4 Best Sights in Germany

Directly adjacent to the Bamberg Dom, this museum contains one of many nails and splinters of wood reputed to be from the true cross of Jesus. The \"star-spangled\" cloak stitched with gold, given to Emperor Heinrich II by an Italian prince, is among the finest items displayed. More macabre exhibits in this rich ecclesiastical collection are the elaborately mounted skulls of Heinrich and Kunigunde. The building itself was designed by Balthasar Neumann (1687–1753), the architect of Vierzehnheiligen, and constructed between 1730 and 1733.

At the Panometer (a blend of \"Panorama\" and \"Gasometer\"), visitors can explore captivating and otherworldly scenes. Located in southern Leipzig, the former Gasometer II, built in 1910, has been home to 360° panoramas by artist Yadegar Asisi since 2003. The latest exhibit, \"The Cathedral of Monet—Freedom of Painting,\" launched in March 2024, is a striking example of immersive art. This 32-meter-tall 360° panorama transports viewers to Rouen, France, around 1890, with a focus on the city's magnificent cathedral, famously captured in 33 paintings by Claude Monet. Asisi's first painted panorama, a 6 x 2-meter impressionist canvas, was digitized and enlarged to an impressive 32 × 110 meters for display at the Panometer Leipzig.

Cologne's only ethnography museum displays a collection of over 3,500 items that belonged to Wilhelm Joest, a 19th-century German ethnographer and traveler. The permanent exhibition looks at, among other things, the practicality of life in a Native American teepee, explains the importance of tattoos to Maori people, and reveals European perceptions of other cultures in the world as portrayed in travel reports and art. The largest—and perhaps most popular—item in the collection is a 7.5 meter-tall rice granary from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

If you want to learn a bit more about the Sorbs and their place in Germany, this museum is a good start. Rooms are devoted to Sorbian art and traditional Sorbian costumes. It's the largest single collection of Sorbian fine art in Germany. An audio guide is included with admission.