Aachen is a place of empires. It all started with thermal springs and their appeal to the Romans was matched by their appeal to Charlemagne, whose name is linked with the city forever. The great warrior king left his mark in the shape of a magnificent church that took more than 1000 years to become a cathedral.

Medieval remains, mostly fortifications and churches, add to Aachen's attraction but Charlemagne's hall, the basis of today's town hall, and his Palatine Chapel are the chief magnets, along with the remains of the Frankish royal jewels and the royal shrine and throne inside the cathedral.

Amberg preserves an almost complete circuit of medieval defences and late medieval and Baroque churches. The town developed as the Oberpfalz (eastern) seat of the so-called Palatine elector-counts and the old and new palaces remain.

The icon of the town is the fortification spanning the river Vils between the palace and armoury, known as the Stadtbrille (‘city spectacles’, an effect created by the reflection of its arches in the still waters below).

The late Gothic town hall has Renaissance panelled interiors. The electoral history and Renaissance council table are in the surprising Stadtmuseum. The churches of St Martin and St Georg and the pilgrimage church Mariahilfkirche on the hill above the town are worthy of a visit.

Roman and medieval remains, including much of a remnant city wall, in a small package, with a geyser nearby - that's the little-known Rhine town of Andernach. It's a short train ride north of Koblenz and can be appreciated in a few hours' walk.

Stroll the walls and the remains of 26 towers and gates, the castle ruins, the 17th century riverbank bastion and the crane and climb the 56m high round tower. The parish church of Maria Himmelfahrt has a precious west facade in the so-called Rhenish Transitional style and older Romanesque sections. There is even a Roman soldier's grave monument and a fragment of Roman sewer.

The town with the Celtic-Roman name reminds us of the centuries-old importance of river traffic, tolls and fortifications along the Rhine.

Wealth, industry and power have always been the essence of Augsburg. The city was also important in the events of the Reformation. But the ambition and turbulence of its history has left a magnificent heritage for today's visitor to savour.

Away from the onion-domed towers of Rathausplatz and the rich Renaissance era facades along the Maximilianstraße, the signs of the hard-working tradespeople who kept the city prosperous left their own mark, relying on an extensive canal network that criss-crossed the old town and earned the city a UNESCO world heritage listing.

Unique museums, a collection of Roman remains and a medieval cathedral complete Augsburg's attractions.

Bamberg was conceived as a holy city by a Holy Roman emperor more than 1000 years ago, but the success of the vision can be seen today.

It is one of Germany’s most beautiful cities and said to be set – like Rome – on seven hills.
Bamberg’s old town on the river Regnitz was given UNESCO world-heritage listing as an influential example of medieval layout, with its earliest churches forming a rough cross.

Its structural heritage features a largely Romanesque cathedral, Renaissance and Baroque princely residences, Baroque town houses and more than 2000 other listed buildings.

Yet Bamberg is one of the few historical cities that preserves market gardens near its centre, as well as the ancient art of brewing.

The upper Lusatian town is intriguing for its appearance and towers, which give the impression of a hilltop fortress. But Bautzen's main significance is in being the cultural centre of Germany's largest native ethnic minority, the Sorbs (who call the small city Budyšin). The Slavic upper Lusatian language is represented on city signs and there is a local museum of Sorbian artefacts.

Bautzen was also the location for prisons operated by the Nazis and communist GDR regime, which are now memorial sites.

Visitors to Berlin could believe that almost anything is possible. History weighs on the city like no other place on earth. At the end of World War II, it was a ruin that had to be rebuilt or recreated, then was divided when the process was only half complete. It was then put back together and is now the most diverse of international cities in terms of taste, lifestyle and culture. There can be no more revealing human laboratory.

The better-known highlights have a significance based in Berlin's past, much of it events in living memory. But the world's most rebuilt city is also careful to preserve the signs of its frontier beginnings, its rise as the centre of Prussia, and the memories of the Nazi and Communist periods that led to ruin.

In about 170 museums, Berlin lays bare its past as a powerhouse of culture and technology and an oppressor of people, many of them its own population. The chief museums of art and history on Museumsinsel are world heritage listed. Its theatres, concert halls and opera houses make it a cultural magnet.

