their home state

'than with their new nation.

'What did it mean to be German?

'For travellers following my guidebook,

'the different states offered a rich array of culture,

'cuisine and landscape.

'Many seeking a healthy summer getaway would head south.'

My journey begins here in Freiburg, which my Bradshaw's tells me is

"a most picturesque city situated amidst beautiful surroundings

"of wooded mountain and fertile plain".

I'm here because it is the gateway to the Black Forest.

'Freiburg is one of Germany's leading tourist spots.

'The attractive city threaded by a network of fresh waterways

'is the perfect place to begin an excursion into the Forest.

'Tourists would come here for the fresh air,

'or to experience some of the latest fads,

'such as all-weather gymnastics.'

Freiburg is Germany's warmest and sunniest city

and a place of tradition.

There's been a market in the Munsterplatz since 1514.

Year after year, day after day,

come shine or come rain.

Guten Morgen.

Buongiorno.

MAN SPEAKS ITALIAN

Grazie!

Italian cheese.

The route to the edge of the Black Forest hasn't changed

since the time of my guidebook - this tram line was opened in 1901.

-Guten Morgen.

-Guten Morgen.

-Einfache Fahrt, bitte.

-Einfache Fahrt, ja.

-Danke.

-Vielen Dank.

But the climb up to the mountains is simpler

and quicker than it was 100 years ago,

thanks to the Schauinsland cable car, which was opened in 1930.

Bradshaw's is enthusiastic.

"The Black Forest is the most extensive

"and the most beautiful of the wooded districts of Germany

"and offers a tranquillity hardly to be found elsewhere.

"The inhabitants have been content to remain

"within inherited dispositions.

"Their manners are simple and have changed little for many generations.

"Such is the charm of the Black Forest."

I can see why, before the ease of the modern cable car,

a trip up here would have been worth the uphill walk.

BIRDSONG

I think there's something unmistakably Germanic

about this landscape and, as the high clouds scud about, you can see

how it would give rise to mystery and intrigue and superstition.

In the century before my guide was published,

breathtaking vistas like these provided the nation with a landscape

that was physical and cultural, after two famous brothers

found inspiration for their writing in forests.

I'm meeting literary historian Sandra Schwab

for a walk in the woods.

Sandra, why do you think forests

are so important to people like the Brothers Grimm?

Well, during the Romantic Age there was a new appreciation

for nature and also for forests

and this is also reflected in the fairy tales.

In the fairy tales, the forest is always the opposite of the town.

It's the place where the fairy-tale hero goes to have adventures.

On the other hand, the forest is also a place of danger.

It is the place where Little Red Riding Hood meets the talking wolf,

it's also the place where Hansel and Gretel get lost

and stumble across the witch's house.

'Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

'published their collection of Children's and Household Tales

'in the early years of the 19th century,

'when Germany territories were emerging

'from occupation by the French.

'New interest and pride in all things German

'were sweeping the different states.'

Do you think that the Brothers Grimm were consciously

looking for German material?

Yes, they were.

They regarded fairy tales as preservers

of an old German mythology,

of old truths.

They took a lot of tales from old literary sources,

they went through old books,

and more importantly they also asked their acquaintances

to help them collect fairy tales.

'Assembled from various sources,

'these folk stories drew together the nation's diverse oral histories,

'although today we wouldn't classify all of those stories

'as children's fairy tales.'

I've brought you to this place because it always reminds me

of the tower in Rapunzel.

Yeah, the overgrown fortification in the forest is

sort of a romantic cliche, isn't it?

Oh, absolutely.

Were the Grimm brothers an instant success?

No, they were not, really.

On the one hand it was intended as children's literature

but on the other hand, a lot of people complained

that many tales were not really suitable for children

because they contained many sexual allusions.

'It wasn't until the stories were refocused for children

'by English translator Edgar Taylor

'and illustrated by George Cruikshank in 1823

'that they became a hit.

