Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [188]
In Vino Veritas ( 769 0565; Mittelstrasse 3; dishes €6-8; dinner; ) Antipasti, tapas, salads or pasta dishes form the perfect accompaniment to the global wine menu at this upmarket modern bistro. Locals in the know invade for the Friday buffet (€12.90).
Brauhaus Wittenberg ( 433 130; Im Beyerhof, Markt 6; mains €4-12; 11am-11pm) This place – with a cobbled courtyard, indoor brewery and shiny copper vats – thrums with the noise of people having a good time. The menu is hearty but also features smaller dishes for waist-watchers. Upstairs are a few simple rooms with air-con (singles/doubles €50/70).
Tante Emmas Bier- & Caféhaus ( 419 757; Markt 9; mains €7.50-16; closed Mon evening; ) Take a step back to the ‘good old times’ in this German country kitchen, where servers wear frilly white aprons and the room is chock-full of bric-a-brac – from dolls and books to irons and a gramophone.
Café de Marc ( 459 114; Pfaffengasse 5; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun; ) This French cafe with its unpretentious literary vibe is a delightful find for breakfast, java jolts or a refined calvados. When the sun’s out, the idyllic courtyard is the place to be.
A series of pubs at the eastern end of Collegienstrasse include Sweet Apple (No 38), where you can suck on a hookah pipe, and the alt-flavoured Independent ( 413 257; No 44).
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Entertainment
As you might imagine, Wittenberg is pretty dead after dark, although the cultural centre called Barrik ( 403 260; www.barrik.eu; Collegienstrasse 81; Wed-Sat) does its best to entertain the troops with live comedy, dance, cabaret and transvestite shows.
From May to October, meditate to organ music at 6pm Friday in the Stadtkirche and at 2.30pm Tuesday in the Schlosskirche.
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Getting There & Away
Wittenberg is on the main train line to Halle and Leipzig (both €11.30, one hour). ICE (€29, one hour) and RE trains (€20, 1¼ hours) travel to Berlin. Coming from Berlin, be sure to board for ‘Lutherstadt-Wittenberg’, as there’s also a Wittenberge west of the capital.
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Getting Around
Lutherstadt Wittenberg is tiny and best explored on foot or by bike. Parking enforcement is quite stringent, so use the car parks on the fringes of the Altstadt (such as near Elbtor and along Fleischerstrasse).
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SOUTHERN SAXONY-ANHALT
* * *
HALLE
0345 / pop 232,000
It’s gradually fading, but even more than two decades after reunification, you can still feel the dread hand of the communist era on Halle more than in other Eastern cities. It was the centre of the GDR’s chemical industry and some old-timers still grumble that the town was punished for its ‘complicity’ when losing out to Magdeburg as capital of Saxony-Anhalt in 1990.
Still, anyone who’s visited the birth town of composer Georg Friedrich Händel over the past decade would agree that Halle has pulled itself up by its bootstraps, spurred partly by the desire to properly celebrate its 1200th anniversary in 2006. The old town and the market square have been put through a thorough makeover and money was also poured into updating such key cultural institutions as the Händel-Haus and the state art gallery in Moritzburg castle. For culture vultures especially, Halle is increasingly becoming an essential stop on an eastern Germany itinerary.
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Orientation
The Altstadt lies northwest of the Haupt-bahnhof. It’s about a 15-minute walk to the central Markt and the tourist office; head left from the main entrance and turn left, then follow pedestrianised Leipziger Strasse.
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Information
Internetcafe Speed (Am Bauhof 1; per 20min €1; 10am-midnight Mon-Fri, noon-midnight Sat, 2-10pm Sun)
Post office (Marktplatz 20; 9.30am-8pm Mon-Sat)
Tourist office ( 122 9984; www.stadtmarketing-halle.de; Marktplatz 13; 9am-8pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat year-round, 10am-4pm Sun May-Oct) Sells the Halle Welcome Card (one/three days €7.50/15) good for free