This post features: Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg, from May 2014; Dresden and Leipzig from August 2013
Düsseldorf
Using Dusseldorf as a base on a bit of a nostalgia trip, having been to here and Dortmund many times on business. Also visiting Essen and Duisburg, neither of which I’ve been to before… Intrigued to see Neanderthal on the board – the valley is only about 12km east of DusseldorfThe Goethe MuseumThis intriguing church was closed for restorationThe tower of who knows – according to the plaque it has something to do with Catholics and the year 1982 (yes, 1982)The Uerige brewery is across the street from where I’m sittingThe Uerige Alt Bier is very niceBolten have been brewing in Niedenhein since 1266
Statues:
The Three AccountantsBismarckWill o’ the wisp
Riverside:
The RhineYes: definitely the best Alt Bier – so many have lost their flavour & character Fish and Chips by the RhineOh thou twisted tower That tells us more than just the time Oh thou twisted spire That points to more than just the sky
Dortmund
Greetings from sunny Dortmund
When Beer Was King:
Inside the Dortmunder Brauerei Museum – a bit of a trek from town and has no bar or bistro – odd – the museum cost €2.50 to visit. Dortmunder Actien Brauerei is the only major brewery left – albeit it brews Thier; Brinkhoff; Dortmunder Kronen as well as DAB. It’s a new brewery – not the one I visited when they supplied me with 2 cracking own label beers – those were the days…
The City:
Saint ReinoldiYou don’t come to Dortmund for the architecture but there are a few fine buildings left
Essen
The Thalys train to Essen is running 10 minutes late –The very Essen of a modern major city…The SynagogueInside the synagogueAlfred Krupp in front of the Market KirchKing Wilhelm 1I’m guessing the tubes light up at night – otherwise it’s just weird and pointless – eh, Lilly?
Duisburg
DuisburgThe model railway at Duisburg station. Many large stations in Germany have a model railway on display…Duisburg is twinned with PortsmouthSalvatorekircheInside SalvatorekircheCity walls undergoing restorationDuisburg has the largest in-land port in EuropeAnd this, believe it or not, is a churchThe theatreThe Post OfficeThe Rathaus – dating from 1361A Silva Saluki from 1962 apparently – only 16 made & 2 surviveLunch on Wall Street – where else? New season asparagus and a König Pilsener – in the spring sunshine
Dresden
Not sure why Dresden has 3 Ibis hotelsFast forward to May 2025 and you see that the trees have grown and that there’s one less Ibis – the 3rd Ibis is now a Holiday Inn Express…My hotel in DresdenInside the Swissotel -now, I know nothing about interior décor but surely – green walls & green carpet? That’s wrong, isn’t it? Das getrinketsmarkt
The Altstadt:
The Angel of DresdenIn the AltstadtTime stands still for the woman and her dogAyers Rock – who’d have thought…The Porcelain MuseumDresden – the home of RadebergerDresden – also home to Feldschlößchen – not to be confused with Feldschlossen, the Swiss brewery now owned by Carlsberg. The history of Feldschlößchen is fairly complex, starting off with the merger of Feldschlößchen, Felsenkeller and Waldschlößchen in the early 1960’s. More mergers followed until the business was bought in 1992 by Holsten. Holsten was itself bought in 2004 by Carlsberg. Carlsberg then sold Feldschlößchen in 2011 to the German company TCB-Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH.Yenidze – not a mosque but a former tobacco factory. Hugo Zietz founded the “oriental tobacco and cigarette factory Yenidze” in Dresden and, in 1907, hired the architect Martin Hammitzsch to build a factory to fulfil a special prerequisite: back then, in central Dresden, it was prohibited to build factory premises, which can be easily identified as factories. Zietz came up with the idea to design the factory in the style of a mosque.
Riverside:
Able was I ere I saw Elbe (ha ha)
Leipzig
Leipzig’s grand railway stationIn the AltstadtLittle creatures riding little goatsSt Thomas’ ChurchSt Nicholas’ ChurchDresden Airport at 7am on a Monday morning
