// JavaScript Document
dataset= new Array();
dataset[1] = new Array("Frankfurt","images/germany_frankfurt_01_l.jpg","images/germany_frankfurt_01_s.jpg","Frankfurt is Germanys top banking city and also the home of the European central bank, with the congregation of all bank towers creating the only skyline in Germany. Frankfurters are proud on this skyline and have nicknamed their city "Mainhattan" - after the river Main that crosses the city.",50.107589,8.683662,"");
dataset[2] = new Array("Frankfurt Zoo","images/germany_frankfurt_03_l.jpg","images/germany_frankfurt_03_s.jpg","The Frankfurt Zoo is one of the oldest and most well known in Germany. It features over 5,000 animals of more than 600 species. Older Germans especially will remember former director Bernhard Grzimek, famous for the work he undertook for the conservation of the Serengeti desert, and for the Oscar award he won in 1959 for his documentary "Serengeti shall not die". For over 25 years he regularily appeared on German TV, always accompanied by an animal friend.",50.11546,8.702717,"");
dataset[3] = new Array("Frankfurt at night","images/germany_frankfurt_04_l.jpg","images/germany_frankfurt_04_s.jpg","Frankfurt is Germanys top banking city and also the home of the European central bank, with the congregation of all bank towers creating the only skyline in Germany. Frankfurters are proud on this skyline and have nicknamed their city "Mainhattan" - after the river Main that crosses the city.",50.117826,8.65242,"");
dataset[4] = new Array("Schloss Johannisberg","images/germany_rheingau_02_l.jpg","images/germanyrheingau_02_s.jpg","The Rheingau is world-famous for its wine - legend has it that Charlemagne planted the first grapes here near Schloss Johannisberg, still one of the most well-known domaines in Germany.
Here the sweet late-harvest wine was developed when the messenger from the Archbishop of Fulda, then the owner of Johannisberg, carrying the permission to start the harvest, turned up late in 1775. The monasteries then developed the local wine industry and became rich in doing so.
Famous nearby Kloster Eberbach, whose interior was used as set for the movie "The name of the Rose", still houses a wine cellar of the Hessian state winery. Both places are participating in the annual Rheingau Music Festival, a world-class concert program.",50.008291,7.998219,"");
dataset[5] = new Array("Rheingau","images/germany_rheingau_04_l.jpg","images/germany_rheingau_04_s.jpg","Even if you do not like wine, the Rhine has a lot to offer. Historically it had been an important trade and military route, a natural barrier and object of frontier trouble between national states. History and myths have formed this river bed for several thousand years. The Rhine is the theatre of the medieval saga of the Nibelungenlied, where precious hoards of gold are lying on the river bed, guarded by the Rheinmaidens. No wonder that the most German of all composers, Richard Wagner, took this story as basis for his "Ring" opera cycle.",50.028145,7.811451,"");
dataset[6] = new Array("Berchtesgaden","images/germany_berchtesgaden_02_l.jpg","images/germany_berchtesgaden_02_s.jpg","Berchtesgaden has a long and sometimes dark history. Hidden in its mountains are enormous deposits of mineral salt, and its salt mines have been in operation for centuries. Even today the mines are producing salt, but are also open to visitors who, clad in dark protective coats, are carried one kilometre into the mountain rock with an electric train, where they move through the tunnels using slides and escalators and even cross an underground lake. Over the centuries the salt made the town rich, influential and famous, and it became even more famous when Adolf Hilter bought a small cabin on a mountain above the town in the 1920s, later to be enlarged into a huge complex of barracks, guest houses, bunkers and villas.",47.57861,13.022919,"");
dataset[7] = new Array("Meersburg","images/germany_constance_02_l.jpg","images/germany_constance_02_s.jpg","Meersburg, a small fishing town, nowadays adapted to the tourists that come and go with the white fleet, the sightseeing boats or the ferry from Konstanz. One small and steep road winds from the lake shore to the upper part of the town - close your eyes and you can imagine the fishermen walking down to their boats in the evenings for a good nights work.",47.693992,9.26671,"");
dataset[8] = new Array("Affenberg Salem","images/germany_constance_03_l.jpg","images/germany_constance_03_s.jpg","The climate is warm in the South - at Salem monkeys inhabit a large forest, split into three groups that defend their territories. The more reckless wait along the waysides and graciously accept popcorn from the visitors.",47.776483,9.291687,"www.affenberg-salem.de/");
dataset[9] = new Array("Xanten","http://www.blog.amedion.de/wp-content/uploads/2010xanten_l.jpg","images/germany_xanten_s.jpg","A settlement, an outpost of civilization in midst a wilderness, inhabited by 10,000 to 15,000 usually former legionaries, was given the rights of a Colonia in 110 by the Roman emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus, who renamed the city into Colonia Ulpia Traiana. The colonia became the second most important commercial post in the province of Germania Inferior, and lasted for nearly than two hundred years. It was overrun by Germanic tribes, rebuild smaller, but more fortified, but finally given up at the beginning of the 5th century. The inhabitants of the nearby medieval city used the ruins as a quarry, and all remains were removed, but the foundations still existed, sleeping below the surface until the 1970s, when the archeological park was opened. ",51.668989,6.444511,"");
dataset[10] = new Array("Unterruhldingen","images/germany_constance_01_l.jpg","images/germany_constance_01_s.jpg","Fishing also supported the first inhabitants of this area. They had built their dwellings in the lake, their wooden houses sitting on piles on the water, connected only by boat or flimsy bridges. We don't know for sure why they selected a costly construction method, assumingly protection against intruders. Today a visit is allowed and welcome, the huts have been reconstructed and give an impression how life has been six thousand years ago. ",47.726392,9.227679,"");
dataset[11] = new Array("Königssee","images/germany_berchtesgaden_01_l.jpg","images/germany_berchtesgaden_01_s.jpg","Considered as one of the most beautiful places in Germany, the Königssee (Kings Lake) has long been a retreat for the Bavarian kings. During the last ice age ice streams have carved it deep into the mountains - the crystal clear water has an average depth of more than one hundred meters. 18 electric boats carry the tourists across the lake, and on every cruise the boat will stop at the famous echo wall, a mountain flank where the sailors horn will create a double echo. ",47.587642,12.986526,"");
dataset[12] = new Array("Sankt Bartholomä","images/germany_berchtesgaden_03_l.jpg","images/germany_berchtesgaden_03_s.jpg","The little chapel is located at the edge of Königssee, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, the protector of alpine farmers and of milkmaids. Parts of it date back to the 12th century. In 1697 it was remodeled and redecorated in the Baroque style. It has been used by pilgrims throughout the centuries, and even today a traditional waking procession starts in Austria, crosses the Stony Sea and Funtensee, reaching the chapel after a 15 hour walk. ",47.544786,12.971849,"");
dataset[13] = new Array("Zugspitze","images/germany_garmisch_03_l.jpg","images/germany_garmisch_03_s.jpg","A small town, full of typical Alp houses with their broad roofs, carved wooden balconies and thick walls, overshadowed by the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain. The brave and claustrophobic take the gondolas up to the top, while rest use the railroad which winds up to the top, through tunnels that have been blasted into the solid rock. One step out of the subterranean station brings you into deep winter, the snow never melts and cold and freezing winds are raging around the balconies of the tip station.
