Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [152]
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DON’T FUMBLE THE FUMMEL!
The 150-year-old Café Zieger (Burgstrasse), by the foot of the Rote Stufen, is sole stockist of a peculiar local patisserie known as the Meissner Fummel. Resembling an ostrich egg made of very delicate pastry, legend has it the Fummel was invented in 1710 as a test to stop the royal courier from drinking between deliveries – great care is required if you want to get it home in one piece.
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Domkeller ( 457 676; Domplatz 9; mains €8-16) Meissen’s oldest restaurant offers good-value local dishes and views from the leafy terrace to satisfy any vista-junkie; the menu’s helpfully ‘translated’ into Saxon.
Weinschänke Vincenz Richter ( 453 285; An der Frauenkirche 12; mains €11-21; ) The romance factor is high at this top-flight restaurant, despite the rather martial decor (historic guns and armour) and the decidedly unromantic torture chamber (unless you’re into S&M, that is). Expect attentive service, expertly prepared regional cuisine and wines from their own estate.
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Getting There & Around
From Dresden, take the half-hourly S1 (€5.30, 37 minutes) to Meissen. For the porcelain factory, get off at Meissen-Triebischtal.
A slower but more fun way to get there is by steam boat operated by Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt ( 866 090; www.saechsische-dampfschiffahrt.de). These leave the Terrassenufer in Dresden (Click here). Boats return upstream to Dresden at 2.45pm but take three hours to make the trip. Many people opt to go up by boat and back by train.
The hop-on, hop-off City-Bus Meissen (adult/concession/family €4.50/3.50/12) links the Albrechtsburg with the porcelain museum every half-hour between 10am and 6pm daily from April to October.
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WESTERN SAXONY
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LEIPZIG
0341 / pop 515,000
In Goethe’s Faust, a character named Frosch calls Leipzig ‘a little Paris’. He was wrong – Leipzig is more fun and infinitely less self-important than the Gallic capital. It’s an important business and transport centre, a trade-fair mecca, and arguably the most dynamic city in eastern Germany.
Leipzig became known as the Stadt der Helden (City of Heroes) for its leading role in the 1989 ‘Peaceful Revolution’. Its residents organised protests against the communist regime in May of that year; by October, hundreds of thousands were taking to the streets, placing candles on the steps of Stasi headquarters and attending peace services at the Nikolaikirche.
By the time the secret police got round to pulping their files, Leipzigers were partying in the streets, and they still haven’t stopped – from late winter, streetside cafes open their terraces, and countless bars and nightclubs keep the beat going through the night.
Leipzig also stages some of the finest classical music and opera in the country, and its art and literary scenes are flourishing. It was once home to Bach, Schumann, Wagner and Mendelssohn, and to Goethe, who set a key scene of Faust in the cellar of his favourite watering hole. The university still attracts students from all over the world and has turned out several Nobel laureates.
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Orientation
Leipzig’s city centre, and most of the key sights, lies within a ring road tracing the former medieval fortifications. From the Hauptbahnhof on the ring’s northeastern edge, simply follow Nikolaistrasse south for a couple of minutes to Grimmaische Strasse, the main east–west artery connecting ex-socialist Augustusplatz with the historic Markt.
The impressive 26-platform Hauptbahnhof (built in 1915, renovated in 1998) isn’t just one of the largest passenger terminals in Europe, but also a prime example of how to turn a piece of transport infrastructure into retail space, with more than 150 shops (open until 10pm, with many open on Sunday) spread over two floors.
Leipzig’s dazzling Neue Messe (trade-fair grounds) are 7.5km north