The city was Germany’s democratic capital during the Cold War, when its unhurried charm led it to be called "the government village". Bonn, the place where Germany was refounded after World War II, has now become multicultural.

Bonn has been largely forgotten by travellers to Germany, perhaps because its architecture, culture, graceful streets and parks are not widely appreciated. It remains one of the most beautiful cities on the Rhine and was the birthplace of Germany's greatest musical genius, Ludwig van Beethoven.

Its historical fragments are like a cross-section of Germany's past - Roman monuments, the Romanesque church, remains of fortifications and graceful palaces, one of which became a university.

Bremen has shown its spirit of independence since the late medieval period and this is displayed in its architecture and the 10-metre statue of the armed giant Roland. The architecture, known as Weser Renaissance, is a regional adaptation of Dutch and Flemish styles, built in north German red-brick style in its old town hall.

Bremen's trading life and architecture are reflected in the clothmaker building the Gewerbehaus and the merchant house, known as the Schütting. The intricate city weighhouse is another prime example. Its artist-inspired, business-supported red-brick street, the Böttcherstraße, brought 1920s Expressionism to a historical town quarter.

The popular Schnoorviertel is another post-war recreation inspired by Bremen's past. The arts are now closely interwoven with the central city. The port reached out to northern seas, then west, and later became a key centre for emigration to North America.

There is no doubt this picturesque small town on a Moselle bend is a tourist centre. It has wine from local plantations, town gates, towers, half-timbered facades and gables, shops and cafes. 

But what marks it out from most towns in the region is its scenic opportunities. A chairlift ride offers easy access to breathtaking river views. 

The striking Reichsburg castle above the town is originally from the 11th or 12th century, although rebuilt in a Romantic Neogothic style in the 19th century. It also provides a spectacular view. It's also a pleasant base for hiking paths, cycling, or visits to the medieval castle Burg Eltz.

Cologne is one of Germany's biggest drawcards. It offers so much to the visitor: Germany's greatest cathedral, the country's biggest museum of Roman age finds, standing Roman and medieval walls and towers, a suite of priceless Romanesque churches and a historic town hall with tower and Renaissance portico.

The city is also a concert and opera centre and there more than 20 museums covering art - especially modern and church art - photography, history, ethnology, chocolate, dance, sport and, of course, perfume. It also becomes a carnival centre each February with costumed events and a grand parade. Its gardens help make it one of Germany's most attractive cities.

Cologne is also a base for exploring the middle Rhine, including river cruises. It's between two other great cities, Düsseldorf and Bonn, and only half an hour from both.

This is a real slice of the past. One of few towns in such a complete state of preservation, Dinkelsbühl survived untouched by later history. The Bavarian king Ludwig I prevented the destruction of its wall circuit, which stands today to give the town its picturesque quality.

The romance is maintained inside the walls by late Gothic half-timbered houses and cobbled streets. Today the central Weinmarkt offers a 360-degree view unmatched anywhere in Germany. There are 18 towers and a Gothic church and tower out of all proportion to the little town's size.

The city on the Rhine is one of Germany's few high-rise centres, but the 240-metre Rheinturm towers over them all. Its traditional architecture, including a collection of churches, contrasts with the modern high-rise areas around MedienHafen.

Düsseldorf's art museums and galleries are among its main attractions, but an  important characteristic is the green spaces that surround it. The small palaces Schloß Benrath and Schloß Jägerhof stand in classic garden surroundings and the tree-lined canal of the Konigsallee runs through the centre. Walking, riding or imbibing along the Rhine pathway is also popular.

Not far away to the north is the medieval castle ruin on the river at Kaiserswerth.

Eisenach, where the young Martin Luther made a home and Johann Sebastian Bach was born, is an attractive historical town with intriguing streetscapes.

The priceless Romanesque castle called the Wartburg above Eisenach is valuable as probably the best preserved medieval castle in Germany. The glittering ladies' chamber and the main hall are complemented by the chamber where the disguised Luther translated the Bible and a magnificent all-round view.

Other attractions are a town palace, medieval churches and gates and period town houses. The Bach house, with a museum devoted to his work, and the ornate house where Luther lived, are open to the public.

Erfurt has many historical areas that have not lost their medieval feel. There are buildings from many eras, but the 12th century St Marien cathedral and the 13th century St Severikirche on the hill above the old town set the atmosphere for this large but not well known city.

