office in january. welcome to this special edition of check in. today in the cold clearly. checking out hamburg. germany sixteen federal states these three are city states. today we'll discover what else makes them so special. our tour begins in berlin germany government. has decided to explore the government district. from the central station it's just

a short walk to the german capital government built in the years following the cold war everything is. made mostly of concrete and glass. and right in the middle of all this modern architecture is the historic building one of the most visited sites this is where the german parliament known as the convenes it's a center of power and tourist magnet alike. i've arranged to meet you feel to think. she's been representing the social democrats in the sack since two thousand and thirteen so she knows her way around first she shows me the debating chamber the heart of the parliament and really german democracy as a whole. sure

that they are but we debate vote and pass laws here that pulled up in here before. and that's where you work going oh yes that's right so how does it feel to stand up there at the podium. it's nerve wracking i can imagine especially the first time. with a thought well over time you get used to it the nervousness doesn't fade but that is all right but i've been a member of parliament for four years and it's truly special to have a chance to speak in this hallowed hall. but i come from an immigrant family and along to what they call the guest worker generation. on the fourth and it's really something significant for me and my parents as well and that i got a good education and today i'm representing people in germany as a member of parliament. to mention in boston felt that. the.

walking the halls of the bundestag is like taking a journey through time this graffiti was scrawled on the walls by soviet soldiers after they won the battle for the right stock in one thousand nine hundred forty five british architect norman foster integrated them into his clan when the building was reconstructed and he left the bullet holes. with. the. now corner and the delicate lobby this painting represents the right stock fire in nine hundred thirty three the nazis used the event as a pretext to persecute their political opponents to the books of names commemorate the hundred twenty members of parliament who were murdered in the aftermath. of the next stop is the prayer room a place of quiet and reflection for the m.p.'s regardless of their faith.

there's a lot more going on up on the roof of the building the glass dome is the biggest attraction for visitors to their rights talk. from the top we had all the way to the bottom in the basement we come across five thousand boxes with four thousand nine hundred ninety nine names on them a full meeting of the move there's a box for every democratically elected representative in the years between one thousand nine hundred. one nine hundred ninety nine and then cross and the phone. on the side is there anything in them no. these boxes are all shaped the saying to stand for the equality of all elected representatives and up independently of their function nothing to feel so in the years of naziism are symbolized by

a black box there's no name on that one it can see. the. tunnels leading from the right start building to parliamentary office buildings nearby. i'm going to now we've emerged from this tunnel into another very futuristic looking building. and on top of the home yes this is the power luba house from the to the representatives offices and the committee rooms are here on the right and left on the run by the law. so lots of heated debates behind these walls that one right on. my committee the finance committee meets in this room every wednesday from nine fifteen till about noon or one o'clock post-processing.

the polo houses on the western bank of the river spring just across as the money ends up at the new us house some members of the pundits talk at their offices over there. when the city was divided in this area of the river served as the border between east and west berlin the crosses remember people who lost their lives trying to escape from the east. i'm standing in front of the chair. up there on the seventh floor that's where an alum merkel works unfortunately i can't get in but on her official website you can take a look at her office. wow look at that view you can see that you're guarding the thing in our city park and

all the way to the rise time. right next to the chancellery i'm going to hop on the bottom. nicknamed the chancellor train this will get me to the grand boulevard on today linton in no time and that's good because i have a very important appointment to keep. i'm of course going to take the v.i.p. entrance i mean i have a photo session with the chancellor herself. ok ok it might not be all that exclusive after all at madame tussaud everyone can take a picture with aguilar markel or western morocco obama. or other celebrities a bit stiff but pretty close to the originals and you think. now

i'm going to treat myself to a little break the tear got missed the perfect place for that it's right in the center of the city just behind the right and the brandenburg gate. and oasis of peace and quiet for berliners and tourists longing to rest their legs. here in the park you can rent a rowboat chill out in a beer garden. or just sit back and watch the folks go by. at dusk it's time to walk back over to the government district here i'm going to check out something i've been looking forward to all day. just behind the right stock a row of steps along the banks of the sprayer river offer a perfect view onto the muddy elisabet ludo's house and summer