'Today, Children's and Household Tales are again

'Germany's most popular book after the Bible.'

Sandra, what is the legacy of the Grimm fairy tales,

not so much for generations of children as for Germany?

For the people in Germany they came to represent middle-class values,

family values.

There was also an idealisation of the forests going on.

The forests came to stand for German-ness,

so they were really, really important

in building up this common heritage,

in making people think that they had

a common German heritage to look back,

which was important in leading up to the unification of Germany in 1871.

While I'm in the Black Forest, there's another cultural icon

that I have to experience, so I'm making a stop at the Waldrestaurant.

Here, sir, the Black Forest cake for you, I hope you will enjoy it.

-Thank you. Would you mind taking a seat a second?

-Yeah, sure.

I just want to ask you about this.

Look at that! Isn't that amazing?

What is the German for it?

Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte.

-Schwarzwalder means Black Forest...

-Exactly.

..and Torte means gateau. What's the Kirsch bit?

It has to consist of cherries from the Black Forest.

It's an alcoholic liqueur?

-Yes, it is.

-Wow.

Have you any idea why that's so popular in the Black Forest?

-Why did it come to be made here?

-Because it's so yummy!

I know it's popular with tourists, every tourist orders

the Black Forest Gateau, but do German people like it as well?

Yes, of course, we all like it.

Thank you very much, and it will go very well with my coffee.

Yeah, I hope so.

I can't believe that in the English translation,

Black Forest Gateau,

we leave out the most important thing, the kirsch liqueur.

This is the ultimate tipsy cake.

Mmm!

As the lady says, yummy.

Before I end my first day in Germany,

my guidebook steers me to another part of the Black Forest.

Here in the Black Forest, according to my guidebook,

"Occupations are chiefly with timber,

"either with huge rafts that later

"float down the Rhein or with the smaller ways of wooden clocks."

And indeed, it's nearly three centuries

since the first "cuckoo!" was heard in these valleys.

Triberg, in the heart of the forest,

is a picture-perfect southern German town.

Tourists began to visit here in large numbers

once the Black Forest Railway opened a station in 1873.

One of the most popular souvenirs of the time

remains top of the wish list today.

CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES

Hello, I see you admiring clocks.

-Are you thinking of making a purchase today?

-I am, yes.

What takes your fancy?

Definitely the one with the stags. I like the darker wood.

And when you came to the Black Forest,

were you THINKING of buying a cuckoo clock?

-Yeah, I've come especially to get one for my sister.

-Have you really?

-Yeah!

-You've come to the Black Forest to get a cuckoo clock?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, we were travelling down the Rhine

and we thought we had to come up and get ourselves a cuckoo clock.

This is the cuckoo capital, is it?

-It is, yeah.

-Seems to be, anyway!

CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES

MUSIC-BOX TUNE PLAYS

'These clocks are made on site by master carver Oli Zinapold.

'He's been making cuckoo clocks for almost 30 years.'

-Hello, Oli!

-Hello, Michael. How are you?

Very, very good to see you.

I wanted to start by asking you, how does a cuckoo clock work?

A cuckoo clock works by a mechanical movement.

So you see...

-CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES

-..to the full hour you see now the weights are moving

because it works with the gravity of the weights, you know.

One weight operates the cuckoo system

and one operates the clock.

At the beginning they have been from plan to put a rooster sound.

-Really?

-Yeah, really, but that was quite too complicated

because it's much many different notes,

so they searched for something which is easy, and that was the cuckoo.

-Now you see the bellows get lifted up.

-CUCKOO NOISES

Here you see then also the hammer working

and that blows then the air and that makes the two notes.

It's basically a very easy system,

but invented a long time ago.

'The clocks, richly ornamented with carvings inspired by the forest,

'helped to shape Germany's reputation for quality

'and reliability in manufacturing.

'And as railways began to take hold here in the 19th century,

'they too inspired the clocks.'