There are more than a dozen other churches or church towers surviving from the early period. To this we can add one of Europe's oldest synagogues and a number of monasteries of early date. These maintain or blend Gothic and Romanesque features.

The 14th century Krämerbrücke bridge has half-timbered buildings on it, much like the historical London Bridge. There is also the main building from one of Europe's oldest universities. On another hill, the mighty Baroque fortress Zitadelle Petersberg offers an opportunity to walk the parapets for a superb city view or explore secret underground passages.

Frankfurt is the place most visitors to Germany arrive by air. It's near the middle of the country and is its rail centre, so a good place to start. Frankfurt's also been nicknamed Mainhattan for its high-rise financial district, the centre of the low-rise European economy.

But there is plenty of culture, especially modern art, and the centre of the old town marks the salvage of some vestiges of the city's Roman and medieval past. At Saalburg, about 25km from the city centre, a Roman fortress and settlement have been recreated on their site, complemented by an archaeological museum.

The impressive cathedral was the site of the coronations of Holy Roman emperors.

The small town at the foot of the Alps adds an appealing historical streetscape to a striking natural location surrounded by lakes. Füssen is the site of a medieval city castle, two monasteries, one made over in Baroque, and a range of historical small churches. Part of the city wall also survives.

It is also regarded as the south end of the Romantische Straße tourist route, which ends in a gateway at the St Stephan monastery.

For many, Füssen is the most convenient base for visiting the popular Romantic castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, recast as mountain retreats by the last Bavarian kings. It's also the best place to start any visit to the world heritage-listed Rococo pilgrimage church Wieskirche at Steingaden.

Görlitz is a special place for fans of variety in architecture. An extraordinary array of streetscapes awaits travellers in Germany’s easternmost city on the Polish border. Historical style is encouraged and preserved in a place seemingly little touched by contemporary forms, a quality extended to the city's railway station and department store.

The historical market square and old town show all historical styles. Diverse towers, gateways, facades, arches, portals, escutcheons, cartouches and friezes characterise both public buildings and residences, all restored in bright colours. There is even a scaled replica of the medieval form of the Holy Sepulchre.

The city also has a Silesian regional museum and a museum of cultural history. The church Pfarrkirche St Peter und Paul offers a viewpoint over the historic city. For a quick stroll into Poland, cross the city bridge over the river Neisse. 

The significance of Goslar is in its historical streetscapes, including examples of Romanesque architecture, most important of which is an early imperial palace. There are also early churches, and about 1000 half-timbered town houses built between the 15th and 18th centuries.

The old town has hardly changed in its half-timbering and use of slate facades and roofing. Uphill from the small city, the Rammelsberg silver mines that produced the bulk of its wealth from medieval times can be visited.

Goslar was therefore critical from the earliest days of the German kingdom in the 10th century and became a favourite of early monarchs. But the importance of the town leaders is reflected in their cloth guild house the Kaiserworth and the Gothic town hall’s Huldigungssaal with late Gothic interior paintings.

Goslar's cobbled streets, walls, towers, churches, palace and mines have UNESCO world heritage listing.

The Pomeranian Hanseatic city has a centuries-old university and a centuries-old city centre. Red-brick Gothic churches and Gothic and Renaissance facades are set off by the 14th century town hall and historical shipping and fishing boats lining the river Ryck.

The cathedral of St Nikolai preserves historic side chapels and medieval wall paintings. The haunting ruins of the 12th century Eldena Abbey were a subject for the Romantic art of the Greifswalder Caspar David Friedrich. Works by Friedrich are part of the gallery in the Pommersche Landesmuseum.

The small late 19th century wooden bascule bridge over the river at nearby Wieck is one of Europe's oldest.

Germany's mighty port has been a powerhouse of the north for centuries. Hamburg's growth as a shipbuilding centre added industrial muscle to its trading wealth, and then it became a hub for emigration to America.

World War II brought terrible bombing. But Hamburg's giant port remains, along with its heritage-listed red-brick warehouses known as the Speicherstadt. Its great Protestant churches , known as Hauptkirchen, are of outstanding significance, along with the surviving tower known as Mahnmal St Nikolai.