The Austrian border runs right through the top and you might cross the border when you visit the lavatory. ",47.422222,10.985727,"");
dataset[14] = new Array("Partnachklamm","images/germany_garmisch_05_l.jpg","images/germany_garmisch_05_s.jpg","Another place for the courageous is the Partnachklamm, where a small river has sawn a deep gorge through the rocks. Leave the car at the Olympic stadium of 1936 and walk half an hour to the gorge.
Don't forget rainwear- the narrow way through the bottom of the gorge leads directly along the water and you are inches away from the roaring waters. Waterfalls come down from the steep walls, with their drops glittering in the sunlight.",47.440628,11.109924,"");
dataset[15] = new Array("Neuschwanstein","images/germany_neuschwanstein_01_l.jpg","images/germany_neuschwanstein_01_s.jpg","Designed by a decoration painter from the Munich theatre, built in the 1870ies by a romantic king, this is the epitome of a fairy tale castle and has been copied as Cinderella castle in Disneyland. King Ludwig II, an eccentric and unlucky man who tried to escape the issues of daily life by dreaming himself into a better world inhabited by noble knights, dragons and pagan Germanic gods. As the king idolized composer Richard Wagner the castle was designed as set for the romantic operas and is full of allusions and hints to their characters. Ludwig nearly ruined his poor country with the huge expenses for his castles and his adoration for Wagner, until finally he was threatened with dismissal by his cabinet and died under mysterious circumstances. He had only lived in Neuschwanstein for a hundred days.
Today the castle is a must for tourists and tickets have to be bought hours in advance for fixed entry times, so better plan some time for the visit.",47.55753,10.745316,"");
dataset[16] = new Array("AirRail Center","images/germany_frankfurt_05_l.jpg","images/germany_frankfurt_05_s.jpg","Frankfurt Airport ICE Station, basement of the future AirRail center. Probably the best connected place in Germany, with the ICE train station inhouse, an own motorway exit and Terminal 1 in walking distance. This will become one of the nuclei of the future "Gateway Gardens" project, a complete new city that will be created around Frankfurt airport.",50.053061,8.569336,"");
dataset[17] = new Array("Monschau","images/germany_monschau_01_l.jpg","images/germany_monschau_01_s.jpg","A small village close to the Belgian-German border. Several times had to change it's nationality and it's name. Weaving Spanish wool imported via the Netherlands it achieved a modest wealth from it's textile industry, still visible in the "Red House", errected in 1760 to combine a representative mansion, office, storage and production facilities. The industry came down when the town was excluded by Prussian toll legislation and missed to connect to new the railway net in the 19th century. Being in the periphery saved the old and narrow town center from modernization and created a new source of income - tourism.",50.554971,6.242123,"");
dataset[18] = new Array("Museum Island","images/germany_berlin_01_l.jpg","images/germany_berlin_01_s.jpg","The Museumsinsel (Museum Island) is an island formed by the river Spree that crosses the capital of Germany. For over 150 years the island has been the home of five internationally renowned museums, a project started by Prussian kings to increase the international recognition of Berlin as a cultural capital. The museums focus on archeology and art of the 19th century. Highlights of the collections are the Egyptian antiques, including the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, the collections of Islamic art and the reconstructed immense and historically significant buildings of the Pergamon museum. ",52.519394,13.39905,"");
dataset[19] = new Array("Pergamonmuseum","images/germany_berlin_02_l.jpg","images/germany_berlin_02_s.jpg","The Pergamon Museum is among the museums on Museum Island in Berlin. The Pergamon houses original-sized, reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon Altar, the Market Gate of Miletus, and the Ishtar Gate, all excavated in Babylon, Uruk, Assur, Miletus, Priene and Egypt by German archeologists in the late 19th century and transported to Berlin. The museum is named after the Great Altar of Pergamon, a massive stone podium about one hundred feet long and thirty-five feet high, that has been rebuilt in the main hall and can be entered by the visitors. ",52.520869,13.39684,"");
dataset[20] = new Array("Rauschermühle","images/germany_eifel_01_l.jpg","images/germany_eifel_01_s.jpg","The Nette is a small stream, unnavigable and without any strategic importance. This uselessness for human enterprises prevented it from getting remodeled, and so it's flow is still blocked by large boulders at Rauschermühle, a former water mill that was converted into an electric power station at the beginning of the 20th century. Today the mill houses the information center of Eifel volcano park - yes, here had been heavy volcanic activity 20.000 years ago... ",50.388657,7.402811,"");
dataset[21] = new Array("Ruppertsklamm","images/germany_koblenz_01_l.jpg","images/germany_koblenz_01_s.jpg","Ruppertsklamm is a narrow gorge, branching off the Lahn valley near Lahnstein and winding 2 kilometers uphill, climbing 235 meters of altitude. A narrow path winds along vertical stone walls, secured with thick steel ropes, iron bridges and steps carved into the stone. A small stream covers the gorge's floor, murmuring innocently, but the large roots and wooden branches blocking it's bed tell of it's power and volume at the end of winter. Look out for the large brown sign when you travel the B 260 from Lahnstein to Bad Ems. ",50.317107,7.649918,"");
dataset[22] = new Array("Taunus","images/germany_taunus_01_l.jpg","images/germany_taunus_01_s.jpg","The Taunus is a low mountain range in the middle of Germany, bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. Traditionally it has been an agricultural area, where farmers tried to dwell crop in the colder climate. It has been inhabited since the late iron age, and occupied by the Romans who built their border fortification on the Taunus heights. Parts of it's line of Roman watchtowers and castellums have been reconstructed. Motocyclists love the empty, winding roads of the Taunus.",50.191572,8.392181,"www.moto-germania.de");
dataset[23] = new Array("Schloss Linderhof","images/germany_bavaria_01_l.jpg","images/germany_bavaria_01_s.jpg","Schloss LinderhofLike his other palaces Linderhof was a place for King Ludwig II. to express his dreams. The the palace of the French Sun-King Louis XIV, who was an idol for Ludwig, was its inspiration, and many of Versailles architectural elements have been copied, although in smaller scale.
