A palace in ruins the result is one of germanys most popular tourist destinations heidelberg. I started by climbing the socalled philosophers path following in the footsteps of long gone students and scholars from Hyderabad University today local people and visitors alike take the spot. From the top to get the best view of the city. However it is very high up on the to do list for anyone visiting germany this summer though the coronavirus pandemic has kept many travelers away what does that mean for locals and for tourists who like me do manage to come whats the city like without the masses of visitors lets find out. We look into heidelberg universities old student detention selfs. Our viewers sandrock roberto takes us on a sightseeing tour of monaco. We receive greetings and this weeks v mail from the white sea at russias northern edge. But 1st things 1st heidelberg palace is a must today its a ruin but its the ghostly air of mortality that makes up its charm. The castle was closed for 3 months in spring because of the lockdown now its open to visitors again. But to make sure our cameras didnt slow them down we got a special tour. And it started off with an important announcement. That. You have got im afraid to guess well have to wear masks during the tool i wanted to ask if its alright with you if i take mine off. My distance and youll be able to understand me much better after our story no problem or yes and then ill take a dont. Question and off we get given a list of the letters to cut. The arrows point the way for visitors just down a very next gives me a quick rundown of the highly back castles history. Starting in the 13th century it was the residence of the prince of lecter of the latin it each successor renovated and expanded it according to his own taste and wishes. It was destroyed again and again the last time by french troops in the 17th century in the 19th Century Preservation work on the ruins and a partial reconstruction commenced. Thats it this is a cool chapel it was built in there in a song styled by prince electoral frederick the full fall but if you look up youll. See it doesnt have much to do with the renascence rather its more a gothic chapel it wasnt so badly damaged and the prince alecto was able to integrate it into his renascence additions very nicely and what came later in the 1st half of the 18th century is this baroque altar with the baptism of christ and the organ. Org dot over after butterscotch. We move onto one of the ceremonial halls here its plain to see how carefully the castle was reconstructed generally the hall is used for various exhibitions but because of the corona crisis and remains closed for now. This is an extraordinary building was commissioned by prince elector frederick the 4th the facade embellished with the likenesses of his ancestors unfortunately here too we cannot enter due to corona related restrictions. Different after the fun side from the safety precautions what effect has corona had for the castles visitors of america but 1st weve had a lot fewer visitors to hyderabad because most of the ones we do have come from germany and were glad of that but the americans and the japanese arent coming though its picking up now weve noticed this. And we dont give nearly as many tours as we used to. We always have to observe this distance thing and thats going quite well but whats a real shame is that normally the Heidelberg Castle theatre festival is held here in the castle. They were hers here and thats always nice to watch for us too. But all thats being canceled and its really a shame its come on if the session. But the prince a lecture is wine cellars can be visited by that this is the worlds biggest wine keg ever to be filled with launch of wine cakes do exist but they were never fillets but this ones been filled at least 3 times come on lets go. On top of the giant barrel is a little dance floor 6 or 7 couples can cut the rug or the word at a time. From here we have a good view of her k o. He was a cool jester and a couple there and he spoke italian and german and whenever anyone offered him a copilot of wine he doesnt see an italian you know why not. And people in highly turned that into the park a oh. The weather gods are showing us some mercy at least for now and right away the old bridge over the next life ends up in. The streets and squares are filling up to. The corona crisis doesnt seem to have had too great an impact on tourism or has it. To assess this lets see what things were like around these parts exactly one year ago lets hop into our time machine and travel back to 2090. And someone 2019 the streets of heidelberg old town were already bustling at 8 am every minute groups from all over the world were disembarking from bosses in cruise ships that had brought them up from the rhine for others it was a stop on a larger European Tour and i had only 4 hours for the rim antic city this tall group from colombia had to press on to book. But it was enough time to inspire some enthusiasm. That the architecture totally impressed me these wonderful buildings everything has simply you just. At lunch time the crowd surged through the old town not long ago they were almost all japanese and american in summer 2019 they were from all corners of the us with more coming from china all the time i think this old bridge is so great. Its multicultural nice beautiful view actually. People are really nice if you believe in a beautiful for decades back hosted a United States army base that helped to spread the word stateside heidelberg is a nice bit of old germany we love germany because its like life is stood still and its were from the state so this is really something very special. In 2013 some 13000000 visitors pass through the city but given this years corona crisis things may be changing for hyderabad to. Take here a little about these very different times im eating my managing director of hyde back marketing. Mr schumer walking across the squares here in heidelberg how would you say the numbers of tourists have changed compared to this time last year. In january and february we had 14 percent more overnight stays even though the pandemic was already known to be on the way but the figure struck rapidly in march and april we