What's New: An Online Update for Frommer's Germany

We examine new places to stay, what's happening in the dining scene, after hours fun and more in this latest report.

Berlin

Lying on a back street of the Kurfürstendamm in western Berlin, the home of actress Asta Nielson has been restored and turned into a first rate and affordable accommodation. Hotel Pension Funk, Fasanenstrasse 69 (tel. 030/5200-550; www.smallandeleganthotels.com/Berlin/PensionFunk.htm), was the abode of the Danish-born star (1881-1972), who became one of the stellar lights of the silent era. Her beauty praised by Guillaume Apollinaire, she as offered her own studio in Nazi Germany by Josef Goebbels but turned down the offer. Many original features of her home have been preserved, including decoratively covered ceilings and detailed Art Nouveau windows. All the bedrooms have been modernized with and equipped with the latest technology such as high-speed Internet access.

A new trend devoted to Communist kitsch is sweeping this once-divided capital. Germans call it Ostalgie, a nostalgia for the East during the Cold War. They celebrate it as Americans do the 50s. Some 15 years after the fall of the so-called German Democratic Republic, East Berlin is making a comeback. One social critic called it "a profound longing for a golden time that never was." Some Berlin entrepreneurs are even offering self-guided "safari tours" in the Trabant, that "sardine can on wheels" built in East German factories between 1955 and 1991. The car was constructed mostly of plastic. Of course, the main focus of nostalgia remains -- almost a mile of the once feared Berlin Wall that runs along Mühlenstrasse. The wall is decorated with murals celebrating its fall. It's like an outdoor art gallery.

If you'd like souvenirs of the era, such as a purple nylon wraparound dress that East German young women wore at 1970s discos, you can drop in a Mega Trend Humana, 45 Schönhauser Allée, Prenzlauer Berg (tel. 030/440-6333). Another such shop, Schönhauser Design, 18 Neue Schönhauser Strasse (tel. 030/281-1704; www.schoenhauser-design.de), sells everything from authentic 1980s Communist sunglasses to old orange plastic lamps. Of course, if you want to get really nostalgic for Old East Berlin, you can visit the Stasi Museum, 22 Normanenstrasse, Lichtenberg (tel. 030/553-6854; www.stasi-museum.de). Here you can learn such things like Stasi police removed the vocal chords of German shepherds so the fierce animals could attack you before you heard them coming.

Believe it or not, one of the hottest new clubs in Berlin is called White Trash, 201 Torstrasse (tel. 0179/4732-639), a late night bar in Mitte. Cold War East German and U.S. memorabilia decorate the place, which serves one of the best cheeseburgers in Berlin. It was a former Chinese restaurant, once frequented by bigwigs in the Communist party. There are plenty of funky little corners to hide away in. Yes, that was Mick Jagger in the far corner.

Frankfurt

One of the most creative new restaurants to open in Frankfurt in many a year is Dorade, 6 Carl-von-Noorden Platz (tel. 069/6319-8085; www.restaurant-dorade.de), specializing in seafood, and doing so exceedingly well. You'll think you're on the Mediterranean when you sample the house specialty, dorade encased in a light dough and grilled. This recent addition to Frankfurt's dining scene has proven to be an immediate success. For Frankfurt, the prices are reasonable, with its main courses costing around $22. The owner is Greek which explains those Greek vintages on the wine carte. There is also an array of well-chosen and more familiar German Rieslings or Tuscan Chiantis.

Hamburg

Opening onto panoramic views of Lake Aussenalster, Le Royal Méridien Hamburg, An der Alster 52 (tel. 800/543-4300 from the U.S. and Canada; 040/21000; http://hamburg.lemeridien.com), is this port city's newest 284-room deluxe hotel -- and it's a honey. Since its opening, it's often enjoyed 100 percent occupancy. It's called Germany's first "Art & Tech hotel," meaning that every component of the hotel has been designed to "create an environment that will engage, surprise, and intrigue." That encompasses about everything: high-speed internet access, separated power showers with assorted massage nozzles, handcrafted etched glass headboards, dramatic lighting schemes, lavish feather and down pillows -- you name it. More than 600 original art pieces, the works of 50 Hamburg artists, are displayed. At Le Ciel Restaurant on the roof, the cuisine was created by Michel Rostang, the two-star Michelin chef.

The city is also exploding with other new and innovative hotels, including Gastwerk, Beim Alten Gastwerk, 3 Daimlerrstrasse (tel. 040/890620; www.gastwerk-hotel.de), which has been called the German version of The Mercer Hotel in New York City. Close to the River Elbe, the building itself was a former municipal gasworks structure. This imposing industrial shell from 1895 has now been integrated into a modern hotel of supreme comfort. Rooms are beautifully designed with walnut wood trimmings, subdued lighting, and original brick or else exposed cement walls. It's a marvelous example of recycling. The 135 bedrooms include 45 lofts.