The palace also is heavily inspired by Ludwig’s adoration of opera composer Richard Wagner - the artificial Venus Grotto was designed as illustration of the First Act of Wagner's "Tannhäuser". It was here where Ludwig liked to be rowed over the lake in his golden swan-boat.
Therefore 24 dynamos had been installed back then, allowing to illuminate the grotto in changing colors. The Hunding's Hut, a small shack in the grounds, is the stage for the First Act of the "Valkyrie", and Ludwig used it to celebrate Germanic feasts in this house.",47.562627,10.954742,"www.linderhof.de");
dataset[24] = new Array("Schmetterlingsgarten Bendorf","images/germany_bendorf_01_l.jpg","images/germany_bendorf_01_s.jpg","The garden of butterflies at castle Sayn. Visitors may admire hundreds of butterflies from the Americas, Africa and Asia in a scenery of tropical vegetation, between orchids and banana plants, murmuring waterfalls and small lakes. Meet Attacus Atlas, the largest moth of the world with a wingspan up to 30 centimeters, dozing in day sleep, or the blue Morpho from Brazil gliding through the warm air. ",50.438375,7.575073,"");
dataset[25] = new Array("Legoland Günzburg","images/germany_bavaria_02_l.jpg","images/germany_bavaria_02_s.jpg","If you ever played with Lego as a child this is the place to be! Start in the Lego Factory, where the bricks are produced live on the secret Lego machines, and then make your way to the Miniland - the Reichstag in Berlin, the skyline of Frankfurt, Hamburg harbor or Piazza San Marco in Venice, all built from Lego and inhabited by little Lego men and women. Don’t forget to make a trip to the shop to discover the special models you only can buy here... ",48.431479,10.291443,"");
dataset[26] = new Array("Museum König","images/germany_bonn_01_l.jpg","images/germany_bonn_01_s.jpg","The museum is both a natural history museum and zoological research institution in Bonn. Founded by the private scholar Alexander Koenig in 1912 as a private institute for zoological research and public education, the museum today exhibits dioramas of different ecosystems. The recently created African savannah in the atrium forms the heart of the exhibition, with it’s barrierless display showing many animals in "action". Being preserved from the destruction in World War II the museum still displays it’s original pre-war displays. These displays have been witnesses of one of the historic events of the young German republic - between elephants and giraffes the parliamentary council prepared the new German constitution in 1948. ",50.722003,7.114205,"www.museumkoenig.de");
dataset[27] = new Array("Frauenkirche Dresden","images/germany_dresden_01_l.jpg","images/germany_dresden_01_s.jpg","Built between 1726 and 1743 by Dresden's city architect George Bähr who did not live to see the completion of his greatest work, the Church of Our Lady was the primary landmark of the famous baroque Dresden skyline. Back then it's unconventional 96 m-high dome, the "Stone Bell", was an engineering sensation, as it did not require internal supports. It proved to be extremely stable and survived a Prussian attack with more than 100 cannonballs during the Seven Years' War.
But it could not stand the heavy allied bombing in February 1945. The church withstood two days and nights, saving the 300 people who had sought shelter in the church crypt, but finally collapsed, completely burned out. During socialist rule the ruins were kept as a war memorial, but after German reunification a private initiative began to raise funds for reconstruction. The remains were collected and documented in a database. Using a 3D imaging program architects tried to reconstruct the original positions of every stone, and approximately 3.800 of them were reused. The gold cross on the top of the dome was forged by a British goldsmith whose father was a member of the bombing crews. ",51.051646,13.74115,"");
dataset[28] = new Array("Fürstenzug","images/germany_dresden_02_l.jpg","images/germany_dresden_02_s.jpg","In 1859 the dynasty of Wettin, rulers of Saxony, commemorated the 800th anniversary of their royalty. As part of the celebrations they commissioned a mural to show their family tradition, the long line of baronial and royal rulers - the final picture would show 35 margraves, dukes, electors and kings, together with 59 scientists, artists, soldiers, children and farmers, many horses and two greyhounds. The large mural, with a length of more than 100 meters and nearly 10 meters high, was placed at the wall of the royal stable building, but it suffered from harsh weather conditions and had to be replaced in 1904. This time the picture was applied to 25.000 porcelain tiles from the Meißen manufacture, making the Fürstenzug the world’s largest porcelain picture. ",51.052479,13.739144,"");
dataset[29] = new Array("Zwinger","images/germany_dresden_03_l.jpg","images/germany_dresden_03_s.jpg","Augustus the Strong, elector of Saxony and elected king of Poland, faced a problem. He ruled a land full of noblemen with royal ambitions, and had won the Polish crown not by merits, but by money. He needed to demonstrate his absolute power, and one of his strategies was to drive pomp and magnificence of the royal court to a new extend. He had borrowed this concept from the French king Louis XIV, who had just moved his court to Versailles when Augustus visited him on his traditional "grand tour" in 1687. Keeping the noblemen busy with a continuos stream of feasts and other flimsy occupations would prevent them from getting ideas.
