HISTORIC HIGHLIGHTS OF GERMANY

                Augsburg, Germany, September 2009 -- This autumn and winter, visitors to the former East German cities of Erfurt, Potsdam and Rostock -- members of the Historic Highlights of Germany tourism consortium -- will be given the opportunity to celebrate alongside proud Germans as they note the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 1989). Substantive portraits into daily life of the "peaceful revolution" before and after the fall of the wall as well as educational offerings into the history, culture and art of Germany are being offered in all three cities. Historic Highlights of Germany has combined the three cities into an easy-to-follow itinerary, "Dream Route - Historic Cities of the Former East," with the city histories and sightseeing suggestions outlined in a five-page downloadable brochure, available on its web site, www.historicgermany.com/cities-former-east.  Travel between the cities by car or train takes only a few hours. 

                Erfurt, which once served as the front line between NATO and the Warsaw Pact forces, is featuring an tour of the 13th-century Predigerkirche, or “Preacher's Church,” which houses documents showing the history of church youth work and the environmental, peace and women’s groups that were part of the opposition against the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the regime that controlled East Germany for 40 years in alliance with the Soviet Union. The church – along with the Catholic Lorenzkirche -- was one of two in the city that organized weekly peace meetings and was the site for events organized by the New Forum, the largest of the opposition groups. Also of interest is the Documentation Center in the Petersberg Citadel where the work of the infamous Ministry of State Security, or Stasi, is on display.  www.erfurt-tourismus.de.

                Cecilienhof Palace, where the Potsdam Conference took place between Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Harry Truman to negotiate the terms of the war's end in 1945, is now open to the public and also serves as a hotel.  Also accessible to travelers is the Glienicke Bridge between Berlin and Potsdam, where the Cold War powers exchanged captured spies. While in Potsdam, travelers can also explore the city’s extended sweep of parks, castles and palaces, commissioned by Prussian kings, including the Sanssouci Palace, the New Palace and Charlottenhof Palace as well as formerly less inviting fortresses such as the old headquarters of the Russian KGB and the KGB prison. www.potsdam-tourism.com.

                A “We Are the People” exhibit, featured in Rostock’s Cultural History Museum, a former Cistercian convent, details the activities and demonstrations culminating in the GDR’s collapse. The museum’s formidable collection of art and cultural history is also on permanent display. Visitors can explore the city’s charming Old Town, with its 1490 Hausbaumhaus, one of the few wooden structures remaining.  Other highlights include St.Mary’s Church, with a355-foot steeple soaring above the skyline; the 13^th-century Rathaus (town hall), renovated in the Baroque style; and the former Stasi prison, where visitors can peek into the cells and grasp the extreme conditions faced by decades of political prisoners. www.rostock.travel.

                Additional information on each city’s offerings and highlights may be found at www.historicgermany.com. Historic Highlights of Germany is a tourism consortium consisting of Augsburg, Erfurt, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Koblenz, Mainz, Münster, Osnabrück, Potsdam, Regensburg, Rostock, Trier, Wiesbaden and Würzburg - cities rich in history and cultural. Contact Historic Highlights of Germany at info@historicgermany.com.

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