Bad Pyrmont is a city in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont with a population of 22,000. It is located on the River Emmer, about 10 km west of the Weser, and a popular spa resort that gained its reputation as a fashionable place for princely vacations in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its large park is among the most spectacular in Germany, with a renowned outdoor palm garden. The baroque castle (1706–10) is part of an impressive complex of fortifications from the 16th century. The castle now houses the Museum of Municipal and Spa History. Unique in Europe is the vapor cave, where therapeutic carbon dioxide vapors emerge from the earth. The town is also the center of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Germany. Bad Pyrmonter mineralwasser, popular throughout northern Germany, is bottled in Bad Pyrmont. read more…
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of over 237,000. Kiel is approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi) north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the Baltic Sea, Kiel has become one of the major maritime centres of Germany. For instance, the city is known for a variety of international sailing events, including the annual Kiel Week, which is the biggest sailing event in the world. The Olympic sailing competitions of the 1936 and the 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Kiel. read more…