And this design, this little house that we have here,

what's the origin of that?

It is a very old-style railway-roadhouse cuckoo clock.

The name comes basically from...

Here in the Black Forest we have all the very famous railways

a long time, and the houses along the railway are a little

bit different builded, and so the typical Black Forest roof style.

'New houses for railway workers lined the Black Forest Railway

'and their distinctive roofline inspired a winning design

'in a clock-making competition in 1850.

'It remains the most popular shape today.'

How do you know what you're doing there?

-This is just experience, is it?

-That is experience, yes, right.

First we go with that chisel...

along the middle.

So. Hold it with your right hand tight, be careful.

-The fingers not that close.

-OK.

Because it's very sharp. OK. Good.

-One time more?

-One time more, a little deeper.

A little deeper.

It's so far OK, I think.

Oops.

Not quite as clean as yours, but...

-Yeah, but not too bad for the first one.

-Not TOO bad.

This is tricky.

Yeah, the wood does have grains

-and that is the difficulty by the carving.

-Hmm.

Mm, I'm not so happy with that now.

-You're not so happy with that now?

-Not so happy with that now.

My veins have gone badly wrong, I think my leaf...

Yes, that's a leaf in fall.

But you haven't done bad for the first time. Congratulations.

Thank you, Oli.

-And you can keep that as a souvenir.

-MICHAEL CHUCKLES

CHIMES AND CUCKOO NOISES

On the next part of my journey

I'll be travelling along the Rhine Valley railway line

that tourists have been using since 1840.

I'm heading over 100 miles north towards Heidelberg.

The city, with its castle and university

in a stunning setting, inspired writers and artists

of the early 19th-century Romantic movement.

The Romantics celebrated nature's untamed might

and were attracted by all that's irrational in human experience.

By the early 20th century,

tourists were coming to visit the places immortalised in their work.

Heidelberg, says Bradshaw's, "is one of the most beautifully situated

"as well as most historically interesting towns of Germany,

"almost surrounded by wooded hills,

"whence the views are very fine."

It was a magnet for travellers

and the advent of the First World War took them by surprise.

Days after the conflict had begun,

Eastern Railways were still advertising trips to Germany

and 6,000 British holiday-makers found themselves stranded behind

what had become, overnight, enemy lines.

For tourists coming here 100 years ago

there was one main place to head to, the imposing Schloss.

During the 1800s, the ruins of this 12th-century castle came to embody

German Romanticism and were a key feature on the tourist trail.

King Edward VII visited as Prince of Wales in 1861.

He and his future wife, Alexandra, exchanged signed photographs here,

beginning their courtship.

I'm heading over to the so-called Philosopher's Way,

where I'm meeting local historian Jonas Hock.

-Hello, Jonas.

-Hello, Michael.

-Good to see you.

-Nice to see you.

Why was Heidelberg

so appealing to Romantic writers, particularly poets?

Just take a look at it, it's gorgeous.

It has a river, it has nature, with the hills, the forests,

then there's also that ruin, that all-important mysterious ruin.

That was on the one hand very attractive because ruins were

generally very fashionable,

but it's also reminiscent of German history,

that it really became an object for the longings of these poets.

The ruined grandeur came to symbolise the glorious past,

as Germany looked to a united future.

Artists like JMW Turner,

composers such as Johannes Brahms and many writers

used Heidelberg in emotionally charged, dramatic works.

Who are the poets who most distinguished themselves

by writing about the city?

There's Friedrich Holderlin, who wrote an ode to Heidelberg.

I'll give you a taste.

My German's not very good but I think I picked up some words

like, er, fatherland, bridge, castle.

-Erm, yes, yes!

-These sound like rather familiar German themes.

True, true!

Erm, there is this notion of the fatherland,

though without all the unfortunate implications that it later acquired.

But the Romantics were very much interested in that.

They wanted to create a sense of German identity,

but also this notion of German history as something that

unified all the disparate little German mini-states.