Hamburg also has Germany's exciting opera house, the Elbphilharmonie, and one of the world's famous fish markets, a breakfast stop for nightowls on the Reeperbahn.

Heidelberg is synonymous with German Romanticism. The partly ruined castle on a hill above the old town was a magnet for painters and writers. The river Neckar, its stone bridge with centuries-old gate towers, historical church spires and buildings from the late Gothic period are tucked between hills. The location is hard to equal.

The university's old-town buildings and a few publicly accessible halls are among the attractions. It also has its own museum. Baroque town mansions are part of the streetscape of the main pedestrian artery Hauptstraße and surround Karlsplatz.

Some of the Romantic paintings of Heidelberg can be studied at the city's Kurpfälzisches Museum, established in one of the Baroque mansions. Among the other attractions are one of the world's largest wine kegs in the castle.

The junction of the Rhine and Moselle rivers has to be a place of importance. Empires and kingdoms desired it as a strategic point and as a symbol. The spot was occupied by the Romans and fought over by the Germans and the French. The result is a landscape marked by fortifications, palaces, a long stone bridge and churches from all periods.

The spit at the river junction known as Deutsches Eck is the site of the triumphal Prussian monument Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal, an equestrian monument 14 metres high. Dominating the site from across the Rhine is Festung Ehrenbreitstein, one of Europe's mightiest fortifications and housing a regional museum. By the 19th century, a ring of fortifications surrounded the city, many remains of which survive.

Koblenz is an excellent base for exploring the middle Rhine UNESCO world- heritage area with its castles.

The birthplace of the Hanseatic League was the centre of northern Europe for centuries. Lübeck's trading network spread throughout Scandinavia and the Baltic, bringing new trading opportunities, laws and architecture. The north was made in Lübeck's image.

Despite bombing, the partly rebuilt UNESCO world-heritage old town is intact. Behind its signature monument the Holstentor are red-brick churches, town houses, a historic town hall and a historical  harbour of ships that recall the port's 19th century. Sett-paved streets remain and a network of alleys and residential courtyards have survived.

In a place of such significance, museums must tell part of the story. The extraordinary Museumsquartier-St-Annen brings together an ensemble of devotional art, 16th and 17th century portraiture, domestic interiors, porcelain and historical musical instruments. The Europäisches Hansemuseum tells the Hanseatic story. Another house gathers exhibits the life of Lübeck's Willy Brandt, anti-Nazi resistance operative and later German chancellor.

The old town is dominated by monuments connected with Martin Luther, who launched the Reformation in Wittenberg. The church where it is said Luther posted his 95 theses in defiance of the Catholic church still stands, along with the market church where he preached. The house where he lived is a museum of his life.

Luther's close associate, the Renaissance artist Lucas Cranach the elder, and his collaborators Philipp Melanchthon and Johannes Bugenhagen have also left monuments. Cranach's works from the period can be studied in churches and town museums. There is also the university Luther founded.

Much the Wittenberg that Luther lived and worked in remains, making it the ideal location for the annual festival celebrating the anniversary of his wedding.

The extraordinary Romanesque cathedral of St Martin dominates the old town of Mainz, but the city has monuments from many centuries of occupation. The Romans built a legionary camp and a town, leaving behind a mysterious tower, a temple, a ruined aqueduct, a column dedicated to Jupiter, an arch and a theatre. The city also has a museum of Roman finds and Roman river shipping, the Museum für Antike Schiffahrt, with historical remains and reconstruction.

As well as being a pillar of the German church, Mainz was the place where a European revolution began. Mainz businessman Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type, which is memorialised in the Gutenberg Museum.

Monumental buildings from the 17th and 18th century also remain to admire.

We should not have to say that Munich is much more than beer and pretzels. Take a look at its palaces, museums and concert halls - the city is a giant of culture.

The city centre is Marienplatz, marked by the old and new town halls and the medieval church Peterskirche. Along Neuhauser Straße are the unusual historic churches Bürgersaalkirche and St-Michaels-Hofkirche. The twin towers of the nearby Frauenkirche dominate the inner area.

