As an intersection for important European trade routes, Frankfurt on the Oder looks back on a diverse past. The town that was founded in the 13th century fell victim to the Second World War like so many Brandenburg towns. But fortunately some important buildings, such as the town hall with its splendid gables dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries, were spared. Since 1979, St. Mary’s Church, the largest church with nave and side aisles of equal height in the Northern German redbrick Gothic style, has also been under reconstruction. Today, the “Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach” concert hall is housed in the former Franciscan monastery church that dates back to the late 13th century and in which a large number of visitors enjoy the music festival days on the Oder every year. Nor is Frankfurt on the Oder short of museums: the Kleist Museum and the newly-built Kleist Forum, in which varied events take place, are dedicated to Heinrich Kleist, the Romantic writer, who was born in Frankfurt on the Oder in 1777. The forum is co-organiser of the Kleist Festivals that take place annually and is also a home each year for Unithea, which is a festival of European students’ theatres. The museum of new art is accommodated in the court’s arbour and, apart from this, the school museum and the Viadrina Museum, in which the history of the old trade town and Hanseatic city is depicted among other things, also await visitors.  So anyone whose head is spinning after so many cultural and historic impressions can renew his or her strength in the Helenesee recreation area (a lake) with its 1.4km sandy beach, which is only ten kilometres away.