Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Visitor numbers continue to swell with arrivals from the so-called BRIC countries re-
sponsible for a good share of the increases.
Green Giant
With local plants boxing up everything from R8s to locos,
you'd expect a toxic murk to envelope you at the airplane
door. But it doesn't. In fact by 2025 Munich is set to become
the world's first major city powered solely using renewable
energy sources, and in the countryside some small towns look
very different from one direction than from the other as south-
facing roofs bear the weight of millions of solar panels (you
see this odd phenomenon best from trains). Farmers have
turned over considerable acreage to accommodate vast
swathes of buzzing solar panels, wind turbines are a common
sight and biking has been in fashion for decades. Germany is even planning to switch off
its nuclear power stations by 2020, unless Berlin's politicians devise a crafty U-turn.
Fast Facts:
Baden-Württem-
berg
» Area: 35,751 sq km
» Population: 10.73 million
» GDP: €376 billion
» Unemployment rate: 5.5%
Traditional Success Story
It must feel good to be a German from the
south - a high-octane economy, sun and wind
powering your latest gadgetry, the cultural and
historic delights of Germany's secret capital
(Munich) and an Alpine playground a swift
train ride away; your country top of the Continent's (shaky) euro-pile and even a Bavarian
pope in the Vatican. So why all the glum faces on the S-Bahn you may wonder; what do
these people have to be grumpy about? As throughout the Western world, even flourishing
southern Germany is not immune to an underlying angst about the future. But the differ-
ence here may be that on the evenings and weekends, locals retreat to the unglobalised
world of thigh-slapping tradition - the beer hall, the Alpine tavern, a Baroque theatre or a
folk bash - to celebrate their astounding successes, whatever the future may bring.
Bavaria has its own obscure internet suffix - .by -
but you'll rarely see it used. Most businesses prefer
the German .de or the more international -looking
.com.
TOP BOOKS
Massacre in Munich: Manhunt for the Killers Behind the 1972 Olympics Massacre
(Michael Bar Bar-Zohar and Eitan Haber, 2005) The title says it all really.
Lola Montez: A Life
(Bruce Seymour, 1998) A superbly written account of the life of
Bavaria's most outrageous courtesan who brought down a king.