To the north are the Nationaltheater at Max-Joseph-Platz and the various buildings of the princely Residenz, a sprawling palace complex that now houses museums, including an amazing Renaissance hall and the recreated Cuvilliés-Theater. The city's Kunstareal precinct comprises five art museums that include most of the art highlights, though there are several other institutions of art and art history. The vast Englischer Garten is one of Europe’s early public parks.

More palaces can be visited at Schloß Nymphenburg and its royal park west of the city, or the three Oberschleißheim palaces to the north.

Nuremberg reached a peak in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. The wealth and confidence of the city's independent-minded commercial class and guildsmen grew and the city made strides in art, science and publishing. The work of painters, sculptors, mathematicians and builders of this period survives. Albrecht Dürer became perhaps the leading Renaissance painter north of the Alps.

Dürer's house, now a museum, is among the preserved city houses, in which the half-timbered style is prominent.

The castle Kaiserburg overlooks the old town, as it has done since medieval times. The two parishes of the city, around its great churches St Sebald and St Lorenz, were united in the 14th and 15th centuries by great wall, of which long stretches and mighty towers remain.
Nuremberg was also the scene of war crimes trials after World War II. The courtrooms where the prisoners were tried are preserved as part of a museum of modern international justice.

The city at the junction of three rivers is in a striking natural location, overlooked by a Gothic castle. Passau's old town is criss-crossed by centuries-old streets with an assortment of historic buildings and styles. In its Gothic town hall building the city's associations with the medieval epic poem Das Nibelungenlied are celebrated by interior paintings.

Baroque churches appeared in the old town after a great city fire and the cathedral, with its opulent facade and intricate painted ceilings, is the prominent example.

The pilgrimage church of Mariahilf, with its stair climb from the river Inn, is typical of the Catholic flavour everywhere in the city, which is a theological centre.

For its Prussian rulers, Potsdam was a garden kingdom. The city grew from a garrison town to become the favourite of the Hohenzollern kings, a place to lay out parks, gardens and palaces. This suited the laid-back feel of the city built around lakes.

Frederick the Great became particularly fond of Potsdam, laying out a park with pavilions and building two palaces, the most famous the Rococo Schloß Sanssouci. The park was the first of three established before the mid-19th century, and before the end of World War I there were about 150 assorted buildings belonging to the royal house. The last, Schloß Cecilienhof, became the venue for the 1945 Potsdam Conference. The parks and palaces are UNESCO world heritage listed.

Potsdam also became ethnically diverse when French Huguenots, Bohemian weavers, Dutch settlers and Russian soldiers settled around the city, all leaving their mark architecturally.

In the 20th century the outlying suburb Babelsberg became a centre for film production, a role it still plays. Filmpark Babelsberg is a theme park and information centre set for visitors to learn more about filmmaking.

To UNESCO, Quedlinburg epitomises the medieval European town with its architecture and deep historical links to the early German kingdom. The medieval townscape and plan are basically intact, and there are at least 1300 half-timbered houses to stroll past and admire. Many are fully restored in colour with dated personal names, mottoes, dedications and invocations.

The castle above the town has an attached abbey church that is a rare example of Romanesque style. Parts of the sandstone town wall, built from the 12th to 14th centuries, and some of the towers are preserved.

The four churches in the town - St Aegidii, St Nikolai, St Benedikti and St Blasii - are of early date but with some changes, while the Romanesque church St Wipertii just outside the town belonged to an early royal court.

From the Roman period to the present, Regensburg has been an important place. Starting as a legionary fortress, parts of which can be seen today, the city was a base for Bavarian dukes and became a trading city with a stone bridge across the Danube.

As well as the great Gothic cathedral Dom St Peter, there were Romanesque churches such as St Emmeram, St Ulrich, Alte Kapelle, the Niedermünsterkirche and the mysterious-looking Schottenkirche St Jakob.

Even among the town houses there are towers reaching up to 40 metres. Examples such as the Goldener Turm, the Baumburgerhaus, the Kastenmeyer Haus and the Löblturm are little changed from their 13th century appearance.

Regensburg's 14th century Gothic Altes Rathaus was for about 150 years the venue for the Reichstag, the assembly of the princes and cities of the Holy Roman empire. The upper hall where the representatives gathered with their ruler can be toured today. Because of the excellent state of preservation of the old town, it is a world heritage-listed site.