a big round window becomes a movie screen that presents milestones of german history from the end of the german empire to the fall of the berlin wall in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine this sound and light show is a wonderful way to end my day in berlin is fascinating government district. northwest of berlin is hamburg. located on the elba river the former hence the arctic city is famous for its port nowadays you can spend the night on this former fishing boat. were. after a restful sleep in the floating hotel. is ready for his tour of hamburg. welcome to my hamburg summer tour always pretty close to the water from the concert hall through the entertainment district to the beach and if you're going to. talk first

a tour off a former fishing boat built in one thousand nine hundred forty seven. shows me his ship. this is the belly of the ship here's where they kept the fish cool on ice eyes. were fed that's the only leave the harbor sometimes or is it permanently more tear. oh no it's fully functional we could set out right now for spain for instance or wherever you want it is ok maybe another time today i want to check out hamburg. it took a long time and became more expensive than expected but it seems to have paid off the feel of many concert hall has won many fans since its opening in two thousand and seventeen that makes it quite difficult to get concert tickets but

a visit to the observation deck the plaza is free a great new balcony three hundred sixty degrees of pure hamburg. from where i'm from both from russia or why are you up here at the appeal of money . because it's a landmark in hamburg and it's a place you have to visit if you're in hamburg and one income is all this is a good as i heard it's very difficult to get tickets that means you just get in line and hope for the best there was in the book is exactly at six pm well go to the box office and hope we get tickets so you know any tricks to get tickets just luck that's all that's all i'll give it a try i seem to be lucky. but until then good luck. son paul you still are one of the most famous districts of hamburg famous and notorious here you

will find pubs and grand theatres a red light district and culture and all of it not far from the. sun pole even has a small museum where you can find out what has shaped the district. because like polly was originally a border region between the danish city off and the hands eric city of hamburg residents here knew how to use this kind of free space dance halls and cheap entertainment have been a part of scientology since the seventeenth century. it was a business. image of prostitution and crime evolved over the years i think if you bring it up about how does that state it's not poly is in my constant flux i'd say the red light district image which now plays a role in many tourists perceptions as well as in marketing strategies. is very

much influenced by the one nine hundred seventy s. and the one nine hundred eighty s. and i think i got. it and lots of cliches emerge then. go and change hairdos and such. on survivor to nobody so with these cliches they try to attract tourists by saying we have a red light district we have gangsters that might be interesting to some people. i think show we at the sonics poly museum don't think of ourselves and that we try to present everything in the development of the district and enable visitors to understand how certain myths were formed with them to some are not just myths and some are cliches. you can also take a dip in hamburg's river after years of pollution the water quality of the album today is clean enough to swim in bathing in the has a long tradition is specially during the nineteenth century. join

a list and author has already written two books about it like many locals she's a fan of the river. the victim what moves you to swim in the elba every day that's mean. fasted internist every day was like you know it's a great pleasure it's just wonderful for my now the elderlies at my doorstep i can go in where i want to i can do what i want to ever almost everything. and it's a centuries experience the water in the flowing and streaming rising and falling water i enjoyed immensely. would join others always were here in the open there are certainly other people to do you think this is a new trend. the custom of swimming in the l. the return of the decades since german reunification many sewage treatment plants have been built in eastern germany and the water has become much cleaner on fields almost for twenty or thirty years it was really dirty. i think the idea of having

nature at your doorstep on the outskirts of a city with a population of millions and being able to use it should be revived. and then more and more people will see how lovely it is an american issue and then doesn't he on the beaches in hamburg have lots of visitors and at weekends in the summer and during school holidays many tourists and most know that the water epson flows and avoid lying too close to the edge when the water is rising as it makes so now awful often of us are. of course i have to try this now my first swim in the album just the fink on such a beautiful summer day. there's

hardly a better place to end the day on bell but then this place to compel the bar. it's famous in hamburg. a wonderful view. hamburg without the that's impossible the river is hamburg lifeline so on the one hand it's the useful traffic route and on the other it's in a way it is tranquility so no wonder the elbow fascinates so many people including myself.

