German Christmas Markets 2016

Christmas Markets in Germany – 2016

During the 4-5 weeks prior to Christmas, Christmas markets pop up in most German cities, both big and small. These markets are simultaneously individually unique and ubiquitously similar. Each market contains vendors whose goods can only be found at that particular market. Many of these goods are regional in nature, including local foodstuffs, toy makers, tree ornaments, and locally-made clothing. The individual nature of these markets, however, disappears after having visited more than a couple of them. In each market visitors can buy bratwursts, potato pancakes, gingerbread, mulled wine, and roasted nuts. But don’t let the markets’ similarities deter you from visiting them. Each market’s unique vendors emerge as the main attractions in each city.

During our recent 15-day trip to Germany and Austria, we visited the following markets: Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Stuttgart, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Nuremberg, Bayreuth, Munich, and Salzburg. While the larger cities had multiple markets spread out in various parts of the city (Cologne had 6 different markets), the smaller cities’ markets were concentrated in the city square and the surrounding streets. On the opening night of each market, the city usually puts on some sort of holiday show, whether it be musical, historical, or religious in nature.

The most important tip we can offer regarding these markets, aside from wearing very comfortable shoes, is to go during the day if you want to purchase things because the market will rapidly become crowded as the city’s inhabitants get off work and make their way to the market every night. We also noticed that nighttime prices for food items were higher than their daytime counterparts. Vendors frequently raise their prices for roasted nuts, bratwursts, and beverages after nightfall. Thus, going earlier not only allows you the opportunity to browse the stalls without a large, chaotic crowd, but can save you some money in the process.

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Denmark, Germany, Netherlands – August 2015 (Part 3)

Denmark, Germany, Netherlands – August 2015

Part 3  – Berlin, Germany
Pictures coming soon….


Train to Berlin
After three days in Hamburg, we took an ICE high-speed train to Berlin. In under 2 hours, we arrived in Berlin at the new central train station. Opened in 2006 on the site of the former Lehrte Station, the Berlin Hauptbahnhof came to symbolize the reunification of Berlin and handles approximately 1,800 trains daily.


BERLIN

Berlin Pass
As we frequently do when visiting a city for the first time, we purchase the city’s tourist pass, which for Berlin is the Berlin Pass. Possessing this pass will get you unlimited travel on Berlin’s public transportation system, free entry to 60 attractions, free travel on the city’s hop-on, hop-off bus tour, and a free cruise on the River Spree. Even if you don’t visit everything that’s included, which, in reality, is highly impractical, the pass is well worth its price if you have a few days to spend in Berlin.

If you get the pass early enough, they will ship it to you, but it costs 25 euros to ship to the USA. We chose to save that money and picked up our passes for free once we arrived in Berlin. The redemption point is on Museum Island outside the Humboldt Box at Schlossplatz 5. If you aren’t staying within walking distance to this location, you will need to purchase a bus/metro ticket or take a taxi to get you there.

For the purposes of public transport, German cities are divided into zones which are either numbered or lettered. In Berlin, these zones are labels A, B, C, D, and E. The city center is within zones A & B, but the Berlin Pass gives you unlimited travel in zones A, B, & C, which is great if you want to venture outside of the city. We did exactly that on our first day by going to Wannsee.

Wannsee
Wannsee is the westernmost suburb of Berlin, with a population of around 9,000, and can be reached by taking either the S1 or S7 transit line. Its lakes are known as the premier recreation and bathing spot in western Berlin. But the suburb gained notoriety in 1942 when a lakeside villa, purchased by the Nazi Security Force from Friedrich Minoux, who was a German industrialist and financier, hosted the Wannsee Conference. The purpose of this conference, led by Reinhard Heydrich, the Chief of the Reich Main Security Office, was to ensure the cooperation of administrative leaders in the implementation of the final solution. Under the pretext of resettlement, Heydrich proposed the forcible removal of Jews from their homes into concentration camps, principally in Poland, where the vast majority of the Jews were murdered. The villa, opened in 1992, houses a museum and a memorial and is free for all to visit and to learn about the about the conference. The main exhibition is in German, English, and Hebrew. The juxtaposition of a lakeside villa in a peaceful suburb with the historical significance of the building itself highlights how such a brutal regime forever changed the suburb’s atmosphere.