That was very important for the Romantics.

In the second half of the 19th century,

Romanticism inspired a student population

that was politicised and liberal to push for unification.

Now, in the century after the World Wars,

the legacy of Romanticism still resonates.

What is German-ness?

Oh, my God, that is one of the most difficult things

you could probably ask a present-day German!

I would say that German-ness... has to do with history of course,

but definitely, thinking about the Romantic poets here in Heidelberg,

expressing...thoughts about the beauty of nature,

about the beauty of architecture in such very poetic language.

It's not JUST something that Germans do but it's something a lot of Germans have done really well,

so that would definitely be something that I would like to consider German-ness.

I'm leaving the relative tranquillity of Heidelberg.

I'm bound for Frankfurt, 55 miles north.

I do love double-deckers.

When I travel by bus I always go on the top storey, and one

of my regrets about Britain is that we have only single-storey trains.

Of my next destination, Bradshaw's says

"Frankfurt has always been a town of great commercial importance

"and it is a centre of European financial influence."

Bradshaw's told me to expect a fine station

in the southwestern part of the town.

Well, now it's surrounded by the skyscrapers

of the modern city of Frankfurt.

This station was built in the 1880s.

There were three stations before that, they were consolidated here

and they're represented now by three enormous canopies,

and it really is a grand design.

Today, this is the German railway network's busiest station,

with connections all over the country and to the rest of Europe.

I'm heading straight to my hotel,

as I'll be exploring the city in the morning.

I chose to stay in the Frankfurter Hof Hotel

because it's advertised in my Bradshaw's guide.

Tells me that it's got a garden terrace.

Well, I certainly have an enormous balcony.

I love to stay in a traditional hotel.

This one must have looked much the same in Bradshaw's time,

but the surroundings, well, that's something quite different.

Although Frankfurt, on the River Main,

was already a financial centre by 1913,

today's skyline is not something that Edwardians would recognise.

The first skyscraper went up in the 1970s

and they kept on coming.

The city has been dubbed Mainhattan, after New York.

Frankfurt's banking families, like the Rothschilds,

helped to lay its modern economic foundations

in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Now this is a world-class financial centre,

home to the European Central Bank

and Germany's largest stock exchange,

which moved to this building in 1879.

I'm receiving a behind-the-scenes tour of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

from spokesman Patrick Kalbhenn.

Hello, Patrick.

Hi, Michael. Nice to welcome you here.

Thank you. The first thing that strikes me is just how quiet it is.

I see a whole load of people down here

but there's no sort of commotion, nobody's yelling anything.

-How does it all work?

-Well, that's the impression many people have,

when they come here they think that it's very loud here

and people are crying, but that isn't the case any more.

We have the floor trading over here

and that is a fully automatic system,

which was introduced in 1997.

And trading is possible from wherever you are in the world,

you only need a computer.

So we have a volume of about six billion euros a day,

so that's about 85% of stock-exchange turnover in Germany.

'The Frankfurt stock exchange has come a long way

'since the 16th century,

'when business was conducted in the open air.

'The German economy is Europe's largest.

'Its top 30 companies are listed here on the Dax.'

Here on the floor we've got displayed various stocks,

represented by three letters.

Why are they lighting up from time to time?

Because here we have the biggest German stocks.

If the light is green then the stock price is rising,

and if it's red then the stock price is falling.

'Communicating the stock-exchange progress throughout the day

'is a key part of the market's success.

'Around ten television programmes are broadcast live

'around the world every day.

'Katja Dofel is a journalist with German channel n-tv.'

SHE SPEAKS GERMAN

-Katja.

-Hello.

-Hi, I'm Michael.

-Nice to meet you.

-How do you do?

-You have to go on live, always live?

-Always live, yes.

You've just got a few little notes and you just deliver.

We have to kind of put it in our head

and then just explain to the people,

and the problem is people don't really understand that much about economics, they...

they find it a little bit...