Rostock was part of the Hanseatic League for 150 years and has the the medieval red-brick churches typical of the Baltic. The Marienkirche has a cross plan but otherwise shows typical Baltic features. Uncharacteristic is the church's extraordinary 15th century astronomical clock inside, claimed to be the oldest in original condition. The Nikolaikirche and Petrikirche also follow the northern tradition.

Some fortifications survive or were rebuilt after World War II bombing. The Steintor and its pointed tower, made over in the 16th century in Dutch Renaissance style, is the mightiest of the four surviving city gates. In the 54 metre Gothic tower Kröpeliner Tor is a small display of city history.

The Rathaus is an ensemble whose former Gothic frontage would have looked like Lübeck's or Stralsund's but for a Baroque makeover in front. Facing it on Neuer Markt are historical gabled houses.

Most travellers think of Rothenburg ob der Tauber as a medieval town. That's because it has preserved its medieval wall circuit, towers and gates and has valuable surviving medieval buildings.

In reality, Rothenburg is a 17th century town almost perfectly maintained, with the inevitable tourist haunts that go with such a magnetic attraction.

Rothenburg is the shining example of what happens to towns when history passes them by. The trade that gave the town prominence in the medieval period largely dried up, leaving monuments to a wealthy and independent spirit that was reborn in a post-World War II tourist economy. Recreations of the city's key events is part of this, but it remains an exciting place for independent travellers to explore on foot.

The Mecklenburg ducal capital on a lake was for centuries the site of a castle. Made over as a palace in the Renaissance and again in the 19th century, the Romantic residence forms an island in the lake and with its extended gardens is one of the visitor drawcards of northern Germany.

The cathedral, the Dom St Marien und St Johannis, is the only building that is more prominent, with a tower soaring almost 120 metres above the north German plain.

The rest of the city offers plenty of variety in addition to northern red brick. Check out the Schelfstadt precinct for decorated facades and half-timbered styles from the early 18th to 20th century.

This world-heritage city had a long history under Swedish control. The red-brick Gothic Marienkirche was for decades the world's tallest building and is the highlight among the city's impressive late medieval churches.

The Nikolaikirche's interiors are intricate and colourfully painted and its high altar is delicately carved with more than 100 figures. It also contains an astronomical clock. The St-Jakobi-Kirche, with sections from the 14th and 15th centuries, is another imposing monument, today used for cultural events as well as sightseeing.

Several historical small churches, monasteries and a collection of preserved town houses from varying periods help make up the streetscape. The town hall, built in the 13th and 14th century, is a remarkable structure with four wings, open passageway and galleries.

Other drawcards are the large Ozeanmuseum, with an extraordinary array of sea aquariums, and the museum sailing ship Gorch Fock I.

Stuttgart is a city of palaces. The Württemberg dukes built a Renaissance castle and a later palace in the town centre, a Neoclassical retreat in the hills above the city and a vast palace complex in gardens at nearby Ludwigsburg.

In addition to its cultural life, the city's association with automotive manufacture produced the names Daimler, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche and two museums of car technology honour these marques.

The leafy Königstraße runs right through the city centre as both main pedestrian artery and shopping street, while the hills around the bowl of the city provide the setting for the mixture of new and historical buildings and gardens.

World-heritage Trier its considered Germany's oldest city. It was one of the leading centres of the Roman empire in the 3rd and 4th centuries and the remains of a Roman hall, walls, the monumental Porta Nigra gateway, bath complexes and an amphitheatre survive.

The great Romanesque cathedral of St Peter and the delicate Gothic Liebfrauen-Basilika are the most prominent of the city's medieval buildings. But there are also restored town houses, the Marktkirche St Gangolf and an early tower-house built of rubble from the early Roman walls.

It's possible to stroll through the levels of the vast Kaiserthermen bath complex, the Porta Nigra and the amphitheatre to see how this northern Roman city worked. The Rheinisches Landesmuseum displays other Roman remains, including colourful mosaics and the painted replica of a towering grave column. A model shows what Roman Trier, much bigger than the medieval city, looked like.

Ulm was a prominent medieval city on the Danube and today preserves much of its 12th to 15th century walls and high gate towers. The remarkable frescoes on the exterior of its town hall show events from the city's history, including a 17th century attempt to fly across the river.

