An extraordinary mechanical calculator designed by the mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Leibniz.

An abandoned train station in Munich constructed for the 1972 Olympic games.

A collection of 4,000 thimbles that's more versatile than one might imagine.

A century-long search for a church that was never there.

A crumbling bakery where forced laborers from the nearby concentration camp toiled to feed their fellow prisoners and Nazi soldiers.

At this cemetery, artists are invited to design their own gravestones.

This strategic isle was once swapped between empires and almost entirely destroyed in a bomb explosion.

A man-made slag heap that you can "ski" down, and is home to the world sandboarding championships.

A series of haunting wooden totems are hidden in the woods surrounding a German environmental center.

Amöneburg is a town perched on top of a basalt mountain in the middle of an ancient meteor crater.

A tilted half-timbered house from 1672 is built into a salvaged segment of a medieval wall.

A rare chance to ride one of the few continuous elevators still in operation.

This small town in Germany was once a center of peppermint production, and has the museum to prove it.

The oldest trees in Northern Germany.

This German fountain of a legendary apple wine-loving drink thief will spit on you.

A beautiful collection of taxidermy birds and rare pomological wax models.

Behold, a collection dedicated to Germany's favorite vegetable.

A steam powered train that runs on city streets.

1898 German railroad depot museum with working engines, steam train excursions, and hands-on displays.

In this brilliant blue spring in Germany, legend has it that a sad mermaid learned to finally laugh.

An homage to the humble watering can.

Giant wind turbine with observation deck at the very top.

This historic toy museum brings a little whimsy to a city not usually remembered for such things.

From Nazi chemicals to the CIA, this architectural marvel has played a fascinating role in German history.