-intimidating.

-Absolutely.

-And so, yeah, we have to try and

explain them every day why it's important

and why they should listen.

SHE SPEAKS GERMAN

I'm investing in lunch

so I'm making a pit stop at a famous Frankfurt sausage shop

that's been in business since before my guidebook was published.

While I'm in this city, there's one more place that I'm hoping to find

and, according to my book, it's just around the corner.

Bradshaw's tells me that at the Grosse Hirschgraben, number 28,

is the house of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, where he was born in 1749.

"Interesting rooms, a museum and a library."

Goethe brought German literature to the attention of the world.

He is a sort of German equivalent of Dante, of Voltaire

and of Shakespeare.

-Hello, Anne.

-Hello, Michael.

Welcome to the Frankfurt Goethe House.

A wonderful house, a huge house. Not at all what I expected.

'Professor Anne Bohnenkamp-Renken is the director of the Goethe House.

'It was restored to the 18th-century original

'after its destruction in World War II.

'Goethe published over 100 volumes in his lifetime

'and achieved world-wide fame

'throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

'Visiting his home would have been

'high on the Edwardian tourist itinerary.'

A wonderful room. The father's library?

Yes, the father's library and the room

where the children got their lessons.

Anne, I've heard it said that Goethe is to the German language

as Shakespeare is to the English language. Would you agree with that?

Yes, I think so, one... could put Goethe in this place.

Goethe's at first poet,

Shakespeare was very important for him

to invent himself as a poet.

Shakespeare was a great inspiration for Goethe.

He was very fascinated by the, erm...

free and original style of Shakespeare

in comparison to the French classicism.

And he said it was like someone must feel who has been blind

all his life and then suddenly learns to see the world,

and it was like this for him reading Shakespeare.

'As well as being influenced by Shakespeare's realism,

'Goethe wrote in German rather than French,

'which was the language of the elite.

'He was the first German poet to be accessible to the masses.'

As the Germans during the 19th century

begin to develop, er, more self-awareness

and eventually develop a political German unity,

do you think that what Goethe had done for the German language

was important in that process?

Goethe was putting in words

something which was in the air of his time.

Goethe became important as a poet for...for the nation building

which took place in the 19th century

and he of course was one of the most important poets in German language.

Throughout the whole 19th century he became something of an

identification mark of German-ness for the Germans later on, yes.

'Goethe became a national cultural icon and a unifying figure.

'It's a role that he still occupies, over 200 years later.'

Morning.

Thank you very much indeed. Thank you. Bye-bye.

I'm up bright and early to catch my train from Frankfurt.

I'm travelling almost 150 miles north towards my next stop.

My destination is Goettingen, situated in Lower Saxony.

From there I'll travel my final 75 miles

up through the country towards Hanover, where my journey will end.

TRAIN ANNOUNCEMENT IN GERMAN

My next stop will be Goettingen, which Bradshaw's tells me

is "an old university town having picturesque streets.

"Tablets indicate houses where

"learned men associated with the university lived."

That list of men was growing.

In the years before the publication of my guidebook,

there had been four Nobel Prize winners.

This was or was to be

the university of Max Planck, Max Born, Julius Robert Oppenheimer,

men whose contribution to science would change Germany

and indeed the world.

Around the time that my guidebook was published,

Germany was leading the way in science and technology.

Inventions like aspirin and the diesel engine,

along with concepts such as quantum theory,

meant re-evaluating our human capabilities

and our position in the universe.

Gottingen University, founded in the early 18th century,

was synonymous with innovation by the late 19th.

It's a legacy that the town is still proud to display.

The fountain of the Goose Girl is festooned with balloons and flowers

that have been left by exuberant students.

Indeed, when they receive their doctorates,

they have the custom of climbing up and kissing the girl's face.

She's reputedly one of the most kissed girls in Germany.