Kurfürstendamm
Our hotel was near the Kurfürstendamm, one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. Lined with many cafes, name-brand shops, hotels, and restaurants, this street was the hub of commercial activity in western Berlin when the city was divided after World War II. Reunification brought about competition with major avenues in eastern Berlin.

Berliner Dom
The Berlin Church, located on Museum Island and included in the Berlin Pass, is an Evangelical (Protestant) church that has technically never been a cathedral since it has never served as a seat of a bishop. The current building, completed in 1905, has a pipe organ with 113 stops and is played by a 4-manual console.

River Spree Cruise
As mentioned earlier, a river cruise is included in the Berlin Pass, which leaves from the Alte Börse Pier. This hour-long cruise operates from the end of March until the beginning of November and travels between the former east and west sections of Berlin. Commentary is in German and English. As we traveled down the Spree, it was quite evident from the differences in architecture of where the erstwhile division of the city was.

Alexanderplatz
A large public square in the Mitte district of Berlin, Alexanderplatz derives its name from an 1805 visit of Russian Emperor Alexander I and originally served as a cattle market outside the city limits. The square gained notoriety during the Weimar Republic (1920s), alongside Potsdamer Platz, as the center of Berlin’s nightlife. During the 1960s the square became a pedestrian zone. On the square’s periphery stands the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), and the World Time Clock, a continually rotating installation, shows the time throughout the world.

Olympiastadion
Berlin’s Olympic stadium in the Charlottenburg district, included in the Berlin Pass, is easily reached via the U2 or S5 transit lines and is currently home to the Hertha Berlin Football Team, but the stadium’s origins date back to the Nazi era. When the International Olympic Committee awarded the 1936 games to Berlin, the initial concept called for a restoration of the German Stadium. But once Hitler came to power, he ordered Werner March, alongside March’s brother Walter, to construct a new stadium, which was built between 1934 and 1936. This new stadium’s capacity was around 110,000 and had a special seating area for Hitler and his compatriots. Hitler used the torch relay and the games themselves as a giant propaganda piece for the Nazi regime. It was at these games that Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals, becoming one of the most memorable parts at the 1936 Olympics. The stadium has also hosted the 1974 and 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Brandenburger Tor
One of the best known locations in Berlin is the Brandenburg Gate, built on the site of a former city gate on the edge of Pariser Platz, which is where the American and French embassies are located. Located in the Mitte district at the intersection of Unter den Linden (an east-west avenue lined with linden trees along which many notable buildings are located) and Ebertstrasse, King Frederick Wilhelm II of Prussia commissioned the gate as a sign of peace, and it was completed in 1791. The quadriga (a chariot drawn by 4 horses) sits atop the gate driven by Eirene, the goddess of peace. The Brandenburg Gate was damaged during World War II, and after the Berlin Wall was constructed, neither East nor West Berliners had access to it. The refurbishment of the gate began in 2000 and was completed 2 years later.

Museum Island
In addition to housing the Berliner Dom, Museum Island is the cultural heart of the city. It is here that you’ll find five major state museums: the Altes Museum (Antiquities), the Neues Museum (Egyptian and Prehistory), the Bode Museum (sculpture and Byzantine art), the Pergamon Museum (Middle Eastern art and Islamic art), and the Alte Nationalgalerie (19th century paintings).

We went to 3 of the museums, all of which are part of the Berlin Pass. We walked right into the Bode Museum and the Altes Museum, as these are less visited than the extremely popular Pergamon Museum, for which we waited 90 minutes just to get in the door. Due to the importance of the items on display in the Pergamon Museum, entry is controlled and only a certain number of people can enter at one time. So be prepared to wait to get in unless you arrive prior to the museum’s opening time. Also, be sure you are in the correct line. Museum Island has a ticket booth, whose line snakes alongside that for the Pergamon Museum. If you already have your tickets, don’t waste time in the wrong line.

Checkpoint Charlie Museum
One of the popular museums you won’t find in the Museum Island area is that of Checkpoint Charlie. Originally called “Checkpoint C”, this was the best-known Berlin Wall crossing during the Cold War. (Charlie stems from the NATO phonetic alphabet.) A copy of the original guard house is on display in the middle of road outside the museum, and you can get your picture taken with guard impersonators – this is if you dare cross the street with the traffic. There is no crosswalk at the guard house.

