It’s virtually impossible to get a sense of just how large this world-record-smashing sand castle really is until you see a shot that includes crowds of tiny humans gathered around its base. The German city of Duisburg may be landlocked, but that hasn’t stopped it from hosting an enormous sandcastle building effort two summers in a row. Last summer, their attempt at snagging the title was foiled when the castle faced a minor collapse during the building process. This year, they unseated a record set by a 50-foot-tall sand castle in Puri, India in February with their 55-foot-tall creation.

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It took 3,860 tons of very fine quartz sand, a team of designers from 10 countries and three weeks of building time to complete. The sculptors incorporated imagery from their own nations and histories, resulting in an interesting mishmash of global influences. Look closely and you’ll spot the Great Sphinx of Giza, the Acropolis, a Buddha, Elvis’ grave and the Colosseum. A Guinness World Record jury judged the enormous sculpture on Friday, making the win official.

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Want to check it out in person? The city of Duisburg will keep the sandcastle standing through September 29th, assuming something doesn’t cause it to collapse before then. You can see lots more photos of the sand castle by searching Instagram for the tag #landschaftsparkduisburg.

Images via: manutografie, obootsman, michaela_schu, shopaholic2911

A former haven for Nazi war criminals, child molesters and their sympathizers, Villa Baviera is now a bizarrely whitewashed German-themed tourist attraction tucked into Chile’s Andean foothills. Established in 1961, the cult compound formerly known as Colonia Dignidad (Dignity Colony) hosted infamous concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele, known as the ‘Angel of Death,’ and served as a special torture center and illegal arms cache. Now you can drink beer and watch people stomp around in lederhosen as if none of those terrible things ever happened.

The insensitive nature of the transition of the 54-square-mile compound’s use is just the beginning, considering that an investigation in the ‘90s found evidence of decades of child abuse, torture and mysterious disappearances. Founder Paul Schäfer, a fugitive wanted in Germany for pedophilia, served as the authoritarian leader of 300 residents. Children were separated from their parents and siblings, all media from the outside world was banned, and sex was forbidden without Schäfer’s approval.

In the ‘70s, dictator Augusto Pinochet made use of the compound to detain political dissidents. Schäfer was finally apprehended in 1997 and died in prison in 2010, and though 20 colony elders were convicted of aiding him in his abuses, the roughly 120 remaining residents were allowed to keep the property and do what they wanted with it, which was to turn it into a money-maker. Rather than making it a memorial to the Holocaust or the crimes that were carried out on the compound, they decided everybody would rather feign collective amnesia.

The result is a 21-room hotel, swimming pool, playgrounds, wedding tents and restaurants along with all the German food and beer you can consume. A guard tower once used to spot escapees still looks out over the property, and the perimeter is still edged with barbed wire fencing, but hey, those hot tubs will help you relax away the memories of the atrocities committed there, right?

Catch more on the history of this twisted tourist attraction at Bloomberg and in the upcoming Hollywood film ‘Colonia’, starring Emma Watson.

Germany is already home to the world’s best-known superhighway, the Autobahn, and now cyclists have 60 miles of breathtaking scenery reclaimed from disused railroad tracks all to themselves. Informally dubbed the ‘Bicycle Autobahn,’ the highway is currently under construction, with five kilometers freshly opened for public usage. Ultimately, it’ll connect 10 Western cities including Duisburg, Bochum and Hamm, as well as four universities.

Up to 10 percent of Germany’s commuting is already done via bike, but until now, there hasn’t been an easy way for cyclists to get from one city to the next. Many of Germany’s biggest cities have bike paths on the roads, but they tend to be narrow, and don’t generally connect into longer routes. When cyclists want to ride around without worrying about cars, they have to go to parks like Münster’s popular Promenade or Munich’s Englischer Garten (pictured above and below.)

Locally accessible to nearly two million people, this new protected roadway is closed to motor vehicles, making it a safe and pleasant ride for the entire stretch. Development group RVR, which funded the highway with assistance from the European Union and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, estimates that the bike highway could take 50,000 cars off the road every day. RVR is currently working on getting the federal government to fund the rest of the route, instead of leaving the project languishing in the underfunded hands of regional governments.

The city of Frankfurt is planning its own 18-mile bike roadway to Darmstadt, and Munich is extending its to a 9-mile stretch making the city easy to access from the northern suburbs. London has also declared its intention to convert its abandoned subway tunnels into a highway for cyclists and pedestrians.

Photos via: Darren Johnson, Marcio Cabral de Moura, Anne Guegan, ptwo

Traveling to Germany soon on business or vacation – or just want to engage in a little virtual tourism on your lunch break? These 13 awesome hotels and hostels represent the incredibly fun, eclectic mix of lodging that Germany has to offer in cities like Berlin, Stuttgart and Cologne. From a wacky art hotel with 31 themed rooms to a modern musical masterpiece where you can rent a Gibson guitar through room service, these hotels will make you want to pack your bags and say, ‘Guten tag!’ Owning a hotel as fascinating and interesting as one of these would surely be the dream of any aspiring hotel owner. However, no matter what kind of hotel you have, you will want to make sure that you’ve got a reliable and functioning hotel property management system to ensure that the process of running your hotel goes smoothly every single day.

Propeller Island, Berlin

(images via: propeller-island.de)

There’s a room with a flying bed, another with coffins for beds, one with elevated cages so you can put on shows for neighboring rooms and even an upside-down room with furniture on the ceiling. Pretty much any bizarre hotel room you can imagine can be found at the Propeller Island Hotel in Berlin, where the 31 unique themed guest suites will make you want to switch rooms every night of your stay.