This continuos play needed a stage, and Augustus commissioned a complex of palace and gardens, with access to the river Elbe, a replacement for the medieval fortifications from which it inherited it’s name, the Zwinger.
1719 the Zwinger was used as scenery to impress the royal houses of Europe who had gathered for the marriage of the electoral prince Frederick August’s with the daughter of the Habsburg emperor, a huge coulisse, as only the outer shells of the buildings had been finished. Completion of the interiors was finished in 1728, five years before the death of Augustus, which put the construction to a halt. The open space towards the opera and the river was left open until 1855, when the gallery wing, designed by Gottfried Semper, creator of the opera house, was opened.
The Zwinger was completely destroyed during the bombing raid of February 1945, and rescued by the vote of the people of Dresden, who opted for rebuilding the glories of the city instead of a remodeling. ",51.054059,13.734557,"");
dataset[30] = new Array("Colmar","images/germany_colmar_01_l.jpg","images/germany_colmar_01_s.jpg","Today Colmar is part of France, but this area has been swapped between Germany and France several times over the centuries. Colmar was founded in the 9th century, and was first noticed when the inglorious king Charles the Fat started a diet here in 884. The diet may not have worked, as Colmar is the capital of the Alsatian wine region and famous for it’s local specialities.
Mostly spared by the destructions of the French Revolution and several Franco-German wars , old-town Colmar is homogenous and renowned among tourists, it’s landmarks reflecting eight centuries of Germanic and French architecture. Highlight is an area called "little Venice", crossed by canals of the river Lauch, which formerly served as the butcher's, tanner's and fishmonger's quarter. ",48.078996,7.35878,"");
dataset[31] = new Array("Dinkelsbühl","images/germany_dinkelsbuehl_01_l.jpg","images/germany_dinkelsbuehl_01_s.jpg","Located at the place where two important medieval trade routes crossed the small river Wörnitz, the town became a small trade post and was fortified around 1130. After a short economic boom, driven by cloth and ironworks during the 14th and 15th century, where the large gothic city church was erected, the development of the inner city stagnated. Swedish occupation during the Thirty Year’s War finally stopped further development and created the tradition of the “Kinderzeche”. According to legend the tower keeper’s daughter saved the city from being looted by the advancing Swedish troops, when she, after overhearing the debates of the hesitant city council, assembled the city’s children and left the city to greet the troops. Although the city changed sides eight times during the war, it was left intact and preserved it’s complete medieval city wall and the image of a German provincial town from the he 15th to early 17th century. ",49.068468,10.320282,"");
dataset[32] = new Array("Mensfelder Kopf","images/germany_limburg_01_l.jpg","images/germany_limburg_01_s.jpg","The Mensfelder Kopf is a wildlife reserve, under protection of the European Natura 2000 act. Dozens of bird species use this place to rest on their spring and autumn migration. Close to the city of Limburg, the area is under threat by a planned ring road, intended to relive the city from traffic. ",50.36820422,8.074556217,"www.keine-suedumgehung-limburg.de");
dataset[33] = new Array("Sanssouci","images/germany_potsdam_01_l.jpg","images/germany_potsdam_01_s.jpg","Sanssouci is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. Frederick’s intention was a private residence where he could avoid the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. He personally sketched out the first plans and was heavily involved in the complete process of design and decoration. He also selected the name, the French phrase sans souci, "without worries" or "carefree", and felt so close to the place that he conceived it as "a place that would die with him".
Next to the small palace a terraced vineyard was created, and following the terracing of the vineyard and the completion of the palace, Frederick turned his attention to the landscaping of the greater vicinity of the palace and thus began the creation of Sanssouci Park. Continuing the horticultural theme of the terraced gardens, 3,000 fruit trees were planted in the park, and greenhouses and nurseries laid out, producing oranges, melons, peaches and bananas. ",52.400691,13.035707,"");
dataset[34] = new Array("Burg Stolzenfels","images/germany_rheingau_05_l.jpg","images/germany_rheingau_05_s.jpg","Finished in 1259, Stolzenfels was used to protect the toll station at the Rhine, where the ships, back then the main transport for goods, had to stop and pay toll. Over the years it was extended several times, occupied by French and Swedish troops in the Thirty Year’s War and finally, in 1689, destroyed by the French during the Nine Years' War.
For 150 years the ruins decayed, until they were given as a present to Prince Frederick of Prussia in 1815 by the city of Koblenz. Following the romantic traditions, the prince started to completely rebuild the castle in 1826 as a summer residence. Supported by famous neoclassic architect Karl-Friedrich Schinkel the castle was completely remodeled in the then fashionable neo-gothic style, aiming to create a romantic place representing the idea of medieval knighthood - the architects even created a tournament site. ",50.304911,7.590694,"www.schloss-stolzenfels.de/eng/");
dataset[35] = new Array("Westerwald","images/germany_westerwald_01_l.jpg","images/germany_westerwald_01_s.jpg","The Westerwald, a low mountain range between the rivers of Rhine, Lahn, Dill and Sieg, is one of Germany’s biggest mountain range by area, but not by height. Until recently it has always been an area of low economic potential, weak infrastructure, it’s local economy dominated by wood industry and mining of slate, clay, diabase and basalt, pottery and iron ore industry.
It’s dwellers are popularly known as Basaltköpp ("Basalt Heads"), as the Westerwald is rich of basalt, and it’s people are said to be very thickheaded and peculiar. ",50.561868,8.083191,"");
dataset[36] = new Array("Würzburg","images/germany_wuerzburg_01_l.jpg","images/germany_wuerzburg_01_s.jpg","Erected by the prince-bishops of Würzburg between 1719 and 1780, the palace is described by the UNESCO as being the most consistent and exceptional example of baroque architecture, unique because of it’s originality, the ambition of it’s construction project and the international cooperation of it’s builders.