The museum is well worth a visit if you have any interest in the Cold War era. On display are many photos, videos, and methods people used to cross the border, including a mannequin stuffed into a car’s hood. There are also exhibitions on the struggle for human rights and on NATO. You can either sign up for a guided tour in German, English, or French, which must be done in advance, or follow a self-guided tour. This is one of the few museums that is open every day of the year.

Berlin Wall
One of the most recognizable aspects of the Cold War was the Berliner Mauer, or Berlin Wall. The wall, whose construction began on 13 August 1961, totally enclosed West Berlin from both East Berlin and East Germany until its reopening in 1989. Demolition began the next year and was completed in 1992. The East German leaders referred to the wall as the “Anti-Fascist Protective Wall”, which equated West Germany and NATO members with fascists. During its existence it is estimated that around 5,000 people attempted to escape, with an estimated death toll of between 136 to 200+.

While 2 smaller sections of the wall still remain, the open-air Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse stretches 1.4 kilometers and is divided into 4 sections. In the first section called “The Wall and the Death Strip”, the Documentation Center chronicles the political and historical situation surrounding the wall’s construction. The Chapel of Reconciliation, located in the second section called “The Destruction of the City”, was rebuilt on the church’s original site, which was originally located in the inaccessible “death strip”, the area of land between the two walls through which people tried to cross in order to escape. The original church was blown up by the East German government in 1985, but the land was returned after reunification with the proviso that the church was rebuilt.

As you walk along the memorial, plaques on the ground commemorate the locations of tunnels people dug to aid in their attempts to escape East Berlin. They stand as a sobering reminder of the actions people will undertake in order to avoid living under a totalitarian regime.

Käthe Wohlfahrt
Germany is known for its Christmas markets held each winter holiday season in many cities, towns, and villages. But if you happen to be in Germany whilst these markets are not occurring and if you are a fan of Christmas ornaments, see if the city you’re in has an outlet of the Käthe Wohlfahrt chain of stores. There happened to be one near our hotel in Berlin, which was a two-story wonderland of holiday scenes, traditional and modern ornaments, coo coo clocks, and other holiday items. The main store is in a small town called Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which is in northwestern Bavaria. The only branch in the USA is in Stillwater, Minnesota.

KaDeWe
Located on Tauentzienstrasse, Das Kaufhaus des Westens (Department Store of the West) is the largest department store in continental Europe and has over 380,000 articles for sale. Originally opened in 1907, each of the store’s 8 levels is dedicated to a different type of merchandise. The top floor is a buffet restaurant that can seat around 1,000 people. While it may not be the best place for a full meal, it is a great place for a slice of cake or some other dessert and a drink.

Reichstag Building
The Reichstag Building houses the German Parliament, and visitors can walk around the roof terrace and glass dome. In order to visit the roof, you must register in advance. You cannot just go and visit when you want. There are two ways to register. There is an online option on the Bundestag’s website, which will have you choose a date and time and will require the full names and birthdates of anyone interested. If you register in person once you get to Berlin, you can do so at the Service Center on the south side of Scheidemannstrasse. You must register at least 2 hours in advance if there are spots available; you must have a passport or identity card if you are a citizen of the EU; you must all be present at the same time to register. Once registered, you’ll receive an invitation for entry, and you come back at that time with your passport/identity card and the invitation. You won’t get in without it. They are actually very strict on this.

While this may seem like a process, and it is, it is well worth the time it takes. The views from the top of the Reichstag are amazing! We went in the late afternoon and had clear views of all of Berlin. Once you are on the roof, you can spend as much time there are you want. Plaques inside the dome chronicle the history of the building, including the fire of 1933 by Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch Communist. The Nazis used the event as propaganda that communists were trying to overthrow the regime.


Next Stop…The Netherlands (coming soon)

Denmark, Germany, Netherlands – August 2015 (Part 2)

Denmark, Germany, Netherlands – August 2015

Part 2  – Hamberg, Germany
Pictures coming soon….