The same chain, Design Hotels, has also opened across the street the oddly named 25hours, Paul-Dessau-Strasse (tel. 40/855070; www.25hours-hotel.com), which is just as modern, though attracting a slightly younger clientele. The bedrooms here are brightly designed, in styles evocative of the 60s and 70s, and the lobby and restaurant flow into each other. The bar/lounge with its open kitchen is a popular gathering place. In all, there are 89 double bedrooms with private bathrooms.

A former iron foundry around the corner from the Reeperbahn in the Ottsensen Harbor district has been turned into Hamburg's latest hotel: East, 31 Simon-von-Utrecht Strasse (tel. 040/309930; www.east-hamburg.de). This retro hotel welcomes visitors to its 78 "organically influenced" rooms -- meaning decorated in earth tones with the use of natural materials. Bedrooms contain large beds and work desks, and there is a sauna with a rooftop terrace. An Asian restaurant and cocktail lounge are designed in a 60s kind of mod style. To make reservations at Gastwerk, 25hours, and East, call 800/337-4685.

Fashionable foodies are heading for what Hamburg food critics hail as "the perfect restaurant" -- 4Experiment Gastrum, 32 Karolinenstrasse (tel. 040/4318-8432). Here four of the most skilled chefs in Hamburg concoct a daily menu based on only the freshest and best produce available at the market on any given day -- perhaps red snapper in tom yum sauce. The décor is in "juice colors," such as tomato or orange.

Hamburg is developing a cutting edge with the opening of one chic boutique after another. Chief among these is Sium, 27 Marktstrasse (tel. 040/430-7327), the shop of Regine Steenbock, former filmmaker and costume designer. She often uses bold graphic prints in her designs. Being splashed across the fashion pages of Germany are Tobias Jopp and Stefan Harm. Their boutique showcase is FKK, 21 Hegestrasse (tel. 040/4600-9041). Sometimes they go retro, as when their latest line was inspired by London's Carnaby Street of the Swinging Sixties. For a more classical look, head for the former Portuguese quarter to the shop of Thorstein Lewin. Called simply Lewin, 12 Rambachstrasse (tel. 040/3750-0660), it offers both men and women a choice of 5,000 different fabrics from all over the world. The suits are made to order in traditional, classical styles.

Obersalzberg

The InterContinental Resort at Berchtesgaden, Hitler's former vacation retreat, is scheduled to open in the late spring of 2005. The same panorama of snow-capped mountains enjoyed by the Führer and his dog, Blondi, can now be viewed by the world's well-heeled vacationers to Bavaria. Skiers can flock here in winter, golfers in summer. The hotel stands on the grounds where Herman Goring had his rural retreat, just over a rise from Hitler's Berghof. Before the resort opens, it has already met with worldwide protests, notably from the Green Party of Bavaria, who thinks it's wrong to build a retreat at the same place where Hilter plotted to dominate the world. Actually before the coming of the Nazis, Obersalzberg was a holiday resort in the 19th century. Nearly everything associated with the Third Reich has been razed. Hitler's own house was bombed by the Allies in 1945 and cleared entirely in 1952. The hotel itself will be a two-winged structure with 138 rooms. Bavarian authorities are sensitive to charges that they are trying to blot out the past. To remind visitors of it, the Obersalzberg Documentation Center opened in 1999, offering exhibits detailing the horrors of Nazism. Before the opening of the museum center, Obersalzberg was a mecca for neo-Nazis. Since the anti-Nazi center opened, they no longer show up to pay their respects to the memory of Hitler.

Speyer

Outside this town, an Air France Concorde, after making its farewell flight from Paris, now rests in the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum (tel. 07261/92990; www.technik-museum.de), directly on Autobahn A6, between the motorway sections of Walldorf and Weinsberg. The now defunct aircraft stands next to its former rival, the Soviet made Tupolev 144, nicknamed the "Concordski" in the West. Air France donated the jet to the museum for a symbolic $1.15 in tribute to 75 Germans who lost their lives aboard the Concorde that crashed on July 25, 2000, after takeoff from Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris. The crash killed 113 passengers in all and led to a 13-month suspension of Concorde travel. The Concorde, although it resumed flights after safety checks, was virtually doomed after this publicity. Hailed as one of the greatest private museums in the world, the automobile and technical museum attracts some one million visitors every year to Sinsheim. There are also more than 3,000 other exhibits, ranging from an original Corvette and a 1952 "Oldsmobile Rocket" to steam engines, even World War II era fighter planes.

Weimar

On September 2, 2004, the culture of Germany -- and extension, the world -- lost 30,000 irreplaceable books in a fire that destroyed the Anna Amalia Library (www.anna-amalia-library.com), one of the world's most historic repositories of books. Thousands of manuscripts and books from the 16th to the 18th centuries were lost forever. Another 40,000 books were damaged by smoke and water, as more than 300 firefighters battled two hours to bring the raging blaze under control. The cost of the damage is estimated in the millions of dollars. Because the books were unique, they were not insured. "The literary memory of Germany suffered severe damage," proclaimed Christina Weiss, Minister of Culture. Some 120,000 books were rescued, including a 1534 Bible owned by Martin Luther, and the world's largest collection of copies of Goethe's Faust.