The assignment to create an overall plan was given to the then unknown architect Balthasar Neumann, who headed a group of architects from all over Europe and integrated their ideas in an overall composition. A group of Italian painters, led by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, created the interiors, among them the world’s largest fresco on the ceiling of the famous staircase, showing the four continents Europe, Africa, America and Asia. ",49.793234,9.938035,"");
dataset[37] = new Array("Residenz Würzburg","images/germany_wuerzburg_02_l.jpg","images/germany_wuerzburg_02_s.jpg","Erected by the prince-bishops of Würzburg between 1719 and 1780, the palace is described by the UNESCO as being the most consistent and exceptional example of baroque architecture, unique because of it’s originality, the ambition of it’s construction project and the international cooperation of it’s builders.
The assignment to create an overall plan was given to the then unknown architect Balthasar Neumann, who headed a group of architects from all over Europe and integrated their ideas in an overall composition. A group of Italian painters, led by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, created the interiors, among them the world’s largest fresco on the ceiling of the famous staircase, showing the four continents Europe, Africa, America and Asia. ",49.790574,9.939473,"");
dataset[38] = new Array("Autostadt","images/germany_wolfsburg_02_l.jpg","images/germany_wolfsburg_02_s.jpg","The Autostadt, Motor City, is adjacent to the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg. It features a museum, brand pavilions and a customer centre where German customers can pick up their new cars. Autostadt has a large variety of multimedia activities and devices which include car design software. One of it’s highlights is the large car museum, where the history of the motor driven vehicle is documented, and we can meet the friends of our youth - the orange van with the white roof and the reserve tire in the front, the sand-colored Golf and of course the VW Beetles in all forms... ",52.432519,10.794325,"");
dataset[39] = new Array("Taunus II.","images/germany_taunus_02_l.jpg","images/germany_taunus_02_s.jpg","The Taunus is a low mountain range in the middle of Germany, bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. Traditionally it has been an agricultural area, where farmers tried to dwell crop in the colder climate. It has been inhabited since the late iron age, and occupied by the Romans who built their border fortification on the Taunus heights. Parts of it's line of Roman watchtowers and castellums have been reconstructed. Motocyclists love the empty, winding roads of the Taunus.",50.352142,8.111944,"www.moto-germania.de");
dataset[39] = new Array("Taunus III.","images/germany_taunus_03_l.jpg","images/germany_taunus_03_s.jpg","The Taunus is a low mountain range in the middle of Germany, bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. Traditionally it has been an agricultural area, where farmers tried to dwell crop in the colder climate. It has been inhabited since the late iron age, and occupied by the Romans who built their border fortification on the Taunus heights. Parts of it's line of Roman watchtowers and castellums have been reconstructed. Motocyclists love the empty, winding roads of the Taunus. ",50.307652,8.223438,"www.moto-germania.de");
dataset[40] = new Array("Limburg Fleamarket","images/germany_limburg_02_l.jpg","images/germany_limburg_02_s.jpg","Every first sunday in September the inner city becomes one large flea market. The narrow streets are crowded with people seeking for rarities. Tables full of old beer stones, broken plastic toys and battered Matchbox cars, tasteless brown ceramic pots and old books with brownish leaves, printed in old faktura. Electrical bread cutting machines or water cookers with cases that have turned yellow over the years, bent silver knives and forks, their gloss faded away long ago, stalls full of children’s clothes, all washed and properly stacked. Young families try to push children's carts through the crowd, and children loudly try to direct their parent's interest to a sack of Lego bricks. The tunes of street musicians fill the squares, and in it' side cafes hunters take a break, examining their bounty. A man in his forties carefully unpacks a stack of vintage vinyl records, long forgotten rock groups of the seventies, and a little boy tries to turn the handle of an old grandmother coffee grinder. This isn’t the place for large sales, and most of the sellers will have to take their plunder back home, but everybody had a fine day...",50.387734,8.065821,"");
dataset[41] = new Array("Limburg Fleamarket","images/germany_limburg_03_l.jpg","images/germany_limburg_03_s.jpg","Every first sunday in September the inner city becomes one large flea market. The narrow streets are crowded with people seeking for rarities. Tables full of old beer stones, broken plastic toys and battered Matchbox cars, tasteless brown ceramic pots and old books with brownish leaves, printed in old faktura. Electrical bread cutting machines or water cookers with cases that have turned yellow over the years, bent silver knives and forks, their gloss faded away long ago, stalls full of children’s clothes, all washed and properly stacked. Young families try to push children's carts through the crowd, and children loudly try to direct their parent's interest to a sack of Lego bricks. The tunes of street musicians fill the squares, and in it' side cafes hunters take a break, examining their bounty. A man in his forties carefully unpacks a stack of vintage vinyl records, long forgotten rock groups of the seventies, and a little boy tries to turn the handle of an old grandmother coffee grinder. This isn’t the place for large sales, and most of the sellers will have to take their plunder back home, but everybody had a fine day...",50.387997,8.06478,"");
dataset[42] = new Array("Limburg Fleamarket","images/germany_limburg_04_l.jpg","images/germany_limburg_04_s.jpg","Every first sunday in September the inner city becomes one large flea market. The narrow streets are crowded with people seeking for rarities. Tables full of old beer stones, broken plastic toys and battered Matchbox cars, tasteless brown ceramic pots and old books with brownish leaves, printed in old faktura. Electrical bread cutting machines or water cookers with cases that have turned yellow over the years, bent silver knives and forks, their gloss faded away long ago, stalls full of children’s clothes, all washed and properly stacked. Young families try to push children's carts through the crowd, and children loudly try to direct their parent's interest to a sack of Lego bricks. The tunes of street musicians fill the squares, and in it' side cafes hunters take a break, examining their bounty. A man in his forties carefully unpacks a stack of vintage vinyl records, long forgotten rock groups of the seventies, and a little boy tries to turn the handle of an old grandmother coffee grinder. This isn’t the place for large sales, and most of the sellers will have to take their plunder back home, but everybody had a fine day...",50.388939,8.064091,"");