In the 19th century, the students here began to concern themselves

with more than academia,

as their country was gripped in turn by war, revolution

and a growing nationalistic fervour.

I've arranged to meet up with Dr Marian Fussel from the university.

Oh, hello, Michael.

-Hello, Marian.

-Nice to see you.

-Well met.

-It's very good to see you. I wanted to talk to you about the Burschenschaften.

-Oh, yeah.

What is a Burschenschaften?

A Burschenschaften is a student organisation,

but they are also lifetime organisations.

You join for a lifetime and you don't stop

being a member of that corporation after you're studying,

and they became in the 19th century very politicised organisations

striving for German unification.

'The first groups, formed in 1815, attracted thousands of members,

'who were important proponents of German unification.'

-Unification of Germany comes about in 1871.

-Yes.

Do the Burschenschaften continue after that?

Yes, after 1871 they really took over the universities,

their support became more than 50% among students.

A martial spirit was very at the core of student culture of the time.

Practices like fencing, erm, new ideals of masculinity,

of co-exertion, strengthening your body, all that played a big role.

'With unification achieved, the societies had to find other ways

'to display their ideas of German-ness.'

Fraternities adopted distinctive military-style clothing

and behaved so badly that the university

had to establish its own prison.

Marian, this is the most extraordinary place.

Who was put in these cells?

The deviant students, but mostly the Burschenschaft students left all

this graffiti around here, so we can still have the traces who was here,

imprisoned for damaging public lights, to drinking too much,

having duels, or committing crimes against public order.

So what, nowadays, we would call laddish behaviour

was a big part of the Burschenschaften.

Yes, it was part of their identity to, in a way, misbehave.

A duelling scar was proof of a fraternity member's honour.

The goal was to cut the opponent on the left side of the face,

but often duellers mis-aimed.

Even then, the loss of a nose or another facial disfigurement

was worn with pride.

It seems that there was a lot of this going on

at the time of my guide book.

We've got 1905, 1911, 1913,

the very year of my guidebook.

What role do you think the Burschenschaften played

in the development of German nationalism?

Oh, I think without the Burschenschaften,

the culture of German nationalism would not have been the same.

They played a core role, for example, in mobilising the youth,

the students, the younger people and getting them into

this national movement, or the national spirit, in a way.

Really showing your commitment to the nation by your behaviour,

by your language, by your clothing and by the practices.

Over 100 years ago, here at Gottingen University,

a professor opened a centre that was to change forever the way we travel.

I'm at the Gottingen Aerospace test centre

to meet Jens Wucherpfennig.

So, I'm guessing that this is a wind tunnel,

but not a new one, I think.

-This would be a piece of history, would it?

-Yes, that's right.

This wind tunnel made this facility famous all over the world.

The Gottingen-type wind tunnel was founded and invented here

and this is the cradle of modern aerodynamics,

where, for the first time in the world, in 1907, the state-run

research facility for aerospace research was founded.

Now, 1907 is incredibly early,

because the Wright brothers had only flown in 1903,

-and this was established just four years later.

-Yes, that's right.

Professor Ludwig Prandtl was the first to use science

to observe air flow. With the wind tunnel,

he showed how air moves around different shapes

and how flaps on an aircraft wing can be adjusted to affect flight.

Today, Prandtl is considered to be the father of aerodynamics.

When the first people tried to build airplanes,

they just did it by trial and error.

They had an idea, built it and either it flew or it crashed.

And Ludwig Prandtl was the man who made aerodynamics a science,

so you can predict what kind of airplane will fly

and how it will fly.

For over 100 years, wind tunnels have been used to test air flow,

noise and turbulence not just in planes, but trains and cars.

The system is also used to improve the performance of athletes.

So, you're blowing air between these two points, are you?

Yes, that's right.

What speed is that running at?

At the moment, it's 25 metres per second.

That sounds quite rough. Would it be safe for me to stand in there?

Safe, yes, but tough for you.

