Germany "From Berlin to Frankfurt" 2023 (Saale Unstrut, Sachsen, Franken, Württemberg) by ombiasy WineTours took place from Monday, June 19, 2023 to Thursday, June 29, 2023.
The tour started in Berlin and ended in Frankfurt.
The group stayed at the Titanic Hotel in Berlin, a 4-star hotel in Berlin on Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin’s most prestigious central district, close to the main artery: the Unter den Linden Boulevard, the Museum Island, the Berlin Opera, the government offices, and the Brandenburg Gate.
Annette and I arrived a day early (by train from Frankfurt) and went with other members of the group to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden to see Sleepless, Opera Ballad in zwei Akten (2021) by Peter Eötvös, who was at the performance.
In Berlin, the focus of Germany "From Berlin to Frankfurt" 2023 (Saale Unstrut, Sachsen, Franken, Württemberg) by ombiasy WineTours was on history and culture, not on wine.
We did a 2 1/2 hour city tour of Berlin and a 2 1/2 hour city tour of Potsdam, had lunch at an Italian Restaurant right next to the Brandenburg Gate and dinner at Restaurant Borchardt
Borchardt near Gendarmenmarkt is a Berliner institution in which celebrities regularly meet. Named after a Huguenot wine merchant who opened a delicatessen on the premises in the mid-19th century (he even supplied the Kaiser himself with imported goodies), the restaurant was reopened as a Parisian-style brasserie in 1992. Nicknamed “Promi-lokal” (“celebrity joint”) or “canteen of the Republic” by the German press, for the past 3 decades Borchardt has been ‘ground zero’ for the new German capital’s political, cultural, media and business elite. The juicy Wiener Schnitzel counts as a highlight.
Berlin
The “Berlinflüsterer - Berlin whisperer” Arvid Zemkus gave us a thorough insider tour of Berlin: Germany’s largest city, its historic and new capital, a divided city for 45 years and today a vibrant, hip, artsy, spontaneous, lively city along the Spree River that is a food-lovers paradise.
We had lunch at Mama Trattoria. This Italian eatery is right next to the Brandenburg Gate at the Pariser Platz next to the American Embassy, the French Embassy, and the famous Hotel Adlon.
We had some time to walk around Berlin’s most famous city square.
Potsdam
Potsdam - a 1000 year old city - is now the capital city of the state of Brandenburg and famous for its palaces, gardens, and cultural and historic significance. In former times it was the residence city of the Prussian Kings and later of the German Emperor.
We all know about Frederick the Great, arguable the most important and beloved King of Prussia. To escape the formal ceremonies and pomp of the Berlin court he built a summer palace “Sanssouci” - basically more like a large, single-story villa than a palace - in Potsdam, outside of Berlin. Frederick the Great was very modern in his thinking and embodied the ideas of the “Age of Enlightenment”. He built beautiful gardens and a vineyard “Königlicher Klausberg” on the slopes of the hill Sanssouci sits on. There was varied success in harvesting good grapes and after 1945 most of the buildings and gardens were destroyed by the Russian Army.
After reunification in 1989, besides restoring historical buildings in Potsdam, the focus also shifted to the gardens and the vineyard. In his will Frederick the Great wrote that he wanted to be buried in the vineyard of Sanssouci, but through twists and turns of history his final resting place was in Hohenzollern Castle in Württemberg.
On August 17, 1991 (the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 made it possible) on the 250th anniversary of his death, Frederick's casket lay in state in the court of honor at Sanssouci, covered by a Prussian flag and escorted by a Bundeswehr (German Army) guard of honor. After nightfall, Frederick's body was finally laid to rest in the terrace of the vineyard of Sanssouci – in the still existing crypt he had built there – without pomp, in accordance with his will.
Potsdam is also home of the film studio “Babelsberg” which was founded in 1912 and is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world.
