Completed my circle round Germany with a trip alongside the Rhine. Some stunning scenery as the train snaked its way up the river valley. Many castles clinging precariously to ravines high above the river, whose banks were covered in vineyards. A relic of the Romans apparently, the vineyards not the castles. The Rhine was about as far east as they got. Avoided Worms for obvious reasons and stayed in the city of Mainz. Another city with a grand cathedral and some great Roman remains, apparently. They were closed for renovation. Back now in Cologne and heading west tomorrow.

Took a walk up to a little spot just above the city on an incredibly hot day. The location is deep in a Beech Wood from where it gets its name, a name which resides alongside some of the most feared and notorious names in European history, Buchenwald.

It wasn’t a factory of death like Auchwitz, there were no gas chambers here, but the levels of misery, despair, brutality and inhumanity were as high as anywhere in the Third Reich. Nearly 60,000 died in this spot, from malnutrition, disease and execution some 24% of those who passed through the camp. The wooden huts have now gone, but the crematoria still stands, the ovens now silent memorials to the mounds of human flesh they consumed. The cellar underneath is where the Gestapo carried out their brutal executions. The hooks on the walls show where prisoners were hanged, the life squeezed from their frail bones just minutes before their bodies were consumed by fire. The bunker still stands, its walls testament to untold horrors of torture and pain, of one man’s suffering at the hands of another. The cells are now empty save for flowers and wreaths and candles and pictures of not forgotten victims. And the Gatehouse still stands, the motto on the gate Jedem das Seine which means” everyone gets what he deserves”, and the clock on the gate shows the time the camp was finally free.

After the war the camp was used by the soviets as a POW camp and the killing went on. Another 7000 died in the years after the war before the camps closure in 1950. The woods are full of their graves, unmarked during the years of East Germany, but now located and honoured.

Now in Thuringia and the charming town on Weimar. It's a very modest place, not at all the place you would expect to have a whole republic named after it, even on that only lasted 14 years.

It was the home of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who I didn't know much about, but who is incredibly popular in Germany. He wrote Faust as well as writing poetry, painting and exploring the properties of light. A right clever dick. He certainly had a lovely house and garden. His rooms are exactly as they looked when he died. Ok they moved the corpse and emptied the chamber pot, but other than that he would feel right at home. Very evocative of early 19th century life.

Got the train a few miles upstream to take in some of the superb scenery known as Saxon Switzerland. Some wonderful views from the hills surrounding the river valley, although it was packed with tourists. Climbed up to the Bastel, an old castle situated right up in the cliffs with views in every direction.

The crowds thinned out a bit when I got away from the roads and ventured into the national park. Got a bit lost and ended up at a German war memorial on a hill. Found my way back through the woods and via a ferry over the river

Traveled down to Saxony and the capital Dresden lovingly situated on the banks of the Elbe, a few hundred kilometres upstream from Hamburg. Dresden was of course heavily bombed in the war and most of the city centre flattened. You wouldn’t know it looking at the massive church or Frauenkirche dominating the main square. It was a heap of rubble for the forty years of socialist rule, left as a monument to the folly of war. However in the last twenty years it has risen like a Phoenix and now stands tall and proud. It is a very strange shape, more like a tower than a church, you certainly don’t want to suffer from vertigo in the top seats.

Had a look round the museums, stuffed full of treasure from the Middle Ages and went for a walk round the Zwinger, a beautiful old building in the centre. While I was in the grounds I saw a cop do a summersault and then charge into the building waving his gun. He obviously didn’t do it quite right as the director called for a second take.