I'm going to give it a go.

Whoa!

Whoa! Blow me down!

Wow. What is this facility, Jens?

This is a special track where trains, models of trains,

are fired with velocities up to 360km an hour.

Daniela, how very good to see you.

Dr Daniela Heiner is part of the team

developing and testing new high-speed trains.

This is a model, really, of the train

that I probably arrived today in Gottingen.

Yes, exactly.

And what about this one behind?

-So, this is something new?

-Yes.

So, we have the next generation train and it's fast,

it will travel with about 400km per hour.

Goodness gracious.

The team experiments with different shapes to see how

these 250-mile-per-hour trains will perform on the track.

-So this is the catapult.

-Yes.

Yes, it is. So, Michael, would you, please, pull the rope to prepare

-this side of the catapult and I go and prepare the other one?

-OK.

Jens, what was it that gave you the idea of having a catapult?

Yes, with this facility we had the task to accelerate train models

very, very fast in a short moment of time,

and our scientists got inspired by Roman catapults

and we kind of transformed this idea

to fire models of trains instead of arrows,

-and that's what we're doing here.

-A 2,000-year-old of technology.

Yes, definitely, and it's working to improve the trains of the future.

Firing the models at high speeds allows the team to see how

trains will cope with crosswinds and tunnel pressure.

So, three, two, one.

MICHAEL LAUGHS

I can't wait to be a passenger on that thing.

The new trains aren't due for release for several years yet,

so I'm catching the existing high-speed

Intercity-Express train north,

towards the final stop of my journey.

-May I see your ticket, please?

-Here we are.

-Yes, thank you, sir.

-Hanover.

-To Hanover.

-Thanks a lot, sir.

-Thank you.

-Have a pleasant journey.

-Thank you. Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

Hanover was one of Germany's main manufacturing cities during

the 19th century and became a centre for arms production

during the Second World War.

As a result, it was largely destroyed by Allied bombs.

It's been rebuilt, and in its history,

it has experienced several renewals.

"Hanover," says Bradshaw's, "is situated on the River Leine,"

and I learn that it is the capital of a Prussian province.

This is the Rathaus,

which was brand-new at the time of my Bradshaw's guide,

and just imagine the success and the pride of this manufacturing city

that lay behind the creation of such a palatial city hall.

From the mid-19th century, Hanover's economy took off

and in the four decades before my guide book,

the population more than tripled.

When British tourists came here in 1913, they discovered a city

flexing serious economic muscle,

visible in its streets and architecture.

Katrin Baumgarten is an expert on the town hall's history.

Katrin, this is a magnificent city hall.

Hanover must have been a great city by the end of the 19th century.

Yes, this is true.

In the second half of the 19th century, a lot of companies

were founded in Hanover,

people moved from the countryside to the city, so the population

was growing, the tax was growing as well, so they decided to build

this really huge and impressive city hall

to show the power of the people.

The mayor, Heinrich Tramm,

decided to pour Hanover's new-found wealth into building

a grand northern hub.

By 1913, the city was of such importance

that the Kaiser came to open the town hall.

Even my great-grandmother, she was there,

she was about 13 or 14 years old.

Nearly all schoolchildren got the day off

to stand in the streets and wave to the emperor.

It impressed her, really, a lot, she was telling the story for decades.

It wasn't just the building's grand facades

that were meant to show off the city's success.

A lift with a sloping floor.

We've got a glass roof as well

and I can see the weirdest thing, which is a curved lift shaft.

The addition of Europe's only curved elevator

was designed to showcase the very latest

in Germany's engineering prowess.

And such an odd feeling as the lift tips to one side

and now, of course, the floor is straight again.

Amazing - early 20th century German technology.

When he came to open the city hall,

Kaiser Wilhelm II did not ascend the dome to enjoy

this magnificent view.

In that respect, I am luckier than an emperor.