HAMBURG

After arriving in Hamburg, we purchased our public transportation passes and made our way via Hamburg’s S-Bahn to Dammtor Station where our hotel was. Hamburg is divided into zones, and most tourists will be fine with an AB zone ticket; only if you need to go far outside the city will you need an ABCDE zone ticket. Hamburg’s public transportation company, HVV, does not sell multi-day tickets unless you need at least 7 days. Your best option is the Tageskarte (day card). It comes in 2 versions. The first is an all-day card good for 1 adult and up to 3 children under 14 years old. The second is known as the 9-Uhr-Tageskarte. It is valid only after 9 a.m. (after morning rush hour) for 1 adult and up to 3 children under 14 years old. However, if you are traveling with up to 5 people of any age and will always be traveling together, you can purchase a 9-Uhr-Gruppenkarte, which is cheaper for 2 adults than individual tickets. Again, it is only valid after 9 a.m., and all users must always travel together. But this last option can save a couple over 4 euros a day vs. 2 individual all-day cards.

Our hotel was located next to Dammtor Station, outside of which we saw a Kindertransport Statue. German for “children’s transport”, the statue commemorates a rescue effort that occurred in the nine months prior to the outbreak of World War II, during which approximately 10,000 Jewish children from all over Central and Eastern Europe were placed in foster homes, hostels, farms, and schools in the United Kingdom. In addition, around 1,400 children were brought to the United States. In 1939, influenced by Kristallnacht attacks in Germany, the Wagner-Rogers Bill aimed to admit 20,000 Jewish children into the U.S. through an increase in the immigration quota, but the bill failed in Congress due to an anti-Semitic Senator from North Carolina who blocked the bill from ever being voted upon. Often these children were the only members of their respective families to survive the war.

Jungfernstieg

After storing our bags at the hotel, we walked down Colonaden, through Gastav-Mahler-Platz, to Jungfernstieg. This is a large commercial area where you can find shops like Apple, Louis Vuitton, and Hermès. The Jungfernstieg borders the Binnenalster (Inner Alster), from where you can get hour-long cruises, but more on that later.

Miniatur Wunderland

One of the main reasons we stopped over in Hamburg for two days was to go to Miniatur Wunderland. This is the largest model train display in the world and one of the most successful permanent exhibitions in Germany. The attraction, housed in a former warehouse along the Elbe River within walking distance of the Baumwall U3 station, is open 365 days a year. It is so popular with tourists and locals alike that the attraction’s website actually offers visitors a wait time predictor based on the number of pre-purchased tickets on a given day. Wait times in the mornings can easily exceed 1.5 hours. We reserved a time late in the day—after 5 p.m.—and walked right in when we got there. I would not suggest visiting Miniatur Wunderland without a reservation, and if you can avoid morning hours, do so. If you go in summer, closing time is between 10 p.m. and midnight.

We spent about 2 hours exploring everything Miniatur Wunderland has to offer and actually debated about going back a second day. Even if you aren’t into model trains, the attention to minute detail in every area of the attraction is something to be appreciated. You can see the employees working on new sections and see the massive computer displays that control the multi-level attraction. There are seven sections: the cities of Harz and Knuffingen in Southern Germany, Austria/Alps, Hamburg, America, Scandinavia, Switzerland, and the Knuffingen Airport, which is the newest part to open in 2011. The construction teams are also working on opening two new sections: Italy and France. But there is no opening date for either section.

The most fascinating part was the airport. After over 6 years of constructing every piece on site, the airport showcases 40 different aircraft, including a Cessna and an A380, taxiing independently from the airport to the runway, taking off, and landing. Each plane is equipped with lights and realistic turbine sounds for take-off and landing. Also of note is the Switzerland section, which is spread out over two stories and 2,691 sq ft. The Matterhorn model is almost 20 feet tall, through which visitors can pass to see the display from above.

Planten un Blomen

In central Hamburg, just south of the Dammtor train station, is a botanical garden whose name translates to “Plants and Flowers”. Originally designed as a zoological garden, the area was converted into a recreational area in the 1930s. The garden contains a tropical greenhouse, a rose garden, a tea pavilion, and the largest Japanese garden in Europe.

Alster Lake Cruise

As we have done in most of the cities we’ve visited, we took a cruise. In Hamburg, these are not river cruises, but cruises of the Alster Lake. This is a great way to spend an hour seeing the mansions that dot the lake. While there are more options in the summer season, winter cruises can also be taken on enclosed boats. These leave from the Jungfernstieg Pier.