Got a view of Royal life with a trip down to Sanssouci Park in Potsdam. Lots to seen with plenty of Palaces spread about the parkland. It was the home of Frederick the Great in the late eighteenth Century and certainly has some impressive rooms. From bourgeois decadence to the joys of collective socialism in the afternoon with a visit to the DDR Museum. Lots to see, including a Tribant you could sit in, and propaganda films extolling the virtues of the state. The recreation of the typical front room looks incredibly familiar and took me right back to the seventies, even if the music playing on the cassette player was different and the children's board games had a different look. No Monopoly in East Germany. The East Germans also seemed to be very keen on getting back to nature as the film clips of families on holiday on the nudest beaches of the Baltic sea show. There is nothing more unedifying then a middle aged couple playing Table Tennis, naked. Took a trip up the TV Tower for a panoramic view over the city

Spent the morning in the North West of the city at the Schloss Charlottenburg, one of the many Royal Palaces in the country. Some marvellous rooms, although most have been rebuilt after heavy bombing the the Second World War. The restoration is pretty fantastic though and its set in some picturesque gardens.

Came back into the modern era when I visited the Story of Berlin museum complete with Nuclear Bunker all ready to go, although they need 2 weeks notice of any nuclear attack in order to fill the water tanks, so lets hope any warning doesn't get lost in the post.

Walked back to the centre of town and found a stretch of the Berlin Wall which is still in position. It's right next to a levelled piece of land which was part of no-mans land during the cold war. Before that it was Gestapo Headquarters and it was from here that much of the terror that enveloped Europe originated in the 30's and 40's. There is a museum now, detailing that horrific time the world history and making sure it is never forgotten.

Arrived in Berlin this morning. An amazing city with history oozing from every flagstone. Started with the grimmest episode in the history of the country and visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in the centre of the city. It's a strange structure, 2,711 concrete slabs or "stelae", one for each page of the Talmud arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. Underneath is a exhibition on the holocaust which brings home the enormity of the crime, not by stating statistics and history, but by telling the individual stories of many who were murdered in the barbaric act of genocide. Pictures of happy contented families enjoying life in the early part of the century are next to documentation of how the families were ripped apart as the terror overcame Europe with parents never seeing their children again and stories like the mother who pleaded with a guard for her son to be excused the work camps, not realising that the alternative was instant death in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. The centre only opened in 2005 and its good that such a powerful memorial should be situated so near to wear the horrendous plan was conceived and implemented.

Took the lift up to the top of the Reichstag for a wonderful view. The old structure is topped with a magnificent glass dome and you can walk up the inside to get views right over the city. The Berlin Wall ran just behind the building, but all that's left now is a brick path marking the location of the structure. It is difficult to imagine how the city must have looked just 21 years ago when the wall still existed. Such a small duration of time but a city changed. No longer divided, open where once there were only restrictions. Nothing much is left except for a few remnants and the crosses marking the deaths of so many who lost their lives trying to traverse the gap that divided the world into East and West.

Onto the port of Hamburg on what is an incredibly hot day. Took a tour on the water, which helped cool things down a bit, but it was still scorching in the sun. It was down by the docks, in the red light district that the Beatles cut their teeth and there is a wonderful little museum full of mementoes from the time the five of them played in the city. There are some bizarre statues of them in Beatles Plaza which more like a pastry cut out than a human form. Had a burger in the evening. Well you have to have a Hamburger in Hamburg. For my shame I didn't know the name came from the town, I always assumed they were originality made with ham. But not so. The name derives from the habit the citizens of the town had for wedging steaks between the layers of their saddles, so that after a decent ride the meat was nicely tenderised if a little flat. I don't know if McDonald's still use the same method?

Headed north up to the city state of Bremen on the river Weser. It's famous because of the famous Brothers Grimm tale about the cockerel who stood on the back of a cat, who stood on the back of a dog, who stood on the back on a Donkey. No I had never hear of it either, but apparently its very big in Germany. So much so that there is a statue of the four animals doing their circus act outside the town hall. Ventured into the Cathedral vaults where you can see nine open coffins complete with mummified corpses inside. The air in the vault is so dry they mummify naturally, although its not a good look. I think I prefer a decent skeleton, at least that looks reasonably chestful. These all look like something from The Scream.