Recently in Germany Category

Deutsches Currywurst Museum celebrates a German national fast food phenomenon known as currywurst, a snack usually made with sliced pork sausage and laden with a curry-based sauce. No longer a well-kept secret in Germany, currywurst is exploding in popularity in New York via food carts that have imported it to America and is starting to make rumblings in other cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. In any case, it might rightfully still be a surprise that an entire museum is dedicated to currywurst, but it's sure a great place to start from ground zero and learn about it. Guided tours are now luckily available in English, or you can simply have your own curious wander around, snap some photos behind a snack shop booth while fantasizing about having your own currywurst stand, watch clips of the super sausage in German popular culture from film to television, or take home some kitschy gifts. It'll all be fuel for your next currywurst adventure: Finding a good one to eat on the street after your visit!

This unique attraction is located just a few blocks from your stay at The Westin Grand, Berlin. It is sure to be a memorable part of your experience in a city bursting with fascinating future memories. What are the strangest museums you've ever visited during your travels? Please let us know about them in the comments section below.

German engineering isn't just confined to the country's excellent automobiles. It works its way into all facets of life in the country, including one of the world's biggest - and smallest - attractions. Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg is the largest model railway on earth, with 900 trains, 12,000 carriages, and more than 11,000 meters of track winding through tiny versions of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and America. Its intricate designs and lifelike characters will have you staring for hours, uncovering something new with every twist and turn. The Alps area, for example, integrates attributes of authentic mountain life and miniature people performing four seasons of activities, from skiing and rock climbing to picnicking in green pastures. America depicts a few of the country's more bizarre landmarks, including Carhenge in Western Nebraska and the luminous casinos of Las Vegas - which use more than 30,000 miniature lights. But perhaps its most impressive section is the city of Hamburg itself (pictured), which recreates in amazing detail such attractions as Hagenbecks Zoo, the Köhlbrandbrücke, St. Michael's Church and even a teeny tiny Wunderland within Wunderland, complete with the smallest train in the exhibition at a scale of 1:900. It gives an entirely new meaning to the idea of miniaturization. The museum is minutes from Le Royal Méridien Hamburg.

From savage lions to monstrous gorillas, elegant animals are exceptionally crafted like an Audubon ibis. But look how graciously rendered these lovely watercolors are. Don't let Walton Ford's 19th century elegance fool you. Look closer and you'll be pleasantly disturbed. A master of natural-history illustration, the Berkshire-based artist's very first European show opened last month at Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof. "Bestiarium," which runs through May 24, includes a series of 25 large-scale works created over the past two decades. A plume of smoke billows from the charred tail feathers of a gorgeous peacock in "Eothen." White wolves surround a blood-thirsty buffalo in "Le Jardin," based on one of American Indian painter George Caitlin's sketches. Each image is the result of extensive research, and each one tells a detailed narrative usually involving allegory and commentary on colonialism.

Take a journey through Ford's weird, wonderful world during your visit to the German capital. Housed in a former train station, the Hamburger Bahnhof is one of Europe's most exciting contemporary art museums. It's within walking distance of The Westin Grand, Berlin, and a quintessential stop on your Berlin itinerary. On your way back to the hotel, take a stroll through the Tiergarten, a former royal hunting ground, and look at the pigeons and squirrels in a whole new light.