our final destination today is braman which is also the smallest of germany's sixteen states. britain is famous the world over thanks to a grimm's fairy tale which features a donkey a dog a cat and a rooster. nicole clearly decided to spend the day in the northern german and sciatic city. those are the tell musicians of bremen beloved characters from the grimm fairy tale of the same name stopping by on to the city to see them has become a must and touching the four legs is supposed to be good luck i want to find out about the fairy tale let's see if some locals can help me. can do you know the story of the bremen town musicians. i cried forgotten to bring with me and you could become a town musician. they were animals that were treated badly so they left home from

souls i felt like. they settled down in a house where they were robbers and frighten the robbers away. they stayed in this robber stand in the woods us that's because they found a life without hardship when in liberty and. it flows. so the freeman town musicians never made it into braman at least not in the fairy tale but they're statue has stood in front of the city hall since nineteen fifty three. frame and it's full of stories like that today i'm going to discover that. my search begins at the market square. this is where i stumble upon my next story this statue is called the rowlands and legend has it that as long as he's here the city will remain free and in the candidates. the statue is

a unesco world heritage site just like the story of city hall across the street. that is why i'm going to take a glimpse inside this remarkable building. i don't. think are you my guide and we have a day. if. you stand here now in the upper hall one of the most beautiful ceremonial venues in germany and the town hall itself is the oldest in europe that's still in its original state why why wasn't this room built what is it usual for one of the books and found this out of the old town hall is actually a medieval trading center with a wine cellar below it and a covered marketplace and that pair in assembly room the room also serves as a quarter of the mayor used to be the chief justice. is on the

spot in miami's model ships although the ceiling especially impressive there four hundred to five hundred years old on and their models like those built by the one psionic league before the ships were built for real in the fall and listing. what stands out a clique. the arctic leak was a confederation of towns that promised each other for protection and aid in trade once and it was quite a large area it stretched as far as no growth in russia or norway down to belgium and bremen was a member of the league. how important was it for braman to be as a i think city. we still call ourselves the huns the attic city of bremen although the leak ended three hundred years ago whatever but the term sounds good many associated with honesty straightforwardness and reliability and that's why we still use it and that's why i took. my story searching quest here and braman takes me to the cathedral square they say this is where i'll

find the so-called bidding stone and conspicuous cobblestone with a very interesting history. this right here is a site of remember and this for the crimes of geisha got free back in the nineteenth century she poisoned fifteen people and this is the spot where she was beheaded in eighteen thirty one and still today the local spit on this very stone in order to express their disgust with the killings of three. the spitting stone lies at the foot of the ancient cathedral it's almost one thousand years old . and apparently it's home to a little church mouse made of stone. either i'm bad at looking or it's very good at hiding. from. the past which it will surely be able to help me can i bother you for

a second. she leads me to the vestry. you so sure we have the church mouse it's tiny just like a real mouse some so what's the deal with a mouse and tickets for her various store. the most common one is that in the past the artisans who worked on the churches were supposed to look at them very closely when they travelled through the country and if they could say where this church mouse was here in the cathedral the master builder knew that they'd looked at it properly. as a lesson so as to trick the workers. i've arrived at such a structure in the middle ages it was an important connection route between the market square and the river vai's up the street got its name from the coopers but in german who used to live here. the street as a whole is listed the red brick architecture is typical for braman and on but just toss it is perfectly preserved.

in this courtyard you'll find the fountain of the seven lazy brothers and of course there's a story behind that to. let them in the lazy brothers were the sons of a local farmer who weren't exactly known for their hard work they couldn't find a job here in bremen so they went out into the world they are they acquired extensive knowledge and experience upon their return they've built drainage ditches for their father's fields the locals dismissed their ideas and accused them of simply being too lazy to work the money grounds today of course we know that they were lazy at all they were just a little ahead of the times. but yes just a is a street that stimulates the senses your taste buds your eyes and your ears. at the top of every hour thirty porcelain bells played your dish well and modern

tunes and up in the tower you'll also find a visual display to go with the songs. no joke. any would be complete without some local fare on the menu today a typical northern dish that of course comes with quite a history. the rathskeller as head chef heikal clear nuff skee presents it to me. what on earth is this going tasty loves us that much i know ok ok this time the ingredients would be. flowery potatoes and sell to be first get and pickles. and watching the story behind it is a pretty traditional dish around here right now that. i was involved in the past

when sailors were at sea for a long time but was this by the meat had to be preserved that's why there salt to be visible. than most and because most of them were probably toothless due to his fights scurvy or whatever or that everything was mashed up so they didn't have to chew it was ok that i enjoy thank you strings i can't wait. for all those surprisingly delicious a perfect finish for my tour around bremen i've learned to live and tasted a lot and i feel like that's a great note to end this show and so thank you guys for watching and soon except.

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