“Potsdam” is a synonym for every politically interested person since world history was written here. It was here at the “Cecilienhof Palace” that the Potsdam Conference took place after WWII when President Harry S. Truman of the USA, General Secretary Joseph Stalin of the USSR, and Prime Minsters Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee of the UK decided on the future world order and the division of Germany which lasted for the following 45 years.
Germany "From Berlin to Frankfurt" 2023 (Saale Unstrut, Sachsen, Franken, Württemberg) by ombiasy WineTours (Released and Forthcoming Postings):
Summery: Germany "From Berlin to Frankfurt" 2023 (Saale Unstrut, Sachsen, Franken, Württemberg) by ombiasy WineTours
Guided City Tours: Berlin and Potsdam - Germany "From Berlin to Frankfurt" 2023 (Saale Unstrut, Sachsen, Franken, Württemberg) by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner at Restaurant Borchardt in Berlin-Mitte
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Born in Salzatal-Höhnstedt, Saale-Unstrut, with Elisabeth and Günter Born
Tour and Tasting at Niche Producer Weingut Herr & Frau Lüttmer, in Vitzenburg, Saale-Unstrut, with Klaus Lüttmer
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Landesweingut Kloster Pforta in Bad Kösen, Saale-Unstrut, with Paula Löber, 2022 Wine Princess of Bad KösenIn Naumburg - Saale Unstrut: Concert and Tour of the Organ at St. Wenzel Church with the Organist and Tour of the Naumburg Cathedral
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Pawis (VDP) in Freyburg, Saale-Unstrut, with Christian Pawis
Tasting at Weingut Gussek in Naumburg, Saale-Unstrut, with André Gussek
Leipzig: City Tour and Concert at Gewandhaus Leipzig with the Full Gewandhaus Orchestra
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Schwarz (VDP) in Meissen, Sachsen
Lunch at Restaurant/ Weingut Vincenz Richter in Meissen
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Schloss Proschwitz, Prinz zur Lippe (VDP) in Meissen, Sachsen, with Björn Probst, Vineyard and Sales ManagerTour and Tasting at Sächsisches Staatsweingut Schloss Wackerbarth in Radebeul, Sachsen
Guided Private Tour of the Royal Palace in Dresden, Sachsen
Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi at Semperoper Dresden, Sachsen
Visit of the Deutsch-Deutsches Museum in Mödlareuth and Lunch at Turnhallen Gaststätte in Töpen, Bayern
Tasting at Niche Producer Weingut Seufert in Iphofen, Franken, with Laura Seufert
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Wirsching (VDP) in Iphofen, Franken, with Dr. Uwe Matheus
Tasting at Weingut Weltner (VDP) in Rödelsee, Franken, with Paul Weltner
Wine Dinner at Weinstuben Weingut Juliusspital in Würzburg, FrankenWalk in the Vineyard, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Rudolf May (VDP) in Retzstadt, Franken, with Rudolph and Benedikt May
Light Lunch at Restaurant Rose in Bretzfeld-Blitzfeld, with Owner/ Chef Willi Carle
Vineyard and Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Fürst Hohenlohe-Öhringen (VDP) in Öhringen-Verrenberg, Württemberg, with the New Managing Director Carl-Julius CrommeWalk in the Vineyard and Tasting at Weingut Schlossgut Hohenbeilstein (VDP) in Beilstein, Württemberg
Dinner at Restaurant Lamm Hebsack in Remshalden, Württemberg, with Owners Markus (Kitchen) und Sylvia Polinski (Service)Tasting at Weingut Beurer (VDP) in Kernen, Württemberg, with Jochen Beurer
Cellar Tour and Tasting Weingut Schnaitmann (VDP) in Fellbach, Württemberg, with Rainer Schnaitmann
Light Lunch at Rotenberger Weingärtle in Stuttgart
Tasting at Up and Coming Weingut Lassak in Hessigheim, Würrtemberg, with Stefanie and Fabian Lassak
Dinner
at Restaurant Zum Alten Rentamt at Weingut Graf Neipperg (VDP) in
Schwaigern, Württemberg, with Neipperg Wines from Württemberg and
Bordeaux