In the years before the grand town hall was opened,

the aptly named Mayor Tramm was engaged in rebuilding the city

and creating a modern transport system to match.

Historian Dr Ines Katenhusen

is meeting me on board one of the city's sleek, modern trams.

-Hello, Ines.

-Hello, nice to meet you.

-I'm Michael.

I notice that you have a very extensive tram system in Hanover.

Tell me about the origins of that.

The origins of our tram system,

of our commuter tram systems, are older than 100 years.

It started out, actually, in the 1850s and then, in 1890s,

we already had, like, 40km within the city limits.

We had, like, 9 million people who actually used this tram every year.

-That would be a period of rapid development for the city.

-Um-hm.

Actually, it was very rapid development.

So we started out, in the 1860s, with about 60,000 inhabitants

and within the next half century it would grow to up to 320,000.

Do you think there were special reasons

why Hanover was such a success commercially?

Yes, I do think so. Basically, the main reason

was the end of Hanover as a kingdom

and becoming part of Prussia in 1866, and this is the starting point

for industrial development

and for this real large development of the city.

After the city was annexed by Prussia

in the years before German unification,

new laws freed business from the strict control of the guilds.

This free enterprise meant that anyone could become an entrepreneur,

beginning an era of manufacturing and industry that lasts to this day

and in which the tram still plays a major part.

-Hello, Udo.

-Hello, Michael. Welcome.

-Thank you very much.

I'm meeting Udo Iwannek from Uestra,

the company which runs the tram system.

Well, Udo, this is a very, very smart new tram. What are the new features?

It has a lot of new features.

We cover kinetic energy like they do in Formula One.

When the tram brakes, then it produces electricity,

it turns into a generator, and we put this energy

into the wiring, by this we save up to 50% energy.

Made in Germany, I assume.

Yeah, it's... Well, it's an example of German engineering.

Well, I can't pass up the chance to drive the Formula One-inspired tram

on its test track.

-Hello, Frank.

-Hello, Michael. Please, take a seat.

-Thank you very much.

-I'll put my Bradshaw there.

-OK.

OK. We have to close the doors, please.

-Like that?

-Yeah.

-BELL CHIMES

-Aha! Let's ring the bell.

-BELL RINGS

Stand clear, everybody.

Lovely smooth ride, Frank.

A little faster, please.

Oh, I didn't expect that, we turned left!

And it feels good.

I'm really enjoying this, Frank.

A little bit of acceleration.

Into another curve.

A nice straight.

BELL RINGS

I have control of a tram, move over, Hanover.

BELL RINGS

Trams still travel at 15km per hour through the city -

the same speed as 100 years ago.

Into the bend.

Coming around towards the station.

German technology - smooth and green.

ALARM BLARES

-Oh, sorry, Frank. Oh, sorry, everybody.

-OK?

200 years ago, amongst the many German states

that had been overrun by the French emperor Napoleon

and whose people were proud to speak the language of Goethe,

there arose the idea of creating a nation.

It drew inspiration from the landscape

and from the fairy tales gathered in the forests.

By 1913, Germany was a great power, with industry surging ahead,

thanks, not least, to the breakthroughs made by scientists

at Goettingen University.

A modern version of Bradshaw's would point to this country's lead

in technology and, for this traveller at least,

its excellence, quality and reliability would provide

an up-to-date definition of German-ness.

Next time, I'm trampled underfoot

at the bottom of a Catalan people steeple.

We keep our heads down, so we're not really even aware what's going on.

Here comes someone else on top of me, I think. Yep, that's right.

I pay homage to Barcelona's most famous architect.

The reason it's so full of light is because he was able to get rid

of the structural impositions that the Gothic masters

weren't able to deal with themselves.

Mark, I've understood more in the last ten seconds

than I had in years.

And spoil myself with a spectacular scenic ride

aboard a sublime 1912 vintage Mallorcan railway.

To be on a train in the open air, enjoying the sunshine,

this is absolutely perfect.