Musical Theatre/Opera House

If you enjoy musicals or classical music, Hamburg is the place to be in Germany. Hamburg plays host to both permanent musicals and limited-run productions, and most of the city’s theatres are in the city’s harbor district, which lines the Elbe River. For fans of classical music, Hamburg is currently constructing a new performance arts theatre called the Elbephilharmonie, located right on the Elbe River. After several delays, the new building, which will also house the Westin Hamburg, should be open by January 2017.


Next stop, Berlin! –> To continue, Click here

Denmark, Germany, Netherlands – August 2015 (Part 1)

Denmark, Germany, Netherlands – August 2015

Part 1  – Copenhagen, Denmark
Pictures coming soon….


Background Info

Soon after returning from our April trip, I was curious about going back to Europe sometime in the fall. Airfare prices were outrageously expensive (over $1,100 each) into the main European hubs (Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, and London), so I started looking at alternate airports into which we could fly. Three Scandinavian airports (Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Oslo) were around $450 per person cheaper for round trip tickets than the major cities. We ended up paying around $650 per person for round trip Orlando-Copenhagen, connecting in New York (JFK) and Amsterdam. So we picked Copenhagen since we could take the train into Germany and onward to the Netherlands.


DENMARK

After an extremely quick connection at JFK airport (40 minutes), during which my bag did not make the transfer, we landed in Amsterdam around 6 a.m. and connected to Copenhagen some 3 hours later. We arrived in Kastrup, where Copenhagen’s airport is, just before 11 a.m. After passing through customs, we purchased our Copenhagen Card at the train ticket counter. The train ticket counter at the airport handles not only the local trains, metro, and buses, but also all of the tourist information as well.

The Copenhagen Card is available in 4 versions (24, 48, 72, and 120 hours) and includes unlimited public transport (metro, bus, and local train) for the duration of the pass. It also includes admission to 73 museums and attractions, including Tivoli Gardens (but not to ride the rides; there is a supplement to be paid at Tivoli if you want to upgrade). We highly recommend purchasing this pass if you are interested in the museums and attractions offered since you’ll save a lot of money.

Our hotel, about a 15-minute walk from the Dybbølsbro train station, was located across the street from the Sydhavnen canal and near a shopping mall, the Fisketorvet. Since our room was not ready until 3 p.m., we had some time to kill. So we went to the mall to have lunch and to walk around. When hotels in Denmark inform you that your room will not be ready until 3 p.m., they really do mean it. As it turns out, the housekeeping manager manually enters each room into the system at that time, and not a minute before – literally. Also, hotels in Denmark have a 25% sales tax on them. So if you do go to Denmark, either be prepared to pay the hefty tax or to find alternate accommodation.

Designmuseum Danmark (Danish Design Museum)

After resting for a little bit once we got into our room, we headed out to visit the Danish Design Museum. We took the local train to Østerport Station and walked along the southwestern border of the Kastellet, a 17th-century star-shaped fortress. We turned right onto Bredgade and found the museum on the left. This was about a 15-20 minute walk.

Housed in a rococo-style hospital constructed during the 1750s, the building was renovated during the 1920s to convert it into a museum. Displaying exquisite examples of Danish industrial design, decorative arts, and applied arts, the museum’s collections, library, and archives compose a primary resource and research center for Danish design. The museum’s gardens, the Grønnegård, is open during operating hours and hosts theatrical performances during the summer.

Seeing that my luggage had not arrived by the next morning, we returned to the mall so that I could purchase some replacement clothing. After this, we ventured into downtown Copenhagen.

Christiansborg Slot

On the island of Slotsholmen stands the Christiansborg Slot (Christiansborg Palace). Visitors with the Copenhagen Card can enter the Royal Reception Rooms, the Theatre, the Ruins, and the Stables free of charge; otherwise adult tickets cost DKK 150 (approximately $23). The Danish Parliament, the Danish Supreme Court, and the Danish Prime Minister’s Office use this multipurpose complex, some parts of which the Danish monarchy also uses. The current complex, built between 1907 and 1928, stands on the original site of Absolon’s castle built in 1167. It is the only building in the world to house all three branches of government: judicial, executive, and legislative.

Agnete and the Merman

After touring the grounds, we did what we now try to do in each city: take some sort of cruise to see the city from a different perspective. Beside the cruise company’s ticket office stands Agnete and the Merman, a group of underwater bronze sculptures located in the Slotsholm Canal next to the Højbro Bridge. The figures portray a merman and his seven sons with outstretched arms, pleading with Agnete to come back. The work is based on the ballad “Agnete and the Mermen”, which is one of the manifold fairy tales found in Danish folklore.