dataset[43] = new Array("Taunus IV.","images/germany_taunus_04_l.jpg","images/germany_taunus_04_s.jpg","The Taunus is a low mountain range in the middle of Germany, bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. Traditionally it has been an agricultural area, where farmers tried to dwell crop in the colder climate. It has been inhabited since the late iron age, and occupied by the Romans who built their border fortification on the Taunus heights. Parts of it's line of Roman watchtowers and castellums have been reconstructed. Motocyclists love the empty, winding roads of the Taunus.",50.292904,8.242836,"www.moto-germania.de");
dataset[44] = new Array("Taunus V.","images/germany_taunus_05_l.jpg","images/germany_taunus_05_s.jpg","The Taunus is a low mountain range in the middle of Germany, bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. Traditionally it has been an agricultural area, where farmers tried to dwell crop in the colder climate. It has been inhabited since the late iron age, and occupied by the Romans who built their border fortification on the Taunus heights. Parts of it's line of Roman watchtowers and castellums have been reconstructed. Motocyclists love the empty, winding roads of the Taunus.",50.289805,8.242922,"www.moto-germania.de");
dataset[45] = new Array("Berlin Hauptbahnhof","images/germany_berlin_03_l.jpg","images/germany_berlin_03_s.jpg","Berlin Central Station, is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany and the largest crossing station in Europe. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, once the station of the line Berlin-Hamburg, one of the country's fastest, home of the legendary diesel-powered Fliegender Hamburger (Flying Hamburger), which whisked passengers to Hamburg at 160 km/h in 1932. The station was destroyed in WWII, and later demolished. Soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 however, a completely new traffic concept for Berlin was initiated, which included a new main station, close to the city center and the new government area. The new station now supports traffic on five levels. The highest is the main deck on a bridge 10 metres above street level, and the lowest comprises four platforms 15 meters underground. New tunnels under the Spree and the Tiergarten, Berlin's central park, form a new north-south line running to the northern part of the S-Bahn ring around central Berlin. ",52.525608,13.369417,"");
dataset[46] = new Array("Saxon Switzerland","../saxony/images/saxony_09_l.jpg","../saxony/images/saxony_09_reise.jpg","Over the most primitive bridges, six cobblestones crossing the stream, we step from the left to the right and again from the right to the left shore, until, after a march of half an hour, crossing the forest without way nor stay, we find ourselves on top of the plateau, having followed the windings of the stream like a spiral staircase. But we don’t know we are on the top, as the plateau stretches like a plain to the horizon, and only at the edge of a deep cut, covered by blackberry and hawthorn bushes, we suddenly look down into a huge vertical abyss. ",50.916536,14.199915,"");
dataset[47] = new Array("Rheinsteig","http://www.blog.amedion.de/wp-content/uploads/2010rheinsteig_l.jpg","images/germany_rheinsteig_s.jpg","For the Germans this was their river of destiny. It had been border between nation states and cultures, axis and bastion, object to our greatest poets and composers. Along it’s shores brave men explored unknown territory, merchants traded foreign goods and invaders ransacked the lands. How fascinating it must be to listen to the old stones and their stories? ",50.111057,7.735748,"www.rheinsteig.de");
dataset[48] = new Array("Holzmaden","images/germany_holzmaden_01_l.jpg","images/germany_holzmaden_01_s.jpg","180 million years ago this was an warm, shallow ocean, the Jurassic sea, where ichthyosaurs and sea lilies, ammonites and belemnites lived. The former supercontinent Laurasia had already broken up, and most of today’s Europe had been flooded. Dead animals and plants sank to the bottom of the sea, forming a putrid mud of decomposing organic material. The weight of more than 60 million years of material compressed this mud into layers of oily shale, which, elevated above sea level 130 million years before our time, still contains the fossils of the animals. In the shale quarry next to the museum visitors can search for fossils - don’t forget to bring a hammer and chisel! ",48.63288,9.502831,"www.urweltmuseum.de");
dataset[49] = new Array("Königssee II.","images/germany_berchtesgaden_04_l.jpg","images/germany_berchtesgaden_04_s.jpg","Considered as one of the most beautiful places in Germany, the Königssee (Kings Lake) has long been a retreat for the Bavarian kings. During the last ice age ice streams have carved it deep into the mountains - the crystal clear water has an average depth of more than one hundred meters. 18 electric boats carry the tourists across the lake, and on every cruise the boat will stop at the famous echo wall, a mountain flank where the sailors horn will create a double echo. ",47.584573,13.00867,"");
dataset[50] = new Array("Knoten","http://www.blog.amedion.org/wp-content/uploads/20100130_l.jpg","images/germany_westerwald_02_s.jpg","The Westerwald, a low mountain range between the rivers of Rhine, Lahn, Dill and Sieg, is one of Germany’s biggest mountain range by area, but not by height. Until recently it has always been an area of low economic potential, weak infrastructure, it’s local economy dominated by wood industry and mining of slate, clay, diabase and basalt, pottery and iron ore industry.
It’s dwellers are popularly known as Basaltköpp ("Basalt Heads"), as the Westerwald is rich of basalt, and it’s people are said to be very thickheaded and peculiar. ",50.56,8.084,"");
dataset[51] = new Array("Garden of Schloss Linderhof","images/germany_berchtesgaden_05_l.jpg","images/germany_berchtesgaden_05_s.jpg","Like his other palaces Linderhof was a place for King Ludwig II. to express his dreams. The the palace of the French Sun-King Louis XIV, who was an idol for Ludwig, was its inspiration, and many of Versailles architectural elements have been copied, although in smaller scale.
The palace also is heavily inspired by Ludwig’s adoration of opera composer Richard Wagner - the artificial Venus Grotto was designed as illustration of the First Act of Wagner's "Tannhäuser". It was here where Ludwig liked to be rowed over the lake in his golden swan-boat.
