Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Eltz Castle – Burg Eltz

Discover Eltz Castle – Burg Eltz in Wierschem, Germany: This medieval castle overlooking the Elzbach river looks just like it did hundreds of years ago.

Berlin Botanical Garden

Discover Berlin Botanical Garden in Berlin, Germany: Started as a kitchen garden, now the second largest botanical garden in the world.

Pergamon Museum

Discover Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany: The most visited, and possibly most controversial, museum in Germany.

Tajikistan Tearoom

Discover Tajikistan Tearoom in Berlin, Germany: A slice of central Asia in the middle of Berlin.

Design Panoptikum

Discover Design Panoptikum in Berlin, Germany: A surreal museum of extraordinary industrial objects.

The Bastei

Discover The Bastei in Lohmen, Germany: Ruins of a German Castle on top of a towering stone pillar.

Subterranean Berlin

Discover Berliner Unterwelten (Subterranean Berlin) in Berlin, Germany: A tour of underground Berlin takes you through WWII air raid shelters and tunnels used to smuggle people out of East Germany.

Germany’s Castle Frankenstein

Discover Castle Frankenstein in Mühltal, Germany: The birthplace of an eccentric alchemist and possible inspiration for the fictional reanimator of monsters.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Discover Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau, Germany: The fairy tale castle of the "fairy-tale king.".

Berlin’s Monster Kabinett

Discover Monster Kabinett in Berlin, Germany: Part art gallery, part haunted house, this robotic art display is a terrifying experience.

Liquidrom in Berlin, Germany

Discover Liquidrom in Berlin, Germany: This futuristic German spa allows visitors to float in a pool of salt water while zoning out to underwater techno.

Spreepark

Discover Spreepark in Berlin, Germany: An eerie, derelict amusement park in Berlin.

The Totalitarian Art Gallery

Discover The Totalitarian Art Gallery in Amsterdam, Netherlands: This basement museum explores the art and artistry of fascism.

The Totalitarian Art Gallery

Discover The Totalitarian Art Gallery in Amsterdam, Netherlands: This basement museum explores the art and artistry of fascism.

De Wieden National Park Observation Tower

Discover De Wieden National Park Observation Tower in Sint Jansklooster, Netherlands: Repurposed space and ultra-modern construction collide to create this geometric wooden spectacle.

The Little Trip House

Discover Kleine Trippenhuis in Amsterdam, Netherlands: One of Amsterdam's narrowest houses is located right across the canal from its widest.

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i
To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. 260 ii
To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design. 474 iii
To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared. 499 iv
To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history. 633 ix
To be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals. 135 v
To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change. 167 vi
To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria). 252 vii
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. 148 viii
To be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features. 96 x
To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation. 166

PP ToS