The Grand Tour Cruise

Taking visitors on an hour-long cruise, the boat passes through idyllic canals and the city’s harbor. A live tour guide, as opposed to a prerecorded audio track, narrates the journey in Danish, English, and sometimes a third language (German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian). Our particular guide gave the tour in Danish, English, and German. For holders of the Copenhagen Card, the cruise is included, but you must embark at the station beside the underwater statue garden on Gammel Strand, not the one in Nyhavn.

Along the way you’ll see the Copenhagen Opera House, the Nyhavn area, the Royal Yacht, the city’s former port, and the Little Mermaid statue. While you can roll the windows up to stand up during the journey, when the boat travels under some of the bridges, you’ll have to sit down as the clearance is less than 6 inches between the boat and the bridge at some points. As we have experienced many times now, we cannot recommend river or canal cruises enough as a way to take photos you otherwise would have no access to take, to gain a different viewpoint of various attractions, and as a way to see things without walking all over the city and becoming tired.

After the cruise we walked the main pedestrian area of Copenhagen: the Købmagergade. This street is one of the main shopping streets in Copenhagen and intersects with the other main shopping street: Strøget. We took Købmagergade about ten blocks to Kultorvet, a square lined with many restaurants. We chose the Italian restaurant on the north side of the square and had a very delicious meal outdoors. Afterwards, we made our way back down to Strøget and walked toward Rådhuspladsen (City Hall Square).

Copenhagen Pride

Unbeknownst to us, the square in front of Copenhagen’s City Hall was hosting Copenhagen Pride. The city was decked out in rainbow colors; even 7-11 printed special coffee cups with rainbow colors on them to celebrate. The square had about 30 booths displaying products, food items, and a music stage. We then headed down H. C. Andersens Blvd. where a statue of Hans Christian Andersen was. Across the street was Tivoli Gardens.

Tivoli Gardens

Open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Tivoli Gardens is the second-longest operating amusement park in the world. Opened on 15 August 1843 under the name Tivoli and Vauxhall, as an homage to the Jardin de Tivoli in Paris (itself named after Tivoli in Rome) and Vauxhall Gardens in London, the park possessed buildings constructed in the imaginary exotic Oriental style, flower gardens, a theatre, and mechanical amusement rides. When the Nazis occupied Denmark, Nazi supporters burned many of the gardens’ buildings, but temporary buildings were quickly built and the park reopened within weeks.

The park is best known for its wooden roller coaster, Rutschebanen, which is controlled by an onboard operator so that the ride won’t gain too much speed on the hills. There are three other roller coasters and various thrill rides. In addition to the rides, Tivoli serves as a venue for the performing arts and plays an active role in Copenhagen’s cultural scene. Visitors with the Copenhagen Card can enter the gardens for free, but to ride the attractions, you must purchase a supplemental ticket.

The next morning, we took the 5:20 a.m. direct train from Copenhagen to Hamburg, Germany. The main reason we booked such an early train was the price, which was cheaper than the next train leaving two hours later by about 20 euros per person. We also wanted to get the five-hour train ride out of the way early in the day so we would have more time in Hamburg to explore.

The fascinating thing about this train, however, was the fact that from Rødbyhavn, Denmark to Puttgarden, Germany, the train travels in the hull of a ferry. The ferry contains railroad tracks on which the train rests during the 45-minute journey across the 18-kilometer wide Fehmarn Belt, a strait that connects the Bay of Mecklenburg and the Bay of Kiel in the western section of the Baltic Sea. Passengers must disembark the train once it is secured in the ferry, which has two restaurants, a convenience store, a duty free store, a currency exchange desk, and several observation decks. Prior to docking in Puttgarden, passengers get back on the train to continue their journey to Hamburg.

Originally envisioned as a bridge, there is a proposal to bore a 3-part tunnel similar to the Chunnel connecting France and the United Kingdom to link Denmark and Germany. Initial plans set completion for 2018, but domestic and EU funding pushed completion to 2024. Denmark will build the tunnel with support from Germany and Sweden, aiming to cut about an hour of travel time between the countries.


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