The spire of the Gothic Münster is still the tallest church spire in the world at more than 160 metres.

A rare surviving feature is tiny 17th century houses built for soldiers that line parts of the city defences along Seelengraben. The Fischerviertel precinct of half-timbered houses is built around a canal network.

From the 16th century Ulm was again fortified with a huge wall circuit and mighty bastions, including the 19th century Wilhemsburg redoubt above the old town.

The city that attracted Goethe and Schiller has much to offer today's travellers. Long before the small city became Germany's interwar capital, it was a paradise of refinement and culture around the court of the dukes of Saxe-Weimar. The ducal family crypt includes the graves of Goethe and Schiller.

Highlights include the homes of Germany's literary giants - now museums - the small 18th century dowager palace of the duchess Anna Amalia known as the Wittumspalais, the duchess's exquisite Rococo library and the ducal residence, the Stadtschloß.

In the old town centre are Renaissance houses and the city is set off by parklands that include several pavilions and the Schloß und Park Belvedere above the city.

Weimar's Classical and Bauhaus movement monuments are world heritage-listed.

Wernigerode, ‘the Harz’s town of colours’ owes its epithet to the structures that survive in the late medieval town centre. Hundreds of half-timbered buildings dating from the late 14th century to the 19th and most are restored in grand style.

One is the 16th century town hall, whose two striking towers help make it one of Germany's favourite photographs.

Sections of medieval town wall with towers complete a picturesque scene for walks. The hill Agnesberg, with a restored Romantic castle, completes the setting.

Wernigerode is an ideal place to board the Harz's steam tourist railway.

Hanseatic Wismar, with Stralsund, is listed as a UNESCO world-heritage city for its historical streetscapes. Its treasures include north German Gothic architecture, including the Alter Schwede, a 14th century building that recalls the long period of control by Sweden, which built a large Baroque armoury about 1700.

There are four red-brick Gothic churches - one of which remains only as a tower, but the 13th century Heiligen-Geist-Kirche, part of a vanished hospital, is remarkable for its wooden ceiling, wall painting, and early 16th century altar.

Lübsche Straße, particularly its south side, is a stretch of restored, sometimes remodelled 16th and 17th century buildings. Characteristic stepped gables line Krämerstraße and Bohstraße.

Worms will forever be associated with Germany's great medieval epic, the Nibelungenlied, but its real history is just as fascinating. The early Germanic period brought conflict around Worms involving the Burgundians, Franks and Huns that perhaps gave rise to the legend.

One of Germany's great Romanesque cathedrals, the Dom St Peter, stands in a city marked by much medieval architecture, some built over Roman remains.

A prominent medieval Jewish community built a synagogue that was burned by the Nazis but recreated over the original mikveh and a Jewish museum is housed in a medieval school building. The Jewish cemetery is a monument to centuries of the community in Worms.

In Worms, Martin Luther defended his Reformation ideals before an assembly of imperial magnates. A later monument displays statues of Luther and other religious reformers.

The old town of Würzburg, and the mighty fortress Marienberg above it, make a striking location for travel. Much of the streetscape was shaped by the church, which made the city a power base in the central German lands, ruled over by prince bishops.

The Romanesque Dom St Kilian is named for an early missionary martyr, who is represented with his companions in Baroque statues on the medieval stone bridge across the river Main.

The Schönborn prince-bishops built several monuments to their power, including a large hospital. But their most staggering achievement was the vast Baroque Residenz, a jewel of architecture that includes a famous staircase and several richly ornamented chambers and extensive gardens. The complex of almost 400 rooms earned world-heritage listing.

The fortress houses a museum including precious sculpted works by the Würzburg Renaissance artist Tilman Riemenschneider.

The small Rhine town Xanten shows its history on its streets, but its imposing 13th century cathedral of St Viktor seems out of all proportion. The mystery of its size lies in the legend of the Theban Legion martyrs of the Roman period, interlocked with Xanten's past.

The facts behind Xanten's Roman origins are proven by excavations next to the town, which have uncovered two former legionary camps and a settlement. Parts of the early colonia have been recreated in the huge LVR-Archäologischer Park Xanten.

The structures include walls, fortified gates, houses and an amphitheatre. A museum has been built for the finds.