The Berkeley Guides:
Berkeley Guide to Europe:
Germany:
Eastern Germany
The German state of Saxony-Anhalt is much the way foreigners imagine East Germany to be. It still bears the scars of overindustrialization, and its cities are wastelands of industry and cement. Since reunification some effort has been made to "beautify" or at least demolish and rebuild the most painful reminders of the past. Yet reunification has brought its own Pandora's Box of troubles. As former East Germans struggle with their new economy and supposed capitalist perspective, unemployment remains the highest in Germany, and Skinheads and neo-Nazis scrawl swastikas and anti-Semitic sentiments on walls all over. Halle, Saxony-Anhalt's largest city, has probably received the best face-lift, though it still remains a good picture of eastern Germany in transition. To appreciate this region you need to prepare for the troublesome dichotomy of modern Germany: unspoiled countryside tempered by forests thinning from acid rain; industry and pollution balanced against farmland and nature.
Thuringia and Saxony, on the other hand, can be quite a surprise if you expect eastern Germany to be all cement, steel, and gloom. Thuringia, in particular, remains one of the country's most picture-perfect regions, with a dizzying array of rolling pastureland, lazy farm villages, forested mountains, forbidding castles, and lush, flamboyantly baroque palaces. The highlights here are Erfurt and Weimar, and the Thüringer Wald (Thuringian Forest). In Saxony, Leipzig is like a mini-Berlin--great architecture, history, and nightlife without the overwhelming size. Dresden, Saxony's capital, is busily reconstructing its baroque magnificence.
A major reason to visit this area is to soak up some history; if you can see past the ugly architecture of some of these towns, you might enjoy happening upon Nietzsche or Bach's regular hangouts. Cyclists can also have a ball in these areas because the distances are not vast and the scenery--at least once you escape into the countryside--falls somewhere between rural idyllic and sylvan nirvana. Most train stations in the area rent bikes for about DM 15-DM 20 per day.
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