Arte Luise Kunsthotel, Berlin

(images vi: luise-berlin.com)

If colorful and artistic rooms that don’t look like torture chambers are more your speed, Berlin’s Art Luise Kunsthotel offers a veritable gallery of unusually decorated rooms. The pastel Kehl’s Comin room will make you feel like you’ve stepped into an illustration with its black-outlined furniture, while the surreal Red Horse room is named after an equestrian sculpture emerging from the wall. The Nest Room features a two-foot-long bird’s beak over the bed and much-larger-than-life eggs scattered around the space, and the Silke Vollmer’s Flight room is filled with airplane remnants.

V8 Hotel, Stuttgart

(images via: v8hotel.de)

Car enthusiasts can’t pass up the V8 Hotel in Stuttgart, a four-star establishment where many of the 34 guest rooms are decked out in vehicular-themed décor – a choice that makes more sense when you find out that the hotel is located on the grounds of a car museum. Not only are the beds nestled into frames made of classic cars, but the rooms have their own unique themes, like the car wash room, the Shell gas station room and a mechanic’s room.

Hotel Im Wasserturm, Cologne

(images via: hotel-im-wasserturm.de, neuwieser)

Have you ever thought to yourself, ‘On this trip, I absolutely must sleep inside a water tower!’ Okay, probably not. But you can do just that at the Hotel Im Wasserturm in Cologne. The luxurious 88-room hotel is housed within what was once the largest water tower in Europe, now 130 years old.

Nhow Berlin

(images via: nhow-hotels.com)

Design lovers who’d rather kick the kitsch in favor of something fresh and modern will love Nhow Berlin, a music-themed hotel with a cantilevered metallic exterior and a fluid, largely pink-and-white interior. Designed by Sergei Tchoban, Nhow Berlin boasts a state-of-the-art recording studio, first-rate DJ’s playing in the bar, regular concerts and live events and an on-staff music manager. You can even rent a Gibson guitar through room service.

Alcatraz Hotel, Kaiserslautern

(images via: amusingplanet)

Once, people were held in this building in Kaiserslautern, Germany quite against their will. Today, people pay good money to sleep there – in cell-sized rooms, with real cell doors and minimalist prison-like furniture. Well, not that much – it’s actually a hostel, costing just over 50 Euros per night. The reception area and cafe are behind bars and guests are given striped pajamas to wear. Check out 5 more jail hotels

Radisson Hotel’s AquaDom, Berlin

(images via: wikipedia)

The Radisson Hotel in Berlin is home to the world’s largest cylindrical aquarium, which acts as a stunning centerpiece in the lobby. Over 82 feet high and 36 feet in diameter, ‘AquaDom’ is home to 2,600 fish of 56 different species. The hotel elevator goes up through the center of the acrylic cylinder, and some lucky guests get to gaze at it from their windows.

Europa Park Hotels, Rust

(images via: resort.europapark.de)

If you’re just on a short trip to Europe, you can still experience its many nations (in the faux mini-metropolis style of Disney’s Epcot or Las Vegas casinos) at Germany’s largest theme park, Europa Park. The park, which is divided into sections named after various countries including Italy and Iceland, is also home to five full-sized hotels including Hotel Colosseo, a Roman-style resort inspired by the Colosseum. The hotel even has its own versions of Rome’s many fountains.

Baumhaus Treehouse Hotel, Görlitz

(images via: unusual hotels)

If you’re into something rustic but no less unusual, how about a stay in an actual tree house? The Baumhaus Hotel just outside Görlitz opened in 2005 with five tree houses to choose from, some perched between branches and others free-standing. Much like at a camp, you’ll find basic sleeping accomodations in the tree houses themselves while the central area offers campfires, toilets and a true German perk: beer-filled mini-bars.

Hotel Q!, Berlin

(images via: designhotels.com)

This hip boutique hotel was designed by none other than GRAFT studio, known for being a favorite of architecture-loving actor Brad Pitt. The award-winning interior design focuses on fluid lines – you’ll find very few right angles in the 77 understated guest rooms, where neutral tones and wood grain are occasionally punctuated with a pop of dramatic red.

Michelberger Hotel, Berlin

(images via: michelbergerhotel.com)

Can a budget hotel with minimal funds for decorating be cool and stylish? The answer to that question is clearly yes, if you’ve ever seen the Michelberger Hotel in Berlin. A group of friend got together to create a low-cost hotel with a comfy vibe that makes you feel like you’re crashing at a friend’s place. It’s fun, bright and airy with incredibly creative touches like a lobby decorated exclusively with magazines and a guest room wall covered in old books.

25Hours Hotel, Hamburg

(images via: 25-hours-hotels)

Still more proof that you don’t have to have a lot of cash to stay in a super-cool stylish hotel is the 25Hours Hotel in Hamburg. Designed by 3META with an open floor plan emphasizing communal space and a retro 1960s vibe, the 25Hours Hotel is packed with 420 convex chrome mirrors, shag carpets and mod lighting.

Rolling ‘Rotel Tours’ Hotel Bus

(images via: jalopnik)

It’s German in origin and spirit, but when you stay at this hotel, you can go practically anywhere. A company called Rotel Tours takes travelers on journeys across Europe, Africa and Asia in modified buses with individual curtained bunks measuring six feet long, three feet deep and three feet high. There’s a toilet, but you can only shower when the bus makes an ‘occasional’ stop at a campground just for this purpose.