had cancellations of up to 100 percent and the hotels and restaurants were devoid of life and they closed up as required and it was eerie but what i mean he did and yes how does the visitor figures look right now looking around we can see there is some activity of course many germans are here but how many visitors have come from abroad at this point also. We wont leave people out in the rain weve allowed the Restaurant Owners to expand their outdoor seating with no extra charge his patrons arent supposed to sit inside and fairly close together like some do. And you can see the effects by the increase in tourists were a beautiful city and we profit from it. Because a hot spot and weve always benefited from Domestic Tourism in the nation phyllis most of the 70 percent of our overnight guests are domestic tourists so of course thats a nice little bonus. In truth if it comes to a lot of normal you many of the visitors come by boat from the river cruise ships are they staying away or are things starting to move again. There are 2 categories of river cruises one is the big cruises the tour the rhine call that man and then come to hide it back. But theyre not coming yet because they are booked almost exclusively by american and Chinese Tourists and the International Borders are still closed but weve already had 2 river cruise ships from switzerland arrive this week and last. On the nice thing is you can see the city coming back to life again. The sure enough time for that evening to stop. The least in theory and in the absence of International Tourism the whole atmosphere is a bit more relaxed is that nice for the visitors coming here now they can take it easy here and enjoy the city. Yes and no were missing the International Visitors title bags always been an International City that comes from the university and many of the students havent returned here yet just because the borders are closed the International Element is missing now in hyderabad. Of course we all hope that can run a crisis will soon be over what lessons can highly barg learn from this so. We love every guess that comes to hyderabad but its always hard to put together a program of events for a city we need the major promoters. Approach things a new way to transport people to the city differently be much nicer for both the guest and for the people of title back. But what do you mean about transporting people to the city differently. For instance when a ship disembarks its passengers one possibility would be not to send all the buses from one ship into heidelberg at once but rather to various stops along different routes if you do with the information then you wouldnt have all the visitor standing in front of the castle but once that improves the experience for the visitor and for us. Im sure youve noticed by now that highly is just dripping with history. Now im heading over to the citys oldest chocolate makers it was founded in 863. 00 and sells a kind of suite thats only available here in heidelberg. Right youve got the highly back student dont you are thinking oh yes weve got one sitting right here and its a really tasty little wafer with new gods inside and chocolate i dont cite that can be milk chocolate and it has a romantic backstory the young ladies in town used to frequent the cafes in large numbers but since they were always watched by their aunts or governesses the students couldnt make contact with them so the pastry maker feeling had a sweet idea. Or didnt have that right and he sold them under the counter to young men who would then stake a message in the box. And they would slip the whole thing into the folds of the young ladys skin thats right so they govern the says wouldnt even notice it. Ok so that way they could pass love notes to the ladies. To say no prominent visitors to heidelberg such as im glad makeover and the duchess of cambridge are often given student kisses as souvenirs so ive absolutely got to try it 1. 00 out but super delicious no wonder its so famous. And. Well thats why its so when youre with god and no one time travel video on the other hand lasts a lot longer and thats something our viewers Victor Cornish have also knows before the fandom making travel to the white sea in russia and captured the highlights for us. We want to know your favorite place to go on vacation send us your videos you can upload them at d. F. W. Dot com slash travel. Friend of high leg university and i meet historian christiane villan about the university as germanys oldest founded in 1386 the University Museum is closed due to the corona crisis but the biggest tourist attraction is still open. While the where have we come to now for heavens sake it looks a bit like a squat with graffiti all over but in fact were here in heidelberg student jail the old students prison the famous at 1st the cells were a thoroughly serious matter but they turned more and more into a bit of fun they were meant for a misdemeanor such as public drunkenness so everybody wanted to sit in this fabled student prison at least once. Some of our 879 of sentences ranged from the free to a maximum of 14 days this year and you see this graffiti everywhere lets come and you can sum it up past the door stood open i had to pay rent if i wanted to stay in yeah so it became a kind of privilege i could bring tents and get creative if i was hungry i could have food brought to me from a fine restaurant all you want as if it was the university knew full well that thats the kind of parties own of the late 19th century is. There no other place like it inter many i bumped into an old acquaintance from the castle calle the couple there. But this is christiane villain back us favorite graffito. The famous innocent drawn with a long. Most of all i like these angels wings of course its a very own fears that victims of the Justice System would not stop you. Poor youngsters. And essential parts of any University Life worth living is a student pub the oldest in town is the water ox the red arcs in business for 180 years the rustic tavern is now one of the sights of highly burg but its patrons werent only students the famed american author mark twain dropped by many of the patrons immortalized themselves and their guest books as the proprietor philip spangles