Therefore 24 dynamos had been installed back then, allowing to illuminate the grotto in changing colors. The Hunding's Hut, a small shack in the grounds, is the stage for the First Act of the "Valkyrie", and Ludwig used it to celebrate Germanic feasts in this house.",47.571206,10.960729,"www.linderhof.de");
dataset[52] = new Array("MAK Frankfurt","images/germany_frankfurt_06_l.jpg","images/germany_frankfurt_06_s.jpg","The south embankment of the Main River is called Museum Embankment because of the large concentration of museums. Perhaps the leading one is the Städel art gallery, one of Germany's most prominent fine art museums with a strong focus on old masters and classical modern art. But you may also explore the history of telecommunication, see one of the largest collections of Russian, Bulgarian, Greek and other Icons, dive into the development of movie-making from the beginnings in the 19th century up until today, or spend some time in the Museum of Applied Arts or just MAK, which exhibits more than 30,000 objects representing European and Asian decorative arts, in a modern building designed by the American architect Richard Meier.",50.10677,8.681796,"www.angewandtekunst-frankfurt.de");
dataset[53] = new Array("Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe","images/germany_berlin_04_l.jpg","images/germany_berlin_04_s.jpg","In the middle of Berlin, just a few steps from Brandenburg Gate, a field covered with 2,711 concrete stelae, one for each page of the Talmud arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe had been subject of years of controversy in Germany, critized, for example, by German novelist Martin as "monumentalization", and "ceaseless presentation of our shame." Neither inside nor around it, the memorial has any description of what it commemorates, however an attached underground "Place of Information" holds the names of all known Jewish Holocaust victims.
But going downhill into the sea of stelae, slowly drowning beneath the concrete surface, with the city sounds slowly fading away, leaving you alone with the silence, you experience how it must have been felt to be dragged out of your life, to be robbed of color, sound, warmth, of life.",52.51391,13.378515,"");
dataset[54] = new Array("Sanssouci II.","images/germany_potsdam_02_l.jpg","images/germany_potsdam_02_s.jpg","Sanssouci is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. Frederick’s intention was a private residence where he could avoid the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. He personally sketched out the first plans and was heavily involved in the complete process of design and decoration. He also selected the name, the French phrase sans souci, "without worries" or "carefree", and felt so close to the place that he conceived it as "a place that would die with him".
Next to the small palace a terraced vineyard was created, and following the terracing of the vineyard and the completion of the palace, Frederick turned his attention to the landscaping of the greater vicinity of the palace and thus began the creation of Sanssouci Park. Continuing the horticultural theme of the terraced gardens, 3,000 fruit trees were planted in the park, and greenhouses and nurseries laid out, producing oranges, melons, peaches and bananas. ",52.401044,13.033508,"");
dataset[55] = new Array("Sanssouci III.","images/germany_potsdam_03_l.jpg","images/germany_potsdam_03_s.jpg","Sanssouci is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. Frederick’s intention was a private residence where he could avoid the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. He personally sketched out the first plans and was heavily involved in the complete process of design and decoration. He also selected the name, the French phrase sans souci, "without worries" or "carefree", and felt so close to the place that he conceived it as "a place that would die with him".
Next to the small palace a terraced vineyard was created, and following the terracing of the vineyard and the completion of the palace, Frederick turned his attention to the landscaping of the greater vicinity of the palace and thus began the creation of Sanssouci Park. Continuing the horticultural theme of the terraced gardens, 3,000 fruit trees were planted in the park, and greenhouses and nurseries laid out, producing oranges, melons, peaches and bananas. ",52.402144,13.037456,"");
dataset[56] = new Array("Sanssouci IV.","images/germany_potsdam_04_l.jpg","images/germany_potsdam_04_s.jpg","Sanssouci is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. Frederick’s intention was a private residence where he could avoid the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. He personally sketched out the first plans and was heavily involved in the complete process of design and decoration. He also selected the name, the French phrase sans souci, "without worries" or "carefree", and felt so close to the place that he conceived it as "a place that would die with him".
Next to the small palace a terraced vineyard was created, and following the terracing of the vineyard and the completion of the palace, Frederick turned his attention to the landscaping of the greater vicinity of the palace and thus began the creation of Sanssouci Park. Continuing the horticultural theme of the terraced gardens, 3,000 fruit trees were planted in the park, and greenhouses and nurseries laid out, producing oranges, melons, peaches and bananas. ",52.402236,13.03972,"");
dataset[57] = new Array("Geyser Andernach","images/germany_andernach_01_l.jpg","images/germany_andernach_01_s.jpg","The Eifel is an active volcanic area, with magma chambers approximately four kilometers below the surface. Facilitated by the enormous pressure of these depths the carbon-dioxide dissolves in ground water and raises through the earth. Here in Andernach, in a depth of 350 meters, the saturated water is collected in a well. While the well fills the weight of the water column creates high pressure at the lower end, and the carbon dioxide separates, creating large bubbles. Once the gas pressure gets too high the complete water column is ejected, generating the worlds largest cold water geyser. ",50.448446,7.375259,"www.geysir-andernach.de");
dataset[58] = new Array("Rhein at Andernach","images/germany_andernach_02_l.jpg","images/germany_andernach_02_s.jpg","For the Germans this was their river of destiny. It had been border between nation states and cultures, axis and bastion, object to our greatest poets and composers. Along it’s shores brave men explored unknown territory, merchants traded foreign goods and invaders ransacked the lands. How fascinating it must be to listen to the old stones and their stories? ",50.449963,7.380066,"");
dataset[59] = new Array("Donaudurchbruch","images/germany_donau_01_l.jpg","images/germany_donau_01_s.jpg","This place was a shallow sea 150 Million years ago, where the bones of fish and dinosaurs sank to the ground and formed limestone layers. Later the land was lifted above sea, and finally the river Danube created its bed here, carving out a valley with walls up to 80 meters high. At it’s most narrow place the width of the stream is only 110 meters, but the water masses passing this place created a bed 20 meters deep. The Roman legionaries whose limes border ended here, crossed the stream here using a leather draw bridge.
