A new location has been found for a renowned sausage museum after widespread anger at plans to shift it to the site of a Nazi concentration camp. The museum is a major tourist drawing card in the region.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J.-U. Koch
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Councilors in the central German city of Mühlhausen have decided on a new location for a sausage museum after original plans to move it to the site of an annex to the notorious Buchenwald concentration camp met with outrage in several quarters.
The new site, though only a stone's throw from the first, is reportedly free of any troubled historical associations, Germany's dpa news agency reported.
The German Sausage Museum, currently located in the nearby town of Holzhausen, is a major tourist attraction that reflects the long history of sausage in the state of Thuringia, where both towns are situated. The museum is to be moved because of growing visitor numbers.
The originally planned location was where hundreds of female Jewish forced laborers from Poland and Hungary were incarcerated under the Nazi regime during the last two years of World War II. Many of those imprisoned at the Martha II concentration camp in Mühlhausen were later transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where a large number died of starvation or illness under atrocious conditions.
The president of the Jewish Community of Thuringia, Reinhard Schramm, spoke of a "total lack of sensitivity," while Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, described the first plan to the German news agency DPA as "insensitive and historically ignorant."
A statement on the museum's website at the start of February apologized to "all those who saw our actions as downplaying or relativizing the crimes of National Socialism."
The museum said that "if we had had all information" about the site earlier, it would not have publicly announced its intention to move.
Thuringian sausage, known locally as "Rostbratwurst" or "Roster," made from pork, beef or sometimes veal, dates back several centuries and is seen by Thuringians as a central feature of the region's grill culture. The state's Thüringer Rostbratwurst has also received Protected Geographical Indication status from the European Union, meaning only sausages from the region can use the name.
Ever thought of booking a night in prison? Or maybe a hobbit hole? If you want to try out a new place to stay when you're on holiday, you can find inspiration here. Ten unusual themed hotels from Berlin to Oberstdorf.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Karmann
Germany's first bratwurst hotel
This hotel in Rittersbach in Bavaria, is all about a specific German sausage: bratwurst - bratwurst wallpaper, bratwurst-shaped pillows and bratwurst decorations everywhere. On the ground floor there's a bratwurst restaurant with a butcher's shop next door that delivers the goods fresh. Guests can request individually-filled sausages and take them home as souvenirs - or just eat them.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Karmann
Put yourself behind bars
Criminals used to serve time here. Nowadays whodunnit enthusiasts spend the night in these cells. Kaiserslautern's former prison now houses the Alcatraz adventure hotel. Even the hotel bar still has plenty of bars - the steel kind - but of course guests are free to move around as they please.
Image: alcatraz
Sleep in an artwork
Each room is unique. In one, you can spend the night in a coffin; in another, the furniture hangs from the ceiling. The highlight is a polygonal room entirely covered in mirrors. The Berlin hotel Propeller Island sees itself as an all-round work of art, designed by artist Lars Stroschen. He's even composed fitting background music for each room.
Image: Propeller Island
Nestle down in a first class sleeper
In Jüterbog, 60 kilometers from Berlin, you can experience the flair of the Trans-Siberian Express without days of travel. The Schlafwagenhotel - sleeping car hotel - has room for 25 guests. Each compartment has a double bed, a seating area and ensuite bathroom.
Image: Schlafwagenhotel
Take an overnight suitcase
It's possibly the world's smallest hotel, if you can even call it that: the Kofftel in Lunzenau near Chemnitz. The suitcase-shaped sleeping cabin has been in existence since 2004. It's a meter and a half wide, just under three meters long and two meters tall. Spending the night there in your own sleeping bag costs about 15 euros.
Image: Zum Prellbock
Inhabit a hobbit hole
You don't have to travel to Middle Earth or the film sets in New Zealand to spend the night in a hobbit hole. In the Feriendorf Auenland - The Shire Holiday Village - in the Thuringian Forest, Tolkien fans can stay in compact holiday quarters, each with a bedroom, cosy living area and bath.
Image: Feriendorf Auenland
Visit wolf hall
It's twilight, the wolves are howling, and there's not another human in sight. If you're looking for adventure, spend the night in the Tree Inn near Bremen. This tree house hotel is in the middle of the young wolf enclosure in Dörverden's Wolf Center. From a height of five meters, a glass facade gives you a clear view of the animals.
Image: Tree Inn
Bed down in a barrel
Now you can sleep where wine was once matured. Six large wine casks stand in the inner courtyard of the Lindenwirt Hotel in the wine-making town of Rüdesheim on the Rhine. With their 6000 liter capacity, each barrel has enough space for two guest beds, plus an extension with a small living room and a bathroom.
Image: Lindenwirt
Spend a knightly night
The Arthus Hotel near Lake Constance invites you to journey into the past. The rooms are furnished like those in a medieval inn, and the Ritterkeller restaurant offers Arthurian feasts. A cup-bearer guides you through the evening as you dine in historical style.
Image: Hotel Arthus
Chill out in a truly cool hotel
The drinks at the bar in the Iglu-Lodge are guaranteed to be ice cold! The ice and snow hotel atop Mount Nebelhorn near Oberstdorf is open from December to mid-April. Its two- and four-person igloos can accommodate up to 40 guests. Their interior decoration is designed by local artists from the Allgäu region. The hotel at an elevation of 2000 meters provides a panoramic view of the Alpine summits.