shows me and probably our most interesting john way was our guest here. And apparently he liked it and good food go well together. This is. This is Mamie Eisenhower the wife of former us president dwight d. Eisenhower. And this is marilyn monroe. Phillips has endless stories to tell over 30 guests books have been filled up in the course of time and if someone didnt appear in the guest book they might have left their mark on the tables time for our section needs a local and this weeks edition will catch up with corvet oh shes a teacher from germany living in monaco and some day shell show us the best science and the 2nd smallest nation on the planet. Hello hello and welcome to monaco im sandra and have been living for over 25 years here in my adopted homeland im excited to show you my favorite spots here. This is life in monaco is like in a big city and yet also like in a village. In these small streets youll see so many incredibly beautiful houses you can take time to enjoy a coughing its so lovely here nearby you have both to see on the mountains monaco has it all. Is a hey we are not the most important spots in the morning and in the center of the old town is a princes palace where the prince and his family live on is beautiful grand plaza we want to go toward. 870 nearly every day has been a changing of the god ceremony in front of the palace dont miss it. I wish that another place you must visit while in monaco is the. Atomic ogaden with plants from all over the world frank mexico America Africa so many of them are over 100 years old. This isnt ok. Its been here for 150 years since the park was opened right careful it sure can. Take hello isnt that lovely now you understand why i love monaco so much. When i next stop the oceanic graphic in sitting here everything is about protecting. The. Feet as a marine sanctuary for injured turtles. So they can be catch for right on site. Isnt it sweet. I love everything in this aquarium its found in the mediterranean in that the mail before. That was my day in monaco i hope you had as much fun as i did see you see you and thats the morning i guess this would say as it was a riveting. Its easy to get the impression that highly back is all about old historical sites not so just across the river everyone gathers on the neck at Great Lengths to enjoy the summer. Theres plenty of waterborne action to be found here in heidelberg but if you personally are looking for a more relaxed option i highly recommend you hop onto one of these river boats because they will take you right to the beautiful that cowbell you check out our next report for a little preview. All aboard for a cruise on the can you can sell via Swedens Queen so via who was born in heidelberg. It starts out with a view of the council from the water and then moves out into the countryside. The 1st port of call is noise ill be on a street was founded in the 12th century 11 benedictine monks still live today. Weve got a lot going on here today so. The women and men of the monastery cannot go well. Tours are an important part of the monasteries Public Relations as. There are fact lots of people who may know about the abbey but are unaware that monks still actually live here. So we in our new abbot are currently trying to expand our presence in the world outside. Of us and in. The monastery brewery now brews organic beer by longstanding craft tradition and markets it regionally. Of course all visitors get an opportunity to taste the bravos. River the neck out starts to wind across northern bottom board and book the highlight is despair council a fortress built in the 12th century but now overlooks the town of. It takes a bit of climbing to reach the castle so a bite to eat at the top is often welcomed here visitors can indulge themselves with sweets also handcrafted before reporting the vote to continue on the neck up. Which is just as romantic as heidelberg itself. Even ng has fallen in heidelberg that day trippers have moved on but the tables in the restaurants and bars are crowded anyway its a welcome piece of normalcy and the summer of crises. A lot of different this summer and heidelberg i for one really enjoy the more relaxed atmosphere. There although we certainly all hope that the city will soon be able to welcome guests from all around the globe again thats it for today thanks for joining and take good care of yourself and see you next time somewhere in germany. This is polar ice in the in slices and he can interpret it physicist john haas how just ice change how does it expand in winter and how does it melt in summer and what does this mean for the 1st time that Big Questions big expedition we let ourselves freeze in the world today. It was the worst industrial disaster of all time. Poison gas leak in. 35 years on people are still suffering the consequences the state cant cope and any help for the victims is coming from a network of dedicated medics moyers and activists. Listen to the legacy. In 30 minutes on d w. Ws crime fighters are back again africas most successful radio drama series continues this season the stories focus on hate speech cholera prevention and sustainable chocolate production lola besos are Available Online and of course you can share and discuss on africas Facebook Page and other social media platforms. Crime fighters tune in now. Get. A new era has begun. And fire. All you feel is. Missing fame. Our planet is. Places 1st ever. Seems to consume forests and entire residential areas. Cut cut rising temperatures water shortages land clearance theres no funding so flammable material. Once again i did theres no stopping the fires. Heavy equipment columns going to resume old going up in smoke. Conflagration the world on fire starts aug 12th on t. W. We have to invite it back in and dance with the baby. This is d. W. News and these are our top stories clashes during protests in beirut have left more than 100 people injured and one Police Officer dead demonstrators stormed and sapphire 2 official buildings many people in lebanon are furious over choose days devastating explosion that killed more than 150. 00 people under strong and large parts of beirut the protesters blame longstanding government corruption the Prime Minister has called for early elections