The area has been put under protection by king Ludwig I. in 1840, who also build the liberty hall towering over the river valley at Kelheim. Today the area is a natural reserve, but a ship line runs on the 5,5 kilometer distance between Kelheim and the Weltenburg monastery. ",48.897994,11.823019,"");
dataset[60] = new Array("Kloster Weltenburg","images/germany_donau_02_l.jpg","images/germany_donau_02_s.jpg","The monastery was founded in 617 AD on the ruins of a Roman campsite. In 700 AD holy Rupert consecrated the church to holy George, and in the 8th century the monks became Benedictinians. The monastery had difficult times and was plundered in several wars. In the 18th century abbot Marius erected the baroque complex, including the church decorated by the brothers Asam, masters of Bavarian baroque.
Since 1050 AD the monastery operates its brewery, probably the oldest in the world. The beer can be tasted in the picturesque beer garden in monasteries inner courtyard. ",48.898852,11.819674,"");
dataset[61] = new Array("Befreiungshalle Kelheim","images/germany_donau_03_l.jpg","images/germany_donau_03_s.jpg","When Ludwig was three years old the French Revolution shook the ruling houses of European, and the fears and worries of the adults must have made a strong impression on the child. Since this time Ludwig hated everything French, and it must have been hard for him when Napoleon occupied Bavaria. He actively participated in the Liberation Wars, and in 1842 commissioned the Befreiungshalle to commemorate the battles fought against the French emperor. Designed by Friedrich von Gärtner the plans were later modified by the famous architect Leo von Klenze, who finished the building in 1863, long after Ludwig had to resign the throne because of his affair with dancer Lola Montez.
Inside the monument marble statues of victory goddesses guard gilded shields, cast from captured cannons. The number 18, date of the Battles of Leipzig and Waterloo, can be found in various places such as the number of pillars, the foundation and arches. ",48.918395,11.860413,"");
dataset[62] = new Array("Walhalla","images/germany_donau_04_l.jpg","images/germany_donau_04_s.jpg","After Bavaria had been occupied by Napolon, Crown Prince Ludwig, newly elevated by Napoleon but a loather of the French occupation, had the idea of reminding all Germans of their common heritage — of the great figures and events in ethnic German history. He commissioned several sculptors to create busts of famous individuals of his choice. When Ludwig finally became king of Bavaria in 1825, his collection already included 60 pieces, and to give them a respectable home he commissioned a temple inspired by the Parthenon of Athens. He named the place Walhalla, after the home of those gloriously slain in battle in the Norse mythology, inaugurated in 1842 with then 96 busts. The tradition has been kept until today, the number of busts has risen to 192, and the decision about new additions lies with the government of Bavaria, who adds new busts on an irregular basis.. ",49.021245,12.217576,"");
dataset[63] = new Array("Steinerne Brücke","images/germany_donau_05_l.jpg","images/germany_donau_05_s.jpg","The Steinerne Brücke (Stone Bridge) is a master piece of medieval architecture, the model of later bridges in Dresden, Prague, London and Avignon. The bridge was commissioned in 1135 and finished in only eleven years. On 14 arches, each on it’s own artificial island, the bridge crosses the river Danube since then. The islands narrow the river, creating a strong drift and the famous Danube maelstroms. During the centuries the bridge had been damaged by ice and enemy armies, but no force was strong enough to destroy it - until modern traffic emerged. In an attempt to save the bridge structure all motorized traffic has been banned, and the bridge has been renovated in 2009. ",49.02231,12.097208,"");
dataset[64] = new Array("Historische Wurstkuchl","images/germany_donau_06_l.jpg","images/germany_donau_06_s.jpg","This is the one of the worlds first fast-food stands - opened in 1135 AD as the architect office of the nearby Stone Bridge building site. After the bride was finished the little building became a public kitchen. For 850 years the Wurstkuchl (sausage kitchen) has now served fresh food to it’s customers, especially the famous Bratwürste (fried sausages). ",49.021003,12.097672,"www.wurstkuchl.de");
dataset[65] = new Array("Regensburger Dom","images/germany_donau_07_l.jpg","images/germany_donau_07_s.jpg","The cathedral St. Peter is one of the most important pieces of gothic architecture in Southern Germany. It was commissioned on 1273 AD, after a city fire had mostly destroyed the older romanic cathedral from 700 AD. One tower of the old church, the Eselsturm (donkey tower), remained as a staircase for the transport of building materials, and was never removed when construction work was stopped around 1520 due to shortage in funds. Unlike other gothic cathedrals, which were erected in sections, the Regensburg cathedral was build along it’s walls. This is still visible in the facade, where the left, richly decorated part was finished only after the high gothic redesign around 1290. ",49.019455,12.098301,"");
dataset[66] = new Array("Regensburg Altstadt","images/germany_donau_08_l.jpg","images/germany_donau_08_s.jpg","Regensburg was the "stony city" of medieval age - when other cities had wooden houses, Regensburg had a skyline of stone buildings. The city was a free imperial city, ruled by the Emperor only, and one of the largest and wealthiest of this time. Its immensely rich merchants, engaged in long distance trade to Paris, Venice and Kiev, tried to outplay each other by adding huge stone towers to their houses, empty shells with expensive stone carved windows for decoration purposes. When trade in silk and spices shifted to the newly discovered sea routes after 1500 trade declined quickly, and even the cathedral construction works had to be stopped. The city degraded to a placid provincial town, which probably preserved it’s medieval architecture until today. ",49.019766,12.095952,"");
dataset[67] = new Array("Sankt Emmeram","images/germany_donau_09_l.jpg","images/germany_donau_09_s.jpg","The monastery of Sankt Emmeram was founded in 739 AD, on the gave of the Franconia martyr Emmeran of Regensburg. The monastery became a center of medieval book illumination and, during the renaissance, of the study of natural sciences. From 1731 the abbey was refurbished by the Asam brothers in high baroque style. When the monastery was dissolved in 1812 the buildings were handed over to the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis, couriers of the Emperor and a key player in the development of the postal services in Europe in the 16th century. The family still lives in the palace of Sankt Emmeram and is considered as one of the richest in Germany. ",49.015395,12.092601,"");
/*
*/