Germany Blog

Stories, tips, and reflections about life, travel, and culture in Germany.

  • In The Stark Baltic Sea, 27 Square Meters Of Pink

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    A global surge in Barbie-related products is underway, with Mattel opening a 35,000 square foot flagship store in Shanghai in March of 2009. Yet in 2007, Germany actually pioneered its own Barbie-themed getaway on the Baltic Sea in the Schleswig-Holstein region. It was part of a joint venture between Mattel and the Maritim Hotel chain.

    Maritim operates 37 hotels in Germany, but one of its showpiece sites is located in Timmendorfer Strand. The Maritim Clubhotel is a resort location, sitting right on the main beach. Newly constructed, it has space, class and a host of amenities.

    Including the Barbie room.

    Yes, it’s an entire room that’s shockingly pink from top to bottom. Launched in September of 2007, all the furniture is Barbie-themed and custom created exclusively for Maritim. The closet is full-size with a doll-size portion. All the linens, draperies and carpets are branded. Barbie magazines, theme items and movies are available on site to play with as well.

    The room is pitched as a children’s getaway zone, and has an adjoining parents’ room that can also be booked as a package. At 27 square meters, the room is a bit like a suite. A typical overnight package includes meals although half-board is available, too.

    For peak season, expect to have to book in 1- 2 months in advance, especially for weekends with the room. It’s become massively popular for birthday party getaways and girls slumber parties. However, the experience is still reasonably priced, and discounted rates can be had if you book it with the parents’ room package.

    In addition to the only known Barbie suite worldwide, Timmendorfer Strand also offers 6km of beach and a sea spa. It’s been a locals destination for many years, with few expat visitors. This makes it a good place to go to experience not only real Germany as the Germans do it, but also a good place to experience the world-wide Barbie resurgence firsthand. ;-)

    —Marcus

  • The Starting Point Of The Germany Blog

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    The time has come to start the MyGermanCity.com blog, or as I call it, The Germany Blog. Its purpose?

    The Germany Blog will provide you with a lot more insights and Secret Tips, big and small, that just don’t fit on or to the regular content pages available at MyGermanCity.com (yet). Here, I will dig much deeper, share more insider tips, reveal more unknown spots… in short, The Germany Blog is going to have more personality — more Marcus. :-)

    That said, feel free to…

    • Subscribe to the blog’s RSS Feed in order to receive notifications whenever a new post was published by clicking on the Subscribe link below.
    • Share individual posts with your friends and family using the Email Friend and Share Page links below.
    • Save individual posts in your browser’s Favorites by clicking on the Bookmark link below.
    • Find a post so valuable that you’d like to print it out and keep it with you while you travel to Germany? That’s why I provide you with the Print Page link below. :-)

    Try the above out; it works wonderfully!

    See? I did think of your individual needs and wishes. If you still miss something, do drop me a line using the Contact Form!

    Now that we’ve covered the exciting points, let’s cover some politics…

    As eBay, I, too, believe in the good in humans and, generally, see positive intentions behind human behavior. Plus, I do more than appreciate comments and feedback. However, comments from unknown visitors will be held in moderation and approved individually and manually. This is to keep this a very friendly and supportive place.

    This means, if your comment has not been approved and thus does not appear on The Germany Blog, this can have various reasons. Do not feel discouraged, though. Instead, re-submit an improved version of what you wanted to say.

    Here are a couple points to lead you to the right direction and/or get your neurons rolling… :-)

    • Use your real name.
    • Use your e-mail address.
    • Say more than a mere “Hi” or “That’s great”. Think of what helps the community, what can you contribute so everyone benefits from it? Generally, it shall be worth more than just a couple words.
    • Did, what you were about to say, actually serve you more than others? Well, say something that aids others more than yourself. Try it; it works. ;-)

    Bottom line? Keep it real. Be real.

    Remember why we’re all around here?

    We all love Germany; we all love to travel; and we all love to have a good fabulous, cool, extraordinary, terrific, unforgettable time. So let’s be kind and appreciative and respectful to each other.

    See ya! :-)

    —Marcus